Leaning on You(FF7)

8

~Vincent's POV~

Today I'm back in the Forgotten Capitol. It feels so dead, so quiet. Strange. If Aeris was here, she'd be saying that that Planet is screaming out in pain. The trees are glowing dimmer, the lake smells stagnant, there's an annoying ringing in my ears. Something is up, and I'm not going to stand around and wait to see what it is. Psh, I never end up being the last to see what it is. Just ask Tifa, I'm usually the first. I'm not stupid, I was in the Turks after all, almost the top of the science career that Shinra provides.

I walk through the ancient woods, which have always given off a creepy vibe to anyone that hasn't sought solitude, like I once did. Still do sometimes. It casts a spooky, cool blue glow across my face, quite calming if you're practically possessed with a demon that won't ever leave. Aka, it's extremely nice to me, provably wouldn't be to you. But seriously, what is that ringing? A small snap sends a warning signal to my brain, my fingertips already wrapping themselves around the handle of my hand gun. No more sounds follow, but something is tense behind me, the stress of their muscles radiating off them. I close my eyes, my other senses becoming stronger to make up for the loss of sight. Only, you could say I have a sixth sense. It's called Chaos, and it can feel body warmth, hear the strain of muscles and creak of bones, blood flowing through veins and sound waves bouncing off the air that they breathe. The ultimate sense.

My gun clicks as I spin around, aiming at a tall person behind me. A thick black hood shields their face, a matching cloak covering their clothing. I remain steady in my stance, ready for any movement or attempt to kill he might make. Instead he steps forward, slowly and confidently.

"Will you knock the dramatic crap off and just tell me who you are already?" I sigh, frustrated.

"I thought you might've already guessed," their deep, dark voice taunts, the head tipping up just enough for me to see a pair of glowing green blue eyes. My finger squeezes the trigger a millisecond before he expects it, the bullet barely grazing his side. Then he slams me backwards into a tree, his thin katana pressed to my throat and his foul breath filling my nostrils as he puffs a strand of hair from his face.

"Your fighting rusty already, Valentine?"

"You wish," I snarl, shooting him through the knee and leaping up into the branches of the tree above me. Not a preferred shot, the but the best I have after doing nothing but wandering around Gaia for two years. He grimaces and ignores the pain in his joint.

"I told you I would be back. All you humans are such idiots," he shakes his head.

"You're human too," I frown, shooting at him. "Just Mako enhanced."

"Oh, you mean that fantasy birth of yours that uses your beloved Lucrecia?" he sneers. I don't respond, only fight harder at the mention of the young woman's name. She should be living a normal life, planning to retire in a couple years and not having not deal with the pain of her son's actions. But instead she's trapped inside a Mako crystal to live forever, to punish herself for letting Hojo experiment on their unborn child and for letting me down.

"Still got a soft spot for that scientist, eh Valentine?"

"Still got a soft spot for your Mother, eh Sephiroth?" I mock, and he growls, stabbing at me. He just barely misses my throat, instead pinning my shoulder to the tree. Why is it always the gosh darned shoulder?!?! My hand automatically drops my gun and my other semi discreetly fumbles through my pocket for my PHS. My thumb finds the red orange button that calls all of Avalanche and sends an emergency SOS.

"Don't you can ever disrespect Mother!" he roars, slashing at my face, causing a deep cut in my cheek. I groan, forcing myself to use my injured arm to hold my weapon.