By: Mags

Morrigan knew that he was dead. He was stuck between choosing between either being mauled to death by a wild animal or dropping to his death on the rocks below. Neither one sounded too appealing, but he knew he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. He figured that if he backed to the edge of the cliff, then perhaps he could at least take the beast with him as he fell.

The beast let out a feral growl as it prepared to pounce, and Morrigan crabwalked to the edge of the cliff, and shut his eyes, waiting for death’s cold hand to finally embrace him. He crossed his hands over his face in a feeble attempt to shield himself from the eminent attack. The beast was so close that he could feel it’s hot, smelly breath on his face and neck. He gritted his teeth, and waited to die.

It never happened.

"That is enough, Red. I think you’ve made your point," a voice suddenly called out, from in front of Morrigan, but behind the beast. Morrigan waited for the sounds of an attack, the man’s screams, and the beast’s growls, as it opened up the man like a chainsaw to a fish. They never came, either. Instead, he felt the hot breath of the beast fade away, until he could no longer smell it. He opened one eye, and in the moonlight could clearly see the dark shape of the beast sitting beside the man who had saved his life.

The man walked over towards him, but was still to far away for him to see clearly.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes. I owe you my life. You have my gratitude and if there is anything I can ever do to repay you, just name it," Morrigan said, as climbed to his feet and brushed himself off. Something sounded distinctly familiar about the man’s voice.

"I doubt that you will hold to that once you learn my identity," the man continued casually, never breaking eye contact. At least Morrigan didn’t think that he had, he couldn’t really tell.

Suddenly, it hit him. The familiarity of the voice, he finally identified its owner.

Morrigan scowled. "Dr. Cole, I presume."

"You presume correctly," said Cole, stepping close enough to Morrigan for him to see his face.

Morrigan took a step back, as Cole stepped forward.

"Look, I don’t know what the hell you are, but just stay the hell away from me, all right?" Morrigan stammered, stepping back even farther as he spoke.

"Correct me if I am wrong, but you came looking for me, no?" Cole said.

"Look, I don’t care about any of that right now, I just want to be as far away from you and that… that thing, as humanly possible right now, okay?" Morrigan said, continuing to step back, and motioning to the cat, which continued to sit behind Cole, watching the scene with a keen interest.

"If you don’t watch it…" Cole began, noticing that Morrigan was teetering on the cliff edge.

"Now you’re threatening me? Well, I’ll have you know that if I don’t make it back within a half hour unharmed, one hundred men will storm in here, and blast you and your dog to… AAUGH!" Morrigan screamed, as he lost his balance and fell off the edge of the cliff.

In the blink of an eye, Cole was at the edge of the cliff, holding Morrigan from his death once more.

Morrigan continued screaming until Cole had lifted him up, and had his feet planted on the ground once more. With that done, Morrigan stopped screaming, and started coughing, trying to suck in some oxygen.

"Cough…cough…cough…"

Cole patted Morrigan on the back, until his breathing returned to normal. That having been accomplished, Morrigan turned to Cole, again.

"That’s twice I owe you my life," said Morrigan.

"Indeed," said Cole. "I would imagine that you have some questions."

"As a matter of fact, I do!" said Morrigan.

"In due time. Follow me, please."

Morrigan followed Cole, looking back warily at the large cat, making sure that it wasn’t going to suddenly pounce on him from behind.

"Question one, Vic," began Morrigan.

"I’m listening," replied Cole.

"Does your pet have to follow us around?" Morrigan said, motioning to the feral creature. Suddenly, the animal stopped in its tracks, right in front of Morrigan, and looked up at him.

"I am no one’s pet!" the animal growled in a deep voice.

Morrigan just stared at ‘Red’ for a minute, then at Cole, then at ‘Red’ again. Then, he fainted.

When he awoke he was laying on a large pile of what looked like dirty towels and rags. He immediately sat up and brushed himself off. He was covered in animal fur. As he did, Cole walking into the room.

"I see you have finally woken up," said Cole plainly.

"Bravo, Sherlock," retorted Morrigan without looking up, grimacing at the hairs that just seemed to refuse to stop clinging to his shirt.

"I see that this experience has at least not caused you to lose your wits," replied Cole. "I came in to see if you were awake, and if you needed anything."

"Would you happen to have a washing machine and an extra set of clothes?" said Morrigan, sarcastically.

"I am afraid not," said Cole, "You will have to live with being a bit… furry, for the time being.

"Hardy har har!" Morrigan laughed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I trust that you are feeling better, then," observed Cole. "If you would like, I am prepared to answer whatever questions you might have now."

"I was born ready," muttered Morrigan, following Cole into the next room.

Inside the new room, or cavern really, carved into a room, Morrigan saw that the talking cat was sitting in the corner. Cole sat down at a medium-sized table and motioned for Morrigan to sit down. Morrigan looked hesitantly towards ‘Red’.

"You may take your seat. I will not harm you," said the cat.

Nonetheless, Morrigan watched it cautiously as he took his seat, positioning him as far from it as he could.

Morrigan turned back towards Cole, who seemed amused with the scenario that had just played out.

"You know, you are going to have to start trusting him, eventually."

"Oh yeah, and why is that?" Morrigan challenged.

At this, Red looked up from where he was laying and responded, ‘Because this is my abode, and you wouldn’t make it back to your camp alive if I kicked you out."

"I can take care of myself," Morrigan grumbled under his breath.

"I wouldn’t bet on you lasting two minutes," responded Red, acting as though Morrigan had been talking in a normal tone and not to himself.

Morrigan gave the fire-cat a funny look, but shook it off, seeing as it was no more or less odd than any of the previous events that had transpired around him, lately.

He turned his attention back to Cole, and gave him a puzzled look.

"I am assuming that your first question is something to the affect of what’s the deal with the weird fire-cat, am I right?"

Morrigan just nodded and grumbles obscenities under his breath.

"Very well, then. It is, in my humble opinion, a rather fascinating story." Cole turned to Red, "Would you like to explain it, my friend, or should I?"

"I believe that I have a better recollection of the transpired events than you, though no insult is intended by that," responded the beast.

"None taken. Please, answer the man," responded Cole, sitting back into his seat.

Red walked up to where Morrigan was sitting, dragging his pillow with him in his teeth.

"Even I get uncomfortable," he explained, as he plopped down onto the pillow not three feet from where Morrigan was sitting, much to Morrigan’s dismay.

He looked at Cole, his face a pasty white, flushed from fear.

Cole gave him a half smile. "You have no need to fear him,"

"Easy for you to say. You didn’t almost have your kidney handed to you," retorted Morrigan.

"You have nothing to fear but fear itself," replied Cole.

"Whoever said that should meet this thing over here," Morrigan yelled, motioning to Red.

"I take offense at that!" interrupted Red. "Now if you would like, you can listen to my tale, or you can not. But I would appreciate it if you would stop referring to me as some feral beast!" roared Red, apparently quite irate at the moment.

"Uh…" Morrigan stuttered.

"Just nod yes or no," whispered Cole.

Morrigan just sat there with a blank expression on his face.

Cole reached out, and took a hold of Morrigan’s head, and nodded it for him.

"Well enough," said Red, sitting back down on his bed.

"Anyway, I was about to begin explaining my origin to you. I assume that you were curious about that."

Red shuffled in his bed, until he was comfortable.

"My story begins long before you were born. Long before your parents’ parents were conceived. Over 300 years ago, really. About 348, to be exact. But I digress…" he paused, as if waiting for Morrigan to respond, but he did not, so he continued. "If you are wondering how I can be so old, my tribe has incredible longevity." He paused again after the last sentence, bowing his head. "When I say ‘my tribe’ I am not exactly being accurate. I am all that is left of my tribe. My kin, the last of my species, died out long ago, and I am all that is left."

Finally having regained his powers of speech, Morrigan decided to try to get a word in edgewise.

"What was that odd statue that I saw on the cliff where you attacked me?"
"First off, I was trying to scare you away, not kill you. Second, that ‘statue’ is, in fact, not a statue at all, rather the remains of my father, the warrior Seto."

"Your…father? Did I miss something here?" Morrigan asked skeptically.

"No…surprisingly enough this was not an err on your part. When I was but a cub, there was a great war here between my race and the violent Gi Tribe from the north here at what was once Cosmo Canyon. Both of my parents fought in that war, and both perished. In the aftermath of our victory, I was taken in by the Chief Elder of Cosmo Canyon, Bugenhagen, at whose side I remained until I chanced upon a group of heroic rebels. They rescued me from my imprisonment at ShinRa HQ where I was being tortured by the experiments of a madman by the moniker of Professor Hojo. I am assuming that you have heard of him."

Red looked up at Morrigan.

"Those rebels…" began Morrigan.

"Yes… they were the same ones who saved the planet from Meteor."

"You are the same…"

"Yes…"

"But then you’d have to be…" Morrigan gasped.

"Yes…" said Red exasperatedly. "I believe we already went over this part. I mentioned earlier that my species has incredible longevity."

"So you knew…"

"Yes, I knew them all… Cloud, Tifa, Aeris, you name it, I knew them!"

"So what was it like?"
"What was what like?" Red asked.

"Working alongside him?"

"Well, working alongside Cloud was rather…" Red began.

"No… not Cloud. Forget Cloud. I mean him!"

"I am afraid you need to clarify your query," Red replied.

"What?" Morrigan asked, turning to Cole.

"Simplify," mouthed Cole.

"Oh… uh, y’know, HIM! Sephiroth, the great war hero!"
"WHAT?" roared Red, "Sephiroth?"
Red spun his head and glared at Cole.

"I thought that you said that he was an Executive of Archaeology!"

"A lot has happened since your time. Heroes aren’t thought much of these days, except for the people’s savior Sephiroth" Cole explained, putting sarcastic emphasis on Sephiroth’s name.

To Morrigan, Red’s muzzle bore an expression of rage and shock. Or rather, that was the closest that he could come to reading its face.

He bowed his head, and shook it in disgust, and finally turned back towards Morrigan.

"It would appear that you have more to learn than I had previously thought. You should be grateful that ignorance is not a crime, or else I’d probably have to kill you," he said, as he plodded out of the room.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Morrigan asked, turning to Cole.

"Nothing," Cole said with a grin and few light chuckles.

Without another word, Cole got up and walked after Red. Morrigan, not wanting to be left out of whatever it is they were going to be doing, hastily followed.

He followed Cole through long twisting halls until they reached an area of the cave that hadn’t been turned into living quarters. To Morrigan, it looked like any normal cave would, drastically different to the cave-rooms that Red and Cole spent their time in. Those walls were sanded, shaves, whatever… to be smooth like the walls of a house, but these walls were rough and jagged. Not to mention the stalactites that hung from them.

He also noted that the walls were a lot duller in color than the previous walls. He continued to follow Cole deep into the cave, which was surprisingly well lit. He followed him for what he thought was about ten minutes, the only sound he heard was what sounded like large insects and a few snakes that might live down here in such a moist environment. The thought made him shudder. He hated insects, and most certainly didn’t want to run into any down here in this cave, where the echo made every sound sound magnified tenfold. He glanced around nervously, watching to make sure that nothing else was going to jump out of the shadows at him. Nothing ever did happen, and when they stopped after a rather uneventful journey, they were in front of a large door which was sealed shut and barricaded with several solid metal slabs, all bolted down and chained across the door for added enforcement. He had a gut feeling that he really didn’t want to know what was behind this door. It had an ominous look and feel to it, as though it was literally screaming grim tidings to him and his group.

"We aren’t actually…going in there?" Morrigan asked, "Are we?"
Red glared up at with an odd look on his muzzle.

"Go inside? Oh… no. Of course not! We just thought that you might like to see this door. It’s very nice, don’t you think? Of course, I thought that it would look better in a pastel blue, but iron gray was all they had. Pity, don’t you think?" Red asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "OF COURSE WE’RE GOING INSIDE YOU STUPID… HUMAN!"

Morrigan just stared at the creature, fuming that he had gotten such a smart-ass answer for such a simple question.

Cole began to laugh, but quickly stopped, and reached into his jacket pocket and fished out a large metal key, which he used to unlock the padlock that held together most of the door’s chains. With that undone, the chains fell to the cave floor with a clang that echoed spookily throughout the cave, causing a myriad of cave-creatures to start screeching or hissing.

That having been accomplished, it was a simple matter for Cole and Red to open the heavy-looking metal door, despite the creaks and groans the door made, it finally gave way. Once the door was open, a musty odor invaded Morrigan’s nostrils, making him cover his nose with his sleeve.

"Ugh! What reeks?" Morrigan complained.

Cole turned to face him as they were walking.

"Show a little respect. This is holy ground we are walking on," he whispered harshly, then turning back forwards.

Morrigan looked around the room, and saw small stone pillars that stood at the base of large mounds of dirt. He stopped to look at the nearest pillar and saw that there was some writing carved in it, but was covered in dust. He gave it a small blow, causing a cloud of black dust to fly up into his face. He stifled a cough, and fell back on his tailbone.

He got back up, and after he brushed himself off, went back to investigate the pillar. To his surprise he found that the lettering was surprisingly legible, despite crudely carved. He could barely make out the lettering.

"C…L…O…" Morrigan began, "U…D…S…T…R…I…F…E"

"Cloudstrife…Clou Dstrife… CLOUD STRIFE!"

Morrigan got to his feet with incredible speed.

"This pillar says ‘Cloud Strife’", he declared.

Red turned back to face him.

"So your species can still read. Will wonders never cease…"

"Why do you have to be such an asshole?" Morrigan called back.

"Because I don’t like humans, save your friend here," he said motioning to Cole with his snout, " and I especially don’t like you!"

"That’s enough Red," Cole said before Morrigan could respond. "We didn’t bring him down all this way just so you could attack him again!"

"So then why did you bring me down here?" Morrigan responded.

"That…" began Cole, "Is the million gil question, and I think that it’s about time you had some answers. Follow me, please."

At that, Cole disappeared into an exit on the far wall that Morrigan had overlooked due to the poor lighting.

Red followed after him, and Morrigan quickly hurried after them, a million questions running through his head. He could barely make out the outlines of Red and Cole as he raced down the narrow corridor, trying not to slip on the damp moss that was growing on the cave floor, or run into any stalagmites. Finally, after a few minutes, he caught up with Cole.

"Thanks for…waiting…" Morrigan gasped, out of breath.

Red emitted what was almost comparable to a chuckle.

"You should get out more…" he commented.

"I’ll make a note of it," Morrigan growled.

"Please… settle down, and let’s keep moving," Cole interrupted, yet again. "We are almost there," he said.

"Just what and where is ‘there’, anyway?" Morrigan queried.

"Is all of your species so impatient, or did Cole just happen to pick the one of you that would get impatient waiting for someone to blink?"

"Red…" Cole said vehemently, giving Red a glare that shut him up quick.

"Anyway…" Cole began, "Morrigan, I assure you that all of your questions will be answered in due time."

"Any idea when that will be?" Morrigan asked.

"When we get there!" Red burst out angrily.

He said nothing more, and for what Morrigan assumed to be about a half an hour, the group walked through the cave tunnels and caverns in stoic silence.

Finally, Cole stopped in front of a large, smooth wall.

"We’re here," he said finally.

"What?" Morrigan asked, not quite sure what was so important to come all this way just to see a large wall.

"This is what you took me all this way to see?" Morrigan demanded.

"Yes! Isn’t it nice? All right, Cole, he’s seen the wall, now lets go, all right?" Red asked hopefully, turning around in anticipation of leaving.

"You know very well that we did not come here to show him the wall," Cole said without even turning to look at Red.

"You can be serious," Red said, suddenly getting very serious.

"Why else would I bring him down here?" Cole retorted quickly.

"Do you have any idea what could come of this if you follow your current plan of action?" Red demanded.

"I will see to it that only the best comes out of these circumstances." Cole answered back without a sweat.

"Those words will be the death of you," Red scowled.

"Perhaps," Cole agreed grimly, "But as long as I live, I will do whatever is in my power to fix mankind’s errors of the past."

"Cole," Red said, much calmer, "That is a burden that even your power cannot support."

"Uh…" Morrigan stammered, not quite sure what to make of all of this.

"Of course," said Cole, turning his attention from a very miffed Red to an even more confused Morrigan. "You must be very confused by now, no?"

"You could say that…" Morrigan admitted.

"Well, I promised to reveal all in due time, and the time for those revelations are now. Follow me, please."

"Where? This is a dead end!" Morrigan argued.

"Ah… my dear Morrigan," Cole said, stifling a light snicker, "I had hoped by now you would have realized that appearances…" Cole said, walking directly through the wall as though it were not there.

"…Can be deceiving…" finished Cole, from seemingly out of nowhere.

Morrigan just stared at the wall blankly, still not quite sure of what had just transpired.

"Stupid human," Red commented, "Maybe later you’d like to sit watching my tail wag back and forth for about an hour or so."

With that, he followed Cole’s example and walked through the ‘wall’ leaving Morrigan standing alone in the dark, damp cave. The only audible sounds were the drip of a nearby stalactite and his own heavy breathing.

Finally, after standing perfectly still for about three minutes, he worked up the nerve to walk into the ‘wall’.

What he found was surprising. Instead of some sort of hologram, what he instead found was that the pseudo-wall was some sort of material. It was cool to touch and very malleable, twisting and turning to create a hole that he could fit through, then bouncing back quickly, filling in the hole he had walked through as though it had never been there. Once he was inside, he turned back to it, and touched it with his hand. It rippled as though it were water, suspended in some sort of field of energy.

"Welcome…"

Morrigan spun around, coming face to face with a strange looking man. He looked very old, with gray hair and a withered frame. He was perched on a large outcrop of smoothed out stalagmites, balancing himself with apparent ease despite his weak appearance.

"And who might you be?" asked Morrigan, hiding his shock rather poorly, the color drained from his face and the hairs on the back of his neck raised.

"I should ask you the same," was the old man’s reply. With an inhuman display of agility and power, the man leaped off the rocky outcrop about twenty feet into the air, and with a single mid-air summersault, landed about two feet in front of Morrigan. With that, he started walking ominously towards Morrigan, his dark eyes unreadable.

Morrigan began to instinctively back up.

"You have invaded my home. I cannot let you leave here alive," the old man said throatily.

Morrigan was prepared to make a run for it, but the old man’s hand shot out and grabbed him by his neck. With tremendous strength, the old man lifted Morrigan into the air.

"Before I drain the lifeblood out of you, I want you to tell me something," requested the old man. "How did you find my home?"

"I…I…" Morrigan stuttered, gasping for breath.

The old man loosened his grasp on Morrigan just enough for him to have enough air to allow him to speak.

"Well? I’m listening…"

"I…I was… brought here…" Morrigan stammered.

"You were… brought here? By who? The only ones that knew of this residence’s location are now dead. So I ask again. How did you find this place?"

"I… I told you. I was… brought here…" Morrigan gasped.

"For the sake of humoring you, who brought you here?"

"…C…Cole…"

At the mention of that name, the old man’s eyes went wide with shock and Morrigan thought that he saw a hint of fear in his eyes.

The old man brought his head closer to Morrigan’s.

"Repeat that name for me again. I don’t think I heard you quite right the first time!" the man growled.

"…Cole…Victor Cole…"

The old man suddenly became very angry.

"Lies! You speak nothing but lies. The man you speak of is dead. Dead! I sent him to his grave!"

"I…I’m telling…the truth…" Morrigan pleaded.

The old man was seething with rage. He could not decide whether or not the man spoke the truth or not. On one hand, he knew that Cole was dead. On the other, the man’s eyes were not those of a liar. He dropped Morrigan, and there was silence for several minutes.

"I believe you," he said finally.

"A wise decision, I assure you," came a voice from behind the old man.

The old man’s eyes went wide with shock and fear, and he spun on his heel in the direction of the voice.

What he faced was Cole, armed with a shotgun, fully loaded and pointed directly at his forehead.

"You’re… you’re dead…" the old man stammered.

"Apparently not…" responded Cole.

"But… but… I…"

"Killed me? I think not… you know nothing of me," Cole mused.

"How… how did you survive?" the old man stammered.

Cole fired the shotgun into the old man twice, putting a gaping hole into his abdomen and upper torso. The old man stared down at the bloodied holes in his body, then at Cole in shock, then collapsed down to his knees, and finally, fell to the floor with a wet thud. Cole looked on impassively.

Morrigan was in shock from all of this. He was not quite sure what to make of the recent events. On one hand, he was glad Cole had saved him, but he was also quite unnerved. To make it even worse, Cole had just killed him without so much as a second’s notice or a hesitation. He was praying that Cole was in a proper state of mind, but with Cole he could never be too sure. He would just have to watch what he said around him, lest he end up with a few extra holes in his body like the unfortunate man Cole had just dispatched.

"Are you all right?" Cole asked, finally breaking the silence that had previously enveloped the room after the two blasts made by the discharging shotgun that Cole was equipped with, the twin barrels still smoking.

Slowly, Morrigan got to his feet. He brushed little bits of flesh off of his suit, and wiped some of the blood off of his face.

"Yes, actually. That’s three times I owe you my life."

"I haven’t been keeping track," responded Cole.

"Is it over?" came another familiar voice from another room.

"Yes, Red. It’s all over," Cole called back.

Red cautiously popped his head out from behind a mammoth sized stalagmite, and after seeing the dead body on the floor, walked down from the stairs to where Morrigan and Cole were standing.

"I guess that I missed the action then, didn’t I?"

"Yes, you did," Cole admitted.

"Good," Red quickly replied.

"Did you find it?" Cole asked.

"Not yet, but I know it’s here," Red replied, "…I can feel it."

"So can I," agreed Cole.

The two were so wrapped up in their conversation that they did not notice the movements of the corpse at their feet. They didn’t notice when the wounds slowly began to close, not when the blood was sucked back into the body, and not when it began to stir. They did, however, notice it when it suddenly got to it’s feet and launched itself at Cole so quickly that even Cole himself did not have time to react before it had him in it’s death grip.

"The… power…" the corpse groaned. "So this…is her power…"

Cole struggled to free himself from its grasp, his efforts seemingly futile.

"You mean… you had so much…power…and this…is what you…squandered it…on?" the corpse demanded. "You… fool!" The corpse sent Cole flying against the far wall, leaving Cole slumped into a large hole in the wall. Cole slipped into unconsciousness. Suddenly, there was a feral growl and Red launched himself at the corpse with surprising speed, but even his pre-emptive attack seemed useless, and with a quick backhand, Red was slammed against the wall next to Morrigan with a sickening crunch. Morrigan looked on in terror as the corpse lumbered towards him.

"What did I ever do to you?" Morrigan demanded, terrified.

"Nothing…but I’ll… kill you anyway," it responded. "I will… suck the life…blood out of…you."

With that, the corpse reached once again for Morrigan’s neck, clamping his hand around it like a vice. But this time, it squeezed hard. Morrigan could feel the veins in his neck get cut off and swell up. He had moments ago lost the powers of speech, his windpipe clamped shut by the creature’s thumb. Of course, this also meant that he couldn’t breathe, and soon he began to feel woozy. He was beginning to black out and he knew that once his eyes closed, there was a very good chance that he would never open them again. Worst of all, no one would ever find him. He would, of course, never get a proper burial, and no one would mourn him. Not that he really had anyone to mourn him, seeing as how he had no immediate family left, and not too many friends. Being an Executive didn’t leave too much time for a social life.

But none of that mattered now. He was dying, now. That was the bottom line. His life force was fading, and he was nearly unconscious. He could barely see his assailant despite the fact that he was only about two feet away, grinning maliciously, gradually increasing the pressure to his neck, just waiting to hear that wet crack that meant his neck had been broken. Morrigan was making his last words to the Planet, thinking of how many times he had escaped death’s cold grasp, and how it had finally all caught up with him.

What happened next he could not immediately comprehend. He had nearly lost consciousness, his vision and air supply exhausted, when suddenly there was a bone crunching crack and a cry of incredible agony, several awful sounding wet smacks, and he was dropped to the floor and he could breathe again. After that, he blanked out.

About a half an hour later, he regained consciousness, and very slowly opened his eyes, to see a blurry image of Karen standing over him.

"Are you all right?" she asked with concern in her voice.

"Oh…" Morrigan groaned. "Wha…what happened?"

"It’s all right," Karen said comfortingly, "You took a nasty fall there when that creature dropped you."

At the mention of the corpse, Morrigan’s eyes went wide.

"The zombie…" he began, "where is it?"
"Don’t worry, I took care of it…" Karen said. Meanwhile, Morrigan’s vision came back into focus and he saw the grisly remains of what he assumed was the creature, from behind Karen. At least he assumed that that was that it was. There wasn’t really that much left of it to tell.

"How did you…" Morrigan began.

"I followed you after you left. I knew you’d try something stupid like that and since I’m your assistant, it’s my duty to watch out for you. You should be thanking me. You’d be dead by now if it hadn’t been for me."

"Heh… I wouldn’t think of berating you for that. I owe you my life," he admitted.

"And I owe you mine," said Karen.

"What?"

"Never mind for now," said Karen, getting up and walking to the limp bodies of Cole and Red.

"How are they?" Morrigan asked, not really sure if he cared if they were dead, especially the cat, but worried that if they were that they wouldn’t be able to find his way back.

Karen frowned.

"I’m afraid that they didn’t fare quite as well as you," she replied grimly.

"Are they…" he began.

"No," she said, cutting him off. "But they have serious internal injuries. Cole has shattered vertebrae and maybe a few ribs busted. Even if he does wake up I doubt that he’ll ever walk again. As for the lion, well, I don’t even know where the injuries begin and end. I think its safe to say, however, that this species will be extinct within the next three days."

"Not…if I…have anything…to say about it…" came a weary voice. Karen turned in shock to see the body of Cole slowly rise to its feet.

"How did you…" Karen stammered.

"It is the… very same power at work that brought the… zombie… back to life after I… killed him."

"So then what about him?" Karen asked, motioning to the limp body of Red.

"Allow me to take care of that," Cole replied. He walked over to where he had dropped the shotgun, and picked it up, cocking it twice to get rid of the empty shells inside. At first, Morrigan thought that Cole was merely going to put Red out of his misery, but then saw that Cole was merely unfastening a small green orb from the side of the gun. With the emerald in his possession, Cole walked over to Red’s prone body and concentrated on the gem. To Morrigan’s amazement, the gem began to give off a green glow, bathing the room in green light. Soon, Red began to stir and then hopped to his feet like nothing had happened.

"What did I miss?" Red asked, stretching.

"A lot, apparently," answered Cole, giving the structure a quick sweep with his eyes.

"And who’s handiwork might this be?" asked Cole, walking over to the pulped remains of the zombie, nudging it with the toe of his boot.

"That would be Karen’s," Morrigan replied proudly.

"I assume you mean the girl," said Cole.

"Yeah," answered Morrigan.

Cole walked over to Karen and gave her a once over with his eyes. He narrowed his eyes, and looked her strait in the eyes.

"Do I know you from somewhere? You look awfully familiar," Cole said.

"I don’t know you, and I don’t think you know me either," Karen stated firmly.

"Her scent is familiar, as well," mentioned Red.

"Red, you knew some of her ancestors," Morrigan mentioned.

At this, Red turned to Morrigan with a look of shock on his muzzle.

"What was that? Who?"

"I believe you said that you knew Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart? Well, she’s Karen Strife, their distant relative."

Red spun to look at Cole.

"Do you think…?" Red began.

"A house full of strife…? It’s fits together too much to be a coincidence." Cole replied.

"Just what the hell is going on here? I mean, you said that I would get all my answers in here. But when I finally get here, I'm attacked by a homicidal maniac with superhuman strength, then Cole kills him, then your both looking for something, and then the body comes back to life, and Karen kills him and that’s all fine and dandy but there’s one small problem. I’M STILL CLUELESS!"

Cole turned to look at Morrigan, then back at Red.

"What do you think, Red?"
"I suppose that it would be rather cruel of us to not divulge any of our knowledge to him seeing as how he’s in this deep as it is."

"I agree," Cole admitted. He turned to Morrigan. "Please… ask away."

Morrigan thought about this for a minute. All this time he knew that he wanted to ask Cole so many things, to tap into his veritable fountain of knowledge, yet he did not really know where to begin. After a moment of thought, it finally, it hit him.

"I have only one question for you right now…" Morrigan started.

"This should be amusing," Red smirked.

"Cole… this is directed at you," Morrigan stated firmly.

"I’m listening," replied Cole.

"What the hell are you?"

Cole stood in silence for a minute, a look of confusion and deep thought spread across his face.

"Well?" Morrigan asked impatiently.

Cole remained silent.

"You really should answer him. I want to hear this, too," Karen stated.

"Answer the man, Cole. You got yourself into this, so get yourself out," Red stated.

Cole sighed.

"I suppose you are right," Cole attested, "And Robert, I apologize for my hesitation. Although I must admit I did not expect such a blunt question."

"It surprised me, as well," Red admitted.

Cole looked around at their surroundings and saw a small table with a few sanded down stalagmites positioned around it as chairs.

"Come… sit," Cole requested, motioning to the table.

The group gathered around the table.

"First off, I should come right out and say that I am not who I claim to be," admitted Cole.

"Which brings up an interesting question: Who are you, then?" asked Karen.

"A fair question, I assure you, but I am not to thrilled about answering it at this juncture in time.

"Too bad Vic," retorted Morrigan quickly.

"Vincent"

"What?"

"My name is not Victor, it is Vincent."

"Okay, Mr. Cole, what’s so big about that?" Karen queried.

"And my last name is not Cole. It’s…"

Suddenly, Morrigan’s eyes went wide.

"You don’t mean…" he started.

"Yes," Vincent answered, "It’s… Valentine."