The patter of raindrops on the dusty ground was the only sound to grace the dark playground. A soft breeze blew through the area, the creaking of swings that hadn’t been used in over five years adding into the quiet lullaby. A gaze the color of the blood on pale fingers slowly took in the scene, a lump building in the barely uncovered throat as the harsh chimes of a school bell interrupted the delicate music of the place. He felt out of place, unwanted and not belonging to this unearthly stage of lonely bars of steel, the cold surfaces long untouched by any small hands.

Grey was the only color he saw, save for the small spots of dark crimson dripping down the length of chain dangling loose, the other still attached to the dragging swing. Patterns and paths were erased from the dry sand as soon as the shattered corner of wood traced them, almost as if to describe how easily everything was washed away. The dark eyes looked toward the sky, a small flinch his only reaction toward the drops of liquid sky falling upon him. They became steadier, almost insistent on wiping the ground of any proof of her existence.

You know you are just wasting your time, do you not? A far-off rumble of thunder rolled into the odd symphony, making the sole survivor breathe out softly. She is not breathing. It is best to just give up and admit defeat before you even started.

“I could have saved her.” The abrupt sound of his voice breaking the silence made the man shiver, almost regretting having spoken.

It would have been pointless and you know that. Do not try to convince yourself of otherwise. When Death is meant to visit this realm, he will not be stopped by your meager attempts.

Slowly dragging a gold-encased fingertip through the rain-dotted sand in front of the still child, Vincent allowed his eyes to close. “But I could have at least tried.” He felt almost desperate in his subtle argument with the voice echoing in his head, yet he still felt as if he had to try. Try in the way that he didn’t as he watched the small girl and the creature that had broken her, torn her apart before his eyes.

The voice made a sound much like a chuckle though even Chaos didn’t seem that heartless. You of all people should know that you are cursed. Everyone you try to save ended up meeting the fate they were destined to despite your ‘help’. A moment of silence filled his mind then was broken by a softer tone. You have no choice in this. While you may stand by and watch others defeat fate and save those they wish to save, you are meant to be alone. You are meant to be watched over by me alone, whether you agree or not.

Oddly enough, the voice didn’t sound spiteful to him; instead it seemed calming, as if trying to offer up some sort of comfort in the only form Chaos knew. Whether he actually felt comforted was a different question and answer altogether. He stood, a few drips knocked loose by the movement. The rumble reached his ears once again, this time closer and deeper; the storm wasn’t far off, in reality and in his mind.

“I’m sorry that I can’t listen whole-heartedly to your claims. I think you know why.” He cast a forlorn glance toward the brutal splash of color in a world of grey. She looked not scared, but alone, her expression a picture of the many abandoned children roaming the remains of Midgar. “A dead city that holds only dead lives” he had once heard it referred as and, willfully pulling his eyes away from the child, he believed every word of it.

A sound reminiscent of a soft laugh showered his mind in an emotion he was unfamiliar with. I apologize if I cannot take you seriously, but, you see, this is not a dream. You cannot escape what has been placed upon your shoulders, the burden of being so many souls’ last sight before they leave this world.

Eyes that reflected the bloodstained sand caught sight of a simple blossom, quick yet silent steps allowing him to retrieve the seemingly pure flower. A petal drifted to the ground, knocked free by a drop of rain as he laid it upon her broken body. “You should try to stay silent when it comes to things like this. Your opinions do nothing but make matters worse and, I for one, would like to have them either pushed aside silently or adjusted.”

The rumble far off suddenly rose to a thundering crash, echoing the fierce increase of pressure upon Vincent’s mind. Do not be foolish, Valentine. Despite what you may think, I am not broken and I do not need fixed so take that ridiculous idea and dispose of it properly. If I may enlighten you, I have lived in this realm for much longer that you and will continue to do so far after you have dissipated from the Source itself. Both sounds assaulting the man’s head suddenly faded to nothing, the rain the sole resonance around him.

The front gate creaked as he pushed through it, forcing his way from the dank and lifeless place that held yet another regret over his mind. “I don’t need you to enlighten anything for me,” he replied quietly, almost afraid in a strange way of disturbing the uneasy peace surrounding him.

But Vincent, have you not figured it out yet? I am to always enlighten you for I am your light. The man had to swallow down a thick laugh of disbelief and the urge to interject that the only light Chaos could ever give him would be dark and lost. But he allowed neither to breech his lips, the voice inside of him simply continuing. I am here to give you something real, something to keep you alive. Without me you would wither, both mentally and physically. I am what keeps you alive and allows you to continue your useless fight against whatever god you believe dictates your world. I am what allows you to have the will to fight against fate and believe that you are doing some good for this world. I am even what allows you to realize when you need to hide from this world and withdraw, give up your feeble attempts.

Pursing his lips, Vincent carefully brushed a stream of rainwater from his brow, the crimson flecks marring the golden sheathed fingers before him. Perhaps Chaos was right. A pale pink tongue appeared to disrupt the drops of water standing on his lips, the taste of the rain-thinned blood bitter. His eyes lowered, seeing nothing but the dust of the dead city covering everything in existence. No. If he allowed Chaos to steer his thoughts toward that resolution, he would never be able to right his mind again.

You are a smart man, Vincent. The pressure at the base of his mind changed, the image of a smile invading the usually empty space where the demon’s emotions seemed to manifest. Yet I am still here, a fact that no amount of self-realization or reclamation can change. I am the link that holds you to your past, the one thing that remains from years gone by. And I remind you, without that connection to yesterday, you would be nothing. You would not exist.

“I would not exist…” Vincent couldn’t fight with a reality that he had known all along. No matter how hard he wanted to fight those words and claim them as false, he knew it would be an even more worthless battle than trying to change his fate.

Casting his gaze upward once again, he watched as the ominous thunderhead rolled and roiled above him, the soft rumbles doing nothing more than accenting the dark chuckles of the voice hidden in his mind. Soon what had occurred here would be washed clean and Vincent suddenly wished he could open himself and let the rain fall, let the rain cleanse his soul from all he had seen, all he had done and all he had ever failed to do.