Note: This chapter is a 'stream of consciousness' style chapter, which means that it may not make a lot of sense, but artistically, there's a purpose for that. For future reference, in this story, any time that an entire chapter is in italics, it's a flashback. If only certain parts are italics, then that is 'stream of consciousness'.

Chapter 6- Revolution 7

So then she was dead. Blood…much blood. And much floating in the stream of consciousness for Barret at this time. 'What am I to do? Who would do such a thing?' It was always in the sad times that Barret Wallace seemed a bit more real and vulnerable. And with the loss of his blessed Marlene comes…juice. That's all there is, just glass after glass after glass. It was Marlene's favorite, you know?

'To wait is just an indictment of our government.'

Sure, there is healing by materia for the sick and dying, but who is your police force?

'Reno.'

Who is your detective?

'Rude.'

Who is your crime scene investigator?

'Elena?'

No, she had skipped town. There is no hospital. There are no ambulances. It's all up to the Turks, and that could take days. But it is Barret's fate to live in a house with a dead body in it, right? After all, he should have known that he'd get a little bit older, and a little bit slow.

"Take this, brother. May it serve you well."

'Who was that?', Barret thought. Or was it Barret thinking it? What is a Barret? What is a Marlene? Surely this ghost is no friend of ours.

"Wow, man. Looking at you makes me sober."

'Wordless. Just stay wordless, Barret, and everything's gonna be alright.' Oh, except for one thing. The gil coins. Ah, yes. Every hero gets their face on a coin here. Everyday, all you see is 'I'll have a loaf of bread, and a large soda.', and your slain child on every five-cent piece, smiling, frowning.

"Hey, Barret, are you alright?"

Raging, swirling, twisting, gyrating gray matter. (Doesn't matter). Doth thou red hair elicit a response?

"Barret, I'm going to have to take you in for questioning."

Barret stood to his feet, and queried, "Well, what do you think?" Rude replied, "This looks like a murder. Marlene definitely didn't do this on her own." "Yeah," Reno interrupted, "She's been cut very badly. I haven't seen that much carnage since Sephiroth was here the last time."

"Wait," Barret asked, "what do you mean by 'last time'? Is he back?" Rude answered, "It looks like it. He's acting very strangely, but…"

Upon hearing that Sephiroth had returned, Barret went totally nuts. "He killed my child! He killed Marlene! That punk Sephiroth killed my baby!" Reno replied, empty-headedly, "Dude, she's not really your child."

'We're rolling with flashing lights. The wheels on the car go…She's not really your child…setting the laws of madness into motion.'

If she's not mine, then whose is she? (She is her own.)

Sephiroth did this. No one else could. No one else is capable of 'Okay, we're here.'

Rude began the questioning. "Okay, Barret. We have some questions that we'd like for you to answer. When was the last time that you saw Marlene alive?"

The last time that I was coherent.

"That would be 9 p.m. last night. She went to bed early, but I stayed up till 11 p.m. I didn't hear any odd noises during that time. When 11 p.m. came around, I was out like a light. When I woke up at 8 a.m., I went up to her room, and I discovered her."

In a red nightgown that was originally white.

Reno interjected, "So you're saying that you have no clue about what may have happened during the time between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m.?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying."

"You know, Rude, I think he's telling the truth. I mean, he uses a gun, not a sword, so he's probably not the killer. And if he's not the killer, I find it hard to believe that he would be lying."

"Maybe you're right. But I do have one thing to add. The only thing that we can decipher from the information at the scene is that Marlene's wound was caused by Sephiroth's sword. But we found nothing else. Whoever did this is a really good criminal. I'm guessing that our suspect probably wore a hairnet, gloves, and was covered in saran wrap. I know that sounds stupid, but that's the only way that the suspect would have committed this crime without leaving any DNA. Besides, criminals don't care about looking nice. They do what they have to do."

Barret jumped out of his seat and exclaimed, "So it was Sephiroth! I knew it all along. I bet you he still has the blood stains on his one wing!"

His chicken wing.

So now we wait and watch, Barret. There are no more adventures, so you're a vain man. Become like a watchtower, calling for Sephiroth's execution. Marlene would have been a good looking woman and a great mother some day. But this suspect's name cannot be muttered without annoyance. So just shorten it. Join the club and become a man who calls him Sephy.

Barret's life became empty in that moment, but the band played on.