Chapter 3: The Visit
5pm, Midgar time. 5pm and most shops closed. Owners wary of the underdogs that prowl the city in the mid of the night, by 6 all shops except a minority had closed for the day. The ones which are open day till midnight were bars, nightclubs and cyber cafes. The concentration of people out there grew lesser and lesser as the last rays of sun vanished into the horizon. They went home to their awaiting families or rest from a hard day's work.
The day turned quickly to night at this time of the year. In the corner of an alleyway walked Vincent and Kysten. Thick clouds of hot steam bellowed out of the drainage covers water dripped from the clothes that hung from above, making small dripping sounds in puddles.
Kysten blew out a cold stream of vapour as he walked. He shivered and hugged his body. Autumn was going away, leaving winter to cover its tracks in a white blanket. His teeth chattered loudly. Kysten looked up to Vincent to see the taller man unaffected by the surroundings. Vincent looked down, seeing a cold Kysten, he stopped.
"Feeling cold?" he asked, bending down to level with Kysten's eyes.
Kysten gave a silent nod.
"Here, wear it. It might keep you warm." Vincent responded to the boy's quiet answer and took off the black overcoat. He urged Kysten to take it and he complied. Kysten wore it and the two continued down the path.
"Where are we going?" Kysten queried as they walked to the end of the alleyway.
"Cloud and Tifa's house," he replied.
"It's a dead end." Kysten said. The alleyway stopped at a high wall. In the centre of the graffiti covered wall was a large bulk under a dark plastic covering.
"Not anymore." Vincent breathed. He pulled aside the plastic covering to reveal a large black, sleek road bike.
The large motorbike was black, except the engine and exhaust which were slivery and glinted in the dim light. On its side was a small embossment in sliver, black and gold, which carved the words 'Scorcher'. Vincent sat on the leather seat and started the engine, roaring to life. Kysten stared in awe. He was going to ride this.
"Get on. Behind me." Kysten listened and he hopped behind Vincent as they rode out of the alley into a road. "Hold onto me tight, lest you may fall." Kysten clung onto Vincent's shirt and the overcoat picked up the fast moving air, flying.
No sooner, they were careening down the Midgar Pan-City Highway. It was night and the highway held very little flow of cars. The speedometer indicated that they had been travelling at a speed of 130 miles per hour. Their hair whipped in a mass of black contradicting with sliver.
During the past years, Vincent slowly opened his eyes to the world, bit by bit. Seeing how time and technology had changed, he could not bring himself to remain in the old ShinRa Mansion in Nibelheim. He decided to move on. At first, he was confused at the fast pace he was going, living among society. He got himself a job with the help of Elena and both worked in the same Midgar Library Archives.
Vincent and Kysten drove out of Sector 5 to the upper plate of Sector 3. They crossed the still junctions and slowed down at the entrance of a noisy bar, 'Eleventh Heaven'. Patrons were drinking their hearts merry, upbeat music was blaring. Some of the customers got too drunk; they lay unconscious on the counter.
The engine of the Demise died down and Vincent slowly parked it at a lighted spot. The two got off and Vincent fastened a chain onto the Demise's front wheel before walking to the other side of 'Eleventh Heaven'. There stood a door, with lights inside. Figures moving around.
"Stay directly behind me, Kysten." Vincent told him to, Kysten asked no questions.
Vincent pushed the doorbell once, waiting for one of the household to answer. From behind the tinted, frosted glass panel on the door, the faint outline of a spiky-haired person drew closer towards the door. With a turn of a knob and a click of the latch, Vincent came face to face with the ex-leader of AVALANCHE, none other than Cloud Strife.
Cloud Strife, the ex-SOLDIER, "He's now..." Vincent thought, "24."
After Meteor, Cloud spend months wandering aimlessly outside the City of Ancients, relying on a miserable stream flowing through the cracks of old stone buildings and wild fruit trees and vines that grew on the once Magnificent City of Ancients. Tifa went looking for him all over the Planet from the farthest reaches of the Northern Cave Crater to the small island of Cactuar Island. She looked and never once gave up, until she found his weak form at her doorstep. He wept. He kept on rambling that he could not save 'her'. Tifa took him into her arms, telling him that it was not his fault. He got over and they moved to this residence where they set up a bar and an orphanage.
"Oh...my...gawd!! Id that you Vincent?" Cloud shouted in surprise. Tifa heard him and came rushing from the bar to the door. She stood there in astonishment.
"Vincent! Come in, it's been awhile." She gestured Vincent inside the house.
Vincent had not seen the couple since they departed their separated ways. He neither sent them a letter nor gave them a call. He almost completely broke of contacts with every AVALANCHE member until now.
"Wait," he held up his hand. "Cloud, Tifa, there's someone whom I think that you should meet, Kysten. My purpose of this visit."
Vincent moved to one side of the door, to reveal a confused Kysten. His glowing purple eyes met Cloud's Mako green. "H-hi," Kysten said barely above a whisper.
Tifa reeled in horror when her gaze set upon the boy; she took a step back, breathing in deeply. Cloud took a deep breath before muttering, "Shit...not again." His face darkened from a smile earlier on to a serious deadly look.
"Where did you find him, Vincent?" He asked slowly, word by word.
Kysten looked at the man who a while ago who was energetic and brimming with joy. The lady too. The moment they looked upon him, everything changed. He wept silently in his heart. Knowing that people hated him. "I'm different...so different... why? Why me? I make people afraid...why? This is probably me...I'm not fit to live with them... People hate the looks of me..."
"It's best we talk inside," Vincent replied to Cloud. "Let no one hear."
Vincent and the solemn Kysten walking into Tifa and Cloud's house and Cloud closed the door, knowing that things are not going to be as peaceful as before.
Sidelines......
so the plot thicken here ya?
review or no review...i'll still write on..