Azalia: I cannot believe I wrote this, what was I thinking? I mean I practically scared myself when I read this!
Muse: I must admit I was beginning to worry when I read this, but I guess this is better then some of the other stuff you've written.
Azalia: Are you saying I write bad?!
Muse: I did not say that!
Azalia: Well before I am tempted to kill my muse I'll do some explaining. I was playing FFVII and this idea came to my head involving one of the characters. So I just ran with it and this was the result, and it isn't the best I've ever written but I figured I'd give it a shot anyway so don't forget to R&R.
Muse: and in case you're wondering the character she used was….
Azalia: (Slaps a hand over Muse's mouth.) Shut up! They're not suppose to know until they read this!! Anyway we'll shut up now and let you get on with the story.
Sentou no Hakkyou
He had been here that much was certain, the faint traces of existence that lingered in the air of what was once Midgar gave clear evidence that could not be denied. A smile of twisted pleasure played on her blood red lips as she rose from the kneeled position that had kept her hidden, a crazed expectation glimmering in her ruby red eyes as she brushed away strands of her jet black hair. "So he has been here, guess my last playmate was right." She whispered with a giggle of insane glee, right now her last victim was nothing more then a bloody heap that bore testament to her demented games. Her maniacal pleasure was only heightened by the promise of future bloodshed as she made her way over the ruined city, the visions of torture that were nothing more then a twisted child's game to her crazed mind bringing laughter of deranged excitement to her lips.
How she loved toying with him, playing with the shadows that threatened to drag him to the very depths of insanity and then filling his mind with images so grotesque that anyone would have faltered against the terrifying imagery. Those were the games she played, like a psychotic game of cat and mouse she stalked her victims but none had she ever wanted more then the one she currently sought. The only one who had yet to bend and be broken by her insane pleasures and as far as she was concerned, she'd make him fall into her trap even if it was the very last thing her insane mind ever did.
He couldn't escape, she'd make sure of it. The maniacal excitement that filled her very heart and soul with its dark lust gave her excitement that could only be described as psychotic. Well what did she care what others saw of her insane mind, her insanity was her own and did she care how twisted it turned her thoughts and pleasures? No, she'd find what she wanted and she'd make sure no one dared stop her.
She could feel it flowing through her hands, a thick stream of crimson red as she drew the very life from her victim. How she loved the feel of death as she felt her victim struggle to keep hold of the small amount of life still left inside, only to fall dead on the cold hard ground below their body. He'd fall, she'd make sure of it.
His blood would flow through her hands.
Her insanity would be his life.
She'd make him her own.
No matter how he tried, he could not escape.
For no one can run from insanity.
She was coming.
The feel of unease that stirred the darkness inside of him gave clear evidence of what was coming.How long had she been tracing him he could not be certain but one thing was clear, she wasn't going to give up until she had him in her hands. Running was all he had done, feeling like nothing more then prey to a foe he himself couldn't defeat and the more he ran the closer he came to her grasp. Her laughter echoed through his memory like a dark mist that threatened to drag him furthur into darkness, a sound of deranged excitement edged with a twisted pleasure that came only from an unstable mind. She knew him more then he knew himself, his every thought she could hear and it terrified him, and he was powerless to stop it. Not even his own dark power could form a barrier to keep her from finding him again, no she'd find him no matter how he tried to hide from her and when that happened then it was a fight that would result in one falling to the other. He'd never spoken of his own inner demons to anyone, his battles were his alone and no one else could become involved in something they couldn't understand themselves, it was a battle that raged from within and only he could understand just how large a war was being fought. The closer he came to the ruins of Midgar the more his feeling of an impending disaster grew with each step he took, the thin line between his own sanity and the darkness that threatened to engulf him growing thin with each passing moment. Soon the thread would break leaving nothing but darkness in a world that twists and breaks a persons mind until their very last hope is shattered leaving them broken, a fate he feared more then death.
She was coming, and he was powerless to stop her.
Coming to a battle that would ultimately decide their fate.
A battle not for the universe itself or a prize that could save mankind.
It was a battle for his sanity.
Silence.
That was all that greeted him as he walked among the ruins of Midgar, the remains of a city long cursed by many to have been the planet's downfall. The great mako city that had been the HomeBase for Shinra Inc. a name he still cursed although it had been long since just a memory, a memory that he never wanted to relive again. Suddenly, out of the silence of a long dead memory came a voice, a smooth silky voice like blood sliding off a knife that could send shivers racing through the body of anyone who heard its seductively sweet sound.
"I though you might come here, once the call became to much to resist."
Before one move could be made he found himself pinned to the ground by his wrists, the hands that held him almost digging their blood red nails into his flesh while a pair of crimson red eyes gazed down at him with their lust filled gaze. "You can't escape, why fight what cannot be defeated?" She purred as she leaned close as if to kiss him, to pull him under her spell but with quick, almost inhuman, movements he threw her off of him and stood from where she had pinned him down. "This is a fight I won't allow you to win, your time of torment ends here." He hissed as he glared at her with a cold, emotionless gaze but the glare she gave him expressed only one thought.
She was out for his blood.
With a growl of rage she lunged at him, drawing a long, sharp dagger as she did so with only one thought in her mind, kill or be killed. Her intent was clear and her movements gave way to the desire she craved, his death would be her victory and she didn't stop until she had what she wanted. Using every skill he had ever learned he dodged her attacks while searching for a way to disarm her knowing that would be the only way to defeat her once and for all, he didn't bother drawing his own weapon knowing it would be useless in this close of a fight. Normally he could dispatch an enemy quite easily with a few shoots from his gun but this was different, she wouldn't be defeated so easily and if he had any chance of surviving this fight he'd have to think of something, and fast.
With each passing moment the fight grew more and more intense and although she showed no signs of slowing down he knew he couldn't continue fighting like this forever, unless he wanted to end up a bloody heap on the ground of these ruins. This inhuman strength and endurance she so easily displayed was clear evidence to one fact, she would not yield in her fight, not until his blood had stained her hands, hands that had already been tainted by the blood of many she had murdered in her long search. He could feel her, deep inside as the darkness within him stirred against her power he could feel the poison of her presence slowly seeping into his mind like a thin mist that grows thicker by each moment. It blinded him to the everything around him, all his senses dulled by the darkness her very presence brought upon his mind as if a curtain had been drawn and there was no way to pull it back.
But this fight was far from over……
You've denied it and yet it is still there…
The soft, ominous voice echoed through both their minds as their struggle continued, each fighting to defeat the other in a battle that would claim victory over one and curse another to the eternal darkness that would slowly consume their soul.
The darkness grows and yet you still fight…
Blood feel as she slashed at him with her dagger, the long, thin gash causing a small stream of blood to fall down his face like a mark of crimson red. A mark that would soon stain the ground as evidence of her victory.
Your own darkness, consuming your soul…
He blocked another attack as she moved in a quick downward stab but he retaliated with a quick slash of his own knife that he had drawn only moments before. Her now fury filled gaze burning into him as she pressed her fingers against the long, thin cut that marred her delicate features, the red blood flowing from behind her hand as she pulled it away.
To curse you, to drag you deeper…
She lunged at him with a rage filled cry, her fighting blinded only by her own fury as she fought with speed only heightened by her anger, which was all the advantage he needed. Her anger filling her mind with only one concern, to kill him and concern yourself with nothing other then that. She would win, she would not let him destroy her not now when she was so close to her goal, and with one last anger filled scream she lunged straight at him her dagger pointed at his chest as she moved in for the kill…
To drag you deeper…into your own…
He dove to the side just as she moved to stab him but just as he turned to stand back up she quickly pinned him down causing his knife to be knocked out of his hand. She streached her hand upward, the dagger still held tightly in her grasp as she moved to plunge it downward but just as she moved he grabbed his own knife and moved his hand upward as her hand came falling down…
Into your own insanity…
Her hand stopped just before she stabbed him, a look of shock and disbelief written on her face as he stood and grabbed her by her throat, his knife embedded into her chest. "I told you Hakkyou, that your days of torment had ended." He hissed as he glared at her with a look of pure hatred but the lust in her eyes still remained as a seductive smile curved her lips.
"You may win…but you can never completely destroy it…your own inner demons will always keep it alive…inside your own mind."
He slid his hands from around her neck allowing her to fall to the ground, her body disintegrating into nothing more then dust leaving only his knife behind. With almost silent footsteps he walked over and picked up his knife, placing it back into its place before turning to leave Midgar, but something stopped him. A voice, like a sound carried by the wind sending a warning that only he could hear…
"It is always there…no matter where you go, nor what you may do…you can never run…You can never run Vincent…
From your own insanity……."
End notes: The name 'Hakkyou' means Insanity which was the bases for the whole story, so I figured that'd be a neat little twist to a rather dark story, also the title 'Sentou no Hakkyou' means Fight for Insanity. Anyway don't forget to R&R, no flames please.