Chapter 2: Call me Kysten...

Closing the door behind him, Vincent set the weak boy on a plastic covered sofa in his living room. He took off his black overcoat and hung it on a clothes hanger beside the front door.

Vincent's small apartment looked almost tidy and simple. He had very little furniture but had two large cupboards filled with books and research notes which he shifted from the basement laboratory of the old Shinra Mansion. The apartment consisted of two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room and a kitchen. It had enough space for Vincent to live in but crowded when Reno, Elena and Rude bunked in for a few days.

Vincent pulled up his sleeves and slowly removed the cloth that draped the boy. His dirt covered clothes were tattered and he saw a dark patch of red stained on the front of his shirt which he identified as blood. His face was also a mix of blood and mud. Getting up, he went into the closet and took out a small metal bucket and face towel. He filled it up with water and walked towards the sleeping boy.

He sat beside the boy's head, wringing the sponge damp. Vincent lightly wiped away the dirt from the boy's pale face. The boy moved slightly before jerking up to a sitting position, panting heavily.

"Where am I? Who...wha...," he stuttered, surveying the strange surroundings.

"You're awake now I see," Vincent said calmly. "Rest up, you're hurt."

The boy rested his head back on the sofa before closing his eyes in gloomy resignation. Vincent sat in the chair next to the boy before closing his eyes in sleep.

The boy woke up the next day to see an older man sitting on the chair reading a book. He looked around and assumed that where he was staying in belonged to the man. He recalled faintly the things that happened yesterday...

"Good Morning." Vincent looked up from the book, "Perhaps you could wash up first before breakfast."

"Y-yes, Sir." He stammered.

"Call me Vincent. By the way, you are....?"

"I'm Kysten," Kysten said.

"The bathroom's that way." Vincent got up from the chair walking toward his bedroom, pointing to the bathroom to his right. He went into the room and came out with a grey towel and a fresh pair of blue jeans and red shirt. "I do not have any of your size but it is better than your current. Take it."

Kysten took the towels and clothes. With a small smile creeping over his face, he stepped in for a hot bath, one which he had not indulged in for years.

Kysten stepped out of the bathroom cleaned and refreshed. He squirmed at the fact that the pants were almost dropping below his hips and the shirt was quite baggy. Vincent was reading the book and the sofa had been cleaned of the dirt.

"Erm...Mr. Vincent, Sir..." Kysten shyly spoke.

"Just call me Vincent. No need for formalities." Vincent interjected. He looked up to Kysten. His eyes widened a little as he looked at Kysten's face, now clean. "No...it can't be..."

Kysten stood around 5'6, his skin as pale white as cream, bright purple eyes gazing with a look of pain and fear. Most striking was that he had...sliver hair, just like...'her' son. Kysten's sliver hair fell just above his shoulders, his fringe reached until his chin.

"Have you, a father or mother?" Vincent asked, bright red met bright purple.

"I do not recall my biological parents, an old couple took me in. They were the ones who named me as thus."

"I see... Do not stand on ceremony. Sit down and eat the toast. You must be hungry." Vincent shifted away from the topic.

"Sure...thanks." Kysten went up to the small dinner table, pulled out a chair and sat down. He started on the toast with jam, hungrily munching it down. He had not eaten for days and his stomach growled inconsistently.

Vincent did not know where to start. For the past three years, the sliver-haired men had almost brought upon the destruction of the Planet. Could Kysten be the next? Would a third catastrophe forth cometh? Many questions hung in Vincent's mind. "Maybe this is a good time to visit them."

"Kysten, do you have anywhere to go?"

"Huh?" Kysten said between mouthfuls. "Oh, no...If I'm too much of a trouble, I'll just hang around Midgar, or get a job somewhere else."

"No, that's not what I meant. Since you have nowhere else to go, stay here." The members of Avalanche need to know about you.

"But would I be a trouble, I mean... what if.." Kysten hesitated.

"No you would not..."Maybe.. Vincent thought. "Besides, the room over there is vacant and is quite furnished. You can sleep there."

"Gee...thanks a lot!" Kysten's eyes sparkled up, now glowing a fierce purple blazing with joy.

"At 5, I'm going to meet some friends of mine. I request you to meet them."

"Okay...?" Kysten replied.

In the afternoon, both of them stayed in the house. Vincent managed to find out some details of Kysten.

Kysten was 15 years. He could not recall his parents. He told Vincent that he ran away from an orphanage at the age of 12. The orphanage did not give him a name but called him by a number. As he did not want to lead such a boring life, he escaped. He was later taken in by an old couple who was childless for years, they found him scavenging for scraps to eat . The Meteor Incident which it was then called, had passed when they found him. They named him Kysten and he spent the last three or less years with them until they were killed by thugs ever present in the slums. Since then, he had been wandering. But Vincent sensed that Kysten was holding back something from the way he stammered and hesitated.

The two got ready by 5, Vincent wearing a grey collared shirt and leather pants, with his long black overcoat, and Kysten borrowing a blue t-shirt and the same jeans as before. Vincent took the keys and locked the apartment. Both went down the building into the congested streets of Sector 5.

Disclaimer:

I do not own FF VII or FFVII: AC nor their characters and places mentioned. Original characters like Kysten and the plot of the story is entirely my works which i painstakingly thought of. So i would appreciate if you do NOT copy it or whatsoever. Thanks