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[ He nods and tucks the pack back into a pocket somewhere. Or maybe the cape eats it. It's hard to be sure. But once declined, he goes ahead and finishes lighting up, enjoying the first bit while he contemplates how to answer. ]

... I suppose we'll see.

[ He flexes his claw a little. ]

If he goes after Aerith again, I'll kill him.

[ He doesn't want to see her hurt again, and besides... in a way, Sephiroth is his responsibility, still. Or at least he sees it that way. ]

[ His expression hardens, and for a moment, there's something very much like steel reflected in his eyes. For all that he would like to see Sephiroth restored to his proper mind, he's not about to overlook the harm he could do to others.

Aerith is no exception. ]

He's not going to get that chance.

[ He might not have been there to protect her before, but he's here now, and he'll be damned if he allows something like that to happen again. ]

Mm.

[ He's quiet again for a few moments, thoughtful. Then he looks over at Zack again. ]

... you knew him before... everything, didn't you?

[ He's guessing, anyway. Zack, at least, seems to have actually been in SOLDIER, after all. ]

...Yeah.

[ Before Nibelheim, before Meteor, and Geostigma. He still remembers the quiet, yet powerful SOLDIER hero that the whole world used to idolize -- himself included.

There's no returning to the past, and he knows it's wishful thinking, but a part of him wishes he could see that man again. ]

I did.

... what was he like?

[ Vincent realizes he's a bit selfish in asking this question, perhaps, but... he wants to know. What was Lucrecia's son really like before it all went wrong? What might he have otherwise become?

He's done research, of course. He's read news archives and heard stories, but none of that is quite the same as hearing someone described by someone else who actually knew them. ]

...Powerful. Efficient. [ He shakes his head. ] The first time I met him was on a mission in Wutai. He was cold and kept people at a distance.

[ Or at least, that was the side he showed most of the world. ]

After I made First, I got to know him a little better. He told me once how he used to sneak into the training room with two others...his friends.

[ 'Genesis...Angeal...and I.' It seems a lifetime ago now since he heard those words. ]

Before we went to Nibelheim, he talked about abandoning Shinra, depending on how the mission went. When we got there, and he saw the monsters Hojo created, he assumed he was like them.

[ A monster. ]

He wasn't the same after that.

No... I imagine he wasn't.

[ He curls his claw into a fist, narrowing his eyes. ]

And if there's one thing Hojo is good at, it is creating monsters...

[ Vincent sighs and hunches forward a little more as he imagines what Zack has described. ]

I am glad he had friends, once. ... what were they like?

[ He wants to hear as much as Zack is willing to tell him, really. ]

[ There's so much to tell, he doubts he could squeeze it all into one conversation. Besides which, some things are a little to personal to really get into. ]

...one of them was my teacher. [ Angeal. ] When I joined SOLDIER, he helped me rise in the ranks. He was strict but patient; kind of funny, when the mood struck him. He talked a lot about dreams and honor.

[ The moral backbone of SOLDIER -- or at least, that's how it always seemed. ]

...the other was...different. I didn't know him that well, but he was always quoting LOVELESS. He believed in the power of words as well as swords.

[ Genesis. The catalyst to so many sorrows. It wasn't all his doing, of course -- if Shinra had left Jenova buried, none of this would have happened. ]

Dreams... and honor... and words... they are all powerful.

[ What a shame they so rarely last, he thinks. He imagines both these men are dead, now, the way Zack speaks of them. But was it before or after Nibelheim? And were they ordinary SOLDIERs or... something more? ]

Were they... enhanced in the same way as Sephiroth?

[ He doesn't recall hearing about any other human experimentation with Jenova cells in his time, but he knows full well that the Science Department tended not to share all its projects across the board - and besides, there is no reason, he supposes, that the success with Sephiroth might not inspired other.. similar projects. ]

[ Very powerful. It's no wonder the three gravitated towards each other -- they were strong physically as well as in other, more important ways.

It still saddens him, thinking of how that friendship was torn apart. ]

They were.

[ Jenova's cells -- even before Nibelheim, they were causing problems. ]

The process was different, but both of them had Jenova's cells.

[ A pause, then- ] It caused a lot of problems.

... Jenova cells always do. The Calamity from the Sky...

[ He takes the last drag on this cigarette and then stubs it out on the rock beside the other one. ]

I hope their processes were... easier on their mothers.

[ He shakes his head. ]

...I guess it depends on what you mean by 'easier'.

[ Angeal's mother committed suicide, and Genesis murdered his family. Either way you sliced it, all it could be was tragedy. ]

...You knew Sephiroth's mother?

[ A little surprise, that. He knows Sephiroth talked about his mother 'Jenova', but there was no way that thing actually gave birth to Sephiroth. ]

[ A nod. ]

... her name is Lucrecia Crescent. She... was one of the scientists involved in the Jenova Project at Nibelheim...

[ He closes his eyes as he speaks of her, remembering how she was then, before things went to hell. It's been a long time and a lot has happened since then - the feelings he once felt for her have cooled and dimmed somewhat with time, but... he still remembers. And it still hurts to think about her and remember how the Jenova Project tore everything apart.

He wonders, sometimes, if she regrets it now, as adamant as she had been about it being her choice. And he wonders sometimes if Hojo had regretted any of it, had regretted seeing his own wife suffer like that... or if the man was really so insane and focused on results to not care about all that was lost on the way. ]

[ Scientists who offered up their own unborn children for inhumane experiments -- it's really beyond anything he wants to think about or contemplate.

Zack sighs. ]

I don't understand it.

[ Vincent sighs as well and slowly stands up. ]

Neither do I....

Both Lucrecia and Hojo were so caught up in the possibilities. [ He shakes his head. ] ... I failed to dissuade them.

[ He scrubs the back of his head. ]

No offense, but I don't really think anything short of a bullet could dissuade Hojo from anything.

[ And when he says 'bullet', he means one right between the eyes. ]

Life's too uncertain to dwell on 'what ifs', you know?

[ Perhaps unexpectedly, this draws a short, dark laugh from Vincent. It's one part amused, two part bitter - all parts wry. ]

Unfortunately... he was the one who shot first...

[ He doesn't address the latter part of what Zack says, however. All he really has left is dwelling on 'what ifs', since he can't very well change the past, and there is only so much he can do to atone for it. ]

He got a lot of us first.

[ Sephiroth. Himself. Cloud. Vincent, apparently. There have been a lot of casualties in the name of Hojo's twisted scientific ambitions. ]

If anyone deserves to be blamed for this, it's him.

Mm.

[ He nods at that and turns away from the ocean and the rising sun with a swirl of his cape. ]

... he is dead, now, so at least he will cause no further harm.

[ ~~That is until he turns up as a computer virus infecting a super saiyan's brain!~~ ]

Small favors.

[ He looks across the sea as Vincent does, a fresh breeze rolling in with the waves. Breathing deeply, he smiles as it ruffles his hair and clothes. ]

Looks like a good day.

Mm.

A beautiful day in a beautiful cage...

There are worse things.

[ He'll take this over the basement of Shinra manor any day. ]

Holler at me if you need something, yeah?

[ Translation: A friend of Cloud's is a friend of his so he'll help you if you need it (or even if you don't). ]

Edited 2013-05-29 03:43 (UTC)

[ Honestly? So will Vincent. No more coffins... no more laboratories...

He glances back over his shoulder at Zack as he starts to walk back up the beach. ]

Mm. ... feel free to do the same...

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