The Headless Aftermath and Other Rats in the Sun
From the author of, "An Autobiography of Vincent Valentine,"
And, "Phantom Wall Devils: An Interview with Sephiroth."
By: WoUlDn'T YOU like TO KNOW?!
"Don't tell me to feel sad.
Don't tell me not to get mad.
Don't tell me what to choose,
I already know I'm going to loose."
(A Vincent Valentine recording. Off the album, 'Nightmares Under the Stairs.' From the song, 'Don't Tell me.' [Phoenix Down records. All of this is a complete fabrication of her imagination. All rights reserved.]
It occurred to Vincent to take Reeve's gun from his cold, dead, fingers.
And his clothes, too, for that matter.
Vincent, for the time being, was standing in nothing but an over sized shirt.
(He was feeling a bit drafty.)
He pried the small handgun from Reeve, and flicked open the bullet chamber.
His eyes that were the colored of blood dried upon autumn leaves, widened.
There was nothing in the chamber.
Reeve wasn't nor couldn't shoot them all along.
It was a game.
He looked down at the corpse. A game that may or may not have cost him everything.
Vincent hoped that Reeve knew what he was doing, wherever he was.
"Hey..." Yuffie tapped Vincent upon the shoulder.
"What is it, what's wrong?" She asked, slightly concerned on why he was staring at Reeve's gun.
"It was... empty." Vincent said quietly.
"So?"
"That means he... he wasn't going to shoot us." Vincent dropped the gun onto the laboratory floor.
"Oh." Yuffie truly wasn't interested. Her small attention span was instead captured by Ray and Dante who were obsessively searching the far wall for a secret passage. She leapt over the stiffening dead body, and ran towards the other two men whom were loudly cursing among themselves.
Vincent dragged the corpse over to the corner to strip him, and dress himself.
"Did you guys find anything?" Yuffie asked. She flipped a piece of short brown hair away from her large, young eyes.
Dante glanced up at her. He had busied himself with a few leaves of Sephiroth documents that were left abandoned many years ago.
Ray was still shoving large tomes off of the wooden bookshelf.
"Not yet, girl." Dante replied, locking eyes with her seriously. "You can help."
She smelt like fresh meat to him.
"Your friend there took a spill." Ray chimed in as he reached up for a particularly high book to rip down.
Yuffie didn't reply as her eyes scanned the wall like a hunting hawk.
"Look. Here. What's this?" She reached up to a large, old, red book what had a gold spine. Upon the spine were the words written in calligraphy, "Secrets Lie Here."
She pulled the book.
The ancient Shin-Ra wall began to groan.
Dante leapt back and grinned, "Hello!"
Vincent turned around. He was struggling with his pants, as it is always difficult to dress with one good arm.
"Well, I'll be damned." Ray muttered as he stepped back and searched his pockets for a cigar.
Behind the bookshelf was a long, polished cave.
Strange sounds echoed from below.
~
They wandered the streets of Costa del Sol until the smattering of pale dawn. Whites, baby pinks, thick clouds, and cold dew tapped the tips, gently, of every palm tree.
When they returned to the villa, they were holding hands. Their throats were sore from the gluttony of laughter and talking they had the night before.
They kissed, only once, with no tongue.
Tifa kicked off her boots. She would sleep with no shirt, but she was too shy. 'Not just yet,' she said to herself.
Cloud slept beside her in his bed. He, too, stayed fully clothed. It didn't even occur to him not to.
He placed one arm around her stomach. And they slept, on their side, as if they had been doing so for years.
The moment Tifa's head touched the pillow, she was sound asleep.
Cloud listened to her breathe four hours before he felt tiered.
The overhead fan in his bedroom spun slowly in the afternoon heat as time wore on.
He turned over, and looked out the window.
...And he watched the clouds walk by the Sunday sun.
What a lazy day.
Cloud smiled.
For once, he wasn't lonely.
"Hello, Cloud, how are you?" People would ask him years down the line. Even if he wasn't with Tifa then, (god forbid- he thought)
He could answer, quite honestly,
"I've been good. I've had bad times, though. I'm just, you know, walking by life." Then, he'd smile.
From the author of, "An Autobiography of Vincent Valentine,"
And, "Phantom Wall Devils: An Interview with Sephiroth."
By: WoUlDn'T YOU like TO KNOW?!
"Don't tell me to feel sad.
Don't tell me not to get mad.
Don't tell me what to choose,
I already know I'm going to loose."
(A Vincent Valentine recording. Off the album, 'Nightmares Under the Stairs.' From the song, 'Don't Tell me.' [Phoenix Down records. All of this is a complete fabrication of her imagination. All rights reserved.]
It occurred to Vincent to take Reeve's gun from his cold, dead, fingers.
And his clothes, too, for that matter.
Vincent, for the time being, was standing in nothing but an over sized shirt.
(He was feeling a bit drafty.)
He pried the small handgun from Reeve, and flicked open the bullet chamber.
His eyes that were the colored of blood dried upon autumn leaves, widened.
There was nothing in the chamber.
Reeve wasn't nor couldn't shoot them all along.
It was a game.
He looked down at the corpse. A game that may or may not have cost him everything.
Vincent hoped that Reeve knew what he was doing, wherever he was.
"Hey..." Yuffie tapped Vincent upon the shoulder.
"What is it, what's wrong?" She asked, slightly concerned on why he was staring at Reeve's gun.
"It was... empty." Vincent said quietly.
"So?"
"That means he... he wasn't going to shoot us." Vincent dropped the gun onto the laboratory floor.
"Oh." Yuffie truly wasn't interested. Her small attention span was instead captured by Ray and Dante who were obsessively searching the far wall for a secret passage. She leapt over the stiffening dead body, and ran towards the other two men whom were loudly cursing among themselves.
Vincent dragged the corpse over to the corner to strip him, and dress himself.
"Did you guys find anything?" Yuffie asked. She flipped a piece of short brown hair away from her large, young eyes.
Dante glanced up at her. He had busied himself with a few leaves of Sephiroth documents that were left abandoned many years ago.
Ray was still shoving large tomes off of the wooden bookshelf.
"Not yet, girl." Dante replied, locking eyes with her seriously. "You can help."
She smelt like fresh meat to him.
"Your friend there took a spill." Ray chimed in as he reached up for a particularly high book to rip down.
Yuffie didn't reply as her eyes scanned the wall like a hunting hawk.
"Look. Here. What's this?" She reached up to a large, old, red book what had a gold spine. Upon the spine were the words written in calligraphy, "Secrets Lie Here."
She pulled the book.
The ancient Shin-Ra wall began to groan.
Dante leapt back and grinned, "Hello!"
Vincent turned around. He was struggling with his pants, as it is always difficult to dress with one good arm.
"Well, I'll be damned." Ray muttered as he stepped back and searched his pockets for a cigar.
Behind the bookshelf was a long, polished cave.
Strange sounds echoed from below.
~
They wandered the streets of Costa del Sol until the smattering of pale dawn. Whites, baby pinks, thick clouds, and cold dew tapped the tips, gently, of every palm tree.
When they returned to the villa, they were holding hands. Their throats were sore from the gluttony of laughter and talking they had the night before.
They kissed, only once, with no tongue.
Tifa kicked off her boots. She would sleep with no shirt, but she was too shy. 'Not just yet,' she said to herself.
Cloud slept beside her in his bed. He, too, stayed fully clothed. It didn't even occur to him not to.
He placed one arm around her stomach. And they slept, on their side, as if they had been doing so for years.
The moment Tifa's head touched the pillow, she was sound asleep.
Cloud listened to her breathe four hours before he felt tiered.
The overhead fan in his bedroom spun slowly in the afternoon heat as time wore on.
He turned over, and looked out the window.
...And he watched the clouds walk by the Sunday sun.
What a lazy day.
Cloud smiled.
For once, he wasn't lonely.
"Hello, Cloud, how are you?" People would ask him years down the line. Even if he wasn't with Tifa then, (god forbid- he thought)
He could answer, quite honestly,
"I've been good. I've had bad times, though. I'm just, you know, walking by life." Then, he'd smile.