Vincent shut the book with a snap, the contents were unreadable even to his eyes.  He thought that maybe this time, maybe he could read it.  He cast aside the slim leather bound book, it fell open to the first page, as if taunting him.  The book had lain undisturbed in the Shinra mansion until, 48 years ago Vincent had discovered his beloved’s diary and attempted to uncover it’s secrets.  But he was running out of time, everytime he opened the book its writing began to fade a little more, soon he would lose his last link to Lucrecia.  Lucrecia, once she was all he had to live for, now he had nothing.  No reason to live but the fact he couldn’t die.  Although 50 years on from being freed from his coffin by Cloud, Vincent’s body still resembled a 27 year old.  His face still youthful.

Vincent leant to pick up the book but changed his mind and, turning sharply on his heel, left the library.  He prowled through the Shinra mansion, it housed many secrets and in his half century spent here he’d barely scratched the surface.  Hojo had conducted so many of his twisted experiments here.

Vincent moved down to the basement, a small part of him screamed in terror as he passed into total blackness, but he suppress it.  He had been down here many times before, this basement had been his home and is Hell.  Entombed down here, alone in an unnatural sleep.  A sleep filled with nightmares and phantasms that corrupted his soul.  Though it was pitch black Vincent’s preternatural eyes easily made out his coffin.  He reached it quickly, not wishing to linger.  He reached inside and snapped out the bottom.  It had taken him years to find that trap door, he dropped easily through the opening and into a cool, musty room.

Like the room above it this one was too filled with coffins.  Vincent shuddered slightly, he’d read Hojo’s work. He knew about the occupants of the seven coffins.  They were clones of Sephiroth, should Sephiroth ever be killed his soul could enter one of these inanimate bodies and begin again.  At least he could have, had Vincent not returned here torn the clones apart with his bare hands.

His gaze traveled to the glass coffin at the end of the hall, from it stood up right against the wall, emitting a strange blue glow blocking out it’s occupant.

“Who are you?" Vincent moved over to the coffin and, kneeling, ran his gauntleted hand over the icy glass, to touch it with bare skin would cause the skin to instantly wither and die at the intense cold.  Surely nothing could live in a coffin so icy, nothing normal anyway.  Yet Vincent couldn’t bring himself to rip open the coffin and destroy the sleeper inside.  Hojo had not documented anything about the coffin save scrawling ICE on the outside.

Did the coffin contain someone like himself?

He had tried casting fire on the coffin in hopes to melt it, over and over he had tried to free whoever was inside but to no avail.

ICE?  What did it mean, some sick joke of Hojo’s after freezing someone alive writing ICE on the coffin and sealing it away down here.

A thought struck Vincent, surely not.  Surely the answer hadn’t been staring him in the face the whole time but then it was just like Hojo to leave the answer where everyone would see it but no one would look.

Carefully, concentrating Vincent cast Ice on the coffin.  There was a slight tinkling sound but otherwise nothing.  He turned away, dismayed when the coffin started banging.

A high pitched feminine voice screamed out anguished...

“Let me out!!  Oh God held me, someone.  I’m trapped....” the voice disintegrated into sobs as hands banged the lid of the coffin.

Vincent turned quickly, bringing his clawed hand around and striking the coffin full force.

The girl inside screamed again as the coffin shattered, mako energy flooded over Vincent.  The girl dropped to the floor, coughing and crying.  Emotions burned through Vincent, shock, anger, horror.

The girl was barely sixteen, her hair was grey, falling to her waist, her eyes intensely blue.  On her left arm was a silver gauntlet ending in a claw.  She was dressed entirely in black, a teal cape hiding the lower half of her face.  Her skin as pale as his.

The same fate that Vincent had suffered had befallen this girl.  But her hair, her eyes.  Another Sephiroth clone?

Vincent just stood there staring as the girl clambered to her feet.

“Who are you?” he asked finally.

“Lee-la, who are you?”

“Vincent.”

“Oh.  Thank-you, for getting me out and stuff.”  Lee-la seemed nervous.  “Do you know where my mum is?  I was supposed to meet her at the Shinra mansion in Neblihiem but she never showed up.  I fell asleep in the doorway and then I woke up here.”

“It might help if I knew who your Mother is?”

“Lucrecia, duh, isn’t it obvious?” the girl asked defiantly sticking her hands on her hips.

Vincent almost smiled, Hojo had obviously resurrected this girl, like him.  Stealing her body and soul, but he hadn’t managed to take her personality or emotions.  Perhaps she had been the experiment, he the perfected technique.

“What year is it?” Vincent questioned.

“What kind of a stupid question is that?” She sneered but named a date 80 years before the present.

“Lucrecia had you before joining Shinra, which would make you Sephiroth’s older sister.”

“Who?” Lee-la asked, frustrated.

“Sephiroth.”

“Who?”

Lee-la asked again before it clicked in Vincent’s mind, she would have been entombed well before Sephiroth was even born.

“Come,” Vincent commanded, turned and walking away, he climbed up through his coffin.

“Excuse me!  I’m not as tall as you I can’t reach!” Lee-la yelled angrily through the opening.  Vincent sighed before reaching down with his left arm.  Their matching silver and gold claws locked together and he pulled her easily up.

“Wow?  You're strong!” Lee-la said admiringly.  They walked back to the library in silence.  Vincent wondered where to start but eventually he filled the girl in one the last 80 so years.

“So Sephiroth was your son.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, didn't it hurt, having to kill him?”

“No.  Hojo perfected the method before entombing me.”

“Huh?  Oh, yeah, our arms, n’stuff.  I guess I was the first one he ever did.”

Vincent made no sound.

“So what now?” Lee-la suddenly asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we’re immortal, at least you are, I hope I am too.  Anyway we’re vampires we need evil guys to beat up and feed off.”  Lee-la began to get excited.  “Yeah!  You can train me and then we can go around kicking bad guys’ asses and eating them!!!”

Vincent felt the urge to tell her not to swear.  It puzzled him, he had no paternal instincts.

“You can be my older brother, even though technically I’m older than you and we can go ’round saving the world!”

Lee-la prattled on happily for the remainder of the night and Vincent smiled.