Final Fantasy VII and it's characters are property of Square-Enix. I hold no affiliation with said organization and make no profit from this fiction; it is for entertainment purposes only.
PROLOGUE - A Dying Paradigm
The fields surrounding Junon Harbor were strings of peaceful cadence and painted with colors almost too beautiful too be natural. Though nowhere in immediate sight, the ocean could still be heard sporadically, the rough waves crashing against the plateau of the strange town. It was almost dusk, and quite likely that she'd be sent for soon, though it was easy to make that fact invisible in her extravagant adventure.
Normally she'd have spent the evening collecting seashells on a day this warm, basking in the sun on the beach while the salty water sprayed her. The tides were much too high that day. She'd settled for a journey she'd not yet practiced, and that was the increasingly attractive miles of open field and the forest that awaited at the end. She'd never ventured quite that far before, and there would be certain trouble if they were to find out.
It was getting past time to turn around when she'd reached the edge of the tall wall of trees. She ran her hands over the bark of each one as she'd walked along the outside, basking in the sensation of the authentic nature that was before her. She'd always felt more at peace the farther away from civilization she'd gotten, and she'd known it was because no one would tell her to stop doing her strange things that disconcerted strangers. The only voices she'd ever heard out here were friendly and welcoming, and never suggested she was weird or different. The child's face noticed ahead something that looked like an unusual shadow, though there was nothing around to project such a shape. The dark color was unsettling.
A growl rippled low through the air, and it had nothing to do with the ocean. Wild curiosity pushed her small bared feet to move closer, closer to that darkness in day. She could hear the soft sound of trickling water. A fountain? Feeling the thrill of something potentially dangerous, she approached where the dark water had pooled, looking down at a perfect reflection of her own dirtied features.
Don't be afraid, a voice purred inside her mind, and at that same moment she gasped and flew backward. It was not the normal voice she'd heard sometimes when she was all alone. This one was different. Noooo... It sounded like velvet, masculine, with an underlying harshness that she couldn't place. So faint that it would have been easy to believe it was only imagined. She'd heard things before, unsure whether real thoughts or delusions, but never anything like this.
I will not harm you...Come closer, closer child, so that I can seeeeee... yeeeessss...that's it. Her tiny mind whirled between the instinct to run away and the compulsion that rendered her paralyzed in that spot. The pool rippled with the voice. Do you know what I am, child?
"No," She whispered.
Then come closer... The little girl's face contorted in both confusion and frustration; she was already close enough that if she'd got any closer, she'd be stepping into the mysterious water, which was not happening. She knelt down and the remaining daylight allowed her to notice that the water hadn't been clear, but an opaque black instead. Closer...
The little girl reached a brave hand out to hold it just over the small movements, and touched the surface.
The rippling hadn't been water at all, but rather an abyss.
Tiny hands caressed over the odd void, attempting to scoop some up in her hand for closer examination. The black substance poured through the slits of her fingers.
The dirt underneath her began to shift from under her soles. She stood back up and back-stepped, but the ground had suddenly completely disappeared right from underneath her feet, falling into a much larger version of the black void that was now a lake underneath her. She had hold of something she hadn't even remembered grabbing and panicked. She started screaming. "Help! Somebody help me! I-AH!"
SSSILENCE. Lest we be overheard, little one.
She was hyperventilating, trying to climb back to the surface, but the earth she'd tried to get traction on would crumble like dust under her small hands. She then noticed it wasn't a vine that she had a hold of, but rather the other way around. The vine was an iridescent black. She struggled against its grip, and it squeezed tighter around her wrist that glowed almost inconspicuously. "Please, let me go!"
You insist such ssstupid commands. Very well...
The vine released her; the void around her crawled up the sinkhole walls and gave the sensation of falling at an accelerated rate. She shrieked and it was a few more seconds before the vine had hold of her once more.
I knew you didn't really want that. It is crucial to realize what your intentions are before acting now, isn't it? You best never forget thisss. Until next time, child... and there will most definitely be a next time.
"Lucrecia!" An angry, familiar voice called from the direction of the distant town. Her eyes opened with her cheek pressed against the warm soil. She sat up and gripped at her sore wrist which bore no visible indications of stress or injury. The terrain had returned to its original state, looking as if it had never been disturbed.
The last of the day's sun reflected off of the black one last time and she quickly crawled over to it. The dark matter sank into the ground like liquid over dehydrated soil. "No, wait! Come back!" The child clung to the unchanged dirt. "Please?" She shuffled to her feat and searched the ground frantically.
The calls behind her got louder until a large hand grasped her arm and forcefully turned her around to face the hardened face of her older brother. His hands were on both of her shoulders and he practically shook her. "You..." He was gasping for air. "You cannot run off like that! What are you thinking?!"
"But didn't you see it?!" The little girl turned back to the spring, trying to pry herself from the young man's strong hands. "There was something in that fountain! Well... there was a fountain... not really a fountain... but it talked to me! And then-"
"Why were you screaming?" He demanded.
The girl kept a straight face. "I didn't scream."
"Yes, you did. I heard you. Why do you think I was running?"
"You were hearing voices again!"
The male's hands tightened around her forearms. "You stop that this instant!" He was still trying to catch his breath. After a few seconds his eyes softened and looked down, his head shaking in a familiar way. "Lucrecia, you have to stop with these wild stories. We were so worried about you. Mother is not well. Do you want to be the death of her?"
The little girl's head shook frantically. "I don't want to kill Mother..."
"Let's get back then. This is for your own good," Lux said. "And no more of this nonsense. Really. Enough is enough."
"Okay."
000
The familiar golden ringlets fell across her shoulders in the one true place she loved more than anywhere else. Her mother's tight arms secured around her, and they would stave off even the most frightening monsters of her dreams; they could never reach her here. "Tell me again."
The musical voice pealed with the sweetest sound from the most beautiful voice. "Oh, they were such wondrous creatures, they were. And beautiful. They were the Planet's first settlers. And they were magical." The woman sighed and closed her eyes. She had been tired more and more lately. "Did you have fun today, my doveling?"
The child's face lit up with excitement. "Yes I did! I-" She'd caught her sibling's death glare, warning her."I met some...thing. And then something scary happened... but I am alright. Please don't worry, Mother."
"Oh! Oh my. Did you have that thing with you?"
"Yes, ma."
"It will keep you safe. Always keep it." Soft hands delved into her dirty brown locks. It would always seem that no matter how unkempt her hair became, Mother's hands could take away tangles with no pain. She laid against her mother and sighed.
Lux looked up from the stick he'd been working with a small knife near the fireplace. "It's time for bed. No more stories, from either of you." The child embraced the golden-haired woman and climbed down from her lap and headed up the ladder to her loft bed. Snuggling into the covers, her brother's callous voice continue. "She's odd enough, mother. You've got to stop putting these things in her head."
She could almost hear her mother smile.
000
They'd moved to the sunless city sometime soon after. Her elder sibling's enthusiasm for his newly awarded and coveted occupation had left much to be desired, and had been no replacement for the light that she'd been deprived of along with the transition. Lux had a perpetual face of stone, and the gloomy slums of Midgar seemed perfectly fitting for his protagonistic endeavor, though she had wondered how much of his influence was her accomplishment.
After all, no sky. No sun. No place to run off and hear voices. It was the place where happiness was sent to die.
Rested upon her thigh was the sleeping form of Lucille; her mother's final contribution before returning to the planet just two years later. Lucille, whom had been lately preferring her sister's warmth over the springy excuse for a mattress on the superfluous second floor, was too young to remember their mother, and part of Lucrecia had been remorsefully grateful for that. Her mother was often recognized for having a toxic imagination.
Hands trembled uncontrollably as she struggled to open the official Shinra sealed letter. She already knew what it contained. Already knew the words before they would sting tears in her eyes. She knew it before he'd even gone away.
ATTN: Crescent family
Hardly a family anymore.
12 Pillarspark Way
Midgar, Sector 5
It is with our deepest regret to inform you that Lux Thrace
Her arm dropped, and the letter slipped through her weakened hand to the cold wooden floor, leaving the rest of the message unread.
000
"But he's our brother Cresh, shouldn't we have the same last name?"
Lucrecia swallowed hard, and sighed. "Lux has his father's last name."
"Oh... then shouldn't my last name be different from yours? My father isn't your father."
The older sister closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. Normally she had more patience with the younger girl, but today wasn't one of those days. They were separated by only five years, though to the fifteen year old, the gap seemed much more significant.
Mother thought 'Crescent' made us sound more spiritual...
She watched Lucille study the Shinra letter as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Lucrecia cleared her throat, willing her voice even."Do you have any other questions?"
"What does self-in...inflicted mean?"
Lucrecia quickly reached out and snatched the paper from the smaller hands and crumpled it into a tight ball. When did Sille become so good at reading? The paper ball was tossed into the fireplace and she watched as it lit up upon incineration. She awkwardly chuckled, thinking that that smallest bit of warmth that the ignited paper had provided was the only help that Lux ever even kind of contributed. He'd claimed to have joined SOLDIER so that he'd be able to send them gil after their mother had passed away, but they'd never seen a single one.
She'd caught the saddened eyes of her youngest sibling, on the verge of shedding heavy tears. "Come here." She sighed and reached her arms out, motioning with her fingers. Sille nearly fell into her open arms as she started sobbing. The older girl's arms closed around the small frame, whispering small reassurances to her and rocking her gently.
We're going to be alright...what does this really change, anyway? At least it was confirmed. A small fact that she'd known for quite a while: they were on their own.
000
Lucille would be alright; she was sure of this. It had been three years since the death of their brother, and she'd grown up so much during that time, albeit forcefully. My sister WILL be fine... After all, she had plenty of friends that she spent most of her time with and was almost never alone. Beautiful girls didn't tend to stay in one spot for too long, and Sille had never been anything other than beautiful. Her smile was charming and not in the least bit forced. Thankfully she had not inherited Lucrecia's cynicism.
As Lucrecia had predicted, her decision to join Shinra wasn't a favored one. She'd been offered an internship my the head of the science department for being the top student in her grad class. Sille had pointed out that in the past, her older sister had always referred to the monopoly as 'pretentious' and 'shamelessly ignorant', especially since for a Exotic Biology AP she'd had to submit a thesis for the mid-term. Long story short, it might have been a little too exotic.
"As if I was really trying to impress them," she'd muttered to herself while reading the unforgiving critical reviews.
Liar.
"I won't be far away, and I'll be able to come back on the weekends. It's not right away; there's still five more months until graduation. I'll make sure you have everything you need."
"We were supposed to move back to Junon," Sille pouted. "What happened to getting out of here?"
"If I don't do this, Sille, we'll be stuck here forever."
"They'll make you sign a contract. You will be stuck here forever!"
Lucrecia started to argue, but she'd lost this one. It was just an internship, but Shinra didn't trust just anyone. If your internship didn't work out, you become a receptionist or a janitor, but company resignation was never an option. It didn't change anything. She just didn't see any other way.
They both knew it. No one lived in the slums because they wanted to, and for the past twelve years, she'd watched a generation of her neighbors try - and fail - time after time to be able to afford something different. Most gave up eventually.
Lucrecia knew how lucky they were, and had tried many times to make Lucille recognize it, too. They had been fortunate that no one had been paying close enough attention to know that they'd been without a guardian for most of that time, and that teachers just always assumed that Mother Crescent was a homebody and not an active participant in their education affairs. Had they failed to keep that secret, they'd have been thrown into the crudest foster home or orphanage and then there would have been no chances for changing things at all.
Sille was the same age now that Lucrecia had been when she'd become the head of the house, and much more resourceful in every way that mattered. She would not be alone. She will have everything that she will ever need, and one day, she will get out of this treacherous city for good. That is everything now.
Thank you for reading.