Greetings to you all! Sorry the delay; college will get me busy this next semester with extra courses, but I will stop here once a while to keep going with the story, don't worry. I hope you like it.
The Price of Freedom
"I... It was all my fault. I didn't mean for your father to die. I couldn't...
I'm so sorry..."
Lucrecia Crescent - FFVII: Dirge Of Cerberus
†
Unveiled
Patiently he waited, living the days and months that passed as fast as the continuous drop of the fine sand of an hourglass; the time ran its course and in his mind Vincent glimpsed the countdown to the arrival of that fateful date.
During that time, he had carefully planned all the details and contrary to what had happened in his old past, the Turk had decided to keep working without asking or taking vacations just so that he could guarantee the possibility of being home in the exact month he wanted; that made his colleagues call him a workaholic as much as his father and he just shrugged it off without giving it much importance, although it did cause some surprise when the black-haired man finally showed up at the Turks command center to request his vacation with five months in advance of the desired period, and he found no difficulty in achieving exactly what he wanted.
Vincent didn't tell his father at first, preferring to keep that information to himself; when the last day's work was finally over and he arrived home, the Turk found the scientist going from one side to the other carrying objects and papers and storing them inside a box, set close to others already closed and prepared.
Arching an eyebrow, already knowing the reason for that unusual behavior since he had experienced the same situation before, Vincent threw himself on the couch and dropped his dark suit and tie on a nearby chair; leaning against the seat, he inquired his father casually.
"We're moving out and I didn't know it?"
"No." Grimoire laughed lightly; the older man paused for a moment to rest and looked at his son. "I'll have to take a short trip to conduct some tests in an experiment that Lucrecia and I found a few months ago."
Nodding in understanding, Vincent asked.
"Will Lucrecia accompany you?"
"Yes." The scientist replied.
"And where are you going?"
"Nibelheim." Grimoire said, resuming his activity of putting things inside the boxes. "There is a very good laboratory on the subterranean of a mansion that belongs to the Shinra Company and we were given the permission to conduct the experiment there. We shouldn't take more than a week at first."
The Turk made a sound of acknowledgment and then remained silent for a few minutes, watching his father while the older man with obvious contentment carried on with his task. His eyes took on a shadow of distant remembrances that took him to that very moment in his past; the conversation had been a little different, since he hadn't met Lucrecia at the time, but the dialogue had ended at the same point; with his father informing him that he was leaving for Nibelheim.
That day had been the last time he had seen his father alive.
Grimoire, who had finished closing the box, glanced again at Vincent and stopped when he noticed the other's circumspect countenance and his crimson eyes became worried.
"Son? Is everything okay?"
The younger man raised his head suddenly, as if awakened from a reverie; smiled at his father and spoke.
"Yes, it is." And pointing to the boxes, he added. "Would you like company?"
Grimoire raised his eyebrows.
"What do you mean by that?... What about your work?"
"Today was my last day; I'm on vacation."
The scientist shook his head and rested his hands on his waist, inquiring incredulously.
"Are you on vacation?! How do you get vacations and don't tell me?!"
"Well..." The younger shrugged. "It was supposed to be a surprise."
Vincent stood.
"So... Do you still have room for one more in your group? I cannot contribute as a research scientist, but I can pretend to be your bodyguard."
"But of course!" The older man exclaimed and a broad smile brightened his countenance. Grimoire approached and embraced the other man, genuinely pleased. "It's a great opportunity for us to travel together! I don't think we ever went out for a trip somewhere outside of Midgar with my schedule full in the labs and you're busy with the Turks."
"I would enjoy it also." Vincent smiled.
"Then go get your things sorted out right now! We'll leave tomorrow morning." Grimoire gently pushed him towards the staircase.
...
"I can't believe you'll be able to come with us!" Lucrecia spoke pleasantly surprised when she heard the news in the morning. "How did you convince them to let you? I've heard that the Turks Department was difficult to get something out of their stipulated schedule."
"I have my ways." The man smirked lightly and picked up her bags to carry them to the waiting helicopter.
"How many days can you stay with us?" The woman inquired curiously.
"All week." Grimoire laughed with amusement. "He managed to take vacations and only told me yesterday about it."
"Are you on vacation?!" Lucrecia exclaimed in surprise and Turk nodded in agreement, also amused.
"My father said it in that same tone when I told him; what's so bad about me having vacations?"
The woman didn't listen to the question; her face was radiant.
"But this is great!"
"Because…?" Vincent asked her, extending his hand to help the scientist climb onto the aircraft.
Lucrecia waited for him to sit beside her while Grimoire took the vacant seat next to the pilot in the front.
"I didn't mention during the presentation my thesis, but I have a way of proving that everything I said is true." The brown-haired woman continued; her eyes gleamed with animation mixed with mystery.
"Prove it?" Vincent muttered, feigning surprise. "You are talking about Chaos and Omega?"
"That's right!" Lucrecia said with conviction. "I'm glad you can come with us because you and your father were the ones who supported me the most in my project and if everything goes according to plan in these experiments, I want to share the results first with you before showing it to the Department of Science."
The black-haired man nodded understandingly and gave a faint smile.
"It flatters me you decided to share this with me too... Thank you." He told her honestly.
The woman smiled back and Grimoire caught their attention with amusement barely contained in his voice.
"Get ready, you two! We're taking off."
...
Nibelheim...
The name of the city arose in his mind in the form of a whisper that in his remembrances came loaded with traces of fire and ashes. Contrary to the pleasant feeling he'd had when he'd been in Corel, to see Cloud, Tifa and Sephiroth's hometown again as the quiet village it'd always been, now in front of his eyes it was like seeing a ghost town emerge from the heavy shadows of his memory bringing back pain, regrets, grief, death and suffering.
The midday sun rose in the sky over the mountains illuminating the city that overflowed with life; people were walking the streets coming and going to their destinations and a group of children played animatedly with a ball, kicking it across the center square.
The small group disembarked near the limits of Nibelheim and with the help of local residents contracted by Shinra, they unloaded the equipment into a vehicle; Grimoire was talking to an acquaintance about the local climate while Lucrecia inspected the cargo handling.
Vincent watched the city's entrance with a distant glance and unconsciously walked a few steps and stopped in front of the great wooden arch that welcomed visitors to Nibelheim. He touched the dark pillar with one of his hands and closed his eyes.
...He held her hands, warm and soft against his calloused ones by years of military training; she was trembling and he tried to steady her.
"I'm so sorry..." The woman whispered and raised her face with great cost to look back to him, embarrassed; the tears slid abundantly across her face and he felt himself broke internally.
He wanted to be able to take that sadness away from her; he didn't blame her for what had happened. All he wanted was for her to be happy and to see her smiling face once more.
The scientist suddenly shoved him hard and before he could react, their hands parted and she ran away...
"Vincent?" He opened his eyes feeling the air weigh in his lungs as one hand also settled gently on his shoulder.
The Turk looked up and his gaze met Lucrecia's; the scientist frowned, evidently concerned.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
"It's nothing." The black-haired man brushed it aside, shaking his head. "It is a hot day; I think the heat is starting to affect me."
The woman nodded in agreement and suggested.
"Your father went ahead to take the equipment to the manor, I think we'd better go too, it's cooler inside and I'm sure you'll feel better."
The Turk raised his face, his crimson eyes prying at the sight of Shinra's large manor towering further over the village houses, and he discreetly swallowed dry.
It stayed the same as he remembered it; an old building that looked vaguely like a small castle, with high walls of white stone that had darkened with time, a black and pointed roof that raised upward and long dark stained glasses that made it impossible to see anything inside.
The manor of despair...
Vincent took a deep breath and forced his next words to come out neutral.
"Yes... We should get inside."
Realizing that the man didn't look quite well, though he tried to hide it, Lucrecia didn't insist on questioning the real reason for his discomfort but she leaned into his arm and took his hand firmly, and ignored the look of surprise that he threw in her direction as she began to walk down the street towards the old mansion.
Vincent followed her in silence without being able to stop staring at their joined hands; he thought about how life might still surprise him even after all that had happened, for in a distant reality he had held this woman's hands to see her pull away from him, and now she held his hand as if she could somehow perceive his uneasy, wishing to offer him comfort.
The man turned his gaze to the road ahead and internally enjoyed the pleasant sensation of her presence by his side; in a low voice he told her after a few minutes.
"Thank you."
Lucrecia just smiled in response.
They walked slowly through the busy streets, across the square and away from the center of the city to follow the stone road that led to the mansion; the old building stood in full view before them, and its black gates were open as if in a silent invitation.
...
Inside the mansion the two scientists and Turk had the entire estate for them as soon as the workers finished unloading equipment in the lobby and left the place; Vincent helped Grimoire carry the boxes to a nearby room while Lucrecia opened some of the stained glass windows to allow the sunlight and the breeze to enter e and aerate inside.
They spent the first hour organizing their personal belongings in the rooms they would occupy in their stay, and during that time the brown-haired woman talked to her former teacher about the possibility of them starting the experiment processes late in that same day; while Grimoire thought it best to start only the next morning, the other's scientist insistence gradually convinced him and he finally gave in, for he also wanted to find out more about Chaos essences.
Oblivious to the uneasy of their third companion, they both entered a few hours later in the corridors of the underground laboratory while Vincent followed them a few paces away; with a serious countenance the black-haired man watched the familiar scenario around him, recalling the months he had spent there as the bodyguard of Hojo and Lucrecia's team during their research on the Jenova project, and he was assailed by the harsh memories of the sad events that had occurred there in his past.
The mansion brought him great discomfort and the labs only intensified that feeling.
Dipped in his remembrances Vincent unconsciously raised his hand and touched his left arm; he was amazed for a moment not to find the gauntlet but to feel the soft flesh, and Grimoire's and Lucrecia's laughter plucked him from the torpor of his reveries to bring him back to the present, reminding him that that nightmare hadn't happened and that both were alive and well.
It was his father's voice saying his name that made him start to pay attention to their conversation.
"... Vincent will join us in the experiment!" The older man laughed lightly. "After so many years trying to convince him to spend some time in the labs with me to show him that science doesn't bite, we finally managed to drag him with us today! Did you see how miracles really exist even though they are not proven by scientific methods? "
Lucrecia laughed and added.
"He's on vacation, after all."
Shaking his head, the Turk for the first time spoke as they entered a preparatory room.
"You're making a big case of this, Father."
"He's told me about this a few times." The woman glanced at him as she also stared at the radiant countenance of her former teacher, finding the attitude extremely funny and adorable.
"It's an important achievement for me." Grimoire defended himself, feigning indignation, and the younger man shrugged though Lucrecia saw a fond smile emerge on Vincent's lips.
In the preparatory room Vincent imitated the two scientists; after hygienizing his hands with specific products, he dressed a white coat that the woman handed over to him, and when the Turk realized he noticed his father standing a few paces away, watching him with a smile on his face.
"What is it?" Vincent asked, and Grimoire laughed and shook his head.
"Before we are finished for the day I need to take a picture of you; this is something unusual that I'm sure I will not see again so soon." The older man tapped the younger's shoulder and said with fondness. "My scientist son."
"Only in your dreams, Father." Vincent teased, amused.
The small group left the preparatory room to enter the main laboratory that Grimoire had chosen to conduct the experiment; the Turk's sober countenance darkened and his serene smile left his face completely. Although he had quickly viewed the new setting, Vincent's crimson eyes were fixed on a single spot.
"It's already here," Lucrecia said pleasantly, approaching the large tube filled with the greenish fluids from the Lifestream that maintained its precious charge stable; a black sphere made of layers of dense energy that moved tenuously, almost imperceptibly.
The woman touched the glass surface and frowned.
"This is just one of the essences that we've found. Where's the other one?"
"Still stored in the security chamber," Grimoire replied. "Since they are extremely unstable energies and this type of experiment has never been done before, I think we should start with just one of them."
"I think one must be enough."
The woman nodded and walked towards a panel and proceeded in turning on the equipment; the screens lit up and in a few seconds showed a series of data about the tube's content; the scientist began working on the information, typing numeric sequences on the panel's keyboard while Grimoire watched the screens with close attention.
"Let's start with a full scan to check the level of stability and then we'll begin the energy's infusion in 10%." The man spoke and the woman immediately started the process as instructed.
Vincent, still standing near the laboratory's entrance, showed no desire to approach the tube or his father and friend to inquire about the procedure; he was completely engrossed by the black sphere that was completely unlike anything he had encountered before.
The essence of corrupted energy seemed to call him imperceptibly to the other two in the room, but to him it was like a calling that grew stronger and ever more insistent, and the man felt that something within him yearned to respond to that desire; vaguely remembering Guildark's teachings, totally abstracted by that sensation, Vincent realized with astonishment that he himself wanted to take the black essence to himself.
The vibrations invisible to human eyes increased as the infusion of the experiment was magnified and the black-haired man shuddered, feeling the great power contained within the sphere; the power of Chaos, his power.
Vincent suddenly closed his eyes, leaning against the wall and bringing a hand to his face, breathing hard; his chest contracted and seemed to tighten and he felt himself as unstable as the essence that began to show signs of imbalance when the infusion reached 40%.
Without noticing the sudden malaise of his son, Grimoire aproached Lucrecia with apprehension in his countenance; his crimson eyes constantly shifted from the tube to the woman.
"Don't you think you are taking this a little too quickly?"
"And why not? All those people at Shinra who laughed at my thesis…" Lucrecia shook her head; the experiment was going well, there was no reason in stopping now. "I have to prove them wrong!"
"Rushing into matters will get you nowhere, Doctor." He quietly called her by her title with the fondness of a parent as he used to do sometimes when both were alone in the labs, and concerned lashed on his features when the ball black energy suddenly expanded, filling the tube's interior completely.
Lucrecia stared at the sudden information that showed on the screen and immediately stood to look at her experiment; the essence of Chaos acquired terrible force and the glass of the tube began to crack fast. The woman froze; pale and completely unresponsive to the disaster that was about to happen.
"Look out!" Grimoire ran to his former student, and Vincent opened his eyes.
The glass exploded and the fragments flew through the laboratory in a deafening crash and Grimoire shoved Lucrecia out of the way before the force of the propulsion also made him lose his balance and fall on the floor next to the woman.
Instinctively the scientist embraced his former student and waited for the worst, but when seconds later nothing happened and only the insistent beeping of the monitoring machines filled the room, dominated by the red light of the 'warning' message displayed on the screens, Grimoire slowly opened his eyes and raised his face, still shielding Lucrecia in his embrace, and the man gasped when he saw the black energy of Chaos's essence hovering above them like a vast dark curtain.
Although its energy fluids collided with each other furiously it didn't advance against them or against the equipment in the laboratory, and extremely confused Grimoire raised his attention beyond the corrupted fluids and found his son standing closer to them; with his hand extended in the direction of black energy, his body radiated a strong red-red aura that seemed to vibrate in tune with the essence.
But what frightened Grimoire deeply was the other man's eyes; an inhuman angry yellow that had a feral and predatory glow.
The scientist let out a shaky breath; he realized that it was precisely his son's presence that prevented the essence from colliding with him and Lucrecia and destroying the whole laboratory.
"Vincent..." Grimoire called to him in a weak whisper and Turk directed his attention to him; there was a glimmer of recognition and sobriety in those supernatural eyes, and it was at that moment that Grimoire realized that his son knew exactly who he really was.
With complete control over his own essence, Chaos's reincarnation clenched his fist and the scientist immediately sensed his intention.
"Vincent! No!" He shouted but the other did not listen.
Vincent, with a quick movement of his hand, called to himself all the accumulation of corrupted energy and the essence collided violently against him and was absorbed completely by his body; he was brutally hurled across the room and fell several meters ahead completely inert.
Grimoire was overcome with great fear; he disengaged himself from Lucrecia, who sat down on the floor completely confused and disoriented, and the scientist ran to the unconscious man, kneeling beside him and holding him in his arms.
"Vincent! Vincent! "
He called desperately, touching his son's face with trembling hands, but the other man didn't respond.
"Vincent! Please, wake up! Vincent! "
Lucrecia as soon as she became aware of the setting around her, she saw Grimoire holding Vincent with a look of concern and fear so great in a way that she had never seen in him, and her heart tightened; she saw no trace of the essence in the laboratory and the pale face of her unconscious friend made her eyes widen, realizing what had happened.
Immediately standing she took a collector from her desk and knelt beside the two men, she quickly gathered a sample of Vincent's blood and walked away; Grimoire, stunned by worry, almost didn't realize what the woman had done, but coming to his senses, he inquired sharply.
"What are you doing, Lucrecia?!"
"He took the full impact of the essence to himself, Grimoire; we need to see what's going on with him and if there's any way to stop Vincent's organism from suffering severe damage," She responded breathlessly. "We have to act now!"
The man's crimson eyes widened when he saw that she was going to insert the blood sample into the computer.
"No! Do not do it!" He exclaimed in awe; the woman observed him confused after inserting the sample for analysis and the red warning sign disappeared from the screen, quickly revealing the result.
Lucrecia's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
It was a DNA sequence of advanced chains that only in her craziest theories discussed with her former professor she had imagined the possibility of its construction like a part of the genetics of a civilization that many centuries ago no longer existed; the black fluids penetrated the structure and merged with it, sealing itselves against the currents permanently, and when all the energy was absorbed, something that shouldn't have lasted more than ten seconds, in front of their eyes it returned to the shape of a chain of any ordinary human being, revealing health and free from any remnant of the dark essence or the other DNA sequence.
Slowly Lucrecia pushed herself away from the panel and sat back in her chair, her brown eyes peering at the other scientist again.
"Your son... is a Cetra...?" She inquired in a weak and incredulous whisper.
Grimoire put his head in his hands and wondered how on Gaia he would explain that.