DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY 7 OR 9! If I did, I'd be working on re-making FF7 to make billions (Kuro laughs evilly in the background, causing Reiko to fall on her face)! Anyways, sorry for the temporary sugar hype. Unlike Reiko, I am easily stimulated by coffee, with a lot of cream and sugar. I still cannot understand how she cannot remain awake after drinking 10 cups of coffee, 5 bottles of Diet Pepsi, and 3 cans of Red Bull. She's a fricken sober. Well, sorry, I meant this, she cannot become hyperactive. She's always calm and collected. I, on the otherhand, can just drink a bottle of diet Pepsi and I'm awake all night. That's probably why I get more typing done at times than her (;D)!
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Chapter II.
Forest's End.
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He slowed his pace as he caught up with them, remaining as the back guard. "Get ready!" Zidane was obviously feeling the evil intent from whatever was inside. The other two nodded, and Vincent raised his alertness as they passed through the opening, avoiding the moving vines in the process.
"What in the name of the queen?" Everyone seemed to stop as their eyes laid upon what held the Princess captive.
All the vines that were growing writhed around the single creature. The creature's body consisted of several melded and twisted vines, which held a giant flower of sickening murky red for a head. Two sub-vines were growing from its sides, serving as arms, which were barbed by thick solid thorns. Within the center of the flower, where the pollen collector should have been was replaced by a set of sharp jagged teeth that lined the mouth of it. It snapped those teeth as it began to wave its vines carelessly in the air, purple gunk dripped from the monster's lips.
'This world has the weirdest fiends.' Vincent thought carelessly in his mind. He heard Chaos sigh.
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'You have killed Weapons, Mutated Mako Monsters, and a man who was insane enough to annihilate the planet . . . and then some. And here you are saying something like that.'
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Vincent ignored it as his attention was drawn back. He was sounding too obvious.
The others were armed, ready to attack. Steiner and Zidane charged in, while Vivi remained in the back ranks, readying to use a magic spell. And soon enough Zidane and Steiner were slashing, slicing, and stabbing into the thick-wall flesh of the creature. But Vincent felt something. Something was not right. Especially now. His eyes darted, looking for a sign for his unease. And when he saw the flower move back, as if inhaling air, he felt the feeling drop in his gut.
Zidane saw this as well, but it was too late at that moment. The plant's head snapped forward, exhaling a large cloud of golden dust. Steiner and Zidane yelled in surprise, and began to shake as the pollen it released enter their eyes. Vivi couldn't move out of the way fast enough, and was engulfed in the cloud of gold. He cringed as the pollen entered his eyes. Vincent saw the darkness shroud the bright yellow eyes. "I—I can't see!"
Vincent jumped up into the air, avoiding the whole of the cloud. He was descending when he saw the plant's right vine whip forward. Both fighters were blind, causing them to react too late upon the attack. It hit both Zidane and Steiner, who fell back to the same area Vivi stood. Vincent concentrated his thoughts on the gun, and aimed it at Vivi.
"Esuna." He shot a pale golden light out of the barrels, but instead of entering Vivi's body, it became a translucent glittery aura that blanketed Vivi's body. The mist entered his darkened eyes, and Vivi froze. The blackened orbs returned to their eerie yellow. He blinked.
"Mr. Valentine? What happened? How come I can see again?" Vincent shot his claw arm up, stopping all questions. He pointed towards the staggering Zidane, who was trying to find the eyedrops.
"Not now. Administer the eyedrops to Zidane. I will distract it." Vivi nodded. The mage began to run towards the temporarily downed blonde and knight, while Vincent began to run forward towards the plant.
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"Don't move Zidane. I'm going to use the eyedrops." Zidane groaned, but he recognized the voice.
"Vivi? Is that you?"
"Y—yes. Stay still." Zidane nodded. Zidane opened his eyes. All he could see were blurred colors, nothing more. But he felt his eyes sting as the drops were administered. He blinked them out, but his vision began to return.
"Thanks Vivi. Can you give the drops to Rusty too?" Vivi nodded his head. The kid ran towards the knight and began to take care of him as well. Zidane took up his daggers once more, but stopped in his place as his eyes laid upon the scene before him.
"Why are you not advancing? We must cut through this abomination to retrieve the Princess!" Steiner's rude voice was shut down as Zidane pointed towards the battle. Steiner's mouth dropped as he watched.
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Vincent walked forward, the gun in his right hand, his left arm's claw straight, the fingers pointed. The vines that belonged to the central plant came swinging at the gunslinger. The way he moved made him look like an undertaker. He jumped to the side as the first tried to smash him. He landed and leapt high into the air as the other vine made its way to him. As the vine was supposedly going to crush him, he landed on top of the vine for a mere second. He was already jumping into the air, but he raised his gun, and pulled the trigger, aiming straight down.
"Fire."
The bullet was absorbed, and he jumped away as the magic went to work. It exploded, revealing part of its raw layers of flesh. The other vine tried to smash him as well. He leapt in the air, and acrobatically twisted his body. The vine made its way towards Vincent in his mid-air jump, but instead of panicking, Vincent swung his legs downward, causing his body to flip forward. He raised up his left hand and using his body's already flipped inertia, slashed downward as the vine came close. Strands of green fiber were ripped out, and green ooze splattered from the opening wound. The plant spider hissed as it pulled back its vines.
It was amazing. Vincent made it look easy as he moved back and forth in the air, graceful with each movement. He only made sure to avoid them, and at times, would shoot Cerberus at the main plant's body. In rage, the plant swung its arms in a 360o circle. But by doing this, the vines now had another target to attack.
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Right behind the plant, laid the prone body of the princess. She was unaware of all this because she too was infected by the seeds of the cage plant. Her body had shut down on her, isolating her in a world of darkness, with only a small way to escape. Vincent saw her as he flew into the air to avoid the swings. Without hesitation, he kicked his legs up to stop himself on the ceiling. With only a moment's reprise, he pushed from the ceiling, and flew straight towards the Princess' spot.
The vines made their way towards him and the girl. But just in time, he landed by the side of the Princess. He slowly pulled her into his arms, and was shocked by the coldness of her body. The other two weren't as bad as she was now.
The vines were closing in on the two, and he knew he had no chance of jumping from the spot. He brought up his right arm, the bangle's materia gleaming as he closed his eyes. He snapped them open.
"Barrier."
Upon the closure of his lips, reflecting walls of topaz surrounded him and the fallen Princess. His arm was still raised, and he concentrated on the materia's power as the vines finally connected.
He felt mental pain unlike any other ring in his mind when the vines made contact. He grunted as they did everything they could to smash closer to him. He even felt pain as the materia itself began to hum within the bangle. He just hoped that the three had taken this chance to attack the plant in the front.
His resolve began to weaken, and he watched as the barrier walls beginning to reveal small crackling lines.
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'You're going to have to jump.'
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Vincent did not need to be told of something so obvious. He didn't voice a comment. At that moment he pushed off from the ground, disabling the barrier in the process. The vines that were intent on smashing Vincent crashed into one another. Vincent smirked inwardly as he brought the gun up.
"Fire." He shot two bullets, each implanting in a vine. From there he twisted his body in the air, barely avoiding the head of the plant fiend, before landing in a crouch. Seconds passed before twin explosions enveloped the vines. The power beneath the materia was powerful, powerful enough to butcher the main vines of the plant. The plant screeched in deep pain, flailing its now burned beyond repair vines. The ground shook as two giant halves of the two main vines crashed down.
"Princess!" He heard Steiner's voice, and stood up. The knight slowed his sprint as he approached Vincent. Vincent gently gave Steiner the one he was made to protect and thrust something into his hand, before turning back.
"Give her the potion. Her death is impending." He could feel the knight tense. There was no time for arguments. He felt better when he heard the cork was popped from the top, and he heard the knight's soft comforting voice as he made her guzzle down the potion. Although he had never tasted it, he could only assume from the pungent smell. As well as the Princess's coughing as she naturally gagged on it.
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The plant spider was near death. Not only has its greatest attack been thrown away thanks to the twin fire shots, but the front stem area of the plant had many heavy and burned slashes. The cuts that were concentrated on a single part of the plant were Zidane's, the spots where chunks of chlorophyll flesh were ripped off were Steiner's, and the small burned crater's were Vivi's.
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'So weak . . . they have so much more to learn . . .' Vincent looked towards each of the individuals.
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'You're right. However, this is experience.' Vincent's conversation was torn apart as he saw the plant become rigid, frozen with the face of the flower looking straight towards the ceiling. It remained in place, not moving. He watched as Zidane moved in with his daggers, avoiding all the other vines that tried to protect the frozen heart of it all. But not all of the vines could be avoided, as they outnumbered the thief easily.
One caught and wrapped around Zidane's ankles, causing him to gasp as he was swept off his feet. For a second, he was making his way to help, when something, no, someone beat him to it.
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He saw a silver streak slice through the vines that had captured Zidane, rendering the minor vines that tried to re-grab the blonde useless. The silver streak was slowed to view, revealing a simple light broadsword. He took in the image of the person who had saved Zidane. He was the same height, and looked to be around the same age. He had fiery red hair, which was held up by a leather bandanna which shadowed over his eyes. What he wore looked to be rags of brown, and had brown boots and gloves. The way he let the broadsword rest on his shoulder made him feel nostalgic, almost imagining Cloud standing in his place. How strange.
"Yo Zidane!"
"Blank! What're you doing here?" So the guy's name was Blank? What a weird name.
"The Boss sent me! Don't worry, I'll give you the details later. Gotta cut down big, tall and hideous!" Vincent saw a rare smirk on Zidane's face.
"Slice and Dice?" The newcomer smiled as well.
"Yep." And as if by some internal signal, the two sprinted towards the plant, intent on taking it down.
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Teamwork; that was a word Vincent hadn't heard or thought of for a long time. And here were the two who were perfectly defining the word's meaning. While Zidane moved in, this Blank character would protect him from the back. And when it was Blank's turn to attack, Zidane would do the same. At one moment, they were both back to back as the smaller vines began to surround them. A nod from their heads began to combination attack. Zidane sheathed his daggers, and took hold of Blank's left arm. With his strength, he swung Blank around, who in turn kept his sword arm out to slash at the cornering vines.
Blank suddenly anchored himself, keeping his feet planted on the ground, and shot Zidane into the air. Zidane unsheathed his daggers with fast precision. Zidane's body twisted into the air, and his airborne body baited all the vines towards him. But thanks to Blank's extra boost, Zidane's spinning body, plus his glaring daggers, equaled diced vine bits. Green ooze flew in the air. Vincent couldn't help but feel reminded of a overpowered blender upon seeing the move. Zidane fell to the ground with his legs crouched down. His eyes, once serious and cold, became warm and open once more.
As Blank pulled up Zidane, Vincent made a final analysis of their attack. It wasn't some cheap parlor trick, but was something that looked to be coordinated. At the end of this attack, the vines that were hindering their progress to the main plant were taken out in a single combination attack. Very impressive. Now if only a powerhouse attack was unleashed. It was the perfect moment of attack.
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He felt a passing wind next to him, and his eyes locked onto the knight, who was heading straight on. But he suddenly felt a surge of power and saw Vivi, who concentrated deeply, his yellow eyes staying on the knight's moving body.
"I call upon the faintest spark, to light the fire within. Assist the one who uses the sword, grant him the power of Ancient Lore!" A burst of fire first exploded in front of Vivi, but he didn't move. Vincent watched as the fire imploded, falling into the epitome of the once large fireball, before it reverted to nothing.
At first he thought the spell had done nothing, until he saw a burst of light from the left side of his eye.
Steiner continued to run, his sword up straight. But the cold metal was now bursting with fiery plumes of crimson. The flames were drawn back from the speedy sprint, but they remained strong, latching on the sword. Steiner jumped, bringing the sword high above his head. Now was the perfect opportunity to attack the fiend.
"FIRE SWORD!" He brought it down, using all of his strength behind that one swing. It tore through the flesh of the plant, making it convulse as it continued to rip through the tissue. Steiner pulled the now extinguished sword from the torn flesh of the plant's middle. The sap that supplied energy for the plant dripped from the very tip of the blade. But the plant itself did not seem to move, even from the killer blow that the knight inflicted. "H—how?" Steiner sounded his disbelief.
Maybe it was dead, Vincent didn't know. Zidane stopped his slashing assault, and stared at the plant's prone form. He out of the four (remember Blank) looked to be the least tired. But at the same time, he could feel the anxiety from the monkey-tailed boy. Maybe because of this thing, or perhaps because the royal highness herself was in danger?
Steiner was gaping at the sight of it still standing, his sword still in his hands. It couldn't be possible for any man to have his mouth open that wide. Vincent didn't want to imagine what had happened in the physical logical laws that would ring DEFIANCE at Steiner's mouth.
Vivi . . .
What about Vivi?
Vincent turned, and saw an impending weight around the black mage. It seemed he was at his limit. His yellow glowing eyes were beginning to dim, his mental capacity was more than likely wasted from the multitude of fire spells he initiated.
Suddenly, the air was shattered by a high pitch squeal, one that sounded forced and ragged. It felt like the last intake of air before death. But the plant that was once stiff and frozen simply flopped down, its once rigid structure was broken and easily manipulated. The vines were lifeless and held no substance, almost losing all its solidity as the energy of the plant seemed to die off.
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The air around the plant was becoming heavy, almost manifesting into a solid gas as the plant continued to disintegrate before their very eyes. The smell of rotting corpses wafted towards Vincent, making him scrunch his nose. The others made notions to gag, covering their mouths and noses to prevent any further entrance of the foul stench. The wafting smoke felt harmless as it disappeared upon thinning in the air.
The ground around the plant began to draw itself within the main central area, almost as if it was being pulled into a single point, a single spot. The body of the dead main plant was sucked into the hole that began to expand. Fumes of heavier quality plumed and floated in the air, causing the majority there to cough and wheeze. Vincent brought the collar to filter the air intake, giving him an easier chance to breathe.
The ground beneath their feet began to shake, and Vincent saw the rupture of the hole widen drastically. From its darkness, creatures popped out in the bunches, slowly filling the room. They looked to be frail thin limbed prey mantises. The top of their heads were crimson red blood flower buds, and their arms were made of deadly looking scythes. They hissed together in unison, almost making Vincent's ears ring.
They gathered in groups, flashing their gleaming blades towards them. Vincent felt irritated when he heard the creatures scraping their blade arms, creating the sound of broken fiddles.
"RUN!"
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'Finally, someone was rational enough to suggest that.'
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Vincent's eye twitched, but he did follow the command. He turned around, and began to run. But he kept his eyes on the creatures that shuffled in their direction of flight. However, he noticed something as he did do so.
The creatures were squirming out of the hole that they were supposedly borne from, but why do that when they were in such large numbers? Many of them began to clog the hole, cutting at one another to be released. How barbaric. But the only thing that would cause such behavior would be if an impending situation was at hand.
'Correct. They're not attacking.' Vincent's eyes widened slightly, realizing as well.
They were fleeing.
He began running, but looked up. The trees were free, and the branches held on enemies or annoying fiends. And he was best in aerial attacks. He jumped up and began jumping from branch to branch, taking the occasional glance behind. The plants were flooding through the forest, slowly gaining their way towards the small group he watched over.
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The knight was surprisingly the fastest of the group. Maybe he acquired the adrenaline rush because of the danger his liege was in. Vivi followed not too far behind, his little legs carrying as best they could. Blank was right behind and Zidane was last.
Vincent twisted his body as he looked back, his gun raised. He concentrated his thoughts as he aimed the materia shot towards the arising wave of mantis fiends.
"Fire." The trigger was pulled. Vincent placed more power in the shot. Upon impact, the bullet glowed brightly, before releasing Vincent's surge of energy. A giant fireblast erupted, causing one section of the forest to be decimated. He then reloaded, concentrating his thoughts again. He shot once more.
After a multitude of times, he was able to widen the distance between the group and the forest creatures. There were holes of fiery craters left behind, but the sea of green and red blooming flowers flooded over them. But at least he could keep the mantis creature at bay. Or so he thought.
A single mantis launched itself away from the giant wave, bursting with uncalled energy. Vincent made his way to aim the gun at the creature, but for some strange reason, it was moving too fast for him to pull the trigger.
Each move caused a jerk of the gun, and each jerk caused a second to be lost. The creature almost seemed to read his movements as he moved strategically, beginning to close in towards Zidane. It was already drawing too close. Vincent flipped his body, and pushed himself off from the side of a tree. He launched himself down, his claw drawn back.
He always hated that arm, but until now, it had its uses. Without ammunition, he would use the sharp sides of the claw to kill off any nuisances that would come along. Fangs, little annoying Goblins, and the occasional hippogriffs, they were all brought down by the monstrous ability of the claw.
He drew his claw arm back, flexing the fingers before snapping them together, creating a drill like blade.
In a mere few seconds, he was already in front of the mantis, which stopped abruptly as crimson encased its vision.
"Surprise." He let the arm stab into the thin frail chest (or the thorax if referring to insect terms). The insides were paper-like, and he saw it shutter as its life system began to decline. It remained frozen, and Vincent's body still hadn't touched the ground. Vincent didn't care as he pulled the body of the mantis under him, using its weight and the swing of his arm to right himself in the air. He landed on his feet, and let the body of the mantis crumble feet away from him, before pumping new energy into his legs, and jumping into the high branches once more. The green slime on his fingers was flicked off, forgotten.
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The others spotted a faint light in the distance, signaling the end of the forest. The one place of freedom of the hellish greenery around them.
"We're almost there! We can make it!" Steiner gasped as he continued to run. Vivi nodded, but he was stumbling. He began to tire, both his physical and mental capacity burning low.
"Ah!" Vivi slipped on the mossy ground, his staff recklessly thrown from him. Vivi groaned as he got up, forgetting about the situation behind him. However, the sound of hissing and ruptured metal joints made Vivi jump. He turned around, to find the prey mantis fleet closing in on him.
"Vivi!" Zidane yelled as he turned around, taking his daggers out. He brought his body down as he gained speed, closing the distance between him and the black mage. "You okay kid?" Vivi nodded, and Zidane snapped his head as he heard the halting of the buzzing feelers. "Damn. Brace yourself Vivi, I'm going to get us out of here."
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Vincent aimed his gun, concentrating his mind.
'You'll need at least 4 shots to complete what I think you're doing.'
'I only need 3.' He heard Chaos scoff at this.
'Don't let your head inflate too much.' Vincent raised an eyebrow at this.
'Arrogance does not hinder me.'
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"Zidane! Dammit what
the hell did you throw yourself here for?" Blank realized that Zidane ran
back. He couldn't believe the fact that
Zidane had just done something close to suicidal, especially here.
Blank growled as he began slicing away at the mantises that dared to fall in his path. He intended to drag Zidane's dead body out at the very least.
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'We must never forget the guest.' Vincent clicked the trigger, and a shot was released. He shifted the gun's position, and shot again. A final shot, and he pulled the gun back into its holster, and jumped down towards the chaos, the glaring shots implanting themselves in the ground.
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Zidane and Vivi stood back to back, both staring at the impending situation before them. Vivi's grip on the staff was tight, and Zidane gritted his teeth as he slashed the blades towards invading scythe slices. He hissed as he felt a blade slice a shallow wound on his arm, and Vivi yelped as a part of his coat was cut. "Dammit. Gotta get out of here!"
They heard something solid hit the ground, and saw crimson from the corner of their eyes. They turned to look up towards the tall figure in red.
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"Brace yourselves."
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Sudden blasts of hot air overwhelmed them, causing them to cover their eyes and faces. Vincent kept his claw arm up, squinting his eyes to look for an opening.
An opening was created by the series of explosions. The armies that surrounded them were decimated, while the remaining scavengers were dazed from the powerful blasts. The warning proved well as they were the only ones standing in the group of fallen monsters, and a single comrade.
"Go." Zidane turned towards Vincent, whose eyes were honed at the path that was to be taken. Zidane nodded his head, and began to run.
Vivi did his best to keep up with Zidane, but his small stature and short legs did no good when he tried to keep up with him. He was too tired to call out for the thief, and he could feel the creatures coming closer.
"Ah!" Vivi felt himself being hoisted in the air by the back of his coat, and suddenly, everything became faster. "What!" It was like tunnel vision. Everything but the very spot in front of you was a blur, and Vivi, hanging by the belt buckle of his coat, was in awe as he felt the cold air cut through his body. He spotted crimson from the side and looked up towards Vincent.
"You can thank me later." Was all Vincent said. Vivi simply watched and felt his body fly in the air alongside the vampiric-like man. Despite the danger . . . below them, he felt so . . . exhilarated by this. But then, a feel of dread filled Vivi's being, making him squirm, realization slammed into him like a brick wall.
"So—So—so high!" Vincent struggled to keep hold of Vivi's coat, and saw the fear in the black mage's eyes.
'He's afraid of heights!' Vincent immediately glided down towards the forest floor, before running. He was faster in the air, but if it was making the child uncomfortable, he could risk it.
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They were closing in towards the otherside, the light brightening with each step. Vincent adjusted his eyes as he was almost blinded by the sudden light shift. He could hear the chaos behind him, and used an extra burst of energy.
"We're free." Vincent whispered. He flew out, making sure to keep low for Vivi's sake. Bright light overwhelmed them, and they halted in the new warmth. Vivi groaned as he pushed himself off the ground, brushing off the dirt that had collected on his coat.
Vincent however had his attention back towards the forest. Two more people were still there, and still had a chance to escape.
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"Zidane!" The black mage cried out. Vincent too saw Zidane running at an all out sprint. His arms pumped up and down, but his face showed torn emotions. Behind the boy was a wave of grey, which stilled everything it covered. Like stone.
No.
It was stone.
'The forest is petrifying itself. Was there not a case similar to this one?' Vincent nodded.
'Yes. However, it involved Nanaki's father, was it Seto? Yes. Seto. He was petrified.'
"Jump!" The knight cried out. Terror was written on his face. Perhaps the danger before them overrode their previous arguments.
He watched the boy with the tail hurl himself forward, barely moving out of the reach of the flailing vines, which created a giant wall behind him. At that moment, the green roots slowly changed, colors of grey overpowering it. The sound of cracking stone rang in the air as the vines began to settle.
He heard a cry of anguish, and turned to see Zidane pounding against the wall, pain writhed on his face.
"BLANK! BLANK YOU BASTARD! WHY!"
'Blank. His friend. Where is he?'
Sudden realization hit him. The one known as Blank, he was behind with Zidane. And by the sounds of it, Blank had saved, or rather, helped him escape that impending fate, at the price of his own. He looked at Zidane, who was breaking down. He was on his knees, his head resting against the petrified wall, his hands pounding at the closed exit.
He heard movement. Vivi was making his way to comfort him. Vincent placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Mr. Valentine?" Vincent shook his head.
"Give him time."
From that moment, a connection was established. Vivi nodded his head, before looking back at Zidane.
--
Vincent walked over to where the knight was setting up camp. The Princess was covered by a thin blanket, providing little warmth. The knight himself was striking a conversation with a rather strange creature. It looked more like a doll of sorts, resembling that of one he had seen long ago. A moogle, that was what the doll was called back then. But here it was, a living, breathing creature.
'Our world has become inhabited by living dolls.' Vincent inwardly sighed as the moogle seemed to fly towards him. It looked too cute to be alive.
And he hated cute.
That was something Yuffie would thrust at his face. And of course, he knew that she knew it was annoying to him.
'You miss them, don't you.' Vincent sighed, shaking his head inwardly.
'They are in the past. They do not need to be resurfaced.'
Vincent moved to the side, making sure that the moogle saw Vivi. The moogle immediately veered its course to the black mage. He walked towards the campsite.
--
Vincent took out the gun, and shot it at the stack of firewood at the designated camp sight. Fire sparked and roared, making the knight fall from his seat. Amused, Vincent let a smirk crack beneath, before sitting himself down, letting his body absorb the warmth of the flames.
He closed his eyes, and let darkness overcome him.
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A/N: Yo. Sorry about the shortness of this chapter. I wanted to end this chapter with a fighting scene, and of course, I still have to stick to the storyline of FF9 (for now). Reiko is helping me out with brainstorming a few ideas in terms of the questions that have been asked in the reviews and PMs. I hope this has satisfied your need for now (Reiko grumbles as I types this. Unlike her, I go to public school, and I love the fact that school is so damn easy! She's in a private one, so she's pissed at this.). But till next time guys.
Sincerely,
Kuro.
