Finally! Last upload of the day. And then you guys get another one tomorrow. Hehe... A chapter in Jade's POV, to change things up a bit. I hope he's not too out of character... I think I did well, but... oh well. Whatever.

Ah, cliffhangers. I love cliffhangers. Unless they leave you hanging for months. In which case, I'll hop in the boat with everyone who hates them. (Don't worry. I love cliffhangers, but I won't leave you hanging that long.)

Vote!

Enjoy!

Edit: Had to come back through and fix telepathy brackets again. Grr...

"Would you quit staring, Anise?" –Reighn

*Hence, scaring the daylights out of me.* –Jade

Chapter 3.6 –Akzeriuth
Part 34

Jade's POV

I frowned when I heard Sync laughing. This is hardly the time or place... then again.

"What's so funny?" I asked, wondering if he was talking to Kairi.

"Just Kairi and Asch being their usual selves."

Then Kairi had woken up, finally.

I had to admit, I was worried about her. Finding out about her leg in the Cheagle Woods had been one thing, and it had hurt to spot her limping, especially when she didn't even realize it sometimes. It reminded me of Cantabile, and not in a good way. She had also been exhausted, and had passed out upon trying to heal herself.

Then had come the situation with Van. She had said it herself, he'd given her a concussion, which was why she'd lost her memories in the first place. I'd brushed it off then because we'd had so much else going on at the same time, and she had assured me she was fine.

Of course, Anise had gone and broken her left arm—her sword arm—after that, and I was still rather miffed with the Fon Master Guardian for that one myself.

But what worried me the most were things that had been mentioned almost haphazardly.

"My arm, my knee, my liver and kidney... I'm a mess."

That had been in the factory. Where she'd told us they'd ordered pain medicine from Belkend. Medicine even stronger than codeine, which meant it was probably a morphine injection.

Asch had implied that Kairi was sick in the Zao Ruins, and between that and the conversation from the factory, I'd started to worry she had cancer, or something of that sort. Of course, then she had caught up to us in the Deo Pass.

"I'm not sick. Not in the way you're thinking."

But if that was the case...

Miasma.

Asch had been emphasizing the presence of miasma in Akzeriuth. I frowned as Tear's words back at Fubras River returned to me.

"If you don't inhale a large amount over a long period of time, you'll be okay."

So how much had Kairi already inhaled before coming here? The body could only fight off the miasma to a certain degree. And the liver and kidney were instrumental to that process.

I forced my next inhale to be as even as possible. No, Kairi wasn't sick in the way I'd first assumed. It was worse. Cancer could be treated, if caught early enough. Even if it wasn't, there were ways to hold it back, to prolong a victim's life.

The miasma had no cure.

"Colonel? Are you alright?"

I blinked and looked down at Anise. "I'm fine," I said, though I frowned at how shaky my voice sounded. I took a deep breath. "Why?"

Asch frowned. "You look a little pale," he said. I know I'm not a expert when it comes to feelings and whatnot, but I'd have sworn he sounded worried.

"It's nothing. Although I'm going to be having a long talk with you and Kairi as soon as we're out of this mess," I said, letting my disapproval leak into my voice.

Asch and Sync exchanged a look before simultaneously cringing. Asch then sighed and shook his head.

So, they're still connected to Kairi.

As we came out into another 'room,' I noted the way Asch and Sync glanced down one of the side tunnels. The main path continued further on in a different direction, so why...?

"Ugh..."

Natalia ran forward to one of the men laying on the ground, while I moved over to another one. Asch, Sync, Reighn, and Anise split up to do a head count.

"Eleven men, and a woman, probably a cart-pusher," Asch said after a moment. "Four of the men are already dead, two more in critical condition. None of them are good enough to walk on their own."

I sighed. "We'll just have to carry them, then. Leave the dead for now, with the miasma as thick as it is, we don't want to risk staying down here for too long ourselves."

Sync frowned. "That access tunnel is used pretty often. Why don't you guys start carrying these people back up? Asch and I will make sure there's no one down the access tunnel."

Asch nodded from where he was knelt next to one of the men. "Twilight, over here."

The liger padded over to him without so much as a growl in protest and let him heave the man onto his back. Natalia waved me over as she was next to the other man in critical condition.

Reighn picked up the woman and helped to put her on Natalia's back before Anise enlarged Tokunaga. We managed to fit another one on the puppet's head before Reighn and I found the two who were doing the best so far and allowed them to use us as crutches.

"If you two don't find anyone, pick up the last man on your way out," I ordered. Asch nodded before turning and heading down the access tunnel.

By the time we made it back out of tunnel fourteen, I was very tempted to commandeer a few of the ore carts and use them to haul people out. But, as I'd already dealt with that temptation multiple times the day before, it was easy enough for me to simply ignore it. That was simply too dangerous.

"Colonel Curtiss!"

I lifted my eyes from where I'd been watching my feet. "Lieutenant Gray, Sergeant Anderson."

The two soldiers saluted, each of them being helpful and assisting us in carrying the miners. "Squads A, H, I, and J have finished clearing tunnel seventeen. B, E, F, and G are currently making a final sweep of tunnel sixteen," Anderson reported as we neared the entrance to town, where everyone was gathering for the evacuation. Two groups had already left. I frowned as I let the man I was carrying lay down again, while Reighn sighed.

"Jade... I think I should stay up here and see what I can do about speeding up the evacuation," Reighn said. I glanced over at him and thought over it.

If I was right, Reighn was the reason why Kairi, Asch, and Sync had been broken apart the way they had been months ago. I didn't really want to trust him, but...

I looked up at the two soldiers. "This man is a former God-General of the Order of Lorelei. I'm placing him in command up here. Asch and I are too busy clearing out tunnel fourteen to focus on the groups leaving Akzeriuth at this moment."

"Yes, sir!" The two soldiers saluted again and turned to Reighn.

The young man simply took a deep breath, and just like that, I knew I'd made the right choice.

"Have squads 2 and C start loading more of the critical conditions into the carts, as many as possible without being unsafe. I need a headcount. I know how many soldiers we have, I need to know civilians. Critical and able-bodied take priority, followed up by those that are sick but still able to walk. Would you quit staring, Anise? Oh, medics! I need a count for medics as well."

I smirked and tapped Anise's shoulder. "Why don't we leave Reighn to do his thing while we do ours, yes?"

Anise nodded, turning around in a bit of a daze, and it was no wonder. Reighn was responsible, yes, but he had a tendency to be quiet, withdrawn, the kind of person who follows orders but doesn't give them. Not the kind of man I'd usually put into a position of authority the way Evenos had, and certainly not during an emergency like this.

Just goes to show, you don't always know the people around you.

Anise, Natalia, and I headed back down into the tunnel, Twilight and Valkyria padding along with us, though I wondered absently when Valkyria had decided to walk instead of sleeping on Twilight's head.

I knew something was wrong when we reached the area we'd split away from Asch and Sync in to find that the man we'd left behind was still there. I frowned, wondering if maybe the access tunnel was just longer than expected. Or maybe they had found someone down that way.

I shook my head and stepped over to the man before frowning.

"Is that blood?" Natalia asked, running over next to me. I nodded.

"Yes. It looks like..." I trailed off, dozens of different theories already flying through my mind.

"Looks like what?" Anise asked.

Natalia's eyes widened, and she gasped, though it sounded more like she was choking. I wouldn't be surprised, given the circumstances. After all, Asch and Sync were supposed to carry him back, but they haven't, and now he's dead.

"Like a blade wound... It's too thick to be a knife. It would have to be a sword," I said, silently breathing a miniscule sigh of relief. It couldn't have been Sync.

But what of Asch? He hadn't changed out of his God-General uniform yet. Could he have...?

*You, sir, need to be less of a pessimist.*

Alright. I'll admit it.

"Gyah!"

"Jade?!" Natalia looked at me like I'd grown a second head, while I tried to calm my racing heart.

*Don't do that!*

*Sorry?*

*You're obviously not.*

*You're right, I'm not. Now then. Turn around, second branch on your right.*

"Excuse me?!"

"Colonel? Is Kairi talking to you?" Anise asked. I huffed and stood.

"Yes. Wait. Why...?"

*I don't know them as well. I can contact Twilight, but I need someone with opposable thumbs.*

*Hence, scaring the daylights out of me.*

*Get moving, dammit! We don't have a lot of time!*

That particular tone of voice was all I needed to get moving, not just walking, but running back up the tunnel.

"Hey, wait for us!"

*Tell them to turn around and head down the access tunnel.*

"Go back, head for the access tunnel," I called over my shoulder. A moment later, and after more than one confused protest, the footsteps following me stopped. I noted a side branch on my right, but ran past it. She'd said the second one, right?

*Yeah, it's just up ahead, and be careful, it's half-hidden.*

I frowned and slowed down a bit, and it's a good thing I did, or I'd have run right past it. I looked at it for a moment before running down it, careful not to trip in the dark, as there weren't any lights down this way. In fact, I had to slow to a walk after a dozen or so yards, simply because I couldn't see anything.

"Kairi?" I called quietly.

*Bound and gagged. You're still too far away for me to hear more than a faint echo, anyway,* she responded. I cursed and kept moving for another few minutes before tripping and hitting the ground, hard. *Jade?!*

*I can't see a damn thing!*

*Zion busted all the lights on his way out... And you don't have enough spirit Energies to walk on two planes at once. Dammit...*

I forced myself back on my feet, holding my right shoulder carefully, even though I was fairly certain I'd sliced open my left leg as well. It certainly felt like it as I walked. Slowly and carefully, even though I was starting to think it was a lost cause.

*Stop!*

I froze, then frowned. *Your voice sounds... almost like it's echoing, a bit. Or like I'm hearing you through water.*

*I'm pushing it as it is... Two o'clock.*

I blinked a few times, but turned the requested degree.

*Now you can keep walking. The tunnel turned a bit there, I didn't want you to run into the wall.*

"You can see?"

*I'm on the second plane. You're close enough now for me to guide you like this. Ouch... Your leg doesn't look pretty, by the way. I'm going to start healing that while you're untying me. Stop, step to the left.* I stopped again, adjusted my course as ordered and continued.

"What happened?"

*Van and Zion were hiding in the sephiroth. Van had Zion tie me and Sync up. Sync's been left at the end of the access tunnel, and Zion brought me here to be picked up later. Van was trying to talk Asch into joining him... again... and Luke caught up about then, which is when Van gave in and knocked Asch out. He's currently telling Luke how Asch was planning to destroy Akzeriuth. Another step to the left.*

I took the step and frowned as I thought it all over. Then I realized something. "Your voice sounds clear again."

*And... stop. Drop. Untie me. I'm starting in on your leg.*

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit as I did so, even if my shoulder was giving me hell.

A faint tickling sensation in my leg told me that Kairi was definitely starting to work there. In fact, not a moment later, the air around my leg started glowing a soft blue, lighting up the area. I glanced down and flinched a bit at the messy sight. In fact...

I averted my eyes, not really caring much for the sight of my own tibia. The glow did serve multiple positive uses, though, one being that I could see the knots I was supposed to be untying.

The glow suddenly shifted to green, and I frowned, looking back down at my leg and watching with a morbid fascination as my muscle tissue started stitching itself back together again.

I hissed a bit and went back to the knot. This part was actually a bit painful...

The glow slowly faded, and I stayed motionless for a moment as Kairi started moving around. Ripping fabric caught my attention, and I frowned.

"Get off your leg... I can't heal it fully without doing more damage than necessary," Kairi said. Glad to hear her voice outside my head again, I shifted so she could wrap up the wound I couldn't see. "Blue Energies are water, green are earth. Cleansing, binding."

I blinked a few times before realizing that she'd seen the baffled expression on my face when the glow had changed from blue to green.

"Hand out." I stuck my left hand out, assuming she was planning to haul me to my feet. "Other hand."

I made a face and reluctantly held up my right hand, and she moved my arm gently before getting a solid grip and pulling, popping the dislocated joint back into place. Another glow, this one a blue-green, lit up around my shoulder, and the pain faded completely.

I frowned when I saw a cut across Kairi's cheek, but then the glow was gone again. "We need to get moving, now. Guy, Dark, Tear, and Ion are already halfway to the sephiroth. They're looking for us," she told me.

Then the ground started shaking, and Kairi cursed, pulling me to my feet and running back down the tunnel, not once letting go of my arm.

"What's going on?!"

"Luke destroyed the passage ring."

Fun Fact: I love Reighn. I mean, that scene with him taking charge of the evacuation? He doesn't even break cadence to tell Anise to stop staring. It's like... wow. So that's how a fourteen-year-old became a God-General... since we all know Sync becoming a God-General (at twelve) was due entirely to Van's influence. And maybe a little bit of Mohs. But Reighn earned it. Hehe... And then he goes and confuzzles everyone later on. Well, actually that was Aerith's fault... But he did get involved in it.