Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Painful Miracles ❯ Fears of a father ( Chapter 2 )

Fears of a father

The scream erupted like a thunderclap through the small house, startling Vincent into awake alertness. He bolted straight up right in his bed, the body-heated patchwork quilt fell to his waist. It took him awhile to register where exactly in the house the scream was coming from, and when he did realize where it was coming from, he quickly swung his legs over the side of his bed, pulled on his bathrobe, and ran from the room.

He ran to the room across the hall from his own, and tried to open the door. It was locked. .:Of course it's locked!:. he slapped his head at his own stupidity. He was stupid to think that his daughter would ever leave the door unlocked when she slept, because she was more paranoid about things than he was. .: If she only knew what destiny awaited her:. He would think to himself.

When he jiggled the handle a few more times, and the door still remained stubbornly shut, he kicked it as hard as he could. The door flew open and hit the wall behind it with a loud bang. His full attention went to his 17 year old daughter who was convulsing in silent pain and screaming on the bed from her nightmare.

Fear gripped his chest as he ran over and began to shake her as hard as he could with out inflicting serious brain damage. Her deep black hair flailed up and down, like oil swishing in the sea.

"Icarus! Icarus wake up!" Vincent yelled to her, thinking he would never get her to open her eyes. He had to do this many times since Icarus was 10, but this time it was worse. She had never screamed before, not like this, and she was never this cold. The scream sounded like a banshee wailing for humans to come to their deaths. He wondered what was going on in her head, wondered if she was mentally in her mind at all.

Vincent, wild with panic, saw a glass of water on the night and tossed to cool liquid into Icarus' face. The water trickled in droplets down her pale complexion, but did nothing to stop the screaming, or wake her. He gripped her arms tighter, trying not to hurt he with his metal claw, and began to shake her even harder, not caring if he killed a few brain cells. He only cared that she woke up as the beautiful creature she went to sleep as, not as... He shook his head, clearing away his doubts.

A small sigh reached his ears as he shook Icarus. He became aware that the screaming had stopped, and that his raven haired daughter was now looking up at him, tears welling in her deep, crimson eyes. He looked long and deep at the pain and sorrow in Icarus' eyes. He hugged her to his bare chest and let her weep silently in his warm embrace. He stared at Icarus' headboard, dazed, as he had never seen his daughter cry, except for when... He shook his head again, pushing surfacing memories down to the depths of his tormented mind.

"Shhh" He whispered, rubbing his daughters back in comfort, mot sure if he could comfort her from whatever she had seen in her dream.

Icarus looked up at her father, wiping tears from her eyes. She said nothing, not one to say much anyway, and just stared at the worry on his face and in his eyes.

"I'll be right back." Vincent whispered, walking to the bathroom, and getting some pills for Icarus that would make her sleep without any dreams. Icarus downed the pills with a sip of water and immediately began to relapse into sleep. Vincent covered her up, and walked from the room, closing the door behind him.

He leaned against the white door to Icarus' room for a moment, thinking. .:What has ShinRa done? How could they have ruined an innocent life like this?!:. He answered his own question. He knew what ShinRa had done 7 years ago. He knew. They had taken his sperm, Lucreica's egg, and a hint of JENOVA, and mixed into the sleeping beauty in the room behind him. It made him furious to think about what Icarus would soon become thanks to his tainted genes.

He slammed his fist into the wall across from him, the knuckles on his normal, human hand bleeding from the impact with the opposing wall. He stared at the hole, taking no particular interest in the leaky pipes, or the poor insulation as he made his way down the rickety old stairs to the kitchen.

His feet pattered across the cold linoleum floor as he walked to a cupboard to get a class for something to drink. He then walked to the freezer to get some ice, but went into a violent fit of coughs that made his lungs feel as if they would launch from his body. He clapped his human hand over his mouth and waited for the fit to subside, unaware of the blued man that walked in the kitchen and was now leaning against the door frame.

Vincent grabbed his burning chest as the fit stopped. He took his hand away from his mouth and wiped the blood pool that had formed on his palm on his boxers, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His senses now returned, and he turned to face the darkened figure standing in his kitchen doorway.

"Tseng, what brings you here?" Vincent asked, poring himself a glass of juice, and sitting at the table to ice his knuckles.

"I heard screaming. Is everything ok?" Tseng answered emotionlessly, and sitting down at the table.

"It was Icarus. Her nightmares are worse, more frequent now." Vincent sipped his juice, looking over the rim to look into tseng's concerned sapphire eyes.

"You know she'll turn." Tseng said point-blank. Vincent nodded, letting out a cough that sprayed the table with a bit of blood. "and what are you going to do when she finds out what you have, and realizes she has it to?" Tseng added, brushing a piece of black hair from his blue eyes.

"I'll deal with it when the time reveals itself." Vincent answered bluntly. He knew what Tseng was talking about. He had tuberculosis, and Icarus would get it sooner or later, he knew that just as he knew she would become like him. A monster.

He could, and wanted to kill ShinRa for what they had done to him, to Cloud and Tifa, Aeris and Sephiroth, and all of their other friends that had helped save the world about 18 years ago. He could remember that night 10 years ago, for it was burned into his memory. He also remembered how Lucrecia had sold him and his friends out to Serge, the new leader of ShinRa. Yuffie, Cid, and Barret had died 7 years into the experiment, and Red XIII shortly after his genetically engineered and only son was born.

Tseng, Reno, and Rufus had come into his cell, and set him free, telling him to run from the lab. Vincent had begun to run, when he realized his was leaving his genetically engineered child to be mutilated by ShinRa further than it was. He knew nothing of the child, save that it was his and Lucrecias. He ran through the lab to find his baby. When he found it, he killed all who tried to stop him from getting it.

He smiled when he finally held the child, which was 10 years old in his arms, and smiled down at what he now realized was girl. His daughter. He didn't care that it was partly Lucreica's, he only cared about getting them both out. And now here they were, 7 years later, hiding like wounded animals in the snowy mountains.

"No, Vincent, you have to deal with it now!" Tseng slammed his fist on the table, frustrated with his friends stupidity, and startling Vincent from his memory. Vincent looked up into Tseng's Blue eyes, which were now filled with worry and annoyance. He worried about them. Being an ex-Turk, he knew what had happened to them, and knew both needed help. He also knew that Vincent hated going into the village below them, for the villagers we afraid of him, and most certainly thought Icarus was the spawn of the devil himself.

Tseng only lived a mile away with his own son Silo, who was best friends with Icarus. He was hiding to. He was wanted by ShinRa for treason and shooting Serge's only son. Unfortunately, the son lived, and now helped hunt Tseng and the others.

These mountains were a perfect place for "convicts" so to speak, to hide, for the villagers below knew nothing of ShinRa, and just thought that Tseng and his son were on a long vacation in a freezing cold mountain cabin. He always had to remind himself that the villagers were extremely stupid, and really didn't know life existed outside the city limits.

" How do you want me to deal with it Tseng? Huh? If you have a helpful hint, please share it with the rest of us!" Vincent snapped at Tseng.

" I don't have the answer, but maybe you should get her help or something." Tseng said, telling himself that Vincent was also a struggling parent, and didn't have all the answers.

" Where would I get help? They wouldn't be able to help her. The only cure is death..." Vincent stared down into his cranberry juice, swishing the liquid, and hoping the red ripples would give him the answers, but they denied him that, just like every thing else.

Tseng knew Vincent had a point, and even if he could get help, Vincent's petty assassin jobs wouldn't be able to pay the bills for it. Icarus had once told him that no one could escape their future, and those who tried, only parish faster. What she said had stuck with him.

Vincent still stared at the juice, swirling it in his hand as his memories began to envelop him again. He remembered his time spent with ShinRa. The memories were all to fresh. He remembered how Aeris and Sephiroth had emerged from life stream, covered the green goo, and holding each other, only to be ripped apart to be experimented on. Tifa and Cloud had been happy before ShinRa got to them, and they to were separated, and experimented on. He remembered the wails that Cloud made because he wanted Tifa. Vincent had no one, so he wasn't sad about a lover. His lover had betrayed him, and now thanks to her, he was hiding in the mountains from a past that would soon be his and Icarus' future.

Tseng watched Vincent for a moment, but jerked his head toward the stairs. A coughing noise came from the darkened hallway above the stairs as Tseng tapped Vincent's hand. Vincent to looked at the stairs to the direction of the coughs. He let out a gasp and sprang from his chair, knocking it to the floor with a loud bang. He ran up the stairs three at a time, Tseng at his heals.

Vincent ran into Icarus' room. Icarus was sitting up in her bed, coughing, almost choking on the coughs. Vincent went to sit next to her, and began to softly slap her back, hoping, praying to every god he could think of that she was only trying to cough up some logged snot. Tseng glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 5:30 in the morning. He knew why Icarus' was coughing. The same reason Vincent was. He leaned against the doorframe, staring sadly at the floor, thinking.

Icarus stopped coughing, and pulled her hand from her mouth. Her hands and lips were covered in blood. Icarus looked up at Vincent, her eyes full of questions, and searching for answers in Vincent's crimson depths. Vincent said nothing. Only stared at Tseng, not letting the tears in his eyes break their damn. Tseng felt his pain, and only hoped that the other 2 children were fairing better than Icarus.