We Bury The Dead
By: General Quistis
Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the story plot. Any resemblance to any other plot is purely coincidental.
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-One: Tifa-
We bury the dead, not throw them into lakes and let them drown there.
Wait a minute… dead people do not drown! They are already dead to begin with!
Duh.
Again, we bury the dead, not throw them into lakes and let them drown there… or let them rot under rubbles of a ruined edifice.
We bury the dead.
That is the usual thing that we would do.
Bury the dead.
But are the dead the only people we bury?
They say that from dust we came and from dust we shall return… so…
SO WHAT?!
Okay, this is already beginning to sound annoying, but it all started to confuse me when I decided to go back to Midgar to search for my friends because they said that if ever we all part ways, we could all meet there again…
So you might think that Midgar's another big rubble just like what you might have witnessed? Not exactly. You see, without ShinRa around, things have gotten… somewhat worse. No government to run the whole city. Expect more crimes.
It's a big crime scene in there, that's why upon arriving there, I immediately wanted to leave.
Maniacs.
Rapists.
Gangsters.
Robbers.
Every single kind of criminal you could think of and name, you can already find in the slummy city of Midgar. And walking the streets of Midgar without any gear for self-defense can kill you.
I was thinking to myself, "Why the hell would they be going back here to Midgar and meet me here? Why not in Kalm?"
Where was I all those times that I wasn't around in Midgar?
I was back in Nibelheim starting a new life. A new life without Cloud (but then I'm supposed to meet him), a new life without ShinRa… blah blah blah. I could go on for others.
It had been two years from the time when I was twenty years old and I participated in one of the biggest battles to be ever recorded in history. Versus Sephiroth.
After that horrible battle, we all went our separate ways. I don't know where Cloud and the others went to, but the only one I was sure of was Vincent Valentine. He was just in the ShinRa Mansion.
Maybe Yuffie went back to Wutai. Maybe Barret went back to Corel with Marlene or maybe he just roamed around and settled in one place. Maybe Cid went back to Rocket Town. Maybe, maybe, maybe. I'm not sure.
Okay, I'm drifting off now… where was I… oh yeah! Midgar.
Since upon arriving there, there were maniacs roaming around and would like a piece of me, I just ran off from them until I lost my way and everything seemed so different already, I realized. I couldn't even distinguish Sector 7 from Sector 1 anymore! So because of confusion, I just decided to stay in one place and hope that an acquaintance or two would come along and pass by and we'll finally meet and leave this place.
I waited for more than thirty minutes for a while and then got bored, so I roamed around the area. Some folks were gossiping about their so-called "gang" leader and how ruthless and bossy he is. I just snorted and left… and lo and behold, in all its glory, this big fat badinsky just arrived out of nowhere and started to harass me. Disgusted, I fought him, but then a bunch of other fat ugly guys came.
Gangsters.
Suddenly, everyone was gone but me and those gangsters.
How the hell do I fight those fat bastards in one blow? And I wasn't in the mood for fighting.
Then, just from out of nowhere, there was another group of… I don't know how to describe them… but they were four.
A tall guy with familiar green eyes and silver hair tied in a loose ponytail just like mine.
Another guy almost as tall as the man with green eyes… this time with blonde hair.
A girl an inch shorter than me with long wavy mahogany hair and green eyes… oh and did I mention she's got a flower ornament on the top right side of her head? Like it's a clip or something. Whatever.
And then a woman with brown hair in a high ponytail… and green eyes.
What's with those green eyes anyway? I would even think that they're related… except for the blonde guy. He has blue eyes… just like Cloud.
The tall guy with silver hair and the girl with the flower on her hair started attacking the fat guys. The other two just stood in one corner and watched… but the one with blonde hair grabbed a shotgun and since he was really impatient, he just killed the gangsters even before the silver-haired guy and the girl with the flower on her hair could do so with their own weapons: a sword and a long rod respectively.
"You alright?" the silver-haired man asked, turning to me.
I nodded uneasily; just looking at him reminds me so much of Sephiroth…and you know how much I despise that guy.
"You shouldn't be in a place like this, miss. It's very dangerous for girls like you… especially since you're wearing that." The blonde guy pointed out with a cold look on his face before flipping his hair.
"What?" I immediately snapped at him. He's just so… so… despicable.
The woman with the high ponytail approached me and smiled gently. "Are you alright?" she asked.
I nodded. "Yeah… I'm fine. Thank you," I told her gratefully.
"I think you'd better leave now." She told me.
"I… I wish I could, but I'm waiting for someone," I told her.
"Who are you waiting for?" the girl with the flower on her hair asked me with a gentle look on her face as she approached me.
To tell you the truth, she looks so familiar to me… like I have seen her before… and met her before… but I'm not sure when.
I smiled at them. "I'm waiting for my friends." And an idea came into my head.
"Well who are they? Maybe we know them and we can take you to them." She told me.
"Cloud, Barret, Yuffie…" I trailed off when I noticed the stares that they were giving me.
The look in their eyes made me realize that I am talking to strangers and that they do not really know those people.
The one with silver hair somewhat snorted upon hearing the names… same with the blonde guy… and the woman with the high ponytail apprehended the silver-haired guy, saying, "Seth!"
The silver-haired man smiled at the woman and said, "Sorry, mom."
"What? You're his mom?" I asked mindlessly, turning to the woman. She doesn't really look like a mother.
"Long story, dear." The woman said simply with a sad smile on her face.
I just nodded my head before bowing down my head, not knowing what to do anymore… and she spoke up again, "You can call me Crecia. What's your name?"
I looked up at her and she had this gentle smile on her face. I smiled shyly at her. "Tifa." I replied.
"I'm Eris." The girl with the flower on her hair introduced happily as she took my hand gleefully and embraced me tightly. A friendly hug from a stranger whom I had just gotten acquainted with.
Crecia turned to her son. "That's my one and only son, Seth… and…" she turned to the blonde guy who was staring at me with a cold look on his face, but before she could say his name, he spoke up, "Red."
Silence.
I was wondering why he's called "Red"… there are no traces of red in him. I mean, his hair's blonde. He's got blue eyes. He's got fair, smooth and flawless skin like that of the elites… he's wearing a black long-sleeved turtleneck sweater and black pants and brown combat boots.
"Nice to meet you, Tifa." He told me so that he could make me snap out of my trance. He must've noticed that I was staring back at him.
I blushed and looked away.
Then there were explosions.
"Shit," Seth cursed before he started to run away.
"Let's go!" Crecia and Eris followed after him.
Red pushed me ahead of him so that I would run too, but I hesitated. "But… I…" I wanted to say that I was supposed to just stay in one place.
"Just go!"
Fine, he sounded so stern and so I ended up following him. It was like a command.
We all continued to run. The explosions seem to be coming from everywhere.
"What's going on?!" I demanded in panic.
"It happens all the time. There are bomb maniacs around here and because of that, more than a hundred people get killed!" Seth explained.
"What?! H…how can you take living in a place like this?" I asked them.
"We just passed by and stayed for a few days. We're roaming around looking for some people." Crecia explained.
And I realized that from the moment that we got out of Midgar safely and knew that I wouldn't be seeing Cloud and the others for quite some time, I would be stuck with these four strangers…
