Penance

©®™ Lt. Commander Richie

Disclaimer:Happy Chrismahanukkwanzica! Yes, I know I spelled all the elements of that word correctly. I also know that two plus two is four, and when you take cranberries and stew them like prunes, they taste much more like applesauce than rhubarb does!))

Dedicated to Tetsuya Nomura. May he never find this.

Chapter 23

"D'you think he's okay?" Marlene and Denzel had managed to find a small park, which only qualified as such because of a watered-down old sandbox with rotting sides and a small metal slide that led into it. The two stood in front of a park bench, staring down at the immobile form of a teenage boy with spiked black hair. His white checkered coat had its sleeves ripped off, and under it he had a short-sleeved black sweater and a red shirt with sleeves so long they covered his fingers. His pants were stained and dirty and his shoes were scuffed and torn.

"He's probably fine. C'mon, let's go find Cait Sith." Denzel said, taking Marlene by the hand and trying to pull her away.

"No! He's probably dead! Maybe we should tell someone!" The little girl said, wrenching her hand from Denzel's protective grasp. With a sigh the boy gave in, raising an eyebrow at the teen on the bench in distaste.

"He's breathing; he's alive." He assured, and then turned to leave.

"C'mon, wake up!" Marlene called, shaking the teen on the bench with both hands. Denzel whipped around and pulled her away as he swiped out groggily, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"Man... That was some party..." He trailed off, looking around. "Where the hell am I?"

"Nibelheim." Denzel answered shortly, crossing his arms. The guy jumped, and then frowned.

"Yeah, I know that. I live here. Where in Nibelheim?" The teen asked shortly, standing on shaky legs and crossing his arms. He winced as his left arm bumped against something in his coat, cradling it gingerly before simply leaving it hanging limp at his side.

"I don't know... You live here, right?" Marlene asked, looking up at the teen. He nodded, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, I do." He turned back to Denzel, his slight smile curving into a frown. "Hey, kid. Take good care of your little sis. There are some real creeps in this town."

"She's not my sister, but whatever." Marlene sighed, tugging on the side of the teen's jacket. He knelt down next to her and she bowed deeply to him.

"I'm sorry for waking you up." She apologized, and then smiled widely. "My name's Marlene!"

"Cute. Y'know, I've got a sister your age." The guy paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. "You guys had lunch yet? I think this is North Park, and if that's the case I live nearby. My mom won't mind."

"No." Denzel closed the distance between them, staring up defiantly at the unknown guy. "I don't even know your name. Why would we go with you?" He grabbed Marlene's hand, dragging her behind him. The teen smiled and tousled his hair, chuckling softly.

"That's what I wanted to hear. Alright..." He trailed off for a moment, pulling a chain from his pocket and flipping open the watch at the end before closing it and shoving back in the deep pocket. "Name's Zachariah Mordukai. But you guys can call me Zack, kay?"

"Zackie!" A little girl in a faded green dress screamed as she ran, pulling on his right sleeve with a vengeance. Zack bent down and scooped the little girl up in both arms, wincing slightly as she elbowed his left.

"Abvalia!" He smiled widely, his little sister wrapping her small arms around his neck as he re-opened their house's screen door and let Denzel and Marlene in. "Ma! I brought some kids for lunch!" Marlene stared in wonder at the mess that was the front room of the house, small dolls littering the floors next to stuffed Chocobos and a wooden rocking Chocobo.

"Zachariah Erissyth Mordukai, where were you last night?" A woman screamed from deeper within the house. Zack blanched, setting his little sister on the floor and running into the house.

"Ma, I swear, I was gonna come back!" His pleas fell of the deaf ears of his apron-wearing mother, who thwacked him soundly on his messy black hair with her wooden spoon. Abvalia grinned at Marlene, exposing her two missing front teeth.

"My name's Abby. Call me Abvalia and I'll kill you dead." She threatened, as though it was the most normal thing in the world to be threatening people she had never met. Denzel stepped between them both, towering over the little girl in the green dress with a threatening look of his own on his face.

"If you try, I'll get you first." He commanded, and the girl quickly adopted a hurt face and began to wail. Somewhere deeper in the house, loud and blaring music stopped and a girl began screaming for quiet. Zack ran back into the room, scooping up his little sister under his right arm and bending down and picking up a few toys from the floor.

"Lunch is Costa Del Sol-fried Chocobo. Go wash up, you two look like total crap." He said, halfheartedly waving the small red plush with an orange nose and large eyes in front of his little sister's face. She grumbled about something, but took the Muppet for what it was and hugged it tightly. Marlene nodded, following a clear path to the clearly-seen open door of the bathroom. Denzel followed dutifully behind, wincing as he stubbed his toe on a doll-sized car.

"I know it'll be rude, but let's just go." The boy whispered, taking the soap from Marlene and running his hands under the water.

"We can't!" She protested at the same voice, furiously scrubbing at the multitudes of suds on her hands. "It wouldn't be fair! 'Sides, it's nice here."

"That girl is weird. His mom sounds mean." He reached for a towel, but only found a threadbare washcloth with a small Chocobo with a bow in its feathers embroidered onto a corner and ready to fall off. He half-heartedly dried his hands, handing the little washcloth to the girl next to him. She nodded, drying her hands more thoroughly.

"But that's okay, right? It's a family." She said solemnly. Denzel paused, before pulling the little girl to his side in a one-armed hug.

"Yeah, I'spose." He shrugged, letting her go. There was a crash as a toy car was kicked aside, and Abvalia ran into the bathroom and grabbed at Marlene's arm.

"C'mon, c'mon! S'time for lunch!" She cried, and with a small sigh the girl followed the homicidal-sounding smaller girl resignedly. Denzel followed the two, carefully avoiding the plastic obstacles littered about the floor. A particularly nice smell permeated the house, the dull roar of indiscernible rock music restarting deeper down one of the hallways. Two extra settings were put at the table, a pink plastic plate at each. Zack sat at one side of the table, idly balancing his spoon on his nose.

Their mother was somewhat frazzled-looking, her black hair with shocks of gray in the front pulled back into a small twist on top of her head. Her apron was pink, a lace fringe around the sides that was broken in places. She stood against the counter, slowly slapping her open palm with her wooden spoon and glaring at her oldest son with a vengeance. A small ding from the egg-shaped timer to her left made her break the stare, bending over to pull the bird meat from the oven. Marlene bowed respectfully as the woman placed the pieces on plates, pulling herself up onto one of the stools in front of the extra settings.

"Thank you for letting us have lunch with you." She said, and the woman smiled warmly. This made every wrinkle on her face fold onto itself, a few strands of silver hair falling into her face.

"That's not really a problem, we would have had leftovers anyway. It's not as though my oldest hardly eats anyway." She sat down at the table across from Zack, divvying out bits and pieces of fried Chocobo with a spatula. The music in the depths of the house stopped abruptly, a door opening and shutting. A girl with jet black and unruly hair, a magenta streak down one side, plodded across the kitchen and pulled out the last chair, grabbing the largest Chocobo piece and dropping it on her plate.

"Who're the squirts?" She asked through a mouthful of Chocobo, patting her face with a napkin.

"'M not a squirt!" Abvalia screamed, standing up on her chair.

"I wasn't talking to you!" The oldest shot back, taking another bite of Chocobo.

"Shut up! Both of you!" Zack finally yelled, putting his head in his hands. A few pieces of black hair flopped over his face, and his mother reached across the table and patted him on the head a few times.

"Be quiet and eat, both of you." She reprimanded. The eldest chewed thoughtfully for a moment, brushing her magenta streak out of her eyes with one striped sleeve-covered hand.

"So, what the heck are you two boogers doing here anyway? Where'd Zack find ya?" She asked, setting her fork down next to her surprisingly empty plate.

"Be nicer!" Abvalia protested, but did not leave her seat.

"I guess we were in North Park. We're not from around here, you see." Marlene said, wiping her face with the napkin in her lap. "We're looking for a stuffed talking cat. He's got a crown an' a cape." She took another bite of Chocobo, setting down her fork.

"I've got a toy like that!" Abvalia smiled, jumping down from her seat and leaving her food nearly untouched. Denzel perked up from where he was eating like he had never had good cooking in his life, looking around at the sudden absence of both girls; Marlene had run off after Abvalia and was hot on her heels.

"Slow down, kid. You're gonna give yourself a stomachache." Zack said softly through clenched teeth. His eyes were closed, and it seemed as though his right hand was trying very hard not to clutch at his left. His sister rolled her eyes, blowing her streak out of her face.

"Not again." She muttered, getting up and putting her napkin on her plate. "I'm leaving before he starts dripping goo everywhere." As she passed her brother, she tousled his hair a bit. "See ya, nasty."

"Zachariah!" Their mother rushed to his side, pulling his sleeves up on his left arm. A swathe of white bandages, stained black and gray in a dozen different places all over his forearm, was wrapped loosely around his arm. "Honey, are you alright?" She asked, peeling the stained bandages away from her son's arms with gentle hands. The skin exposed was pale and nearly translucent, marred heavily with black splotches that the boy knew only all too well.

"Geostigma." He murmured, as Zack's right hand finally flew to his wrist and he doubled over from the pain.

"'Ey, Tuesti, ain't tha' cat got a PHS innit?" Cid walked at a normal gait, his Venus Gospel slung over his shoulders and his arms hanging over it loosely. Reeve nodded, fiddling silently with his own PHS.

"It's unreachable. Something's wrong on that end, it has to be." He said absentmindedly, nimble fingers prying open the back of his PHS and idly playing with the battery. As he re-inserted it a fourth time, the battery sparked and he nearly dropped it. The cellular began ringing loudly, and he slid the back onto the unit and flipped it around to see an unknown number. He began to grow uneasy, pausing his walk and hitting the 'reply' button.

"Hello?" Reeve asked, looking up at the darkening sky with worry. The connection was surprisingly clear, however, belying that it was a landed line somewhere in the town.

"Mr. Tuesti?" Marlene's small voice was on the other end, and the man relaxed. Ahead of him, both Cid and Vincent had stopped their silent search for the missing stuffed AI, and turned to him.

"Marlene? Are you alright?" He asked, leaning down into the phone as though he could see her on the other end.

"I'm okay, and so's Denzel!" She sounded happy, and suddenly there was a crash and yelling on the other end of the connection. "Abby! Turn him off!" The call wasn't directed into the phone, and angry screaming was heard in the very background. A burst of carnival music flowed through the phone, and Reeve held the unit away from his face slightly.

"Och, laddie, d'jer miss me?" The strangely mechanical and accented voice of none other than the stuffed animal they had been looking for burst through the phone, and the former head of Urban Development cracked a grin. He pantomimed frantically to Vincent and Cid, pointing to the phone hurriedly.

"Cait, where are you?" Reeve asked, and he could hear more yelling on the other end of the line. "Are you and Marlene in trouble?"

"Nae, nae! Jes' havin' ohselv's a bit'o fun!" The cat said, and there was the sound of a gloved paw being placed over the receiver. "Well, ye best be findin' tha' piece'o machinery!"

"Ye be... Erm, you're missing parts?" Reeve asked, nearly speaking like the cat he had so painstakingly crafted.

"Me PHS be gone, lad. 'S why I could'nae contact ye." The cat explained, and then added something in a whisper. "I best be goin' naow, I'm in the North part'o town. Lil' place, real cozy-like. S'next to a park- Yaah! Y'best be keepin' tha' thing away from me!"

"Cait? Cait!" The line was dead, and resignedly Reeve pulled it away from his ear. He rolled his eyes and looked up at the overcast sky again, running his hand through his hair. "He's in the North part of town, with Marlene and Denzel. Someone's letting them use their phone, so I suppose we'd better get a move on." Suddenly Vincent turned, attentive to something that the others in the groups couldn't hear. His hand went to his gun, and he turned back to Reeve.

"Were Sephiroth's Remnants- the other parts of the Jenova Project -were they ever rounded up and taken somewhere safe?" He asked, already loading his gun with short movements. Reeve shook his head, perplexed.

"'S th'matter, Vince?" Cid asked, uneasily pulling the Venus Gospel from his shoulders. He looked around warily, teeth clenching on his cigarette.

"Mira and Yuffie are in trouble." With that the gunslinger was gone, his cloak wrapping around him in a cloud of red. It shot through the air with erratic movements, bouncing off of everything like a superball that had just been thrown. It soon disappeared into the fast-approaching darkness of the day, and a single raindrop fell down onto the flat face of Reeve's PHS.

"Well, if'n yeh couldn't say tha' th'day was getting' any less weirder." Cid shrugged, and went to follow after Vincent's flowing form. The two men left split apart a few streets later, Reeve taking only the smallest amount of time to calculate Northward before running down the street at a right angle to Cid's trajectory.

"Don't let anything happen to any of them!" He called, and the pilot nodded.

"Yeh take care'o th'kids, make sure yeh get'em outta any danger they're already in!" The two parted ways with no words after that, Cid breaking into a run after a few steps with his Venus Gospel held to his side.

Okay, I have an explanation for the weirdness. It's that I'm trying to play the game, attempting to keep everything in canon, trying to get everything good, and it's not working. It's just one of those things where the fun has just been zapped out of this and now I'm stuck with finishing it before it eats my brains. I really want my weekends back, but at the same time I kind of don't. Oh well.

Two chapters or so left, folks! I really really hope I'll get the next one done before 7:30 next Thursday.