Chapter I: The Man And The Beast…
Five years after the death of the psychopathic Sephiroth, Vincent was finally paying his final respects to the only woman he had come to love.
He walked into the cave where the crazed Lucrecia used to live.
With hardly a sound from his steel tipped boots, he walked across the smooth stone floor and kneeled with his head down in the middle of the cave.
The cave returned to its deathly silence as the echoes died down.
In the sombre silence that filled the room, Vincent's sharp intake of breath could be easily heard.
"Why?" He asked weakly in a haggard voice.
His voice echoed around the cave. It did not take long for the echoes to die down again.
Vincent raised his head to reveal to silver streaks running down his ivory skin.
"Why?" He repeated.
He let his head drop again and listened to his echoes. He turned his amber eyes to where she used to stand.
He raised his claw and looked at the palm. The sharp, strong metal digits reflected the light coming from the entrance of the cave.
He clenched the claw suddenly as the memory of Hojo came to mind. A deep hatred shone in his eyes as he remembered all the things Hojo had done, only for revenge and to further his own ends. But even as he remembered his hatred for Hojo he remembered his hatred for himself.
He was a beast, a creature, a monster in a man's skin.
Despite all the things that Tifa and Cloud had told him, he still believed he was a monster. Nothing would change his mind.
He unclenched his claw and let it fall.
The cape swirled around Vincent as a cool gust of wind flew into the room.
He felt his hair sway in the wind, as the gust got a bit stronger.
Slowly, Vincent got up to his feet and stood in his obstinate posture.
He gathered his cloak around him and stared at wall for while.
He wiped the tears from his face and turned to leave.
As Vincent neared the entrance of the cave he turned his head and said softly.
"Good bye, my love."
He turned his face forward again and walked out of the cave.
Vincent had said the last bit so silently that only "good bye" echoed around the cave.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Cloud stood next to his chocobo, Golden Down, and waited for Vincent to come out.
He listened hopefully for the sound of Vincent's boots.
Nothing.
Cloud stamped his foot in frustration. The chocobo looked dubiously at him.
Cloud snarled in mock anger at the bird, but this only got him even more dubious glance.
He flopped down on a grassy ledge and thought for a while. He had been standing next to his flipping chocobo for nearly a half an hour and was now so bored out his skull that he thought he was in someone else's.
When Vincent had told the others (other being Cloud, Tifa and Yuffie, who had decided to live with Cloud and Tifa "for a bit" three years ago,) about his plans for himself Cloud would have wished him luck and shown him the door if Tifa hadn't insisted on Cloud accompanying him on the way. Cloud also would have protested to this by saying something like, "I think this is the type of journey one has to take by yourself." Or some such, but Tifa shot him a glance of pure venom as he began opening his mouth. Of course, he closed his mouth so quickly that he had accidentally bit his tongue. Later on she explained that Vincent had been pretty down lately (indeed, the only words he had been saying for the past few days were, "yes", "no" and "thank you", which was way too little even for him) and she didn't want him to "slip" into the lake and drown, or "trip over a rock" and fall over a cliff or worst of all, give into Chaos and let him destroy the world.
Cloud had agreed that these were all pretty good reasons and to avoid a fight that could only go one way, he also agreed to accompany Vincent. But now he was ready to curse women for all he was worth.
In the distance, the waterfall in front Lucrecia's cave was making its subtle yet still VERY annoying sound of sound crashing water. It was the greatest reason for Clouds bad mood.
Since the disbanding of AVALANCHE, Vincent had lived in the tower of Kalm, where Cloud had built the "Eighth Heaven" for Tifa. Immediately afterwards they got married and everyone had come, even the turks. He remembered that Reno had spiked Red XIII's drinking bowl and his poor dog-like friend had wandered out onto the dance floor, completely and utterly drunk, where Yuffie saw him and asked for a dance.
Cloud laughed aloud as he recalled the flame red dog standing on his hind legs, with Yuffie holding his paws, and Red XIII struggling desperately to keep up with her.
Yuffie's next target had been Vincent. To her shock she found that Vincent had accepted her offer and wowed everyone by showing them what a wonderful dancer he was.
Yuffie had been angry for a while because her joke had backfired, but was instantly rejoiced as a viscous stroke of Karma suddenly struck Reno, who had drunk one too many glasses of champagne. Suddenly he had found himself stumbling alongside Yuffie and desperately trying to return to his corner where he had left his drink.
Now, the turks frequented at Tifa's bar. For some odd reason they felt compelled to visit the "Eighth Heaven" twice a week, where no matter how many times he did it, Reno getting piss drunk still seemed funny to everyone except Vincent, but he didn't really count because he didn't have a sense of humour.
Cloud continued to stare at the lake with a bored gaze.
"Do you plan to sit there all day long?" A voice asked suddenly from the path that lead from Lucrecia's cave.
Cloud jumped up in surprise at the sound of Vincent's level voice.
"Actually, I was beginning to think you would." Cloud replied coolly.
Cloud turned to face Vincent. He was already on his own gold chocobo named Shadow.
"We leavin'?" Cloud asked hopefully.
"Yes. We are, as you put it blatantly, leavin'." Vincent replied.
Cloud jumped onto his chocobo instantly.
"I guess you're eager to get back to Tifa and the bar." Vincent remarked. "Don't let me stop you. Go ride into the sunset or something."
Cloud took it (or hoped, it didn't really matter to him) that Vincent wanted to be alone for a while, so he allowed himself to be gotten rid of.
He leaned forward on Golden Down and the bird instantly shot forward, leaving a pair of tracks in the gravel.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Vincent watched as Cloud on his chocobo crossed the desert surrounding the Golden Saucer.
He sighed to himself.
He had deliberately gotten rid of Cloud to get away from the man's ranting about his idyllic marriage. Although Cloud hadn't noticed it, that was all he could talk about when around Vincent.
He leaned forward on Shadow and the bird began running.
Instead of following Cloud into the desert, he rode down into the river that flowed out of the lake and followed it to the sea.
Vincent set up camp on the shore and lit a small, smokeless fire.
He laid out a mat to sleep on and roasted a small piece of meat on a stick over the fire as he stared up at the endless night sky. The stars twinkled in the sky as Vincent regarded them with his crimson eyes.
Retrieving his stick from the fire, he began munching on his piece of meat.
He began mentally pointing out constellations to himself. Orion. The Little and Big Dipper. Pisces. Archimedes. Scorpio. And an endless array of stellar patterns.
Eventually, Vincent's eyes closed as sleep overtook him.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Darkness surrounded Vincent endlessly. He looked down at himself and saw that he was like the way he had used to be.
A turk.
A darker shape moved in the darkness in front of Vincent.
Fast as lightning, he grabbed the pistol from his holster and held it upwards with both hands.
Slowly, Vincent moved through the darkness, all the while seeking the creature that stalked him.
A harsh laughter erupted from the darkness, a crescendo that seemed to come from all directions at once.
Again, the shape moved through the shadows.
Vincent looked from side to side in hopes of seeing something.
Nothing.
Suddenly, a scratching noise came from his left.
Vincent's head turned his head in that direction.
The laughter rang out again.
Slowly, and still scanning the darkness, Vincent made his way over to the source of the noise.
The noise came from behind a worn, wooden door.
Carefully, Vincent put his hand on the handle of the door.
The scratching stopped.
Vincent sighed in relief.
The door burst open, sending Vincent flying to the ground in the process.
Red, slanted eyes came out from the door and turned themselves towards Vincent.
Slowly, the eyes approached Vincent.
"YOU CANNOT HIDE." A voice said in his mind.
Hastily, Vincent picked himself up.
"YOU CANNOT RUN." The voice continued.
As the eyes approached him, Vincent could begin to see the shape of the monster that followed him. A pair of ebony, outspread wings appeared before him. A grinning, fanged face glowered at Vincent.
It was Chaos.
Vincent lowered his gun.
"YOU CANNOT FIGHT." The voice said as a clawed arm slashed out and knocked the gun out of Vincent's hands.
Vincent began to edge backwards.
"WE OWN YOU."
Vincent felt his back touch a wall.
The arms grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him upwards. Vincent struggled to get loose but the arms held him still.
"WE ARE YOU."
The arms pulled him into the dark purple hided demon and Vincent felt suddenly encompassed by Chaos.
Vincent fell down on his left side, and he heard a clank as his arm hit the ground.
He pushed himself up and looked down at himself.
The claw was back on his arm. He had returned to his normal self.
Once again, Chaos approached him.
A clawed arm tried to sweep down on Vincent, but he grabbed it in his right arm and stabbed the demons flank with his claw.
The demon howled in pain and recoiled, glowering even harder at him than before.
Vincent walked straight up to Chaos, completely unafraid and brought his claw down upon Chaos's head.
The demon's red eyes beamed him a frightened glance as the metal digits were about to come down on its head.
"Wake up Vincent!" A strong voice said.
The laughter exploded around Vincent.
Five years after the death of the psychopathic Sephiroth, Vincent was finally paying his final respects to the only woman he had come to love.
He walked into the cave where the crazed Lucrecia used to live.
With hardly a sound from his steel tipped boots, he walked across the smooth stone floor and kneeled with his head down in the middle of the cave.
The cave returned to its deathly silence as the echoes died down.
In the sombre silence that filled the room, Vincent's sharp intake of breath could be easily heard.
"Why?" He asked weakly in a haggard voice.
His voice echoed around the cave. It did not take long for the echoes to die down again.
Vincent raised his head to reveal to silver streaks running down his ivory skin.
"Why?" He repeated.
He let his head drop again and listened to his echoes. He turned his amber eyes to where she used to stand.
He raised his claw and looked at the palm. The sharp, strong metal digits reflected the light coming from the entrance of the cave.
He clenched the claw suddenly as the memory of Hojo came to mind. A deep hatred shone in his eyes as he remembered all the things Hojo had done, only for revenge and to further his own ends. But even as he remembered his hatred for Hojo he remembered his hatred for himself.
He was a beast, a creature, a monster in a man's skin.
Despite all the things that Tifa and Cloud had told him, he still believed he was a monster. Nothing would change his mind.
He unclenched his claw and let it fall.
The cape swirled around Vincent as a cool gust of wind flew into the room.
He felt his hair sway in the wind, as the gust got a bit stronger.
Slowly, Vincent got up to his feet and stood in his obstinate posture.
He gathered his cloak around him and stared at wall for while.
He wiped the tears from his face and turned to leave.
As Vincent neared the entrance of the cave he turned his head and said softly.
"Good bye, my love."
He turned his face forward again and walked out of the cave.
Vincent had said the last bit so silently that only "good bye" echoed around the cave.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Cloud stood next to his chocobo, Golden Down, and waited for Vincent to come out.
He listened hopefully for the sound of Vincent's boots.
Nothing.
Cloud stamped his foot in frustration. The chocobo looked dubiously at him.
Cloud snarled in mock anger at the bird, but this only got him even more dubious glance.
He flopped down on a grassy ledge and thought for a while. He had been standing next to his flipping chocobo for nearly a half an hour and was now so bored out his skull that he thought he was in someone else's.
When Vincent had told the others (other being Cloud, Tifa and Yuffie, who had decided to live with Cloud and Tifa "for a bit" three years ago,) about his plans for himself Cloud would have wished him luck and shown him the door if Tifa hadn't insisted on Cloud accompanying him on the way. Cloud also would have protested to this by saying something like, "I think this is the type of journey one has to take by yourself." Or some such, but Tifa shot him a glance of pure venom as he began opening his mouth. Of course, he closed his mouth so quickly that he had accidentally bit his tongue. Later on she explained that Vincent had been pretty down lately (indeed, the only words he had been saying for the past few days were, "yes", "no" and "thank you", which was way too little even for him) and she didn't want him to "slip" into the lake and drown, or "trip over a rock" and fall over a cliff or worst of all, give into Chaos and let him destroy the world.
Cloud had agreed that these were all pretty good reasons and to avoid a fight that could only go one way, he also agreed to accompany Vincent. But now he was ready to curse women for all he was worth.
In the distance, the waterfall in front Lucrecia's cave was making its subtle yet still VERY annoying sound of sound crashing water. It was the greatest reason for Clouds bad mood.
Since the disbanding of AVALANCHE, Vincent had lived in the tower of Kalm, where Cloud had built the "Eighth Heaven" for Tifa. Immediately afterwards they got married and everyone had come, even the turks. He remembered that Reno had spiked Red XIII's drinking bowl and his poor dog-like friend had wandered out onto the dance floor, completely and utterly drunk, where Yuffie saw him and asked for a dance.
Cloud laughed aloud as he recalled the flame red dog standing on his hind legs, with Yuffie holding his paws, and Red XIII struggling desperately to keep up with her.
Yuffie's next target had been Vincent. To her shock she found that Vincent had accepted her offer and wowed everyone by showing them what a wonderful dancer he was.
Yuffie had been angry for a while because her joke had backfired, but was instantly rejoiced as a viscous stroke of Karma suddenly struck Reno, who had drunk one too many glasses of champagne. Suddenly he had found himself stumbling alongside Yuffie and desperately trying to return to his corner where he had left his drink.
Now, the turks frequented at Tifa's bar. For some odd reason they felt compelled to visit the "Eighth Heaven" twice a week, where no matter how many times he did it, Reno getting piss drunk still seemed funny to everyone except Vincent, but he didn't really count because he didn't have a sense of humour.
Cloud continued to stare at the lake with a bored gaze.
"Do you plan to sit there all day long?" A voice asked suddenly from the path that lead from Lucrecia's cave.
Cloud jumped up in surprise at the sound of Vincent's level voice.
"Actually, I was beginning to think you would." Cloud replied coolly.
Cloud turned to face Vincent. He was already on his own gold chocobo named Shadow.
"We leavin'?" Cloud asked hopefully.
"Yes. We are, as you put it blatantly, leavin'." Vincent replied.
Cloud jumped onto his chocobo instantly.
"I guess you're eager to get back to Tifa and the bar." Vincent remarked. "Don't let me stop you. Go ride into the sunset or something."
Cloud took it (or hoped, it didn't really matter to him) that Vincent wanted to be alone for a while, so he allowed himself to be gotten rid of.
He leaned forward on Golden Down and the bird instantly shot forward, leaving a pair of tracks in the gravel.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Vincent watched as Cloud on his chocobo crossed the desert surrounding the Golden Saucer.
He sighed to himself.
He had deliberately gotten rid of Cloud to get away from the man's ranting about his idyllic marriage. Although Cloud hadn't noticed it, that was all he could talk about when around Vincent.
He leaned forward on Shadow and the bird began running.
Instead of following Cloud into the desert, he rode down into the river that flowed out of the lake and followed it to the sea.
Vincent set up camp on the shore and lit a small, smokeless fire.
He laid out a mat to sleep on and roasted a small piece of meat on a stick over the fire as he stared up at the endless night sky. The stars twinkled in the sky as Vincent regarded them with his crimson eyes.
Retrieving his stick from the fire, he began munching on his piece of meat.
He began mentally pointing out constellations to himself. Orion. The Little and Big Dipper. Pisces. Archimedes. Scorpio. And an endless array of stellar patterns.
Eventually, Vincent's eyes closed as sleep overtook him.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Darkness surrounded Vincent endlessly. He looked down at himself and saw that he was like the way he had used to be.
A turk.
A darker shape moved in the darkness in front of Vincent.
Fast as lightning, he grabbed the pistol from his holster and held it upwards with both hands.
Slowly, Vincent moved through the darkness, all the while seeking the creature that stalked him.
A harsh laughter erupted from the darkness, a crescendo that seemed to come from all directions at once.
Again, the shape moved through the shadows.
Vincent looked from side to side in hopes of seeing something.
Nothing.
Suddenly, a scratching noise came from his left.
Vincent's head turned his head in that direction.
The laughter rang out again.
Slowly, and still scanning the darkness, Vincent made his way over to the source of the noise.
The noise came from behind a worn, wooden door.
Carefully, Vincent put his hand on the handle of the door.
The scratching stopped.
Vincent sighed in relief.
The door burst open, sending Vincent flying to the ground in the process.
Red, slanted eyes came out from the door and turned themselves towards Vincent.
Slowly, the eyes approached Vincent.
"YOU CANNOT HIDE." A voice said in his mind.
Hastily, Vincent picked himself up.
"YOU CANNOT RUN." The voice continued.
As the eyes approached him, Vincent could begin to see the shape of the monster that followed him. A pair of ebony, outspread wings appeared before him. A grinning, fanged face glowered at Vincent.
It was Chaos.
Vincent lowered his gun.
"YOU CANNOT FIGHT." The voice said as a clawed arm slashed out and knocked the gun out of Vincent's hands.
Vincent began to edge backwards.
"WE OWN YOU."
Vincent felt his back touch a wall.
The arms grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him upwards. Vincent struggled to get loose but the arms held him still.
"WE ARE YOU."
The arms pulled him into the dark purple hided demon and Vincent felt suddenly encompassed by Chaos.
Vincent fell down on his left side, and he heard a clank as his arm hit the ground.
He pushed himself up and looked down at himself.
The claw was back on his arm. He had returned to his normal self.
Once again, Chaos approached him.
A clawed arm tried to sweep down on Vincent, but he grabbed it in his right arm and stabbed the demons flank with his claw.
The demon howled in pain and recoiled, glowering even harder at him than before.
Vincent walked straight up to Chaos, completely unafraid and brought his claw down upon Chaos's head.
The demon's red eyes beamed him a frightened glance as the metal digits were about to come down on its head.
"Wake up Vincent!" A strong voice said.
The laughter exploded around Vincent.