Bampaia: Hello pplz, how are you? Well this is my latest story (and only second.) I would apprecate any constructive critisizm you my have, but all flamers will be used to roast Nimblhem ;-) just kidding. I am hungry for reviews no matter how I get them.
Sephiroth: Aren't you forgeting something?
Me:...Ummm, no sweatdrops as Seph glares
Sephiroth: The disclaimer glares at author again
Me: Oh that's Vincent's job, right Vinnie?
Vincent: ...looks around No author does puppy dog eyes...sigh Bampaia owns nothing except the story plot and all origional chars
Me: hugs Vincent Thank You!
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Incubus Lights
Darkness, so complete it swollowed my being entirely. No sound penetrated it, or mabey that was because there was nothing to make sound here. But this wasn't some sort of endless plain, of that I was sure. On all sides of me I could feel the walls. I reached foward, gouping blindly until I felt an uneven spot on the surface. Deciding to test my luck, I pressed agenst it. Instantly the walls fell away, flooding my with light and sound. I was at a beach now. The smell of salt filled my nose as the sound of waves hit my ears. I was barefoot and shirtless, which was odd because I could swear I had been wearing them not only a second ago. In the distance I could make out the figure of a woman in an old-fashioned white dress walking along the tide toward me. As she neared I nearly gasped. This woman was quite probally the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Long ginger cascaded down her back to nearly her knees, framing a face so delicate it could only be described as angelic. The thickest eyelases I had ever seen framed an almost impossibly wide pair of lilac eyes, and her mouth, a dusky rose petal. Her body, though petite, was slender and pale. Perfection. And then she spoke.
"Ahh" she began. Her voice was perfectly piched, not waivering at all when she talked. "So you are the one who needs a guide to absolution, are you not? She raised her eyebrow expectantly. I opened my mouth to reply when I suddenly I felt pain fill me. My beasts fought their way to the surface no matter how hard I tried to subdue them. I fell to my knees in front of her as the transformation began to take me. The last thing I heard before my demons took over was her voice, completely unconcerned for her own safety saying "Well, that is confermation enough in itself. Don't worry, I will aide you in your search for peace." Then darkness claimed me.
"ARUGHHHHHH" Claret eyes surged open as I sat bolt upright, gasping for breath. Again that same dream. For every night this past week I had dreamed the same thing, and always ended with the mystery woman promicing to help me. Still, I was no closer to finding out what it ment than the day I first had the dream. That in itself was more than a little unnerving. Running my hand through my hair I looked out the window. It was nearing dawn. Time for a shower then off to work. I shghed once as I untangled myself from the sheets and made my way to the bathroom. It had been five years since the whole incident with Sephiroth ended, and the world was finally healing. Watui was the first nation to recover, mainly because of two factors. The first being that it was not at all dependant on mako for energy, therefore no economic depression; the second reason was Yuffie. As soon as we were done in the nothern crater she returned to Watui and kicked her father off the throne, temperaly of course. Once she finished rebuildy the nation she let him have the throne again, under heavy supervision, while she helped the rest of the world.
She and Reeve got together and started a fondation to restore the planets' mako while Shin-ra worked on a new source of energy. They had managed to find several new resourses that were now being used around the globe. It seemed Rufus was serious when he said he wanted to make ammends. Barret had returned to Coral, taking Marlene and Elmyra with him. They were married six months ago, and yes, I did attend the wedding. I also attended Cid and Shera's wedding before that too. Yhea, he only waited a week after Sephiroth before settling down. Tifa and Cloud were going to get married next month. Nanaki returned to cosmos canyon and learned that a part of his tribe was in acuality alive. He seemed to be rather serious with a young female of his kind the last I heard. As for me, I had yet even think about a relationship. In all honasty, I didn't think would ever fall in love again. So, when I learned that because I had been listed as MIA and was therefore still being paid, I decided a new scene was in order.
I packed all of my things and moved to Neo-midgar. It was a great deal nicer than the old midgar, and had far more people than Nimblhem, so I didn't have to worry that the rest of my friends were going to think I was going into recluse again. I bought an apartment and then went looking for a job. I suppose that I could have just lived off my turk pay for the rest of my life, but the idea of not doing anything at all didn't appeal to me. And so it came to pass, I now work for Yuffie and Reeve, helping them restore the planet. I donated the rest of my money to Tifa and Cloud, to help them run the orphanage they had started in Aries's memory. The last I had heard they had managed to gather at least twelve children, not including the three that had already been adopted. It brought them peace, and helped those in need so I approved.
After my shower I quickly got dressed and holstered my gun, havung to run in order to make in time for the bus. Fifteen minutes later I was standing in line, waiting for my supply of materia for the day. That's right, materia. Yuffie had actually come up with a very effective way of restoring mako. Since materia was crystalzed mako it could be liqufied and then dirctly placed in to the earth. However, low level materia didn't restore much, so mastered materia was needed. She and Reeve recuited fighters from all aver the world to make the program work. First they would find an area that had an abundance of monsters, then they would bring in lots of fighters, give them materia, and turn them loose. Of course they were careful not to kill all the creatures, after all, we didn't want to make any species die out completely. Their program also had the added benifit of making travel safer. It was a win-win situation. Finally I made it to the desk and was handed a small bag filled with materia.
A level two cure, level one fire, a half mastered enemy skill, a mp recover, and a level three hp plus. I usually got low level materia because I was a bit stronger than many of the others, and I could level it up faster. The reasoning was that giving the weaker fighters stonger materia would give them a better chance of survival, and so far it was working. The death rate was like one person a year. That could also be due to the fact that we were all sent in groups of at least four. This month I had been assigned to a group with a rookie named Jess and two fairly seasoned fighters named Slade and Kris. Jess's favored weapon was a cat-o-ninetails that even I had to admit he wielded quite well. Both Slate and Kris were martial artists, but Kris was the better of the two. That pissed off Slate because she was a woman. I finally had to set him stait so now he behaved like a gentleman, for the most part. I still had to glare at him sometimes to make him behave.
I had to look for a good ten minutes before I found them sitting in the lounge with Reeve and another person who I regonized immedeately. Reno, just my luck. Some habits die hard, so I decided to hang back for a bit to see what they were dicussing before I made it known I was there.
"I swear, I looked it up in the records" Reno was saying quickly, and quite loudly. How that boy managed to make it into the TURKS was beyond me. "His birthday is today. Fuckin is Valentine is 71 today man." Oh shit, that ment they were planning a party. "Jesus Christ I hope I preserve half as well as that asshole. And people say I look young for my age." he quipped.
"We have to throw him a party!" Exclaimed Kris excitedly. What did I tell you. "We can have a cake and streamers and presents, and everything! It'll be great!"
"No" I stated quite firmly, deciding to head this off before they got too into the idea. Five heads swivled in my direction, all shocked. Reno was the one to recover first. He gave a cocky little grin before pouting.
"Does this mean I need to cancel the stripper? Damn." He said in a fake sad voice. I glared at him, but it didn't seen to faze him in the slightest. Instead he grinned again. God that grin was infurating. "We could have Kris dance for ya" he said rougishly, causing Kris to blush a deep shade of crimson before she hit Reno over the head. His grin just widened as he stood up and blew her a kiss. "I'm taking you out to get drunk Vince, wether you like in or not, so don't bother whining." He said as he sauntered off, Kris's eyes following his frame till it was out of sight. Now how was I going to get out of this one. I sighed before turning to Reeve, who was flipping through a clipboard. Finally he found what he was looking for with an eclamation that had more than a few people stairing at him. Didn't anyone in this age know the value of silence.
"Alrighty then" he began brightly. "Team Vega, you folks are working in Old Midgar today. Chopper 23 will be your lift. And the piolet is... oh yhea, Clidesdale." He looked up and smiled at us, obviously still amused by Reno's threat. "Ya all got your materia on you?" he questioned. After affermations from the group he sent us to the launch pad. We met up with Clidesdale, a man that could pass for Cid's twin as far as personality went. While we were flying to Old Midgar I equipped My materia and helped the others equip theirs in the most effective manner( Jess and Slate had summons and added effect materia that should have been paired together). After that they amused themselves by singing birthday songs to me and commenting about my age. Just when I thought I could take no more Clidesdale informed us we were landing. God bless small favors. There was no safe place to touch down so we had to shimmy down a rope into the decaying city.
It was nearly noon when we stopped. So far we had managed to extermenate 30 monsters, master one of Jess's full cure materia and had nearly depleated our mp. It was almost unanimous that a lunch break was in order. Kris recovered her mp the fastest, so it was her job to heal the rest of us. After our break we had recovered a sufficent amount of mp to trek deeper into the city. For the most part we were silent as we killed any creatures we came across (there was no regulated control in Old Midgar, mostly because these were also search and rescue missions. Any people we came across were supossed to be evacuated.). The only talking was when one was mumuring a spell or shouting a warning to a comrade. All in all I quite liked this group. The last one I had been with concisted of twin girls who decided I would be fun in bed. Needles to say I had Yffie transfer me out immedately. She was more than happy to comply when she heard the reason. from what I heard she had also kicked the girls out of the agency. Atta' girl Yuffie.
We finally made it to the pickup site at 7pm. It was one of the longest days I had worked, but it was nothing compared to the northern crater, so I wasn't whining. Slate and Kris were, but not Jess. I was liking the kid more and more. Mabey I would request that he be transfered to the next group I was assigned to. While we rode back to the station I briefly wondered if perhaps Reno wouldn't come to kidnap me. No such luck. When we landed he was right there, along with the rest of the TURKS ( Tseng is alive). Damn. They didn't even give me a chance to argue. They just followed me as I turned in my materia and marched me out of the building. I started praying that someone would help me, and my savior came in the most unlikely form. Elaina.
"You boys aren't planning to deag him around looking like that, are you?" She stated in a shocked tone. (author note: Vincent wears the same clothes he wore in the game to work, but does have some normal clothes too. Of course it is in almost all black, with an occasional different colored dress shirt) "We have to let him go home to change!" Thank you Elaina. Reno and Rude looked at me and sighed, agreeing with her. Tseng said nothing, and from the look on his face, you could tell he had no desire to get drunk either. Mabey Elaina could play savior to both of us tonight. "How about me and Tseng march him home, and you two head to the bar and save a table?" Her tone was reasonable, she obviously knew how to manipulate them. Besides, they wanted to get drunk, and soon, so they didn't argue. After they left she turned toward me and Tseng. "Well, that takes care of those two" she stated chirply. "Well, I have to hurry if I'm going to make it to my date on time. You two have fun now." After she was out of sight Tseng turned towards me.
"Happy Birthday Uncle" he said softly. Did that go too fast for you. Well let me clairify. Tseng was the son of my only sister. He was born about a month after Sephiroth. He joined the TURKS after his mother died in order to live up to my reputation. After the northern crater he and I got to know eachother more. It was namely his relation to me that made everyone in Avalanch forgive the TURKS. They were still employed by Shin-ra, but also preformed odd jobs for Yuffie and Reeve. "Do you mind my company tonight." He asked, his tone revaling nothing. A TURK to the core. I couldn't help but be proud of him.
"Of course not" I replied. "However, Elaina is correct. I need to change." He nodded his head, not saying a word. He, like me, found no need to fill the stillness with speach. It made me wonder how he toleated Reno. God knows I would have shot him by now if I were in my nephews shoes. We borded the bus and traveled to my small apartment. After I changed into an outfit similar to his(Tseng is wearing the TURK suit. Vincent is just wearing a black version of it) we headed to a small but good restraunt located in the northern section of the city. While we ate we spoke of work and how restorations were coming along. He then informend me what Rufus was doing.
"He and Lady Kisaragi have been having dinner together. Everyday for the past two months" His tone was smug as I started choking on my salmon. Rufus and Yuffie! Oh god, between them they had influence over practically the entire world. Well, it was a politically sound pairing I suppose, but what the hell. They were exact opposites as far as personalities. Rufus was a stern, quiet, and disiplined person, while Yuffie was loud, random, and perky. Whilst I continued to choke on my food Tseng continued to explain about Yuffie and his boss. "It would seem that they have been together for almost a year now. And the other day Rufus asked me help... to decide what ring to purchace." he galced at the clock briefly befoe continuing. "About now he should be down on one knee poping the question." He turned back to me and smiled. Not his usual TURK smile, but one filled with peace. The fact Rufus was finally getting married made him happy. I guess I could aprove of them in that case. I smiled back at my nephew, letting him know how on the subject.
After our meals were finished we decided to walk to my apartment. Tseng shared an apartment with the rest of the male TURKS and so when they went on drinking binges he crashed at my place. I didn't mind, and he was grateful to have a quiet place to sleep. We took the back alleys in order to avoid party-goers. When we stepped into an unusually dark and cramped alley the dream from last night came back to me with startling clairty, causing me to stop for a moment. Had I been walking with any other person they might not have noticed my momentary pause, but this was Tseng, and he did notice.
"Vincent?" he called out as he turned to face me. He gave me a once-over, trying to find a reason for my pause. I sighed.
"It's nothing Tseng. Just deja vu." His amused expression spoke volumes, so I fixed him with my own expression. The one that went not-a-word-or-I-will-shoot-you. It was funny how much you could say with just a look. We were snapped from our battle of wills be a shrill scream. Immedeately we both had our guns out and were racing toward the source of the voice. Six blocks away we came across a group of about a dozen men surounding a single woman. I was barely able to make out a mess of red hair between the men. Tseng and I glanced at eachother once before we raised our guns and fired. Three of the men fell injured. It left an opening just large enough for the woman to run out of. The largest of the men shouted for half of the remaining men to chase after her whilt the other remained with him to 'teach us a lesson' Yhea right. It took us twenty seconds tops to knock them out. We then rushed after the men chasing the woman. After we disposed of them we searched for our mysterious damsel in distress.
"Vincent" Tseng called out as he knelt by a large dumpster. "I found her." He stated as I walked toward him. Sandwiched between the alley wall and the dumpster was the woman shivering in the chilled October air. Her hair fell all around her, hiding her face from view. As Tseng reached toward her she flinched back agenst the wall. He froze and turned to look at me. I motiened him to back off next to me. We slowly placed our guns on the ground in front of us and raised our hands in the typical 'no harm' gesture. Tseng then spoke to her. "It's alright little one. We mean you no harm. The ones who hurt you are gone. It's okay." As he spoke her shivering slowed and she began to inch her way cautiously from her hideing place. Once she was out she stood up. Her dress was plain and white and dirty. Her face was hidden to me as she examined Tseng, and seemed to decide that he was trustworthy. Then she turned toward me.
Time seemed to stop as I barely contained a gasp at the sight if lilac eyes framed with thick eyelashes. Her rosebud mouth frowned in confusion as she examined me closely.
"Vincent" she said before fainting into my and Tseng's arms.
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Me: Oh god yesss! I finished chapter one. So what did you folks think? huh? Oh by the way, this is not Advent Children compliant, though I am stealing alot of things from it.
Kadja, Yazoo, and Loz: WHAT!
Me: Don't worry boys, you do feature in this story, but not as baddies.
Yazoo: What about Sephiroth?
Sephiroth: Yhea, what about me?
Me: You appear too. Just not for a while.
Sephiroth: pouts
Vincent: While Sephiroth acts like a two year old allow me to remind you to review. It boosts Bampaia's ego so she can write more. Also Bampaia is very bad about dsclaimers so if she forgets one for a chapter she apologizes in advance.