A/N: This is a story where Metor never happened. I know… I know… just go with me here. SOILDER still exists, but they're more of like police with the Turks as the more elite force. Shinra is the basic government of the world, but they're not bad… here anyway. I've never played Final Fantasy VII, so I'm trying. Thus I'm not doing an in-game fic. I would screw everything up. As you will notice, Yuffie is older in this story, about 20. She's just older and everyone else's age has stayed the same. Makes it easier to write.
Ninja And The Demon – Chapter 1
The Legend
Once upon a time-
No. That's not the way to start this story. This didn't happen in some fairy tale novel… this was real. All though this story happened so long ago that many believed it to be a tale. But on with this so-called "tale"…
Many scientists worked for Shinra to make this world a better place… and some didn't. This man… Hojo… wasn't one of them. He claimed to be doing his research for better police cadets, and the government believed him. But everyone on the streets new better. These "new and improved" men were more of a monster than an actual man. While most of his experiments failed, Hojo would not give up. And he never did, and he never would until he had the most perfect specimen. That was all these men, and a few women were. Specimens… people to poke needles at, things to make writhe in pain. And this "man"… Hojo… enjoyed every moment of it.
And in the case of two tragic lovers… this applied. The beautiful woman was his new assistant, and he was determined to have her as his latest prize. But the man she loved, the man that would never Hojo succeed wouldn't have it. No one gets in the way of his experiments. Not then… not ever.
The couple never saw each other after that night. Hojo captured the woman, Lucrecia, and strapped her down to a table and began to perform his "beneficial" experiments. Her lover burst into the room, pointing a gun at the scientist's head.
He laughed, "Do you really believe that you can harm me?"
"Let her go!"
"Ah, ever the romantic." Hojo drawled, pulling a gun out of his lab coat. "Sadly, throwing rocks at her window won't save you now! Say good-bye to your lover…"
No one ever heard of the famous Turk again.
Yuffie sighed and turned the page of the book. Geez, didn't anyone know that you needed adventure in a fantasy novel? The book was a book of myths and legends that hadn't been proved if they were true or not… and Yuffie was that bored to read it. It took on the form of a regular novel of short stories, just like little blurbs about a certain werewolf or ghost off in some unknown wood. Despite her dislike for the general flow of the story, she kept reading.
The man slowly opened his eyes and moaned. What happened to him? He remembered Hojo… wait, HOJO! The man sat bolt up right, or rather tried to. Hojo was laughing at him lying there helplessly on the examination table.
"Isn't wonderful to be completely vulnerable to someone?" Hojo asked absentmindedly, walking around the table. "Especially when this person has the ability to do things to you that would make your skin crawl?"
"All I want to know is how I'm still alive after you shot me." The man snarled.
The scientist laughed, "Oh… simple. I'm famous for my experiments… as you know. You're an entirely different person you know. You look nothing like the man Lucrecia once loved."
"You bastard-"
"Ah now, that isn't the way to talk to the man that holds control over you live, now is it?" He laughed, and leaned down to stare the Turk in the eyes. "Strange, how you don't know the true meaning of love."
"What are you talking about?"
"Didn't you know? Lucrecia is my wife. Did you fail to notice that?"
"She said she hated you! I wanted to bring her the joy that you never could!"
"My poor boy… you do not understand a thing about love. What would you do for her?"
"I'd die for her!"
"You say that now, but I know what's in your heart. You would run when you could, not matter what you promised her!"
"You speak lies!" the man yelled, despair in his heart. He knew the crazy man was right, but he refused to believe.
"You and I both know that I do not. But I am right… despite what you want the truth to be. You do not know the true meaning of love… and you never will. When you do… you shall know."
Then Hojo pulled a needle out of pocket, and injected it into the man's arm. "All will be explained…"
When the man awoke again… he could see more clearly. He looked around, only to notice he was not in the examination room where he last was conscious. He raised a hand to his face, only to realize that he wasn't seeing a hand… but a claw. He stood up with alarming speed, and spun around. He was in the attic where no one rarely ever went these days. He looked around for Hojo, only to see that he was the only one in the old room. A mirror was hung against the wall, and he went over to look at himself. Hojo did say that he didn't look normal…
The man let out a strangled gasp at his reflection. He didn't resemble anything even human!
"Fitting, isn't it? That the man who doesn't know how to love is transformed into a being that hates the word? Sadly… this is permanent, unless you break the curse I've set on you."
"What are you talking about?" The man cried, only to discover his voice sounded much different… like an animal growl rumbling in his chest.
"This is a curse. When you learn to love, this hard exterior you now support will vanish. But… we cannot wait forever, for time passes whether we like it or not. You have a certain amount of time to break this new you and find a love. If you do not, you will remain like this forever."
"How long do I have?" The man asked quietly.
Hojo smiled and pulled out a rose, "You have until every single petal on this red rose falls. When it does… you will never see the human you again."
And to this very day, that lost image of a man waits in that old house… waiting for someone to see the real him and learn to love him through his dark and unbreakable visage.
"Gawd… why are these stories so morbid?" Yuffie complained, shutting the book. It irked her that the man's name was never said through out the entire story. There was an editor's note at the beginning, saying that the man's name had been lost, and that he was never mentioned among Hojo's records. She just shook her head. Someone wanted a story, so they just made one up. Sadly… the young woman should have thought a little deeper, beyond the darkness and pain of this man's story.
For it is real… and you must look deeperto find the true meaning of a story.
A/N: It's funny the kinds of idea that can come to you when you're watching a Disney movie. Anyway, the next chapter is coming soon considering that this wasn't exactly a fun one to read. And since Metor didn't happen in this story, Yuffie has met none of AVALANCHE and vise versa. Don't worry, you'll see them... only much, MUCH later. As you've noticed, this is a Beauty and the Beast theme. Just... go with me on this one, it gets better, I promise.
Please, don't flame. This is my first FFVII fic, and I haven't even played the game. So, I'm trying!
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII, or the flow of Beauty and the Beast. This applies now and for the rest of the story.
-Vincent's Angel of Chaos-