Disclaimer: I do not own any charactures/worlds mentioned.
Recollection vi
I had convinced Barret to allow us to join them. Once he had met Zagane-Sensei, he saw the advantages of letting us stay on.
The other members were suspicious of us initially; they were only a small group. Barret was their leader. Jessie was a young woman a little older then I. She was an explosives and gadget expert, her knowledge was invaluable. She became a good friend once she got over her initial mistrust. Then there was Biggs, a rouge of a man who could charm the pants off a nun and shoot a target and hit it at bull's eye with his eyes closed. He made me laugh. And lastly, there was kindhearted Wedge, who always meant well, who, along with Marlene, embodied the heart of the group.
I guess these people became my new family. We lived like one. Even Zagane-Sensei admitted that he felt like he belonged in Avalanche. Chance brought us together. Or fate, if you believe in it.
At first I was unsure about what it was we had to do now we were apart of Avalanche. What was there that we could actually sabotage? The city was in a state of chaos. So, for a long time, I waited. I looked after Marlene. I trained with Sensei. I learned about bombs and 'flashy things' from Jessie. Biggs showed me how to load and use a gun. Wedge showed me maps and blueprints of Midgar, and Barret told me more about Kingdom Hearts and these 'other worlds.'
Sensei and I moved into the groups head quarters, which turned out to be a dejected rundown bar call 'Seventh Heaven'. It was devoid of customers when we first arrived. Eventually, I decided to revamp up the place and turn it into an actual business. This way, we were able to receive some income to help finance our rebellious activities. It also provided a good cover for them.
I think everyone was surprised how successful our bar was. I guess everybody needs a place to drown in their sorrows. We tried to keep it a respectable establishment, and for most part, succeeded. Barret was certainly pleased with the transformation; it was now a more suitable home for Marlene.
My first active involvement in Avalanche was destroying a construction site that had been commissioned under the strict orders of the General. It was a Reactor, one of the many that were slowly being built, although the whole project was very hush-hush.
Barret, Biggs, Jessie and I made up the main team involved. We slid, under the cover of night into the construction site, setting up bombs Jessie had made on the foundations of the building.
We thought the Reactors were being built so that Sephiroth could draw out the magic of Kingdom Hearts to strengthen himself, eventually destroying Midgar from within as he summoned more and more Darkness. We were only partially right.
I remember how that first explosion looked, bursting forth fire through the night. I was heavily shaken, as it was all too reminiscent of the destruction of Nibleheim. It reminded me of my anger and further fueled my desire to destroy the Darkness. I never spoke about how I felt, preferring to mask my emotions like Zagane-Sensei. I went without speaking for days afterwards.
It was rare when we were able to put together an operation on such a large scale. We simply did not have the resources. We tried to make do, hindering the progress of the Reactors construction. Workmen would arrive in the morning to find all the tires had been slashed, or the power sources tampered with. We would steal equipment and cause random pipes to break, flooding a section. Cut all the power cables. Small things like that would stop the building for days, or even weeks on end.
But they were built. We couldn't stop them forever.
The public took little notice of Avalanche. Actively hating the class enemy takes up a lot of energy, and many did not care what we did.
I eventually met another member of Avalanche by accident. I actually almost attacked him, finding him alone in the bar and thinking him some kind of thief or intruder.
He was not so much a member, but a man who aided us to settle his personal deep-seated grudge against Sephiroth. A sort of informant cross spy cross assassin. I guess his role was really ambiguous, just like the man.
His name was Vincent Valentine, a man of shadow.
I think that he was once apart of the organization that brought Sephiroth into power, and that they had left had betrayed him before leaving him to die alone in Darkness. I don't really know. Most of what I do came from Wedge, and he was known for getting his facts muddled up at times.
My first three years as a terrorist followed as such. Minor operations in sabotage and theft. When the first Reactor was completed, we were crestfallen. We thought that doomsday was imminent. We waited, anxiously expecting a hoard of Darkness to erupt in the city and consume us all.
But it didn't, not just yet.
There was some celebration. Some people genuinely believed Sephiroths master plan could save us.
We researched. Tried to find everything we could on the Darkness and the place from whence it came. Rumors, educated theories, most of it did not match up.
Every month, new refugees arrived from far out and distant towns and villages. News of horrors they had seen reflected Sensei and my own experiences. Slowly, the gap was closing in on Midgar.
In my eighteenth year, the unthinkable happened. Sephiroth returned from the frontlines.
Authors note: Dun Dun Duuuuuuuurrrrrrr...ah-hem. Well, hopefully you are all still reading and liking and reviewing (not so subtle hint). The next couple of chapters are getting a bit more actiony (well, I think they are.) I also hope none of you mind some of the drastic and not so drastic changes I'm making to the FF7 plot in order to accomodate KH's, this including Vincent being an existing member of Avalanche. Plus the whole Sephy still being alive thing but hey. It will all work out in the end :)
