Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Where Have All the Angels Gone? ❯ The Mind's Eye ( Chapter 1 )

Note: Hello and welcome to my first work of Final Fantasy fanfiction. For anyone curious, I have been writing for several years now, but have just gotten around to putting some of my ideas concerning this beautiful game into motion. I hope you enjoy this story, and I appreciate any generous reviews.

This story contains language, violence, and mild sexual content. All characters and locations are copyrights of Square Enix.

Where Have All the Angels Gone?

By Chiefie

The Mind's Eye

It's been a long time.

The sixty-seventh floor of the Shinra Building was even more menacing than usual. Vincent Valentine had always hated traveling up to the building's higher stories, especially at nighttime. He could barely feel his way through the darkened halls as he clutched the flashlight close to his chest. Hojo had always felt that keeping the power off overnight would preserve valuable Mako energy.

Hojo. Vincent never really cared much for him, either. Ever since his travesty of a promotion he had destroyed nearly all of Gast's research solely for the purpose of his own personal glory. If he was a true scientist he would put his personal recognition at the least of his desires.

After three minutes of stumbling through the laboratory Vincent finally came upon his destination. The metal tank had intrigued him since the moment it arrived at Shinra Headquarters a few months before. He knew it was not standard protocol to meddle in company business (especially at night), but there was something about the purple light pervading from the small slit in the container that enthralled him. All he craved was one look; one peek into the clandestine world of the Shinra executives. He didn't think anything dreadful could come from just one look, so he pushed his locks of ebony hair backward as he placed his eyes forward into the light.

Lying in front of him was an invention beyond what he even thought feasible. It was a hideous mass of material, swelling and pulsating like a swollen heart. Its veins throbbed and oozed fluid as it seemed to be watching him, even without a recognizable head. All it took was one look at the grotesque figure for him to immediately recognize its identity.

"Jenova…" He pressed his face closer to the purple light, and slid his bony hands across the metal siding of the container. All of his life he had heard the legends of how Jenova overtook the Cetra in its mad search for the Promised Land. He had assumed them to be true, but was astounded all the same by seeing the very being in which he had read about for so many years.

He dragged his gaze in deeper to Jenova's sanctum, gazing in awe of the grotesque wonder. How could something that seemed so obsolete be so powerful?

"It's your own fault, Vincent," came a voice from an unknown location.

"What?"

Vincent squinted his eyes in the blinding purple light, and the form of Jenova began to transform into a face. The face was thin, young, and beautiful; it was a face that had haunted him ever since that fateful day. Her deep blue eyes splashed with tears, like the beautiful waterfalls trickling down the Planet's side. He had always hated to see her cry. Lucrecia: the one individual he had ever truly cared for, that he had ever truly loved. The same girl that he was never able to save.

"Darkness will soon envelop you."

Maybe it already has.

*-*

The loud thumping outside of Vincent's midnight coffin caused him to jump upward, knocking the lid off of his sleeping chamber. He quickly rose to his feet, but to only find himself blinded completely by the soft candles of the Shinra Mansion basement. How long had he been asleep? Had it been days, weeks, or even longer than that?

In order to preserve his vision, Vincent took the end of his maroon cape and threw it over his eyes. It was then dark; the way in which he enjoyed it.

"Who's there?" He said hastily, not removing the cloak from his line of sight.

"What? Who the hell's speakin'!" replied a voice from a few feet away. It was deep and repugnant, and reminded him of one of those miners at Corel he had arrested years before for smuggling Mako. They sounded like a complete and total moron, and someone that he surely should not lose valuable sleeping time over. He now hated being awake more than even his recurring nightmares; he felt uncomfortable and lost.

Vincent spoke in a clear and articulate manner, one of which surprising for someone who had been in slumber for so long. "First I must inquire who you are that has entered my sanctum. The light of the outside world has not shown in this room for quite some time."

"I wouldn't think you are in too much of a position to bargain, stranger," another voice stated, this one firm and much more intelligent. "Either show yourself, or be forced into a battle you cannot win."

"Very well, if it will appease you. I have no intentions of causing harm." The mysterious party watched on while the cape fluttered down from its resting place. "My name is Vincent Valentine of the Turks."

Despite the blinding light of candles coming from outside the doorway, Vincent could now somewhat look upon the three figures standing before him. The first one was about average in height, with a somewhat muscular build and blonde spiked-up hair. There was a particular gleam in his eye that reminded Vincent immediately of Mako energy. This kid must be affiliated with Shinra somehow; he thought to himself as the blonde individual stepped forward, carrying a large sword.

"Of the Turks, huh? It looks like we'll have to take you out then, anyway." The blonde rushed forward at him, but Vincent was able to stop his sudden advance by screaming a resonating "halt!" that echoed through the basement.

"I am formerly of the Turks, my friend. I am no longer affiliated with Shinra, Inc." He was not altogether certain what his relationship with Shinra was at the current time, in actuality. Being as the basement seemed abandoned, he had no other reasonable solution to come to other than that he had been shunned by his own people.

It was at this moment he received a clear glance at the other two individuals standing before him, one to each side of the blonde. The first was large and stocky and build, and had an enormous machine gun attached to one arm. He skin was dark and leathery, and had appeared to have been through extreme wear and tear over the past few years. The grimace on his face was more weathered than any man he had ever laid eyes upon. Vincent recognized his face from the numerous company files the Turks had gone through in the past. His name was Barret Wallace of Corel Village (which proved his outlandish theory to be correct). Some years before Shinra considered building a Mako reactor in Corel, and he had been one of the only few against the proposition. He wondered if the reactor was ever built…he would have to inquire if he received the opportunity.

The other person hiding back toward the doorway proved to be the polar opposite of Barret, in that she was young and incredibly beautiful. She was small and thin, with deep emerald eyes and silky chestnut hair. She was wearing a long pink dress, and as it wrapped around her elegant body Vincent had a difficult time keeping himself from staring too closely. She reminded him of one of the beautiful women of his early adulthood; the ones that would seduce him and then leave them out to dry. Yet she also had a certain quality to her, like Barret, that made her seem incredibly familiar. She seemed to be the least perturbed by Vincent's presence, since she was not anticipating any battle of the sort.

Even though the woman's beauty made it impossible to keep his concentration on anything else, he was inquired upon by Barret, who had now stepped to the front of the group.

"Wait, if you used to be with them Shinra people, the hell you doin' in a coffin in the middle of a basement? Don't you got better things to do?"

"I would be off participating in other endeavors, had I not been entrapped in this coffin for such a long time, listening to nothing but the curses of my own dreams. Tell me, Mr. Wallace, was the Mako reactor in Corel ever constructed?"

Upon hearing this, Barret commenced to panic, flinging his gun-arm into the air and screaming in shock. "What? How the hell do you know my name?" The burly man had his hand set to begin firing, but he was quickly sedated by the brown-haired beauty.

"Hold on, Barret." Her voice was soft and enchanting, and flowed almost like a quiet stream trickling through a meadow. "Do you know who we all are?"

"Only the man with the gun on his arm. I know him indirectly; my former superior, Tseng, used to speak often about his aggressive behavior."

Barret was growing irate upon the constant ridiculing of his character, and the woman was having an increasingly difficult time restraining him. "I'll have you know that they did build their big-ass reactor right in the middle of Corel, and hundreds of miners lost their jobs and were forced to move elsewhere! On top of that, you punks got me blamed for the entire incident, and I can't even show my face in that junkyard anymore!" Barret was able to escape a single shot from his weapon, but Vincent dodged it by leaping backwards.

Climbing back upon his resting place, Vincent glared back towards the aggravated gentleman. "You are becoming too hasty, Barret, for I was never even a proponent for building the reactor in Corel in the first place. You must remember that I was only a low-ranking officer in the Turks, and really had no ultimate say in such critical matters." The room became silent, and Vincent was forced to continue the conversation. He was not overly ambitious in befriending the party (he feared that the beauty would not be even worth his trouble), but he figured it would at least do him some good to know the current state of the Planet. He could have been asleep for years, as it appeared so from Barret's commentary.

"So who are your companions, Mr. Wallace? One of them seems as if he was formerly affiliated with Shinra, as well."

"I was affiliated with Shinra," the blonde stated, clutching his sword while marching forward. "My name is Cloud Strife, former SOLDIER first class!"

"That's peculiar…I don't recall any officers by that name. You must have registered recently."

"I first enlisted nearly six years to this day. I am actually from this town, which I saw burned to the ground five years ago by Sepiroth."

"Wait…"

"You know Sepiroth?" The question was uttered by the two of them in unison, and they stared at one another in shock for quite a duration of time. Vincent could not believe that Lucrecia's son had grown to be such a prominent figure in today's world. He wondered what ever happened to Lucrecia…he hoped that this Cloud individual would know.

"I joined SOLDIER because I wanted to be identical to Sepiroth," Cloud stated bitterly. "Unfortunately, my dreams never came true, for Sepiroth went insane the day he burned down Nibelhelm. I broke all ties with Shinra shortly afterward."

"So is…Sepiroth still alive?" Vincent was almost terrified to ask the question, for a cold chill was already running down his spine. He had decided it was best to keep Lucrecia a secret for the time being.

"No," Cloud replied coldly. "Sepiroth was killed that same day. He was killed by me."

Cloud was quickly interrupted by the shockingly beautiful girl, who grabbed his left arm and spoke softly. "We have seen Sepiroth recently; we think he may have been revived."

Vincent's eyes jerked upward at this mentioning, and his attention turned to that of the brunette, who was looking at him directly with her emerald eyes. "That's quite fascinating, miss. And you are?"

"My name is Aeris Gainsborough. I am…a flower girl from the Midgar slums." There was a brief pause in her flowing speech, which led Vincent to immediately believe that she was hiding something. However, he knew the identity of the secret instantly upon the mentioning of her name. Standing before him was the last surviving ancestor of the Cetra, more commonly known as the Ancients. The Turks had searched for this girl for years; Shinra claimed that she was key to the Planet's survival. However, she was only at that time a small child, though. Had he truly been asleep for this long?

Vincent pondered as to whether or not to spill his knowledge, but he decided it could not be altogether harmful in the present situation.

"So, you are Ifalna's daughter, the last surviving Cetra in this world."

"No…I don't know what you are talking about."

"It is all right for you to speak the truth in front of me. I am not hunting you or conducting an experiment, even though I was assigned to at one time. Tell me Miss Gainsborough, how old are you presently?"

Now finally realizing that he meant no harm, Aeris stepped slowly towards Vincent and nodded her head. "I turned twenty-two last February, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Vincent finally retired from his standing position and carefully sat down upon the lid of the coffin. "It means that I have been asleep for at least eight years, possibly even longer. I remember you should have been approaching your teenage years at the time my memory fades."

"So why were you put to sleep in the first place, and how did you endure? No real human being could have survived that long without withering away." Aeris had grown to be the only person with any true interest in Vincent, as the other members of the party had resorted to other activities. Barret seemed to be watching the chandelier swinging ever so lightly overhead.

In hearing Aeris's questions, Vincent cowered down at the foot of his coffin, with his head out of sight, exposing only his rugged black hair. "That is a question I have no true answer to, my dear. I was put to rest here as a punishment for my sins."

"What sins?"

"That I could not save Lucrecia."

"Lucrecia? What the hell's that? Sounds like some kind of damn bladder control pill."

Vincent was immediately furious at Barret's incompetence, and he grabbed hold of a stake lying behind his coffin and pointed it towards the hulking man's throat. "Listen, you ignorant fool, you would be wise to take back that comment or I'll cut your throat before you even fire off a shot."

"Okay, sorry! Didn't know you'd get so damn bent outa shape over it." Barret backed away from the aggressor, and Vincent commenced his explanation.

"Lucrecia was at one time the bane of my existence. She was both intelligent and beautiful, but all the same far beyond my wildest dreams. Lucrecia is the mother of this Sepiroth you have so recently encountered.

"Wait," Cloud protested, "I thought that Jenova was Sepiroth's mother."

"Lucrecia is Sepiroth's biological mother. He was merged with Jenova's cells, which created the being so many have admired and yet feared."

"Then why do so many people remain oblivious to the truth?"

"It's simple," Vincent explained, "The truth about Sepiroth's birth was a cunning cover-up by the Shinra. I should know, since I was such a crucial part of it." He glanced around the room to notice them all awaiting his next move; his succeeding question. After being so accustomed to rest, he was already becoming weary and desirous of sleep. However, he could not permit an end to the conversation until he learned a small bit more about his peculiar guests.

"So tell me: what are an ex-SOLDIER, an obnoxious rebel, and the last surviving Cetra on the face of this earth doing in Shinra Mansion? There is no solace to be found inside of these ghastly walls."

Cloud paused for a moment to consider his specific explanation for his actions, and continued. "We know that Sepiroth has been treading through these lands, and we are trying to hunt him down before he does something terrible. There have been monsters in black capes roaming around Nibelhelm speaking of a "Reunion"."

"So do you think you know Sepiroth's true intentions?" At this point Vincent's demeanor became extremely tense and soft-spoken, almost as if the small walls of his chamber were beginning to enclose even further.

"We think he could possibly be working alongside the Shinra, or could have a plan of his own. Either way, it seems that the fate of the Planet lies entirely in our hands."

Aeris smiled, and placed her delicate hands behind her back. "And we're not going to give up on the planet until we know it's safe."

In hearing Aeris's sudden optimism Vincent almost wanted to chuckle. How could someone be so pleasant in a situation devoid of any hope? With the world in a dying state to begin with, the presence of even more evil would surely destroy all of humankind.

Wait, Vincent thought to himself, if only I had been more protective of Lucrecia and Sepiroth so many years ago, would the present dilemma even exist? Had he been the cause of even more turmoil than originally thought?

In realizing these seemingly obvious truths, he felt no need to speak with the wayward travelers anymore. Their quest was ultimately futile, and watching them achieve failure would do nothing but add to his own despair. The girl Aeris was in fact beautiful, but seeing her inevitably die before his very eyes could be too much for him to bear.

And it would all be his fault.

Vincent quickly leaped to his feet, and swiped the layers of dust off of his dark clothing. He stared down at the party below him, and the frown upon his face became increasingly apparent.

"I am sorry for the hassle I have caused to you travelers today. As much as I would like to support you in your quest, hearing of the present situation has caused me to bear a greater level of sin than even before. I must now retire, and face the nightmares that await me." Glancing one more time at the group below (and shifting his gaze one last time to Aeris, who had backed away towards the door), Vincent swept back into the coffin, and slammed the lid tightly. The party attempted to inquire of his sudden change in attitude, but he mumbled for them to leave and let him face his horrible fate alone.

They would never understand the pain. As much as the three were determined to save the planet, it would prove impossible. There was no good in the world anymore, and without a ray of hope there could be no chance of countering an epidemic of despair.

*-*

It was worse than a dream.

The conference room was filled with the usual suspects for an early afternoon meeting. President Shinra stood at the head of the table, muddling through stacks of books and documents as always, while Heidegger baffled that grisly laugh that made him irritated so badly. Rufus, the president's intelligent but overly ambitious child, was sitting at the back of the room with a notepad, taking important notes in order to find a better solution to a current problem. The rest of the executives were much easier for Vincent to shun from his memory, since they were ultimately of no significance other than to pester the president for new company reforms.

He could remember the exact day nearly detail by detail, with Tseng allowing him to stand at his side in the back of the conference room. At the time Vincent was thrilled, in that it was his first-ever opportunity to listen in to a conference of Shinra's top executives. It was in this conference that the new head of the Science Department would be unveiled. Nobody seemed to understand the reasoning behind Professor Gast's sudden resigning of his position (either that or information was to remain confidential for the time being). It had been years since Gast had departed from Shinra, and yet no successor had been named.

President Shinra stood in front of the executive committee, his broad shoulders twitching under the bright lights of the ceiling. He hesitated for a moment (as he often did before making critical speeches), and then made his vital announcement.

"Ladies and gentleman of the committee, as of this day we are moving forward in the next chapter of our glorious company's history. We have studied all viable candidates to oversee our Science Department, and have made the decision to elect one of Professor Gast's own pupils to this much sought-after position. Therefore, I am pleased to introduce to a bright and ambitious man, Professor Hojo. I am allowing him to step forward now, and discuss with each of you his new and exciting plans to bring this corporation to the next level." There was light applause (as well as a few minor groans from various executives) as Professor Hojo, then a vibrant and enthusiastic man in his late thirties, stepped before the grand table.

"Hello and good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Executive Committee. Let me first show my utmost gratitude in my promotion to this prestigious position. I can ensure you that there will be new and wonderful endeavors in the time I will oversee this department."

"I'm sure you will," Heidegger mumbled under his breath, frustrated that a man that seemed so ineffectual to him could be promoted to such a high position.

Ignoring the obnoxious comment by the Department of Defense head, Hojo adjusted his thin-plated glasses and continued. "Anyway, as head of the Science Department, I am bound and determined to utilize the ideas and theories of Professor Gast and take them one step further. Gast had created numerous hypotheses concerning the "Promised Land", a place in which all of our worries and hardships would be extinct. We would live in a perfect world with unlimited Mako, and Shinra would be able to oversee it all with power and force."

Tseng grimaced as Hojo spit out more and more lies to the committee. Gast had pondered over the existence of such a Promised Land for years, but had never made such insinuations that it was a feasible goal or that Shinra could rule it.

Hojo, however, being the greedy and glory-seeking individual he was, continued to ramble on with his speech.

"Now while Professor Gast was able to speculate much about this Promised Land, he had found no ultimate solution to his paradox. In what Gast had failed in, though, I shall succeed. I have successfully found a method to get to this Promised Land that has been rumored for so many generations, and I can promise you that by the end of my tenure Shinra will have found their way to its gates of happiness and bliss."

"And how do you expect to do this?" inquired Reeve, a rather introverted man who was in charge of Shinra's company records. "Professor Gast was never even able to prove that the Promised Land even existed, let alone promise to guide the people of Midgar to it."

"Oh, but Professor Gast did know the way to the Promised Land," Hojo interrupted, lifting his bony index finger into the air. "He had just chosen to keep it secret from the rest of us. He didn't want to jeopardize the safety of his lovely wife and child to make a life-changing discovery."

"As some of you may or may not know, Ifalna and Aeris are the last two descendents of the Cetra, better known to the laymen as the Ancients. According to the legends, it was the Cetra who protected the Promised Land when Jenova came to destroy it, and it is only that Cetra that can again show us the way."

Scarlet, a newly-appointed and yet still supercilious member of the council, stood up to inquire about the logic behind Hojo's plan. "And what makes you think that a race so self-indulgent as the Ancients are going to help us find the Promised Land? They haven't cared about us for centuries, so there's no incentive for them to start now."

"That is where you are wrong, my dear," Hojo replied, cackling in front of the assembly of executives. "As of now I have Ifalna locked in a research chamber in the sixth-seventh floor. We had recruited the Turks in secrecy to kidnap her from Icicle Inn, and they succeeded. My gratitude goes to Tseng for this service." Tseng smiled and placed his hand on his young apprentice's shoulder. Vincent had been part of the team that searched for Ifalna, even though he never truly knew the motives behind it.

"With Ifalna in our possession," Hojo continued, "we can basically bribe her into becoming our beautiful specimen by simple threats. In our searches we were unable to retrieve her daughter, Aeris, and Ifalna has been very reluctant to give us any clue as to her whereabouts. Of course we could find the girl if we so chose to, but we feel it is better for us to use her as bait. As long as Ifalna helps us in our endeavors, the girl is safe."

It didn't surprise Vincent that the Shinra would use such unethical strategies in getting what they wanted. They were an organization based entirely off of deception and fear, and they would use their abilities whenever they felt it necessary. He had never joined Shinra to be deceiving, but rather to see the world. Unfortunately, travel seemed to come with utilizing every form of trickery possible, so he was forced into using such cowardly techniques.

Vincent was close to strolling out of the conference room at that moment, but Hojo continued with his final portion of his speech.

"To conclude my portion of this meeting, I am pleased to announce my other current project to add to the glory of Shinra. A young man by the name of Sepiroth has come to us desiring to be the greatest warrior in the history of the Planet. We of the Science Department have acquiesced with his demands, but under the condition that he eventually becomes our military leader in our quest for the Promised Land. He is willing to undergo serious and dangerous risks in order to lead us to victory, so we will be employing all necessarily techniques in order to make him great."

"As of right now, Sepiroth is enclosed inside of a Mako chamber on Mt. Nibel, being exposed to an unprecedented level of both Mako energy and Jenova cells. With this energy, Sepiroth should be able to become stronger than any member of SOLDIER could ever dream."

"So what about Lucrecia?" Reeve inquired, "Does she realize that her son could be ultimately killed or dramatically altered from this experiment?"

Hojo once again began his eccentric cackling, and bent over to make full eye contact with Reeve. "You worry too much, Master Reeve. Sepiroth is almost a grown man, and should be able to make such decisions without his mother's consent. If Lucrecia begins to protest the experimentations, we can easily make sure that she is out of Shinra's way permanently. With the business of Sepiroth's father, I'm sure he won't mind taking such a dangerous risk." This brought a small collection of laughs from the executives at the table. Lucrecia had said Sepiroth's father to be a drunkard in the Sector 7 Slums, and he was too incoherent to recognize his own name let alone the identity of anyone else.

Vincent, however, found no humor in Hojo's haughty demeanor towards the concerns of Lucrecia. He grew very angry at the scientist, who had begun to speak about department spending when Vincent interrupted.

"Hojo, you are telling me that you are willing to do away with one of the most respected field researches in the entire corporation just for your little game?" Vincent slowly crossed over to the table, and emphatically pounded his fist against the mahogany. There was no way one power-hungry scientist was going to risk the welfare of the only one he loved just to toy around with Mako.

"You're sick," he muttered, glaring at his haughty adversary.

Hojo sneered at the aggressive Turk who had protested his ingenious plan, and Tseng was forced to hold Vincent back as the new head of the Science Department spoke.

"You forget your place in this company, Turk. It is not the business of someone in as lowly a position as yourself to question my motives. Now unless you want to be in some serious danger yourself, I suggest you exit this discussion before you cause any more interruptions."

Vincent said little to continue the heated discussion, and angrily stormed out of the conference room. From that moment on, he despised Hojo, not just for his own attitude towards Professor Gast, but for the constant shirking of people he cared so much for.

If only he had been given the courage, he would have killed him that very moment.

*-*

Hojo.

Vincent was groaning and snarling inside of his coffin, wishing for any sort of way to achieve revenge over the one who destroyed his entire existence. He had watched helplessly as Lucrecia vanished a few weeks after Hojo's infamous speech, and shortly after that he found himself in this cursed coffin, being forced to recall the horrific incidents of his past repeatedly in his head. He had hated himself for years for not stopping the scientist when he had the chance, and his own self-hatred had led to his current disposition.

He wondered if Hojo was still active. If only he could confront him one more time, he would seek his much-desired retribution for the torment he had underwent.

As Vincent lay in his coffin, however, small traces of extraordinary thoughts began to travel through his mind. Maybe it was time he left this musky basement and achieved the revenge he so badly desired.

This traveling party could be one of his only opportunities at freedom. They were the only contact from the outside world he had received in over eight years, and they at least seemed to have a desire to do something for the health of the Planet. Even if their mission was undoubtedly futile, it may be better to at least attempt to make a difference as opposed to withering away in a coffin.

The thought kept recurring in his mind. If he could just eliminate Hojo, then maybe the nightmares would finally cease and he could rest.

Upon this, it was decided. Slowly and meticulously, he climbed out of his bedchamber and stretched his frail figure. He walked slowly over to the corner of the room, and picking up a small rifle, he dusted it off and placed it in his black pants pocket. His skin felt dead and scaly, but he continued trudging across to the doorway, almost like a zombie continuing at all costs. He had not exited his room since the fateful day he was placed there, but he continued his systematic walking as he entered the more candle-lit area of the basement. His eyes were burning, but he could still see the traveling party heading towards the stairs. He was honestly surprised to even see them still present in the basement.

Testing out his once-dormant vocal cords again, he shouted over to them.

"Wait!"

Aeris, being the only one who initially heard his cry, notified Cloud and Barret of the stranger's sudden appearance, and they turned around to face him.

"If I go with you three, do you think I will find Hojo?"

Cloud scratched at his narrow chin for a moment, and nodded his head. "It's a possibility. We're after President Rufus, so there's a good chance we will meet up with Hojo before it is over."

"Hmm…very interesting. So I suppose it is settled then; I can leave with you immediately."

Barret initially commenced a protest, but Aeris and Cloud halted him.

"If Vincent here used to be with the Shinra," Aeris reminded him, "it's likely that he will be useful in us finding them." It almost made Vincent smile to know that someone at least desired him around.

"Okay," Barret replied reluctantly. "He's just so damn scary-looking."

The four continued getting better acquainted with one another, and they exited Shinra Mansion to the light of the outside world.

Note: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and once again I appreciate any feedback. Note that this is fiction, and some mild liberties have been taken with the story's plot to suit my writing. Thanks for reading!

10