The Song of Eternity
Canto 7
A Normal Life
Verse 1
They settle into their new roles,
As the final pieces come into play,
And find a home as well.
Vincent rolled over as the alarm beside his bed went off and groaned. He reached out and fumbled with it until it shut off. He sat up in his bed looking at the red lights on the clock. "Ugh, seven A.M.," he muttered as he stumbled to the bathroom that joined to his room. He stood in the hot shower and let the water roll over him, unconsciously feeling his left arm. His metal arm had disappeared when he and Chaos were separated at the conclusion of the battle with Galactus two months ago. He shut off the water and dried himself off before returning to his room.
He opened his dresser and grabbed some clothes, pulling them on, musing on his change in wardrobe as he went along. In the old day, a million years ago, he covered himself in darkness as much as he could, but now in his new life he was content to wear a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt. He had slept for a million years, only to be awoken to help save the planet once again, and was rewarded with 'freedom' from Chaos.
He grabbed his new gun, the Agememnon and stuck it in the back of his pants as he walked downstairs. A being of immense power, Travis Starmore, had fused his old guns and all the materia he had into the powerful gun and given it to him. It was Starmore as well who gave him the house and money to start a new life following the battle with Galactus in which Starmore sacrificed his own life to stop Galactus, inadvertently causing the split of Vincent and Chaos.
He grumbled as he pulled on a pair of sneakers at the bottom of the stair by the main entrance to the house. Following the split with the demon, he discovered that he was not a morning person, but he had to go to work today. He picked up a set of keys and his wallet from the stand beside the door and went outside into the dewy morning. He squinted in the sunlight as he walked over to the garage and opened up the door. He grumbled as he opened the door of a beat-up jeep, started it and pulled out onto the road.
He drove into the business district of Bayville, the town he now called home. He eventually pulled around the back of a large brick building and walked in a door in the back. He found himself in a small office with windows opening up directly into the street. He walked straight to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. The office was set up with one major room with entrances to the street and back parking lot, with a pair of offices for privacy to either side. He looked out the window and read the lettering backwards. It read Valentine Private Investigators.
"Nice to see you too, sunshine," came a female voice from behind one of the three desks in the main room. She didn't even look up from her paper as Vincent took a seat at the desk next to her and took a long sip of coffee. "No calls yet," she informed him as she went on reading the newspaper. "When's Damon coming in?" Elena asked as she put down her newspaper.
After Vincent and Chaos were separated, they followed a map from Starmore and found her buried in a suspended animation chamber in the Nevada desert. She was put there a long time ago because of a terminal disease which was promptly cured when they awoke her. After that they used the money that Starmore left to buy her a place to live and used the contact Starmore left for them to make her a new identity.
Damon was the name Chaos went by nowadays. He was the third partner in the group, choosing to live in Vincent's attic and use an image inducer to move around in public. He had crafted an image much like Vincent's old self and repeatedly said he only stayed around to keep Vincent alive, since if one of them died, so would the other.
"He's off today, it's just you and me," Vincent said as he looked over the schedule on his desk. "The window guy got it finished yesterday then?" he asked, meaning the text on the window.
"Yeah, Damon kept trying to spook the guy until I locked him in the interrogation room," Elena laughed.
They both looked up as a familiar face pushed the door open and entered the place, looking around. "When the hell did you start this place?" the man asked as he smoked a cigarette.
"Got the building two weeks ago, opened up the middle of last week. How are you doing Logan?" Vincent asked as he motioned for him to sit down somewhere.
"Fine," he responded as he took a seat and a donut from the box Vincent offered him. "Private Investigators? Who're the others?" Logan asked nodding at Elena.
"This is Elena, the other survivor from my time," Vincent introduced them. "Elena, this is Logan," he said in old Midgar as they shook hands. "Elena doesn't know the language too well yet, so sometimes I use old Midgarian," Vincent explained.
"I know some," Elena said slowly, angry at Vincent. "Pleased to meet you Logan," she said, ignoring Vincent.
"The other member is Chaos, or Damon as he calls himself now," Vincent explained.
"You're keeping an eye on the demon then, good," Logan said. "Where you living now anyway?"
"Over on Pine, new white house, can't miss it," Vincent explained.
"Chuck wanted me to tell you come on out to the mansion if you feel like it, some weekend. You can bring your friends too, so long as they behave," Logan added.
"I think we'll take you up on that," Vincent replied.
"Yeah, we need to get Valentine out of the office and away from the firing range," Elena joked about Vincent's dedication.
"You get much business here or what?" Logan asked.
"Nothing yet, but something'll come along eventually. It doesn't really matter though, Starmore left enough money too keep us going for a long time," Vincent admitted.
Logan stood up and stretched. "I need to get going now, gotta give the kids some training today. Catch ya later Valentine, you too Elena," he said before leaving the office.
"Interesting people you know," Elena added before going back to her paper.
Later that day, around closing time Damon walked through the front door, greeting his coworkers. "Time to go get plastered people," he joked as he sat on his desk.
"Some of us don't have demonic metabolism, Damon," Vincent sighed, remembering last night. "I think I need a night off."
"Either of you realize how unhealthy it is to get drunk every day of the week?" Elena scolded the two of them.
"Didn't you use to hang around with Reno?" Vincent pointed out.
"Shut up," Elena admitted defeat. "Let's go, this place is dead today. I'll treat," she added causing the other two to get to their feet with near superhuman speed, kill the lights, lock the door, and head to the back. "Ever get the feeling you were set up?" she muttered as she followed the two of them out the back. She stopped as she ran into Vincent's back. "What's the big deal?"
She looked over Vincent's shoulder to see him and Damon looking a pair of raggedly clothed teens waking up on the back entrance. "Sorry sirs, won't happen again," one apologized as the two got to their feet to leave. The two of them, obviously homeless walked away silently. "Vincent," Elena urged him.
"Wait, come inside," Vincent ordered. The teens shrugged and entered the building, each taking a seat where they could see the three investigators. Vincent studied the two of them for a second. They appeared to be twins, both were about six feet tall with closely cropped red hair. "What are your names?" he asked.
"I'm Murphy, he's Cole," the one who spoke outside answered. Even though they were twins, he looked the more youthful of the two of them.
"I'm Vincent, that's Damon and Elena," he introduced them. "What were you doing out there?"
"Sleeping," Murphy answered.
"Where do you live?" Elena asked.
"Nowhere, we don't have a home or a family besides each other," Murphy explained. "It's a strange story, you wouldn't believe it," he admitted as he eyed the box of donuts.
"Eat them if you wish, as long as you tell us the story," Damon ordered, showing a rare display of kindness.
Cole took one immediately and began to eat as Murphy explained. "Well, we kinda just woke up here a couple days back and have been living in alleys. Not much in the way of memories before that though," he said flatly.
"What's wrong with your brother?" Elena asked.
"Cole? Well, it seems that he can't talk, but something in my mind keeps telling me that nothing is physically wrong with him, but something psychologically won't let him talk," Murphy explained. "Anyway we know a bunch of stuff about this world, just no personal memories. It's very disconcerting," he admitted.
"Excuse us for a second," Vincent said as he turned to talk to Elena and Damon. "What do you think?" he asked his partners.
"I've come to the conclusion that fate is toying with us Valentine. People don't just show up unless they are meant to," Damon whispered.
"I think it was meant to be as well Vincent, why else would they be here? They need our help," she said quietly.
Vincent turned around, agreeing with his companions. "Okay, you two are coming to live with me and Damon. We'll get you identities, give you a place to live, if that is okay with you," Vincent stated.
"That's very kind of you," Murphy accepted.
Cole nodded as well, then poked Murphy and mouthed something to him. "Oh, he wants me to tell you that we aren't exactly normal kids," Murphy explained. "You see, I have some limited control over destructive magic, and he has, uhh…, mutant powers," Murphy explained.
"These two aren't exactly normal either," Elena added before they all headed to the exit of the building.