Author's Note: Thanks again for the support...hope this chapter does not dissappoint!
Chapter 18 – Apples
What is going on?
Vincent shook his groggy head. For the past few hours, he had experienced dreamless sleep, a sleep only induced by drugs. He couldn't remember what had happened prior to his unconsciousness. Only images of Tiveph's face snippets of his voice...
What did he do?
He looked over his body, and noticed something that made him both happy and terribly wary. Instead of a claw, he now had a hand. He poked it gently with his other hand, and noticed that the flesh felt oddly rubbery, and that it gave off hardly any warmth.
Prosthetic? Why would he...?
He was tired of Tiveph's mind games. He wanted answers, or at least some sort of end.
Where did he go?
He slid off of the table, and landed lightly on the ground. His boots made small clicking noises on the ground as he walked across the sterile room. He saw two doors, and stopped to consider his options.
Take the one on the right. Trust me.
He didn't feel the need to question Chaos; neither did he feel the need to obey him. In the end, sheer curiosity won over his mind. He gently pushed the right door with his new hand, surprised to find that it had minor sensory abilities.
He wished that he hadn't even considered opening the door when he saw what was inside.
There were shelves that covered the entire back wall, and on those shelves were various metal objects. Various metal claw hands. He walked over slowly, trying to determine whether or not his eyes had played tricks on him. To his dismay, they had not.
He looked closely and noticed that under each hand was some sort of label, clearly written with bold copperplate writing. The first that caught his eye was a crude silver claw, with 'Fywen, Gimel' under it. Then he looked over at the one next to it, an ornate red coppery type of claw with 'Ruddex, Ceylon' as a label. Then a misplacedly familiar dark metal one caught his attention, with a label that brought back odd memories.
It said, 'Grenne, it be from that odd dream?
Dream? Why is it always dreams with you?
He did not have the chance to dwell on it long, however. For he saw a golden claw that looked newer than the others, one that he would recognize anywhere.
It had 'Valentine, Vincent' written on new paper under it.
Elsewhere...
"Land here," Tifa said, with an uncharacteristically demanding tone. Cid had been initially reluctant to allow her to go off on a mission like this, but Nanaki had insisted earlier that they take her wherever she desired. It has Nanaki's fault in the first place that Cid was away from his home and chasing after Tifa to begin with. Neither of them trusted Sephiroth.
"Thanks a lot, Cid," Tifa whispered, as he made preparations to land. He winked.
"'Course, Tif," he said with his usual vigor, "Couldn't let those damn freaks get a hold of ya." She smiled an exhausted smile at him. She gazed out the window, and saw the ground coming nearer, and the familiar sight of the statue smiling up at her as they descended.
"Do you know what you're dealing with?" Nanaki asked, having sashayed next to her. She shook her head.
"I know Vincent's in trouble," she sighed, "Isn't that enough?" He considered her words for a minute.
"Always going headlong into danger," he said wistfully, "Jumping after Cloud in the Lifestream...now..." He didn't need to finish. He saw the effect of the word 'Cloud' on her face.
"I'm cursed, you know," she barely spoke, her words hushed, "Everyone I love..." Nanaki silenced her with a rub against her hand.
"I know," he soothed, "but you are not cursed. You just love so deeply. There is no curse in that." She turned to him, her face regaining its steely edge.
"I do not ask either of you to go with me," she said with a fake confidence, "Especially Cid. He has a family." Nanaki nodded.
"I will make sure he stays on the ship," he said with a murmur, watching to see if the pilot heard, "But if I can come, I will." She nodded gratefully.
A plume of smoke drifted by her face. "We've landed," came Cid's gruff exhale.
Meanwhile...
What is this? Is this some cruel joke?
Did you think you were the first? Hardly.
Vincent blinked, and then blinked again. He wanted his eyes to show him something more believable, and less unsettling.
I was just starting to feel human...she made it look so easy...
We cannot be human, you must know this...
Still, are we just toys to this...machine?
Chaos fell silent. Vincent felt the presence of another being, and finally considered that he might not be treated well for discovering this room.
"Like the apple, isn't it?" Tiveph's calm voice assailed his ears, "You were too tempted by curiosity. But that's alright. They all find this room." Vincent turned around, startled.
"Expression? I've never seen the Fallen express as much as you do," Tiveph continued, drawling out the words like poetry, "You are thinking of her? Those green eyes boring into the depths of your unconscious thought..."
"How dare you!" Vincent suddenly shouted, now longer able to contain his emotions, "You presume so much...you know nothing! Nothing!" Tiveph's machinations could not produce the shock, but the glow in his eyes gave it away.
I haven't dreamed about her for a year now...
No, you fiddle with that necklace that one girl gave you...
"You are indeed unique," he said coldly, the musical tones falling flat, "Still human...I guess letting you near the Consumed was perhaps a folly on my part. But no matter." He grabbed Vincent's arm roughly, and the gunman made no move to fight it. He pulled him out of the room, and stopped before the other door.
The Consumed?
Oh, you're a part of the Triad. No wonder he's so mad at you...
"I think you and Obsession have a few issues you need to work out," he said calmly, pushing him through the door.
Elsewhere...
"Hey! What the fuck are you doing?!" Cid yelled, from the seat that Nanaki and Tifa had tied him up to. Tifa stifled a giggle as she heard him.
"That's a way of making sure he stays on the ship," Tifa whimpered to Nanaki conspiratorially. The beast chuckled.
"Do what you came here to do," he said, suddenly serious, to her. She inhaled deeply and knelt before the statue.
Since she planted the flower, it had grown immensely. It was a vine like plant now, snaking its way around the statue, nearly choking it. She almost wanted to cut back some of it, for the face of the statue now looked like a frightened girl. She stared at the face for a couple of seconds when something peculiar began to happen.
It started to take on a life of its own.
The stone of the face started to melt into that of something more human, with green eyes and soft brown hair. The pink lips were parted, ready to say something.
"Remember..." she said quietly, for only Tifa seemed to see this happening, "...the fruit..." Tifa was distracted by Aeris's face, and didn't want to hear the words.
"Tifa?" Nanaki asked, watching the expression of sadness on her face. She shook her head, finally understanding something almost forgotten.
Without answering, and without a thought, she picked a piece of the round fruit off the vines, and carefully took a bite.
"They...taste..." she began, a strange look in her eyes, "like apples." And with that, she disappeared from Nanaki's sight.
The room, with Obsession...
"I suppose you were sent here for an explanation," Obsession said idly, looking at Vincent with a bored expression. The man replied by crossing his arms, his face back to its normal nonexpression. Obsession smirked.
"Well, if you have any brains to you," he continued, turning his spectacled eyes to the wall, "Then you've figured out who I am."
"An experiment," Vincent replied coldly, "One of the later in Preternatural Psyche Grafting." The husk of a scientist nodded, the light glinted off his lenses.
"Correct," he said slowly, "One of the last, too. I am bound to a personified emotion, if you will. He is by far stronger." Vincent almost smirked at this.
You without total control? Almost better than I had hoped for...
"Lucrecia is the only one out of the three of us who can bend her partner's will..." he whispered, a strange expression slithering across his face, "That's why she's been such a bane to us." Vincent stared at him coldly. Obsession studied him curiously.
"Five years ago you would have tried to kill me for a statement like that..." he droned, smirking a little, "Very interesting. Tiveph would never have predicted this."
"Triad," Vincent stated forcefully, ignoring Obsession's statements, "Who else? What is it?"
"I won't answer all of your questions..." he hissed, "I can only tell you who. One is my son, whom you know as Sephiroth..."
No surprise. Everyone uses him for their own devices.
"...and that fighter girl, who you're so fond of...Tifa Lockheart, is that her name?" He stood up a little taller, trying to make out Vincent's expression.
Oh no. I hope she doesn't find out its Cloud...
"She's perhaps got it the worst," Obsession said amusedly, watching as Vincent could barely control his face, "Her old sweetheart is like me. He is the last one...but his partner is based off of a cruel obsessive love...fitting he is named Surrender..."
"Partner?" he asked, using his voice as a shield. Obsession grinned.
"I was a man who changed people's bodies..." he began, straightening his posture with his over inflated pride, "But Tiveph...has found something more effective."
The soul? The mind? Neither should be touched...
"Vincent!"
The voice echoed in his ears, a faint and flickering hope. He turned around, looking out the door, which was still ajar.
"Goodbye Valentine," Obsession whispered, "I'll see you when you're finally a demon...I'll be waiting..."
But Vincent didn't care about Obsession's parting words.
"Vincent!"
The voice was louder, nearer. He gently pushed open the door.
Stay away! If you are anything of good, stay away!
"Vincent! It's me, Tifa! Please answer..."
Tifa? Why...
"Tifa?!" He shouted cautiously, against his better judgment.
The clatter of her running footsteps assailed his ears, and he found his feet moving towards the sound, and out a door he didn't notice before.
"Where are you? Vincent!" she was so close he could almost see her...
"Tifa." He stood on the other side of another bare room, staring at her, never happier to see anyone is his life...
You came for me...
She threw off all formalities, all hesitations she previously had, and crossed the room quickly. Her fumbling arms clumsily wrapped around his thin form, her head was buried in his chest.
"You're alive," she muttered into his shirt. He carefully pried her face away so he could see her.
"You came for me," he said quietly, using his human hands to brush away the tears that absently fell from her eyes. She hiccupped a small giggle.
"Of course," she whispered, "I won't let you do this alone. I can't."
"I am glad," he said cautiously, brushing back her hair with his left hand, "I just hope for your sake that it was not rash."