⊰⊹Crimson ⍭ redemption⊹⊱ Vincent valentine x reader

Chapter 4: Report!

"So.., I hope it is not too personal, but would you mind telling me who this Cloud is? You mentioned him before when you were talking with this... Turk guy.

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Oh, so you heard that? Don't worry, I'll gladly talk about him; at least it will give me an excuse to talk, nay?" laughed Aerith.

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"Well, Cloud is my friend! I even consider him one of the best friends that I ever had the chance to meet. He is an ex-SOLDIER, tall with spiky blond hair and mako eyes... Just like you! I'm curious to know how you managed to get eyes like that, I mean... you're not an ex-SOLDIER too, right?" She said half-jokingly.

"No, I'm not, don't worry." You said, maybe a bit too cold.

"I'm sorry if it's a sensible subject, I didn't know, nor did I mean to offend you. Honestly, even if you were an ex-SOLDIER or just a SOLDIER, I wouldn't mind at all! I mean, I already have an ex-SOLDIER friend, and my boyfriend was..." Her voice faded down at that last sentence. There was silence for a minute or so before Aerith started talking again. At that moment you were thankful that she broke the silence because it was one full of unspoken sorrow, and you didn't like it at all, but you had no idea how to start the conversation again. "Anyway... to continue about Cloud, as I said, I care a lot about him. He may be a bit cold and distant but once you manage to sympathize with him, you'll see that he is actually a very kind person. Though he still has to learn how to interact with people haha. Right now, he is outside of Midgar, running an errand for me. But he shouldn't take too long to come back, it's already been a week since he left, and since it's not too far from here, he should be here tonight or tomorrow morning, I hope, he should have come back two days from now..." While talking, Aerith had finished bandaging you.

"I see, well thank you for helping me." Standing up, you nodded to her. "The wound isn't that serious so it should heal quickly, don't worry about it. It was a pleasure meeting you, goodbye Aerith."

But before you could make even three steps, she rushed in front of you. "Please, I'd like to keep in contact with you! Can we exchange a phone number or something?" She looked a bit embarrassed but determined. You told her that it would be best for her to not get too close to you, and so was it for you since she seemed to have Shinra on her back and that you'd rather stay away as far as possible from them. She seemed to understand and accepted your decision, but she still took your hand in hers and gave you a small piece of paper. "If you ever change your mind... You'll be able to find me there." She winked and then left you, waving you goodbye before entering the small house.

You looked at the small paper in your hand. It was neatly folded, probably an address to somewhere, you thought. Without looking inside you slipped it in your pocket and left to go back to your house. With all that, it was already the beginning of the afternoon, and you had yet to eat anything.

Meanwhile, in the Shinra building, Reno had come back to the Turk's headquarters, grumbling under his breath. It was obvious that he was in a very bad mood. Not only was his day ruined, but he had to make a report directly to his boss Tseng. He could already hear the disappointed sigh that would escape his lips when he would hear the bad news, and could already see the additional work to come when he would explain that someone else, that appeared to be another SOLDIER, had protected Aerith. He was particularly angry about this one thing. Who was that damn girl who protected her? And how bad his luck had to be for him to fall on two SOLDIERs repeatedly, and at the same spot at that! Surely this place must be cursed or something, he thought, there was no way his luck was that bad.

'Yep, in conclusion, it is definitely the church's fault. The next time someone wants to send me to this cursed place, they'll have to find another Turk to do the damn job. Ain't no way I go to this place again!'

When Tseng saw Reno entering the room, he immediately knew that something had gone badly. Not only because of the dark aura that was emanating from Reno but also because he had bruises that were definitely not caused by Aerith. To say that he was confused would have been a euphemism, for he was absolutely perplexed as to what could have gone wrong. From what he knew, Cloud was still out of town, and Aerith had not been spotted with anyone when she went to the church for her daily prayers.

"What is the matter Reno, you look furious. And by the look of it, it seems that the mission was yet again a failure, wasn't it?"

"Hmh... Yes, yes it was. In the beginning, everything was going fine. I had Aerith cornered, she was alone as expected, and just as I was about to take her to come with us, a damn SOLDIER jumped from the ceiling! And the most surprising thing is, it was not Cloud. It was a girl SOLDIER, or well at least she looked like a SOLDIER. Since I never heard of Shinra starting to make female SOLDIER, I don't think we can jump to this conclusion this soon, but she had the same eyes as them, and the strength too. Though she seemed reluctant to fight, at least she never tried to kill us. As if she was refraining from hitting us too hard, you know what I mean?"

Tseng was quite surprised to learn this. "Well, this is an unexpected turn of events. We will have to investigate this case and discover who that girl is but do not worry yourself with this matter for now. I'll be expecting the written version by the end of the day." He then dismissed him with a hand, going back to write whatever he was writing before Reno's interruption.

On the other side of Midgar, you had done your job for the day, trying to focus your mind on your job. But as soon as you stopped and called it a day, the events of what had happened this evening came back flowing in your mind. It was disturbing you greatly, as if something was wrong, but you had no idea what. It felt like you should know, though, and that was what made you the most uneasy.

'Am I going crazy or something? No, I am not, but so many things don't make sense, I can't even understand my own feelings, and I absolutely hate this. I shouldn't have helped this girl. But what happened back there, it was as if something inside of me was forcing me to act, pushing me to protect her. Could it have been... The lifestream? No... definitely not, the planet doesn't speak to people, come on (Y/N), don't be dumb! But I do have SOLDIER-like eyes, mako-infused eyes. No, this is not it. My eyes are the mark of my monstrous identity, not some link to the lifestream. Arg, what to do!' You let yourself fall on the bed, eyes closed. The confusion was starting to irk you. It was clear that you could not just step away and go on as if nothing had happened. What had happened, what you had felt, whatever it may be, perhaps this could be the opportunity to find answers to all your questions. Suddenly you jolted up, a realization striking you.

"Yes, this is it. I refuse to believe that what happened today wasn't a sign of fate. This, this is my opportunity for redemption. Maybe this is to be the final step. I have spent all my life atoning for my sins, and this will be the final act of my journey. By finding the answer to my existence I shall atone for my greater sin. I shall atone for being alive, and then, when I will have the answer to my existence, I will finally be forgiven.

I will finally be allowed to the realm of the dead!"

You were now thankful to Aerith for giving you an address to meet her, for it would have been a bit embarrassing to go back to her house, especially after telling her that you preferred not to keep contact with her. Taking the paper out of your pocket, you opened it to find, as you expected an address.

"Seven Heavens, sector 7 slums. The name of the bartender is Tifa, tell her that I told you to come here. Signed: Aerith"

'A bar? Well then, I'll go there tomorrow. Lucky for me it is in the sector 7's slums, so I won't have too much trouble getting there.' On this, you changed and went to sleep, the agitation had left the place to some sort of happy feeling. Never had you been so close to salvation, and this was blowing a new wind of hope in you. A feeling that you had long forgotten, but that was quite pleasing to experience again.