Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Children of Mako ❯ Secrets ( Chapter 5 )

SPECIAL THANKS: As always, I have two very important people to thank: Rinchan's Flower {Thank you thank you thank you… and so on. I'm so glad you're enjoying this, and I apologize for not updating as often as you probably like. Okay, since I've updated MY fics, you have to update your… especially the one about the fox (can't remember what it's called, so sorry!)}; viciouscallisto {Yeah, I wanted to make Vincent a little younger in this fic, but I'm not sure why. I think I was trying to make seem as innocent as possible for future chapters… or something like that :). Thank you SO much for reviewing, and rest assured that Sephiroth will have a large role soon enough!}

Originally, I hadn't planned on updating anything today, but… IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!! *glances around her empty house* Yeah, so I was bored and decided to post some new chapters on things I haven't touched or even thought of in months. Hope you all enjoy!

** Final Fantasy VII and most of the characters within these pages belong to Squaresoft. Some concepts and characters are MINE! Do not use them under any circumstances! **

All warnings are attached to the first chapter. If you don't bothering reading them, please don't flame me about the content you've seen here.

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Cid felt increasingly agitated as they went back to Tifa's bar. Barret, Cloud, and Zak walked in front of him, weaving a path through the hoards of people jamming the streets. Occasionally, one of them would glance back, making sure that he, Vincent, and Red XIII were still close behind them. Cid forced himself to smile every time, desperately wishing that he truly felt happy. He stayed with Vincent, ignoring the baleful stares directed at him from Red XIII. The younger man's guardian growled softly each time that Cid took hold of Vincent's arm to pull him away from the dozens of SOLDIER patrolling the streets. They walked in relative silence, not including the few times that Cid swore when anyone bumped into him, or just swore because he felt like it.

Vincent caught the blonde watching him a few times, but didn't pay it any mind. He always recived various types of stares from people whenever he ventured outside; awe, curiosity, fear, intrigue, desire, disgust… these were the most common emotions he saw on their faces, though he never understood why they looked at him like that. Perhaps it was because of his unusual appearance. Cloud had once told him, jokingly, that he looked like a vampyre because of his unnatural beauty… and also because of his slightly pointed incisor teeth, another result of the Mako. Perhaps it was Red XIII. The demonic-looking creature rarely left Vincent's side, and was willing to die for his friend. Perhaps it was because he was small by many people's standards - the top of his head barely reached Cid's shoulder.

Or maybe… it was simply because he was different. He was certainly much paler than anyone native to Midgar, and had a slight accent, as he came from another part of the world altogether. Sephiroth no longer had his accent; he had spent much time amongst people over the past decades, picking up new speech patterns.

Whatever the reason was, Vincent was slightly intimidated by the man walking along side of him, though he would never admit it. It was only because he was older than Vincent by about ten years, he assured himself… but in all reality, it was because he felt strangely drawn towards Cid. He'd never understood love or had any sort of emotional attraction… unless he thought of Lucretia. Just before he'd been changed by the Mako, Vincent had been forced to watch as his lover was brutally raped, tortured, and then murdered by Sephiroth. He could still hear her cries of agony as he struggled futilely to help her…

He could still hear their laughter, his brother's mocking voice…

"Vincent! Hey, are you feelin' okay?"

He looked blearily up at Cid, watching as he crouched down beside him. Red XIII was close by, glancing nervously between Vincent and Cid with carefully guarded worry. Vincent realized that he was leaning heavily on the dirty brick wall a few feet away from the back door of Tifa's bar. The others were already inside. Vincent looked back at Cid and nodded silently as he stood up. Cid noticed how shaky the smaller man was and wrapped his arm around the slim waist, guiding him up the stairs and into the main room. Tifa smiled happily at them and practically skipped over. She stopped abruptly when she saw how weak Vincent was.

"You used magick, didn't you?" she cried. "Why did you do a dumb thing like that? You know how tired and defenceless you get when…"

"Tifa…" Red XIII said as he stepped between the fuming girl and his semi-conscious friend. "Vincent was required to use his powers. A group of SOLDIER showed up unexpectedly. Cid tried to keep Vincent safe, but there were too many. Vincent had no choice. He saved Cid's life."

Cid cleared his throat loudly. "Um… yeah, I appreciate that and all, but I think Vincent just passed out in my arms. Maybe he should lay down?"

"Right! Cid, you're gonna have to share a room with Vincent, `cause the rest are taken… unless you want to room with Zak and Cloud," she said as she smiled slyly.

"Uh… No, no, that's okay. I'll stay with Vincent." He smiled over at Cloud, who was blushing profusely and making a face at Zak when he laughed.

Barret rolled his eyes and turned away. "Bunch of noisy fuckers, they are…" He ignored the tongue that Cloud stuck out at him and crossed the room, picking up Vincent with ease. "I'll show you where the room is. There should be clean clothes in there, too. You probably don't wanna spend the night in a stuffy SOLDIER uniform."

Cid said goodnight to everyone in the room, except Red XIII, who had mysteriously disappeared. He followed Barret up two flights of stairs and to the end of a hall, stopping at a small room with a bed, a table, two chairs, and a window overlooking the city. Barret placed Vincent's still body on the bed, nodded to Cid, than went back down to the main room. Laughter drifted up the stairs as the blonde changed into the fresh clothing, then settled himself onto one of the rickety wooden chairs and fell into a troubled sleep.

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Cid awoke awhile later to an insistent scratching at his locked door. Cautiously, He opened the door and looked around, seeing nothing. He was suddenly shoved away from the doorframe by Red XIII as he stalked past him, growling around the small black case he was carrying in his mouth. He went straight to Vincent, trying to mask his worry and apprehension. He gently dropped the black case on the floor and glared over his tattooed shoulder at the human behind him.

"Close the door… and get over here and help me… please…"

Cid complied and went to the bed, watching as Red XIII pulled Vincent's blanket down with surprising ease, considering he didn't have hands. Red XIII backed away and nodded at the black case on the bed. "In there, you will find a needle and a small vial containing black fluid. Use all of the fluid… inject it into Vincent's upper left arm. Step away as soon as you are finished."

Confused and slightly frightened, Cid opened the case and took out a tiny vial of viscous, dark liquid that did, in fact, look like molten metal. He filled the needle with the fluid and tapped the bubbles out, though he didn't think it mattered if there was air in the substance or not. He stuck the needle into Vincent's upper arm then quickly jumped away, just as Red XIII pounced on Vincent, trapping his already clenching arms to the bed.

Vincent's blood red eyes snapped open, than narrowed in pure, carnal rage. He struggled, howling in anger and staring hard at Red XIII. The creature furrowed his brow in concentration, straining to keep control of the man thrashing beneath him. It's getting harder to control him… Vincent is losing, he thought as a particularly vicious snarl ripped through Vincent's thin body. Suddenly, he sat up, clutching at his bare chest, heaving for breath and moaning in pain. He looked blankly at Red XIII, and his glowing eyes focused for a few seconds… grief and agony clearly washing over his twisted features.

"I'm sorry…"

Vincent let out one last, rage-filled howl of defeat and fell back on the bed, unconscious once again. Cid stared silently as Red XIII slowly pulled away from Vincent and jumped lightly to the floor. He went to the door and listened for several seconds, waiting for someone to come up and see what all the noise was about. No one came. Red XIII turned and sat down beside Cid, who had dropped down to crouch on the floor beside the bed. They sat in silence for awhile, watching the unnaturally slow rise and fall of Vincent's chest. Cid looked over at the creature sitting beside him, but before he could say anything, Red XIII turned his intense green gaze to him.

"You must not tell anyone outside of AVALANCHE what you have seen this night. I allowed you to remain here because I ne… he needs your help. Vincent trusts you… it is becoming difficult to watch him myself. I welcome your assistance."

Cid reached out to brush Vincent's hair away from his pale, sweaty face. For once, Red XIII didn't growl at him; he merely sighed. Cid turned enough to look at him, but not letting go of Vincent's shoulder. "What the fuck is wrong with him? Is he sick… or dying? And why the hell did he apologise to you just now?"

Red XIII sighed again and diverted his gaze away from the man lying on the bed to the window. "I will tell you, but only because I believe that you can help him. As you know, Sephiroth seeks the power to become a God. He was one of the first to be changed by Mako. What the world doesn't know is that Sephiroth has already found his source of power that will make him a God. He knew all of these years. It is only recently that he found the host again. The first child of Mako who carries Chaos inside of them, dormant… for the time being."

Red XII paused, careful not to look over at Cid and Vincent. "Mako was discovered by accident, during an experiment to find a more reliable power source. Sephiroth was working on the project… well, he was more than working on it; he was running the project. One day, there was a generator explosion. To this day, we do not know what caused it… I believe Vincent knows, but he will not speak of it. People thought that Sephiroth had been lucky, as he was the one of the few not killed by the blast… but he had been protected by a strange being that emerged from the crater of the explosion. He told Sephiroth that he could make him a God, create an army to rule the Planet. All he needed was a host to carry him until he was strong. And so, Sephiroth gave a sick, dying boy to Chaos… the first child of Mako… his own brother."

Cid looked back at Vincent, feeling the muscles trembling slightly under his hand. "Vincent… he carries Chaos inside of him? He really exists? So the fluid I gave him must suppress Chaos somehow."

Red XIII nodded, looking sadly at his unconscious friend. "Vincent is almost to his limit. He cannot take many more of the infusions… I suppose you could call them anti-Mako. He is strong, but so is Chaos… and he is waking up. The… thing you saw trying to leave Vincent's body… that was Chaos reacting to the substance you gave him. Vincent apologises every time, if he can remember. He feels guilty that he hurts me. Some of my scars were made by him."

He turned away and Cid suddenly realized that Red XIII lost his eye while taking care of Vincent. He wanted to say something to comfort him, but his mind was blank.

Vincent suddenly sat up, coughing violently, his breath coming in short gasps, his hands twisting the sheet around him mercilessly. His porcelain features were contorted in pain as he looked wildly around the room. "Red XIII? W-Why isn't it working? I c-can still feel h-him…" He clutched his head, pulling on his hair in fear. He jumped away from the bed, not looking at Cid.

"Why… why… leave me…."

His breath came in shallow hitches, and he coughed again, doubling over in pain. Cid took a few hesitant steps towards him, but stopped abruptly when Vincent coughed up an alarming amount of darkly coloured blood. He looked up at Cid through a curtain of black hair, blood still running from the corners of his mouth, then pitched forward onto his knees. Cid ran over and caught him before he fell to the floor.

Gunfire suddenly broke out in the streets below them, making Cid jump at the noise. Red XIII ran over to the window and nudged it open with a paw, and then dashed to the door, listening intently. He turned quickly to Cid, cradling Vincent in his arms possessively.

"SOLDIER… I think they come from the Order of Jenova. They are searching for Vincent. We must…"

He was interrupted by sounds of fighting downstairs, and then the sounds of heavily booted feet pounding up the stairs. Red XIII narrowed his eye in anger, than looked back at Cid. "Leave now. Take Vincent with you. He must not be taken by…"

"Oh, but don't you think he would enjoy seeing his elder brother, who forgives him for trying to assassinate him?"

Cid and Red XIII turned to the speaker and gazed into the brilliant green eyes of Sephiroth. He smiled, flashing them a sharp set of fangs much like Vincent's.

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Okay… I'll warn you now: many chapters after this have incest of the yaoi persuasion… and yaoi of the none incest persuasion. So, if you don't think you can handle that, don't read! Or, if you're offended, then you obviously didn't read the warning back in chapter one. Too bad for you, don't complain to me.

**Reviews are respected and accepted; Flames are expected and subjected to vast amounts of mockery and laughter **