Chapter 38

"She's a monster!"

"I saw her! She tried to kill a little boy!"

"…tried to kill Machalai!"

"Kill her!"

"Death to the monster!"

Vile creature… Monster… Evil… All of these words and accusations were ringing in the back of her mind, taunting her as her world span. The rumble of her father's voice was muffled to her, but the voices of the people… oh they were so clear, painfully so, each word practically screamed in her ear, each word dripping with contempt and venom. They ate at her and made her want to die. She was just like him, the man she'd spent the last few years of her life despising and cursing and vowing to kill, and now she was just like him. Oh the irony.

She knew who she was now, where she was, and how she got there, every horrific detail. Oh gods…

Fear and guilt raced like ice through her body and she began to hyperventilate. Her mind was abuzz with her thoughts, the demon's words, speaking to her quickly, and the sounds of hate and bile being spat around her by the crowd of people. A sickening feeling rose up through her body and her heart began to race, pounding loud in her ear. Her stomach dropped and all feelings of hunger vanished, only to be replaced with panic and nausea.

Mae hunched down, curling in on herself, ignoring the rising tone of the demon's voice in her head and the deafening roars of the crowd around her. There were light touches along her senses and a growing pressure in her head. The pounding of her heart grew louder and the rest of the sounds faded into white noise along side the rapid beat of her heart and the sound of her erratic breaths. Tension held her body tight as a string lashed to a bow, and the panic in her heart pulled at that string until it was almost ready to break.

The sound rang through the village, loud as a gun shot, silencing the cries for blood. The string was released and Mae used her body as a battering ram through the crowd and off into the distance, away from the town, away from the screaming people, the smell of blood, and the steady sound of her father's harassed voice. She moved so fast that no one saw her move. Those she ran into were thrown to the ground before they even knew what was going on. Confused looks were thrown around the group, and then more fearful ones when the pale woman was no where to be seen. Neither was the big man.

Yuffie felt the hot feeling in her chest recede a bit. The sound that had been the catalyst in the situation was a bolt spell she'd sent into the ruins of the now empty house of cats. She was relieved that Mae and her father had taken the opportunity to leave. She didn't want to have to compromise her own position any more in her town to "help" them.

She picked up her shuriken and left the stunned crowd of people to their own business. The walk to her house was uneventful, and no one stopped her, probably didn't even notice her with the recent commotion. Her house was empty at the moment and she couldn't be more grateful for that. She tossed her weapon on the nearest mat and sat down at the small table in her kitchen. She already had out an ornate blown glass bottle decorated with dragons and blossoms and painted in gold leaf.

Silently she poured the sake into a matching cup and threw it back, quickly replacing it with another dose of the powerful drink. Her mind was afire with images and thoughts that she was eager to drown in alcohol, her body tense and throbbing in time with the broken vein in her wrist. Without even realizing it the small cup in her hands crumbled under the strength of her grip. It shattered easily and the dense glass shard drove into her hands spilling her blood all over the ornately decorated glass table beneath her. Yuffie didn't even acknowledge the pain. She stared at the blood dripping from her hands as it pooled beneath her arm.

Her eyes were angry, haunted, and full of fire. She slammed aside the sake bottle watching as it shattered against the wall with a satisfying crash. She found she liked the sound of that. It matched her mood perfectly. She grabbed her shuriken with her bloodied hand and stalked out the door to find something more satisfying to destroy.

Mae flew with unfettering ease through the twisting pathways of the mountain adorned with the face of some ancient god. Coherent thought left her, fueled by out of control emotions. The dirt beneath her feet felt like delicate silk even though it was rough and gravelly, and her whole body felt weightless and the landscape melted before her. Her flight came to an abrupt end when she reached the end of the path. Before her was the ocean seemingly endless in its expanse.

The wind hit her fierce and blew back her hair and clothes as if trying to tear her away from the perilous edge she faced. The first blow the wind struck against her tore with it her tangled emotions. For one moment, one fascinating moment, she was completely devoid of guilt, pain, love, hate, worry, determination, and every other emotion that had so plagued her since the moment she walked in on the murder of her family.

A thud behind her tore the moment away and she turned to find the winged countenance of Chaos before her, bleeding from several wounds. She held herself tall and straight, the demon in her mind flawlessly melting into her subconscious. Mae didn't resist it. She was too tired, to confused, to afraid to face the sins she'd just attempted to commit.

As one, Chaos and Vincent roared and Chaos' form melted into the more human visage of Vincent Valentine. Mae was beginning to understand though, that while there were two forms to him, Chaos was present there in so many ways that even though Vincent looked, smelled and felt human, he was far from that, as was she.

The demon gently pushed the confused thoughts pulsing through Mae's mind away and threaded its influence throughout her body. Mae's fear flared at the intrusion and the move for control and began to battle for dominance. The demon hissed as her and pushed her away as easily as an adult would push away a child.

Vincent drank in the sight of the raven haired woman. Her eyes were the same aqua blue he loved, but they looked as if ice to him, feline and slanted, alien. Her body was held straight, relaxed, confident, and yet he could feel a conflict raging inside of her. His body was not so relaxed, he wanted nothing more then to throw himself at her and hold her against him for days until he was sated. She was alive… alive…

Reixez words flooded back to him, the details of her death… and he hesitated. What if… what if she wasn't standing there in front of him, alive and confident, a small smile pricking the corner of her mouth, what if he had finally lost his mind and was seeing phantoms? He'd seen her body for himself, touched her and found nothing alive. His initial elation faded to concern and caution. He saw the smile grow marginally.

"Mae?" Even to him his voice sounded haunted, hollow and nothing more then a plea.

The phantom in front of him dropped the smile and closed its eyes.

"I…" When the eyes opened again there was pain and guilt and relief and a whole torrent of emotions jumbled around and quarreling within the lit aqua depths.

Vincent needed nothing more. He crossed the distance in milliseconds and Mae was in his arms, confused and happy and sad and so many other things. She sobbed, but no tears graced her eyes. Vincent buried himself in her hair and laughed and cursed and held her tighter.

Mae felt the cold presence of the demon recede. She did not know why it had surfaced in the first place, and felt no need to probe it for answers. She didn't know what to do with herself, but the warm embraced full of love that held her was all she wanted to know at the moment and so she wrapped herself in the scent, warmth and sound of Vincent. He was mumbling and making strange noises and even talking, though she did not listen. Her mind was stretched thin and she did her best to keep it from tearing itself apart by focusing on the moment. She didn't care that an entire village of people might be coming to kill her right this moment, as they should, or that she had been brought close to madness through lack of blood, or that Reixez could right this moment be coming to finish what he started or even that Tifa and Cloud and Cid might all hate her for her actions and deem fit to kill her at the next encounter.

None of it mattered.

Nothing mattered.

Nothing but the man wrapped around her, holding her and loving her as much as she loved him, even if it hurt to admit it.

:: I have more chapters ready to be uploaded but I'm probably going to space them out to every 2 weeks because I have very little time to write and I've been through alot in the past few weeks. Hell I got into an accident about 2 hours ago. It wasn't serious, but still... Idk. Things have just been hard, but I hope that it all gets better. I hope your lives are not nearly as complicated as mine -.-'

Thanks for continuing to read even though I have not uploaded for so very long. As always, read and review, and know that I really appreciate your feedback.