A light rain fell and hit the pavement like a million tear drops falling from the sky. The night air was cool, and waves of wind rolled along in the air, chilling those who dared be struck by it. The train station was empty, except for a broken down tram, and two young men, who had just reached their destination. The younger of the two, a scrawny boy with a brilliant blue eyes began to shiver. His caramel bangs covered his eyebrows, offering slight relief to the wind.
"H-hey… Is it just me or is it a lot colder than our last stop?" The younger one asked. The other man, quite a few years older, looked over his shoulder and his companion. His black eyes shone like Obsidian in the yellow light of the ceiling that sheltered them both in the rain. He ran his slender hand through his raven hair and sighed.
"Yes, it is. Didn't I tell you to bring a heavier coat instead of your pathetic little thinly lined jacket?" He said, taking off his own heavier coat. "C'mon, Skylar, trade me. I'm not cold at all. I can't have you keeling over as soon as we get here."
The younger boy, Skylar, turned red in the cheeks with embarrassment. "Fine, but when we get to the hotel we're trading back, Lukas." He peeled off his jacket and traded with his older companion, Lukas. The rain had started to pick up, and the wind was blowing harder now. When Lukas grabbed the jacket, a small, dark gray wallet fell out of one of the pockets. It bounced when it hit the worn floor, and opened itself, half of it landing in the rain.
"Oh crap, my ID's getting wet," Skylar said, lunging for the wallet. "Oh man, oh man, oh man! I hope it's okay!" He salvaged the wallet as best he could, wiping away the water droplets. He took out his temporary ID and looked it over. It wasn't soaked, but it wasn't in perfect condition either. He looked over the piece of paper and the information it held.
Today was his birthday, September 18th. He had just turned 17. He sighed, and placed the piece of paper back in his wallet, inspecting for anything else. "Man," Lukas snickered. "You probably have the worst luck on your birthday, kid. Here, I've got something for you." Lukas undid the buckle on his messenger bag and dug around inside. After a few moments he pulled something out, covered in cloth. "Catch," Lukas said, lobbing the wrapped object. "Happy Birthday."
Skylar caught the object and unwrapped the cloth, revealing a keychain of a book. Skylar smirked and opened the book. On the inside was an old photo, one of two people he didn't recognize and a baby. "Who are they?" Skylar asked.
A few moments of silence between the two of them had passed. Long enough for Skylar to notice it almost stopped raining completely. "Those are your parents, and that's you."
"M-me? My parents? How old was I?" Tears started to well in Skylar's eyes, something very unusual that befell the boy. He had never seen his parents before. He looked a lot like his father, Noel. Both of his parents died in an accident when Skylar was just a baby. He's never had a real family, the only person he's ever been close to was Lukas, someone he met in foster care.
"You had to be no more than… six months old. I was only eleven at the time. Uncle Noel had just bought a new camera, and asked me to take a picture of you three Aunt Serah was upset I couldn't be in the picture, but it was your first picture as a family. We didn't know there was a timer back then." Lukas laughed and trailed off, his eyes growing distant and gazing towards the ground. Noel wasn't Lukas's actual uncle, but he was treated like just like he was family.
"Hey Lukas, can I as-" Skylar was cut off by the sound of car horn piercing through the air, followed by headlights. The rain suddenly picked back up to it's full force, completely filling the void of silence in the air.
A silver car lazily rolled along the road leading to the gazebo-like area Lukas and Skylar were standing. It parked in the closest spot and the engine shut off, the lights following shortly after. The driver side door slowly opened and an umbrella popped out of the gap. Finally the door opened completely, and the driver stood up.
A man with cold gray eyes looked to the both of the boys. He had long gray hair that matched his eyes, yet he didn't look very old. He wore a black suit with a deep purple tie. He looked hesitant to be existing in that moment. His eyes landed on Skylar and they lit up like a fire had sparked behind his eyes. "Master Skylar... and his escort, I presume?" The man bellowed, feigning a smile. He took a step back and slammed the car door.
I haven't seen the boy since his parents died. What a monstrous event. This poor child. The man smiled as he walked under the shelter, folding his umbrella back down.
"Have we met?" Lukas said hesitantly, inspecting the older man. "You look familiar. Did you know the Kreiss family?"
"Why yes, and might I ask your name, young man?" The gentleman said, his eyes once again looking distant having pried from Skylar's presence. Following Lukas's silence the man raised his head and sighed quite audibly. "Where are my manners? How rude of me not to introduce myself before asking for another's name. I am Caius Ballad. I was a close friend of Noel. I grew up with him like he was a younger brother."
Skylar twitched at the sound of the name Caius. He had heard it before. It rang out in his mind, but seemingly from a place he couldn't quite reach. Like a wall had been placed in front of the memory, blocking his path from reaching it. He felt dizzy and he rested his arm on Lukas's shoulder to keep his balance.
Lukas looked over his shoulder. "You alright?"
"Yeah," Skylar said softly. "Just a little dizzy is all. He's here to show us around town and drop us off at the hotel, right?" Lukas shrugged his shoulders at the question, causing Skylar to frown. "Alright then… Mr. Ballad, right? Are you here to show us around the city?"
Caius's eyes lit up with recognition after Skylar started speaking. He seemed more lucid whenever he was focused on Skylar. "Why yes, young sir. I was instructed by employer, Master Reginheraht."
Skylar raised an eyebrow at the name. "Rey-what? Could you say that one more time but slower?"
"Ray-Gin-Hart," Lukas said, with a slightly annoyed tone dripping of the syllables as they spoke. "He used to be a professor at the college in our hometown, but one of his theoretical analyses made a breakthrough so he made it big with ShinRa. His designs have helped create most of the buildings in big cities in a… more efficient way, so I've been told. I heard his name a few weeks ago so I did a little research. Truth be told though, I don't know what he wants from us, or how he even knows about us." Lukas's eyes met with Caius's, who was now glaring at him. "He was a big creep back in the day. Nobody enjoyed taking his classes, and he hardly gave anyone decent marks in his class. He was really strict, my big brother used to talk about hating his class. It was some heart-science crap that was about as useful as philosophy."
Caius took a moment to compose himself. "You misunderstand, boy. Master Reginheraht's work was not a matter of fiction, it was that very research that got him promoted to a Government position in which he helped build New Bodhum and helped him design the nearly flawless tram system in Palumpolum. The man's work is real, it is tangible, and it has made him a well respected man in the communities of many. You had better watch your tongue."
"Will you both stop already?" Skylar said, unsteadily pushing past Lukas and standing in between him and Caius. "This isn't New Bodhum or Palumpolum, now is it? This is Radiant Garden. From what I can tell, he had nothing to do with this city." Skylar's right leg started to give out and he stumbled, both of the men trying to rush forward and steady him. Skylar flailed his arms in response. "I'm alright, leave me alone! Now please, start acting your damn age and let's see the city. I'm cold, I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I don't want to listen to two guy older than me bicker like overgrown babies anymore!"
Both Lukas and Caius straightened their back and locked eyes for a moment before looking away from each other.
"The young man is right, we should be on our way." Caius said, taking a deep breath followed by a silent exhale. "I apologize for my behavior earlier. You two are one of the few survivors after the devastating accident that occurred in Cocoon. He thought he had found all of the survivors, which before you two and excluding himself and I makes… five individuals. Shall we be on our way?"