Ace of Hearts
Written By Zell's Girl
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Do dead men dream? Am I dead? Why do I dream, if I am?
Where am I really? Why can't I open my eyes? Who am I?
What is my name? There are fragments of memories...... a
song, a woman's face, and pulling an ace of hearts out of a
deck of cards, and a voice. I had friends........ a mage
woman, a male and a female scientist, and one young male
child who looked up to me. What is all this.....? Another
dream is coming?


I stand field of crimson. Roses of red surround me. Above
me, a sea of cerulean. I scan the empty field. She's standing
there, smiling. She's smiling, that seems odd. She never smiles
at me like that. Her hair billows behind her face, and her eyes
no longer seem cold. Those eyes used to be cold? Yes, they
were. Those cold eyes, dead, peered at me quite often.

Desire fills my heart. She comes near me, and she holds me.
That doesn't seem right either. She'd never hold a demon like
this. Demon? No, I'm not. I'm a man..... and monster. Did I
hurt people? Maybe that is why I dream. Maybe this is a
punishment for my crimes. Crimes? Who am I?!

Her voice is sweet as she whispers, "Vincent, I missed you."

Vincent? My name is Vincent? Yes, but I have gone by many
names. Vincent, Vinney, Friend, Enemy, Hey you, That man,
Monster, Demon, TURK. The word TURK.... what was a
TURK? Maybe I am of a race of people known as turks.
No....... I am a TURK, and a TURK is a monster. Ah.... so
I am a monster.

Her face looked distressed. "They're coming.... I'm going to
lose you..... again..... oh Vincent!"

I feel sympathy and love towards this woman. Oh, who is
she? She's familiar...... one of my friends. More then friends,
maybe? No, no. That's what I wanted but not her. She
loved.... someone else? Oh yes, she did. I loved her though.

I am not a monster...... for I have loved.

"Don't let me wake up!" I ask her. I'm pleading. Oh, that
sounds familiar. She looks at me so sadly, I feel her tears on
my shoulder. I find myself crying too. I am losing her again.
Oh, how will I live? I must always suffer, and no one is here
to comfort me.

No! I can't wake up! If there is anything good in the universe,
I'll never wake up! No! I can't lose her again! Don't take me
away from her again!


My eyes shoot open. My lungs struggle as I draw a deep
breath. My mind gets a blast of pain as I remember.

Memories flow into my head. The woman was Lucrecia. My
friends, Gast and Infalna. The child I was guardian of, Tseng.
And Hojo, the most impure demon in all the world. He made
me wear the monster, as a twisted punishment.

I hear footsteps, and voices. The sound increases and the
door opens. "The key opens his door and Hojo's little
guessing game lead us here." A masculaine voice said. The
voice is unfamiliar to me.

"I hope whoever it is isn't already dead.... Ewwwwies
corpses give me the creeps!" whined a girl.

"Oh yeah, corpses, not like you should be afriad of zombies
or those things that ATTACK us all day!" Said the first man,
laughing a little.

Then, a laugh. Oh, it sounded like Infalna! Oh, my friends
have come to rescue me! Damn you Hojo, for putting them
in danger!

"Here we are." Says the man. "Dawn your weapons."

I felt the warmth of them draw near. I leap from my coffin,
where I slept away my years. I pearch on the edge and
inspect them.

The girl is an ancient, but not Infalna. True, the similarities are
uncanny. It all clicked. She is Infalna and Gast's daughter,
and that meant they were dead. They talked about it, they
were going to go somewhere remote when they started their
lives together. They said they'd name her Aeris...Hojo,
would have struck them down such....

DAMN YOU HOJO! Take my love, my friends, and curse
me! Selfish bastard!

My thoughts drift to Tseng. Nice little boy, doomed to be a
monster. I fear what Hojo has done to him. He is probably a
monster too. Either that or he is dead. I tried to teach him
values. I tried to plan him an escape from Shinra, but that
was put to rest with me.

I'll go with them, and protect the daughter of my friends. I
hope she's not doomed because of Hojo's terrible creations.
Oh, I know he will kill her. I can try my damndest, but she is
doomed. I can tell.

Aeris.......... I'm sorry.

The ace of hearts is in my hand, for I can feel love again.

Yes, dead men dream. I am dead, for my soul has been
taken. My dreaming was my blessing, where my soul was
nearly tangible. I am in the land of misery that is life itself.

I stand field of crimson. Pools of blood surround me. Above
me, a sea of darkness. I scan the empty field. She's standing
there, looking on in horror. I am not deserving of even her
look.

I am a tortured being.

I am not a man...... for I have done only wrong.

But I am not a monster..... For I have loved.

Loving me is suicide, so I cast away the ace of hearts.

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I should have been dead years ago,
But that blessing never came.
Sleeping, never aging, never living,
a simply torturous game.

Am I a man or deity, angel or demon?
Truly I do not know
I don't have the answers to these questions
I still don't have the answers

What had it been like back then?
My mind is struggling, who are they?
Emotions that I can feel in these memories,
Remain intangible, slightly too far away.

I'm a dreamer in eternal night,
locked in and ancient fight.
May the angels hear my plight,
Never return me to the light.

~~~Fin

The Tseng thing will be a later angst, wait.
For all those who liked this, review. For
all those who didn't, I wanna know why.
Goodbye, Farewell, and Godspeed.