A Different World: Takeshi's Castle/Final Fantasy VII Crossover

Two figures walked along a dark deserted street. The moonlight shone down, casting feeble shadows on the roads. The man moved slowly along the pavement, his hands clasped behind his back, staring peacefully at the ground. He wore all white, only with the exception of his yellow boots. He wore a white t-shirt underneath a white jacket, with two colourful oriental dragons on either side of the row of done-up gold buttons, and a snarling tiger's head on the back. He had a yellow stripe down the outside legs of his white trousers.

He brushed his black hair out of his eyes and glanced at the woman walking alongside him. She was wearing the same outfit as the man, as though it was a uniform. Her blonde pony tail fell over her shoulders. She quickly flicked it off with a sharp turn of her head.

Corporal Kirsty and General Lee continued down the road, taking in the scene of calmness, savouring the feeling of peacefulness, as though it was a rare occurrence.

The air was torn by a siren sounding loudly, on one ear splitting note. Lee and Kirsty covered their ears with their hands, but they could not block out the sound. It was as though it was ringing in their heads. The shrill tone was making the pair feel light headed and weak. The General caught Kirsty as she started to fall over. He sank to his knees, his arms still around her. They both keeled over backwards, lying on the pavement, unconscious while the siren continued to shriek.

In a different universe, the outlines of two women and a man thudded down a fragile glass staircase. The person in the lead was a young man in his early twenties, with eerily glowing blue eyes and long, spiky blonde hair. The glass shook under his heavy black boots. He moved swiftly in a blur of black armour. The two women behind him moved themselves swiftly, but carefully, and not as dangerously as the spiky-headed man leading the way.

They reached the bottom of the staircase and ran into a small hut, then out through the front archway, down three more steps, where they saw an awe-inspiring sight. The platform came to and end, but the rest of the cavern where there was no surface was filed with water. Out of the water were three small stone stepping stones. At the other end of them was yet another small platform, where the outline of another woman could be seen, kneeling down, as though praying.

The blonde man jumped onto the stepping stones, his companions staying behind. He moved cautiously over to the praying girl and drew a huge sword which was slung over his back. The blade of it was thick and long, ending in a pointing which turned diagonally to the left. Near the handle were two small holes in the metal.

He raised his large sword directly over the head of the young woman and started to bring it down. Just before it struck, he was distracted by a cry from behind him.

The scene was disturbed further by the sudden wailing noise screaming shrilly through their beautiful, yet haunting surroundings. The praying girl opened her eyes and instantly screwed her face up against the sound. She saw the figure of Cloud standing in front of her, holding his sword loosely in one hand, and felt her consciousness slipping away, tricking away, like water through cupped hands.

Cloud stumbled backwards, dropping his weapon and fell, cracking his skull on the stepping stones on his way down.

Kirsty opened her eyes. Darkness was all around. She shut her eyes and opened them again, but nothing changed. She saw something white almost out of her field of vision and turned her head. General Lee was sitting next to her, rubbing his forehead. She could see him as clearly as she could before...

Before...What had happened? She massaged her head, trying to remember. She was walking down a street in Japan with General Lee and, she suddenly heard this awful ringing in her ears. What was it?

The General gazed around at his surroundings while the Corporal struggled with her memories. The colour was black. It was like being trapped in a windowless and door less room that was only black in colour. He could only see the figures of other human beings in the same....vicinity....as him. There was nothing else to see.

Four figures were lying, spread-eagled on the ground. They all looked to be roughly about the same age as Kirsty, in their twenties, except for one girl, who was clearly still a teenager. The teenage girl sat up. She had short black hair which was covering her face. She tucked it behind her ears to reveal large brown eyes. She wore short dark green sleeveless top and cream shorts. At her feet were cream socks pulled quite a way up past her ankles underneath red shoes. Her skin was tanned, the same colour as the General's.

She shook the shoulders of an extremely attractive woman next to her, who was not, in any way, responding to teen's attempts to rouse her.

She had very long, dark brown hair that crept down to her knees and was wearing a top similar to the other girl's except it was white instead of green. She had a rather short black miniskirt on, which was secured by black braces running over her shoulders. She wore heavy red boots.

The only other girl left had stood up, and was staring around in terror. She caught sight of Kirsty and Lee, but barely paid them any heed. She wore a long light pink button up dress which reached to her ankles, and large light brown boots. Over her shoulders was a jacket, which was a deeper, darker pink in colour. She had light brown hair, with two wavy strands sticking out slightly, before they fell down in level with her chin. The rest of her thick hair was held up high behind her head, tied with a band that had a jewel, the likes of which Kirsty and the General had never seen.

It was a small pale green orb, but what was most unusual about it was that is had a wisp of white smoke, frozen in mid-swirl.

She took another look around and saw the teenager still attempting to wake her companion up, and was getting more and more worried with every passing second.

The four awake figures watched as Kirsty climbed to her feet, crouched down, staring at what they could only assume was the ground and run her hand along it. The noise her hand made sounded like someone running their fingers over sand. She grasped a handful of whatever they were standing on and held it up.

The tiniest of sounds was heard, almost beyond the range of hearing. It was a tiny sound of rushing sand. Kirsty felt the invisible substance. It felt grainy.

Kirsty looked in the direction of the voice and saw the girl helping up the other woman who was still unconscious merely moments ago. The fear she was feeling was obvious as she stared. She looked equally frightened of the two strangers as she did being in a mysterious place nobody before them had ever seen. She had the feeling that they would be hard pressed to locate their position on any map.

'What's going on?' she asked. 'I can't remember anything! The last thing that I think happened was going after Aeris -' here she looked at the woman all in pink '- and you almost attacked her.' Cloud looked guiltily at his feet.

'Then, this really loud siren kicked up, and then I woke up here,' interjected the teen.

'What's your story?' asked the woman identified as Aeris. She placed one hand behind her head as though to check that her jewel was still safely holding her hair up.

'We were walking along an empty street, just General Lee and myself, when we, like you, heard a siren. I think I fell unconscious, but after that, we were here,' explained Kirsty.

The thoughts turned back to the siren. It made whoever heard it feel as though something was inside them, trying to burst free, trying to tear them apart from the inside. It made them feel dizzy and slightly drunk, before they fell unconscious. But what could be so powerful as to transport six people to what seemed like to be a completely different world?

'They were coming after me,' said Aeris. She looked at Lee with a worried expression as though she thought he was going to attack.

'She had run off to the Forgotten Capital to pray to the Lifestream,' said the woman, who Kirsty suspected was Tifa. At her words, the Corporal and General Lee exchanged confused glances. They were sure they had just heard the word 'Lifestream'.

'Oh, you know. The Forgotten Capital! In the Forgotten City? Also known as City of the Ancients?' said the teen. Her eyes narrowed when Kirsty mouthed 'City of the Ancients...?'

'Hold on Yuffie. You've never heard of the City of the Ancients? Where were you both then? When the siren called?'

A look of confusion spread across the features of Yuffie, Cloud, Aeris and Tifa. They wore the same look General Lee knew he and Corporal Kirsty were wearing when they mentioned 'Lifestream'. What was going on? They were with people who came from a place he had never heard of, but they had not heard of Tokyo, either.

'Tokyo?' said Yuffie, her voice sounding sceptical, as though they were making up places and pretending not to know what they were on about. 'Where's Tokyo?'

'In Japan. You must know it, it's the capital!' she started to despair at the blank looks facing her. She turned to face Lee, who was staring blankly at what was supporting his weight. The whole situation seemed impossible. Nothing could be strong enough to take people into a different world, but it had happened, and they company she was in were a group of people who had never even heard of Japan's capital! Kirsty steepled her fingers and pressed her index fingers against her sealed lips, thinking hard.

Something flickered. The atmosphere had changed for a split second, before turning back to sheer blackness. They were broken out of their thoughts and were looking at the dark or exchanging confused expressions.

There was another flicker, but this time, they could see the change in scenery for a complete second before it turned back to black. It was as though somebody was concealing themselves, and was fiddling around with a switch. But a whole second was just enough to see whether they could recognise the street they were shown.

'Was that where you heard the siren?' asked Tifa, in a timid voice, looking at Lee. He shook his head.

'Just who are you two?' demanded Cloud. 'I'm Cloud Strife, she's Tifa Lockheart -' he pointed to the woman in the short skirt '- she's Aeris Gainsborough -' the woman in pink raised one hand nervously.

'And I assume that you are Yuffie?' asked the General. The teenager gave him a sharp look as though he had left out an important detail.

This time, there was no flicker. The scene changed from total darkness to the same street they saw seconds ago. Kirsty gasped and took hold of General Lee's arm, holding onto it tightly. He walked over to one building and ran his hand down a wall. The stone of the bricks was cold and gritty. There was a ground underneath their feet now, and it seemed to cause great relief. It was clear that they were standing on something solid. But there was something wrong. There was a small error, not too big to be noticed instantly, but big enough to be noticed after a period of time. Everything was distorted. The buildings were very real, but they were not completely normal. They seemed to lean over. If they were to lean right over, the roofs would meet.

'Once again, I'm standing here, waiting for you to answer my question,' said Cloud, in a voice of the impatient.

'My name is General Lee, and this is my second in command, Corporal Kirsty,' replied Lee.

The General was distracted from what Cloud was about to say by the expression on Aeris' face. She had her hands pressed against her cheeks and was staring wide eyed at the sky. General Lee turned to face ahead and looked up into the sky.

It was still night time; despite it was night time in a different world, if not universe. The full moon cast light down onto the roads, but something was happening to it. The colour was changing to a blazing white. A dark, murky red was creeping across the surface, colouring it. What sprung to the General's mind was seeing the reflection of the moon in a puddle after a heavy late night rainstorm and watching blood creep across the surface of the water, making it look as though the colour of the moon itself was changing.

An icy wind picked up and swirled around the group. Corporal Kirsty shivered and moved closer to the General. She glanced back at the figures behind her, and noticed a large area of the street bathed in shadows. She did not know why, but she felt rather threatened by it, as if she knew that something unpleasant was lurking there. As the thought flew through her mind, she thought she could just about make out a shape flexing its muscles under the cover of darkness.

'Shall - shall we just try and get our bearings?' she suggested, her voice coming out fragile and nervous.

'And how are we to manage that?' asked Cloud, staring at her, 'we don't know where the hell we are, do we?'

She attempted to urge on the rest of the group, feeling very wary, but they would not allow themselves to be forced along by someone they did not know.

A low pitched rumbling noise made them freeze. A slow growling, like one of a wild animal sounded, starting off low, but rising rapidly, until it reached the same pitch as the dreadful siren they heard. But it was not exactly the same noise; this new sound was an animal call of anger. Lee clapped his hands over his ears again and gritted his teeth, his eyes screwed shut.

Cloud had stuck his fingers in his ears and was holding his breath as though feeling ill. The girls were all gaping at something which was showing itself in the shadowy area Kirsty had seen earlier. A monstrous being stepped from out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Kirsty could feel her heart being faster as she laid eyes on the demon in front of her.

It was human shape, but Lee could not remember ever seeing anything less human than this creature. Its skin was a deep black colour, and gave the feeling that they were staring straight into an abyss. Two leathery bat wings protruded from its shoulder blades. It opened its mouth to snarl, revealing large, yellowing canines. A drop of spittle trickled down its chin. The overall appearance was one that could be just about accepted, but the most frightening feature on the beast was its eyes.

The large eyes popped and bulged in their sockets. The colour of the left iris was black, with a white pupil, and on the right eye, the iris was a deep, blood red, with a normal black pupil. What would have been the whites in a human eye was a murky grey. It looked to Kirsty that the beast was crying, but common sense reminded her that tears were not red. The grey of the right eye had a large cut in, as though something had gone across the surface of the eye with a scalpel. She could not see the other end of the wound, as it was on the back of the eye.

Something unwrapped itself from around the demon's legs as it moved towards them on all fours. Tifa saw that it had two tails which it kept around its legs when it was standing like a human. She noticed with great horror that the claws at the end of the beast's fingers and toes were at least two inches long and very sharp.

The thing's attention was drawn to Cloud, who had just cursed. He was searching his armour for something that he did not have.

'You'll be looking for your head as well, if you don't shut it!' snapped Yuffie, keeping her voice quiet, looking at the creature, which had just directed its attention to her.

This was exactly the invitation the demon had been looking for. It lunged at Cloud, who was taken aback. Its long claws sank into his shoulder as it tried to bite him on the neck. He screamed, out of both pain and terror and made to push the monster away. It froze momentarily; its features contorted with shock, but snarled and turned around to see the hand wielding the katana that was sticking through it was attached to the Corporal. She pulled her bloody blade from out of it and took a step back. Just before it got the chance to attack her, it suddenly found itself fending off the General, which had seized it, after forcing Kirsty back.

'Make sure nobody else comes near this thing!' called General Lee, as he struggled with the demon.

The Corporal nodded and stepped back, moving around the fight to where the others were watching, open mouthed.

'Cloud, help him!' cried Tifa, her eyes never leaving the demon which had just struck its target across the face.

General Lee was pushed backwards and stumbled to the ground. He landed on his elbows, but let no cry of pain escape him. He momentarily glanced to the watchers, making sure that none of them were about to put themselves in danger. He rolled to the side as the demon pounced. Its claws dug into the ground and were quickly withdrawn.

As Lee got to his feet, he found himself in the same position Cloud was before Kirsty had stabbed the being. The hideous creature got to its feet and rested its hands on the General's shoulders, hissing and snarling. It tried to bite him on the neck, but could not reach as Lee was slowly but surely forcing it back.

'Cloud, you've got to help him! There's no way he can take on that - that thing alone! You've got to do something!' called Yuffie.

As Cloud opened with mouth to retort, Aeris appeared in front of him and pressed her staff into his hands.

'Now you can't complain about not having a weapon,' she said, looking in horror as General Lee was shoved backwards, back onto the ground.

'It's not a sword though,' mumbled Cloud, glaring at his feet. To his surprise, he received a slap from Tifa.

He started towards the battle and pulled the beast off Lee, who had almost succeeded in biting its enemy. He struck it around the head with the burrowed staff and the demon fell back to all fours. It stalked over to the crowd, who shrank back in their fear. General Lee grasped one of its tails and pulled it back. Cloud stood behind him, holding the staff ready.

As the beast noticed it was being moved backwards, it turned and lunged, catching the unlucky General full in the throat. Cloud reacted too late and pulled the monster away after it had sank his claws deep into Lee's trachea. In a lapse of mind, Kirsty shrieked and ran forwards. A claw whipped across her face, leaving four long marks across the side of her face. She pulled the body of the late General further away from the fight, keeping one eye on him, and her other eye of the battle between Cloud and the beast.

Tifa stepped forwards and gently but firmly moved her away as dark red liquid started to rapidly cover the ground. The first tear leaked from the Corporal's eyes as she stared at the limp, lifeless figure on the ground.

'Are you and him an item?' asked Tifa cautiously. She heard a grunt from Cloud which was closely followed by a dull thud of wood and a growl from the beast.

'Actually,' began Kirsty, 'no. We're not. We weren't, but, even though I could not bring myself to tell him...I loved him.'

Aeris wandered over to where Tifa and Kirsty were and felt one of General Lee's wrists.

Tifa moved Kirsty back slightly and straightened up. She concentrated hard. An emerald green flame erupted all around her, catching the attention of the monster, allowing Cloud to use it to his advantage. Kirsty watched in bewilderment as Tifa straightened her arms out in front of her, moved them around to her sides, clasped her hands to her chest and then held them out to the injured General on the ground.

His unconscious body was suddenly covered with floating reds, greens and blues. The colours danced around him before sinking into his body. A second later, he sat up, clutching his sore throat.

'Don't tell me you don't know what materia are?' asked Yuffie, who had just walked over. Before either of them could reply to her, Tifa had thrust her knuckle duster under Kirsty's nose. Concealed inside, Kirsty and Lee could just make out a tiny glimmer of something shining. They could see, almost out of sight, four coloured orbs side by side. The first three were green, but the last one was a pale blue. Lee noticed that they had been paired off.

'Tifa!' called Cloud. 'Did your materia work? 'Cause only, I don't think I'm gonna be able to hold this thing off without magic!'

'Cloud, you carry on fighting it and we'll use our materia. If you try and cast magic, the demon will only use it as an opening to attack you and put you off,' replied Tifa.

Tifa helped up the General. The spikes from Tifa's knuckle duster brushed gently against his wrist as she seized his hand and pulled him up. She and Yuffie both turned side by side to face the fight.

The vivid green flames kicked up around the teenage ninja as she suddenly flourished a four point shuriken. Four blasts of lightning shot out of the sky, each one striking the creature hard. Cloud swiftly moved out of the way to avoid being hurt.

The atmosphere turned cold, much colder than before. Several crystal spikes appeared out of what General Lee and Corporal Kirsty took as thin air and rushed towards the demon, apparently of their own accord. They embedded themselves in the stomach of the beast, making a many pointed star. It hovered for a second, before shattering. Shards of crystalline ice fell to the ground, breaking into tinier fragments, and then dissipated.

The creature gave an almighty roar before it collapsed to the ground. It gave small twitches as Cloud cautiously moved over to it and nudged it with his shoe. He passed his staff back to Aeris, who caught it, stunned.

'Can we head somewhere else now? Before anything else decides to try and kill us?' asked Kirsty, who was still in shock of being attacked by a demon, and also still unable to believe what she had seen Tifa do to the General.

Lee gazed back at the immobile being on the ground and ran his hand back over the sore mark where its claws penetrated. He faced forwards again and saw Aeris eyeing him seriously. She swiftly moved over to him and rested one hand on his shoulder and grasped his jaw in her right hand. She tilted his head to get a better look at the wound left by the beast. She ran one finger over it and sharply moved her hand away when the General gave a small hiss of pain. She gave him one last thoughtful look before heading back to Cloud and Tifa. General Lee shrugged when Kirsty glanced at him and urged her on.

The Corporal kept close to Lee, staring around at their haunting surroundings. Up in the sky, the moon was still an eerie blood red colour, casting red light down upon them, instead of silver moonbeams. She stared at the back of Cloud's head, who seemed to be leading the way, flanked by Tifa and Aeris. He led them into an alley which only had a stone statue and a brick wall at the end.

'Congratulations, genius. You took us straight to a dead end. Bravo!' said Yuffie sarcastically, in a tone of voice that suggested she could lead them somewhere else blindfolded.

They turned, but to their surprise, another brick wall blocked their path. The Corporal managed to stop herself in time, before she walked into it. General Lee ran his hands over the cool brick. It was as solid as any other wall he had felt. But how had it suddenly appeared? The only reason that popped up in their minds was that it was invisible when they had followed Cloud past it, and they had walked through it. But even if that was true, how could the wall just become visible and solid?

The surface of the bricks caught alight. The dank section of alleyway they were caught in was bathed in fiery light. They all started and kept even closer to one another. They attention was attracted by the statue, as it was the only thing to look at. It was of a rather good looking woman, hands clasped to her chest as though in prayer. But Lee had never seen anyone who looked less likely to stand around praying. Who, or whatever had made the statue was very talented; every detail was there, it was like looking at a real person who had been turned to stone. In this place, anything seemed possible. Never before, neither Lee or Kirsty would have said that a siren had the power to knock out anybody who heard it, and transport them to placed with creatures only seen in nightmares and horror films, or walls that were non existent one second yet there the next, which were also flammable.

The woman that the statue was of was wearing a spiky collar around her neck as well as a gothic-style miniature sword with runes or markings of some sort engraved into the blade. She was in a knee length, flared sleeved dress with high heeled spiked boots. At her shoulders was a long cloak which was almost touching the ground. Her expression was unhappy. Her face was turned down, her eyes were shut and she looked as though if she were a real person, she would be about to cry.

Moisture had started to collect at one of the closed stone eyes, and trickled down her cheek, looking like a gleaming jewel.

The flames from the burning bricks behind that statue licked the cold stone, washing over the figure. It seemed as though the stone was starting to heat up. The dull grey colour of the stone drained away as the flames continued to grope the statue. The spikes on the collar turned roughly to a silvery colour, looking like long nails sticking out of a piece of leather. The dress, the boots, the cloak and the depicted woman's waist length hair shaded to a jet black. Her skin became a deathly, pale white. Her eyelids flickered in such a way that those watching could not be sure if it was a figure of their imagination or not.

Tifa examined the detail on the mysterious statue. The cloak looked as though it was made up entirely of black feathers. She reached out and gingerly ran her hand down the material of her crushed velvet dress. Her skin was warm to the touch.

The black painted lips parted, revealing long canines, much longer and sharper than any on an ordinary human being. A tongue was run over the surface of the fangs, as though trying to get a taste of something. The clasped hands drew away from each other, and the head looked up. The depressed brown eyes were opened. In the centre of her pupils was a certain flicker, something which made her seem as though she had some kind of tortuous hidden struggle that she had been contending with in the depth of her soul.

The statue looked around at the large group, all of which were gaping at her in a way of utmost terror. She took a deep breath, in a way that was reminiscent of an anonymous person trying to calm themselves down. Her eyes rested first on Cloud, and then travelled around and rested on General Lee. Her large brown eyes narrowed as she looked at him, intentionally making him feel uncomfortable. He exchanged confused glanced with Yuffie, who shrugged.

The elegant black feathered cloak which was draped around her shoulders started to make tiny movements of its own accord.

'Now, I'm no expert on the subject,' whispered Cloud to Lee, 'but somehow I doubt she ought to be able to move her cape like that.'

The General nodded, never taking his eyes off the young girl in front of him. He suspected that, she was probably about the same age as Tifa, Aeris, Kirsty and Cloud. She did not have the facial features of a teenager, as did Yuffie, but he was certain that she was no older than her late twenties.

The girl turned her back, facing the aflame wall, showing that what they all had taken to be a feathered cloak to be a pair of glossy, silken black wings. She flexed them with the air of a person who has had to stay in one position for a long period of time and needs to stretch. She looked over her shoulder at the General again, only twisting her head around so that she could see him. She could also see, out of the corner of her eyes, Cloud lean over to him again, and whisper something else into his ear.

Lee quietly laughed, trying to hide the fact that worry had long ago caught him tightly in its vice like grip.

The atmosphere changed. Everyone except the girl and the General found they could move. Cloud was frozen in the same position he was when he made another comment to Lee. Kirsty was stuck watching the alive statue, absent mindedly biting her thumbnail. Yuffie was halfway through a step when attempting to walk further away from the scorching walls, and Tifa and Aeris were huddled together, holding onto one another's arms.

As what was formerly thought of as a shaped pile of stone started moving over to Lee. Her footsteps were soft, barely audible over the roaring of the flames; her movements were slow and deliberate. Lee found that he was backing off away from the girl and soon felt the warmth of the wall through his thick jacket.

She stopped in front of him, so close that she was almost standing on his feet. Their faces were roughly on the same level; General Lee was about an average height and the woman was almost exactly the same as him. She leaned forwards, making him lean backwards. A warning went off in his head as he felt the intense heat on the back of his head and heard the crackling in his ears.

Her eyes travelled down the General's uniform, lingering on the dragons embroidered on the front. Her head snapped around to glare at the back of Kirsty's body. She made a faint hissing sound as her eyes stopped on the back of the Corporal. Her hands found the shoulders of Lee's jacket, and she grasped them hard. She gazed up into his eyes. It seemed almost as though she was trying to see inside his mind via his eyes. She did not seem to be focusing on what was directly in front of her. Her attention was directed elsewhere as the first small bead of perspiration trickled down his face. Lee could see the faint glimmer of a tooth on her lower lip.

She abruptly turned away from him and made her way determinedly to the figure of Kirsty. Lee could not be sure, but the expression the statue had scrawled across her face was one that seemed to be of envy, jealously. She glared hard at the Corporal, who was trying not to look her in the eye. The girl grasped the wrist that was bent from the hand that was near her mouth and looked at Corporal Kirsty's bare neck. Suspicion arose inside of the Corporal. It was like being trapped inside a horror film. This girl in front of her had managed to freeze the movement of most people in the vicinity and was gaping at her throat. What made it even more worrying was that the girl looked like a vampire.

Kirsty thought that if she was able to move she would probably be frozen in her fear. She could move her eyeballs in their sockets and so she could just about keep watch on what was going on, to a certain extent. The hand that was loosely holding onto her wrist was cold. It felt like she was in the grasp of a dead body. She did not know what triggered it, but the second those thoughts ran through her mind, the girl struck.

The Corporal found she could still use her larynx. She screamed, out of both sheer terror and agony as the girl broke the skin on Kirsty's neck and sank her teeth in. As she yelled, she could feel her blood running down her neck. General Lee ran over to the attack and prised the girl off his second in command. She and the General held one another by the shoulders. Lee was doing his best to restrain her, a string of coarse, horrible curse words pouring out of his mouth in his shock as the girl continued to reach her victim.

She hissed, a small spray of blood spattering into Lee's face. He gripped her tightly on the elbow joints on both arms, his feet firmly in the ground. He received a blow to the head, loosening his grip. She freed one arm before the realisation of what the hell was going on around him came back and he clamped back down on her arm. The arm that she had got free was waving angrily at Kirsty, her fingernails almost catching the Corporal.

Her arm was thrown back as she prepared to make another slapping motion in hope that she could reach Kirsty, when General Lee caught her. Her head snapped back, she bent over and bit his hand, tearing a great chunk out of him between his index finger and thumb. Another curse slipped from his lips, this time a less violent one. She clicked her fingers, and the other bodies were enabled the gift of movement. Kirsty tried to flee, but before the vampire girl could be seized, Kirsty found herself being pulled backwards and roughly shoved into one of the burning walls.

Cloud wrenched her away from the wounded General, who she started stalking over to and pushed her into a flaming area near where Kirsty was. She cracked her head against the brick and slipped down the wall, lying on her side. The change took place again and she was soon nothing more than a statue.

The flames on the walls flickered and were extinguished. Five pairs of eyes turned to the burnt and tortured figure falling to the ground, her skin painfully charred. She was dead. General Lee crouched down beside her and closely examined her body. The remainder of her blood that was not drained was seeping out of the bite marks on the right hand side of her neck.

Lee felt something on his shoulder and turned his head to see a set of four spikes resting on him. Tifa had come over to examine the damage done. She groped for the late Corporal's wrist and felt her pulse.

'Not always. We thought you were dead when that demon took us by surprise. You know, when it went for your throat. It turned out you were hovering outside Death's door, but still with us,' replied Aeris.

'Even if you were unconscious,' added Tifa. She turned her head around to look at Aeris. 'Nope. She's gone. Lee was right.'

Tifa held her wrists out in front of her and looked at the coloured orbs concealed in her weaponry. The General thought she could hear Tifa muttering 'damn' under her breath.

'I don't have a Revive,' she announced. General Lee looked at the other four faces as they examined parts of their clothes or weapons. Tifa's words meant nothing to him. Aeris checked her staff and held out a tiny green orb triumphantly and showed it to Tifa. She placed it back in, and her face screwed up in the effort of concentration.

Once more, the bright green fire started up around Aeris. Her stick was floating horizontally in the air just underneath her raised hands. The bangles around her wrist moved around as she waved her hands over the staff.

As though a fuse had blown, all light vanished, causing them to be swallowed by darkness. Lee's first though was that they had been taken back to the place where they all regained their consciousness after the siren sounded When Corporal Kirsty was still alive...thought Lee. He was glad of the darkness which was hiding his welling eyes from the others. It was when he silently thanked...whatever...for taking them back to the dark area when he realised that he could not see anybody else. After they had woken up, all they could see was each other.

There was a small glint of gold light up ahead. He stared at what was the moonlit sky only mere seconds ago and saw a mysterious thing drifting down. It hovered at roughly head height. Lee blinked and looked again in disbelief. The floating thing was in fact, a tiny little angel. It serenely sprinkled a glittery red dust down on where he knew Kirsty rested. Angry scarlet flames roared up from the centre of her figure. They were circular and got wider, travelling all across her body. While flame after flame was conjured up, the General looked around in hope to see Tifa, or Aeris, or anybody, but he was still given the impression that he was on his own.

The angel dissolved in mid air. The flames had evaporated. The pitch blackness lifted. Lee's eyes screamed in protest at being in light after such darkness. The outlines of Tifa, Cloud, Aeris and Yuffie came into view. All five of them watched the Corporal intensely, waiting for any sign of movement, anything which told them that she was alive.

Minute after minute passed and nothing happened. Nobody looked away or even blinked. Lee wiped his face with a hand when he noticed that he had started to sob. He felt, in addition to his sadness, embarrassed. He was making himself look like a total fool, struggling with his emotions in such a way in front of people whom he was starting to like. Surprise got through his emotional barrier when Tifa came up and placed a comforting arm around his shoulder. She was frowning at the body of Kirsty, apparently deep in thought. He looked up and saw that the expression was almost the same on the other faces as well.

'Magic points. Depending on how high our MP is, magic may not work. Just can't use it,' said Tifa, still looking at Kirsty. 'I always hated the feeling of having low MP.'

'Just mental exhaustion,' replied Aeris. 'Like your brain has gone for a long sprint without any rest breaks. But I don't understand. I'm currently more than capable of casting magic...'

There was a slight groan from ground level. All five pairs of eyes automatically turned to the Corporal, who was starting to stir and twitch. General Lee broke free from Tifa's grasp and crouched down, watching her every move. As though she had some kind of healing energy inside of her, her skin started to mend. The blood that was on her neck and on the ground was starting to dissipate, in the same way that the demon's blood did after it fought General Lee and Cloud. The only visible mark on her skin that said she had been attacked were the bite marks which had healed, but had left a small imprint on her skin.

She slowly sat up, rubbing her neck and gazing around, taking in the changes that had occurred. She felt more secure now that she knew her attacker had reverted back to a statue. Her elbow touched the wall and she gasped, looking for any burns before realising that the roaring flames had gone out. She felt her heart leap up into her throat when General Lee took her face in his hands, grinning at her, happiness that she was alive etched deep into his expression.

Tifa and Cloud were the closest behind them. They stood side by side, both watching it, both standing with their arms folded, but wearing different looks. Tifa was smiling to herself, content with the thought that General Lee was happy, not to mention relieved that the Corporal was not dead after all. But Cloud seemed confused. He whispered into Tifa's ear.

'I asked Kirsty when it seemed Lee was dead after fighting that demon, and she said no, they weren't. But she did admit to me that she loves him. Anyway, let's not talk about that,' replied Tifa, keeping her voice as low as possible.

'But he's way older than her. He looks as though he's in his forties, at best,' retorted Cloud.

Tifa kicked him on the ankle and shot him a warning glare. Yuffie coughed pointedly, and received a look from Aeris, who was watching Lee and Kirsty talking softly to each other with the same happiness for them as Tifa. Lee straightened up and bent over to help up the Corporal. She rolled up her sleeves and gazed at her arms and then ran a finger carefully over her bite marks. Her body throbbed with a dull ache, but it was not very serious. She reverted her attention to those in front of her, and suddenly wondered what had actually happened.

'I mean, surely I should have been killed by the flames, because I knew I wasn't going to be able to get away in time but...here I am!' said Kirsty.

'She's observant,' muttered Yuffie sarcastically. She glowered at Cloud as he clipped her around the back of the head with his hand.

'Well....you were dead,' said Aeris. The Corporal made no response apart from raising one brow.

'So, what does that make me now? Am I a zombie, or something?' she asked. She ignored the teen's impatient sigh. Tifa however, did not.

'Oh Yuffie, give it a rest! Lee and Kirsty are not used to the idea of magic existing. We are, because we've been brought up knowing that there is such a thing as magic.'

'You're still human. You've just had your life restored,' said Aeris. 'We thought that it hadn't worked, because it was taking you such a long time to react to the restorative magic.'

Kirsty's eyes lingered on the statue and then on the bloody wound on the General's hand, where a large section of flesh had been torn out of him. He held out his injured hand in front of him, flexing his fingers. Pain rippled across his face. A light green and slightly poisonous looking mist floated around him and seeped through his skin. He turned back to see green flames around Yuffie. She had evidently used magic to heal him. It had worked. The pain in his hand had rapidly vanished. He gave her a smile which she returned. His attention was drawn to the brick wall that was obstructing their path.

'Any ideas how we're going to get around this?' he asked, jerking his thumb in the direction of the mass of bricks.

Cloud stupidly walked past the General and kicked the wall. He cursed, holding his foot. He shot Tifa a vindictive look as she failed to stifle a snort of laughter.

'You do bring these things on yourself Cloud. Kick a wall, and it's bound to hurt,' she said, her voice punctuated with giggles.

Aeris exchanged a broad grin with the Corporal, who was glad to have something to grin or smile about. She suspected that the pressure of holding in her laughter would cause it to burst hysterically through.

The brick wall seemed to explode. Lee moved Kirsty out of the way as a large piece of brick flew through the air at her head. Dust gently floated to the ground. It was only after it had settled and rubble lined the ground on which they were standing that what had caused the wall to break apart became apparent. A figure was standing behind where the wall was, glaring at the party.

Like most of the other creatures they had met so far, he was dressed in black. He wore a black shirt with only one button done up, so that it fell open at the top, revealing his muscular torso. He wore black leather trousers over heavy leather boots which looked as though they were steel capped. At his belt were two sheaths. His hands rested on the hilts of the swords sticking out, as though getting ready to draw them.

Kirsty, who was leaning against the General, could feel his arm twitch slightly as he tensed his muscles. Looking back, she saw that Yuffie and Aeris were holding their own weapons tighter, and Tifa had balled her hands into fists.

'All these grim faces. Anybody would think that I'm about to attack you,' said the man, gaping around at all the wary faces. His voice was so cold. It made Cloud's skin crawl, not to mention come out in goosebumps as a shiver ran over his body. He had only heard a voice so cruel, so malicious before on one person. Somebody he never wanted to see for as long as he lived. But he doubted that if the siren had not gone off, he would have had to face his enemy many times before achieving his goal.

The man's chilly grey eyes narrowed as he laughed. He swept a strand of blonde hair so light it was almost pure white out of his eyes.

'Maniac all dressed in black with hair so light it’s almost silvery,' whispered Cloud to Tifa. 'Remind you of anyone?'

She shuddered and turned away from Cloud but did not answer. She glanced at the strange man in front of them and saw another body slink out from behind him. She then noticed a leash hooked over the man's wrist. The demon that attacked them earlier snarled at them. Around its throat was a spiked collar. It roared at the sight of the General, whom it remembered as the figure with an idiotic lust for acting the hero.

'You've got that thing as a pet?' exclaimed Yuffie, her huge brown eyes widening further.

'I suppose I ought to introduce myself. This may be a different world to what you are all used to, but we still have manners.'

His eyes hardened on the ninja as she opened her mouth to comment. Yuffie quickly closed it again when she saw that his attention was on her.

'My name is Tamon Yao,' said the man, looking around at those who seemed interested in what he had to say, as though expecting one of them to recognise him. Only the General seemed to be paying him the most interest.

'Do you know what this place is? How did we get here? How do we get back to our own worlds?' he asked.

The man called Tamon Yao hesitated thoughtfully before answering Lee's question.

'This world is my world. I brought you here. You cannot leave without my knowing. I guess it is what it is because of my sick and sadistic side. It reflects the evil that lurks inside me,' replied Tamon.

He watched their faces carefully. There was a strangled cry from Cloud as he launched himself forwards, to try and get at Tamon. It was only General Lee stepping in front of him, holding him back that prevented the angry young man from attacking.

'Send us back!' he screamed, struggling and writhing in the General's surprisingly strong grasp.

Tamon did not move a muscle. He did not react in any way to Cloud's anger. He only reacted when Cloud winded Lee with a jab in the stomach from his elbow, allowing himself to break free and ran. The demon at Tamon's heels prepared itself to protect its master from Cloud's assault.

Just before he reached Tamon, the man raised one hand and snapped his fingers. Cloud paid no heed and kept on running until -

- He found himself on the ground with a splitting headache. He could hear in the background the moans of pain from the rest of the party as the siren screeched and wailed louder than ever. With great strength, he lifted his heavy and hurting head, glancing back. He saw that not one of them were standing straight. None of them were lying flat out on the ground as he was; the two who were the closest were Corporal Kirsty and General Lee.

Kirsty was on her knees, clutching at her head with both hands, her face screwed up in agony. Lee was crouched down next to her, with one hand on her shoulder and the other at his own forehead as he fought to ignore the feeling of somebody attempting to rip open his skull.

The mocking laughter of Tamon rang in their ears as they held their sore heads. Tifa managed to open her eyes and glare at him, wondering how anybody could get such pleasure out of doing something he knew caused others pain. The man's a sadistic freak, she told herself. I thought he was just exaggerating when he said about being sadistic and sick, but I'll bet anyone here will be hard pressed to think of a more accurate description...Please, let it stop...

Six figures relaxed as the siren was silenced. A malicious satisfaction spread through Tamon at the sight of the weakened figures trying to regain any energy, rubbing their aching foreheads. He swiftly moved over to them, past the crumpled figure of Cloud, and stopped in front of Tifa. She did not look him in the eye, but instead focused on the heels of Lee's boots, as though they were the most interesting things she had ever seen. She recoiled slightly at the touch of his hand on her face. He moved her head so that she was looking at him directly in the face.

'Ahhh...miss Tifa Lockheart. Quite the enchantress. And also...stunningly beautiful. I know full well you possess great power with your magic. Cast the most painful spell you can think of on me,' muttered Tamon, in a carrying whisper.

'What, so as well as causing other people pain, you like having it inflicted on yourself?' she said, disgust written all over her face. Tamon chuckled. He had not moved his hand from her face yet. It lowered to his side as he opened his mouth to utter a retort.

'If I was like one of the people you are thinking of, then I would make you walk on my back in high heels and your underwear.'

He felt Tifa's nails brush against his cheek as she slapped him. The look of utmost disgust and contempt became even more pronounced as he touched the spot where her hand met.

Aeris moved over to her and pressed something into her hand. Tifa looked at it for a second and took out the tiny pale blue orb from her weapon and replaced it with the light red one that Aeris just handed her. She looked at Aeris and nodded at Cloud, who was trying to force himself into a standing position. Tifa motioned for the Corporal and the General to move back, out of the way of any harm. All the time, Tamon was watching, with the sane sick, evil grin on his twisted face.

Once she was certain that nobody apart from Tamon would be hurt, she started to concentrate on summoning a powerful creature.

There was a rush of wind, and the usual green flames erupted from the ground at Tifa's feet. But this time, there was something different. Red, yellow and blue discs floated around in the emerald green flames, each one with a black coloured, ancient symbol in the centre. She moved her arms about her as she did when performing normal magic and she could faintly hear the Corporal gasp just before she faded completely from view.

The ground where Tamon was standing turned to stone, and was circular in shape. Five large stone pillars sprung up at equal intervals, with flames flickering in the light breeze, hovering creepily a few centimetres above the stone. A large black cauldron appeared in the centre of the stone, in front of Tamon. A second later, a black robed skeleton was behind it, cackling horribly and stirring the contents of the cauldron. The skeleton waved its pure white arms frantically over the surface of the cauldron, causing the contents to pour out in a tidal wave of blue-purple liquid.

The stuff washed over Tamon, stinging, hurting more than what he had anticipated. It was a strange sensation, as though he was having his flesh pulled off his bones. It did not burn. It did not even feel like a cold burn. It was the sheer pain of an attack without an element. As the liquid trickled over the unlucky Tamon and came into contact with the stone ground again, it instantly started to dissolve and dissipate into nothingness yet again. The cauldron and robed skeleton faded from sight, as Tifa did after she finished her summoning. The hovering flames burnt out, and the pillars sank back into the circular platform, which was rapidly decreasing in size.

Tifa flickered into view once more, her face splitting into a grin as she watched Tamon wincing with every slight movement he made; even breathing seemed to cause him pain. She glanced to her side and saw Kirsty and Lee both staring at her, once more adopting the expression of one who could not believe what they had just witnessed. She turned back to Tamon, feeling the grin sliding off her face, and the old disgust at him coming back.

The man simply stood, eyes closed, barely breathing for a second, before he moved his head from side to side, snapped open his eyes and grinned at Tifa. He held out one hand to her, and she merely gave him an odd look before she felt herself being pulled along the ground, towards him. She tried to resist the magnetic pull Tamon had on her, but she could not break free.

When she reached him, Tamon pulled her in front of him, the hand with the demon's leash around his wrist at her throat. He raised his other hand and a bolt of lightning shot out of the dark sky and straight into his hand. He grasped it, apparently feeling no pain and thrust it into the ground.

The effect this had was enormous. A burst of white light erupted from the black clad figure holding Tifa, and by the time their eyes had adjusted back to the darkness after the light had faded, Tifa and Tamon were nowhere to be seen. Not only that, but they almost instantly noticed that they had been separated.

Kirsty and Aeris opened their eyes and could feel their pupils widening in their vain search for light. They could hear something, almost beyond the human range of hearing, but it was there. It sounded like water sloshing around. It was still too dark for them to see anything clearly.

'I hope my eyes get accustomed to this soon,' muttered Kirsty. 'The last thing I want is to be stuck in a world like this and not be able to use my eyes. Only God knows what's watching us at the moment.'

They stared around in darkness for a minute before their eyes could get used to the minimal amount of light. They saw that they were standing in a cold, damp cave, and at the mouth, an ocean stretched on, perhaps to oblivion.

'Well, that explains the sound of rushing water,' said Aeris, moving towards the sea. Something that the Corporal had twigged made her run after Aeris and pulled her back.

'What?' she asked, looking scandalised, as though she had been told off for something that was not her fault.

She watched as Aeris gazed at the surface of the liquid, but nothing had clicked, nothing had yet snapped into place yet.

Kirsty moved around in the cave, using the light from the blood red moon to point out what was so horribly wrong. So horribly out of place. She snatched at Aeris's wrist and pulled her to where she was standing. Aeris took another look at the water.

Aeris broke free of Kirsty's grasp, moving towards the ocean. She ignored the warnings Kirsty shouted her way and crouched down. It had to be a trick of the light. Surely it was a trick. It had to be. As she examined the incorrect sea, some of the scarlet water washed over her boots, staining them a dark red.

Yuffie, Cloud and the General gaped at their surroundings. They were in yet another area of this strange world.

'I don't know,' said Yuffie in her usual sarcastic tone. 'Once I pass my physic test, I'll tell you.'

'Somehow, I get the feeling that this world is as big as yours or mine,' interjected Lee.

He groaned as General Lee nodded. He looked around at their surroundings. They were still outside; it was as though there was not a single building in the whole of this terrifying place. A loud scream cut off their thoughts. A figure stumbled out of the shadows.

Cloud and the General raised their fists, preparing themselves for battle. Yuffie got a tighter grip on her shuriken.

Lee's eyes widened as the moonlight washed over the figure of a young girl. It was the same girl that had attacked him and attempted to kill the Corporal. It was the girl that the statue was made of; only that she did not have black wings.

She saw Lee and ran over to him, seemingly glad to noticed other people that were as scared as she.

'Thank God, thank God, thank God!' she cried as she moved to the General. 'Other people! So far the only other living things I've seen in here are monsters! Disgusting great blood thirsty demons!'

She threw her arms around Lee's neck and rested her head on his shoulder. He held his arms out to the sides, obviously not wanting to make any physical contact with her unless if it was something that could not be prevented. Cloud grasped her left arm and threw her backwards, off Lee. She stumbled and almost tripped her eyes wide with shock as they rested on the spiky haired man next to Lee.

'What the hell are you going on about? You are one of these demons things that litter this freaky dump!' he exclaimed.

'What? What are you going on about?' The girl seemed disorientated and confused.

'We saw a statue that looked exactly like you. The only difference was that it had large black feathered wings. It was wearing the exact same clothes that you are, every detail - minus the wings - was just the same, from the sword pendant around your neck to the spiked boots,' Lee interjected.

The General clamped one hand over her mouth, to prevent her from yelling any more. He glanced around nervously, checking to make sure that the pitch and tone of her voice had not attracted any unwanted visitors. She moved his hand away from her and continued, in a lower voice.

'How did you get here?' asked Cloud. Behind him, Lee and Yuffie exchanged impassive glances. It would have been impossible for anybody watching them to tell what was running through their minds.

'You didn't hear anything beforehand? You just woke up as though it was morning and nothing unusual had happened?' asked Yuffie, her voice half curious, and half sceptical. General Lee caught her eye and gave her a furious look.

'I - I don't know! Now that you mention it, I think I did hear something, but I can't remember what it was...'

'Was it like a -' Yuffie was cut off halfway through her question by Lee pressing his hand over her mouth, like he did to the girl before them.

Cloud and him were both thinking the same thing; this girl was lying, just pretending, possibly trying to catch them off guard so she could attack.

'Gawd, are you trying to suffocate me?' exclaimed Yuffie, with an angry look at General Lee. He had his hand firmly over her jaw before she wrenched it away.

Lee opened his mouth to hiss a retort, but before the words even formed in his mind, he was interrupted by a red droplet splashing on Yuffie's nose. She blinked and rubbed it off, looking at her fingers.

Many more of the same red droplets were splashing down on them, like a light shower. The General noticed that they stained their clothing; his white outfit was now covered with crimson splash marks. The drops started to fall more heavily, until they were almost drenched from head to foot. The mysterious rain came with an awful stench. It was something that made Yuffie retch and stick her tongue out, before she remembered that the water was landing on it and hurriedly shut her mouth again.

'You ought to recognise that smell. We've smelt it so often we barely notice it now when in fights. It's raining blood, Cloud. Blood,' the teen replied.

Lee looked at his fingers and sure enough, they were painted with a red substance which resembled blood. Both his and Yuffie's clothing was being dyed with the drops. They seemed to slide right off Cloud's armour and collected at his feet, and they did not show up at all on the other girl.

'Have you met a man all in black with blonde-white hair who called himself Tamon Yao?' asked Lee. She nodded enthusiastically, but stopped when she noted that she was receiving three looks of identical suspicion.

'Are you sure that you are who you say you are?' asked Cloud, his eyes narrowed.

'Yes, he was the first human thing I saw in this place. He dragged me to a large castle he lives in and I had to escape because he was forcing me into slavery,' replied the girl.

'You must be joking, right? I'm not going to play into his hands. You accuse me of being a demon, but for all I know you three could be monsters trying to get me back to him,' she snapped.

Cloud's shortened temper ran out. She shrieked as he slammed her against a nearby wall. He held her against it, his left hand on her shoulder, his right hand at her throat, securing her in his grasp. He brought his face close to hers. Yuffie could see that she was holding her breath, but she somewhat suspected that it was because her trachea was being heavily pressed upon, rather than Cloud having a serious case of halitosis.

'Now, you listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once. You are going to take us to Tamon's castle. He won't have any interest in you whatsoever, because he's kidnapped a friend of ours who we are going to get back. If you refuse, then fine, I can't stop you, but just remember...I'm worse than any creature you can face here. Our friend is quite a popular lady, and I doubt that you want anybody else - who are like me, may I add - coming over to you and explaining why we want her back,' said Cloud. His voice was low and menacing, barely anything more than a growl. But it did the trick, because the girl swallowed and attempted to breathe. She barely took her eyes off him. He looked petrifying. Dangerous anger and hatred was etched into every possible inch of his face. His expression was enhanced by the drops of blood trickling down his face.

Cloud moved his hands off her and took a step backwards, watching her carefully. Yuffie piped up.

Aeris cupped her hands and started to lower them into the bloody water when she found Kirsty holding her wrists.

'I really wouldn't if I were you,' she said, looking into the depths of the liquid.

'I don't want to find out. I suggest we just find a way out of here, see if we can locate Lee, Cloud and Yuffie,' replied the Corporal.

'How do you suggest we get out of here? It's just a cave with water all around it,' said Aeris, bringing to light the problem had Corporal Kirsty had already spotted but wanted to ignore. She gazed around at the vicinity. There had to be something, somewhere where they could escape. There just had to be. At last, she saw it.

'Eurgh, we're going to have to wade through this sea of blood to get to it though,' replied Aeris, looking revolted.

'You can stay here if you want. Anyway, something is telling me that it’s too deep to wade through. I think we're going to have to swim through it.'

'It can't be blood!' cried Aeris. She was seeming to be operating on a kind of 'automatic' mode, where she functioned by speaking whatever problem was running through her mind, which was, what the liquid ahead of them was. 'It doesn't smell!'

'It still stains your clothing though,' pointed out Kirsty, looking at Aeris's stained shoes.

The Corporal backed off and ran at the water. When she was level with Aeris again, she threw herself forwards, diving into the ocean head first. Her head pierced the surface of the liquid again, and twisted around to look at Aeris. She called to Aeris to come in, who was still hesitant. She reluctantly walked forwards to wade into the bloody depths when Corporal Kirsty's expression changed. She suddenly looked panicked.

A slimy, rotten, clawed, dead hand reached out from under the Corporal's left arm and tightly grasped her right shoulder, pulling her down. She opened her mouth to scream, but was dragged under the surface before she could get any sound out. She ended up with a mouthful of the putrid tasting liquid that was suspected of being blood, which she spat out again. She could feel sharp claws tearing at her jacket and trousers, pain searing through her body as the claws tore at her flesh. She struggled to get towards the surface, her chest feeling like it was about to burst.

The temperature of the liquid rose steadily until it started bubbling and the unknown creature erupted into flames. Large spheres of fire exploded from the hidden beast. The hands let her go. The claw stopped injuring her. She drifted towards the surface again. Her front was facing the surface, her limbs and head limply drifting in the water after her. She was vaguely aware of the blood being disturbed, but did not try and move her head to see what was going on.

As she drifted almost peacefully on the surface, she felt two strong hands grasp her shoulders. Kirsty opened her eyes and saw Aeris was shaking her awake, clearly worried that she had died. She was waist deep in and seemed disgusted.

'I'm fine. Whatever attacked me just took me by surprise. Come on, we need to get to land,' replied Corporal Kirsty. She dived down again and blindly made her way towards the land. Aeris gave the sea one last disgusted look, before dipping beneath the surface and tailing after the Corporal.

Yuffie, Cloud and General Lee were following the girl through the dark alleys, to where they hoped would be Tamon's castle, where, hopefully Tifa was locked up. The rain had not stopped, but was building up, causing red puddles on the ground which were disturbed by drops rippling across the surface and also as one of the party stepped through them on their way forwards.

Lee had to try and keep the peace because the girl was paying them no need whatsoever; apart from occasionally looking back to make sure they were following. Only the General's hand on Cloud's shoulder was keeping Yuffie conscious, as she whined and complained the whole time, whinging about her aching feet, and how she was cold.

'This is pointless! She's probably taking us into a nice dark alleyway somewhere so they can transform into a monster or something and kill us!' Complained Yuffie. 'She's probably that demon we saw earlier with Tamon! And you're entrusting our lives with her, Cloud!'

Lee was way ahead and had already stuck out his arm to block Yuffie from Cloud as he started towards her yet again.

The girl had stopped and was impatiently tapping her foot, angrily waiting to be caught up.

'We're probably going to be ambushed and killed on our way here!' retorted Yuffie. 'We can't take on all these creatures! We couldn't get rid of that demon when it attacked us, could we? You agree with me, don't you Lee?'

'I have faith in the fact that we can take on anything that faces us. The reason we did not get the demon was because there was only one person at a time fighting it,' replied Lee, urging Cloud and Yuffie onwards. They glared daggers at one another before moving.

It took another fraught hour before they came into view of a castle. They looked up at the gothic style structure in front of them for a minute, thinking of what they could do to rescue Tifa.

'What, straight through the front door?' asked Yuffie. 'That's not a clever idea.'

'Yeah? And I don't care,' replied Cloud snappishly and headed towards the front door. He tried the large cool handle on the front door and realised that it was locked. 'Ninja!'

Yuffie shut her eyes as if searching for inner peace before she started towards Cloud.

'You ought to have something like a hairpin on your person, as ninjas need to unlocked doors and things. Pick this lock,' demanded Cloud.

The teen patted her pockets, but could not find anything that would be used to unlock the heavy oak door. A pale hand that was almost covered by a black sleeve appeared under Cloud's nose, holding a straightened paperclip. Cloud took it and thanked her. He bent over the lock and set to work.

'What's your name?' asked Yuffie, staring at her. The three of them had noticed that the girl never opened her mouth properly, as though she had something wrong with her teeth that she was trying to hide. The girl was uncomfortably aware that Yuffie was staring directly at her mouth.

Aeris and Kirsty slowly made their way through the thick, dark river, keeping an ear out for any inhuman sounds. They kept their eyes tightly shut; it would be impossible to see through the liquid even if they were looking at their murky surroundings.

Aeris's head pierced the surface as she sucked in a deep breath. The Corporal popped up beside her, watching her closely. She put her feet down and felt solid ground underneath her.

'We can just about wade to the bank now. The....whatever....is shallow enough now,' said Kirsty.

They forced themselves to move through the swamp, noting that it was slightly more difficult to do as their sodden clothes weighed them down, but, also the river was thicker than it would be, had it been filled with water.

The heels of their shoes stuck occasionally in the river bottom as they determinedly made their way through. Kirsty reached the bank first and pulled herself up, hearing a small squelch as her footwear was pulled free once more. She lowered a hand to Aeris, who gratefully seized it. She flopped down on the ground next to Corporal Kirsty. She felt the dried, grainy ground under her hands and wondered how they would be able to make their way out of this horrific place, and if the others were looking for them.

In a massive red walled, gothic room, Tifa was held captive by Tamon. Her hands were bound in front of her, with golden handcuffs. She was kept by Tamon's side by a large bike chain attached to the smaller, more delicate chain on the handcuffs. Tamon gripped the end, holding her close, the metal links wrapped several times around his hands.

He pulled Tifa closer, so they their bodies were pressed together, and their lips almost met. He studied her face, taking in her expression of pure loathing and poison. He stared calmly into her eyes and stroked her hair, relishing the way she angrily moved her head away from him. She wanted to back off, to be as far away from this man as possible, but he would not let her retreat so much as an inch away from him.

Paintings lined the walls of the large chamber, depicting others who she had to assume were relatives of the wicked, black hearted man in front of her. But one caught her eye. One featured the head and shoulders of a woman barely older than herself, with long blonde hair that fell past her shoulders in golden ringlets. Her eyes were made up with black eyeshadow, and a lick of black liner underneath. Her lips were slicked with a deep plum residue, seemingly thicker than any lipstick Tifa had known. She wore what looked like a low cut black gown, made of the similar material of the girl the statue was of. But what really caught her was what she was doing with her hands.

Tifa's attention was held nearly entirely by the woman's hands. Her fingers were long and were just as pale as the rest of her skin on show, the fingernails painted black and two centimetres in length. Her hands were curled around the hilt of a gold knife, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and other precious stones set deep into the gold. The shiny blade stuck up, curving slightly. The point could not be seen, because at half way up the blade, the metal disappeared from sight and into the woman's neck. Glistening blood dripped down her front, a look of satisfaction frozen on the ghost white face.

Tamon saw what Tifa was looking at and pulled himself away from her. The relief in Tifa's mind showed clearly by her facial expression. But her eyes were drawn to the painting of the woman slitting her throat again, and Tamon spoke.

'That is my sister. Beautiful, isn't she?' he said. Tifa did not know how to answer.

There was a kind of hidden beauty in her face, but those looking at her were drawn away from her looks because of the knife sticking in her throat. But now Tamon mentioned it, she could appreciate somebody seeing her and thinking that she was possibly the most gorgeous woman in the world. She most certainly is in this world, thought Tifa, remembering the looks of the beings she had seen so far.

Moonlight shone through the window, casting a beam of silver light, tainted with red into the room.

Scarlet turned away from the ninja as Cloud whispered that he had opened the door. She, he, Yuffie and the General silently slipped through it, shutting it behind them. The ominous feeling that they were locking themselves in for an eternity swept around them and sank into their hearts.

The main corridor from the front door was dark and cold. Their footsteps sounded quietly on the stone ground. The stone walls were unsurprisingly cool to the touch. Candelabras lit up the dank atmosphere at intervals, forming creepy shadows as the party swiftly walked past. They moved past dozens of brown oak doors, which looked quite inviting. Scarlet led them to the very end of the corridor, to a bookcase.

'Dead end,' whispered Yuffie. Despite her voice was lowered, she could still manage to put a sarcastic tone into her words.

Scarlet grasped one shelf and pulled. One side of the bookcase swung free, as the other side moved on its hinges. She flashed a triumphant look at the teen and swept through.

They saw before them a huge room, lined with red wallpaper, which seemed to be padded in diamond shapes. Lee was put into mind of a fancy insane asylum. A long wooden table stretched out before them, hard wooden chairs lining each side. A larger and more comfortable looking chair was resting alone at the head of the table. The walls were littered with oil painted portraits of various different people. All of them were vicious looking, their eyes filled with the gleam of menace.

Two figures were at the other end, and neither of them was aware of the presence of anybody else. One was a young woman, in cuffs, attached by a chain to the other figure, bathed in glinting moonlight.

The head of the male outline turned and spotted the company that had arrived. Before anyone could anticipate the next move, Scarlet strode away from Yuffie, Lee and Cloud and stopped beside Tamon. The General and Cloud exchanged anxious glances.

A sickening grin flickered over Scarlet's mouth as she gazed, love-struck at Tamon. He turned his attention to Tifa and held the end of the chain loosely in his hands. Tifa seriously considered pulling at it and making a break at freedom, but she realised that there were two people missing from the group that consisted of Lee, Cloud and Yuffie and they were Kirsty and Aeris. She then decided that it would not be a good idea to risk her life breaking free when she did not have much idea of what her capture was capable of doing.

Tamon fixed the end of Tifa's chain sturdily into the wall at the bottom, forcing it with a peg in the stone acting as a skirting board. He glanced at Scarlet, who had not once taken her eyes off him, and nodded. She raised her fists, and suddenly threw them down at her sides, the sharp movement causing something to slip out of her sleeves. She caught the two daggers before they could clatter to the ground. Tifa noticed that they were both usable replicas of the knife she saw clasped by the self destructive woman in the horrible, gory painting.

She started towards the group, Tamon at her side. Yuffie shrank back, but the General gripped her arm.

'We're going to need you, Yuffie,' he said, his voice low, and his lips barely moving.

He did not notice the movement of the daggers in time, and Cloud jumped in front of him, as a silver blade rushed through the air, at his heart area. It struck Cloud just below his throat. The other one hit the ninja, who had attempted to get out of the way in the arm. Scarlet broke into a run, and cartwheeled, her legs fixed together as her feet landed. Her body arched repeatedly as she flipped her hands and feet making dull thuds on the lush red carpet. She straightened her body, the right way up in front of the terrified General, who made to retreat. Tamon heaved up the weakened bodies of Yuffie and Cloud, as burning poison flowed through their bodies from the blades. He pulled them to the other end of the huge chamber, past Tifa, who was trying to pull the peg out of the wall. He gave her a kick as he past, dragging the two along with him, leaving Scarlet on her own to face General Lee.

Lee was facing the woman with his back to the wall. Why hadn't they trusted Yuffie? She was right all along; Scarlet was only using them to bring around their deaths. Maybe she had been instructed by Tamon to hunt them down and kill, but the job was made so much easier by their will to find her boss in order to free Tifa.

Scarlet has her hands on Lee's shoulders' preventing him from moving away, out of her grasp. He could hear screams of pain coming alternately from Yuffie and Cloud. He wondered what grim torture was being inflicted on them. Scarlet started to laugh, her tone high pitched and evil. Lee saw why she had been so eager to keep her mouth closed when she was pretending to be on their side. She had long, sharp fangs, the very point of them resembling needles. Lee could feel panic rising in his chest. His breath was coming out in long gasps as he inhaled and exhaled, pure molten fear pouring over him.

She punched him hard in the stomach, winding him. Lee called out as the air rushed from out of his body. He held one hand to where he was struck, his body bent over, but he kept his face turned up. He kept his eyes firmly on her.

Kirsty and Aeris were almost ready to admit defeat. They had no idea where they were, nothing looked familiar to them. They were stranded, only fit to be food for any beast lingering around, and would just about make up to be a mediocre meal at best. Kirsty allowed herself to fall down, landing on her stomach, her forearms striking the ground hard. She clasped her hands together and rested her head on top, her eyes closed. Aeris squatted down beside her, watching her closely.

'How are we going to make it back? We haven't got a clue as to where we are; let alone where the others are. We've got no hope in finding them. We're trapped,' sobbed Kirsty, her voice rapidly turning bitter. Her breathing was heavy and loud, each exhale louder than in inhale. It looked as though she was trying to breathe her emotional pain out of her body. Aeris knew better than to disturb her.

Ahead the dusty, path continued, leading into a forest, thick trees on both sides of the dry, soil covered ground. She was reminded of a forest that she had visited back in her own world. In fact, it was the forest in which she was concealed, by means of an odd construction that took her deep under the ground. That was where she was when the siren rang. Aeris could almost see a small red orb moving eerily around, in mid air of its own accord. She shook her head. There was no point in imagining that she was back in her own planet. She knew full well that she was not, and that she probably had no hope of it either.

She looked back at Kirsty, mud forming around her hands from the moisture of her tears on the ground. She lifted her head, wiped her eyes, got up and stared blankly at the forest. Aeris drew herself up to her full height beside her, and caught the Corporal's eye. Aeris gave her a smile and gestured towards the forest.

They both felt rattled and unnerved as they ventured through the forest, almost feeling their way through; the trees were so thick, barely any light from the coloured moon could get through to them. One thing that was great worrying Aeris was the lack of beasts. The last one they had encountered was in the bloody river, and that was hours ago. She would have thought that in a place as creepy as this, the creatures would not have thought to lure anybody into a false sense of security. She would have thought they would attack with everything they could, much preferring to turn a living being into a still-warm pile of dead meat rather than trying to set a horribly icy cold and palpable fear into their hearts.

She saw Aeris holding her staff tightly out of the corner of her eye, and Kirsty felt even more vulnerable than before. She was not very good at fights without a weapon, and out of her and the General, she was the only one that had a katana with her the time the siren called. Not that it made much difference now; as she groped at her sodden red uniform, she realised that she had lost her blade without knowing it. Aeris, on the other hand, while not feeling exactly safe, felt more at ease with their situation than the Corporal did. Not only was she skilled with her staff, she was also an expert with materia.

The two pushed their way through the forest, past thick trees, trying to make their way out to the other side, trying to get somewhere that they recognised. They felt themselves becoming more and more confused, and certain that they were going round in circles. Aeris was forcefully reminded once more of the forest of her home planet, that could easily lead travellers astray. She had never fully understood how, and all she knew was that even forests had ancient magic in them.

'I almost feel like this is just a horror film, and we're the actors,' said Kirsty, as she shivered.

'If it was, then expect a hoard of shibitos coming to rush us any minute now,' replied Aeris.

'Don't say that!' snapped Kirsty, feeling more unnerved at the thought of being chased by a pack of the living undead.

A light breeze could just about make its way though the thick gnarled trees, the sound floating eerily around, causing a whistling noise. It sounded like somebody blowing over the top of an empty bottle.

General Lee stared into the eyes of Scarlet. He straightened up, still keeping his hand to the place where he was hit. He knew he was going to die.

Tifa was chained up at the other end of the phenomenally huge chamber, Cloud and Yuffie had been dragged off and were being abused, and Kirsty and Aeris seemed to have vanished without a trace. He was the only one left. The one that got away. And now he was going to be worked over by the malicious girl that they - with the exception of Yuffie - had trusted with their lives. He felt sick at the thought.

Scarlet's left hand had found his body again and her index finger was gently caressing the nape of his neck. She brought her finger down to his chest, running over the buttons of his jacket. Lee felt too scared to move. He wished he could push her away, break free of her grasp. Not a chance. No way. She was not going to let this one go.

He felt he had to distract his attention, look at something else that was not the demon in front of him. His eyes rested on the paintings scattered around. Like Tifa, his eyes were immovably fixed on the painting of Tamon's sister. He could barely believe how anybody could do a painting of something like that, and in such grotesque detail. It was disgusting. It was morbid. It could hold his attention better than anything else in the room could, providing he was willing to gape at it.

A wave of nausea rushed over him and he studied the other portraits. He felt another surge of sickness as he looked at the one closest to him. All the time while he was taking in the horror of what was around him, Scarlet continued to caress his skin, her fingers moving up to the sides of his face. But when she felt his muscles bunch under his skin she turned to see what was making him so tense.

The awful picture he was looking at seemed to haunt him more than any other thing he had seen in this world. Any other human that saw it could not really blame him for being so effected.

The canvas depicted a man lying down on the ground, dead. He was bald and his skin was turning grey. He was dressed only in a loincloth, showing off how skeletally thin he was. His ribs protruded from under the weakened skin. His face was a bloody mess. The General could have easily counted how many bones were underneath the skin, had not been that areas of him had started to decompose. The ribs that were sticking through his flesh were a putrid reddish-brown colour, thick with dried blood.

‘Her likeness hung in the Black Gallery, commanding unease, demanding of Death to breathe…’

Lee jumped at the sound of the heavenly voice which just whispered disturbing words into his ear. He involuntarily looked back at Scarlet, who seemed not to have said a thing. The shrieks of agony re entered his ears and he remembered what was going on and what they were all facing. He shoved Scarlet away from him, contemplated fighting, but decided against it, thinking that it would be wiser to take the coward's way out and run. Her head just missed clipping the wall, and Lee ran for his life as she regained her posture. He heard the familiar thuds again and glanced back while sprinting to see Scarlet flipping head over heels behind him and gaining.

He face forwards and stopped abruptly, because, now standing in front of her was Scarlet. He glanced back. Nobody was behind him. She must have somersaulted over his head as he was turning to face forwards. As he looked ahead again, his instantly raised his arms in defence as the black clad girl lunged. Her sharpened teeth sank deep into his arms as he protected his head and neck area. He had not forgotten when the statue - at least he had to assume that it really was a statue - had attacked his Corporal. He tried to pull his arms free from her bite, but she clung on, her hands gripping his shoulders, fighting for purchase of the back of his head. He sharply moved his bitten arm to one side, her teeth still in his flesh, the movement causing her neck to violently snap. She fell off him and crumpled to the ground, her head at an odd angle.

He continued to run in the direction of Tifa, stopping in front of her and assisting her in getting free from the chain in the wall, but could not find a way to break to links to that she was only handcuffed.

'Might come in handy as a weapon,' muttered Tifa, holding the chain awkwardly in her bound hands. She led the General into the room where Tamon was keeping Yuffie and Cloud.

Cloud's right hand was tied to Yuffie's left, the ligature looking as though it was a tightly bound wire. But there seemed to be nothing to hand that used wires. Another mystery of this sickening planet, thought Tifa.

Lee's gaze was caught by the implement of torture in Tamon's hands. It was a whip, the end of it littered, positively covered with razor sharp spikes, capable of tearing flesh easily. A quick glance at the two captives told him that it was the whip that they were being struck with. Yuffie's legs, arms and face were covered with fairly deep wounds. Only Cloud's face had cuts and marks of torture, because the armour protected him, but Tifa saw that his protective clothing was nearly damaged beyond use from the pressure inflicted on it by Tamon.

Finally, Aeris and Kirsty came to a spot of land that looked slightly hopeful. They could see in the distance a large castle. Surely there had to be at least one being - excluding themselves - in this world that would actually be on their side.

They somehow managed to find the determination somewhere to make their way up to it. The worry that they were about to stumble into a large gang of creatures had partly exhausted them.

Eventually they made their way up the front door of the castle, and with their last ounces of strength, they opened the heavy oak door.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Tamon turned around, an evil smirk spread over his face as he faced the General and Tifa. He looked behind them, expecting to see Scarlet, but she did not arrive. As her absence became more delayed, the grin of Tamon's features became more pronounced.

The heavy wooden door burst open and two weary, exhausted figures stumbled through.

Aeris and Kirsty looked at the huge, red walled chamber in front of them. They did not register the horrific, controversial portraits at first, because their attention was taken up by those standing in the doorway. The Corporal turned her head to the left and saw General Lee and Tifa watching them, anxiety spread across their faces. Creeping up behind them was Tamon, who had moved to try and block the figures behind him. Kirsty could make out the calf of Yuffie and the forearm of Cloud.

General Lee's jaw dropped when he saw the condition that the pair were in. He walked over to his Corporal and rested his hands on her shoulders, looking hard at her. She had her face turned down, looking at the General's knees. He put a hand under her chin and tilted her bloody stained face, forcing her to look up at him. He was oblivious to the fact that Tamon was still watching, staring with an expression of interest.

Lee's eyes roamed over Aeris as well, who looked just as bad. Both their clothing drenched with blood, and Lee thought he could see flecks of dried blood in their hair. Corporal Kirsty seemed to have made a change from blonde to redhead. He wanted to speak, he wanted to say something to her, to ask them what had happened, why they were so bloody, but he could not get the words out. He instead held the Corporal to him, the side of her face pressed against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

'What happened to you both?' asked Tifa. She had the power to say what Lee could only think.

'I take it you got a rain of blood?' asked Aeris, looking at General Lee's spattered clothing. Tifa nodded.

'Well, we found a whole river of blood and had to swim through it,' replied Aeris.

The sound of a whip cracking reverberated around the vicinity. It had another sound glued to it, the sound of metal hitting stone as the spikes struck the floor. Almost everyone started. The General and the Corporal drew apart. He had a huge bloody stain at the front of his once white uniform from where Kirsty had pressed against him.

The six watched as Tamon brushed swiftly past them and to the body of Scarlet. Her head was still in the odd position that Lee had left it in. Tamon sat the body up and cracked the neck again, before allowing it to fall back down again. As he started back towards the group, the girl twitched and straightened up, a malicious grin showing off her fangs to their fullest extent. All except Tamon and Lee gasped as she hissed, the needle sharp teeth glistening in the strangely coloured moonlight.

Her clothes melted and melded to her skin, as the whole of her being except for her hair and eyes turned a pale grey-white colour. Her hair stayed the same jet black it had always been, her the irises of her eyes became brighter and slipped from brown to dark red. Angelic wings had sprouted from her shoulder blades, in the same impossible colour of her body.

She shot up into the air and did a loop the loop gracefully above their heads, before rushing to Lee, fangs exposed.

The General pushed Kirsty, Aeris and Tifa safely out of the way and just as he made to evade the beast coming down at him, their bodies met. They grasped one another by the shoulders. The force of Scarlet landing, crashing into him like that made him fall backwards, cascading to the ground. Yet again, he was struggling to fend off an enraged creature that was using all its strength to try and wound him.

There was a bolt of lightning, and Scarlet fell off the General. A hand reached down to pull him to his feet. Aeris helped him up again after the emerald flames had died down.

As Lee made for Tamon, the Corporal started toward Scarlet. Aeris whisked the dangerous whip from out of Tamon's hands, struck him with it and ran over to Cloud and Yuffie, who were both shaking and wincing from their cuts. Aeris gingerly grasped one of the spikes on the end of the whip and told Yuffie and Cloud to hold up their bound hands. She slit the ligature tying them together and concentrated.

Once again, warm green flames sparked up around her, while her staff, which she was carrying in her other hand floated horizontally in the air. She dropped the whip and clasped her hands together over her staff, stretching them out to her companions. Deep blues and purples enveloped the three of them, the healing power doing its magic.

Tifa was standing to one side, unable to assist her friends because of her cuffed hands. Kirsty was in a ferocious grapple with Scarlet, whose feet were drifting several centimetres above the ground. The Corporal received a hard push from her foe and crashed into the wall next to Tifa. Scarlet flew over to her, arms pulled back ready to strike. Tifa leapt in the way and raised her bound arms, her face turned away, her eyes screwed up in panic, There was a loud clang, and when Tifa dared to look, she saw that Scarlet and broken the chains on her hands. She threw the metal links to the floor, and punched Scarlet heavily in the face, carrying her back a few feet.

Lee and Tamon were throwing punches, grabbing and shoving one another in such a way that it looked like a street brawl, rather than a fight for somebody's life. The side of Tamon's hand struck the General's neck, catching him by surprise. He stumbled to one side and almost fell over. Tamon then followed through with a high kick landing squarely on his chin. Before he could do any more to hurt the injured General, a black, blonde-headed blur ran into him, carrying him off his feet. General Lee stood up, watching as Cloud pounded Tamon with every last ounce of strength that he had.

Lee's eyes met with Tifa's for a brief second and she picked up the thick heavy chain that had been tossed aside and threw it to him. He caught it and saw Cloud and Tamon clambering to their feet, Tamon conveniently with his back turned. Lee rushed forwards, swinging the chain, catching his enemy around the throat. Cloud whipped around and pulled on the other end of the chain, both him and the General fighting to strangle the demon. He choked and gagged and clawed at the links digging into his throat, but neither of them were relenting.

Tamon's usually pale skin started to flush red at the pressure of drawing breath. He managed to get the first joints on his fingers between his neck and the chain, but he was not strong enough to pull himself free from the grasp of the two men behind him. Instead, he did what only he could. He snapped his fingers. The siren started again for the third time in their heads, having the instantaneous reaction that he had hoped.

Only Yuffie did not have her eyes fully shut against the pain that the siren caused. She was squinting at her knees, at the ground. She could just about make out the room growing darker and darker and stretching to eternity. The screaming pain in her head had faded. Reluctantly, she widened one eye. She gazed around at her surroundings, unable to believe what she was seeing.

She and the others got to their feet, looking around in despair. They found themselves back in the strange black place where they first regained consciousness after the first siren, which was, Aeris realised, still hooting shrilly, but quietly, in the back of their minds, so that all they got was a dull headache.

Kirsty had started to pace around, looking at everything, but there was barely anything to look at, except for themselves. Once again, they had the horrible sensation of not actually standing on anything, like they were floating, hovering in space. Only the figures of themselves and each other shone out brightly. Nothing else was noticeable.

A deep rumbling noise erupted from the depths of . . . what was below. Startled, they all drew together. General Lee found himself being hugged by a frightened Kirsty. Orange red light blasted out underneath their feet in a blazing square shape. The effect looked like they were standing on top of hell and the flames were attempting to break free. The black square was consumed by the fiery light, and sure enough, long wild flames leapt out, embers spitting.

Cloud precariously stood near the edge and peered in, trying to see what was below, but very quickly jumped back when a flame danced over to him, looking like a hand about to slap him. It seemed like an explosion had taken place. More flames crackled and roared out of the square in the air at ground level, until they became more and more excited and a solid wall of fire shot out. Kirsty called out and turned away, still holding onto the General in her fear. He had his arms around her and held her tightly, his eyes almost shut, against the blinding light of the fire. Everyone else had also averted their faces. None of them saw one flaming tendril disjoin itself from the solid barrier and lazily wave around. As though sketching something out of nothing, a door shape appeared, showing the world outside. The world back to where Aeris, Tifa, Yuffie and Cloud belonged. Cloud forced himself to turn back, gaping past the flames to see what was going on, and saw the rectangle, with his home world just through.

He called out in surprise, seeing the stepping stones and the platform where Aeris was once praying. He saw the cool blue water that washed and slopped around below. As though he was no longer being blinded, and the fire was allowing him to see more clearly, he shuffled forwards, dragging his feet, walking in a trance.

The fire flickered and died. The company looked back and saw the exact same thing that had caught Cloud's eye. Kirsty and Lee moved apart and started to walk over, never taking their eyes off what lay in front of them.

'Its home,' replied Tifa, a massive grin spreading across her pretty features. 'It's our world.'

Aeris and Yuffie caught Tifa's last words and pushed their way past, determined to see what the rest were seeing. Aeris gave a short laugh, which implied that she tried to call out in happiness, but in her sheer disbelief that she was safe, her breath caught in her throat.

General Lee and Corporal Kirsty were feeling stunned. They were happy for their new found friends, that at last some of them were able to get back to where they belonged, but how would they be able to return to their world? How would they manage to get back to Japan? Lee fought to swallow, his mouth and throat dry and tried to hide the expression of unhappiness that he knew was trying to fall across his face.

'Why don't you both come back with us?' asked Cloud, picking up on what was going on inside the Corporal and General's minds.

'We'd take care of you,' replied Tifa. Her smile widened as she looked at the beautiful world in which they came from again.

Kirsty gave Lee and enquiring look and he nodded. They followed Yuffie through the flaming gateway into a different world, which looked, if possible, even more stunning than before. The six of them gathered on the platform on the side of the stepping stones that Tifa and Yuffie were, when going after Aeris.

As they all walked back across the platform, Tifa, who was behind Kirsty and Lee, saw that they were hand in hand. She nudged Aeris and pointed.

As though they had heard Aeris's almost inaudible whisper, the Corporal and General looked and saw they were holding hands and awkwardly drew apart.

Cloud looked behind and slowed down, waiting for Tifa, Aeris, Lee and Kirsty to catch up. Yuffie walked on ahead before realising Cloud had stopped. He gave Lee a look, because he could see that he was fighting some inner battle, and losing, judging by the expression on his face. He stopped suddenly and rested one hand on Kirsty's arm to stop her from going any further. She gave him a look, wondering what was going on. His hand slid down her arm until their hands were touching again. He pulled her closer. Her arms fell around his neck. He held her at the small of her back and in between her shoulder blades. His head dipped down to her and their lips met.

They paid no attention to Tifa and Aeris cheering as they kissed; they were almost oblivious to the rest of the world. Tifa looked past the couple and saw that even Cloud and Yuffie were smiling at the sight of their friends' happiness.

Kirsty and Lee pulled away, exchanged a grin and continued onwards, hand in hand again, but this time, they knew what they were doing. Kirsty caught Yuffie's eye, who winked at her. The Corporal gave her a sheepish grin, and glanced at her General, who had also doubled up as her partner.

Lee's eyes swept around the huge underground chamber again. He felt content. He had seen a gorgeous new world, had the courage to win Kirsty's heart, and they had both made four brilliant new friends. Maybe a different world would make a pleasant change...