chapter two: a farce unraveled.
Vincent was in luck: the Shera was currently in Gongaga resupplying and offering WRO aid to the citizens. Though Gongaga hadn't relied on pure mako energy since the reactor explosion, they'd still been connected to the Shinra power grid, and when the other reactors went offline they'd lost what electricity they had. In the years since Meteorfall, they'd had to start from scratch with coal from Corel just to get by as they worked to implement alternate sources of energy, and relied on the WRO to ship materials.
Gongaga was a good week's journey from Cosmo Canyon on foot, given that one had to pass through the soggy marshes and ford the river, but for a man with wings, the trip took a fraction of the time.
Vincent made sure to land clear of any prying eyes, setting down in the thick jungle surrounding the town and letting his wings dissipate. He had spent much of the past few months getting used to the fact that he could use them at all, and though he was sure that no unenhanced humans could see his ethereal wings, he wasn't about to deal with questions about just how he'd managed to drop out of the sky.
He wouldn't call Chaos a gift, but Vincent had become used to the abilities granted him, and he could accept that some came in handy. He still preferred to walk, when he had the time to spare, as flying drained his energy far more quickly than anything else, but he doubted he would have caught up with the Shera otherwise. And if Nanaki's suspicions were correct, he would need to call on some of his other abilities to determine just what was going on with Cid.
Vincent hadn't lied when he told Lucrecia that Chaos had returned to the Planet. He simply hadn't told her the whole truth. He had stopped the world from ending once, but the Planet wasn't through with him yet. Chaos's consciousness was gone, but his powers had remained.
One day, Vincent hoped, Lucrecia would forgive him. But he knew that even she would be long gone when the day came for him to carry out his duty.
The Shera's makeshift landing pad was full of activity, with WRO engineers, scientists, and soldiers alike hurrying from one place to the next to complete their duties. Vincent kept out of their way as best he could and made his way to the airship's entrance, glancing idly at the WRO soldier on guard duty.
"Oh- Mr. Valentine, sir! What brings you here?"
Vincent frowned behind his cloak at the address; he had never gotten used to the idea of people paying him any particular respects. He supposed it was better than the diminutives his friends mangled his name into. "Where is the captain?"
"Captain Highwind is aboard the ship, sir! Ah, but we're due to leave in just half an hour-"
Vincent shook his head; it didn't matter to him where he ended up. He moved onto the airship, letting memory guide him around. It was no wonder why this ship was Cid's pride and joy. The WRO's fleet had grown, especially with Cid at the helm, but the Shera was by far the most advanced. It still amazed Vincent sometimes just how far technology had come in his long sleep.
He checked the bridge first, but was told the captain had been working through most of the day and had retired to his room not long ago. Vincent knew the danger of interrupting Cid during a nap - he'd been on the receiving end on a couple of those tirades himself - but made his way to the captain's quarters anyway, trying to ignore the way the WRO operatives kept chattering in his wake. Everywhere he went seemed to inspire gossip.
At last he reached Cid's door and knocked, metal knuckles clanging loud in the hall. Vincent didn't need superior hearing to pick up a steady stream of curses within, but remained impassive as he waited for Cid to pull himself together and approach.
"Who the he- Vincent?" Cid stared at the man outside his door, nearly letting the cigarette fall out of his mouth. "The fuck're you doin' here?"
Cid didn't look well, and that was putting it in the kindest terms Vincent had. From the circles beneath his eyes, it looked as if he'd barely slept in the past week, maybe longer, and he looked filthy enough not to be bathing regularly either. The stench of nicotine and alcohol was so thick that Vincent wasn't sure if it came from Cid, the room, or both. Probably both. He smelled of grease too, and engine oil and tea and all the things that were so uniquely Cid, just as it was supposed to be, but the scent of mako was so strong he could almost taste it. It was masked by everything else, but it was there.
"Can I come in?" he said, calm.
Cid looked at him. Huffed. "The shit's all this. Showin' up outta nowhere when I'm nappin'. Should have you thrown off the ship."
Vincent took that as a yes and slipped past him. Cid muttered another curse under his breath. The room looked more lived in than it had ever been before, as if Cid had moved half his house into one room and given up on the rest. Bits of half-broken machinery were strewn on one half of the room, piles of clothes and other familiarities on the rest, as if to give Cid some comfort and pretend this was his cozy home back on the ground. A few of Cid's old spears were stacked in the corner, with the Venus Gospel mounted on the wall by the window. There was a half-empty carton of cigarettes on the coffee table, with a stack of flavored teas set beside it.
It all looked right, for a man grieving and burying himself in his work, trying to forget. For a moment, Vincent could even believe it. He looked back to Cid and met his eyes, and there was no mako glow. He looked human. Sounded human.
But he felt wrong.
"Where the fuck you been?" Cid demanded. "Fuckin' hell, Valentine, d'ya have any idea how many times we tried to call ya? Too fuckin' busy angstin', weren'tcha?" Cid snorted and gave Vincent a hard look. "You wanna tell me the fuck you're doin' here?"
"I heard about Shera," Vincent said. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah. Lotta fuckin' good that does. We had you, maybe we coulda found the guy who did it." Cid puffed on his cigarette and turned away. "Got a lotta nerve comin' here."
Vincent said nothing. He could understand why Nanaki had been so hesitant. Without his senses, he wouldn't have picked up on anything. Cid was just as he should be. Somehow, that made it all the stranger.
He concentrated, and sent out a tendril of chaotic energy through the room. There was some form of mako here, but perhaps it wasn't Cid himself - something he carried on his person, or something on the Shera. But everything he sensed pointed straight to Cid himself. His lips dipped into a frown.
"You're not even listenin' to me! Goddammit, Valentine, give me one fuckin' reason why I shouldn't kick your ass right off this-"
"Cid," Vincent interrupted, and it was enough to get the pilot's eyes to meet his. It was more dangerous, but Vincent couldn't let this continue without getting an idea of what was truly going on here. He sent out a larger pulse of chaotic energy, tapping deeper into his abilities to look deep into Cid.
One day, Vincent knew, the world would come to an end, and he would cleanse the Planet of all life as Chaos and guide it to Omega, who would collect it and guide it away from the Planet to a new destiny elsewhere in the universe. As distant as that day was, Vincent still retained those abilities, and he could tap into them to see the inherent chaotic force in each soul. Though he rarely used it, he had control over all chaotic forces, and could at any time bid them to leave their host and come join with him, the master of Chaos itself. In doing so, however, he would keep those souls from joining with the Lifestream, and as such, Vincent preferred to restrict himself to take only the chaotic souls bound to monsters. The end of the world was, he hoped, a long way off.
He could use this ability to simply look and not take, however, and he sent his chaotic pulse through the ship, immediately picking up on all of the lifeforms on board - all the workers down in the cargo bay, unloading the ship; the pilots getting ready to prepare the ship for takeoff; the engineers checking over the engines one last time - but nothing in front of him. He sent out another pulse, stronger, picking up the people on the ground, the soldiers, the scientists -
"Valentine!" Cid shoved him in the shoulder, clearly trying to get Vincent to pay attention to him, and Vincent's claw came up, squeezing tight around Cid's forearm. "Shit- get the fuck off me, you-"
"What are you?" Vincent hissed, glaring at Cid with slit red eyes.
"I'm gonna be real fuckin' pissed if you don't get yer damn claw outta my arm is what I-"
"I said, what are you?" Vincent pushed him forward, releasing Cid's forearm only to pin him to the wall with his clawed hand spread across his chest. There was nothing there. Nothing. Cid had no lifeforce, no chaotic energy, nothing - he was a shadow, a lie, a- what?
"The hell are you talkin' about? Get off me! Hey! This ain't funny, Valentine!" Cid wriggled against his grip, hands closing around Vincent's gauntlet to try and force him off, but Vincent held fast, digging the tips of his claws into Cid's chest. "Ow, goddammit! Keep the kinky shit to yourself, fucker! I ain't into this!"
"Shut up." He didn't have time for this. Vincent channeled his energy, focusing not on sending out a wide-range pulse like before but instead on sending one directly into the man, searching for the spell that had made this thing before him. Dark tendrils of energy surrounded his claw, ripping at Cid's flesh, and Vincent pressed harder, gritting his teeth as he tore the spell to pieces. Cid's curses turned to screams as Vincent's claw passed into his chest, but instead of blood, all that seeped out was the green goop of mako. The chaotic energy devoured his flesh, unmaking him from limb to limb as Vincent's talons closed around the solid orb at the center of Cid's chest.
He pulled it free and let the body sink to the ground, his chaotic force making quick work of the rest of it. Vincent opened his claw and stared down at the yellow materia, not needing to send more than a slight pulse to identify it.
A manufactured Clone materia.
