FF7 Heartstrings
Vincent Unleashed
by TacomaSquall
Part Nine:
In the shadowed citadel of Lord Tenarrus, the dread lord of the Glooms met with his Horsemen. "Plans are moving forward toward their logical conclusion." Tenarrus smiled, his teeth shining in the darkness of his throne hall.
"Yes, love," Inanna purred. "The time has finally come for us to take our places for the final act." She flashed a smile of triumph at Tenebrius.
The grim lord had been wholeheartedly against Tenarrus' plan since the dread lord had revealed its entirety to them shortly after separating the four Mako-twisted avatars from their human host. More accurately, Tenebrius opposed the meager part in the plan he would play, as opposed to the roles of the other Horsemen. While the other three, along with Tenarrus, were conquering the planet, he was supposed to mop up whatever remained from the final confrontation between the so-called Lord Chaos and AVALANCHE.
He growled, "Spare me your sycophantic posturings, woman! We all know how you gained the position you now hold."
Uragi turned away from the throne to face Tenebrius. "If you are afraid, I would be glad to replace you in your mission."
"Are you saying I am a coward, swordsman?" Tenebrius' voice grew cold. "I have pulled a man's heart from his chest and crushed it, still beating, in front of his dying eyes, for less."
Uragi grinned. "You are welcome to try." He brought one hand up, in a quick "come on" gesture. Coyote, standing beside the master swordsman, burst into derisive laughter.
"Stop!" Tenarrus thundered. The force of command in his voice stopped the Horsemen cold. "I do not object to your intrigues during times when we are not engaged in conquest. However, I will not condone any in-fighting during the coming campaign. You will work together."
The Four Horsemen silently bowed their acquiescence to their master's command.
"Good. Soon, AVALANCHE will hear of Chaos' rampage." The demon master of the Glooms smiled. "Soon, they will race right into my trap."
* * * * * *
The members of the reformed AVALANCHE stood in front of the pool where AVALANCHE laid Aeris to rest, almost two years' before. Cid was listening to Yager relate the story of how the Frogman got his hands on the aviator's Slash Lance while AVALANCHE was near the Gongaga rainforest shortly before Aeris' death. Hieros stood in silent reverence, awed by the sanctity that emanated in a steady flow from the pool in the center of the City.
Maiji and Tifa were talking about children, and the trials and rigors of pregnancy. Cait Sith was in standby mode, waiting with its arms crossed and head downcast for the signal that the attempt to bring Aeris back was going to begin. Barret was nervously reloading the massive Missing Score with armor-piercing ammunition. Cloud was staring out into the pool, his thoughts going out to the woman he loved and lost to Sephiroth's cruelty.
Yuffie stood at the water's edge, nervously juggling four Materia crystals in her hands. All four were summons that she had come across during her travels. As she juggled, tears streamed down her face. You made me feel welcome. You defended me from the anger and mistrust of the others after I had stolen their Materia. Now, we have come to interrupt your rest…
Nanaki padded up to the Wutai-born ninja and nuzzled her hand with his nose. In response, Yuffie caught the Materia she had been juggling and patted the Kyrrawlen's scarred muzzle. "Thank you, old friend." She smiled slightly to him.
"No thanks are necessary, Yuffie. I know how strongly affected you were by Aeris' death, and I know you haven't been back since then."
"Nonetheless, you took time away from your own contemplation to reach out to me. Thanks." She bent down, kissed Nanaki's head and then ruffled his fur. "I just hope that we can save Vincent."
Nanaki cocked his head to one side and looked at the young woman. "Out of all of us, you are the most concerned with his plight. One does not mean to pry, but one would like an understanding of why this is so."
Yuffie shook her head. "That's okay. I don't mind telling you." She took a deep breath, and then began talking.
"Vincent always seemed so emotionless and cold. It made him something of an enigma during our quest to stop Sephiroth. I was drawn to that enigma just as I had been drawn to discover the myriad secrets of Materia and its combinations. I wanted to figure him out, to draw him out of his shell."
"When we first met him, Cloud tried to convince Vincent to help us while we were in the mansion in Nibelheim. He refused to help, and it took badgering by Cloud, Tifa, Aeris, and myself to finally convince him that he should help us. I couldn't understand why he was so cold and uncaring."
Yuffie's voice became more tender. "I started to understand Vincent better when we found the cave with Lucresia's ghost in it. I watched the shell that Vincent surrounds himself in crack as he was forced to face his past tragedy."
"I talked to him about what happened, shortly after we defeated Sephiroth. I had to drag it out of him, but I finally got him to tell the whole sad story of betrayal and grief." Her voice grew rough. "Vincent still thinks that everything that happened to Lucresia was his fault."
"Something in his story did not seem right, so I began searching for a more objective version of the tale. While I settled into the role of sensei to the next generation of Wutai's warriors, I searched ShinRa corporate records, with Reeve's assistance. I discovered transcripts and descriptions of events that Vincent described in his story, and they did not jibe with what he told me."
"Somewhere during this time, I realized that I was trying to save him. He had become something more to me than just a comrade-in-arms." She sighed. "Before I could tell him how I felt, however, he disappeared."
"Are you in love with him?" Nanaki's soft question caught Yuffie off-guard.
"I-I-I don't know!" She buried her head in the Kyrrawlen's fur and started to cry.
At that moment, Cloud stepped to the water's edge and brandished his sword. A single crimson Materia embedded in his Mystile flared into scarlet flame. "Phoenix! I call you to bridge the gap between the worlds of the living and dead!"
A reddish-orange sphere appeared in mid-air, and fell to the surface of the pool. When the sphere hit, the pool's surface rippled like it had been struck by a single raindrop. As the ripples subsided, the water of the pool began to glow, first orange, then red, and then finally white-hot. As the water heated up, it began to bubble violently, nearing the boiling point.
The mighty Phoenix, puissant firebird of rebirth, erupted from the bubbling waters of the pool. It hovered in mid-air over the waters and threw its wings open wide. It fixed its radiant eyes upon Cloud. In a voice that was higher pitched than the highest soprano in the El Junon Tabernacle Choir, it spoke.
"Who do you seek to rescue from Death's embrace?"
Cloud spoke softly. "I want you to raise the last of the Ancients. Resurrect Aeris Gainsborough."
The Phoenix shrieked once, and then vanished.
* * * * * *
Far beneath the City of the Ancients, the Planet stirred. A barrier, crucial to the cycle of life and death on the Planet, was about to be broken. This could not be permitted.
It was time for another Weapon to defend the Planet. Unlike Diamond, Ruby, Emerald, and Ultima, this Weapon would not fail.
End of Part Nine