Sector Five Church
The night had been cruel to Reno, it's cold hands wrapping around him and its icy claws digging into whatever exposed flesh he had. That was the Slums. Sector Five Slums, of course. The stupid git who was dubbed 'Tseng', and unfortunately his superior, had decided that a visit to the Slums underneath the plate would give Reno an idea of how fortunate he was. Said git obviously knew nothing of Reno's past. He had grown up in the Slums of Midgar, forced to survive in the Dog-Eat-Dog world.
Midgar was divided into two parts. One being the Slums, a place of poverty, gangs, and death. The place was mostly populated by orphans and groups of people willing to kill or rob those orphans. The second part was the metropolitan above the Plate. Home to ShinRa, the place was always bustling. No one born above the plate ever ventured down to the Slums, and likewise, no one from the Slums could ever dream of going above the plate.
ShinRa Electric Power Company. The name hardly suited the death and destruction it dealt out. It was indeed a power company. It harvested the Mako energy from the Lifestream, the essence of the planet. When we die, we become part of the Lifestream, and the Lifestream gives life. Thus, there is a circle of life. Many people believe that by using the planet's energy source for our own petty needs, we take away from the planet's life. But, none of that mattered to Reno. He was a Turk, working directly under President Shinra. He did his job, and he was one of the best. To him, a job was a job. Turks handled the dirty work. Assassination, espionage, the works. Of course, they also handled gaining recruits for ShinRa's super military force, SOLDIER. But, sleeping at night was a challenge.
It was all in a day's work. It seemed like normal water cooler conversation with the few, select people that were the Turks to discuss who they were killing after lunch. A job was a job.
The Slums were a dismal place, and usually left Reno to remember certain aspects of his childhood. Something he didn't want. From the identical twin scars on either side of his young face to the haunting memories that lurk in the deepest caverns of his mind, he wanted nothing to do with the Slums. And yet, here he was.
His steps were quiet, though they were only steps around, on the broken and cracked stone road. The candle lights around the house all went out at once. Of course. No one wanted anything to do with ShinRa. They could tell by his Turk uniform. The white shirt that was supposed to be crisp and clean along with the other Turk's was ruffled and stained with blood in various spots. He wore no tie that was issued for the Turks, and his blue suit was messed up in various places. To say the least, he had never been one for uniforms. Reno ran a hand through his long, unkempt red hair, giving a small sigh. Where was he supposed to be going again? Oh. Right. The Church. He had been there many times as a kid, figuring it as somewhat as a sanctuary, and a couple times as a Turk. His blue eyes flickered to the church as he remembered his last encounter with the serene place. He had been on strict orders; Kidnap Aerith.
He preferred not to remember that, though. It was bad memories. Bad memories that almost made him sick to his stomach. Morals, perhaps? Morals didn't matter with the Turks. All that did was getting the job done. Although he felt that sickening feeling every time he pulled the trigger the first few times, he felt nothing now. A job was a job.
Reno's shoes were louder against the wooden floors of the church. It was empty. Walking towards the center, he saw the flowers. God, how they were so familiar. He could almost hear Aerith's voice in his ears, telling him not to step on the flowers. Flowers, as it seemed, never grew in the Slums. Nothing did. Probably because of the lack of sunlight. Most people in the Slums never even saw the sky. Although, through the hole in the ceiling in the church, you could catch a glimpse of the grey Midgarian sky sometimes.
Aerith was dead now. But, that was the price that came when you opposed ShinRa. What a fool. You never opposed ShinRa, unless you had a death wish. And that idiot was probably looking down on Reno in the dead of night, through that blasted hole in the ceiling. Whispering not to step on the flowers. Stupid. Reno gave a small scoff and smirked slightly. "Go ahead," he said softly, his foot poised over one of the yellow, delicate little flowers on the edge of where they grew. "Smite me from the heavens, Aerith." His foot dropped onto the flower, crushing it smoothly. "See if you can take down an alive man, when you yourself are dead. Go ahead. Try!" he screamed at the hole in the ceiling. "You can't," Reno whispered. "That's the price when you oppose ShinRa. You're an idiot. You think you can simply speak out of turn. No. In this world, you shut up and do what you're told. Otherwise you'll have a one-way ticket out," he continued, crushing another flower. He could feel his throat tightening, his heart beating up against his chest violently. "What are you going to do, Aerith?! Kill me!? Go ahead, try! TRY!" he screamed, stepped on more flowers. Each step, every syllable he spoke, seemed to take an enormous amount of strength. He couldn't breath. He simply couldn't breath. Reno fell to his knees, gasping for the air that wouldn't proceed into his lungs. No. No! This couldn't be happening. She was dead! Aerith was dead! Dead people couldn't do this. …Could they? Reno's face grew cold and his limbs grew immensely heavy. The beats in his chest grew slower, until they stopped completely. "You…" he stuttered out, before his eyes closed and he fell to the dirt ground, falling on the flowers.
Okay. So, this was done as an assignment for my Language Arts class, and my teacher has no idea what ShinRa, SOLDIER, the Lifestream, or anything like that is. So, I tried to do it from a 'non-Final Fantasy VII' player's point of view. I can't explain everything, but this was already WAY longer than anyone else's assignment.
Anyway, I got a 100%. 8D WHOO.
Working on a Genesis one-shot. I need less one-shots. Maybe during spring break?