Vincent rose from his hiding spot, numb with disbelief.

'She…she's on his side? How…? Why…? No…I won't believe it…?'

"Why is it so hard to believe? She betrayed you. You see how close and personal Mr. High and Mighty got with her. She's forgotten about you. Face it. She's changed. Even I can feel it."

'Shut up, Chaos.'

"She has a guest inside of her, one I know quite well. Just as I, Galian, Masker, and Gigas are your guests, I sensed one of our own in her."

'You mean…?'

"Yes…my comrade, Death, is her companion."

'She is now…almost just like me.'

"Yes, but I don't think you're on her mind. She has him to think about. He saved her from Hojo, not you."

'How did you know Hojo was where Sephiroth was going?'

"I could feel the man's name on his mind."

'Why didn't you tell me Loren was there with Hojo?'

"You know I'm not nice. I don't like her anyway."

'So what! You live in me, so I'm the one in control.'

"If you lose control of your emotions, I may take over. Take that warning to heart. My host."

Vincent breathed in slowly. He tried to calm his nerves. It served little purpose.

'You lie. He pinned her. Forced himself upon her.'

"She didn't pull away, now did she?"

'He's stronger than she is. She couldn't pull away if she wanted to.'

"She has his power imbued into her. She can match his strength, if not now outmatch it with the help of Death."

"How do you think she found you after all that time of being away from you all? He told her. Who knows what could have gone on while they were alone together all that time?"

The thought made Vincent pause.

'How do you know they were together all that time?'

"I'm only using common logic. You heard what he said. 'Do not fail me again.' There's several meanings for that."

'Shut up.'

"If you're so upset, why not just follow them? Follow my advice for once this time."

'He might harm her. I should…'

"You just want to make sure they don't do something you won't like. To just prove me wrong and assure yourself that her 'purity' is still yours for the taking."

'You're wrong! I want her to be safe! I won't lose her again!'

"Then why didn't you try to stop Sephiroth when he was off guard?"

'I…I don't know…'

The demon laughed inside his head.

"Well? You're wasting time just sitting here. If you care so much, why are you still in the library? They are probably far from town by now. Get moving."

Vincent strode purposefully towards the door and left the basement. He gazed at the interior of the mansion, imagining how beautiful it must have been. Shaking the thought off, he exited the mansion. He went to a shopkeeper and asked if he had seen a tall man with silver hair and a woman with black hair pass by. The man shivered at the thought and he explained that he had seen them leave a shop and head toward the mountains. Vincent thanked the man and headed toward the mountains at a double pace. Those mountains were dangerous. She could get hurt…

Cloud and the others had set up camp near the reactor. Cloud sitting on the ground stared at the structure where Sephiroth had fallen into the Mako all that time ago. He sighed.

"It brings back a lot of memories…"

He looked up when he heard footsteps quickly approaching him. It was Yuffie, a worried expression written all over her face.

"Hey, Cloud, have you seen Vincent? He came with us, right?"

Cloud's brows furrowed.

"Yes. As far as I remember. He was with us when we set off to search for Loren again. I didn't know we had upset her that much…"

"Vincent's not here. Do you think he fell off the bridge? Is he dead?"

Cloud gave her a strange look. Since when did she care so much about Vincent? Why was she so worried? Or was she just jealous and desirous of his presence all for her self?

"If he's gone, he's got a good reason to be gone. He's a grown man, Yuffie. He can take care of himself. Don't become another Tifa, with all her worrying."

Yuffie backed off slowly, biting her lip. Cloud turned and saw Tifa standing behind him, fires in her eyes and cracking her knuckles. Cloud paled.

"N-now…Tifa…no need to get upset now…"

Her eye twitched.

"Clouuuddd…"

He nearly leapt from the ground and took off running, Tifa on his tail and shouting curses and profanities. Yuffie looked to the ground.

"Vinnie…"

Like Cloud, Loren looked at her surroundings, taking in the entire large cave she and Sephiroth were to sleep. She remembered fondly that this was the place where she had to fight Materia Keeper, or the 'Materia Bunny', as Yuffie put it. She gazed at the annoying chutes that had confused her until she had finally resorted to the strategy guide. She had never imagined the cave, or the mountains, for that matter, to be so very tall. She felt like an ant…it was a feeling foreign to her. She stared at the spots of green light scattered throughout the room. 'It's so very beautiful…' She glanced at Sephiroth who was polishing his sword. His pauldrons and coat (essentially his shirt) were missing, more than likely in his tent. She thought back to the events of how Sephiroth came to know of his creation. She gave a small grin.

"Does this place bring back memories?"

He paused and looked over to her.

"What?"

"Does it bring back memories? The reactor, the death…does it bring back memories?"

He looked back to his sword.

"They were not present in my mind, but now…yes, it does."

"Do they hurt, or do they give you an empty satisfaction?"

The grip on the hilt of the sword tightened.

"It is not empty satisfaction. I found my mother."

"But other than that?"

"Other than that, yes, they admittedly hurt. Knowing I am simply a creation, a perfect creation, and knowing that Cloud defeated me does bother me."

Loren stared at her hands and looked back to him.

"Why has it driven you to such extremes, though? I mean, I would not want to be a creation myself, but I have already been experimented on, so it is not so much a difference. I would not be so upset as to attempt destroying the world."

Kill her.

Sephiroth had his sword at her throat in an instant.

"I advise you stay silent."

Kill her.

'No. Not yet.'

KILL HER!

'NO!'

He whirled around to keep his body in control. He almost didn't miss his mark, though. A flash of red appeared on her cheek and though it was a deep cut, she only went back a few inches, using what control she had in her body at that split second. He placed his sword by his tent and looked at Loren. She had already risen and stood near a ledge, wiping the blood off her face with her hand. He stepped over to her and attempted to get a look at the cut but she jumped away from him and landed gracefully.

"Let me heal the cut."

She began walking toward her tent to grab her Cure materia. Sephiroth stopped her, but she smacked his hand away. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him. Locking one of her arms with one of his, he used his other hand to observe the cut. With her leg, she kicked him hard in the knee and leapt away from him. With a small smirk, he came after her again.

She stared incredulously at this foolish man.

'This man thinks this is a game! Can he not get the picture that I want to be alone?'

"This is Sephiroth. You shouldn't have to even be thinking. He will get his way. Just let him heal you."

Loren growled at the demon as she strafed to the side to avoid Sephiroth's outreaching arm.

'No, I will not! I will do this my own way. I do not need his help.'

"You're just mad that he cut you. Don't want to scar that pretty face, now do we?"

'Shut up! I do not care for the scar. I am in pain. I want to be alone!'

"Believe what you will…"

The demon left her to herself. She managed to avoid Sephiroth again, but it was getting harder. His speed continued to increase as she continued to avoid him. She avoided him once more, but managed to get a kick in on his face. She heard a crack and a muffled growl, but she knew it was over when she almost immediately felt a hand grab her ankle. She was promptly slammed to the ground and pinned by his weight. He grabbed her arms and put them above her head with one hand and with his teeth took the glove off his other hand (yeah, he didn't have a shirt, but he had his gloves; I'm weird okay? Geez, bite me). He placed his hand on her cheek and erased the wound. After healing her, he grabbed his nose and cracked it back into place. With that same amused, superior smirk, he gazed at her.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

She widened her eyes slightly.

'He…used…a contraction…'

The smirk faded a little.

"That will only happen once. My words slipped. We will need to rest if you are to catch up to your companions. Sleep well."

He got off of her and went to his tent. She rose as well and dusted herself off.

'Why does he bother to heal me? I can heal myself.'

"Maybe because you would probably do it wrong."

'It is a simple process. All you have to do is say Cure (1) (2) (3) and have your hand over the affected area. Am I correct?'

"Not necessarily. You have to have the proper concentration and force to the spell in order for it to work properly. If you do it wrong, then the wound won't heal correctly."

'But I can do that.'

"He needs for you to save your energy for the trap. His force is almost infinite. He is almost completely one with the Lifestream, so spells are available to him at 'no charge', so he would rather use his own energy than waste yours on a mistake he made."

Loren nodded.

'That makes sense. It leaves one less thing to ponder about. Damn him…but, thank you Death.'

"It is my pleasure to serve my host."

Loren crawled inside of her tent and laid down to rest. Slowly, slowly she went to sleep.

Sudden movement jerked Loren from her sleep. Glowing sea green eyes were floating before her in the darkness. His tone was hushed, so something was up.

"Get up. There is an intruder."

Nodding, Loren grabbed her sword and snuck out of her tent. In a cat-like position, she heightened her senses by willing the power of Sephiroth in her to rise. Looking around in the darkness, she sensed a slight rustle in the rocks off to her side, but she knew that it was Sephiroth. She felt him tense, and felt him get ready to spring.

"Here, let me help you."

Light filled her eyes.

'What have you done?'

"I have given you night eyes for a short while."

She saw Sephiroth begin rushing a figure not so far from him. She charged as well and as she ran, she saw the long black hair, the cloak and the gun. She urged herself to run faster.

"Sephiroth, stop!"

She barely reached him in time, jumping in front of Vincent and blocking him from view. Sword aimed at her heart, he faltered.

"Loren?"

"Yes. Do not kill him. Please, do not kill him."

Sephiroth's sword lowered an inch. Loren's breath was shaky.

"Yes."

"He knows now. He cannot live. He will go and tell the others before we can carry it out."

She felt Vincent grab her arm and turn her to him.

"So…you really are on his side…?"

"Vincent, it is not like that…"

"How long have you worked with him?"

"The day before I came to you all in the inn. That does not change how I feel about you, though."

He shook his head.

"So…was Chaos right? Have you given yourself to him?"

Rage almost overflowed inside of her.

"NO!"

"Why…? Why did you join him?"

"I am doing this for you…"

"For me! How is this for me if you let him get so close to you!"

"Because I do not want you to die again!"

"I'd rather die again than see him so intimate with you!"

"Intimate? When was he intimate with me?"

"In the basement against the door!"

"That was not even anything to begin with! You want intimate, I will show you intimate!"

Sauntering over to Sephiroth, she grabbed him by the neck and brought him down for a furious kiss. She brought her body close to his and pressed her chest against his. She felt him stiffen in surprise. As she tore away from him, she heard a scream of pained rage and a loud bang. She felt numb as she stumbled away from Sephiroth, blood covering her clothes at an alarming rate. She clapped a hand over the hole in her abdomen, in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. She fell to her knees and struggled to focus as everything around her became blurry. She heard words being shouted and whispered hoarsely.

"Oh, God, what have I done?"

"You fool!"

"Loren!"

"Leave here!"

"NO!"

"Be gone…!"

She felt hands holding her up, faintly, but she felt it nonetheless. The screaming was softer this time. Everything was white, but was beginning to turn black.

"Fallen Angel!"

She heard a faint scream…she could feel wind all around her. She was moving fast, fast from the sound of screaming, fast from the sound of pain, fast from life. She could no longer feel anything…no longer hear anything…silence and darkness were the only things to greet her now…she fell into its embrace willingly to escape the pain of mortal chains…she was free of pain…at last…

A/N: This is not the end! Just to let you know. I'm either half way through or ¾ of the way through. And if I'm just psycho like that, only a quarter, but I doubt it. I'm glad I'm this far. Thankies for the reviews. Know that you all are loved. If you all remember Seph's Fallen Angel attack, I'm proud of you. If not, welll…oh well. I really dunno what the final pairings are going to be, but it all depends on what kind of mood I'm in: evil mood or the special 'meh' mood. The special 'meh' mood is just completely random and I usually have my best ideas in my 'meh' mood but it's not easy to be in that mood. If it's the evil mood, then I'd more than likely go with Sephiroth.

L: Yeah, I would hope you wouldn't kill me off.

S: Too abrupt. It must have a good ending.

V: …I agree.

Cloud: Tifa is having a DDR party at her house on Saturday.

ES & L: How does Tifa know about DDR?

C: She saw the game at the mall when we went.

L: You mean she didn't show me everything?

C: No. Err. Right.

L: sigh Anger Veins

Green Chocobo passes by: SIGN: Kiss me, I'm Irish.

L: snaps Ultimate Limit Break: Eternal Darkness!

Chocobo is dragged under by a black portal with hands. Dazed, and held by the hands, it suffers considerable damage and is thrown back aboveground. Now black, the sign on its back has changed.

GC (now BC): SIGN: Victim of Loren R.

BC: goes berserk and starts pecking the heck out of Loren

L: Ooowwww owwwwww!

ES: …No comment. Review please. Uwee hee!