Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, locations, or items of Final Fantasy VII, they belong to Square-Enix. I also do not own Ramen Noodles.
Chapter Two
Hidden Conflicts
"Discomfort, endlessly has pulled itself upon me
Distracting,
Reacting,
Against my will I stand beside my own reflection
It's haunting..."
----------Crawling by Linkin Park
Darkness had long since crept into the many hidden valleys and deep crevaces of Wutai. The nation had already fell into innocent dreams and silent slumber. One small group was set apart. A ninja clan that had etched a hard living from the inhospitable wastelands of Southern Wutai. Their leader was like no other, with a hatred that burned like dying embers in a campfire. Bright but subdued.
Shadows set this man apart. They set him apart from every person around him. The shadows created that fine line between a living man and a dead one.
A deathly visiage was his face. Pale skin contrasted sharply with dark, deep scars, sunken eyes whose iris's were white as the moon, and shocking white hair. Tall and lean, an aura of power hung around him in a thick mist. Stainless white robes and armor covered him from head to toe.
He had confidence.
He had experience.
He was powerful.
He was feared, revered, hated, and loved.
He was the Juuka-Saer, leader of the Juuka-Sa, the Chosen of Leviathan.
As leader of the Kasadra Ninja Clan, the clan he himself declared to be the Juuka-Sa, he would lead them to victory over their mortal enemies.
A monitor came to life before him. It's luminous screen lighting him in unwanted attention. The screen showed a young man. They could have been twins if the age difference wasn't so obvious. The man on-screen looked just like the Juuka-Saer, except for the lack of scars and his eyes. One iris white, the other scarlet.
"Report," the Juuka-Saer said quietly.
"Brother," The man began, "I have found her. I await only your order to move."
The Juuka-Saer smiled. "I want her as soon as possible, and I require her alive."
The younger man nodded.
"Brother, before we sign-off, may I ask a personal question?"
"Of course, anything for my kin," the Saer replied.
"How do you fare, Nejaa? he asked, using his brother's real name instead of his title.
Nejaa sighed, "For now I am fine. We will speak of this when you return from your mission, young Tajiri."
"I am glad to hear that. I will return triumphant very soon."
Tajiri bowed his head and signed off.
Nejaa sagged across his throne in weariness.
"My burden is heavy, brother," he said to the dark terminal. "It grows with every passing day. If you do not succeed, I am lost."
* * *
Another sunrise in quiet Nibelhiem. As the sun rose above the peaks to the east, Vincent Valentine rose from his slumber to carry on with another day. His room was styled like many of the other rooms in the mansion. Except his walls were paneled with wood from walnut trees, giving him the dark effect he had wanted.
Every day he rose with the sun. The large window he had cut in the wall gave him full view of the rising sun. The many colors of the sunrises served to remind him of the beauty the world still had. The way the streaks of light innocently danced in the morning and at dusk reminded him that every day was to be worthwhile, and he couldn't waste any of them sleeping.
He found that he liked to watch the sun rise. Every time he saw it he was filled with a feeling of renewal, of purity. It was his time. His time to reflect on the parts of life he had once enjoyed. He thought about many things. But mainly, he thought about his times with AVALANCHE. He would never admit it to anyone, but those were the happiest times of his life.
The smallest smile crossed his face. As he stood, he quickly changed his expression the one he had worn for years. The same expression of neutrality. He wore the same outfit he had the day before. He hadn't cared to change. In fact, sometimes he wore the same clothes day in and day out for weeks.
Vincent turned from the window and took a step towards the door when he heard a small voice sound out from behind him.
"Vincent..." the voice said softly.
Vincent turned to stare at his reflection in the window. Instead of seeing his own face looking back at him, he saw the face of Chaos. Vincent's eyes narrowed when he saw the creature that shared his mind and body.
"You can't keep ignoring me," the face said.
"What is it you want, demon?" Vincent snapped angerly. He didn't understand it, why seeing Chaos made his blood boil, why seeing that face made him lose his temper so fast his head spun.
"The same things you want," Chaos said off-handedly. Vincent shook his head and said nothing.
"You're still denying it?" the demon continued. "I know we would have had a hard time believing it back then, but I thought you would have grown wiser."
Vincent shook his head again and put his right hand, his real hand, on his hip and retorted, "Must you always bother me with the same repetitive themes every time we speak?"
Chaos paused, seemingly to study Vincent's reaction, but no emotion came from the stoic gunman.
"What did you think?" the creature said apprehensively.
"About what?" came Vincent's aggrevated reply.
"About her."
Vincent shrugged off the question.
"So what did you think?" came Chaos' question once again.
Vincent chose to remain silent. He didn't need to deal with these annoyances right now.
"We both know I won't drop the subject until I have an adequate answer," the voice of the demon said. "Don't lie to me, I'll know."
Vincent wanted nothing more than get out of this conversation and never have to finish it. He deperately racked his brain for an acceptable answer.
"She," he began slowly, " has grown up quite a bit."
Chaos laughed.
"Silence beast!" Vincent raised his voice a bit and the words came out forcefully.
"So you're defending her now?" Chaos' question came out smugly. "Are you getting attached to her already?"
VIncent didn't even bother to answer, for he knew Chaos expected no answer. Vincent knew in his heart that he could not be like this forever. He knew what Chaos wanted.
"Let me be," he said at last.
A knock at his door brought him out of his reverie. He paused.
"Yes?" he inquired after opening his door. He quickly glanced back at the reflection in his window, Chaos was laughing.
"Whoa Vince," came Yuffies reply as she stared over his shoulder and into his room. "And I though I had a nice view."
Apparently she couldn't see Chaos in Vincent's reflection.
Vincent impatiantly tapped his foot on the floor. "First, do not call me anything other than Vincent, my name. Second, state your buisness and do not waste my time with idle chatter. I have much to do."
"Oh, yeah. Where's the bathroom in this place?" Yuffie asked hurriedly. Vincent pointed to door at the opposite end of the hall to the West Wing.
"I thought that was a greenhouse or something," she said off-handedly.
"I have done some remodeling in my time here."
"Thanks Vince," She called to him as she ran to the small room down the hall. Vincent merely shook his head and looked back at his reflection. Chaos was still laughing.
Vincent walked down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for himself and Yuffie.
Compared the overall size of the Shinra Mansion, the kitchen was quite small. Situated in a small room on the bottom floor, the kitchen was connected to the Grand Dining Hall in the West Wing by a long hallway that ran across the entire bottom floor. Vincent had made that room presentable, but he preferred to eat in the much smaller and less elegant secondary dining room that adjoined the kitchen.
The stores of the mansion had been stocked with only one thing, Ramen Noodles. This Vincent didn't mind. His days were pretty much spent in a monotony solitude, so eating the same thing every day for every meal never bothered him.
The soup was almost ready when he heard Yuffie coming down the stairs. He didn't even move to look at her as she came through the door while complaining about him not having a mirror in the bathroom. He shook his head at the pestering inquieries she made about his choice of breakfast food and other little things like that. It didn't seem to occur to her that he wasn't really listening to anything she said.
Vincent poured the noodles and broth into two bowls and set them on the table in the next room. They ate in silence, or as silent as it could get around Yuffie. Vincent, who ate slowly and politely was absolutely repulsed by the way Yuffie ate her food. She slurped and up the noodles and inhaled the broth like she had not eaten in days. She had finished by the time he had even finished half of his bowl.
All complaints forgotten, Yuffie leaned back leisurely in her chair.
"What are you doing today, Vince?" she said as he ate.
Vincent chose not to dignify that with an answer, so he remained silent. He did, however shoot her a warning glance upon hearing her butcher his name once again.
A long silence followed.
"I think I'm gonna go shopping today," she said to no one in particular. She looked at Vincent, who was finishing his soup.
"Do as you wish," Vincent said as he stood up and left her alone in the dining room.
* * *
Yuffie sat in silence at the table after Vincent left. His tone had made it clear that he didn't care whether she left or stayed.
To be honest she couldn't stand Vincent's indifferent behavior. She hated the fact that he just didn't care.
She decided not to let it bother her too much. She figured he'd have had to through some hard times while being experimented on.
(We've all been through something we'd rather forget,) she thought as she went back to her room.
She opened the door of her room and quickly gathered some of the things she'd need for today's shopping trip.
After collecting some extra gil from her pack and strapping the Conformer to an easily accessable place on her belt, she decided to head out.
"Vincent," she called when she was at the top of the stairs in the atrium.
"Vincent?" she called again. She only wanted to let him know she was going out.
Silence greeted her inquiries.
Looking around, she saw hat Vincent's door was slightly ajar. Being Vincent, he was probably doing whatever it is he does in his room. She crept up to his door and peered through the crack. She only saw a normal room, but no Vincent.
She crept into the room. Dusty books littered the room.
It shocked her to see that everything in his room was so...normal. There was nothing in this place that didn't belong, except for the cleverly diguised door to the basement.
Curious, she pushed the bricks back and stepped into the darkness beyond.
As her eyes adjusted to the light, or lack-there-of, she was amazed. The old sloping planks had been replaced by an ornate staircase. The walls were spotless and the general gloom was lessened.
Yuffie made her way down the spiral path before her. Her hand gripped the polished wood of the railing tightly as she made her descent. Yuffie hoped that he didn't spend his time in his coffin down here. She thought there was nothing more pathetic than the way Vincent wallowed in his self-pity.
She thought Vincent was a little frightening and creepy at times, but mentioning Lucretia in his presence would dissolve that facade in a heartbeat.
The corridor at the bottom of the stairwell had changed drastically as well. Yuffie saw no sign of the old basement that was once here, but a new place she could not have imagined Vincent making.
Row upon row of shelves piled with books of various subjects lined the walls. In the floor many polished cobblestones had been set. Their reflective surfaces glimmered in the flickering light cast from the candles above her head. The silver chandeliers that cradled the delicate light sources sparkled in the luminating glow of the many dancing points of flame.
Yuffie saw no sign of life in this hallway, nor did she see the door to the room where AVALANCHE had found him. She contined on her way to the old lab.
The door creaked as she opened it.
"Identify yourself," she heard Vincent's voice, along with the sound of metal scraping against leather and a barely audible click.
"It's just me," she answered as she stepped into the room.
Vincent was sitting in one of two recliners in the center of the room. Like the hallway coming into the room, there were bookshelves filled with numerous pieces of literature. All of the lab equipment had apparently been removed and disposed of. In their place were a pair of plush-looking lounge chairs and a low coffie table between them.
Vincent, still sitting in one of the chairs, clicked the safety of the Quiksilver on and slid the pistol back into the holster at his hip. He then picked his book up from the table and began reading.
"I'm gonna go out for a while, okay. I'll be back later."
Vincent didn't look up, but nodded.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay. I would have had this chapter up earlier, but I recently had surcgury on my hand, thus slowing down my typing. I hope this chapter turned out a little better than I think it did, but hey, there's always room for improvement. Please R&R.
Chapter Two
Hidden Conflicts
"Discomfort, endlessly has pulled itself upon me
Distracting,
Reacting,
Against my will I stand beside my own reflection
It's haunting..."
----------Crawling by Linkin Park
Darkness had long since crept into the many hidden valleys and deep crevaces of Wutai. The nation had already fell into innocent dreams and silent slumber. One small group was set apart. A ninja clan that had etched a hard living from the inhospitable wastelands of Southern Wutai. Their leader was like no other, with a hatred that burned like dying embers in a campfire. Bright but subdued.
Shadows set this man apart. They set him apart from every person around him. The shadows created that fine line between a living man and a dead one.
A deathly visiage was his face. Pale skin contrasted sharply with dark, deep scars, sunken eyes whose iris's were white as the moon, and shocking white hair. Tall and lean, an aura of power hung around him in a thick mist. Stainless white robes and armor covered him from head to toe.
He had confidence.
He had experience.
He was powerful.
He was feared, revered, hated, and loved.
He was the Juuka-Saer, leader of the Juuka-Sa, the Chosen of Leviathan.
As leader of the Kasadra Ninja Clan, the clan he himself declared to be the Juuka-Sa, he would lead them to victory over their mortal enemies.
A monitor came to life before him. It's luminous screen lighting him in unwanted attention. The screen showed a young man. They could have been twins if the age difference wasn't so obvious. The man on-screen looked just like the Juuka-Saer, except for the lack of scars and his eyes. One iris white, the other scarlet.
"Report," the Juuka-Saer said quietly.
"Brother," The man began, "I have found her. I await only your order to move."
The Juuka-Saer smiled. "I want her as soon as possible, and I require her alive."
The younger man nodded.
"Brother, before we sign-off, may I ask a personal question?"
"Of course, anything for my kin," the Saer replied.
"How do you fare, Nejaa? he asked, using his brother's real name instead of his title.
Nejaa sighed, "For now I am fine. We will speak of this when you return from your mission, young Tajiri."
"I am glad to hear that. I will return triumphant very soon."
Tajiri bowed his head and signed off.
Nejaa sagged across his throne in weariness.
"My burden is heavy, brother," he said to the dark terminal. "It grows with every passing day. If you do not succeed, I am lost."
* * *
Another sunrise in quiet Nibelhiem. As the sun rose above the peaks to the east, Vincent Valentine rose from his slumber to carry on with another day. His room was styled like many of the other rooms in the mansion. Except his walls were paneled with wood from walnut trees, giving him the dark effect he had wanted.
Every day he rose with the sun. The large window he had cut in the wall gave him full view of the rising sun. The many colors of the sunrises served to remind him of the beauty the world still had. The way the streaks of light innocently danced in the morning and at dusk reminded him that every day was to be worthwhile, and he couldn't waste any of them sleeping.
He found that he liked to watch the sun rise. Every time he saw it he was filled with a feeling of renewal, of purity. It was his time. His time to reflect on the parts of life he had once enjoyed. He thought about many things. But mainly, he thought about his times with AVALANCHE. He would never admit it to anyone, but those were the happiest times of his life.
The smallest smile crossed his face. As he stood, he quickly changed his expression the one he had worn for years. The same expression of neutrality. He wore the same outfit he had the day before. He hadn't cared to change. In fact, sometimes he wore the same clothes day in and day out for weeks.
Vincent turned from the window and took a step towards the door when he heard a small voice sound out from behind him.
"Vincent..." the voice said softly.
Vincent turned to stare at his reflection in the window. Instead of seeing his own face looking back at him, he saw the face of Chaos. Vincent's eyes narrowed when he saw the creature that shared his mind and body.
"You can't keep ignoring me," the face said.
"What is it you want, demon?" Vincent snapped angerly. He didn't understand it, why seeing Chaos made his blood boil, why seeing that face made him lose his temper so fast his head spun.
"The same things you want," Chaos said off-handedly. Vincent shook his head and said nothing.
"You're still denying it?" the demon continued. "I know we would have had a hard time believing it back then, but I thought you would have grown wiser."
Vincent shook his head again and put his right hand, his real hand, on his hip and retorted, "Must you always bother me with the same repetitive themes every time we speak?"
Chaos paused, seemingly to study Vincent's reaction, but no emotion came from the stoic gunman.
"What did you think?" the creature said apprehensively.
"About what?" came Vincent's aggrevated reply.
"About her."
Vincent shrugged off the question.
"So what did you think?" came Chaos' question once again.
Vincent chose to remain silent. He didn't need to deal with these annoyances right now.
"We both know I won't drop the subject until I have an adequate answer," the voice of the demon said. "Don't lie to me, I'll know."
Vincent wanted nothing more than get out of this conversation and never have to finish it. He deperately racked his brain for an acceptable answer.
"She," he began slowly, " has grown up quite a bit."
Chaos laughed.
"Silence beast!" Vincent raised his voice a bit and the words came out forcefully.
"So you're defending her now?" Chaos' question came out smugly. "Are you getting attached to her already?"
VIncent didn't even bother to answer, for he knew Chaos expected no answer. Vincent knew in his heart that he could not be like this forever. He knew what Chaos wanted.
"Let me be," he said at last.
A knock at his door brought him out of his reverie. He paused.
"Yes?" he inquired after opening his door. He quickly glanced back at the reflection in his window, Chaos was laughing.
"Whoa Vince," came Yuffies reply as she stared over his shoulder and into his room. "And I though I had a nice view."
Apparently she couldn't see Chaos in Vincent's reflection.
Vincent impatiantly tapped his foot on the floor. "First, do not call me anything other than Vincent, my name. Second, state your buisness and do not waste my time with idle chatter. I have much to do."
"Oh, yeah. Where's the bathroom in this place?" Yuffie asked hurriedly. Vincent pointed to door at the opposite end of the hall to the West Wing.
"I thought that was a greenhouse or something," she said off-handedly.
"I have done some remodeling in my time here."
"Thanks Vince," She called to him as she ran to the small room down the hall. Vincent merely shook his head and looked back at his reflection. Chaos was still laughing.
Vincent walked down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for himself and Yuffie.
Compared the overall size of the Shinra Mansion, the kitchen was quite small. Situated in a small room on the bottom floor, the kitchen was connected to the Grand Dining Hall in the West Wing by a long hallway that ran across the entire bottom floor. Vincent had made that room presentable, but he preferred to eat in the much smaller and less elegant secondary dining room that adjoined the kitchen.
The stores of the mansion had been stocked with only one thing, Ramen Noodles. This Vincent didn't mind. His days were pretty much spent in a monotony solitude, so eating the same thing every day for every meal never bothered him.
The soup was almost ready when he heard Yuffie coming down the stairs. He didn't even move to look at her as she came through the door while complaining about him not having a mirror in the bathroom. He shook his head at the pestering inquieries she made about his choice of breakfast food and other little things like that. It didn't seem to occur to her that he wasn't really listening to anything she said.
Vincent poured the noodles and broth into two bowls and set them on the table in the next room. They ate in silence, or as silent as it could get around Yuffie. Vincent, who ate slowly and politely was absolutely repulsed by the way Yuffie ate her food. She slurped and up the noodles and inhaled the broth like she had not eaten in days. She had finished by the time he had even finished half of his bowl.
All complaints forgotten, Yuffie leaned back leisurely in her chair.
"What are you doing today, Vince?" she said as he ate.
Vincent chose not to dignify that with an answer, so he remained silent. He did, however shoot her a warning glance upon hearing her butcher his name once again.
A long silence followed.
"I think I'm gonna go shopping today," she said to no one in particular. She looked at Vincent, who was finishing his soup.
"Do as you wish," Vincent said as he stood up and left her alone in the dining room.
* * *
Yuffie sat in silence at the table after Vincent left. His tone had made it clear that he didn't care whether she left or stayed.
To be honest she couldn't stand Vincent's indifferent behavior. She hated the fact that he just didn't care.
She decided not to let it bother her too much. She figured he'd have had to through some hard times while being experimented on.
(We've all been through something we'd rather forget,) she thought as she went back to her room.
She opened the door of her room and quickly gathered some of the things she'd need for today's shopping trip.
After collecting some extra gil from her pack and strapping the Conformer to an easily accessable place on her belt, she decided to head out.
"Vincent," she called when she was at the top of the stairs in the atrium.
"Vincent?" she called again. She only wanted to let him know she was going out.
Silence greeted her inquiries.
Looking around, she saw hat Vincent's door was slightly ajar. Being Vincent, he was probably doing whatever it is he does in his room. She crept up to his door and peered through the crack. She only saw a normal room, but no Vincent.
She crept into the room. Dusty books littered the room.
It shocked her to see that everything in his room was so...normal. There was nothing in this place that didn't belong, except for the cleverly diguised door to the basement.
Curious, she pushed the bricks back and stepped into the darkness beyond.
As her eyes adjusted to the light, or lack-there-of, she was amazed. The old sloping planks had been replaced by an ornate staircase. The walls were spotless and the general gloom was lessened.
Yuffie made her way down the spiral path before her. Her hand gripped the polished wood of the railing tightly as she made her descent. Yuffie hoped that he didn't spend his time in his coffin down here. She thought there was nothing more pathetic than the way Vincent wallowed in his self-pity.
She thought Vincent was a little frightening and creepy at times, but mentioning Lucretia in his presence would dissolve that facade in a heartbeat.
The corridor at the bottom of the stairwell had changed drastically as well. Yuffie saw no sign of the old basement that was once here, but a new place she could not have imagined Vincent making.
Row upon row of shelves piled with books of various subjects lined the walls. In the floor many polished cobblestones had been set. Their reflective surfaces glimmered in the flickering light cast from the candles above her head. The silver chandeliers that cradled the delicate light sources sparkled in the luminating glow of the many dancing points of flame.
Yuffie saw no sign of life in this hallway, nor did she see the door to the room where AVALANCHE had found him. She contined on her way to the old lab.
The door creaked as she opened it.
"Identify yourself," she heard Vincent's voice, along with the sound of metal scraping against leather and a barely audible click.
"It's just me," she answered as she stepped into the room.
Vincent was sitting in one of two recliners in the center of the room. Like the hallway coming into the room, there were bookshelves filled with numerous pieces of literature. All of the lab equipment had apparently been removed and disposed of. In their place were a pair of plush-looking lounge chairs and a low coffie table between them.
Vincent, still sitting in one of the chairs, clicked the safety of the Quiksilver on and slid the pistol back into the holster at his hip. He then picked his book up from the table and began reading.
"I'm gonna go out for a while, okay. I'll be back later."
Vincent didn't look up, but nodded.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay. I would have had this chapter up earlier, but I recently had surcgury on my hand, thus slowing down my typing. I hope this chapter turned out a little better than I think it did, but hey, there's always room for improvement. Please R&R.