Final Fantasy VII: The Story 2nd Instalment
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Nine
The mysterious man sat in the coffin made no attempt to step out of the coffin once he had sat up. Instead he chose to turn his gaze slowly from one person to another while his arms hung loosely by his sides. It was as though he had no life in the rest of his body, waking up just enough to sit and move his head. Upon closer inspection it turned out his eyes were not dark but a very deep red: something that was very alluring and mystifying, and held their gazes as he looked at them.
"…Never seen you before," he said to them. His voice was soft and very quiet, and almost unemotional. His lips, a soft red against his pale skin, barely moved as he spoke, as though he was still lost in a dream. "You must leave."
"You were having a nightmare," Cloud pointed out. He saw the man's head slowly turn and his gaze fell upon him, slowly looking him up and down. Cloud gazed back at him, doing the same. He seemed to be rather frail, but somehow he figured the man was much stronger then he appeared to be.
"How bad was your dream?" asked Tifa.
The man then turned his gaze on Tifa and looked her over. It was clear in his eyes that he was still in the process of waking up, and a little disorientated. Yet they also got the distinct impression that he was not the talkative type, and that he did not really want them there. "Hmph… a nightmare…?" he said, his voice becoming low and quiet as he sighed sleepily under his breath. "My long sleep has given me time to atone."
"What are you saying?" said Cloud, confused as to what the man meant by 'long sleep'. What kind of long sleep? Was he really…?
The man in the coffin sighed once again, although this time it seemed to be a little more annoyed rather than sleepy. "I have nothing to say to strangers," he replied, still keeping his level, unemotional tone as he spoke. "Get out. This mansion is the beginning of your nightmare."
Cloud also sighed, and lowered his head so that he was looking at the dirty, dust-covered floor of the coffin chamber. "…You can say that again," he mumbled faintly, although in the silence of the room it was still loud enough for the man to hear.
"Hmm? What do you know?"
Cloud looked up again and gazed at the man. He had his head tilted to the side so that his longer strips of fringe hung loosely across his pale face, staring at him through his deep red eyes. He almost looked a little interested in hearing what Cloud knew about the mansion.
"Like you said, this mansion is the beginning of a nightmare." Cloud stopped suddenly and lightly shook his head, disagreeing with his own statement. "No, it's not a dream, it's for real. Sephiroth has lost his mind. He found the secrets hidden in this mansion."
"Sephiroth?" the man snapped fiercely, making everyone in the room jump.
It was the first sign of emotion the man had shown since he sat up. His dark red eyes seemed to light up and flare against his skin, while his lip curled into an expression of sudden anger as he glared out at Cloud. It even brought a little colour to his cheeks and some life to his hands, as out of sight of the others his fists clenched tightly and trembled slightly, trying hard to conceal the emotion.
"You know Sephiroth?"
Cloud and the man had asked the question at the exact same time. They stared intently at one another, each of them waiting for the other to speak and explain what they knew. Yet neither of them said anything, and continued to wait.
Suddenly the man stood up and flipped out of the coffin, so suddenly in fact that it made the others jump in their anxiety, so tense that anything would make them jump. They watched as the man flipped up, almost seeming to move in slow motion before finally landing daintily on the edge of the coffin, his boots balanced perfectly on the thin wooden wall that kept it confined. Once he had landed and was steady, he pointed at Cloud sternly.
"You start first," he said.
He made it sound almost like an order. Cloud took a deep breath and then began to explain in brief detail everything that he knew about Sephiroth. He kept it as brief as he possibly could, which was difficult since there was a lot to get through.
He began five years ago, when he and Sephiroth first arrived in Nibelheim. This was the part that interested the man the most – hearing about everything that had happened while he slept within the walls of the mansion, unaware of everything.
Cloud then moved onto the more recent events – beginning from the moment Sephiroth appeared inside Shinra Headquarters and murdered the former Shinra President. He explained their pursuit of Sephiroth across the Midgar and Choco Plains, the slaughter of the Midgar Zolom, and how he appeared on the Junon ship.
All the while he explained, the mysterious caped man stood firmly on the edge of his coffin and listened intently to Cloud's story. His expression changed a number of times during the telling of the story, beginning with interest and then anger, before slowly turning into a sad and almost subdued look, as though a whole load of pain was hurled at him all at once.
"…That's how it was," Cloud said when he had finally finished his story. He took a deep breath, relieved that it was over. He was beginning to feel like a recorder stuck on repeat, telling the same story over and over again.
He looked up at the man, who had lowered his head to look at the floor. He had his arms folded now, deeply lost in many thoughts that were running through his head. The unemotional look had returned to his face now as he thought over what Cloud had said, making it impossible for them to see what he was thinking.
"So Sephiroth knows he was created five years ago?" he said finally, still refusing to look at the group and continuing to look at the floor. "And about the Jenova Project? …He was missing, but has just recently reappeared? He is taking many lives and is seeking the Promised Land."
Cloud nodded. He had just about got the gist of the situation. He then remembered that the man also had a story to tell. "Now it's your turn," he said, just as sternly.
He expected the caped man to comply and begin telling them his story, but to his surprise the man looked up at him through empty red eyes and slowly shook his head. "Sorry…" he said, shaking his head. "I cannot speak."
"Hmm… I'm disappointed," said Tifa. Around her the others all nodded in agreement. They had been rather looking forward to hearing the story of this strange man.
Ignoring the groans of disappointment from the others, the caped man jumped smoothly into the air, flipping back so that his feet landed on the red velvet bedding of the coffin.
"Hearing your stories, has added upon me yet another sin," he said. He suddenly sounded very sad and remorseful, and could not hold their gazes any longer. "More nightmares shall come to me now, more than I previously had." He carefully sat back down in the coffin, his body fitting perfectly into the grooves that had formed naturally over time. He looked up and gave them one final look, before looking back down into the coffin. "Now… please leave."
Those were his last words, and as he lay back down inside the coffin, the lid rose up from the floor and lowered itself perfectly over the coffin. As the wooden lid slid back into place the metal latches locked themselves together, sealing the coffin once more. There were no sounds inside the coffin, either.
Silence descended upon the room again, and Cloud turned to look around at the others. They were all very confused by the man's sudden response and desire for them to leave without an explanation. What was his connection to Sephiroth, and why did their stories of him make him feel guilty? They were still curious to know what it was, and they didn't come all the way down into the basement just for him to shoo them away.
Turning back, Cloud nodded to Aeris. The young woman nodded back, and with the end of her staff she gave the coffin a harder and much louder knock. At first nothing happened, but as Aeris was about to give it another gentle bash the clasps unlocked themselves and the lid flew off once again. The man sat up again, sighing heavily as he saw the group still standing in front of the coffin.
"…You're still here?" he asked.
Cloud nodded. "Who are you?" he asked, feeling they had at least spoken enough to know one another's names. "At least tell us your name."
The dark-haired man hesitated for a quick second. He seemed rather reluctant to tell them anything about him – even something as simple but yet so personal as his name. He finally made up his mind and looked up at them, glancing from one person to another, and said, "I was with… the Shinra Manufacturing Department in Administrative Research --- the Turks… Vincent."
"The Turks?" Cloud exclaimed, unable to hide the surprise from his voice. His eyes opened wide, and he could sense the others all taking a step back and putting their hands close to their weapons, perhaps unnecessarily. If this man was a member of the Turks then he was definitely far stronger than he appeared on first glance.
This was the first time Cloud had heard the true title of the Turks for a long, long time. They department had once only helped in research, often working alongside the Science Department in gathering specimens and guarding them. Of course that all changed a number of years ago, turning the Turks into what they were now – ruthless people who would go to any length to achieve their goal – ignoring all that got in their way.
"Formerly of the Turks," the man known as Vincent said. There was a faint sense of hostility in his voice as he stressed the word 'formerly', as though it was something he wanted to make clear. "I have no affiliation with Shinra now. …And you?"
"Cloud, formerly of SOLDIER."
Vincent raised an eyebrow in intrigue. "You were also with Shinra…?" he asked. He seemed to hesitate again for a moment before asking, "Then do you know Lucrecia?" There was a faint touch of hope in his voice and in his eyes as he waited for Cloud's answer.
"Who?" Cloud asked.
The hope in Vincent's eyes died, but he repeated the name anyway. "……Lucrecia." He watched as Cloud thought hard for a moment, but he was not surprised when Cloud regretfully shook his head, unable to recall the name at all. "The woman who gave birth to Sephiroth."
Hearing that made Cloud very confused. If this… Lucrecia… had given birth to Sephiroth, then technically she would be his mother. Yet all the reports written about the Jenova Project declared that Jenova was Sephiroth's mother, and Sephiroth believed that without question.
Cloud blinked at Vincent, the confusion clear on his face. "…Gave birth…?" he said. "Wasn't Jenova Sephiroth's mother?"
"That isn't completely wrong, but just a theory," Vincent replied. "He was born from a beautiful lady. That lady was Lucrecia. She was an assistant to Professor Gast of the Jenova Project. Beautiful… Lucrecia."
"…A human experiment?" said Cloud, staring. He was learning more and more about Sephiroth from Vincent's words. This Lucrecia was his biological mother, and in another way… so was Jenova. It was true that scientists were willing to go to almost any lengths in order to achieve what they wanted.
It was also the second time in his life he had heard Professor Gast's name being mentioned. Sephiroth had mentioned it, too, when he had been pacing in the mansion after reading all those reports about the Jenova Project. Cloud remembered from Sephiroth's words that Professor Gast had been in charge of the Jenova Project – the one in charge of creating Sephiroth in the first place. If Lucrecia had been his assistant, then that could mean only one thing:
"…A human experiment?" Cloud said, feeling a little disgusted.
"There was no way to cancel the experiment," Vincent continued. The sad and mournful look had returned to his deep red eyes as he thought back, images of beautiful Lucrecia flashing across his memory. "I couldn't stop her. That was my sin. I let the one I loved, the one I respected the most, face the worst."
"So the punishment was sleep?" said Tifa, piecing together the rest of the story. Vincent nodded his head in reply, and Tifa scratched the back of her head in bewilderment. "That's weird." She had heard of many different punishments in her time, but this was the first time she'd heard of sleep as a punishment.
Before she could say anything else, the man called Vincent slowly let his body sink back into the velvet-cushioned coffin, and the lid floated back into place. For a moment there was silence, until a faint, saddened voice murmured from inside the coffin, "Let me sleep…" before returning to silence once again.
One by one Cloud and the others quietly turned around and left the chamber and its gathering of empty coffins. It was clear that Vincent was not about to say any more to them, so they felt that this was the right time to leave him alone and continue his ever-lasting slumber. They even shut the door behind them, closing it so that the chamber was once again shut off from the rest of the world, the old key still resting in the rusty old lock.
Hearing Vincent's story left them feeling a little subdued as they headed back towards the spiral staircase. It was yet another reminder of all the pain and suffering that Shinra had caused – all in the name of money and power. Power over those less fortunate, or weak-minded. Shinra was a plague that had spread across the Planet, affecting everyone and everything in its path without a single care.
"Wait!"
Cloud and his group all stopped and turned around. As they turned the door of the coffin chamber was suddenly pulled open, and Vincent came running out of the door. He looked around for a moment before he spotted them and ran over to them, a strangely determined look on his face. His cape flowed slowly and almost mysteriously behind him. Cloud also took note of a second belt that was tied around his waist, holding a slender black gun.
"If I go with you, will I meet Hojo?" Vincent asked suddenly, before anyone could speak and interrupt him.
Cloud shrugged his shoulders, surprised at the suddenness of the question. "Dunno," he admitted. "But we're after him and Sephiroth. So, I guess sooner or later……" He left the sentence hanging.
Vincent let his eyes turn away, thinking Cloud's words over. As his suppressed memories rose he quickly turned away, picturing in his mind the beautiful face that was Lucrecia. "Lucrecia…" he whispered under his breath.
When he had finished his moment of remembrance, and had pushed the memories back down to where they could not be seen, he turned back to the others. His mind was made up, so he took a breath and said, "All right, I've decided to go with you."
The suddenness of the statement caught everyone by surprise. The surprise was clear on their faces, their eyes open wide as they stared at him. All except Cloud, that is, whose expression was blank as he gazed at Vincent. "What? You're coming with us?" Tifa asked him.
Vincent nodded at her, his determination resolute. "Being a former Turks, I may be of help to you…" he said.
While all this was going on, Cloud was staring at Vincent. He was trying to figure out what was going on in the man's head, but his eyes weren't giving anything away. They were almost blank, despite their calming red colour, and Cloud could not tell anything about him, unlike the others. The eyes of the others were filled with anger, fear, and sometimes a little uncertainty. Vincent's eyes were neither angry nor scared, but there was just a tiny bit of hidden sadness that could only be seen through careful examination. Yet as Vincent raised his gaze and met Cloud's eyes, he saw a strong pang of sudden determination, and Cloud smiled.
"All right, then," he said, with a slight nod. Vincent nodded back at him in gratitude, one hand resting quietly over the handle of his gun.
Even with the arrival of a new member to the group, there were no joyful or overly dramatic welcomes. Perhaps it was because Vincent was not the type of person to neither accept nor enjoy such welcomes, or maybe it was simply because the atmosphere and the aura of the deeper depths of the mansion repressed all those kinds of reactions.
So instead, after a brief but meaningful welcome (of which the most excited was Cait, glad that he was no longer the newest), the group of what was now eight finally began to head back towards the spiral staircase, relieved that all their efforts to find Vincent had at least paid off.
Cloud was at the back of the group as they headed back slowly down the tunnel, avoiding the areas where the bats had been. He didn't mind a new member joining their journey. After all, Vincent also had a strong reason to fight Sephiroth, and he had no reason to lie to them.
Remembering Sephiroth made Cloud stop with a sudden jolt, although the others didn't notice this and carried on towards the stairs. Cloud almost slapped himself across the face – how could he have forgotten that so easily?
He turned around slowly and looked back towards the door of the underground laboratory. His heart was beating loudly as he looked, although he didn't know why he was afraid to look. Was he afraid that the door would be dark and locked, and that they had missed their chance to fight Sephiroth? Or was he more afraid to see the light still there, and that Sephiroth could still be inside waiting for them?
So as he turned his faintly glowing blue eyes, he prepared himself for what he would see. Even so, the sense of fear and relief that licked its way down his spine as he saw the door still ajar with the thin line of light shining through made him jolt again. So Sephiroth could still be inside.
With his heart still beating loudly inside his chest, Cloud took a step forward towards the door. He didn't call out to the others, who were now heading up the stairs, leaving him alone in the tunnel.
Careful step by careful step, Cloud walked slowly towards the partly open door. His eyes stared solidly at the door, his gaze focused completely for any signs of movement beyond the door, even if it was just a flickering of the light.
He paused outside the door, hesitant to step inside. He knew he should call the others, but by now they would be at the top of the stairs and out of his calling range. So he was alone outside the laboratory, unaware that his hand was automatically moving towards the handle like a puppet being pulled by string.
The door opened with a light creak, and more light swept out and into the tunnel. Before his eyes had time to adjust Cloud found himself walking into the laboratory, leaving the door open behind him. Despite his anxiety his hand didn't move towards his sword or any of his materia, instead choosing to hang awkwardly by his waist, almost like a lost part.
Looking around, Cloud saw that the laboratory hadn't changed much in the past five years. The piles of books that were gathered around the bookcases were still there, untouched – with even more dust gathering on the leather covers and thin paper pages. The desk was exactly as it had been left, along with the filthy old tubes in the corner. Cloud still wondered what they were for.
Cloud stopped in the middle of the laboratory and slowly turned his head towards the corridor that continued the library, towards the office. He was not surprised when he found another pair of slightly glowing eyes staring back at him. Cloud felt his mouth fall open a little, but the feeling was distant, and almost unreal.
Sephiroth was standing in the middle of the corridor again, his head also turned to look back at Cloud with a faint but sinister grin on his face. It was not the grin but the cold glare of his eyes that made Cloud freeze, the glare piercing him like a knife.
A full minute passed by as Cloud and Sephiroth stared at one another, neither one of them speaking. Looking at Sephiroth standing there with that grin on his face, Cloud began to feel the deep rage he felt for the older man beginning to swell in him. At first it was just normal anger, but the longer he gazed into Sephiroth's eyes the harder it became for him to control, as though someone had flicked off the safety switch. Pretty soon he found his voice and his movement again, and he turned towards the man with a furious glare in his eyes.
"Sephiroth!"
The corner of Sephiroth's mouth twitched and spread into something more worthy of being considered a sinister smile. It made Cloud step back like a silent command, and he fell silent. Sephiroth, on the other hand, was free to move as he lifted his gaze and looked around at the library walls around him.
"Being here brings back memories," he said, his voice so soft and almost gentle that it didn't even echo off the walls. After looking around he looked back at Cloud, curious. "Are you going to participate in the Reunion?"
"I don't even know what a Reunion is!" Cloud snapped. His hand was twitching to move to his sword, but the longer he stared at Sephiroth the harder it became for him to move his hand to it.
"Jenova will be at the Reunion," Sephiroth continued, seemingly unaware of Cloud's inability to draw his sword. Instead he returned to gazing at the walls of books and the secrets they held within them. "Jenova will join the Reunion becoming a calamity from the skies."
All at once Cloud stopped and stared at Sephiroth. He didn't move nor breathe, and his hand was no longer twitching. "Jenova," he said slowly, his voice sounding awkward. "A calamity from the skies? I thought she was an Ancient!"
Sephiroth suddenly snapped his head around and locked gazes with Cloud, feeling the younger male's abrupt jerk as their eyes met. There was no recognition of the words in his eyes. In fact, he was completely clueless, and Sephiroth frowned. "…I see," he said finally, his voice empty and emotionless as he spoke. "I don't think you have the right to participate."
He reached up and flicked back his silver hair, while his other hand remained on the hilt of his sword. He looked away in thought for a moment, before a faint flicker of a smile returned to his face.
"I will go North past Mt. Nibel," he said. "If you wish to find out… then follow…"
"…Reunion?" Cloud repeated, lost in Sephiroth's words. "Calamity from the skies?"
While Cloud was busy contemplating what Sephiroth had said, Sephiroth suddenly reached under his cloak and pulled out a small, rounded ball of green materia, and threw it at Cloud. Cloud didn't even have time to look up before it hit him, and he curled over and fell to his knees, groaning loudly as he clutched his waist, the ball of materia rolling in front of him.
With Cloud temporarily distracted, Sephiroth floated up away from the floor and flew forward. All Cloud could see through his tear-filled eyes was Sephiroth's shadow as he passed over him and flew out of the laboratory door, disappearing down the tunnel.
Once the pain began to subside, Cloud slowly staggered to his feet, picking up the materia as he moved. His sword felt heavy on his back, so he untied the strap that held it up and let the large blade fall weakly onto the ground. The materia attached to the sword also came loose and scattered across the floor, and the ball in Cloud's hands fell down as he lost his grip, joining the rest of the Mako balls in a scattered scurry across the floor.
Cloud didn't notice, nor did he care. He just stood there, breathing heavily, head lowered so that the longer lengths of his blond hair cast dark shadows across his eyes and they could hardly be seen. The cold feeling of fear and a slight, aching pain in the back of his head were all he could feel, apart from the cold fingers of the memory of Sephiroth that were still closing around him, even after Sephiroth had left.
EMERALD: (waving a little flag) Yay, I finally got that chapter done. Be sure to let me know if there's any spelling errors or stuff like that. I tend to end up writing these chapters at nine o'clock at night, or 6 in the morning.
CLOUD: Which is all very well, but do you really have to wake me up as well when you write them?
EMERALD: Who else am I gonna ask? (hugs Cloud) You are my fountain of knowledge, Cloud-kun!
CLOUD: (looks at watch) 7:09am… That's 1,500 words in one hour and thirty minutes. What is the deal?
EMERALD: (pouts) Oh yeah… just as a little warning – I'm going to skip entering Mt. Nibel and go straight into the battle with the Materia Keeper next. Why? Because I feel like it! Nah, it's because I think writing up Cloud rejoining the others here would ruin the dark atmosphere I was trying to achieve at the end of this chapter, and entering Mt. Nibel isn't all that significant. Then again, neither is the battle against the Materia Keeper – what was the deal with that? Well, anyway, prepare for the battle, and a little bit of original stuff.