Time and cynical thoughts swirled around Vincent, weighing him down into the dark depths of his mind. Only there could he truly comprehend the meaning of all that had gone on in the previous 2 days. He could understand how Reno and Rude wanted to do away with Rufus and Tseng. The true mystery, though, was Orion. Those visions in Vincent's head, surely they were Orion. But how could he explain the older body and those all to familiar, piercing emerald eyes. As though someone had screamed the answer directly into his ear, the question as to whom Orion resembled suddenly revealed itself. Sephiroth.
Orion had gotten the same dosage of the strange yellow liquid as Vincent had received, yet with a lot more struggle. He kept screaming, and finally attracted the attention of Cloud, who just stood in the doorway with a perplexed look upon his face. Without prevail, Orion received his amount, and fell onto Cloud, who was currently fanning Orion's perspiring face. Vincent was in the same state, sweat dripping onto the sheets of the bed while unconscious. Only the thoughts in his head were active. The two TURKS carried the unconscious men to a dark blue car at the back of the café.
Awakening in a strange room almost an hour later, the first thing Vincent saw was a horrible, reddish purple mess on his arm. It had only begun the process of scabbing, and the texture of it looked and felt brittle. Pain seared his arm, as if someone had just pressed a white-hot iron onto it. Trying his best to mentally avoid the pain, Vincent looked over to his left to see what had happened to Orion. Apparently, the boy had just woken up a couple minutes earlier and was eyeing Vincent's arm with the same disgust Vincent himself felt. "Um, Vince, I think they forgot to bandage it." Orion observed, stating the obvious. Vincent smiled to himself then remembered his visions.
"Orion, what did you mean when you said that I had another thing coming?" he asked to the adolescent. "Well, you know the person who did this to me." Orion replied. "But who?" asked Vincent. "This is going to take a while," sighed Orion, "but I guess you are going to have to find out eventually. Do you remember--" "No time, boys, I'm sorry to say." interrupted Rude. Vincent, who was just about to have a plethora of questions answered, stood up immediately and braved Rude's own glare. "Do you have a problem with that, Vincent? Because if you do, I'd sure love to hear about it." Rude said smoothly. Vincent shook his head slowly, crimson eyes piercing into Rude's own, in a state of disbelief and pure fury. Orion took this chance to stand up and separate the now glowering men.
"Guns, please." Reno shouted from the other room. Vincent slowly upholstered his revolver from a loose belt loop he had used, and passed it reluctantly to Rude. Orion did the same. Curious as to what Reno wanted with the guns, Orion made his way to the other room, only to be blocked by Rude, who had just stepped in the way. "Employees only" he said, a mild smirk written on his face. Now it was Orion's turn to be angry. "What the hell do you mean, employees? There is only you two, and we are the ones who are supposed to be in charge!" Orion bellowed at the much taller man. Rude only smiled. Vincent, who had just sat down to see about wrapping his arm, stood up again and restrained Orion. "What do you think you're doing?" Orion yelled in surprise. "Just follow my lead, I'm going to get us out of here." whispered Vincent into Orion's ear. The boy relaxed a little, but knew not to act too conspicuous.
They waited patiently until Reno announced that Rude and himself were going to get lunch. Vincent nodded, then glanced at Orion who was pretending to sleep. The moment the men left, Orion leapt up and followed Vincent to the door. Like Vincent was expecting, the two men had locked the door and taken all the weapons. Luckily, Vincent knew exactly where he was. He lifted Orion up onto his shoulders, with some difficulty due to his arm, and instructed him to move the square panel in the dead center of the roof. Then he hoisted Orion into a man-sized tunnel right over them. Using all of his strength, Vincent pulled a spare sofa underneath the panel and hoisted himself up into the passageway. Struggling to stay on his feet, Vincent followed Orion down the dark passage until they were finally crawling. Vincent was progressively slowing down and his arm felt like it had when he sliced it deeply not too long before.
Orion noticed his comrade's arm right away. The scab had somehow been torn, and the blood was everywhere. Sensing Vincent's collapse, Orion positioned himself underneath Vincent's body and after a few second's felt the weight of the man sink down onto him. Progress was extremely slow, yet Orion somehow made it to the end of the tunnel. He peeked through a tiny hole on the ground and saw the top of Cloud's head. "How many tunnels lead to this place?" muttered Orion to himself. "5," Vincent replied, regaining strength, "Not including this one." Orion sighed and carefully opened the door. Light flooded around the two weary travelers and they finally noticed the state of the hall-like tunnel. The roof and sides were a glossy looking marble, and the floor was a shiny looking wood.
Jumping from the hole onto Cloud's shoulders was tremendously unexpected for the poor café owner. He screamed and threw Orion off of his shoulders then did a crazy sort of dance. Vincent, who had been watching from the large opening, was laughing like mad, despite his bleeding arm. "Cloud, get a ladder!" Vincent called to the scared man. Cloud looked up at Vincent, an expression of mixed annoyance and amusement was composed on his face. He grabbed the ladder from behind the shelves to his side and set it under the hole. Vincent descended from the hole and asked Cloud to assist him in bandaging his arm.
They were so busy trying to subdue Vincent's bleeding that they didn't notice Orion had remained where he was. His expression was blank and he was mumbling something about room 2. With his arm finally fixed properly, Vincent asked Cloud about what happened after he was injected with the yellow stuff. Cloud explained how Vincent had started sweating almost immediately, but his arm had stopped bleeding right away. Then they had gotten Orion down, who had collapsed onto Cloud himself. Then the Reno had paid him for the trouble and left with both of the unconscious bodies.
Vincent sighed. "I'm so sorry we had to intrude on you yet again." he said after a minute of silence. "Oh, you are more than welcome. At least you are an old friend." Cloud replied. "Um, old friend?" Vincent asked, a little surprised. "Yea. Lately there have been strangers coming in here. They keep saying that they are waiting for someone. In fact, just before the little boy jumped on me, I assisted a complete stranger. I don't know, but I think I remember him from somewhere." Cloud said. Vincent cocked and eyebrow. "You said the men were waiting for someone?" he asked. "Yes, that's what I said." Cloud answered. Vincent stood up so suddenly that he nearly knocked over the table he was sitting at. He strode over to Orion and yanked him up.
"Ouch!" Orion complained, his trance broken. "Suck it up. We need to go. Now." Vincent said coldly. He kept eyeing the door to room number 2. A dark shadow had begun to move around underneath the crack of the door. "Why? I'm hungry." protested Orion. "Fine, grab a pastry, but hurry 'cause something isn't right. We need to leave immediately," Vincent ordered. "Thank you Cloud, we'll be back." Vincent said, looking over his shoulder as he roughly pulled the younger body out the door. "Er…no problem." Cloud shouted after them. Then he covered up the hole in the ceiling and put his ladder away. When he turned around, he saw a silvery-haired man rush out the door.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Reno let out an irritated yell as he and Rude entered the empty room. He frantically checked over the tapes in his security cameras, but discovered that Vincent had blocked them. "Hey, Reno, come over here." Rude called to his panicking friend. "I can't believe this!" Reno exclaimed when he saw the couch underneath a hole in the roof. Blood stained the cushions where Vincent had started to bleed. "Ingenious." muttered Reno. "Uh, Reno?" asked Rude. "What is it?" Reno asked back. "What are they doing here?" replied Rude, pointing behind Reno. Reno swiveled around and saw Tseng standing in the doorway. "You have a lot of explaining to do." he said with a mild smirk playing on his lips. Rude grimaced and Reno let out a heavy sigh as he prepared to tell the story.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sephiroth, upon feeling Orion's return, scrambled to his feet and opened the door to room two. He came out just in time to witness Vincent dragging the boy out the front door and around the corner. Time was of the essence as the tall, muscular figure ran by a now very angry Cloud to the snow-covered world outside. His sparkling eyes anxiously searched the white streets for any sign of the two men. Not sighting them, he started down the street, stopping now and then to ask the late afternoon passersby if they had seen anyone of description. Coming upon a fruit stand, he stood there politely until she looked up at him with fear stricken eyes. "Have you seen a tall man with long black hair?" he asked when he had her attention. She shook her head slowly, still too paralyzed with fear of his overwhelming build. "Oh. Ok then… sorry to bother you ma'am." he apologized, then set about resuming his search.
"Please, sir." said a small voice behind him. He turned back around and saw the girl holding out an apple. "Buy an apple." she asked him. His eyes smiled and he dug his pockets for spare change. Finally, with pockets emptied, he made his way down the street. "Hey! You!" called a voice behind him. It was Cloud. "You are coming back right?" he yelled after Sephiroth. The tall man turned around, then watched as Cloud's eyes started to shake, then his body. Soon, he was standing there like a zombie, ready to do Sephiroth's bidding. Just as he was about to make the annoyance steal from a lady, a dark figure emerged from the shadows of an alley behind Sephiroth. It crept up behind him and raised a fist. His sleeve fell down to reveal a freshly bandaged arm.
"I wouldn't do that, Vincent." said Sephiroth calmly. Vincent lowered his arm. "Give me one reason why not." he retorted. Sephiroth began to laugh. Not a regular, jolly sort of laugh, but a very deep, sort of menacing laugh. "Do you underestimate my power, Vincent." he chuckled. "You aren't as strong as you were, Sephiroth." Vincent stated, debating in his mind whether or not he was as weak as he let off. "As are you, I can see," Sephiroth's eye's made a quick glance down at Vincent's bandaged arm, "but I know about your cutting problem. You see, your faithful buddy, here, is all to keen on telling me these things." smiled the silver haired enemy. "You didn't…" Vincent started. "Oh, yes I did. Now I know your deep, dark secrets." Sephiroth teased. Vincent called his bluff. "Oh really. Well then, what about this?" quick as a snap, Vincent had pulled a tiny handgun out of his back pocket and pressed it to Sephiroth's neck.
Peeking from the shadows, Orion watched as Vincent pulled his small handgun out and held it to Sephiroth's neck. No, don't shoot. pleaded Orion. Whatever you do, don't shoot. As if Vincent had heard him, he quickly grabbed Cloud and sent Sephiroth away, who was laughing about something manically. Making room in the snow, Orion made way for his friend. But Vincent continued right past the alley. He found an empty spot on the sidewalk and set Cloud down. "Thanks!" exclaimed Cloud gratefully. "Yea, sure," Vincent started, trying his hardest to stay calm, but without triumph, "HOW COULD YOU LET HIM IN YOUR CAFÉ?!?!" Cloud cowered underneath the towering demon-like shadow. "Sephiroth… he can… he can control my mind. It's happened before, remember?" asked Cloud hopefully, but grimaced as he saw Vincent's face was still glowering. "Fine." he muttered, turning on his heel and leaving Cloud in the snow, then went to fetch Orion.
"Did you try talking to me through thoughts?" Vincent asked quietly as he rushed around the corner to see if Orion was still there. The boy nodded, looking very grave. "Vincent…I…I think it's time to explain this to you." Orion said after a moments of silence. Vincent nodded in agreement. Then he picked Orion up and continued down the street, followed by Cloud, until they found a quaint hotel nestled behind a rowdy bar. They wouldn't be likely to disturbance there.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
After being dumped on the bed by a very exhausted Vincent, and Cloud had picked a spot on the floor, Orion began explaining the very complicated situation. "Ok, here goes. After you 'killed' Sephiroth, you guys thought that you were done with the mission, so you left. Vincent, you struggled with yourself for long afterwards, and Cloud, you started the café. Little did both of you, or even Avalanche, know that Sephiroth had an ounce of life left in him. With half of that life, he started an experiment on my older body. Using Hojo's lab, he created me. I am an exact replica of him in every way, down to the mind controlling. The only differences are my appearance, and my views of the world." he paused. Vincent nodded, looking very much enlightened. Cloud was looking daft on the floor. Inhaling deeply, Orion started again, "Well, being as I am pretty much the same as Sephiroth, we are mentally connected. Every time we are near, I go into a trance and soon after that, he controls my mind and I am forced to go back to him. But lately, I've been able to fight it. That's why I was trying to linger in the café. If I were still under full control of him, I would've bolted straight to him. Anyways, with his last bit of life, he was very sickly for a while. Being as I was his 'replica', I nursed him back to health, careful not to return all of his strength." Orion explained further. "Any questions so far?" he asked. Vincent shook his head no, but Cloud was full of questions. "I thought he blew up?" he mused. "Well, he did. But not literally, he just used an illusion to get away from you guys. To him you were a mere annoyance that had to be set-aside for the moment. He had other things to deal with." explained Orion. "What things, Orion, I need to know." Vincent prodded. Looking very scared, Orion sighed and started talking again. "He needed to--AAARRGHH!!!" he screamed, clutching his head. Cloud leapt up and struggled to keep the boy calm. Vincent looked around for any sign of Sephiroth. Orion was still clutching his head as if someone had stabbed it furiously. "Vincent, I need my treatment." he gasped to him.
Vincent gave Orion a quizzical look. "The yellow stuff…" Orion managed to spit out before he collapsed. "Cloud, you watch him with your life." Vincent instructed. Cloud nodded solemnly. "Oh, and use this if you are in trouble." added Vincent, throwing him the small revolver. Nodding again, Cloud caught the gun and sat on the bed beside the trembling Orion. Vincent then dashed out the door in search of Sephiroth.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The dark shadows consumed Reno's body. He had made up a story about how Rude let the captives go, and then held him back. Tseng, overtly angry, shot Rude a number of times. Then he threw Reno into a cold, empty room until Rufus got back. "He'll know just what do with you." Tseng laughed at Reno's scared face.
Mumbling to himself about why he shouldn't die, Reno didn't notice Rufus walk into the room. "Explain yourself!" yelled Rufus at the feeble looking hostage. "I…I…Rude didn't let me get them." Reno stammered. "Not good enough." said Rufus. "I've been waiting for this to happen for a while now." commented Tseng. "Waiting for wh--what?" asked Reno, barely comprehending anything the men were saying. "This." Rufus said, smirking. He held up his gun and let loose a bullet into Reno's forehead. A stream of crimson blood trailed down his face alongside strands of hair with equal color. He fell to the ground, dead. A look of remorse fell upon Rufus's face, but disappeared as quickly as it came.
"Great, now we only have two." said Rufus. "We'll manage. After all, the two escapees were fairly easy to capture the first time." Tseng mused. "Yes, but we knew where they were. Plus, they know we are alive now." Rufus shot back. "Maybe we could…no…never mind." Tseng mumbled. "What?" asked his curious counterpart. "We could use Pooky's help…" suggested Tseng. "Fine. Anything to help at this point." Rufus's obvious annoyance showed at the mention of the nickname Pooky's wife had so affectionately given her husband.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
It was fairly easy to catch up to Sephiroth. He was only a few yards down, meandering towards the inn, as if expecting Vincent to stop him. "Sephiroth! Stop!" Vincent yelled at the peculiar man. "Yes, Vincent?" asked Sephiroth. "The boy, I need his treatment. You know…the yellow stuff." Vincent explained. A small beaker of yellow liquid landed in his hand. "Tell him to only drink half tonight." Sephiroth instructed. Vincent marveled with a feeling of foreboding, then turned to leave. He took a side road, avoiding the chance of Sephiroth following him.
Don't worry, Vincent, I'm not following you. I've got better things to do. A voice appeared in his head. It was obviously Sephiroth's, and Vincent purposely ignored it. Though, the boy is very important to me. Do me a favor, Vincent, and forget about him. You have better things to do. Vincent shook his head vigorously, thankful this was an empty street. Did you know that you are responsible for the murder of your two TURK friends? Not that you did it on purpose. He fell onto his knees, and then lay down in the shallow layer of snow that had settled onto the neglected street.
He listened as Sephiroth's voice explained how he had controlled Tseng and Rufus. He went into full detail about how the look on Reno's face made him laugh. Vincent closed his eyes only to find Sephiroth's outline in his mind. His bright green eyes shone menacingly into Vincent's mind's eye. Suddenly, out of the darkness shrouding Sephiroth's own form, Orion stepped forward. He was equally tall, with a matching pair of eyes. Leave him alone, master. The form of Sephiroth jumped in surprise. Orion, how nice of you to join us… drawled Sephiroth, a suggestion of anxiety in his voice. Vincent could only gape at the two bodies. Each one was as magnificent as the other; the well-defined muscles, the sharp, emerald eyes, and the tall, imposing heights.
You know as well as I do that I am stronger. Orion went on. Yes, well, you need to control when you do this! You know what happens! Sephiroth yelled, sounding very worried, almost like a father to his son. I am willing to sacrifice my health if it means I am helping another. I know what you are doing to him. retorted Orion. Oh, really? What, then, am I doing to this feeble excuse for a body? Orion smirked. Do you think I am that stupid? You created me, remember? You were the one who poured all of his strength and knowledge into my life. And what you are doing is draining Vincent of his life. Why? I don't have a clue. This enraged Sephiroth. His form receded to the shadow, only after he gave a sinister warning to Vincent. I promise you I will find you. And you will obey me.
Orion turned to Vincent's gaze and gave a weak smile. Hurry. He said, and then disappeared. Out in the snow, Vincent struggled with all his might to stand up. The snow had melted into his pants and the whole left side of his face felt froze. Only one thought occupied his mind, though. Orion was right in suggesting that Sephiroth was using Vincent's remaining strength. When the realization of what Sephiroth had said in his head before he left, Vincent scrambled up with the diminutive amount of vigor that he could muster up and sprinted the rest of the way to the motel.
Cloud was waiting by the door, a ghostly look upon his face. "Vincent, it's Orion. H-he's not well." was all he could get out. Vincent pushed his way by Cloud to find a horrifying sight stretched out on the floor before him. In a small pool of blood, Orion's body was still. Every now and then, he would twitch but otherwise he showed no signs of life. Believing it was way too late, Vincent decided to try the medicine anyways. He pulled out the beaker and unplugged it. Not knowing how he was going to do this, Vincent called on Cloud's assistance. They propped the boy's head up on Cloud's knee and opened his mouth. Ever so careful as to only use half, the 'treatment' disappeared down his throat.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Two days passed, full of constant fear of Sephiroth showing up to claim his boy. The two had cleaned up the blood and hid the liquid underneath a loose floorboard. Finally, after many hours in the tedious days and foreboding nights, Orion began to stir. "Vincent!" he called out. "Yes, Orion? I'm right here." Vincent answered from the armchair situated by the bed. "Where's Cloud?" the boy asked. "He is right here. Sleeping, in fact." replied a very tired Vincent. "Thank you. I owe you everything." Orion apologized after a long, unsettling silence. "No, it's no problem. Don't fret about it. I'll do what I have to do, after all, now Sephiroth is after me, too." chuckled the dark-haired man.
"Vincent, I need to tell you something." Orion said as he sat up. Vincent nodded. "Go ahead." "It's about Sephiroth. You see, he's always wanted to get his hands on you. He's been obsessing about since you tried to kill him." Orion explained. "Why?" Vincent asked. "Well, because my master has an illness that can only be cured by one method and one method only. Only few people are capable of doing this, and the others were wiped out when a capture went all wrong." the boy paused to take a breath. "Let me guess. I am the only one remaining that can 'cure' Sephiroth." commented Vincent sarcastically. "Actually, yes and no. You and one other person can do this. It's just that the other person isn't willing and cannot be controlled to do so." Orion answered.
"Who is the other person?" asked a faintly confused Vincent. "It doesn't matter. Besides, now that I'm on your side, we can fight through this." Orion eluded the question. "Hold up!!" yelled Vincent, suddenly very irritated. "My side? Fight through what, exactly?" he demanded. Orion sighed. "Fine. I guess you have the right to know." he breathed. "You're damn right I have the right to know!" said Vincent, his voice much calmer. "I was supposed to be taking you to Sephiroth. But this…man…he contained me in this small body. I am useless against you now. Only now do I see how evil Sephiroth really is. Now I want to help you, instead." "Whoa!" Cloud exclaimed from the corner. Vincent and Orion turned to look at him. "What?" asked a daft looking Cloud. "Anyways, he is on your side I guess."
"So you are telling me that I have to help you get to your normal self so that you can take me to Sephiroth to cure is ailment." Vincent ruminated. "Exactly." Orion concluded. "Why shouldn't I refuse. I could kill you right now, you know." Vincent threatened. "Ha! Good luck, Vincent. I can control you remember?" Orion called his bluff. "Damn you." Vincent muttered. "Well explained, my boy." came a sinister voice from the door. "Get down!!" bellowed Cloud. At that moment, Tseng and a strange man came crashing through the window.