Act 1

Chapter 3

The earth crunched beneath their feet as Cloud, Yuna, Sora, and Squall made their way through the underground railroad. It was deathly quiet except for the few noises they made and their quiet voices as they spoke. Piles of rocks blocked off passageways, and they had no other choice but to follow a long trail of train tracks.

"I'm afraid to breathe..." Yuna placed a hand over her mouth.

"Why?" Sora asked, walking faster to catch up to her.

"There were a handful of people who were crushed here," Squall explained from behind them. "Most bodies were recovered and were given a proper burial, but you can only imagine what's happened to the ones who were unable to be found in this rubble."

Sora gulped and kept his pacing close to Yuna. There was a look of worry and sadness across her face as they walked deeper and deeper into the path. Cloud regarded her silently but said nothing, only slowing his pace so he would be close to her.

The path grew darker with each step, and it seemed as if the air was changing as well. It was becoming unbearable to breathe.

"W-what's this smell?" Sora muffled his nose, scowling from the stench.

"Well, it's not poison," Squall said, appearing unaffected.

Sora frowned. "I know that!"

"It's the victims of the rail road collapse," came Yuna's voice.

They looked her way.

"That's... a train!" Sora exclaimed.

"Part of it," Cloud noted. It was only one cart of a train, and it was lying on its side. The windows were broken and the paint had long faded away, but it was evident that it was once the color of a rich red.

"If this is only one part of the train," Squall said, "Who knows how big this passage is and where the other parts are."

"Scattered, most likely," Cloud mumbled.

"...Let's keep going," Yuna whispered quietly.

The others agreed. But not too far in the distance they heard silent laughter echoing from the walls. They braced themselves for any surprise attacks, their backs together.

"Who is it?" Cloud demanded, brandishing his sword.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Sora said, readying his keyblade.

Squall pulled out his gunblade and Yuna clutched onto her handguns. The stranger did not reveal himself, but once he made the slightest move Yuna immediately shot in his direction. He laughed once more, and a dark figure emerged.

"You have much courage to believe you can injure me," it hissed.

"Who are you?" Squall barked. The figure did not answer, instead it continued to drone out gibberish and mumbles.

"Master Kadaj shall be pleased that you are near... he shall be pleased to see you..."

"He knows where he is," Yuna whispered, lowering her guns.

Cloud lay down his sword and stepped forward. "Where is he?"

"I shall not tell... I shall show you!" and it leapt backwards. A gust of wind blew them backwards as he did so, taking them off guard. Cloud however, did not hesitate to run after it.

"Cloud!" Yuna followed, along with Sora and Squall.

His breath drew itself out with each step as Cloud ran. He was determined not to lose sight of the only clue he had, but when he found himself alone at the end of the tunnel, he realized he was too late. The stranger had disappeared, and his companions had yet to catch up to him.

"Don't run off like that," Yuna pleaded when she had caught up.

Sora and Squall were right behind her. Noticing that Cloud was alone, Sora asked, "Where'd that guy go?"

Squall sighed. "Lost sight of him, did you?"

Cloud said nothing.

"Now what?" Sora asked after a moment of silence.

"We keep going," Yuna said simply, but Cloud had already started to walk off.

"H-hey!" Sora ran to him.

Yuna sighed as she watched Cloud go. She was about to take off after him but she noticed Squall had not moved.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"I don't think he and I will get along." Squall replied, frowning.

She laughed. "I think you two are very much alike."

Squall shook his head. "Don't compare me to him."

They walked side by side as Sora and Cloud walked ahead of them. Yuna watched Sora as he tried to get Cloud to talk to him, and giggled when he didn't succeed.

"How long have you two known each other?" Yuna asked Squall.

"I don't know," Squall said with a sigh. "We met one day and he's been hanging onto me ever since."

"Oh, so he's not your brother?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

She laughed, and Squall stared at her for a moment, then asked, "What about you and Cloud?"

"Hmm," Yuna started. "I met Cloud during my travels. He seemed like an interesting person to be with... so I decided to stick with him for the time being."

"Sounds rough."

"Haha, not at all." she thought for a moment. "I honestly don't know much about him... so I was hoping I'd learn more if I stayed. I think I'm just a mere pest to him though..."

"Maybe not."

"Hmm?"

Squall was about to respond, but then Sora shouted out, "Hey guys! Look!"

They diverted their attention to where Sora and Cloud stood. Before them was a path that appeared to change into a wild, green forest. It seemed that a long maze awaited them, and there was no stopping them.