Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Running out of Time ❯ Revelation ( Chapter 3 )

 

Thanks for the reviews!!!! I'm on a writing spree- just don't expect me to keep up this pace for very long. I seldom have an entire day to spend writing, but it's my birthday(June 30th), so I had some slack cut me!

 

Blindfolded Angel- You're spot on. That's exactly what's going on. I'll be sure to look into your fics once this plot bunny slows down... I just finished the third chapter. Vincent explains pretty much everything you just described and then some... I've been waiting to write this until I'd finished DoC and READ a good deal of fics for inspiration on Vincent's various ailments, and so I could get his character (as well as Cloud) written right. -hug- Glad you like it so much.

 

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Disclaimer: Me no own. It's all yours, Squenix! The only thing I claim rights to is the particular arrangement of words that is this story!

 

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Running out of Time: Chapter three.

 

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Vincent didn't answer. Cloud continued to glare at him, waiting for a response. But Vincent just shuddered and gripped the prosthesis even more tightly. Finally, Cloud sighed.

 

“Here. I'll get you a potion. I really do keep a stash up here,” he muttered as he moved towards the dresser. He opened a drawer and began digging around. Finally, he pulled out a small bottle of the glowing green substance and tossed it to Vincent. Catching it one-handed, the gunman uncorked it without a second thought and downed it in an instant. Cloud returned to his previous stance- arms crossed, feet firmly planted, expression dark. “I know that won't fix it, but it SHOULD be good enough for the moment. Now,” he started again, “tell me what the HELL is happening to you, Vincent!”

 

Vincent shook his head. “I already told you; I don't know for sure… but…” He hesitated, fixing his gaze on the floor.

 

“But?” Cloud prompted.

 

Vincent knew he wasn't getting out of this. He sighed. “I… think I might have an idea. There's just no way to prove it. Look,” he said, standing up. Carefully, he found the silver strand he'd spotted earlier. He brought it forward to show Cloud. “Turn on the light.”

 

Cloud complied and returned to the enigmatic man before him. Vincent held the strand up in the dim fluorescent light. “You see this?”

 

Cloud frowned. “It's silver. So? We live stressful lives. It happens to everybody.”

 

Vincent shook his head. “No, that's not it. Cloud… this isn't stress. Something is happening to my body. Without Chaos… You and I are somewhat the same. Your mako enhancements along with the Jenova cells keep you from aging and give you the same remarkable healing ability that Chaos and mako gave me. But my mako enhancements are next to nothing compared to you. Just enough to slightly augment the physical abilities I already possessed… the bulk of my power came from Chaos, Cloud… and Chaos is gone.”

 

Finally, finally Vincent saw the realization dawn in Cloud's faintly glowing eyes.

 

“Vincent… just how old ARE you, exactly?”

 

Vincent gave a sad little half-smile. “Well, that's a little difficult to answer. I… I was in my late twenties when Hojo shot me,” he began, “but… in truth, Cloud… I was born almost sixty years ago.” Cloud's eyes widened at this revelation. He'd known about the thirty years in the coffin… and that he was fairly young before the lab incident, but… he didn't LOOK that old.

 

Cloud thought he understood now. “So… let's say that, hypothetically, your body began to age again now that Chaos is gone… it still shouldn't be happening this quickly, right?”

 

Vincent pondered that for a moment before answering. “Well… theoretically, but…” He sighed. “Cloud, there is one thing that all of you don't know, because I didn't feel that the information was necessary… You know that Hojo shot me in the lab, right?” Cloud nodded.

 

“Yeah… Hojo shot you, so Lucrecia fused you with Chaos to keep you from dying, right?”

 

But Vincent shook his head. Cloud was puzzled. “No…? Then what…?”

 

Vincent closed his eyes briefly; that memory in particular was painful. “The truth is, I died that day, Cloud. Hojo killed me. Lucrecia tried to keep my body from decomposing, but the mako wasn't enough. So she tried to fuse my soul with Chaos in an attempt to revive me. To keep me from rotting away…”

 

Cloud's mouth opened and closed several times before he could find his voice. “You… you mean… died, huh?” He shook his head in wonderment.

 

Vincent brought the conversation back to the matter at hand. “So… were I in your situation, Cloud, and the enhancements removed, then, yes, my body should just begin functioning normally again. But I'm not,” he said, leaning forward to rest his forehead in his palm. “I'm afraid… that my body has begun breaking down. Without Chaos to maintain it, the mako isn't enough to keep my body from tearing itself up,” he whispered.

 

 

Cloud was bewildered. He hadn't expected Vincent's situation to be QUITE this dire. This was worse than the Geostigma…

 

“Vincent… what exactly did Hojo do to you to make you so screwed up inside?”

 

Vincent gave a dry chuckle. “You know the claw wasn't the ONLY thing he changed. Look,” and at that he began to slowly undo the buckles of the crimson cape. Cloud finally grabbed a chair and pulled it next to the bed. Vincent undid the last buckle, and the cape slid off of his shoulders to lay pooled around him like blood. Cloud was curious, but confused. What was Vincent showing him? He didn't see anything unusual about the black outfit Vincent wore beneath the cape. But when Vincent began to undo the line of buckles on the black top, Cloud understood.

 

“Uh… Vincent…?”

 

But Vincent just smiled that little twisted half-smile and motioned for Cloud to wait. “You'll see.”

 

Cloud sat patiently and with growing unease as the deathly pale skin of Vincent's torso was exposed inch by inch. He was painfully thin, collarbone and ribs standing out harshly in the room's dim lighting. For the first time, Cloud realized that the sickly pale color of Vincent's skin wasn't due to an inherent lack of pigmentation. No… Vincent had the complexion of a dead man. Cloud shivered.

 

Vincent gently reached out to touch Cloud's arm, bringing his attention back to what Vincent was trying to show him. “You see here?” He touched a small, Y-shaped scar on his chest.

 

Cloud was confused. “Hojo's doing…?”

 

Vincent nodded. “That's the scar… from the autopsy.”

 

Cloud couldn't suppress his shudder. “Vince… that's… horrible.” Thank Shiva the scientist was dead… both physically AND spiritually. He brought his attention back to the gunman. “What about these…?” Cloud reached out to touch a line of scars on Vincent's abdomen, but the raven-haired man grabbed his wrist and gently drew it away from himself. Cloud flushed and pulled his hand away to rest firmly in his lap. Vincent gave him a silent “it's fine” before answering.

 

“Cloud… haven't you ever wondered why I never join the group for meals? Have you ever seen me eat once in all the years you've known me?”

 

Cloud was now completely mystified. What on Gaia was Vincent getting at? “I always thought you ate in your room because you didn't like the noise… wait… no… don't tell me Barret was RIGHT??? You're not… a…”

 

Vincent scowled in consternation. “I am NOT a vampire, Cloud.”

 

Cloud sagged in relief. He hadn't thought so, but with Vincent, you never know… Cloud almost laughed, then sobered as he realized what Vincent was hinting at. “So… DO you eat?”

 

Vincent gave a wistful smile. “Not in thirty-five years. Hojo reconstructed nearly all of my internal organs, and he removed some altogether,” he whispered. “Anything that wasn't necessary was… removed,” he finished quietly.

 

Cloud looked poleaxed. “Not… NECESSARY??? That bastard… But the digestive tract is necessary!!!” Cloud grew even more confused when Vincent shook his head.

 

“Actually, Cloud… it isn't. There are, believe it or not, quite a few people who are missing their intestines, due either to injury or accident.”(A/N- see the note at the bottom- I'll explain it all there.) Cloud shook his head in disbelief. This was crazy. Hojo was a lunatic.

 

“So… what do you do instead? Your body needs energy, doesn't it?” Vincent didn't answer; instead, he pulled a small syringe out of a case in his back pocket. He handed it wordlessly to Cloud, along with another bag full of… something… that he drew out of another hidden pocket. Silently, Cloud read the instructions scribbled on the bag. It was a mixture of the essential elements and proteins that the body needed to function…

 

“So… you have to shoot yourself up with this stuff every day? Shiva, Vincent! I'm sorry… I had no idea… and I never bothered to ask…” Cloud groaned at his insensitivity.

 

Vincent just chuckled. “It's fine. I wouldn't have told you the truth, anyway,” and at this Cloud gave a wry grin, which Vincent returned in the form of that strange half-smile. “Who needs THAT little tidbit to be thinking about when the fate of the planet is at stake on your sanity? I never minded.”

 

Cloud was almost afraid to ask, but his curiosity was eating away at him. “So… what else did Hojo do to you? Or do I want to know?”

 

Again, Vincent gave that dry chuckle before deciding to dignify the question with an answer. “Well… In order to accommodate for the transformations, Hojo actually changed my body structure entirely,” he said with disgust. “He changed the very way my bones hinge. Which involved the breaking or dislocating of almost every bone in my body,” he added, for a little… shock factor. Cloud winced in sympathy. That sounded extremely NOT fun.

 

Vincent stood up and turned around, presenting Cloud with his back. Cloud recoiled in horror with a small gasp. Vincent's spine stood out so sharply, it looked like it was about to pierce through the skin. On his shoulder blades were two angry red identical scars. They looked like they had barely healed…

 

Vincent spoke up quietly. “They never really heal, even when Chaos was still inside me. That's where the wings burst from.” Cloud also noticed that his back was laced with scars that didn't look surgical at all. Vincent's back was covered with what looked like claw marks around his shoulders and the sides of his upper back.

 

“What are these from?” Cloud touched a set of marks gently. “They don't look surgical…”

 

“They're not,” Vincent's tone was guarded.

 

Cloud was confused, then angry. “So Hojo did that to you? That bastard….” But Vincent shook his head again.

 

“No… They were… self-inflicted. Before I managed to get control of Chaos…” Cloud doubted that Vincent was giving him the entire truth; he knew how deep self-loathing could go… but he let the subject drop.

 

Vincent sighed and turned to face Cloud again, pulling the black long-sleeved top back on and buttoning it up briskly. He sat back down on the bed.

 

“Were I… a normal human being, the trauma caused by the operation should have killed me, but Chaos caused my body to heal far more rapidly than would have normally been possible. Not only that…” he muttered, “but Chaos was what helped hold my body together. Without Him… I'm afraid my body has begun to deteriorate rapidly,” he looked up, giving Cloud the bleakest look he'd ever seen from ANYONE, period, let alone the stoic gunman. “I'm aging, I have injuries that won't heal… my body is beginning to reject the alterations Hojo made to it, Cloud,” he whispered, letting his despair show in his voice for the first time. “I don't know how much time I have, but it can't be much…”

 

Cloud grabbed Vincent's shoulders as he bent down to bring them face-to-face.

 

“Don't you DARE give up, Vincent! We'll find some way to fix you!”

 

But Vincent just looked away. “I don't think you can… But I'm… grateful… that you want to try. That you think I'm worth it,” whispered.

 

Cloud wanted to scream. “Stop thinking like that, Vincent! Damn right, you're worth it! I told you, you're my friend! Now… how much time do you think we have?”

 

Vincent shifted uncomfortably. “With the speed at which it's progressing? I honestly don't know. A week or so at absolute worst… a month or two at best.”

 

Cloud blinked away the wetness in his eyes. Vincent did NOT deserve this. And Cloud was going to do everything in his power to ensure that the worst did NOT happen. They'd all spent the past five years convincing Vincent that he DID deserve to live. He wasn't going to let the gunman die now!

 

“I don't care what it takes, but we're gonna fix you, Vincent. I'm not going to let you die!”

 

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A/N: about the intestines thing:

*I was traumatized as a kid when I heard about this. Ever since, I've had a phobia of swimming pool drains. There are actually quite a few children that this has happened to. Kids get dared all the time to do stupid stuff, including touching or sitting on the big drains/filters in swimming pools. What most people don't realize is that those drains are incredibly powerful; that's why they're in the deep end where people won't swim too close by accident. I saw once that it took FIVE GROWN MEN to pull a TENNIS BALL out of a drain. A good number of people have drowned, but the thing that freaked me out was the ones who didn't. Kids have had all their intestines and the like pulled out of them by sitting on the pool drains. They don't die, though. But they can't eat. Instead, they have to get nutrients injected directly into their bloodstream every day, like diabetics need insulin. It's scary, but it's true and it is entirely possible to live without your intestines. T__T.

 

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End chapter three. R&R if you want more!!!!