Tales of Fantasy VII

Final Symphonia
Written by Aya
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters
only three, the rest are not mine.

(Thought)
-Conscious or inner Demons-
*Action within talking*

A/N: Or anything that inhabits that persons'
body and not all thoughts will be place in slashes.

Vincent had immedately went back to Kalm, after leaving
Tifas' bar and like the girl he found it odd that after
only three months. These people where nearly done with
rebuilding it and his investigation turned up nothing,
either these people were hiding something or they really
didn't know a thing. (I highly doubt that last part.)

As he continued looking around, Vincent couldn't help
but feel a bit out of place. Everyone around him were
in such high spirits, with clothse to match and this was
what helped confirm his theory. (What could they
possibly be...) He thoughts were cut short, as a dark
color caught his eye and as he went over to get a better
look. He noted, that it was an old woman who looked to
be on the verge of death and her clothse looked like
rages. She was leaning on the wall for support, when
a man yelled at her and whipped her across the face.

(What on earth?) Vincent rushed over to the woman and
with little effort, knocked the man a way. He kneeled
near the woman, who fell after being hit so hard, "Ma'm, are you alright?" Vincent asked, a hint of concern could be heard in his monotone voice.

She lifted herself up with what little strength she had
left and a weak smile played across her old features, before looking into his crimson orbs, "I don't have much time left but I would like you to do something for me... ugh!" she coughed a little.

Vincent hadn't missed that, her eyes were a deep red the
same as Retsuka and if that wasn't a dead give away,
she was infact the same color as the redheaded female,
"I can't promise anything but I will try." with that,
the lady continued.

"I have three grandchildren, one of which I fear died the
night this town was destroyed and the other two are
with whoever these people leader is. If my Retsuka is
alive.." Vincent had to cut her off, he felt she should know
Retsuka was find and once that was said. He could see
her features soften as worry left the old woman.

She once again continued, "Since she is safe, I'll tell you
the other half. The other two are Airi and Sakurai, they
have joined those men leader but I'm sure Retsuka will
look for them. Please protect her, her brother and sister
are not who they use to be and are a lost cause. It is
because of them this town was destroyed and.." the
grandmother was cut off by the desigain, who'd left
only to return with two more troops.

"Step away from prisoner R-00426, you filthy human
or die." Vincents' blood red orbs ran across each guard,
it's been awhile since he's been called a human and a
filthy one at that.

He stood, placing a hand on the handle of Cerberus and
taking a few steps forward, "What is the meaning of
this?" He wanted answers and he wanted them now, however the guards had other things in mind, deciding they wouldn't say a word. He drew his gun, aiming at one of the guards, "Who are you people?" They weren't answering quick enough in his opinion.

One of the guards remaind in hiding until the guy in red
velvet cape, was far enough away from the woman and
that's when he made his move. The desigain troop ran
over to the elderly woman and quickly removed the
key creastless Exsphere, pulling a pained groan from
the woman.

Vincent looked back at the woman and then over to the
man holding a shiny blue orb, if he remembered right
the old woman had one on her hand. He glanced at the
spot on her hand but only saw a print where the blue
orb was at, was that a bad thing?

The desigain soldiers including the one holding the blue
orb, moved away as the womans' screams of pain turned
into roars of terror and this frightend the people in
the town. They wasted no time in running for their homes,
where they felt safe but there was a small few who
stood watching.

Unsure of what to do as Retsukas' grandmother turned
into what he thought was a monster; not a demon, Vincent
grimaced at where this was heading. He couldn't
understand what was happening, was that thing on her
hand holding that thing inside or was there more to
this, "She had to pay." Vincents' attention was now on
the guard that spoke, what was she to pay for?

"She had to be punished for her crime, coming in contact
with a human outside of the ranch is strickly forbbiden
and she was also giving out classified information." the
desigain had a sadistic smile on his face by the time
he finished.

Vincent looked around, he wasn't sure what ranch the man was talking about, all the buildings looked the same. Unless it was under ground or further back in the town but then that would mean, that woman was trying to escape, "That also means you have to die as well, it would seem you know far too much but we're gonna let prisoner R-00426 take care of you." the soldier spoke again but this time with a more amused tone.

He didn't want to but what other choice did he have, his
hand trembled as he gripped Cerberus tighter. Still
bearing an impassive expression, Vincent looked over
towards the soldiers and back at what use to be an elderly woman. He watched as the monster advanced on him swiftly, Vincent almost smoothly dodged and evaded every attack before actually aiming his weapon at it. (There's no other way.)

-That was your answer for everything.- That's just what he needed at this point and time, a conscious. (I thought
that vanished with chaos?)

-I'm a conscious I don't vanish, I just lay dorment until
you think 'there's no othere way.'- Vincent had to
roll his eyes at this statement, as he continued to
dodge the monsters attacks. (Are you saying there's a way
to save her?)

-No...-

(What!? Then why are you wasting my time.)

-Let me finish... The old woman was trying to say something before those people returned. Now what I'm trying to say is don't kill her right a way, deal out a blow big enough to revert her back to human, so that she may finish speaking
with you.-

A chuckle left one of the desigain soldiers, "How sad,
letting your human emotion distract you and screw
up your judgement." Vincent ignored that, keeping
his attention on the mutated woman and as if to mock
the soldier. Vincent took the monster down in one
quick and not to mention accurate shot, the desigain
troops mouths nearly hit the floor as the watched
to monster hit the ground and convert back into an
old woman.

Vincent rushed to her side quickly, as well as the four soldiers, though they didn't make far before they were staring down the barrel of Vincents' gun. One shot rang out before one of the soldiers evaporated, dropping the Exsphere. The others three, slowly backed away, "I suggest you leave before you end up like your friend." Vincent told them darkly, which had them running before he even finished the sentence.

He knelt down by the woman, who seemed to be holding
on by gods good graces, "Are you alright?" He had
hesitated slightly before asking.

-Dumb question.-

(I thought you were gone.)

-....-

(Better.)

There was a cough before the woman handed him a letter,
"Give this to Retsuka... *cough* You may read this as
well, I'm sure *cough, cough* it'll be of some use.." she began coughing almost uncontrolably.

Vincent lifted her up a bit before speaking, "Save your
energy."

-Please don't tell me you're actually hoping for her
survival.-

(....)

-Idoit.-

An old trembling hand touched the side of his face, "It's
far too late for me but you must listen carefully, I've
heard they located Retsuka. She's at a bar and they've
already sent a few man over there, including one of
the higher order personal. Take care of her." her
hand ceased trembling and fell to her side, before
she to vanished from his hands. (First that girl thinks
I'm hero and now her grandmother.)

-I for one don't think you are, now you need to get to
the bar.-

(If chaos is gone, why are you still here?) He was a little
more the irratible at this point.

-That question again?... A persons' consciousness doesn't just disappear, people just tend to ignore or not pay any heed to it until a dire issue becomes almost too much to handle.- before leaving, Vincent picked up the blue orb that fall from the soldiers hands and took a closer look
at it. (I'll figure it out later.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tifa and Yuffie who had made it back in time to help,
were now feeling drained. They'd been fighting for a
little over two hours now and Cloud wasn't due back
for a hour or two, Vincent on the other hand should
have been back. (I'm not sure how much longer, I
can hold out.)

Retsuka looked over at Tifa and Yuffie, then at the two that they had yet to beat, "It would be easier, if you just
handed her over to us. I will give you credit for taking
down three of my troops but that's as far as you go."
Kratos stated calmly.

The desigain readied his whip as Kratos casted thunder
blade, the girls quickly evaded and launched a few
attacks of their own. Yuffie threw her shuriken as she
ran along the walls, the soldier was grazed only slightly
but still managed to catch Yuffies' leg.

Retsuka immedately casted a fire spell at the soldier but
he was still able to throw Yuffie into everything behind
the bar. Dashing forward along with Tifa, Retsuka watched as Tifa gave the soldier a heel kick he wouldn't
soon forget and once Tifa was out of the way. Retsuka
gave the man no time to recover, as she forcibly punched
the desigain in the center of his chest and this action
alone left the man breathless.

Tifa used the force of her kick off of the soldier, to her over to Kratos and once again tried to fight him. Still yet, he continued to block and dodge her attacks, it was almost like he knew her attack before hand. "You should give up, Ms. Lockheart. You have no idea how pointless this is for you to keep fighting." Kratos caught Tifas' leg in mid kick and tossed her back first into the bar.

Tifa hissed in pain as her back came in contact with the
bar counter but wasn't given time to recover, as Yuffies'
weapon came flying at her. The soldier had pulled the
shuriken from the wall, were Yuffie had thrown it and
threw it at Tifa. Yuffie who was behind the bar dazed,
had finally come to and jumped over the counter trying
to get to Tifa but Retsuka beat her there.

Kratos didn't think the soldier would react so quickly to Tifa being stund for that second but that was the least of
his worries. Retsuka had jumped infront of Tifa and
held her arms out, try to shield her. This was bad, the
girl he needed was about to die and he knew full well that
he wasn't going to make it in time to stop it.

Retsuka shut her eyes tightly, she knew what was coming
next and perphered not to see it coming. However, when
it never came she opened her eyes, to see Vincents' red
cape. "Vincent! Where have you been?!" Tifa shouted.

Vincent tossed Yuffies' weapon skyward and fired a few
shots at Kratos and the desigain, "Yuffie, now!" upon
Vincents' signal, Yuffie caught her weapon and was
behind the the soldier before they could blink.

"Sorry, I've failed you Kratos-sama." the whip user
vanished instantly, leaving nothing behind.

Kratos sheathed his weapon and headed for the door, he
was somewhat relieved that he couldn't return with her
yet, "Kratos, was it? What does this Yggdrasill person
need with Retsuka?" He wasn't sure which girl asked
but it didn't matter because he left, leaving the question
unanswerd.

Vincent looked over the bar, it didn't seem to have taking
much damage, just a couple of chairs and tables; nothing
big. That's what he thought until he looked behind the
bar but drinks can be replaced, his main concern were
the girls. While the girls all had cut and lash marks, Tifa
and Yuffie seemed to be in worse shape the Retsuka. So
he assumed they were protecting her, while it looked as if
she was trying to aid them.

"Looks like the bar's gonna be closed tonight." Tifa
mummbled to herself, while she set about putting
the place back together as best she could.

Yuffie walked over to Vincent, since she had asked him
for the unteenth time what he had in his hand and he
had yet to reply. Grabbing his hand, Yuffie knew how
much he hated for others to be within his personal space
let alone touching him and lifted his hand with the
white envelop in it, "Vincent." she decided to call him
since Vinny wasn't exactly getting throught at the
moment.

Lost in thought, Vincent almost jumped at the sudden contact but when he found that it was Yuffie. He was going to snatch a way, until he saw what she was inquiring about and simply removed her hand. His mind raced over the events before recieving the letter and for a second a
ping of saddness flashed across his crimson eyes but
vanished almost as soon as it appeared.

Yuffie looked back at Tifa and Retsuka, who had set about fixing the bar as best they could and looked back
at Vincent. He clealy looked as if someone died and
whoever it was must have been close to him, because
Vincent almost never displayed this much emotion. She
leaned in a bit, "Vinny?" she whispered and when there
was no answer, she grabbed his cape and pulled him out
of the bar.

Tifa and Retsuka just watched the pair, Retsuka was
confused but Tifa on the other hand caught on quickly
and figured they'd tell her later. She looked over the
bar and let out an aggravated sigh, Why were they
always messing up her place of business? (This is gonna
cost me.)

"Tifa, I'll clean up the glass behind the bar." Tifa nodded
and watched as Retsuka disappeard behind the counter.

"Did someone close to you die?" Yuffie asked.

Vincent stilled for a slight second, was he making things
look that obvious? Althought it was no one close to him
and she didn't die until after 'he' killed her, "No."
was his simple reply. He was hope she'd say 'oh'
and just run along but with Yuffie things weren't
that easy.

"Oh... well, does it have something to do with that letter?" she asked.

He was tempted to just walk away but then she would
just follow him all night and then he'd never get any
rest, "You said, you were going to look for somemore
clues in Kalm. Did something happen? Something that
you can't or better yet won't tell Retsuka?" Vincent
looked at her. When had Yuffie gotten so smart, he
rememberd her always being the last or second to
last person in the group to figure things out. (Wait a
second.)

"Yuffie, I never said that. So how did you know?"
He asked her.

Yuffie shook her head, "You didn't have to, I've known
you long enough to know. Whenever something's bothering
you, you always look into it." she replied.

He hand her the letter, "Read that and don't say a word until I'm sure she should know." He told her, Yuffie
nodded, took the letter and began reading it.

A small gasp was heard from Yuffie before she spoke,
"Vinny.... I don't like where this is heading. Does she
know about this?" Vincent shook his head, "How did
you get the letter?" Did she have to ask that question,
Vincent wonderd.

"Her.... Grandmother." He looked away, knowing what
she was going to ask next.

It didn't take Yuffie long to put two and two together,
"Did she die?" Vincent merely nodded in reply.(Yeah,
right after I killed her.)

Yuffie wasn't the dumb little girl she use to be, she knew Vincent wasn't telling her everything but she wouldn't push him. It's not everyday she gets to talk to him and learn what's bugging him or what hurts him,
"Are you at least going to tell Cloud and the others?" She asked.

"Yes." came a simple monotone reply.

"Has Retsuka showed any signs of having..." Just then
Cloud pulled up, cutting her off and also making
them realise that the sun was starting to set.

Cloud hopped off the Fenrir, let the kick stand down
and walked over to them, "Have I missed anything
important?" the ex-SOLDIRE asked.

Yuffie looked at Vincent who nodded, "Cloud, you should
take a look at this." the young ninja said as Cloud
took the letter and also read it.

TBC..........
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: For those of you who has been reading this fic, I
hope you've enjoyed and I'm really sorry that it's
moving really slow. But I will try to spice up the
next chappy ok and also reviews are nice to.