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: Today and tomorrow, I will be known only as, "Guy Incognito."
Yuffie, Vincent, Ray, and Dante stood before the book case that opened up into a long, black cave.
There was a roar of silence protruding from the vast blackness below.
They stood and stared into the abyss, their eyes searching in the void and becoming swallowed in it's endless black color.
A cool, cool, wind, much colder than ice, swiftly slid by them; it smelt strange- it was the smell of winter, hope, and licorice.
The darkness tasted like lilies.
Yuffie didn't notice when her hand found Vincent's claw. Like a child, she shuddered and held onto him for dear life.
She had never seen anything so intimidating and horrifying before.
Dante began to feel claustrophobic.
"Well, this is da moment we've been waitin' for! Let's go!" Ray's voice bolted up.
"N...Now?" Dante shivered.
"Aw! NOW's not the time to be a pussy, Dante! We have been working for this for a long time now! We didn't come all dis way fur nuthin', you know?!"
"As I recall, this is YOUR project and YOUR idea, Ray, I've got NOTHING to do with it! You bought and paid for..."
"Shhh!" Ray hissed.
Everyone fell silent once more, and listened.
The plucking of a soft harp was heard, being drowned out by the silence, whispering softly.
"Now... THAT'S creepy..." Yuffie gulped.
"Jenova is down there..." Ray rolled up his sleeves and began to walk into the polished cave. The ground was slick like glass, and was frozen still. It was as if it was slicked with water, but it was only the dark shine upon the walls.
"Where are you going?!" Yuffie gasped. She clutched Vincent's claw tighter. He didn't notice at all that she held onto him.
"Wut's it look like, little missy?" Ray asked as he slowly began to vanish into the black hole. His voice echoed in light waves.
The melodic music of the cave began to grow, as if a beautiful creature that was swallowing him whole, and only growing larger with new found strength.
"What an idiot!" Dante barked and crossed his arms about his chest the moment Ray had completely vanished.
"He will never return! I bet you! There are MONSTERS down there!..." Dante flashed his deep blue eyes to Vincent. "Well! SAY something! You have been WAY too quiet! It's making me SICK!" Dante snarled.
"Shouldn't we go rescue him?" Yuffie looked up and released Vincent- whom seemed transfixed into staring out into the ink black space.
He simply stood there, watching, wordlessly.
"And what is MAKING that MUSIC?!" Dante turned in a paranoid sort of manner, and yelled. His perfectly combed bleached blonde hair leapt as he spun around. "I DON'T like it!"
"Shut up." Vincent snapped.
Another sound was coming from the cave.
It was a weak whimper.
It sounded like Ray.
"We should go help him!" Yuffie begged.
"No. We shouldn't. That's a BAD idea. We don't know what's down there." Dante looked crossly at her.
"But your friend Ray is down there!" She wined.
"Friend is a loose term. What say you, Vincent?" Dante turned while raking his fingers through his hair.
"I say. We go find him." He glanced at Dante with bloody red eyes.
A annoyed, fearful expression exploded upon his perfect lips. "I... Don't like this. I fucking hate this. I don't like this at all." He said as he turned to look into the blackness.
The blackness looked back at him.
"Alright!" Vincent touched his cheek with his good hand. "Yuffie, stay here. Dante, come on."
"WHAT?"
"WHAT!!? I'm not going down there!" Dante snarled.
"And I'm not staying here!" Yuffie stamped her foot.
"Fine. Do what you like. I will see you when I get back." Vincent began to walk into the land of shadows.
"Take me with you!" Yuffie ran after him. Vincent did not offer her a response. Together, they faded into nothing.
Dante looked around the laboratory. Books and papers scattered the room. The book case stood at a tall angle to the endless large hole.
The room just didn't look right anymore with the black thing standing there.
The room didn't even FEEL right anymore. It seemed like a doorway that one couldn't tell where it lead to.
Yuffie was right.
The room felt sort of creepy now.
And the music of the harp had only seemed to grow louder.
It was sad, lamenting melodies.
As if it was singing softly to someone whom had just fallen asleep forever.
Dante sat down on the floor with his back to the cave.
Then, he shuddered. What if something just grabbed him and slit his throat from behind?!
He turned around.
But he didn't want to FACE the cave. That was too scary.
He slid his bottom up against a wall.
He shook.
He hated waiting.
~
"What do you think is down ... uhm. Here?" Yuffie whispered to Vincent as they walked together down the cave, which seemed to gradually ascend downward. She glanced at him when he did not reply.
Then, almost inaudibly, he answered, "We are soon to find out."
As the darkness grew louder, so did the harps music. It reverberated off the walls and infiltrated their brain. Slowly, the glossy floors gradually rose to steps that spiraled downward into the abyss.
The walled seemed to grow wider the further down they went. The blackness seemed to feed their eyes, and soon they became addicted to it. Nothing but the darkness could their heads be used to.
"Vincent, I'm scared." Yuffie muttered when it seemed that it was only infinity they were traveling.
Vincent answered with nothing.
The moment that Yuffie felt that she couldn't drag herself to take one more step downward was the moment that they reached the bottom.
Yuffie fully convinced herself that she could see things in the midnight black- for dim shapes seemed to have appeared before her.
Vincent knew that there was a trickle of light coming from somewhere- for he-too, saw something.
Ray groaned.
Yuffie jumped.
The harp continued to play- very- very- loudly.
"Ray?" Vincent asked.
"Uhhh..."
Vincent followed the dull golden light source that trickled from the corner. Yuffie tailed him, not wanting to loose sight of Vincent for even a moment.
The slice of dim light spiked out from a huge, heavy, door. Vincent pushed it open and shaded his red eyes from the weak rays. "Ray?" He called out once more.
The circular room he found himself in was not unlike the room that was in the Ancient temple that collapsed upon Tseng nearly five years ago. Vincent looked about, simply in awed to the golden, huge, hieroglyphics upon the walls.
There was a hole nearly fifty feet up upon the ceiling, but the dull golden light came from what sat in the middle of the tower-like room.
It was a huge flame.
The flame watched Vincent and Yuffie, as if it were an ancient being with no eyes, mouths, ears, or legs. It was a white and yellow presence that seemed wise and old.
Ray was in the far side of the room underneath a carving of a huge centaur-like creature upon the wall, lying on his stomach. His hat was a few feet from him, and his head was bleeding profusely.
"What happened to you?" Yuffie ran to his side and asked sarcastically.
"Uhh-oh. A rock fell from da carvin' right there and hit me on da head. I was tryin' to translate the Sanskrit, dere, Ohhh..."
Vincent looked up at the huge, ornate murals upon the round wall. There, near the centaur's nose, a piece of wall was cracked and falling.
"What is this place?" Vincent asked as Yuffie helped him to his feet.
"Seems to USED to be a monster's meeting place. They. Uhh... Have a society, you know. But it ain't no more. Looks like dey have something like the Indian's at Cosmo Canyon have... uhg. A sacred Candle. Da carvin' on the wall say dat there are THREE Sacred Candle's that never extinguish in the world."
"Where is that music coming from?" Yuffie asked as she scooped up his hat.
"The candle sings. Thanks, lil' missy." Ray smiled weakly as he took his hat from her.
"Sings?" Vincent asked as he looked to the large, white flame.
"Yep. Now, let's go. Dis place gives me da creeps, and I betcha any money dat Dante ain't..."
"Now, wait just a sec, I thought you said Jenova was down here!" Yuffie stamped her foot and yelled.
"It was. See those track marks behind the fire?" Ray pointed a fat finger towards the violent, claw like marks behind the flame.
Both Vincent and Yuffie turned to look. There, behind the musical flame were long, stretched out marks that looked like something huge had been dragged. Upon the wall near the marks was a sealed door, ornately carved in gold like the rest of the room.
The carvings of the walls were of ancient monsters that were made to look wise and beautiful. The murals seemed to tell a story of how the Earth, and how monsters were created. Vincent thought they were fascinating. He never thought of those creatures as even being intelligent before, let alone have a system, history, and government of some sort.
"Guess I'll have to be huntin' for the remnants of Jenova elsewhere, eh? Dey probably knew we were coming."
~
"I'm sorry, Barret."
"No, I-uh, am glad you told me."
"Your so mature." Tifa coiled the phone cord around her finger nervously.
"I'm glad we had this conversation, Tifa. But, uh, you know, it still hurts."
"I'm sorry, Barret."
"NO! Don't be $%!$%^&@ sorry! 'S like you said, 'just da way things havta be, you know? Oh... well. Marlene still misses ya. When will you be back from Costa del Sol?"
"Uhm. My train leaves in three days. I should be back by Wednesday."
"Oh. Good. Uh, we can still be friends, right? Me, you, and Cloud."
"Oh, sure, Barret, nothing has changed, it's just Cloud and I are going out, now, you know? But, we don't even know if it will work out, so... It's just the beginning. The distance is the problem. I don't think I can keep a long distance relationship. I don't know, we will try to work something out."
"Right, well, uh, you take care now, Tifa. And don't let Cloud screw ya up, or I'll havta lay da smackdown on his $%#^% bony ass, you know?"
Tifa giggled. "I know, Barret, thanks for uhm, looking out for my best interest."
Barret sighed silently, and tapped his head on the window. He paused. He felt as if someone had just shot him in the chest. He tried to mask the pain and despair in his voice.
"You take care, too. Tell Cloud I said to come by sometime."
"Bye, Barret."
"Uh, later... Tifa."
He hung up the phone. He wouldn't let himself cry. Just having her in his life was enough, wasn't it? ... Friends. We are just... friends. And that's all we will ever be. 'I just, uh, sorry, but I don't find myself physically attracted to you.' Cloud. Cloud...! CLOUD?! ... Cloud.
She chooses Cloud. Of course she would. He was older, black, and had a kid. She was young, pretty, and doesn't even know what she wants in life let alone ready to start a family. Cloud.
What bull-shit, Barret thought. Bull-SHIT.
Oh well.
We are friends.
That all we will ever be.
At least she was still in his life.
He... loves her.
He wants her to be happy.
She is happy.
Barret smiled. She is happy.
~
"HOLY-sweet-Jesus! Sheila! SHEILA! Take a LOOK at #@%$! This!!"
"What? What!" Sheila rushed in, rubbing her dishwater hands on a towel.
Cid was standing on his favorite, taped up green chair. His boots sunk into the upholstery and springs.
Sheila bent down and turned up the volume on the television set.
The blonde news anchorwoman smiled in the TV.
"...Vincent Valentine, Yuffie Kisaragi, Dante Julius, and private investor and self proclaimed treasure hunter, Ray Romeo, were found coming up from the abandoned Shin-Ra building. Ray was bleeding profusely from the head, and president Shin-Ra was looking very disturbed. When asked for comment, president Dante simply muttered something about being left alone in the dark, and having claustrophobia. We asked Mr. Valentine for an interview- because speculatives even doubted his existence. This interview will be seen on our Date-Line TV show at eleven pm conducted by writer, Phoenix Down. When we asked Yuffie for comment about what exactly was going on in this supposed-to-be-torn-down-mansion, she simply made a face at the camera, ladies and gentleman, and ran off. That's all here, live at the site, I am Katy McKormick."
"My goodness! I wonder what THAT was all about!" Sheila tossed the dishrag onto her shoulder and walked into the kitchen.
"I don' know, don' care, really. Did you see the look on that Dante kid's face though!? HAHA! THAT was PRICELESS!" Cid sat down in the green chair properly, and lit a cigarette.
"Bet it was about that monster stuff Vincent was tellin' me about. I can't wait for that interview tonight."
"When is it on again?" Sheila called out from the kitchen as she turned on the faucet.
"Eleven, dear!"
"What do you want for dinner, sweetie?" She yelled back.
"MASHED potatoes!"
"Garlic or no garlic!?"
"NO garlic!"
"Sweetie?"
"Yeah?!" Cid yelled back.
"I think that there is a rat in here!"
"GOD #$@%!$ damnit!"
The End
~PD 2002
From the author of, "An Autobiography of Vincent Valentine,"
And, "Phantom Wall Devils: An Interview with Sephiroth."
By: Today and tomorrow, I will be known only as, "Guy Incognito."
Yuffie, Vincent, Ray, and Dante stood before the book case that opened up into a long, black cave.
There was a roar of silence protruding from the vast blackness below.
They stood and stared into the abyss, their eyes searching in the void and becoming swallowed in it's endless black color.
A cool, cool, wind, much colder than ice, swiftly slid by them; it smelt strange- it was the smell of winter, hope, and licorice.
The darkness tasted like lilies.
Yuffie didn't notice when her hand found Vincent's claw. Like a child, she shuddered and held onto him for dear life.
She had never seen anything so intimidating and horrifying before.
Dante began to feel claustrophobic.
"Well, this is da moment we've been waitin' for! Let's go!" Ray's voice bolted up.
"N...Now?" Dante shivered.
"Aw! NOW's not the time to be a pussy, Dante! We have been working for this for a long time now! We didn't come all dis way fur nuthin', you know?!"
"As I recall, this is YOUR project and YOUR idea, Ray, I've got NOTHING to do with it! You bought and paid for..."
"Shhh!" Ray hissed.
Everyone fell silent once more, and listened.
The plucking of a soft harp was heard, being drowned out by the silence, whispering softly.
"Now... THAT'S creepy..." Yuffie gulped.
"Jenova is down there..." Ray rolled up his sleeves and began to walk into the polished cave. The ground was slick like glass, and was frozen still. It was as if it was slicked with water, but it was only the dark shine upon the walls.
"Where are you going?!" Yuffie gasped. She clutched Vincent's claw tighter. He didn't notice at all that she held onto him.
"Wut's it look like, little missy?" Ray asked as he slowly began to vanish into the black hole. His voice echoed in light waves.
The melodic music of the cave began to grow, as if a beautiful creature that was swallowing him whole, and only growing larger with new found strength.
"What an idiot!" Dante barked and crossed his arms about his chest the moment Ray had completely vanished.
"He will never return! I bet you! There are MONSTERS down there!..." Dante flashed his deep blue eyes to Vincent. "Well! SAY something! You have been WAY too quiet! It's making me SICK!" Dante snarled.
"Shouldn't we go rescue him?" Yuffie looked up and released Vincent- whom seemed transfixed into staring out into the ink black space.
He simply stood there, watching, wordlessly.
"And what is MAKING that MUSIC?!" Dante turned in a paranoid sort of manner, and yelled. His perfectly combed bleached blonde hair leapt as he spun around. "I DON'T like it!"
"Shut up." Vincent snapped.
Another sound was coming from the cave.
It was a weak whimper.
It sounded like Ray.
"We should go help him!" Yuffie begged.
"No. We shouldn't. That's a BAD idea. We don't know what's down there." Dante looked crossly at her.
"But your friend Ray is down there!" She wined.
"Friend is a loose term. What say you, Vincent?" Dante turned while raking his fingers through his hair.
"I say. We go find him." He glanced at Dante with bloody red eyes.
A annoyed, fearful expression exploded upon his perfect lips. "I... Don't like this. I fucking hate this. I don't like this at all." He said as he turned to look into the blackness.
The blackness looked back at him.
"Alright!" Vincent touched his cheek with his good hand. "Yuffie, stay here. Dante, come on."
"WHAT?"
"WHAT!!? I'm not going down there!" Dante snarled.
"And I'm not staying here!" Yuffie stamped her foot.
"Fine. Do what you like. I will see you when I get back." Vincent began to walk into the land of shadows.
"Take me with you!" Yuffie ran after him. Vincent did not offer her a response. Together, they faded into nothing.
Dante looked around the laboratory. Books and papers scattered the room. The book case stood at a tall angle to the endless large hole.
The room just didn't look right anymore with the black thing standing there.
The room didn't even FEEL right anymore. It seemed like a doorway that one couldn't tell where it lead to.
Yuffie was right.
The room felt sort of creepy now.
And the music of the harp had only seemed to grow louder.
It was sad, lamenting melodies.
As if it was singing softly to someone whom had just fallen asleep forever.
Dante sat down on the floor with his back to the cave.
Then, he shuddered. What if something just grabbed him and slit his throat from behind?!
He turned around.
But he didn't want to FACE the cave. That was too scary.
He slid his bottom up against a wall.
He shook.
He hated waiting.
~
"What do you think is down ... uhm. Here?" Yuffie whispered to Vincent as they walked together down the cave, which seemed to gradually ascend downward. She glanced at him when he did not reply.
Then, almost inaudibly, he answered, "We are soon to find out."
As the darkness grew louder, so did the harps music. It reverberated off the walls and infiltrated their brain. Slowly, the glossy floors gradually rose to steps that spiraled downward into the abyss.
The walled seemed to grow wider the further down they went. The blackness seemed to feed their eyes, and soon they became addicted to it. Nothing but the darkness could their heads be used to.
"Vincent, I'm scared." Yuffie muttered when it seemed that it was only infinity they were traveling.
Vincent answered with nothing.
The moment that Yuffie felt that she couldn't drag herself to take one more step downward was the moment that they reached the bottom.
Yuffie fully convinced herself that she could see things in the midnight black- for dim shapes seemed to have appeared before her.
Vincent knew that there was a trickle of light coming from somewhere- for he-too, saw something.
Ray groaned.
Yuffie jumped.
The harp continued to play- very- very- loudly.
"Ray?" Vincent asked.
"Uhhh..."
Vincent followed the dull golden light source that trickled from the corner. Yuffie tailed him, not wanting to loose sight of Vincent for even a moment.
The slice of dim light spiked out from a huge, heavy, door. Vincent pushed it open and shaded his red eyes from the weak rays. "Ray?" He called out once more.
The circular room he found himself in was not unlike the room that was in the Ancient temple that collapsed upon Tseng nearly five years ago. Vincent looked about, simply in awed to the golden, huge, hieroglyphics upon the walls.
There was a hole nearly fifty feet up upon the ceiling, but the dull golden light came from what sat in the middle of the tower-like room.
It was a huge flame.
The flame watched Vincent and Yuffie, as if it were an ancient being with no eyes, mouths, ears, or legs. It was a white and yellow presence that seemed wise and old.
Ray was in the far side of the room underneath a carving of a huge centaur-like creature upon the wall, lying on his stomach. His hat was a few feet from him, and his head was bleeding profusely.
"What happened to you?" Yuffie ran to his side and asked sarcastically.
"Uhh-oh. A rock fell from da carvin' right there and hit me on da head. I was tryin' to translate the Sanskrit, dere, Ohhh..."
Vincent looked up at the huge, ornate murals upon the round wall. There, near the centaur's nose, a piece of wall was cracked and falling.
"What is this place?" Vincent asked as Yuffie helped him to his feet.
"Seems to USED to be a monster's meeting place. They. Uhh... Have a society, you know. But it ain't no more. Looks like dey have something like the Indian's at Cosmo Canyon have... uhg. A sacred Candle. Da carvin' on the wall say dat there are THREE Sacred Candle's that never extinguish in the world."
"Where is that music coming from?" Yuffie asked as she scooped up his hat.
"The candle sings. Thanks, lil' missy." Ray smiled weakly as he took his hat from her.
"Sings?" Vincent asked as he looked to the large, white flame.
"Yep. Now, let's go. Dis place gives me da creeps, and I betcha any money dat Dante ain't..."
"Now, wait just a sec, I thought you said Jenova was down here!" Yuffie stamped her foot and yelled.
"It was. See those track marks behind the fire?" Ray pointed a fat finger towards the violent, claw like marks behind the flame.
Both Vincent and Yuffie turned to look. There, behind the musical flame were long, stretched out marks that looked like something huge had been dragged. Upon the wall near the marks was a sealed door, ornately carved in gold like the rest of the room.
The carvings of the walls were of ancient monsters that were made to look wise and beautiful. The murals seemed to tell a story of how the Earth, and how monsters were created. Vincent thought they were fascinating. He never thought of those creatures as even being intelligent before, let alone have a system, history, and government of some sort.
"Guess I'll have to be huntin' for the remnants of Jenova elsewhere, eh? Dey probably knew we were coming."
~
"I'm sorry, Barret."
"No, I-uh, am glad you told me."
"Your so mature." Tifa coiled the phone cord around her finger nervously.
"I'm glad we had this conversation, Tifa. But, uh, you know, it still hurts."
"I'm sorry, Barret."
"NO! Don't be $%!$%^&@ sorry! 'S like you said, 'just da way things havta be, you know? Oh... well. Marlene still misses ya. When will you be back from Costa del Sol?"
"Uhm. My train leaves in three days. I should be back by Wednesday."
"Oh. Good. Uh, we can still be friends, right? Me, you, and Cloud."
"Oh, sure, Barret, nothing has changed, it's just Cloud and I are going out, now, you know? But, we don't even know if it will work out, so... It's just the beginning. The distance is the problem. I don't think I can keep a long distance relationship. I don't know, we will try to work something out."
"Right, well, uh, you take care now, Tifa. And don't let Cloud screw ya up, or I'll havta lay da smackdown on his $%#^% bony ass, you know?"
Tifa giggled. "I know, Barret, thanks for uhm, looking out for my best interest."
Barret sighed silently, and tapped his head on the window. He paused. He felt as if someone had just shot him in the chest. He tried to mask the pain and despair in his voice.
"You take care, too. Tell Cloud I said to come by sometime."
"Bye, Barret."
"Uh, later... Tifa."
He hung up the phone. He wouldn't let himself cry. Just having her in his life was enough, wasn't it? ... Friends. We are just... friends. And that's all we will ever be. 'I just, uh, sorry, but I don't find myself physically attracted to you.' Cloud. Cloud...! CLOUD?! ... Cloud.
She chooses Cloud. Of course she would. He was older, black, and had a kid. She was young, pretty, and doesn't even know what she wants in life let alone ready to start a family. Cloud.
What bull-shit, Barret thought. Bull-SHIT.
Oh well.
We are friends.
That all we will ever be.
At least she was still in his life.
He... loves her.
He wants her to be happy.
She is happy.
Barret smiled. She is happy.
~
"HOLY-sweet-Jesus! Sheila! SHEILA! Take a LOOK at #@%$! This!!"
"What? What!" Sheila rushed in, rubbing her dishwater hands on a towel.
Cid was standing on his favorite, taped up green chair. His boots sunk into the upholstery and springs.
Sheila bent down and turned up the volume on the television set.
The blonde news anchorwoman smiled in the TV.
"...Vincent Valentine, Yuffie Kisaragi, Dante Julius, and private investor and self proclaimed treasure hunter, Ray Romeo, were found coming up from the abandoned Shin-Ra building. Ray was bleeding profusely from the head, and president Shin-Ra was looking very disturbed. When asked for comment, president Dante simply muttered something about being left alone in the dark, and having claustrophobia. We asked Mr. Valentine for an interview- because speculatives even doubted his existence. This interview will be seen on our Date-Line TV show at eleven pm conducted by writer, Phoenix Down. When we asked Yuffie for comment about what exactly was going on in this supposed-to-be-torn-down-mansion, she simply made a face at the camera, ladies and gentleman, and ran off. That's all here, live at the site, I am Katy McKormick."
"My goodness! I wonder what THAT was all about!" Sheila tossed the dishrag onto her shoulder and walked into the kitchen.
"I don' know, don' care, really. Did you see the look on that Dante kid's face though!? HAHA! THAT was PRICELESS!" Cid sat down in the green chair properly, and lit a cigarette.
"Bet it was about that monster stuff Vincent was tellin' me about. I can't wait for that interview tonight."
"When is it on again?" Sheila called out from the kitchen as she turned on the faucet.
"Eleven, dear!"
"What do you want for dinner, sweetie?" She yelled back.
"MASHED potatoes!"
"Garlic or no garlic!?"
"NO garlic!"
"Sweetie?"
"Yeah?!" Cid yelled back.
"I think that there is a rat in here!"
"GOD #$@%!$ damnit!"
The End
~PD 2002