A few minutes later, Cloud and the others had made it down the secret passage into the basement. They all spotted the basement door and stood in front of it.
"Hey Cloud, I think that this is the door that needs the key," said Red XIII.
Cloud nodded, and walked over to the door, placing the key in. He turned it, and the door swung open.
"Yuck! Cobwebs!" groaned Yuffie, quickly breaking them all up with her Shuriken.
"Cloud, you don't think that there's really a man in there, do you?" asked Tifa.
"I don't know, Tifa. If there is, he might be long dead by now. But there's only one way to find out for sure," replied Cloud, stepping into the room while the others followed him.
The basement turned out to be full of open coffins, nothing else. The only coffin that stood out was a closed, purple coffin in the middle of the room.
Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, Red XIII, Aeris, Barret and Cait Sith walked over to the coffin and they all suddenly heard a low, calm but otherwise emotionless voice inside of it.
"To wake me from the nightmare…" said the voice from inside the coffin. Suddenly, the coffin lid flew open, and a man got out of the coffin.
This man wore a black cape, a red headband, and orange shoes. The front of his black cape was red, and he had red eyes and black hair. He wore an orange glove on his left hand, but his left hand looked more like a claw, than a hand.
This man's name was Vincent Valentine, and he was twenty-seven years old. Vincent rarely spoke and when he did, he would usually say a short, cryptic remark. He had spent thirty years in the coffin and did not age in those years, as Shinra had experimented on him, putting him in an ageless sleep.
"Who is it?" asked Vincent, with a sharp tone to his voice.
He got up from the coffin, and he turned and faced Cloud, and the others, staring at all of them in surprise.
"I've never seen any of you before. You all must leave," said Vincent, sternly.
"You were having a nightmare," said Cloud.
"How bad was your dream?" asked Tifa, curiously.
"A nightmare? My long sleep has given me time to atone. To atone for my sins," said Vincent.
"What are you saying?" asked Cloud, confused.
"I have nothing more to say to strangers. Now get out of here. This dark mansion is merely the beginning of your nightmare," said Vincent.
"No shit," muttered Barret.
"You can say that again," said Cloud, nodding.
"What do you know?" asked Vincent, curiously.
"Like you just said, this mansion is the beginning of a nightmare. But it's not a dream, its for real. Sephiroth has lost his mind. He found the secrets hidden in this mansion. Sephiroth found out his true origins here, and burned down this very town," said Cloud.
"Sephiroth!? You know Sephiroth!?" asked Vincent, surprised and shocked.
"You know Sephiroth?" asked Cloud, also surprised.
"You start explaining first," said Vincent, sternly.
Cloud explained to Vincent about what happened in Nibelheim five years ago. After he finished explaining, Vincent seemed to understand everything.
"So, Sephiroth discovered, five years ago, that he was the result of an experiment at his birth? And he knows all about the Jenova Project? Sephiroth was missing, but he has recently reappeared? He has taken many lives, and he is now searching for the Promised Land…" said Vincent, thoughtfully.
"Now it's your turn to explain," said Cloud, firmly.
"Sorry, but I cannot speak," said Vincent.
"I'm disappointed," muttered Tifa.
"Hearing your stories has added yet another sin upon me now. More nightmares shall come to me, even more than I previously had. Now, please leave this place," said Vincent, starting to get back in his coffin.
"But that's not fair!" shouted Tifa.
"Life is seldom fair. Now please leave here at once," said Vincent, coldly.
"You can't do that! I just told you our whole story! I'm not allowing you to get away with that for nothing!" snapped Cloud, angrily, kicking the side of the coffin in anger.
Vincent noticed that they weren't moving, so he got back out of his coffin, and now he was getting annoyed.
"You're still here," said Vincent, angrily.
"Who are you, anyway? At least tell us your name," said Cloud, sharply.
"I was formerly with the Shinra Manufacturing Department in Administrative Research, or otherwise known as the Turks. My name is Vincent Valentine," explained Vincent.
"With the Turks!?" shouted Cloud, shocked, grasping the hilt of his sword.
"I am a former Turk. I have nothing to do with Shinra Incorporated anymore. And what about you? Who are you all?" asked Vincent.
"I'm Barret Wallace, from Avalanche!!!" said Barret.
"I'm Tifa Lockhart, same as Barret," said Tifa.
"I am Nanaki!! Son of the great warrior Seto and defender of Cosmo Canyon. I am also known as Red XIII," said Red XIII.
"I'm Aeris Gainsborough, a flower girl from the slums of Midgar," said Aeris.
"Fortune telling machine, Cait Sith here!" said Cait Sith.
"I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, good to meet ya!!" said Yuffie.
"I'm Cloud Strife, a former first class SOLDIER," replied Cloud. Vincent's dark red, expressionless eyes were suddenly bright with curiosity.
"You were also with Shinra? Then, do you know a woman named Lucrecia?" asked Vincent, curiously.
"Who's that?" asked Cloud. Vincent's curiosity vanished, and he sighed quietly with clear disappointment.
"Lucrecia…the woman who gave birth to Sephiroth at the Jenova Project. Lucrecia is Sephiroth's real mother," explained Vincent, calmly.
Cloud was surprised and shocked, as was everyone else.
"Hey, wait a damn minute!! I thought Jenova was Sephiroth's mom!" said Barret, startled.
Cloud was also bewildered.
"Gave birth? I also thought that Jenova was Sephiroth's mother," said Cloud, puzzled.
"That isn't completely wrong to assume, but it's just a theory. Sephiroth was born from a beautiful lady. That lady was Lucrecia. She was an assistant to Professor Gast of the Jenova Project. Beautiful…Lucrecia…" said Vincent, with a sad sigh.
"A human experiment?" asked Cloud. Vincent nodded.
"There was no way to cancel the experiment. I couldn't save her from death. That was my sin. I let the one I loved, the one I respected most, face the worst. Shortly before Lucrecia's death, she made me promise to take care of her son, to make sure he wouldn't turn out bad, but it looks like I am too late once again. Not only have I failed to protect Lucrecia, but I also failed to protect her son as well," said Vincent, his tone of voice and facial expression weary with sorrow.
"So you punished yourself by sleeping? That's very weird," said Tifa, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't care. Just let me rest in peace," said Vincent, and he got back in the coffin, and he closed the coffin door shut.
"Looks like he's not coming after all, so we've got to go and find Sephiroth," said Cloud. They all nodded.
Cloud and the others soon walked out of the coffin room, and were heading towards the library. Suddenly, Vincent got out of the coffin, and he quickly hurried towards them.
"Wait! If I go with you all, will I meet Hojo of Shinra?" asked Vincent, curiously.
"I don't really know. But we're after both Shinra and Sephiroth. So I guess sooner or later we'll run into Hojo. We need to take down Shinra as well as Sephiroth, and Hojo's a part of them," said Cloud.
"Alright, I've decided to go with you," said Vincent, firmly.
"What? You're coming with us?" asked Tifa, uncertainly.
"As a former Turk, I may be of help to you," said Vincent.
"Alright then, let's get going," said Cloud, with a nod.
Cloud and the others, now joined by Vincent, went out of the basement room, and went into the library, which was right next to it.
"(Sephiroth must be in there,)" thought Cloud.
"Let's just hurry and kill Sephiroth," said Cloud.
Vincent shook his head, clearly disagreeing.
"No, Sephiroth is a victim of Shinra's manipulations. We need to convince him of the truth," protested Vincent.
"Hey, that's a good idea! Maybe he'll even join us and help us fight against Shinra," said Aeris.
"NO WAY, it's out of the question! He needs to be killed, I won't work with a murderer!" snapped Cloud.
"Let's just go in and see what Sephiroth DOES plan to do," said Red XIII.
Vincent sighed and agreed, although reluctantly.
They all then walked along the library, and sure enough, they found Sephiroth himself standing at the other end of the room. Noticing them, Sephiroth turned around and faced them, a dark, haunting expression on his face.