Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy content and related characters, etc.. involved in this story do not belong to me. They belong to Square-Enix. I didn't create them and I take no ownership of them whatsoever.
SPOILER WARNING: This story contains references to various pieces of the entire Final Fantasy VII Compilation. This includes the original game, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, and some very minor references to Crisis Core. If you don't wish to be mercilessly spoiled, don't read the story.
A/N: First fanfic ever, blah blah, I'm sure you've all heard this spiel before. The story was completed before I ever posted it. Feel free to review if you want to but it was mostly written for the amusement of myself and my friends. Honestly, I like the way it turned out and I hope others will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you don't like it ... well, you don't have to read it. Constructive criticism is, of course, always welcome. I have a few more stories in the works that I may decide to post if this one goes over well among my fellow screaming fans.
A few things of note: There is an OC in here that I put a lot of hard work into. No, it isn't a representation of myself or some over-powered villian -- at least I hope it isn't, so please try not to hate it too much. :P This is also post Dirge of Cerberus, as I came to the FFVII scene rather late in the game, so to speak. I prefer to stick with where Squeenix decided to let the story end up, even though I know there are those who very much dislike it. I also tend to prefer the DoC version of Chaos, for those who might be wondering. If any of this turns you off, then you have my most sincere apologies.
One more thing.. this is rated M for strong language and adult situations. You've been warned.
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Chapter 1 – Birth
A cold wind whipped the air around the ruined scraps of metal that used to be the entrance to the mako reactor on Mount Nibel. A strip of blue fabric clung stubbornly to a twisted rod, fighting the wind's desire to rip it from its precarious hold. If anyone had been standing there on the rusting steps they might have sworn they could hear voices on the wind.
No, not voices ... moans. The wailing cries of hundreds of restless souls that had died one violent evening at the edge of a madman's blade, bodies purged from the earth by fire.
No one came to this place anymore because of the memories it carried on that cold wind. Memories still fresh after four years of stillness. That forlorn song of eternal pain and loss could destroy any normal person's sanity and devour his soul. Any normal person would never stray anywhere near this place. That was just as well, for one abnormal soul found sanctuary here, lulled in its deep sleep by the cries of the dead. The chill in the air was more than just the altitude or temperature - it was the chill of death and it wrapped the sleeper's body in icy bliss where it rested in the darkness of its capsule; not unlike a coffin.
That soul longed only for sleep. It desired an eternity of darkness. It had grown for several years in its cold and clinical womb, comforted by that familiar darkness. But it sensed that something dreadful was eminent. It felt that change was upon it and that its time had come to serve its purpose.
The inside of the mako reactor was without power. The windows of its stasis pods were empty, every window except one. A sound somewhat like the cracking of a steel eggshell snapped loudly in the dark, triggered by some hidden timer that must have been running on backup power. The seam along the edge of the pod's door hissed as pressurized air escaped from inside and the door swung slowly open on screaming hinges. Then everything fell silent once again.
For a long time nothing moved in the darkness of the pod. The sleeper fought the urges that had been programmed into its mind to react to this event. It knew it ultimately had no choice but part of it still wanted to stay in that cold womb forever. Eventually, artificial instinct won over and the sleeper's body stirred to test newly mature muscles. Everything it needed to know about what it was and what its purpose would be had been written into its brain by its creator, its father.
Hojo.
Its time had come to awaken, to fulfill its destiny. In the depths of the pod the sleeper became fully aware and the first light in four years destroyed that sweet darkness with a low red glow. It was the red glow of crimson eyes.
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Red light flooded Vincent's vision, blinding him.
He brought his left hand up reflexively to shield his eyes but the metal of his gauntlet only served to reflect the light that seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.
Pain wracked his body as though a thousand needles had been plunged simultaneously into his skin.
Somewhere in the distance he heard hysterical laughter that he thought he recognized. It felt important that he should try to remember who it was coming from but that light drove into his brain and shattered his concentration. Even through his eyelids it felt like the molten tips of flaming pokers. He couldn't think.
A cold wind whipped up and bit at his flesh even through his leather outfit, tearing at the frayed ends of his blood red cloak.
It felt like he'd stood there for an eternity and that the pain would never end but suddenly it was gone along with that vicious wind and his vision burned with the afterimage of two crimson eyes. He felt tears streaming over his cheeks and the sensation was entirely alien to someone who never cried; someone who had no more tears.
Darkness settled around him like a soothing blanket. The pain and the light were gone and he was content, but something nagged at his brain. Something told him to look down at his chest.
He had felt no pain but he could see blood slowly oozing from a hole just to the left of his heart about the size of a fist. Suddenly it hit him. It wasn't pain he felt but emptiness, as though something he desperately needed was missing. Something he would never get back.
In the distance he heard the laughter again and he knew this time whose laughter it was. Rage filled him as it always had but this time, nothing answered back. The power that once slept inside of him was gone.
He threw his head back and screamed fury into the darkness around him but it was only a human scream and some part of him regretted that.