Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy. I only own my OCs.

Contains violence, swearing, and sexual references.

Those Who Fight

I knew the portal had shut behind me the moment I had come the whole way through. I felt the rain hitting myskin, ice cold rain at that, and looked up to see the dark clouds above, knowing the rain wasn't going to let up soon. I adjusted the bag strap and walked out of the alley.

The streets were kind of quiet, a number of people walking about, minding their own business, trying to get out of the rain. I looked both ways down the street, a couple of cars drove past but I didn't notice any taxis, or anything marked like that. Shit, readjusting to modern life is... going to be something.

I turned left and started walking down the street. I looked for any cafes or bars that were open. I didn't even know what time it was. If I could get my bearings I would be fine. I wasn't even concerning myself with finding Angel; I wasn't letting that be my priority. I had to know more about this place and what I landed myself into. Odd this was I didn't regret my decision immediately; I'd done this of my own volition and I felt like I had control. It felt liberating, in a way.

I found a bar and peered inside the windows quickly. Quiet, people eating rather than drinking. Still early in the day then, that's good. I went inside to get out the rain. A man, one of the employees, noticed me come in. I brushed my hair cross my face a bit more to cover my burn scars.

"Caught bad, huh?"

"Yeah, not exactly dressed for the right weather," I replied, walking to the bar.

"You're not kidding. You looked better dressed for Costa del Sol. The weather still good there?"

"Can't complain," I assumed Costa del Sol was like Besaid and just went with it. "Thought I'd get a change of scenery for a bit; first time visitor. Really forgot to check the weather."

"Yeah just because Costa del Col's nice most of the year don't mean you get it everywhere else," he said. "You want anything?"

"Coffee would be nice," I looked around the bar as I went into my bag, hoping that I had money. Stupiod move; I just assumed I had money in it. I did have gil in a purse, yeah, but did they use gil here?

"Five gil."

Guess they do.

I drank my coffee and looked around the bar again. I noticed a television up in the corner, going on about the news. I squinted to see the time. Five past one in the afternoon. November eighteenth, two thousand and seven. Fucking hell it was a completely different time from Besaid. I looked at the newscast again, trying to hear it over the chatter of the bar. It was local, talking about the ongoing reconstruction of Sector Six. I wish that had meaning to me but it didn't. One word did catch my attention: Shinra. The Shinra company. It was the only lead I had and maybe I'd get some answers there.

"Hey," I got the employee's attention. "Where's the closest place to buy clothes? I'm really not familiar with the place."

"Eh there's a couple of places down the road. Keep going straight down and you start hitting all the retail places," he said. I nodded in thanks and got up to leave. "You have a good day."

"You too."

I just kept walking down the road like he said and, sure enough, I hit the shops eventually. I kept my head down and avoided looking people in the eye. I had to remember that no one knew me here and would probably be freaked out at a woman with burns across her face, neck and hands.

I jumped into one of the shops and started looking for new clothes to blend in better. Andra had put a lot of gil in my bag so at least it gave me some wiggle room. I searched for a while and tried stuff on. I was looking for something sturdy and practical for movement. I found a lovely pair of warm leggings with some silver swirl decal at the knees, a grey jumper with odd sleeves, I think both of them were meant to be three-quarter length but the right stopped at the bicep, and it was a little low cut put I found a midnight blue scarf to cover my chest up. As well as a black jacket. I got new underwear to help support everything better, plain, nothing fancy, and in another shop I found knee high black boots with fur lining around the top. They were good for running about and were supported at the bottom. They were ideal.

Once I'd gotten everything I started walking to the train station, after getting directions, and headed to the toilets to change into the clothes I bought. I put my old clothes in my bag but not before checking what Andra had actually put in it.

Not a whole lot for a big bag. Bottle of water, purse with my money in it, my hand wraps, and the damn silver orb that had Angel's power inside it. Obviously I had to keep that about, but fuck knows when I actually had to give it to her. If I even should give it to her. At this point it wasn't on my lost of priorities. I had to go to the Shinra building and would figure it out from there.

I came out and looked at the map and train board to see where it was I was meant to be going. The Shinra company building was in a place called Sector Zero, while I was in Sector Eight. I just paid for an all day pass and got on the next train that was heading towards Sector Zero. I headed to the front carriage and sat down, keeping my head low and acting like I was sleeping so no one would see me face.

I thought about what I planned to do once I reached the Shinra building. I needed to familiarise myself with this world now, build up an alibi, keep myself out of trouble for now. As soon as I learn about this world I can build up a story, but how advanced is this place? It certainly exceeds Spira by miles, and I felt a little out of touch because I hasn't experienced modern technology like this in years. I'm sure I can try talk my way out if I say it with enough conviction. Here's hoping anyway.

My thoughts were cut short when red lights started flashing in the carriage. I shot my head up and looked around. No one else really seemed to take notice or care. Okay, maybe that's normal?

No, the alarms ringing were definitely not normal. As soon as they sounded everyone started to look around in a panic, or were trying to keep there cool.

"Warning. Type A security alert. Unidentified passenger confirmed. A search on all train cars will be conducted." The automated voice repeated that another time as the alarms were blaring. I looked around, seeing if there were any train staff about. I had to think fast. Shit, what do I do? "Unidentified passenger located in Carriage One. Preparing for Lockdown."

I saw everyone get up and start moving towards the next carriage. I got up and started moving down too. They must not have wanted to be stuck in the locked train, but I really didn't want to and I pushed past some people. Once I got to the next carriage I kept walking down. Almost everyone was standing and moving about, trying to get through the train. They didn't want to be stuck in a lockdown and be searched, I get that. Moving through the trains was all I could think of doing.

The alerts were getting more frequent and they were tracking me, knowing I was moving to the rear of the train. As I got to the last carriage I noticed the train was starting to slow down. I watched out the windows and tried to figure out an escape route. We were in a tunnel, and I saw some doorways pass us by. I pushed past people and went to the doors. I focused myself, taking a deep breath, and felt a tingling in my hands. Balling them into fists, I threw a punch into the door, people gasping around me, and put my hands through the gap I'd made, forcing the doors open. I leapt out as the train was still moving, rolling across the ground and lauching myself up, running in the opposite direction the train had headed in.

When everything was silent in the tunnel I realised just how fucked I was at that moment. I was almost caught by police, I launched myself off a train and was now walking down the train tracks to figure out where the fuck I was. I took a deep breath, kept calm, and walked alongside the tracks, annoyed at myself for being stuck without a plan.

I stopped at what I guessed was some sort of checkpoint, lasers crossing over the width of the tunnel. I sighed and looked around for a door or something that would give me an out. I noticed a vent that had no grating over it and looked down. It was spacious, but I could see the bottom. There were no doorways and I wasn't going backwards. I didn't have much choice; I made sure my bag was secure on me and went into the vent, feet on either side, slowly descending to the bottom.

The vents lead me out to what looked like maintainence walkways underneath the city. They were quiet but I kept an eye out for anyone who might see me. I followed the walkways to a flight of stairs. I looked at the signs, noticing something intersting: going up would take me to the Upper Plate,but going down would lead me to the Lower Plate and city below. A city below? There was a city on top of another city?

I could go back up but I would get caught by the security most likely. If I headed down I could keep my head low and figure out a plan easier. It was a no brainer for me. I also wanted to see what this lower city looked like. This world was already something else and I haven't even left one city yet.