A lot of the commentary in this chapter was taken from the original screenplay in the movie so just a heads up that some of the dialog belongs to their rightful owners.

CHAPTER 3

Black Water

The sky was dark now. The only light source in her surroundings was the pale moon and the tree's which illuminated a strong white glow. Yunai began to slowly wake from her long unpleasant slumber. She could hear two men speaking, one was the man at the church, and the other was a new voice. She laid still, pretending to be asleep. She could hear their footsteps approach her.

"Loz, was it neccessary to bring this one." the new voice said with elegance.

"She wields some sort of weapon," Loz stated,"she also has geostigma. I bet if we got her to drink the water she could become useful." Yunai, trying to control her breathing since her heart was beating fast with fear, continued to listen to the two men.

"Hmph, when she wakes, we'll make her." the knew man said. His voice was soothing, it wasn't as intimidating as Loz's. Yunai tried her best to relax herself.

"So, where is she infected?" the man asked. Yunai became tense again.

"On her stomach, I'm sure of it." said Loz. Right when she thought that they might have left, she felt her shirt lifting up and a gloved hand lightly touch her stomach. Yunai jumped and shrieked while pushing the man's hands away. The man stood alarmed, his long silvery hair covering half of his face. Yunai tried to make a run for it but Loz grabbed her leg and pulled her forward violently. The man with the long hair gripped her arm tightly and started dragging her. Yunai struggled to get free, she let out screams, but it didn't seem like anyone was going to help her. She looked back at Loz and realized he was holding onto Marlene.

"Let us go!" Yunai screamed at the man. He wasn't amused and just kept dragging her. He brought her around a large rock formation that looked like a giant seashell. There was a small lake, on the other side there was a crowd of children. He held onto her tightly as Loz came around the other side with Marlene. They greeted another man with silver hair that went to his shoulders. Yunai stayed silent for now, studying each man. She noticed that this man was much younger than the other two. He looked about the same age as her. Roughly around sixteen or seventeen. Yunai looked down by the younger man's feet and noticed Clouds metallic chest, which was filled with materia.

"Mother has given me a very special gift!" the young man exclaimed while looking up to the sky with his arms raised, as if he were praising it, "The power to fight," he continued,"against a planet that torments humanity." The children seemed enthralled by his speech.

"She gave this gift to all her children." the young man said referring to the children standing on the other side of the water,"That's right. You and I are bretheran." Yunai looked up in surprise. "He's brainwashing them!" she thought.

"Brothers and sisters chosen when we inherited mother's mometic legacy through the lifestream!" he said, raising his arms and turning his back on the children. He now faced his two brothers, glancing at Yunai. He walked slowly over to her. He was only but a few inches taller, but his strength was much more. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her forward with him.

"But the planet doesn't approve of that at all! " he said with more anger. His grip on Yunai tightened, most likely bruising her wrist, "It's doing everything it can to hold us back! That's why it's wracking our bodies with pain, and filling our hearts with doubt!" he said with more emotion while pointing to all the children. He ended with a boy with wavy brown hair, it was Denzel. Yunai's eyes widened. Did Denzel not recognize that it was her. He seemed to remain silent through out the whole speech. The young man pushed Yunai back violently, he was only using her as an example. The tall long haired man gripped her shoulder. She didn't struggle at all this time.

"Now, I shall heal you." he said with a much more calm voice, "And we will go to mother together. We will join as a family and strike back at the planet!" he exclaimed as fumes of color rose from his body.

"Do as I do." he instructed the children. He began walking into the water, it blackened as he stepped into it. He cupped his hands and laid them in the water. He brought it up to his face and drank it. He then gave out a refreshed sigh and waited. The children one by one started walking into the water. Yunai saw Denzel take his first step in and panicked.

"Don't! What are you making them do?" she yelled frantically. The young man ignored her. Denzel cupped his hands and put them in the black water. He rose them to his face, and drank it. He looked a little pale, and then his eyes flashed a blue green color, just like the three men's. All of the children did.

"Hey Kadaj." The long haired man said a bit distracted. He seemed to be on alert.

"What is it, Yazoo?" Kadaj asked his brother. Yazoo listened carefully and then smiled.

"Brother is here." he said almost sweetly.

"Excellent." Kadaj replied. He then looked at Yunai and saw that she just hung her head low, almost trying not to be noticed. Kadaj's face lit up, as if he remembered something.

"That's right. I bet your thirsty aren't you?" he said coldly. Yunai lifted her head up, realizing that he was talking about her. Before she could say anything, she was being pushed towards the water, her feet were already in. The water was cold, causing her teeth to chatter. Kadaj then pulled her in deeper, the water now up to her waist. The water kept her speed to a minimum, she couldn't move away from him as fast as she wanted to. He placed his hand on the back of her head and dunked it into the water. He caught Yunai by surprise. Her head was under the murky water. She tried her hardest not to take in any of the it, fearing that she would become brainwashed. She lifted her head from underneath the water, taking in deep breaths. Her hair covered her eyes, She didn't know what was happening now. She felt Kadaj's hand on her head again. He pushed her down harder and this time kept his hand locked onto her scalp, keeping her from coming up.

"Kadaj, she's not a toy." Yazoo said almost emotionless.

"Yeah, you don't want to kill her." Loz added, almost sounding worried. He did appear to be the most emotional out of the three. Kadaj let Yunai come back up, she still hadn't swallowed the water. Her breaths were much more hoarse, she coughed a lot too. Yunai tried moving the wet pieces of hair from her face, but a bright headlight blinded her. The sound of a motorcycle drained out the voices of the three men. Kadaj called his brothers to his side, leaving Yunai in the water and Marlene at the shore. The children followed them. Yunai ran out of the water towards Marlene and hugged her.

"Yunai! Denzel-" Marlene started but Yunai hushed her. She took Marlene by the hand and lead her though some of the glowing trees.

"We have to leave." Yunai stated a bit out of breath. She felt heavy, her clothes were sopping wet and she was cold. They headed what they thought was south and hid. They could hear the sound of gun shots, swords clashing, and explosions from afar.

What felt like hours later, the noises had stopped. Yunai decided that it would be safe to start moving again. She held Marlene by the hand and they began to make haste through the towering trees. The forest never seemed to end. Yunai then stopped in her tracks. She could hear what sounded like two men talking, Marlene stopped to listen. After just a few moments, Marlene's face lit up and she started running though some bushes, following the sound of the mens' voices. Yunai was too late to stop her, she had to run after her. It took Yunai a while to get out of what seemed like a cramped labrynth of bush. She was making a lot of noise, she was afraid she would lose Marlene. She then came stumbling out of a bush, almost falling to her knees. She lifted her head up quickly and was greeted by gun point.

"Wait!" a familiar voice demanded. Yunai looked over and recognized a tall man with blonde spiky hair. It was Cloud who was standing with Marlene.

"Cloud!" Yunai exclaimed with surprise. She then looked up at the man who then held his gun to his side. He was taller than Cloud, with long ebony hair, a pale face, and crimson eyes. Yunai smiled shyly, not really sure of what to say to this man and then rushed over to Cloud and Marlene.

"What are you doing here?" Yunai asked. Cloud looked shocked by her question.

"Cloud, I want to talk to Tifa!" Marlene interrupted. Cloud then searched his pocket, he couldn't find his phone. Marlene looked at Yunai.

"I must have dropped it at the Church." Yunai said sadly. Marlene turned to the gunman. He raised his red cape, gesturing that he didn't have one.

"You don't have a phone?" Marlene said surprised.

"Vincent, can you take them to Tifa? I'm gonna go see Shinra and get a few answers." Yunai looked up at Cloud with disappointment.

"I can't do that." Vincent clearly stated. Marlene frowned and turned to Cloud.

"Forget it Cloud! Why don't you ever pay any attention to us?" Marlene said with anger. She took Yunai by the hand and lead her towards Vincent. Yunai looked back at Cloud, she could see the guilt in his eyes.

"Please Marlene, give me some time." said Cloud, "There's a battle to be fought, but it's not as simple as just fighting. Do you understand?"

"No I don't!" Marlene shouted. Yunai looked at Cloud, she seemed to understand what he meant.

"Are you sure this is about fighting?" Vincent asked. Cloud looked to his feet. He thought for a minute.

"Are sins ever forgiven?" Cloud asked Vincent.

"I've never tried." Vincent said monotoned.

"You mean," Cloud stuttered,"never tried?" He thought about Vincent's words carefully.

"Yunai. Marlene. Lets go." Cloud finally said. Marlene smiled, let go of Yunai's hand and skipped back over to Cloud. Yunai looked at him with relief.

"Well I'm gonna try. I'll phone in a verdict." he said while taking Marlene by the hand. Yunai followed as they began to walk. She looked back to Vincent who stood there, as if he felt he accomplished something. Yunai now understood what he did. She met eyes with Vincent and worded, "thank you". Vincent just nodded. Yunai then ran ahead to catch up with Cloud who was waiting for her a few feet ahead. The trees seemed to glow brighter now, as if a curtain was lifted off them.