Whisper
"What are we going to do then?"
Chaos rolled his eyes then bared his teeth slightly; those stupid human expressions were starting to get the better of him "why are you asking me?" he growled "I have no interest in your plans"
"Jeez I was only asking" Zack looked away with a wounded air and turned to Sephiroth who was gazing out the window "do you think we should head back now? We've completed the mission after all"
"I can't" Sephiroth kept his eyes fixed outside "I have to stay here a while, for personal reasons" he went on in a quieter tone "I need to find out who I really am"
"But what about Genesis!" Zack burst out suddenly "he's still here too, what if he attacks you?"
"Then I shall finally face him and try to apologise for my actions" he turned to face them and met Zack's gaze steadily "what I did to him was wrong, if I can stop the degradation, maybe he'll come back"
Chaos sensed the hidden emotion in his voice; such a strong desire for forgiveness he mused for all their faults, humans may have something worthwhile, hope. "Forgive my intrusion" he purred "but who is Genesis?"
"Genesis is a SOLDIER First Class" Zack said "he's been missing for some time now after he was injured in a battle that got out of hand" he shot Sephiroth an apologetic look then went on "I've only met him a couple of times but he seems sort of arrogant"
Chaos growled "arrogance is at the root of most conflicts, he should take care to control it"
"He wasn't always like that"
Chaos wasn't surprised that it was Sephiroth who spoke "you were close friends weren't you?"
"Yes, he had always felt a sense of abandonment but after he found what he was it drove him over the edge" he paused and took in Chaos's questioning look "Genesis was part of an experiment named project G, named after Angeal's mother Gillian, Angeal was also part of the experiment and was another old friend" he looked away and Zack took up the story for him.
"Gillian was injected with alien cells from a being called Jenova" he paused and looked over at Sephiroth, when he didn't respond Zack went on "Genesis had Gillian's cells injected into him during the fetal stage while Angeal was bred inside Gillian's body. Genesis was dubbed a failure while Angeal…" Zack took a long shaky breath "Angeal was perfect"
"You killed him didn't you?" Chaos asked softly and Zack jumped, astonishment quickly turning into anger.
"How did you know that? I've never told anyone other than Cloud and Seph!"
"Your memories are stained with guilt" Chaos said smoothly "even now as you gaze down you can see the pain in his eyes mixed with gratitude, you can hear every rasping breath as it catches in his throat. You can smell the stench of his blood as it pours from him; you can feel the soft feathers"
"Shut up!" Zack yelled clutching at his hair in anguish "I know and I remember! I don't want to be reminded of the agony of every second before he died! I don't want to remember fighting him! He was my friend!" he let out a howl of torment "all I have of him are these" he lifted his sword and slung it onto his back and turned his face slightly so the demon could see the scar cutting across his cheek.
You're not helping them Chaos
Chaos stiffened slightly then turned away from Zack and the others
I don't remember asking your opinion Valentine
You're just tormenting them, look at Zack; do you see what you've done?
I've allowed him to express feelings he shouldn't have kept hidden, locking emotions away can cause more torment than what I have inflicted.
Listen to me Chaos; you need to keep a close relationship with them.
Why should I?
Or else you'll be punished by the Goddess and it's my body she'll be attacking
Really Valentine I'm surprised at you, placing petty feelings of your own above my judgement.
It's not just that, they're alone and scared, and your ignorance of that is tearing them apart.
Feeling compassion Valentine? I'm surprised at you; you wished every curse on Gaia on your so called beautiful Lucrecia in your nightmares.
Lucrecia…was never mine
Chaos felt a surge of guilt but suppressed the emotion quickly and turned back to the others "what are you staring at?" he snapped at Cloud who was gazing at him intently
"Who were you just talking to? You were muttering"
Chaos sighed thanks a lot Valentine "I was talking…to my host" he admitted wearily "this body isn't mine, it belongs to Vincent Valentine"he cringed waiting for the shocked expressions and wasn't surprised when Zack's mouth dropped open.
"So you're just a parasite" Sephiroth said calmly still looking out the window "living off another's body"
"Without me he would be dead!" Chaos spat "I didn't want this! But the so called love of his life injected my consciousness into his body after her lover had finished playing with it"
"Was her lover a scientist?" Sephiroth asked coldly
"Yes"
"What was his name?"
Chaos suddenly felt uneasy, Sephiroth had turned round and was gazing at him, the intensity of the jade eyes worried him slightly so he decided to lie, falling back on his usual show of contempt "as if a human matters to me! I didn't care to find out his name since it was my host he was torturing not me, however if he suddenly decided to hurt me" he grinned savagely "he wouldn't have lasted a second"
Sephiroth didn't seem satisfied but didn't pursue the matter any further.
"So this Vincent, could we meet him?" Zack looked both excited and nervous at the idea "it would be nice" he insisted "since both of you are in on this"
"And, it'll let us know what exactly we're dealing with" Sephiroth pointed out smoothly.
Chaos fidgeted, glared at them all and sighed then he realised he wasn't going to have a say in this "fine, but if he collapses I'm not helping"
"Why would he?" Zack started to ask then a red glow enveloped the demon.
Cloud watched open mouthed as a human slowly came into view and staggered, one hand flying to the holster strapped to his leg.
"Hold on, easy there" Zack held up his hands and gestured for Cloud to do the same "calm down"
"Where, am I?"
Cloud felt a slight chill go down his spine; his voice was low and mysterious and shook slightly as though it was a strain to talk.
"In the town" Sephiroth stated flatly running his gaze over him then turning away.
"So I guess you're Vincent huh?" Zack asked cheerfully and held out his hand.
Vincent nodded and took Zack's hand "I'm sorry about that, it's been a while since I was in the company of others"
"No problem"
Cloud rolled his eyes, typical Zack making friends already, he was too damn likeable to hate, and too persistent to ignore. He flinched suddenly as Vincent interrupted his thoughts by walking over to him. "Cloud strife" he said hurriedly then jerked his head towards Zack "that's Zack over there"
Now he was closer to Vincent he could examine him properly, deathly pale skin and blood red eyes so different to Chaos's but just as piercing. Long jet black hair held back by a red band around his forehead, but what really caught Cloud's attention was the golden gauntlet attached to his left arm. To be honest it was barely attached and was almost hanging off his arm, Cloud started to take in other details of his appearance, the long red cloak and then dangerous looking gun safely kept in its holster. An infinite feeling of pity swept over him, Vincent had a worn out look about him and an air of sorrow hung around him.
"What happened to you?" he asked quietly
But Vincent's thoughts were obviously elsewhere, he was staring at Sephiroth who was staring back appraisingly.
"And I'm Sephiroth" he said calmly then looked startled as Vincent's hand went to his chest and he fell onto one knee with a short gasp.
Cloud found himself going to his side along with Zack and crouching down beside him.
"It's difficult…to adjust" Vincent explained gritting his teeth "Chaos has been in control for too long, my body was getting used to the change"
Cloud hesitantly rested his hand on Vincent's shoulder and was rewarded with a brief look of gratitude.
"Thank you Cloud" Vincent stood up "I'm sure you know what Chaos has been ordered to do"
Zack nodded seriously and Sephiroth briefly inclined his head.
"As far as I know, Chaos is a ruthless killer, if you get on his bad side and he's in the wrong mood he would have no qualms about ripping your head off your shoulders and feasting on your remains" he looked coolly at Zack's horrified expression then went on "if he's in that sort of mood you'll know and I'd advise you keep away" he lowered his gaze as though he were ashamed and sat wearily on one of the beds.
Cloud didn't doubt his statement, he had been perfectly sure that Chaos could have slaughtered everyone in the town and left with a clear conscience.
"I can try and contain his behaviour but years of experiments have broken me" Vincent's voice had gotten so quiet Cloud could hardly hear him. "I'll recover quickly but until then" he left the sentence unfinished and stared down at his hands.
"We'll help you then" Zack said reassuringly but Vincent shook his head
"There's nothing you can do" he bowed his head and closed his eyes
Zack caught Cloud's eye and raised his eyes to the ceiling with a grin, Cloud frowned at him even though he could understand Zack's amusement.
A small thudding noise made them both look back to see Vincent lying slumped on the bed.
"What happened?" Cloud asked
"It was too much of a strain for him I suppose" Zack muttered staring confused at Vincent's unmoving form.
"Dealing with you Zack takes a great toll" Sephiroth smirked then came closer to examine Vincent carefully "I'm not a doctor but I think it's just exhaustion"
"Well Chaos did warn us" Zack pointed out sadly and leaned against the wall "so we have a ruthless killing demon to watch us and an exhausted human to try and protect us"
"I can't say I'm feeling very confident about this"
Zack grinned "me too Seph, me too"
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