Finally got around to finishing this chapter.
This chapter may contain spoilers if you have never played FF7 or 8... which would be weird because you are reading a story based mainly on those 2 games...
Some of you reading this may notice all the links I am making, I have started mapping out the land, people and lore.

Thanks to Nataku's Wrath for the advice.


Chapter 2: Explanation.

The warriors stood silent around the two stone guardians. The silence was finally broken by Vincent, "We must tell the villagers what happened."
"Vincent, please tell me what happened with Aeris. The last time I saw her she was about to be killed by Sephiroth."

Vincent smiled and started to walk off towards the entrance to Cosmo Canyon, along the way he picked up all his weapons and searched a few of the corpses for Gil.
"Vincent, answer me!" Cloud yelled, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"Are your eyes so clouded over from despair of losing her that you cannot see the obvious?"
"Enough with everyone's riddles, I'm just a normal human. Why does everyone expect so much from me!"
"CLOUD! WAKE UP! You are so much more than just a normal human, you are a Mako infused, Sephiroth clone."
"WHAT! That's impossible, I'm Cloud Strife I was born in Nibelheim. How can I be a clone of a heartless monster?"

Vincent let out a sighing growl that was more than just from his mouth; it was heard by everyone, not by their ears but their souls. Cloud instantly calmed down and waited for Vincent to answer the series of questions he had asked.

"What was Sephiroths' goal?"
"To become summon Meteor."
"Correct. Now to answer your question about Aeris: where are we?"
"Cosmo Canyon. But I don't see how that… He didn't summon Meteor, we won, she lived… You could have just said that to begin with."
"True but this was more fun. Now, for your next question, you are not a normal human. I can prove it to you; just give me a few seconds."

Vincent pulled a book out of his cape. The book was a complete collection of Hojos' research. Cloud read every page and was silent as the party walked to the rope ladder that leads to the village. He finished reading and fell to the floor; all his memories had really been those of his friend, Zack Fair, he was an experiment, he was not himself. His mind was on the brink of shattering.

"Sephiroth read the same book, he lost it and became the 'heartless monster' you fought and hate. Do not give into the hate Cloud. You are stronger, think of Aeris." Vincent said to the crying, breaking shell of the man he respected. After a few minutes he calmed down and calmly rose to his feet.
"I am not the same as him, I am not him. I am Cloud Strife!"
"Good Cloud, now if you don't mind, please climb the ladder now."
"Vincent, I need to know everything that happened from the moment Yuffie and I left."

While the two were having their conversation, the other four party members were already in the Shildra Inn, getting to know one another. Well at least the girls were, Squall was more focused on learning about the land from the Elder, and he wouldn't have been able to get a word in with the ferocious speed at which the three girls were talking.

Squall was able to learn the layout of the land and put two and two together, he figured out that this area would become known as Galbadia, more specifically the area of Vaulny Canyon. His mind wandered, thinking of what will cause the land to change so much in such a short time period. He remembered the friendly shadow at Obel Lake and the strange quest he had to do. He was pulled back to reality when a golden claw rested on his shoulder.
"Squall I need to ask you something that may seem strange. In your time period, is there a location with a large crystalline formation. It may be submerged underwater."
"There was something like that inside a device called the Lunatic Pandora. The crystal pillar was rumored to have come from the Centra continent."
"Thank you Squall, please go to the Candle and wait for the others." Vincents' thoughts once again wondered to his love, Lucrecia Crescent.

The party had all gathered around the Candle, the three girls all still deep in conversation, while the two guys were cleaning their weapons. The Candles' glow off the blades was hypnotizing, the two swordsmen failed to notice the red cloaked warrior appear. His voice brought them out of their trance.
"You must all be wondering what has happened here, with everyone in constant fear of attack. Well there is a man by the name of Hyne; well he can no longer be called a man. He was a scientist who was helping me to find a cure for my 'Inner Demons', and well you could say that he changed his mind halfway through."
Squall raised his hand and said, "Hyne, in our time there is a legend of a being called Hyne, he creates the first sorceress."

"They are most likely the same person. He decided to copy and alter my DNA, he created a being from that. The boy that was created, given the experiment name of Vivi, could not survive, and yet could not die. It became a type of undead with magical properties. It has almost complete control over the dead, and one's mind. It can read your fears and make them real. That is the reason why I attacked you when you first arrived. Vivi can even destroy Summons and Weapons."

"So this is the great evil we have been sent here to defeat. How do you kill something that can't be killed?" Rikku asked as she stole some Gil from Selphie.
"That will be discovered in time. For now I need to talk to all of you in private. Starting with you Rikku, and please don't steal from each other."

Vincent talked to Rikku and learned about her time, he also gave her some pointers for pick pocketing. Vincent then spoke to Selphie and asked if he could modify her weapon, she agreed and went to bed, in her mind she was hoping to see Laguna in her dreams again.

"I'm glad you are more social now. There is something I have always wanted to ask you." Yuffie said as she hugged Vincent, her heart was filled with joy as he returned the hug.
"Well are you going to ask or just smell me all night?" the young ninja blushed and let go of him.
"I wanted to know if you could make me a vampire as well."
Vincent let out a cheerful laugh, gave a true smile and said he was not a vampire. "I have not been called a vampire in such a long time. I have missed you so much, 'princess'."
"I told you not to call me that." The ninja sulked and then gave an evil yet friendly grin.
"So blood sucker what do you want to talk about?"
"It has been ages since I last talked to you, I just want to talk about anything."
"Well I already found out what happened to Sephiroth, so what happened to my town?"
"That I cannot tell you, we will go there soon though. What are you hiding?"
"Nothing much, I'm just imagining you in a fun situation." The young girl grinned.
"You are still trying to make me blush, it will never work, Princess."

The two talked for another hour, Yuffie finally fell asleep and Vincent carried her to the Inn.
He decided to talk to the two swordsmen together. The three men discussed battle plans and what to do next.
The discussion took a turn when Cloud brought up what the former gunman had said about his guns spilling innocent blood. Vincent told them the tale.

"I had been trying to find a place to settle in after the defeat of Sephiroth, I tried the Forgotten Capital, but it did not feel like home. I was going to try the Slums but with the plate being removed, the Slums were no more. So I decided I would become a body guard for hire. That is all I can tell you for now. I am sorry. Please go and rest, we will be leaving early in the morning."

The two swordsmen retired to their rooms, and Vincent was alone. He decided to walk down to the coast. With his body always being at its peck and the demonic beings inside him, he could do many things that most mortals could not even imagine. He was near the beach and started to rise into the air, he flew until the sea was below him, and he plummeted into the cold water. He swam as deep as he could, the demons keeping his body from being crushed by the pressure of the water. When he reached the sea floor, he pulled out a large set of weights from the void in his cape.
The strain on his demons increased when he started to train. He would drain the demons almost completely while strengthening his own immortal body. He changed into the first demon, Galian Beast. Ever since the incident with Professor Hyne, Vincent had gained a lot more control over the demons. He could make his body do so much more than during the time of Hojo. He trained as each demon until they were all weakened and less restless.

He made his way back to the shore, the demons almost completely exhausted. A silhouette caught his eye and he headed towards it.
"You should sleep, we have a big day ahead of us."
"Ninja don't sleep; we are always alert and ready." With that the young girl got hit by a wave and fell into the water. Vincent laughed and picked her up, and carried her to the shore.
"I saw you flying, you are a vampire." She smiled childishly at him, he grinned back. "So you found out my secret. I guess I can feed on you now." He opened his mouth and started to move his head towards her neck. She screamed, struggled and fell out of his arms, back into the water. Vincent laughed again and said that's what happens to people who call others names. Yuffie laughed as well, as she tripped the demon vessel. He fell into the water, within seconds they were behaving like small children.

They stopped when Yuffie was suffering from the cold water. Their wet clothes weighed them down as they made their way back to the shore. Vincents' clothes dried in seconds, every single thread was filled with demonic energy. Yuffie on the other hand was freezing in the night air. She turned to her friend and said, "I'm going to take off my clothes so they can dry better, you can peek if you want." With that the ninja finally got what she wanted. The normally pale skinned Vincent was blushing.
"Have you been waiting all night to see that happen?" He asked as he regained composure.
"Yes, and it was worth it. It may have taken me almost 2000 years but I did it."

The sun started to rise by the time that the two made it back to Cosmo Canyon. The other members of their group had finished eating breakfast and had gotten all the supplies they would need. Once everyone was ready and the destination decided, they said their good-byes so the villagers of Cosmo Canyon. The group was going to go to Wutai, over the decades it had become the weapon market of the world.
As the group left Vincent asked who would be the squad leader, everyone's eyes went from Cloud to Squall and back for a few seconds. Neither of the swordsmen really cared but then Vincent hit a nerve. "The stronger swordsman can be leader." Both Cloud and Squall secretly took immense pride in their blade skill and refused to be called second best.

The two drew their new blades. Cloud with First Tsurugi, a large blade made up of a series of smaller blades, each blade was still bigger than clouds own body. The blade seemed to be alive in Clouds hands.
Squall had his new blade, the Phantom. A silver Gunblade, the blade was semi transparent and had Vincents' Cerberus as the gun. It was the finest Gunblade that ever existed.
The two finest swordsmen of all time, both wielding the finest blades of all time were about to duel…


Thanks to all who have read it, please review. any feed back is welcome.