'Ello again! Thanks to all my new followers. Reviews are appreciated, but please be kind with any feedback.
Now, I know you're all wondering: "C'mon Veronica, where's the secks?"
It's an important question, I completely understand. It'll be back. Just not yet.
Soon, my lovelies. Soon.
Familiar characters belong to Square-Enix, not me. No money is being made from this work of fiction. Yadda yadda.
The first part of this chapter is from Marlene's POV.
Enjoy!
The bickering voices of adults greeted Marlene as she floated back into consciousness. There was a loud hum and her ears had popped, creating a bit of a muffled effect as she tried to hear what was being said.
The last thing she remembered was tending lilies in the garden with Shera, and wrestling with some stubborn weeds around the peas, carrots, and string beans.
"These blooms are from bulbs that Cloud gave us from Aeris's church," Shera smiled fondly, wiping the sweat from her brow as the summer sun beat down upon them. "They really thrive in this soil. It's amazing since there's so little nutrients in the soil in this polluted little town."
"I could tell. These flowers are bigger than all the rest," Marlene giggled. "Anything Aeris touched grew with love."
"How about we take a break for some lemonade?" Shera said to the young girl beside her.
"I'd love some!" Marlene smiled back in approval.
Lemons and citrus fruits were rare in Edge. Marlene loved citrus cakes and spiced teas from her time spent in Kalm, and she found that Shera had a fond-ness for them too. She and Cid were lucky enough to have lemon and lime trees on their property, so there was never a shortage of fresh produce at their quaint home in Rocket Town.
Marlene continued to work while Shera prepared a tray of lemonade and chocolate cookies inside. Denzel had left with Cid for the day to test some new jet engine prototypes, so the girls tended the garden in between baking, cleaning, and organizing Shera's files and Cid's dusty blueprints.
It had all happened very quickly.
The black chopper approached and settled in the distance.
Two females in suits exited the chopper and approached Marlene at lightning speed. Marlene recognized Elena, but the Turk with longer blonde hair was unfamiliar.
"That's the one! Grab her!" Elena ordered the other Turk as they hopped over the white picket fence.
Marlene dropped her small garden shovel and readied herself to run. Before she could fully react, the unfamiliar Turk grabbed her, and everything went black.
"Did you use chloroform or seal materia?" Marlene heard a male voice. It sounded like Reno. She kept her eyes shut. She was wise enough to keep them unaware that she was awake. That way she could gather information (Children are always very good at this trick.)
"Chloroform -Do you even have to ask? You know how much I loathe materia. Give me chemicals and weapons and chemical weapons over materia any day," a female voice fired back. "I considered using the stun gun, but I don't think that the president would appreciate if I accidentally fried her fragile little brain and nervous system. She should be out for a little while longer." She added, "Materia is so unreliable, you know. Chloroform works. Everytime."
"That sounds familiar," the voice that sounded like a Reno's chuckled softly.
"We're meeting Rude on the executive helipad," a softer female voice interrupted. "Tseng is escorting the president to the club house. The others should arrive shortly."
"So this little brat belongs to the bitch who's ass I whooped?" the sharper-sounding female asked.
"Watch it," Reno warned.
"What? I did. And what does the president want with her anyway?"
"We're taking her in to be held for ransom. Her father is the one who's wanted for terrorism. We're taking him in exchange for her," he explained.
Marlene didn't like the sound of any of this.
"So is your new girlfriend her mom, then? Is that why you're so protective of her?" the female said with a snotty tone. "Is she married to that enormous oaf of a man and this is their kid?"
"She's not my girlfriend. And she's not married to Wallace. She takes care of the girl while Wallace is out lighting fires and blowing up Shinra property," Reno explained further.
"Well at least you're not fooling around with a married woman. Do you actually think that stupid bartender is prettier than me?" the female changed the subject.
"Jesus fuck, Vayda -could you just NOT?!" Reno hollered and the chopper swerved slightly.
"Well? DO you?!" she yelled back.
"I'm not doing this," he answered with an even voice now.
"Not doing what? It's a simple question, Reno! Why can't you answer it?!" she spat.
Marlene heard Reno growl in frustration.
"I know you were fooling around with her when we all went on vacation. You should have been spending time with me. That was the whole point! She's a tramp. And you're an asshole!"
"Yeah. I am an asshole. And you're crazy. So drop it already, yo," he gritted his teeth in aggravation.
"I'm NOT cra-" she was cut off by Elena.
"Guys-the kid's awake," she informed them.
Marlene's distressed facial features must have been what gave her away. 'Busted,' she thought as she cracked an eye open to survey her surroundings.
"Rise and shine, Marlene," Reno greeted her over his shoulder with a grin as he piloted the chopper.
Marlene was strapped into her seat with a sophisticated padlock holding her belt in place. Elena was seated to her right, and Vayda, the other female Turk, was seated up front with Reno.
Marlene couldn't clearly see what Vayda looked like, only that she had long blonde hair from behind.
"Where are you guys taking me?" Marlene squeaked.
"You're going on a little vacation to Junon, kiddo. President Rufus Shinra is eager to meet you," Reno turned his attention back to the open air in front of him, adjusting his headset slightly.
"I've never been to Junon before. Is the president gonna hurt my daddy?" She fidgeted a little, playing with that padlock between her fingers.
"Only if dear old daddy resists arrest," Vayda said without turning around. "So yeah, probably."
Marlene's heart sank.
"Are you guys gonna hurt me?" she asked with a quivering voice.
"No, sweetie," Elena reassured her. "No one is going to hurt you. You just have to do as you're told."
Marlene remained quiet after that. The rest of the chopper ride was spent in silence as Marlene watched the clouds go by her window.
They descended upon Junon not long after. Marlene never saw anything like it. She saw images of Junon on TV and in newspapers, but somehow it never seemed real to her: An entire city that's once-sole purpose was military training and defense.
Now Junon was more of a tourist attraction: a relic of times past. It was a place people visited to see how archaic the planet was only 5 to 10 years prior, under the iron fist of Shinra.
The chopper ascended the city's stoic facade to arrive at the airfield at the very top.
As promised, Rude was waiting on the Helipad below them.
"Hey, buddy, what's new?" Reno said into his headset. "Ohh S'at so? Well, we have a little girl here who's all set to meet him," he continued. "See you in a minute. Over and out."
Reno set the chopper down with precision, removed his headset, rubbed the bridge of his nose and eyes, and let out a heavy sigh. He stretched his limbs, yawned, and turned to Vayda, "You and Elena get the kid to the east wing of the executive level. There'll be a room for her there. Get her settled and we'll take care of the rest later."
"But what about you? Where will you be?" Vayda said in a demanding tone.
"That's my business. I'll be back later," he rubbed his neck and then dropped his hand to his leg in fatigue. Before Vayda could respond, Reno hopped out of the chopper and took off.
'He's beat,' Marlene thought to herself. 'And this nasty lady really likes him. I wish he left Tifa alone. She really likes him now, too.' She felt angry now, instead of just frightened. Marlene had more than enough her share of being kidnapped after their abduction by Kadaj's gang. She also knew that she had to bide her time now until someone rescued her. She wished Denzel was there to keep her company. Her daddy and Tifa had to be on the way. Or maybe somehow Cloud and Vincent would rescue her again? She couldn't lose hope.
"We have to get her indoors. There's a storm coming up the coast," Elena said. "It's a tropical storm warning until oh seven hundred Thursday. Hopefully this won't delay Wallace's arrival."
Marlene looked at the ominous purple storm clouds in the distance and prayed that everything would be ok.
The winds picked up around the small seaplane causing severe turbulence, as well as multiple obscenities to fly from Barret's mouth.
"There's a tropical depression rolling in behind us. Looks like we'll land just in time to take cover," Byron stated.
"Jus' get dis box back on the ground, foo! I ain't got time to be gettin' busted up bein' trapped inside a buncha damn metal!" Barret hollered.
Byron maneuvered the plane into a discreet landing port at the edge of the city. The port was filled with military seaplanes as well as weapons and cargo boats. It was a very secure area, so it all made Tifa a bit nervous.
Byron spoke to the traffic control tower over his headset, and was cleared to land and park the plane in a predetermined spot.
"This is an air taxi port?" Tifa asked suspiciously.
"Well, technically no. Whenever I transport people or cargo to Junon, the military allows myself and a select few other pilots to use this area for water landings. The airfield at the top of the city is reserved for executive personnel and larger aircraft with wheel-type landing gear," he explained.
"How come you get special privileges?" Tifa prodded.
"If I told you that, I'd have to kill you," he deadpanned.
Tifa took it as a joke, but something niggling in the back of her mind told her it wasn't. She faked a laugh anyway and he smiled in response.
The travelers exited the plane and waited on the dock as Byron unloaded their few small bags, along with his own large black duffel bag.
The coastal winds began to pick up and whip around them. The storm would make landfall in the next hour or so. It was past dinnertime and they were all hungry and exhausted.
"If you're looking for a hotel, I know of a few reasonable ones. I can show you if you'd like," Byron offered.
"No thanks," Tifa smiled as she picked up her knapsack. "We'll be fine. Thank you for your assistance," she offered her hand to him, wanting to part ways with him ASAP. Something about this strikingly handsome man was wrong from the get-go.
Byron was surprised at her formal gesture, but nevertheless took her hand. What startled her was when he pulled her hand up to his lips and pressed them to her knuckles.
He pulled back to look her in the eyes, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Tifa. I look forward to crossing paths with you again." He released her hand and took a step back, turning towards Red and Barrett, "Thank you for your business. Safe travels, gentlemen." Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heels and walked away.
"Peace," Barret threw up two fingers and made a funny face, and then walked over to Tifa. "I don't like that guy."
"Really? I couldn't tell..." Tifa giggled as Barret smiled.
"Aight, aight. We gotta get a room and make a plan. A big ass storm ain't gonna help..."
Tifa looked up at the city and the remains of the Sister Ray Cannon. She couldn't help but shudder, "I forgot how much I hate this place."
"Yeah I feel ya, girl. We didn't exactly have a good time the last time we was here," he rubbed the back of his neck.
Red's voice came from behind them, "I think it's best if we move now, so we do not draw any unwanted attention."
They fell in line with other people unloading onto the dock as they made their way to the large cargo elevator that would bring them to the upper levels of the city.
"We'd better cover up -from the weather and to keep from being recognized," Tifa fished through her knapsack to extract two dark rain ponchos for herself and Barrett (in XXL for Barrett, of course. She thanked the gods that the shop at Gongaga had a variety of rain gear since the town existed in such a tropical climate), and a small woolen blanket to drape over Red. Unfortunately his flame-tail was still visible, but they'd just have to deal with that and get him indoors as quickly as possible.
"I heard this storm is gonna be really bad. There's coastal flooding already. I really hope we don't hear the tsunami sirens," Tifa overheard from the man next to her in the elevator.
"I heard they're gonna lock-down the city like they did when Weapon attacked!" said a panicked woman's voice from behind her.
"We picked a real great time for a visit," mumbled someone else.
"Do you think the president will cancel his appearance?" The crowd gossiped and chattered on.
"This storm may work out to our advantage," Red whispered to Tifa. "If the power goes out the military will have to put all their energy into turning on the older backup generators, since the huge materia no longer powers the city. They can't have another meltdown with the President in town. That might create enough of a distraction and a buffer of time for us to get Marlene back. Once we figure out where she is, exactly."
"We can only hope," was Tifa's reply as the elevator reached ground level.
The passengers exited and bustled down the street to get out of the winds that had picked up substantially in the few minutes that they rode on the elevator.
Tifa noticed a few businesses boarding up their windows in an attempt to protect their wares from flying debris.
A place that caught her eye in particular was a seafood restaurant/bar with a sign that read: "Port Junon Trading Co" with a sultry-looking mermaid etched into the glass door.
'Bingo,' she thought to herself. She knew exactly where to find Reno and ultimately, to find out where Marlene was.
As luck would have it the restaurant was attached to a hotel; A dumpy-looking hotel, but a hotel nonetheless.
"Guys, let's stay here," Tifa called to her companions who had already walked up ahead.
"Huh?" Barret turned to get a look at the place. "Dis place look like a crack house," he crossed his arms in disapproval.
"Oh we've stayed in worse places," Tifa reasoned. "Besides, all of the nicer places are probably close to full -if they aren't full already. Let's just go in and get settled before the storm gets any worse."
Barret deliberated for a minute, but ultimately walked with Red back towards Tifa. "Aight, but you gonna buy me a stiff drink tonight in 'dis smelly fish joint," he huffed as he walked past her and pointed to the restaurant.
"You got it," she smiled softly as she ducked out of the storm and into the run-down hotel.
To be continued...