The moon was calm overhead, mocking the turbulence within him. He was kneeling in the middle of his bedroom floor, with his arms wrapped around himself. The demon was trying to resurface. In the back of his mind he knew it was a losing battle, but he also knew the only thing he could do was fight it, so he told himself he would win it. And he lost every time. He stifled a cry of pain as the wings ripped from his back, his clothing melding into black skin, the fingers of his good hand and his metallic claw both elongating into razor sharp claws. He closed his eyes tightly, as the transformation finally gained control of his body, leaving his human mind locked inside somewhere, screaming.
Outside, Tifa and Sephiroth had just dismounted their ship, and were walking towards the mansion, keeping to the shadows. Sephiroth led the way, slipping through the gate, rusted half-open, and tried the large wooden doors. They gave easily, and he walked in, his movements liquid and silent. Tifa followed him, as quietly, if not as striking. He motioned for her to stay by the door and block the only safe escape route from the place while he found Aeris. She nodded once, and he disappeared into one of the interlocking rooms.
Tifa relaxed after a while, in the quiet peace of the place. Yes it was creepy, but all that was here was a little lost flower girl holed up like a mouse, and maybe a few roaches. She had just started to breathe easily when something caught her attention on the main staircase. Her eyes widened in sudden fear. It was a silhouette, against the silver-tinted stained glass window above the stair. Majestic purple wings, stretched above a ferally evil-looking beast. It was crouched down, it's black eyes trained directly at her. She stopped breathing and hoped it was her eyes playing tricks on her. Then it started to descend the stairs. She screamed, she couldn't help it. Then she turned and ran.
Aeris awoke with a start. A scream, very close to her. She regarded her locked door, the cold warning from Vincent echoing in her head. But, what if someone was in trouble? She was scared, but also powerfully curious. Just a look wouldn't hurt...And if someone was in trouble she could get Vincent. She slid back the bolt and crept into the hallway, trying to be quiet. The first thing she noticed was that the two heavy double-doors were wide open to the night. The second thing was the pair of bright green eyes trained on her.
"S..Sephiroth.."
She was frozen, unable to move. Caught like a deer in headlights. He smiled slowly and walked to her. She tried to turn and run with all of her will, but she just couldn't. He reached out and touched her face, and then her survival instincts kicked in. She ran for all she was worth, her brown curls unbound and flying out behind her, and dressed in only the white slip she wore beneath her usual dress. But she wasn't fast enough. She felt a strong hand grip her arm, and she was pulled to an abrupt stop.
"Help! Vincent..!"
Sephiroth took her face in his hands quietly, and with an almost apologetic look he slammed her head back against the wall, knocking her out cold. Then he picked her up easily, and carried her back to the enterance to the mansion, looking for Tifa. He had heard her scream, and had gone to see what had happened when he picked up the faint sound of a bolt unlocking. He had a feeling it was Aeris, and was walking towards it when she had walked around the corner. But now that she had been captured, he could spare consern for Tifa again. The woman was usually so proffessional in tight situations, it must have been something serious to have her scream like that. He walked outside. The night was clear and silent, the way it was when they had first entered the mansion. There was no sign of Tifa.
Chaos had played with her. She ran, and he followed her leisurely, taking to the air. The little mortal thought she could escape him. He decided to take her life, as soon as she gave up running. Tifa, however, was not inting to do anything of the sort for as long s she could help it. Nervous glances over her shoulder every couple of minutes confirmed that the demon was still following her. She sensed it's game. It was taking it's time, and she intended to live as long as she could. She was headed for the Nibel Mountains. It took hours for her to finally slow down, her body unable to be pushed much further. She stumbled into a small cave, and collapsed on the floor, holding back sobs of defeat and fatigue. She coughed, her breathing strained and quick. The moonlight that slanted across the floor of the little cave suddenly was blocked, and she squeezed her eyes shut, and backed up to the wall, putting her fists up, prepared to fight to the end. She opened her eyes, suddenly resolute, and then slowly lowered her fists.
The demon was sitting a ways outside of the enterance, just looking at her, as if confused. She looked back at it for a space of time. It made no move towards her. And in fact, the menacing, evil presence that it had eminated in the Mansion was gone entirely. She stood, catching her breath and trying to figure this out. After while she took an unsteady step forward, and then another. She just stood in front of it, meeting it's dark eyes, unexplicably raptured.
Chaos itself was caught in a conflicting storm of emotions. The creature had seemingly no desire to kill this woman. It had been determined to, chasing her all the way here, but at the sight of her cornered there, not simply giving in, but holding on to life with a vengeance, he had suddenly lost interest in her blood. It was something that had never even crossed the demon's mind before, and Vincent had also taken the moment of weakness to gain leverage against the demon, struggling for power. It finally just surrendered to him, and in a matter of seconds, it was Vincent who was standing across from Tifa. They regarded each other in silence.
"Why did you break into the mansion?"
Tifa narrowed her eyes at him.
"It's none of your consern."
Vincent cooly whipped out a gun and pointed it at her.
"Now it is. Are you after Aeris?"
She just glared at him.
"I will kill you, if you do not give me a reason not to."
"Shoot me, then. Aeris is already gone anyways."
A single gunshot was fired, and richoted harmlessly off the stone of the cave. Vincent hardly had time to absorb the shock of him missing his target, even if it was intended to be just a warning shot, into her arm, before he was reeling back from two precise blows. His face and ribs stung violently, and he gained his balance and looked for his attacker. She suddenly flipped into sight, and executed another series of lightening fast blows, which this time he was ready for, and managed to counteract fairly well. After all, he had extensive hand-to-hand combat training as a turk, he just never prefered using it. He sprang back, catlike, and fired a series of shots at her, hoping at least a few would hit her. She was surprisingly fast, though a few of the bullets did graze her, and one hit its mark in her side.
However, it didn't seem to faze her, and she launched into another attack. Vincent fell back a few steps, she was vicious, and extremely skilled in close combat. Then all of a sudden after a high spin-kick (which he managed to duck just in time) she just collapsed, unconscious. Vincent looked at her for a few seconds, his gun pointed at her, in case she was faking it. But he could tell by the sound of her shallow breaths, and the blood now seeping from around her body. He holstered his gun and kneeled down beside her, turning her body over so she lay on her back. The bullet was still lodged into her. He took note of the situation cooly, and pressed a hand to her wound to stop the bloodflow. He wondered why he was bothering to save her, but then concluded that he could get her to tell him where Aeris was.
He had just torn a long strip of fabric from the bottom hem of his cape, and was binding her side neatly when her eyes fluttered open. They met his cold red ones, and she immediately started to struggle, feebly. The attempt was futile, of course. She had lost too much blood, and had been exaused when she first started the fight. She thought with no little resentment of where Sephiroth probably was. Safe back at headquarters with the girl. Her eyes narrowed, and she coughed violently, sending daggers of pain into her side. She gasped and lost consciousness again for a few minutes.
Well, it had seemed like a few minutes, but when she woke again, she was in a bed, shivering beneath layers of blankets. She felt like her whole body was burning, and her head felt heavy. Damn, a fever. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to sit up, looking around. Sure enough, her captor was standing in the frame of the bolted door, and appeared to be dozing lightly. She decided that she would jump out of the window if she had to, and struggled to stand, her side sending sharp pain through her already hurting head. Her feet touched the cold ground and she pushed herself to stand on them, shakily. She started to walk towards the large window when suddenly they gave out on her, weak from bloodloss and fever. She crashed to the ground, the noise immediately bringing Vincent to alertness. He walked over and picked her up, none too gently, and gave her a little push back towards the bed, pointedly avoiding looking right at her. Then he walked over and locked the window.
"I wouldn't suggest trying to escape. I'll shoot one of your knees next time."
She glared venomously.
"You bastard. What do you want from me?"
"Information. It's simple."
"...No."
"I'll even offer you your freedom. Just tell me who you're working for, and where the girl is."
Silence. Vincent sighed. He didn't know why he suddenly had to go after this little flower girl who had stumbled onto his property. She hadn't meant anything to him...or had she? She was the only one in years to reach out to him. To show any kind of trust or friendship. He had been alone for so long. And now it did matter what happened to her. He sighed. And now this woman, she was a problem in herself. Somehow just looking at her for too long set Chaos on a rampant struggle inside of him. He had no idea what effect she had on the demon..Vincent had never even seen her, and it wasn't as if Chaos had been around before Vincent himself. So he resolved it my not looking at her, not meeting her eyes. It seemed easier to control himself that way, though even her presence seemed to agitate him.
Tifa's own mind was churning, frenized with hallucinations and skewed logic. Impossible escape plans, attacks, and so on. And then beneath it all a cool kind of speculation. A dettached part of her mind that was still working in what seemed to be a hopeless situation. It was evaluating her strength, the materia she had been carrying, this man's strenghts and weaknesses. Weaknesses. All of a sudden the two parts of her mind snapped together, and the thought came through crystal clear to her. Her captor and the demon were sharing the same body. All she had to do was make the demon resurface, and escape from it, which she seemed to think would be easier then escaping from the gunman. But what could she do to trigger the transformation? What was it that made the demon stop, when it was obviously his intention to kill her? Or was it... She came up with an insane and desperte plan, all the conclusion she could draw at the moment.
She got to her feet again, and walked towards the black-haired man. Her resolution seemed to lend her body the strength she needed. He seemed to be taken by surprise, and inched his hand towards his gun enough so that he could draw it at the slightest indication of a threat. He had taken off her gloves and her boots while she was sleeping. She didn't see them around the room, but it didn't matter. She leaned towards him, and kissed him. He pulled back, too quickly, in fact, and hit his head on the doorframe behind him. He gasped in pain, and slid to the floor, not from the head injury (which was slight) but from the sudden resurgance of the beast within. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, and clenched his shaking hand into a tight fist, his clawed one supporting his weight as he kneeled on the ground.
Tifa backed up, giving him room, but watching in facination as another form started to take his place. It was halfway physical, a melding and reforming of flesh and bone, and halfway magical, almost, like the big wings that suddenly flickered into being. The whole thing took perhaps 10 seconds. Chaos sat and watched her, another kind of intellegence from Vincent's in his black eyes. Tifa smiled, almost in relief that her plan had worked.
"Thank you."
It seemed to lower its head a little, in a nod, but Tifa couldn't be sure.
"I'm going to leave out the window..."
It didn't make a move to stop her.
"..But we might see each other again."
With that she turned and kicked in the glass, her head reeling, and jumped, landing in a crouch to absorb the impact. It was only the second story, thank gods, and though her legs suffered even more, she was mostly unhurt, though maye scratched up a little. She took a step forward and almost fell flat to the ground. Her side hurt more then she thought possible from a bullet wound, and she was exausted. But she had to get back to Sephiroth, he was really the only one she could trust. He would take care of her..
That was the thought that echoed through her head as she forced herself to keep walking. The sun had rose over the horizon when she finally arrived back at Shinra Headquarters. It was a pale dawn. She collapsed near the door, unable to go any further. A guard walked over brisquely, and she managed a cold look, and ordered him to go get Sephiroth immediately. Then she passed out again.
She awoke when someone effortlessly picked her up, and started to walk up what felt like stairs. She opened her eyes just a little, and the harsh light of the building immediately forced them closed again. But not before she caught sight of his silver hair, and his quietly conserned green eyes looking down at her. She relaxed the tension she had been holding, and allowed herself to slip back into darkness.
*
AN: Sorry I lied to you all, but in the next chapter, I promise there'll be a Vincent/Aeris confrontation! As of the last chapter I broke my record on reviews for one story (sad that it was only 5 to begin with, hehe) See where begging for reviews can get you? lol. So thank you Lost Witness for following my progress, and also to chibi-aeris (were you right about vincent's advice? i will definetly look at your fics some time, and yes, snowfields is great ^.^) and Lord Cirenmas. Oh, and by the way, the next chapter might take a while, I wrote this whole thing over the weekend, and during school I'm so busy! But next weekend...
Outside, Tifa and Sephiroth had just dismounted their ship, and were walking towards the mansion, keeping to the shadows. Sephiroth led the way, slipping through the gate, rusted half-open, and tried the large wooden doors. They gave easily, and he walked in, his movements liquid and silent. Tifa followed him, as quietly, if not as striking. He motioned for her to stay by the door and block the only safe escape route from the place while he found Aeris. She nodded once, and he disappeared into one of the interlocking rooms.
Tifa relaxed after a while, in the quiet peace of the place. Yes it was creepy, but all that was here was a little lost flower girl holed up like a mouse, and maybe a few roaches. She had just started to breathe easily when something caught her attention on the main staircase. Her eyes widened in sudden fear. It was a silhouette, against the silver-tinted stained glass window above the stair. Majestic purple wings, stretched above a ferally evil-looking beast. It was crouched down, it's black eyes trained directly at her. She stopped breathing and hoped it was her eyes playing tricks on her. Then it started to descend the stairs. She screamed, she couldn't help it. Then she turned and ran.
Aeris awoke with a start. A scream, very close to her. She regarded her locked door, the cold warning from Vincent echoing in her head. But, what if someone was in trouble? She was scared, but also powerfully curious. Just a look wouldn't hurt...And if someone was in trouble she could get Vincent. She slid back the bolt and crept into the hallway, trying to be quiet. The first thing she noticed was that the two heavy double-doors were wide open to the night. The second thing was the pair of bright green eyes trained on her.
"S..Sephiroth.."
She was frozen, unable to move. Caught like a deer in headlights. He smiled slowly and walked to her. She tried to turn and run with all of her will, but she just couldn't. He reached out and touched her face, and then her survival instincts kicked in. She ran for all she was worth, her brown curls unbound and flying out behind her, and dressed in only the white slip she wore beneath her usual dress. But she wasn't fast enough. She felt a strong hand grip her arm, and she was pulled to an abrupt stop.
"Help! Vincent..!"
Sephiroth took her face in his hands quietly, and with an almost apologetic look he slammed her head back against the wall, knocking her out cold. Then he picked her up easily, and carried her back to the enterance to the mansion, looking for Tifa. He had heard her scream, and had gone to see what had happened when he picked up the faint sound of a bolt unlocking. He had a feeling it was Aeris, and was walking towards it when she had walked around the corner. But now that she had been captured, he could spare consern for Tifa again. The woman was usually so proffessional in tight situations, it must have been something serious to have her scream like that. He walked outside. The night was clear and silent, the way it was when they had first entered the mansion. There was no sign of Tifa.
Chaos had played with her. She ran, and he followed her leisurely, taking to the air. The little mortal thought she could escape him. He decided to take her life, as soon as she gave up running. Tifa, however, was not inting to do anything of the sort for as long s she could help it. Nervous glances over her shoulder every couple of minutes confirmed that the demon was still following her. She sensed it's game. It was taking it's time, and she intended to live as long as she could. She was headed for the Nibel Mountains. It took hours for her to finally slow down, her body unable to be pushed much further. She stumbled into a small cave, and collapsed on the floor, holding back sobs of defeat and fatigue. She coughed, her breathing strained and quick. The moonlight that slanted across the floor of the little cave suddenly was blocked, and she squeezed her eyes shut, and backed up to the wall, putting her fists up, prepared to fight to the end. She opened her eyes, suddenly resolute, and then slowly lowered her fists.
The demon was sitting a ways outside of the enterance, just looking at her, as if confused. She looked back at it for a space of time. It made no move towards her. And in fact, the menacing, evil presence that it had eminated in the Mansion was gone entirely. She stood, catching her breath and trying to figure this out. After while she took an unsteady step forward, and then another. She just stood in front of it, meeting it's dark eyes, unexplicably raptured.
Chaos itself was caught in a conflicting storm of emotions. The creature had seemingly no desire to kill this woman. It had been determined to, chasing her all the way here, but at the sight of her cornered there, not simply giving in, but holding on to life with a vengeance, he had suddenly lost interest in her blood. It was something that had never even crossed the demon's mind before, and Vincent had also taken the moment of weakness to gain leverage against the demon, struggling for power. It finally just surrendered to him, and in a matter of seconds, it was Vincent who was standing across from Tifa. They regarded each other in silence.
"Why did you break into the mansion?"
Tifa narrowed her eyes at him.
"It's none of your consern."
Vincent cooly whipped out a gun and pointed it at her.
"Now it is. Are you after Aeris?"
She just glared at him.
"I will kill you, if you do not give me a reason not to."
"Shoot me, then. Aeris is already gone anyways."
A single gunshot was fired, and richoted harmlessly off the stone of the cave. Vincent hardly had time to absorb the shock of him missing his target, even if it was intended to be just a warning shot, into her arm, before he was reeling back from two precise blows. His face and ribs stung violently, and he gained his balance and looked for his attacker. She suddenly flipped into sight, and executed another series of lightening fast blows, which this time he was ready for, and managed to counteract fairly well. After all, he had extensive hand-to-hand combat training as a turk, he just never prefered using it. He sprang back, catlike, and fired a series of shots at her, hoping at least a few would hit her. She was surprisingly fast, though a few of the bullets did graze her, and one hit its mark in her side.
However, it didn't seem to faze her, and she launched into another attack. Vincent fell back a few steps, she was vicious, and extremely skilled in close combat. Then all of a sudden after a high spin-kick (which he managed to duck just in time) she just collapsed, unconscious. Vincent looked at her for a few seconds, his gun pointed at her, in case she was faking it. But he could tell by the sound of her shallow breaths, and the blood now seeping from around her body. He holstered his gun and kneeled down beside her, turning her body over so she lay on her back. The bullet was still lodged into her. He took note of the situation cooly, and pressed a hand to her wound to stop the bloodflow. He wondered why he was bothering to save her, but then concluded that he could get her to tell him where Aeris was.
He had just torn a long strip of fabric from the bottom hem of his cape, and was binding her side neatly when her eyes fluttered open. They met his cold red ones, and she immediately started to struggle, feebly. The attempt was futile, of course. She had lost too much blood, and had been exaused when she first started the fight. She thought with no little resentment of where Sephiroth probably was. Safe back at headquarters with the girl. Her eyes narrowed, and she coughed violently, sending daggers of pain into her side. She gasped and lost consciousness again for a few minutes.
Well, it had seemed like a few minutes, but when she woke again, she was in a bed, shivering beneath layers of blankets. She felt like her whole body was burning, and her head felt heavy. Damn, a fever. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to sit up, looking around. Sure enough, her captor was standing in the frame of the bolted door, and appeared to be dozing lightly. She decided that she would jump out of the window if she had to, and struggled to stand, her side sending sharp pain through her already hurting head. Her feet touched the cold ground and she pushed herself to stand on them, shakily. She started to walk towards the large window when suddenly they gave out on her, weak from bloodloss and fever. She crashed to the ground, the noise immediately bringing Vincent to alertness. He walked over and picked her up, none too gently, and gave her a little push back towards the bed, pointedly avoiding looking right at her. Then he walked over and locked the window.
"I wouldn't suggest trying to escape. I'll shoot one of your knees next time."
She glared venomously.
"You bastard. What do you want from me?"
"Information. It's simple."
"...No."
"I'll even offer you your freedom. Just tell me who you're working for, and where the girl is."
Silence. Vincent sighed. He didn't know why he suddenly had to go after this little flower girl who had stumbled onto his property. She hadn't meant anything to him...or had she? She was the only one in years to reach out to him. To show any kind of trust or friendship. He had been alone for so long. And now it did matter what happened to her. He sighed. And now this woman, she was a problem in herself. Somehow just looking at her for too long set Chaos on a rampant struggle inside of him. He had no idea what effect she had on the demon..Vincent had never even seen her, and it wasn't as if Chaos had been around before Vincent himself. So he resolved it my not looking at her, not meeting her eyes. It seemed easier to control himself that way, though even her presence seemed to agitate him.
Tifa's own mind was churning, frenized with hallucinations and skewed logic. Impossible escape plans, attacks, and so on. And then beneath it all a cool kind of speculation. A dettached part of her mind that was still working in what seemed to be a hopeless situation. It was evaluating her strength, the materia she had been carrying, this man's strenghts and weaknesses. Weaknesses. All of a sudden the two parts of her mind snapped together, and the thought came through crystal clear to her. Her captor and the demon were sharing the same body. All she had to do was make the demon resurface, and escape from it, which she seemed to think would be easier then escaping from the gunman. But what could she do to trigger the transformation? What was it that made the demon stop, when it was obviously his intention to kill her? Or was it... She came up with an insane and desperte plan, all the conclusion she could draw at the moment.
She got to her feet again, and walked towards the black-haired man. Her resolution seemed to lend her body the strength she needed. He seemed to be taken by surprise, and inched his hand towards his gun enough so that he could draw it at the slightest indication of a threat. He had taken off her gloves and her boots while she was sleeping. She didn't see them around the room, but it didn't matter. She leaned towards him, and kissed him. He pulled back, too quickly, in fact, and hit his head on the doorframe behind him. He gasped in pain, and slid to the floor, not from the head injury (which was slight) but from the sudden resurgance of the beast within. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, and clenched his shaking hand into a tight fist, his clawed one supporting his weight as he kneeled on the ground.
Tifa backed up, giving him room, but watching in facination as another form started to take his place. It was halfway physical, a melding and reforming of flesh and bone, and halfway magical, almost, like the big wings that suddenly flickered into being. The whole thing took perhaps 10 seconds. Chaos sat and watched her, another kind of intellegence from Vincent's in his black eyes. Tifa smiled, almost in relief that her plan had worked.
"Thank you."
It seemed to lower its head a little, in a nod, but Tifa couldn't be sure.
"I'm going to leave out the window..."
It didn't make a move to stop her.
"..But we might see each other again."
With that she turned and kicked in the glass, her head reeling, and jumped, landing in a crouch to absorb the impact. It was only the second story, thank gods, and though her legs suffered even more, she was mostly unhurt, though maye scratched up a little. She took a step forward and almost fell flat to the ground. Her side hurt more then she thought possible from a bullet wound, and she was exausted. But she had to get back to Sephiroth, he was really the only one she could trust. He would take care of her..
That was the thought that echoed through her head as she forced herself to keep walking. The sun had rose over the horizon when she finally arrived back at Shinra Headquarters. It was a pale dawn. She collapsed near the door, unable to go any further. A guard walked over brisquely, and she managed a cold look, and ordered him to go get Sephiroth immediately. Then she passed out again.
She awoke when someone effortlessly picked her up, and started to walk up what felt like stairs. She opened her eyes just a little, and the harsh light of the building immediately forced them closed again. But not before she caught sight of his silver hair, and his quietly conserned green eyes looking down at her. She relaxed the tension she had been holding, and allowed herself to slip back into darkness.
*
AN: Sorry I lied to you all, but in the next chapter, I promise there'll be a Vincent/Aeris confrontation! As of the last chapter I broke my record on reviews for one story (sad that it was only 5 to begin with, hehe) See where begging for reviews can get you? lol. So thank you Lost Witness for following my progress, and also to chibi-aeris (were you right about vincent's advice? i will definetly look at your fics some time, and yes, snowfields is great ^.^) and Lord Cirenmas. Oh, and by the way, the next chapter might take a while, I wrote this whole thing over the weekend, and during school I'm so busy! But next weekend...