The Masquerade
Chapter 8
The red haired Turk took another gulp of his 16 ounce beer bottle. With a loud smack of
his lips he declared that he was ready to tell the "love story." It was the story of Nemesis and
how she evolved from an amazon to the servant of a mako sucking nation. The night was cool
and calm with a thousand stars overhead as an audience and an active wind to carry Reno's
message across the universe.
Nemesis held on to the length of her hair, preventing it from being pulled along with his
message. She stood silently with an unreadable expression, which was more an unsettling lack of
expression. All ears waited; some eagerly, Yuffie, some uncomfortably, Cloud, and some just as
silent as Nemesis with the same lack of expression that insinuates some emotion underneath,
Vincent.
"When I was in my third year of being a Turk, miserable as hell, just picking up my
drinking habit as anger management therapy, this...this beautiful creature walked into that little
fancy apartment loft that Rufus commandeered for us." Reno stared wide-eyed into nothing,
images flashing before his eyes, as if speaking of his memories had brought them back for him
to live again. In his memorial trance he began to talk eerily poetic and honest.
"Back then, her hair was shorter, just above the middle of her back. It had these thin
braids randomly placed in her hair with.... they had these... tiny red bindings at the end. She had
such wild hair. I remember how the red looked like blood spots in that unnatural snow colored
hair...or were they rubies at first? She walked in with Rufus just as Tseng and Rude had given in
to my pressure and began to drink. Ha....I think it was my birthday...Yeah that's why even Tseng
gave in, it was my big ol' 21 and in walks this reluctant angel... with the softest green eyes you
had ever seen and suspicion creeping on her face. Heh for a moment there I thought Rufus was
going to give me the darling girl as a present. Sick, I know, but it wasn't too uncommon and,
anyway, every broad back then was just walking pussy to me. So me and the boys get up from
those cushy black leather sofas near the built in bar. It wasn't like we were tryin' to be polite or
nothing...well maybe Tseng...hehe...but anyway we just got up for no reason, just a reaction to
this strange phenomenon that had just entered our house...our lives...and all our not-yet vice
president leader said was 'I thought you guys wouldn't be in.' Yeah...right. Like this wasn't
where we lived, like we would actually go out and pay to drink away the days assignment when
we had our own bar, hmph, like the celebration of having survived 21 years would be anywhere
else but the ONLY place I was not likely to get shot at. By this point the sweet little angel turns
towards the door in her tattered black dress, shoes in one hand...I think the heels were broken,
but then Rufus hurries in front of her, whispers only god fucking knows what and she doesn't
make an escape again...ever. She's stuck with our lot for two years. And that's how it always
was from the beginning....he whispered something...some goddam magic word and she would be
his...she would just obey his command." Reno sighed deeply, growing increasingly upset in his
re-memory. He raked all five free fingers through his hair, groaning softly and tired.
"We all thought Rufus had finally become a 'man' and got em'self his first whore. Or
that she was his knew fuck buddy, which was worse cuz they slept with him and didn't get any
loot for it. I guess it was that Mr. Shinra shit that turned them on...(sigh) So he points her to his
room and we're all still standing there, following her with our eyes wonderin' what the fuck is
going on and the little shit head tells us to treat her nice, that he just saved her from Don
Cornero....that was his story for her, that he was a freaking rape victim hero." Reno scoffed
bitterly and set his precious bottle aside. All eyes now stared intensely in to him, hoping that by
some magic they would see what he saw in his mind's eye. He still looked beyond everyone "He
told us so many lies about you...even your name. He said your name was Mercy. No, but that
wasn't really a lie. When you walked in you WERE Mercy and then he...we...turned you into
Nemesis little by little. In the beginning Neme' was so wide eyed, so eager to learn anything, so
willing to kick us out of our fowl moods. At first she didn't do any assignments, we would come
home bloody and beaten, intoxicated with morphine and begging for alcohol to ease the pain
more, as our bodies screamed and bled in misery...we'd lay on those couches or on our beds
praying to be unconscious but unable to drown out the pain... the pains...it was more then
physical...then the angel would appear. She came so quietly and with a smile. She would smooth
my hair back, away from my face, kiss my forehead and place this warm, wet towel, that smelled
like herbs on my eyes. And she would put some ointment she made on the wounds and bruises
but...but best of all she would place her hands just centimeters above the skin and move her
hands in circles, breathing softly, eyes closed...she was an angel...and the near contact was
enough to make a man feel that he had tasted a forbidden heaven. She did all this and I...with my
record for lust and disregard for...(chuckle)well everything...wouldn't touch her. Because she
made me and us better. We were blessed by her and what did we do? We made her hide just like
the rest of us. Pure stoic Turk mask. The best design ever made."
The red head looks up at the sky, wondering why they have dealt them such an awful
fate. Blaming the glittering eyes for their part in what changed so many into less-then-human
beings. He closes his eyes, ever more engulfed in his re-memory. He moves his right arm to his
heart as if to ease the pain. " I remember the exact moment were she stopped being Mercy. It
was the day she met big ol' poppa Shinra. Gross fucking bastard had an affect on everyone.
Controlled the whole fucking world with money and made it look so good. Greed wasn't so bad
when it was promised to your family...to your little brother...or your mother." His face becomes
contorted and nothing escapes from his mouth, not even a breath. When Yuffie begins to move
towards him, he continues his story, as if there were no pause. "Rufus introduces her as Nemesis,
a new member of the Turks, an official member, not just in the way that we saw her as part of
our little family, but official, like a real gun carrying enforcer and shit. She didn't smile at the
old man. He was all smiles though. It was one of them sweet ass parties with all the fancy ladies
and all us gent's in tuxes. I think he was one saki shot too gone to notice that she was going to be
the first female Turk ever. That skirt-chasing bastard wouldn't have allowed it if he was sober.
And Rufus, the smart-ass, knew that. So the big man sanctions Rufus' declaration and wham!
she's one of us, not just another devil in the gutter but part of the worst kinds. Tseng
disapproves, Rude says nothing, and hey I was just thinkin' it was a good excuse to celebrate
harder. So all night I try and get her to losen up, smile a bit, drink something, except there's like
fifty other guys tryin' to do the same an' she doesn't smile or nothin' she just kind of moves
around until she can cling on to Rufus. She doesn't smile the whole night, not one laugh, that is
until she's on the dance floor with the future VP himself. They're doing some fancy tango shit,
and it's like they're having sex on the floor, like they're making it even more obvious...no like
he's making it even more obvious that she is his. That he captured the little bird and she only
sings for him. And after that there were less smiles privately, no more of her healing tricks, no
sweet angel. She carried two nice silver guns and a sniper rifle that would make Vincent blush.
She never missed all those faces. I don't just mean she was never sentimental about the people
she killed, but literally she never missed, perfect shot each time. Her talents for healing were
gone but man she could destroy like no one else. It made our jobs easier. Less bumps and
bruises. But it was odd...like she was sacrificing herself...maybe her soul... so that we didn't have
to bear the jobs on our consciences. Rufus had been saying for a while that he wanted to change
our job. We weren't sappose' to be like this, but his old man changed the whole center mission. I
know Rufus was trying to do something before, that he was trying to change his father's ways.
But all I saw was him using someone who loved him in order to save his own conscience or his
own political record or some shit. I don't know what he was doing. Nothing changed except who
did the dirtier stuff. We are murderers, I know that now, but of all the murders we've ever
committed the one I regret most is killing her spirit."
Chapter 8
The red haired Turk took another gulp of his 16 ounce beer bottle. With a loud smack of
his lips he declared that he was ready to tell the "love story." It was the story of Nemesis and
how she evolved from an amazon to the servant of a mako sucking nation. The night was cool
and calm with a thousand stars overhead as an audience and an active wind to carry Reno's
message across the universe.
Nemesis held on to the length of her hair, preventing it from being pulled along with his
message. She stood silently with an unreadable expression, which was more an unsettling lack of
expression. All ears waited; some eagerly, Yuffie, some uncomfortably, Cloud, and some just as
silent as Nemesis with the same lack of expression that insinuates some emotion underneath,
Vincent.
"When I was in my third year of being a Turk, miserable as hell, just picking up my
drinking habit as anger management therapy, this...this beautiful creature walked into that little
fancy apartment loft that Rufus commandeered for us." Reno stared wide-eyed into nothing,
images flashing before his eyes, as if speaking of his memories had brought them back for him
to live again. In his memorial trance he began to talk eerily poetic and honest.
"Back then, her hair was shorter, just above the middle of her back. It had these thin
braids randomly placed in her hair with.... they had these... tiny red bindings at the end. She had
such wild hair. I remember how the red looked like blood spots in that unnatural snow colored
hair...or were they rubies at first? She walked in with Rufus just as Tseng and Rude had given in
to my pressure and began to drink. Ha....I think it was my birthday...Yeah that's why even Tseng
gave in, it was my big ol' 21 and in walks this reluctant angel... with the softest green eyes you
had ever seen and suspicion creeping on her face. Heh for a moment there I thought Rufus was
going to give me the darling girl as a present. Sick, I know, but it wasn't too uncommon and,
anyway, every broad back then was just walking pussy to me. So me and the boys get up from
those cushy black leather sofas near the built in bar. It wasn't like we were tryin' to be polite or
nothing...well maybe Tseng...hehe...but anyway we just got up for no reason, just a reaction to
this strange phenomenon that had just entered our house...our lives...and all our not-yet vice
president leader said was 'I thought you guys wouldn't be in.' Yeah...right. Like this wasn't
where we lived, like we would actually go out and pay to drink away the days assignment when
we had our own bar, hmph, like the celebration of having survived 21 years would be anywhere
else but the ONLY place I was not likely to get shot at. By this point the sweet little angel turns
towards the door in her tattered black dress, shoes in one hand...I think the heels were broken,
but then Rufus hurries in front of her, whispers only god fucking knows what and she doesn't
make an escape again...ever. She's stuck with our lot for two years. And that's how it always
was from the beginning....he whispered something...some goddam magic word and she would be
his...she would just obey his command." Reno sighed deeply, growing increasingly upset in his
re-memory. He raked all five free fingers through his hair, groaning softly and tired.
"We all thought Rufus had finally become a 'man' and got em'self his first whore. Or
that she was his knew fuck buddy, which was worse cuz they slept with him and didn't get any
loot for it. I guess it was that Mr. Shinra shit that turned them on...(sigh) So he points her to his
room and we're all still standing there, following her with our eyes wonderin' what the fuck is
going on and the little shit head tells us to treat her nice, that he just saved her from Don
Cornero....that was his story for her, that he was a freaking rape victim hero." Reno scoffed
bitterly and set his precious bottle aside. All eyes now stared intensely in to him, hoping that by
some magic they would see what he saw in his mind's eye. He still looked beyond everyone "He
told us so many lies about you...even your name. He said your name was Mercy. No, but that
wasn't really a lie. When you walked in you WERE Mercy and then he...we...turned you into
Nemesis little by little. In the beginning Neme' was so wide eyed, so eager to learn anything, so
willing to kick us out of our fowl moods. At first she didn't do any assignments, we would come
home bloody and beaten, intoxicated with morphine and begging for alcohol to ease the pain
more, as our bodies screamed and bled in misery...we'd lay on those couches or on our beds
praying to be unconscious but unable to drown out the pain... the pains...it was more then
physical...then the angel would appear. She came so quietly and with a smile. She would smooth
my hair back, away from my face, kiss my forehead and place this warm, wet towel, that smelled
like herbs on my eyes. And she would put some ointment she made on the wounds and bruises
but...but best of all she would place her hands just centimeters above the skin and move her
hands in circles, breathing softly, eyes closed...she was an angel...and the near contact was
enough to make a man feel that he had tasted a forbidden heaven. She did all this and I...with my
record for lust and disregard for...(chuckle)well everything...wouldn't touch her. Because she
made me and us better. We were blessed by her and what did we do? We made her hide just like
the rest of us. Pure stoic Turk mask. The best design ever made."
The red head looks up at the sky, wondering why they have dealt them such an awful
fate. Blaming the glittering eyes for their part in what changed so many into less-then-human
beings. He closes his eyes, ever more engulfed in his re-memory. He moves his right arm to his
heart as if to ease the pain. " I remember the exact moment were she stopped being Mercy. It
was the day she met big ol' poppa Shinra. Gross fucking bastard had an affect on everyone.
Controlled the whole fucking world with money and made it look so good. Greed wasn't so bad
when it was promised to your family...to your little brother...or your mother." His face becomes
contorted and nothing escapes from his mouth, not even a breath. When Yuffie begins to move
towards him, he continues his story, as if there were no pause. "Rufus introduces her as Nemesis,
a new member of the Turks, an official member, not just in the way that we saw her as part of
our little family, but official, like a real gun carrying enforcer and shit. She didn't smile at the
old man. He was all smiles though. It was one of them sweet ass parties with all the fancy ladies
and all us gent's in tuxes. I think he was one saki shot too gone to notice that she was going to be
the first female Turk ever. That skirt-chasing bastard wouldn't have allowed it if he was sober.
And Rufus, the smart-ass, knew that. So the big man sanctions Rufus' declaration and wham!
she's one of us, not just another devil in the gutter but part of the worst kinds. Tseng
disapproves, Rude says nothing, and hey I was just thinkin' it was a good excuse to celebrate
harder. So all night I try and get her to losen up, smile a bit, drink something, except there's like
fifty other guys tryin' to do the same an' she doesn't smile or nothin' she just kind of moves
around until she can cling on to Rufus. She doesn't smile the whole night, not one laugh, that is
until she's on the dance floor with the future VP himself. They're doing some fancy tango shit,
and it's like they're having sex on the floor, like they're making it even more obvious...no like
he's making it even more obvious that she is his. That he captured the little bird and she only
sings for him. And after that there were less smiles privately, no more of her healing tricks, no
sweet angel. She carried two nice silver guns and a sniper rifle that would make Vincent blush.
She never missed all those faces. I don't just mean she was never sentimental about the people
she killed, but literally she never missed, perfect shot each time. Her talents for healing were
gone but man she could destroy like no one else. It made our jobs easier. Less bumps and
bruises. But it was odd...like she was sacrificing herself...maybe her soul... so that we didn't have
to bear the jobs on our consciences. Rufus had been saying for a while that he wanted to change
our job. We weren't sappose' to be like this, but his old man changed the whole center mission. I
know Rufus was trying to do something before, that he was trying to change his father's ways.
But all I saw was him using someone who loved him in order to save his own conscience or his
own political record or some shit. I don't know what he was doing. Nothing changed except who
did the dirtier stuff. We are murderers, I know that now, but of all the murders we've ever
committed the one I regret most is killing her spirit."