In it's natural home, surrounded by a gleaming white; the VOICE's energy
was brimming. Pain added to its power, making the monstrous wings it had
given to its servant twitch with excitement. Soon... So soon... It would
begin its fun.
~ They are coming. ~ It told the child. A sob answered, giving the VOICE more twisted glee.
The stupid Turk had fallen into its trap like a fly to a spider web. When they arrive, the doors would be closed. The games would begin. And it had been so long...so long since the VOICE had had any form of entertainment...
~ Yes...They are coming, my sweet, and then the party would start...~
And as if on cue, footsteps echoed from the outside.
SHADOWBODY ~ By Crimson Sun
Chapter Five
The waterfall outside the cave roared as Yuffie followed Vincent down a long narrow tunnel. Despite her sickening anticipation and nervousness for what was going to happen, she still could not help but marvel at her surroundings.
The tunnel was arched, extending its roof tall above their heads. The sides closed in on them, so that they could only walk behind one another. But that was nothing impressive, no, what stunned Yuffie was the fact that everything - the walls, floors, and the high roofs - were all made from a shiny, glassy material. They looked like icy mirrors, but when Yuffie looked closer, there was no reflection staring back at her like an ordinary mirror should. She secondly guessed they were windows, large pieces of glass that extended in one direction straight ahead of them, but again, that was not so. Though glass did seem more likely, but did they make glass that held swirling, green smoky substances inside their surfaces these days?
She looked ahead at the dark man with his dark cape, dripping water onto the polished floor from his hair and his clothing. She glanced down and saw she was doing the same thing; puddles of water formed where her shoes had stood. Yuffie wondered how she could see so clearly, then realized the same smoky material inside the glass walls were illuminating some sort of eerie, emerald light.
"Freaky." She muttered to herself. Just where the hell was this place?
Vincent stopped in front her, and Yuffie craned her neck to see past his tall figure. The ninja saw what seemed like a wall ahead of them, the same glass that surrounded the two, and the gunslinger was running his hand along the smooth surface.
"It's here." He said, more to himself than Yuffie. "I do not want to resort to battle, but it may very well come to that."
"I'm in no condition to battle, ViVi." Yuffie grumbled. "Why can't we just go back and call Cloud and the others?"
"I gave you that option, you refused." The gunslinger replied darkly. Clearly he was still not too happy about her being there. Yuffie ran her hands along her arms and shivered. There was no need for Vincent to be so cold! She was freezing as it was.
"All right, fine." She took a deep breath. "Let's go."
The wall at the end of the tunnel glided open like a sliding door, and Vincent stepped into the blinding green light beyond.
Lucrecia's Cave was just as he remembered. The light at the entrance, the circular room lined with glass, marble steps that led up to the altar at the center back of the room, backed by three diamond-shaped crystals that stretched right to the high ceiling. For one moment of blessed obliviousness, he was almost willing to accept that this place was just as he left it when he last glanced upon Lucrecia.
Almost. Then the air twisted and a brooding sense of evil rose as he surveyed the room more carefully. Something was sitting on the altar in front of him, and it was definitely NOT Lucrecia. Vincent drew a hasty breath as he saw the figure, and he heard Yuffie do the same behind him.
It was a child, like he had guessed, but one that just sat at the edge of the definition. The thin, small body was slumped limply against the back wall, and long strands of tangled hair covered its face from view and made it difficult to classify its gender. But that was the least of Vincent's concerns. Large, ugly membraneous wings, each the length of its body, were folded behind the child's back, looking like weather-beaten black umbrellas. An awful amount of blood stuck to it, dripping down its chest and puddling in sickening pools underneath its legs. Its whole body, in fact, was clothed in the same coat of sticky crimson.
What sort of child was this?
"What...is...that...?" Yuffie was eyeing the small figure like it was a headless cockroach. "Is it...dead? It isn't exactly...moving."
Her voice must have reached the child, for its head suddenly snapped up, making Yuffie jump in surprise. It rose up from its sitting position and rolled onto its knees. As it raised its head, the long fringe fell away to reveal its facial features.
It - she - was a girl-child. And by her general appearance, she was no older than eight years old.
She tilted her head and looked at Vincent with the saddest pair of eyes he has ever seen. They were moist with tears, tinted blue in color, and so light those pupils were almost pearls in a thick frame of dark lashes set into her pale skin. But somehow, they contrasted with the rest of her features - a tiny nose, a full, pallid mouth - and made her youthful face quite...beautiful, in a ghostly way. He suddenly felt he knew her somehow, but from where? It wasn't possible.
"Who..." The small cherry mouth shaped a tiny sound. Her mutant wings twitched, and another tear rolled down her cheek.
Surely this must not be the same being that harmed Bugenhagen, Vincent thought? Such a pathetic, weak creature, not even in control of her own emotions, could not possibly raise a hand against another?
It was stupid what he did next, but he had to know.
"Did you injure our friend?" He took a step forward and asked. Then, with a gulp, he added: "Did you drop the ring?"
He took the dragon out of his pocket were it had sat, showing it to the girl. She seemed to recognize it, for her half-closed eyes widened immediately, making the stream of tears run down her face even faster. Her lip trembled, and Vincent got the impression that she was actually more frightened of them than they were of her. Nevertheless, he still pocketed the ring again, not wanting to damage the delicate shape if anything did happen.
But the girl did not answer. Her eyes opened even wider to their full extent, and Vincent's fear of the creature returned as a transformation began to take place inside them. Those already half-invisible pupils disappeared completely into her eye-whites, spiraled like water down a drain, and reformed back into their original shape.
Except this time, they were deep crimson in color.
"Yes..." A smirk formed on the damned girl's face that did not remotely match her age. "I impaired the wound on the old bastard, and I left the ring."
She stood up, no longer an innocent child, but radiating with the aura of evil presence. Vincent knew, then, that she was no longer herself. Some demon...some sinister thing... had taken her body for itself.
"You certainly have commendable memory..." She continued, her voice a barely audible hiss. "And the song you heard was indeed Lucrecia's favorite."
Vincent froze. His thoughts...how could the winged creature on the altar penetrate into his mind? He had never mentioned Lucrecia to anyone except the chosen few after she died, and certainly there was no one around in the darkest period of his life, when Lucrecia was still living? Yet this child, barely eight years old, knew his secrets as if she had been with him through the wedding, through the mental torture back in his past. He certainly didn't know her...he was definite of that. But...
"Still do not know who I am, Valentine?" The child put on a face of mock- hurt. "Even with this new body, I did not expect you to forget the old me so quickly...especially when we met only three months ago, atop the Sister Ray."
A thunderbolt could have struck Vincent, but it would not have made him jolt as violently as he did after those words. Of course! The ring, the song, the memories, this place. How could he be so naïve, being lured and trapped so easily in a web of emotions? The pieces fell together like an oversized jigsaw puzzle, and the picture was just revealing itself to be the most gruesome and terrible one he has ever set eyes on...
"Hojo!" Confusion turned to anger as Vincent drew out the Death Penalty and all doubt was lost. "I killed you so you wouldn't return. I killed you so something like this WOULD NOT HAPPEN AGAIN."
The smirk broke into a twisted grin, then finally Hojo's crackling bounced off every single mirror in Lucrecia's Cave. To Vincent's eyes, it was no longer a child that stood in front of him. Hojo was back; complete with his long hair, glasses, and evil, gleaming eyes. The gunslinger raised his Death Penalty, aiming it at the old professor's greasy head. But the maniac, the crazed scientist, just kept laughing. Like he did when Vincent had blamed him for Lucrecia's death, like he did when he had changed the Turk's life forever. Questions of the professor's existence - how is he linked to the child? How was he revived? - disappeared. The wash of old, painful memories was overwhelming.
"Would you shoot this poor thing?" The girl's arms spread wide, showing all her delicate profile. "This girl, this weak thing without the slightest power to defend herself?"
Hojo paused, and Vincent heard Yuffie mutter something behind him that sounded slightly like 'do it'. But he had forgotten about Yuffie up to now, and a little more ignoring would not hurt.
"She is my DAUGHTER." Hojo continued; the girl's smirk was wider, contrasting horribly with the rest of her features. Vincent ignored the statement; it was of no importance to him who the girl was.
"Would you let your spite get the better of you, Turk?" It sounded like a challenge. If it was, he was up to it.
"I've wrung the necks of sleeping children, murdered wives in front of their lovers." Vincent gritted his teeth and the words were almost spat out of his mouth. The child of Hojo just stood, her eyes watery and large. But there was no more innocence there, if there ever had been. She was the tool of the devil, and the remnants of her ghastly wings that still jagged out of her back backed up that fact with force.
"You are well aware of what I am capable of." The ex-Turk finished, the shining barrel of his gun still pointed at the tiny figure in front of Yuffie and himself. Though he was not the heartless assassin that could finished any job with his gun anymore; Vincent's killing spirit had been much reduced during and after the year of Lucrecia's death. And now, again facing the demon spirit that had taken her away, he cursed as he felt the weapon tremble between his fingers despite his overpowering urge to kill.
"Yes, Valentine, I am all too well aware." The girl answered, Hojo's spirit flaring inside her. "You killed my first son without the blink of an eye. Are you going to end the life of my second-born as well?"
A twisted smile filled the face of the possessed body, and disappeared as suddenly as it came. The girl that stood in front of Vincent was back to being just another eight-year-old, her eyes swirling back to their original robin egg blue. She stared at the gun as if in a trance, not showing any obvious fear but the fresh tears rolling down her cheeks, retracing the line made by the ones before them.
"End." She whispered, her voice hoarse, then rose as she shouted across the cave. She was so pitiful. just a tool to be used, in pain, misunderstood.
"Kill!" She cried.
But Vincent's heart wrenched; the feeling of pity long abandoned as a Turk had returned. It was not just her totally helplessness that sent that emotion rising, but he felt she was something more than just Hojo's demon. The professor had been womanizing in life; Sephiroth cannot be his only child. And Hojo would do anything; even demonize his children, to get what he wanted. But with this girl.the gunslinger felt a connection with. It may be just imagination, but he was certain he heard distant voices warning him away from her.telling him that to harm her would be like wounding something he truly loved.
He hesitated. The gun he held lowered, and in a split second, the girl on Lucrecia's altar changed. "Oh GODS!" Yuffie screeched, and she had every right to.
The useless wings that hung on the child's back burst into slimy tentacles as her body swelled and doubled in size. Then it kept on growing, not anymore a girl-child but the monster Hojo had designed her to be. Her face lengthened and fangs sprouted rapidly, filling the mouth that now was monstrous. Then before Vincent could recover, it was a beast that towered above him, claws on every end of uncountable tentacles.
Yuffie's scream brought Vincent back to his senses, and he dived out of the way just in time as the monster made a grab at him with one of its massive deformed limbs. It roared, the terrible sound bouncing off every mirror of Lucrecia's cave.
"TRANSFORM, VALENTINE!" It was a growl only Vincent could hear as he dodged to Yuffie's side and attempted to protect her. "TRANSFORM AND DESTORY ME LIKE YOU DID LAST TIME, WHY DON'T YOU?"
Always up to a challenge, Chaos stirred inside of Vincent and stretched its wings, forcing them upwards and crushing his lungs. But he forced the beast down with a deep breath and concentrated on keeping the teenager behind him away from danger. He wished she could fight for herself, but for some reason, the normally active and brave ninja was paralyzed in the moment, her usually dangerous weapon useless without its master's will.
"No!" Vincent shouted aloud, forcing himself to believe in his own words. Transforming would NOT help him protect Yuffie. "Chaos, STAY DOWN."
Hojo's demon force rose up on its ugly behind, barely legs but more alike the slimy end of a snail. It seemed to be smirking, but one could not tell for the monster's jaws were always open, dripping, and exposed. Vincent pushed Yuffie to the rear of the wall, back towards the tunnel, while keeping one eye on their enemy all the time.
"Move." He hissed to the ninja while pushing a small object into her hands. "Run, blow on the whistle I just gave you. Lucia would come and take you to safety."
"What? What-what about that?" Yuffie seemed to have found her voice at last. "I can't just leave you here!"
"I have the Death Penalty, don't I?" This was almost a growl. Chaos was summoning up the power of all his other demons and turning them against him.
Yuffie looked slightly confused at his tone, but she had no time to wonder. A slimy tentacle burst from the blob of flesh that was Hojo and shot at them, claws stretching as if navigating the way to their throats. The ninja screamed, but the gunslinger was much more experienced with crises. Looping one arm around the girl's slim shoulders, he pulled both of them to the ground a mere moment before the sharp deformed fingers swished past the tops of their heads. A milli-second later the glass interior of Lucrecia's cave shattered above the two, and Vincent cursed again as he felt ice cut smoothly into his left shoulder. Yuffie bit her bottom lip and stayed motionless.
"Go now!" He gave her one last warning. It was clear that if they hanged around any longer, the room was going to cave in and trap them here with this monster. And that was, of course, a fate no one wanted to face.
The danger in his eyes must have reached the Wutainese; Yuffie seemed to gather herself together. She snatched the whistle from his hand and they both got up just in time to dodge another tentacle. It seemed to Vincent that Hojo was just playing with them, teasing them like a cat to a captured mouse. Worse yet, he felt fresh, warm blood seep through the cut on his shoulder and a wave of pain.
~ Make that an injured mouse. ~ A voice taunted mentally. ~ You do not want to transform, but with Chaos, you may be more of a rat than just a handicapped mouse. ~
~ Very helpful. ~ Vincent shook his head, retorting, and pushed Yuffie further towards the exit. ~ That attitude's not going to get you out of here! ~
"ENOUGH PLAYING!" The voice of Hojo screamed again. "TOO ARROGANT TO TRANSFORM, VALENTINE? YOU WILL REGRET THAT DECISION WHEN DEATH IS FLASHING BEFORE YOUR EYES!"
It was a terrifying sight, for suddenly the already monstrous form of Hojo's demon swelled again until its deformed head was touching the high ceilings of Lucrecia's Cave. It roared terribly, forcing the pair to cover their ears. With that came an awful silence.
"SCARED YET...?"
The unexplainable light source of the room dulled as seemingly hundreds of Hojo's tentacles burst from his fleshy body, twisting like snakes towards them with incredible speed. Yuffie screamed as her only escape was filled with thick squishy limbs, and even Vincent muffled a frightened shout.
The Death Penalty was useless in short-range fighting; soon the gun was lost amongst layers of claws. They wrapped themselves around Vincent's neck and rendered his arms useless. They crawled to every inch of his body, and once they covered him, they began to SQUEEZE.
This time, he thought he really did scream. Or was that sound issued from Yuffie, a few feet away from him, also being suffocated to death? He didn't know, and didn't think he wanted to find out. As time slipped away and his head lightened, Vincent wondered if he was also running out of hope...
~ * ~
"Vincent..." A wavering voice wove through his conscience like silk. Vincent found himself attracted towards the sound as if it was the south side of the magnet and he was the north. He would be alarmed, except calm swept over him like an ocean, drowning him in serenity and washing out his confusion. Though he still managed to put on a suspicious tone as he spoke next:
~ What? What - where am I? ~ He didn't seem to be able to move or speak. But he heard his own voice as clearly as he did the other's.
"Vincent, listen to me, darlin'. Concentrate." It sounded like a middle- aged female speaking, but he couldn't tell. A powerful light blocked everything out and nothing could be distinguished from their surroundings. As far as he could hear, it was just the woman and himself in this unfamiliar dreamlike place.
~ Who are you? There is so much blinding white.Reveal yourself! ~ He was not about to leave anything to chance. He has been in states like this one before, except last time, the speaker was Chaos, who took advantage of his weakened mind to spread its evil.
"Trust, my darlin'! There may not be enough time to explain if you doubt me. Who I am.I am a friend you never had." Urgency could be detected from the woman this time, and Vincent decided that if he could do nothing else, he was willing to listen. Believing this stranger he could not even see was unusually easy, even though he was trained against trust as a Turk.
~ What do you want? ~
"You must fight, dear!" Vincent did not like the subject of fighting brought up so abruptly; he had been content just drifting in composure. "You must not give up so quickly!" The woman finished, her voice edged with slight impatience.
~ There is nothing more I can do. ~ He said truthfully and, in his opinion, quite pathetically. ~ Shooting is about the only thing I could do, but that was never good enough to finish Hojo off before, was it? ~
"No, Vincent, you're holding back."
At those words, he peered as best he could against the light. ~ How did you know? ~
"Vincent, there is no time. You must fight!"
~ But I can't! ~ His mind screamed. ~ The child. She's so.familiar for some reason. I can't.I feel as though I would rather lose my life than harmed her. ~ The woman's voice was drifting away, and over a wave of distance she whispered her last anxious words:
"Dear Vincent, but are you willing to throw away the life of another?"
~ * ~
His eyes snapped open and cruel reality greeted his vision once more. For a second, it was quite harsh to find those ropes of flesh wrapped around his neck, suspending him in mid-air again. It was harder on his ears to realize Yuffie's screams beside him, slowly...painfully being choked off. But Vincent forced his mind back to the real world and the task ahead; it took all his concentration just not to pass out again.
~ Yuffie! She was right. I have to do something...But what? ~
Flexing his hands into fists, Vincent realized he still held the Death Penalty. But that would be no good; his arms were held stable by Hojo's dreaded tentacles. Besides, he couldn't shoot at this range, and if he couldn't shoot with his gun, what else could he do?
Unless...
"Fire 3!"
Yes, he still had materia! Vincent felt the death grip on his neck loosen as a bright orange ball of fire burned in the center of Hojo's being and erupt into fiercely hot flames. But just as he tried to wrestle away from the ashen tangle, a tighter cluster of limbs captured him again. It was no good. The mastered fire materia was still no match for Hojo's demon. Instead of weakening him, the tentacles pressed themselves harder into his skin, as if desperate to squish him like an insect.
He tried it again, then again, shouting the materia's name over the growl of Hojo's monster, each time enduring the pain it brought him as he thought of the child's original tender flesh. But it did not work. Every time the arms would retreat, burnt, to be replaced by new ones that held him in a tighter restrain.
"Resistance, Valentine?" Hojo's tone of amusement sickened him. "It shall be punished."
With his eyes shut in pain and exhaustion, he heard a swishing wind coming behind him. Opening them again rather reluctantly, Vincent saw, in shocked horror, the pointed end of a purple needle rise on the end of an extended tentacle. A revolting pumping sound made the limb swell, and the needle responded by oozing with thick crimson liquid.
Yuffie's shrill yelp of terror sounded a mile away as Vincent saw the needle come towards him in slow motion. Those fangs of the monster Hojo stretched even further until his mouth disappeared behind his hideous head.
"Yes..." A hiss, barely audible, full of twisted glee. "The Ultimate Punishment..."
The needle came closer. Vincent's fist was clenched so hard that his nails bit into the flesh of his palm. There was another materia in one of the other slots of the Death Penalty, he remembered, but to summon its power would have to mean calling its name. What was it?
"The Ultimate Punishment..."
~ Ultimate Punishment? Ultimate - Ultimate? ~
ULTIMA!
That word barely left his mouth before Vincent found himself facing the burst of blinding green light that accompanied Ultima's magical spell. He expected this to be another feeble attempt to free himself; that the magic would fail like fire did and Hojo would be there after the light faded to inject the poison into his veins.
But he was pleasantly surprised.
A deafening roar rose in the heart of Lucrecia's Cave, bounced off every mirror, and reflected back stronger into Vincent's ears. This was torture, as his hearing was already more sensitive than that of the average human. For a lost second, he could neither see nor hear, but just feel the bind around his body tighten, tighten... Then fall away suddenly.
As the magic of Ultima cascaded into brilliant colors and disappeared, Vincent suddenly realized the reason behind the materia's power over Hojo. Of course, wasn't it obvious? Ultima was extremely strong, but it was special in that it was also extremely strong spiritual magic. Hojo dwelled in the form of another, so to weaken him, spiritual energy must be the key!
He did not realize how high up Hojo had held him. But a moment later he was thrown onto the floor of the Cave, the fall nearly knocking the breath out of the ex-Turk. A similar thump a short distance to his right told him that Yuffie had just landed in somewhat the same fashion. But he had just begun to tell her of Hojo's weakness when something sharp lodged itself into the wound in his back.
"Vincent! The - the needle!" He didn't need the Wutainese's frightened scream to realize that Hojo's needle had just pierced into his bloodstream.
It stayed for only a second, a mere second was enough to pump its poisonous cargo into his body. But the pain still traveled like wildfire to every inch of his being, causing him to issue a shout in a voice so unlike his own. As soon as the venom settled inside him, he felt it harden, weighing him down like lead. Dizziness reached his head; a curtain wrapped itself around his nerves. His eyelids felt just as heavy as he strained to keep alert... But sleep was calling... Visions blended together...
He had enough sense to see Hojo shrink. Then the small girlish form of Yuffie jumped in front of him, and a powerful blue light filled the room and blinded him again.
"ALL CREATION!"
Being crunched to death by a mass of deformed monster flesh was one thing, but seeing one of her friends being stabbed by an over-sized needle was quite the other. Yuffie bit her lip and concentrated her all upon the one, ultimate limit break that would surely determine the fate of Vincent and herself.
All Creation was her strongest attack, formed by will of mind and the determination of her spirit. It would not do physical damage, but home in on the presence of evil and strike instead at its source. She had defeated many sinister beings with All Creation, and even the great Sephiroth had shook in its path.
Unknown to Yuffie, she had done exactly what Vincent had wanted her to do.
The icy-blue light seemed to have a soul itself, zooming like an arrow towards the already weakened Hojo and entering the mutant's body, blasting him from the inside out. A roar filled the room again, but it was very rapidly changing into the scream of a human. Hojo's monster was no longer controlling the possessed body; the girl-child was taking form again before her eyes.
Half-transformed, the mutant fell backwards, stunned by her attack, and DISAPPEARED INSIDE THE ALTAR.
"What the hell?" Yuffie ran forwards a few steps because, damn, how could a person just vanish into thin air? But before she reached very far, a huge lurch shook the entire cave and she was almost thrown off her feet.
The Icy surface of the room was breaking up, but instead of falling, they rose upwards to meet the ceiling, revealing naked, rocky mountainside beneath their glamorous surfaces. The walls dislodged, tumbling first in small stones, then large boulders, caving in rapidly to fill the space at Yuffie's feet. The altar, however, stood intact in the midst of chaos like a mocking mirage of serenity.
"Vincent!" She cried over the noise of crumbling cavern, abandoning her search and running back to her friend. He was struggling to his feet, blood dripping down his flesh arm. She took a hold of his claw and attempted to drag him out of the dangerous cave. All around them, falling rocks created dents in the once flawless, glassy floor.
"We have to get out of here." Yuffie pulled the injured man further towards the exit, the way they had come. He followed, though with effort, stumbling every few steps. His breath came in hisses of air drawn between his teeth, and the teenager suspected she was hurting the poor guy by yanking him along so forcefully, but she had no choice. It was a 'move their asses or die' situation!
And it was starting to look extremely bad. The entrance to the tunnel appeared miles away, and Yuffie felt she just could not move fast enough. If.if the hole was blocked, if they were crushed. Did she have any regrets? But no! She forced these thoughts out of her head. She had to concentrate on getting both Vincent and herself out alive, they both had responsibilities, one day, they'll look back and laugh at this.
"Vincent.hold on, would you? Hold on." Yuffie was tired. The monster sapped most of her energy, and All Creation took the rest. She was desperate, avoiding the boulders, stones. She was nearly there. a few more steps.
Then she saw a sight that made her heart catch in her throat. The large glass door that had slid open with Vincent's touch was CLOSING.
"Yuffie, go." Despite his injury, her companion's voice sounded as determined as ever. "Leave. Before it's too late."
"If you mean without you, then no way!" Yuffie panted. The door.she had to catch up to it! There is no way it could close them in! She felt trapped in a nightmare, but unable to wake herself up. Death's clutch was getting closer and closer with the closing door, the cave was falling apart, Vincent was injured, and she was scared to death.
"We're almost there." Finally the door seemed a considerable distance away. The ninja tightened her grip on her friend's metal claw. There was a gap, and there was enough time for them to squeeze through. It seemed nothing could stop them, the judgment was near, and it was now or never.
"Vincent, go.AH!" Yuffie's grip on Vincent's claw fell as she felt something sharp cut into the skin of her arm, causing a blazing sting. A piece of the glassy ceiling had sliced a cut, and blood was starting to flow. In the moment of pain, the gap in the door grew ever smaller in slow motion. Another moment later, a human hand and cold metal had grabbed her shoulders and shoved her through the remaining space.
Yuffie was through. Without Vincent.
She heard a sharp crack from behind her and spun around, dazed and confused. What had happened? The stupid man had pushed her through, but now he stood (or fell) on the other side of the impenetrable glass, trapped for.eternity? NO! The ninja battered the surface until the swirling material inside spun even faster. She could hear the cave continue to crumble inside, but could do nothing about it. She ignored the cut on her arm and pounded her fists red, questions running through her head so fast she couldn't catch a single one and hold it long enough to find an answer.
Why had Vincent done such an ignorant thing? Does he think she'd be grateful about it? Why did the cave suddenly fall like that? Was it just to annoy her? How did the glass door close? WHY did it close? Was this her fault? Was Vincent dead because of her?
"Vincent!" Yuffie cried, white anger bubbling so strong inside her that she was unaware of the liquid gliding down her face. "ASSHOLE!"
But the tunnel was silent; there was no one there to console her. She sat on the other side of the barrier for.what felt like.so long, until she was finally calm enough to get onto her feet and head back towards Cosmo Canyon. To get Cloud and the others, to see a friendly, understanding face, to help answer her questions.
To prove to her that there was still life behind the glass door.
Chapter Five ~ Fin
AN: Oh dear, the last few paragraphs were certainly lame.
Ten pages. Someone shoot me because I think I have broken my own record yet again. Still, much to apologize for in this chapter. One, the bad action scenes. Two, the bad emotional paragraphs. Three, stupidity to the EXTREME.
Ignore me. I need feedback. Review, if you were ever interested enough to make it this far. Thanks to all the people that did follow this story, though. You are the best.
~ They are coming. ~ It told the child. A sob answered, giving the VOICE more twisted glee.
The stupid Turk had fallen into its trap like a fly to a spider web. When they arrive, the doors would be closed. The games would begin. And it had been so long...so long since the VOICE had had any form of entertainment...
~ Yes...They are coming, my sweet, and then the party would start...~
And as if on cue, footsteps echoed from the outside.
SHADOWBODY ~ By Crimson Sun
Chapter Five
The waterfall outside the cave roared as Yuffie followed Vincent down a long narrow tunnel. Despite her sickening anticipation and nervousness for what was going to happen, she still could not help but marvel at her surroundings.
The tunnel was arched, extending its roof tall above their heads. The sides closed in on them, so that they could only walk behind one another. But that was nothing impressive, no, what stunned Yuffie was the fact that everything - the walls, floors, and the high roofs - were all made from a shiny, glassy material. They looked like icy mirrors, but when Yuffie looked closer, there was no reflection staring back at her like an ordinary mirror should. She secondly guessed they were windows, large pieces of glass that extended in one direction straight ahead of them, but again, that was not so. Though glass did seem more likely, but did they make glass that held swirling, green smoky substances inside their surfaces these days?
She looked ahead at the dark man with his dark cape, dripping water onto the polished floor from his hair and his clothing. She glanced down and saw she was doing the same thing; puddles of water formed where her shoes had stood. Yuffie wondered how she could see so clearly, then realized the same smoky material inside the glass walls were illuminating some sort of eerie, emerald light.
"Freaky." She muttered to herself. Just where the hell was this place?
Vincent stopped in front her, and Yuffie craned her neck to see past his tall figure. The ninja saw what seemed like a wall ahead of them, the same glass that surrounded the two, and the gunslinger was running his hand along the smooth surface.
"It's here." He said, more to himself than Yuffie. "I do not want to resort to battle, but it may very well come to that."
"I'm in no condition to battle, ViVi." Yuffie grumbled. "Why can't we just go back and call Cloud and the others?"
"I gave you that option, you refused." The gunslinger replied darkly. Clearly he was still not too happy about her being there. Yuffie ran her hands along her arms and shivered. There was no need for Vincent to be so cold! She was freezing as it was.
"All right, fine." She took a deep breath. "Let's go."
The wall at the end of the tunnel glided open like a sliding door, and Vincent stepped into the blinding green light beyond.
Lucrecia's Cave was just as he remembered. The light at the entrance, the circular room lined with glass, marble steps that led up to the altar at the center back of the room, backed by three diamond-shaped crystals that stretched right to the high ceiling. For one moment of blessed obliviousness, he was almost willing to accept that this place was just as he left it when he last glanced upon Lucrecia.
Almost. Then the air twisted and a brooding sense of evil rose as he surveyed the room more carefully. Something was sitting on the altar in front of him, and it was definitely NOT Lucrecia. Vincent drew a hasty breath as he saw the figure, and he heard Yuffie do the same behind him.
It was a child, like he had guessed, but one that just sat at the edge of the definition. The thin, small body was slumped limply against the back wall, and long strands of tangled hair covered its face from view and made it difficult to classify its gender. But that was the least of Vincent's concerns. Large, ugly membraneous wings, each the length of its body, were folded behind the child's back, looking like weather-beaten black umbrellas. An awful amount of blood stuck to it, dripping down its chest and puddling in sickening pools underneath its legs. Its whole body, in fact, was clothed in the same coat of sticky crimson.
What sort of child was this?
"What...is...that...?" Yuffie was eyeing the small figure like it was a headless cockroach. "Is it...dead? It isn't exactly...moving."
Her voice must have reached the child, for its head suddenly snapped up, making Yuffie jump in surprise. It rose up from its sitting position and rolled onto its knees. As it raised its head, the long fringe fell away to reveal its facial features.
It - she - was a girl-child. And by her general appearance, she was no older than eight years old.
She tilted her head and looked at Vincent with the saddest pair of eyes he has ever seen. They were moist with tears, tinted blue in color, and so light those pupils were almost pearls in a thick frame of dark lashes set into her pale skin. But somehow, they contrasted with the rest of her features - a tiny nose, a full, pallid mouth - and made her youthful face quite...beautiful, in a ghostly way. He suddenly felt he knew her somehow, but from where? It wasn't possible.
"Who..." The small cherry mouth shaped a tiny sound. Her mutant wings twitched, and another tear rolled down her cheek.
Surely this must not be the same being that harmed Bugenhagen, Vincent thought? Such a pathetic, weak creature, not even in control of her own emotions, could not possibly raise a hand against another?
It was stupid what he did next, but he had to know.
"Did you injure our friend?" He took a step forward and asked. Then, with a gulp, he added: "Did you drop the ring?"
He took the dragon out of his pocket were it had sat, showing it to the girl. She seemed to recognize it, for her half-closed eyes widened immediately, making the stream of tears run down her face even faster. Her lip trembled, and Vincent got the impression that she was actually more frightened of them than they were of her. Nevertheless, he still pocketed the ring again, not wanting to damage the delicate shape if anything did happen.
But the girl did not answer. Her eyes opened even wider to their full extent, and Vincent's fear of the creature returned as a transformation began to take place inside them. Those already half-invisible pupils disappeared completely into her eye-whites, spiraled like water down a drain, and reformed back into their original shape.
Except this time, they were deep crimson in color.
"Yes..." A smirk formed on the damned girl's face that did not remotely match her age. "I impaired the wound on the old bastard, and I left the ring."
She stood up, no longer an innocent child, but radiating with the aura of evil presence. Vincent knew, then, that she was no longer herself. Some demon...some sinister thing... had taken her body for itself.
"You certainly have commendable memory..." She continued, her voice a barely audible hiss. "And the song you heard was indeed Lucrecia's favorite."
Vincent froze. His thoughts...how could the winged creature on the altar penetrate into his mind? He had never mentioned Lucrecia to anyone except the chosen few after she died, and certainly there was no one around in the darkest period of his life, when Lucrecia was still living? Yet this child, barely eight years old, knew his secrets as if she had been with him through the wedding, through the mental torture back in his past. He certainly didn't know her...he was definite of that. But...
"Still do not know who I am, Valentine?" The child put on a face of mock- hurt. "Even with this new body, I did not expect you to forget the old me so quickly...especially when we met only three months ago, atop the Sister Ray."
A thunderbolt could have struck Vincent, but it would not have made him jolt as violently as he did after those words. Of course! The ring, the song, the memories, this place. How could he be so naïve, being lured and trapped so easily in a web of emotions? The pieces fell together like an oversized jigsaw puzzle, and the picture was just revealing itself to be the most gruesome and terrible one he has ever set eyes on...
"Hojo!" Confusion turned to anger as Vincent drew out the Death Penalty and all doubt was lost. "I killed you so you wouldn't return. I killed you so something like this WOULD NOT HAPPEN AGAIN."
The smirk broke into a twisted grin, then finally Hojo's crackling bounced off every single mirror in Lucrecia's Cave. To Vincent's eyes, it was no longer a child that stood in front of him. Hojo was back; complete with his long hair, glasses, and evil, gleaming eyes. The gunslinger raised his Death Penalty, aiming it at the old professor's greasy head. But the maniac, the crazed scientist, just kept laughing. Like he did when Vincent had blamed him for Lucrecia's death, like he did when he had changed the Turk's life forever. Questions of the professor's existence - how is he linked to the child? How was he revived? - disappeared. The wash of old, painful memories was overwhelming.
"Would you shoot this poor thing?" The girl's arms spread wide, showing all her delicate profile. "This girl, this weak thing without the slightest power to defend herself?"
Hojo paused, and Vincent heard Yuffie mutter something behind him that sounded slightly like 'do it'. But he had forgotten about Yuffie up to now, and a little more ignoring would not hurt.
"She is my DAUGHTER." Hojo continued; the girl's smirk was wider, contrasting horribly with the rest of her features. Vincent ignored the statement; it was of no importance to him who the girl was.
"Would you let your spite get the better of you, Turk?" It sounded like a challenge. If it was, he was up to it.
"I've wrung the necks of sleeping children, murdered wives in front of their lovers." Vincent gritted his teeth and the words were almost spat out of his mouth. The child of Hojo just stood, her eyes watery and large. But there was no more innocence there, if there ever had been. She was the tool of the devil, and the remnants of her ghastly wings that still jagged out of her back backed up that fact with force.
"You are well aware of what I am capable of." The ex-Turk finished, the shining barrel of his gun still pointed at the tiny figure in front of Yuffie and himself. Though he was not the heartless assassin that could finished any job with his gun anymore; Vincent's killing spirit had been much reduced during and after the year of Lucrecia's death. And now, again facing the demon spirit that had taken her away, he cursed as he felt the weapon tremble between his fingers despite his overpowering urge to kill.
"Yes, Valentine, I am all too well aware." The girl answered, Hojo's spirit flaring inside her. "You killed my first son without the blink of an eye. Are you going to end the life of my second-born as well?"
A twisted smile filled the face of the possessed body, and disappeared as suddenly as it came. The girl that stood in front of Vincent was back to being just another eight-year-old, her eyes swirling back to their original robin egg blue. She stared at the gun as if in a trance, not showing any obvious fear but the fresh tears rolling down her cheeks, retracing the line made by the ones before them.
"End." She whispered, her voice hoarse, then rose as she shouted across the cave. She was so pitiful. just a tool to be used, in pain, misunderstood.
"Kill!" She cried.
But Vincent's heart wrenched; the feeling of pity long abandoned as a Turk had returned. It was not just her totally helplessness that sent that emotion rising, but he felt she was something more than just Hojo's demon. The professor had been womanizing in life; Sephiroth cannot be his only child. And Hojo would do anything; even demonize his children, to get what he wanted. But with this girl.the gunslinger felt a connection with. It may be just imagination, but he was certain he heard distant voices warning him away from her.telling him that to harm her would be like wounding something he truly loved.
He hesitated. The gun he held lowered, and in a split second, the girl on Lucrecia's altar changed. "Oh GODS!" Yuffie screeched, and she had every right to.
The useless wings that hung on the child's back burst into slimy tentacles as her body swelled and doubled in size. Then it kept on growing, not anymore a girl-child but the monster Hojo had designed her to be. Her face lengthened and fangs sprouted rapidly, filling the mouth that now was monstrous. Then before Vincent could recover, it was a beast that towered above him, claws on every end of uncountable tentacles.
Yuffie's scream brought Vincent back to his senses, and he dived out of the way just in time as the monster made a grab at him with one of its massive deformed limbs. It roared, the terrible sound bouncing off every mirror of Lucrecia's cave.
"TRANSFORM, VALENTINE!" It was a growl only Vincent could hear as he dodged to Yuffie's side and attempted to protect her. "TRANSFORM AND DESTORY ME LIKE YOU DID LAST TIME, WHY DON'T YOU?"
Always up to a challenge, Chaos stirred inside of Vincent and stretched its wings, forcing them upwards and crushing his lungs. But he forced the beast down with a deep breath and concentrated on keeping the teenager behind him away from danger. He wished she could fight for herself, but for some reason, the normally active and brave ninja was paralyzed in the moment, her usually dangerous weapon useless without its master's will.
"No!" Vincent shouted aloud, forcing himself to believe in his own words. Transforming would NOT help him protect Yuffie. "Chaos, STAY DOWN."
Hojo's demon force rose up on its ugly behind, barely legs but more alike the slimy end of a snail. It seemed to be smirking, but one could not tell for the monster's jaws were always open, dripping, and exposed. Vincent pushed Yuffie to the rear of the wall, back towards the tunnel, while keeping one eye on their enemy all the time.
"Move." He hissed to the ninja while pushing a small object into her hands. "Run, blow on the whistle I just gave you. Lucia would come and take you to safety."
"What? What-what about that?" Yuffie seemed to have found her voice at last. "I can't just leave you here!"
"I have the Death Penalty, don't I?" This was almost a growl. Chaos was summoning up the power of all his other demons and turning them against him.
Yuffie looked slightly confused at his tone, but she had no time to wonder. A slimy tentacle burst from the blob of flesh that was Hojo and shot at them, claws stretching as if navigating the way to their throats. The ninja screamed, but the gunslinger was much more experienced with crises. Looping one arm around the girl's slim shoulders, he pulled both of them to the ground a mere moment before the sharp deformed fingers swished past the tops of their heads. A milli-second later the glass interior of Lucrecia's cave shattered above the two, and Vincent cursed again as he felt ice cut smoothly into his left shoulder. Yuffie bit her bottom lip and stayed motionless.
"Go now!" He gave her one last warning. It was clear that if they hanged around any longer, the room was going to cave in and trap them here with this monster. And that was, of course, a fate no one wanted to face.
The danger in his eyes must have reached the Wutainese; Yuffie seemed to gather herself together. She snatched the whistle from his hand and they both got up just in time to dodge another tentacle. It seemed to Vincent that Hojo was just playing with them, teasing them like a cat to a captured mouse. Worse yet, he felt fresh, warm blood seep through the cut on his shoulder and a wave of pain.
~ Make that an injured mouse. ~ A voice taunted mentally. ~ You do not want to transform, but with Chaos, you may be more of a rat than just a handicapped mouse. ~
~ Very helpful. ~ Vincent shook his head, retorting, and pushed Yuffie further towards the exit. ~ That attitude's not going to get you out of here! ~
"ENOUGH PLAYING!" The voice of Hojo screamed again. "TOO ARROGANT TO TRANSFORM, VALENTINE? YOU WILL REGRET THAT DECISION WHEN DEATH IS FLASHING BEFORE YOUR EYES!"
It was a terrifying sight, for suddenly the already monstrous form of Hojo's demon swelled again until its deformed head was touching the high ceilings of Lucrecia's Cave. It roared terribly, forcing the pair to cover their ears. With that came an awful silence.
"SCARED YET...?"
The unexplainable light source of the room dulled as seemingly hundreds of Hojo's tentacles burst from his fleshy body, twisting like snakes towards them with incredible speed. Yuffie screamed as her only escape was filled with thick squishy limbs, and even Vincent muffled a frightened shout.
The Death Penalty was useless in short-range fighting; soon the gun was lost amongst layers of claws. They wrapped themselves around Vincent's neck and rendered his arms useless. They crawled to every inch of his body, and once they covered him, they began to SQUEEZE.
This time, he thought he really did scream. Or was that sound issued from Yuffie, a few feet away from him, also being suffocated to death? He didn't know, and didn't think he wanted to find out. As time slipped away and his head lightened, Vincent wondered if he was also running out of hope...
~ * ~
"Vincent..." A wavering voice wove through his conscience like silk. Vincent found himself attracted towards the sound as if it was the south side of the magnet and he was the north. He would be alarmed, except calm swept over him like an ocean, drowning him in serenity and washing out his confusion. Though he still managed to put on a suspicious tone as he spoke next:
~ What? What - where am I? ~ He didn't seem to be able to move or speak. But he heard his own voice as clearly as he did the other's.
"Vincent, listen to me, darlin'. Concentrate." It sounded like a middle- aged female speaking, but he couldn't tell. A powerful light blocked everything out and nothing could be distinguished from their surroundings. As far as he could hear, it was just the woman and himself in this unfamiliar dreamlike place.
~ Who are you? There is so much blinding white.Reveal yourself! ~ He was not about to leave anything to chance. He has been in states like this one before, except last time, the speaker was Chaos, who took advantage of his weakened mind to spread its evil.
"Trust, my darlin'! There may not be enough time to explain if you doubt me. Who I am.I am a friend you never had." Urgency could be detected from the woman this time, and Vincent decided that if he could do nothing else, he was willing to listen. Believing this stranger he could not even see was unusually easy, even though he was trained against trust as a Turk.
~ What do you want? ~
"You must fight, dear!" Vincent did not like the subject of fighting brought up so abruptly; he had been content just drifting in composure. "You must not give up so quickly!" The woman finished, her voice edged with slight impatience.
~ There is nothing more I can do. ~ He said truthfully and, in his opinion, quite pathetically. ~ Shooting is about the only thing I could do, but that was never good enough to finish Hojo off before, was it? ~
"No, Vincent, you're holding back."
At those words, he peered as best he could against the light. ~ How did you know? ~
"Vincent, there is no time. You must fight!"
~ But I can't! ~ His mind screamed. ~ The child. She's so.familiar for some reason. I can't.I feel as though I would rather lose my life than harmed her. ~ The woman's voice was drifting away, and over a wave of distance she whispered her last anxious words:
"Dear Vincent, but are you willing to throw away the life of another?"
~ * ~
His eyes snapped open and cruel reality greeted his vision once more. For a second, it was quite harsh to find those ropes of flesh wrapped around his neck, suspending him in mid-air again. It was harder on his ears to realize Yuffie's screams beside him, slowly...painfully being choked off. But Vincent forced his mind back to the real world and the task ahead; it took all his concentration just not to pass out again.
~ Yuffie! She was right. I have to do something...But what? ~
Flexing his hands into fists, Vincent realized he still held the Death Penalty. But that would be no good; his arms were held stable by Hojo's dreaded tentacles. Besides, he couldn't shoot at this range, and if he couldn't shoot with his gun, what else could he do?
Unless...
"Fire 3!"
Yes, he still had materia! Vincent felt the death grip on his neck loosen as a bright orange ball of fire burned in the center of Hojo's being and erupt into fiercely hot flames. But just as he tried to wrestle away from the ashen tangle, a tighter cluster of limbs captured him again. It was no good. The mastered fire materia was still no match for Hojo's demon. Instead of weakening him, the tentacles pressed themselves harder into his skin, as if desperate to squish him like an insect.
He tried it again, then again, shouting the materia's name over the growl of Hojo's monster, each time enduring the pain it brought him as he thought of the child's original tender flesh. But it did not work. Every time the arms would retreat, burnt, to be replaced by new ones that held him in a tighter restrain.
"Resistance, Valentine?" Hojo's tone of amusement sickened him. "It shall be punished."
With his eyes shut in pain and exhaustion, he heard a swishing wind coming behind him. Opening them again rather reluctantly, Vincent saw, in shocked horror, the pointed end of a purple needle rise on the end of an extended tentacle. A revolting pumping sound made the limb swell, and the needle responded by oozing with thick crimson liquid.
Yuffie's shrill yelp of terror sounded a mile away as Vincent saw the needle come towards him in slow motion. Those fangs of the monster Hojo stretched even further until his mouth disappeared behind his hideous head.
"Yes..." A hiss, barely audible, full of twisted glee. "The Ultimate Punishment..."
The needle came closer. Vincent's fist was clenched so hard that his nails bit into the flesh of his palm. There was another materia in one of the other slots of the Death Penalty, he remembered, but to summon its power would have to mean calling its name. What was it?
"The Ultimate Punishment..."
~ Ultimate Punishment? Ultimate - Ultimate? ~
ULTIMA!
That word barely left his mouth before Vincent found himself facing the burst of blinding green light that accompanied Ultima's magical spell. He expected this to be another feeble attempt to free himself; that the magic would fail like fire did and Hojo would be there after the light faded to inject the poison into his veins.
But he was pleasantly surprised.
A deafening roar rose in the heart of Lucrecia's Cave, bounced off every mirror, and reflected back stronger into Vincent's ears. This was torture, as his hearing was already more sensitive than that of the average human. For a lost second, he could neither see nor hear, but just feel the bind around his body tighten, tighten... Then fall away suddenly.
As the magic of Ultima cascaded into brilliant colors and disappeared, Vincent suddenly realized the reason behind the materia's power over Hojo. Of course, wasn't it obvious? Ultima was extremely strong, but it was special in that it was also extremely strong spiritual magic. Hojo dwelled in the form of another, so to weaken him, spiritual energy must be the key!
He did not realize how high up Hojo had held him. But a moment later he was thrown onto the floor of the Cave, the fall nearly knocking the breath out of the ex-Turk. A similar thump a short distance to his right told him that Yuffie had just landed in somewhat the same fashion. But he had just begun to tell her of Hojo's weakness when something sharp lodged itself into the wound in his back.
"Vincent! The - the needle!" He didn't need the Wutainese's frightened scream to realize that Hojo's needle had just pierced into his bloodstream.
It stayed for only a second, a mere second was enough to pump its poisonous cargo into his body. But the pain still traveled like wildfire to every inch of his being, causing him to issue a shout in a voice so unlike his own. As soon as the venom settled inside him, he felt it harden, weighing him down like lead. Dizziness reached his head; a curtain wrapped itself around his nerves. His eyelids felt just as heavy as he strained to keep alert... But sleep was calling... Visions blended together...
He had enough sense to see Hojo shrink. Then the small girlish form of Yuffie jumped in front of him, and a powerful blue light filled the room and blinded him again.
"ALL CREATION!"
Being crunched to death by a mass of deformed monster flesh was one thing, but seeing one of her friends being stabbed by an over-sized needle was quite the other. Yuffie bit her lip and concentrated her all upon the one, ultimate limit break that would surely determine the fate of Vincent and herself.
All Creation was her strongest attack, formed by will of mind and the determination of her spirit. It would not do physical damage, but home in on the presence of evil and strike instead at its source. She had defeated many sinister beings with All Creation, and even the great Sephiroth had shook in its path.
Unknown to Yuffie, she had done exactly what Vincent had wanted her to do.
The icy-blue light seemed to have a soul itself, zooming like an arrow towards the already weakened Hojo and entering the mutant's body, blasting him from the inside out. A roar filled the room again, but it was very rapidly changing into the scream of a human. Hojo's monster was no longer controlling the possessed body; the girl-child was taking form again before her eyes.
Half-transformed, the mutant fell backwards, stunned by her attack, and DISAPPEARED INSIDE THE ALTAR.
"What the hell?" Yuffie ran forwards a few steps because, damn, how could a person just vanish into thin air? But before she reached very far, a huge lurch shook the entire cave and she was almost thrown off her feet.
The Icy surface of the room was breaking up, but instead of falling, they rose upwards to meet the ceiling, revealing naked, rocky mountainside beneath their glamorous surfaces. The walls dislodged, tumbling first in small stones, then large boulders, caving in rapidly to fill the space at Yuffie's feet. The altar, however, stood intact in the midst of chaos like a mocking mirage of serenity.
"Vincent!" She cried over the noise of crumbling cavern, abandoning her search and running back to her friend. He was struggling to his feet, blood dripping down his flesh arm. She took a hold of his claw and attempted to drag him out of the dangerous cave. All around them, falling rocks created dents in the once flawless, glassy floor.
"We have to get out of here." Yuffie pulled the injured man further towards the exit, the way they had come. He followed, though with effort, stumbling every few steps. His breath came in hisses of air drawn between his teeth, and the teenager suspected she was hurting the poor guy by yanking him along so forcefully, but she had no choice. It was a 'move their asses or die' situation!
And it was starting to look extremely bad. The entrance to the tunnel appeared miles away, and Yuffie felt she just could not move fast enough. If.if the hole was blocked, if they were crushed. Did she have any regrets? But no! She forced these thoughts out of her head. She had to concentrate on getting both Vincent and herself out alive, they both had responsibilities, one day, they'll look back and laugh at this.
"Vincent.hold on, would you? Hold on." Yuffie was tired. The monster sapped most of her energy, and All Creation took the rest. She was desperate, avoiding the boulders, stones. She was nearly there. a few more steps.
Then she saw a sight that made her heart catch in her throat. The large glass door that had slid open with Vincent's touch was CLOSING.
"Yuffie, go." Despite his injury, her companion's voice sounded as determined as ever. "Leave. Before it's too late."
"If you mean without you, then no way!" Yuffie panted. The door.she had to catch up to it! There is no way it could close them in! She felt trapped in a nightmare, but unable to wake herself up. Death's clutch was getting closer and closer with the closing door, the cave was falling apart, Vincent was injured, and she was scared to death.
"We're almost there." Finally the door seemed a considerable distance away. The ninja tightened her grip on her friend's metal claw. There was a gap, and there was enough time for them to squeeze through. It seemed nothing could stop them, the judgment was near, and it was now or never.
"Vincent, go.AH!" Yuffie's grip on Vincent's claw fell as she felt something sharp cut into the skin of her arm, causing a blazing sting. A piece of the glassy ceiling had sliced a cut, and blood was starting to flow. In the moment of pain, the gap in the door grew ever smaller in slow motion. Another moment later, a human hand and cold metal had grabbed her shoulders and shoved her through the remaining space.
Yuffie was through. Without Vincent.
She heard a sharp crack from behind her and spun around, dazed and confused. What had happened? The stupid man had pushed her through, but now he stood (or fell) on the other side of the impenetrable glass, trapped for.eternity? NO! The ninja battered the surface until the swirling material inside spun even faster. She could hear the cave continue to crumble inside, but could do nothing about it. She ignored the cut on her arm and pounded her fists red, questions running through her head so fast she couldn't catch a single one and hold it long enough to find an answer.
Why had Vincent done such an ignorant thing? Does he think she'd be grateful about it? Why did the cave suddenly fall like that? Was it just to annoy her? How did the glass door close? WHY did it close? Was this her fault? Was Vincent dead because of her?
"Vincent!" Yuffie cried, white anger bubbling so strong inside her that she was unaware of the liquid gliding down her face. "ASSHOLE!"
But the tunnel was silent; there was no one there to console her. She sat on the other side of the barrier for.what felt like.so long, until she was finally calm enough to get onto her feet and head back towards Cosmo Canyon. To get Cloud and the others, to see a friendly, understanding face, to help answer her questions.
To prove to her that there was still life behind the glass door.
Chapter Five ~ Fin
AN: Oh dear, the last few paragraphs were certainly lame.
Ten pages. Someone shoot me because I think I have broken my own record yet again. Still, much to apologize for in this chapter. One, the bad action scenes. Two, the bad emotional paragraphs. Three, stupidity to the EXTREME.
Ignore me. I need feedback. Review, if you were ever interested enough to make it this far. Thanks to all the people that did follow this story, though. You are the best.