When do you realize that there is no true good or pure evil? When you first see your parents do something wrong? When you hear your pastor curse? It doesn't sink in when told that the world isn't fair the first time as a kid, or even the first time it happens around you. Bad things can be good. Good things can be bad. You have to see and experience it to understand what exactly that means and all of the confusing contradiction it entails. Even the worst people in history were just people. It's a worrying fact that the best of us have the potential to be the worst. There was a reason I was thinking about this ambiguous topic of morality.
It was nearing night. I was quietly watching Cloud, Barret, and Tifa attack the Shinra HQ lobby on the television screen. The Old Man had pulled out a T.V from storage after the sector plate collapse to stay updated on just what the hell is happening in Midgar. While he was watching the news I was reading the monsterpedia while offhandedly listening. I remembered that he had lived through everything that happened before the game started. Wutai war, Genesis attack, SOLDIER decline, old AVALANCHE attacks, experiments getting loose, and maybe even a WEAPON attack that plagued the city of Midgar. He survived it all. Not an easy feat. He was tense and his experience was telling him that there would be more. He kept muttering to himself that there would be something else, that there was always something else, as if to make sure he wasn't surprised when it happens.
He was right.
The attack was broadcasted in a special news alert. The lobby of the building had quickly turned into a massacre, more akin to a meat blender with blood and bodies everywhere. People cut down and guards destroyed with no hesitation by Cloud. Barret opened fire with his gun arm on anybody that wasn't fleeing. Even Tifa pummeled anything that got in her way. In a flare of a limit break she absolutely pulverized a guard and sent him flying across the room to slam into a wall, where their bones were most likely liquified. There was no slow, red fading of defeated enemies like in the game. There was just lots of blood and screaming. I wasn't surprised by this but it was unsettling seeing people who were just doing their jobs and trying to make a living working at Shinra die. A lot different than Corneo's men. It was a quick, efficient blitz resulting in the three heros piling into the elevator leading up and leaving the bloody lobby behind. How the news agency got the footage so quick, especially with the building now on lockdown, and why they decided to attack the front door may never be answered. The building was now surrounded by a small army while Cloud & Co stomped around inside the building looking for Aerith.
I just looked at the replaying scene of the lobby attack on the screen. Feeling conflicted. All this just to save a girl that Cloud met for not even a full day. It seemed...petty. Was that a Cetra power to make people want to save and help her? Or was that just Cloud being a good person and wanting to save her? I understood the drive to overthrow a corrupt government that Barret was feeling, but they weren't doing that. They were making Aerith into a scapegoat just to destroy Shinra for revenge of collapsing the sector plate. Before it was saving the planet but now it was a thinly veiled revenge. Yes, Shinra was the definition of corrupt with power hungry leaders, they deserved to be overthrown. Yes, Aerith was special and needed to be saved. This wasn't planning to overthrow anything at all. It was just tearing down the structure and then letting the people fend for themselves and figure out what happens next. Aimed destruction with little thought to the aftermath or repercussions.
A news helicopter circled the 70 story skyscraper ready to cover any events that play out. 'AVALANCHE attacking Shinra?' was plastered all over the screen. With their directors effectively under lockdown and unable to give them instructions or updated news, the agency was taking the opportunity to broadcast the attack with no censure. Most likely because people wanted to know what was happening in their city and were tired of not being told what was going on. Two mako reactors and a sector getting destroyed and they were being kept in the dark. Heads were going to roll for the leaked footage of the lobby attack. All because Shinra public relations was going to take a big hit for seeming so weak and not being able to stop three people from rampaging inside their headquarters. The army wasn't moving in and seemed hesitant. AVALANCHE had a reputation for using bombs and they were waiting before rushing in. It wouldn't do to have the entire building go up in smoke.
I clenched my fist. I should've been there helping with the rescue. There were hidden things scattered around the building that they probably didn't have time to look for or find. With an extra set of hands they could have gotten them and saved Aerith faster. Would they get all of it? I could only wait and find out. There's been a lot of consistency between the game and this world. There were only the few odd things that I couldn't figure out why they were different. At least not yet. I wouldn't mentally trip myself up trying to reason out what was causing them.
There was lots of speculation about the attack over the next several hours. It all came to a close quickly when the building was taken off of lockdown and military began mobilizing to police people who were panicking. In all, it took them about three hours to rescue Aerith. Impressive considering they didn't have a plan and didn't know the layout. 'Terrorist captured. Official statement from President Shinra on the way.' Just like in the game they were captured. But, thanks to protagonist powers, our heros would luck out! Their headstrong actions would have no serious repercussions aside from the inconvenience of being locked up in a jail cell for a day. Even still, is it that much of an inconvenience when you are locked up with you allies and woman like Tifa? A strange sense of jealousy or unfairness washed over me. In a real universe they wouldn't be special and luck out. The story would end there with them in cells. No deus ex machina scenarios to break them out. What made the others special? What reasons, out of the millions of people out there, made them special? I knew a few mercenaries that could give them hell in a fight, maybe even beat them. So it isn't because they could fight and save the planet.
Hell, humans weren't even that much of a threat compared to some of the monsters out there, so fighting wouldn't be enough. There were some monsters that took the mobilization of the army to take down. The kind where you evacuate entire cities just because they were spotted nearby. Humans were by no means apex predators. We were more akin to coyotes in the world. We could become one only if there was nothing bigger close by. That didn't happen often. The only reason we were so high up in the food chain is because we can utilize mako to various degrees for fighting and technology improvements. Like coyotes, we were only dangerous if we learned how to fight. Without it, humans would've been wiped out a long time ago. Extinction level threat. It was daunting to think about, but that's the way the world is.
You wouldn't think this was a death world at first glance. For me, it sunk in when I learned that there are very, very few non-aggressive species on the planet. Even the term aggressive is skewed here. Aggressive here means it will not only go out of it's way to hunt you down, it will follow your tracks to find more people aggressive. Regular dogs and cats exist, but will never be seen outside of a human settlement. They wouldn't last maybe a day or two. Any domesticated animals wouldn't don't have the drive, experience, or honed instincts to survive. That's why monster is a staple diet in society, a lot of monsters around midgar are hunted just for food and considered not truly dangerous by anybody that can shoot a gun. Dolphins and small fish are about the only thing you will come across in the wild that won't attack you on sight. Moogles being the other, but they are so rare they might as well be fairy tales. The only reason humans have gained a foothold is because of a long waged war to stay alive, advance technology, and push back monsters.
The monsterpedia I had gotten and read during my spare time waiting for the attack to unfold has helped me immeasurably. It was like sense in the game. It showed if the monster was magical, what to watch out for, and its weaknesses. Not only that, but it was sorted by region and the unique enemies seen there. It allowed me to refresh on what absolute madness I would be up against. Not everything was covered, but a good portion was. I was feeling prepared to test myself in a fight now that I had materia.
I had a feeling that this was ridiculously expensive because of the amount of detail and it's length. It was the majority of the weight in the bag after all. The rest was just several potions, a very lightweight easy setup tent, and an umbrella. I had put on the new boots and sold the old beat ones. I was hoping for a rain cloak or something but I an umbrella would have to do. It was the compact kind that popped out and was easy to store.
The conclusion of the attack was anti-climatic. They were captured, but no information was released about what exactly had happened or the reasoning behind the attack. No big drawn out fight to end on. Just that it was now over. With the conclusion, I realized that there was still some time to get things prepared. I had everything I needed for the next day when the group gets released from Shinra custody and make their escape during the night. Released being the term when everyone gets slaughtered in the building by Sephiroth and it gets blamed on AVALANCHE. In that time I could learn how to use lightning. I turned my thoughts away and focused on one of the few things I enjoy, figuring things out. Tomorrow I could get used to the area around Midgar and fighting the enemies around the city.
I reach into my right-front pocket and pull out the problem materia and idly bring sparks into the world. They didn't take me on their attack because I didn't know how to use this, but if I learned, then I could go with them on their journey. I knew that something bad would happen if I didn't learn it right away. It just means I need to get better and be more prepared for the next problem that I come across.
With my mind set on making use of the time I had, I left the clinic and walked towards the clearing that holds plenty of memories. The cover incident and teaching kids how to use materia namely. It seemed like it had happened so long ago but was, once again, honestly not that far back. I had been in the city for...three or four months, and who knows how long in the vat. I turned my thoughts away from things that would only sour my thoughts. It was fitting that I test out materia that I don't know how to use there. I chuckle dryly to myself.
What could go wrong?
I stretch out. I had grown a lot since I came here. A lot. Once again it was on an absurd level but nobody really questioned it. I think something in the vat must of been stunting my growth and then my body was trying to compensate for all the strange signals my brain was sending it. It made sense when I thought about it like that. Also I ate a ridiculous amount of food. Not hard when I would go out and bring back several dozen whole eater legs a day, get them cooked, then snack on them the entire next day. It was like several growth spurts that happened all at once. I still had stretch marks on my back that gave credit to the unbelievable growth. I felt right in this body. Less like a body snatcher and more of my old self. I couldn't tell if it was my mind shaping itself to the body, or the body shaping itself to my mind.
It wasn't that my life was bad, it's that it was taken away from me. I was rudely awakened to extremely unpleasant stimuli, then I found out I was trapped in a game. It's not something nice to think about with all the feelings and memories associated with that scenario. I would much rather focus on the present and what I could do and not think about things I couldn't change or even find out about.
I sat down cross legged and focused. I needed to really think about this. How was lightning formed? It's an electric current, I knew that. The earth acts as the positive and clouds the negative end of the current. Could it just be that I only had one type which is why the current isn't completing? I only sent in mako into the materia. It made sense. But what was the positive and what was the negative. I guess mako was acting as the energy because of the stream. Did I need to aim it at a living being? No, I didn't think so. Fire and ice don't work like that and this shouldn't be much different. I needed to somehow create an electrictrical current with a weird alien energy. How could I do that though? I didn't know the science behind mako. Nobody really did to the full extent. Experimentation seemed like the only way to find out. Hopefully I wouldn't send myself into cardiac arrest, that would be hard to explain if the kids came across me. They were pretty freaked out the last time they found me locked up on the ground.
I hold the green orb in my palm and turn my focus on figuring this out. I flare up a tiny amount of mako in my body, then focus on a point. I try to pump as much mako into the point before sending a surge through the materia. Nothing seems to happen for a moment then sparks form at the spot for a brief second. I grin. Now that I knew what to look for the sparks were aimed at me. I think I knew what to do now. Things were starting to come together.
With my heart pumping I flare up mako heavily inside of me, almost like I was enhancing my muscles but less controlled. With my heart fluttering in anticipation I then focus on a point and slowly channel a good amount of mako into the materia. A very thin line streaks out and-
KKRRAAACK
I grin wider. Elation filling my chest. The amount of mako I put into it giving off huge payoffs. That would hurt somebody badly if it hit. I could experiment with it more and find which amount of mako that I put in my body and materia had the best payoff for lighting. The problem I was having was that I didn't circulate enough mako inside of me when I tried to fire it off before. There was no need to for ice or fire, so I just didn't do it. Somehow filtering the mako through the materia gave it a different charge than the mako inside my body. I didn't understand how I wasn't affected by the lightning that shoots out of the materia connected to the extremely thin line of mako. I just chalked it up to mako being mako.
I had succeeded over this problem that has been plaguing me. The time to myself and not feeling rushed helped a lot in that regard. It wasn't that hard when I reasoned it out. I was now feeling much more prepared and confident for the upcoming journey. I would even say happy. No more idiotic plans such as attacking the enemy HQ with a small group that I would have to deal with. Speaking of plans, how was I going to convince them to take me on their journey. Tifa said she would try to talk to Cloud about it. I doubted that would be enough.
I idly brought some sparks into the world, watching it and thinking about the task I set myself thinking about. Now that I knew what to do this much was easy. Just flare up a little bit of mako inside of me and pour a little mako into the materia. It yielded a small positive and negative charge so lighting wouldn't truly form. How would I convince them. That's the question, what was the answer? They were a tight group, aside from Aerith and Red, who were subjected to Hojo's experiments together. I discarded the notion of telling them that I woke up in a vat. Nobody experimented on me from what I was aware of and it's not really a bonding experience that people come together over. I wasn't comfortable telling people that at all anyways. I thumbed the file, I wasn't going to trust anybody else with this, I'd learn to read before asking someone to read it. Just thinking of the picture of me in the vat with a vacant, lifeless stare makes my blood chill. Maybe just being in the right place at the right time would allow me to get into their graces. They seemed to personify that behavior. I shrugged, maybe a backpack full of of medicine and knowledge of what to do would. I wouldn't give it away freely like I did last time and just be taken advantage of. It still annoyed me, no thank you or acknowledgement at all for what I did. Hopefully they would think about it while being held, they did have all of tomorrow to do that. I wondered if what they talked about while in the cells changed at all since I've been introduced to them and had some effect on their journey.
The lights above dimmed considerably. The warning for lights out soon. I thought that I would be doing this throughout the night but finished much earlier than I thought. I was planning to stay up all night if I had to. It was nice that I would be able to get some sleep before things came to a boiling point. I could go another day without sleep, maybe two, but that's it. Human limits can only be stretched so far. Even Sephiroth, with all his enhancements and godlike strength, needed to sleep. Same with other members of SOLDIER. It just goes to show it can be stretched to ridiculous limits.
The next day I woke up unsure about what to do with my free time. I wasn't comfortable with doing nothing and sitting around. I got up, stretched, checked the news, and prepared for the day. Nothing seemed off with Shinra after the attack. Shinra correctly labeled the attack on the headquarters by AVALANCHE and both the Mayor and President each gave a speech about the events. Nothing exciting, just that terrorism won't stand against the might of Shinra. Typical propaganda. A brief mention that there was no damage to other sectors and that there would be heightened security in case rescue attempts were made. In the past there were city-wide attacks that happened frequently. It happened about the same time as the decline of SOLDIER. I think I remember something about that in the crisis-core games, never played them. I needed to focus on what was to come, not the past. I wish I paid more attention to the other games, there might be something that I could use to help me. I felt like I was missing something big.
I sat around the clinic for a good bit, bored out of my mind. There were a lot of people congregating in camp. The mercenaries were back because of the attack and were now gossiping. It was mainly speculation about the state of the city, how things have changed, what they think is going to happen next, and needing to be looking up for falling sector plates now instead of at the ground. Even the weapons dealer's kid was unusually quiet. Usually he would be running around pretending he was in a train with other kids, but he was sullen. There was a lot of worrying, but there was also a lot of people that stood up for what AVALANCHE did. They just thought it was stupid to attack them head on like that and should of stuck with attacking the reactors if they wanted to get rid of Shinra. I was glad that I wasn't the only one to think that.
With nothing better to do I decided to go hunting. Not in sector 6 this time around. I had an access pass for outside the city now and planned on using it. Now was the perfect opportunity to get an idea of the area surrounding the city. I remember seeing it from the helicopter with Tseng. A wasteland. The mako reactors sucked most of the mako from the land so nothing grows. About a day out from midgar is when you start seeing grass again.
I was surprised to see Rilo waiting for me at the edge of camp.
There was no other way to describe it. He fell into step beside me when we were leaving without saying anything. I was confused and wondered what he thought he was doing. We made it to the road that leads towards the church and he still didn't say anything. The access gate was right past the church actually, now that I thought about it. Sector 6 was the opposite way. I thought that Rilo would go back to hunting monsters now with no job.
"Where are you going?" I decided to ask. He obviously wasn't going to explain things without prompting.
"Hunting with you? Dad said you have an access pass for outside Midgar like me. Also he guessed that you'd probably go hunting today and that I should tag along. A helping hand wouldn't hurt." He stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He even had the audacity to look at me oddly for asking. I just didn't expect him to want to go hunting with me. He never offered before. What was he doing being approachable?
"Not hunting in sector 6?" I prompted him to explain further.
He shook his head no. His black hair swung back and forth with the action, getting in his eyes. He should cut that before it becomes a problem during combat. "It's been mostly cleared out since Shinra acted, won't make much money going in there. Besides, I used to go outside Midgar before...all that...stuff...in Wall Market happened. I ran into too many problems going by myself and it got too dangerous so I needed to make money to prepare for it better. I was having to buy potions all the time. It would be a lot easier with two people to hunt and make money. Especially now that you have materia." He reasoned out.
Huh, that was actually really well thought out explanation. I was impressed.
I then realized that even with Rilo's bad career choice, he wasn't a bad person. I'd even say he was pretty damn decent, more honest than me. My musings about good and evil came back to the front of my mind. He wanted to make an honest living while I earned most of my money and equipment killing and looting his boss. It was ironic. Rilo lived in a pretty isolated area. There really wasn't any way that he could've known about the Don's reputation. He seemed to be handling what happened at the mansion pretty well, but he was still inexperienced with a lot of things and how the world worked. I had another life and meta-knowledge to draw conclusions from. From what I gathered he had just wanted to do better than me all by himself, but now he was wanting to stick by my side. I wondered what made him decide that. I noted that he had a traveling pack just like mine. I could guess what his dad was up to, sending his son to wait for me, probably worried about what would happen if I went alone. I remembered him saying that it was dangerous to go alone.
Rilo had a point with what he said. He had experience with hunting monsters outside the city. Something that I wanted. It was also true that it would be easier and safer with more people. I could possibly even earn some gil before I left. We were already headed towards the access gate anyways so It couldn't hurt to let him tag along. It wasn't far at all from the camp. The camp really was situated on the outskirts of the city and away from everything. When we got to the clear, and massive gate I was unimpressed. No guardhouse, no guards, just a little slot that the access pass goes into and an automatic door. Sure, there were cameras with guns strapped to them and it was a giant safety galss wall, but that was it. In fact I didn't even need to use my access pass that I aquired. I just followed behind Rilo when he used the one he owned. I was a little bit disappointed about getting something and not using it. It wasn't an easy thing to remember to have when you were used to living in cities that you didn't need permission to leave. Midgar was so much different than the cities that I remembered.
I was even more unimpressed with the sight once we were out of the city. Midgar wastelands. The ground was a sickly yellowish-grey color, the same as in the city. Rocks were jutting out of the ground all over the landscape. I couldn't see any vegetation anywhere, but I had gotten used to that sight in the slums also. It was exactly the same as I saw it from the air and in the game. There were several plateaus in the distance that looked like large rocky hills. It looked almost as If a war had been fought with all the pockets and rocks strewn about. Or a monster attack. I wondered if the saying that there was nothing truly dangerous around Midgar was true. I would hate to fight a high level enemy in a random encounter.
We both paused as we passed the threshold between civilization and the wild. It was a big change in scenery, slightly unsettling at first. Then I felt something I hadn't in a long time. I looked up and smiled when I felt the sun upon my face. Like passing into sector 6 there seemed to be tension that hung in the air, but I ignored it to enjoy this moment. Rilo tensed up when we came out into the open, underneath the blue sky.
"It never feels right, being out in the open like this." Rilo mutters to himself.
"It feels amazing." I hum.
I turned my head upwards and basked in the feeling more. He may of grew up underneath the plate and was unused to it, but I sorely missed the feeling. It's hard to describe what months of essentially being kept in a cage then suddenly finding yourself outside feels like. Liberating just doesn't do it justice. Blissful is closer to what it feels like. I could feel myself be invigorated just from the change of scenery. I hadn't realized how much being in Midgar was subconsciously affecting me. Stress slid off my shoulders and I took deep, refreshing breaths. Air flowed into my lungs and with the exhale tension left my body. The air was by no means clean, but it was better than inside the city.
Rilo turns towards me. "Have you ever been outside the city? Most people freak out when they see the sky. I didn't though." The question threw me off guard.
I wasn't really sure how to answer that. I mean technically I had been, but that would be hard to explain. I couldn't tell him where I had been because, well, honestly I didn't know. The next time I saw Tseng, would I ask him? I wasn't sure, it was something firmly uncomfortable to talk about and I wanted to know more before I did. Would I see him in the mines? Could I bring myself to say that in front of the group? I thumbed the file, and then decided on my answer. I had been thinking long enough on it anyways.
"No. Can't say I have. I have a hard time remembering anything before I got to the slums." I answer. It would be too confusing to explain.
He grins at me. Probably remembering the time that I decided to name myself. "Looks like I beat you at something. Don't worry, I'll help you out if you get too freaked out." He laughs while saying it.
I scoff. Did he think I would get nervous? Or did he misunderstand my hesitation in answering? It was hard to tell. I didn't know him well enough to intuit what he meant. I wondered if I ever could, the people raised on this planet have a much different mindset than what I was used to. I was just glad he wasn't rubbing it in my face. For someone who was so one-sidedly competitive with me, he was being remarkably friendly.
I made it clear that I wanted to be back before dark. It was still early morning and was a reasonable demand on my part, but I think I surprised him about wanting to be back at all. We decided on staying in sight of the city and to just pick off anything that we could find to make some easy money. The point of this trip wasn't necessarily to learn or make money. It was to do something, which was infinitely better than just sitting in the clinic all day. To use our free time in a productive manner. This was how we both dealt with things. Throwing ourselves into work and bettering ourselves. Rilo and me shared a lot of things in common.
With everything settled we walked into the wastelands with the city to our backs.
Our first fight we came across was between a demon, 'devil ride', and a half dead pack of Kalm fangs. I was slightly nervous. This was a demon just like the hell house. I wasn't sure if the fight would be tough or not. It was considered a lesser demon, unlike the hellhouse which was a regular one. I wasn't sure how they were properly categorized, nothing in the monsterpedia made any mention of it. Books on demonology weren't mass produced because there weren't any set forms that demons could take. Too much variation. It was worrying.
We crouched behind a rock and I let Rilo take point and call the shots. After all, he had experience with the enemies in this area. He seemed like he knew what he was doing at least. Let the enemies wear each other out before attacking. Simple strategy, and it gave me time to observe movements. We weren't the focus of this battle playing out. I look down at the standoff happening.
The devil ride was two tires with scrap and metals piled on top. It led to a vague impression of a motorcycle, like someone took acid and tried to describe it. I was more curious about how it stayed together without falling apart than terrified. It didn't look nearly anywhere as dangerous as a hell house. There was a lot of random pieces of metal and it was severely unbalanced. I saw fused guns and handle bars in the pile atop it along with random exhaust pipes that weren't connected to anything. Two red glowing eyes tracked the movement of the three giant wolves it was facing off against.
The Kalm fangs were purple wolves with a lion's mane. They were a bit on the small side for wolves. Maybe smaller than the ones in my world, in fact I'd say that the whole eaters were more dangerous with their numbers. They looked nimble, and their signature fangs had a reputation for being deadly. In my book it says that they can grow to bigger sizes in different areas. It was obvious that they were pack creatures with how they coordinated and constantly glanced at each other. They even managed to damage the devil ride. Scrap littered the ground, so the demon effigy took some damage, though it looked like it didn't hinder it much.
Very different from the monsters with lacerations all over them. The fangs were in bad shape.
With some unspoken signal the demon spurred forward and did a sharp turn at the last second, flipping its back wheel out and slamming into the remaining survivors with its body. Broken and lifeless bodies flew away in the wake of it's attack. I was impressed that they hadn't turned into paste. The demon could accelerate deceptively fast.
"NOW!" Rilo calls out as he jumps from behind the rock, pulling a molotov cocktail from a pocket and lighting it. He throws it at the demon trying to awkwardly turn its wheels to face us. It was unnerving seeing no reaction from it when the item burst open on its body splattering fire all over it. I put trust in Rilo, but most went into game mechanics bleeding over. Hit it enough and it dies.
I jump on top of the rock for a better vantage point and grip my ice materia tightly, then offhandedly fire off a burst of ice into it's center mass. I watch the line streak out and connect like an aiming reticle. The target was near the end of the spell range so it took a second to get there. Ice explodes outwards from the point. Icicles embedded into the metal, a few pieces fall off, and the fire is put out. Not much else though. The demon soundlessly moves forward. How did it move with no engine? Oh, right, mako is bullshit.
"Aim for the eyes!" Rilo shouts out while dashing forward to meet the charge.
Right, obvious weak point that should be exploited. I wasn't used to fighting demons, usually avoided them. Center mass was the easiest thing to hit but wouldn't do me any good with this opponent. I focus and a thin stream branches out in between the eyes of the now charging poor imitation of a motorcycle. It's getting difficult to focus on its movement with it's speed, but still manage to fire off the spell accurately. Its head freezes over, but unlike last time, icicles branch out and snap freeze deep into the metal. It elicited a mouthless scream that sounded more like grinding metal. With the damage to its vision it veered off its charge towards Rilo, who was the first closest target. Rilo took the chance to dart in with a burst of speed and lash at a tire, making it capsize and flip onto the ground.
Seeing an opportunity when it's presented, I blur past Rilo and hop onto it's downed body. I avoid exhaust pipes and other sharp, jagged pieces of metal, and stab downwards up to the hilt into one of the red eyes. I felt my dagger crack something, crack in turn, then break off. I jump away holding the hilt portion of the whole eater tooth, expecting a retaliatory attack.
The demon stayed down.
Rilo walked up beside me and we both stared at the strangely formed demon. This was what I had to live with now. Unexplainable things that are just a normal part of people's lives here on Gaia. Fighting monsters just to get from place to place. Madness. I didn't like it, but I could live with it.
Rilo cleared his throat. "Uhhh, usually it's a lot harder than that…they don't go down that easily most of the time." He just stares at the pile of scraps. Then he shakes his head and takes charge. "Alright, you grab its core and I'll skin the Kalm fangs."
"Core?" There was no demon entry in the monsterpedia. I had no idea what he was talking about. It wasn't in the game either. He just stares at me blankly. Then decides that I would need it explained to me.
"You think demons just come from nowhere? No, each one has a core and it fetches a decent price. They often reform around Midgar because the automated defenses and guards don't bother with it." He says it casually like he didn't just reveal something insane and a hidden piece of the puzzle. I'd have to see if it was true.
I hurriedly rushed over the decent sized pile of metal pieces from the downed demon near where it's head was. I dig around in the scraps for a bit until I find what looks like a very small, grey orb with a crack in it. I just hold it up staring closely, trying to piece together how it could be the cause of what we fought. This was interesting. This small materia like thing caused the demon to form in the material plane? Wait, were there different planes of existence in this universe? If there were demons then there had to be.
"Hey Rilo, what happens if you try to use it?" I was wondering why it was called a core instead of demon materia or something similar. It seemed fitting.
He looks up at me in the middle of halfway skinning one of the wolves. He worked fast. "The demon will try to get back into the world. Don't."
I needed to find out. Could it be a hidden materia?
I slowly channel mako into it, and the crack starts to seal up. I pour a little bit more into it and some of the metal pieces nearby start to rattle ominously. Where regular materia converts the mako, this seems to just make the mako...disappear inside of it. It was intriguing. Deciding to stop the problem before something even more strange can happen, I circulate mako into my fist and clinch until it cracks again. There, problem dealt with.
"What do they do with this?" I ask. Who would be crazy enough to buy demon cores? Why not just destroy them entirely? Could you even destroy them entirely or would they reform? All things to figure out at a different time. If we ran across any more I could say my hand slipped or something and experiment.
He shrugs. "Not really sure, but Shinra will pay for them with fixed bounties depending on the size. People say they make weapons and even figured out a way to use it for power. A lot of the mercenaries would talk about it. I think that they melt it down to power things, but really nobody but Shinra knows."
That sounded...dangerous, but believable. Entirely something Shinra would do.
It makes sense that size of the core would dictate how powerful a demon is. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if hell houses were just older devil rides that somehow got into Midgar. I wait for him to finish skinning the wolves. He did work fast. I never had to skin anything before and paid attention to what he was doing. It didn't look difficult, try to cut as much of it off as you can without damaging anything. The Kalm fangs have valuable fur, even if they were cut up badly they would still be worth something at least.
Then I realized something. I look down at the broken weapon in my hand. I wouldn't be able to replace the knives that I accumulated since there were no whole eaters out in the wilderness. This fight just showed that they are a bit too brittle to stand up against the stronger monsters out in the wild. I knew this would happen eventually, but not this soon. Kalm fangs were only one level higher than whole eaters in the game. But whole eater teeth didn't really stand up to the metal of the devil rides when the Kalm fangs did decent damage before we got there.
I go over to a body of one of the Kalm fangs and lift up it's gums. Rilo looks at me questioningly.
"Trust me. I think I can use the fangs to make new daggers." I explain my reasoning to touch the dead bodies. He relents and backs off to give me space.
Just as its namesake implies the teeth are razor sharp and would make a perfect replacement. It was a bit thicker and longer than what I had gotten used to, almost 2 feet in length, but shouldn't be an insurmountable problem. They were giant canines. I would need to make grips and balance out the weight. I doubted that I would be able to throw these without a lot of practice, but they were makeshift daggers. Easy to use, easy to learn is the name of its game.
I set about the bloody task of ripping out fangs and storing them for later modifications that I would have to make. The enemies didn't seem like they would pose much of a threat with both me and Rilo here. Maybe now would be a good time to test out some of the things I had been meaning to. I had Rilo to cover for me if something went wrong.
I found out hunting in the wastelands was very different from what I did in sector 6. It felt more akin to scavenging than hunting and running. Most of the fights we were in the monsters had already been in a fight of some sort. No demons were seen, so I didn't get any cores to play around with.
We came upon a wrecked custom sweeper, a cheap robot used to hunt down devil rides and blow up its core with explosives. I found out it had the same assault gun that the don's men, and now me, used. I tried to find the atomic scissors you could steal from it, but didn't find anything that looked like a weapon in the scraps. I wouldn't be surprised if Arsenal got most of the weapons from scavenging outside Midgar like this. The custom sweeper looked like a steampunk radiator transformer with twin guns and a giant exhaust port as its main body. There were even ports on the back of it to fire off its matra magic. I didn't get to see it in action, and didn't have an enemy skill to learn the move anyways. Enemy skill. Now that's a materia that I would like to get my hands on and see how it works. Multiple magics in one materia? How?
The Kalm fangs and occasional hobgoblins were just no match for the both of us as I guessed. Especially now that I had materia. I would just one shot them with my spells, It almost felt like cheating. If this was more like a game I would say we were overleveled. It was easy to the point I decided to get practice with my gun and new combat enhancers. Rilo scolded me that the bullets would ruin the pelts, but I didn't care, the benefit of doing damage from a distance was too helpful to pass up. Luckily he didn't see me take the enhancers. If they were needles I would've stayed away from them, but they were liquid consumables so I wasn't too worried about anything bad happening. In the game the two that I have, hyper and tranquilizer, canceled each other out and I had both on hand. Hyper was unpleasant taking it first. In the game it caused fury, here it made me want to rush in and I would shiver from mako fluctuations happening inside of me. Very unpleasant, and it threw my concentration off. Tranquilizer was unnerving. In the game it caused sadness, here it made me just...not care. A peaceful feeling would settle over me, even the mako inside of me felt more at ease and would flow easier. I could see why people would take it recreationally, I didn't want to fall into the trap of recreational enhancer use so stopped after knowing how they affected me. They both translated correctly from the game in realistic manners like most things have so far.
The practice was worth it. It took several burst to bring the monsters down. One on one, Rilo could take on anything, but as soon as more were added into the fight he struggled. If he used a gun it wouldn't be a problem, but he forgot his at Wall Market. He claimed that there would eventually be a monster bullets wouldn't hurt. And that I should either choose a melee weapon or gun, not both. Stupid! That's when you get a bigger gun. I could see his logic of not relying on one thing too much. There are monsters out there that no conventional way to harm has been found. Liberal amounts of magic are used on those problems.
When confronted about not having long ranged option he decided to try out the materia that I had. There was bound to eventually be a monster that he eventually couldn't cut like flying enemies so I relented. He held the materia in his hand like a precious stone, which I guess they were. He concentrated on forming the spell, concentrated some more, then failed to produce anything.
Jakayo wasn't kidding about Rilo being awful with materia.
Even with my help it took him as long as seven seconds to charge up a decent sized spell which would tire him. It would fail half the time. This was in a situation of sitting still and not having distractions, the opposite of combat. He didn't sit well with the feel of mako as it flowed into the materia and just couldn't seem to get the flow right with either lighting or ice. It was a bit confusing and I couldn't begin to understand why he couldn't get it.
He finally relented and gave me back the materia. Not being one to be put off, he declared that he may not be able to use materia, but he could at least shoot better than me. I wasn't going to give him my gun to prove anything, even if he really was better than me. It had the sentimental factor of almost killing me and me having to fight for it. We managed this far without any problems. I did tease him about not having a gun and took out several enemies before he could even reach them. He seemed to finally understand the benefit of having both. At the guild mercenaries would special because they would usually group with others to cover their bases. There were plenty of fighting styles that you could see. Swordsman and marksman were the most common. Materia users were more rare.
After the impromptu teaching session I decided we should head back. Both of our mako was sluggish from the repeated spellcasting. I didn't plan on teaching him, it's just that a problem was put in front of me that I could work on, and hunting the same types of enemies was getting old. This was called the wastelands for a reason, hardly anything lived in them. It wouldn't do to wear myself out before the escape tonight. It was already late afternoon, not too much longer until we would've left anyways. We had a decent haul of monster parts. About as much as both of us could comfortably carry. Rilo was exceptionally curious about why I wanted to head back so bad. Apparently I had a bit of a reputation in the slums about hunting monsters.
Most people thought of hunting monsters as a side job, at least in the city, so I was a bit strange doing it all time. I would also constantly go out early in the morning and work myself ragged. Pretty much doing it as a full time job. People must of thought I had a vendetta against the pest in sector 6 or something. I admit, I did push myself hard but I needed the crash course in order to learn to fight and survive.
I just told Rilo I had a bad feeling and that it would be a good idea to head back. I didn't realize how close that sounded to saying the planet told me until after it left my mouth. I shivered, I needed to watch what I said more. I thought he would question it, but strangely he accepted it at face value. Gut feelings were something that all slum dwellers treated with respect. Really it was absurd. We began the short walk back to the the plate city. We stayed within sight of it so it was very brief. I wouldn't chance missing something again.
We made it back with little fanfare. As we were walking up to the access gate I noted that the cameras whirred and focused in on us, but the guns underneath didn't fire so I shifted my focus. We had a pretty decent haul. Rilo estimated it might be worth several hundred gil. That is more than I ever made on a single hunting trip so It must've helped knowing how to properly disassemble the monsters for their parts. I was thankful that Rilo came along with me and appreciated his help. I didn't think that he would be bad to take on the Journey at all.
Rilo left to get things sorted at the guild when we passed the church for the second time that day. He would be selling the parts we got and then practicing like he normally does. Me, I'd be going back to the clinic to watch T.V until there's an update and the Sephiroth attack happens. It was just turning to evening, we hadn't been hunting for more than a handful of hours, but it felt much later than it really was. I was greeted by both blue haired siblings, Jonni, and a shy looking Malene sitting at the table talking.
"Vice!" Jakayo greets me as soon as he spots me. His clothes were somehow in tatters and muddy.
"What are you guys doing here? I wasn't expecting a party." I ask lightheartedly. They never really waited for me like this before, and it was starting to get late. They should be heading back soon so it must be something important.
"Marlene here wanted to tell you something." Tessa speaks up then lightly pushed Marlene in front of her. She did? Now that I thought about it, we never really spoke. I spoke at her, but that doesn't really count. I nod, then focus in on Marlene. If she would make the effort I would meet her halfway.
"What do you have to say to me short stuff?" I grinned at her pout. I wasn't above using my height to tease others. I was taller than a lot of people, but not as tall as her dad. He was a beast. She fiddled with her pink dress and yellow bowtie trying to find the courage to talk. How old was she in the game? Four or so? It looked like it. I knew that she was incredibly mature for her age, but the fact that the teens were still hanging out with her and not ditching the 'baby' for other kids was testament to that fact. She tried several times to answer, gave up with a squeak, then hid behind Tessa. I was about to talk but Tessa held up her hand letting me know to wait. It didn't take me long to understand what she was getting at.
A small, quiet voice was heard from behind her back. "Thank you for introducing me to everybody. And I'm not short!" Jonni snickers, and that cascades to the other kids laughing.
I smiled. This was a nice, unexpected moment. I didn't need to contemplate helping out Marlene at all. It was something I would've done regardless and I felt the need to help her out. I had a feeling that Tessa somehow talked her into thanking me and was just being polite. Still it was appreciated that they went to the effort and waited for me to get back.
A sudden urge to say goodbye came over me. I would be leaving tomorrow on the Journey and wouldn't be back for quite a while. I had spent several months in Midgar, most of it with them. They were good friend and people.
I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Some shameful part of me was feeling that it would be easier if I just left without them knowing. I knew that was ridiculous, but I didn't just want to go out and say it directly. I settled with talking to them and sneaking in hints that I would be leaving soon. I also made the resolve to write a vague note when the 'gang' left. I could at least say bye to the Old Man in person, he was almost always here and I had no qualms about saying bye. He wouldn't overreact or try to get me to stay. Tessa caught on, the knowing look in her eyes gave her away, but she didn't say anything thankfully. Maybe she didn't know why I was acting strange. It was cowardly of me, but I was worried about disappointing them. I was never good at goodbyes. Even worse when things got confrontational and I didn't have a good excuse. I would feel horrible if the only answer I could give them was that I was going on a journey. A journey to where? For how long? With who? It was a lot of things that I would rather not explain, some of it I couldn't. They saw the news report and were shocked that Cloud and them came through, but none of them connected anything yet. I couldn't explain how I knew, I would feel worse lying to their face. No, this way was better for me
I still enjoyed talking to them and paid more attention than normal to their conversation. I even took the risk of not listening to the news while they were there. It would be rude and I could give them the time. I raptly listened to what the group did today and what they had been up to recently. Marlene was apparently a big thing around the camp. A second Aerith in the coming, everyone liked the adorable girl. She eventually opened up and told me about the people they met. Apparently the group had been bother the old AVALANCHE members for stories. Marlene wanted to hear all the stories about her dad.
I was glad that she was having a good time in the camp and was connecting with more people. She was more social and open than me. But I couldn't see her diving into sector 6, she didn't have the attitude or drive for it. She was content with enjoying time at the camp. Nothing was wrong with that at all, but as Rilo's father said times are getting dangerous.
It was fairly late when it happened. 'Disturbance at Shinra HQ?' played across the screen before the feed ominously cut off in the middle of the report. The others had went home long ago and everything was prepared for my departure. The Old Man just gave a nod at my declaration of leaving. He seemed to know that what just happened on the news and me leaving correlated. Shinra public relations may not recover after news of this massacre spreads. I wasn't sure how long it would take Cloud and everyone else to leave, it couldn't be more than a few hours. They left at night, but got out of the city during the day. I couldn't risk missing this like I did the bombing missions so I would just have to spend the entire night camped out and come up with a reasonable excuse when the time comes and they leave the city.
I gathered my things and got ready to camp outside the city in front of the sector 7 gates. It was a quiet walk and I was focused on the things that were to come. I feeling nagged at me. I looked around but nothing was amiss. I shrugged, then continued the walk past the church to the access gate. I used my pass with no issue and began walking towards the point they would leave the city. They would use roads on the plate above to get to the wall by vehicle and then drop down. Specifically sector 7 access gate.
I was crouced in front of the sector 7 access gate, playing…practicing with my materia. I didn't think that meeting them here was one of my better ideas. What else was I supposed to do? The same thing and wait in Kalm or the next convenient location for a coincidental meetup? As if. They knew who I was and if they saw me outside of Midgar they would be even more suspicious. Maybe I could pose as a mercenary in another place. But I would have to get there before them and set up a network to find out when they get there. I had no idea how to do that.
"Just how am I supposed to go about this?" I mused out loud. As if thinking out loud would help me at organize my thoughts.
I was getting lost in my thoughts, what would happen? How would they react? Questions that I could only guess at filled my thoughts. I was so entirely immersed that I barely noticed the presence behind me. I whirled around and drew both my daggers. It took me a second to realize what I was seeing.
"Oh, Rilo it's just you. Don't sneak up on me like that, I nearly had a heart attack." That was dangerous. What if he had been a Turk? I remembered back to the camera, they could've easily been watching, and was immediately glad that they had other things to deal with than me.
He levels a stare at me. "So this is where you went off to. For someone that wanted to be back before dark so bad this is a strange place to stay." He didn't sound accusatory at all so I relaxed. He wasn't trying to drag me back which helped a lot also. He still had his travel pack that he prepared earlier.
I just shrugged. Not really wanting to explain the situation I'm about to get myself in. It's already going to be hard without coming off as suspicious. No, it's going to be impossible. At least if Rilo was here then I would have the excuse that we were out hunting. Hopefully he would follow along.
The feeling of failure weighed down my good mood about finding a convenient excuse. That I was thinking of it like that probably means I'm doing it wrong. The idea was pretty far fetched and probably wouldn't hold to close scrutiny. Best to just explain that I came to go along with AVALANCHE. My best excuse would be to say that I saw the vehicle chase on T.V and guessed at where they were going to go.
Rilo crouches down beside me and looks at the materia in my hands jealousy. "What are you waiting out here for?" He asks.
I shrug again. "Something interesting." I would leave it at that. He seems to accept it, probably playing off my gut feeling earlier. No way would I ever say something ridiculous like that.
We share a companionable silence.
"You're leaving aren't you?" He asks out of nowhere. He continues on. "That's what you told everyone, that when you got to sector 7 you were going to make it out on your own. I didn't think you would mean like this. I mean I understand since there is no sector 7 anymore, but you can't just leave without saying goodbye to everyone."
"You can. Especially when you know you are coming back." His face lights up, then gets conflicted. I said goodbye to the few people I knew in midgar in my own way. I knew that the answer would satisfy him at least. It wouldn't be so bad honestly to leave without saying goodby. Everyone knew that I would be leaving the slums so it wouldn't come as a surprise.
"So are you going to stay out here staring at what's left of sector 7 all night? We could always head back home for the night. We don't have to leave right away." He let the question hang in the air.
This is one of the most obvious crossroads life has ever presented to me. One of the biggest, most innocent lies also. There never was a home for me there. Sector 5 was my placeholder for Shinra, just like Aerith. I would be hunted down like a dog if I stayed. The file burned a hole in my side. I could easily ask Rilo to read it to me now. He would then understand everything without me having to explain. But I could never do that. This was my problem. I would deal with it.
I didn't want to talk about heading back, but he needed an answer about what we were going to do tonight.
"I'll be leaving when my group gets here. You can head home if you want to." I supplied. Just like how he gave me an out, I would give him one in turn.
He stared at me dumbly for a second. "You finally joined a mercenary group! That's great! Why didn't you say so earlier? What's your first mission?" He asks, getting progressively more excited.
In the distance, I could hear the hum of powerful engines approaching from a road on top of the plate. The ensuring boss battle against a giant Shinra machine would soon take place. Now, what is the best way to explain this to him.
"My first mission was to wait for them. They aren't quite a mercenary company, but close enough. Now's the time to leave if you want to go back. I probably won't be coming back for quite a while." I answered, looking up at the direction of the approaching noise.
He looked up, finally noticing that something seemed to be going on. Something big. Then back down to where I was crouching. The sound of fighting could now be heard. Explosions, magic, and gunshots. It must be an exciting battle to watch, too bad I was down here with no way up. I noted the sound of lighting being used on the boss.
I stood up and started stretching. Spending that much time crouched down in the same position wasn't smart, I needed to pay more attention when I focus on a problem. I was too worried about the approaching conversation. I was nervous. I didn't want a repeat of our previous conversation and how that ended.
Eventually the sounds of battle quieted down. Rilo readied his sword and seemed tense. I just steeled myself for the upcoming conversation. A hook lowered itself over the edge and I readied to face them.
A red blur slammed into the ground, kicking up dust, and I found myself being bowled over. Rilo gave off a yell but a deep growl stopped him from doing anything. I was staring into red eyes and a mouth full of very sharp teeth. Sharper than the Kalm fangs at the least. The right eye had a scar over it. Suddenly the face was looming closer to mine.
"You," A deep voice that seemed to undertake a growl came from the teeth-inhabiting mouth. "smell suspicious." Red xiii growls out.
I'll admit. I almost pissed myself. Getting tackled by a massive, several hundred pound lion/wolf...red...thing with a glowing red tail scared the hell out of me. It didn't help that I knew Cloud and Co rescued him from Hojo. After the initial jolt my nerves calmed down and I began to think straight.
"Oh fuck it can talk." Rilo stammers out.
I shift my head to look at him shakily holding his sword out with a determined face. He wasn't backing down or running away with the introduction of a strong enemy. In fact his stance was solid and his legs steady.
He pauses for a second then starts talking in a shaky voice. "Uh...If you can talk, that means you can listen...Look, just let him go and nobody gets hurt. If there are any problems there are going to be...accidents, and I might just have to start breaking your legs." I wanted to groan. He must of learned that from the Don's goons. The fact that his voice was shaking ruined any intimidation that he was going for.
"I will do no such thing, not until my liberators decide what to do with you. It would be bad grace to kill children." Red xiii says from on top of me.
I bristled at that, and with a surge of mako pushed him off me just enough to roll out. Do I look like some giant child? I'm over 6 feet. I'm pretty sure he was too surprised to stop me from squirming out. He could've easily if he needed to.
Before he can retaliate I need to speak. My mind whirred. "Me and him are here for a reason! We don't mean any harm and aren't with Shinra!" I shout out. Everything seemed to pause.
Both Rilo and Red looked surprised at my declaration. Red freezes in a pouncing position and I gulp at narrowly avoiding another tackle. Another loud thump nearby giving away that we had more company that jumped down from the road. Thats a long drop, it makes sense how Red would jump having no hands. Must be mako enhancements. I looked at the rope hook and saw Barret shimmying down at a fast pace. Cloud stood up from his landing crouch and brushed the dust off his uniform, then looked at the commotion going on. His eyes locked onto mine.
"What're you doing here?" Cloud walks up behind the great cat putting his hand on him, holding him back. "Shouldn't you be in sector 5?" Just the sight of the cocky stance and arrogant tone he is taking annoys me. Being brushed off was still fresh on my mind.
"Shouldn't you be in jail?" I shoot back. Cloud scowls back at me.
"You guys are AVALANCHE!" Rilo sputters out. He saw the news it seems. He gets into a fighting stance. Nobody reacts to him like he is a threat.
Barret makes his way over to us, having slid the rest of the way down the rope. The big man could move quick.
"Damn right we are." He punches the air several times. "What're you doing here? You were right about getting to Shinra, helped us out a damn lot. We could use more of your help." Barret thanks me.I'm surprised, he is already asking me to go with them?
With a glance I see Aerith and Tifa are making their way down the rope. They should help me out. Maybe I should've tried to make better friends with Aerith, then I would have a childhood friend to get into the group like Cloud, but I don't know what I would've cause if I interacted with her too much. Too many unknown variables.
I step forward. "I'm coming with you guys then." I boldly declare.
"You're going with them Vice? They're terrorist!" Rilo protests.
"So what kid, you with Shinra or somthin?" Barret steps forward and puts a hand on his gun arm. Rilo pales even further realizing his situation and quickly lowers his sword. Three of the faces were plastered on the T.V screen all day yesterday, there was no way that he didn't know who they are and what kind of damage they can cause.
"Who even says you can come with us?" Cloud interjects.
Red just looks confused if his agitated tail is any indication. Each time someone speaks his head would dart to look at them. He seemed intrigued at what is playing out and sniffed the air curiously.
I want to say so much more. Argue, fight, scream that not letting me go would be the worst mistake they could make. I could help them in ways they wouldn't believe. It wouldn't help my case creating a scene. I wouldn't start anything, but by god I would finish it. Scotch can attest to that. Tifa and Aerith make their way over trying to see what's going on. A gasp is heard from Aerith.
"Rilo! What are you doing here?" She makes her way over to him. Rilo visibly relaxes at the sight of her, but now seems even more confused.
"Rilo! It's good to-"
She stops mid stride and slowly turns her head towards me with something strange in her eyes. Almost like...fear. She flinches when we make eye contact and takes a step back behind Cloud. She grabs onto him and presses up against him. That's...not a good sign, what brought that on? I looked down at myself, a few blood stains but nothing as bad as what she must of saw at Shinra HQ after the massacre.
This whole situation went south fast. What could I of done differently? Was it because we didn't talk enough during the slums? I was starting to regret my single minded drive to learn how to fight that I took.
Barret thankfully stepped in. "Shit before we decide anything we need a group leader before we set out. We need to meet in Kalm and prepare there. Course only me could be the leader. I think we should take him." He says with a confident grin.
Tifa smirks, shoots a look at cloud, then grimaces seeing Aerith clinging onto him. "You think so Mr. Charge in through the front door?"
Aerith sticks her head from around Cloud to get a good look at Barret. "It's going to be Cloud." She firmly states, then gets back out of my sight. I was confused by her actions. Was she scared of me? What was the cause of her odd behavior?
Red xiii take this opportunity to speak up. It still amazed me that he could with his non-human mouth. "It makes no difference to me. I will be traveling with the group until I reach my hometown in Cosmo Canyon." His tail flicks out as if to punctuate that statement.
"Cloud, we talked about this. He and his friend could be a big help." Tifa worriedly says. She noticed something that I didn't about him. Rilo paled at the possibility of being included in the terrorist group. He grew up on Shinra propaganda, how could Shinra be the bad guy?
Cloud looks at me and smirks. "Looks like I get to decide then." I clench my fist so hard that blood is drawn, but no other tells of how livid I was. He was purposely pissing me off. I was aggravated that it was working. He was toying with me. I didn't miss Aerith's grip on him tighten and his quick glance back. Aerith whispered something into his ear and he nodded. "I say you can't kid. Look, I know you don't want to hear it, but all of us got nowhere else to go and we can't go back. You can. You can't just throw away your life following us around. We will be doing dangerous things."
"I know!" I ground out. "I can help. Don't make the mistake of not taking me Cloud Strife." He pauses at the mention of his last name. Probably thinking if he gave it to me or not. I was playing a dangerous game.
Tifa saves me from any awkward conversation. "Cloud! What's your problem? You aren't going to take him because of what she said? What about what we talked about?" Tifa gets confrontational with him and I can't help but smile. Cloud seems to freeze up at the mention of what his problem is, then shakes his head and clears his thoughts. If this were a game it would be a flashback, or words popping up in his head. Jenova cells at work.
"No we aren't going to take him. I'll explain later Tifa. I'll explain everything when we get to Kalm. We need to go after Sephiroth." He states. I clenched my fist even tighter.
"His twig ass helped us before in sector 7. I don't blame him for leaving when things got dangerous, but he knew things. I say we just take him. You won't see me stopping him from helping us take down Shinra bastards." Barret defends me.
"No." Cloud firmly states. "If I'm going to be leader then there can't have any second guessing my calls. We need to get to Kalm like Barret said." He looks at each member steadily until he receives some form of confirmation. Tifa hesitates, then nods. Barret sighs and lowers his head. Red just looks confused but nods. "Just head back to Midgar Vice. We don't need you." Cloud finalizes. I was too stunned to say anything.
"Fuck,...sorry Vice but you heard the man. Keep Marleen company." With Barret's words something clicked and then my fingers were bent at odd angles. Babysitting duty. The pain was dulled by my anger. They rejected me? Blood started to pool in my shaking, clenched fist. They were right, they didn't need me. They would've been fine without me. I needed them to get what I wanted. The file burned like an everlit fire in my mind.
What kind of person is rejected by the main cast of the video game they were living in? By Aerith no less. Just what the fuck was that about? What did I do to her? It was like the universe was truly trying to reject my presence in the world. I worked so hard to get to this point. So fucking hard. I wouldn't just give up because of this setback. Time started to get strange as I thought about how I was going to get them back. I told them, they would regret not taking me. They would struggle ahead while I knew what was coming. It would be a waste not going with what I knew and could put into practice.
The group talked some more. Finalizing their plans and sending me uneasy glances. I just stood there shaking trying to contain myself and thinking, and failing, of ways to convince them. Words were said to me but I didn't hear them. I focused fully on what I wanted. I wouldn't doubt if I creeped them out just standing there silently for who knows how long. Time was strange. All I could measure it by was my fluctuating, rapid heartbeat, even that seemed off. They ended up leaving quickly, not looking back.
What did I want? I wanted to figure out how I got here and if there was a way back. I obviously wasn't wanted here. That was always what I wanted since coming into this world. I had a goal. It would be be harder without the group, but fuck them, I didn't need them. I knew enough about this world, what I wanted to know about was me. I wasn't putting my hopes on finding a way back, I wasn't naive, but I could find out who was the cause of this fucked up scenario I was in and work from there. I unclenched my hand and took a deep breath. The pain was starting to set in and I circulated mako in my hand to speed up the healing process.
"Uhh...Vice, are you okay?" Rilo asks. Something about me was unnerving him.
I sigh calming myself. "I'm going to Kalm." I say, my voice sounds strange and talking is hard. Things didn't work out my way, but I'll work around it. I will find a way. If Rilo want's to come with me I wouldn't stop him. I wouldn't reject him, especially after the same thing happened to me. I had been taking things easy. Putting my hopes on the others when the person I should've been relying on is me.
Time to change that.
