-1Title: Tears That Burn
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Angst, Drama, Romance
Rating: M/NC-17
Couples:
Warnings:
Summary: Vincent Valentine is a merman out of his element. Sephiroth is a manufactured soldier looking to get back at the man who made him that way. What do they have in common? The man who torments them
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII.
[Sephiroth
Hojo left his lab, a grin on that hideous face of his. Personally, I'd rather not go anywhere near his lab, but this was a special occasion. I had to figure out something of his that I could wreck.
He had, after all, wrecked my life.
Actually, that isn't even correct. He never even gave me a chance to have a real life. I guess he's not the only one to blame, since ShinRa gave him the funding to fuck me up before birth. Amazing how they can get away with screwed up shit like that all in the name of science.
Well, I'm going to get some form of revenge today. Hojo always has some experiment or another going on in that lab, so I'm sure I can find something that's highly explosive or volatile. Maybe I'll get lucky and be able to take the whole thing out.
I'll never get blamed for whatever happens. Who would blame the strongest, angriest, and best soldier ShinRa has? No one, of course.
I made my way to the door without being seen, though everyone would probably assume I had an appointment with the psycho doctor and think nothing of it. However, I don't want to be seen, so I won't be. Besides, most of my 'check-ups' are taken care of in Midgar, not in Junon. Which, brings me to wonder: Why the hell does Hojo have a lab in Junon when his lab in Midgar is scarily state-of-the-art? All the more reason for me to break in and investigate.
I glanced inside to find that no one was in the lab. Hojo is actually terrifying enough to not need guards and to scare off any fellow scientists. I still think he had something to do with Professor Gast's death. At any rate, an empty lab means that I can play around for a while.
I slipped in, quickly moving through another set of doors to find myself in a large, circular room with an enormous tank of Mako. Now, I was not surprised by the tank of Mako. After all, Hojo loves to test the stuff on things like crazy. It was the thing inside the Mako that surprised me.
It was a creature with the upper half of a human body and the lower half of a fish. I do know the term 'mermaid' or 'merman', but I was under the impression that they didn't exist. Of course, it's possible that Hojo created it after hearing stories of the merpeople.
However, I really don't believe he could've. This merman had too much beauty to have been created by Hojo. Granted, I have excellent looks, but I was conceived a normal child from a beautiful woman. Or so I believe. I found a picture of my real mother once. She was pretty beautiful in my eyes. In any case, this merman was beautiful.
Yes, it's a merman. He does not have the assets a female has.
His hair, which was dark as the night, floated behind him, making it impossible for me to tell just how long it was. His skin was pretty pale, judging by the greenish tint on it from the Mako around him. The scales on his tail were mostly dark red with a few small groups of purple scattered throughout it. The fin itself was red with four vertical streaks of purple. Yet it was his eyes that I found most enchanting. They were crimson red and trained on me, showing that he was sentient and was conscious of me.
Other distinguishing features he possessed were his ears which tapered up to their tips and little fins on his arms, right below his wrists. They flared out until about the middle of his arm, between the wrist and the elbow.
As I stared at him, he stared back, apparently trying to figure out who I was. He came close to the glass, pushing himself along with his amazing tail. He set a hand on the glass and cocked his head to the left. I slowly approached the glass and he pushed himself away from it. Apparently, Hojo had done enough to him to make him distrust strangers. Though, since I am a fighting machine, perhaps that's for the best.
I looked to the top of his tank and noticed bars crossing the top. There was a stepladder leading to the top. He followed my eyes before looking back at me with worry in his gaze. I looked back at him and chuckled quietly.
"Hey, I'm not here to hurt you." I said, not expecting him to hear nor understand me. Yet he could, for his worry melted away, leaving a wary gaze.
I jumped as I heard the outer doors open and he looked past my shoulder. After a moment where Hojo's voice floated to our ears, he looked back at me and motioned for me to go around the tank. With a curt nod, I did so and he met me on the other side, pointing out an area I could hide in. I swallowed my pride of having to hide in such an undignified area and hurried in, staying as quiet as possible. The merman nodded his satisfaction and turned back to the opening doors, showing me that he had gills on his back. Interesting.
I couldn't see what was going on, but I could hear Hojo explaining the idea behind his experiment on the merman. He sounded rather excited, though my heart almost stopped as I heard the phrase 'an underwater Sephiroth' fall from his lips.
"And what does Sephiroth think of having his cells put into a fish?" The person Hojo was talking to was Rufus ShinRa. It figured that it would be. The elder ShinRa was on his deathbed. If you ask me, I believe that Rufus probably poisoned his father. Not that I blame him.
"They aren't Sephiroth's cells; they're Jenova's. And Sephiroth doesn't know about this research. He's been rather rebellious during his treatments lately. I would hate to think of the fuss he might make about this." Hojo replied. "Besides, he's not authorized to know."
"I doubt he'll see it that way. Anyway, can this fish talk?" Rufus asked. I could hear them mounting the stepladder. The merman slowly swam to the top and his head broke the surface as Hojo pressed the button to raise the bars.
"Of course. Surprisingly, it was a skill he possessed when I first acquired him." Hojo answered. "Ask him something." I heard Rufus snort in disbelief.
"Do you have a name, fish?" Rufus asked with a sneer.
"I'm not a fish." Was the reply Rufus received. The merman's voice was low and melodious, giving me a chill. I got the feeling that merpeople spoke with a musical language.
"That was not what I asked." Rufus sounded slightly annoyed at the merman's insolence. He barely tolerated it from me.
"Well, I'm not going to give you my name until you offer yours." I could barely contain a snicker as the merman spoke to Rufus so haughtily.
"Ugh. Disgusting fish. If you weren't so full of Mako, I'd have you cooked up for my dinner." Rufus said coldly. I heard the merman laugh coldly.
"Are you afraid of a little Mako? Here, I'll show you what Mako can do." The merman pushed himself to the middle of the tank and lifted his tail.
"Get down! Hurry!" Hojo ordered and he and Rufus ran down the stepladder as the merman smacked the Mako with his tail, making a large splash. Rufus barely made it under Hojo's desk for shelter; Hojo stood against the assault of Mako. I knew that Mako didn't mutate anything unless it made it into the bloodstream, but apparently, someone forgot to tell Rufus that. Besides, it would've ruined his perfect white outfit.
The merman must've known that Mako only affected people who were injected with it, or swam in it in his case, for he was laughing loudly. Rufus climbed out from under the desk, a frown marring his face. He straightened his clothes, trying to salvage a scrap of his pride and made his way to the doors.
"Professor Hojo, you had better do something about that thing's attitude. It wouldn't do for it to be too much like Sephiroth." With that last comment, he walked through the doors. Hojo turned a murderous gaze on the merman and pressed another button, lowering the bars back onto the tank.
"For that one, I'm injecting you with Mako when I return from my errands." Hojo growled. The merman said nothing, diving back into the Mako. Once Hojo had left, I stood from my hiding place and walked to the tank. The merman noticed this and made his way back to the surface.
"You had probably better go. Who knows when that pathetic excuse for a human will return." The merman commented and I grinned slightly.
"Yeah, and I don't feel like a Mako injection right now. My name is Sephiroth." I said. The merman cocked his head to the left as he had done before.
"My name…It would translate to something like Vincent in your language. …Sephiroth…" The merman, Vincent replied, seemingly tasting my name with his slow pronunciation of it.
"Right. I'll come and visit you again, Vincent." I waved slightly at him and turned to the doors, walking out. From behind me I heard: "Goodbye, Sephiroth."
A/N: Chapter 1 complete! I hope you guys like this! Sneak peek of next chapter:
I held my hands up in a peaceful gesture when the old man looked like he was going to bolt. "I just have a question, sir. I was wondering if you'd ever heard of merpeople living in the waters around Junon."
R&R, please!