The Deaths of a Thousand Men by Chris Henry
Cold. That's what it was. But then it was little surprise. The entire town was iced over. Icicle Inn, they called it. No-one actually knew the real name of the town, for the history of the area fell aeons old, and all knowledge had been distorted from hand to hand in the hope of keeping the past alive, only to be recreated as something quite different. The centuries past seemed to be filled with legend and fairytale, a world laden with mythical qualites that could rarely be described by voice or hand. Of course, the planet and period as it stood now would fall to the same fate, a forgotten mass of unearthly stories and quaint understandings.
Vincent thought steadily as he looked out over the blizzard swept plains of the surrounding area. What would happen to his own memory when he died? He decided that he didn't want to think about it. Reduced to a mere pinpoint in time, nothing gained nor lost. The thin line between life and death that Vincent had trodden during his time in the Mansion had altered him, this was for certain. But the line between the state of his own mind and ruthless insanity fell even thinner than that, and he could feel himself slipping at times. Into a state of timeless inaction; twenty hours ran as twenty minutes, and vice-versa. The laws of physics didn't seem to apply to the mind of Vincent Valentine anymore... after the Sephiroth encounter he was reduced to a wanderer, attempting to find another reason for existance.
"Damn you Sephiroth!" Vincent roared out to the empty plains, choked with anguish.
"Damn you..."
In a vague and terrible way, Vincent cursed the death of Sephiroth. He had nothing left to offer. And as for Cloud and the others... how could he identify with them when he had nothing left to live for himself? Cloud and Tifa together in Costa Del Sol, Barret and Marlene in Coral, Nanaki in Cosmo Canyon, and Yuffie in Wutai. Cait Sith had been deactivated after the battle, and Cid was now living in the newly revived Tirana, formerly known as Rocket Town. But they knew nothing of his feelings and fears. They were driven by desire, by the 'right thing'...
"Am I...am I only upon this planet for the purpose of murder?" growled Vincent under his breath, despite the solitude. An internal battle raged within Valentine, and he had only one answer which wasn't even his own.
"I must talk to Lucrecia... She'll know the answer..."
And she did know the answers, but they were not for Vincent to know...
**************************************************************************** *******
"Cloud! Clouddddd!" yelled Tifa. The slick Costa Del Sol breeze lapped around her lungs and cushioned her voice as she called to the town below. The young Tifa, now in her late twenties, sighed and turned back into the living room of her home, where Yuffie stood impatiently looking around her surroundings.
"Well? Where'd he go?" Yuffie quickly asked. She was growing bored of waiting.
"Calm down, he'll be here soon. He just went out to catch some fish. He'll be back."
Yuffie stared at Tifa oddly.
"Cloud a... fisherman?"
"Hardly!" Tifa laughed as she spotted the disgusted look on her young friend's face, "He's just bored these days. Nothing to do you see. So he's been trying new things other than fighting."
"Ahh." Yuffie murmured. Cloud bored of his swordplay? Something was weird in the Strife homeworld.
"Not THAT bored of it though." Tifa grinned. She knew why Yuffie had turned up; for a fight. The young samurai had taken up her nomad existence once again after the fight against Sephiroth. Although she was now officially the deputy chief of Wutai, she had been urged to leave once again by Godo, who wanted to see Yuffie become even stronger in order to protect Wutai when he died.
Not that any materia would be used. The use of any materia had been banned according to the Mideel Convention, passed by the WPO three years hence, with a penalty of five years imprisonment if the rules were to be breached. However, there were no actual rules on the possession of materia, so the former members of Avalanche always kept it handy... just in case something unthinkable could ever happen again.
"I'll kick his ass this time." Yuffie said. Tifa laughed a little, but not in spite.
"You're confident. You'll have to get past me first."
"No worries. I'm way stronger than I was six months ago!"
Tifa and Cloud were now the leaders of the Costa Del Sol Combat Arena, and they were undoubtably the two most powerful fighters there. They had set up the centre two years after the Sephiroth incident to make a little cash, and seven years later it was now the most revered arena in the world, sprouting similar venues all over the world. Yuffie had conquered them all... all except the Strifes.
Finally, Tifa got to her feet and stretched.
"Come on, let's go." she nodded to Yuffie, who excitedly got to her feet and grasped at her Conformer.
"Of course!" she shouted with delight and followed Tifa through the house, down the stairs into the basement and through the backdoor. Then, letting themselves out through the backgate, they made their way across the road to the arena, which stood head and shoulders above every other building there. Once inside, Tifa walked towards the staff entrance and nodded to Yuffie.
"You've been here before, it's no different. Get signed in and I'll meet you downstairs."
Yuffie registered at the front desk and waited. She had been travelling for so long in order to be ready for this battle... climbing to the top of the Coral mountains and embarking in deep meditation for over a month... fighting her way through the ruined Midgar on her own, despite the fact that it was now a walled prison within the city itself...battling with Godo continuously for days at a time... and finally, the different arenas around the world. The battles she had faced! Her fight against Cid in Rocket Town, the Gold Saucer Battle Arena...but there was one fight...one battle which she daren't tell anyone of, and yet, her heart told her to tell of her previous opponent. In her heart she knew that it was the real reason that she had arrived in Costa Del Sol... not because she believed herself to be ready, but because she had now found a friend that had been missing for eight long years...
"...Vincent...Where the hell are you..."
Cold. That's what it was. But then it was little surprise. The entire town was iced over. Icicle Inn, they called it. No-one actually knew the real name of the town, for the history of the area fell aeons old, and all knowledge had been distorted from hand to hand in the hope of keeping the past alive, only to be recreated as something quite different. The centuries past seemed to be filled with legend and fairytale, a world laden with mythical qualites that could rarely be described by voice or hand. Of course, the planet and period as it stood now would fall to the same fate, a forgotten mass of unearthly stories and quaint understandings.
Vincent thought steadily as he looked out over the blizzard swept plains of the surrounding area. What would happen to his own memory when he died? He decided that he didn't want to think about it. Reduced to a mere pinpoint in time, nothing gained nor lost. The thin line between life and death that Vincent had trodden during his time in the Mansion had altered him, this was for certain. But the line between the state of his own mind and ruthless insanity fell even thinner than that, and he could feel himself slipping at times. Into a state of timeless inaction; twenty hours ran as twenty minutes, and vice-versa. The laws of physics didn't seem to apply to the mind of Vincent Valentine anymore... after the Sephiroth encounter he was reduced to a wanderer, attempting to find another reason for existance.
"Damn you Sephiroth!" Vincent roared out to the empty plains, choked with anguish.
"Damn you..."
In a vague and terrible way, Vincent cursed the death of Sephiroth. He had nothing left to offer. And as for Cloud and the others... how could he identify with them when he had nothing left to live for himself? Cloud and Tifa together in Costa Del Sol, Barret and Marlene in Coral, Nanaki in Cosmo Canyon, and Yuffie in Wutai. Cait Sith had been deactivated after the battle, and Cid was now living in the newly revived Tirana, formerly known as Rocket Town. But they knew nothing of his feelings and fears. They were driven by desire, by the 'right thing'...
"Am I...am I only upon this planet for the purpose of murder?" growled Vincent under his breath, despite the solitude. An internal battle raged within Valentine, and he had only one answer which wasn't even his own.
"I must talk to Lucrecia... She'll know the answer..."
And she did know the answers, but they were not for Vincent to know...
**************************************************************************** *******
"Cloud! Clouddddd!" yelled Tifa. The slick Costa Del Sol breeze lapped around her lungs and cushioned her voice as she called to the town below. The young Tifa, now in her late twenties, sighed and turned back into the living room of her home, where Yuffie stood impatiently looking around her surroundings.
"Well? Where'd he go?" Yuffie quickly asked. She was growing bored of waiting.
"Calm down, he'll be here soon. He just went out to catch some fish. He'll be back."
Yuffie stared at Tifa oddly.
"Cloud a... fisherman?"
"Hardly!" Tifa laughed as she spotted the disgusted look on her young friend's face, "He's just bored these days. Nothing to do you see. So he's been trying new things other than fighting."
"Ahh." Yuffie murmured. Cloud bored of his swordplay? Something was weird in the Strife homeworld.
"Not THAT bored of it though." Tifa grinned. She knew why Yuffie had turned up; for a fight. The young samurai had taken up her nomad existence once again after the fight against Sephiroth. Although she was now officially the deputy chief of Wutai, she had been urged to leave once again by Godo, who wanted to see Yuffie become even stronger in order to protect Wutai when he died.
Not that any materia would be used. The use of any materia had been banned according to the Mideel Convention, passed by the WPO three years hence, with a penalty of five years imprisonment if the rules were to be breached. However, there were no actual rules on the possession of materia, so the former members of Avalanche always kept it handy... just in case something unthinkable could ever happen again.
"I'll kick his ass this time." Yuffie said. Tifa laughed a little, but not in spite.
"You're confident. You'll have to get past me first."
"No worries. I'm way stronger than I was six months ago!"
Tifa and Cloud were now the leaders of the Costa Del Sol Combat Arena, and they were undoubtably the two most powerful fighters there. They had set up the centre two years after the Sephiroth incident to make a little cash, and seven years later it was now the most revered arena in the world, sprouting similar venues all over the world. Yuffie had conquered them all... all except the Strifes.
Finally, Tifa got to her feet and stretched.
"Come on, let's go." she nodded to Yuffie, who excitedly got to her feet and grasped at her Conformer.
"Of course!" she shouted with delight and followed Tifa through the house, down the stairs into the basement and through the backdoor. Then, letting themselves out through the backgate, they made their way across the road to the arena, which stood head and shoulders above every other building there. Once inside, Tifa walked towards the staff entrance and nodded to Yuffie.
"You've been here before, it's no different. Get signed in and I'll meet you downstairs."
Yuffie registered at the front desk and waited. She had been travelling for so long in order to be ready for this battle... climbing to the top of the Coral mountains and embarking in deep meditation for over a month... fighting her way through the ruined Midgar on her own, despite the fact that it was now a walled prison within the city itself...battling with Godo continuously for days at a time... and finally, the different arenas around the world. The battles she had faced! Her fight against Cid in Rocket Town, the Gold Saucer Battle Arena...but there was one fight...one battle which she daren't tell anyone of, and yet, her heart told her to tell of her previous opponent. In her heart she knew that it was the real reason that she had arrived in Costa Del Sol... not because she believed herself to be ready, but because she had now found a friend that had been missing for eight long years...
"...Vincent...Where the hell are you..."
