Ha! Thought that was the end, didn't you? Well, you were wrong! Sorry, I just did that to make myself feel special. Anyway, it is time to enter the fifth and final act of The Phantom of Nibelheim. Are you guys as excited as I am? Well, I actually am a fan of my own stories, so the suspense was killing me just as bad as it was to you. Though parting is such sweet sorrow, I really hope my readers enjoyed the story. If you're a Phantom fan, or visa versa, I hope that you weren't too appalled, and just maybe, you might look into the origins of the two plots. That sounded weird, but I can'tthink ofanother way to say it. Anyway, please enjoy this ending to one of my personal favorite stories. Later, Jade the Inujin out.
I, Jade the Inujin, do not own The Phantom of the Opera, nor do I own Final Fantasy Seven. The story lines were changed to make this story my own. If you are a fan of The Phantom of the Opera or Final Fantasy Seven, bare with me on these changes.
The Phantom of Nibelheim: Act V
Scene One: "Resurrection"
"Help me say… good-" "Chelsea! What's wrong! Chelsea! Chelsea?" "What's the matter, Jade!" "Oh my god, she's been shot! Jason, Chelsea's been shot this whole time!" "Now, Joe, I don't need you to freak out too. Calm down." "Please, don't take her. Please, Shinigami, don't take her from me too. Please!" "I'm coming, Vincent. I'm coming… I'm coming… I'm… coming…"
Red eyes shot wide open as Vincent regained consciousness. It was black. His coffin lid must have been on. His nose twitched at a smell; it was blood. He must be soaked in it. What in Hades had happened? Had he gone on another killing spree? No, he never let himself get covered in blood. Running his hand over his clothing, he felt rips and holes all over his torso. "That's right," he thought, "I walked into the Shinra firing squad. The bullets must be broken down by now. Why would I do something so idiotic? Chelsea… that's what happened. She went to be with that Shinra officer, but wait a moment. He was standing over me when I was hit the second time. He gave the order. That was when Chelsea came back. She came back to be with me! She did love me! Vincent, how is it that you've always held the eye of the woman, yet you can't tell heads from tails on the subject of 'I love you'? Chelsea must have been injured. I have to find her."
Rising, the love stricken fool hit his head on the casket lid. Grasping his throbbing forehead, Vincent tried to figure out why his coffin wouldn't open like usual with his powers. "Oh, finally awake, are we?" came a voice outside the casket, "Sleeping in as usual, Mr. Valentine?" Vincent's blood chilled at the sound of the crisp voice. It couldn't be; this was impossible. There was no way he could still be alive. "Surprised to hear from me, Mr. Valentine? I can't really blame you. It has been over 120 years since we last were together." Swallowing the nervous lump in his throat, the fear gripped man asked, "Hojo, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I've been hearing Operation: Heart-Throb coming up too much lately, and I found that one of my old specimens was causing trouble back in Nibelheim. Naturally, I've been sent here to fix this little problem that has Shinra shaking in their boots." A chill ran through Vincent's spine at the thought of Hojo "fixing" anything. "You've lived quite a lively life, haven't you, Mr. Valentine? With all the killing and slaughtering, you still have time for romance." The trapped man gasped, "What do you mean by that?" Hojo got very close to the coffin and replied, "Was it fun, Mr. Valentine, having such a lovely rag doll to play with? She sounds even easier than Lucrecia was." Vincent tried to drown out the words he was hearing.
"Speaking of that lovely doll, I'm afraid Miss Streeter is part of the fixing. I really hate repeating this, but it appears I have little choice in the matter." Something in the old man's words stung Vincent's heart. "Repeat? Repeat what!" Hojo's grin was so evil its radiation came through the coffin's barriers. "Well, Mr. Valentine, I don't suppose you have forgotten Miss Lucrecia's passing. I regret to inform you that her untimely death was no accident." Vincent's heart skipped a beat as he gaped in the dark at Hojo description of his beloved Lucrecia's horribly painful end. "Dear Lucrecia had such a head on her shoulders, but she was no match for mine. She should never have trusted me with her delivery. I slipped a little something extra into her epidural. I can still see her face while she went through her contractions. It was so agonizingly painful; it was beautiful.
"As soon as the child was born, the toxin took effect. You should have heard her! The intelligent, well-breed Lucrecia cursed me to her dying breath. That was when her motherly instincts finally took hold of her; she wanted to see our child. She suffocated before she could hold him, but I remember that face, streamed with tears, as she gazed at the child. It was a clean kill, so much so, its my best 'clean up' tactic." Vincent couldn't seem to find any air. Hojo had murdered Lucrecia, the woman that had captured his heart all those years ago. No matter how cold she was to him, no matter how much she rejected him, he continued to give up so much for her, and he would have given more, even his life.
Now, Hojo said he was going to kill Chelsea the same way. This young flower that had rekindled not only his will to love but his will to live. He couldn't let history repeat itself. "Hojo," he stammered a bit, "Please… leave the Streeters alone. They have suffered enough. Just let them be, please." The man waited for an answer. "I'm sorry, Mr. Valentine," the old scientist replied after a pause, "She knows too much for her own health." Banging his fist against the lid, Vincent yelled, "I never told anyone about Operation: Heart-Throb! I swore to you that I wouldn't all those years ago!" "She saw the claw. Didn't she?" Vincent silenced and swallowed, speechless. "That and the fact that your procedure has been brought up so much leaves me no other options."
Tears in his eyes, Vincent cried out desperately, "Hojo! I swear to remain in my casket even after this world has breathed its last! Please, I ask only that in return you spare Chelsea and her family! That is all I ask! Please, I beg of you!" There was a long pause, too long for Vincent's nerves, as Hojo thought over his old toy's proposition. Finally, a question was raised at the trapped man, "How can I have any guarantee that you will remain? For all I know, you could break out like last time." Shaking his head in frustration, Vincent replied, quickly, "Seal the coffin along with the door! Do whatever you please with me! Just… Just leave Chelsea alone!" Hojo smiled at how the Turk danced in his palm every time he pulled the right stings. The scientist patted the coffin lid he'd been sitting upon, "Agreed."
Leaving a stunned Vincent inside the sealed bed for the dead, Hojo turned just before he sealed off the door. "Mr. Valentine," the old man called in his cheerfully frightening way, "It really was a pleasure to see you again. Though our reunion was not face to face, it truly was a heart warming time for me. I hope the feeling was mutual." Not waiting for a reply, he closed the wooden door and secured the newly installed locks. "The young fool," he thought to himself, "Still always looking out for the innocent passer-by that doesn't give a damn about him. You always took that so personally, Heart-Throb, but it only led to your down fall." Smiling maniacally, the elderly, mad scientist walked toward the spiral staircase, almost laughing.
Back inside the room, the once again imprisoned Vincent wept bitterly. How could he have been such a fool, again? "I am a toy of the fates. I know better than anyone that Hojo's word is equivalent to that of swine fodder. Still, I sold myself to his power yet again. Forgive me, Chelsea, for I have given you into the hands of the Devil himself. And to my beloved, Lucrecia, forgive my lack of effort to save you from your inhumane end. I am a failure as a human being, much less a man!" As the man continued to punish himself, he fell into another sleep of tormenting nightmares. They were nightmares that no one could save him from, for it was he who was the root of his own suffering.
"AHHH! Oh my god, Hojo! What have you done to me!" The old scientist smiled wickedly at the screaming woman before his eyes. "Its quite simple, my dear. I have poisoned you with a toxin that will eat away at your internal make-up and ultimately crush your respiration." Lucrecia's dark eyes widened as she realized that her partner had planned this all along. "Vincent… was right… about… you. You damn bastard! How could you screw me like this!" Hojo raised an eyebrow, "I had no problem whatsoever 'screwing' Mr. Valentine over. He is currently in a radiation treatment right now that I had to leave to take care of your untimely labor, and by the way, he has you to thank for his misfortune. If it hadn't been for your 'playing hard to get', Agent Heart-Throb would have left the Jenova Project well enough alone."
As the young scientist began to gasp for air, she stared the old fart in the eye and begged, "Please… Hojo… let me see… my baby… just for… once…" He lifted the screaming child into his arms, allowing Lucrecia to gaze upon the newborn, as she slipped from the world of the living. Lucrecia began to cry at the sight; then, she grimaced before screaming in pain. Slowly, the woman morphed into a younger woman. It was Chelsea Streeter! She cried as she tossed and turned in pain. "Vincent…! Vin… cent… help… help me… please… Vincent… please… help… me…" No matter how fast he ran, Vincent couldn't move any closer to her. "Chelsea! Chelsea, hang on! I'm coming! Please, don't fade away!"
Suddenly, it seemed he was beginning to move. With a sliver of hope, he ran with everything in him to the bed side. "I'm going to make it this time. I'm going to make it! I'll save her this time! I know it!" He came up to the bed side, just barely in reach of her hand, "Chelsea, I'm here! I'm here for you!" All of a sudden, straps appeared around his arms and legs. They looked familiar; no, they couldn't be. "Mr. Valentine," came a voice above him, "Its about time for your next treatment. Shall we begin?" Struggling against his restraints, Vincent called out to his one and only as she whispered his name with her last breath. "Chelsea!" He cried out to her as she faded from his eyes, "No! Chelsea!"
"Chelsea!" Vincent yelled as his golden claw broke through the casket. Huffing in aggression, he sat up and glared at the door. It was pitch black inside the room, yet his ruby red eyes seemed to light the area ablaze as they burned fiery red. Leaping from the coffin, Vincent snapped his fingers. The candles and scones burst into their brightest light ever, as if they fed off his rage. Opening one of the up right coffins, he pulled out another black, sleeveless shirt and matching pants. Changing, he whistled a high pitched note, summoning Phellep to the door. "Phellep," he called, loudly, "I need you to get that door open, now! Do whatever you must, just get it open!"
Screeching with delight, Phellep called to his kin. The rest of the bats gathered at the door. After Phellep gave a few orders, the creatures began to scratch at the wood. At first, it seemed in vain, but after a few minutes, a lock fell to the ground. The bats, covering the door, scratched faster with new determination as one by one the locks fell. The animals were so focused they didn't realize that they were shredding the wooden wall as well. All at once, the wall began to collapse, so the bats retreated to watch the fruits of their labor. When the smoke cleared, there stood their old friend and protector, Vincent Valentine. His face was serious and focused as he walked out of the bright room. "Thank you all, my friends. I owe you once again. The scent of that vile, psycho-pathological menace is still fresh. Farewell, my friends; at last, I may have my vengeance!"
Scene Two: "Ramifications"
"Get out of my room, you back-stabbing ass!" Josh ducked as Chelsea chucked his flowers back at him. He had come in an attempt to apologize for his actions the day before. This turned out to be a bad idea. Sitting on the other side of Chelsea's bed, Jade, Jason, and Joe shook their heads at the young officer's stupidity. They were in no mood to argue with the angry woman, nor did they hold any sympathy for the nervous Joshua Grazer. Chelsea's sorrowful grieving had morphed into a furry that craved the taste of vengeance. She had meant her threat the other day, and she was more than ready to back it up.
"Chelsea," Josh said, dodging a lunch tray, "I said I was sorry. I don't know what came over me, really. Please, calm down. You'll only injure yourself further." Pitching utensils at her former friend, the patient yelled, "If you care that much about me, you spineless coward, you'd have left me with Vincent!" Grimacing at the fork in his hand, the officer asked, "Not liking the hospital food? It really sucks, doesn't it? Want me to get you some sushi? The bagel roll was your favorite, right?" Chelsea picked up the plate she'd been given and countered, "I'll hate it if you buy it for me, Shinra dog!" This continued for the next five minutes as the three older onlookers watched their entertainment. Jade finally sighed, lifting her hand in a flick off, "Just give it up, brat. You can't win."
Just as the serving table flew across the room, an old physician with salt and pepper hair and glasses entered the war zone. "Well now," he said in a surprised tone, "I see someone is feisty this afternoon. How are you feeling, Miss Streeter?" The guys stopped her from throwing her IV stand as the doctor approached. Refocusing her attention, Chelsea replied rather loudly, "I've been better. If it wasn't for this pain in the ass standing in front of me, I might be in better spirits!" Smiling, the old man patted the child on the arm. "Now, I can't do much about your hind areas, but let's see what we can do about your wound," he said, kindly. Turning to Jade, Jason, and Joe, he said, "I'm here to give Miss Streeter another dose of antibiotics." They nodded as he switched out the IV bag.
"I don't want any medicine! I just what to die," Chelsea glared at the physician. Jade dropped her head to hide the pained look on her face as she thought about what her sister had said. Josh walked up closer to the woman, who was about to start crying. "Come on, Chels. This is for the best. We all want you on your feet as soon as you can." The three protective guests glared at him. "Joshua," they yelled in unison, "Get the hell out of here before we start throwing things!" As the four visitors exchanged words, the good doctor stroked his patient's cheek. "Don't worry, little doll," he said, soothingly, "Your pain will go away very soon. I promise." With that, he grabbed Josh's arm and escorted him out.
Closing the door, the physician said to the young Soldier, "The lady is just tired. Her loss was great, but she'll eventually look for the arms of another companion. Patience is a virtue, Lieutenant." Josh gave the old man a confused look. Nodding his head, the Shinra Soldier said, "I guess you're right. Before I forget, how did you know my rank?" The doctor turned around to leave, "I've had some run-ins with the Shinra, and my son was a high ranking officer in Soldier." Something in Josh's gut gave him a warning about this doctor, yet his mind's curiosity wouldn't be satisfied until he'd found out who this wrinkled doctor was.
Running to catch up to the old man, Josh asked, "I'm sorry. I can't shake the feeling I know you from somewhere. Have we met? Maybe I knew of your son?" The doctor shook his head for a no as he shuffled down the hall. Josh took a better look at his face. He knew that face, but where had he seen it? As Josh pondered over this, the physician spoke up, "Young man, I am a very busy person, so if you don't mind, I have 'things' to check on." Lightning struck Josh's brain, he'd read in the notes on Operation: Heart-Throb the word things in quotation often. "You're Professor Hojo, of Shinra's Science Department," he said in astonishment, "You were in charge of Operation: Heart-Throb. You're the one who screwed Agent Valentine. But then, that means…"
The doctor pulled his hands behind his back and hunched over as he grinned. "So," he commented on this enlightening event, "You were the one looking into Operation: Heart-Throb. I must thank you for making my job easy for me, Lieutenant. Unfortunately for the girl, she won't have anyone to run to… now." Josh never saw it coming. Out of nowhere, a sharp pain in his chest caused him to gasp. Looking down, he saw the syringe sticking out of his chest, in his heart. "I always hated… needles," he whispered his last words. Hojo turned to look at his victim as he collapsed, revealing two more syringes between his fingers. "So sorry, young man, but don't worry about death. It's just a part of the cycle of living. You won't be alone for to long; Miss Streeter will be joining you shortly."
Scene Three: "The Return of the Phantom"
"Ooh," Chelsea grimaced. "What's the matter, Chels," Jade asked. Touching her bullet wound, the young woman mused aloud, "I don't know. My stomach... it hurts again." The three visitors made concerned faces, yet Jason's didn't appear as worried as the others. Jade saw her sister's face as the pain increased; it was clear they needed some help. Standing, she walked over to the door, "I'll go find a doctor." "But, Jade," Jason commented, "You hate doctors." The female bar tender clenched her fists and left her siblings hoping she wouldn't kill anyone.
After about five minutes, Chelsea screamed in pain. The guys shot from their seats. "Chelsea," Jason said calmly, "Jade should be back any minute with a doctor. Just hang in there, ok?" The woman cried out as she tossed and turned. "Jason! Its… its spreading! Its… moving up my chest…" Joe gaped in horror. "Jason," the dressmaker whined, "What are we going to do? What are we going to do!" The bar tender slash bouncer rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Joe, would you just calm down. I'm trying to do something! Just go back to your knitting and calm the hell down!" Chelsea screamed again, but this time, it was hoarse. "Help… help me… Vin… cent…"
Suddenly, the wall exploded and smoky dust filled the room. Joe clung to Jason's leg as he tried not to scream. Jason had laid his upper body over his little sister to protect her from debris. Coughing, he looked up as a figure rushed over to the bed from the wreckage. "Chelsea!" The girl looked up at the face staring down at her, "Vincent… is that… you…?" Looking at her face and into her eyes, Vincent concluded that she had indeed been poisoned. "I'm here. I'm here, my little cherub. Your angel has come back to you," raising his hands into the air and thrusting them down again, "Poisona!"
A green mist emitted from his fingers and swirled around the gasping girl. Eyes squeezed shut, Chelsea could feel something flowing through her body. Just as quickly as it had come, the pain was gone. Opening her eyes, she looked into Vincent's concerned eyes and felt tears coming down her cheeks. Sighing with relief, the phantomtook her face in his hands and kissed her moist lips. "I'm so sorry, Chelsea. I should have trusted you. I was so worried when Hojo left me. I thought I had lost you forever." Clinging to him, Chelsea cried with joy, "There's nothing to forgive. You didn't do anything wrong; the past is the past. Now we can move on... together."
Jason and Joe blinked as the two lovers made out and spoke in between the tongue action. Joe glanced at his boyfriend, who looked out the corner of his eye back, and asked, "Jason, why are these two getting more action in five minutes than we've had in five years?" Jason Streeter blinked, speechlessly, as they returned their attention to the man working his little sister. All of a sudden, Vincent pulled himself away and said, "Stay in this room; don't leave. I love you, Chelsea." Chelsea stroked his face, "I love you, too, Angel." Watching him take off out the door, Jason and Joe sighed after him. The waitress stared at them. "What's with you gays!" she asked, hotly. They looked at her and replied, "Oh, Chels, he's a keeper. He's hot, passionate, and protective. He's the ultra dream man. We'll take him any day."
Scene Four: "Revelations"
Following the hallway Hojo had taken, Vincent caught the scent of blood from a closed off hallway. Looking down the dark hall, he gaped at the sight of Joshua Grazer's body, lying with a syringe in the heart. The phantom plowed down the main corridor with new determination. "Involving innocents," he thought angrily, "That psycho has gone too far!" Coming to a back door, Vincent followed the scent outside. He gasped as he saw the mad scientist walking away with a hostage. "Hojo!" The two stopped and turned around. "Well, Mr. Valentine, I see you didn't keep your promise to remain in your casket!" Vincent glared at the mad man, "Don't judge my honor when your own is in question! You promised to leave the Streeters alone if I remained imprisoned! Leave innocents out of our war, Hojo! They have nothing to do with your 'clean up'!"
Hojo shook the woman beside him, bringing her dangerously close to the syringe in his hand. "I don't think I can give up this feisty, young doll here. She's more of a souvenir than a hostage," he explained, "You see, Mr. Valentine, this fine woman is Miss Jade Streeter, the sister of your dearly departed doll." Vincent looked at the woman dressed in men's clothing. She, too, was staring at him. "Red?" she asked inaudiblely, "You're still alive?" The phantom called to his opponent, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Professor, but my beloved still resides among the living. I purged her body of the toxin you gave her. I won't let history repeat itself!" Jade trembled at the news; Chelsea was alright. Now they just needed to take care of this freak of a doctor.
Hojo nodded his head at the immortal, "Congratulations on making it in time to say good-bye this time, but unless you removed the IV the toxin will slowly seep into her blood stream again in half an hour. It may have seemed a victorious battle, but you're far from the end of the war, Mr. Valentine." Vincent seethed as he tried to think of a way to get Chelsea's sister away from the monster to go help the unsuspecting woman. He decided to keep him talking, stalling for time, "Hojo, answer me this. How are you still alive after 120 years?" The scientist made a hurt face at his specimen's question. "Mr. Valentine, I'm wounded by such an insult. You think I would give you the gift of immortality and not take it for myself as well?" The phantom silently thanked Hojo for not giving him whatever he had received; the old fart had aged horribly. "I used some of the manipulated Jenova cells from The Jenova Project. Now, I am as invincible as you." Jenova cells? Vincent's confusion morphed into a grin of enlightenment.
Raising his hands into the air, the phantom called one last time in warning, "This is your final chance, Hojo; release the woman!" The ruby eyes read the mad scientist's lips as he whispered a no. Vincent smiled and dropped his hands quickly, casting a spell, "Esuna!" As his voice carried over the courtyard, a multicolored sparkle flew from his hands toward the two opposite him. "Its no use, Mr. Valentine. There's nothing you can do to me-!" He stopped short of completing his sentence as the mist engulfed him. He dropped the syringe as pain consumed his body, giving Jade time to flip her captive over in front of her. Looking up, she saw Vincent approach the reeling villain. Grabbing the weakened man's wrist, the phantom grinned as he informed Hojo of what was wrong with him. "You see, old man, the spell Esuna is used to cure the body of all negative statuses. In my readings on Jenova cells, they are alien to the human body, or in simpler terms, Jenova cells are a negative. Your so called gift to me morphed my very DNA, so Esuna could never alter what you did to me!"
As the thought to be dead man picked up the immobile Hojo, Jade blinked in awe of the black-clad hero of the night. "Miss Jade," he said to her, "Please make haste to warn Chelsea, for my return is not promised. Tell her nothing of my fate but that I love her with all my heart and soul." She gaped up at him, hearing his request. Nodding his head out of respect, Vincent turned to leave. Jade swallowed the nervous lump in her throat before she called to him. "Red!" she called, "Go get them for us!" The Phantom of Nibelheim stopped dead in his tracks. Turning around, he looked at her. It couldn't be; it was too much of a coincidence. Seeing her eyes, he realized she was the little girl from sixteen years before. Smiling back to her, he bowed and said, "I will... just for you."
Scene Five: "Reclaim your man!"
A slightly pink Jade returned to Chelsea's wrecked room. The three inhabitants blinked at her. "Well," Jason said smartly, "So much for getting a doctor, Sis." The bar tender's mood returned to normal as her twin went on questioning where she had been. Slugging him in the jaw to shut him up, she replied, "I really hate doctors. Chelsea, disconnect that IV bag; its the poison that doc used on you." Chelsea glanced out the broken wall at Mt. Nibel, not listening to her surroundings. Suddenly, she gaped. Everyone asked what was wrong. The young woman pointed at Vincent flying with Hojo toward the mountains. Grabbing her IV, she said, "I'm going after him!" Jason went to stop her, but she'd already yanked out the needle. The stand crashed to the floor, breaking the bag. The liquid sizzled on the broken pieces of the wall, dissolving them. The four twitched in shock at the reaction.
Swallowing her fear and pain, Chelsea leapt from her bed and headed for the grass outside. The guys gasped in horror at the thought of Chelsea running around in a hospital gown. Blocking the way, the dressmaker declared, "I know you're off to bring your man back to his senses and make a happy ending, gods know we need one, but as a man of the needle and thread, I cannot allow you to leave here dressed as you are." Jade snickered at the statement. Jason nodded his agreement with his boyfriend. Grabbing an extra rob, Chelsea put it on backwards and tied it off. Hands on her hips, she asked hotly, "Happy, Mr. Gay Fashion designer!" Looking down at her, Joe nodded, "Turning him on might get this over with sooner than without the sex appeal." Clapping, Jason nudged his lover to the side, saying, "Go get your man, honey!" Jade smiled as she watched her little sister run after her dream; she felt her torch had been passed to Red now. "Don't screw up, pal," she thought.
Scene Six: "Rebirth"
Landing in the snow covered mountains, Vincent rammed the scientist against the mountain side. "Hojo," he seethed, "I have one last question for you. What became of the child? What happened to Lucrecia's baby?" The old man huffed at the question, "He grew up in the Soldier program and set the standards as he was created to do. After he turned thirty, though,the combination of Mako and his Jenova cells created an imbalance of chemicals in his brain. He went crazy and was killed to save the world from his madness by a Soldier guard when he burned an entire town. That was 35 years after you were seal away." Vincent trembled with anger. "No," he said between his clenched teeth, "No, Hojo, you killed him! You spelled his demise when you first started your experiments on his pregnant mother! You murdered him just as you murdered his mother!"
The furious immortal rammed his golden fist across the scientist's face. "That was for Lucrecia's child!" Hojo gasped as his jaw bone split. Thrustinga balledfist into the psycho's stomach - sending him to his knees -Vincent yelled down to him, "That was for Lucrecia!" The old bag of bones tried to pull himself up. When he didn't succeed, the angry man yanked him up, only to send him flying with his fist. "That was for all the innocent lives you've destroyed!" Walking over to the motionless lump, the phantom watched the helpless fool as he tried to stay alive. Yanking Hojo up by the collar, he stared into the eyes of the man that could never be frightened. "This," he said over the cold winds of the snowy mountain, "This is for trying to kill the woman I love. This is for Chelsea Streeter!" Punching the scientist in the chest with his real hand, Vincent dodged the blood that splint from the old man's mouth.
He dropped the old fart as he realized what he had done. Looking at the pitiful excuse for a human being, Vincent locked onto the eyes; the cold grey eyes that had haunted him for over a century were still just as cold and numb. "I can never escape him," Vincent mused silently, "He has rooted himself inside of me. Even if I kill him, I will still be bound to the fate he created for me. I thought I could avoid this, run away from it to be with her, but the past just won't die." Kneeling before his creator, the immortal raised his gold hand between their faces. "The only way to kill you," he said to Hojo, "Is to purge this world of your soul, and your soul is in your work. This is for me. This is my revenge for what you did to me all those years ago. Let's go to hell, Hojo, together!" Raising his hands high, Vincent brought them down quickly, "DEATH ALL!"
When the dark cloud faded, Hojo was gone, diminished to nothing by the spell, yet Vincent unleashed a blood chilling cry as a pain he'd never known engulfed him. Using the mountain side to help him stand, the man gaped as he began to feel his airway shrink. His legs were struck with agonizing pain as he started to walk up the mountain. The muscles of his stomach cramped up so tight it felt as though his torso were being crushed. Though his mind spilled over with pain, he still thought about how his end would come. He fell as a sharp pang in his aching chest began to throb along with his heart. "Now I see," he hissed though his pain, "The four beasts that feed off me as parasites must parish before me. All well and good, Hojo will truly die before I do. Death… I may at last feel your sting."
As he felt the first creature taking over him, he began to recall a song he had heard as a child. A song that he felt was all too relevant to his current situation. Screaming in pain, Vincent's mind faded into a female's voice singing to him. He barely recalled the voice of his mother singing him the lullaby. The first woman that he wanted to protect in his life, so much so, he'd joined the Turks to become strong enough to protect her. Such a fragile woman, Vincent didn't remember very much about her, even her face was an unknown to him, but he did recall her beautiful voice. That voice could brighten his spirits from anything. Now his soul turned to the voice for comfort as he walked to his painful end…
Child of the Wilderness, born into emptiness, learn to be lovely; learn to find your way in darkness. Who will be there for you, comfort and care for you? Learn to be lovely; learn to be your one companion. Never dreamed out in the world there are arms to hold you. You've always known your heart was on its own! So laugh in your loneliness, Child of the Wilderness. Learn to be lonely; learn how to love life that is lived alone. Learn to be lonely. Life can be lived, life can be loved, alone…
Coughing up more blood to stream in the two great rivers running down his chin, Vincent pulled himself to his feet once again. Continuing up Mt. Nibel, the host prepared for the last of his parasitical beasts to perish so his suffering could finally end. "Chaos," he said, coughing again, "Die! Please… just die!" At that moment, his legs had gone as far as they could in the frigid climate. He collapsed in the snow, reeling in pain. He cried out as the pain in his chest began to throb its last time. "…cent! Vincent!" The man looked up sharply. It couldn't be! It had to be a lie! "Vincent, I'm coming!" Pushing himself to his knees, the dying legend saw his love run up the path. "NO!" Vincent cried out to her in warning, "Chelsea! Stay… back-!"
Chelsea stopped at the sight of Vincent's body morphing into the demon Chaos. As the man's sanity faded into the gargoyle's madness, she tried to remain calm. "Vincent," she mused, "Those monsters, the pets of the Phantom, were you all along." The gargoyle reeled in agony. "The great Chaos cannot be destroyed! I will not perish with your pathetic angst, Vincent! We must… consume human flesh if we are to survive, my host." Chelsea gasped, "Host? What have you done to Vincent, demon!" The beast turned at her voice. In its madness, Chaos charged the woman. "Yes, yes my host, this vixen will serve as our savior! Feed my hunger, mortal!" The young woman grabbed her bleeding arm, still flowing, slowly, from her IV puncture. "Vincent! Oh Vincent," she cried out as the monster closed in on her neck, "I know you can hear me! Don't give in! Don't – AHHH!" She screamed as the beast punctured her skin.
"NO! You, beast, answer to me!" Chaos lurched back, "What is this foul taste! What manner of being are thee, vixen?" As the woman fell into the snow in shock, the goblin howled in anguish, falling to the spell. "No. No! NO! Damn you, Vincent! Damn you to the Hells with me!" With that, the creature flew into the sky and disappeared in the snow clouds. Meanwhile, Chelsea suddenly regained consciousness with a scream. "My eyes! My eyes are burning!" As she grabbed her face, her entire body began to tremble. Her bare feet twitched as the feeling returned to them. Rising to her knees, she cried in pain as her eyes continued to sting. Throwing her head back, Chelsea yelled a cry as she open her eyes, revealing her dark eyes fading into ruby red irises. The snow fell onto her eyes, soothing the pain. Rubbing the white flakes into her face, Chelsea finally relaxed.
"Lucrecia… farewell, forever." The faintwords caught the woman off guard. Where had the voice come from? Looking skyward, she saw Vincent's body falling, miles above the ground. "Vincent…? Vincent!" She watched in horror as he fell quickly to the ground with a crash. Running over to the place, the waitress gaped at the body of her angel, lying in the snowy crater. "Vincent, oh Vincent, don't leave me again!" Dropping beside his body, she clasped her hands to her mouth. How could the gods be so cruel? This poor man had suffered for almost a century and a half. Punishing himself everyday for his sins, he lived in everlasting Hell on Earth without relief.
As she looked at his tranquil face, she remembered the agony she'd witnessed him in just before he had transformed. She cried at the thought that his death had freed him of all his pain. Tears fell onto the hospital gown. The cold didn't bother now nor were her arm and feet in anypain. All these eluded her mind as she stroked his peaceful face. She thought about the time they had had together; she recalled how happy he was when they sang their songs of love to one another.Mulling it over, she decided to sing to him as her good-bye. His helpless face stirred her grieving soul to song, and as she remembered their songs, she began her tribute.
"In sleep, he sang to me… In dreams, he came… That voice which calls to me… and speaks my name…" A pang of pain hit her heart as she recalled their duet and the memories that can with it. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Chelsea began a new verse, "He's voice filled my spirit with a strange, sweet sound. In that night, there was music in my mind. And through music, my soul began to soar! And I heard as I've never heard before…" Tears fell from her eyes at the memory of his pleading song to her the day before. The image of his face just before she'd removed his cloak was oh so clear, so clear, words poured from her lips in description. "Yet in his eyes was all the sadness of the world. Those pleading eyes that both frighten and adore…"
Chelsea trailed off as she remembered her last moments with him the day before. She couldn't do this. She believed in selflessness, yet right now, she wanted to be nothing but selfish. She couldn't let him go, again, not after he had just returned to her. Taking his metal hand in her own hands, she sang, pleadingly, "Let me share with you one love, one lifetime. Let me lead you from your solitude. Let me stay with you each night, each morning…" She cried out in a loud voice that could reach his departed soul, "Anywhere you go let me go too! Angel! That's all I ask of you!"
Suddenly, the golden hand began to glow a light thatengulfed his entire body. Chelsea watched inamazementas a great wind swirled about them. As she gazed in awe, ruby eyes opened, slowly, "I'm alive?" Chelsea dropped his hand in shock. Blinking, Vincent looked over at her wide, red, eyes. "Chelsea… you survived?" A hand smacked him over the head as Chelsea yelled, "Don't do that to me, you idiot! If you're going to die than die; if you aren't going to die then don't play dead!" Rubbing his head, Vincent apologized for whatever he did. Sitting up, he looked at her again and gaped at the ruby eyes. "Chelsea," he whispered, "Your eyes are red." The singer blinked at the statement. "How did that happen?" Chelsea told him about Chaos biting her and how she blacked out. When she awoke, her eyes burned and her body ached. The restored man looked at her arm where blood had dried into a crusty mess. He asked what happened to her arm. "Oh, that's where I ripped out my IV," she said calmly. As Vincent's eye twitched, she finished, "It was pumping me with that phony doctor's poison! What did you want me to do!"
Vincent had a brainstorm, a moment of enlightenment that took him nanoseconds. Staring at the fuming girl, he realized what had occurred. "Chelsea," he said, "I'm going to make this as simple as possible, okay. You now bare the mark of the immortal, as I do." Pointing to his eyes, Chelsea blinked, utterly confused. Massaging his temples, the man tried to explain that the toxin's reaction to Chaos' poisoning bite had morphed her DNA as his was. This only confused the poor, simple girl even more. "We're going to live forever, Chelsea!" The woman tilted her head, "We're never going to die?" Vincent hung his head in exhaustion, "That's right, Angel. We're never going to die."
She blinked a little scared look at him, "Are we going to get old and wrinkly like that phony doctor?" Glancing at her, he sighed, "I'm eternally 20." Chelsea figured her chin as she let the completed puzzle come together in her mind. Out of nowhere, she burst into laughter. The recovering angst king asked what was so funny. Rubbing her teary eyes, she replied, "I'm 21! I'm eternally older than you! Ha!" Falling back on the snowy ground, Vincent told himself that he would have to get used to her sense of humor and logic. Leaning over him, Chelsea said, seriously, "As long as I'm with you every day of forever, nothing else matters." As Chelsea moved in for a kiss, Vincent couldn't help but agree. Reaching his hand around her neck, the couple passionately kissed in their bed of white.
Epilogue:
"Wandering child, so lost, so helpless, yearning for my guidance."
"Angel or father? Friend or phantom? Who is it there staring?" "Have you forgotten your Angel?" "Angel, oh speak. What endless longings echo in this whisper?"
"Too long you've wandered in winter, far from my fathering gaze…" "Wildly my mind beats against you-" "You resist…" "Yet the soul obeys!"
"Angel of Music, I denied you, turning from true beauty."
"Angel of Music, do not shun me. Come to your strange angel!"
As the recording ended, Jade grinned at another one of her little sister's successes. It had been almost a month since the event that had come to be known as "The Shinra Mansion Murder"; so much had happened. The Shinra had dished out money to The Midnight Star for all the pain and suffering caused. Jade had been sworn to silence at the table by Joe and Jason, but the panicked looks on the faces of the Shinra seemed to suffice her. The press had been all over the story of The Phantom of Nibelheim. There was even talk that Shinra would be dissolved again as it had the last century. The citizens of Nibelheim concluded that the young man killed outside of the mansion wasn't the legend. He had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, only making Shinra's popularity sky dive to hell. That suited Jade just fine. Looking at the picture of her parents, she thought, "You can finally pass on, Mom and Dad. Your killers have finally been found out."
"Oi, Miss Streeter," came the young voices of Chelsea's fan club, "Chelsea's gone again, isn't she?" Jade blinked at the statement. "How would you know if Chelsea's gone or not, you little stalkers," she countered, "She could be sick?" The teen aged fans of the Singing Waitress shook their heads, "Chelsea doesn't get sick, and you're playing her album. You only play that when she's not here." The bar tender glared at the smart-ass kids. Chelsea's fans all did their homework. Those teens were one of Jade's biggest excuses for not reproducing. Sighing with defeat, Jade admitted that she didn't know where her sister always disappeared to. Turning to the kitchen, the woman called for her twin. "Hey, Jason, where are you? The little groupies are back looking for Chels! Are you back there!"
Suddenly, the closet burst open Jason fell out onto the floor. Standing quickly, he cracked his neck and asked, "Jade, did you need me for something!" Though he had a bright smile on his face, he was met with stares that he ignored. He was breathing hard and soaked in sweat; his shirt was button less, and thus, the countless hickies on his chest and neck were open to the public. His belt dangled just barely visible under his untucked shirt, and his hair was a bit ruffled. The entire tavern was showered in shock, yet Jade was unaffected by her twin's appearance, at least it wasn't what she'd seen in his room earlier that week. "Jason," she replied casually, "The fan club wants to know where Chelsea goes when she's not here."
Making one of those "oh that" faces, the young man turned to the teenagers. "You see, young adults of tomorrow," he answered in his "I'm older and wiser than you" way, "Dear little Chelsea acquired a 'tutor' several months ago, one of those mysterious, handsome hunk types. She became completely smitten by him, and they became partners. He's the mystery guy on the album. Anyway, they're lovers now, and he has a habit of whisking her away on trips. So little fan boys who have crushes on my little sister… she's got a boyfriend." As the boys gasped, Jason smiled innocently at them, unaware of the hand emerging from the closet. "You think I'm going to let you go that easily? Think again, my little Jay-Jay!" Jason gasped as Joe yanked him back into the closet. Smiling a bright grin at the bar tender, Joe waved as he closed the door on his boyfriend's pleadings.
Shrugging, Jade turned to the fan club, "Sorry guys. I guess the gigs up. Now, if you'll excuse me?" The teenagers walked away shocked, and the woman smiled with satisfaction. Out of the blue, the reality of that year hit her at last. That was it; that was all anyone would know about her sister's amazing adventure in love. No one would ever hear of the trials they had had to endure. The pain they experienced would forever be a secret. Vincent and Chelsea would never be truly free of their secret lives. Looking down at the picture behind the counter, Jade stared at the happy couple on the beaches of Costa la Sol. Vincent was kissing Chelsea's cheek as she tried to take the picture. They were happy; their spirits were unbound. Jade chuckled to herself as she realized her over-thinking. "They'll be fine," she thought to herself, "I guess I did what I'd set out to do for you, my one and only. I got you your happiness, and I couldn't be any happier."
The End.