"You done redecoratin' my ship, Tifa?" Cid asked, surly from mental images of the damage the woman might have done.
Tifa stretched her arms above her head and smiled. "All done. I'm going to need a new bag, though."
"That all?" he pried, curious.
"Well..." Tifa thought, rotating her shoulders. "You might need a new workbench, too. And the walls..."
Cid ground his teeth a little. "Fine time to quit smokin'..." he muttered under his breath.
"Any news?" she asked.
Cid shook his head slowly, eyes fixed on the window infront of him. "While you were out, we picked up the rest o' them: Yuffie, Vincent, Barrett an' Reeve. We dropped Yuffie off in Wutai, she wanted to go home an' check on things."
The collective members of Avalanche had definitely seen better days. They'd spent two days straight searching for Sephiroth and Seria. Cid looked like he hadn't slept at all, and Tifa had curled up on the metal floor of the cargo bay after her fit yesterday. No one dared to bother Cloud. The tension they all felt was hanging thickly in the air. It even seemed to get to Red, who was curled up next to the window, gaze fixed on the ground racing below them.
"How is Vincent doing?" Tifa asked.
"Much better. You'd never think he just bounced back from th' brink o' death. Pissed as all hell though. Might wanna stay away from him for a bit."
"That so?" a dark voice said from behind Tifa.
Vincent and Cloud entered the deck just behind her. Cloud stalked wordlessly to the front of the ship to have a look for himself. Vincent took position by Cid.
"How are you feeling, Vincent?" Tifa asked cautiously.
Vincent said nothing, he sent her a look that sent cold prickles up her spine. He was at the center of all this, they had found out; If Seria betrayed anyone the most, it would be him. He had known from the beginning about Seria, and she had asked him for his trust.
Cloud's cellphone was picked up and brought to his ear before it finished the first ring. "Yuffie, what is it?" He was silent for a moment, looking suddenly energized. "I'll be there soon." He closed the phone. The assembled Avalanche team looked at him expectantly, but he didn't say anything. He started towards the rear of the deck to leave the ship.
Vincent put himself in Cloud's way. "Seria is in Wutai," he said simply, answering the question on everyone's mind.
"Out of my way, Vincent. This is my fight," Cloud spat out angrily.
"Not this time," Vincent said, a growl rumbling in his throat. He would not be denied.
Vincent left the ship in an old abandoned orchard on the outskirts of Wutai. He might have preferred for Cid to leave him a bit further away, if he had cared about stealth and if time wasn't an issue. He didn't know exactly what Yuffie told Cloud - he hadn't bothered to ask - but he knew that he was the only one to see Seria out of disguise, and the most likely to spot her from a distance. Besides, he wanted her to know he was here. He deserved an explanation, and was confident that she didn't mean to kill him. She had saved his life after all.
A young boy and a girl had come to see the airship up close before it left. One of them came close and looked up at him in curious wonder.
"Tell me," Vincent said. "Have you seen a girl dressed in black?"
"Are you sure?" I asked sternly.
"Uh-huh," the small boy said, taking a stance between two small trees.
"Okay. Here it comes!" I shouted.
I gave the ball at my feet a hard kick. It flew over the boy's head at an impossible height, and the boy let out a brief "Whoa!" before taking off after it, laughing his head off.
I laughed as I watched him run after it. "I warned you, Kitai! I'm the best!" I flexed my muscles comicly and the children laughed.
"Be on my team, Seria!" one boy ran up to me. I smiled and ruffled his hair.
"No way! She's on my team!"
"Wanna bet?!"
A scuffle broke out between the children. Quickly I pulled one boy from the group who was pulling Nina's hair and making her scream. I held him firmly by the shoulders. "Whoa, whoa! There's no need for that, how about I play on your team for a bit, and then switch, okay?"
He didn't look happy about that and balled his fists, but finally he said "Okay," then stormed off to the goal.
"Catch!" Kitai yelled from somewhere nearby. He hurled the ball into the air and I ran a short way to catch it.
"Nice catch," a familiar voice said from behind me.
I spun on my heel and a metal clawed hand caught my wrist, holding me in place. I sighed, and rolled the ball back towards the children, who were watching the situation with a great deal of caution.
"Vincent," I said calmly. "Infront of the kids? Seriously?" I nodded to his clawed hand. Some of the kids were worried I was in trouble, and Kitai was ready to run home and tell his parents that Vincent was a monster attacking. Vincent had a soft spot for kids, though. He slowly let go of my hand.
"Thanks," I said, before knocking him to the ground and drawing my new sword. "Children, run home where it's safe! Nina, I want my materia back before you leave," I said, holding out my left hand expectantly, not taking my eyes off of Vincent.
Nina grudgingly returned to me my Master Magic and All materia before running off with the other kids. I held my stance and Vincent stayed on the ground until they were far enough that I couldn't hear them or their thoughts anymore.
"Okay," I said. I re-slotted the materia and sheathed my sword. "Now we can talk."
I let Vincent get to his feet, but I didn't take my eyes off of him for a second. He was angry with me and felt betrayed. I thought as much. I was glad that he came instead of Cloud or Tifa. No one else in Avalanche would want to talk.
He quickly drew his gun and pointed it steadily at my head. "Why?" Vincent asked. His thoughts told me the rest.
"It's all part of a plan," I told him, in my best megalomaniac tone of voice. I started to walk slowly around him, circling him like a vulture. "The Turks and their offer put me in an interesting position. I knew when I was thirteen that I was going to die; got into an accident, and the hospital had some sour test results to show me. My life's been pretty dark since then."
"I became a mercenary to make money, to eke out an existence. I didn't really ask why my parents were so vastly different from me and I didn't really care. Then along comes some idiot in a labcoat, telling me I owe it all to him and his experiment. Not even one he had wanted to remember; I was a failed experiment that everyone forgot about well before Shinra collapsed. I didn't have any of this information... until recently. Now, I feel like I need to justify my existence, and now, I have the chance to."
"What do you mean by that?" Vincent asked warily. He hadn't lept to the same assumption as everyone else when the black materia went missing; he knows I have it.
"You know, you're a pretty good contender. I think I'll keep you in the game a bit longer," I grinned, then laughed maniacally. I gripped my sheathed sword and the green Master Magic materia glowed in response. Before Vincent could garner a response, the spell was already cast. "Break."
Vincent's reactive lunge was frozen in stone. I smiled devilishly at my handiwork "By the way," I said. "Make sure you thank Tifa for the Master Magi-ghk!" A cough caught me by complete surprise at the very end of my evil farewell. I turned away and covered my mouth with my hand, then made to escape before someone else from Avalanche would show up.