Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ White Devil's Kiss ❯ Voice of Memories ( Chapter 2 )

2

Darkness. That is all I can see. Someone is next to me. I can feel their heat. I smell their blood. The person is laughing. Why? What is going on? I can't see through this blackness. Won't someone please help me?

OUCH! He put something sharp in my arm! That hurts! Stop it! Get away from me!

“Now, now. Settle down, my specimen. I need your flesh and blood. It will help create two of the strongest warriors this planet has ever seen.”

OWW! My arm! What are you doing to my arm? NO! Please stop! Don't take my arm! Please, it hurts so much! Stop it!

“Don't worry. It will all be over soon. Once this is gone, we can give you a stronger arm. It will be much better than the one you have now.”

Oh no. What are you doing? It's going through my arm. I can't scream. Why won't my voice work? Please, someone help me! Make him stop! I don't want a new arm!

“There. See? That wasn't so hard was it? Now for the injections. You will be very strong indeed. Now stop fussing! I must replace that blood with something.”

NO! Anything but a needle! Please! Stop!

“Ah, very good. Once that has been absorbed, I can place the arm. Then I will add the rest.”

`The rest?' What does that mean? Oh, my body hurts. I can't feel my arm. Why? What did I ever do to you? What next?

“Good, good. Now we can place the arm.”

What is that cold feeling near my shoulder? I still can't see. It's so cold.

“There. That should be about right. Now, let's make it permanent.”

NOOOOOOOOO!

 

Vincent awoke in a cold sweat. His body was shivering from chills that ran up and down his spine. Why did that memory come now, of all times? And so vivid. He could still smell the blood; feel the knife and the needles, and worst of all, the flame that had melted his skin to metal.

He looked at his bare shoulder to see the burn scars that still looked fresh, even after all these years. `Even when he is dead, Hojo finds a way to torment me. Why? Why me?' But he already knew the answer to that. He had gotten in the way and became a liability. But there was significance here.

Something Hojo had said, which made no sense then, became crystal clear.

`Your flesh and blood will help make two of the strongest warriors this world has ever seen.' What had Hojo done? What could he have possibly used his blood for? He needed to find out. And he needed to do it soon.

 

Later that week, Cid returned with the Highwind, ready for Vincent to board. Everyone was there, even Barret, who always seemed busy nowadays. The vampire boarded and went to the main deck where they were. Cloud was waiting patiently.

“Now that you're here, I can explain my idea for this. Barret has sent excavation crews to Midgar to dig below the Shin-ra building. Maybe we can find something there. I think we need to separate like we used to do.” There were a few nods of agreement. “We should only take three or four to the Ice Cliffs. The rest should go to Midgar to supervise the digging crews.”

Everyone was in agreance. Carefully, Cloud chose his crew of three. Vincent was unanimously chosen as the first person. Nanaki was second, closely followed by Cid. Cloud himself decided to stay behind in Midgar.

The Highwind lifted off and sped towards the Ice Cliffs. A map taken from the diary provided some direction to their destination. When the three were let off, the crew of the Highwind gave them two specially bred chocobos for crossing mountains. Their green feathers stood out against the white snow well.

Once goodbyes were exchanged, the Highwind left again leaving them behind. Vincent mounted his chocobo as Cid argued with his. “Do you want to ride or run, Nanaki?”

“I will run, Vincent. I need the exercise. The vampire nodded as Cid finally mounted.

“Well, let's get goin' before this damn bird kicks me off.” A small ghost of a smile crossed Vincent's lips as he turned to the north.

“Come, the map says we need to go this way.” The three took off, not knowing what they were heading towards. They passed many monsters and rode through a blizzard to reach their destination. They were very glad for the warm, winter clothing that had been provided for them.

Then, after several hours, Vincent called a halt in front of the face of a large glacier. “This is the place.” Cid looked skeptical.

“I don't see no @%#$ door. And I sure as hell don't see no way to even find the door.” The diary was pulled out and consulted once more.

“It says something about melting away the `frost of illusion' and revealing the `door of truth.'” Nanaki sat back on his haunches and washed his face with a paw.

“It's directions on how to the open the door. They must have covered the entrance with ice to disguise it and then, when they needed to get in, they would melt it away.”

“That's all good and fine,” Cid griped, trying to warm his hands. “But how do we know where to melt?”

Vincent was already working on this problem. He had jumped off of his chocobo and was running his metal claw over the icy surface. He studied the wall carefully as the individual `fingers' dug into every crevice. Cid looked at him crucially.

“I do hope you are goin' to let that thing warm up before you touch anywhere.”

The older man chose to ignore this remark. Cid could only think two-dimensionally anyway. Suddenly, one of the fingers clunked against something metallic protruding from the ice.

“I found it.” He said as he stepped back. “Nanaki, do you have the fire materia?” The beast stepped forward.

“Yes, I do. What level would you like me to use?”

“Level three, please.” Nanaki stood in front of the spot Vincent had indicated and charged his power. The spell hit the ice, melting a large hole about the size of two basketballs.

“This could take a #$@%* long time, you know that?” Again, he was ignored. The melting process did take several hours though, as predicted. But they were rewarded with a ten foot door lodged into the glacier itself. Vincent and Cid began to tug at the handle and it slowly slid open. Beyond it was a long stairway that went down into a pitch black cement tube.

Nanaki took the lead, his tail lighting the way, while the other two followed. None of them knew what was waiting for them at the bottom. All they knew was that they had to get there somehow. The deeper they went, the warmer it got until they were able to shed the winter clothes they had been wearing. Then, after what may have been the better part of an hour, they reached another door.

It was metal, like the first door, but when touched, slid open of its own accord. A blinding light invaded the cement tube as it opened, blinding the small group. There was a loud screech of anger and the collective thought was, `What kind of hell have we entered?'