Vincent had been suspicious before, but now he was almost certain of it.
There was another presence in Cloud's body. One that was put there long before the boy was born and was the reason why the boy had mismatched eyes. Unlike Chaos or the other voices in Vincent's head, this presence had naturally integrated within the boy's soul, making it impossible to remove.
Also, this particular presence seemed to be firmly on the "helpful" side of the spectrum. Almost like an internal older brother that kept Cloud from making really stupid decisions.
Case in point, Vincent was almost positive that it was the influence of the older spirit that had lead Cloud to the cellar, rather than attempt to flee outside the front door. Odds were if he had, then there was a high chance that monstrosity would have gotten loose and caused untold damage and destruction. Not to mention Cloud's skill at disappearing.
No child learned that sort of skill in such a small village like this without being influenced by something. Otherwise the adults would be a lot more wary of Cloud in general for such obvious skills at sneaking about.
The only conclusion Vincent could come up with regarding Cloud's presence in Nibelhiem being almost nonexistent was that the spirit that was still half-asleep in the boy had deemed the village not worth the time or effort to bother interacting with the locals.
They might tolerate Cloud's presence with minimal complaint because he was born and raised there, but they certainly didn't accept him.
Considering how xenophobic and closed off Nibelhiem was, Vincent had to concede it was a smart move. Cloud at least had a viable plan for his life that was well thought out and likely to succeed long term, and it was thanks to that other presence. Outside of the Mayor's daughter, none of the other children really bothered to get close to Cloud.
And Tifa was usually surrounded by other children, who mostly liked her because she was 'popular' and the daughter of the most powerful man in the village, which meant she didn't really have much of a chance to interact with Cloud in the first place.
In all honesty, Cloud was better off training with Vincent than he was trying to have a 'normal' childhood. It might not be perfect, but at least the kid had someone who didn't dismiss him because of his age and intelligence and actually treated him with common decency.
However Vincent wasn't particularly inclined to stay in the mansion for much longer. Now that he was awake and aware again, he really wanted to find out what had changed since he was locked in that basement. And he couldn't do it from Nibelhiem.
That being said, he was rather disinclined to leave Cloud here all alone. The boy's talents would be stifled and he was unlikely to achieve anything useful if left alone. Never mind the fact that the spirit had the worst habit of dragging Cloud into the most absurd situations that required an older, more experienced party to protect the kid!
Which was why Vincent was going to do the smart thing.
He was going to take Cloud on as an 'apprentice' and insure the kid's world-view grew a bit more before unleashing the little hellion on ShinRa.
(Vincent had been shocked...and more than a little terrified upon learning that the spirit in Cloud also made the kid an unrepentant prankster from hell. No wonder Chaos kept cackling whenever that other presence was dominant.)
A few days later...
Cloud was worried. He hadn't seen Vincent for three days, and by this point he was concerned the other man had left for a while.
So you could imagine his open shock seeing Vincent at his tiny home talking to his mother about something.
His mother beamed at him when he came into sight. Cloud was unusually good at hiding in plain sight.
It took him a few moments to register what was going on, but once he did he couldn't help but gape at Vincent.
"Is this why you went missing for three days?" he asked. He never thought Vincent would bother coming into the village to offer him an apprenticeship...then again, he was practically apprenticed to Vincent already.
"I needed to make a few arrangements...specifically transportation," said Vincent. That had been a pain, but well worth it from the way Cloud had brightened considerably.
Cloud looked at his mother, with hope in his eyes and clear yearning to accept this offer.
"Far be it for me to hold you back. I knew you were destined for greater things, but I never expected our parting to be so soon," she said with a sigh.
Cloud was more or less stifled in this village, and would only benefit from an apprenticeship. At the very least it would give him some experience before he applied to as a SOLDIER cadet.
Cloud became the talk of the village, though only his mother saw him off.
Vincent wanted to sigh. He really should have guessed that once the initial shock of leaving his village had passed, Cloud's other self became far easier to deal with. Apparently it really didn't like being cooped up in Nibelhiem, which was why Cloud kept getting into such mischief.
That wasn't to say the boy didn't get into trouble, but at least this variety was more of the 'accidental' kind, rather than the 'overly curious' kind.
Cloud had a rather bizarre luck that kept getting them into little adventures, but at the end of it would result in a decent reward for their trouble.
No wonder Chaos liked him.
For the next year and a half, Vincent expanded Cloud's worldview considerably. The boy was voracious, and eagerly learned from the former Turk.
If it wasn't for the fact that he was far too disinclined to listen to authority and too curious for his own good, Vincent would have nudged him to the Turks. Cloud's ability to disappear in plain sight, even when someone like Vincent was watching him closely, was a skill that would have had him snatched up in a heart beat.
Vincent dearly wanted to know how exactly Cloud pulled that off so easily.
It was only during one of Hellmasker's thankfully rare moments of control that the other presence in Cloud's soul woke up and took over.
And he was not pleased.
Vincent couldn't fully control that aspect of himself, but he could still observe. He openly choked on his spit at the sight of the rather 'fluffy' blond boy bitch-slapping his most dangerous 'voice' and somehow exerting a level of control over him that Vincent would never have dreamed was possible, rather than running away.
The sight of Cloud's green eye glowing from an internal light that was more vibrant and terrifying than the kind given by Mako enhancements would be ingrained in Vincent's memory forever.
Vincent was honestly shaken when he managed to regain control over his body, but the presence didn't slip back into sleep.
Instead it seemed to peer deep into his soul, only this time was far more potent than the initial shock of meeting that gaze directly.
Vincent instinctively knew to his core that he was being judged. For what, he wasn't entirely sure but he knew for a fact that failing would result in something irrevocably bad.
Cloud, or whomever was controlling his body at the moment, moved so fast Vincent almost missed it.
Something seemed to pass through him, and Vincent heard a howl of fury from Hellmasker before it abruptly went silent. Galian Beast howled as well, but it sounded more like anticipation than fear...and reminded Vincent strongly of the Nibel wolves that howled in greeting to their pack members.
Chaos shivered a bit, before settling. As for Death Gigas, Vincent would swear that a muzzle of sorts had been placed on it.
However that didn't change the fact that Hellmasker's presence was completely gone.
Vincent stared at the smaller boy with confusion and shock.
"Who...are you?"
He wasn't really expecting an answer. So the fact that Cloud spoke with a distinct accent Vincent didn't recognize was a pleasant surprise.
"Call me Harry."
Cloud seemed to slump, and Vincent quickly caught him before he blacked out on the ground.
That was certainly interesting, and at least he now had a name for the other soul in Cloud. Vincent was absolutely certain this "Harry" was the reason why Cloud had mismatched eyes.
Less than a month after Cloud's tenth birthday, Harry woke up again. Only this time he was considerably more alert.
Which was why Vincent took the opportunity to grill Harry about as much information as possible.
Harry, surprisingly enough, was rather happy to answer his questions. Mostly because he knew Vincent genuinely cared for Cloud and was more inclined to protect him, rather than use him for his own benefits.
Vincent walked out of that conversation with the knowledge that Harry was far more "useful" than any of the voices in his head. Not only was the other presence in Cloud's body more protective than anything, but it also held knowledge and powers that were from another world.
It was rather hard to dispute such a claim when Harry easily turned Vincent's long black hair into a bright red that matched his cloak and eyes.
Harry snickered at the indignant squawk Vincent gave upon realizing his hair was another color. Chaos cackled.
No materia could do that, and much of the knowledge Harry had was completely foreign to Vincent.
At least he was able to answer the question of where Cloud had gotten the skill to slip away unnoticed and to sneak up on even Vincent. Apparently Harry was so used to being hunted by other humans that he had developed the skill set of a natural assassin and spy.
Vincent couldn't tell if Harry would have made an excellent Turk, or a rather poor one. Either way his personality and Cloud's natural one had merged so seamlessly it would be impossible to tell the two apart at this point. At least Harry was far more helpful towards Cloud than any of the voices Vincent had to deal with since the incident. And he had somehow removed Hellmasker completely. For that reason alone Vincent was heavily disinclined to do anything about it.
Vincent and Cloud were heading to a very secluded area in the Wutai mountain range. According to Harry, when he first arrived on Gaia he had brought some useful things with him. However the shock of going through the Lifestream had caused him to reincarnate almost immediately... likely because Gaia was understandably wary of letting any foreign entities from gaining a foothold on the planet after what happened with Jenova.
As a result, Harry soul ended up in the lifestream right around the time Cloud's mother became pregnant. He was annoyed at first, until he realized this was an excellent second chance to have a proper childhood as his own had been robbed from him by a manipulative old man with delusions of grandeur. In order to avoid suspicion, Harry gave Cloud the majority of control over the body and merely nudged the boy here and there.
However the things he brought with him should have remained intact, as there was a spell over the trunk that kept anyone who didn't have a basic grounding in the style of magic Harry used from finding it, including the resident monsters.
Cloud's green eye glowed once they were close. It was clear Harry was wide awake.
When they reached the area, Vincent could tell something had happened as there was a bit of an impact crater. This one was much smaller than the one created by Jenova (according to Chaos anyway), but the energy present was still quite potent. Enough that if Chaos hadn't already gotten a decent read on Harry's personality he might have been quite worried.
Cloud easily walked towards the center, before veering off slightly to a random spot near the edge of the crater. There was a hole almost as big as Cloud when Vincent first met him, and though his eyes could see nothing, it didn't take much for Vincent to realized that there might be something there.
It wasn't that the hole was empty, just that his eyes kept averting from that spot and making him dismiss anything he saw inside as unimportant and ordinary.
Vincent rather applauded the move...invisibility was impressive, but that sort of trick was far more effective against casual observers.
Cloud managed to pull something out, and his eyes kept averting itself from it...right up until Cloud muttered something under his breath...and suddenly a decently sized trunk appeared out of nothing.
Cloud dutifully followed Harry's instructions. As his original body had been destroyed thanks to Gaia's actions, there was no way for him to open up the trunk. However Cloud could use the slightly altered magical signature to bind the trunk to him and his bloodline instead, since the magic would register him as an unofficial 'son' of Harry's bloodline, regardless of any blood connection.
Once Cloud was done, having wrapped up his hand, he was able to open the trunk properly.
Inside were a myriad of things, but the part that shocked Vincent the most was the fact that the rather 'ordinary' piece of furniture apparently had multiple rooms inside, expanded by magic. So much so that they could literally crash inside and not have to worry about being attacked by monsters on the road, complete with a full kitchen, bath and assorted odds and ends that would make the trunk as close to an actual home as you could possibly get.
Vincent was more inclined to stay in the tent, even if the thing rattled him almost as badly as the trunk because it was almost literally a mansion. The only reason he could vaguely accept the idea was because expanded tents were rather common, if expensive and could only hold four people each. At least they wouldn't have to waste money to sleep in an actual bed anymore...though both Cloud and Vincent enjoyed sleeping under the stars so long as the weather allowed it.
The thing that interested Vincent the most was the odd cloak Cloud pulled out. Any Turk would be fascinated by the concept of a piece of clothing that made one completely invisible and impossible to detect outside of stringent training!
Fortunately Harry didn't mind loaning it to Vincent for a time, as it would draw far too much attention once he entered ShinRa as a cadet. Besides, having the cloak took all the fun of sneaking around in plain sight to play pranks on people who deserved it, like Hojo and that fat pig of a president!