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{Yuffie .:. Disney Castle Town .:. Fairgrounds}

"I mean it, Cloud, you can't just walk away from me in the middle of an argument I'm winning, and—HEY!!!" Right as Yuffie was about to go up and drag Cloud back, a huge mob of people passed between them, cutting her off and making her lose him in the crowd. You'd think it would be easy to see his spiky blonde head, but not when you were shorter than most of the adults running around, and a few of the teenagers. She darted around a bit, jumping up and down to see over peoples' heads, until she finally planted herself square in the middle of a rather busy intersection, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted as loudly as she could: "FINE, BE THAT WAY. I DIDN'T WANT TO HANG OUT WITH YOU ANYWAY." She huffed, and pouted, and looked around for something else to do.

Through a break in the crowd she spotted a shorter blonde browsing one of the nearby stalls, along with a rather tall guy with absolutely no color to him. Recognizing Noelle, Yuffie decided to grace the agromancer with her presence. She wound her way through the crowd the short distance to get near, then jumped between the two with a loud "Boo!"

[ Noelle .:. Prote ~ Disney Castle Fairgrounds]

Noelle typically wasn't an easy one to scare, but her attention was divided between the crowd, her conversation with Prote, and the stand of blank journals she was perusing through. It certainly didn't help that the light atmosphere and proximity to the Cornerstone of Light coaxed her guard down.

"Son of a biscuit!" She shouted, jumping and fumbling the crimson leather-bound journal in her hands. It flopped onto the table in front of her as she looked around wildly. As soon as Noelle recognized Yuffie, she relaxed.

"Oh!" the agromancer panted, "It's just you. You scared the bejeezus outta me!

[ Tseng : Malevolent Thicket : Basilisk Clearing ]

Tseng noted the destroyed helicopter with silence, furrowing his brows and staring over the chopper. Questions bounced, but none he vocalized; the others wouldn't know any more than he would. There was no sign that the vines had actually reached out and intercepted them, so that left very few options as to the cause. Had they been intercepted by hostiles? Or had they simply lost control?

Neither option presented good scenarios, and not just for the two missing operatives, but for the rescue squad. If they'd been intercepted by hostiles powerful enough to take down the helicopter--in Rebecca's control, no less--then Tseng had a momentary fear that they were getting in over their heads.

Something caught his attention--but whatever it was, if it was anything at all, he lost it in the thicket. He needed to focus and rely on his instincts, not what might just be paranoia. His eyes remained narrowed, his grip tightening on the pistol as he slipped back into thought.

If they'd lost control, then that brought a completely different set of subversive concerns: had something affected the machine itself?

Or had it affected the operatives?


"Not surprising, considering your description of your world," Tseng finally spoke up, staring over the bridge, at it, at the chasm below. "It's one thing to see a universe in animation, and another in person. If anything definitive happens to come to mind, let us know immediately."

"Remember. When we get inside, we stick together," he said, referencing his earlier commands, though his tone was distant; this was not the concern on his mind. He remained motionless, staring at the castle, at any available windows, looking for some sign--be it good or bad.

He allowed Shen to catch his breath, but then remained paused. The bridge before them was long. It was also open. Very, very open.

"Lucil, take the lead. We form a spread formation beside her, and we move slow, but steady," he said. "If the vines were meant to keep people out, then we can't assume those measures stop here. We can't afford to miss anything... sensitive."

[Narration : Malevolent Castle : Bridge]

As the turks gathered at the end of the bridge and discussed their plans to move forward, their voices, no matter how soft, seemed to carry over the chasm. Echoing into the distance as whispers hissing at their attempts at subtlety. There was no indication what might be carrying their voices across the way so easily, nor any means for there to be such a reverberating echo in such an emptiness clouded in mist.

[Narration : Malevolent Castle : Bridge > Entryway]

The group made their way across the long cobble bridge, each quickening step chattering off into the distance. Their eyes scanning the battlements as they approached, no sign of movement, just an eerie stillness. Their slow approach came to a near full run as they got close, finally reaching the gate, which hung open, a foreboding welcome as they walked beneath into the courtyard beyond.

[[Cue: Gelkmaros Fortress from AION]]

The courtyard was filled with a whole lot of nothing, a fountain dried up and overgrown stood at the center, several wagons, barrels and several odds and ends scattered about lay strewn, broken, and falling apart by the wear of time. There were several windows dotting the walls overlooking the courtyard, several vantage points to watch from, but all these windows were empty. Simply black, with no sign of life or movement. Still no sign of the missing agents.

As they moved across the courtyard, to the main door, a small smear of rusty red displayed itself upon the handles. Fresh, fresher than anything else in this decrepit castle. Carefully they opened he door, protestantly it cried, groaning and shrieking against its hinges before opening fully.

Laid along the floor leading in, a red carpet, once meant for royalty, now food for the moths, lay in tatters. Suits of armor still stood as eternal sentinels for the courtly hall, marble columns gridded the long room to a rotted chair at the far end before a set of grand stairs that curved off left and right. Several doors, some hanging open, barely attached to their frame, others shut and overgrown like the rest of this forgotten castle.

Lucil, gave a small glance to Shen, then to the others, her foot falls slowing as she dropped her shotgun to her open palm. Daniel would have gotten a nod from the huntress, something was wrong.

[Narration : Malevolent Castle : Entryway]

[[Cue: Prophecy by Tony Anderson]]

There was movement at the turk's sides, subtle, shifting shadows, inconsistent shapes swimming through the air, floor and walls. One moment there, the next, gone like ghosts, these wisps continued to shift around the group, drawing the eyes but not doing anything else.

The turk, Shen, held his hand on his blade, standing firmly and on edge. Eyes scanning vigilantly as the air on the other sides of the columns grew more violent by the second. Staring at the walls became like looking through the space, just above a flame, distorted, and unpredictable.

Then, just as it grew to its worst, it stopped.

The world was as it was, an empty, dreary, lifeless corpse of a castle. The world was still again, the phantoms of the castle appeared to had returned to their peaceful slumber. A small pink pedal floated down and landed softly on the floor.

A flicker, a metallic shriek, in the blink of an eye, Shen had moved and was bracing himself before Daniel, a cloaked figure standing over him with a massive gleaming, gluttonous blade, licked by a stray bit of light, gave death's visage new meaning. A swift exchange of blows and there was a plunging splatter as Shen dropped to his knees the blade pulling from his back.

In one fell stroke, a torrential wind lifted and threw everyone across the room, crashing against walls, pillars, and skidding across the floor. Despite his grievous wound, Shen appeared to be still breathing.

The figure rested the blade on his shoulder once more as they faced Daniel. A now clearly visible, massive scythe gave off a faint red in the reflection of its steel, as if it simply absorbed the blood of its victim. The vague smile on their lips, barely visible beneath the shadow cast by the hood, grew ever so slightly as they looked at Daniel.

[ Tseng : Malevolent Thicket : Entryway ]

Tseng had already fired two rounds at the cloaked figure in the midst of his assault, though more at the attacks themselves than the attacker; he didn't have a very clear shot yet, so the most he could do was take a bit of the impending force from some of the blows.

Like Lucil, he didn't need any word or even thought; the moment Daniel had begun to run, Tseng did the same, but not in between the two of them. The gunner ran off to the scythe-wielder's side, unloading a small barrage into the enigma's flank to draw him off the other two.

That cloak. I remember those reports.

Organization member. A Nobody.

Times like this are when magic would come in particularly handy.

[Rufus : Radiant Garden : ShinRa Headquarters]

The CEO lifted his head from his work, noting the red light, only to dismiss it as the door opened and his head R&D scientist walked in.Rufus twitched ever so slightly once, only once, before standing and straightening his jacket.

Rufus strode around the desk and meet the two men, offering his hand in greeting, "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Dr. Cidolfus. Though, please, I'm not this world's leader by any means," his humility was off-put by the grin of obvious pleasure he took from the flattery, "Simply a business man looking out for my world's best interest."

His hand motioned to the chairs, in front of his desk, "Please, have a seat. Would you like anything to drink? I can have my assistant fetch anything you'd like."