Chapter 7: Veritas: part 3
THANK YOU ICELADY FOR BETAING!! This chapter goes to you.
"Now, what I am about to tell you all started back about eighteen years ago. It all starts with my personal tutor, Mrs. June Argos."
When those words came out, I found that I wasn't really surprised. It only confirmed my theory that Rufus knew a lot more than I did about the situation.
"Back then, my father still had his hopes of making me his puppet, so he found only the best of tutors for me. No expense was spared giving me a most thorough education. That is how I first met Mrs. Argos. She and her husband were successful geneticists, and she was a certified teacher. I thought that she was going to act like all my other tutors who treated me as an incompetent brat and acted superior, but I was pleasantly surprised."
Rufus paused for a moment, and seemed to think about his next words.
"Boss, please don't tip-toe around the issue," I asked. He was going to reveal something big and he was trying to let it down easily. "We're all adults, and we're all family, yo. I'm freakin' nervous about this whole thing, but I would rather hear it straight out and from you."
On impulse, I hopped off the table and went in front of him. Everyone was watching in surprise as I outstretched my arms and pulled him into a warm hug. I felt ashamed for hiding my relationship with Cloud from them. This was my family, right here. I pulled away and sat at his feet even though it was cold in that dress thing. Rufus took his coat off and put it around my shoulders and we shared a meaningful look.
"Very well. I've gotten my information from several sources and at different times, so only now am I looking back with a mostly complete picture." He took a deep breath and continued. "Mrs. Argos was the best tutor I ever had and treated me with respect that I had to earn. She recognized my intelligence and began to tell me strange things. She would actually mention some of the genetic experiments that she and her husband were being forced to do. She told me of the foolishness of such experiments, but many things I could not understand until I became older. Early one morning, she rushed into my room and shook me awake. She was frantic and there was blood all over her; I was terrified but she told me that she needed me. I stayed quiet and listened to her. She told me that they killed her husband and were after her. 'They know our secret,' she whispered. When I asked her what secret, she smiled sadly and told me this. 'The world's inevitable end, chaos, conceived the judgment, damnation. The ruby of Fate will be placed in your hands. Protect it, lest all is lost.' She forced me to memorize this word for word. Afterwards, she left and I never saw her again."
My nose wrinkled as I tried to comprehend those words. I remembered something from science, like a law that states that everything will fall to chaos.
"The Second Law of Thermodynamics," Tseng said, voicing what everyone was thinking. "But what does that have to do with any of this?"
A humorless smile spread across Rufus's face.
"That's what I thought too. It took years of hacking into my father's secret files, the science confidential files, and 'persuading' people to give me most of the information that I needed. A few years before I was born, my father was having an affair with a rebellious young woman. At about this time two young doctors by the name of Argos theorized that the Sephiroth was not stable and that he would eventually degenerate mentally. Most scientists disagreed with them, and funding for their own experiments was refused. Then there is a twelve month gap where the only thing I know is that my father got the woman pregnant, so he left her in order to save his career. After this year of silence, I found a report by Mrs. Argos stating that their private experiments have been successful, and that the 'Leviathan' had gone into hiding for her safety."
In a flash I was on my feet, and I felt all the blood drain from my face. That can't be, no…
"I got to go," I whispered before rushing out of the room. I brushed past the three protesting doctors and grabbed my clothes from the front desk. I got dressed hastily and caught a taxi.
"Where to?"
"Purgatory."
The driver shook his head but drove on.
"I will survive, you see, because I'm the Leviathan."
My eyes slit and I felt the anger bubbling up.
"A strong and graceful creature…"
Now I was walking briskly down the alleyways, my destination drawing nearer.
"…you are my son."
I pounded on the shabby door, making it shake in its frame. The door unlocked and Logan peeked out fearfully.
"W-what be goin' on, man? Your eyes a-are…"
"Where is she?" I hissed, not having the patience to deal with him.
He stepped aside and pointed to the guest bedroom. I pushed him aside and marched into the room. Large innocent eyes looked up from his play to watch me, and my Ma's worn eyes looked up too. She paled and clutched her son closer to her breast.
"You stupid, selfish, whore!" I screeched. "What the hell am I?!"
Her son shuddered in fear and my Ma's eyes watered.
"R-reno, what re you t-talking about?"
I saw it in her eyes, more lies.
"Liar! I want the fucking truth!"
Ma shuddered and gave her little boy a quick squeeze.
"Leo, please go with Mr. Logan," she whispered. The little kid kissed her cheek and left the room. It was just the two of us.
"Tell me everything," I hissed. I had no more patience for her lies.
"I thought he was different, that he cared," she started. She couldn't even look me in the eye. "I was so fucking stupid. As soon as I got pregnant, he found out and left me alone to fend for myself. I was sixteen, Reno! What else could I have done, yo? My parents kicked me out, I was pregnant, and I couldn't find a job; what the fuck was I supposed to do?!"
She took a deep breath to calm down and I sat down before my legs gave out. It was almost too much to take in, all of it. So she was whoring for Rufus's dad, which makes me the bastard son. My boss's older half brother.
"A man named Frederic Argos and his wife June offered to take me in an' to take care of everything if I let them use my baby for a few tests. I decided ta allow it 'cause it was better than aborting the baby. They made me unconscious during the procedures, and I never asked what they did. I was still a child, Reno, I was too scared to care."
Each word cut deeper into my heart. I knew that I wasn't a loved child, but it still hurt to hear it. To hear that I would have been killed before I had a chance to live, to love, to exist, was utter torture. But was the alternate any better? I was used, that my mother might live.
"About six months into the pregnancy, a strange pain hit me and the stress pushed me into labor. There was so much pain, yo, an' I was so scared that I was gonna die. June held my hand for hours as Frederic tried to stop the baby from coming out, 'cause if it died, all of their work was for nothing. He worked hard, but I still gave birth to a tiny baby boy. He was born on June 6, an' I remember lookin' out to see the full moon. Even back then, I knew it was a bad omen. The doctors did everything that they could to keep him alive, but for several days he stayed on the verge of death."
She paused and her eyes watered.
"What happened?" I asked gruffly. This was all too planned out, to structurally weird.
"I remember it clearly, who wouldn't? It was a deathly dark night, no moon could be seen. I was in the bed in a fitful sleep, still exhausted from having the baby to the mere age of seventeen. Then…I heard…heard that terrible scream! The hair rose all over my body an' my blood seemed ta freeze, but I couldn't help but head towards the frightening noise. I walked to my baby and saw him screaming in pain, thick tears pouring out of those blood red eyes. I c-couldn't force myself to touch him, and I couldn't stand seeing him in such pain either. The doctors came in and I told them to make it stop, I didn't w-want him to cry anymore. I threatened to kill him myself just to end his pain if they didn't do something. That's when they told me what they had been doing to him. A scientist had found an ancient demon, a god possibly, but she had to seal it inside of some human's body. Frederick had an opportunity to study the creature, but when they found that it could not produce a child, they began to look for another way to use its power in a human. They took the monster's cells and had been injecting my boy with them. Those bastards had been fusing my b-baby with a monster. But after he was born, his little body was trying ta reject it. They said that if we did anything to stop the pain, or the struggle, they were afraid that their research would be ruined. Both of those doctors forced me to endure those horrid screams, day after agonizing day. Three days later, everything was silent. I ran to check on my baby and he glared at me with bright green eyes; I could have sworn that they had been red. My little baby was staring at me with such hatred, and I- I've never forgotten that damning look. Ever since then, I have been so scared of you, Reno."
I hit the wall with the back of my head several times. How could I be expected to believe all of this? It was like listening to a strange fairy tale that wasn't going to end well at all, and it only wore down on my nerves even more.
"The world's inevitable end, chaos, conceived the judgment, damnation," I mumbled. "Chaos, that's the demon sealed inside Valentine…he conceived by you the…judgment? Am I Damnation?"
My mind was reeling. Some pieces of the puzzle were falling in perfect place, while others still didn't seem to fit.
"Reno?" my mother asked, but I continued to talk to myself.
"The ruby of Fate will be placed in your hands…well, I am at his total command." My finger twirled around one of my bangs slowly. "Protect it, lest all is lost? What the hell could that mean?"
"Reno? Please talk to me!"
I looked up at her with indifference.
"Why should I? You never told me the truth, and you never bothered to look for me, so why the hell would I say anything to you, Leviathan?"
"T-that's not true, yo! I-"
"Shut up! You are nothing but a freakin' whore who turned her child into some damn monster! You know what? Just shut the hell up and stay fucking put! There are some sick fuckers after my lover, and they'll do anything to get to him! The last thing I need is you to get killed 'cause of your stupidity!"
Ugh, the dizzy spell hit in full force, churning my empty stomach.
"Did you say 'he'?" she whispered.
"Yeah, so?" I grumbled starting to feel sick to my stomach.
"Reno," her voice was very firm, "I know we were poor and I didn't teach you much, but I taught you better than that. We're not animals."
This was just getting shittier wasn't it? "Fuck you, Ma. You don't know shit about me or him, so don't tell me what to do. Besides, how does liking a guy make me an anim-"
The rest of my sentence was interrupted by vomit spewing out of my mouth. It was burning and painful, and I couldn't stop the dry heaving for a while because of my empty stomach. My body had finally had enough. All I needed was some fucking sleep and some food. I slapped my Ma's hand away as she reached to touch me. A shaky hand wiped some of the bile from my mouth as I brought my body under control.
"Clean this up," I croaked. "Stay in hiding, and I'll be back."
I forced myself up and staggered out of the house. Time didn't seem to register in my mind; the only thing I could think of was a nice warm bed, a home. Before I realized it, I was knocking on the back door of Seventh Heaven.
"What the fuck?" I asked myself aloud.
"I should be asking the same thing, Reno."
I whirled around and came face to face with Cloud.
There was mechanical grease all over his hands and forearms trailing up to his torn up and dirty T-shirt. His frayed jeans hugged his legs just right, just enough to make him so damn sexy. My mouth gaped open as I tried to come up with a good reason for being here.
"Did you come for some more chicken?" he asked bitterly.
"No! I mean, sorry about the chicken, it was just me, an' not your cookin', but that's not why I'm here! I mean, like, I was just trying to find home and a nice bed to sleep, and-"
Cloud raised his pointer finger and cut my rambling. He looked hard at me and raised an eyebrow.
"You said you were looking for your home, so why'd you end up here?"
"Uh, 'cause you're here," I blurted out before I could stop myself.
My hand came over my mouth and I was furious with myself for saying such a thing. How stupid could I be?
"Reno! Are you ok? You don't look so good!"
My head snapped up too fast sending my vision reeling and I stumbled forward right into his strong chest. Steely arms automatically wrapped protectively around me.
"You're burning up! What the hell happened to you?!"
I groaned in exhaustion. The blood rushing through my veins pounded through my head, echoing in my ears. The sound drowned out all other sound, intensifying every passing second. I just let myself go, hoping that Cloud wouldn't just leave me.
The darkness swirled around me, stroking my pale skin. Strangely, I didn't feel cold; instead, warmth coursed around me, pulsing with life. Rough clawed hands ran up my arms slowly, careful not to hurt me. The deep voice singing to me, slowly, washing over my soul itself. I felt so much better than I have in quite a while. It felt so very warm…
Fingers ran through my hair slowly, rubbing my scalp gently. The blankets wrapped around my body like a cocoon of protection and I just rested. It took a few minutes before I realized that there were voices speaking.
"So he'll be ok?"
That was Cloud, and it almost sounded like he actually cared. Well, ok, it sounded a lot like he cared, it just surprised me.
"I can't guarantee that, but he's a strong person."
Well, ain't it my lucky day. The other voice belonged to none other than Vincent Valentine. Both of them remained silent for a while, and it took me a few minutes before I could actually open my eyes. As soon as they cracked open, Valentine spoke.
"You are finally awake, Reno."
"Yeah, I guess so…"
Cloud caressed my cheek and lifted up my chin to look into my eyes.
"Hey, baby, are you ok?"
I nodded and placed my hand over his. Damn, those eyes of his were gorgeous.
"I'm a bit hungry, yo. Do you mind if I get something to eat?"
Cloud shook his head.
"Just stay here, and I'll get you some food. Don't worry, I won't cook anything."
I frowned and felt bad that he was still fussing over my, er, rejection, of his chicken. It wasn't his fault in the least bit. Still, he shouldn't still be acting like a big crybaby.
"Listen, kitten, that chicken was fine. I was just going through some stuff, and ended up losing my appetite. It wasn't you, ok? Don't blame yourself, and just so you know, some of your homemade gyros sounds real good about now."
I stuck out my tongue at him in good humor and he smiled.
"Well, I guess you'll want a few beers with that, huh?"
"Ah, uh, kitten, I'll just take some juice. You know, to help me feel better and stuff, yo."
My lover looked quite shocked at this but after a quick glance at Vincent, he decided to just get my food. Once he left the room, I could feel red eyes boring into the back of my head.
"Reno, there is something you're hiding, is there not?"
Man, did this guy know everything? His creepy factor just went up a notch. I decided to turn and face the man I was going to talk to. There was no reason to hide it from him, since I suspected that he knew what was wrong already. Damn, this guy was just like Rufus.
I was quite shocked when instead of looking into scarlet intelligent eyes, I was faced with golden feral ones. His skin was paler (like it already wasn't pale enough) and his very aura seemed to have changed.
"You're Chaos, aren't you," I whispered.
It wasn't that I was scared, just…I'm not sure. Seeing the entity that had been fused into my cells for the first time like that, it was a strange feeling.
"And you are my only child." His guttural voice sent shivers up my limbs.
"Yeah, I guess so. How long have you known without telling me?"
A strange smile spread across his lips. "I have known ever since I first laid eyes on you. However, I don't always tell Vincent everything; he knew nothing until just now."
"Is that so?"
"But I was pretty sure I had a son, not a daughter."
I was a little dumbstruck. That sarcastic bastard!
"I am a boy…I just got issues…" I mumbled.
"I'll say," he snorted.
"Listen, yo! You're awfully cheeky for being some ancient demon, what, did Mr. Creepy here give you a lesson in humor?"
"This stiff couldn't teach a hyena to laugh."
Any tension in the room immediately broke, and a smile easily crossed my lips. Maybe this demon guy wasn't so bad. He was definitely an improvement compared to all the other people I've been introduced to lately.
"So, like, can I tell you stuff and Vincent not know it?"
An eyebrow rose up. "Yes, but why would you? Do you need to tell me something? We just met…not including any AVALANCHE, Shinra encounters, of course."
He was right, why should I trust him? For the first time in my life, I felt the urge to just let it all out. I wanted to talk about the whole mess, about how I felt, I just wanted someone, anyone, to care enough to listen.
Chaos stared at me in a confused manner as I struggled with my emotions. Suddenly, it looked like a light went off in his head and he tried to hide the large smirk on his face with his hand, coughing to cover up the laugh.
"What the heck, yo? What now?"
"You're in deep shit, kid." He took a deep breath to keep from laughing. "Let me fill you in on something. What you got going on isn't natural, but your body is sure as hell trying to make it natural."
My hand slipped down to my thigh. "Bu-"
"Listen, idiot. Your body has been dumping a shit load of estrogen into your system, so…"
Hmmm, estrogen sounded familiar…what was it? It took me all of twenty seconds before I understood what he meant.
"Oh, SHIT NO!!!" The deep guttural laugh that came out of Chaos would have been hilarious if I wasn't the one he was laughing at. "You mean I got girl hormones raging through me? And a lot of it?!"
That's what that horrid feeling was! Wanting to talk about my inner feelings, bull shit! My stupid body was betraying me!
"You might want to give that Strife boy a heads up, though. So when you start asking him to get you some nail polish, he won't be caught unawares."
"Shut up!" I hissed. "The last thing I need is for Cloud to find out that I'm pregnant!" I made sure that my voice was a harsh whisper. Who knows what my boyfriend would do if he found out about that.
"Huh? Why? Doesn't the father have the right to know about his child?"
"What the hell are you-"
Golden eyes bore into me in disbelief. I stared back. No…this isn't right, it's impossible. It's…
"You don't know?" he mumbled. "Hmmm, interesting…"
"What do you mean," I asked slowly.
"I can sense a great many things, and I see more than you ever will, little boy. Your womb is a Mako cocoon. I assumed that they were Cloud's considering that one smells strongly of him. Now that you mention it though…hmm, yeah, that other one doesn't have his scent. Tch, you've been pretty busy with some SOLDIERS haven't you?"
Dear Bahamut, strike me dead. Now. Wait, this must all be a really fucked up dream, that's it. Me and Rude were on some mission, and I got the shit kicked out of me. I must be in a hospital in a coma, resting. That's all there is to it. I want to wake up now.
The telephone rang loudly, sending me sprawling on the floor when I jumped right off of the bed. I settled my breathing down expecting Cloud to pick up the phone downstairs, but it kept ringing. After one more ring, it stopped. Complete silence fell over the entire house. Wasn't there supposed to be the sound of cooking, of little children running, of something? Chaos and I shared a look, and the phone began ringing again. With cautious fingers, I picked up the receiver and placed it to my ear.
"Yo?"
"Hello, Mr. Stryker. I'm tired of waiting for cooperation from you and Cloud, so Damon and I have taken a new approach. We set off Hojo's backup plan. You might want to check up on your lover, Reno. Things are about to get real messy."