Nanaki slept in the barn that night; the Chocobos and horses were agitated and nervous, somehow knowing that the night would be unusual. The temperature was still sinking and though it was in the middle of summer, the presence of winter was clearly felt. Nanaki had not spoken to Vincent the whole day and avoided any confrontations. Instead he retired peacefully to the barn and waited for the night.
The moonlight was shining through the crevices between the boards and announced the arrival the night. The wooden parts of the barn started creaking as if they were speaking to a weary mind slowly drifting into sleep, but Nanaki hadn't dozed off for long before a rustling noise called for his attention and he opened his eyes. The cold had crept around him, the ground frozen and turned the dust into a solid crust under his paws. When his feline gaze got used to the scarce, shivering light from the moon, he cautiously walked out of the barn noticing the animals in their stalls had been frozen to the bone and immortalized as icy statues.
Nanaki's breath was savored by the air and followed him like a veil as he made his way through the dead valley.
"Is anyone out there," he roared out into the darkness, but there was no response.
The feline warrior realized there was nothing other in this cold world than the small barn where he slept and the emptiness surrounding him. The ground shimmered in white before him, and he knew there had to be a path for him to follow.
"Where are you," he called into the barrenness and in response a little insect landed on his shoulder; communicating with the flapping of its wings.
It was something that resembled a cricket but it had shiny, colourful wings that signalled with flashes of rainbow light as the insect danced about in the air. Through its restless hovering Nanaki understood he was to follow the tiny insect. He was a bit hesitant at first, but knew from experience that when the world of the spirits came to life, there was nothing to do but to play by the rules, no matter how illogical.
They ran through the night, leaving the safety of the barn behind and covering acres of solid land until they reached a small, black circle standing out against the icy ground that reflected the moonlight. Nanaki stopped, his heart pounding wildly in his chest and lungs craving air. He lowered his head over the circle of black soil and noticed that in contrary to the surroundings, it was warm. The tiny insect landed on his paws, also staring at the tiny bit of soil steaming against the eternal winter.
"What's this?" Nanaki asked, carefully inspecting the fleck of soil, circling it cautiously and trying to solve the puzzle of its presence. 'Why was it there? What was its purpose?'
"What is this," the feline repeated and sniffed the soil.
The tiny insect flapped its wings in an incomprehensible answer and landed on the soft bed of circle. It looked up at Nanaki, twitching and cracking its little body until it assumed a very odd shape of a crystal prism. It scattered the scarce light around itself like an infinitesimal sun, pulsating and hypnotising the feline to reach for the sharpest point of the object at which it immediately drew the first drops of blood from a pure heart.
As the drops of blood trickled into the soil, the ground turned into flesh, worms crawling into the night and giving life to the dead world beneath the empty skies. The fleshy creatures grew longer and thicker, plaiting, intertwining and anchoring into each other, giving rise to a mounting pile of squirming disgust. Nanaki backed away, fangs showing to depict his insecurity and aggression whilst the worms kept pouring out of the ground, reaching in all directions. It grew way beyond sight until it solidified in the shape of a vine with frightening thorns protruding through the branches like daggers.
The branches were black and bare apart from the thorns; there were no leaves, no flowers just a sapping mesh of danger that held the key to Chaos sovereignty. The tiny insect suddenly reappeared again and landed on the broad scapula of the feline and with a rasping voice that sent the chill down the spine, it whispered;
"Nightshades of the earth contain the nectar for the daemons. Beyond the pain of the thorns you shall find a single flower. It blooms only for one night but has the power to tame a force."
Nanaki gazed up at the black skies, not being able to discern the top of the winding plant. Its stem resembled a trunk tormented and twisted by winds, whereas the branches formed a nearly impermeable network that promised pain, but the feline understood his fate.
"I am to climb to the top?" he asked rhetorically.
"Before the morning comes," the insect clicked and flew onto a branch, making it seem ever so easy to reach the goal.
But Nanaki was hesitant. The vine was scarring the clouds above and the horizon was already beginning to thaw behind the flat, endless desert; the edge of the world. The feline took a deep breath and stepped closer to the turning, twisting stem, trying to avoid the powerful thorns. Following one careless first step, a sharp edge broke the delicate skin of the sentient creature, digging under the skin and marking him with cuts. Nanaki hissed with pain whilst the vicious little insect emitted a resounding echo of rasping laughter, followed by a daring challenge to make it to the top. The sentient had no wants to take on the challenge to please the ego of the small creature, but he knew he had to play along to win the prize. The prize to set Chaos free and thus he began his journey to the top of the vine.
The journey was but of pain and anguish as each step brought about cuts and scratches that ripped the skin and stung the flesh. Each thorn was like a splinter in the soul, leaving behind a dull ache that coursed through every little vein, etching inscriptions on a soul. The winds howled like tortured daemons and at times, confused by the pain, Nanaki couldn't even tell if the sudden currents of air were generated through mighty wings or if it was just Nature playing tricks on his mind. But a sudden state of confusion could prove to be a fatal mistake as the distraction of the fluttering insect made him take a careless step. The branch broke and the feline slipped, falling into the arms of thorns, racking his body with pain as his voice echoed into the night. The manic time unrelentingly passed through the essence of the void, hurrying towards chaos and celebrating entropy.
As the first rays of the morning sun broke through the emptiness around him, Nanaki gathered strength to climb higher. The mighty plant was swaying and singing with its creaking voice, threatening to break as the branches grew weaker and leaner. Nanaki was fighting his fear as well as time, racing against the rising sun. By the time the sentient reached the top of the vine, his skin was nearly peeled off his flesh. The vine was already dying at the root, and the stem withering, but the blue flower was still marvelling on top of the plant with splendor. With trembling jaws he picked the flower and kept it safely in his mouth, waiting for the day to turn the dream into reality. He was shivering with pain and cold, but knew salvation was at hand and so, when the vine crumbled beneath his feet, the sentient offered his being with a relief, falling through the darkness.
Nanaki awoke with a sudden jolt, just before he hit the ground, and released the pent up tension in his body in violent coughing; the blue flower falling out of his mouth. He took it immediately into his protective embrace and held it close. The break of dawn was upon him and the Chocobos had already started fidgeting in their stall. The feline took a deep breath and made an effort to stay up, but the aching joints forced him to take it slow this particular morning. The nocturnal adventures he had embarked on left a lingering fatigue in his body, and thus the feline leaned back in the stack of hay and got comfortable. Just a few minutes more he thought, but a familiar clicking noise called for his attention. His ears swivelled towards the sound and lurking under the stack of hay where he lay, was the tiny insect. It crawled out to face the feline and then disappeared just as quickly scurrying away.
"Right," Nanaki sighed. "No rest."
Vincent did not even know or could react to what hit him when Nanaki overpowered him in his sleep and placed something in his mouth. It was a foreign object that resembled something his mouth identified as a plant. It was bitter, yet sweet in the most delicious way. The more he fought the sweeter the taste and passing a swift moment, the bitter-sweet droplets of amber nectar trickled down his throat. It spread like heat through every hidden corner of his body, making Vincent mesmerised into an apathetic state. As the poison took hold of the human body, the face of the Daemon shone through the fragile surface, whilst Vincent's veins began turning dark blue and the marbled skin faded to deathly pale. Chaos grinned with a unique blend of malice and relief. He recoginzed the taste of the amber drops.
Tiny drops of sweat appeared on Vincent's trembling chest, whilst Nanaki took the angry scar below the collarbone into view. One clean strike, a powerful rupture and Vincent would be free from Chaos; two enemies trapped in the same body. Nanaki extended his claws and prepared for a strike, enthusiastically aided by Chaos who pushed the orb to the surface of the flesh from beneath, stretching the skin to an almost transparent membrane.
"Forgive me, Vincent," was the last thing Nanaki whispered before he delivered the Daemon into the world.
As the sharp claws of the sentient tore the orb through Vincent's chest, Chaos assumed power over the flesh and broke out in a halo of red light, oozing through the open pores of the skin. With a victorious roar the divine being extended its wings outside its prison. Finally, it had the power to destroy and be free for good. The eyes glowed like molten gold when the Daemon turned, submerged in the fury he was to unleash over the shivering, blood-covered human. Vincent was dying it seemed, hence it wouldn't make any difference if the suffering was cut short. Nanaki, however, threw himself over the dying Turk, hissing viciously on his behalf.
"No, no, no, no! You can be with Sephiroth in your world at this moment as much as you want, but we need to bring him back to our plane for the sake of our future and you cannot go against the will of a Cetra. You know this! Once Sephiroth is in this plane you have lost him… for good! You need Vincent to stay close to your angel. If you kill Vincent now and we bring Sephiroth back, then you will be kept in eternal solitude. You know this!"
"No!" Chaos rumbled in response, attempting another attack, but Nanaki intervened again.
"Chaos!" the sentient hissed behind clenched teeth. "We need him! I cannot let you have him. And I am telling you… if Vincent dies, you shall never see Sephiroth again and it's him you desire, is it not?"
Fighting against his antagonistic emotions, Chaos calmed a little, just enough for Nanaki to be able to reason with him. Listening to the arguments, the divinity had to admit that, unfortunately, the feline was right. He could be with Sephiroth now, but it would not be under pleasant conditions; it would be inside nightmares and shielded from the pleasant warmth of the Lifestream. As much as Chaos could remain aloof to the darkness, he was not impassive to the suffering that very same darkness brought about in the Seraph.
"And Chaos," Nanaki continued. "We need you too."
At first, thinking the sentient was only attempting to appease an ego, Chaos snorted with contempt and challenged the idea.
"What possible reason can you present? I'm not a warrior on your behalf," he hissed. And true enough. Chaos was not an entity to serve the purpose of humans, but a tool for Gaea. Her weapon of destruction, which could awaken the Omega to ensure the continuation of life even when the hollow crust of the planet imploded.
"True, my friend. Vincent has to bring back Sephiroth and that can only be done through you," Nanaki explained, still standing as a guardian next to the immobilized human. "You are the channel between the living and the dead, but I do know this about you…"
"What's that?" Chaos threw in arrogantly whilst circling Nanaki in an attempt to find a way to attack Vincent through a slight weakness in the defense without injuring the sentient that he had developed deep respect for. But Nanaki was agile and didn't open up for even the slightest fraction of a second.
"That you like being alive."
And with that, Nanaki had hit the key point that defeated the weapon. Nanaki brought the truth in the most merciless and candid way, but Chaos, although an aggressive force, was reasonable and respectfully agreed he would remain dormant when Vincent was needed.
"However," he halted, "when Sephiroth is present, I have full freedom to use Vincent's body as MY vessel."
"Humph," Nanaki snorted with contempt. "I do recognize those words. Seems to me like you've memorized Sephiroth's legacy to this world."
"Either that or I leave now and Vincent will die."
"No," Nanaki countered calmly, shaking his head. "You are no longer bound to Vincent because I gave you the nightshade. In other words, you owe me to keep Vincent alive. I will make sure when Sephiroth is present you will be with him, despite what Vincent wants."
Chaos exposed his fangs in doubt, resembling a hissing bat from hell, but Nanaki eased his anguish.
"You have my word on it."