Switched

Starting Down the Path

Vincent had lost sight of the strange woman that looked like Sephiroth as soon as she leapt from the roof. He couldn't let her get away, though. The thought that she might be another remnant, one that hadn't escaped the lifestream with Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo, kept circling through his head. If so, it was strange since it had already been nearly two years since the remnants had faded back into the lifestream.

Even without Chaos residing in his body, he still had a better than average sense of hearing and smell. He paused in the narrow street to use those senses to try to pick a direction. It didn't take him long to pick up a scent that he was more familiar with than he ever wanted to be. The smell of raw mako was still fresh in the air and coming from his right.

His face drew into a grim expression as this fact seemed to confirm his earlier fears. They had all believed that Jenova's influence was gone from the world. To find another remnant now, after all this time, was disconcerting. Shaking off the eerie feeling, he headed the direction the smell was leading him.

He was running but not at the speeds he had used to try to trap the woman. Instead, he was going just fast enough to keep the smell from fading but still be able to keep an eye on the surroundings for anything out of place. He had been going for nearly half an hour without seeing anything and realized the scent trail was almost gone. With a sigh of frustration, he started back the way he had come, hoping to pick it up again somewhere along the way.

He was halfway back to Aerith's church when the smell suddenly became stronger once again. He stopped where he stood and looked around. His inspection of the area revealed a hole in a wall he had previously overlooked. It was narrow but not so much that he couldn't fit through. He rationalized if he could fit through it, then so might have the woman.

He approached the wall with caution. The last thing he wanted was to be impaled on the ridiculously long sword the stranger had carried. Remembering the sight of the long ōdachi made him frown. It looked almost like the Masamune; just one more reason to tread carefully where the strange woman was concerned.

He didn't step inside immediately. Instead, he stood to the side and listened intently for anything out of the ordinary. Finally, his patience was rewarded when he heard a person's even breathing. Quietly drawing Cerberus, he eased into the hole, gun first. Once inside, he didn't need to take time for his eyes to adjust and immediately found the person he had been looking for curled up in the back of the room.

He stood stock-still for a moment, watching for any movement. When he realized the woman must have fallen asleep, he took the chance to look her over. This woman could have been Sephiroth's twin. She was older than the other remnants had been, but like all those touched by Jenova, it was hard to tell exactly how old she was.

Looking over her, he remembered her state of undress and blushed slightly. It wasn't that he was affected, but it had been a long time since he had even thought about the nude female form. It was disconcerting.

He knew he would need to capture her, to see what they could find out about this unfurling situation, but he could at least cover her first. With that in mind, he quietly removed his cloak and moved towards her. He hadn't taken more than a couple of steps before she shot up. The Masamune-like sword was instantly in her left hand and pointed toward Vincent.

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Sephiroth hadn't realized he had fallen asleep, but his instincts and the soft buzzing in his head jerked him back to consciousness. He awoke and stood all in one swift motion, with the Masamune instantly filling his left hand. If there were any traces of weariness left, he didn't show it.