Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

Diabolic	By : OokamiKasumi Category: Final Fantasy VII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 866 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Diabolic
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-Fifteen - The END
- 1
- 2
- 3
Diabolic

By Ookami Kasumi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vincent opened his eyes and stared at the distant arching and buttressed stone ceiling in total confusion for a good three breaths. He didn�t recognize it at all. He pushed to sit up among the sheets and groaned. Every muscle in his body ached and his head felt muzzy, as though he�d drunk himself into a stupor and passed out.

A glance around revealed that the room was huge and perfectly square but it was more like a gazebo than a room. The walls were pretty much non-existent. Instead there were four archways. Semi-sheer curtains blew in a soft breeze that smelled distinctly of the ocean. There was not one stick of furniture but the huge round bed he was sitting in. He frowned at it. The circular bed with its pile of cream silk pillows and dark gold sheets looked like something that belonged in a love hotel.

Where the hell was he? The last thing he remembered was� Oh yeah, I was kidnapped, by Sephiroth.

His blood turned to ice water. Panicked, he twisted sharply to look around. The demonic angel was no where in sight. His heart gave an odd twist. It had to be from relief because it absolutely could not be from disappointment.

He grabbed for the sheets with his left hand. He had to get out of there. His fingers refused to work. His hand was too numb to hold the sheets. Huh? He raised his hand and stared. His left forearm, from the elbow to the tip of each clawed finger, had been wrapped in what looked like bandages, only they were pale blue and glowing slightly. What the hell is this? He hadn�t even felt it. He scowled and grabbed for the binding. What ever it was, it was coming off.

His fingers passed right through the bandages as though they weren�t there. He dug for some kind of contact but couldn�t feel a thing, just his own arm. What the hell were the bandages made of? What ever it was his human hand couldn�t touch it. Later, he�d worry about it later. He needed to get out of�where ever he currently was.

He shoved the sheets aside. He was naked. A quick look around proved that his clothes were missing. In fact, there wasn�t anything resembling clothing, not even a robe. He rolled his eyes. It figured. He grabbed a handful of the gold sheets with his right hand and moved to the edge of the bed. Standing on the cool stone floor he knotted the sheet around his hips. He did not like being this exposed under any circumstances, but that was not going to stop him from escape. His knees trembled under him and his head swam.

He sat back down on the edge of the bed. Damn it, he felt like total crap. He scrubbed his hand across his aching brow and stopped cold. The cloth binding he always wore was gone. Oh fuck! No clothes to hide his inhuman nature, no weapons, his hand incapacitated, and a big blond psychopath that could turn up any second� He curled his lips in a sour smile. This day was certainly starting out shitty.

He pushed back up onto his feet. Got to go� He teetered out through the archway directly in front of him onto an overgrown paved walk. Tall grass poked between the seams of the paving stone. The gazebo, he just couldn�t think of it as a room, sat atop a small hill completely surrounded by what appeared to be a heavily overgrown garden. Huge trees had filled and then rooted over their walled planters. Bushes nearly as tall as the trees had done the same thing, in addition to covering and closing off walkways while they were at it. Flowers were everywhere. Vincent sniffed. The scent of the sea was very strong, but strangely, he couldn�t hear it.

A good hike down the only cleared paved walkway was a group of buildings. That seemed a logical place to start. He scuffed his hair down to cover his brow and shade his eyes, then hiked up the slippery sheet knotted at his hips. He couldn�t do a damned thing about the scarlet shade of his eyes, but at least his demon hand was already covered. He just hoped his scruffy near-nakedness wouldn�t get him into any major trouble.

He headed down the path trying to stay in the deepest shade. Direct sunlight was very bad for his snow-pale skin. It wouldn�t kill him, but a vicious case of sunburn was still damned uncomfortable.

***

Vincent was feeling far more clear-headed by the time he reached the open doorway of the first building. Under all the aggressively flowering vines, it was a lovely if simple square structure done in the classical style, and it was empty. Seriously empty, no people, no furniture, no nothing, just walls.

The next building was just as covered in flowers, and just as empty.

And so was the next.

And the next�

***

At the very bottom of a hill, before a semi-tumbled stone wall with nothing growing beyond it, Vincent spotted Sephiroth. The dark angel sat on a stone bench with his wings folded tightly leaning back against the trunk of a huge tree with low-hanging branches. His booted foot was perched on the wall before him and his hands were folded on his lap. The world�s greatest calamity appeared to be napping.

Vincent was too royally pissed to give a crap. After spending several hours wandering about in the deserted town, he hadn�t found one living thing beyond the plants and a few small birds. The minor case of sunburn he�d gained wasn�t helping his temper at all. �Where the hell is this?�

�Mmm�?� The dark angel opened his cat green eyes and yawned, raising his hand to cover his fangs as though in after-thought. �I�d say, about twelve kilometers just off the Western coast at the moment. It changes from day to day.� He waved a hand toward the low wall. �Try not to fall off the edge.�

Huh? Vincent stepped into the tree�s deep shade and leaned over the low stone wall. It was a long way down. The ocean waves were barely ripples. Were they on a mountain top?

The dark angel smiled. �I wouldn�t bother looking for a way to climb down. There isn�t one.�

Vincent watched a cloud come out from beneath them and his brows lifted. �This is floating in mid-air?�

�Correct. At roughly two kilometers above sea level. That changes too, depending on the weather.�

A floating island, and it had to be huge. He�d been wandering all damned morning and this had been his first sight of the edge. �How big is it?�

�Quite large.�

Vincent snorted. How precise. �And it�s uninhabited?�

�Other than the rather abundant plant-life and a handful of birds, I�ve never found anyone, or any thing here, dead or alive.�

Vincent frowned. �This high up, shouldn�t the air be too cold, and too thin for these plants?�

Sephiroth shrugged. �Probably. It�s quite cold and very thin before you cross the wall.�

Vincent watched another cloud ease out from underneath. �Who�s driving this thing?�

�No one that I could find.�

�It�s just wandering about by itself?�

Sephiroth shrugged. �Apparently so.�

�A floating island? I�ve never even heard whispers of it. Who made it?�

�No clue, but there are vague mentions of one in the legends about the ancients. The ShinRa library held a complete collection of elder tomes. Fascinating if difficult reading; it�s not written in the current language.�

Vincent turned to stare at him.

Sephiroth�s brows lifted. �What?�

�You � read?�

Sephiroth�s jaw clenched. �I�m a general, of course I read!�

�You�re also insane.�

The dark angel looked away and scowled. �I was never insane, my body was.�

Vincent choked on a startled laugh. His body was insane? �Isn�t that an oxymoron?�

Sephiroth turned to look at him, crossed his arms and his voice softened. �Far less so, than you would imagine.�

Speaking of bodies� Vincent raised his bound hand. It was still numb, he could move his arm, and his hand to some degree, but his fingers didn�t want to close. �What is this?�

The dark angel smiled, showing all his fangs. �I would have thought you knew the answer to that one. The binding was made with a derivative of the only substance that cancels out chaos energy; puts it to sleep, you might say.�

Vincent�s breath left him. �Proto materia�� No wonder his human hand couldn�t touch it. It was too primal in nature to have corporeal substance.

�See, you did know the answer.� He lifted his chin. �We are certainly full of questions. Unusual for you, don�t you think?�

Vincent started. He was asking a lot of questions, almost as if he wanted to keep Sephiroth talking, as though he wanted his�company. He turned away to look over the edge of the world. That was just too unnerving to think about.

�What? No more questions?� The chuckle was warm and soft as velvet.

It grated against Vincent�s nerves. He hated to be laughed at. �Here�s a question for you.� He turned back around. �When did you start chasing men? I�d always heard that you were a womanizer?�

Sephiroth�s gaze turned icy. �That is a subject for another time.�

Vincent smiled sweetly. Oh, did I hit a nerve? �What�s wrong with now?�

Sephiroth suddenly smiled just as sweetly. �You do realize that your ass is still virgin territory and you are completely at my tender mercy?�

Vincent�s cheeks heated. Bastard� �So, how did you find this place?�

Sephiroth nodded in clear acknowledgement to the change in subject. �By accident. I was blown here by a storm.�

�Are you going to kill me?�

Sephiroth snorted and raised a silver brow. �Do I need to?�

Vincent frowned. He hadn�t expected that reply. He took in a breath and released it. �It would probably be a good idea. At full power I can destroy you.�

The dark angel pursed his lips and nodded. �So painfully truthful� And you wonder why I always liked you?�

Always liked�? And he said he wasn�t insane? �You can�t be serious?�

Sephiroth rose from the carved bench. �My dear Vincent Valentine, when you work in a company where lies are the only constant, truth becomes an exceedingly valuable commodity, not to mention the only truly effective weapon one has.�

Vincent frowned. He was sure that was supposed to be relevant, but he couldn�t see how. �Was that supposed to make sense?�

Sephiroth grinned. �It makes perfect sense, but I doubt you�re ready to hear it.�

Vincent clenched his teeth. �Try me.�

Sephiroth crossed his arms and nodded. �All right, Hojo made you specifically to serve me.�

Vincent�s brain shut down completely, and he backpedaled so fast he very nearly fell on his ass.

The dark angel snorted. �I told you so.�

Temper flared white hot. �That�s bullshit!� Vincent balled his good hand into a fist and bared his teeth. �Hojo did this to me because I pissed him off.�

Sephiroth snorted. �I don�t doubt it for a moment. However, all of Hojo�s creations, no matter how twisted, served ShinRa. They all had a purpose." He tapped a finger against his chest. �I was designed specifically to win wars against armies populated with monsters. What was yours?�

Vincent dodged his gaze. �To kill every living thing on this planet.�

Sephiroth snorted. �That came later, much later. Why were you originally kept alive?�

�I don�t know. I�I never found out why.�

The dark angel nodded. �Yes, because you escaped before he was done with you.� He tilted his head to the side. �Did you never wonder why you were the only prisoner that got out of the Nibelheim lab alive? It was completely destroyed immediately after.�

Vincent frowned. It was? He remembered breaking out of the liquid tank, and he remembered the woman�. He shook his head. Those memories were all a jumbled nightmarish mishmash that had ended in another lab table, and then a tomb.

�You escaped because someone shut down the grid that sealed your tank.� His brows lifted and he smiled. �Just yours; and then that same someone activated the lab�s self-destruct.�

Vincent stared at him. His heart thumped hard in his chest. He didn�t even want to consider what that might mean. He shook his head. �I don�t��

Sephiroth�s brows rose. �You don�t remember? Do you remember who was in the only other tank in your cell?�

Vincent shook his head. �It was empty.�

�Not always.�

Vincent folded his arms across his chest and continued to shake his head. �Empty. It was empty.� Visceral memories crashed into his mind; of liquid moving painfully slowly in, and then out of his lungs, of floating in absolute silence with the weight of the mountain overhead pressing against his heart. His hands closed into tight fists, and his eyes closed tight. For an eternity, the only thing to look at through the liquid�s red haze had been mortared cinderblock walls, and the copper and steel tank directly across from his. He fought for calm to keep the trembling from his voice. �It was empty.�

Hands closed around his upper arms, the long nails digging into his flesh.

Vincent jolted and opened his eyes.

Sephiroth�s cat-green gaze locked onto Vincent�s. �Not always.� His fingers tightened. �Who shared your cell, Vincent? Say it.�

Memory spilled into his mind bleeding pain, and grief, and loneliness. A child floated in the eerie green fluid of the other liquid tank. A young boy so beautifully formed it hurt to look at him, robed in long silver hair and bearing wings that were only visible to his other eye. A boy that smiled. Resentment, betrayal, and guilt knotted in an angry boiling mass that sought to crush his heart.

The scream exploded out of Vincent. �You left me!�

The dark angel that haunted his worst nightmares closed him in a powerful embrace. �I came back.�

Tears spilled down Vincent�s cheeks even as a hideous calm washed through him. When he spoke his voice was perfectly even. �You couldn�t have, you would have only been a child.�

�I was a child.� He snorted. �It wasn�t that hard to hit a few buttons.� He rolled his eyes. �However, it was your own stupid fault that you were recaptured by that�woman. You should have left when you had the chance.�

Vincent shoved back and out of the embrace. �There was something I had to do.� There was something he had to know, and she�d had the answers. Pain stabbed through his heart. His thoughts shied away from what he had discovered. He hadn�t liked the answers at all.

He shook his head and took a deep breath. That story was over, dead, nothing but dust� He was all that was left from the sordid nightmare that had very nearly consumed the world. Himself, and Sephiroth � the child he hadn�t been able to save from the horrific future that had awaited him.

He hadn�t even been able to save himself.

The cool and familiar emptiness spilled back into his heart. Vincent looked up at the tall, silver haired, dark angel. �When I finally found you as an adult, you were a psychopathic monstrosity. I did my damnedest to hunt you down and destroy you.�

Sephiroth sighed, but didn�t reach for him again. �Correct. By the time you saw me again, my body was completely ruled by the insanity Hojo had implanted in it, one mako-poisoned organ at a time. All that was left of me was just enough memory to bring on the destruction of everything, and everyone I�d ever cared for in my lifetime.�

�Your body?� Vincent froze where he stood. �What exactly, are you saying?�

The dark angel snorted. �I�m saying that by then, my soul had been quite literally shoved out and replaced by the planet-killing madness known as Jenova. I was a phantom dwelling on the edge of the life-stream long before my life actually ended.�

Vincent frowned. �And this reunion�?�

�That had nothing to do with me.� Sephiroth turned away. �Jenova meant it literally. She was trying to reunite all the scattered parts of herself, by grafting what she could find into my body. Hojo�s DNA enhancements had made me a perfect incubation tank, a storage unit so to speak, to rebuild herself within, and she damned near succeeded.� He sighed heavily. �Despite all my efforts to hide the damned pieces.�

�Hide the pieces�?� Vincent shook his head. �Wait, are you saying that there were two of you all along?�

Sephiroth snorted. �My, we�re a little slow on the uptake today.� His voice was very dry. �I believe I just finished saying that I was a phantom?� He waved a hand and shrugged. �Of course back then, I was extremely limited in how long I could hold a corporeal enough form to actually do anything.�

Vincent�s heart began beating fast. Seemingly impossible sightings and strange incidents during the nearly planet-wide man-hunt began to fall into place. �You were never insane, your body was��

�Exactly.�

Vincent scowled. �This sounds a little too��

Sephiroth turned to him, his brows raised. �Crazy?�

Vincent�s jaw tightened. �Convenient.�

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. �Vincent, you saw me as a ghost several times during your �kill the madman and save the world� pursuit.�

Vincent drew in a deep breath and reached for calm. �All right, I�ll admit that there might have been two of you running around, one a little less destructive than the other. However, neither of you were helpful in any way, shape, or form.�

�Of course not!� The dark angel�s wings lifted in clear annoyance. �You and your little pack of do-gooders kept getting in the way!�

Vincent bared his teeth. �Getting in the way of what? What were you, as a ghost, trying to do?�

�Oh please, what did you think I was doing?� Sephiroth crossed his arms and scowled ferociously. �I was trying to get my damned body back before some idiot destroyed it!�

Vincent blinked then clenched his jaw. �Why didn�t you say something?�

�To whom?� The dark angel smiled grimly. �Would any of you have held off from trying to destroy me long enough to get a word out?�

Vincent winced. �Probably not.� He threw out a hand. �But you could have tried!�

Sephiroth turned away and released a long breath. �Back then, I didn�t have the time to waste on lengthy explanations that wouldn�t have been believed anyway.�

Vincent shook his head. �But all that is over now. Why are you still wandering around?� Why haven�t you accepted your death and moved on?

�I should think that would be obvious.� The dark angel threw out his arms and bellowed at the sky. �I want to live!�

Vincent�s blood ran cold. �Your body is gone.�

Sephiroth nodded. �Correct.� He turned and smiled, showing all his long teeth. �And that�s why I need you.�

Vincent stiffened. �What?�

�You are going to find me a new body.�

�I�m�what?� Vincent�s heart slammed in his chest. �No.�

The dark angel stalked toward Vincent. �You�re going to use your unique hunting skills to find someone of my actual bloodline��

Vincent backed away from him, sliding along the wall. �I said, no.�

Sephiroth tapped his chin thoughtfully �Preferably without any Jenova-tainted embellishments.�

Vincent kept backing away. �I will not!�

Sephiroth kept approaching. �Someone that�s still fairly young, so that the body can be trained properly for combat��

�Are you even listening to me?�

��And you will bring them to me.�

Vincent stopped cold, squared his stance and balled his right fist. �There is no way in hell I�m gonna�!�

Sephiroth�s wings spread. �Hell is precisely why you will do it, or should I say�?� And then he spoke a name.

Shock nearly stopped Vincent�s heart. A black vibration spilled up Vincent�s spine and he shuddered. He gasped and clenched his jaw to keep from moaning. How the hell did Sephiroth know that name?

��Hojo made you specifically to serve me.�

Gaia help him, what if it was true? Jagged black marks appeared on the skin over his heart and spilled outward, cascading down his bare belly and arms, but the black lightning that heralded his change didn�t appear. His darker half was stirring, but not with any real power. Suddenly he was very glad his energy level was so low. It was possible he didn�t have the strength for his beast to actually break free.

The darker half of Vincent�s soul opened its scarlet eye on Vincent�s brow showing him the world in streams of pixilated colors and lights. It knew its name, and it knew precisely who had called it.

Sephiroth was a shimmer of silver and violet, with neon green eyes, dark blue-violet wings and a halo of blood-tinted purple flames. The dark angel nodded. �There you are, my pet.�

Vincent shuddered under its vision. �Why�?� On the very verge of transformation, he could barely speak past the trembling. �Why� me?�

�Why you? Obviously because I have no other option.� He took a deep breath and lifted his chin. �Vincent Valentine�� His voice was calm, cold and as merciless as the edge of his sword. �You will do as I bid because if I must ask you a second time, it will not be you I ask.� Sephiroth�s green eyes narrowed. �Is this understood?�

Vincent�s heart burned in icy rage. He couldn�t say �no�, but he wouldn�t say �yes� either. �I understand.�

��Hojo made you specifically to serve me.�

Vincent understood perfectly.

Sephiroth nodded. �Excellent.� He reached out his hand and brushed his pale cool fingers against Vincent�s brow. �You may go back to sleep my pet.�

The shifting darkness within Vincent�s body submerged leaving Vincent panting for breath and shaken to the core. It had obeyed. Icy anger washed through him. �If Hojo�gave you that name, why didn�t you use it before?�

Sephiroth reached out and cupped Vincent�s face. �It wasn�t me that wanted the world to end, remember?� His form abruptly faded to transparency, and then he vanished.

As soon as Vincent regained full control over his trembling body and shaken mind, he fled the tree. Damn you� Why was it that every answer he got only bred more questions?

~ * ~
- 1
- 2
- 3
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Diabolic