Chapter Twenty-Four

Arriving at Gongaga was a relief for Yuffie. Finally, a real bed. A real meal! The ferry had brought all the queasiness she had expected, and perhaps more. Though it was only a few hours voyage from the tip of the island that the ruined Temple of the Ancient sat on to the harbor near Gongaga, the ferry had pitched and rolled far more than the Highwind or any stout ocean going vessel that she had journeyed on had. She had lost everything she had eaten for at least a week, she was sure. Her leathers, usually skin tight, seemed to feel loose on her. Cid had teased her mercilessly, of course, at least until Nanaki had swatted him and told him to go rot his lungs somewhere else. Vincent at least had been absent from witnessing most of her shame, although he had seen it ample times when they had traveled before. Somehow, it mattered to her more than he would see her so now. Nanaki had stayed by her side the whole trip, occasionally grasping her braid lightly in his mouth if he thought she was leaning just a bit too far over the edge. Yuffie had found his concern very endearing. But, she had always been found of the red cat.

Night had fallen about an hour before they arrived at Gongaga. Vincent had disappeared almost the moment they had reached the outskirts of the city, announcing he would meet up with them in the morning. Cid had frowned heavily at that, but remember that this had been Vincent’s behavior before, too. Nanaki led them to a well lit inn that also housed a tavern. Yuffie inhaled deeply the aromas coming from the building. The ferry had landed early that morning, and she hadn’t had anything to eat all day. Her stomach rumbled.

“This seems like a good place,” Cid said, glancing at Yuffie’s middle. “At least, our ninja girl’s stomach thinks so,” he added with a laugh.

“I’m not a girl!” Yuffie retaliated perhaps a bit too shrilling. Red moved between them, leaning heavily against Yuffie’s thigh and pushing her toward the door.

“We know you are not, Yuffie,” the cat rumbled, “but right now, our stomachs do agree this is a place to meet their demands.” Yuffie giggled at Red’s observations, then went into the tavern.

The tavern bustled with the usual evening activity – the tables were about three-quarters full, though it seemed most of the diners had already taken care of their food requirements and were now seeing to their liquid nourishment. Several heads swiveled toward the entrance as they came in, followed by several low whistles as the eyes took in the whole of Yuffie’s outfit. Her eyes narrowed menacingly, and she reached back to shift her monstrous shuriken. Most of the faces quickly found something else to look at. Eyes widened again at the sight of Nanaki, but it wasn’t in fear. Gongaga was the closest town to Red’s home, Cosmo Canyon, which lay just on the other side of the massive forest to the west of town. Most of the people here had no doubt seen Red or some of his relatives over time. Indeed, a man at the bar was grinning in recognition at the red cat.

“Well, if it isn’t Nanaki!” the man exclaimed, waving them over to sit at the bar. Yuffie and Cid took a barstool, but Nanaki just jumped up on the counter. He stretched out across the counter, butting his head in a friendly fashion against the barkeeper.

“Hello Geoff,” the cat said with a friendly tone. “What is the house special tonight?”

“Well, we did have some roast cat,” Geoff said an offhand teasing manner, “but it seems that just ran out.” He ducked Red’s tail that was flicking toward the back of his head in a motion that seemed to have been practiced many times before. “So, it’ll be mushroom stew then,” Geoff continued, “but it’s absolutely delicious.” He sauntered off toward the other end of the bar, giving instructions to a woman there. She nodded in disappeared through a doorway at the back of the inn.

“Mushroom stew?” Yuffie asked.

“The special is always mushroom stew,” Red answered. “But it is actually rather good. And they have clean beds.” Yuffie sighed and resigned herself to the mushroom stew, hoping the clean beds lived up to their reputation to make up for the fungus she’d had to eat to get there. She really didn’t like mushrooms.

Later, Yuffie settled into a soft and very comfortable bed that was certainly what Red had promised. She really didn’t like inns that smelled like must and mildew. This one had a clean, fragrant scent to the rooms and linens that reminded her of spring. She had just started drifting off to sleep when she became aware that she was not alone in her room. Without moving, she extended her awareness to the entire room, trying to determine the source of the intruder. Cid and Red were sharing a room next to hers, and she could tell the door the hallway, the only way which they would enter, was not disturbed.

The window, then, she thought. In one swift movement, she flipped the covers off her body and flung herself off the bed, grasping her shuriken when had been leaning against the nightstand as she did. She whirled on the window, raising the shuriken up to attack. Then she stopped, stunned.

“Vincent, what the hell?” Vincent sat neatly on her window sill, bracing his back against one side and his feet against the other. The window was completely open, easily high enough for him to sit under comfortably. She knew that window had been completely shut – and locked – before she had gone bed to bed. It had been, she was sure. The night wind was blowing in softly, and it ruffled the loose dark clothing she used for sleeping when she had a real bed to sleep in.

“Quite impressive,” Vincent scoffed, not moving from his position.

“What – what – why are you …” Yuffie stumbled out, her mind racing and her mouth trying to ask several questions at once.

“Cid said you met this woman that travels with Sephiroth,” Vincent said, ignoring her questions. “That you spoke with her.”

“Yeah, I, uh, yeah… I did. When did he tell you that?” Yuffie moved back to her bed, picking up the covers and flicking them back over the mattress before sitting herself on the bed. She lowered the shuriken back to its resting place by her nightstand.

“Tell me about her,” Vincent asked.

“What?” Yuffie was still trying to assimilate why Vincent was in her room, and why was he asking her these questions now?

“You spoke with her.”

“I already said, yeah, I did,” Yuffie answered. “When did Cid tell you about that, anyway?”

“Did she express any intentions of what they are doing?” Vincent pressed, as if he didn’t hear her question

“Look,” she said irritably. “You break into my room after a very long day, and you want me to answer some questions, but I’m not really in a mood to answer any of them.” She glared at him, furious at his rude behavior toward her.

“Oh?” Vincent’s eyebrow raised slightly. He moved off the windowsill in a smooth motion, moving toward her. Then he paused for a moment as she glared him. Yuffie saw some strange emotion pass through his eyes, something she couldn’t identify, but it was so tangible in its intensity she could almost feel it. It was.. it was...

Then he blinked twice, slowly, and the strangeness was gone. Something harder, angrier took its place in his eyes. While she didn’t think it was directed completely at her, she couldn’t help but shrink back, unable to shake the predatorial vibes that she felt from him. He continued his advance toward her, sitting on the edge of the bed. In the weak light coming through the window, Yuffie could see now amusement in his eyes.

Damn, she thought, why do I feel so intimidated by him? And what the hell is he doing intimidating me anyway?

“I apologize for the late hour,” Vincent said, choosing a different tact. “However, I have come across some information that is… troubling.”

“Information?” She felt her body relaxing some as Vincent took his gaze off her and settled on to the wall to her side.

“Sephiroth and his woman… they were here, and recently.”

“What!?” Yuffie said, louder than she intended. Vincent glared at her for the noise. “They were here,” she continued in a much quieter tone, “in this town?”

“Yes,” he answered. “They were… hired… to go to the Ancient Forest and find a remedy for a sick child.”

“Wow.” Yuffie considered that. “Are you sure it was Sephiroth?”

“I can’t think of another man this planet with long silver hair and a sword as long as he is tall.”

“Wow,” Yuffie repeated. “Why would someone hire him to …. to help a kid?”

“That,” Vincent said, “is what I would like to know. Which is why I came to you, since you are the only one to have talked to this woman that accompanies him.”

“Well, her name is Jyleth,” Yuffie said. “As for what they are doing.. I don’t really know. We only talked briefly, and it was mostly about.. ah… seasickness.”

“She didn’t give you any clues as to what they were intending?”

“No, nothing at all. But… I can tell you one thing,” she said, remember what she had heard in Bone Village before she caught the boat leaving the port.

“What is that?”

“They defeated the monster in the harbor at Bone Village, at the behest of the villagers.”

“A harbor monster?”

“It had been sinking all the boats that had been trying to enter or leave the harbor for some time, I gathered.”

“They probably did this to facilitate their own departure,” Vincent pointed out.

“Maybe. I just got the feeling from the villagers that they felt they had been done a very great favor by the two in defeating the monster.”

“You didn’t tell Cid this,” Vincent pointed out.

“Yeah, well, at that time, I was pretty shocked to learn that I had been on the same boat with both of them and… lived.”

“But you told him you gave her another name,” he said.

“Yeah, I did, but I got the feeling she might have suspected something. We aren’t exactly strangers to the world.”

“No, that we are not. But neither is he.” There was no need to explain who “he” was.

“So what do we do? Ask them, hey, why are you destroying monsters to help people and going to get some remedy to help a sick kid?”

Vincent seemed amused at her suggestion. She couldn’t see his mouth, but she could imagine a slight smile gracing his lips. I bet he’s cute when he smiles she thought. Whoa, were did that come from?

“This changes nothing,” Vincent said, “but it is… perplexing. Tomorrow morning, I need you to go to Cosmo Canyon. Warn them about Sephiroth being in the area and have them seal the canyons.”

“Why me?”

“Because you can get there fast,” Vincent answered.

“What are you going to be doing?”

“We will see if we can intercept them on their way back,” he said.

“You are going to fight them? Without me!?”

“It is more important that you see to it that their escape is closed off, and that Cosmo Canyon is protected.”

“Since when did you give the orders, anyway,” asked Yuffie, suddenly feeling petulant.

He learned forward, reaching to touch her black clothing with the tips of his golden claw. “Since I won my right to wear black decades before you were born.” He stood up, walked back to the window, the leapt out into the night without another word. Yuffie shivered, her hand unconsciously touching the place where his fingers had been.

Damn, she thought, walking to the window and closing it, making sure the locks really were set this time. She walked back to the bed, pulling the covers down so she could slide under them again. Sleep called her before she could worry too much more about the next day.

Vincent sat carefully balanced on the roof of the inn, his acute hearing listening to the sounds in the room below him. Soft footsteps, followed by the closing of the window and the clicking of the locks. His lips held a slight smile as he recalled how easily he had opened those same locks earlier.

And she didn’t even notice. What state is Wutai in that one such as she would be allowed to wear black and not have all the skills that she should have? He knew full well that Wutai had suffered heavily during the rule of Shin-Ra. The prolonged war, the even longer period of occupation, and the near annihilation of the entire male population during a rebellion had all be destroyed the people of Wutai. Truly, their spirit had been damaged, to the point that Vincent didn’t think it would ever repair itself. Perhaps putting such as her in black is a step toward repairing their spirit, he considered. If it was that, he should not perhaps judge her so harshly. The Wutai in which he had won his right to don the black leathers was hardly the same Wutai to which she had been born and raised.

He recalled her words to him earlier that night, words that had brought back old memories. ”I’m not really in a mood…” she had said, staring at him defiantly. Perhaps it was more of that defiant nature that had keyed the old memories, rather than the words. For a moment, he has seen emerald green eyes, blazing in defiance, and the soft fall of blazing red hair that framed a delicately beautiful face.

He opened the door without knocking, stepping into a rather bland room. Chair, desk, bureau, bed. On the last reclined a room whose appearance made him halt, his hand still on the door knob.

“I’m really not in a mood for any more tests today,” she snapped at him, emerald eyes blazing in defiance. Her red hair fell in soft waves around her, the color so deep it reminded him of spilt blood. Twin spots of color suffused her cheeks, but the rest of her face was pale and drawn. Though she had the covers drawn up to her breasts, he could still detect the swelling of her belly underneath.

“Oh, Vincent, I’m sorry,” Lucretia said when she realized it was he at the door, rather than one of the other Turks or lab lackeys that were sent regularly to take her to the lab for more tests. “I didn’t realize it was you. I’m sorry, I’m just not in a good mood today.”

Vincent pulled himself out of his transfixion and quickly closed the door behind him. He found it amazing that the sight of her always caught him so. In Wutai, the women were beautiful, but the eyes were always black, the hair always ebony as a ravens wing. Lucretia’s coloring was exotic to him, intensely fascinating. After years of working for Shin-Ra, he had grown accustomed to the darkness and drab atmosphere that seemed to be part of all of Shin-Ra related environments and those that worked in them. But Lucretia… she seemed immune to the pull to conformity Shin-Ra exuded.

“How do you feel today?” He sat on the edge her bed, taking note of the untouched meal tray that she had partially slid under the bed. “You didn’t eat again.”

“Oh, that,” she said, gesturing disdainfully in the direction of the food tray. “I can taste Mako in it. It’s disgusting. And he,” she continued, placing her hand on her belly, “doesn’t care for it either. I know Hojo says it’s too young for me to feel him moving, but I swear I can. He .. fidgets, every time I get more Mako into my body.”

“I will get you something without Mako in it,” he promised. “You need to eat, to keep your strength up.”

“Hojo won’t like that,” she said, but her eyes lit up at the idea. She smiled at him.

“Hojo doesn’t need to know,” he answered, returning her conspirator’s smile. He boldly took her hand in his – her right hand, the one that didn’t have the ring signifying her marriage to Hojo – and gave it a gentle squeeze before swiftly leaving the room in search for some food that wasn’t Mako contaminated.

A sudden cold gust disturbed his balance slightly, just enough for him to break out of the memory of the past and correct his balance. Well, there is nothing gained by reliving the past that is decades ancient. Why had Yuffie reminded him of that, anyway? He could not think of two women more dissimilar. Lucretia had a quiet strength and peace to her, having no need to prove herself to the world. Her beauty had been fragile and perfect, something he had desperately wanted to protect. Yuffie was young, brash, and insolent, and she hardly needed or wanted anyone to protect her. It is good she is going off to Cosmo Canyon in the morning, he thought, Perhaps we will be able to complete our mission and be gone before she returns.

As if the mission he had decided for Nanaki, Cid, and himself would be simple. He had faced down Sephiroth months ago in the northern continent, but had failed to damage him at all. But he was more prepared now, and he had two others with him that were equally prepared to fight. The woman, Jyleth, concerned him, as she was an unknown. He had seen her practicing with Sephiroth that day, but he had not seen her actually fight. If she was close to Sephiroth in strength… well, he wouldn’t need to worry about Yuffie, as he wouldn’t be alive when she returned.

Yet… why was Sephiroth doing what he was doing anyway? None of his actions made sense. Collecting artifacts to return to the Ancient’s City? Defeating monsters that were harassing and killing townspeople? Traipsing off to the a forest to get honeycomb for a sick child? Why would Sephiroth be doing any of those things? Why wasn’t he in Midgar, trying to reconsolidate his power? Why hadn’t he stayed in Fort Condor, as it was the most likely place for Shin-Ra sympathetic people to be?

Of course, those questions only brought forth more questions that Vincent had not really wanted to consider. How long had Sephiroth been back? Had he actually ever been defeated in the first place? If he had been back for some time, years even, what had he been doing all this time?

Staring at the stars, Vincent decided it didn’t really matter. None of those questions mattered. There were others that could find and return artifacts, defeat dangerous monsters, and get honeycomb for sick children. Others who had not been wholly insane and utterly bent on the destruction of the planet. Others that had not maliciously slain all that had stood in their way on their quest for power. That Sephiroth was alive now, that was all he needed to concern himself with. That the abomination was alive, and that it must be destroyed.

Sephiroth lopped of the head of the flower that had teeth instead of petals in a rather absent-minded motion. They had been encountering these strange and feisty flowers since they had entered the Ancient’s Forest that afternoon. It seemed they weren’t very motile, but neither wanted to see just how dangerous they would be if they wandered too close. It was the evening of the second day since they had left Gongaga. They had collected the honeycomb and found the white flowers, and they were leaving the Ancient’s Forest. Both wanted to camp outside the rather odd canopy and its very strange occupants.

Jyleth examined her dirty hands again, wishing very much to find a decent stream to wash them in. Of course, she had been the one to dig up the flowers while Sephiroth had protected her from frogs and flies. Now the black dirt of the forest clung to her hands with annoying stickiness, and a good amount was also under her nails. She hadn’t wanted to use the water from their canteens since she wasn’t sure if the water in the Ancient’s Forest could be used for drinking to refill the canteens. Any stream that was more than a trickle had been teaming will all sorts of frogs and oddly wiggling plants that had made her decide to not try to wash her hands in it.

Once out of the Ancient’s Forest, they encountered a few of the more dangerous monsters they had been warned about. Jyleth did not get much chance to fight them, as Sephiroth kept jumping in front of her to destroy any that approached her before she even had a chance to consider how she would like to meet the attack. For now, she allowed him to be her protector, mostly because she found it endearing. But if he carried this protection to an extreme, well, she’d had to clear some things up with him. She wasn’t made of glass, after all.

A small, flat clearing provided an excellent location for their stop for the night. The clearing itself had a beautiful view of the night sky and stars, but, to Jyleth, what was more important was the gurgling creek, clear of frogs and weird plants, that bordered the clearing on two sides. She quickly shed her pack and knelt by the stream, scrubbing at her hands until she couldn’t see any more black dirt. A stick worked to probe most of the dirt from under her fingernails.

Sephiroth had spread out their blankets together, and they sat on the blankets and ate their meal quickly. He had lit a small fire, just enough to provide a little illumination and warmth.

“Where to next?” Jyleth asked, after drinking deeply from her canteen. Sephiroth had re-filled them both, upstream of her, while she was washing her hands.

“I know we haven’t recovered all the artifacts, yet,” Sephiroth answered. “However, we do we have is starting to get cumbersome to carry.”

“So you want to return to Bone Village and drop off what we have?”

“I think that might be the best plan. We still have several people to check with, but we can get a boat from Gongaga to Junon or Costa Del Sol, then on to Bone Village.

“Hmm, I think Costa Del Sol would be better – I can check with one more contact there and nearly be done with the list Dino gave me. The last is in Kalm Town.” Jyleth yawned, snuggling in closer to Sephiroth.

“Costa Del Sol it is, then,” Sephiroth agreed, pulling her closer and pulling their blankets over them.