-Born Anew: The Envoy-
Before everything happened, I'd like to believe that I was a normal girl, I guess. Life was easy, wake up, try to make it big, come home, get ready for the next day, bed.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Though, life never got boring. I went through too much..., some days I got tired, too tired to even get out of bed. Sometimes, I'd even spend hours in tears, but then I would think of mother...
"Junie!" She would say whenever I would start to feel down on myself. "Life is what you make it, so get out there and make it good!"
I hated it, when she would say things like that. Because, who actually believes in those stupid slogans, who actually lives by them?
Well, after she passed...I started to take her advice more seriously, I tried to build my happy place. Even if that meant making some sacrifices...
June runs her hands along her hips as she awaits her date, when he comes into view from across the room, her heart does a half-hearted somersault.
He wasn't exactly handsome.
He gives her a toothy grin as he runs his rugged hands along his shiny bald head.
You could see yourself in that thing.
He pulls at his tight suit jacket, she could see puckering between the buttons with his every movement. WIth a swift, but sloppy attempt at graceful charm, he yanks her hand into his own, she stumbles forward but quickly recovers with a small smile.
"Mademoiselle." He breathes into her ear. "You look deeeee-licious tonight."
She fights the urge to stare at the gigantic mole on his lip as she says, "heh-heh, thanks!"
He slides his hand along her hip as he starts for their table, June occupies herself with the scenery as he goes into a long story of how much it took for him to book them a table a week before, when the restaurant was usually booked for at least a year in advance.
La Proposicion! Literally meaning: The proposal!
It was a common place for young lovers to connect over a beautiful candle-lit dinner.
June fiddles with her earring, in her fist she held a spoon so as to see herself in its reflective surface. Across from her, her date was still babbling about all the 'work' he had done to put the night together.
"Tell me more." She sighs as she lowers the spoon back onto the table.
When in reality, I wanted to shove the spoon so deep into my ear-...well yeah.
She sighs when he restarts his epic tale about his careful planning, she looks down at her body-fitting red dress, she couldn't help but slap herself inwardly, what a waste of a perfectly good outfit!
She looks up when she notices the pink of his tongue, he lapped excitedly at his lips; as he always did when he was expecting a kiss. June swallows some more of her nearly depleted pride as she leans across the table, when their lips meet, she squeals in horror, but he takes it as a moan of delight.
She falls back into her seat, nauseated.
He claps his hands together excitedly, "oh darling, you make me so~~~~ happy!" He reaches across the table, taking her hand in his. "If only mother were alive, she'd adore you! In fact you look just like her, my...ma-ma!"
He reaches into his suit jacket, June watches in interest as he manages to squeeze his way through the jacket, though it looked ready to burst at any moment.
"Ah, here it is."
He slides a small paper square along the table, June raises it and what she sees horrifies her.
His 'ma-ma', looked nothing like me! Or at least, I hope not.
A portly woman smiled up at her from the picture, her hair was short, blonde and curly. June runs her fingers through her long wavy raven locks before looking at the picture again.
'Ma-ma' was also very tan, unlike June.
She wore thick aquamarine eye-shadow and candy-apple red lipstick on her thin lips, they were stretched so far across her face that she almost resembled a frog.
June squints her eyes, she turns the picture round and round, eyeing it with the harsh gaze of an art broker. She gives a short shake of the head as she lowers the picture again.
"Aw...you. I could only wish to look like that." She slides the picture back to him.
He tuts at her, "oh darling, you're beautiful!"
Pretty soon, a waiter makes it over to the table, he removes a small black book from the chest-pocket of his burgundy suit.
"What will it be?" He turns to look at June's date, who was too busy staring at her to notice at first.
He takes a handkerchief from inside his suit to wipe at the beads of sweat the building at his forehead, "ah yes, for me it'll be the Unagi Glazed Salmon and for the lady...a Nicoise Salad."
"Excellent choices, sir. Anything to drink?"
"Some white wine, please."
"Yes-yes, I shall return." With this, the waiter closes his book and moves away from the table.
And return he does, with a platter of food and wine, he sets if before them with a sufficient amount of gusto.
"Anything more?" He asks but he is quickly 'jushed' away.
June eyes her salad distastefully, she had never been a fan of eating leaves, especially when her date worked at a hunk of fish the side of her head.
I couldn't take anymore.
"So um...about my paintings...uh...you said that you'd probably be interested in showing them in your gallery?" She stumbles over the words, trying to choose them carefully.
He gives her grunt through a mouth full of fish.
June grimaces, she leans back in her seat, slowly picking at her salad until he finishes his meal. She waits until he's finished blotting leftover crumbs from his lips before trying to raise her question again.
"Uh-."
"I brought it up to my partners, they weren't interested." He states plainly. "Though beautiful, your art just doesn't speak to the people. No one wants to relive Meteor or the world as it was before, now everyone's happy. We want to see happy things!"
June heart sinks, "but...I don't think that's true, Meteor...the fall of the plate above Midgar, everything that ensued after...it's a major part of our history. There has to be a market for it!"
"There isn't, I must insist that you drop this matter. Why taint this wonderful night with business?" He reaches across the table again but this time she doesn't offer up her hand, seeing her clear disappointment, he pulls away.
"I know what will make you happy," once again he reaches a pudgy hand into his jacket, this time retrieving a small box.
June stares at it with deadened eyes, though inside her heart had quickened.
He pops open the box to show a ring, it held the hugest diamond that June had ever seen, she looks away from its icy glare, lest she be blinded by its beauty.
"June Alexander, you have made me happier in these past months, than any woman has in my entire life...besides my ma-ma." He pauses to wipe away sweat and what she assumed were tears. "You...have stolen my heart...June, I wish to be your husband."
Thinking back, maybe I should have just said yes.
June shakes her head at him, through and through, going on 'outings' with this man, had proven to be everything she'd dreaded. However, to get ahead in life, to move out of her old, dilapidated house, she swallowed her pride and basically prostituted herself to the highest bidder. This night, was one that she had actually looked forward to, everything seemed to be going in the right direction.
She expected a proposal, just not one of this kind.
She blinks back bitter tears as she gets to her feet, her date watches her with a slack jaw as she lifts her bag to her shoulder.
"Well I don't want to marry you, sorry."
With this she heads for the door, behind her she could hear the restaurant come alive, some laughing, some 'whispering', but above it all, she hears his wails.
I was too angry to feel too badly.
With a sniffle, she wipes away her own tears. Reaching into her bag, she places her eyes on the train schedule that was displayed on a large board before her. She retrieves the last of her Gil, with what little she had left, she barely had enough for dinner the next day.
June glances back at the way she had come, if only she had requested that the salad be wrapped up to go; hunger had a strange way of making things taste better.
The sound of an approaching train, brings her attention back to the schedule.
9:45PM: Last Train to Edge.
She leans over as the train comes to a pause in front of her, it was indeed the train she needed to be on, she could tell from the years worth of graffiti on its exterior. She climbs onto the train, paying the conductor, on her way to the back of the car.
She falls into her seat with an exhausted sigh, now that all of her life's prospects were gone, she just wanted to fall into bed with a vat of ice cream, sprinkled with her own tears.
"Ey der purdy lady, whur ya goin all dressed up like'a'da!"
June looks over at the man who sat across from her, though he stunk of month old Saki, and his clothes stuck to him like glue, she smiles at him. Even though they look different outwardly, they were almost in the same situation, except she had a place to call home.
He gives a toothless grin before turning away in his seat, "I'on't know wha she lookin' teh me fer!"
June's smile falls when he glances back at her over his shoulder, he shoots her a glare before turning away.
After some time of his glaring, June starts to glare back. Luckily for them, they were the only ones in the car, or it would have seemed to outsiders that a bit of fight was about to start. Fortunately for June, her stop is called before things turn ugly. She scoops up her things ,and rushes off of the train into the night.
Without stopping to collect herself, she makes her way down the street toward her home. At first, Edge was a place that one could call home with pride, it was a haven for the people who didn't just give up on restoring Midgar, for people with the strength to keep building the world around them, on their own terms.
Lately however, it had become a bit of a thief trap, June herself, had been robbed twice!
Once she makes it to her front door, she quickly inserts her key and lets herself in, the door swings open and she nearly falls inside. She pulls the key back into her bag before turning to lock the door from the inside, with a heavy heart she turns to face her house.
It wasn't much, just a 2 bedroom that hadn't been properly taken care of since her mother had gotten sick, she drops her things onto the only chair in the house, a recliner that had seen better days. On her way to her bedroom, she rubs away her makeup, once there, her mood is lifted a little.
Her paintings covered every wall, each one depicting a stage of Midgar's fall and rise again. There were even pictures of the children who had lost their lives to the Geostigma the year before, they were an oft forgotten part of Edge's growth, many of the children had only gotten sick because of their contact with contaminated materials from fallen Midgar. They would go back and forage for raw materials to use and come back with the ugly green rash.
"How could there be no market for this," June mutters crawling into bed.
It was unheard of to her, how could the world be so ready to turn its back on the past, to turn their backs on the people who lost their lives in the struggle.
I had tried to sell my art on the street but no one took me seriously, especially when money was so hard to come by. It hurt but I understood, why spend money on art when your family was hungry back home?
When 'he' passed by me in the street, I could see his eyes appraising my body more than my art, but he was all I had.
She'd wasted months of her time, with 'him'. Time that she could have spent making more art, or even finding a real job, but once again, like most things in Edge, that was a hard thing to do. She had heard of the opportunities in Kalm, the small town boasted a better economy, and more job choices, but she didn't have the money, nor the will to go.
My story started in Midgar, and to complete my work...that's where I needed to be.
Besides, the once happy town of Kalm had now been turned on its head as well, the original inhabitants were happy at first to help, but now as their way of life deteriorated, they were turning people away at the gate.
June's mind wanders back to man on the train, pretty soon, she'd be there with him. Drowning her sorrows in beer and Saki, wearing the tattered remains who she once was.
With a moan of protest, she turns onto her side. She places her eyes on the dark sky through the window next to her bed, the sky was so dark, it looked almost black. Once more, she looks over her bedroom.
I was born in that house, my mother had me alone, she never gave me a real reason as to why she never went to a hospital... Anyway, that house meant the world to me, but I had outgrown it, and it had fallen into disrepair...mom couldn't pay for my schooling and pay to keep the house up, after all, it was just the two of us.
Also...too many memories were held in that place, I wanted out.
"Should I call him back, apologize for my stupidity, beg for him to take me back?"
The thought of doing this, disgusts her but what else could she do? Hole up in her house and hope for the best?
She closes her eyes as she whispers a prayer, "please don't let it come to that."
Tears beat at the back of her eyes as she places her hands together in prayer position, she raises them to her forehead, as she allows her tears to fall.
I was at the end of my rope, but then...
Through the lids of her eyes, a bright blue light shows, she opens them only to be blinded by it. Using her hands as a shield, she crawls out of bed and over to the window. The light came from the outside, it poured over her room, completely illuminating everything.
"Ahhhhh, what is that!" She falls to the floor, grabbing everything piece of clothing she could reach. She sits up, stuffing the clothes against the window, but the light shines through everything she threw at it. Realizing the futility of her actions, she drops the clothes and starts for the door, tripping over everything as she goes.
She lands in the living-room, where the light had also made its way.
It was the brightest light...it scared me...I couldn't see anything.
Just as she goes for the door, the light begins to dim, it fades into a soft white, until it's just gone. Once her eyes clear a bit, she rushes over to her bag, frantically, she searches for her phone.
Her fingers fumble over the buttons, but after enough tries, she manages to dial '118'.
"Hello, Shinra Corp-."
"Something weird just happened," June screams over the operator. "P-P-Please just get over here!"
"U-Uh yeah Miss, we have your address on file here-."
"Just hurry up...please." She cries closing the phone.
She drops it onto the couch before starting a steady pace outside of her bedroom door, she refused to go in, the light seemed like it had come from just outside her window, and if she was going to face it, she wasn't going alone.
After what feels like an eternity, there's a loud banging at her door.
She rushes over to it, when she pulls it open, she's met with two familiar faces.
"Hey there June, what's up?" Reno asks stepping in past her, Rude follows him, but instead of speaking, he gives a nod.
"There was a light...in my room, really big...really bright-."
Reno turns to her with a quirked brow, "so you called us here...for a light?"
"Not just any light," she sighs. "It was blue, and huge...it was like having the actual sun in my bedroom, it went away but-."
"The sun isn't blue," Rude says from his place next to her bedroom door.
June growls in frustration, "oh, you know what I mean, and it was just outside the window...go check it out."
"But I thought it was just in your ro-."
"Go!"
June pushes them, one by one into her bedroom, Reno switches on the light and upon seeing her artwork, he whistles.
"You're pretty good, June." He calls to her over his shoulder as he makes his way over to the window. He pushes it open before leaning out to have a look, Rude follows him and June tries to as well, but Rude raises his hand.
"This is a investigation, no civi-."
"Oh, stop." She mumbles moving past him, she sidles up to Reno. "See anything?"
"Nothing yet!" He says.
"Look harder," she pushes him downward, nearly knocking him out of the window.
"June, stop!"
To some, it was surprising that I was on good terms with the Turks. For a while, I wasn't but you can't get rid of history. Reno and Rude, they helped me when my mother died.
Why?
Reno's mother and mine, were old friends.
"I don't see nothing, yo!" He places his foot in the window-sill before jumping out, June goes to follow, but this time, Rude manages to hold her away.
June glares up at him, "see anything?"
He climbs back into the window, "nope, nothing." He reaches into his jacket, retrieving a pack cigarettes, as he puts one into his mouth, he starts moving for the door. "June, there is nothing...we're just gonna go now."
"W-what," she rushes over to him, just as he raises a lighter to the cigarette at his lips, she slaps it out of his mouth.
His eyes widen in outrage, but when she rushes into his arms, he's forced to feign sympathy.
"Reno, you can't be serious! I'm here alone...with whatever that was still out there somewhere!"
He sighs, with a knowing look to Rude, he takes June by the arm and into the kitchen. Once there, he takes her by the arms.
"June." He starts, but she shakes her head at him.
"Reno, there really was something there, it scared the hell out of me!"
He nods, "I'm sure there was something, but it's gone now." He sighs when she begins to search the kitchen with her eyes, clearly thinking more on what had happened to her, he didn't want to let her do that, lest she keep him up all night. "Listen June, how are you? Are you good? Money wise, personal life...everything's fine?"
June shrugs, "it's...OK."
Reno points down the hall to her bedroom, "you've been working so hard since Lydia died, it bothers me to see you not getting the recognition you deserve...you gotta start trying to sell that stuff, that's a damn-near fire hazard in there!"
She shakes her head, "it's not that simple."
He sighs, "what need a venue? How about this," he reaches into his pocket, from the corner of her eye, June could see Rude approaching. "I meant to call you forever ago, but things got kind of crazy, here."
He places a laminated card into her hand, June looks down at it.
"Edge Medical Center," she reads, she raises the card questioningly.
"Tomorrow is a kind of fair day for some of the patients, people are coming in with stuff for them, old games, movies and things like that. I was wondering, would you participate?"
June frowns, "for free?"
"Yeah...I know, you need money, but look at it this way, you wanna get your art out there, this is a good start. Also, it got me to thinking about your mother. Your art made her happy, even though she was sick, right!?"
"Yeah," She says this almost hesitantly as she turns away from him.
I needed money, but I tried my hardest to be a good person, someone my mother could be proud of. I knew that if she was still alive, she'd be so proud if she knew about me doing such a thing.
Besides, Reno was right.
People needed to see my art.
"I'll do it," she concludes, after a short conversation in her head. She turns to them with a watery smile, "when?"
"11:00AM to 5:45PM." Rude answers.
Reno punches her gently on the arm, "I knew you would," he nods to Rude and they begin for the door. "Well we're gonna go June-."
"Wait b-."
"Sleepy, yeah me too-."
"B-But-."
She goes to give chase, but they're out of the house before she's even moved, she stomps her foot in frustration.
"What a jerk," she whispers to herself as she makes her way down the hall, once standing in the living room, she stares at her bedroom door. She shakes her head as she crashes onto the recliner chair, "I'm not sleeping in there tonight."
The next morning, June stumbles through her house, toothbrush in mouth and a stack of paintings under her arm. She rushes into the bathroom to spit the toothbrush into the sink before heading for the door, she raises her wrist to look at her watch.
"2:35...darn it."
Once on the street, she takes off running toward the train station. The medical center wasn't too great of a distance from her home, in fact she could walk there if she had the time. Luckily for her, as soon as she gets to the station, the train she needs pulls right up before her. She bows her head furiously to the conductor as she rushes to the back seat.
"Hey dur purdy lady, whatcha got dere?"
June looks up to see the homeless man from the night before, she tucks her paintings under her arm, "nothing."
He frowns, "I di'nt wanna see it anywayz!"
She nods turning away, she wasn't going to let him ruin her day.
5 minutes later, she's back on her feet and on the road to the hospital, she pulls her beige pea-coat more tightly around her body when she gets to the large white building. As she starts up the stairs, her heart begins to pound.
I'd faced rejection in the past, I was scared that they wouldn't like it.
She pushes her way through the hospitals revolving doors and all at once, it's like she's pulled into the past.
Mom spent a lot of time in hospitals toward the end...
The familiar sterile scent of the hospital waiting room almost automatically lowers her mood, she could remember spending whole nights sleeping in the cold hard seats that they usually provided for grieving family members.
A loud hacking cough from the other side of the room, yanks June out of her sad reveries, she looks over at two women who sat nearest the edge of the room. The younger one, held on tightly to what looked like to June, her mother, or maybe even an aunt.
"Oh, Linzey...I'm going to die aren't I?" The older woman rasps.
""Of course not mama, you're going to live...the doctor said-."
June turns away from the bitter reminder of her past, she does her best to ignore their corner of the room as she approaches the receptionist's desk.
"Hello-."
"What's the matter?"
The receptionist cracks what June assumes to be gum in her mouth before handing June a clipboard, on it, was a checklist of symptoms.
"No," June pushes the clipboard away. "I'm here for the fair...I'm here to donate."
The receptionist pulls the clipboard back onto her desk with another crack of her gum, "what do you have?"
June raises her rolls of work, "some painti-."
"Just drop them right here, thanks for your donation."
With a swift kick from the receptionist, a large cardboard box is pushed toward June, it's contents were barely recognizable since there was so little and most of it lay at the dark bottom of the box. June frowns at the it before turning her frown toward the receptionist.
"Is that-." The receptionist cracks her gum. "-all?"
June eyes the box distastefully, "I just thought that it'd be more...involved."
"Oh...well sorry, we do usually let people talk to the elderly patients but...," she pauses to type at the computer that sat before her, "...but this year the turn out wasn't so good so...it's whatever."
"It's...whatever?"
I didn't even know what that meant, but her words still upset me. Why work in such a place if you have the compassion of a potato peel?
"Are you allowing people to visit or what?" June asks.
The receptionist sighs, "you want to talk to people...for what?"
June glances back at the brooding mother and daughter, she had once been in that very same position, and often times she didn't know what to say to make her mother smile again. Words were sometimes useless from June's experience, sometimes people just needed to see something beautiful, something with some relevance to the various feelings and emotions that they were going through at the time.
She looks into the dark box again, clearly these people weren't very well cared for, and it was almost guaranteed that they didn't have much family, no one did after Meteor.
"Yes, I'd like to speak with them...to tell them the story behind the picture, it might give them the strength and the courage to face their fates, no matter what that may be."
The receptionist glances back at another woman behind the desk, she shakes her head.
"Sorry Miss," she says. "But it takes a lot of work to get everyone together, we would have to set up a room, make sure that they're all well rested and able to sit through whatever it is you're wanting to do, and after we have to work twice as hard to get them back down...all for just you, I don't think so."
June gives a sigh of defeat and the woman shrugs.
"If there more of a turn out, we would be willing to do it."
June shakes her head as she drops her paintings into the box, all she could do at this point, was hope that someone who really needed them, would receive them.
"Fine," she turns for the door, on her way out, she once again hears the cries of the mother and the daughter's attempts to assuage her fear. This makes June stop, she turns to look at them before rushing back over to the desk, at this the receptionist gives a loud sigh.
"Miss-." Before she has the chance to finish her sentence, June is walking away from her, with one of her paintings in hand.
Slowly, she approaches the women, she knew how delicate these situations could be. They look up at her as she comes to a stop before them, she looks down at the painting in her hand before pushing it toward them, the paper unfolds showing a canvas covered in vivid green swirls, within them, humanoid figures could be seen.
"This is...my interpretation of the Lifestream, um...it's constantly flowing...and changing...just like the real world. However, inside of it...flows the consciousness of both the living and the dead, it is there where...we meet again." She pauses to scratch nervously at her cheek. "It sounds a little sad but...even if we pass on, we're always connected to one another. My mother...I lost her last year, and it still hurts beyond imagine, but when I look at this...I know that we won't be apart forever. This painting comforted her as well, because she knew that no matter what happened, we would meet again."
The daughter reaches out to take the painting, she nods at June before turning to hand it to her mother.
"Hear that mama, there's nothing to be afraid of...the doctor is gonna take care of you, but even if things don't go as planned." Tears fill her eyes. "We will always be connected."
Her mother studies the painting before looking up at June with a smile, "such a pretty picture, thank you."
June gulps down enough of her nervousness to mutter a quick, "thank you, and you're welcome," to the women before scurrying off toward the door, so as to hide from the eyes of the surrounding people.
Once outside, she releases the breath she'd been holding, she glances back at the revolving doors before starting down the stairs.
Even though the trip had been nothing that she expected, she still felt somewhat accomplished, at least she gotten to see someone smile.
"Now what?" She wonders aloud.
Her stomach growls an answer, she puts her hands to it as she studies the surrounding street, she couldn't afford most of what stood around her, she reaches into her pocket. With her, she had brought 20 Gil, not even enough for a bowl of ramen.
She re-pockets the chump-change before starting for the train station, it appeared that she'd be going hungry for the day.
What little money I did have, I had managed to get from selling some of my mother's stuff...I didn't want to have to do that again.
"Hello there...stranger."
June looks toward the source of the voice, and upon doing so, her heart sinks.
Her date from the night before stood there, he looked horrible, even more so than usual, with his too-tight suit and unkempt facial hair.
"O-oh...hi." June tries to move past him, but he jumps in her way again.
"So, you have nothing to say for yourself!" He roars. "After that stunt you pulled last night!?"
He folds his arms across his bulbous belly as he awaits her answer.
She sighs, "listen...I don't have ti-."
Her stomach roars at her, she looks down at it before looking at him again.
Hunger was getting the best of me...I so wanted to tell him off, but...hey...I needed to eat.
"I'm so sorry, Vladmir Castivier Julius Roman Thurgood VIII!" She throws herself onto him with tears in her eyes, "last night...I was so shocked that you would ask such a thing of me...I got nervous...I'm not ready to be married!"
He eyes her suspiciously for a moment, but as soon as she presses her lips to his cheek, he flushes with joy.
"Oh my darling, I should have known!" He cries. "How could I ask such a thing of you so soon, come let me take you to brunch!"
June's heart sinks when he takes her by the hand...
After the grueling experience, June walks down the street with a full belly and an empty heart.
Dating for food...how sad.
As she gets onto the road toward the train station, a young man and woman sidle up next to her, the way they held one another showed their close relationship, they looked like a happy couple.
Besides...'him', I had no dating prospects. It was hard to date, between mother's sickness, then mother's death, and then the depression after...I had nothing left of myself to share. I was lonely though, I wanted someone to hold onto me the way those two held onto one another.
It's a relief once June gets onto the train, the happy couple clearly had another train to catch, since they just stood outside on the platform, still mooching away.
"Look at them, so oblivious to the world's peril." Someone says from June's side as the trains starts.
June turns to the source of the voice, a silver haired woman sat across from her, her piercing blue eyes run up and down June's body, before coming back up to meet her gaze with fierce intensity.
"I'm sure you know of the coming storm," the woman says with a smile, she tilts her head when June doesn't say anything to her. "So," she breathes, "your senses have been maimed by this world's drabble...hm...you're forgiven though, it's not your fault."
I was kind of used to sickos on the train, but this woman...she was different. When our eyes met, I just knew...
"Do not fear little one, you will be freed soon enough." The woman whispers with a short bow of the head.
With a gulp and short nod, June turns away from the woman, she could still feel the woman's gaze burning into the side of her face, but she tries her best to ignore it. She didn't like it, the feeling of the woman watching her, it filled her with fear, which was strange, usually June didn't fear other women. June glances at the woman, she smiles at her and June looks away again, this woman looked almost dangerous.
When her stop comes, June rushes to the doors, she tries to get one last glance at the woman, but she wasn't in the seat anymore. June steps onto the platform, before turning to watch the train pass her by, through the windows she still searched for the strange woman, but she never sees her.
"How odd," she backs slowly away from the platform before heading for home, the sky was growing dark and she wanted be indoors before things got scary.
At first, the walk goes pretty smoothly, she was only four blocks away from home, but as she's crossing the street, she catches sight of someone walking not too far away from her. All it takes is a quick glance in that direction, to send her heart into frenzy, the woman from the train walked across the street from her.
Now that she was standing, June could study her in her entirety, and it only makes her fears grow.
The woman was very tall, almost a foot taller than June, it appeared. Her body was thin but sharp looking, she looked like she could do damage if needed.
June drags her gaze away from the woman and back to the street, the only light that remained now, was the light from the street lamps, which were far in between.
"Calm down, June." She whispers to herself. "She's just going the same way..."
While quickening her pace, she looks back again, the woman still trailed behind her. Her pace was leisurely, she looked to have nowhere in particular to go, which was strange in itself. Since the crime rate in Edge had risen, people never just hung out on the street anymore.
Suddenly, the woman raises her gaze to meet June's, her lips spread into a smile and she starts to walk a bit faster.
Then...I was really scared.
June speeds up as well, now the street had become a maze to her, she wasn't far from home, but at the same time, she didn't want to lead the woman right to her house. Upon reaching an intersection, she makes a sharp turn into opposite direction of her home, once out of the sight of the strange woman, she makes a run for it. As she rushes down the street, she takes inventory of her defensive options.
I wasn't completely useless when it came to defending myself, I just wasn't confident in my abilities, mom always handled these sorts of things.
Pressing her hands together, she creates a Blizzard 1 spell, ice particles surround her fingers and start up her arm. She looks back again, and sure enough the woman was still following, but now she ran as well.
"Why are you following me," June shouts back at her, the woman answers by picking up the pace.
With a heart about to burst in fear, June reaches downward, she places her hands onto the earth, the ground glows blue for a moment, before settling back into it's muddy complexion. She takes off running again, as she runs, she listens for the sounds of her trap being sprung. Just as she glances back, she hears the sound of magic being activated. A large spike of ice was sticking out of the ground, but the woman had manage to dodge it, June groans.
She makes another turn, this time, onto a street she didn't recognize.
In her panicked state, she blindly rushes into the street, she could hear the woman's footsteps, or at least she thought she could- fear had already run away with her.
One more time she looks back, but as she does, she trips over some invisible crack in the earth. She hits the ground with a loud grunt, for a moment she sits there, trying to catch her breath. Her body had already given out, she wasn't used to so much running, she tries to stand, only to fall back down.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bright light appears at her side. It was so bright and white, it almost blinds her as it moves closer. Over her heartbeat, June could hear the sound of a roaring engine, raising her hand, she gives a half-hearted attempt at saving herself.
Who would have thought...
The light cuts abruptly, and the engine does as well. It doesn't take June long, to recognize where the light had come from. Across from her sat a medium sized motorcycle, even in the dark, its black exterior glistened. June struggles to her feet, still her gaze was glued to the bike, she had all but forgotten the strange woman.
She wraps her arms around her body as the bikes driver rises from the seat, she hears their feet hitting the ground with sharp thuds as they make their way toward her, the sound of buckles jumping reach her ear when they get closer.
This is...kinda where it all...really began.
"I-I'm sorry," June pants, she glances back at the road from which she came, "I was...I was...running...and-."
She swallows the rest of her words when the driver stops before her, she could now see most of his features.
A man, probably around her same age, stood before her. His blonde hair was styled into a series of medium length spikes and he wore all black. He wasn't terribly tall, but he still had a pretty fearsome visage.
It was his eyes...
He places his glowing blue eyes on her as he folds his arms, "what are you doing, are you trying to get yourself killed?"
His tone...never matches his words.
June brings her hand to her forehead as she tries to think up a good enough response, "I-I...was being...-," could she really tell him that she was being chased. She looks back, even though she clearly alone now?
When she turns back to face him, she's suddenly over-taken by a searing headache, she falls to her knees again, this time groaning in pain. The man looks taken aback, he looks around the street, as if searching for help, but they were alone.
Without a word of warning, he takes her into his arms, she slumps onto him as he climbs onto his bike.
"Hey, do you live around here?" He mutters back to her.
She nods, "um...818...Tilmitt Dr."
He turns ahead again, "you'd better hold tight."
June wraps her arms around his torso, holding onto him for dear life. For one she had never been on a motorcycle, and for two, holding him as tightly as she could, helped her forget the pain in her head.
It doesn't take long for him to find her house, once there, he looks back at her; when she doesn't just get off of the bike, he sighs.
With a grunt and some huffing and puffing, he carries her to the front door.
"Damn," she groans. "My keys...they're..."
She reaches a hand into her pocket, she barely had enough energy to grasp them, they just slip out of her fingers and onto the ground. The man gives another groan of annoyance as he bends down to pick them up, with a little guess-work he figures out the correct key for each lock, once inside the house, the man drags her toward the middle of the living room.
He glances at the recliner chair, but she points past it, at a closed door.
"Please," she whispers.
He lifts her again, before starting for the room, he opens the door the door and it reveals a bedroom.
"You know...if you're going to go out and get drunk, it's best to have friend bring you home." He mutters almost bitterly.
She teeters into bed when he lets her go, "I haven't been drinking," she groans turning onto her face.
He watches her for moment, "you're OK now, right? You're not going to die or anything?"
Typical.
Without raising her head, she gives him the 'OK' sign with her hand.
"Fank you," she says into her pillow, "fy deh whey, what's yhur neem?"
He quirks a brow at her, he didn't understand a word of what she said after saying, 'fank you'. He drifts closer, almost cautiously so, as he does, he takes notice of the paintings on the wall. One in particular draws his attention, it was a painting of the Sector 5 church, just through its doors, Cloud could make out a figure in pink.
"Aerith." He whispers.
"What!?" She turns onto her back to look at him, "your name is Aerith?!"
He shakes his head, "you...painted this yourself?"
She nods, "all of them...hey, you said the name...Aerith...did you know...Aerith?"
He turns on her abruptly, "yeah...did you?"
June cringes at the sharpness in his voice, it seemed that their meeting had suddenly taken a bitter turn.
"I did, she was a friend."
I met Aerith in that church, once again I had used up all of the painting materials that mom had brought me, instead of asking her to buy more, I was going to try to make my own paint from flower petals.
As I picked the flowers, she found me, at first she looked a bit peeved...that is until I told her what I needed them for. That was the start of a beautiful relationship, until one day...she just wasn't there anymore.
The man looks at the painting again, slowly his gaze reaches for the others.
"Do you like them," she lowers her head as she asks him this, "most people don't."
He shrugs, "you're talented."
He turns to look at her and upon their eyes meeting, June's face burns.
It was then, I realized what was happening.
Here she was, laying in bed, with a male stranger standing above her. Hadn't she learned anything about stranger danger?
"Well...Mr...?"
"Cloud," he turns for the door.
She nods, "well Cloud, I'm June...nice meeting you...um thank you for helping me."
He shrugs again as he makes his way for the front door, he glances back at her before exiting the house.
June sinks back down into her bed, exhaustion had gotten the best of her, it had been a long day, one that she was happy to end.
With a groan, she turns back onto her face, all the while hoping that her head ache would just go away.
Two days later, June sat in the living room recliner chair, munching away at a bowl cereal. At her feet, sat the television remote control, she'd dropped it almost an hour ago, but she was too lazy to pick it up, and so, she was stuck watching the mid-day news.
She absentmindedly sits through stories about cats stuck in trees, and traffic delays, it isn't until they begin to talk about Rufus Shinra's upcoming trainee program, that she pays attention.
According to the newscaster, the program would focus on teaching young men and women everything there was to know about space exploration, proto-materia, and weapon construction.
As far as Rufus Shinra went, I was neither a hater, or a supporter. No one knew the true story of what went on, when Meteor hit the planet. Some blamed him, but I had no time to point my finger at anyone, not while mom was dying.
But this program, it interested me. I didn't know much about space, or any of what they were talking about, but still...
With her spoon hanging out of her mouth, June turns to look into her bedroom.
...My art wasn't touching anyone, and I needed to do something else with my life...
"In breaking news, tensions run high in Edge, as strange lights and dark pockets of energy appear all over the city."
June turns back to the television in time to catch the image of a white and brown swirling stream of energy soaring above what looked like a park. The camera pans downward, and Reno and Rude appear on screen. They watched the sky with slack jaws, soon enough though, Reno notices the camera.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing!?"
He starts toward the camera and everything cuts to black.
June brings her hand to her chest as she allows the empty bowl to hit the rug, her heart pounded so hard, that she could feel it hitting against her palm.
I had seen that before.
She pushes out of the chair and into her bedroom, once there, she searches through her layers of paintings for one that matched the image in her minds eye. With a bit of work, she manages to unearth the painting in question.
Though she'd seen it thousands of times, though she'd painted it, it sends chills up her spine.
On the page, a similar energy structure to the one on television, had been painted. Except, within the energy, a monstrous figure stood, its eyes glowed menacingly.
June sinks onto her bed as she stares at the painting.
I'd painted it...about a month after mom passed, on one of the nights I couldn't get to sleep.
I just felt that I needed to do it, to release whatever it was that lay inside of me, and this is what I created. It scared me...but I couldn't bring myself to throw it away, so...I just hid it.
As I painted...I heard her voice.
"Should I...tell somebody...?" She clutches the painting close to her chest, "would they think I'm crazy?"
Normally, she didn't give much credence to the Edge mid-day news, but the feeling that she got from the painting was far too ominous to ignore.
Mom always told me, believe in yourself Junie.
When I was younger, things like this happened a lot, I would have dreams of...this thing...it...scared me so badly. Mom used to comfort me, but the dreams never went away. As strange as it may sound, she did that until the day she died.
I thought that maybe I was schizophrenic or just crazy, but she scolded me for saying things like that.
Junie, you're special...it's as simple as that!
"Oh mom, what should I do?" June whispers. "Should I tell someone...Reno? But what if he just ignores me, he already thinks I've gone mad."
As she says this, the memory of the bright light, appears in her minds eye. The newscaster had also spoken about bright lights, possibly the same bright light that June had seen.
She nods to herself as she places the painting aside, she had already told them about the lights, if more were appearing around Edge, they would have no choice but to believe her now, or even if they didn't believe her, they would have to at least hear her out.
Quickly, she changes out of her pajama shorts and into a pair of blue jeans, she pulls on her coat before taking the painting in her hands again. She runs out of her house, pretty much empty handed, except for train fare and the painting.
Once on the train, she finds herself a seat at the back of the car. She anxiously drums her fingers against her knees as the trains takes off, the further she got away from home, the more nervous she became.
Now, she questioned herself.
Was an old painting really so important, what would she say, what would they say?
What did she hope to gain from this?
The ride goes quickly, too quickly for June.
She steps away from the platform on shaking legs, here she was, on her way to exposing a part of herself that she had managed to keep secret her entire life.
Meeting with the Shinra, required that I go to their base near old Sector 7, just outside of Edge.
As June approaches the large Shinra Corp building, she notices two people standing at the front doors.
A man and a woman, the woman flips her blonde bangs away from her eyes as June moves up the stairs.
"State your business," she says in an almost robotic manner, " is busy right now."
June looks down at her painting, "um...I came to speak with Reno...and um...the president...I um-."
The man moves forward, his long hair slips over her shoulders as he studies June's face, he smiles as he places his hand before her.
"Tseng's the name, yours?"
"Oh Tseng, now is not the time for your silliness!" The woman rushes between them before any contact could be made.
June's face burns as they begin to argue amongst one another.
"I was just being nice, Elena!"
"Yeah, right!"
Elena turns on Tseng as if about to hit him, but just as she raises her hand, the building doors burst open.
June gasps when Cloud comes walking down the stairs, he quirks a brow at her when their eyes meet, June goes to speak but the doors flying open again, stops her.
"Cloud, you're being stupid! We have nothing to do with what's going on, honest!" Reno shouts after him.
Cloud ignores him as he moves toward his motorcycle, which sat a good distance away from the building.
Reno sighs in defeat, he turns to go back into the building but as he does, he catches sight of June.
"Hey, what're you doing here?" He bounds down the stairs toward her.
June raises the painting in her hands, "I-."
As she goes to hand it to him, she loses balance and falls into his arms, she tries to push away, only to stumble again, but this time, he falls with her.
"What the hell!?"
A loud rumbling noise rises from the earth as June goes to sit up, at this moment, she realizes that her falling, was not her own fault.
The entire world shook around her, even Elena and Tseng had been sent to the ground, she struggles to her hands and knees. With fear-filled eyes, she searches for an explanation, there were never earth-quakes in Edge.
Not too far from her, Cloud struggled to stay on his feet, in his hands, he held a sword. To keep himself steady, he had dug it into the earth.
"Cloud," June shouts.
He glances back at her, he looks as though he's about to speak, but a loud roar from the sky, overtakes his voice.
June crawls to his side as the sky splits apart, the clouds turn black and flash with bright red lightning. Cloud glances back at her, but it seemed that June was rendered speechless.
Another roar comes from the sky, but this time, at its end, it turns into hyena-like laughter. A dark figure appears where the sky had split, it descends toward them, wrapped in a blanket of shiny black liquid.
Slowly, the blanket starts to unfold, as it does, June's ears are flooded with shouting voices.
"The Diabolos," they shout. "It comes!"
June covers her ears, she tries to block the voices out but they still come, she releases a scream of her own, but as she does, she feels a firm grip on her wrist.
She peeks and eye open, Cloud stood above her, sword in hand.
"Do you know how to fight," he mutters turning to look at the blackened figure.
June's heart shoots into her throat, "fight, what do y-."
With another eardrum shattering cackle, the monster slings away the liquid, to show large black leathery wings and a long black pointed face, it raises its fist toward June with a wide grin.
"Well?" Cloud shouts back at her.
I had no idea...
"No, but I do...know some things," she crawls to her feet.
The Diabolos suddenly lunges for her, but Cloud jumps in the way, taking the attack. June screams when he slides past her, she goes to rush over to him, but he shakes his head at her.
"Worry about yourself." He grunts moving past her again.
"B-But-."
The sword in Cloud's hand splits into two, he tosses one to her before rushing toward the Diabolos, with strength like she'd never seen before, Cloud attacks the beast, it screams with every cringe-worthy slice.
Cloud backs away from the monster to regather his strength, an action that the Diabolos takes full advantage of. It raises its hand into the air, and black energy grows at its palm. The atmosphere turns dark and humid, it was like the monster was sucking away the life of everything in its presence, June backs away- things were about to get ugly, she could feel it.
Cloud does as well, he once again steps in front of her, he brings his sword up as if to block a potential attack.
The Diabolos brings its energy covered fist down, the energy moves down its fingers, expanding until it covers both Cloud and June. She clutches the back of Cloud's shirt in her hand when a strange burning pain covers her body, it felt like she was being poked with millions of tiny burning coals, it seems like an eternity, that they're covered in the energy. Once it finally fades, June falls to her knees, and Cloud only falters a bit.
"C-Cloud," she pants as she puts her hand to her chest, her body felt strange, it was covered in same sensation that one gets when she would sit on her leg for too long.
He turns to look back at her, and as he does a blue light covers his body, just like that, his strength is replenished.
"Thank you," he mutters turning back to the monster.
The next few moments for June, are one big blur. Through the haze of near-unconciousness, she could make out the movements that Cloud made, if he was moving slowly. Instinctively though, she manages to heal him when needed.
"This is it," Cloud calls to her, he readies one final attack, "Climhazzard!"
His sword covers over in blue energy, Cloud grunts as he raises it above his head and in one massively aggressive swing, the energy is catapulted at the Diabolos.
At first, it seems that the Diabolos would avoid the attack, but the energy beam hits it straight on, slicing straight through its body.
Through the wound, blackened blood spews, the Diabolos screams one last time before bursting into a cloud of black smoke.
Cloud releases a heavy sigh before turning to face June, she lay on the ground now, still clutching her chest. The Turks lay about as well, all of them unconscious. Cloud bends down in front of June, she blinks away tears as he lifts her into his arms.
"I...was...s-s-so scared." She buries her face in his chest with a small whimper.
Behind them, the Shinra Corp doors burst open, Rude comes rushing down the stairs and over to Reno.
"What the hell, Reno man...wake up!" He looks to Cloud with angry eyes, "what happened out here!?"
Cloud shrugs his shoulder, "we were attacked." He stands, still supporting June in his arms, "are you going to be OK?"
She places her gaze on his chest as she tries to get a feel on her numb body, so much had happened, she was so confused and tired. If he let her go, she was only going to fall again, so she shakes her head.
Cloud looks back at Rude, though he didn't know June well, he wouldn't feel comfortable leaving anybody in the care of the Turks.
"Friends of yours," he mutters.
She shakes her head again, "I came to...to show them something...but...but I'm just too tired now."
I was confused, but too tired to even try to think things through. I just wanted Cloud to hold me, not because...you know, but because I just needed it at the time.
Cloud sighs, he couldn't just leave her, and he didn't have time to think on it. It wouldn't be long before the area was surrounded by reporters and nosy civilians, he looks down at June, he didn't plan to make the trip to her house, not while he, himself, was tired as well.
"Hold on," he says in her ear.
She places her face at the crook of his neck as he lifts her into his arms, he glances back at Rude, before making his way over to his motorcycle. He sets her back on the seat before rushing into place to catch her limp body.
Rude stumbles away from Reno as Cloud revs the bikes engine, "you're just gonna leave!?"
With a nod, Cloud pushes the back forward, and into the distance.
Next: Growing Pains