Chapter 37: Battle against Lost Number and meeting Vincent Valentine
Cloud, Angelina and Tifa forcefully pushed open the old wooden doors of the Shinra mansion with their hands, causing the doors to flew inward and crashed against the inside wall of the mansion. The sound of the crash echoed throughout the main foyer room, which was exactly as it was 5 years ago other than the increase of the amount of dust in the air and on the floor.
As Cloud, Angelina, Tifa and the others behind them step through the now opened door into the main foyer room, they saw that the main foyer room with its three wooden doors to their left, right and in front of them which leads into three different rooms was still as dark/foreboding as ever, reminding Cloud, Angelina and Laina of the first time (and second time, in Laina's case) they stepped into the mansion. The three huge yellowish windows with its broken curtains on it on the second floor were still partially drawn over the windows but not for long since the curtains look like they would fell apart completely and letting the sunlight outside shine freely into the interior of Shinra mansion.
Once Cloud, Angelina, Tifa, Laina and the others were all inside the old mansion and both Barret and Selwyn turned and closed the old wooden doors behind them, leaving the main foyer room in almost darkness other than the beam of sunlight that shine in through the partially covered windows. After both Barret and Selwyn closed the doors, Cloud and the others then walked forward to the center of the main foyer room and look around the large room and its three closed wooden doors. They don't see any sign of Sephiroth but they knew that he's somewhere within the old mansion, especially Cloud, Angelina and Laina since the 3 of them felt his presence slightly more strongly after they're inside the mansion. Cloud then suggest to the others that they should split up and check each of the rooms within the mansion and they all agreed with his suggestion and split up. Barret and Red XIII went to check the room to their right, Cait Sith, Nina and Carter went to check the room to their left, Tifa, Yuffie and Selwyn went to check the room in front of them under the second floor and Cloud, Angelina, Laina, Aeris and Kunsel went up the stairs to the second floor and split up. Both Aeris and Kunsel turned and went to the second-floor room to their right while Cloud, Angelina and Laina turned and went to the second-floor room to their left.
Cloud, Angelina and Laina opened the door, went into the room and they saw that the room was quite dusty with three old single beds (with two small wooden tables in between the three single beds) to their left against the wall and some yellowish windows, a medium-sized cabinet to their right and a huge metallic safe in front of them next to a desk with some books and a single piece of old and yellowish paper on it. Cloud, Angelina and Laina approach the desk and Laina picked the paper up to read it, with both Cloud and Angelina looking and reading the paper together with her.
I must get rid of all those that dares to try to stand in the way of me and my precious research. Even that meddlesome one from the Turks. I scientifically altered him and put him into a deep sleep here in the basement. If any of you wanted to find him, then you have to search the place thoroughly.
However, this is merely a "spur-of-the-moment" kind of game I thought up for you. It is not necessary for you to participate if you don't want to.
Move the dial of the safe in one of the rooms within the mansion above carefully, but quickly. You have only 20 seconds. You cannot go past the numbers while turning it. The 4 hints for the numbers are…
Dial 1- The lid of the box with the most oxygen.
Dial 2- Behind the ivory's short of tea and tray
Dial 3- The creak in the floor near the chair on the second floor…then to the left five steps, up nine steps, left two steps and up six steps.
As for the fourth and last hint, I've written it down with a pen using invisible ink. Dial 4-Right 97.
The correct numbers is Right 36, Left 10, Right 59 and Right 97.
After Cloud, Angelina and Laina had finished reading the contents of the yellowish paper, Laina put the paper down on the desk and turned to glance at both Cloud and Angelina. "Cloud, Angelina. I know that we're after Sephiroth and that he's somewhere here within this mansion but we have to help whoever it is that's trapped in this mansion too."
"Why should we, Laina?" said Cloud in an unimpressed tone of voice. "We don't even know whoever this guy is."
"I know that!" Laina snapped at him. "But even so, I just don't like the idea of knowing that some Turk guy is trapped here and might be needing our help to get free. So I wanted to help him to get free."
"I agreed with her, Cloud." said Angelina as she glance at Cloud. "We should help him, whoever he is."
"Fine then." said Cloud as he sighed heavily and shook his head. He then take another look at the yellowish paper on the desk to memorize the 4 numbers before he got down on one knee in front of the safe and prepared to input the 4 numbers into the safe, with both Angelina and Laina watching warily from behind him.
"I have a bad feeling about this, Angie, Laina…" Cloud said aloud to himself and to Angelina and Laina standing behind him as he touched the safe. He could felt some kind of strong hidden power of pure rage/strength emanating from within the walls of the safe which kept it tight and secure. He glance over his shoulder at the both of them, saw that they had their hands holding the handle of their weapons behind them at the ready for anything that emerged from the safe and nodded to Cloud, who nodded back to them before he looked back at the safe and began inputting the numbers into the safe. After Cloud input the numbers into the safe (while within the 20 seconds limit), a loud click soon sounded from the safe after its unlocked and soon the door of the safe burst open outward on its own and Cloud, Angelina and Laina quickly back away from the now opened safe and the huge monster as it came out from the safe with a loud, screeching roar.
The monster (named Lost Number) which emerged from the safe look like a very misshapen creature which is probably forged from a combination of different levels of mako energy. Its huge body was composed of two different parts, split completely in half from its two original bodies and forcefully joined together by squishy flesh. The left-side of its body was quite a physical, muscular and firm purplish-green coloured body made up of a large rock-sized head and a fierce yellow left eye. Its left arm and leg were as physically firm and muscular as its left half body and its left hand had sharp, black claws on it which made it an arsenal of physical destruction. The right-side of its body was the opposite of its left-side body, it was bright, fiery red in colour with many long furry tentacles like heavy eyebrows which covered up most of its right-side face and yellow right eye while both its right arm and leg were also tentacles, its right arm waving around in the air in search of prey, making it an arsenal of magical force. Yet despite the difference of its misshapen body, Lost Number had one long, menacing smile on its face, filled with razor-sharp teeths.
Cloud, Angelina and Laina wasted no time in pulling their swords and naginata from their backs and they begin their fight against Lost Number together. As Cloud, Angelina and Laina raised their swords and naginata to continuously slashes, stabs at its right-side body and casted Fira, Blizzara and Thundara continuously at its left-side body, causing it to roar out in anger/pain at the three of them before it retaliate by casting Thundara and Gravira on them several times while it swings its right arm at both Cloud and Angelina (who quickly dodged away from its right arm), raised and swung its left arm down on Laina (who deflected its left arm away from her with her "Telekinesis") several times as well. After the three of them dodged away from Lost Number swinging and punching arms, they decided to finish it off by using their "Climhazzard", "Vile Strike" and "Exodus Blades" limit breaks on it.
After they use their limit breaks on it, Cloud, Angelina and Laina then watched as Lost Number moaned in pain before it fell backward onto the floor, its body shudder/convulsed/bleeds heavily for a while due to the multiple injuries Cloud, Angelina and Laina had done to it before Lost Number's body finally went still and it slowly dispersed apart and disappear into thin air, leaving the room in silence once again. After the monster is gone, Cloud, Angelina and Laina put their weapons back behind them before Cloud got down on one knee in front of the now open safe, look inside the safe and saw three items lying inside it. One was an old key while the other two was another red-coloured summon materia (Odin materia) and "Cosmo Memory" limit break (one of Red XIII limit break). Cloud take the key, the Odin summon materia and the limit break out from the safe and closed the safe door, put them in his pocket, stood up and turned to glance at both Angelina and Laina.
"I got the items inside the safe, Angie, Laina." Cloud told them both. "Let's go."
Both Angelina and Laina nodded to him and they turned and went toward the open door, but before they could leave the room, they heard the sounds of multiple footsteps coming their way and they soon saw that it's Barret, Tifa and the others.
"Alright, what just happened here?" demanded Barret as he glance at Cloud, Angelina and Laina.
"We went into this room and we saw and read an old paper lying on the desk about some sick scientist guy who decided to experiment/altered some Turk guy and left him here to fall into a deep sleep." Angelina explained to Barret, Tifa and the others. "So Laina told us that she wanted to free him from it and the only way we can do that is by opening the safe in this room. But after we open it, a huge monster came out from the safe and we quickly defeated/killed it to get the items inside the safe."
"Seriously?" said Selwyn.
"Yeah, that's about it." said Laina. "And what about you guys? What took you guys so long to come up here while we were fighting the monster?"
"Well, as we all split up to check the rooms for any signs of Sephiroth, we got attacked by some Dorky Faces, Ghirofelgos, Mirages and Jerseys monsters." Kunsel told Laina. "We then fight and defeated them and that's the reason why we got delayed, Laina."
"Oh, I see."
Cloud and his friends/companions then ceased their talking before they quickly left the second-floor left room and walk across the hall toward the other room to their right, where Cloud, Angelina and Laina remember that there's a secret shaft stone wall opposite the bookshelves inside the room which will lead them down to the underground basement (and Laina remember it as the place where both she and Zack found Sephiroth 5, 6 years ago). Both Cloud and Angelina opened the secret shaft stone wall, went in and walked down the dark spiral staircase with the others followed closely behind them (some of them had to leaned their hands against the wall to steady their walking) until they reached the bottom of the spiral staircase and looked around the area (which is much more chilly, moldy and dusty than 2 years ago and causing almost all of them to covered their noses in disgust).
Cloud, Angelina, Laina and the others soon caught sight of a ladder latched against the rocky wall to their left, went toward it and they began to climbed down the ladder one by one. They climbed off the ladder after they reached the bottom of it which turns out to be a long and old tunnel leading straight on toward two wooden doors within. Cloud, Angelina, Laina and the others then headed down the tunnel toward the two wooden doors and Cloud halted in his tracks (with the others halted in their tracks behind him) near the smaller, wooden door to his left, turned to it and he pull out the old key from his pocket, slid the key into the keyhole on the door and unlocked it.
After Cloud unlocked the door, he slowly pushed it open and went into the room with Angelina, Laina and Kunsel following behind him while Barret, Tifa and the others choose to wait for the 4 of them outside the room. Once they're in the room and looked around the place, they saw that there were multiple dusty and partially open empty coffins lying scattered around the room while the only, dark purplish-coloured coffin lying on the ground in the middle of the room was closed and they could hear faint, snoring sound coming from inside it. Cloud then approach the closed coffin and just as he's about to grasp the lid of the coffin to open it, he, Angelina, Laina and Kunsel soon heard the snoring sounds inside the coffin stopped and a deep, somewhat emotionless man's voice spoke out to them through the coffin.
"…To wake me from the nightmare… Who is it!?" said the deep man's voice which sounded angry now before the lid of the coffin shook violently then burst open, flew upward and landed down on the ground next to the now opened coffin with a thud, causing Cloud to quickly back away from the now opened coffin and Angelina, Laina and Kunsel to jumped a little. Cloud, Angelina, Laina and Kunsel looked at the opened coffin and saw a man lying inside it. Slowly the man began to sit upright and glance at both Cloud and Angelina, who's standing in front of him while both Laina and Kunsel stands behind them both with Laina standing behind Kunsel and looking at the man over his left shoulder.
Cloud, Angelina, Laina and Kunsel saw that the man sitting in the coffin look to be in his late twenties, had long, waist-length black hair down his back, dark crimson-coloured eyes on his pale-looking and handsome face, a red bandanna tied over his head with some strands of his black hair sticking out of it and he's wearing a kind of black-coloured tunic with some straps/buckles on it over his body which is mostly covered up by a long red tattered-looking cape with a large collar on it which covered the lower half of his face and which flowed around his shoulders and down his back. On his feet he's wearing a long black trousers with a holster strapped around his waist with a powerful-looking gun inside it and with a pair of knee-length and pointed sabaton shoes on it. And on his left arm they could see that it's a kind of golden-coloured gauntlet with long, sharp claw-like fingers on it, unlike his right arm, which is normal and human-looking.
"…Never seen you before." the man said to them still with the same deep and emotionless tone of voice. "You must leave now."
"You were having a nightmare." Cloud pointed out to the man and the man slowly turned his head to glance at him.
"You'll dream about bad things if you sleep in a place like THIS." said Kunsel to the man and the man glance away from Cloud to him now.
"Hmph… a nightmare…?" said the man in a low and quiet tone of voice now. "My long slumber here in this room has given me time to atone."
"Time to atone?" said Angelina, confused.
"What are you saying?" said Cloud, confused as well.
The man sitting in the coffin sighed, feeling a little annoyed at both Cloud and Angelina split second lack of common sense. "I have nothing to say to strangers like you. Leave now." the man told them. "This mansion is the beginning of your nightmare."
Cloud, Angelina and Laina all lowered their heads and sighed deeply.
"You got that right." thought Laina sadly to herself.
"…You can say that again." mumbled Cloud in a small voice.
"Hmmm? What do you know?" the man asked Cloud.
Cloud lifted his head to glance at the man and decided to tell him. "Like you just said to us, this mansion is the beginning of a nightmare." Cloud stops for a second and shook his head. "No, it's not a dream. It's real. Sephiroth has lost his mind. He found out about the secrets hidden by some professor in this mansion…"
"Sephiroth!?" said the man in a slightly loud voice suddenly, cutting off Cloud's words and causing Cloud, Angelina, Laina and Kunsel to jumped again.
"You know Sephiroth?" Cloud, Angelina and the man asked the same question at the exact same time as they glance at each other. Cloud, Angelina and the man then lapsed into silence before the man suddenly stood up and back flip out of the coffin until his feet landed on the edge of the coffin daintily and steadily.
"You and the girl standing next to you start first." The man said to Cloud, making it sound almost like an order. Both Cloud and Angelina exchange glances with each other and then they began to explain/tell the man every details of what they know about Sephiroth while both Laina and Kunsel watched in silence, beginning from 5, 6 years ago when they began their mission to investigate the mako reactor here in Nibelheim with Sephiroth, Laina and some infantrymens up until Sephiroth reappearance inside Shinra company, how he killed off President Shinra and half of Shinra company employees, infantrymens and minor soldiers in cold blood, took Jenova's headless body with him and of their pursuits of him away from Midgar across the vast green plains, rivers and several towns/villages until they arrived here in Nibelheim. While both Cloud and Angelina explain to the man, they (and both Laina and Kunsel) noticed that his face change from interest to anger before slowly change into a sad and pained look.
"…That's how it was." Cloud said to the man after both he and Angelina finished explaining/telling him their story and they took a deep breath of air, relieved that they're done explaining/telling him.
"So Sephiroth knows that he was created 5, 6 years ago?" said the man, deeply lost in his own thoughts. "And about the Jenova Project?… He was missing, but had just recently reappeared, taken many lives away and is seeking the Promised Land."
"That's right." said Angelina with a nod of her head.
"Now it's your turn." Cloud told him.
"Sorry… I cannot speak." said the man as he shook his head at Cloud, Angelina, Laina and Kunsel, which surprised then angered them.
"Oh, come on!" said Kunsel, annoyed at the man.
"That's dirty!" yelled Aeris voice through the opened door behind them.
The man ignored both Kunsel and Aeris angry words at him as he jumped down into the coffin to sit down. "Hearing both of your stories has added upon me yet another sin. More nightmares shall come to me now, more than I previously had." the man said to them in a sad/remorseful tone of voice as he glance at them before he slowly lie backward down into the coffin. "Now… please leave."
The lid of the coffin next to the man slowly rise up from the ground and right before the lid closed the coffin and the man lying within, Angelina decided to asked the man another question.
"Wait just a minute, please!" said Angelina in a quick tone of voice to the man and they watched as the lid of the coffin stopped and floated in mid-air for a few seconds before it flew away from the coffin and landed on the ground again. The man lightly groaned before he slowly sat back up and glance at them again.
"…You are still here?" the man asked them.
"Who are you?" Angelina asked the man. "You should at least tell us your name."
The man hesitated to answer Angelina's question for a few second then finally made up his mind and decided to tell them. "I was with… the Shinra Manufacturing Department in Administrative Research, otherwise known as-the Turks… And my name is Vincent Valentine."
"The Turks!?" exclaimed both Cloud and Angelina in surprised.
"Formerly of the Turks." the man named Vincent told them. "I have no affiliation with Shinra company now… And what about you all?"
"I'm Cloud Strife and these three with me are my friends. Angelina Pierce, Laina Donovan and Kunsel Ashbourne." Cloud introduced himself and his three friends to Vincent, who glance at Cloud then at both Angelina and Kunsel until his crimson eyes landed on Laina (who stepped out from Kunsel's back) and his eyes widened in surprised then joy/hope when he saw her.
"Lucrecia? Is that you?" said Vincent to Laina in a joy/hopeful tone of voice.
"What?" said Laina, giving him a confused look.
"Hey, what's wrong with your eyes, buddy?" said Kunsel sternly at Vincent. "She's not Lucrecia. She's Laina Donovan."
Vincent blinked his eyes and glance at Laina's feature closely then he slowly turned his head away. "Forgive me for the mistake. It's just that she look so much like a woman I used to know and loved deeply. Her name was Lucrecia."
"Who is this Lucrecia?" Laina asked Vincent.
"…Lucrecia is the woman who gave birth to Sephiroth." replied Vincent.
"Say what? This Lucrecia woman is Sephiroth's true mother?" said Angelina with a surprised then confused look on her face.
"Wasn't Jenova Sephiroth's mother?" said Cloud, surprised and confused as well.
"That isn't completely wrong, but just a theory." said Vincent. "He was born from a beautiful lady. That lady was Lucrecia. She was an assistant to Professor Gast of the Jenova Project. Beautiful… Lucrecia."
"… A human experiment?" said Cloud as he suddenly remembered the name of Professor Gast being mentioned by Sephiroth when he had been pacing in the underground laboratory room after he read through those files/reports about the Jenova Project 6 years ago and feel disgusted at the lengths the Shinra scientist would do to get what they want.
"Those Shinra scientist bastards!" thought Angelina angrily in her mind while both Laina and Kunsel continue staring at Vincent in silence.
"There was no way to cancel the experiment." Vincent continue telling them with a sad/mournful look on his face now. "I couldn't stop her. That was my sin. I let the one I loved, the one I respected most, face the worst all alone."
At that moment, Laina had a sudden feeling that both her and Vincent were kind of kindred spirits. For she's too felt responsible for what happened to Zack 2 years ago and blamed herself for his death, like how Vincent felt responsible for Lucrecia and blamed himself for not stopping her.
"And you decided to punish yourself by sleeping?" said Kunsel with a "Are-you-serious" look on his face. "That's kind of a stupid decision."
Vincent glared at Kunsel for a few seconds then he slowly lie back down into the coffin and the lid of the coffin next to him floated back up from the ground again and closed the coffin and Vincent, who lies inside. Cloud, Angelina, Laina and Kunsel stared at the now silent coffin for a while then they turned around, went out of the room to joined up with the others waiting outside, close the door behind them and they all turned to glance at the large door which leads into the underground laboratory in front of them. Cloud and his friends/companions walked toward the door and Cloud opened the door and they all went into the room.
Once they are all inside the underground laboratory room and looked around, Cloud, Angelina and Laina saw that the place hasn't changed much in the past 5, 6 years. The long, rectangular table (with a kind of light machine scientist used to shine on their experiments next to the table) is still in the middle of the room, several bookshelves and a wooden cabinet with old and dusty books and shattered medicine bottles on them along with several machines and dusty old tubes (Laina turn to look away from the old tubes that both she and Zack busted themselves out from and later helped both Cloud and Angelina to get out of them 2 years ago) against the wall in several corner.
Cloud, Angelina, Laina and Tifa's eyes then landed on the wooden door to their left and the 4 of them left the others (who's still looking around the room), went toward the door, opened it and they went into another old and dusty room which is a combination of a library and an office and they soon saw Sephiroth standing inside the room, staring at them with a faint evil smile on his face.
"Sephiroth!" said both Cloud and Angelina in a loud and furious tone of voice as they glared at him while both Tifa and Laina, who's standing behind them both just glared at him in silence.
"Being back here brings back memories." said Sephiroth in a soft/gentle voice as he looked away from them, looked around at the library/office walls around him then looked back at them again. "Are all of you going to participate in the Reunion?"
"We don't even know what this Reunion of yours is!" Cloud growled angrily at him.
"Jenova will be at the Reunion." Sephiroth continue saying to them, ignoring Cloud's words of anger. "Jenova will join the Reunion becoming a calamity from the skies."
"Jenova, a calamity from the skies?" said Angelina in an awkward tone of voice. "You mean she wasn't an Ancient!?"
Sephiroth heard what Angelina just said and he looked away from Cloud to her, look into her eyes and saw only confusion/cluelessness in her eyes and a frown look immediately appeared on his face before he slowly shook his head. "… I see." said Sephiroth in an emotionless tone of voice now. "I don't think that both you and him have the right to participate. But her however…" Sephiroth look at Laina past both Cloud and Angelina's shoulders and Laina frowned at him. "She is allowed to participate."
"What?" said Angelina in an incredulous tone of voice. "Why her?"
Sephiroth ignored Angelina and looked away from them. "I will go North past Mount Nibel now." Sephiroth told them. "If any of you wish to find out… then follow me…"
"…Reunion?" Cloud whisper to himself, repeating Sephiroth's words. "Calamity from the skies?"
While Cloud was lost in his thoughts about Sephiroth's words, Sephiroth suddenly pull a green-coloured materia (Destruct materia) out from his left pocket and threw it at Cloud. The materia struck hard on his chest, causing Cloud to gasp and he fell on one knee to the floor, his hand over his now bruised chest while the materia which Sephiroth just threw at him roll away in front of him now.
"Cloud!" said both Angelina and Tifa worriedly as they kneel down near Cloud while Laina watched as Sephiroth floated up from the floor and flew forward over their heads, out of the library/office and laboratory rooms (which surprises Barret and the others) and disappearing down the underground tunnel.
After the pain on his chest fade away, Cloud reassured both Angelina and Tifa that he's alright before he slowly staggered to his feet while picking up the materia which Sephiroth threw at him, put it into his right pocket with the other materia, turned around and leave the library/office with Angelina, Tifa and Laina, joined up with the others waiting for them in the laboratory room and they then left the laboratory room and began to head back down the tunnel toward the ladder.
"Wait!" said Vincent's voice from behind them suddenly and Cloud and his friends/companions halted in their tracks and turned around to glance at Vincent as he run out from the room he's in, spotted them and ran over to them with a determined look on his pale face and ceased his running. "If I go with you all, will I meet Hojo?" Vincent asked them.
"Dunno." admitted Cloud as he shrugged his shoulders. "But we're all going after him and Sephiroth. So, I guess sooner or later…"
Vincent closed his eyes and turned away from them, remembering the woman named Lucrecia in his memory. "Lucrecia…" Vincent whispered her name softly before he opened his eyes and turned back to them. "All right. I've decided to go with you all."
"Wait, what?" said Selwyn as he raised his eyebrow.
"What? You're really coming with us?" said Tifa, surprised.
"Sure is a quick change of heart, huh?" said Aeris.
Vincent nodded to them. "Being a former member of Turks, I may be of help to you all…" said Vincent.
"What's your decision, Cloud?" asked Laina as she glance at him.
Cloud crossed his arms to ponder for a few seconds then uncrossed his arms and nodded to Vincent. "All right, then. You can come with us."
Vincent nodded back to Cloud in silent gratitude and he soon follow after them as they all turned around, headed toward the ladder, climbed up the ladder one by one until they reached the upper ground level, walked up the dark, spiral staircase, went out through the opened secret shaft stone wall, out of the second-floor room back toward the second floor staircase, went down the stairs toward the old wooden door, opened the door and leave Shinra mansion.