~Introduction post~

Sixty years spent on Gaia, half of which had been spent dealing with the avatar of destruction; the Chaos that lurked inside of him. He spent the other half of that time trying to make amends for the horrors he allowed to slip into this world. It seemed as much as he tried, he would never be free of it. So long as that unbeating heart held the Protomateria. He fought, yes, but the battles weren’t difficult. Without knowledge that he even wielded the Primal Materia, he was able to maintain that calculating psyche of his.

Created by Gaia as one of the first three Materia spheres, that Materia assured that Vincent remained in control of Chaos. When Gaia grew too corrupt or tainted; when the world was beyond redemption, Chaos was beckoned forth from a realm that lingered between realms. A place known only as the Edge of Madness.

A barren, violent realm known as the Edge of Madness was ruled by that of Darkness Manifest, an opposing counterpart to the Gaia’s protectors. Even in war eternal, both sides had their champions. Warriors of light blessed by the Goddess, and a singular agent of destruction had always engaged in war with Order; what one would refer to as ‘life’ and ‘holy’’ Any name you could throw at something most people would only ever perceive as a concept that was debated upon.

While a divine war played out, it became clear that Chaos served a function to the universe. A balancing act to save the populace of the world rather than the planet itself. Chaos was meant to destroy the world when Omega woke.Ensuring the Lifrestream held the collective sum of that planet.

It took ages to do so. Only chance was behind Vincent’s father stumbling across the Crystalline Cave. A type of Mako coalescing and being warped with Chaotic bioplasm. Attuning itself with the planet’s lifestream before it’s energy acted like a selective virus. Seeking out impurities and destroying them from within.

Leave it to Hojo to break a Cetra prophecy. Chaos was a beast born from human phenomenon. It was in their nature to consume. In so doing, moving the planet closer to it’s demise. Requiring ‘The world’s fear’ with that of unfathomable despair. In any form. When those two criteria were met, the altered mako born from Chaos’ bioplasm would present itself much like an Arbiter of Fate would - more like a demon or wraith than anything physical. Making their way past the small gap between realities until it crossed through the Edge of Despair. From a realm of aetheric nature to the physical world.

When Vincent was shot so long ago, coincidence became providence. Tortuous experiments done on the body of the former TURK became the reason he was alive to that day. Endowing every physical trait of the man with that bioplasm, the act would make Vincent stronger than any man. Strong enough that when introduced to Chaos, his body wasn’t torn asunder from the destroyer's power - one of only two able to contain Chaos’ within, across any reality.

The machinations of Shinra, and even the one he loved betraying him; everything he had given up in his trauma. All his failures. And with Jenova’s presence growing more terrible with the birth of her son, the world was deemed tainted and the constant guilt that bore down on his shoulders created an anomaly to this cycle, as Chaos was drawn from the minute gap between the physical and ethereal - The divine path between the beatified realm it came from and the domain of man. The instrument of destruction was emitting more and more of its energy as it sought a host.

Neither Vincent nor Chaos had any say in the matter. Hojo had made him that.. thing when he introduced the Chaos altered mako into Vincent’s system, causing him to stir. Lucrecia, however, pushed it even further. Had he not been so blinded by love at the time, he would have seen Lucrecia for what she really was. She wanted to play pretend. Toyed with his heart and abandoned him over some misplaced disdain over the fact that she worked with his father. At least, it was something he assumed.

When he awoke, he did so alone. Or as alone as one could be when they were merging psyches with a being as divine as the Weapons itself. To combat Chaos from emerging too early, Gaia crafted the Protomateria in so the host body could retain control of the ruinous predator. The world itself keeping the host ignorant to Chaos’ function for as long as possible. If one didn’t know they purpose, how would they fulfill it?

In Vincent, he found the manifestation of despair; of sorrow. Shrouded behind a stoic facade. He had accepted his fate long ago. Only he needed to shoulder his burdens, but Vincent - forever a man of action - would take it upon himself to ensure his brothers and sisters-in arms did not share in his pain; suffer as he did. Even if it meant death. There was no deathwish. Rather, he knew his new strength.

He had lost too much to see he people he cared for hurt. That was why when he acted, he did so with absolute conviction and often, without thinking of his own personal safety. He leapt after Shelke into Nero’s void without hesitation, Ignorant to the power of Nero’s void. He had stepped between threats and Yuffie to make sure he would take the brunt of that damage. A step further and the Squire of Omega had literally been shot four times for Cloud. Had it not been for Chaos, Vincent would have died in the very mansion they experimented on him in.

Not that he would ever share such stories. Vincent, of course, spoke little of his past. He hadn’t simply lost his loved ones. He had failed them entirely. A pain that struck more keenly than any sword.

The very same guilt fueled that territorial nature now acting as… security to those who couldn’t protect themselves. After all, he had taken on the traits of his others. Even Galian beast. The need to protect those he deemed as being close forever present. Cloud had asked him once why he had been so cold. Vincent’s response was birthed from ignorance - an inability to show emotions lest he risk Chaos’ gaining some ground in their internal battle. Truthfully, he did care, to be sure, but he had no need for long winded conversations. Only, a few still got to see that side of him in private. Nanaki, who, like him, was nearly ageless. The notion that they wouldn’t be alone when the world stopped was comforting, in some sad, tragic way.

After working with the WRO in a limited capacity following Sephiroth’s attempts at destroying the world a second time. He couldn’t pull the triggger on the song of Lucrecia then. And even if it had been Sephiroth reborn, history would repeat and the man simple would not fire the shot.