Slave of Sin Be Not Alone

Nanaki took Vincent to Cosmo Canyon to see the phenomenon that concerned him. What was said was true. Some miles away an immense stream of dazzling green light stretched to the sky and beyond. When he was taken closer, there was a pit as wide as a large lake, where the Lifestream pooled close to the surface of the earth. He also noticed that a lot of plants were beginning to grow in its proximity.

"Hmm…" Vincent stood at the very edge of the hole in the earth spewing Lifestream heavenward. He pondered more on this. If he shared Nanaki's beliefs…

Perhaps the Planet IS overflowing with too much Lifestream and is merely discharging the excess, like a fire giving off heat. Or… Could it be possible that someone might be drawing Lifestream in the same fashion as the Mako reactors once did? Could the Planet have been infected by some unseen parasite while I was asleep and is sucking up its blood?

"Vincent," Nanaki called to him, "Let's go back."

--

The two returned to Cosmo Canyon and went up to Bugenhagen's old observatory.

"So… What think you on this now, Vincent? Came up with any good theories of your own? I'd love to hear them," Nanaki said. Vincent leant on the wall next to the door with arms crossed.

"…You said a while ago that you'd been traveling before coming to Nibelheim…" Vincent uttered.

"Yes."

"Did you go to the far north?" he inquired. Nanaki pointed his snout to the air and sniffed for a second.

"Far north? You mean… Uh, yes, I have," he replied.

"And?"

"There's a Lifestream jet in Corral Valley and another in…the Crater and…" Nanaki's voice trailed off. His single eye narrowed to a suspicious slit. He trotted nearer to Vincent. "Wait… You're not suggesting…?"

"…One theory of mine is that…like the reactors Shinra once used, there might be something out there drawing off the Lifestream," Vincent explained.

"Huh? I…would have never… But, are you still suggesting that…? I mean, that was over and done with a hundred years ago."

"Mmm," Vincent sounded softly. He knew what he was saying. Sephiroth. There was hardly a doubt in his mind that he was gone, his body and mind and soul scattered to the ether, but…life had a tendency to make the impossible possible and the infeasible, feasible. Like the human ability to make monsters of their own kind. And the delusion that humans had godlike power and were arbitrators over all things natural and unnatural and even supernatural. So many of us became victims because of that sentiment, Vincent mused darkly, victims of…science.

He shook his head and briefly glimpsed Nanaki as he paced the floor.

"Hmm…"

"…what are you thinking?" Vincent asked.

"Oh… What if what you said could actually be true? That some entity of a sort is threatening the Planet? Even worse, that it could be…Sephiroth all over again. Oh, I hate to worry like this. Any more and surely, I'll shed profusely from stress. Oh," Nanaki rumbled fretfully. He then quickly twisted about on Vincent. "And what if it IS Sephiroth? How could we be able to stop him? When everyone else was alive, it was still difficult."

Vincent did not respond to that.

"I'm going out for a walk. Maybe that will calm me down." Nanaki padded on out of the observatory, leaving Vincent to his own devices.

He went up to the second floor where the telescope was located. He tapped the lens with his claw, and then bent forward to look into it. Sky, slightly tinged green by the exposed Lifestream in the area. Space. A few early stars peeking through the dark orange blanket of dusk over the canyon.

"Vincent…"

He straightened up at the sound of his beckoning.

"…who's there?" he muttered lowly to the air. He instinctively placed his fingers on the peacemaker against his right hip.

"Vincent, come…"

"…who's there? Answer me," he demanded in a whisper. He peeked below to the first floor before descending. He leapt down near quietly, his cape blooming round him for a second then fluttering into stillness. He scanned the room. No one.

"Sad little demon with an angel's face. You're mine…"

"Hah!" Vincent drew his gun in one lightning quick motion and spun in a circle.

But…

He was forced to his knees within mere seconds. His peacemaker clattered on the hardwood floor at his side.

"Didn't I say you were mine?"

"You…" He detected the cold blade very lightly graze his throat. His claw was held against his back with a powerful grip. With his one free hand, Vincent steadily brought his hand up to the blade threatening his neck.

"Uh-uh."

"Ungh!" Vincent was suddenly pushed forward on his face. Hurriedly, he flipped over.

"You can't escape me."

"…Sephiroth," he muttered.

"Oh, you remembered me. I'm flattered," he returned with a sinister grin across his pale lips. He was so close, his hair brushed Vincent's face; he was so close he could smell him, and it was a cold smell. The eyes. Those eyes. Like…

"…no."

"Not happy to see me…Father?" Sephiroth said, still with that grin. Vincent winced, not only by what he said but by the chilly breath that rolled off his tongue.

"…Don't call me that. I'm not your father," he replied sternly, but lowly. Sephiroth snickered, a sound that made even Vincent's blood run a little chill.

"Well, not by blood but… It was because of you and that woman that I became what I was. You couldn't save me from the big bad scientist. You couldn't save me at all. So the only thing you could do was kill me and hope that that would help you atone. Well, guess what? You're wrong," he hissed in a playful and singsong tone. Vincent frowned dismally to his words.

"…"

"Don't looked so depressed, Father. I'm here now, so everything will be all right…" Sephiroth leant in towards the other, closer than ever before. Vincent shrank back but it was unavoidable. Sephiroth's cool lips clamped hard over Vincent's. His eyes were wide in horror as they decried the mesmerizing emeralds of catlike eyes in their unmoving indifference. And even more to his dread, he could feel Sephiroth's tongue enter his mouth like an alien probing thing.

"STOP!" Vincent pushed his assailant away, backed up against the wall.

"You're no fun. But no matter, you'll be mine. Most assuredly, you will be mine. Sooner or later, one way…or the other!" Sephiroth thrust his blade at Vincent.

"Aah!" As the great sword pierced his chest-

"Vincent!"

The voice of Nanaki jolted Vincent back into reality. He shivered in disbelief. He pressed his hand to his heart; it drummed rapidly in his chest. He looked at his companion who in turn returned his gaze with one of subtle shock and curiosity.

"Do you protest my wanting to go on walks? You sounded pretty adamant there," he noted a tad matter-of-factly.

"…what?"

"Excuse me if I can't fly like you but us not gifted with flight have to get by on whatever means available," Nanaki retorted.

"No, I…"

He wasn't real? Was he just a figment of my imagination? My nightmares? What…