TOMB OF LIFE
CHAPTER 2
"So there has been no activity since?" Rufus asked, as he sat behind his desk in his office ruffling through some papers -- the leader of the Turks stood across from him.
"No sir and it's been one week since we first encountered the strange portal. It has been guarded 24/7 yet the portal has not re-appeared," Tseng explained. He had assigned Turks to guard the room for the first couple days but after nothing happened, he had left a couple ShinRa grunts the task.
"Then I suppose there is no calamity and the annual ShinRa office party can go on as scheduled," Rufus stated.
"Yes sir and the Turks are primed to fill in as security for the party as usual," Tseng replied.
"Good – the Wutai princess Yuffie will be in attendance and sometimes things can get a little frantic with Wutai guards running around. I'll be counting on you to make sure the party doesn't turn into a disaster," Rufus stated.
"Yes sir," Tseng replied nodding to the president.
--
Cloud Strife sat at the kitchen table wolfing down a breakfast that consisted of a sandwich and fruit juice – Tifa had quickly prepared it for him knowing that he would be leaving shortly to make his delivery rounds.
The dark-haired girl came to sit across from Cloud watching as he continued to chew quickly. "This came in the mail yesterday," Tifa said shoving an invitation toward the spiky haired blond man.
"Do I want to know what it is?" Cloud asked nonchalantly as he took a sip of his juice.
"Probably not – it's an invitation to the ShinRa party. I think we should go. Yuffie will be there," Tifa stated.
"Feel free to go but parties are not my thing," Cloud replied.
"I see it as a sort of olive branch -- ShinRa wants to reach out to us to further solidify the fact that they have indeed buried the hatchet. I think we should go if only to show that we too are on board with that."
"Tifa…" there was a warning tone in Cloud's voice. Tifa was his friend and he respected her, but she knew better than to press him into something he didn't want.
"All of AVALANCHE got an invitation, do you know how it's going to seem if the rest of them show up and we don't?" Tifa asked.
"I really don't care," Cloud replied
Tifa was silent for a moment. She had often wondered if Cloud was still steamed at ShinRa for rejecting him from SOLDIER. Cloud had moved on and made a life for himself in the delivery business and when push came to shove proved that ShinRa had made a mistake in rejecting him. He was as strong and as fast as any SOLDIER partly due to the fact that his best friend Zack Fair had continued to train him in private even after Cloud had been rejected not to mention he was allowed use of the mako shower a few times which also boosted his strength and power.
Cloud had gained a reputation, renown as the only non SOLDIER to bring Sephiroth to his knees during their war on ShinRa. It was more of a stalemate between the two, yet was nonetheless a great feat coming from someone who wasn't a part of SOLDIER.
It had been good for Tifa's business having a hero living at her bar 'the Seventh Heaven,' as the crowd would be attracted by the fact that they were in the domain of a hero. The ShinRa SOLDIERS aloof as they were did not mingle with the regular people, though they were admired nonetheless. Cloud's situation was different. He had a family living with him there at the bar -- Tifa and their two adopted children, Denzel and Marlene.
Cloud finished his breakfast and stood up abruptly. "I've got to go. Thanks for breakfast."
Tifa watched as he left – he expected that he had given his answer and that would be the end of it – but Cloud should have known by now that Tifa was not one to take 'no' for an answer.
--
Later than night, Barrett Wallace, the leader of Avalanche sat with Cid Highwind at a table in the 7th Heaven enjoying a few drinks. Tifa thought it time for a break so headed over to their table to join them leaving her bartender Frank in charge.
"So what are you two up to?" Tifa said as she sat across from the men.
"Not much -- was hoping Cloud would be here," Cid replied taking a sip of his beer.
"He went out early this morning and hasn't returned. I think he might not be too pleased with me either," Tifa said sighing.
"Uh oh – lover's quarrel?" Cid asked.
Tifa rolled her eyes at Cid – the pilot knew along with everyone else that there was nothing romantic between herself and Cloud even though she wished it were so. The family Cloud shared with her was in name only. "No, it's the invitation to the big ShinRa bash coming up next week – he doesn't want to go."
"Oh yea I got that invite as well. I plan on being there," Barret said with a guffaw -- he was a big black man who loved to party. There was no love lost between him and ShinRa, but in an effort to keep the peace he was willing to attend and full well intended to have a good time.
"I'm not too keen on rubbing elbows with the crème of the crop in ShinRa, but they sure do know how to throw a party and I'll bet the drinks will be plentiful," Cid said before polishing off the last of his beer and calling for another.
"So what if Cloud doesn't go – just come with us and we'll keep each other company," Barret offered.
"I just really thought he should be there – All of Avalanche should," Tifa said with a slight frown on her face. She just really wanted to show up at a party on Cloud's arm to finally prove to everyone that they were a real couple even though such was not the case.
"Well I could be wrong but I think getting Red XIII or Vincent to show up to a ShinRa party will be a miracle – so don't worry about all of Avalanche being their 'cause it's not going to happen," Barret said matter-of-factly. "I suspect the Boss ShinRa will be pleased to even have a few of us show up."
"One would think Vincent would want to go – well if he wants to try to patch things up with Sephiroth," Tifa said.
"A party probably wouldn't be the right place for that – plus Sephiroth still won't give Vince the time of day," Cid replied, smiling at the waitress who brought him his beer.
"It's so sad to think about it. Sephiroth lost Dr. Gast and never knew his mother then finds out his father is alive but he hates him." Tifa realized her situation with Cloud was not so bad when there apparently were other people in worse situations. She sincerely hoped they would be able to work things out.
--
Vincent Valentine stood silent sentry above one of the many ShinRa training facilities located in Midgar. He was shrouded in shadows above the glass roof that encompassed the gym below. He watched silently as Sephiroth went through some practice rounds with a couple of his fellow SOLDIERS. Vincent recognized the other men as Angeal Hewley and Zack Fair.
Stripped down to their loose black pants, Angeal and Zack were on the offensive religiously attacking Sephiroth with their dual Buster Swords. Sephiroth fended them off easily. These were the only moments when Vincent could view his son unguarded. If the silver haired man had been aware of Vincent's presence, then cold green eyes would be directed at him. Vincent was unsure how to set things right between them – he knew Sephiroth had every right to hate him. It seemed that Vincent was indirectly responsible for what had happened.
He had been on a mission in Wutai when he had been brutally stabbed several times over during an ambush. None of the medical doctors could do anything to save him – Vincent was left on the life support machines awaiting death. Lucrecia, who had felt she owed Vincent for what had happened to his father, took it upon herself to try to save him. With the experiments she had been conducting on the Chaos theory she was able to infuse Vincent with the living energy of demon like creatures native to the planet. The process had left Vincent with a deteriorating body until Lucrecia had learned of a way to make Vincent's body nearly indestructible. Once this was done the transformation was complete and Vincent's life had been saved. However she witnessed the violent nature of the creatures now inside the young man and opted to use the protomateria to help Vincent calm the demons within.
Even though Lucrecia had managed to save his life she had inadvertently destroyed his spirit – Vincent had considered himself a monster not fit to walk with humanity, thus the reason he had retreated away from the world for thirty long years until a man by the name of Cloud Strife had convinced him to face the world once more.
He regretted more than anything that he had not known that Lucrecia was pregnant. He should have considered the possibility since they had made love once underneath the trees during a surprise picnic she had planned for him. It was a moment he had never forgotten after all the years to finally be with his love completely. He never imagined he would have slept for that long he only wanted to make the horror of what he had become vanish with time, but instead he had caused the love of his life to disappear as well. Lucrecia had died shortly after Sephiroth was born and Gast had adopted him. No one knew of Sephiroth's true origins, for she had never admitted who had fathered him that was until Gast had found a letter among some of Lucrecia's personal affects, which had been buried in an underground compartment at her office. It had claimed Vincent to be the father.
At the time Vincent and Sephiroth already considered themselves enemies as they were engaged in the eco wars which consisted of ShinRa versus Avalanche. Vincent had recalled fighting the silver haired man several times over never once imagining that he was his son. Sephiroth had refused to believe it proclaiming that Gast was all the father he ever needed. Even after DNA tests had been conducted to prove it beyond a doubt, Sephiroth had continued to attest that Gast was his father and when Gast died that he no longer had a father. It hurt Vincent deeply that his only son despised him but he could not change that without undoing the past.
Ruby colored eyes followed Sephiroth's every move as the sparing below continued. Long dark hair rustled about Vincents' pale features in the light wind. The crimson cloak he wore with its high mantle obscured his mouth from view and fanned out behind him in the breeze. Black patent leather pants and gold boots complemented his attire along with a golden clawed gauntlet on his left arm. Vincent wore the claw as a symbol of the monstrosity that he bore within him. The demon Chaos which he rarely unleashed even during his time of war with ShinRa -- He didn't even want his friends to see what he harbored inside, a creature whose abilities even they would be horrified by.
Vincents' thoughts returned to the scene below – the sparring had ended and the friends were now shaking hands while laughing. He saw his son smile – something he longed to have directed at him. All Sephiroth ever graced Vincent with were scowls, frowns and downright expressions of hatred. Yes, that was the right word – for Vincent didn't doubt for one second that his son did indeed hate him.
Meanwhile below in the gym Zack was grinning from ear to ear as he amused himself teasing Sephiroth. "Next time will you really try instead of going all half-assed?"
Sephiroth raised a silver eyebrow at Zack's sarcasm – he had wiped the floor with both him and Angeal, but Zack of course had no qualms making light of it. "For you Zack I promise – next time I will come prepared."
"As much as I'd love to stand here and listen to you two play bickering – I need to hit the showers or I will be late for dinner with Shalua," Angeal said grabbing his gym bag in the process.
Shalua Rui Hewley was Angeal's wife of 2 years – she was a scientist with links to ShinRa and dealt with the creation of prosthetic arms and limbs. She had much success in this area and was credited for the creation of Barret's gun arm.
"Speaking of significant others – I also have a date with Aeris tonight. You can join us if you like Seph so you can catch up with your sis," Zack said.
As much as Sephiroth found the idea appealing for he did enjoy Aeris's company, he was pretty sure that Zack would prefer to have the beautiful young lady all to himself. "I appreciate the offer but I will pass."
"Alrighty," Zack replied making sure that a pitiful expression did not cross his face. He felt sorry for Sephiroth sometimes in terms of the fact that he didn't have a love life. The man was a walking dream and any woman would have been happy to have him, but Sephiroth didn't seem interested aside for the occasional roll in the sheets to alleviate his needs. He knew about Sephiroth's estrangement with his real father Vincent yet Zack never dared bring it up as it was off limits to those who knew about it.
"You two go enjoy yourselves," Sephiroth smiled. Smiles from the stern SOLDIER were rare indeed and only given to those he felt close to. He watched as both men left the gym and was about to reach for his own gym bag when he suddenly felt uneasy. Alert green eyes quickly scanned the gym – it was completely empty. As if on cue, Sephiroth glanced up at the glass domed roof and could see the moon already high in the sky. There was nothing there – perhaps his nerves were playing tricks on him and he had no reason to be on edge. Grabbing his gym bag the long haired man left the room.