Chapter 1
This is a Final Fantasy VII fic; I do not own any of the characters except for the two I made up myself.
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Kyo Strife stood in front of the full length mirror in her small bedroom. She'd recently moved into her own small apartment. Her room was mainly white. It was covered in posters. Her large bed took up a majority of the room. It had lavender sheets and blankets with an Asian pattern on it. 2 nightstands sat on either side of it, each with a lamp and various things on them.
It had been 5 years since the previous encounters with Sephiroth. Kei had returned to Shin-Ra and she hadn't seen him at all since, though they kept in touch through letters they sent to eachother. She hadn't been able to tell him about her new job, but was hoping to soon.
She spun around in front of the mirror to see how she looked. She was starting her first job today and she wanted everything to be perfect. She made a few slight adjustments to her uniform. She wore a black suit with a white dress shirt underneath. The collar on the shirt was left undone, and a bit messy, but the jacket was closed, making her look casual but still professional. She had her long hair braided to keep it out of her way, though her bangs were still the same.
She turned and left her room and walked into the short hallway outside, it led to her living room and kitchen. Both were rather small. Though well furnished and kept fairly clean. The Buster Sword hung on the wall to keep it from being damaged. The TV was on and she flipped it off as she walked by. She walked through the kitchen and grabbed her breakfast, a piece of buttered toast, and quickly left the apartment, locking the door behind her.
It was a nice and sunny morning. She started to walk down the street as her phone started ringing. She removed it from her pocket and flipped it open,
"Hi mom."
"Hi!" Tifa exclaimed on the other end, "We just wanted to wish you good luck on your first day!"
"You mean you want to?"
"Well…"
"I know Dad's still upset with me…"
"Don't blame him, you know how he feels about Shin-Ra, just give him some time."
"Yeah, I guess." She said, a little disappointed.
"Anyway, I'd better let you go, wouldn't want you to be late."
"Alright, bye mom." She flipped her phone shut and looked up to find out she'd come to her destination.
The Shin-Ra tower loomed in front of her. She let out a long sigh, a bit nervous to start her first day working here. After a moment she gathered her courage and walked up the stairs and in through the large glass doors. Reno was waiting for her right inside, she was told he'd pretty much be totally in charge of training her,
"Yo."
"Hey." She said, her voice a bit shaky.
"There's no need to be nervous, it's only your first day after all. Not much happens your first day."
"Are you sure?"
"Pretty much." He smiled, "Anyway, you'll have to wait here a minute, I have to go get you a temporary pass."
She slowly nodded as he walked off.
She decided that this might be a good chance to look around a little. She'd walked over to look at a photo on the wall when she was suddenly grabbed around the shoulders from behind,
"Guess who!"
She looked back and up a little,
"Kei!"
He smiled down at her. He was at least a foot taller than the last time she'd seen him, now he towered over her even more. Though other than being a bit muscular, he didn't look any different. He wore pretty much a SOLDIER uniform with the shirt untucked and without all of the armor. He still looked like a young version of Zack,
"How're you doing?" He asked with a friendly smile.
"Good, I'm starting my new job today," She tugged a little on her suit,
"Ah, you're working with the Turks, eh?"
"Yeah."
He sighed, "Well, Reno's coming back, I should probably get going. I'll see you around?"
"Of course." She said waving as he walked away.
Reno walked back to her and handed her a white pass card,
"Let's go. You can use that for now until we can get you a real one."
He turned and started to walk away. She nodded and quickly followed him.
- - - - - - -
He took her up to the 46th floor where the Turks were stationed. 4 offices sat around a small sitting area where Rude sat in front of a TV. It was kind of messy, with papers and magazines all over the place. Reno cleared his throat and Rude looked up,
"Ah, Kyo."
She waved.
Reno walked to a nearby door, "We've rearranged the offices a bit so that you could have your own. Tseng moved to a different area. So you'll be taking Elena's old office."
They went inside. It was very plain. Just a desk with a chair and a phone, a file cabinet and trash can,
"You can pretty much do whatever you want with your office, you'll probably be spending quite a bit of time here."
"Right…"
He turned, "I guess we can go get you a real pass and start your training." He said, as if he couldn't think of anything else to show her, though there was a bit of excitement in his voice,
"Okay."
- - - - - - -
The next day she went directly to her office with a box full of things. The previous day had been a long one, but she pretty much learned what she needed to know to be a good Turk, the rest, as Reno said, was up to experience.
She spent the first hour of being there decorating her office. It looked completely different when it was done. She hung several posters as well as filling the desk with little trinkets and colorful office supplies. She sat down at her desk and admired her new space, satisfied with how it looked.
She was just getting settled into her chair when a loud knock made her jump,
"Wh-who is it?"
The door opened and Reno walked in,
"Woah, nice office."
"Thanks."
He spent a moment looking around, then remembered what he came there for and leaned on the desk,
"Anyway, Rufus wants to see us in his office."
"Okay…" She said, starting to feel nervous again.
"It'll be fine, c'mon."
- - - - - - -
They got to the 70th floor, and Rufus' office, after a rather long elevator ride. He was waiting for them with Tseng and Kei,
"So Kyo," He started, "How're you liking the job?"
"Fine so far…Sir."
"Good good, cause you're going on your first assignment."
"Wha-?" She started, but Reno cut her off,
"It's only her second day! She's not ready yet!"
"Reno!" Tseng shouted, "It's not your decision. And regardless, she'll have to go sometime."
Reno gave out a defeated growl and stepped back.
Rufus cleared his throat and continued,
"This assignment is extremely important, top priority."
"What is it already?" Reno asked.
"It seems that a group of excavators have uncovered something we lost many years ago," He paused, "The Black Materia."
Reno and Tseng jumped a bit at this news. Kyo and Kei exchanged confused glances. She stepped forward a bit,
"May I ask, sir, what is the Black Materia?"
"It was the Materia used by Sephiroth to summon meteor and attempt to destroy our world."
Kyo began to tremble a little but she was able to keep it pretty much unnoticeable,
"Your job will be to obtain the Materia and return it here safely." He looked around, "You four will be going. I expect you to be professional about this."
Reno grumbled, knowing he was referring to him,
"You will also complete this job as quickly as possible."
They all nodded and were dismissed from the room except Tseng. He walked up to Rufus' desk,
"I'm sure you can handle this Tseng."
"There will be no problems."
Rufus handed him a briefcase, "This is what they requested for the trade."
"What is it?"
"That's for me to know…now get going."
"Yes sir." He said, taking the briefcase and leaving.
- - - - - - -
It wasn't long before they got to their destination. Though it was a bit shorter for Kyo who spent most of the trip trying to contain her obvious nervousness. She was surprised when the helicopter landed in Junon.
They quickly exited the chopper to find a young woman waiting there. She had long black hair left loose and wore a yellow sundress with yellow sandals,
"Welcome." She said sweetly.
Tseng nodded, "We should get to business, we're ordered to get this done as quickly as possible."
"Did you bring what we asked for?"
Reno held up to briefcase, "Of course."
"Then, follow me."
She turned and led them toward the elevator.
- - - - - - -
They followed her down and to a small building in a secluded area of the city. Reno looked over his shoulder at Kyo,
"Keep close."
She nodded and picked up her pace a bit, Kei did the same.
They walked inside to a dark room that looked like a large office. Several people stood around the room, surrounding a woman that sat at a desk in the center. She was very tall and slender. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, long bangs falling in front of her narrow face, making it difficult to see her too well. She wore a white t-shirt and black shorts with ankle boots,
"So, you're the Shin-Ra people who've come for the Black Materia?"
"Yes." Tseng said, being as matter of fact as possible, "We've brought what you requested."
"Good." She hissed.
She reached into the top drawer of the desk, pulling out the shining Black Materia. Tseng put the briefcase on the desk. She quickly took it and stowed it away beneath her chair,
"Not going to check it first?"
"I would think that Shin-Ra's people would be as trustworthy as anyone."
She handed the Materia over to him, and he handed it to Kyo. She didn't want to take it, but did so that she wouldn't get into trouble. It terrified her to know that she held something that once almost destroyed the world,
"Now…" The woman said, "Get out of here before I decide that I don't like you…"
Without question Tseng turned and left. Usually he'd stay a bit longer, but with Kyo there he didn't want to start a fight. The others filed out after him careful not to do anything that might start a conflict.
They were completely silent until they got to the elevator, when Tseng sighed,
"That went much better than I'd expected," He turned to Kyo, "Would you mind holding onto that until we get back? You're one of the only ones here who doesn't have a direct connection to it in one way or another."
"Oh…um…sure."
She glanced at Kei who seemed to be fighting with himself not to look in her direction.
They rode the elevator up to the airport dock and boarded the helicopter once again. Kei sat as far away from Kyo as he could, but couldn't seem to be able to keep himself from starting at her and the Materia she carefully held in her hands. Kyo watched him carefully,
"He's still in there…Isn't he…" She thought.
She then thought that perhaps it would be better to just let it go for now and not think about it. She just hoped that she was wrong about it.
- - - - - - -
So that's chapter 1. I know it's kinda boring…but this story has a lot of buildup before things get good, so hopefully the next chapter will be a bit more eventful.