Chapter 2

There have been a few changes in Vincent's life. One of them was making peace with his inner demons. Then coming to peace with his own past and Lucrecia. Now, just trying to figure out what to do with himself. Vincent has many years ahead of him. Most of his friends will eventually die. Even Nananki will eventually pass on, even if his life will last several hundred years. Vincent was tired of hiding away, so he decided to watch over his friends. Which is why he's at the WRO headquarters.

Vincent knew about Cid's time off before their chief did. He heard from a concerned man at the WRO, that Cid had been pushing himself too hard. While Cid did look happy to be working, he was not pacing himself. Let his crews swap out if someone needed the break, yet not taking any time for his own needs. Vincent thought that Cid was merely too caught up in trying to help. Surely, he must miss his wife. Then he came by after The Shera landed. Cid alone on the bridge, staring off and looking a bit sad. Cid doesn't seem to really perk up till Vincent promised to stop for a visit. For the first time, Vincent began to wonder if Cid was happy in his marriage. He knew Shera was. Between being Mrs. Highwind and running the Airship garage, she seemed to be living the perfect life.

Vincent makes his way to Rocket Town. One of the benefits of his inner peace, he can travel by air. From the air, they can see something is happening in town. A large creature standing in the main entrance into Rocket Town. What looks like men in uniforms. His demons sensing a couple of them are enchanted. He has yet to be spotted, as few were looking up. There is someone else sneaking around the outskirts of this town. This man is not a normal human. Around Vincent's height, whirls around with a staff in hand. Wore a long coat that was once a nice shade of brown, now worn and faded in spots. His hair brown but the eyes a similar shade to Cid's blue eyes.

" Holy fuck! You have a weapon inside you! " Something most people wouldn't know and shouldn't know. " And I thought I was messed up! I do hope you're not with the people who took over the town. "

Now Vincent is even more curious who this man is, " No. " raises an eyebrow, " Do you live here? "

The man shakes his head, " No. I came here looking for my brother, Cid. "

Vincent didn't know anything about Cid's family. To be fair, he doesn't know much beyond the space program. Nor does Cid know much of Vincent's own past. He still doesn't fully trust this man before him. " No. The name is Vincent Valentine. "

The man nods, " Well, my name is Merlin Highwind. Most of my friends call me Merle. " Gestures towards the town, " We need to get to Cid's house. " Bites his lip, " Which one is it anyway? "

Vincent gives him a dry look. Cid is his brother and yet he doesn't know where the man lived? " It's the one to the North that is the furthest building from the others. If you are his brother, what is his full name? "

Merlin, " Ah.. you're a paranoid sort. It's Cidolfus Sebastian Highwind. We call him Cid for short. "

Vincent, " Ex-Turk. " As that should explain it all right there.

Merle nods, " Okay... enough said. We need to clear this town of the bad guys. Oh, I have a plan! You go in and just distract them all. Then I'll bring in the pow with my magic. " Vincent just gives him a deadpan look. " Okay, I take that's a no. Maybe, I can cause a distraction at the entrance and you take out the troops. "

Vincent thinks about it. " Let me clear out the small ones first. Only need five minutes before you bring in the pow. "

Merlin just nods, " Well, just be careful. "

Vincent slips into the town and begins taking out the regular human invaders. Leaves three under sleep spells for now. There are some enhanced inside Cid's home. Vincent did manage to take out most of the units in town. Not that they needed a lot to take control over engineers and scientists. Merlin strolls down the road, to the entrance of Rocket town, looking at the men with guns and then up at the two large creatures. " Hey, is this Costa del Sol? "

The two men with guns just look at him as if he was an idiot and point their guns at him, " I knew I should have turned east at North Corel! " Holds the staff in the air before unleashing a flare spell on them. Merlin then twists his staff, showing it held a hidden blade, cutting into the two armed guards while they are still blinded. Vincent is impressed with his sword skill. Rather clever that he can hide it in staff. Then Vincent lets Galian Beast loose. Galian Beast uses this opportunity to take on the large man-made beasts. They are not too bright but their strength level is quite brutal. Galian is able to damage them, though a few well casts spells help tip the balance in their favor. This also pulls out few remaining invaders, not including the ones in Cid's home. Merlin continues to help by casting his own magic Some of the spells Vincent found a bit questionable.

The noise from the fight draw put the last who were inside Cid's home: normal person and three enhanced. By the blank looks in their faces, the one guy must be their handler. The handler, a fellow with brown hair and wearing a suit, must also be the one in charge. It's not hard to notice his whole unit has been taking down. Galian beast rushes at them. His gallop would look almost playful if not for the blood still fresh on his claws. The man in the suit yells for them to attack.

Merlin, " Leave someone alive please! " Galian ignores that request and takes aim at the enhanced guard. Galian proceeds to rip into them, leaving a bloody mess that splatters across the man's suit. Not expecting his guard to so brutally be killed, the suit panics and makes the mistake of running. Galian Beast leaps forward, tearing his head off. Galian tosses the head in the air and then grabs the body to give it some gleeful shakes.

Merlin sighs and mutters, " Never mind. " He goes to the body of the suited man and pulls out a cellphone. Sadly it is broken. He then looks at the house, " Nice home. "

Once the men are all dead, Vincent takes back control. He forgets to warn new people about how excitable Galian Beast can get. Vincent stops as Shera's scent is mixed blood and both are old. Inside they find dry blood on the floor. Merlin follows and stops at the stain, " Fuck! I hope that's not Cid's blood. "

Vincent gently kneels next to it, " It lacks Cid's scent. Most likely belonged to his wife, Shera. I should have been here sooner. "

Merlin briefly touches Vincent's shoulder a bit like how Cid would have, " Hey, you didn't know. We will get the people behind this. " Vincent makes no comment and starts looking around for clues. Finds a note in Shera's room with his name on it. He pockets it for now. Merlin, " You didn't happen to leave anyone alive, did you? Please tell me you did! "

Vincent decides to share his little secret, " Three of them. "

Vincent tries his prisoners up and places them in different rooms. Merlin is puzzled by this. Vincent suggests he check on the locals as things will get loud. Merlin takes the hint well and leaves Vincent to his business. The Turks have their ways to get info from people. For Cid, he was willing to use these very inhuman techniques. After much screaming later, he releases them from their pain and makes a call to Reeve.

Reeve. " I take it something happened. "

Vincent, " A group took over Rocket Town and Cid is missing. Shera was killed. "

Reeve sighs, " Did you get a chance to question them? "

Vincent, " What they knew was limited. The group seems to worship dragons and they needed a dragoon of old blood. "

Reeve, " A dragoon of Old blood? I can ask Yuffie and Shelke to look it up. You know the pilot I assigned Cid? Someone killed him and took his place. We are now trying to track where Cid's plane went but the signal was lost around Nibelheim. I take it you are going to look for him? "

Vincent wonders why Reeve even needs to ask, " Yes. There is something else. I met someone claiming to be Cid's brother named Merlin Highwind. I asked him to question the locals. "

Reeve, " I would keep an eye on him for now. "

After the call, he goes to meet Merlin at the Inn. It was getting late and Vincent had no desire to sleep in Cid's home, so the Innkeeper insisted on giving them a free meal and room for the night. Merlin takes the opportunity to get a quick shower. While waiting for their food, Vincent shares what he learned about Cid's flight. He was curious how this ' brother ' would react.

Merlin does seem to be worried, " So his last known location was near Nibelheim? Hmm... think he knows Shera's dead?" Vincent isn't certain but doubts it. The kidnappers would have to be stupid to let that slip. Merlin cracks his knuckles, " I'm going to get him back. " It's more of a vow to himself than Vincent.

Vincent, " Did you learn anything from the locals?"

Merlin, " Huh? Oh, the locals are okay, aside from being shaken up. These guys just came into town five days ago and were keeping them inside. Then they heard noises from Cid's house. I think that is when they accidentally killed her. It would make no sense to kill your hostage when you need someone to cooperate. " Vincent just nods. " I know you plan to go looking for him. Please, let me come along! "

Vincent gives him the Turk stare, " First, you must know this: My demons will be used to their full ability and I will kill anyone in my way. "

Merlin, " Cid is the only family I have left and I will do whatever it takes to save him. Whatever it takes. " Returning Vincent's stare without looking away or flinching.

Vincent finds that most satisfying. The Highwinds do share the same steel spine, " I shall hold you to that. " The food arrived and the two men begin eating.

Merlin was not shy about how much he ate. " My magic affects my metabolism. So the more magic I use, the more energy I need to replace and I already had to use some of it to get here. I should tell you, my magic isn't always the most stable. It's okay as long as I use my staff but.. thought I should mention that. "

Vincent does appreciate his new ally being candid, " So, Cid is your brother? "

Merlin, " Technically, I'm his half brother. I'm eight years younger than my brother. Cid''s mom died when he was very small. The bastard we call dad remarried and.. tada! I was born. I bet he never told you about his old man, did he? " Vincent shakes his head, " He was an alcoholic and a mean drunk. Sadly for him, mom hit meaner and could kick his ass. Long story short... there were a lot of arguments and fights. My brother left home, against their wishes, to join Shinra. Then one day Shinra came to our house trying to recruit me. Both my parents said no. Then Shinra sent people to abduct me. Once I was clear of the house, they kill our parents. You can imagine being a child wondering why no one ever came looking for you. Not till I got free did I find out my death was faked. They kept asking me if I could hear the planet and were give me weird injections. Then they gave up and just tried to see how much stronger they could make my magic. With the chaos of the meteor, a chunk of the staff jumped ship, so it wasn't really that hard to escape. "

Vincent, " You ever meet a man named Hojo? "

Merlin, " Naw... but the lead guy bitched about a Hojo. " So he was not part of Deepground. Sounds like another ambitious scientist trying to recreate Cetra for Shinra. Most likely they gave up when they acquired Aerith.

Vincent, " Why didn't you look for Cid till now? "

Merlin, " I heard about the rocket... The Cid I know is crazy enough to fly that damn thing, even if it was a deathtrap. " Vincent can't help but smile slightly, knowing Cid did ride that rocket up, " He always had the dream to go into space. When the rocket exploded into the meteor, I figured he was killed by it. Plus, whatever they did leave my powers very unstable. I needed to learn control and was worried I might accident.. hurt people. Then some cult came after me. Sadly, my blood was not the right kind and heard them planning to get Cid. That is when I realized my brother was still alive and came looking for him. " He isn't lying. Or at least believes what he says. He is also not sharing everything.

Vincent, " How did they know you weren't usable? "

Merlin, " They put this materia up to my chest but it didn't do anything. Hey, how did you get a weapon and things inside you? " Some of his inner guests dislike being referred to as things.

Vincent, " When I was alive, I was assigned to protect two scientists. One of them.. shot me. Then they took my body and experimented on it. "

Merlin, " Wait! When you were alive?! " He seems to do some scans and his eyes widen, " That is cold " He looked as if he wanted to ask more but decided that can wait. Lifts his glass, " A toast... to Former test subjects. " Vincent's lips twitch into another small smile as he returns the toast. There is something likable about Merlin. Vincent waits till after Merlin went to bed before reading the note left to him by Shera. This note was meant for him alone.

Dear Vincent. If you are reading this, I must be dead. Know that I love Cid so very much and I know he cares for me. I also know he still loves you. You broke his heart. I married him knowing this No, I don't feel sorry. He needs someone to take care of him. Now I must ask that you take care of him for me. Don't break his heart again. - Shera

Vincent recalls that Cid wanted to talk to him after they stopped Sephiroth. He got wrapped up in evacuating the Shinra building and, when things settled, he left to be on his own. He had just killed the son of the woman he loved and needed to grieve for what could have been. He did promise to meet Cid more than once but lost track of the time. Not till during the Deep Ground incident did he realize that he was in love with the idea of Lucrecia and not who she really was. That there are people he cares for even more. By then Cid was happily married, or so he thought. It seems Cid might still care for him in return. This only confirms what his inner demons believed was true, making them more annoyed at him for missing so much time. Back then he was not ready. Now he can only hope they can save Cid in time. Even if Cid fell out of love with him, he wants to honor Shera's request. A kidnapped pilot and a brother out of the blue... Vincent feels like he's living a badly written story. He lays back to try and get some rest, but the night is long and restless.

~ To be Continued