No Longer A Memory! – Chapter 5: Of Dates and Demons
Chapter Summary: Several parties prepare for ominous undertakings…
Author: Illusor Meaneld
Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.
Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.
I DO however own, the revised conceptual designs for some clothing, demons, and monsters, and "Namir" completely belongs to me so no stealing…
Night had fallen, crisp and cold over the small town of Nibelheim. Deep in the basements of the mansion, two figures wandered through the catacombs of abandoned laboratories, and projects. The larger man was in the lead, ignoring the thick dust that kicked up behind him as he walked. His path was lit only by the residual mako glow in the tanks of neglected experiments. The specimen inside were all long dead, but the substance continued to illuminate the room stubbornly. The shuffling of paper echoed off the walls, even that small sound seeming deafening in the forlorn stillness.
"Professor…" the assistant whispered, it felt oppressive to be wandering in a room that had been shunned for so long.
"This equipment is the most advanced I have ever seen for demon experimentations." The older man explained, ignoring his colleague's discomfort. "The test subjects here are all monsters, the attempt was made to fuse them with demonic spirits." One bony hand gestured to the tanks and their eerie inhabitants. Their features distorted until they were almost unrecognizable from their original species. They all had one thing in common however… each and every monstrous form and face was contorted in pain and rage, frozen forever in the last of their death-throws. The papers rustled again, causing the smaller man to jolt. "All of the specimens died, some instantaneously, and others driven insane by their demons." The younger man shivered, and finally his partner paused, the professor's glasses gleaming strangely in the green light. "You aren't afraid are you Ethan?" The boy shook his head vehemently, but his eyes darted nervously to the macabre corpses. the older man chuckled, "There is only report of one… human… specimen, using this equipment at least."
"That would be Mr. 'V. Valentine' right?" Ethan piped up, still eying their surroundings warily.
"That's right…" His cohort agreed placidly, "whoever this 'Valentine' is, he's the only human subject… and also… the only SUCCESS!" young Ethan gasped,
"The ONLY success sir?"
"The only one… I believe it may be the element of humanity, perhaps homo-sapiens can better fuse with demons, perhaps because demons are created from mostly human emotion…"
"But why weren't there other human experiments? Professor Hojo has never shown any qualms with testing on humans before…" Ethan interjected, there was more paper sifting.
"According to his notes, Professor Hojo had passed the project onto one 'Dr. Lucretia Crescent'. It was she who finished the 'Chaos Project'." Both men fell deep into thought, still strolling absently through the skeletal labs.
"Dr. Crescent died shortly after the culmination of the Chaos Project didn't she?"
"Yes, … the records indicate she perished during the JENOVA Project…"
"Then why didn't Hojo continue her work?" The younger man persisted, the larger man snorted sardonically.
"Hojo never continued any work but his own." Again silence fell… the older scientist pausing to consider one of the many tanks and it's gruesome tenant. "I'm going to try it…" He whispered fervently, his face breaking into an eager grin. "I will continue the demon sciences!"
"Where are you going to get human subjects? It is OBVIOUS the monsters failed!"
"I would never bestow such power on a random stranger… it would be too, … unpredictable. That was one lesson Hojo never learned."
"But…. Surely… you don't mean to try it on yourself?" Ethan squeaked in alarm, His colleague turned to him slowly,
"But of course… The evidence is all here! Demon experiments were successful with humans! It will work!"
"ONE human! You said it was just one! What if we're missing something?" Ethan began shuffling frantically through his own papers, His partner laughed,
"It will work Ethan! Now come help me, I need to prepare the equipment." His chuckling continued to echo down the halls, unheard by the monsters that, even in death, stood eternal vigil over the forsaken labs.
--------------------------
The next morning dawned bright and cheery; Vincent was up and showered first as usual, with Sephiroth following closely after. However, as per their agreement, Vincent cooked more than just his own breakfast before the Ex-General strode into the room, the strong scent of vanilla wafting after him. The silver-haired man paused upon reaching the table, raising one eyebrow marginally. His roommate, uncertain as to the quantities of the promised bacon Sephiroth might wish to devour, had taken it on himself to provide more than enough variety. There were eggs, scrambled, fried, and turned into omelets…. The bacon was in strips, in bits, in evenly diced and nearly perfect squares. Three kinds of juice sat in pitchers on the table, and toast in four kinds of bread, both buttered and not.
"… Vincent…"
"Did I miss something?" The gunman asked, looking up from his own plate.
"… no… but … you could have just asked me what I wanted." Unable to help himself Sephiroth's face broke into a grin. "Don't worry about it… apology accepted." He chuckled, sitting himself down and helping himself to a generous portion of the food. Vincent's crimson gaze fell down to his plate, the silence they both preferred fell quickly over the room. The swordsman made certain that he had at least a portion of everything Vincent had made, it may not all have been his favorite but he was not about to let his roommate feel guilty for anything. To his surprise, everything was tasty! His green eyes widened momentarily before he began digging in with a little more gusto. While he chewed he gazed at Vincent thoughtfully, Zack had been a terrible cook… even his mere proximity to cooking instruments seemed to spell out disaster… the boy could BURN Jell-O… Sephiroth shook his head at the memory, and his gaze landed on the gunman's left arm. It had become a rule that Vincent was not to wear his now-silver gauntlet around the house, after it had put irreparable gouges in their previous dining table. So for the moment his blue-grey fore arm with fur, scales, and claws, rested gently against the polished wood. Sephiroth's reminiscing drifted back to the moment he had first seen it, Vincent had been badly wounded, but the arm had remained almost untouched under it's claw-gauntlet. Just above the strange discolored skin there had been a deep gash where the metal had bitten into the flesh… Sephiroth froze, a bite of omelet half-way to his mouth as he frowned. He knew the scar Vincent had gotten from his ordeal in the mountains when they had met, he had cleaned that particular wound himself. The mark had been precisely an inch above where the skin turned blue-grey…. And yet… as the Ex-General stared now, the demonic flesh was just high enough on Vincent's arm to brush against the pale, puckered mark.
"Vincent…" Sephiroth murmured, setting his fork down on his plate quietly. The gunman looked up blinking once as their eyes met. Sephiroth's gaze traveled back to the discolored arm. "That… 'taint', as you call it…" Red eyes glanced down, and a guarded expression dropped over Vincent's already subtle face.
"It's nothing." The gunman tried to assure him, quickly pulling his arm back. The motion ceased when Sephiroth dove forward, grabbing Vincent's demonic wrist in his hand and pulling it back out to view.
"Vin, this scar here…" Sephiroth ran one finger across a ragged criss-crossing scar that circled completely around the gunman's arm, positioned about two inches from the wrist. "This is where the hand was grafted… isn't it?"
"…"
"Your taint is spreading… HAS been spreading…" Vincent refused to meet his gaze. "Is this why your demons have been harder for you to control? They've been getting out more easily, and more frequently…"
"… Yes, I'm dangerous… If you want me to leave I…"
"Vincent… is there any way to reverse it? Or at least stop the progress?" Sephiroth interrupted smoothly,
"… Not that I have found."
"We could check Hojo's files… Or Lucretia's, they were the ones who did this right?"
Suddenly Vincent paused, his gaze shifting away from the silver-haired man, still stretched across the table to grab his hand. "There… might be … someone we can talk to…"
"What? …" Sephiroth frowned, "That's not right… it should be files, everyone who worked on that project is dead. I'm sure you know more than anyone else alive anyways."
The gunman's lip quirked, "Technically, everyone died yes. But there's still someone… I think we should go talk to her… I THINK she'll be happy to meet you."
Frowning the swordsman finally released the arm, settling back into his own seat. "Her?... Hmmmm…" He resumed his meal, deep in thought as he gazed absently at the scars that patterned the darkened limb. He couldn't think of anyone who might fit the description his roommate had given him, but it was certainly an interesting consideration.
"Just a warning…" Vincent murmured, his eyes returned to his plate, Sephiroth's eyebrow quirked as he noticed the tell-tale twitch in his roommate's lip that was the gunman's version of a smile. "She's faster with her swords than you…"
Sephiroth blinked once, "Faster than me?"
Vincent nodded, "But to be fair… you hit harder…" again the lip twitch,
Sephiroth nodded and returned to his own food with a broad grin, he was intensely curious now, no one had been FASTER than him before, and he discovered he was excited, even eager! And judging by the intensely amused expression on Vincent's face, the gunman had known he would be.
--------------------------
Cloud sighed as he stared at his own reflection in the clear, sweet-smelling water. The yellow and white flower petals still drifted across its mirror surface, even with his bare feet dangling in the cool liquid. Zack sat next to him, his pants also rolled up and his legs immersed in Aeris' pool. But the black-haired swordsman was sprawled across the ground with his arms behind his head, cheerfully gazing at the clouds through the massive holes in the ceiling.
"Y'know… I fell through that ceiling once…" Zack muttered in peaceful reminiscing,
"Me too…" Cloud smiled back, Zack laughed,
"I always knew I was a good influence on ya Fluffy…"
"It's Cloud…" The blonde responded automatically, though the strange nicknames had ceased to bother him.
"Ya know… I had this weird dream about this place once… it was like it is now, and all you guys were there… but I'd never even met most of you yet. And Aeris was there too… it was a really weird dream. I thought at the time that I'd just eaten under-ripe fruit again."
"I think I saw you too Zack…" Cloud returned, thinking back to when he'd defeated Seph…. No… JENOVA a second time.
"My girlfriend ROCKS!"
Cloud chuckled in return, "Aeris is certainly amazing…" He shifted in place again as he gazed at the sparkling water… "Hey Zack…"
"Hmmm?"
"What should I do about Friday?"
"Friday?" The ex-SOLDIER mumbled dazedly, his eyes had drifted shut as he'd sat basking in the pleasant warmth.
"My date with Tifa?"
Zack's glowing blue eyes snapped open. "Oh YEAH!!" He whooped, and tossed himself into a sitting position. "Have you thought about where you're gonna take her?" Zack grinned enthusiastically.
"Well…. It's not that easy, I don't want it to just be… y'know… standard…" Cloud shrugged, staring at his feet through the water's distortion.
Zack snorted, "Of COURSE not! Ya gotta go somewhere SPECIAL!!"
The blonde finally raised his eyes, "But WHERE?"
"I think I got a couple ideas…" Zack chuckled, he tapped his chin as he thought, his gaze suddenly far away. "Don't suppose you can take it outta town can ya spikey?" Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud knocking on the permanently open door.
"Hope I ain't interrupting nothin' yo!" A familiar voice called as the sound of footsteps signified his entry.
"Hey! Reno!!" Zack called waving from his position beside Cloud, "What brings you out to the slums man?"
The redhead raised an eyebrow before folding his arms, and settling into his lopsided slouch. "Ya really forgot didn't ya? We were supposed to play Triple Triad today Yo!"
Zack blinked a few times and then slapped his forehead with his palm, "Oh YEAH! The tournament! I totally forgot!" Reno snorted, but Zack continued smoothly and eagerly, "But C'mon Red, this is important too! Cloud's gotta date with a PSYCHOPATH!!"
Reno's eyes widened slightly, "You're dating Sephiroth? Whoa! I didn't know you swung that way Cloud! Guess I can't say I'm surprised though…"
Zack waved his arms frantically, "NO, No!! He's dating TIFA!"
"Oh!" the red-head returned, "Tifa… well it's about TIME Cloud!" then he paused, his face twisting into a frown, "But why'd ya call her a psycho yo?"
"She totally beat him up! Chained him to a wall and forced him to ask her out!" Zack continued excitedly.
Reno snickered, "Didn't know you were into THAT either! Kinky!"
"No… it wasn't like that! Zack's exaggerating!!... She was just… very insistent…" Cloud rushed to explain, trying to salvage some small portion of his reputation.
"Anyways, Spikey needs some dating advice!" Zack finished with a grin,
"OH!" Reno nodded sagely, "Well why didn't you say so, Spikey? You've come to the right place!" Reno tossed himself on the ground on the other side of the blonde, ignoring the fact that it was he who had come to them and not vice-verse.
Cloud suddenly found himself feeling very anxious. "I'm not so sure…" He started to mumble, but both of his friends ignored his possible misgivings.
"Okay, so there are a couple of things ya gotta know about dating Cloud…" Reno began, taking off his shoes and socks as he spoke, "First, if a girl smiles at you during the beginning of the date, that means she wants a kiss later!" He gave the blonde a wink, "scary movies are great! They make the chicks wanna cling to you yo! And anytime you can find a nice crowd is great too, the more body contact the better…"
"Hey Reno…" Zack interrupted suddenly, "How come you never work?"
Reno leaned forward to stare past Cloud at the Ex-SOLDIER, "I'm Off-duty Yo!"
"You're ALWAYS off-duty!" Zack returned,
"Because I'm always OFF-duty when I'm not ON-duty!" The red-head rolled his eyes as if this should have been obvious.
"So how come you're never ON-Duty?' Zack persisted,
"There's not enough Duty to go around right now," Reno shrugged, "Tseng and Elena got it covered yo!"
"I think Tseng said something about Rufus being mad at him again…" Cloud inserted calmly.
"Wha'dya do this time?" Zack continued eagerly,
"Hey! I thought this conversation was about Cloud and Tifa!" the Turk snapped,
"I still don't know where I should take her…" Cloud muttered, both relieved they weren't arguing, but uncomfortable at the dating 'suggestions' so far.
Zack suddenly snapped his fingers, "OH! Of COURSE!! He needs to go see the Expert!" the black-haired swordsman crooned,
"Yeah! The Expert!" Reno agreed quickly, nodding eagerly with Zack for a moment before a frown suddenly fell across his face, "Wait,… I thought I WAS the expert yo!"
The ex-SOLDIER waved him off casually, "No, no… I mean THE expert!"
"Is he STILL the expert?" the Turk returned.
"Who's the expert?" Cloud interrupted curiously,
"Sephiroth of course!" Zack glibly responded,
"SEPHIROTH?" the blonde gaped,
"Well DUH!" the brunette assured,
"He's really good." The red-head added.
"He knows EVERYTHING!" Zackary bragged, "I mean… he even delivered like… 13 babies at the same time during a SNOWSTORM, and did a triple-by-pass DURING A BATTLE and crap like that!"
Cloud raised an eyebrow at the blatantly impossible feats. "But… does he even date?"
Reno snorted, "That doesn't matter yo! He's got the best advice, it's like gold! Works every time!"
Zack leapt to his feet, "C'mon! Let's take him to Seph! This is gonna require a miracle!!"
Reno laughed, grabbing up the shoes that were scattered around the pool's edge, "This should be well worth listening to yo!"
Cloud didn't know whether to be terribly unnerved, or excited when the other two started dragging him to the door, it was only when he realized that they intended to make the trip still barefooted that he started protesting.