"Lucretia...why didn't you tell me?" Vincent whispered to the figure encased in crystal, shaking his head as he closed his eyes. "Why? I could have protected them... You know that...surely, even then you knew it... So why keep them a secret...?"

"...maybe she didn't think you'd believe her." The voice was rough, leaving him unsure whether it was a man or a woman that spoke from the shadows of the cave, though the figure itself left no hint to gender, cloaked and hooded in a shadowy grey color. "...maybe she thought you would cast her out for what she had already let happen..."

"Who are you?!"

"That doesn't matter...but you need to understand...there are some things that needed to happen in order for the world to reach a better state... Soon, all shall be complete...you should return to your apartment. ...who knows when you may be called upon..." The laughter sent chills down his spine, though it did give him the certainty that the figure speaking was female, roughening her voice to avoid revealing herself. As he stood to rush at the woman, she simply disappeared – it was enough to make him question his sanity as he traveled home that evening.

It was no surprise when he walked in and found Sanura asleep in his bed – the girl had made herself at home while her boyfriend was working with Reeve at the W.R.O. headquarters – and he did his best to avoid waking her.

"...Father?" The soft whisper startled him a few minutes later, turning to find her sitting up and staring at him. "...where were you? I hope you don't mind my coming by...I brought some dinner...it's in the fridge."

"How long have you been here?"

"...not long." She smiled, then got to her feet and moved toward the door. "Make sure to eat, Father...I know you do, even if you refuse to do so around anyone else. ...there's a festival tonight, though, so I'm going to leave and join the rest of the crowd."

"...be careful."

"Always am." She waved before she pulled the door shut behind her, and he heard her footsteps down the hall, then through the open window her laughter as she ran out to join the people milling through the streets.

As he lay on the bed later that evening, watching the news after dinner, he had a moment of amusement at the thought that he was almost like any other father – waiting for his daughter to get home from a late night party – though he was anything but a normal being.

When the shots were fired, his first thought went to Sanura, who was somewhere in the city below. The helicopter targeting him was merely an annoyance, something to be eliminated – which, after leaping out his window, he did his best to destroy. As soon as he had the chance he was running, calling out for his daughter. The costumed fools running rampant and slaughtering the village were easily taken care of, but he never stopped moving, until he heard a frightened scream.

"Sanura!" The roar was the only warning the three men closing in on her received as Vincent leapt from the roof to land in front of his daughter, shooting them down, not stopping until not a single muscle of their bodies twitched. When he turned around, he found himself looking down to the girl who huddled by the wall, her hands over her ears, her eyes wide. Though he extended his hand, the only thought in his mind was the terror he saw in those gentle eyes.

"...Father..." The relief struck him as odd, and the way she grasped his hand firmly and let him pull her to her feet was still more unusual. "I'm alright...really, I'm fine. I'm not completely helpless..."

"...really."

"Yes, really! If I had my gun -" She stopped as he held up the gun Reno had given her for her most recent birthday, and had to stare a minute. "...where'd you get that?"

"...my nightstand, Sanura. ...you really are hopeless..."

"...oh." Blushing, she took the weapon, but not without a glare up at him. "It's not my fault, why would I have ever thought of grabbing my gun when this town has always been so safe?"

"...self preservation. Common sense. The expectation that it's doomed to the same chaos as the rest of the world."

"...Yeah, I don't go for that "gloom and doom" stuff, Father. ...let's go. We have to find out what these people are up to...and oh my god!" She pointed behind him, her eyes wide. "Is that...that...thing kidnapping a child?!"

"...It would seem so..."

"Oh, no." He watched her eyes narrow as she started stalking down the alleyway, flicking the safety off her gun. "...that is not going to fly with me..."