There are a few emotions, or perhaps stages is a more fitting word, that you go through when you are imprisoned. The first being anger. That stage had already run its course through Teioh, quite a lot actually. The second was fear, and when it set in it was devastatingly deep and almost impossible to shake until it was ready to move on itself. The fear that you would never see your friends and family again. The fear of torture, or worse - death. The fear of watching years and years slip by your eyes with nothing you can do about it. It was a deep fear indeed, but it was that deep fear that led to the next stage and the stage Teioh was currently in.
In this stage there was only one word that coursed through your head, minute after minute, day after day. It was a word that could drive you insane if you weren't careful with it. It was a word that could fill you with the brightest of hopes… or the darkest of despairs.
Escape. It was either possible, or it was not - simple as that.
Just thinking of it made Teioh jittery. He wanted to get out of here - he had to. Marlene, no; the rebellion depended on it. Shinra was working with the cult. It was a devastating blow to their entire cause. If they were allowed to carry out more operations like the one that had brought him to be a prisoner, he was almost positive the rebels would be completely snuffed out in months… maybe weeks. He had to get out of here and warn someone. He had to save Marlene.
He took a look around him, pointless though being as he had performed the same action probably over one hundred times since they had brought him in two days ago. It was a standard Shinra holding cell. He had seen the ugly side of one plenty of times as a teenager to know that. This particular one was no different from those, except perhaps there were no windows in here and it may have been a few feet smaller on every side. He had given up hope on escaping out of it on the first day, but continued to look around every once in awhile hoping that maybe, just maybe, he had overlooked something.
He never did, and there never was anything but three mean-looking walls and a row of metal bars. If he wanted to escape, it would have to be from somewhere else. That's if they ever took him out of here, and with the way the last two days had gone, he was beginning to think that was never going to happen.
That is until the late afternoon of the second day, when two Shinra soldiers in classic blue and black uniforms had come trotting down the long hallway outside his cell. He expected them to just keep trotting until he heard the footsteps stop right outside, and two dark shadows fell sharply into his room. He picked up his head and squinted at the silhouettes of the soldiers. They seemed to be waiting for something. If it was for him to beg, or plead with them to let him out, they would be waiting there for two more days. He simply sat quietly watching them. After a few moments (which seemed much longer to Teioh) one of them jammed a key into the cell door and moments later had it slid open.
The smell and taste of freedom seemed to wash over Teioh's entire body, hell his entire soul. It took every bit of his strength to resist the urge to just jolt straight out the door, pushing the guards aside and worrying about where he was going later. It wasn't the time… not yet. They were taking him somewhere, probably interrogations, and he thought to have a better chance trying to get out on the way back - after he had gotten a good look at the outside of this cell and the rooms and halls that followed. The chances were slim, but they were better than the fools chance he had of getting away now.
Instead, he simply sat innocently on his cot. He wanted to look as submissive as possible to these two. He wanted to look like he would neeeever try to escape.
"Up." One of the soldiers suddenly barked out, almost annoyed. He had definitely wanted a begging show, and was now bitter that he hadn't received one. Teioh would play submissive, but his pride would just not allow him to beg like a dog. A rebel dog, as so many Shinra military men would say.
Teioh stood straight up, but made no motion forwards. He simply stood awaiting his next command.
It was the other soldiers, who had remained silent so far, turn to speak.
"Come on." He said, gesturing with his free hand - the other holding an automatic machine gun.
Teioh did so, and when he had stepped outside of his cell (the first time in forty-eight hours) he was immediately grabbed sharply above each elbow by the two guards, and almost instantly he was being led down the hall. Almost instantly. In the short time he was free he got a good look at his surroundings. On the side of the hall they weren't leading him to was a narrow steel door. He assumed it led to where they kept the more dangerous criminals… or perhaps just the ones they didn't want to look at. It actually surprised him he wasn't in there. Between that steel door and himself were about three cells on each side. Now, being led in the opposite direction, he saw that he was just about in the middle of the hall, as there was four cells between his and the door made of steel bars as the other end. He tried his best to glance in the cells as they passed each one, hoping to see a friendly face, or better yet - a rebel. Unfortunately it was hard to make anyone out. All the cells were as dark as his, and the soldiers that were on either side of him blotted most of his vision out anyway.
They reached the door at the end of the hall, and the same guard with the key as before now used a different key to open it. Teioh thought it was pretty primitive that this jail or whatever he was in used old fashioned steel keys. Most locks these days were operated with keycards - and the more fancy ones even had thumbprint scanning.
Perhaps he was in some old prison, hidden deep in some classy town like the one in Thaisan had been. After all he could be anywhere, being as he had passed out after the beating he received at the camp. Yes, the beating… the pain from it was nothing compared to the last image that he had seen and had been burned directly into his brain. Marlene being taken away by the robed men and hopelessly struggling to get free from them. It hurt him - hurt him bad. It hurt him because he was so helpless at the time, and because he was so foolish to let her go out there by herself. If only he had been faster… stronger, none of this would have happened.
But then it dawned on him that it would still have happened no matter what he had done. The Shinra had found them, and there was nothing anyone could have done after that.
He buried his anger, and refocused on studying his surroundings. Now he was being led down a similar, yet more classy-looking, hallway. It was a bright white, and would have been completely so if it had not been for the wooden desk placed directly in the middle of it. A man with reddish-blonde hair and glasses sat behind it writing something down. They approached, then passed it, and moments later he was led through another barred door and into yet another hall. These things were getting better and better looking, as this one was almost passable as a Shinra office's hall.
He expected to be led to the end of it and taken into another, even nicer, one. Instead, they stopped about two thirds of the way through it and opened up a door on the left side. Before he could take a look around the hallway to get one last study of it, he was thrown inside by the two soldiers.
It was like being dropped into a giant glass of milk. The room was so bright, it almost hurt to look at it. There was a ridiculously large light buried in the center of the ceiling that made everything so damn… white. It took Teioh a couple of seconds to adjust his eyes to the blinding room he was in. After he did so, he realized it wasn't that bright, but more that he had been held in darkness for much too long.
He thought he was alone in the giant glass of milk for a moment until the two soldiers from before promptly resumed their holds on his upper arms and dragged him to a white chair situated in the middle of the room behind a white table.
"I'll tell ya fellas," Teioh began as they sat him in the chair. "I like the room, but to me, it's just not white enough, ya know?"
He thought he heard one of the soldiers let out an amused grunt, but it may have only been in his head. What wasn't in his head was the fact that these two were now handcuffing his wrists in front of him. After they did so he tugged at them, testing them a little bit.
Then the two soldiers simply walked out of the room and slammed the door shut behind them, and Teioh was alone again.
He placed his cuffed hands on top of the white table and tapped his fingers on it as he looked around. Not much to look at though. Four white walls, one white ceiling, one white floor and a matching white chair and desk. He let out a deep breath, at the end of which he blew a strand of hair out of his face. He expected he'd be in here for a long time - after all, that was an old Shinra technique. Let the prisoner alone in the empty room for a long time, let him figure out there's no escape and he might as well tell ya everything he knows.
Instead the door, to Teioh's surprise, opened only five minutes or so after it had closed. The person standing in it, however, only made him feel disgusted.
"You've got to be kidding me." He spit out as he stared up into the eyes of a man he once called his friend. A man he once trusted with his life. A man that had introduced him to Marlene and the rebellion in the first place, many years ago.
"How are you old friend?" Denzel asked, closing the door behind him. He was dressed (sickeningly, in Teioh's opinion) in full Shinra uniform, minus the hood.
"Why you." Teioh said, more sympathizing with himself than asking a question.
"Why me? You should be thanking me, Teioh. I had to fight to get in here and talk to you first."
"Oh you had to fight, huh? Who'd ya fight? A couple rebels? Oh, I'm sorry, rebel dogs?"
"Teioh, let's not do this."
"You sell-out piece of trash! You expect me to answer YOUR questions!? You must be out of your mind buddy."
"Teioh, listen to me…"
"Oh I'm listening, old friend, but the only thing I can think of is jumping over this table and ripping your head off that god-damned uniform! How dare you walk in here wearing that thing in front of me!"
"Teioh, I need information… for Marlene's sake I need information."
Teioh, for once, didn't have an immediate comeback. He simply leaned back in his chair and frowned at the traitor sitting across the table from him.
"What do you mean?" He asked, but their was still anger in his voice.
"I want to help her, Teioh. I need to know where Shinra took her."
"Shinra?" Teioh said. "You don't know about…"
"What, Teioh!? Tell me!"
"Go to hell, traitor." Teioh said casually and slipped back into his seat comfortably. "I ain't telling you squat."
Now it was Denzel's turn to get angry.
"Oh drop the act!" He said, taking a few steps towards the table. "I'm out there every day putting my life on the LINE for you!"
"Oh, you're putting your life on the line? Against what, Denzel? A few stray monsters that accidentally wander into the outskirts of the cities? Oooh, big tough man you are, huh? Big tough Shinra soldier!"
"We do much more than that you ignorant ass. Besides, what the hell does the rebellion do for this planet besides complain about Shinra and pull the occasional terrorist stunt. Even if we did do so little, at least we're not hurting people."
"Not hurting people!? Why don't you take a stroll through the Midgar slums some day. Take a look at what your "Presidents" taxes are doing to the people there. They can't even afford to EAT, Denzel! Don't give me that crap - We're not hurting anyone."
"Without the money from those taxes, this planet couldn't function on a day to day basis! Every penny of that money goes to the protection and stabilization of the people!"
"The PEOPLE want CHANGE!"
"No, Teioh. That's where you're wrong. Your people want change, and right now - they're in the minority."
"Because Shinra has blinded everyone else, apparently including you, to the fact that they are ROBBING from the very people they swore to protect. They are robbing them and making themselves rich in the process. I thought YOU of all people would be able to figure that out."
Denzel shook his head.
"Look, we could argue this all day, but every minute we do - Marlene's life could be in danger. Now Teioh, please, where did the soldiers take her? Regardless of how you feel about me, understand that I still care about her."
Teioh looked at him with cold eyes. He didn't want to even talk to him anymore, let alone give him information. But if he was telling the truth, and he really didn't know about the cult… maybe it was possible he could help her.
"The cult took her, alright. And it was your Shinra military that handed her right to them."
"Cult?" Denzel said in confusion as his eyes drifted blankly to the back of the room. "You mean the Sephiroth-worshipers? Shinra was working with them?"
"Yes." Teioh answered. "You guys are working with them."
"Hey, don't group me in with that! I had no idea…"
"Well now you do, and if you care about Marlene like you say you do, all you have to do is spread the word. Tell the people about this! Let the rebels go after her!"
"No… no, it would cause panic amongst the civilians. I can't just go around announcing that the cult is working with Shinra."
"Then what can you do? No soldier is going to help you go after her. You can't go to the higher-ups, they're all in on it. Redeem yourself and quit this stupid army and help the people of this planet return it to who it belongs." Teioh stated, staring directly into Denzel's eyes. "Return it to the people."
"We've seen what things are like with no government."
"And we can see again if you help us."
Denzel slowly shook his head.
"You'll never understand Teioh. I respect your dedication to what you believe in, but one day you will see. You're wrong."
Teioh's shoulders drooped a little. There was no turning Denzel back. The Shinra had gotten to his mind - had convinced him they were right and just. He could see it in Denzel's eyes. The fire. The fire that every rebel had for their cause, he had the same for his.
"I thank you for telling me what you have told me. It may save her life, just yet." He said, before turning and heading towards the door. As he got there and began pulling it open, he turned back to look at Teioh. "I'll try to get them to go easy on you… old friend."
And with that, Denzel was gone and most of Teioh's hope went with him. He lowered his head in deep thought, but only got a few moments before the door burst open again. He looked up and what he saw completely blackened out any ray of hope or joy that was in him.
"You remember these pretty eyes kid?"
Rex Arinthone stood proud and tall, grinning a grin even wider than his broad shoulders were. He stood there for a moment with that satisfied look on his face, cracking his knuckles, before strolling happily into the room and slamming the door shut behind him.