A/N: Upon re-reading this chapter, it occurred to me that not only had Tifa suffered a skin-creeping sexual assault, but that it failed to impact her character in any way whatsoever. The former is acceptable in literature, but not without the latter. Since I didn't want to explore the terrible shame and inner pain that accompanies sexual assault (at least not with Tifa), I pulled a bit of a cop-out. I also added a brief action scene, so have fun!
Don Corneo's "mansion" was the centerpiece of the Sector 6 slum, and over the years a collection of stands had grown up around it like mold, hawking every vice known to man. Desperate men and women sold drugs, stolen goods, and themselves. Tifa's stomach turned as her cart rattled past a thin, mean-looking man auctioning off a naked girl. The girl's hands hung limp at her sides and her wide eyes stared dully ahead. She couldn't have been older than twelve. Tifa clenched her hands in her lap to stop their trembling. It all came back to Shinra. The corporation treated people like animals, so they became animals.
Tifa's eye caught a head of unruly blond hair and she looked away quickly. She found herself staring fixedly at the driver's back and shook her head. He was dead. This time he was really dead. A true warrior guards against the self, Tifa reminded herself. She inhaled slowly through her nostrils and hissed through her teeth. By the time the cart creaked to a stop her hands lay still.
The mud splashed up to her knees as she stepped off the cart, but it still fell far short of her thin, sky-blue chemise. The harnessed chocobo squawked as she walked by and she stroked its dirty yellow feathers absently. The large bird had a wasted look, its head hanging on a too-thin neck, but even a starving chocobo was a luxury in the slums. The mansion stood before her, one of the rare professionally constructed buildings below the plate. It was a squat, three-story structure of expensive stone, and its many upper-story windows sported brightly-colored curtains. Gaudy ribbons hung down from the eaves, and a pair of lanterns fashioned to resemble shapely women framed dark steel double-doors. The colorful trimmings did little to disguise the strong, thick walls or reinforced entrance; the place was more of a fortress than a mansion. It wouldn't hold up to any serious assault, but it would certainly turn away a loosely organized band of slum-dwellers.
"Inside, girl," the cart driver grunted before snapping the reins and steering the chocobo back in the direction they'd come. The people shuffling along the streets didn't look twice at the bird or the girl; they'd seen it all a dozen times. Tifa climbed the steps to the front door and pressed the garish golden buzzer. She hunched her shoulders and stared at her feet. Sometimes strength was an asset, but in a place like this it would just make her a mark to be conquered. Better to let them believe she was already broken.
Tifa heard the sound of a bolt being withdrawn and one of the doors swung open on silent hinges. A man stood in the doorway in a dark red uniform. Two columns of brass buttons ran down the front of his jacket, and a crisp crease stood out on each pant leg. His skin was dark and his face was harsh, all lines and sharp angles. His eyes roamed up and down her body, and Tifa chose not to suppress a shudder.
"Follow," the porter said, turning on his heel and striding into the hall. Tifa shuffled after him, keeping her eyes on the luxurious carpet under her feet. She took small steps, making sure not to wobble on her 4-inch heels. How does anyone walk around in these things? Behind her, a second man closed the door with a loud snap. The uniformed man led Tifa up a set of plush steps, down a hall, and into an empty room. She dared to lift her eyes and scan her surroundings. A small, stained mattress sat on a rusted bed-frame in one corner. Against the opposite wall stood a chipped stone basin, large enough for Tifa to fit in if she drew her knees up to her chest. The only piece of real furniture in the room was a large oak wardrobe across from the door.
"You will wait here," the porter commanded, giving her one last appraising look before leaving the room. She heard the scrape of a key in the lock, but after a moment she stepped over to the door and tried it anyway. The lock was flimsy, but shattering it would make noise. She didn't want to draw attention just yet. A creak outside alerted her to someone approaching and she shrank back from the door, doing her best to look frightened. The lock scraped again and a bent old lady entered, a much younger woman dogging her heels. The older woman was smaller than her companion, but she had a fierceness in her features that reminded Tifa of a hawk. Her dress was simple, but elegant, hiding her frailty while accentuating her wide hips. The girl wore yellow and black striped lingerie, and a pair of ridiculous cloth wings had been fastened to her back.
"You are the new arrival, yes?" Tifa was still deciding whether or not to answer when the woman approached her with surprising speed and slapped her forcefully across the mouth. "You will speak when spoken to, bitch," the woman sneered. "I am Mistress Isabel, and I didn't get to where I am today by wasting time with girly foolishness. What is your name?"
"S-Sarah, ma'am." It was a weak lie, but Tifa's head was still ringing, as much from surprise as from the blow.
"That won't do," Mistress Isabel muttered to herself. "No, not at all. The outfit's all wrong, too. Something to go with your hair. Something that men will kill to peel off you." The woman cackled and Tifa's stomach rolled. "Yes, we'll find you something dark. They'll call you the Raven Queen, and men will come from all over the world to taste you. So long as you behave. Now lie on the bed and spread your legs."
The loser of the second fight will always lose the first. Tifa lay back on the filthy mattress, rolling her hands into fists. Dread threatened to strangle her. She thought of the mission, of Marlene, of anything that might distract her from the shrew's examination. But before she could begin, Mistress Isabel found a distraction of her own.
"What the hell is going on out there?" The sounds of commotion carried from outside the door, a thud, a crash, and a choked yell. The hag stood up and straightened as much as her wizened spine would allow. "Stay here," she snapped. "Honeybee!"
The girl jumped and scurried over. "Yes, Mistress?"
"Get her cleaned up and dressed proper. I want her to shine when she's presented to the Don." Mistress Isabel favored Tifa with a leer that tugged at Tifa's gut more painfully than the porter's indecent stares. The older woman swept out of the room, locking Tifa in with the girl called Honeybee. As soon as she was gone, Tifa bounced to her feet, fists trembling. She paced back and forth, trying to slow her heartbeat. It was no use; her breathing was ragged and her blood pounded in her ears. I knew it would be hard, she thought. But not like this. Some prices a woman shouldn't have to pay. She needed a new plan. She was in the mansion now, she just had to get to the Don. Discretion be damned. If Mistress Isabel came back, she wouldn't find a Raven Queen.
"You're not like us." Tifa froze; she had completely forgotten she was not alone. Honeybee was staring at her with wide eyes. The girl's lip trembled. She looked as if she'd surprised herself by speaking.
"I—"
"Are you going to kill them?" the girl whispered. Tifa wondered suddenly how old she was. Her face was still fresh and unlined, but her eyes had a glaze to them, as though her youth had been smothered by what she'd seen…and what she'd done. "I won't tell," she pleaded. "I swear, I won't tell a soul. That's why you're here, isn't it? People like you don't come to…places like this."
"Yes," Tifa mumbled through numb lips. Corneo had to live long enough to spill Shinra's plan, but her instructions went no farther than that. It wasn't what she was here to do, but looking at the child who had been twisted into 'Honeybee,' she knew her answer was true. "I will kill them all."
The girl almost smiled, but a pair of voices drifted from the other side of the door and her face became a blank mask.
"…didn't even have to come," a man was saying. "I told you to go back home."
"And just how would you have got in without me?" a woman replied in acid tones. "Were you going to dress up as a woman? No, that'd be too subtle for you. You'd probably just kick in the door and cut a path to Tifa." Tifa's heart plunged into her stomach. They were looking for her. It had to be Shinra, there was no one else. Holding a finger to her lips, she crept silently to the locked door and flattened herself against the wall beside it. She slipped off her shoes as quietly as she could manage. Walking in heels was hard enough; fighting was out of the question. "A fine spot that would put us in," the woman continued. "We'd probably never make it out alive."
"You might not."
"Har har." The doorknob rattled. "It's locked. You're sure she's in there?"
"I'm sure. She came this way; I can smell it."
"Ugh. If that's the kind of thing you feel like sharing, I can only imagine what you keep bottled up. So creepy…"
"Are you going to open the door or not?"
"I told you, it's locked. So unless you were a locksmith in a past life…"
"Move."
"Why? What are you—"
The door exploded inwards with an ear-splitting crack. Honeybee screamed as she was showered in splinters and bits of metal from the iron lock. Tifa turned the corner and struck at the man's neck. Cloud fell back with a choking gasp, and Tifa's knees gave way. She clutched at the shattered door-frame to keep from falling. It couldn't be. He fell from the plate. Yet there he was, clambering unsteadily to his feet, massaging his throat.
"Mother…" the woman to his right breathed. She was a pretty brunette with large turquoise eyes. She wore a sleeveless scarlet evening gown slashed all the way up to one hip. Her chestnut hair was tied back in a pink ribbon and her feet were bare. A burnished pendant set with a white marble hung on a thin chain around her neck. "I'm Aeris," she said, "and I'd like to shake your hand. I've been wanting to do that all—"
"Idiot!" Tifa shrieked, kicking Cloud as hard as she could in his abdomen. He grunted, but stayed on his feet. A door opened down the hall, and a large shirtless man emerged. "Useless fucking piece of—! You'll ruin everything!" Without another word, she took off down the hall at a dead sprint. Maybe it wasn't too late; maybe Corneo hadn't heard. The large man reached for her, but she spun nimbly around him without missing a step. Tifa realized she had no idea which room was Don Corneo's, but her fears vanished as she rounded a corner. A set of shining gold doors were set at the end of the hall, framed by ornate carvings of nude women in suggestive poses.
A hulking bodyguard stood in front of the door, and Tifa skidded to a halt. For a heartbeat they watched each other, then Tifa charged. The man drew his sidearm, but she looked dead in his eyes and kept running. He leveled the weapon, but she watched his eyes and kept coming. His pupils constricted and she broke right, letting the bullet pass by on the left. She hopped up, kicked hard off the wall, and closed the last few feet in the air before he could fire again. Her momentum sent them both crashing through the heavy doors and into the chamber beyond. Tifa got up, but her opponent didn't.
A short, round man was struggling to shove aside a tall, heavy bookcase to access a hidden passage. Sweat soaked his brow and seeped into the oily yellow curls that circled his head like a filthy crown. He turned towards her with a terrified moan and his untied silk bathrobe flapped open obscenely. Dark stains grew steadily under his arms, and his bladder let go on the floor.
"Please," he blubbered. "Please don't hurt me! I'll do anything! I'll tell you anything!"
Tifa took a step forward, raising her fists menacingly. Behind her she heard Aeris shout something, followed by a roar of flame.
"Shinra," Tifa demanded. "How much do they know?" She inwardly cursed Cloud. If it hadn't been for him, she would've had time to work Corneo. He would have told her everything she wanted to know and more, and he would have thought it was all his idea. But Cloud had betrayed her again. She had to make do with what she had. "How are they planning to hit Avalanche?"
"They're not," Corneo sobbed. Another explosion shook the room and Aeris ducked inside. Her face was smeared with soot.
"Cloud's coming behind," she coughed. "The building's on fire; we can't get out the way we came in."
"What do you mean they're not?" Tifa shouted, advancing on Corneo. "What are they planning?"
"An ambush," Corneo gasped. "Take you by surprise. When you go to blow the pillar. They know you're planning to drop the plate on Sector 7."
"But we're not—" Tifa stopped. The room spun around her. "Mother… They wouldn't… Not to their own people."
Cloud strode past Tifa towards the bookshelf. He shoved Corneo aside and the man fell squealing into the puddle of his own filth. Taking hold of the shelf with one hand, Cloud wrenched it out of the way. Aeris fled down the dark passageway but Cloud turned back. "Tifa, come on."
"Cloud, they—"
"I heard. There's no time. We have to go now if we want any shot at stopping them."
Forcing her legs to work, Tifa darting past the bookshelf and found herself flying down a set of spiral stairs in the dark. Mother have mercy, she thought as she ran. Mother have mercy. Not even Shinra could be that evil. Could they?
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