Chapter II: On The Wings Of Fate
The
next couple of days went by slowly with little to do. Shad seemed content with whatever he did, even if that meant
sitting and doing nothing but being and thinking. Vincent found himself wandering all through the little town of
Nibelheim and the mansion; letting his thoughts scatter in any direction they
pleased. When especially bored, he
slept, even if that meant having no softer a bed than the grass beneath a tree and
no blanket save the sun's warmth.
The
scientists below seemed to busy themselves to no end of the JENOVA Project,
happily performing their experiments in seclusion. Hojo never seemed to come upstairs, usually asked for something
only when on of the others were coming back down to save them a trip. Gast seemed to grow older faster every
day. Gast was a kindhearted man, often
supplying idle chat every now and then when he got a break. Lucrecia seemed to be getting better.
There
had been an awkward saga between Ms. D'Angelo and Mr. Valentine for some
time. Vincent had managed to hide most
of the relationship from Shad, yet the blonde man played it cool and figured it
out. Lucrecia had always been quiet and
timid by nature so all that one could do to tell she was in love was by the
song in her heart and the spring in her step.
But Lucrecia had the project now and she and Vincent were falling
apart. She was a slave to JENOVA and
left very little time for anything or anyone else. Vincent wondered about it in the quiet afternoons, knowing that
after his argument with Hojo that things between the lovely Miss D'Angelo and
himself would never be the same again.
He hadn't spoken to Lucrecia since then, or even seen her for that
matter. He had found out that she was
allowing herself to be a human lab rat about five days before Dante came. The Turk had tried to talk her out of it,
but Lucrecia wouldn't hear it. When he
gave up on her he did the unthinkable and tried to talk to Hojo who would hear
nothing of it either. Vincent had given
up then. He often sat and stared at the
stained glass windows, watching the colors dance when the sun shone through it
during the sweet days of the Nibelheim summer.
Other times he thought of the only other female in the mansion: Dante.
Dante
was one of the most unusual people Vincent had ever met. Her part in the project had not yet come
(though President ShinRa seemed to think that her arrival was long overdue) so
she made herself extra comfortable before she was to become a slave to JENOVA
as well. Vincent had come across her
many times as she scribbled madly into her notebooks. No one really knew what she wrote in there, nor did anyone really
care. Vincent had already learned of
her love for art when the mansion found itself suddenly decorated with various
paintings (some of Dante's own work) that hung from every spare hook or nail in
the walls. Dante was only here for a
week or two, and she was the oddest duck out of two professional assassins and
three scientists who were obsessed and married to their work. She sometimes disappeared and no one knew
where she had gone only to return by nightfall, singing pleasantly to
herself. Vincent found himself
pondering about her more than he would like to have admitted, but was grateful
to have someone else to think of other than his Lucrecia.
So
he stood, idly staring at the windows on the stair landing with unseeing eyes,
thinking all this over in his head when Dante wandered by unnoticed by the
contemplating Turk.
"She
is very nice, isn't she?" Dante murmured.
By now she had lost her cinnamon traveling dress and stood in her
T-shirt and jeans, looking at the windows as well.
Vincent,
startled by the unexpected presence and question, flicked his surprised eyes
towards the new scientist. "Excuse me?"
"Miss
D'Angelo. She's very nice. I'd rather help her out than do Hojo's
bidding any day of the week." Dante
looked at Vincent from the corner of her apple green eyes. The Turk's honey-amber eyes locked with hers
instantly. She seemed to tell him that
she knew about what was going on between him and Lucrecia.
Dante's
eyes broke away and scanned the huge windows in a glance, "This little town
certainly doesn't offer much to do, does it?"
She strolled towards the windows and slouched against the wall beneath
them while facing Vincent.
The
Turk shrugged, "Perfect day to use songbirds for target practice."
Dante's
eyes lit up, "I hear you're pretty good.
It sounds like they got a good deal in nabbing you for the Turks."
Vincent
shrugged, "It's not very hard to aim a gun and pull the trigger."
"It
depends on what you're aiming at and who's aiming at you."
Vincent
chuckled, "That about sums it up."
Dante looked up at him with a true smile on her face. Vincent liked the way her grin made her eyes
sparkle in the gentle green light from the gorgeous windows.
"So
how did they 'nab you' for a scientist?
Seems like that even though your part hasn't come up yet, most other
scientists would have gotten started anyway," Vincent's bright eyes focused on
Dante's sparkling ones.
Now
it was Dante's turn to shrug, "I don't like the idea of slaving away to all
hours when ShinRa really isn't too interested in what I can do with this
project. I'm here to see just how
JENOVA works and what makes it tick.
The other three are down there to see if JENOVA can tell us what makes
us as a race tick. That doesn't
particularly interest me."
Vincent
was inwardly astonished. How could
anyone not want to unlock the meanings of life? He understood why the scientists were so
dedicated, but to not wonder why humans are here and what our
purpose is? Was this woman insane?
Dante
laughed delightedly at Vincent's shocked face, "Well, I suppose the reason I'm
not interested is because I know that our questions are to be answered on our
own and without the help of a really ugly thingy that lives in a tank
downstairs. Besides, what can an
ancient life form really tell us other than its age?"
Vincent
thought a moment then replied, "But how can you not wonder why you were put on
this Planet? How can you not care what
the meaning of life is?"
Dante
shook her head, "You haven't been listening.
Everyone finds out what his or her purpose is eventually. An Ancient can't tell you what the meaning
of life is any better than a fortune telling machine. JENOVA can help us unlock a few secrets the Planet's been hiding,
but sometimes ignorance is bliss. I
personally think that if we don't know it now, we'll never know it."
Vincent
took all this in. He hadn't really
known much about the mysterious JENOVA Project when he came here and Dante had
revealed probably more than Hojo would have liked to him. So the dedicated scientists were trying to
unlock the Planet's secrets as well as the meaning of life itself, were
they? Vincent mentally snorted as he
saw the truth in Dante's words. They
were scurrying in vain to find answers to questions that will come with time
and patience. Mr. Valentine had learned
a thing or two while working around some of ShinRa's SOLDIERS; there was no
hope for a SOLDIER that scrambled for his reward. There was also no hope for a scientist who will stop at nothing
to get answers to long-asked questions.
Dante
nodded at the Turk, who was currently staring at her unsettlingly as he thought,
and smiled. "Now you've got the idea of
what's going on in we four scientist's heads.
I'm here to check out the make up of the thing while Hojo, Gast, and
Miss Lucrecia study how it can help us find answers. All in vain if you ask me."
The girl shrugged again and sat scrutinizing the Turk for a moment as he
did the same. It suddenly occurred to
Vincent to ask about how Lucrecia was doing.
"Miss
Sinamruki? How is--"
"Valentine!"
a voice called, interrupting the previously mentioned Turk. Dante and Vincent looked toward the lobby to
see Shad come charging in as if the Hounds of Hell themselves were nipping at
his heels. Knowing their line of work,
Vincent considered that perhaps the Hounds might actually be tagging along with
them, wagging their hideous tails and panting happily by their demon masters in
blue business suits.
"What
is it?" Valentine immediately went from Hi,-how-ya-doin'? Mode to
What-the-hell's-the-problem-and-tell-me-how-to-fix-it Mode.
"There's
been a small cave-in in one of the mineshafts in the mountains. They've got everyone out except one and they
need our help," Davidson's breathing was labored and his yellow hair was
disheveled from his run.
"I'll
be right on it, give me a sec," Valentine barked and Davidson nodded as he
headed back out the elegant oaken doors to the lawn. The raven-haired man turned back to the scientist to find that
she was gone. Bewildered on how she
could have disappeared without him knowing it, Valentine looked around quickly
and found a note scrawled in dainty yet somewhat messy handwriting on the floor
where Dante had stood:
Vincent:
I
shall see you later. Don't worry about
where to find me. Good luck on your
mission.
-Dante
~*~*~
Disclaimer:
STOP BOTHERING ME!! I DON'T OWN VINCENT OKAY??? HAPPY NOW? GOOD! Gees…you Squaresoft people can stop
terrorizing me now by sending glowing pink chibi Cloud's to my house. They are currently trying to find their ways
out of a mayonnaise jar. Heh heh
heh…:)
Part
three on the way!
~Footy
