Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Fragments ❯ Chapter Eight ( Chapter 8 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Trick Sparrow 
Chaos gets his point across... in less than subtle ways.
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.28.2001 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 283 | Status: Completed
Chaos gets his point across... in less than subtle ways.
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.28.2001 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 283 | Status: Completed
//'Bout time Vincent was back in this story, am I right? I just HATE writing him in such an unfavorable light. But it's vital to the story, and he's not REALLY as callous and insensitive as Rufus thinks. He just did what he believed was right. Forgive me, Vinnie!
As I promised, this chapter is dedicated to my bishounen-crazed muse, Queen Vegeta, who helped me out during my *worst time*: the sting of writer's block. Thanks QV-chan!!//
Chapter 8
"I couldn't care less who you are, Mr. *Valentine*. I'm in the middle of very important work, and you're disturbing my assistant!"
*Hmph... you cared when I put a bullet in your head.*
His past. His sorrows, his sins, his mistakes... all lay across the hall, taking the shape of an ancient bookcase. Physically, there was absolutely nothing menacing about it. Blanketed with a fine layer of dust, cobwebs clinging tenaciously to the shelves, it appeared as if it should belong in the Nibelheim public library. As harmless as the books that resided within it.
So why did the mere sight of it fill him with apprehension?
"I'm pregnant... I'm sorry, Vincent, but I can't see you anymore..."
*That makes sense, seeing as how I'm so painful to look at.*
Taking a hesitant step toward it, Vincent closed his eyes as the events of his life-- his pre-AVALANCHE life-- flashed before him. Hojo, Lucrecia, and the pain both had brought him returned to him all at once as he reached toward a single book. The trigger book that opened the hidden passage to the basement laboratory.
The ex-Turk paused as the long, tapered fingers of his human hand hovered over the spine of the book. The title read, 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Hojo had chosen this book as the trigger book for reasons one could only guess. Vincent supposed his choice was because the disturbed scientist had always possessed a penchant for opera. Or perhaps he clung to the wistful notion that a beautiful young woman might hold a place in her heart for a repulsive beast.
"Lucrecia's dead, Turk. But don't worry, you'll soon be joining her."
*A shame you didn't you kill me when you had the chance, Hojo. I had no reason for living to begin with.*
"Oh, for God's sake," Vincent muttered, pulling on the book forcefully. A low creak could be heard as the bookcase slid open, yielding all its secrets. A fine mist snaked around his feet as he stepped into the passage.
Lifting a foot to avoid a scurrying rat, he strode gingerly down a rotting spiral ramp, further and further into darkness. He didn't even fully comprehend why he was returning to this place of torture, why he felt inexplicably *compelled* to. He just let his steps take him back... to his past.
"Please tell me one thing: Is my son alive? Is Sephiroth alive?"
*Forgive me, Lucrecia...*
Once inside the dungeon, the tall gunman hesitated as his blood-red eyes strayed to an open door which led to a small, cramped room filled with dusty coffins. He shook his head fiercely, continuing past it. There was no need to venture inside; thirty years was more than enough time for something to be burnt into his memory.
Kicking away a human longbone, he stepped into the basement laboratory. The birthplace of evil, the start of everything that had triggered the most painful events of his life. Everythiing was exactly as it had been when he had last been there, from the holding tanks meant for the professor's experiments to the bloodstains on the wall. *His* bloodstains. Entering the library, Vincent felt an odd detachment, almost as if all those unspeakable things had happened to someone else-- surely not him.
No such luck, however. It had indeed happened to him, and there was nothing he could do to change that.
Suddenly he faltered where he stood, as if he could no longer keep his balance. He pulled the chair out from behind the desk and collapsed into it, his human hand on the table to steady himself.
"You *should* smile, Vincent. People smile when they're... happy..."
Vincent blinked. Where had that come from? It was only natural that the words of his colleagues so long ago might echo in his memory once he entered a place of his past, but Yuffie's words? Why should they be brought to mind now?
"People smile when they're happy," he whispered, looking down at his gruesome claw, which was resting wearily on his lap. The truth was he was not happy, and never would be. But if that were true, why did he smile for Yuffie on three occasions, in only one night? Indeed, the smiles were genuine; Vincent never did anything out of pretense.
Leaning back in the chair, his mind was taken to one particularly hot, miserable night in Cosmo Canyon. Though Red XIII had told his companions that his grandfather had gone away on some adventure of his own, they all knew where Bugenhagen had really gone-- The Lifestream. But none of them bothered to tell Nanaki they were all aware of what happened, so they spent the entire night avoiding the subject.
*It's hotter inside that blasted planetarium than it is out here,* thought Vincent, wiping the sweat from his glistening brow. His headband lay an a heap at his side as he sat on the dusty ground outside Bugenhagen's observatory atop the mesa, looking out over the small canyon town. As he breathed deeply, inhaling the sweet desert air, he thought briefly about the benefits of living in such a village. It was quiet, clean, and undisturbed by the lights and technology of the rest of the Planet. Certainly something to think about, if he survived this insane quest.
"Holy mother of Bahamut, it's hot!!"
Vincent turned sharply to see Yuffie slamming the door of the observatory behind her. She looked at him and grinned. "Hey Vinnie, being anti-social as usual?"
"You're out here, aren't you?" he answered dryly, ignoring the girl's protruding tongue.
She waved her shuriken jokingly at him and collapsed unceremoniously next to him on the ground. Her bangs were damp with sweat, and she had a comely flush on her cheeks from the desert heat. She stretched exaggeratedly and plopped her hands in her lap. As Vincent watched her carefree movements, the corner of his lips turned up unbidden.
She turned to stare at him in disbelief. "I cannot believe you, Vinnie. It's practically an oven out here, and you're still wearing that cape! You *really* need to ease up, boy!"
Narrowing his crimson eyes with mock irritation, he loosened the clasps of his cloak and shrugged out of it, revealing yet another article of black clothing. As he unfastened the first three buttons of his shirt, he looked up at the ninja, amused to see her blush deepen. "Happy now?"
Turning away to look out over the canyon, Yuffie mumbled an "I guess" and crossed one leg over the other. She found Vincent's headband on the ground and fingered it absently in her lap as she gazed at the little village. "This place sure is pretty at night," she said, smiling. "The Cosmo Candle looks brighter than before." She pointed at the glowing fire burning at the center of the town.
"Maybe it's in honor of Nanaki's grandfather," she said thoughtfully. Suddenly she stood up, brushing the dust off her shorts. "May the stars shine brightly at the end of your road, Bugenhagen." She bowed toward the Cosmo Candle and sat back down at Vincent's side.
"Yuffie," breathed the brooding gunman, looking at her in amazement. "That was beautiful."
The girl grinned, easing onto her back to stare up at the night sky. "I'm not always the bratty little thief you think I am, Vinnie."
He looked at her sadly, fully aware that his young companion suffered from depression, though she would never admit to it. He lay on his back next to her and settled his hands behind his head; something very difficult to accomplish comfortably when one's left hand is made of metal. For a while neither spoke, enjoying the familiar silence between them.
Finally Vincent ventured to ask, "Did you really mean it?"
"Mean what?" Yuffie swivelled her head to look at him, confused.
"What you said that day in Junon," he said quietly, looking up at the stars. "About my being your best friend. ...Did you mean it?"
She smiled and raised herself to a sitting position again. Propping her arms on his chest, she rested her chin on top of them. "Would I ever lie to you?"
"Yes," he replied instantly, recieving a smack from Yuffie's hand.
"Okay, so I would have before," she continued, laughing. "But not now. I meant what I said, Vincent. You may be a cold, solemn, psycho of a guy, but you're the sweetest psycho I've ever known."
He raised a dark eyebrow. "Compliment noted."
Yuffie turned onto her back once more and settled her head on Vincent's chest. A sudden flutter rose up in his chest as her hair brushed against his collarbone. Completely unaware of her friend's discomfort, she simply said, "Hey, Vinnie. Knock, knock."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You're supposed to say, 'Who's there?'"
He sighed. "Who's there?"
"Jamaican."
"What now?"
"Just say, 'Jamaican who?'"
"Jamaican who?"
"Jamaican me crazy!!" Yuffie burst out laughing, then rolled to her side to face him, her head still on his torso. "Oh, what's the point? You wouldn't laugh if you saw Barret in a tutu."
Vincent felt her relax slightly as her gray eyes slipped shut. After a while he realized she had fallen asleep, his headband still in her hands. Her soft breath flitted across his neck, and he shivered with uninvited pleasure. Suddenly he felt the urge to pull her closer against him, stroking her hair and running his hand over her smooth skin. But he blamed his impulses on the sweltering heat, and shrugged off the unwelcome thoughts angrily.
Instead, he turned his attention to the stars. He could make out a few of the constellations, but his mind wasn't in the heavens.
*Jamaican me crazy,* he thought, letting out a small laugh.
With his head in his hands, Vincent realized why Yuffie possessed the rare talent of making him smile: She made him happy. And for that, he couldn't forgive himself.
GO TO HER.
He looked up sharply as the words of the demon reverberated in his mind. "What did you say?"
DO NOT FIGHT HER.
"Why do you keep saying that?" he asked furiously. "Why should a repulsive beast like you care about the events of my life?"
HUMANS. Vincent thought he detected a note of annoyance in the one word Chaos "spoke".
Without warning, the telltale pulsing began deep in his mind, then began to spread, reaching his ears and temples. Groaning, he fell to the floor, unable to fight the transformation. Pain ripped mercilessly through him as his limbs slowly metamorphosized into wicked claws, and giant black wings sprang from his back.
And, as his vision began to blur, the world fell away.
:::Vincent stands in blackness. And then, ever so gently, and image appears before him: a young girl of eighteen steps up to him, smiling sadly. Her hair is the color of chestnut bark, and her eyes are slate-gray and full of youthful, crackling energy. Yet they are full of sorrow.
'Vinnie,' she says, edging closer to him. 'Why did you leave me?'
He turns away, unable to look at her. 'I'm sorry, Yuffie. I did not want to, but I had no choice.'
'Is it because you think you're evil? Or because I won't accept you?'
He closes his eyes. 'Both.'
She lifts her hand to turn his face toward her. 'You have a lot to learn, Vincent,' she whispers, taking his metal claw in her hands and holding it against her face.
He enfolds her in his arms and holds her against him gratefully. Lifting her head up, he bends down to bestow a long, loving kiss on her lips. Beginning to feel more complete, he trails a number of quick, sweet kisses down her neck and on her shoulder. Never has Vincent felt happier.
Suddenly she is yanked away from him. She begins to drift from him, and Vincent latches desperately onto her hand, unwilling to lose her again. But an unseen force tears their entwined hands from each other, and she fades into darkness.:::
Opening his eyes painfully, Vincent struggled to sit up. When his vision finally cleared, he discovered with a shock that the entire library had been destroyed. Books lay in burning piles on the singed carpet, and the desk was a smoldering heap that was barely recognizable. He stood up with much difficulty and looked around with the growing realization that he was the culprit.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
Vincent blinked, the memory of his waking dream returning to him. "Yuffie," he whispered, mopping the sweat from his face with his headband, "She's in danger!"
YOU LEARN WELL.
Stepping hastily over the debris, he hurried out of the library, past the laboratory, and out of the dungeon as fast as his unsteady legs would allow.
//Wow, this was a long one! For those of you who had *no* idea what happened, Vincent goes into a dream-like state whenever Chaos takes over. At least, in my fic. ^_^ Once again, thank you to Queen Vegeta for making all this possible. Are you happy, QV-chan? I made Vinnie all sweaty for ya!//
As I promised, this chapter is dedicated to my bishounen-crazed muse, Queen Vegeta, who helped me out during my *worst time*: the sting of writer's block. Thanks QV-chan!!//
Chapter 8
"I couldn't care less who you are, Mr. *Valentine*. I'm in the middle of very important work, and you're disturbing my assistant!"
*Hmph... you cared when I put a bullet in your head.*
His past. His sorrows, his sins, his mistakes... all lay across the hall, taking the shape of an ancient bookcase. Physically, there was absolutely nothing menacing about it. Blanketed with a fine layer of dust, cobwebs clinging tenaciously to the shelves, it appeared as if it should belong in the Nibelheim public library. As harmless as the books that resided within it.
So why did the mere sight of it fill him with apprehension?
"I'm pregnant... I'm sorry, Vincent, but I can't see you anymore..."
*That makes sense, seeing as how I'm so painful to look at.*
Taking a hesitant step toward it, Vincent closed his eyes as the events of his life-- his pre-AVALANCHE life-- flashed before him. Hojo, Lucrecia, and the pain both had brought him returned to him all at once as he reached toward a single book. The trigger book that opened the hidden passage to the basement laboratory.
The ex-Turk paused as the long, tapered fingers of his human hand hovered over the spine of the book. The title read, 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Hojo had chosen this book as the trigger book for reasons one could only guess. Vincent supposed his choice was because the disturbed scientist had always possessed a penchant for opera. Or perhaps he clung to the wistful notion that a beautiful young woman might hold a place in her heart for a repulsive beast.
"Lucrecia's dead, Turk. But don't worry, you'll soon be joining her."
*A shame you didn't you kill me when you had the chance, Hojo. I had no reason for living to begin with.*
"Oh, for God's sake," Vincent muttered, pulling on the book forcefully. A low creak could be heard as the bookcase slid open, yielding all its secrets. A fine mist snaked around his feet as he stepped into the passage.
Lifting a foot to avoid a scurrying rat, he strode gingerly down a rotting spiral ramp, further and further into darkness. He didn't even fully comprehend why he was returning to this place of torture, why he felt inexplicably *compelled* to. He just let his steps take him back... to his past.
"Please tell me one thing: Is my son alive? Is Sephiroth alive?"
*Forgive me, Lucrecia...*
Once inside the dungeon, the tall gunman hesitated as his blood-red eyes strayed to an open door which led to a small, cramped room filled with dusty coffins. He shook his head fiercely, continuing past it. There was no need to venture inside; thirty years was more than enough time for something to be burnt into his memory.
Kicking away a human longbone, he stepped into the basement laboratory. The birthplace of evil, the start of everything that had triggered the most painful events of his life. Everythiing was exactly as it had been when he had last been there, from the holding tanks meant for the professor's experiments to the bloodstains on the wall. *His* bloodstains. Entering the library, Vincent felt an odd detachment, almost as if all those unspeakable things had happened to someone else-- surely not him.
No such luck, however. It had indeed happened to him, and there was nothing he could do to change that.
Suddenly he faltered where he stood, as if he could no longer keep his balance. He pulled the chair out from behind the desk and collapsed into it, his human hand on the table to steady himself.
"You *should* smile, Vincent. People smile when they're... happy..."
Vincent blinked. Where had that come from? It was only natural that the words of his colleagues so long ago might echo in his memory once he entered a place of his past, but Yuffie's words? Why should they be brought to mind now?
"People smile when they're happy," he whispered, looking down at his gruesome claw, which was resting wearily on his lap. The truth was he was not happy, and never would be. But if that were true, why did he smile for Yuffie on three occasions, in only one night? Indeed, the smiles were genuine; Vincent never did anything out of pretense.
Leaning back in the chair, his mind was taken to one particularly hot, miserable night in Cosmo Canyon. Though Red XIII had told his companions that his grandfather had gone away on some adventure of his own, they all knew where Bugenhagen had really gone-- The Lifestream. But none of them bothered to tell Nanaki they were all aware of what happened, so they spent the entire night avoiding the subject.
*It's hotter inside that blasted planetarium than it is out here,* thought Vincent, wiping the sweat from his glistening brow. His headband lay an a heap at his side as he sat on the dusty ground outside Bugenhagen's observatory atop the mesa, looking out over the small canyon town. As he breathed deeply, inhaling the sweet desert air, he thought briefly about the benefits of living in such a village. It was quiet, clean, and undisturbed by the lights and technology of the rest of the Planet. Certainly something to think about, if he survived this insane quest.
"Holy mother of Bahamut, it's hot!!"
Vincent turned sharply to see Yuffie slamming the door of the observatory behind her. She looked at him and grinned. "Hey Vinnie, being anti-social as usual?"
"You're out here, aren't you?" he answered dryly, ignoring the girl's protruding tongue.
She waved her shuriken jokingly at him and collapsed unceremoniously next to him on the ground. Her bangs were damp with sweat, and she had a comely flush on her cheeks from the desert heat. She stretched exaggeratedly and plopped her hands in her lap. As Vincent watched her carefree movements, the corner of his lips turned up unbidden.
She turned to stare at him in disbelief. "I cannot believe you, Vinnie. It's practically an oven out here, and you're still wearing that cape! You *really* need to ease up, boy!"
Narrowing his crimson eyes with mock irritation, he loosened the clasps of his cloak and shrugged out of it, revealing yet another article of black clothing. As he unfastened the first three buttons of his shirt, he looked up at the ninja, amused to see her blush deepen. "Happy now?"
Turning away to look out over the canyon, Yuffie mumbled an "I guess" and crossed one leg over the other. She found Vincent's headband on the ground and fingered it absently in her lap as she gazed at the little village. "This place sure is pretty at night," she said, smiling. "The Cosmo Candle looks brighter than before." She pointed at the glowing fire burning at the center of the town.
"Maybe it's in honor of Nanaki's grandfather," she said thoughtfully. Suddenly she stood up, brushing the dust off her shorts. "May the stars shine brightly at the end of your road, Bugenhagen." She bowed toward the Cosmo Candle and sat back down at Vincent's side.
"Yuffie," breathed the brooding gunman, looking at her in amazement. "That was beautiful."
The girl grinned, easing onto her back to stare up at the night sky. "I'm not always the bratty little thief you think I am, Vinnie."
He looked at her sadly, fully aware that his young companion suffered from depression, though she would never admit to it. He lay on his back next to her and settled his hands behind his head; something very difficult to accomplish comfortably when one's left hand is made of metal. For a while neither spoke, enjoying the familiar silence between them.
Finally Vincent ventured to ask, "Did you really mean it?"
"Mean what?" Yuffie swivelled her head to look at him, confused.
"What you said that day in Junon," he said quietly, looking up at the stars. "About my being your best friend. ...Did you mean it?"
She smiled and raised herself to a sitting position again. Propping her arms on his chest, she rested her chin on top of them. "Would I ever lie to you?"
"Yes," he replied instantly, recieving a smack from Yuffie's hand.
"Okay, so I would have before," she continued, laughing. "But not now. I meant what I said, Vincent. You may be a cold, solemn, psycho of a guy, but you're the sweetest psycho I've ever known."
He raised a dark eyebrow. "Compliment noted."
Yuffie turned onto her back once more and settled her head on Vincent's chest. A sudden flutter rose up in his chest as her hair brushed against his collarbone. Completely unaware of her friend's discomfort, she simply said, "Hey, Vinnie. Knock, knock."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You're supposed to say, 'Who's there?'"
He sighed. "Who's there?"
"Jamaican."
"What now?"
"Just say, 'Jamaican who?'"
"Jamaican who?"
"Jamaican me crazy!!" Yuffie burst out laughing, then rolled to her side to face him, her head still on his torso. "Oh, what's the point? You wouldn't laugh if you saw Barret in a tutu."
Vincent felt her relax slightly as her gray eyes slipped shut. After a while he realized she had fallen asleep, his headband still in her hands. Her soft breath flitted across his neck, and he shivered with uninvited pleasure. Suddenly he felt the urge to pull her closer against him, stroking her hair and running his hand over her smooth skin. But he blamed his impulses on the sweltering heat, and shrugged off the unwelcome thoughts angrily.
Instead, he turned his attention to the stars. He could make out a few of the constellations, but his mind wasn't in the heavens.
*Jamaican me crazy,* he thought, letting out a small laugh.
With his head in his hands, Vincent realized why Yuffie possessed the rare talent of making him smile: She made him happy. And for that, he couldn't forgive himself.
GO TO HER.
He looked up sharply as the words of the demon reverberated in his mind. "What did you say?"
DO NOT FIGHT HER.
"Why do you keep saying that?" he asked furiously. "Why should a repulsive beast like you care about the events of my life?"
HUMANS. Vincent thought he detected a note of annoyance in the one word Chaos "spoke".
Without warning, the telltale pulsing began deep in his mind, then began to spread, reaching his ears and temples. Groaning, he fell to the floor, unable to fight the transformation. Pain ripped mercilessly through him as his limbs slowly metamorphosized into wicked claws, and giant black wings sprang from his back.
And, as his vision began to blur, the world fell away.
:::Vincent stands in blackness. And then, ever so gently, and image appears before him: a young girl of eighteen steps up to him, smiling sadly. Her hair is the color of chestnut bark, and her eyes are slate-gray and full of youthful, crackling energy. Yet they are full of sorrow.
'Vinnie,' she says, edging closer to him. 'Why did you leave me?'
He turns away, unable to look at her. 'I'm sorry, Yuffie. I did not want to, but I had no choice.'
'Is it because you think you're evil? Or because I won't accept you?'
He closes his eyes. 'Both.'
She lifts her hand to turn his face toward her. 'You have a lot to learn, Vincent,' she whispers, taking his metal claw in her hands and holding it against her face.
He enfolds her in his arms and holds her against him gratefully. Lifting her head up, he bends down to bestow a long, loving kiss on her lips. Beginning to feel more complete, he trails a number of quick, sweet kisses down her neck and on her shoulder. Never has Vincent felt happier.
Suddenly she is yanked away from him. She begins to drift from him, and Vincent latches desperately onto her hand, unwilling to lose her again. But an unseen force tears their entwined hands from each other, and she fades into darkness.:::
Opening his eyes painfully, Vincent struggled to sit up. When his vision finally cleared, he discovered with a shock that the entire library had been destroyed. Books lay in burning piles on the singed carpet, and the desk was a smoldering heap that was barely recognizable. He stood up with much difficulty and looked around with the growing realization that he was the culprit.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
Vincent blinked, the memory of his waking dream returning to him. "Yuffie," he whispered, mopping the sweat from his face with his headband, "She's in danger!"
YOU LEARN WELL.
Stepping hastily over the debris, he hurried out of the library, past the laboratory, and out of the dungeon as fast as his unsteady legs would allow.
//Wow, this was a long one! For those of you who had *no* idea what happened, Vincent goes into a dream-like state whenever Chaos takes over. At least, in my fic. ^_^ Once again, thank you to Queen Vegeta for making all this possible. Are you happy, QV-chan? I made Vinnie all sweaty for ya!//