At one of the parties that were tasked to search the world, Vincent and Ifalna were on the way to Nibelheim due to the insistence of Vincent. "Hey, Vincent. Why are we going to Nibelheim to find Lucrecia? Isn't it more logical of her to hide somewhere else?" Ifalna was a bit sad, remembering Gast's death in Nibelheim.
Vincent looked at the direction of Nibel and squinted his eyes. "Call it a gut feeling, but I think she's nearby Nibelheim." Vincent had an inkling of where Lucrecia was. It was instinctive and illogical, but that's their only lead right now.
"Lucrecia Crescent huh? What was she like?" Ifalna tried breaking the ice. Vincent looked down and reminisced their time in Nibelheim a bit. "She was a sweet and quiet woman." He then gave an unconscious frown. Thinking of why she did everything that day.
"I see, do you forgive her for everything she did?" Ifalna confronted him and Vincent went wide eyed, not expecting her to go there. "I... I don't know. I still don't understand why she would do that. When she was about to give birth, she wanted me to take them away. What was the reason for accepting the experiments anyway if she would take it back!"
Vincent shouted out in frustration, confusion, and anger. "She left me for Hojo for whatever damned reason, but that was fine... What I can't wrap my head around is why would she experiment on our children willingly?"
He sat down on the ground and was still feeling betrayed, it was a disaster waiting to happen. He was still having nightmares of what the twins had to go through. Ramiel didn't tell him, but a little digging with his skills as a Turk and he learned of the never ending experiments they had to experience.
Ever since the day they were born, treated like lab rats and weapons for Shinra. With Ramiel taking most of the experiments for himself in order to make Alexandra more stable. Showing far better results so Hojo would show more interest on him.
And it keeps Vincent up at night. His son, barely a year old. Was far better of a parent than both of them combined. His absence in their lives might be due to Hojo's ministrations. But it was still unacceptable for him as a man and a father.
Without Ramiel's intervention, he knew that Alexandra would be a pawn of Shinra and will be used to wage wars all over the world for absolute control. His thoughts were swirling down, but he felt arms hold him tightly.
"It's okay... I'm here, we're all here. Everything's fine now." Ifalna held him tightly and Vincent gritted his teeth. "Yeah, thanks." He basked in her warmth for a bit and relaxed due to her aura. Ifalna using her powers as a Cetra to calm down his tainted Mako.
"As far as I can see, you're a splendid father Vincent. You tried to find them immediately and worked tirelessly for their goals right?" Ifalna smiled at him and he looked down in embarrassment from her praise.
"Shinra would've been hard pressed to deal with you and Avalanche while they were busy in capturing Wutai until their plans could be realized. It just didn't go as expected, and you love them very much. Even supporting Alexandra's... Unique love for her brother by not meddling." Ifalna gave a dry laugh.
Vincent snorted and smiled a bit. "Don't worry about being a good parent for Ramiel and Alexandra. Quite frankly, they don't need one. You've already done a good job, relative to their unique personalities and status." Ifalna caressed his hair and Vincent sighed.
"You're right... I shouldn't dwell on it too much and just find Lucrecia. To find out what her goal was, and to close the curtains on that topic once and for all." Vincent stood up and dusted himself off. He then smiled at Ifalna and continued on to Nibelheim.
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Meanwhile, Alexandra flicked her blade as the blood of another one of Hojo's soldiers spilled on it. "They're like cockroaches, they multiply quickly and hide in the corners and crevices of your house." She clicked her tongue and was annoyed as hell.
"It's been years and we still couldn't deal a good blow to their forces, they're really troublesome indeed." Genesis burned his sword to get off the blood. Frowning deeply at the carcasses around them.
Angeal checked the corpses and called them to investigate further. "And they're getting stronger, faster, stable... This is going to be bad, I can already feel that they will attack Midgar with a sizeable force."
"Let's bring one of the corpses back to Midgar, the lab should be able to check what the hell they are doing to their soldiers for their augmentations. Then we can prepare for what their specific strengths and weaknesses." Genesis suggested.
Alexandra frowned when she took a better look at them. "No can do, their bodies deteriorate once we kill them. Probably a trait of project G. Angeal, your mom's genes is truly troublesome." Alexandra sighed and Angeal winced.
"So we won't be able to find anything huh?" Genesis then cracked open one of their skulls and their brain was also starting to turn to mush already. "We can't even do a deep dive on them. Damned Hojo, he's prepared for this well."
"We also can't capture them, like there's a program in their bodies that they'll instantly die when they get bound or dismembered. Let's just try to find more of them and eliminate as much as we can." Alexandra ordered and they agreed.
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Vincent and Ifalna arrived at Nibelheim and she looked at the direction of the manor, praying for the soul of her husband. Vincent let her do her thing as he knew what it felt like to lose someone important to you.
"Okay, let's try and find Lucrecia now. Any lead you'd think that would lead us to her location?" Ifalna doubted that they'll find her in Nibel. But Vincent might have an idea, that's why he wanted to go there.
"Lucrecia agreed to be a part of the Jenova project... Ifalna, can you sense people if they have Jenova cells or not?" Vincent thought of a plan to find her and he had an idea of using Ifalna as a radar.
"Hmmm, I can. So that's why Ramiel teamed us up. Let me concentrate a bit." Ifalna closed her eyes and a pulse of Mako came out from her. Using it as a sonar, it was one of the abilities she learned from Ramiel. And because of it, the twins and her were the best sensors for Mako related subjects.
Ifalna did it a couple of times and Vincent waited patiently, she suddenly opened her eyes and craned her neck to the south. "I didn't feel anything with Jenova cells, but there is a super thick concentration of Mako down south, pretty good place to check out."
Vincent nodded at her suggestion and they quickly travelled to the south. With Ifalna acting as a radar, the closer they went to the source. The faster she was able to find it. "A cave? This feels promising." He ruffled her hair for a good job and Ifalna pouted at him.
"You've changed quite a bit Vincent, back then. Sorry for the words, you were a broody guy with a stick up your ass." Ifalna laughed as she saw him frown at her teasing. "Shut up, let's go inside."
They ventured into the cave and Ifalna led the way to the concentration of Mako. "Oh wow, there's Mako crystals everywhere. This place is loaded with the planet's influence." Ifalna was in awe and thought of why the lifestream was so concentrated there.
"There's a huge crystal there in the middle, do you know what's inside?" Vincent pointed at the opaque crystal that was in the middle of the place. "Hmm, let me check. I don't feel anything due to the amount of Mako here."
Ifalna went closer and touched the crystal, sending in her own Mako to check what's inside. But she frowned and went quiet, which Vincent noticed. "What's wrong? Something suspicious inside of it?" Vincent brandished Cerberus and thought that the thing inside might be similar to Chaos.
"Ahhh, somewhat? I don't know what you'll think of what's inside of here." Ifalna concentrated and absorbed some of the Mako which made the crystal clearer. And after a few seconds, what was inside shocked Vincent.
"L-Lucrecia..." He was shocked, seeing her encased in Mako crystals. Looking like she was asleep peacefully inside. "I can still feel the Jenova cells inside of her. But it is inactive, just like Ramiel's Minerva cells." Ifalna was astonished and thought that the lifestream must've enveloped her with Mako so she won't get controlled by Jenova.
"Is she alive?" Vincent was still worried as Lucrecia was the love of his life. The embers of his feelings were still there. Though a new flame was starting to burn brightly.
"She is, I think she's conscious even. Reach out to her with your Mako, I bet she's going to speak to you via telepathy that way." Ifalna moved over and gestured for Vincent to come close.
He put his hand on the crystal and concentrated his energy inside to reach Lucrecia. "Lucrecia, are you there?" Vincent communicated with her and there was no response. He tried a few more times but there was still nothing.
Disappointed, he was about to move back, but he suddenly heard her voice inside his head. "Vinny." It was faint, but he swore it was her voice. And it didn't change one bit, just like how she hasn't aged inside of the crystal.
"Lucrecia!? What happened to you? Why are you inside of that crystal?" Vincent was confused and he had to know what were the circumstances that led her to be in a huge Mako crystal.
"Vincent... It's been a long time, it's a long story." Her eyebrows furrowed a bit as she couldn't move inside. "Ifalna, can we do something about this Mako crystal?" Vincent looked at Ifalna for help.
"I think I can fish her out of there, give me a second." Ifalna closed her eyes and communed with the planet to let Lucrecia go. After a minute, the crystal started to melt down to pure Mako and Lucrecia's limp body was caught by Vincent.
"Lucrecia... How are you?" Vincent felt complicated in seeing her, but her information on the protomateria and Omega is more important than his feelings. So he sucked it up and would talk to her later.
She started opening her eyes that has turned a familiar Mako blue, basically receiving the OG SOLDIER treatment of Jenova cells and Mako. "Vincent, I'm fine." She gave a small smile and subsequently passed out.
"I think her body was being sustained by the Mako crystal, we need to get her to Midgar so we could check if there is anything wrong with her." Ifalna quickly casted a cure on her for safety and Vincent nodded, carrying her so they could get out of there.
They called for a chopper so they wouldn't strain her with the fast flight of theirs. And Vincent was once again brooding. "Hey, are you nervous?" Ifalna patted him on the back and he nodded. "Honestly, yes. I don't think I'm prepared to hear everything that Lucrecia has to say to me."
Ifalna hummed and thought that was understandable. "Don't worry, even if it's life changing. Don't forget that we're here. Ramiel and Alexandra are also at Midgar, they're just on missions." Ifalna reminded him and he gave a small smile.
"Yeah, I have you guys now." Vincent sighed and thought why was he so troubled anyways. Lucrecia's story might get a rise out of him, but everything is in the past now. And what's important is his current family.
"Call Alexandra at least. I know she doesn't look like it, but she cared a lot about her parents once. Ramiel told me that she used to want to find Lucrecia. Ramiel... Well that guy was independent since he was a baby." Vincent chuckled at his absurdity and Ifalna laughed.
"Yeah, he was. I could still remember the first time meeting him. He was like a boss from organized crime when he talked with me and Gast. They were just 6 years old for goodness sake." Now that Ifalna thought about it, he was simply too special.
They then had a quiet ride, the sound of the chopper remaining on the background. But it was a pleasant silence, something they have shared for thousands of times now throughout the years.
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Thanks for reading everyone, Lucrecia has been retrieved. Things will escalate and it's about time for the climax of ff7 it's just over the horizon. Anyways, ciao.