A/N: Ok, I took a study break. I don't know when I'll next get a chance to write, so please be patient. I hope this little tidbit is interesting. This is the tip of the iceberg, I actually have a plot worked out on paper (got bored in my philsophy class). It's twisted, and I hope, very original. For a question poised before: no, this is not a sephti. He doesn't strike me as the type to get into a relationship with anyone, without going totally OOC. He's just a badass.

C. R. Carter: I really enjoy your comments...they're so loyal and it's good to get a reaction to each chapter. Do not hesitate to tell me if something seems...cheesy or the like. So now do you see where Vincent got his humor back from? :) You'll being seeing Cid some more in this fic, I just can't leave him out of things!

Chapter 10 – Annihilation

They were walking now, making their way away from this place, this hidden shrine of the Ancients. Sephiroth had unashamedly taken the lead; Vincent had taken the rear.

Why am I here anyhow? Why didn't I just stay on the Highwind?

You didn't want another death on your conscience...

He shook his head. His morbid thoughts traced their usual patterns in his mind: guilt, death, and regret. They could almost make a piece of anguished poetry, with their own meter rhyme...

'Vincent, the morose harbinger of unassailable pain and suffering...the demon.'

I wonder why I never took up writing...

He needed a distraction from his own thoughts. In the company of AVALANCHE he could sometimes assuage his sufferings listening to their conversations...each one with their own unique tune...

Yes, that's why, music...I always loved music. Writing was too...technical.

He allowed himself a private smile. Though his memories before Lucrecia were simple fleeting images and sounds, they were comforting...at least in contrast to the dark interludes of his remaining experience. They reminded him that there was a life before the nightmare, before he fell for the oldest story in the book.

A woman. Why does it always have to be a woman?

He gripped his remaining hand. This was not a time for memory; this was a time for action. He had to process some startling news...news he was trying to shut out. He looked hard at the man walking in front of him. His stride was long, even, confident. It was the stride of a general, a perfect soldier, a troubled man. Then there was Tifa, just behind Sephiroth, her stride also long, but it lacked the confident edge. It was somehow unnatural, like it had been shaped into her muscles over much deliberation from some cosmic sculptor.

Graceful. Like a martial artist should be...they are merely deadly dancers.

With the steady rhythm of their silent walk, he at last let himself think upon the conversation he was engaged in no more than five hours ago...

Previously...

"How are you alive?" Tifa asked Sephiroth pointedly, but then cringed a little, almost as if it were an afterthought. He smirked at this remark, pulled himself up from his crouched position to his full height, reveling a little in his formidable position.

"Because of Annihilation," he stated matter-of-factly, ignoring Tifa's puzzled expression. She looked annoyed, and tired. Sephiroth decided his sword was more interesting and decided to inspect it and take a few slashes into the air, carefully avoiding Tifa. She threw up her arms in defeat and went to rummage through her pack, as if she needed something to occupy herself with...or throw at him.

It was then that Vincent strode over, keeping a good distance from Sephiroth's Masamune.

"So you saw..." he said carefully, his face stern, "...Lucrecia?" Sephiroth took one last slash at his invisible opponent before turning to face him. He eyed Vincent questioningly, searching his face for the emotion behind the statement.

"In a manner," he replied curtly, "I did not know the woman well, but she did seem...kindly." He said the last word with some emphasis, hoping to illicit an interesting response from Vincent, who in kind shifted his weight.

"She told me that I needed to live," he said with a far off look, "Because I had failed." Vincent raised an eyebrow to this, much to the amusement of Sephiroth.

"No, I do not wish to take the world for 'mother' any longer..." he stated, not even caring if that was the question that needed answering.

Vincent shifted his gaze away, not sure if he even wanted to talk about Lucrecia anymore. He notice Tifa had taken the container from her pack, and was kneeling near the strange statue, a contemplative look on her face.

That's strange...I wonder what she's up to.

She then snapped out of her reverie, and wrested the lid off of the container. Then, delicately, she pulled the fragile flower out, setting it in a dark brown patch of earth beneath the stone figure. She patted its roots in lovingly, and stared at it for quite some time.

"Valentine," Sephiroth said, annoyed by the other man's distraction, "Would you like to know more?" He crossed his arms and stood tall, but frowned as he realized the other man was equally as tall, perhaps taller, than he.

Vincent nodded turning his attention back to the impatient man before him.

You certainly are your father's child.

Sephiroth continued, "She said that I was to find you...two," he said, as if they were a burden upon the very essence of his soul, "And save you from almost imminent danger." Vincent frowned into his cape, making sure that Sephiroth did not see the change in expression...he did not want to give the man the satisfaction.

Your imperial attitude is getting tiresome...

"Of course," Sephiroth continued, enjoying his chance to dominate the attention, "She isn't Lucrecia...exactly." Vincent's face betrayed his disappointment, however briefly. Sephiroth smirked, "She said to call her...Annihilation."

"Why is that?" Vincent asked, regaining his stony composure.

"Because she is like Obsession..." he said, with a mysterious look on his face, "and Surrender." He nodded towards Tifa as he said this. She was completely oblivious to the conversation, silently kneeling at the feet of the statue, lost in her own thoughts.

"She is my greatest failure," he added almost talking to himself. Vincent heard, but pretended not to notice.

"What...are they?" he asked, carefully, deliberately. Sephiroth grinned.

"Haven't the faintest clue," he said, "definitely not human, or Cetra. Some incorporeal beings that have attached themselves to us for some reason." Vincent just nodded, hoping that soon they would be able to part with this reminder of his past.

I'll get Tifa back to Cloud and disappear...get away from memory for awhile.

"She told me about the other two..." he said wistfully, "it's hard to believe she's not human. She must have been...interesting in life."

You have no idea.

Sephiroth snapped out of his thoughts and looked sharply over at Tifa.

"You! Lockheart!" he barked at her, "Stop playing with flowers! We have to move out." She jumped up, glaring at Sephiroth, her fists held tightly next to her thighs.

"I'm going home!" she shouted back at him, "I don't need...this." She stomped over to her pack, swinging it onto her shoulder. She dramatically spun on her heel and started walking in the direction of Midgar. Sephiroth grinned.

Gods, he's enjoying this. More like Hojo every minute...

"Fine," he said, "If you want to die, then go ahead." She stopped upon hearing this, then swiftly turned to face him.

"I don't need your threats," she hissed, pulling her fists up in a fighting stance, "I can take care of myself."

Vincent finally spoke up, "Tifa...we need to find answers. Will you help us?"

She stared at him, clearly shocked. "You're...you're..." she fumbled, "going with HIM?!" She nearly shouted the last word, her face a furious shade of red.

This isn't going to be pleasant...

"We have to," he said, calmly, "Before we lose our minds." She scoffed, dramatically throwing her arms out and letting them slap against her thighs as she brought them down.

"Fine," she said, "but I think we already have."

Later...

Now they were on a path heading to Cosmo Canyon, a place that Annihilation had told Sephiroth to go. A place with answers.

Or so everyone had hoped.

Tifa had turned around, checking up on Vincent for perhaps the tenth time that hour. He was puzzled, but nevertheless kept silent.

Maybe you should say something. She clearly doesn't want to speak with Sephiroth.

He opened his mouth, but she beat him to the punch.

"I'm sorry," she said, her eyes fraught with concern, "I didn't mean to be so...childish earlier." Vincent smirked imperceptibly. The little scene had almost amused him.

"No need..." he said, then a thought struck him, "You should apologize to...him." She gaped at him, nearly stumbling. Her cheeks grew a little pink, then slowly reddened.

"Maybe..." she said, her voice quiet, "...later."

Vincent shrugged. The silence of their trek took over once again.

Perfect... a small voice muttered from the trees, too quiet even for Vincent to hear.