Chapter 1
Vincent knelt before her shrine, as he had done so often in the past. "Lucrecia, I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"
It had only been a year since Meteor destroyed Midgar, since the death of Lucrecia's only child (possibly his own), and since Vincent's own awakening in a personal hell. Why? Why had he not been able to stop her? Why had he let this happen?
Vincent's reverie was interrupted by the voice of a young woman. "Well, well, if it isn't Vincent Valentine. When did you decide to come back to the land of the living?"
He could just barely feel her presence, more like Chaos could feel her presence, in a tree not far from where he was standing. His inner demon had never responded to anyone like this. He just shrugged it off, drew Cerberus, and turned to face a pale-skinned, black-haired woman in a black leather cloak and dark red, hem-tattered riding dress with black cloth sewn into the slits. At the sight of Cerberus, she drew her own double-barreled handgun and smirked, "Well, if this is how you greet everyone who remembers you, it's no wonder no one's left."
Vincent lowered his gun and sighed, "Who are you? I know you're no scientist or you would have killed me, so what do you want?"
The girl holstered her handgun. "Lakara Krylon, and no, I'm not a scientist, just a former Turk like yourself."
"Hmph. As if I would believe you've lived this long and haven't changed."
Lakara sighed and dropped to the ground. "Of course, that's to be expected. After we found out that you had been, shall we say, 'compromised,' I was sent to replace you as Lucrecia's bodyguard. They hoped that my being a woman would keep us from getting 'attached.' Anyway, I was there for the experiments that changed you. Time passed, Lucrecia and I became like sisters. When I found out about Lucrecia's child, I too protested. After that, well, it was pretty much an instant replay of your last few days. Hojo thought I was getting too 'involved,' as you had, he shot me, and Lucrecia tried to heal me using the same procedure she had used on you. I was then abandoned at the mansion. I lived out the rest of my life in solitude, hiring myself out as a mercenary. You can imagine my horror when someone got the best of my temper and I found out about Chaos. The rest you should be able to figure out on your own."
Vincent nodded and turned to leave. If she was telling the truth, why endanger people by having two demons in the same area. The way Chaos was responding to her presence, he wasn't sure he'd be able to hold it back even with the Protomateria.
Apparently Lakara wasn't finished. "Vincent! Where are you going? Are you just going to walk away? Never face your past? I know what you're going through! I can he–!"
Vincent whirled around, his eyes bright red with rage. "If you are who you say you are you know you can't! You shouldn't have even come here looking for me! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for us to be together?! If you really do harbor the Chaos gene, then tell me how you are able to be here without him reacting to me!" As he said this, Vincent could feel the monster struggling to be freed and he clutched his chest in pain. "As for turning away from the past," he said through clenched teeth, "you have no idea how many times I've tried that. Leave, now. Hurry, I can't hold him much longer."
Lakara stood there staring at him, watching him double over with the effort to hold his demon back. She wanted to say something, do something, anything, to help him, but she knew she couldn't. Besides, her own demon was reacting to her intended "mate." Knowing what she would do to him if she were released, Lakara turned and ran through the trees with a promise to return.