I HOLD NO CLAIM TO ANY OF THE ORIGINAL FINAL FANTASY 7 CHARACTERS! NOTHING! :(
I would like to thank for the wishes on my grandfather. The Surgery went fine but he will not be able to live on his own for a few months for now. I'm moving down to take care of him so my updates won't be often for a little while but they will be coming, I promise :)
Chapter Five
Manor of Despair
"God, I hate this smell. Vincent, walk over there. You're making me sick." Claire waved a hand in front of her nose. "It's going to take forever to clean your clothes! Why do you smell so bad! It worse than me!"
"Did you forget? You made me carry you through the water so you wouldn't touch it." Vincent reminded the woman beside him.
"Well, I didn't want to touch it. It's disgusting."
Vincent sighed as they continued to move up the ladder. He motioned the woman to be silent when he saw the Deepground soldier standing above them and quickly took him down. They had to take down the others in the room as well, hiding behind the stacks of boxes before finally making it to the elevator that would take them to their next point. Claire stood there in silence as Vincent was lost in his memories again. Something told her that it was about Lucrecia again. It was always about her…
Claire knew that, even if her wishes of Vincent were to be granted, Lucrecia was still going to be with the man she loved. It was just like Zack was always going to be with Jeanne and Aerith would be with Cloud. I appeared that the twins were definitely practically the same.
"Let's go," She sighed as the elevator finally stopped. Vincent said nothing and just moved out into the hall. There were two doors so Claire picked one and opened the door.
She gave a small smile. This was the library. She remembered Sephiroth and Sienna sifting through the books here all those years ago, looking for answers.
The other room that they were looking for was just down the way. The first part was a large lab with some table and files and large lights. To the left there was a hall lined with bookshelves that led into another room that was just full of more books and shelves and a desk.
Sienna's face was buried into one of the books at the desk while Sephiroth paced around the Lab with one of his own, flipping pages.
"A life form in the state of suspended animation excavated from a 2000-year-old stratum." Sephiroth was reading out to himself and Sienna. "Professor Gast named this life form Jenova…" He flipped the page and paced across the lab again. Sienna glanced up at him as they both ignored the presence of Zack, Jeanne, and Claire. "Date X/X/XX – Jenova verified as an Ancient…Date: X/X/XX – Jenova Project approved. Mako Reactor 1 authorized for use…" He walked down a row of cases towards Sienna and the desk. "My mother's name, Jenova…the Jenova Project…Could this be a coincidence…" He lowered the book and slowly lifted his head to look at the ceiling. "Professor Gast…Why didn't you tell me? Why did you die?"
"Jenova life form now resides within The Mt. Nibel Reactor, locked away." Sienna flipped a page in her own book. "Date: X/X/XX – Both tests have been performed. Date: X/X/XX – Test Subject One has come. It's strength amazing. Subject 2 has yet to move, though it still grows. Must wait a little longer." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Who were the two subjects? Was that…?" She couldn't continue as Sephiroth watched her and cradled her head in her arms.
"Sienna?" Jeanne took a step forward. "Is there something that you would like to eat or drink? Something that I could get you?"
"We would like to be alone." Sephiroth responded instead, glaring at the floor beneath his feet.
Sephiroth and Sienna were turned into the enemies that they were. Though they cause so much panic and destruction, she still felt sorry for the both of them. Why did this all have to happen?
Dammit, this was all Hojo's fault! It was all his fault! Everything!
At a weird sound, Claire turned to watch Vincent pick up some Materia that rolled to him. It then gave off a bright light and began to glow. She shielded her eyes. "What the-" Her voice stopped at the look on Vincent's face. "What is it?"
"Lucrecia." Was his answer.
Claire frowned. "Really? Do I-"
"Vincent, right?"
Claire turned behind her and moved out of the way, eyes wide in shock at the sight of the woman in the white lab coat. ~I…I thought Sienna killed her?~ Claire stared at Lucretia.
"Have you come to check up on me?" Lucrecia asked. Lucrecia then moved forward. Vincent opened his arms to embrace the woman but she passed right through him, like a hologram. ~oh, that explains,~ Claire sighed in relief. "Omega." She sighed. "His awakening is upon us."
~Omega?~ Claire asked herself. ~Where have I heard that before?~
"Soul wrought of terra corrupt. Quelling impurity, purging the stream to beckon forth an ultimate fate. Behold mighty Chaos, Omega's squire to the lofty heavens. I came across this passage while studying the scriptures of the Ancients. The Chronicles of Yore. Omega. The End. Just as all the other sentient begins, he too, is born of the Lifestream. However, his only purpose it so cleanse the planet of all things living and lead their immortal souls through the abyssal aether to a new beginning far, far beyond the never ending sea of stars, just as life circulates through our planet, so too, does our planet through the universe. Or at least in theory. However, what I can be certain of is, if Omega wakens, then all life as we know it will end. And when Omega has embarked on his journey to the Cosmos, our planet will wither and die. I will leave a copy of my records for you here, Vincent." Lucrecia told him. "Though I cannot imagine what help they might be, if any at all, just remember…" She hung her head before disappearing. "I am so sorry."
Claire turned away as Vincent called for the dead woman. Was she just being stupid? Would Vincent ever…"
"Let's go look for these files," Claire told the man before turning to lead the way out of room. She froze and jumped back behind the door again with a glare. "Dammit! Deepground is here!"
Vincent stayed silent throughout the entire movement through the mansion as they fought off Deepground soldiers and searched for the files that Lucrecia had been talking about. Claire finally got tired of it.
"We've searched all over Vincent," Claire scowled. "Her files aren't here!"
"They have to be," the man in red argued as he searched through a desk that he had searched twice before.
"Maybe…maybe Sienna found them! Maybe she found them and gave them to Jeanne." Claire gripped her chin as she thought.
"No, I read all the files that Jeanne had. They weren't there."
"Well, maybe Jeanne kept them from you, Vincent. You never know." Claire argued. "I'm telling you that they're not here!" She turned to the next door. She knew where this was going to lead them. This was through the caves to the stairs that led to the upper mansion. "But they could be upstairs."
Vincent sighed and stood up to follow the blonde woman into the caves. Claire stayed silent as more of those lizard men attacked them but something caught the corner of her eye. It was really hard to miss. Pushing a certain door open as Vincent continued to fighting the hall, the woman smiled at the sight of a coffin in the center of the room. Claire knelt down and ran her hand over it. She remembered everything here, too…
Claire turned to the large door and held her breath as she entered the key and turned it. She feared that it would always do what it had done before but this time, the door opened. Claire felt her hands shaking as she slowly pushed the door open. The others, who learned the tale from Cloud the night before, decided to stay back and watch from outside as the brother and Jeanne entered the room with her.
There were multiple coffins in the spider-web-infested room, but the only coffin that meant anything to Claire was the one in the middle of the room, closed. It was almost as if it had been waiting on her and so, she stepped towards it. She reached out to touch the top of it, to pull it off, but -
"…To wake me from the nightmare…" A man's deep voice sounded around the room; it sent shivers down Claire's spine. The three of them jumped as the lid was thrown off of the coffin. "Who is it?" A man sat up from the velvet cloth of the coffin, and stared at them all.
Jeanne pulled a confused face. Why did this man…make her think of Sienna? Why did they…look similar? Or was it just because they had the same colored hair?
When the man would stand, he would reach 6 feet tall with long, silky black hair like Sienna and crimson eyes. There was a red hand on his head with his hair falling over it. He wore a tattered red cape, held in place over his shoulders and his lower face by several buckles. Beneath the cape he wore everything else in black from his neck to his feet with several more straps and buckles. There was a gun and a holster on his right leg and pointed, gold sabatons on his feet. On his left arm was a golden gauntlet with claw-like fingers.
No. It was something else. Something else about him. Jeanne could practically see Sienna's face in this man. But why?
"…Never seen you before." The man voiced. "You must leave."
Claire just stared at him, lost for words so Cloud took a step forward for his sister. "You were having a nightmare." He told him.
"Hmph…a nightmare…?" The man glanced down at his legs for a moment. "My sleep has given me time to atone."
"Atone?" Claire finally found her voice. The man's head slowly lifted and turned. She held her breath as his red eyes seemed to burn into hers. Thank God he looked away; her knees were starting to shake.
"I have nothing to say to strangers." The man replied. "Get out." For some reason, that hurt Claire a lot more than it should have. "This mansion is the beginning of your nightmare."
Jeanne scoffed. "Tell me about it," She sighed.
The man turned back to her. "What do you know?"
It was Cloud that answered this time. "Like you said, this mansion is the beginning of a nightmare. No, it's not a dream, it's for real. Sephiroth and Sienna have lost their minds. They found the secrets that were hidden in this mansion and they…" He was cut off by the man in red.
"Sephiroth? And Sienna?"
All four looked at each other and asked the same thing. "You know Sephiroth and Sienna?"
The man in red finally stood up and Jeanne took notice of the gun that was hanging on his right leg. "You start first." He told the three of them.
Cloud and Claire both turned and look at Jeanne. She couldn't help but give a little smile as she opened her mouth. As she stood there, looking at and talking to the man, the more he looked like Sienna. Was it strange to say that a man looked like a woman?
"…That's how it was." Cloud said after Jeanne had finished.
"So Sephiroth knows he was created…Sienna too." The man in red thought for a moment. "And about the Jenova project?"
"Yes," Claire couldn't take her eyes off the man. "They both disappeared about five years ago but they've just popped back up again. They're doing everything that they can to try to find the Promised Land."
"Now it's your turn." Cloud pointed at him.
But the hottie in red (yes he is a very extreme hottie) decided that he wasn't going to say anything. "Sorry…I cannot speak."
"Hey! That's dirty!" Aerith yelled from the door the others were all watching from.
The man sat back down in the coffin. "Hearing your stories, has added upon me yet another sin. More nightmares shall come to me now, more than I previously had. Now…please leave." He went to lie down but Claire moved forward, throwing her hands on the edge of the coffin.
"Who are you?" She asked. She had to ask. This was the man that had been haunting her dreams since she was a child! She couldn't just find him and then leave him here!
"I was with…the ShinRa manufacturing Department in Administrative Research, otherwise known as-"
"The Turks," Jeanne said. He nodded.
"Tell us your name. Please." Claire was practically begging the guy. Jeanne could tell that he didn't want to say anything else and hid a smirk as he sighed.
"Valentine. Vincent Valentine."
"Valentine?" Jeanne's eyes grew wide as her hand lowered and gripped the bag she constantly carried. ~Could it be…?~
"You were a Turk?" Cloud demanded.
"Formerly. I have no affiliation with ShinRa now." He looked at the three of them. "And you?"
Jeanne lowered her hand off of the bag. "Jeanne Rush. Formerly of SOLDIER and student under Sienna and Sephiroth." She bit her tongue as the twins introduced themselves.
"You three were also with ShinRa?" Vincent asked. "Then do you know Lucrecia?"
"Who?" The twins echoed each other.
"Lucrecia." He repeated.
Cloud and Claire shook their heads but Jeanne glanced away. Vincent stared at her in silence before she sighed. "I don't know her personally, but I know who you're talking about. She's the one that gave birth to Sephiroth."
"Wasn't Jenova Sephiroth's mother?" Cloud asked.
Jeanne shook her head as Vincent responded. "That isn't completely wrong, but just a theory."
Jeanne glanced down at the books on her side. ~Not anymore~
"He was born from a beautiful lady," Vincent continued. "That lady was Lucrecia." They could all see just from that that there was a little something special to Vincent about Lucrecia. "She was an assistant to Professor Gast of the Jenova Project. Beautiful…Lucrecia."
Jeanne narrowed her eyes. Gast was just as big a part of this as Hojo was. Half of her was rather glad that Sienna killed that man all those years ago; too bad it wasn't before Aerith was born.
"A human experiment?" Cloud asked.
"They both were," Jeanne told the man beside her. "I've told you this. Several times."
"I don't remember ever hearing about that," The Blond replied.
"I couldn't…I couldn't stop her." Vincent's tone fell as he stared down at the claw on his left hand. "That was my sin. I let the one I loved, the one I respected most, face the worst."
Jeanne felt a sudden, small connection to the man in red. She felt responsible for what happened to Zack as well, she just didn't seem to think that just sleeping would forgive her for it.
"So you decided to sleep?" Zeke stuck his head into the room. "How fucking stupid does that sound?"
Vincent gave him a glared before the lid of the coffin shut again; Claire moved her hands just in time.
"Hey, wait!" Claire tried to push the lid off. "Wait a second!"
"Just go!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Zeke decided to take a step into the room now, a frown on his face. "So you're telling me, Mr. Valentine, that after all that's happened, you're going to just lay there and take it? You're not going to do anything?"
The lid of the coffin shot off again and Vincent sat back up. "What I do has nothing to do with you."
"No, but it's got something to do with her," Everyone looked surprised when he pointed at Claire. Vincent looked at her again. "This girl has been having you floating in a blue tube haunting her dreams since she was a child and she has been trying for years to free you from this damn room. And now, when she finally gets to set you free, we find out that you weren't even trying to get free and that you're 'sleeping' away your sins?" He demanded. "How sad." Zeke's arm wrapped around Claire's shoulder. "Come on. This was just a waste of time. Let emo-vampire boy stay here and 'sleep away his sins'." He led the woman away and Jeanne scratched her head as the others all filed down the hall.
~Such an ass when he first woke up but then again Zeke is an ass to everyone.~ Claire chuckled.
"Claire, what are you…" Vincent's voice faltered as he gazed around the room that she was sitting in. She glanced up at him to see that he had closed his eyes and took a deep breath. What was he thinking about? He might have been dragged back to the very spot that she was thinking about too…
"Wait!" Everyone turned to see Vincent standing behind them. Claire couldn't help but grin and get excited. "If I go with you will I meet Hojo?"
~Why is it that everyone's after Hojo?~ Claire thought to herself, looking at Jeanne and Zeke. ~What did he…oh wait, that's right…~
"Dunno," Cloud shrugged. "But we're after him and Sephiroth and Sienna. So, I guess sooner or later…"
Vincent turned, muttering that woman's name again. He faced them again. "All right. I've decided to go with you."
"Wait, what?" Barret raised an eyebrow.
"Why should we let you come?" Zeke asked. " After all, you were an ass in your little tomb back there."
"Do as you like," Jeanne told him, turning to continue down the path. "But be warned; Hojo is mine."
"The hell he is!" Zeke hurried off after the woman in white. "Hojo is mine! No one is killing him but me!"
Claire shook her head with a sigh as they all moved to follow after them. She glanced over her shoulder to see that Vincent had decided to stay in the back of the group and paused to fall back and talk to him but Cloud grabbed his sister's arm and dragged her behind him; anything and everything coming out of his mouth to start a conversation.
She sighed and continued to walk. She would attack Vincent with questions the very next moment that she could.
"I always hated these damn stairs," Claire cursed as they traveled up to the actual mansion. Her voice dragged her companion out of his thoughts and he gave a silent sigh. "How do you know this place so well?" He asked her.
Claire paused for a moment at the top of the stairs. "I spent most of my childhood with Cloud here," She smiled. "We traveled all over this place, though my brother never traveled down below with me when I found your locked room. It's still as creepy as ever."
"Found my room?" Vincent asked her. He had heard her tell the story before but…
"Yeah," she nodded, stepping into the next room before they walked through the halls some more. They talked like they didn't even notice they were fighting off Deepground soldiers. "I was too short to reach the clues on your doorway at first but when I came back to Nibelheim with Jeanne and Zack nearly ten years ago I began to break the code before Sephiroth and Sienna went crazy and killed everyone. When we returned years later is when I finally got the key to your room. I'm pretty sure that you remember what happened after that." The man nodded and stopped for a moment, deciding which room to search next. "Here, this is the computer room," She told him, opening the door. Vincent slid in past her but then fell to his knees. Claire caught him. "Are you all right?"
"This pain." He lifted a hand to his head.
"Well, well, we meet again."
"Not you again." Claire growled at Rosso as the red-head stood across from them. Vincent stood back up and placed himself between the two women.
Rosso chuckled. "This is perfect. I so wanted to see you, my loves."
Claire pulled a face. "Sorry, I don't swing that way."
"Deepground." Vincent cut into the chase. "What are they attempting to do with Omega?"
"I don't know," The redhead answered. "And to be honest, I don't care."
"That's surprising." Claire admitted.
"This is what Weiss desires." Rosso shrugged. "Hail Weiss. And what Weiss orders, we do. It is very simple. If he desires the awakening of Omega, then that is what all of Deepground desires. We could care less what happens to the planet. But all this matters little to me. It isn't every day you are granted the chance to cleanse the world of all life. Just the thought sends a chill of excitement through my body."
Claire stared at this woman. She was a freak but at the same time her life had made her that way; people involved with ShinRa Inc. often seemed to endure those results.
"The Deepground soldiers were born and bred to kill. We were chained to a destiny of servitude. But then three years ago, we were freed from our chains-though waiting for us was darkness lit only by the faint glow of Mako. And what do you think we did when we gained our freedom?"
"Went psycho and killed in a rampage?" Claire offered.
"Correct." Rosso chuckled. "This is how we were raised. That is all we knew. And so I bathed in the blood of a thousand soldier."
"What were you trying to do? Turning into a Youkai?" The blonde woman asked.
(XD, I couldn't help it. I'm watching Saiyuki at the moment. Hakkai fans will know what I'm talking about ;)~)
"I enjoyed it, I reveled in it. And when I finally stepped out of the abyss I craved for more. You understand, right?" She asked Vincent.
Vincent pointed Cerberus at her. "I don't think so."
"How can you say that, darling?" Rosso asked. "We're one and the same, and the sooner you hand her over she will be too." Rosso jumped back through the doorway behind her. Vincent gave chase after her, Claire right behind him, but a large machine cut them off with bombs but they quickly followed right to the main area of the manor. The machine was waiting for them, crawling all over the walls and ceiling as it jumped on them and fired lasers. Claire got caught in the arm with one of them before Vincent's Cerberus finally took it down off the roof.
"Why isn't Cid or Renee here?" Claire panted, holding the wound in her arm. "They could've taken that bastard out in moments." She kicked at the ground. She wanted to see all the others so bad right now. They were all gathering for her and Cloud's birthday on the 19th so she only had to wait about a week longer.
"Are you okay?" Vincent asked her, moving across the room.
"Yeah, I'm fi-" she lifted her head to see that the woman in red had joined them again. "Vince!" Her call was too late as Rosso drove her hand in his chest and ripped something out. It was a large orb of some kind.
"I'm sorry. Were you not expecting that?"
"Vincent!" Claire hurried to him but caught herself as the man was engulfed in red again and transformed into Chaos. She3 wasn't sure if touching him in this form would be a good idea. Last time she did…
Vincent let out a yell as ice began to grow from the floor, encasing Lucrecia as Sienna glared at her.
"That's not ice," Claire whispered to herself as they woman struggled to break free but the struggle was futile. "That's crystal. Mako crystal."
"For seven years," Sienna removed her hand from her throat and stepped back. "For seven years Sephiroth has been in pain beyond belief, because of YOU. Because you did nothing. You could have stopped Hojo if you wanted to, you just refused to. Your nothing but a monster; just like him." She pulled a disgusted face at the woman as the crystal finished engulfing the woman. "The crystal will suck her life away…it will take years but she'll suffer through all of it…just like Sephiroth had to."
"No!" Vincent ignored his bleeding and ran at the crystal, banging on it and trying to break it but nothing worked. "No! Let her go!"
"And you two," Sienna ignored Vincent's cries. She opened her mouth to say something but then smirked, shaking her head. "I'll deal with the rest of you fools later." She turned to leave the cave but Vincent lunged at her, ordering her to free Lucrecia. Sienna wasn't taking it this time and out her blade came out just to be slid in through Vincent's stomach.
"Vincent!" Claire screamed. She watched as the man in red crumbled to the floor before glaring at the other woman before running at her herself.
Sienna didn't even bother looking at the other woman before knocking her away as she made her way towards the exit. She came to a halt though as a strange aura decided to join them. Sienna turned again with a smile on her face as she looked at Vincent. He was encased in a green light before it burst off of him, leaving his transformed state. Vincent now had leathery wings sprouting out his back with a large, red headdress-like object with scars running down the side of his face as his eyes glared a golden red. Claire halted herself, she knees shaking.
"Well, well, here's the little experiment that I've read about," Sienna chuckled as she stared at the man. "This is what I get to look forward too, hmm?" She glanced over at Claire before her grin grew worse. "Let's see just how far your mind has lost itself."
And then, she was gone. Claire was confused about what she was talking about before Vincent had turned to look at her before he jumped. Claire swallowed.
"So, you cannot control the beast without this." Rosso grinned. "Good, no interruption this time." She chuckled. Taking a step forward she had to stop as a gunshot landed at her feet. Glancing up she frowned. "How could I have forgotten about you?"
"Maybe because you're an idiot." Claire responded, grabbing her sword. "I want answers. What does Weiss want with me? What damn chip[ had you tried to place into my body last time?"
Rosso grinned. "All good things to those who wait. All your answers will come eventually. Weiss is rather hurt by you though, Claire. All these years you're all he can think of just to find out that you don't remember anything about him."
Her sword lowered a bit. "I…I know him?" Claire knew that she had lost her memories for a little while but she had gotten them all back already; hadn't she?
"Like I said, just wait and everything will be brought back to you." Rosso grinned, spreading her legs out as she got ready to attack. "Now, I will be taking you with me; either quietly or forcefully."
Rosso didn't wait for an answer and attacked. For some reason she seemed to be so much faster than before; or was Claire just seeing things? Whatever it was, it was true because Claire was getting her ass kicked again by this red-head beast.
"Dammit!" The blonde pushed herself to her feet as blood pooled down her body. She was beginning to feel lightheaded. "Jeanne wouldn't…wouldn't get beaten like…like this…"
"That would be because Jeanne is a monster." Rosso laughed as Claire fell to her knees again. "Think about who her mother was. Her father. She had that blood running through her veins. Sienna and Sephiroth are the only ones who would be able to beat us, maybe even Jeanne but I doubt it. You and Vincent's tries are just worthless."
~Sienna, huh?~ Claire coughed up some blood in her hand. ~She always ends up coming back to us, doesn't she? We'll never be able to escape her. Ever.~
Rosso kicked the blade away and then kicked the other woman in the face before picking her up by her collar. This woman was insanely strong. What in the hell had Hojo done to them? Claire tried to get free but couldn't. Her eyes widened now as Rosso pulled out a needle.
"They might have pulled the chip out last time," The redhead smirked. "But this won't be removable." She shoved the needle into the side of Claire's neck and injected the clear liquid into her veins. It stung. She could feel the pain still as it spread out through her body, making her squeal. It was like being stung by bees or wasps over and over again. It was making her lightheaded again.
"What…what did you just do?"
"I told you before, Weiss wants you. This serum cannot be removed now that it is injected with your blood. They can't remove it like the chip because they would extract too much blood. Don't worry, you will see what it does eventually." Rosso then dropped Claire on the ground and turned back to Vincent. "Now, you get to watch as I take care of your little boyfriend he-what!"
The last thing that Claire saw was a large ninja star flying towards her and Rosso.
I hope that this long chapter was a good apology for not updating for the last two weeks :)
PLEASE REVIEW :)