A/N: Sorry this took me so long to update! I was working on my other fanfictions and then my World History teacher decided to assign a boat load of reading and then the Writer's Block Demons came!
Okay, I'll stop with the excuses. Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy.
Thanks for the idea winterrosa!
Same disclamers as always!
How to be Human
Lesson Eleven: How to Go Shopping (With the Turks)
Shera's (Cinder's) View
I awoke to find a strange sight in the hallway.
Well, basically Master just fell asleep on the floor right in front of my door…Was he that tired? I mean, he promised me he'd come and tuck me in, but it seems he fell asleep directly after that.
I sat down and watched him sleep again.
Isn't weird that people, when asleep, seem totally different than when they're awake?
Master didn't seem so tormented when he was asleep. He was calm and he even was smiling. Good, that meant no nightmares.
I sat there for who knows how long, just watching him. Sometimes he'd mutter to himself, or twitch slightly, but he never awoke.
"Master? You're going to be late for work again," I whispered, nudging him. He murmured inaudibly and tried to slide away from me, but the wall kept him from going anywhere. "Master Zel?"
"Huh?" he opened his eyes and convulsed, sitting up quickly. "What time is it?"
"Six a.m. Master, you're late for work." Master Zel smiled at me, leaning against the wall.
"Not going to work today. We're going shopping, remember?" I blushed. I admit, I had forgotten. "Come on, I'll make breakfast, and you can tell me where you'd like to go." He got up and picked me up too, carrying me into the kitchen piggy-back style.
"Did ya have a good sleep?" he asked.
"Yes, very much so. Did you?" I joked. "Sleeping on the floor couldn't have been comfortable."
"More comfortable than the couch," he replied, smiling.
"Then you should be sleeping on the bed! I'm the…" Master Zel cut me off.
"You're the guest, Cinder. Meaning you get the bed and I get the floor, couch, chair, random sleeping area. Understand?" he stated. He was still smiling, but his eyes had a dark shadow behind them, like he was angry but not wanting to show it. His eyes also seemed greener than their normal bright blue.
Why won't Master let me call myself a slave? Isn't that what I am?
"What would you like for breakfast? You've already had pancakes, so…there's a whole mess of stuff I can make. Just call it out and I'll see what I can do."
"Um…I-I don't know…what would you like?" I asked quietly. I hope he's okay…I didn't know people's eye color could change.
"How about I make you a surprise?" he suggested. I nodded and stared at the table. I listened to him pull out ingredients from the refrigerator and pans from the cabinets.
"So…I'm glad the clothes fit…" Master Zel said, breaking the awkward silence that was forming. "They look good on you." I looked up and nodded happily.
"Thank you very much for making them for me, Master," I replied. He sighed and looked away from me again.
"Could you…not call me that?" he asked the cabinets, beginning to cut some green vegetables (I think they're called bell peppers? Maybe…).
"Call you what, Master?" I asked, confused. "You own me, Master Zel. It's only polite for me to call you that."
"PEOPLE CAN'T BE OWNED!" Master shouted suddenly, whipping around to face me. "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ANYTHING?!" I whimpered and started back at him, my eyes meeting his.
They were completely green.
"M-m-master?"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT! YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE HERE, UNDERSTAND?!" he yelled, pointing at me. "YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN HAVE…" he stopped, suddenly, staring at the hand that was pointing at me. I stared too, and as we watched, dark crimson liquid fell from it and began pooling on the floor. Master Zel looked at his other hand, blood knife resting in his palm. "Figures…" he said, ignoring me and glaring at his badly bleeding hand.
As I watched, the green slowly faded back to clear blue.
"Why does my hand hurt?" Master Zel asked abruptly. I looked at him, shocked. I had nothing to say. "AHHH! IT'S BLEEDING!" Zel screamed, staring at his hand. "AHHHH IT'S BLEEDING! WHY IS IT BLEEDING?!"
"Master Zel?"
"Shit! Shit shit shit!" he said, throwing the knife it the sink and bolting from the room. He came back briefly, saying, "I'm sorry, Cinder, I'll be right back…" The next thing I heard the bathroom sink turn on and he continued cursing as he cleaned the wound.
Five minutes later, he came back into the kitchen with his hand freshly bandaged.
"Heh, sorry about that…Hopefully I didn't get any blood on the food," Master Zel said absently before washing the bloody knife four times with lots of soap and then getting a new one to complete the cutting of the vegetables.
He seemed oblivious to how he'd gotten hurt…did he not remember? It just happened, but he seemed to have totally ignored it.
Can people actually do that?
"So, do you know where you want to go shopping today?" Master Zel asked. I looked up from my plate, biting my lip. (We were eating something called omelets…they were really good.) "Oh…do you not know of any places to shop? Wait, what am I saying? This is your first time out, right?" Master sighed.
"Well…I did hear of one place to go," I offered, feeling slightly stupid.
"Oh? And where's that?" he asked, taking a drink of his coffee. Well, it wasn't really coffee. It was more of coffee creamer and milk and sugar.
"Wall Market." Master Zel chocked on his drink. His eyes went wide and he ran to the sink, spitting it all out and gasping for breath.
"We are not going there!" he said, bright red in the face.
And that was the end of that conversation.
Vincent/Lilith's View
Later That Day: 1:05 pm.
"They're late," Lilith said bitterly. Vincent shrugged and stared at the apartment building where his brother now lived. He, like always, didn't look too pleased with his brother's decision.
"They're Turks, Lilith. 'On time' doesn't register in their brains."
"What about you, huh? You're a Turk," she countered.
"I own a watch," he replied smartly. "Plus I'd be damned to leave you alone with my brother. Who knows what you'd do to him."
"Nothing…that wouldn't help me win the bet, of course!" Lilith smiled.
"You do understand that your pickings of women who could stand Zel's psychosis are quiet limited, right?" Vincent stated, crossing his arms.
"You're so kind to your brother."
"I'm only stating the facts. You know as well as I do that he needs severe psychological aid, among other things."
"Whatever, Vincent. There are girls out there who find Zel's way of life attractive, you know."
"Really? Can you tell me a name of anyone else but River?" he replied, showing one of his rare smiles. Lilith scowled back at him. "Who were you planning to hook him up with anyway?"
"Why does it matter, huh? We're on different sides of the battle, Vince. I don't think we should be sharing our tactics, do you?" Lilith observed, crossing her arms as well.
"I'm just making sure we don't have another 'Lucy' incident, alright? Is that too much to ask?" Vincent spat off to the side, as if the name of Zel's Ex was poison.
"Okay, fine. I was planning on Riley b…"
"Taken."
"What?!" Lilith asked.
"She already has a boyfriend. His name is Aaron Finelli. He's not in Turk; he works as a weapons maker in Sector Two. Don't tell her I know this, either, or I'm getting my head blown off."
"I thought she liked you," Lilith said, frowning.
"Nope." As if cued, Riley ran into view, breathing hard.
"Sorry I'm late," she said, sighing.
"Better be. Have a reason?" Lilith asked. Vincent could think of a few, but kept silent.
"Not one I want to tell you," she replied brightly. "Crap…I need to go back and get my gun. I left in it Sector Two for a touch up…can I go back and get it?"
"Fine…Wait, why don't you just stay with the other thing you left in Sector Two and take the day off," Lilith said, shrugging.
"Other thing?" Riley looked confused. (Though, Vincent noticed, she looked happy to have the day off.)
"Yeah. Vincent was just telling me how your boyfriend lives in Sector Two. Aaron something…"
"Aaron Finelli…Wait a minute! How'd Vincent know about him?!" Riley's cold eyes turned to Vincent, who just shrugged and avoided eye contact.
"Dunno, don't really care…have a good day off Riley…" Lilith replied, thinking that would be the best way to avoid having to watch the smaller girl rip Vincent apart limb by limb.
"Fine…" Riley muttered, turning away. "Oh, and Lilith? Verdot told me to tell you that he can't make it. Freya's sick and he's nursing her back to health…Isn't that cute?! I always knew they were a couple!" Vincent smiled and Lilith scowled. Damn, there went another choice…She was running out of dateable Turks.
"Hey, Riley? Are any of the Turk girls single?" she asked, smiling to hide her true intentions.
"Um….I think River is the only one," Riley replied, stopping and putting a finger to her chin. "But she likes someone else. He just doesn't know it yet."
"And who is that?" Lilith asked, ignoring the smiling Vincent standing next to her.
"I can't tell ya…it's a secret!" Riley said, putting her hands on her hips defiantly. She then sighed. "Okay, just don't tell anyone…It's Zel, alright?" She pointed back to the apartments as she explained. "But it's a perfect match, ya know? She's liked him ever since the problem with Madame Lucifer…erm, Lucy, and everything."
"Madame Lucifer?" Lilith asked.
"Sorry, my nickname for the slut…er, woman," Riley said, smiling. Vincent chuckled. He'd heard worse from the other Turks.
"Why are Zel and River a perfect match?" Vincent asked. He already knew a few reasons, but this was just another way to rub it in Lilith's face.
"They were both born in the Slums, ya know? So they understand each other. I mean, I know River's had it pretty hard before. And Zel must have been miserable too, because what else gives you such a severe case of MPD, right?"
"Riley, do you know what River did before she joined Turk?" Lilith asked.
"She worked at Wall Market…see, that explains why she likes little Cinderella." Vincent frowned.
"What'd she do there?" he asked. Riley glared at him.
"What all girls do at Wall Market, Vincent! Sheesh, you can't be that naïve, can ya?"
"I just never thought River would do something like that," Vincent defended.
"You'd be surprised what hunger will drive you to do, Vincent….you wouldn't know, really. You're a spoiled rich kid…." Riley stopped. "Uh, heh…no offence."
"None taken. I'm not the only spoiled rich kid here anyway," he said, poking Lilith. She just sneered at him.
"How'd she become a Turk then?" Lilith asked, still glaring at Vincent.
"Rito and Tori picked her up…probably after some of her 'services' or something, but then decided to try and help her, ya know? She joined Turk to try to pay them back. They joined shortly after she did, right? That's all I know…You'd have to ask her." Riley nodded, coming to the end of her tale. "I'm gonna go now…Promise you won't tell River?"
"Promise," Lilith said, smiling. Vincent nodded. That was good enough for Riley, who waved and headed off, back to Sector Two.
Lilith looked at Vincent, who was staring at the ground.
"Hello Reality, how can you be so cruel?" she asked, exasperated.
"That's what I asked when Zel showed up on our doorstep," Vincent replied. "There was no reply then either."
2:15 PM
"TOOK YOU ALL LONG ENOUGH!" Lilith screamed. The group of Turks cringed. They were the same Turks who, only a few days before, had saved her life (minus Verdot).
Here's the list (In order of arrival):
Rito, Tori, and River
Kilick and Lin
David and Kyra
Legion and Rachel
All the other Turks had disappeared under "mysterious circumstances." Lilith would get back at them later. What really bugged her was the truth to Riley's words. Every Turk had come in pairs today, except for River, who was the third wheel to Rito and Tori. So much for being only co-workers.
Her yell brought Zel scrambling out of his apartment, followed closely by little Cinder. The Turks promptly introduced themselves to the girl. Vincent noticed that she seemed to like the Twins the most of the group. They instantly took to calling her "little sister" and were carrying her around and giving Zel quite a scare.
"Okay! Enough chit-chat! Let's go shopping!" Lilith said. She was about ready to leave when she noticed Zel's hand was crudely bandaged. "Zel, what happened to you?" Everyone stopped and looked at Zel. He grinned sheepishly back at them.
"I was cutting bell peppers this morning for omelets when suddenly they all attacked me. To stop the tyranny of the bell peppers I bravely defended myself and Cinder and chopped away at them. But one got me…small price to pay to save the world, really," he replied, looking at his hand.
No one said anything to that.
Turk's View: Zel
We'd been shopping for two hours and bought nothing…don't ask me how. I normally have a system that gets me in and out of the store in less than ten minutes, no matter what I'm buying.
Despite my reluctance to stay out in public, I did notice that Cinder seemed to be enjoying herself. Well, at least she'd been smiling the whole time. Sometime in the last ten minutes she'd put one of her hands in mine and the other in River's. It was pretty cute, to see her relaxed and comfortable like this.
"Are we ever going to actually get her some clothes, or just stare at them?" I asked. Some time ago David, Legion, and Kilick had disappeared. I guessed it was when we passed the computer store. Rito and Tori had stayed with us, bless their souls. Vincent seemed reluctant to leave me alone if Lilith was anywhere within ten feet of me or River, I noticed.
What did they bet on?
"We will Zel, don't worry. Just trying to find the right store, alright?" Lin said. I shrugged.
"Fine. I don't know much about clothes shopping anyway. Why buy when you can make, I say," I replied. (Not that I know anything about making girl's clothes.)
"Or steal," River said, eyeing another clothing store with disinterest.
"Why would you steal clothes? It's a waste of talent. Save it for food or money," I said (without thinking, mind you). "Can't live off clothes, let me tell you." River smirked at me.
"I did once," she said. "Top that." I bit my lip, noticing we were going into one of my forbidden topics (Never talk about: Past life, sex life, dead/unknown family, religion, or politics.) Luckily, I didn't have to answer.
"Aw, your daughter is really cute," a woman said, smiling at me and River. "You two must be very proud parents." I stared at the woman.
Wait, parents? Did she mean me and River?! And…Cinder?! What?!
"We are. Thank you so much," River said quickly. I tried not to gawk at her or the woman. Did anyone else find this weird? ANYONE?!
I mean, it's not that I don't think it would be nice to settle down and start a family…No, actually that's one of my goals. And River would make a good mother, don't get me wrong. And sure, I'd be pretty lucky if River was my wife, cause she's really good looking, but….
Wait a minute!
The woman smiled at us again and continued on her way. After she was far enough away, the others started laughing. All but Lilith and Cinder, I noticed.
Why wasn't Lilith laughing? She normally enjoys my humiliation.
"That was funny," River said, smiling at me.
"Yeah, yesterday you tried to kill me and today you're my wife. Wow, time flies, eh?" I said. She snorted and muttered something to herself.
Wait, did she just say "if only?" Why would she say that?
"Master Zel?" I looked down at Cinder (Why must she call me that?!) and smiled.
"Yeah Cinder?"
"Can I be your daughter?" My heart melted from the way she looked at me. I nodded.
"Sure Cinder. If that's what ya want." She smiled at me and nodded back. (Gaia she's really cute. When she grows up I'll be beating guys away from her with my sword, won't I? Heh, that'll be fun.)
As I watched, she looked over at River and then back at me.
"Can River be my mom?" she asked, innocently enough.
Hello floor…we haven't spoken in awhile, have we?
Shera's (Cinder's) View:
"Master, are you okay?" I asked, letting go of Miss River's hand and crouching next to Master Zel worriedly. He'd just tripped and fallen on his face.
"Mm fie," he replied, voice muffled by the floor. I think that meant "I'm fine."
"Zel, get off the floor," Miss Lilith said. Master Zel jumped back to his feet, bright red in the face.
Wow, he must have hit the ground really hard.
"Hey, Ri! Do you think this is a good place?" one of the girls, I think her name was Lin, asked, pointing at a shop.
"Um, sure…" Miss River replied, nodding to her. The others looked at the shop and shrugged. Miss River turned to me, smiling. "Hey, Cinder, why don't you and I and the rest of the girls pick out the clothes while Zel and the guys get some food? Is that alright?" I looked to Master for allowance.
"You can go on if you want to, Cinder," he replied quietly. I smiled and then nodded to Miss River.
"Great! Let's go then!" she said, taking my hand.
"Lin, Kyra, Rachel, Miss Lilith! If you could…" Rito started.
"Please get River new clothing as well!" Tori finished.
"All she has are…"
"Turk uniforms!"
Miss River blushed and glared at the twins. Lilith nodded and the other three girls smiled. There was something hidden behind those smiles, though…they looked evil, almost.
"What's your favorite color, Cinder?" River asked me.
"White," I answered, staring at the mountains of clothing around me. I had to pick from all of this?!
"Ah, the color of innocence. Such a fitting favorite color for such an innocent, sweet little girl," Rachel said, eyeing a bunch of dresses. They were all too big for me, so I guess she was looking for River. "Such an opposite of Ri, too. Her favorite is red…the color of blood, or seduction…" River glared at her. "What? It's not like I was implying anything."
I wonder what "seduction" means…I'll ask Master Zel later.
"Hey, Cinderella, could you try these on?" Kyra asked, coming over with an armful of different outfits. Lin was right behind her, carrying the same amount.
"Whoa there, guys. Slow down a bit," River said. "We don't want to drain Lilith all the way…"
"Oh, I don't mind. Plus she needs it. What am I going to do with the money anyway? I live at the Shinra building most of the time," Miss Lilith stated, smiling. "Hey, River, I found some clothes that Rito and Tori might approve of." River looked embarrassed and ran over to Miss Lilith, leaving me to Lin, Rachel, and Kyra.
"On last question," Rachel said, standing up with a dress for River in her arms, "What colors don't you like?"
"Green." I said quickly.
"Greed, envy, earth, money…" Rachel listed. "Interesting. Why don't you like the color green?"
"It scares me," I replied, shivering.
When Master Zel is angry, his eyes are green.
The girls around me went silent.
"So that's how Zel cut himself," River muttered. I looked around at them. What was going on?
"Come on, Cinder," Lin said suddenly. "Let's try these on and see if they fit."
Turk's View: Zel
"The only excuse you could make…"
"Was a story of bell peppers?"
I looked at the two twins, who stood on either side of me. I felt pretty uncomfortable with them both peering at me with stern looks. As always, Rito was talking first and Tori was completing his sentences. And Vincent was just glaring at me.
"Did Dark Zel…"
"Make his appearance?"
"I don't think so…" I replied, smiling at them. They were unconvinced.
"Master Zel needs to..."
"Gain control."
"Don't call me that!" I yelled, before cringing.
"So that's what set you off this morning, huh?" Vincent said, grabbing some food off the shelves and putting it into the cart. "Look, I'm going to see if Dad can get some more pills for you, okay?"
"Can he get the same stuff in liquids?" I asked, trying to put some of the food back. Vincent stopped me. (I guess he's paying. I could never afford some of this stuff.)
"Little brother needs to learn…"
"To swallow his pills."
"If I could, I'd be dead," I shot at them. The twins stuck their tongues out at me.
"If you die, River will be sad," Rito stated.
"No one will take care of Cinderella," Tori added.
"They both love you, you know," they said together. I slipped and looked at them, surprised.
"What was that?" Vincent asked, helping me up. We prepared ourselves for a twin style explanation. Rito was first, Tori second, than Rito again, and then Tori finally. Like a poem.
R: "River told us of a man in the slums that saved her once."
T: "She never forgot that man, and loved him very much."
R: "That man joined Turk, and now he's here."
T: "Still totally oblivious, it seems."
I stared at them.
"She remembers that?"
The walk back to the clothing store was painful. The twins' eyes were triumphant and Vincent's were boring into the back of my skull. I refused to tell him what happened in the slums because I didn't want to bring up my past. He didn't seem to care and kept bugging me about it.
"What'd they mean, Zel?" he asked again.
"Look, Vincent, I don't want to talk about it, alright? I didn't even recognize her, so it's not that important!" I barked, refusing to turn around to face him. We were back at the store anyway.
"Zel! Vincent! Twins!" Lin was waving to us, holding bags in one hand. Kyra and Rachel were also holding bags. Lilith was finishing up paying. (Oh jeeze, how much was this?!)
River and Cinder stood together, and Cinder was smiling. River was not.
"Did they buy you…?" Rito asked.
"Some pretty new clothes?" Tori finished. I didn't know why, but their statement made me feel envious. Maybe because the only thing I've ever seen her wear was her Turk uniform.
"Unfortunately…" River muttered.
"Hey, you look good in this stuff!" Kyra stated. Cinder ran over to me and threw her arms around my legs.
"Thank you. Today was fun!" she said. I smiled and patted her head.
"It's not over yet, Princess!" Lilith said, coming out. She smiled at me. (Oh dear Gaia, now what?!) "It's time for a fashion show!"
Please someone kill me.
Unknown View
A silent figure sat on the roof of the outdoor mall, watching the group of Turks with binoculars. He focused the binoculars onto the blonde-haired Turk, smiling heartlessly.
"Eleven years you've run," said he. "But to no avail. And you thought you could hide." The man laughed, shaking his head. "Stupid Dog…I thought you knew better." He looked back through the binoculars and scanned the group before focusing on Zel again. "But I've found you, Dog. There's nowhere to run now."
He moved his binoculars to the little girl hugging his Dog's knees, his smile growing.
"Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide."
A/N: Mes evil! Haha! Please Review! Thank you for reading!