Premonitions II-B: Vincent’s Blues | By : Hippo_and_Friends_with_Benefits Category: Final Fantasy VII > General Views: 1015 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, not any characters therin. I am not making any money off of this work. |
Chapter 2: A Man Alone
Monday, February 4, 0008
12:00 a.m.
Vincent trudged through the long, wet grass. Looking behind him, he could see that Nibelheim was in the distance. It was now time to get as far away from that place as he possibly could. He had no future there; only his past-the past he longed to forget-stood out there.
Everyone's arc seemed complete at this point. He had just attended two weddings. He had seen Reeve with his husband and daughter. He also saw Barret and Jessie together. All of his companions were either in a relationship or married. But not him. He was a man alone.
He was unique in a special way; he was in limbo between life and death. He could move and think like anyone else. But he did not eat nor drink. No living woman in her right mind could love him. No deceased woman could reach him.
And yet, there was someone else in his life, who was not exactly dead, and who was not exactly living.
Lucrecia Crescent.
She was the only woman he ever wanted in his life. But she was far out of his reach; sealed away in a crystal in a cave that virtually nobody could reach. He had entered that domain, and told him her son was dead. It was a lie, of course, but it was to protect her.
1:00 a.m.
An hour later, Vincent found himself in Cosmo Canyon. All buildings but one had their lights out, and, other than that one building, Cosmo Candle was the only source of light in the town.
As Vincent approached the flame, he could see Red XIII sitting nearby.
"Vincent?" the beast greeted. "What are you doing out here?"
"Drifting," Vincent replied.
"At one in the morning?" Red XIII asked. "Shouldn't you be home?"
Vincent scoffed.
"What home? You found me in a casket. I haven't had a home since before even you were born. I'm a man alone."
"I'm a man alone, too!" Red XIII insisted.
"You are no man," Vincent retorted.
"Whatever," sighed the beast, "I'm the last of my race. You think I'm ever going to find a mate?"
Instead of responding, Vincent drew his attention to the one building that still had its lights on. He began to make his way to it.
"You're going in there?" Red XIII asked. "That's a strip bar, you know."
"What's the harm?" Vincent replied. "It's where all men alone go. Come along."
"I'll pass," Red XIII dismissed. "I'm not into humans."
Without looking back, Vincent entered the sleazy abode, and sat down at the bar.
Inside, an exotic dancer, no more than eighteen years old. pole-danced and twerked wearing nothing but a ruby studded thong.
She continued to twerk in Vincent's direction, but, after a short time, he simply got up and left, knowing it would go nowhere.
And he went, of all places, into the bathroom. Being a living corpse, Vincent never had to relieve himself. But now, he wanted to relieve himself of human contact.
Sure enough, he was relieved that no other human beings were there. Finally, the solitude was his.
And then, Lucrecia appeared in the mirror.
"You can appear in the mirror?" he began.
Lucrecia nodded.
"You lied to me," she began. "You told me my son was dead."
"You lied to me, too," he retorted. "Years ago."
FLASHBACK...
Lucrecia sat at her desk as Vincent Valentine of the Turks entered her office.
It was two days after the incident at the Shinra Mansion. The pain of the breakup was still fresh in his heart. He knew she would want little, if anything, to do with him. Still, he needed closure.
"Hi, Lucrecia," he softly greeted.
"Did you need something?" she asked in a monotone, without looking up.
"I need to know what happened two days ago," he replied.
"Easy," she answered. "It ended."
"Why?" he naturally asked next.
"You scared me," she replied as she finally looked at him.
"Scared you?" asked the perplexed Vincent.
"We were moving way too fast, and it was making me uncomfortable," she snapped. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that moving to fast can drive someone away?"
"You seemed fine with everything," Vincent said. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I'm telling you now!" she retorted.
"Then why didn't you tell me before you decided to dump me?"
Lucrecia gave Vincent an angry look.
"I think you've overstayed your welcome," she growled.
"Excuse me?" Vincent grunted. "None of this even makes any sense!"
"Get out now, before I call public safety to look into a restraining order!" Lucrecia demanded.
Not wanting to chance it, Vincent softly turned and left.
...END FLASHBACK
"Why do you torture me?" Vincent demanded.
"Why do you blame me?" Lucretia retorted.
"You could have just told me the truth," he reprimanded. "Why didn't you tell me you knew my father?"
"Why did you tell me my son was dead?"
She had a point; he had lied to her as much as she had lied to him.
"I knew you were lying," she continued. "I could feel him the whole time. The last week or so, I couldn't, but now I can again. So, Vincent Valentine, please tell me the truth. Is Sephiroth alive or dead?"
"He's like is," Vincent replied.
"Like us?" Lucrecia asked.
"He's neither," he clarified. "He's been petrified. He's a stone statue. It's an endless state of living death."
"Oh," she said softly.
"And furthermore," Vincent continued, "how can you reach me through the mirror? Aren't you sealed away in a crystal?"
"I am sealed away," she replied. "I sealed myself away."
"Wait a minute," Vincent began.
But then, Lucrecia suddenly disappeared.
Vincent found himself alone in the bathroom, staring at his own reflection.
Old wounds were now opened. He was frustrated, wondering whether she was playing some kind of game.
And yet, he still loved her.
2:00 a.m.
After about another hour, Vincent found himself approaching another town. There were only half of the lights on, and, even in the dark, he could see that the town was dilapidated. He soon passed the sign that said it all: "WELCOME TO NORTH COREL."
As he passed one of the nicer homes, Vincent could see someone sitting on his front porch. He recognized the individual; it was Barret. He had a troubled look on his face.
"What's worrying you?" Vincent asked.
"It's that damned petrified Sephiroth!" Barret replied. "He's gone!"
While AFF and its agents attempt to remove all illegal works from the site as quickly and thoroughly as possible, there is always the possibility that some submissions may be overlooked or dismissed in error. The AFF system includes a rigorous and complex abuse control system in order to prevent improper use of the AFF service, and we hope that its deployment indicates a good-faith effort to eliminate any illegal material on the site in a fair and unbiased manner. This abuse control system is run in accordance with the strict guidelines specified above.
All works displayed here, whether pictorial or literary, are the property of their owners and not Adult-FanFiction.org. Opinions stated in profiles of users may not reflect the opinions or views of Adult-FanFiction.org or any of its owners, agents, or related entities.
Website Domain ©2002-2017 by Apollo. PHP scripting, CSS style sheets, Database layout & Original artwork ©2005-2017 C. Kennington. Restructured Database & Forum skins ©2007-2017 J. Salva. Images, coding, and any other potentially liftable content may not be used without express written permission from their respective creator(s). Thank you for visiting!
Powered by Fiction Portal 2.0
Modifications © Manta2g, DemonGoddess
Site Owner - Apollo