Seeking

Seito Sanzen arrived in Nibelheim by a little after noon, and headed straight for the inn. She opened the door, a tiny bell above the doorway rang as the door opened and again when it closed. She headed to the front desk and waited patiently for the attendent. The man arrived after a few moments.

"Good afternoon Madame. How many nights will you be staying?" he asked. He smiled, but it was one of those you could tell he had suffered great loss.

"Three days Sir," she answered.

"That will be 1200 Gil please." Seito handed the man the Gil from her wallet.

"Have you seen this woman Sir?" She pulled out a wallet-sized photo of Maria eating some vanilla ice cream coated in chocolate syrup with peanuts, chopped up cherries and strawberries on it. Maria was sitting on a bench, a hand on her swollen stomach with the sun shining behind her. The attendent looked closely and nodded his head.

"Yep. Seen her years back. Nice woman. She wasn't with anyone that I recall. Very nice she was. Children loved her. Didn't stay long. Said she had business in the Mansion up yonder." Seito put the picture back into her backpack.

"Do you know what she was doing in there?"

"Nobody did. All I remember is she left when she heard some Shinra people were coming."

'If Maria was here before she went to North Corel that means I'm going have to retrace her steps. "Any way I can get into the Mansion Sir?"

"Just go 'n. Hopefully you'll come back out alive."

"Thank you Sir." She headed up to her assigned room to rest before she headed inside the building. 'Wonder what I'll find in there if hardly anyone can survive long enough to know its secrets...

Vincent sits in the tree that was planted in front of the Mansion. Through most of the place seemed dead and quiet here in the night, he remained were we was. Knowing for now he can not be seen.

"Daylight will not be a good place to be in this tree..."

Vincent jumps down and sneaks into the Mansion...

After a nice shower and a bit of relaxing, Seito pulled on her Work Gloves before heading out the door. That Mansion held secrets about her dead wife, and Seito needed to know why Shinra was after Maria. Grabbing her Ice Materia, she exited the room, locking the door, and out of the building she went. It was two hours before dusk, and she hoped to be out of the building before night hit. Walked up the dirt path to the Mansion that loomed over the town like a shadow, Seito couldn't help, but image the mighty Sephiroth slaughtering innocent people due to rage. She had heard stories upon stories of what had happened.

'Will I go into a rage once I find out who ordered Maria's death?" she wondered. By now she was at the old iron gates, painted in pitch black, and pushed one open, a crinking sound coming forth. Walking to the door, she opened it. Black. Everything inside was black. Darkness. She stepped inside, and closed the door behind her.

Vincent looks around, seeing no signs of life. Quickly something moved and Vincent looked, seeing it was a rat, put his gun back. He continues looking around and seeing a closed door, he walks over to it. listening for sounds of life and hearing none, he opens the door vealing a old library. Still filled with books and some laying out on a table. Walking into the middle of a room he sees the corpse of a dead child, maybe mid teens, still holding a book that was now covered in her blood. He picks up the book and knowing the blood was dry, goes to open it, but resists due to the sound of someone approaching...He Quickly draws his gun and sneaks in between a bookcase, kneeling down in the shadows, he waits...

Seito found no sign of monsters yet as she slowly made her way through the main room. Luckily Materia tended to glow if about to be used, and she used that to lit up the room, everything had a blue tint to it. In the upper corner ((or left can't remember-OOC)) sat a piano. She felt her feet walk over to the room, and set the Ice Materia down beside her. She didn't know what enabled her to do this, but she placed her fingers on the dusty piano keys. Without thinking, she started to play. Fingers danced along the pearly white row coated in dusty gray particles. Erlkonig, D.328 by Franz Schubert

Vincent, having not shut the door, watches Seito.

"A friendly..."

Vincent gets up and trying to not scare the girl, walks out of the room and stands just outside of the lights illumination.

When the song ended, Seito snapped out of her trance, standing up from the bench quickly only to knock over her Materia. She reached down, grasping the seafoam green orb before leaving the room. She headed to the once library, finding the corpse, and eyed it. Blood was all over it except one spot.

'Not the only one here a?' she thought then glanced around. Nothing seemed out of place except for the stone chimney. The Ice Materia's light seeped into the outline of the cracks of the door. Two options: The door was locked and she 'open it' or it would open at will. She walked over, pressed a hand against the stones and it opened. Damn. She wanted to kick it too. Peering down, all she saw was more darkness. Carefully, she stepped on the wooden planks, making sure they wouldn't break before putting her whole body weight on them. Confident that they wouldn't break, she started down the swirl of the staircase.

Vincent stood and watched as the girl made her way down the steps. Opening the book he was holding reveals a hand written page.

Under the blue bookcase is there it is

Vincent walks over to the bookcases again, each bookcase having a last name of the each person that lived in the Mansion engraved upon the 3rd shelf, soon finding one with the word eulb on it, it reached for the shelf. With a large smash the shelf fell apart, the sound echoing through the entire mansion.

"Great..." Vincent looks up as bats fly about.

Looking back down he sees two robs. A yellow Materia and a Limit Breaker. Taking both he holds up the bright little orb and moves the torn page out of the way. The pages were hand written and most with pencil, much of it faded away he still made out a signature marked as Maria. Realizing the book to be a diary. (hope that is spelled right...lol) he closes the book and heads down the stairs, hoping the young lady didn't come back up wondering what that noise was...

Seito stood in what was once Professor Hojo's secret lab. Everything still worked. The lights were on, computers up, and test tubes ready. Papers were scattered everywhere, no doubt by Sephiroth when he learned his hertiage. To the left a library piled with numerous books of what sorts. To the right a lab with god-knows what happened. Leaning down, she picked up all the papers, and set them on the the desk in a clean spot. She looked at the open notes that hadn't been touched.

Cloud Strife
Zack Fair

Those were the only two names to make out. The rest had been blurred, erased or marked through. By the looks of it only those two survived whatever hell Professor Hojo put them through. She flipped through a couple of pages before crossing something that caught her eye.

M.A.R.I.A.

"My Maria?" she wondered out loud. Before she could look at the documents, footsteps came from the library. She looked up only to find a certain professor that should've been dead. Hojo.

"Your Maria?" he said, hands in white lab coat. "Interesting. Wondered where that woman ran off to."

"How are you alive? Cloud Strife killed you." This didn't make sense. He chuckled.

"I am very much alive child. You however... depends."

Vincent, seeing the lite up lab walks over to it, noticing the young lady and the professor, he stops, and watches, his gun ready and his movement unknown to both people. Staying out of the light and pocketing the orb he has, he waits silently...watching...

"Depends on what?" Seito questioned, setting the papers down. "What did you do to Maria?" Hojo just chuckled, pushing his glasses up.

"M.A.R.I.A. is top secret information. She would've died fifteen years ago if it wasn't for me. She somehow managed to almost kill President Shinra, but her mako doseage kicked in before she could. Damn too. That fat man's son was better for the job," he explained.

"Did you issue the order of her death?" Hojo looked 'hurt' by that comment.

"Of course not. She didn't run away from here I can tell you that much. I wanted to see how she would react in the real world. When I was notified of her death I was shocked. However, you aren't exactly safe either, killing those men."

"Do you know who wanted her dead?"

"Noisy aren't you. I do not know." Seito wasn't stupid. She knew that Professor Hojo had something to hide. Enough reason to keep him alive.

"Thank you for your answers. I'll leave you alone now." She exit the room, making her way back up the staircase.

Seito returned to her inn room, sitting down in a wooden chair next to a clean table with her pack on it. Professor Hojo should know by now she had taken the documents labeled M.A.R.I.A.. He most likely knew she would. Turning to the second page (the first only had the title), she began to read it.

Day 1

The Slums child it seemed was born around mako reactors and had developed a need for the substance. Not like a drug addict, but as a source of food. Unlike humans who can constantly eat until their belts strain the belly from getting any bigger, she can only consume so much. Most likely because her body has warped itself to handle so much. Like a drug. She has been a prisoner of Shinra for 23 hours, and in an hour I will debate with President Shinra on why she shouldn't die along with being in my care.

Seito felt herself getting sleepier; she could only stay up long enough to get up from the chair and collaspsed on the bed.

A knocking coming from her door makes her wonder...

Vincent, standing there, wonder if he should give the item back or not, knocks again on the door.

Looking down at his hand holding the book and the materia she had left of her way out of the mansion. A pain hits his chest and taking his hand from the door puts it against his chest. The pain soon leaving again, he knocks one last time.

"If she doesn't answer I guess she'd asleep..."

Seito, hearing the knocking, slowly got up from the warm but stiff bed towards the door, rubbing her left eye as she opened the door. Letting her guard down wasn't exactly a good thing, but lack of sleep didn't help 'ither. She looked at the man, raising a brow.

"May I help you?" she asked, fully awake now.

(LoL)

Vincent holds up his hand that's holding the book and materia.

"You left these in the mansion. *looks at her with his red eyes* I just wanted to return them."

Vincent offers the book he found on the dead girl and the materia Seito had dropped upon finding her way out of the mansion.

Seito took the Materia, throwing it over her shoulder as it lands on the bed safely, then looked at the book.

"That's not mine," she said, shaking her head. She steps aside. "You can come in if you like."

Vincent stood for a moment thinking.

"Not yours?" He asked as he walked inside. "I know its not yours, but it is of no use to me. It held nothing about the omega project." *Lays the book down on a table* "Though however, it held information regarding Maria, or at least has writings signed by her."

Vincent standing with his head somewhat lowered looks up.

"Thank you."

"How do you know Maria?" Seito asked, closing the door and leaned on it. The book could wait for a bit. "What's the Omega Project?" She was curious now. He must've been the one that was in the mansion earlier. That would explain the missing material from the corpse.

"Maria, the names in the book, the pages that aren't stained with blood, the ones that are readable. All end with Maria. Used as a signature. Omega, a project seemed to not exist, only the rumor about Omega taking the life stream to the stars as the story goes. The end of life on the planet."

Vincent turns to greet his host.

And omega will take the life stream to the stars. Leaving nothing more than death on the planet. All life gone, the planet will remain a dead zone and the life stream shall move on. Ending our existence.

Vincent tilting his head again closes his eyes and listens to his past.

"Lucrecia wouldn't have anything to do with Maria would she?"

"It seems Professor Hojo might seeing as Lucrecia was his assistent and Maria his specimen. I haven't read into the document far enough to know if Lucrecia's name is mentioned. Who are you anyway?" she said. "Do you work for Shinra?"

"Used to.."

Vincent turns and looks at Seito.

"Same professor back at the mansion?"

Seito nods her head.

"Still alive somehow. I heard Cloud Strife killed him."

"Anything worth your pleasure in that book?"

Vincent sits down in a wooden chair.

"Not quite, Cloud killed his body, but his mind he put into data streams, i'm guessing what we saw was data, not the actual professor."

Vincent stands up and drops to his knees. Holding his chest again.

Seito appeared next to the man, he still hadn't said his name, placing a hand on his back.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Vincent taking in some deep breathes manages to get back to his feet.

"No its nothing..."

Vincent looking back at the book.

"I'll leave that with you, i must go back tot he mansion to see what i can find on omega and what happened to Lucrecia."

Vincent turns towards the door, not walking to it yet, but turns and faces it.

"Are you planning on making a return trip aswell?"