The Planet had been in existence since the beginning of Time. A living breathing, sentient creature in its own unique way, it had seen the passage of many a race over its long lifetime. I had a consciousness of its own. Pain it knew as intimately as happiness, just as any human did. However, even after the fall of Sephiroth and the destruction of all the Mako reactors, the pain still refused to cease. When the Planet cried, it was a heartfelt shriek of agony, not happiness. The Planet used to sing when it felt joy or contentment. It used to sing just for the sake of singing, because singing was beautiful.

It had been a long time since the Planet had sung.

Ageless and eternal as it was, the Planet had seen the subsequent birth and fall of tribe after tribe, race after race. When the Cetra inhabited the earth, the Planet shared in their contentment and peace. And when the humans arrived and chased the Cetra off their homeland, the Planet didn’t know whether to weep at the loss of one race or rejoice at the birth of a new one. But weep it did, because these humans were a bellicose type. So many souls the Lifestream embraced when the humans waged terrible wars against one another, the blood from so many dead warriors soaking into the soil. And in the depths of the Planet, judgment was passed on these lost souls. The Planet had to punish those humans that had forgotten the earthen womb that had given them birth. It was a dirty, foul job, but it was the Planet’s duty to maintain dominion over its incorrigible children.

But there were some creatures that the Planet had no control over.

Gods and goddesses were born, worshipped by the human tribes alongside the Planet itself. Water God Leviathan. Shiva the Ice Angel. The Lost Knights of the Round. They survived into modern days, but many had fallen from their original glory. Countless deities encased in summon materia, doomed to be summoned at the whim of any half-witted human. What a travesty, to put such beings in cages of magic, to be called upon to be at the disposal of human beings.

But far more dangerous were the Beasts who were not caged.

Coming into existence when the Planet did, these creatures had lived on into the new age when humans had no respect for life, no reverence for the gods of ancient times. The last beings who would have worshipped them wholeheartedly had long since passed, and these great creatures of lost ages were left without true respect, without true admiration.

This made them angry.

So very angry…

* * * *

Cloud didn’t know how he did it, but he somehow managed to move back up to the front ranks alongside Vincent, bypassing Barret and Cait completely. Elena had been behaving rather well despite the fact that she had made it very clear that she wasn’t happy at all to be riding on Cloud’s back. In fact, she had sort of become his eyes, since more often than not, Cloud found himself blinded by sewer water and his own waterlogged bangs. He soon mastered the art of walking on his toes, something that wasn’t too hard in the water. It added a few inches to his height but took a toll on his balance. Several times he had to listen to Elena’s whining when he tripped and dunked them both under the sewer water.

The other thing that was tired him out was the fact that Vincent seemed to have increased his pace. Not at all discouraged by the water clawing at his shoulders, Vincent continued to press forward with incredible speed, his hair and bandana trailing behind him in the water meekly, unable to keep up with their owner’s pace. Cloud wanted to ask the man how much farther it was, or how much longer they were going to have to walk, or how he *knew* that Yuffie was in greater danger than she was before, or just *how* Chaos was communicating with him without speaking. There were so many questions - so many things he didn’t understand. He hated it when one of the greatest mysteries in his life was one of his friends…

“Vincent!” he suddenly heard Rude call. “Can you predict how much farther?”

“Not much,” Vincent clipped without turning around. Cloud was surprised he had even bothered to reply.

“Why you asking?” Cid demanded of the normally quiet Turk.

“It’s late afternoon already,” Rude replied matter-of-factly. “If it took us this long to get down here, it will take us just as long to get back, maybe even longer, since we may be heavier one, possibly two, people.”

“It’s only afternoon?” Cid echoed incredulously. “Damn…I thought we had been down here at least for a day by now…”

“Being underground distorts human perception of time,” Rude said.

“Well, ain’t that just laddy-doo and peachy-poo?” Cid said sarcastically as he dipped the Venus Gospel into the water again to keep himself floating along. “Next time you wanna talk, tell us some good news.”

Barret turned around to stare at Cid. “You didn’t know that being underground messes with yer head?” he asked smugly. “You even stupider than I thought.”

Cid scowled deeply. “@#$% you! You’re not gonna tell me that you knew about it!”

“I live in a coal-mining town, dumbass.”

Cloud rolled his eyes as the two started going at it again. In a few minutes, he knew that Cait and Elena would probably jump in and starting arguing as well, but he had learned long ago that that was what his teammates sometimes did to keep themselves sane. Whatever floated their boats. They could argue themselves silly while he concentrated on keeping up with Vincent’s taxing pace.

It turned out that he didn’t have to strain himself for much longer; Vincent only led them for a few more minutes before he suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Cloud glanced at him in puzzlement, no longer fighting to keep his head above the water. The ground underneath him had risen slightly, thank the gods.

“What’s wrong?” Tifa called from the back.

“Dead end,” Vincent said flatly, staring at the unbroken, dark wall in front of them. Cloud followed his gaze, frowning deeply.

//This can’t be right//

“You’ve got to be kidding me!!” Cait lamented, slapping a gloved paw to his furry forehead melodramatically and pretending to faint off of Barret’s shoulder.

“We didn’t come all this way for nuthin’!” Barret exclaimed angrily, talking to no one in particular.

“You’re right,” Cloud said suddenly, and something in his voice made everyone else fall silent. “We *didn’t* come all this way for nothing.” He turned to Vincent, and Elena had to tighten her grip to avoid sliding off his back.

The gunslinger was staring hard at the wall, crimson eyes narrowed and flashing with something that could almost be called anger. Or indignation. Or frustration. Or maybe even fear. What was Vincent afraid of?

“Yuffie’s somewhere beyond this wall, isn’t she?” Cloud asked evenly.

Vincent shot him a dark glare out of the corner of his eye, as if he loathed even being asked such a question. Cloud would have flinched underneath that gaze if he hadn’t been accustomed to Vincent’s mood swings.

“Yes,” Vincent said at last. “I’m certain she’s past this wall. Where, I cannot say, but I know she’s there.”

“And Reeve?” Elena suddenly asked. Cloud winced at how hopeful her voice sounded.

“I don’t know,” Vincent said simply.

“Either way,” Cloud stated firmly. “We’re going in.”

“Right,” Cait said dubiously. “And, um, just how do you propose we *get* in?”

“It’s not a matter of ‘in’,” Vincent spoke up. “It’s a matter of ‘under’.”

Cid caught on immediately. “Oh HELL no! There’s no way in HELL that I’m gonna-”

“I’m going under,” Vincent announced. “If I don’t come back, then I’m either dead or captured.”

He looked at Cloud, and the AVALANCHE leader gave him a slight, respectful nod, some of his waterlogged bangs falling into his eyes. Elena lifted them out of his face in time for him to see Vincent take a deep breath and dive underneath the surface of the water, his overly large shirt ballooning behind him as he disappeared out of sight. A few bubbles surfaced following his submergence, and then there was nothing else.

Even the resident loudmouths didn’t dare speak as they all waited to see whether or not Vincent was going to resurface. Cloud prayed he would, and that the man would be bringing good news with him.

//Yeah…good news that - Hey! Guess what, guys? We can go into the supersecret subterranean headquarters of the preternatural bad guys and run the high chances of being devoured by some monstrous anaconda. Good news, indeed.//

But no matter how insensible it might have been, Cloud was hoping that Vincent found an entrance somehow. He had a feeling that if they didn’t manage to find Yuffie and Reeve on this swoop, they would probably never find them.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting not very patiently, Vincent’s head finally broke the surface again. The gunslinger sucked huge gulps of air into his oxygen-deprived lungs, shoving long strands of raven hair out of his face as he did so. Everyone leaned forward, a mixture of wariness and grim expectance flickering in their eyes. Vincent didn’t say anything, though. He merely stared meaningfully at Cloud, some strange and alien emotion shifting in his eyes, here and then gone. A fleeting thing not used to making its home in those crimson depths.

Cloud’s jaw clenched, and he nodded stiffly. “Right.”

“Right what?” Elena demanded from her place on Cloud’s back. She was still holding his bangs out of his eyes.

“The entrance is at the very bottom of the wall,” Vincent spoke up, pointing towards the precise spot with his claw. “It’s a large hole that continues down and forward. It should be able to fit two people at a time comfortably. From what I can tell it’s a straight shot so we don’t have to worry about getting lost.”

Cloud nodded, but his heart was already starting to pound in his chest. “Just make sure you keep someone in front and beside you at all times.”

“Heyheyhey,” Cid said warningly. “Just how LONG is this tunnel? Old men like me can’t hold their breath for very long, you know.”

“You could if you’d lay off the cigarettes,” Elena snapped. Cloud could feel her heartbeat racing against his back, and the hands that were holding his bangs were trembling slightly. Fear had apparently made her snappish.

Cid’s true blue eyes narrowed menacingly, anxiety not bringing out the best in the pilot. “Don’t you start with me, woman,” he growled. “I ain’t no good to any of ya’ll if I’m dead.”

“Vincent?” Cloud asked.

“I’m not sure how long the tunnel is,” the man answered calmly. “But we’re close to something, very close.”

“Well, shit!” Cid suddenly exclaimed, snapping his goggles down over his eyes. “If we’re so *goddamn* close, then count me d’fuck in!”

Cloud couldn’t decide whether he was being sarcastic or not. You never could tell with Cid.

“What about Cait’s moogle?” Tifa suddenly asked, casting a glance at the large pink makeshift raft Cid was still plopped on.

“No prob!” Cait said confidently, hopping to his feet on Barret’s shoulder, much to the big man’s consternation. “Just tell ol’ Cid over there to give him back, and I can get him through!”

Cloud frowned. “Are you sure?”

Cait smiled proudly and adjusted the little crown he had on his head. “Of course I’m sure, O’ Fearless Leader! I just need to be there to steer him through, and we’ll make it just fine.”

Cloud took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. “Alright. Vincent, you lead the way. Barret and Cid, you follow him and don’t lose track of him. Then Rude and Tifa. Then Elena and me. Cait, you bring up the rear. Let’s go.”

* * * * * *

The tremors were so faint that Fa-Li didn’t even notice them at first. One minute, she was following Titus down a winding tunnel and wondering why the Master had summoned Jezebel and Montana, and the next she was plowing nosefirst into the back of Titus’ leather jacket. With a short yelp, she stumbled backwards, her heels fighting for purchase on the rocky floor. Well worn as it was, the craggy ground could still be rather treacherous at times.

“Titus!” she demanded of her companion’s shock-still figure. “Don’t DO that! The last thing we need is for me to-”

The green-eyed man suddenly whirled around and clamped one of his gloved hands over her mouth, cutting off her words. “Shhh!” he hissed, voice tense.

All her protests dying in her throat, Fa-Li became absolutely still. Their affair a year ago had taught her to trust Titus’ instincts before her own. Her dark brown eyes darted around the tunnel they were in, instinctively searching for hidden dangers. Nothing. The tunnel was empty except for the two of them.

Bewildered, she turned her gaze back to Titus, studying his face. Apparently, he was sensing something she wasn’t, not that there was anything new about that. He still had his index finger raised in the “shhhh” motion. His white-blond hair shimmered in the darkness like a wayward beacon, and his body was very still, only his green eyes moving as they roved around the entire tunnel - the floor, the walls, everywhere. Thinking she must have missed something, Fa-Li scanned the tunnel again, but all she could detect was a peculiar nervous crackling in the air, like caged electricity.

His hand falling away from her mouth, Titus slowly removed the glove of his right hand, his long fingers looking pale and fragile once stripped of the jet black gloves. The black-violet orb - darker than any kind of materia - glittered in the darkness, looking bloated and monstrous on the back of his hand. Carefully, Titus reached out and placed his hand on the rock wall, fingers unsettling some grit and sending it drifting to the floor. His emerald green eyes slipped closed, and he became stiller than the dead. Fa-Li wasn’t even sure he was breathing.

Clenching and unclenching her sweaty hands, she was about to ask Titus what was wrong with the orb imbedded on the back of his hand suddenly started to pulse with a black-purple light, illuminating the farthest reaches of the tunnel and chilling the depths of Fa-Li’s soul. There was an unspeakable darkness in that light, and it wasn’t the normal kind of blazing/blaring/shining light. No, this light was *pulsing*. Like a heartbeat.

“Titus?” Fa-Li asked, not giving herself the opportunity to be ashamed of the waver in her voice. “What is that? What’s going on?”

Titus’ green eyes were open and veritably glowing in the foul light pulsing from the orb. “It’s the Burrower,” he said quietly. “It’s awake, and it’s angry.”

Fa-Li tasted her pulse in the back of her throat. Fear - great and terrible fear - was suddenly all she knew.

Then their world started to fall apart.

* * * * * *

One with one final stroke of his arm, Vincent’s head broke the surface of the water. He sucked in a breath of the strange-smelling air and nearly inhaled a clump of his hair in the process. Struggling to draw air into his aching lungs and shove his hair away from his face at the same time, he was only able to catch a brief glimpse of a dimly-lit, echoing cavern all around him before he sensed an ominous force moving beneath him in the water. He water-rolled to the side just in time because, I second later, the waterlogged forms of Cid and Barret broke the surface, fighting to pull air into their oxygen-deprived lungs. Cid was an amusing shade of blue, and Barret was hacking like he had a frog stuck in his throat. A split second later, Rude and Elena broke the surface, followed by Cloud and the bobbing form of Cait Sith and his moogle.

As a chorus of coughs and strangling noises filled the air, Vincent suddenly saw something long and red rise out of water and latch onto his arm. His hand was going for the Outsider before he realized that his mysterious attacker was wearing a glove that bore an uncanny resemblance to the Premium Heart…

Tifa Lockheart suddenly exploded out of the water, clinging to Vincent like her life depended on it. Her burgundy eyes were wide and red-rimmed as she stared at Vincent for a split second before she coughed violently, spitting out the same water that the others were.

“Tifa, I could have shot you,” Vincent said levelly, allowing her to hang onto his arm while she struggled not to choke on the water she was regurgitating.

A couple of good, hearty coughs later, the young woman had her voice back and was staring wide-eyed up at Vincent through a soaking wall of brown bangs. “I swallowed…sewer water!” she gasped, shaking his arm for emphasis.

“I see that,” he replied coolly.

A sudden tickling ran down his spine, and he turned away from her to scan their surroundings with keen crimson eyes. They had surfaced in a water-filled cavern with a low, rocky ceiling that gave Vincent a vague feeling of claustrophobia. Deep (but clean) water filled the cavern, filling every nook and cranny except for the area on the right side, where the water gave way to dark rocks leading into a dimly lit tunnel.

//That’s the way…// Vincent suddenly thought, just before noticing something.

The air was faintly green, and *that* smell hung in the air. The same one in the deep-sea complex. The same one he had scented on Cloud’s clothes after the swordsman had battled with the giant snake. The green light that Chaos seemed to fear. And sure enough, when he looked deep within himself with eyes that weren’t really there, he felt it - a faint trembling that he knew instinctively to be the demon. It was agitated.

//What do you fear, demon?// he wanted to ask it, but he knew that he would receive no answer. He only hoped that Chaos wouldn’t try to force the transformation on him this time around. That was last thing he needed to deal with when Yuffie-

“Let’s go,” he announced flatly, wrapping his arm around Tifa and starting to paddle them both towards the rocky shore.

“But,” Cid wheezed, weakly treading water. “I’m…still…catching…my breath!” Vincent swam right past him with Tifa still slung under his arm, ignoring her vehement protests that she could swim on her own. He knew she was lying; he could feel the fatigue in her limbs.

“That’s what you get for smoking all those cigarettes!” Elena told Cid sternly, but despite her attitude, she had Cid by the arm and was tugging him towards the shore. Cloud and the others followed, all in varying conditions but all determined not to make this rescue mission fail.

Navigating the rocks on the shore proved trickier than Vincent had originally thought. They were slippery with moss, water, and some sticky substance that was eerily warm to the touch. No one wanted to be the first to make contact with the goo, but when Vincent put his hand and claw palms down in the gunk and started clambering up onto the rocks, everyone apparently deemed it safe and began their own ascent.

As it was, those present were in a state of semi-disarray (some in the water, some on the rocks, and some climbing onto the rocks) when the first tremors began.

Vincent was the first to feel them, but not in a physical sense. Balancing precariously on one of the slippery rocks, panic that wasn’t his own suddenly hit him like a fist in the gut. The breath was stolen from his lungs, and he felt his body falling to the ground, knees striking the rock with enough painful force to keep him conscious. He vaguely heard Tifa and Cid calling to him, asking if he was alright, but he hadn’t the strength to formulate a reply. Deep within himself, Vincent felt Chaos shifting violently. A dark tingling feeling spread down his back, signaling the beginnings of the transformation.

//No! Not now!// Vincent shook his head, fighting to maintain control over the demon. Not an easy thing by any standards. His lungs were refusing to function, and he felt darkness creeping in from the edges of his vision, drowning out the worried voices of his friends.

“Vincent! Are you alright?!” Tifa.

“Shit, he’s all up in that goo! Get him away from that gross-ass shit!” Cid.

“I think the ground is shaking.” Rude.

“Vincent, talk to us!” Cloud.

“Something,” Vincent suddenly gasped, voice tearing its way painfully out of his tight throat. He swallowed hard. “There’s something alive down here.”

Someone grabbed at his shoulders, and he smelled the sharp tang of metal and salt that he had come to associate with Cloud. Warmth surrounded him, and he dimly realized that Cloud must be trying to carry him off the rocks, but was finding footing dangerously unstable in the slick, clear substance covering the rocks. Vincent tried to speak again, to warn them about the tremors, but his voice was refusing to work. The ground started to shake violently when Cloud was in the middle of climbing down a particularly large boulder. Vincent felt the swordsman lose his balance and slide down the side of the boulder, unintentionally releasing his grip on Vincent in the process. Several alarmed cries rang through the cavern, accompanied by loud splashes as some of the others fell back into the water. Vincent and Cloud’s fall wasn’t that long, but still, the stone floor wasn’t exactly the softest cushion. Vincent hit back first, the rocks slamming into one of his shoulder blades with jarring force. The back of his head struck the ground a second later, but surprisingly enough, it seemed to clear his head instead of knocking him unconscious.

His eyes snapped back into focus just in time to see a rock disengage from the ceiling and start to plummet towards him. Reflexes kicked in, and Vincent rolled left. The rock missed him by less than an inch, shattering into dozens of pieces on impact. He wrestled to his feet, barely managing to find footing on the wildly thrashing ground. He stumbled left and would have fallen again if Cloud hadn’t caught his arm and steadied them both.

“You alright?!” he demanded of Vincent, voice loud so he could be heard over the roar of the falling rocks and the cries of his comrades.

Vincent stared dumbly at him for a second before recovering his wits. “The tunnel!” he yelled, jerking his head in the direction of the yawning opening. “We have to make it to the tunnel!”

His words were rather needless, as most of the others had already figured out that the shelter of the tunnel was safer than gyrating wildly in the cavern and waiting to be squashed by a rock. Barret and Cait Sith were making a beeline for the tunnel, followed closely by Cid. The two humans had their arms covering their heads to prevent injury from one of the plummeting rocks. Cait Sith wasn’t bothering with such precautions, and pieces of rocks kept striking him and the moogle, though they didn’t seem to have lasting effects. One of the perks of being made of metal and stuffed with fluff. Quickly, Vincent glanced back towards the water and saw that Rude was in the process of pulling Elena out of the subterranean lake. Tifa was helping him, all three of them covered in water, rock dust, and goo.

Cloud gripped his shoulder and gave him a shove in the direction of the tunnel. “You get over to the tunnel! I’ll go help them!”

Anyone with stronger reservations about leaving friends alone in danger would have stubbornly refused to go, but Vincent easily saw the sense in Cloud’s logic. *Some* - preferably most - of them had to survive. They would be no use to either Yuffie or Reeve if they were dead.

So Vincent took off running towards the tunnel the best he could, flinging his arms up to cover his head. He didn’t know what would happen if he was struck in the head by a rock. He might die, he might not. His abnormalities protected him against injuries, and many things that would have killed a normal human being barely fazed him, but Chaos was the main cause of Vincent’s preternatural abilities, and with the demon acting so erratic as of late…he didn’t want to take his chances.

Even with the ground shifting violently underneath his feet and a multitude of rocks crashing all around him, Vincent managed to make it to safety without any major mishaps. One rock struck his metal arm with a loud clang, the force of the impact sending him to one knee for an instant before he recovered his balance.

As soon as he managed to lurch into the slightly quivering tunnel, Vincent sagged against the trembling rock wall, bracing himself with both hands and trying to catch his breath. Beside him, he could hear Cid, Barret, and Cait calling out to the others, urging them to hurry. Despite his worry, Vincent forced himself to breathe slowly and deeply, his eyes slipping closed. He could feel Chaos within him, only the demon was doing nothing but emitting this odd *crackling* energy, like a wolf before it launches itself at the throat of its victim. Was Chaos afraid of the earthquake? No, that wasn’t it. It almost seemed as if the demon was in a standoff, but with what? Vincent knew the odd smell and the eerie green light had something do with it, but…

He was so confused. He hated being confused.

A strange, cool feeling washed over him, stilling the pounding of his heart and making the sweat and water on his skin chill, like silent tears in the winter, robbed of all their heat. He felt like he was floating in cool darkness in which nothing existed but the pure essence of the mind, infinite and boundless. No body needed. Such a thing was unnecessary for…

Rock tunnel.

Hidden door.

Hallway with cells.

Door, like on a submarine.

Another hallway.

Hallway.

Hallway.

Hallway.

Endless hallway.

And the torture chamber. And Yuffie.

“Vincent!” a voice suddenly cried, right in his ear.

Alarmed at the sudden intrusion, Vincent’s eyes snapped open, and his hand was flying towards the Outsider before he knew what he was doing.

Barret held up his arms and took a step back. “Whoa, foo! Don’t shoot!”

Vincent let his arm fall from where it had been hovering over the butt of the gun. “What do you need?” he asked calmly.

Barret looked at him incredulously before shaking his head, his skin an odd color in the greenish light of the tunnel. “You always so goddamn calm.”

“The ground isn’t shaking anymore,” Vincent observed, peering around and seeing that Cloud and others had made it through just fine. Elena had a shallow cut on her forehead, but it was nothing serious.

“Well, you’re a master of stating the obvious,” Cait Sith stammered, not trying to be sarcastic. He was just making nervous chatter. Everyone was covered with water, goo, and dirt from the falling rocks, which had blended into an interesting muddy concoction that dirtied skin and clothes. Anxiety and fear stank up the air alongside the odd scent from the deep-sea complex.

“What’s this green light?” Elena suddenly demanded, hugging herself as if cold. “And what’s that smell? I don’t like it.”

“It makes me afraid,” Rude deadpanned, sounding more indifferent than fearful.

“It’s the same light and smell that was in the deep-sea complex Yuffie and I escaped from,” Vincent explained, his level voice drawing everyone’s attention. “They seem to be here to evoke unwanted fear in travelers. Now that you know their purpose, fight them.”

Everyone stared at him until Cid muttered, “Yeah right.” He was tapping the Venus Gospel restlessly against his thigh, keen blue eyes roving back and forth from the water-filled cavern to the dimly lit tunnel that awaited them.

…FAST…

Vincent gasped, leaping away from the wall, hand snaking under the hem of his overly large shirt and closing around the comforting weight of the Outsider, which was in its hip holster.

“Are you alright?” Cloud asked sharply, his own gloved hand hovering over the hilt of the Ultima Weapon.

“We have to hurry,” Vincent rapped out tersely, moving down the tunnel.

“You really *do* know where Yuffie is, don’t you?” Tifa asked softly.

Vincent stopped and turned to stare her right in the eyes. “Yes, I do.”

His friends gazed at him solemnly, dozens of emotions flitting across their faces before finally settling on one: trust. They believed him, and they believed *in* him.

God help them all.