Disclaimer: If I owned Final Fantasy VII, this fanfiction wouldn't be possible. Thank you, Square-Enix.
Notes: Explanation on Dominic's sibling at the bottom… (MAJOR SPOILERS for Dirge of Cerberus and info from "The Maiden who Travels the Planet")
Aerithism
Ten: Normal Day III
Dominic frowned at his reflection. His dark blue cape had holes in it. Another day, another religious figure to assassinate. He shook his head, his jet-black hair waving. He shrugged and entered the living room.
The television blared with the evening news:
At five o'clock this evening, the head priest at for the Church of the Maide's Light in Fort Condor died. It is presumed that this was an assassination due to the precision of the murder.
The Holy Father here in Kalm has publicly stated, "The death of Priest Verman is an act of the Maiden… She wanted his false teachings eradicated…
"Let me guess… You're work I presume…?"
"How could you tell?" Moving around the sofa, his smile froze upon seeing his younger sister.
She laid casually, her brunette hair falling over her glasses. In her left hand, she held a syringe of all too familiar green fluid pressed against her bare leg… Her right arm was a mass of green orbs…
/Flashback/
"Heh, heh, heh…" The dark haired man laughed as he walked down the hallway. "Your sister, Jeanne, has a fascinating ailment…"
Dominic raised an eyebrow at his father. "… 'Fascinating ailment'? What are you talking about?"
The man had a familiar smirk upon his face. "The Lifestream is corrupted… Using her flaw, I could make some very interesting weapons…"
"You sick bastard… You never change, do you?" Dominic had pulled the trigger before the brunet could blink. He stood over the corpse and stared. "… I've wanted to do that for centuries," he whispered.
His eyes looked up, and he found his small, innocent sister staring at him. Blood splattered on her face… "Jeanne, I—"
"Did you have to do that on the carpet? Do you know how hard it is to get blood out?"
"Huh?"
The tiny child walked over to the body of her father. "I guess, I get to clean this up."
Then, the brunet noticed something very wrong… Her amethyst eyes were now amber… "Did Ho—Father—get you any medicine, Jeanne?"
"'Jeanne'? Hmm, he mentioned mako…" As she leaned over, starting to move the body, he noticed a gaping hole in her back…
/End/
"Why didn't you tell me…?"
She shook her head, the last of the fluid entering her body. "You're always staring at that map in your room… I need to be able to take care of myself when you finally leave…"
"Jeanne?"
"… Who is 'Jeanne,' Vincent?"
The brunette shook his head. Her right arm regained its bone, tissue, and skin… Her eyes went from red-brown back to violet. "Ho ho ho, Dominic… When'd you get back?"
Heiress glared at the small priest before her. "For the last time, I do not think Sephi—the demon—always existed…"
The blond before her turned his blue eyes to a second priest. His partner shook his long black-haired head, but remained silent.
"Well, Little Girl… Didn't your uncle show you the Holy Book of the Fallen Maiden?"
"No…" What with my 'uncle' being a homicidal alien and all…
"Oh, hey, Heiress!" Panting the brunette's 'cousin' ran forward. The silver-haired girl placed a hand on Heiress's shoulder as she caught her breath. "… Hello guys! Sorry about her—" She took in a deep breath. "—naivety. At least she's chosen to follow the correct religion, right?"
The blond raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I suppose…" The pair of priests turned and headed towards the church.
"Wh-why'd you do that?"
Azrael smirked. "Because I'm the only person allowed to be an ass to you. Now, come on; we need to go get lunch started before Father knocks a hole in a wall…" The fallen angel grabbed the tiny Cetra's arm and began to drag her down the road.
"Wait, a minute!" Heiress threw her hand downwards, freeing herself from the girl's grasp. "Why are you helping me at all?"
The former SOLDIER shook her childish head. "You really don't get it... Although, I am a fan of the people of Gaia killing each other, I still hate your religion as much as you do…"
"You have very twisted logic…"
"Who said religion had anything to do with logic? Faith requires an absence of logic… Imbecile."
Nanaki paced beside the weapon shop. A redheaded man stood at one entrance, patting a small rod on his shoulder. "So, heretic, have you made a decision yet?"
"Be killed by you or be taken prisoner to be executed in Junon… You have to agree that neither sound very positive…"
The red beast noticed a shadow move, and turned towards a second hall way. A bald man, merging into the wall. Nanaki opened his mouth to speak only to be interrupted by his would-be assassin. "Who the hell are you?"
"……."
Nanaki looked from one soldier to the other. I wonder if they're suffering déjà vu…
Beep. Beep. Beep… The bald attacker looked down at his watch. "…. Five o'clock…"
"Is it? Wow, time does fly… Hey, Cat. Where can I get a drink?"
'Cat'? "… Weren't you about to beat me to a pulp?"
"Off work."
"Oh… There's a bar near that bonfire outside."
The redhead looked at the bald man. "Want a drink?"
Naniki walked past the pair. "Here, I'll show you the way… You can just put everything on my tab…" They never change.
Feel free to write a review. Or flame me, whatever.
Nanaki figurine for Bells of Requiem, Duskmon Kimura, Selunchen123, Wolven Falls, SilverKitsune013, Amimegustamuchascosas, and lilalou for reviewing.
Once again MAJOR SPOILERS for Dirge of Cerberus and info from 'The Maiden who Travels the Planet"
In Dirge of Cerberus, we learn that Lucretia fragmented parts of herself into the Lifestream. Hojo also fragmented himself, but his body completely disappeared. From this, I have to assume that parts of Lucretia did not enter the Lifestream.
In the "The Maiden who Travels the Planet," it's shown that although the Lifestream is a mass of entities/souls/whatever, these entities can be separated into individual units. Think of it like the bloodstream: it's made of individual cells, but for the most part one only sees it in mass.
For Lucretia to be reborn, she would need to take parts from other entities. But, like an organ transplant, the patched-together body wants to rip itself apart. To remedy this, one would replace the missing pieces with parts from new entities.
By taking parts from other entities, this in turn causes the process to be repeated in a circular fashion….
Yeah, I'm a nerd.