Chapter 2 - The Tunnel
Everything in Nibelheim was insanely small. There were maybe twenty kids that went to the school there, but since I'd already surpassed their levels the principal told me it would do absolutely no good to go there. The mansion was so boring that I liked to escape it, even if it was just for a few hours. Plus the perfect grades wouldn't look bad on my record. So I hung out with the kids at school sometimes. The school system at New Midgar was the best in the intercontinental system and I was sure to let everyone know that I'd attended the best schools in the world. They labeled me a snob very quickly. Most of the kids hated me there and but a few liked me because they thought my clothes were cool. After a few days of going to school I realized that I was being stalked by a gothic looking girl who seemed obsessed with the fact that I lived in Shinra mansion. She'd asked if I'd seen any ghosts yet. I rolled my eyes and walked away. The school itself was about a half mile down the road from the mansion's front gate. It was a nice little walk and I could use the exercise-and the fresh air.
One day on my way home I noticed a man in a black suit standing at the gate of the mansion. When I got closer I realized he was wearing the Shinra emblem on his suit.
"Let me through."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, you need proper authorization to..."
I knew that voice. That was a voice from the past.
"James Tai. How's that for authorization?"
He pushed his black shades down to the bridge of his nose to look at me suspiciously before his face broke into a lopsided grin. "Myranda. Sorry, my bad. Don't tell your father about this, huh?"
He looked around before continuing, "I'll walk you in."
I thought I'd strike up a little petty conversation before getting to the big question.
"How's your uncle?"
"Oh, he's doing okay. They moved him over to Wutai, you know."
"Really? Looks like they're moving all the Shinra officials somewhere." Now I had to wonder what was up. James father, Tseng, was the primary executive of the entire Shinra corporation, outranked only by the president and vice president.
We walked up the stone pathway and to the door, guarded by two more suits. The let us pass.
"So why are you here?"
James hesitated. "I.. don't think I can tell you that, ma'am."
"Don't call me ma'am I'm three years younger than you."
He winked and escorted me into my fathers office. Now he'd irritated me. I didn't smile at his wink. If he were any kind of friend at all he'd have told me. Someone stopped me at the door to the office. "I don't think I can allow anyone entry here."
"You're gonna allow me entry, this is my house! I demand to see Reno."
He jumped back and I stormed into the office, then pushed my way to his desk. He stood to look down at me. My father's presence struck a secret fear into the hearts of almost all the men present in the mansion, and probably my mother too. He used to intimidate me as well, but not anymore.
"What's going on? Why are all these Shinra creeps here?"
"We have a few men here from Daddy's business," he replied with his usual cold sarcasm. "Stay out of the way, eh?"
"I'm not a child, Reno." I spat and something in his grey blue eyes flickered with anger. Every once in a while I could really get a reaction out of him.
Slamming his palm on his desk, he looked up at James. "Please escort Miss Myranda out of my office," He hissed through gritted teeth. " I'll teach her to respect her elders when I have enough time for her."
James took my arm and I slapped his hand away.
"Don't bother," I muttered as I stormed out of the office, giving the doorway a little kick. The wood splintered slightly and my father let out a grunt of concealed rage.
I flew up the stairs, mostly for show to let the Shinra men know that I didn't welcome them at all. They were everywhere upstairs. I flew through the kitchen to a back storage room which was, thankfully, very empty. Panting, I wasn't done with my fit of rage. I kicked an empty barrel over, sending it clattering to the floor, then turned around giving the wall a big spin kick with my right boot. "I hate this house!!"
I felt the stone give way. I couldn't believe that even the stone walls were that weak. With any luck the entire mansion would fall down around us and crush everyone but me. And maybe my mother.
I fell to my knees, completely drained. Wiping the angry tears from my eyes I looked at the wall. Something was curious about the way it had just cracked like that. Upon closer inspection I found that the crack ran right down the middle of a row of large grey stones. About 21/2 feet away another straight line appeared in the stones. The more I pushed on one side the more the other pushed forward. I realized this was some sort of panel, which was slightly disappointing because I was thinking that I had some sort of super strength. When I put all my weight on one side the panel revealed a dark tunnel that seemed to go on forever. I just sat there for a moment. Who knew what was behind the wall? Dead people? Gold? Mold?
"Mold, no doubt," I muttered before crawling into the tunnel. I left the panel open because it seemed to be my only light source. Crawling on my hands and knees along the cold brick floor below me, I felt myself shaking either from overexertion or fear. The tunnel stunk worse than the rest of the house.
"Smells like something died down here."
I balked at my own words mentally. Suddenly, the stone changed to descending wooden planks as a spiral staircase came into my sight. I stared into the void to see where the stairs led, but they disappeared into pitch black nothingness after a few feet. A scuttling noise came from somewhere below me and I jumped back, hitting my head on the top of the tunnel. "Oh, bloody hell!"
I Scooted backwards frantically and came sliding out of the tunnel back first. I ran back to the kitchen as I dusted my butt off. There was something very strange about the Shinra mansion, other than the fact that it was a colossal heap of rotting wood and spooky décor. I'd have to investigate later. As I flew out of the kitchen I ran right into A man in a Shinra suit. His brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and he looked like he was trying to be my father and failing miserably. He stared and I stared back. Awkward silence ensued.
"What are you staring at?!" We cried in unison.
Then, embarrassed we both walked away. I retreated upstairs to my round little room and thought about the tunnel as I sat in the bay window. It was the best I ever felt about the hellish place, and the best that I ever would. I was excited about that discovery and wondered what kind of treasure I'd find. I remember that for a while I considered that Shinra was on a materia hunt and it was hidden down those stairs. Rooms of shining materia. Not that I believed in the magic crystals anyway, because mother always told me that it was a myth used in stories.
The men in the house were fairly quiet that night, apparently respecting my mother's wish to let me sleep. But I heard heated voices from somewhere below me. Putting my ear to the floor resulted in nothing, but as I went back to the window I realized it was coming from the balcony on the second floor. If I stood on my knees in the splintered wooden window seat and pressed my forehead to the glass I could see the balcony below me. I flicked off the lights, so they wouldn't see me, and watched as my father argued with James.
"I told you to seal up the passage."
"I did. I put a barrel in front of it too."
"It was open. Someone went down there. Who knows what Hojo put down there!?"
He sighed and ran his fingers through the strands of red hair that were always in his face before continuing.
"You're worthless. There's a traitor among us at Shinra. He's in this very mansion."
"Who is it?" James looked uneasy.
"Only one way to find out."
I never saw the gun until James collapsed. I could barely here the zing of the silenced bullet. I just sat there, watching in horror as the blackish blood spread around his body on the wooden floor of the balcony. It shone sickly in the light from the pale crescent moon.
Another man in uniform ran out onto the balcony and my father holstered his gun.
"Clean this up."
The man slung James's body unceremoniously over his shoulder as my father exited the scene.
Sobbing, I ran to my bedroom and hid under the quilt. My nose was running and every time I rubbed the tears away they were replaced. My eyes wouldn't shut, they just kept staring and I'll I could see was James lying in the lake of his own blood. My father killed him. The shock was too much for my mind to handle. I couldn't understand it. My father killed him. Why? Why would he do something like that? My father took his life. But he wasn't evil. My daddy wasn't evil. And James wasn't a bad person. I used to have the biggest crush on him. His smile was radiant, and he looked so unique with his almost-black hair and bright blue eyes. He gave me a diamond necklace for Christmas once. I still wear it.
That's when it dawned on me. It was my fault that he was killed. If I'd minded my own business and never opened that panel, or if I'd just shut it once I left, none of this would have happened.
If he found out that it was me, my father would probably kill me as well.
"Myranda?"
His deep flat voice at the door startled me. I jumped up, frantically rubbing my face.
"What!?"
"I wanted to talk to you for a minute."
He'd seen me, I knew he'd seen me. Or worse yet he knew I was in the tunnel. I opened my bedroom door and stared at him, shaking and afraid.
"What's your problem?" He asked as one of his dark brows raised quizzically.
"I hate it here! that's my problem, you bastard!"
He calmly backhanded me with a flick of his wrist.
"I know you know better than to talk to me like that."
I winced at the metallic taste in my mouth. "Yeah, sorry. What do you want to talk to me about?"
"That's my girl. Now, you're going to have to be on your best behavior now that the Shinra suits are bopping around here. And uh.. keep your door locked."
He turned to leave, then stopped as if he'd just remembered something. My heart froze.
Whirling around, he grabbed my chin and tilted my face up to meet his icy glare.
"And don't go snooping around."
"Yesh shir," came my muffled reply before he released me and patted me on the head.
I'd never been so relieved as when he shut my door. Something about this mansion woke up the inner ass in my father, and I wasn't liking it. I'd have to stay out of his way, but that tunnel was calling me..
Everything in Nibelheim was insanely small. There were maybe twenty kids that went to the school there, but since I'd already surpassed their levels the principal told me it would do absolutely no good to go there. The mansion was so boring that I liked to escape it, even if it was just for a few hours. Plus the perfect grades wouldn't look bad on my record. So I hung out with the kids at school sometimes. The school system at New Midgar was the best in the intercontinental system and I was sure to let everyone know that I'd attended the best schools in the world. They labeled me a snob very quickly. Most of the kids hated me there and but a few liked me because they thought my clothes were cool. After a few days of going to school I realized that I was being stalked by a gothic looking girl who seemed obsessed with the fact that I lived in Shinra mansion. She'd asked if I'd seen any ghosts yet. I rolled my eyes and walked away. The school itself was about a half mile down the road from the mansion's front gate. It was a nice little walk and I could use the exercise-and the fresh air.
One day on my way home I noticed a man in a black suit standing at the gate of the mansion. When I got closer I realized he was wearing the Shinra emblem on his suit.
"Let me through."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, you need proper authorization to..."
I knew that voice. That was a voice from the past.
"James Tai. How's that for authorization?"
He pushed his black shades down to the bridge of his nose to look at me suspiciously before his face broke into a lopsided grin. "Myranda. Sorry, my bad. Don't tell your father about this, huh?"
He looked around before continuing, "I'll walk you in."
I thought I'd strike up a little petty conversation before getting to the big question.
"How's your uncle?"
"Oh, he's doing okay. They moved him over to Wutai, you know."
"Really? Looks like they're moving all the Shinra officials somewhere." Now I had to wonder what was up. James father, Tseng, was the primary executive of the entire Shinra corporation, outranked only by the president and vice president.
We walked up the stone pathway and to the door, guarded by two more suits. The let us pass.
"So why are you here?"
James hesitated. "I.. don't think I can tell you that, ma'am."
"Don't call me ma'am I'm three years younger than you."
He winked and escorted me into my fathers office. Now he'd irritated me. I didn't smile at his wink. If he were any kind of friend at all he'd have told me. Someone stopped me at the door to the office. "I don't think I can allow anyone entry here."
"You're gonna allow me entry, this is my house! I demand to see Reno."
He jumped back and I stormed into the office, then pushed my way to his desk. He stood to look down at me. My father's presence struck a secret fear into the hearts of almost all the men present in the mansion, and probably my mother too. He used to intimidate me as well, but not anymore.
"What's going on? Why are all these Shinra creeps here?"
"We have a few men here from Daddy's business," he replied with his usual cold sarcasm. "Stay out of the way, eh?"
"I'm not a child, Reno." I spat and something in his grey blue eyes flickered with anger. Every once in a while I could really get a reaction out of him.
Slamming his palm on his desk, he looked up at James. "Please escort Miss Myranda out of my office," He hissed through gritted teeth. " I'll teach her to respect her elders when I have enough time for her."
James took my arm and I slapped his hand away.
"Don't bother," I muttered as I stormed out of the office, giving the doorway a little kick. The wood splintered slightly and my father let out a grunt of concealed rage.
I flew up the stairs, mostly for show to let the Shinra men know that I didn't welcome them at all. They were everywhere upstairs. I flew through the kitchen to a back storage room which was, thankfully, very empty. Panting, I wasn't done with my fit of rage. I kicked an empty barrel over, sending it clattering to the floor, then turned around giving the wall a big spin kick with my right boot. "I hate this house!!"
I felt the stone give way. I couldn't believe that even the stone walls were that weak. With any luck the entire mansion would fall down around us and crush everyone but me. And maybe my mother.
I fell to my knees, completely drained. Wiping the angry tears from my eyes I looked at the wall. Something was curious about the way it had just cracked like that. Upon closer inspection I found that the crack ran right down the middle of a row of large grey stones. About 21/2 feet away another straight line appeared in the stones. The more I pushed on one side the more the other pushed forward. I realized this was some sort of panel, which was slightly disappointing because I was thinking that I had some sort of super strength. When I put all my weight on one side the panel revealed a dark tunnel that seemed to go on forever. I just sat there for a moment. Who knew what was behind the wall? Dead people? Gold? Mold?
"Mold, no doubt," I muttered before crawling into the tunnel. I left the panel open because it seemed to be my only light source. Crawling on my hands and knees along the cold brick floor below me, I felt myself shaking either from overexertion or fear. The tunnel stunk worse than the rest of the house.
"Smells like something died down here."
I balked at my own words mentally. Suddenly, the stone changed to descending wooden planks as a spiral staircase came into my sight. I stared into the void to see where the stairs led, but they disappeared into pitch black nothingness after a few feet. A scuttling noise came from somewhere below me and I jumped back, hitting my head on the top of the tunnel. "Oh, bloody hell!"
I Scooted backwards frantically and came sliding out of the tunnel back first. I ran back to the kitchen as I dusted my butt off. There was something very strange about the Shinra mansion, other than the fact that it was a colossal heap of rotting wood and spooky décor. I'd have to investigate later. As I flew out of the kitchen I ran right into A man in a Shinra suit. His brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and he looked like he was trying to be my father and failing miserably. He stared and I stared back. Awkward silence ensued.
"What are you staring at?!" We cried in unison.
Then, embarrassed we both walked away. I retreated upstairs to my round little room and thought about the tunnel as I sat in the bay window. It was the best I ever felt about the hellish place, and the best that I ever would. I was excited about that discovery and wondered what kind of treasure I'd find. I remember that for a while I considered that Shinra was on a materia hunt and it was hidden down those stairs. Rooms of shining materia. Not that I believed in the magic crystals anyway, because mother always told me that it was a myth used in stories.
The men in the house were fairly quiet that night, apparently respecting my mother's wish to let me sleep. But I heard heated voices from somewhere below me. Putting my ear to the floor resulted in nothing, but as I went back to the window I realized it was coming from the balcony on the second floor. If I stood on my knees in the splintered wooden window seat and pressed my forehead to the glass I could see the balcony below me. I flicked off the lights, so they wouldn't see me, and watched as my father argued with James.
"I told you to seal up the passage."
"I did. I put a barrel in front of it too."
"It was open. Someone went down there. Who knows what Hojo put down there!?"
He sighed and ran his fingers through the strands of red hair that were always in his face before continuing.
"You're worthless. There's a traitor among us at Shinra. He's in this very mansion."
"Who is it?" James looked uneasy.
"Only one way to find out."
I never saw the gun until James collapsed. I could barely here the zing of the silenced bullet. I just sat there, watching in horror as the blackish blood spread around his body on the wooden floor of the balcony. It shone sickly in the light from the pale crescent moon.
Another man in uniform ran out onto the balcony and my father holstered his gun.
"Clean this up."
The man slung James's body unceremoniously over his shoulder as my father exited the scene.
Sobbing, I ran to my bedroom and hid under the quilt. My nose was running and every time I rubbed the tears away they were replaced. My eyes wouldn't shut, they just kept staring and I'll I could see was James lying in the lake of his own blood. My father killed him. The shock was too much for my mind to handle. I couldn't understand it. My father killed him. Why? Why would he do something like that? My father took his life. But he wasn't evil. My daddy wasn't evil. And James wasn't a bad person. I used to have the biggest crush on him. His smile was radiant, and he looked so unique with his almost-black hair and bright blue eyes. He gave me a diamond necklace for Christmas once. I still wear it.
That's when it dawned on me. It was my fault that he was killed. If I'd minded my own business and never opened that panel, or if I'd just shut it once I left, none of this would have happened.
If he found out that it was me, my father would probably kill me as well.
"Myranda?"
His deep flat voice at the door startled me. I jumped up, frantically rubbing my face.
"What!?"
"I wanted to talk to you for a minute."
He'd seen me, I knew he'd seen me. Or worse yet he knew I was in the tunnel. I opened my bedroom door and stared at him, shaking and afraid.
"What's your problem?" He asked as one of his dark brows raised quizzically.
"I hate it here! that's my problem, you bastard!"
He calmly backhanded me with a flick of his wrist.
"I know you know better than to talk to me like that."
I winced at the metallic taste in my mouth. "Yeah, sorry. What do you want to talk to me about?"
"That's my girl. Now, you're going to have to be on your best behavior now that the Shinra suits are bopping around here. And uh.. keep your door locked."
He turned to leave, then stopped as if he'd just remembered something. My heart froze.
Whirling around, he grabbed my chin and tilted my face up to meet his icy glare.
"And don't go snooping around."
"Yesh shir," came my muffled reply before he released me and patted me on the head.
I'd never been so relieved as when he shut my door. Something about this mansion woke up the inner ass in my father, and I wasn't liking it. I'd have to stay out of his way, but that tunnel was calling me..