Circles

Chapter One

"When you Love somebody, put them in a circle, never in a heart, for hearts can break...

But circles go on Forever."

Alone and Far From Home

Make it a sweet, sweet goodbye - it could be for the last time and it's not right.
"Don't let yourself get in over your head," he said.
Alone and far from home we'll find you...

--

On this particular night, the sky rolled on in a forever midnight blue, swirled with black. The moon and stars shone brightly in the sky, glorifying themselves on this dark summer night. Darkness tumbled over the land and seas, engulfing all in its path. Travelers lead themselves astray and wanderers hopelessly entangle themselves in the darkness, forever walking. To the wanderers, it does not matter – darkness or not, they travel with no aim and no purpose.

However, others prowled the night, not nearly as innocent. Assassins and thieves used the night as a cloak, moving as one with the shadows, effortlessly blending in. The blackness missed no place, for its eyes saw all. It could see the few people who hopelessly traveled across the plains, and it saw the ones who withdrew to the safety of their own homes. However, it also delved under the surface, searching for any sign of human life. And find it did.

Deep in the bowels of the Nibelheim mansion, all was quiet. Silence curled up like a cat, preparing for a long stay. Silence, however, was chased away. A single soul stirred, moving as quietly as it could. A soft swish of fabric was heard and settled on a figure. Feet pattered across the floor near inaudibly as the figure hurriedly shoved items into a bag. Turning, it walked towards the mechanical door, and slid it open. The form of a guard lay crumpled on the floor, and the figure put two fingers on its neck. No pulse – yet no blood. The person rummaged in the guard's sack, pulling out a keycard. Straitening, the person swiftly slid down hallways, all the guards lying on the floor, dead. The door slid open, revealing a room that emitted a strange green glow. Swiftly ducking inside, the person headed over to a glass case filled with many different test tubes, all corked shut. The figure took out a key from her pocket, and unlocked the case. Hurriedly, he or she put the test tubes in a box, and then stuffed the box with cloth so the test tubes wouldn't move or break. Shoving the box into a black backpack, the person left the room, not taking the time to shut the case.

The figure navigated through the halls until they came to another room. This time, there was a slot for the keycard, but there was also a circular puzzle numbered from 0 to 9. However, the numbers were not Common – they were written in Wutain kanji. Also, as the person seemed to know, the numbers were counter-clockwise. The top was 0, and then to the left was 1 then 2, and so on. The person quickly entered a few numbers, and with a click, the door opened. Rushing inside, the person found themselves in a room of endless file cabinets. Glancing around from under the hood of the cape, eyes settled on the desk. Walking over, the person looked at the files on the desk. Fidgeting, the person grabbed the files and rushed out, shutting the door as quietly as possible.

As the figure emerged, shouts erupted down the hall. The person started to run, darting down halls, finally coming to a small room that had a coffin in the center. Other coffins were shoved to the side, and the figure went to a barely noticeable one in the top right-hand corner of the room. Opening the lid, instead of a bottom, there was darkness, pitch black. Yet – as the stranger seemed to know - a ladder was attached to the side. Swinging inside, the person shut the lid and completely consumed by the dark, climbed down. When the ladder ended, the figure jumped off. Confused shouts could be heard above, and the person walked down the path. It was wide and stone, with streams running on either side of it. Water dripped from the ceiling, but the person kept walking. The figure walked and walked until it came to the end of the path. A dead end. He or she looked at the wall, and their shoulders fell when he or she saw the ladder had broken off further up. However, posture was regained and the person stared up, at a small ring of moonlight was seen high up. A sliver of light slid onto the face, revealing feminine features as the hood slid back a bit. She stood unmoving, staring upwards…waiting…waiting. Waiting for no one.

Back on the surface the night was restless. The animals and daytime monsters scurried away; unnerved by the unnatural feel of this darkness. Smaller animals looked up at the sky, but the orb that shone so brightly didn't comfort them. Nocturnal beasts walked the night with a careless confidence. Eyes tailored for the dark of night drifted around their surroundings, looking for some hapless prey - a small animal scurrying to its home, or a smaller beast foolish enough to be defiant. Or a human.

Indeed, a human did dare prowl the night – three humans. These, however, were not children nor were they lost townsfolk. The darkness didn't unnerve them; rather, they welcomed it with open arms. These humans knew darkness. These humans were Turks.

All three rode on trotting black chocobos, and all three wore blue suits. One man was slightly in front of the other two. His fiery red hair was sloppily tied back in a low ponytail, and a cigarette was tucked behind his ear. His suit was in a state of disarray, wrinkled like he had slept in it. Two scars stood out on his face, one under each eye. A cigarette was tucked behind his ear, but he took a cigarette out of the pack and lit it up, leaving the one behind his ear untouched. Even with his messy appearance, he held an air of confidence that assured him, Reno, to be the leader.

To the right of the Reno was a tall man, dark-skinned and dressed identically, but neater. He was bald and wore sunglasses even in the black of night. Rude, second of the Turks had his expression set in stone, so calm he looked like a wax figure until he turned his head. Underneath his sunglasses, bright green eyes flicked Reno to the girl riding to his left.

The female was the last of the trio, shorter and with short blonde hair. Sparkling blue eyes were dulled from boredom, and she fiddled with the pale blue ribbon tied loosely around her chocobo's neck. Elena, newest of the three Turks, looked up at the other two with blank eyes.

"So exactly what bull did we get sent here for?" She sighed.

"Something about making sure there isn't any shit going on at the Mansion," Reno replied, dismissing it with a wave of his hand. "After all, Reeve and town representatives from around the Planet will be meeting here. God forbid there should be any rats to scare Miss Lady of Kalm."

Elena sniffed huffily, slumping against her chocobo's neck. "Doesn't Mr. Valentine live there?" She asked, her voice muffled.

"Mmmhmmm." Reno replied.

"Will we make him leave?"

"Dunno."

Silence settled over the group, and they kept moving along until they finally reached the city of Nibelheim. Dismounting their chocobos, they led the overlarge birds through the streets, talons clinking on the cobble-stone. Nibelheim had expanded a bit, instead of the small ring of houses it had once been. Nevertheless, it was still a small town. Footsteps rang on hollowed streets until they reached the end of the main road. They reached the building that marked the end of town and the beginning of the mountain path; the Mansion.

The Turks tied their chocobos to the fence on the perimeter of the mansion, before walking up the path. Moss grew on the long-ago-abandoned path and vines snaked up the side of the building. One window had a piece of wood nailed over it crookedly, nearly falling off. Like no one was willing to near the mansion long enough to finish the task.

Reno tossed his cigarette on the ground, walking over it. They entered the building, looking around the large lower floor. Dust settled on the floor in a blanket, tucking the wood away. A staircase swept up from the floor, elegantly curving and giving way to another floor. Yet, faint footsteps appeared to have disturbed the dust. The footsteps came down the staircase and turned, heading towards the rooms beyond the stairs. They were recent, and dust had begun to fill them in, but they were visible. There was another set of footsteps, the strides shorter and the footsteps smaller. Reno knelt down, inspecting the footsteps. The first set of footsteps was larger and seemingly male, while the second was smaller and more feminine.

"I thought only Valentine lived here." Elena stated uneasily.

"Me too…" Reno said. "But he usually wears those boots, and these larger footprints look more like dress shoes." He walked towards the doors, opening them and walking in, closely followed by his companions.

The two footsteps continued to a room on the left, and dutifully, the Turks followed. Through the door they found a near empty room. Only an ever-dimming light in the center of the room provided light. Two, large stained glass windows were on the northern part of the wall, accompanied by window seats. In a small, circular indent in the wall, there was a table. Finally, in the southern part of the room, there was a grand piano.

Silence enveloped the group and Elena looked up. "Someone else was here."

The group exchanged glances. "What about his friends?" Rude provided.

"True…Lockhart and Ninja Chick are both are possibilities…The fist-fighter's profile said that during the rebuilding of Nibelheim, she had a piano in her room."

"But a boy played the piano." Rude stated, staring at the large set of footprints that led over to the piano

Elena looked at Reno, "You read her Shinra profile?"

Reno shrugged. "I wanted to know about the people we were chasing. I only got to hers, Wallace and the Red cat. Princess might have had one – actually, she did - but it was under lock and keep along with Valentine, Chocobo Head and the Centra. Cait Sith didn't have one – besides, that was Reeve - and I asked Heidigger about Highwind."

Elena shook her head, rolling her eyes. Then she began to inspect the room. She looked at each of the stained glass windows, and then she went to the wall across from the grand piano. There was a single, stained glass window there, medium sized. The picture depicted an upside-down triangle. At the bottom point was a single rose, and the top left point had a gun. The top right corner had a needle, and the whole triangle was inside a larger, broken heart.

"Guys…look here…" she said, beckoning the other two men. They came over, and she showed them the picture.

"A love triangle." Rude proclaimed.

"But there isn't any light coming through this window." Elena noted.

Reno leaned against the window, propping himself up with one elbow as he lit a cigarette, "Probably another feeble attempt to board up-"

As Reno leaned against the window, a slight noise was made and the window began to slide into the left side of the wall, until it revealed a black tunnel. They all gaped, Reno almost choking on his cigarette.

"W-W-Whadduwedo?" Elena fumbled, surprised at this new revelation.

"Go in of course," Reno said.

Promptly Reno climbed in on all fours, followed by Elena, then Rude. A dim light was provided by the rooms light, but a shifting sound was heard again and the window slid back into place. The Turks were enveloped by the darkness, nothing but Reno's glowing eyes piercing the darkness. Soon, Reno reached out and put his weight down, but instead of flat bottom of the tunnel, there was nothing there. His eyes widened as his hand came down on a slide in the tunnel, and his body jerked forward. He slid down the slippery surface, only faintly able to see in front of him. A shriek informed him Elena was sliding due to lack of warning. In a moment he felt her form collide with his, increasing his speed down the tunnel. Rude's form smashed into Elena's, earning an 'umph' from her. The three tangled bodies slid down the steep slide, swerving around endless turns and near vertical drops, gaining speed until light was visible at the other end. With wide eyes, all three shot out of the tunnel, and smashed into the wall. They fell onto the ground in a crumpled heap, random limbs sticking out and muffled shouts of protest from the pile.

Reno lay at the bottom of the dog pile, his legs entwisted with Elena's legs and Rude's arm. Elena was in the middle, uncomfortably stretched between the two men. On top was Rude, one arm pulling him deeper into the pile.

"Elena…" Reno's muffled voice came. Elena looked down at her chest, processing where Reno's face was, blushing furiously.

"Reno!" Elena yelled, though Rude's foot was almost stuffed in her mouth.

"What? I didn't ask for my face to be here." Reno said, but grinned up at her.

With difficultly, they disentangled themselves, and as soon as they were all standing, Elena glowered at Reno, who held his hands up.

After brushing dust off and straightening clothes, they took a moment to review their surroundings. They were in a small pathway, and right next to the open tunnel in which they came from there was a ladder. The now recognizable shifting noise was made, and the tunnel was covered with a piece of wall that was identical to the rest of the stone wall. A torch lit the hall and light danced on the walls. Rude walked over to the ladder, prepared to climb.

"Wait," Reno said, "Let's see what is further down…there wouldn't be a secret passage just to go back upstairs."

"Reno." Rude said, giving him a look. "Reeve said not to get sidetracked."

"This isn't getting sidetracked! The person who is here might be down the hall!"

"…Reno…it was probably just some towns-kid on a dare. Let's go." Elena said.

"No. You go; I'll be up in a second."

"Reno." Rude said.

"Just go," Reno said flatly, "and that is an order." he added as an afterthought.

Rude and Elena shrugged, stuck between orders from Reeve and orders from Reno – not to mention the prospect of leaving him there. Nevertheless, they climbed the ladder, Elena glancing down the whole way.

After they were out of sight, Reno started walking down the hallway, until his trouble was met with a dead end. He frowned, and inspected the wall. Sure enough, one of the rocks stood out, white stone against light and dark shades of grey. Reno pressed it, leaning his weight against it, and sure enough, the shifting sound was made and a doorway-sized portion of the wall moved.

Reno looked forward, taking a step into the new part of the tunnel that held no light whatsoever. He could see enough, though, to find himself face to face with a pair of eyes. The hood's shadow disappeared from the figure's face, and he found himself staring at a female. She leaned in so she was almost nose to nose with Reno, eyes squinting as though inspecting him.

"You've…" she started, voice barely a whisper. Her eyes were wide in shock as she spoke again, "You've come to save me…?"

--

Though the night was dark, the heat spared no one. The humidity made clothes and hair stick to the bodies of their owners. Only the occasional breeze provided relief to the few people outdoors. Due to the humidity combined with the fact it was midnight, smart, sane people were asleep in their homes with Air Conditioners on full blast.

Vincent Valentine was smart, yes, but his sanity was questionable. At first sight he would seem a bit scary, but perfectly sane. It is often said, however, that no one is perfectly sane, and that would apply to Vincent Valentine. Under the smooth surface, turmoil lies.

His sanity was further questioned due to the fact he was walking through a forest in the ungodly weather. It was proved, though, that he wasn't completely oblivious to the heat as he slowly undid the buckles of his cape and swept it off, throwing it over his shoulder.

Digging in his pocket, he pulled out a folded piece of paper. He had received it two days ago. The note was informal, with lack of address or greeting. He hadn't even gotten it by mail, rather, by a messenger on a chocobo. The boy had been in his teens, and had said, "A lady hired me and told me to deliver this to a Mr. Vincent Valentine in Nibelheim with utmost care and urgency. She said I mustn't look at it, or suffer the consequences."

Vincent hadn't quite understood the secrecy of the actual note itself. The note hadn't been formal, with lack of greeting of even an address. The envelope lacked postage stamp and address – just a simple 'Vincent.'

The message itself was just a scrawled note, though the urgency was clear in the hurried, near-panic scrawl. However, it was still neat and readable, such a feat that could only be accomplished by the beloved Tifa Lockhart.

'Meet me in Gongaga ASAP

-Tifa

P.S. – Be there by the 17th'

He had immediately departed from the mansion, the only home he knew of, and set off on his black chocobo, Azrael, and made haste to Gongaga. On the first day, he had journeyed across the plain between Nibelheim and Cosmo Canyon, and he had gone into the Canyon. If it had not been his concern for Azrael, he would have kept going all night. As it was though, he camped out in the Canyon. The next day he arose with the morning light and continued to Cosmo Canyon's village. There he found that Nanaki had departed the previous day. By that time it was night, and he had stayed the night (against his wishes mind you). He would have left at dawn if the kind, old widow who had taken a liking to him and made him stay the night forced breakfast down his throat. 'Look at you!' she had said, 'so skinny, so thin! Here, Yenta make you eat a nice breakfast. You won't find food like this anywhere else! No one else cooks like Yenta!' When he had insisted he must leave, she had packed him a snack for the road to 'plump him up.'

Vincent had continued through the canyon, and finally left to find himself in the Gongaga area, the thick jungle that surrounded the river. Now it was midnight, and he was leading a sleepy Azrael through a thicker part of the jungle.

He pondered why Tifa would feel the need to summon AVALANCE members (or so he assumed, due to Nanaki's departure) for an emergency meeting. They'd gotten together at the holidays or for birthdays, as well as Cid and Shera's wedding. The most recent get together was New Years. The get together had been at Tifa's bar in Kalm, where Cloud and Tifa both lived. Cid and Shera had come as well as Barret, Nanaki, Vincent, Reeve and – inevitably with Reeve – The Turks. However, there had been tension at the otherwise fun party. There had been a severe lack of hyperactive ninja. Once again, Vincent found his thoughts drifting to the shinobi. Over the course of six months, they had lost touch with Yuffie.

They had all eventually painfully split ways, after duties they felt was theirs. Such as: partying, helping search and begin to clean up Midgar, partying, and make expected public debuts. Oh yes. And partying.

Vincent had obviously gone back to the Nibelheim Mansion, though hadn't retreated to his coffin as suspected. Rather he lived there, finding it difficult with past memories but…he had no other place to call home. Cid had gone back to Rocket Town, where he had greeted Shera warmly. (Goddamn woman! I just saved the world and you can't even make me some damn tea!?) Barret had gone back to Corel with Marlene and began and effort to rebuild the dump of a town. Tifa had established a bar in Kalm that was called Final Heaven, where she and Cloud lived - still, only friends. Reeve was making an ongoing attempt to rebuild Midgar, and became the president of Neo-Shinra, a company dedicated to finding an alternate means of power, rather than Mako. After a couple of months, when he couldn't make it to a get-together, he'd reactivated Cait Sith, making him independent rather than remote operated. This had been greeted with groans and – from a certain ninja – 'WHY GOD's. Yet they'd welcomed the cat and moogle back fondly. Nanaki had returned to Cosmo Canyon, taking his rightful position as guardian. Vincent shook his head – he'd only seen such fierce loyalty to a hometown in one other person.

Yuffie.

The ninja had returned to Wutai, and had frequently called her fellow AVALANCE members. She would call Vincent, making sure he hadn't gone back to sleep in 'that smelly, old, ratty coffin.' Once he had asked her why she cared and she launched into full-lecture mode.

"Well Vinnie," she had said, "I don't think that your whole 'I'm not a vampire' thing would be very supported by the fact you sleep in a fricken coffin! I mean, you already dress all dark like not to mention have red eyes."

"Yuffie."

"When I was little, that's how all the kids depicted demons and soon people will think that you have fangs and little kids will run away because they'll think you'll suck their blood all 'hiss' like and adults will be like 'whoah, he saved the world? He couldn't have! He's too scary! That adorablee little ninja girl must have done all the work."

"Yuffie."

"And besides, I'm expecting you to bring me a present for my birthday – which is coming up by the way. I could really use some new throwing stars, my current ones are getting old and dull from cutting through so much enemy flesh and when I practice they lodge into trees and I got you a present for your birthday which had to be a surprise party because you didn't send invites because you didn't want anyone to celebrate your birthday-"

"Yuffie. I was not planning on returning to the coffin."

The PHS line had been silent for a few seconds. "Oh…Right. Well, bu-bye."

However, almost a year from when they had departed, the phone calls started to die out. Yuffie would call him, but not as frequently and with less energy. A less observant man wouldn't have noticed her happy tone was more strained, and sometimes their sort-of conversation would be interrupted by hacking, wheezing coughs from the other line. The phone would usually be hung up after that. Phone calls because less frequent, and her tone would be tired and dull, though she tried to hide it by her upbeat Yuffie tone. Then, when they had Cid's birthday party, she hadn't shown up, though multiple invites had been sent after lack of RSVP. Cid himself had called her during the party and left a message on her machine. (Geez, brat, you can't even come to my #ing birthday party?) She didn't come to Tifa's party either.

They had compared the dates of the last phone calls from her, and Vincent had learned he was the last person to hear from the Wutain girl. Phone calls were no more, and letters sent were never responded to.

Vincent's thoughts were abruptly disrupted by an uneasy feeling, and the hair on the back of his neck rose. He came to a halt, Azrael copying him. He heard no noise, though out of the corner of his eye, he saw the slightest bit of movement. Sharply, he turned his head in time to see a lean figure up in a tree, silhouetted by the moonlight, facing him. The figure agilely leaped to a different tree, and then to another.

Crimson eyes narrowed, and Vincent crouched behind a bush, waiting for the thing. The figure leaped across to a tree across from Vincent. The figure was small, either a young (or just tiny) boy or a female. He/She leapt across to a tree, barely making it. Looking down, he or she apparently saw Vincent for they jumped to a different branch, staying on a branch no longer than 5 seconds before they leapt to another. Vincent jumped up, running to catch up. Soon he fell into pace with he/she, and soon he saw a large, flat boulder coming up from the ground, forming a cliff on the other side of it. Running on it, he sprung up to a tree branch with full force. Crouching, he landed and stood, just as the person was in mid-spring. He saw stormy grey eyes widen, and with the jump cut short they began to plummet.

However, Vincent reached out snatched the small wrist before they fell. Jerking them up, he grabbed what seemed to be a girl by the shirt, lifting them up to eye level. The familiar storm-grey eyes were wide as they stared into crimson ones.

"Why were you following me?" Vincent asked coldly, with a glare of steel.

The girl didn't answer immediately, slack jawed. He only stared coldly into those eyes. Those eyes that tickled a part of his brain, creating an odd sense of familiarity in him.

"Answer." he ordered.

"I followed you," a recognizable voice croaked, "…so you wouldn't follow me."

With bug eyes, he held the girl out at arms' length. Stormy grey eyes, forest green top, unbuttoned khaki short-shorts always on the verge of falling down, oversized arm guard, green headband with Wutain symbols, black hair, and that self assured smirk. It was official.

"Hey Vinnie," she dryly smirked, "been a while."

Yuffie Kisaragi had returned.

--

The room was made of black carved stone. No light shone, the dark stone swallowing it, never releasing it from its cold stomach. In the circular room, it might be hard to see where the door was - or if there even was one - if one didn't already know where it was. In the middle of the room was a large circular table made from mahogany, the reddish color of the wood intensified by the surrounding black stone. The chairs were made of the same wood, with plush black velvet cushions on the backs and seats. Now, the chairs were occupied by many forms, some of them having a few attributes that weren't human and all of them not looking quite normal – but what stuck out was not their appearance, not the oddness of the room, but the air around the people; the otherness.

At the north end of the table, it stopped its perfect circle and came to a smooth indent, as of someone had taken a perfect bite out of it. At this indent was three large chairs, almost like thrones but now only one was occupied, being scooted to the center and pushing the other chairs back. The occupied chair had a form with big, broad shoulders looking into a ball that perched on the table. The ball was a sphere the size of a head, seemingly pitch black. However, he seemed to see things in it, as everyone else waited anxiously. Finally, he waved a hand and the ball sunk into a hidden compartment in the table. Shutting it, he looked up and grinned in a large, toothy manner, wicked in nature and unnerving in looks. He hit the table with huge hands and leaned forward, his blood colored eyes carefully circling the table. Licking his lips, he straightened again. "My dear fellows," he laughed his barklike laugh, "There's been a change in the winds." His gruff voice dropped. "Our time has come."