The True Sin
By: Silver Tears 11
Vincent Valentine walked slowly in the ruins of Midgar taking his time, as he had no need to rush. The incident with Deepground ended two weeks ago and Vincent had no worries of any rogue soldiers coming to harm him. His mind felt somewhat empty because Chaos went with Omega and returned to the planet. It was a change Vincent full heartedly welcomed.
Once he passed a group of small fallen buildings and stands that used to make up Wall Market, Vincent heard soft footsteps come from his left, the person not bothering to hide them as they approached. As a habit, Vincent tensed up slightly while preparing himself to attack if the need came up.
"It is amazing how quickly people are able to rebuild their homes after such devastation," came a monotone voice from beside him.
Vincent turned his head as he relaxed, once he realized who it was, and gave a nod.
"It's nice to see you, Shelke," he said softly.
He glanced over some gravel and fallen buildings that he had passed by, looked past them to see the peaks of new buildings in the city of Edge of a few miles away and shook his head slightly. Indeed, the people of this planet knew how to destroy and to rebuild in such a little matter of time.
Shelke walked up beside Vincent and looked over at Midgar with him.
"They will not forget what happened; both Meteor and Deepground. But will they be able to forgive?" she continued, curiosity tinting her words.
Vincent glanced at Shelke questionably before turning back to stare at Midgar and Edge silently.
"If they forgive, then that means that they forgot what happened to them and their loved ones."
"Is that why you cannot forgive yourself, Vincent Valentine? Is it because you will always remember?"
There was no response from the ex-Turk as he continued to stare towards the distance, doing the exact thing that Shelke had been asking about; remembering. Vincent remembered all too clearly of Lucrecia denying him and his love he wanted to give her. He had been upset and perhaps devastated, but he promised to still protect her with all he had.
Unfortunately, not even three months later he found out that she was married to Hojo and after one month, finding out about the experiments she was allowing on her and her unborn child. Vincent had sworn to protect her, but he failed when the Jenova cells she and her child were injected with started to give Lucrecia immense pains and eerie visions.
Vincent had confronted Hojo about Lucrecia's condition and demanded him to put an end to the experiments for it was hurting her. But all he remembered after that was the glee in Hojo's eyes as he shot him and waking up to find that himself in a Mako filled tank and pain coursing through him as a foreign instinct demanded to be let out.
Nevertheless, while these tragic events hurt Vincent deeply, none had affected him more than hearing the screams of two males while 'sleeping' inside his coffin seven years ago. Vincent would always remember waking up to the inhuman cries, thinking that he should not interfere and they would be put out of their misery by the dark-haired scientist anyway.
Yet the screams carried on for four more years. Vincent fell asleep to the screeching lullaby and woke up to it everyday. Still, he did not help them. He recalled one time when two of Hojo's assistants wandered into the basement, perhaps to dump another failed experiment, and striking up a conversation about the subjects upstairs.
"Subject 002 is responding well to the Jenova and Mako injections." The deep voiced assistant had said.
There were sounds of metal hitting metal and a few groans before the other responded.
"Yes, well, there is still a possibility of Subject 002 waking up…his vital signs are back to normal except with the anticipated abnormality."
"Dammit! This thing is heavy! Anyways, I doubt Subject 002 will be waking up soon. He's been asleep for four years, completely unconscious during everything!" Said the deep voiced scientist in disbelief. Vincent could practically hear the frown in the other man's voice.
"Even so, I feel guilty for experimenting on him, Subject 001 too. His nametag had said Cadet C. Strife, I seem to recall."
There was a 'tsking' noise.
"They sent an infantryman that young on a mission? What the hell was ShinRa thinking!?"
The two assistant's voices and footsteps were starting to fade away.
"The poor kid is suffering an extreme case of Mako poisoning as well. He'll most likely never recover or function rightly again..."
The voices were completely gone and once again left Vincent alone with his guilt-ridden thoughts.
That kid would not be suffering if you had just saved him, Valentine. Chaos had whispered mockingly in his mind.
Vincent, as always, ignored the demon inside of him and tried to sink into the depths of his mind.
Of course, it came to a shock when not even a year later a young blond-haired man with the tale-tell blue Mako eyes opened his coffin.
You were having a nightmare. Cloud had said when he woke Vincent up from his sleep.
Vincent remembered telling AVALANCHE when they woke him that sleeping was atonement for his sins. They assumed later, that he was talking about the Jenova experiment and his lost love, Lucrecia. While they were not completely wrong, they were perhaps a bit off from the truth.
He slept to continue to hear the screams he heard every night while awake, to remind him of what he did not do to save Cadet C. Strife, the same young man who ironically helped Vincent by waking him up from a nightmare, and his lost friend Zack Fair. Vincent did not want to forget what happened at ShinRa manor all those years ago because he still didn't forgive himself. To him, forgetting meant forgiveness and he certainly did not deserve either.
Vincent felt Shelke staring at him, breaking him out of his melancholy thoughts.
"Are you alright, Vincent Valentine?"
Vincent considered the question before shaking his head negatively.
"As long as I remember, I will not be alright. I will continue to hold on to the sins I bear and pray to whatever god there is that perhaps the greatest one of all will be forgiven."
"Which one would that be?" Shelke asked after a moment of silence.
Vincent never answered her question, but instead continued to stare through Midgar with a now determined gaze that coerced more curious looks from the former Tsviet.
I know that I had once said to not expect anything from me except fighting beside you, Cloud, that I didn't have any comforting words to give. However, the truth is that I will help you whether you want it or not, if for the selfish reason of not wanting to stand your echoing screams any longer while I sleep…
AN: I hope you guys enjoy this! I want to thank my beta readers for looking over it. Please tell me what you think and review...