When Teioh awoke from his unconsciousness, for a moment he thought he was still in the sisters home in Nibelheim. It was very dark, and very cold. He let out a long groan and got off the freezing floor into a sitting position - immediately wrapping his arms around his body for a bit more warmth. He blinked a few times and realized he was, in fact, not in the sisters home. He was in something that resembled more of a cave. A cave with no way out but a single, wooden door. He stood up, but as he did, his whole head seemed to spin. He quickly sat back down and winced, rubbing the side of his head with his hand. Even taking his arm away from his body for a second seemed to be an open invitation for the cold to wrap its icy blanket around him. What the hell happened? He thought about that for a moment. He remembered the sisters, he remembered their sinister-looking eyes floating in a sea of black, but he couldn't remember for the life of him what had happened after that. Putter… Loeb… he hoped they were OK, but it was a foolish hope. He knew that they were almost definitely in the same situation he was, locked up in some freezing, dark room. He wished they had been caught by Shinra, but once again it was a foolish wish. Shinra wouldn't have thrown him in a place like this. No. This was the work of the cultist.

He felt for his guns, but of course, they were gone. He cursed and stood up. This time, no head-spinning thankfully. He walked the distance of the small rooms length to the door. He jingled the handle of the windowless structure to no avail. He sighed and let his head fall up against it.

"A prisoner again, Teioh." He said to himself, closing his eyes. "A prisoner again…"

And he stayed a prisoner for, what seemed like, days. Once a day a meal would be shoved in through the compartment near the bottom of the door. It looked like crap and tasted worse, but he ate it anyway. The days, if he could even call them that having no sense of time, seemed to drag on forever - the nights, even longer than that. Sleep didn't come easy, although the darkness and quietness practically screamed "Go to Sleep!". How could he sleep in this place? Maybe he could have if he didn't have so many damn questions coursing through his head like children at a playground. His thoughts climbed the knotted rope, swung past the monkey bars, went down the big slide, and ran right back to the knotted rope. What were they planning on doing with him? What have they already done to Marlene? Where were Putter and Loeb? Where was Tifa? And most importantly, what the hell happened to Cloud?

Those were the thoughts that kept him up throughout the "nights", as he called them, but who was he fooling? Every dark hour in the place was night. A cold, relentless, sleepless night.

After many of these "nights" passed, the door finally opened.

When it did, he was almost too shocked to react. Hours and hours of repetition and you start taking every slightest change as a Christmas present - from as subtle a thing as your stomach growling, up to the cracking sound of the door you thought would never open.

After a moments shocked hesitation, he jumped to his feet and prepared. Prepared for a friend, prepared for a foe - prepared for whatever the hell might come strolling through that door. His breathing picked up pace as his eyes narrowed onto the opening door. He saw who was behind it, and became even more shocked than before. This time, however, he was shocked with joy.

"Marlene." He said, meaning to shout it but actually having it come out as a whisper. She stood in the doorway staring at him. "Marlene!" He repeated, this time it came out as originally intended. He ran to her, the thought of holding her in his arms making his heart beat in triplets.

He got to her - and was met with a fierce elbow, thrust into the side of his head. His ears wrung as he stumbled backwards, falling onto the cold ground.

"Marlene?" He said once more as he sat up, rubbing his head. "What the hell-

But then the door was slammed shut again. He screamed her name again as he ran to it and tried pulling it open. No good as the locks clicked into place just before he did. It suddenly sunk in like a nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach. They had gotten to her. They had twisted her mind around, just like the stories he had heard when he was a teenager. The stories about how they could take a regular person and do things to their mind… evil things that made them stop thinking right. Start thinking… like a zombie almost.

His spirits were crushed. He almost wanted to cry. The one person he knew and trusted more than anyone else on the planet had fallen victim to the cults tricks. He let his head fall against the front of the door again.

This time, however, something on the floor caught his eye.

A small, white tube laying on the ground like a bright sailboat amidst the sea of darkness. He reached down and scooped it up. Upon examining it, he found it was not actually a white tube, but a black flashlight - wrapped in a white piece of paper.

He let his fingers work it, unwinding the paper and letting the flashlight roll into his open palm. He wasn't quiet sure what the hell to expect, but was as excited as ever all the same. This was something different, and different was good.

In a few breaths, the paper was stretched out before his eyes in his left hand, while the right found the switch on the flashlight and clicked it on. A beam of light cut a line in the darkness of the room, and was quickly directed onto the paper.

He narrowed his eyes and read.

Teioh,

I have to do this through this letter, because I can't come speak to you just yet. They hear things… they hear everything. I'm OK though. They thought they could break me, but they couldn't Teioh. They couldn't do it. They think they did, but I promise you I am fine. They did horrible things Teioh… things I won't write about now. Things I won't make your ears hear until we're both far away from this damned black hole in the planet. I promise you I'm going to get us out of here. Loeb and Putter too. I heard they took all three of you in. They think I'm one of them. I've got them fooled good. Tonight, we're getting out of here. I didn't think I could make it by myself, but I know we can all do it together. Teioh, tomorrow they are going to try and change you, like they tried to do to me. Like they did to Tifa. Oh god, it's so sad. They've messed up her mind bad. But I can't leave her Teioh. I can't. I won't. We will have to get her out of her too, even if it means kidnapping her from these twisted freaks. She thinks she's one of them, but I know in my heart we can make her realize the truth. And tomorrow, they're going to try to change you. That's why tonight we have to take action, have to get the hell out of here. I will be by in a few hours. Be ready to run. And to fight.

Marlene

Teioh folded the piece of paper and stuck in the breast pocket of his vest before running his hand through his hair and taking a deep breath. Marlene was safe - thank god - and now all he had to do was get them both as far away from this place as possible.

He clicked off the flashlight, thinking it was probably better to save the battery in case they needed it later. He let the notes words wash over him like a cold shower. Tonight they would escape. Tonight they might have to fight. Tonight… they might have to fight Tifa…

---

--

---

Teioh was right - Putter and Loeb were in the same situation he was. They had both been tossed in equally dark rooms that were equally cold, and equally creepy. They had both been served five meals of slop that contained probably the bare necessities of survival. The only difference was, neither was visited by Marlene on the fifth "day". Instead, both of their doors had been opened by tall men in black robes whose faces hid in the shadows of their hoods - making them appear like faceless demons. They had both been signaled to come forth, and then had their hands bound behind their backs. They were marched outside of their rooms and into a long, circular hallway that looked like it was barely a step above a simple tunnel dug through the mountain.

The two met up - each with their own guard behind them.

"Hey buddy, long time no see." Loeb said as his footsteps fell in line with his pudgy friends.

"Yea." Putter replied, relieved to be reunited with his pal. "You're guy talk?"

"Nope. Yours?"

"Oh, he won't shut up." Putter said sarcastically, tossing a glance over his shoulder - to which the response was a quick shove into his lower back. "Alright, alright."

"You got any idea where they're taking us?" Loeb questioned, his eyes watched an oncoming light that had been fixed into the side of the hall pass by him.

"Gold Saucer?"

"Ha-ha, yea… maybe." Loeb laughed.

But after that, neither of them spoke again until they stopped. Putters joke had, at first, been amusing, but it quickly set in to them both that they might never see the Gold Saucer again.

When they finally did stop (after what seemed like a mile walk through the winding hall), they were both surprised to see three more prisoners - each with their own robed guard - waiting for them with their hands bound in similar fashion.

"The sisters?" Putter asked confused. "Weren't they the ones who captured us?"

Loeb shook his head. He didn't have an answer. The only ones who would have an answer were the sisters, but - judging by their blank faces and silver eyes - they wouldn't be exactly "talking it up" any time soon.

"They're still changed." He noted, more to himself than anything but Putter nodded in agreement regardless.

"Yea… they're still… weird." He added as they were both jerked to a halt only a few feet from their now-fellow-prisoners.

Soon enough, all five of them were being led deeper and deeper down the hall like a gang of bandits being sent to the shooting line for some terrible crime. Loeb hoped there wasn't any truth to that thought, but who was he kidding? From what he had heard of these people, nothing sinister was to be ruled out.

The hall/tunnel wound and wound forward like a piece of dirty coiled roped. Loeb noticed that they seemed to be slowly descending, as if the hall was spiraling down like a drill. He wondered how long it had taken to make such a path… how many grueling hours of labor these people endured carving their way through these mountains. The sisters didn't seem to be thinking of that. They didn't seem to be thinking anything, actually. Just following the hall like mindless drones on a set course. The thought of him and Putter being brainwashed into a similar state frightened him, and every step they took, something ugly and disgusting seemed to grow larger and larger in the pit of his stomach.

After seemingly an hour long hike (which was actually more like twenty minutes) the two guards in front of the pack stopped in front of a small door at the right side of the hall. Loeb came to a halt and glanced over his shoulder at the three robed guards behind them. They stood silent and motionless - like a group of gothic statues - waiting.

The door opened, and all five prisoners were led inside by a robed guard. The other four stayed in the hall.

Inside the door was a large, circular room. Lights dotted alongside the curved walls, and one single light hung from the center. In the center was a man at a raised podium. This man, however, wore a white robe. A surprisingly spotlessly clean white robe. Given the habitat of the place, Loeb was a bit shocked. The mans hood was up, like the others, hanging slightly over his face. Loeb took note of the mans podium, or more specifically, the contents atop the podium. A glass of some dark red liquid (blood was a possibility, being you couldn't rule out anything sinister with these people), a small wooden box, a long scroll of paper, a clay ash tray, and a smoking pipe with a pouch and lighter beside it. It was a regular office desk, Loeb joked to himself. The guard that had led them inside, halted them just before the podium before walking around to the back of it and leaning in to whisper something to the white-robed man.

"Ah yes." He said after listening to the other and nodding his head. "These are them."

These are them? Loeb thought. This whole experience had been surreal, and the mans strange phrasing only added to the belief he was living out some sort of live-action play.

"I regret to inform you all," The white-robed man began. "That it's been decided your lives on this planet are of no use anymore."

Loeb shot Putter a look. Putter was shooting him the same one. Shock and fear.

"What!?" Loeb spit - his mind drifting to his previous thought of being led to a firing line. "What the hell does that mean!?"

"Your deaths will not be in vain. I promise you that. Take peace in the fact that your lives will serve a higher purpose."

Putter searched for words, but not came. Loeb was slowly shaking his head. The sisters stared blankly and motionless at the wall at the back of the room.

"I ask you to do this - for your souls in the afterlife. Accept our lord into your hearts. Accept him and he will treat you well in the next world."

"What!?" Putter finally found a word.

"Accept him. Accept him into your hearts. Accept him into your minds. Accept Sephiroth."

As soon as Loeb heard the name, he knew arguing was not an option. Not anymore. Anyone who believed Sephiroth was a god was so far off the deep end, rationality wasn't even possible. Putter must have been thinking the same thing, because he stood silently with a cold fire burning in his eyes as well.

At that point, the man in the white robe began chanting. His voice, which had been quiet and steady, suddenly erupted into a very audible singing voice. He waved his arms in rhythm with whatever creepy hymn he was chanting. The black-robed guard seemed to be enticed with the man and his stupid song.

Loeb saw opportunity when it laid itself out, legs spread wide, in front of him. He jolted so quick from his standing position to a full-fledged run, Putter felt a gust of air slap his face. In seconds he dove forward, crashing into the podium - which flung back and to the right, giving him a clear path at the white-robed man. He tackled him with his shoulder like a football player, sending them both hurdling down at the floor behind them. The mans singing came to an abrupt end, and was replaced by a high-pitched shriek as he crashed to the floor. They both struck it hard, Loeb hitting the floor and rolling off to the side, all the way into the downed podium - which he slammed his back into to stop his roll.

The black-robed guard sprung to action, pulling himself out of his nirvana-like state to rush over to the Loeb and yank him to his feet by his arm. Loeb found the man surprisingly strong, as he floated up to his feet effortlessly. In a hearts beat, the guard had unsheathed a small blade and was pressing it deep into Loeb throat. Loeb held his breath to keep from pushing the knife in further.

"No!" The white-robed man called from the floor, putting a hand up in a "stop" gesture. "He's just confused. His minds been twisted by modern society." He said, slowly getting to his feet. "He'll understand. Even if it's in the closing moments of this life, he'll understand."

The guard dropped the blade and quickly sheathed it again. Loeb let out a long breath before cursing the man.

"Don't be angry my son. Anger only harnesses the souls freedom."

"When I get out of here, rest assure I'll come back to prove that wrong." Loeb answered with a cold, threatening tone. The white-robe shook his head.

"Death will bring you peace that this life could not. Take them away."

And with that, the guard ushered them all back out of the room, and soon enough they were once again being led down the winding hall.

"What was that all about?" Putter asked Loeb after they'd been moving for a little while. Loeb looked at him and smirked.

"Guy shouldn't be smoking anyway. It's a nasty habit." He said in a low voice and gave a confident wink. Putter looked confused for a moment before a small grin grew on his face as well.

---

--

---

Teioh sat with his back propped against one of the four, cold rock walls that made up the confines of his prison. In his hand he grasped tightly onto the note Marlene had so casually snuck him. It was his way of keeping the event real in his mind. After all, with all the darkness and crummy meals he'd been being served for the last few days, it wasn't to farfetched to suspect the whole thing was just a silly trick his deprived mind was playing on him. But the note was real. It was small, and a little cold in his hands, but it was real. He could hold it, or throw it, or even read it again if he wanted to. There was no way his mind was powerful enough to imagine an actual physical item in his hand. At least he hoped so. And four hours after Marlene had visited him, it was confirmed. This was real.

Marlene opened the sole door of the room and stood in the doorway with a look on her face that was half exhausted, but half thrilled.

"Teioh." She said, the word fell out of her mouth rather than be projected. Teioh sighed a deep, relieving sigh and stood up. They met each other smack dab in the middle of the room and grasped each other in their arms. It was the best hug Teioh ever felt. Judging by the tightness and length of it, he guessed Marlene felt the same way. Neither spoke for a few moments. It was comfortable silence they shared, and Teioh felt it was well deserved.

"I'm sorry about hitting you." Marlene finally said, her voice just barely above a whisper sneaking out through his arms.

"I probably had it coming. I should have never let you go out in the rain that night alone."

"Teioh… you know-"

"Forget about it right now. Let's just get the hell out of here."

"Yea… ok."

Teioh was right, and Marlene knew it. Seconds in this place dragged by like hours, and the sooner they could get out, the better off they were. They'd have to save any sort of reunion chat for the safe confides of a bar back in Midgar.

"Loeb and Putter…" She began. "And Tifa…"

"We'll come back for them. And soon. And with more numbers. Hopefully enough to run this whole crazy cult straight out of these mountains."

"Teioh, that won't happen. Not with the numbers we can get."

"What? What do you mean? How many nut jobs could possible be shacked up in this place? Can't be more than fifty or so at the most."

"Teioh…" She paused - the words not wanting to leave her lips. "There are hundreds."

"Hundreds!?" He repeated high-pitched and not quite in belief. The thought of hundreds of out-of-their-mind people living beneath the surface of the mountains like some bizarre ant arm ran through his brain, and quite frankly - it scared the hell out of him. He was in that ant farm. That crazy, twisted ant farm. "It can't be…" Finally escaped from his throat with a dry push. "It just… can't be."

"Believe me, it's true. And it's all the more reason to get the hell out of here as fast as possible." Marlene said firmly, here eyes locked onto Teioh's. "And we have to get out with the others, or there might not be others to come back and get."

Teioh nodded without speaking, his eyes blankly staring into nothing, the idea of hundreds of cultists swarming all around them at this very moment racked his brain over and over again.

"They'll kill us if they catch us?" Teioh asked, although it sounded like more of a statement. Marlene's suddenly distant and fearful eyes answered. "Marlene, what the hell did they do to you?"

She shook her head quickly as if she had realized something.

"We have to go. Now. No doubt they've been watching me… they never fully trusted me, I don't think. They'll come for us. They're probably coming right now."

Teioh realized the urgency of the situation by Marlene's shaky, determined voice - and without another word, he grabbed her by the hand and led her out of the room.

Upon exit, he realized what a foolish move that had been, releasing her hand and spinning around to meet her face. He had no clue where he was going, and could only hope that she did. His hopes were answered, as she bravely and swiftly took off down one way of the long, twisting, rock hall they were in - nodding her head for him to follow (as if he needed it).

And then they ran. Not the kind of leg-straining, lung-pounding run you do when there's a pissed-off Bahamut snipping at your heels - but the kind of fast-paced jog you do when you know that soon enough there will be a pissed-off Bahamut snipped at your heels. Only the Bahamut Teioh was imaging was completely made up of black-robed figures who wanted nothing more than to chew off both their heads and swallow their insides like two, living bottles of blood. It was that terrifying thought that kept his mind off (or at least made in not care about) the fact that his head was spinning and his heart was practically trying to beat its way out of his chest. Five days of sitting around in an empty room, chowing down on meals that could have only been made from rotten plants or leftover Chocobo slop, could make a man lose his shape - so to speak. Now, Teioh was feeling those effects, and feeling them hard. Feeling them in his head and chest, as well as his eyes and ears. He wasn't sure if his mind was tricking him, but they seemed to be running into the wind - although he knew that was almost an impossibility deep inside these mountains. He knew they were deep inside because of the mind-numbing silence that he had experienced over the last few days. Sound seemed to be almost non-existent. No wind brushing over the mountain and letting in a low howl. No clap of thunder. No rapping of rain. There were times Teioh would say a word to himself (usually Marlene) in the dead silence just to make sure he hadn't gone deaf.

Now he ran through these deep mountains - ignoring every sign his body was giving him to stop - matching Marlene's constant, even pace as she methodically made her way around curves and turns like she'd grown up here, destined to one day draw a map of it blindfolded.

After a few minutes of running (by now, Teioh's chest felt ready to explode) the noises began clearing. Not the noises of outside that Teioh longed to hear again, but strange noises that scared his soul, if such a thing was possible. Screams. Agonizing, pain-filled screams that came shooting from the depths of nowhere, bouncing off the walls like some insane ping-pong balls. The whirring and low hum of machines sat beneath their feet like monsters trapped beneath a frozen lake of ice. A steady wind began to clip at the edges of Teioh's ears. He hadn't been hallucinating before. They were running into the wind… somehow.

Marlene shot an occasional glance over her shoulder to make sure Teioh was still there, and each time she did it was like getting a shot of adrenaline to make his aching muscles keep going. Her dirty, determined face. A face that belonged in an insane asylum like this as much as a guy like Sephiroth deserved to be knelt before at an alter. It didn't fit - and it wasn't right. And each time he saw that face, he became more and more determined to get her the hell out of here. He even made the decision that he wouldn't take her along with him when he came back. Back to finish off this cancer of the planet. Back to bury this dirty little secret once and for all. Back to finish off the cult. Hundreds… it's a giant number when you first look at in terms of people. But once you break it down, you realize it can fall… piece by piece, it can fall.

Teioh was running - hard - but Marlene was constant in her pace, and she was slowly pulling ahead. His legs felt like two rubbery poles jolting out of his hips, but he continued to push them. He pushed them hard - smack dab into the middle of a man who had clumsily stumble out of a door on the right side of the hall. Their heads smacked together like two steel balls in a pendulum, simultaneously knocking them both to the ground. Marlene heard the impact and spun her head over her shoulder before coming to a slow halt. Teioh lifted himself into a sit and rubbed his head and already could feel the beginning of a lump forming. He glanced over at his impact partner - and his heart skipped a beat.

"Dad!" He cried out and immediately scurried over on his hands and knees to the fallen man. He cradled the mans head in his arm and stared down at him. It was his father. A little strange looking, but his father nonetheless.

"Teioh?" The man voiced from a dry, crackling throat. "Is that you my son?"

Teioh felt tears stream down his cheeks as he stared lovingly into his fathers eyes.

"Dad…" He repeated. Now his voice was small and weak… like a child's.

"Teioh! No!" Marlene shouted and began heading back to him. "That is not your father!"

"Son," The man began, lifting one trembling hand up to stroke Teioh's cheek. "Don't leave me. Don't let me die… again."

Teioh frowned at the man laying on his arm. The final sentence he spoke made Teioh come to the realization his father had died. It was impossible to die again. And as he realized this, the mans face slowly transformed from the loving, old one of his father to a sick, sadistic-looking monster. It was a man, but it was a monster all the same. It had dry, dead-looking skin that barely was hanging on to its face. It had a pair of sunken-in black eyes that rolled around in its deformed head. It's teeth were rotting, daggers sticking out from black soil that made up its gums.

"Son, I love you." It whispered in a voice that was also no longer his fathers. It was a low hissing noise, like the sound a radiator makes when the heat is first turning on. And at that moment, the hand that was stroking his cheek, suddenly lowered and took a fierce hold onto his neck. "I said I love you son. Tell me you love me too."

Teioh tried to pull away, but the grip was as tight as a bolt, and the arm that held it was as strong as an iron arm. It was then Teioh realized the thing was slowly pulling itself up towards his face - those black, rotten teeth exposed behind a wide, sadistic grin.

"Give your father a kiss." It hissed at him, and then Marlene's foot was swinging into the side of its face. The toe of her boot caught its cheek and the whole thing seemed to roll off a set of hinges as it collapsed to the ground again - releasing its grip on Teioh's neck. He rubbed the spot where it had gripped it, which seemed to burn with an itch that was three inches below the surface of his skin.

"What the hell was that." He asked, getting to his feet but not taking his eyes of the lump of man/monster that now laid with its faced turned into the wall.

"If I had an explanation that would make sense and could be told within the next few seconds, believe me Teioh, I would tell you. But I don't, and we have to keep moving."

Teioh nodded, and without another word, they were running again. He risked one last glance over his shoulder as they neared a curve in the hall. Behind him he saw the thing slowly getting back up, but it wasn't a thing anymore. It was his father again. For a moment, he almost stopped to run back to him, but his brain was quick enough to tell him it wasn't real - so he pushed on.

Deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole they went. Marlene still keeping her constant pace, Teioh still amazed she knew were the hell she was going (and beginning to doubt that very fact as well). More amazing still was the fact that besides the thing they'd run into that looked like his father, but looked like something out of a horror movie, they hadn't seen a single person. Not one robed man in the entire fifteen-minute-or-so run. He couldn't imagine how much ground they must have covered during those fifteen minutes, but was beginning to put numbers together. If they hadn't seen a single person this whole time, and there supposedly hundreds living in this cave-maze… how exactly big was this place?

And was in the middle of that thought when his eardrums exploded. Not literally, but quiet close to it in Teioh's opinion. The sound, which had appeared as suddenly and unexpectedly as the man in the hall, seemed to come from every direction. It seemed to radiate from the very walls of the tunnels themselves. It was similar to an alarm… one that had spent years beneath the surface of the earth, and finally was busting free and shouting out its celebration with everything it had. Teioh realized he had heard the sound before, but from a much greater distance. It was the same noise he had heard at the sisters home in Nibelheim. Back then it had even been loud, but now it was damn-near deafening. His hands instinctively shot to his ears as he cringed and knelt over a bit. The explosion of noise seemed to last forever, and by the time it had finally ceased, Teioh was near the brink of throwing up. Not that there'd be much to throw up, but he would do it regardless.

He lifted his head and rubbed his fingers deep into his head behind his ears. He flexed his face, making it look like he was trying to force out a yawn that wouldn't come. After several moments of this, he shook of the remaining buzz in his ears and began heading towards Marlene.

That's when he noticed her back had gone stiff as a board, and she hadn't even bother to turn around yet - and all at once, he knew. He knew what they had done to her. He knew why they let her roam around this place. He knew that, even though they had said they trusted her and were going to give her freedom, she was their slave. He knew it all, and that's why when she turned around and her small, silvery eyes stared at him blankly and coldly, he didn't even bother to look.

They had gotten her.

They had gotten Marlene.

And he didn't have enough spirit left in him to put up a fight.

---

--

---

A young boy, perhaps no more than twelve years in age, stood in the middle of a large, sunny field. High grass and the sweet aroma of flowers and earth were his only company at the moment. In his head, things were quite different. He gripped a sword (which was actually just a thick branch that had fallen off a nearby tree, but the boy believed - and so it was a sword) and was battling evil monsters that had surrounded him on his way home from adventuring (monsters wooden posts and extra high grass). He dodged this way and that, swinging the sword courageously out in front of him. BAM! A giant alligator falls at the wrath of his trusty blade. SLICE. A ninja who almost got the drop on him from behind takes a quick cut across the stomach.

"Help me Cloud!" A voice called from back near the end of the field. The kid shot his head over and saw the princess (his little sister) being held by two angry thugs (two large rocks jutting out of the earth).

"Don't worry princess! Cloud Strife will save you!" The boy shouted heroically and charged at the goons with his sword out in front of him.

That's when the ground began to rumble.

Not play rumble either. This was actually happening.

"Time out, Sarah." The boy called out to his sister, who quickly ran to his side looking terrified.

"What's that Marty?" She asked him, looking up at her brother like he should have the answer to everything that went on in the universe. He was, after all, her big brother.

The boy raised one finger to his lips, signaling shush. The girl stopped moving and speaking and, if it was possible, stuck her ears out a little further.

"Marty-

"Shhh!" He cut her off, now he was frowning and looked a little scared, and that made his little sister even more terrified.

Whatever it was, it was getting louder.

Approaching. Fast.

The boy suddenly grabbed his little sister by the shoulder and pulled her to the ground, burying them both up to their heads in grass.

Just at that moment, a dark cloud swept across the field. Only it wasn't a dark cloud at all, although it would certainly appear that way to a bird swooping through the sky on its daily travels. What it really was, were men. Men in robes as black as the darkest nights and more so. Men whose faceless heads hid beneath those robes like they had some terrible disfiguration on their faces. Men who rode upon Chocobos. But not just any Chocobos… Black Chocobos. Tall, fierce birds whose didn't seem at all like the tame, mild-mannered ones at farms. Or even like the determined, speedy ones at the Gold Saucer race track. These birds were evil. It was in their cold, black eyes. It was in their toughened legs and feet, and their rough feathers that poked out from their rugged bodies like needles that had been stuck into something terrible to take it down. Only the terrible thing didn't go down from the needles - it used them as power. Their beaks were slightly ajar, and inside each you could see a set of sharp teeth rowed all around the inside. And if you could see even closer, you'd catch the distinct stains of blood littered all across them. What they ate bled. What they carried… were the cult.

After a minute or two of the loud trampling of the horde, it was finally over. The boy peaked his head over the grass and watched the remains of them head into the forest to the west.

"Holy shit." He whispered. His sister (who was in tears, and practically hysterical from having to keep silent and still that entire time) rose up behind him, wiping snots and tears from her face with the back of her arm.

"What was it Marty?" She asked him through a choked-up throat.

Marty knew, but he wouldn't say. He had just seen the cult. THE cult. The cult him and his friends would sit up together late at night and tell stories about - each claiming, of course, to have had a run-in or two with them, but none of them actually had. Until now. Marty had just had a run-in with the cult! Of course when he would tell the story later to his buddies, he would have been valiantly fighting them off defending his sister instead of hiding in the grass like some baby. He had seen the cult in broad daylight too. He'd never heard a story of them traveling in daylight.

"Marty! What was it!?" His little sis cried at him, demanding an answer.

"It was a group of chocobo's." He finally spit out - but cautiously leaving out the fact that they were bigger than chocobo's. And all black. And he could swear that as he peaked through the grass they hid in, each and every one of their black eyes seemed to land on him. Seem to know exactly where he was, but didn't seem to care at all. "They must have gotten out of a farm or something."

"Oh! I want to see!" She wined.

She didn't want to see. She would have been up all night for the next seven nights if she had.

A moment of silence passed as the boy simply stared at the forest, waiting for something to happen that never would. His sister tugged at his arm, breaking his stare.

"Can we go home Marty?"

"Sure." He answered coolly. But inside he wanted to be home probably much worse than she did. And it would be a long time before he played in this field again.

He dropped the stick (which was a stick again - he wouldn't be caught dead holding a sword after what had just happened) and him and his sister ran home as fast as they could. His sister never really knew why.

---

Meanwhile, the dark cloud kept moving over the planet. It moved as swiftly and quickly as if it really were one big dark cloud, even though it was made up of a few dozen riders with a few dozen chocobo's. It moved across the land relentlessly, until it came to Nibelheim, where the whole big thing came to a slow halt behind the head riders upraised hand. He saw something laying in the middle of the street. With another gesture, he sent a man behind him to go check it out.

The robed man hopped off his chocobo and walked over to the thing.

The thing was Cloud Strife.

And the thing was alive.

The robed man brought his trembling hands to his face and stared down at him. He stayed that way for many seconds before finally standing and turning to face the crowd of robed men and black chocobo's behind him. When he did, he spoke one word.

"Neodeity."

Instantly, every single voice that was in the crowd was speaking. Their voices were a mixture of shock, amazement, doubt, joy, and even fear. The head rider hopped off his chocobo and made his way to the man. It took him a second to catch his breath and steady his suddenly-wobbly legs before he too spun around and shouted.

"Neodeity!"

More mixed voices, but before the tones in them could be picked out, the head rider ushered them to come forth, and as if he had just conducted an orchestra, they all obeyed immediately.

When all the riders were dismounted, the head rider shouted a strange word at the Chocobo's and waved his arms. Once again, as if they had one single thought, they all took a few steps backwards before turning and retreating out of the town.

The head rider continued his command, motioning them to lift the Neodeity (Cloud). And so they did.

If Cloud was conscious, which he wasn't, he would have felt like he was body surfing, only instead of moving along their hands, their hands held him in place as the entire bunch of them circled around him and began moving. Clouds body lay motionless on top of them like a leaf that had fallen onto a great, big, black rock. His arms were stretched out wide to both sides, his legs flopped around carelessly above the hands of the robed men. His eyes were shut, and his head bobbled around with each step they took.

And they were taking steps. They were moving. They were marching. They were pushing on.

Towards the mountain.

---