Sector Seven
By Crystal Snowflakes
Author's Notes: This one-shot can be tied in with Chapter 11 of 'Forever Lost', and the one-shot called 'Past Recollections'. This is somewhat a sequel to 'Past Recollections'.
Disclaimers: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 in any way.
...You need to get out of here. You know where the Sector Seven exit is. It's less than ten minutes away... I'll make sure to make that time for you.
I will... Please... Take care.
I will. Love ya Jessie...
Love you too Ree-ree.
Life... Forever chained and tied to lies, deceit and betrayal. Forever kept in darkness and pain.
It was dawn... The sun was rising. Small rays of daylight shone on his weary face, making the scars darker and more foreboding, making the bags more visible and lucid. His fiery red hair brightened as the sunlight laid its rays on it, his aquamarine eyes glowed ferociously with a perfect look of practiced indifference. His dark navy suit was, as usual, filled with unprofessional creases and folds. His shirt itself was a white mess and it seemed that his tie had gone on a permanent leave.
...My name is Reno Chalmers.
His eyes flicked over to a part of the city... It was the part where the smoke was still rising from the smothering flames and the burnt metal... It was the part where he had lost his soul and the last member of his family... It was the part where he had burned all his past bridges and put aside his morals. The perfectly detached look was still on his face... But if one had had the mind to look close enough and study it, one would see the anguish behind his eyes.
I'm twenty-three...
The smoke swirled upwards in a childish manner, twirling and twirling until black turned to grey and grey disappeared into thin air... The sun shone through the dark smoke, as if what had happened was of no importance... As if life would go on. The man staring out the window clenched his fist as his gaze darkened menacingly. He ached for a gun, a stick, a weapon... he ached for something that would help him kill those bastards who had forced him to do something he never wanted to.
...And feared by all.
He wondered how many had died in that explosion... Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? His hands clenched again as his mind drifted to those who had been dear to him. Then he wondered how many could have escaped from that cruel and inhumane blast. That one bomb that had completely destroyed the pillar and sent the plate crashing down... That one bomb that had shattered the hearts of millions and stopped the flicker of life of thousands...
I'm a murderer, a drunkard, a womanizer...
His eyelids flipped down and blocked his glowing eyes from the sunlight. Tormented screams echoed from the depths of his mind... Scenes of children running away with frightened looks in their innocent and naïve eyes... Scenes of mothers and fathers attempting to protect their loved ones from an inevitable fate...
...A bastard, an asshole, a prick...
He remembered the determined look of the three rebels, fighting to save those innocent lives while he had been too much of a coward. It was his fault. If only he had been less of a turkey and more of a hero, he would have done the right thing and let the three kill him. Thousands of lives would be saved that night... And so would the only person he had ever cared for and loved. But he was under order to destroy millions of lives... His eyes snapped open, his blazing mako eyes once again roaming the view casually, his grief-stricken thoughts hidden from the world.
...I'm a Turk.
His eyes flickered over to Sector four... It was where his old life had ended unexpectedly. One night, he was just the normal slum kid that no one noticed, thieving from other people... The next night, he had a gun pointed to his head, having to make a decision that would change his life drastically... It wasn't like there really was a choice... Not really. If you chose to listen to them, you get to keep your miserable life. If you defied them, you get to have your body shot with a couple dozen bullets...
No one really had a choice in the matter...
He tried to remember when the four of them - his parents and her – were still a happy family. He tried to remember the times his parents brought the two of them to a park and played... He tried to remember things that he was supposed to have forgotten long ago. He tried to remember his mother's hazel brown curls and bright green eyes... He tried to remember his father's crimson hair and his dark cobalt eyes...
I had a family once...
He remembered seeing her at the bar, standing in the corner nervously, her hands playing with the rim of her blue shirt... Her auburn hair was a dead give away... Then came her eyes, widened slightly in recognition... Along those two features came with that soft smile that had brightened up his life... It was the smile that had kept him alive, sane and hopeful.
I had a sister once...
Closing his eyes again, this time relaxed, he began thinking about the times he would go visit her when he had time... He would go visit her when he had troubles and when he needed someone to talk to... She would always welcome him with that soft and gentle smile of hers, her arms wide open. She was his savior, his sister. She would listen when he needed to talk and when no one cared. She would hug him when he needed comfort... She had offered him something no one had given him. Love.
...Her name was Jessie Chalmers.
He remembered the pride she had for him... She was so pleased that he had made it to the top and that he was no longer a typical useless slum kid, even though she had always hated the Turks... The Turks were the elite team that did the dirty deeds for the company... Murder, kidnapping... Those of the slums feared for their lives when a Turk stepped onto the street. They were above the law... Despite what everyone thinks...
...No one really wants to become a Turk.
He thought about the murders he had to do for the wretched company... Bringing his hands up to his face, he studied them offhandedly as if nothing was wrong. He imagined his hands drenched and dripping from blood, never able to be cleansed... Suddenly, his mind thought of a small red button... He remembered how his finger had pushed it, seeming nonchalant, but his mind whirling with confusion.
I never wanted to press it...
A deafening crash resonated in his ears. His eyes filled with images of the detonation... The angry amber expanding as smoke appeared out of nowhere. The sounds of the helicopter was at the back of his mind, the blades rotating in a circular motion, creating infuriating noises of something slicing through air... The helicopter was fleeing away from the menace that he, himself, with his own hands, had created.
My sister was twenty...
He caught a glimpse of auburn hair during the whole commotion, right in the middle of the chaos, his eyes widening in shock and fear, hoping desperately that he hadn't pressed that god damned button. He wanted to fling himself out of the helicopter, but at that moment, a hand clasped his shoulder... He turned around to glare at the individual, hoping to give him a thrashing...
...She died last night.
Understanding eyes looked back at him. He closed his eyes then, letting the exhaustion catch up to him, letting himself forget what was going on at the moment, letting himself rest as he slumped down against the side of a seat... He was wishing that when he awoke, it would all be a merciless and horrible dream. He hoped that when his eyes opened, he would see his sister standing over him, worried, with that soft smile plastered on her lips.
...I killed her.
Author's Notes: Rather shorter than my usual one-shot and differently written. Pretty angsty, if I do say so myself. It made me sort of depressed... Heh. Either way, I hope you guys enjoy this little piece... It took me a couple of hours, you know :). Either way, enjoy!
By the way, I'm thinking of putting this up to be in a contest. What do you guys think?
-Crystal Snowflakes
Wednesday, February 09, 2005