Chapter 12
The streets were mostly dry as Reno walked, the pavement still damp in patches but now largely safe thanks to the cool morning. The clouds had closed around the light patches again though, throwing the city into dreary shadow. All around, the winds had changed direction and picked up a little, now blowing chill air down from the north. Dark skies reaching all around promised more cheerless days to come.
Reno walked with his head down, seemingly unassuming but his steps quick. Today, it seemed, people were willing to dare the weather and here and there clusters of them strolled down the street or migrated from shop to shop. Reno was glad; with the dark shirt and his jacket left conveniently back at the apartment, he blended in with the usual pedestrians. Today he just might need all the security he could get.
As he walked, Reno's thoughts mirrored the day outside. Part of the reason he walked quickly was to hide the anger, or at least spend it in a constructive way until he found someone he could hurt. It was that damned Valentine, him and the kid, and he hated them. Maybe the kid less, but definitely Valentine. He wondered if anyone would miss the tall, secretive building if it happened to disappear in the next 24 hours, and decided probably not. Of course, he couldn't, not now, not when his only other leads in a case he was no closer to solving were there. Still, he derived a grim satisfaction from the thought.
What was Valentine playing at? That's what he would really like to know. The vampire was delusional, perhaps, but that didn't justify it. He of all people should know that there are no heroics in a Turk's life. There had never been, and Reno would fight to the death to keep it that way.
He turned a corner to the right, heading towards the inner city.
When the damn kid had made his appearance out of nowhere, Reno had felt bad for him. Alright, he admitted it. So shoot him. But it was what followed that had burned so much.
Once the kid had become coherent again, he'd apologized eighteen times or so, obviously hoping Reno and Vincent would forget about the whole incident. A little hard, considering the random teleportation that appeared to be involved. He'd been a little put out by the lack of food in the apartment, but he'd been calm enough to talk pretty quickly. Not wanting to rush Deth but knowing that time was short, Reno had tried to get him to explain it all. The answering words he'd gotten, although he didn't know why, had sent a shiver down his spine.
"It was… I don't know. I just don't know. I was standing in Tifa's living room, looking at her pictures on the shelf. There was one of all AVALANCHE together, and I got this weird feeling looking at it. I dunno. It probably doesn't matter. I just looked at it, and even Vince looked happy. I just… wanted it to be like that again, you know?"
"Okay…Great. What then?"
"Well, then I picked up this other picture. It had a girl I didn't know in it standing with Cloud. She had a pink dress and green eyes and this smile…"
"The Ancient. Gotcha."
"What?"
"It was the Ancient Strife and co. were traveling with. The last member of AVALANCHE."
"What happened to her?"
"Dunno exactly. Died."
"Oh…"
Vincent had said nothing, he remembered. So, after a moment, Deth had gone on.
"Again, it's kinda weird. Sorry. I was just looking at the picture and in it Cloud was trying not to smile and it was just one of those moments that… felt right? I can't explain it better than that. You know sometimes when you're with some people and you're happy and you just know, 'this is where I want to be'?"
"Yeah… I know."
"Well, it was like that. Sorry I can't explain it better."
"Don't sweat it. How did that land you here, though?"
"I can't figure that out either. I was looking at this picture, and then suddenly it felt as if the whole world had gone wrong. Like, twisted all around me. I panicked. I can't remember too well, but I think I ran for the door and the last thought I remember was that I wanted to find you guys. Then it all went dark."
Reno thought about it now, and it still made no sense whatsoever. He'd understood more or less what the kid had been trying to tell them, but that didn't make it better. According to what Deth had told them, he'd lost about a day between when he'd last been in Midgar and his sudden appearance. Reno felt as if he could feel the outline of the puzzle, but he didn't have all the pieces. Hell, he didn't even have the first four corner pieces. But that was where Valentine had gotten it wrong.
That damnable vampire had made some very stupid assumptions. Who in hell did he think he was? The thought made Reno dig his hands into his pockets a little deeper. He hadn't thought that Valentine could honestly be that stupid.
Sure, he'd done the logical thing, calling up Strife and Lockheart to make sure they didn't have heart attacks. He'd reassured them in his patently untalkative way that they had Deth and the kid would stay with them. They had little other choice. Sending him back now might be dangerous, and with no idea what was happening it was safer to keep him close. A trip to Costa del Sol would see Deth safely home, and then they could all get on with their own bloody lives.
But Valentine, the idiot, had turned around afterwards with his dark eyes and his 'look at me I'm mysterious' attitude and had expected Reno to care. How could he be that idiotic? He'd calmly informed Reno that they would investigate, solve the mystery. All along implicitly telling Reno that they were off to be good little superheroes, trooping off to save the day. Reno just could not get over the almost inconceivable stupidity of it. This was his problem and once it was solved the world could go to hell for all he cared.
When had Valentine gone so perilously wrong himself? He'd been a Turk; he knew the ropes. He'd even played the AVALANCHE game for his own personal benefit, and Reno had admired him for that. But this… 'No fucking way' was the politest way of putting it he could think of. He wanted nothing to do with heroics, or honor, or justice or any of that other bullshit. He didn't want to be singled out and noticed by all the people he'd spent valuable time avoiding. All he wanted, the only thing, was to find Elena and Rude and know they were safe so he could go back to his dark hole in Midgar and get on with what remained of his life.
As he got closer and closer to the market, more people appeared. It was a comforting thought, that people were so predictable. He also really, really didn't want to stand out today. There hadn't been any time to do anything about the hair, but unless things were more drastically wrong than he expected, it would not likely be a problem. The central market of downtown Junon would be emptier today than usual, probably, but it was always a bustling place filled with people of all nationalities. Besides, it would be good practice. He hadn't done a good covert reconnaissance job in a while and the last thing he wanted was to get rusty.
The store in question he was looking for was not far off of one of the main market street branches. He'd gotten the address easily enough; a quick word to the slightly creepy desk guy in the apartment building had produced a lot more information about the shop than he could comfortably have expected to hear. When Reno had blandly asked the man how he knew Elena and Rude's revenue for the past six years was, he'd only smiled eerily and said that it was common knowledge. Reno had left the building feeling a little less secure after that.
Still, getting information easily was a good thing no matter what superstitious people told you. As a Turk, it was important that you ran only on cold logic, and if it's easy than it's easy. He had little in the way of equipment to deal with problems if they arose, so he'd just have to deal with things as they came and hope that they wouldn't come at all. Of course he had his gun, but he'd left the EMR Valentine didn't know he'd brought back in his room. Just as well; he was traveling light today and he didn't expect any confrontation.
He watched the stalls as he passed them, a variety of colors, sights, and smells rising up around him. Spices drifted in the wind, and seemed an odd contrast to the biting cold that brought them. He was used to the temperature, though, and it bothered him little if at all. The thin shirt was the only protection he needed against the wind. If he was up north in the snow fields, a jacket might be needed, but he could deal without issue. At least, he supposed, Mako injections were good for something.
A large shop front proclaimed that it sold the trendiest fashions in the city for the best prices, and walking by Reno resolved to visit the tiny little out-competed stand across the road from it. Maybe they wouldn't sell rip and bullet-proof shirts, but unless he wanted to keep stealing Valentine's, a trip there would be in order. He didn't even need to remember Tseng's chillingly dispassionate summation of market practice to know where to go. Turks always needed to know how the world worked, after all, if they were to manipulate it.
The turnoff he was looking for came into sight on the left, and Reno casually crossed the road before sauntering unimportantly down this new direction. Feigning interest, he wandered from stall to stall, occasionally picking something up to examine it before continuing on. The road was wide but not long, and he sought out the store on the very corner.
It was there, of course, just as the man had told him it would be. A large red and white sign proclaimed that flowers were sold here, and Reno felt a tiny grin appear. It was like Deth had said, just like it in fact. Standing here and looking at the flower displays in the windows, it just felt right. The strange twisted irony that could lead two Turks to open a flower shop of all things made Reno want to laugh until Elena and Rude found him on the corner, just standing there, laughing.
A large billboard to the front of the shop told Reno that roses were on special sale this week, and he let the grin creep a bit further before heading towards the door. He noticed the bell that would ring as soon as he pulled it open, the flowers lined up in perfect rows, the cheerfully Elena decoration, the bright lights that weren't on, the locked door and the closed sign hanging against the window.
Despite that, he pulled on the door handle, willing it to open. Its solid refusal to move made him feel suddenly slightly sick. He stared at the door for a minute longer before noting the closed sign was crooked. Although it was hung on the inside of the door, he had a very strong feeling neither Elena nor Rude had been the ones to hang it there. Trying to keep the weird panic he felt from rising above a bare minimum, he turned with a completely blank face and headed back out into the street.
* * * *
This time, information had not been very forthcoming. No one in the neighboring shops knew anything about it other than that the store had been closed for several days now and neither Elena nor Rude had been seen. Many of them were fairly snide about it, implying that the store had probably gone under due to bankruptcy, and Reno kept his hands carefully in his pockets.
He figured if worst came to worst he could head back to the apartment building and ask the desk guy – he was certain the man would know where Elena and Rude lived, as well as the rest of the entire population of Junon – but he didn't intend to give up yet. Still, he was quickly running out of options. The last store he tried had yielded nothing but a disapproving glare from the woman at the counter who informed him that if he wanted flowers there was absolutely nowhere else to buy them except her own shop. When asked by the woman who he was buying them for he'd replied that they were 'for her daughter' before making a hasty retreat back out into the cold, wet street.
Standing in the damp, he'd given the street another look over before finally giving up. No one here knew anything, of that he was certain. He'd heard nothing but ignorance today; a lie would have been recognized in an instant. What that left was to return empty handed and hope that further leads would be forthcoming. He was just turning to leave when out of the corner of his eye he saw a young woman approach the front of the locked flower shop.
Pivoting quickly to watch her, Reno saw as the girl tugged on the door, glared at the sign and turned disconsolately away. The look of worried frustration on her face that nearly paralleled the one he'd worn before was suddenly a source or inspiration and hope. Hurrying, he jogged over to catch up with her.
"Wait! Excuse me!"
The woman turned around to stare at him, almond eyes inquiring. They were a deep blue, much darker than his own, and they had a Wutaian set to them that was impossible to miss. Black hair fell just below her shoulders, also a telltale indication of her heritage. In a quick study of the woman, he judged her to be about his own age and probably from a middleclass Junonian-Wutaian family. He wasted no time in putting on his best concerned citizen look.
"Sorry to bother you, but I couldn't help but notice you trying to get into the shop over their." He vaguely pointed in the direction of the flower store. "I was wondering if you might know why it's closed today."
The woman gave him a funny look before re-shouldering her slim black purse.
"I'm sorry. You are…?"
Reno smiled quickly.
"Oren Vale. Nice to meet you."
The woman shook his hand with a tight smile.
"Nice name. It suits you." Reno's own smile widened. "I'm Yolie Takahashi."
"Nice to meet you too, Yolie. I'm looking for the proprietors of the store. I'm an old friend, you see, and since I was passing through I was hoping to look them up."
"You know Elena and Rude?" Her smile became more genuine.
"That's right. We were all friends back in Midgar before Meteor, although we've gone our separate ways in the past few years."
"Always happy to meet a friend of a friend."
"Oh?"
"Well, I'm kind of Elena's self-proclaimed best friend." She laughed unselfconsciously and Reno found himself attracted to her upfront-ness. "Met El' when they moved up here, and she seemed kinda depressed. It was my father that helped set them up with their shop and inventory."
Reno nodded, and turned to half-look at the shop.
"Friend of a friend, huh? I'd love to become your friend and make the circle complete, but right now I'm a little worried about Elena and Rude."
Yolie nodded, her eyes serious, only a trace left of her smile.
"Mm. Me too. It's not like them to just disappear like this, not at all. If something had come up I'm sure they'd have told me."
"Definitely not a good sign. I was thinking of dropping by their house to see if everything's all right, but I don't have their address."
Quickly and efficiently, Yolie opened her purse before locating a slip of paper and a pen. She scribbled a house number and street name down before handing him the paper and slipping the pen back into her purse and closing it again.
"Here. I trust you. I'd even come with you, but I'm running late as it is. I'll probably drop by the house later to check in, and if you're still there maybe I'll see you there."
"And if I don't?" He was smiling again, although this time his eyes were a little dangerous. Her own, however, were no less so.
"Feel free to look me up. I'll look forward to it."
She turned, and started away with a small wave. Her low heels clicked softly on the pavement, and he watched her move away before turning over the paper. On the other side was another address, and this one in even faster handwriting. The fact that he hadn't even seen her write it was probably what made him decide to take her up on the offer at a later date. Even if the empty store still had the sense of profound wrongness, it was a start.
* * * *
The house was empty, too. Not only was it empty, but creepily so.
When Reno had arrived, he'd realized something was wrong before even starting up the front walk. The small garden was wrong, the front steps were wrong, and the darkness inside the house was very wrong. The door had been locked, but at this point he hadn't let it be a problem. There were few people around to see anyway, but he made a show of finding a 'key' and working it into the lock before finally, triumphantly opening the door. The bent wire was promptly returned to his pocket with silent thanks, and the realization that Elena and Rude had felt no need to install a better lock stirred up a strange feeling he couldn't put a name to. There was something of sadness to it.
Inside of the house was even more wrong than the outside. There weren't even any pretenses here. Nothing stirred within the confines of the house, not even a stray air current. No dust had settled, and only a resounding hollow feeling was left behind to remind anyone entering that once there had been so much more here.
Wooden floors stretched through the small house, but they made no sound where he walked and no comfortingly familiar creaks were to be found. As an experiment he whistled, only to hear the sound die instantly. It was almost as if the walls were absorbing all invading noise. Next, he lit a cigarette, feeling very alone in the empty house, and he watched as the smoke hung heavily in the air. A bad feeling began very slowly to creep up on him.
He wandered the first floor of the house slowly, wondering what it had been like before. The kitchen also was completely bare, stripped to the floorboards of anything that might betray life. He scanned that room, too, wondering if that was where the fridge had stood, or if this was where Elena and Rude had sat at their table, talking late into the night. A sliding door led out to a small backyard, but he did not look. There would be nothing of importance there, and it would be just as wrong as the front.
He hesitated before moving upstairs, but knew it could not be avoided. He tested the first wood step, noting that they had once been carpeted. It made no sound at all, and he made his way up, sliding a hand along the railing and feeling the strange warmth of it. There was more, he knew, more emptiness and more silent echoes of a life that wasn't his. He did not want to see them, or the freshly painted white walls that were everywhere. He had no doubt that the flower shop would look like this too very soon, perhaps by the time he returned. He decided he did not want to go back.
At the top of the stairs, Reno hesitated, turned around, and descended back down again. He had no need to see what wasn't there. The only question remaining was, what next?
He knew Elena, and he knew Rude even better. The two had been partners and friends for seven years, and he supposed that if anyone could figure this out, he could. Now if only he could think… He glared suspiciously at the walls, feeling suddenly as if they were pressing in around him, listening to his thoughts. He shook it off quickly before lighting another cigarette.
What would Rude do? If he had any inkling whatsoever of whatever had happened, he would have tried to insure against it, obviously. There was no guarantee this hadn't been instantaneous, surprise. To a greater or lesser extent, it probably had been. Still, what would Rude have done…?
Reno made for what had been the main room of the house, leaving a trail of heavy smoke behind him. He wished sincerely he had a good stiff drink as well. No help for it though. Waving out the cigarette, he dropped it on the floor. He felt no guilt for the action; it was something where there had been nothing. Now… time to see exactly what he was up against.
Dropping to his knees, Reno carefully ran his hands over the wood floor, feeling for any kind of crack or irregularity that might show him something. Nothing, of course. Well, fair enough. Rude never did a shoddy job of anything, no matter how much of a rush he was in. So, time to try something else then. Softly, he wrapped against the boards, trying to feel for a difference, or perhaps a slight change in sound. Nothing came immediately, and he tried to think.
Moving forwards, Reno worked his way around the room, testing the floor and occasionally the walls for something, anything. It wasn't until he had begun his second trip around that he finally began to pick up on it.
Standing, slowly, Reno carefully stepped towards the center of the floor. It was solid, of course, and the nothingness was there if he had no doubts. Thinking fast, he stepped right, and then right again, keeping his steps even and measured. Seven steps right, almost touching the back wall, and then three steps forward, one back, one left. That was it. He could feel it almost as soon as his feet touched the wood.
Seven, three, one, one. Of course! He should have known. Only Rude would think of something that stupidly convoluted. It had been the code to Tseng's office, which he and Rude had cracked the first week after Tseng's promotion. They'd plastered the inside with the worst photos they could get their hands on of Scarlet, which were pretty bad considering. Tseng had walked in the next morning, walked out again, and started to laugh. He and Rude hadn't even gotten into trouble because Tseng was too proud of them for breaking the code. The lock had called for the input of thirty-five numbers followed by the depression of the whole pad. Thirty-five numbers, right. Seven, three, one, one. He and Rude had used it as their secret code for 'trouble' ever after.
Quickly, Reno began to examine the floor again, but with a different approach this time. Now he didn't look for differences, but places where the grain of the wood met up exactly. Not too exactly, of course, that would have been a dead giveaway. Smiling a little, bleakly, he extracted a small nail file from his pocket that he'd swiped from one of the stores he'd visited that morning. Drawing it along the edge of two boards, he dug it between them.
The board gave way with surprising ease, and Reno lifted out as much as he could from that side before turning and starting on the left, and then the right. It took a little effort, but no time at all. He finished quickly, standing back to admire his handiwork before gripping the uplifted section of flooring as best he could and pulling up.
The boards clattered against the rest of the floor, dissonant with the hungry silence, and Reno slipped quickly into the small space below. It was a hollow not quite his full height, and about a meter and a half across. Ducking down, he peered about while wishing he had a pocket light of some sort. It was completely dark in the shadows under the floor, and Reno saw nothing at first.
Trust Rude to make things unnecessarily difficult. Although, under the circumstances, Reno was quietly glad for the extra precaution. He had no trouble finding what he was looking for this time, though.
The far right corner of the small enclave came free in his hands with only minimal effort, and he pulled the fake panel lose and away. His and Rude's office had been on the far right corner of the Turk's floor when they'd been rookies and hadn't merited their own space yet.
Inside he found only a thin piece of paper, smooth under his hands and relatively new by the feel and texture of it. He took it hurriedly, moving towards the light. He knew without knowing that there was no time to waste at all. Pulling up to stand straight again, he held the paper up so the thin daylight could let him read it. He recognized the handwriting instantly as Rude's, careful and precise as always. The black ink it was written in was unfamiliar to him, but it looked inexpensive and was probably one of the common Junon brands. He read.
Reno, if you're reading this, get away now.
They're coming for us, I can see the signs already. They say it's an end to Shinra and the start of something new. I don't know what happens to the people who disappear, but neither Elena nor I want you dragged into this. Junon's already taken, and probably Midgar. Get somewhere safe and keep your head down. I don't know if this one will blow over, but if you have a chance to get out, do it.
El' and I never forgot you. Run.
Reno swore and crumpled the paper in his hand. He looked around the empty house a last time, as if searching for something that would contradict the note he still held. Only the emptiness answered.
Apparently things were a lot more drastically wrong then he'd thought after all.
A/N – First and foremost, this chapter is dedicated to Tijuana Pirate because it was her birthday yesterday. Happy eighteenth, T-Pirate. Just no more root beer, okay? ^_- Anyway, Reno's being depressed and he probably has reason. I don't think Vincent wants to be a hero, so I don't know what Reno's talking about, but I suppose we'll see. Heh. I'm going to try to post another chapter but it won't be until later. Mega work has to be done this weekend, so that has to take priority. Le sigh.