Hey, everyone! Thanks so much to those who have reviewed and read! I hope this is still entertaining and interesting :) In this chap, I'm going to introduce a pretty vital character :)

This is my last update until July due to some stuff going one. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything read/seen here.

'Way to go, Vincent! You scared the poor girl!' Chaos, though he poked at his host, seemed to get a kick out of the little ninja's paralyzed features the moment Vincent turned on her. The man had come to back in his basement, and for that, he could be grateful. He hated any other place.

'Good,' was his reply. 'She'll learn soon enough that it is foolish to tangle with a demon-infested carcass.' At that, the ex-Turk hesitantly made his way towards the staircase that led to life beyond his coffin. Staring up the dimly lit corridor and claw clutching the knob of the door, the gunslinger felt his pulse pick up and uncertainty course through his frozen veins. The world, after however long the man had slept in seclusion, certainly was subject to change; if it endured a static evolution, little would remain to be said for its advancements in any innovational technologies. Inevitably, however, the developments of Gaia had certainly reached breakneck speed even while the ex-Turk lived his naïve life with his less-naïve-than-he-first-suspected love – in short, he feared the unknown.

Perhaps feared was too strong a word for Vincent Valentine, but dreaded? Undeniably. Beyond the clammy confines of the claustrophobic stairwell lied an indefinite realm of knowledge, and, unquestionably more unsettling, science.

Although it required little energy of the demon-host, his legs refused to budge from their spot at the foot of the basement. For Odin knew how long, Vincent Valentine had slept in that damnable coffin and denied the presence of a world beyond that. Somehow, it seemed too soon to venture out and meet it again.

But this ninja, this slip of a girl that happened upon his peaceful slumber, stormed into his tranquility and shook the very foundation of his entire existence. For the first time since that fateful stormy night, the gunslinger had found himself back in the place of his nightmares, the same place he had thought himself safe in. And she, this – this little piece of wasted air, had brought his demons out from deep inside him and left him writhing on the floor in utter agony and completely at their mercy!

'Don't be so hard on the flower, she's probably scared out of her mind anyways. I mean, think about it; the girl creeps into an old mansion thinking that she'll be able to hide from whatever she's running from, and then BAM! Sirens going off, screams of terror in the air and – hello, Mr. Big, Tall, Scary, and Covered In Fur!'

'It is her own fault.' Vincent resolutely negated to be swayed.

'You should apologize, host.'

Sitting on the bottom step of the stairwell, Vincent rubbed his chin with his brow furrowed. His demon, a creature of hellish delight that only lusted after death, destruction, and misery, was commanding him to apologize for hurting someone's feelings?

'Don't be so shocked, Vincent. She's got legs that could make even the fiercest demon foam at the mouth. Case in point: me.'

Not a great many things bothered Vincent Valentine, but for some unfathomable reason, that statement made his blood boil. The crude remark upset the gunslinger, filling him with a sense of indignation and protectiveness, though he knew not why. He did know, however, that the last thing he wanted was to hurt that child whether she annoyed him or not.

'Chaos, you will not harm her.' The tone was dangerous, low, and final, unspoken threats underlying the order.

'Who said it was gonna hurt? Unless she likes it that way-'

With a roar that seemed to come from a place greater than Gaia, Vincent slammed his fist into the wall, breaking through the archaic plaster and shaking the staircase. 'I said NO, Chaos!'

With a mockingly twisted voice that sent pure horror though the gunman in waves, Chaos hissed, 'If I desired her, do you honestly think you are strong enough to stop me?'

They both knew he was not.

"I hate it here! Leviathan, I don't know what's worse, living with a psychotic demon or returning to Wutai!"

A loud gasp made Yuffie spin around, her chocolate-bullet eyes going wide at the presence of another standing in her doorway. A young girl, at least a good five years the ninja's junior, stared back at her with something akin to wonder in eyes that rivaled the ice of Shiva.

"You – but… It's not… How- Does Master know you're here?" It seemed to take quite a bit out of the child to utter the sentence, and the kunoichi immediately bent lower to smile at the girl, hoping not to intimidate the little miss.

"Sweetie, do you know the man who lives here?" Yuffie's voice lowered to a quiet pitch as she cocked her head at the girl innocently.

The girl defiantly shook a lock of auburn hair from out of her eyes and stated in a voice much like a robot's, "I am thirty years old, miss." At Yuffie's gasp, the girl continued, "I understand that my appearance is more than misleading, but there are reasons that cannot be uttered for the fact. I am the servant of the man who owns this manor, and have been for longer than I can remember. My sister, Shalua Rui, studied under the woman who Master Valentine – but I shouldn't go into that… In any case, when my sister passed at my tender age of eight, Master Valentine allowed me to continue to live here with him. The laws in Nibelheim at the time were very strict regarding adoption of orphans, and the law refused to allow a man like Vincent – but I shouldn't go into that either – to care for a girl of my age, for they suspected it to be a roguish venture on his part. I became a servant by law, and he was able to take care of me then under the title of my master. He's a good man, contrary to what others might assume. He could have left me for dead. He certainly had no obligations to me."

Yuffie blinked in wonder, soaking in every detail of the story. This woman appeared to be no more than ten, so how could she be thirty? Then again, the demon in the basement was a Nibel Turk, and well, a demon. Apparently, things in Nibelheim were much stranger than she could have guessed.

"Master Valentine… You seem to be very fond of him?" It was a question more than a statement, and the ninja wondered if the girl before her had a little crush on the creature – man – thing. She couldn't fathom why, for she would never find herself subject to adoring such a loathsome, revolting thing. That would be degrading on so many levels.

"Indeed," she replied, smiling slightly. "He has done much for my family."

"And have you actually seen him in the past thirty years?" With a wild movement, the ninja gestured in air. The skeptical tone in Yuffie's voice appeared to rub the girl the wrong way, for her eyes narrowed to slits.

"He cannot survive on air and sleep alone," the woman nearly spat in return. "I brought him food, water, and allowed fresh air into his coffin when he needed it. I understand that you must think he's disgusting, but you do not know him the way I do!"

And let's hope it stays that way, Yuffie thought, crossing her arms. Sure, she thought Galian was pretty cool, but Vincent? She felt less than enthusiastic about being caught in the same room alone with him. "What's your name?"

"Yours first." So you wanna play that game, huh?

"Alright. It's Yuffie." The Wutain ninja narrowed her eyes some and bit back, "Now you."

"Shelke Rui of the Valentine household." She tilted her head, seeming to size the dark-haired woman up. "And I suppose you will be staying here?" The voice held hostility, making it apparent to Yuffie that she was not welcome and would not be staying in the manor under any circumstances.

Huh, well this oughta piss you off nice and good! Yuffie thought impishly. With a nod, she turned and sashayed away, glancing over her shoulder to reply smirkingly, "I will be staying, actually, since Vinnie said it was okay."

The glare that Yuffie received could have melted Icicle Inn to the ground.

Pretty short, but it's all I could get done during my time frame. Thank you for reading, and please drop a review!