Disclaimer: This is a FICTIONAL story. As will all disclaimers none of the original characters from the FF franchise are owned by me. Characters I myself own: Salem Valentine, Kain, And Dr. Xemo Turzak. Stella Bleu'Rosen is a character of one of my friends that I have grown to like. I have the 'OK' by her to use her character in this story...

EDIT NOTICE: I will be going through all the chapter and rewriting them, lengthening, spell checking and what not.... So things may change. ^_^.

Lullaby of Orthrus: FFVII

Chapter I: Missing

"Damn it..." The red clouds overhead blew hard as Salem stood looking into his old, broken test tube. "I thought you would be here..." He whispered to himself, his low raspy voice even creating an echo through out the empty labs. Glass littered the floor and blood stained it along with the walls and chairs that laid toppled over. Where in the hell is Turzak? That bastard! That bastard!!! Salems' teeth gritted and his jaw flexed with it. He slowly paced himself, maneuvering around the shards of glass, over turned chairs, and small critters scurrying away. He made his way out of the lab and into the main hall of the Shinra testing facility, walking with an angry step. His red eyes gave almost a glow in the dark the dark halls of the building as his boots clapped the floor hardly.

His search had been going on for nearly thirty-four years...

Yes, thirty-four years... And he still kept his nineteen year old appearance. Aging didn't take hold of this Valentine, either. The chain around his gun clanked on the buckle that kept its holster attached to his leg. A double headed dog, Orthrus. Yes, This was the brother of the legendary Vincent...

This was Salem Valentine...

Salem stepped out into the sun and squinted with the light that hit his eyes. Anger still flowed through him. His red eyes flickered with the suns beams as he walked steadily from the massive building. All these years he had to deal with it... The cause of his blackouts. The reason why he was wanted for murder. The damn thing... Shadow... The Angel of Death. Shadow lead Chaos and Chaos came before Omega. Vincent wasn't the only one with demons. Vincent was locked in a coffin a majority of the time he had Chaos... Salem was left free... A hazard to all of man kind. He often wondered why he had this entity from the earth... But he knew the answer well... His blood could take it... Hold it within the body... Harness it... Make it a physical being... Who knows why Turzak wanted it to be... Though one thing was for certain... He was mimicking Hojo's work, clearly... And succeeded... Well...

The Shadow...

His raven black hair fell to chin, covering his face... To keep well hidden by most on lookers... IF he ever ran into any... It waved violently as he stepped, jumped, and walked around the remains of homes and buildings that was once a city. Unlike Vincent, Salem was tested in the Shinra Corp. Building whereas Vincent was tested in the Shinra Mansion. The experiment grew popular between scientists who were working for Shinra... Often, he remembers Hojo giving the young apprentice Turzak 'pointers' on how to exploit the power of Death itself... They were mad about the subject of capturing the natural essences of the planet and making them reality... Physical... Living...

"Salem!" A low voice called out from a nearby, half destroyed church.

"Not now, Strife!" Salem returned with anger.

"Where's Vincent?!" Cloud said drawing closer.

"Check in the Caverns!" Salem replied continuing.

Cloud finally stopped him, looking up at him slightly, "We did... And Kalm... Edge... Even the Mansion... We've look everywhere..."

Salem paused for a moment, looking at Cloud with a stern expression. Vincent was a unpredictable person. That Lucresia lady got to his head. He knew that he was around here somewhere, they just weren't looking hard enough.

"Then look some more!" Salem said pushing himself passed Cloud. "I'm busy..."

"We found Cerberus!" Cloud yelled back and letting his words slow into a saddened tone, "Just outside of the Mako Caverns."

Salem came to a slow stop. Now that was a little bit to unpredictable. Salem knew Vincent NEVER left Cerberus anywhere, nor took it off, and if he did, it was close to him. Salem slowly turned to the man, his eye brows sinking over his eyes. He thought for a moment... Vincent vanished all the time... After all... He lift himself alone... Who is to say he didn't abandon his friends? But of course... Salem would ACT like he actually cared...

"How long has he been missing?" Salem said, eyes focused mainly on thought.

"Three days..." Cloud returned.

Irritation made Salem turn, but is slowly developed into a slight worry. Yes, Salem and Vincent had their share of dislikes about themselves. Vincent didn't like Salems' knack for revenge, anger problems, and his senseless acts of hatred, and Salem didn't like Vincent's infatuation with that woman, his depressed nature, and his habit of going missing constantly. But one thing that couldn't be changed; they were brothers and they always had .

Salem gave a loud sigh, "I'll meet you at 7th Heaven in twenty minutes..."

Cloud nodded and made on his way.

Salem sat down on a section of an old home that had once collapsed. His red shirt blew under his black leather jacket. The jackets' torso came to his mid-torso, and the sleeves came to his wrists. His red T-shirt had the Valentine family's crest stenciled with black spray paint. Sale pulled a pack of cigarettes from his black denim pants following a zippo with Orthrus, the twin headed brother of Cerberus, plated in silver. He slowly lifted the cigarette to his lips and lit it. He took a long drag before releasing the smoke into the air, watching it fly away with the wind. You better not be dead... Where are you?

"Damn it, Vincent!" Salem let out as he pulled off the wax bullet from his neck. "I thought we weren't shoot above the collar bone!"

Vincent gave a chuckle as he lowered his weapon. "Stop whining, Salem... Your almost sixteen! Besides, you will never get better if you don't feel the pain of what could happen in real life... Your lucky we aren't using real rounds."

Salem narrowed his eyes as he pulled Orthrus to his sights before letting off a wax bullet at Vincent. Vincent countered shooting Cerberus, his bullet meeting Salems in mid air, colliding.

Salem's anger grew. "Your cheating! Dad gave you the better gun!"

Vincent's brows lowered as he looked at his younger brother. "Oh shut up, Salem! Your just jealous that I'm a better shot! Besides! These guns are practically ancient!"

Salem shook his head. "That's alright, Vince." He said shaking his head. "One day, I'll be ten times as good as you!"

Vincent shook his head with a chuckle. "Keep dreaming, little brother..."

He finished his cigarette and stood to his feet, throwing the butt to the ground and stopped on it and twisted once or twice. He laid the pack back into his pocket and continued to 7th Heaven. Hopefully he could find some answers to his brothers disappearance... Hopefully Tifa wouldn't be there... Very likely though...