final fantasy vii and all its characters © squaresoft, inc.
Underneath Black Heavens
the encounter
chapter one
Bleak. Smoggy. Pitch black. Poisonous. Vicious. Artificial.
There were more than words to describe the dark and treacherous skies of Midgar. The feelings it represented, the emotions people cried below it, and the stories that happened amidst the agony of the evil city. Like a drop of ink gushed into clean waters, amongst the atmosphere of love and sympathy, every land covered within the coveting clouds would immediately be filled with but misery.
Why would not it be overcast? The city had no night and day. The dark sky had sealed off either sunlight or moonlight or stars to illuminate the hours of time. Whether it be because of the effluence or contamination, the sky knew only one color--black.
As if it was manipulating, every eye turned to the sky would almost instantly transform absent, filled by nothing but the reflection of the sky color that was never vivid. Then the feeling of despair would invade their hearts--hate, jealousy, desolation, everything would come. They were all shown by the lords of sinister empire, who were nothing if not similar.
But abide the milieu of gloom, there were few who kept their sanity within the chaotic mix of emotions.
A young girl dressed in pink poked on her little collection of flowers, placed neatly inside a wooden basket. Each of them were garnered with small pink ribbons, as well as one thick one surrounding the basket. Stroking one of her brunette locks, she stood patiently as her head leaned on a store's display window, emerald orbs focused on one point--the sky.
There was not much to see, except a few floating banners, one or two zeppelins, and a lot of smolder. The sky never changed, and will never will. And she knew that. There were enough stories to feast her knowledge. None of which was her favorite--except one. The story about how the sky was blue.
She remembered she was eight. All her life, she had always stared at the grey dim sky. She had never seen a blue sky before, let alone the rest of the colors of rainbow. She did not even know what a rainbow is.
Still, as a childhood story, it was very pleasing, as well as to other children. It gave them hopes and dreams, as what every child deserved. The dream to see the sky blue, they all once had.
But slowly as time passed, the coming years took away those hopes and dreams. It was impossible for Midgar to have a blue sky, and it will always will.
Yet the flower girl remained patient. She did not cease to stare up the sky every once in a while, thinking whether it would be azure or sapphire blue.
It was worth the time.
"Excuse me, Miss..."
The flower girl flinched slightly in surprise. A weak nudge on the bottom of her skirt. She bobbed her head earthwards, and saw a little girl with a matching outfit and short hair pulling her skirt with childish enthusiasm.
A smile surfaced. "What is it, dear?" she kneeled down.
"Ummm," the child nervously played with her short strands, "are those flowers for sale?"
The older one lifted her basket, "These?" The child nodded. "Yes they are."
The child did not blink. "How much is it?"
"One gil each." she answered, "You want one?"
The child did not reply until later, she nodded stiffly.
"Okay," the flower girl took one from her basket and gave it to the younger girl's waiting hands, "here." Without waiting a response, she asked, "Who are you buying this for?"
"...Papa." the child said shyly.
"Ohh... how nice..." the flower girl complimented, with a faintly sad smile. She reminisced her late father in a glimpse.
"And then to Papa's friends and Aunt Tifa."
"That's very sweet." Another smile emerged. "But is one enough?"
The child remained silent for long. She slowly shook her head, and bowed down. "...I don't have enough money."
"Ohh... I'm sorry..." The flower girl rubbed the child's head in sympathy. She then took a handful from her basket and shoved them to the little girl's chest. "Here, have them all."
The little girl was dumbfounded. The very second the first teal started to roll down her cheek, she quickly wiped in away. She then hastily drew her hand with one dime of gil.
"Keep the money." The flower girl heaved the small hand back to where it belonged. "I've still got plenty of flowers at home."
The child rashly shook her head. She blurted out, "But Papa said you can't plant flowers in Midgar!"
"Of course you can." the brunette suppressed a giggle, "You just need to know how to grow it."
"How?"
The flower girl beamed gleefully. "The outskirts of the slums have more fertilized soil." she enlightened patiently, "Plant them there as normally as you would."
The little girl then beamed back, nodding her head with utter joy. "Thanks, Miss Flower Lady!" and ran off with one hand waving to the flower girl's side.
The brunette waved back with a little smile. Soon after the child faded into the crowd, the flower girl sighed.
It was impossible to grow flowers in slums. All greenery was already covered with black asphalt, and the healthy soil had been long commenced into a sickly color of pale bronze and grey. Even the edifice was monotonous; as if the city was painted with but dull watercolors.
The flower girl smiled bitterly. She pitied her little customer, who was so young yet so oblivious of how wonderful the world was above these dark heavens. A little girl, with bags of resolute hopes and dreams, and a tint of optimistic aura surrounding her. Reminded her of herself. It would be unforgivable if this little one would change with the test of time and refuse to believe in the blue sky again.
But even she, the flower girl, had never seen the sky in its true color. The color when it was due in the day, and the color when the sun set. She did not even know what the sun or moon or stars looked like.
She too had been trapped under these skies, the skies that had crushed humanity to an extent. She took a gaze around her surrounds, and saw nothing but dreary faces. Their joy and happiness had long been drained by the pitch black sky, as if it was a manipulating circle.
But it would not hurt to fill the slums with flowers, would it? The plates had their own collection of artificial plants. She will bring the slums the genuine.
See? Even Upper Midgar was not healthy enough to have actual vegetation. Thus, this whole city was sick. Sick as a rotten apple.
The flower girl then continued strolling toward the alley, leaving the center square and crowds of inhabitants.
She glanced here and there; an infinite amount of dust and debris. It was not a strange view, she saw this everyday. Sometimes she would even find dead bodies hidden between the waste, guarded with flies and lots of blood. Yet she would never be surprised. At all.
Absently adjusting her red ribbon fixed on her hair, she was getting closer to her destination.
It was a church. A small rundown chapel trapped between unholy filth. Its pillars were grayed by the unfiltered acid of the polluted air, leaving them impure.
Long ago, there were many who went to the church every single day. As pressures in the city began to hoist, people would pray for their freedom, wealth, or even the blue sky. But as those wishes were never granted, so did their sworn loyalty. One by one, the church lost its followers. Now, none of them were left. Little did she know the priest had long left the church abandoned for years.
But the flower girl kept her devotion tight. She still believed in the blue sky.
Knowing the church was empty for several years, she secretly took charge of the place. She cleaned the altar and benches, filling the whole place with her self-grown flowers. Right under the colorful glass collage on the center of the rooftop. It was a sweet garment for the sacred home.
She slipped through the half-opened entrance. There were six or seven children running around the ambit. Every now and then, she would find children in her little private space. Yet she did not mind. This place was meant for the best.
However, the children's behavior was a bit eerie today. It was not like them to be ogling at the flowerbed with great interest, that they made a little gathering.
"Ah, Sis!" one of them squealed, running toward her aid. Following her lead, the rest of the children looked up to her as well.
"Adia," the flower girl kneeled down, "what is all the racket?"
"It's a boy! A boy!" another came to her. This one was bigger. "He fell from the sky!"
The flower girl promptly looked above. The glass assortment was torn to pieces. She approached the rest of the small crowd, whose fingers were pointing the ruined flowerbed.
She gasped.
It was a boy. Laying unconscious, peacefully on the flowerbed. Barbed blonde hair covered with spoiled petals of red and lilac, he had a bold streak on his slumbered face. With a black leather vest and bronze boots, he looked nothing but tempting. Perilous yet innocent. Then there was the blade, brandished neatly on his back. Huge, thick, and agitating. Yet it did not cease to look as if it was overwhelming the wielder.
"Do you think he's dead?" a younger boy asked, poking the side of his coated ribs.
"No," the flower girl said sternly, "Come. Help me bring him to the altar."
"Okay!"
It was a miracle he survived the pierces of the broken mosaic.
-tbc-
waffles
I know, I know, I should be working with To The Sky but eh... it's eerie if you don't write something that just popped in your mind. And it's still AU... Hmmmm... I've got too many ideas for AUs I suppose... Well, I don't have a lot to say, but please do tell me what you think!