Uprising Midgar
I sat down in the only empty seat available, and sighed, "what the hell happened back there?" I thought to myself. "Was it a dream?"
With my mind so set on what had happened, a hand on my shoulder made me jump like crazy and even yelp, attempting to attack the intruder. But my face immediately calmed down when I saw who it was, "Biggs! What are you doing here?" I lifted an eyebrow and grinned, "Aren't you up a little early?"
"WOAH!" His eyes were bulging and his hands had shielded his face, "Are you ok?" he said ignoring my question. The train had started to move…I thought it never would.
"…I'm fine…you just startled me is all." I leaned back into the leathery seat. He stared at me, lowering his arms, and leaning back in his seat.
"oh…Jessy asked if I could pick up some parts at Serj's" he said with a bored face. That was one of his least favorite things to do…be Jessy's errand boy. "Where are you headed this early?"
"I'm headin to the wall market as well." Serj's shop was also in Wall market. "Need to get some supplies…I'll be leaving Midgar." I needed to get rid of this accursed materia.
"I see…" was all he said "…alright then…" he leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. My eyes wandered off to the other side of the train, where a fat woman was reading the newspaper. I figured she was an employee for shinra…one of them early secretaries no less. The thought of someone working there made me scowl, she hadn't noticed. For the rest of the ride I did nothing but daydream…the strange occurrences in the train graveyard were one thing I thought about…but that slowly slipped from my mind, and thoughts of the SOLDIER began to take place. I wondered if I would see him again…though it was highly doubtful. I smirked as I thought about it, "The only way I'd meet him again is at the opposite side of his pistol."
When the train had come to a stop, it's squealing breaks had jolted me from my thoughts. Biggs and I had gotten off together, but we parted shortly after, saying our goodbyes, at least for now. I hated being at Wall market…it was always full of people rushing about trying to get all that they could carry as if Ragnorok was coming. "…pathetic…" I whispered under my breath as I entered a clothing shop with a large sign in front. I wasn't greeted as I entered, instead, I walked up to the counter where the only person in the store…obviously the clerk…was enjoying the newspaper. I smirked evilly as I cleared my throat loud enough to make him jump up as if a bomb had landed.
His bald head frantically searched the room and finally had caught me. "Morning Bill…how are ya?" I laughed. He scowled a bit, but quickly smiled.
"I'm doing good…too bad I can't say the same for business. I might have to close shop soon." He whined.
I began to gently go through the racks of clothes in the store, "…that wouldn't surprise me…people obviously don't like coming here when you're drunk." I stopped and looked at him to catch his responding face. He seemed pretty insulted, "Oh come on Billy…" he hated when I called him that, "…you
know I'm only playing." My attention turned back to the hanging outfits.
"Bah! What do you know!" he stammered. "I can get drunk whenever I want! I'm not a child!" He then stopped as if he had suddenly remembered something. "OH! Your order…I finished it the other day." He was grinning, I stopped and watched as he rushed to a closet and pulled out a white box neatly tied with a black ribbon. I was now fully turned to him, actually a bit excited to see how it had come out. "You're
going to love this!" he said wobbling over to me and holding it out.
I graciously took it from his wrinkled hands and stared at it for a moment before opening it. The ribbon fell off and I slid the cover off as well. Inside was a neatly folded black leather coat. I smiled pulling it out. It took a little more effort than a normal coat, considering it was pretty long. Carefully, I slid it over my arms and the back flopped behind me hitting my ankles. The collar of it reached up, similar to what a vampire would wear. The inside was soft and very comfortable, and even considering it was made of leather, it really wasn't all that heavy.
I turned around, facing the now smiling man, though his smile was a bit creepy, I didn't cringe. He had been a good friend of mine ever since I moved to Midgar. "This is great! Excellent job!" I praised him. The poor man needed a little praise, he never got any from his only daughter who was living with her newlywed in sector 8, and his wife had died twelve years ago, so he was a pretty lonely guy. He was pleased…but now came the part of payment. I reached into my pocket behind the new coat and pulled out a handful of gil. "So how much is it…you said 500...right?" I began to count.
But he interrupted me with a smile, "150 gil…you are my best customer, after all." I looked up at him a little shocked, at first. Then I pulled out 200gil and handed it to him.
"Thanks Bill." I said taking the coat off and folding it back into its box. I placed it under my arm, then headed out the door. "Probably hasn't realized yet that I gave him an extra 50."
Now that I had what I wanted, I headed to the nearest bar for what might be my last drink for a long time. On my way I froze as two members of SOLDIER walked by me. They had headed into a materia shop without even glancing in my direction. I figured it was fine by me, I wasn't going there anyways. And I didn't want to deal with a sword wielder and a gun slinger. So I continued my way to the bar. Stepping inside, I inhaled a large amount of smoke, and the smell of whiskey. Men and women were enjoying themselves, some were defining 'enjoyment' as they flopped about their tables slum drunk. There was no reason to blame these people for their actions, they lived in hell…and this was their only escape. I sat at the counter, and the tender came up to me. He was a rather large man, he wore a red vest over a white shirt and he was holding an empty glass.
"What'll it be?" he snapped getting straight to business.
"Glass of Netol light" I quickly answered dropping a couple of gil on the counter. When my glass was poured, I snatched it and headed to a deserted table in the shadows. I wasn't a smoker, so I pushed the ashtray out of the way of my glass as I set it down. Then set my box across the same table. The corny music blurred in the room and a group of drunkards were at the karaoke machine singing way off key. "At least they're enjoying themselves." I thought glancing in their direction. As I took the first sip of my icy cold beer, the two SOLDIER's from before had stepped inside. It quieted down a little…no one who lived in the slums took kindly to Shinra employee's, though there wasn't much they could do. The two men stepped up to the counter flashing off their fancy weapons and ordered their drinks. The tender was quick…when they had gotten their drinks, they sat not to far from my table. I was at ear shot, so I figured I'd listen in on their conversation.
When they began to talk, they took off their helmets so that they could appreciate the taste of their beer. I was shocked to find that the gun slinger was the blonde man from inside the Shinra building. I gagged a little on the sip I was having, but no one noticed. The sword wielder was a black-haired man. They both had spiky hair, and both had that rare look of mako in their eyes. Trying not to catch their attention, I turned to my drink, but watched them through the corner of my eye. Then finally, the black-haired one spoke.
"I don't like the way Shinra's been acting." he continued, "He's got Tseng and a few of the other Turks combing the sectors for that woman who escaped last night." The blonde mearly nodded a little, and took a gulp of his drink, "But damn! I wish I could've seen the look on that fat bastards face when he found out! Heard he was pissed. Even Hediegger took some of his anger out on Jeff…guy's fired now, but only after gaining himself a nice big bruise on his ass."
The blonde changed the subject, "…so…why do you think that woman was arrested anyways?" he
asked setting his glass down gently.
"I don't know. I've heard rumors that she's got something that belongs to shinra…"
"bullshit" my thought interrupted.
"…but details are slim." he finished. He took a rather long gulp of his beer, nearly emptying it, then continued as though he had forgotten to say something, "But can you believe she got Mitch?" He started to laugh, "Damn pervert deserved it though…never was the lucky type." The blonde was not amused. And the black-haired one continued, "At least it wasn't your shift last night. Heard she was trained in Wutai for six years!"
"What's your point, Zach?" The blonde responded.
"So Zach was the black-haired one." I leaned in, expecting the blonde's name to come quickly.
"You can never take a joke…can you?" Zach grumbled polishing off his beer. He slammed it down and let out a breath of refreshment. "…But I hear them wutaniese have some strange powers…"
"What kind of 'strange powers'?" the blonde cut him off.
Zach stared at his glass a moment before answering, "…not really sure…but I hear they pray to the leviathon."
"The water dragon?"
"…yeah."
"But isn't that guardian force only a myth?"
"Well…no one has actually seen leviathon, except the wutai…or so they say. So it's not certain. But anyways we should start back…as a 1st class SOLDIER escorting a 2nd class SOLDIER in training, it is my duty to get you to the building before Hedeiggar throws a fit and de-ranks me." he smirked.
The blond laughed a little, for the first time, "Shut up, I know your rank, showoff!"
I leaned back deeper into the shadows as they stood up. But the blonde froze.
"So…what does this girl look like…do you have the sheet on you?"
Zack reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Carefully he unfolded it and began to read. "5'10" tall female with long dirty blonde-hair, apparently she has emerald eyes…" he stopped and looked at the blonde, "…she's been exposed to mako before." He turned back to the sheet, "…age is 20 years, born in Nebelheim but apparently, her mother died giving birth to her and her father took her to Wutai where she spent her childhood until the age of 6 when he died of a plague that was going around there, she was taken to Midgar until 15 to live with her wealthy uncle, he paid for her way out of Midgar to live at Costa del sol until 17 and she was moved back to Midgar from an offer to join the Turks…the Turks? Is she really that good? But according to this she declined the offer…"
"Why would she do that? She'd rather rot in the slums?"
"It doesn't say her reason, but there aren't any records of her life after that. Just that she hasn't left Midgar."
I was dumfounded, "How do they know so much about me?" these were questions I wanted answered now. I stood up in a rage slamming my fist on my table. "THEY'RE PLAYING WITH ME!" I shouted. But I froze as I noticed everyone in the bar was staring, even the soldier's. I slammed my gil on the table next to my half-filled glass and stormed out in a rage.
As I reached the front of the pharmacy I realized that I had forgotten my new coat. I headed back to the bar trying to calm myself down, but before I reached the doorway a stool was thrown out of the entrance. And the shattering of glass soon followed. Apparently, there was a brawl going on. Walking up to the door I peaked inside. Some drunkard was giving Zack lip.
"DAMN YOU!…hic…who the fuck do you shinra wuss ass's think you are?!…" He was swinging his empty bottle around and hardly holding himself up.
"I'd calm down if I were you." Zack calmly said. He then pulled out his sword, "…you might get hurt." The blond was watching.
"…You think I'm scared of that butter knife??" the drunk stammered falling against a table. One of his friends came up to him and put their hand on his shoulder.
"It's not worth it man…you don't want to die! It's not worth it."
The blonde spoke, "You should listen to your friend. If you fight, you are sure to lose, especially considering you're drunk." his words had a hidden kindness in them, but were also very serious.
"…you think…I'll lose?!" the drunk became outraged, "I'll never….'hic'…lose to the likes of…'hic'…you!" he attempted to get up, but his knees collapsed below him, and he crashed back into the
table. Zack sheathed his weapon and turned to the blonde saying nothing. They both began to walk in my direction. "Where do you think…'hic'… YOU'RE going?!" the drunk said from his spot, "Running away eh?…psh! Cowards!…'hic'…that's what you are! Cowards!" At the very finish of the mans sentence, the blonde pulled out a dagger and shot it next to the mans head so fast I barley saw it. The drunk man froze, his face was as pale as if he had just seen his life flash before his eyes. Everyone in the bar was silent, I pulled away from the door and stared at the dirt shocked.
For a moment my mind was blank, "He moved so fast! Even I hardly saw it!" I was jolted back to reality as a hand landed on my shoulder. I spun around right into the face of the blonde soldier. He was holding up my box.
"You left this." he said. It was a moment before I had actually taken it from him.
"uh…thanks" Zack had come out the door and was looking at the blonde. But his attention turned to me when he noticed the blonde was facing me.
A rather large grin came across his face, "so who's your girlfriend?" he asked his partner.
"I'm just returning her box." he answered. I wanted to get out of there, so I pressed the box against my chest and started to head in the other direction, after giving him another 'thank you'. The streets were darker than usual. Did I just pass up my only chance? What was I thinking? I laughed a little at my own thoughts, then continued down the road.
