A/N: Hey guys. :D Was going to do this weekly, but this time I updated a little early because...well, everyone's positive reaction to last chapter was just unexpected and awesome. XD Whether you've read NR/know me or have never seen a story from me before, thanks for coming along for the ride.
Here's a quick glossary for my non-NR readers so no one gets confused:
Kerberos: OC Brit's sword. It's a large two-handed blade, close in size with the regulation SOLDIER swords.
Exsphere: A small gem that increases the user's strength and resilience when attached to the body. If not used with a special Key Crest to inhibit its effects, though, it could turn the user into a monster. In the same way Materia is fashioned from the life force of the Planet, Exspheres are fashioned from the life force of human beings. The protagonists of Tales of Symphonia use them to keep the playing field level with their enemies, who create the stones.
Can't think of anything else for right now, but I hope that helps. XD Anyway, let's get on with this! Enjoy the chapter!
Can't believe I'm doing this...can't believe I'm doing this...am I really doing this? Yep, I'm an idiot.
This was my general train of thought as I made my way through the Mythril Mine two days later. With Shinra infantry on my tail in upper Junon, it hadn't taken long for me to realize that I had to get out. The lower village turned out not to be an option; it was harder to get down there than just simply jumping into the ocean, I had discovered.
I had gone around the city, avoiding guards and attempting to scope out a good jumping point, but all of the spots I found were too far out over the ocean. I'd get swept out by the tide. Not only that, the water around here was polluted; I remembered that after taking a look at lower Junon's murky shores from above. Every route to the village below was guarded, and it was starting to look like I was at the end of my rope.
Then, of course, I had a stroke of luck...that wasn't exactly a stroke of luck, considering my current predicament.
After a day of running around the city, I had managed to find an out-of-the-way bar that wasn't a hub for Shinra troops. I sat down for a drink and asked the owner about affordable places to stay nearby, and he offered me the free room he had on the second floor of the building.
With a place to sleep secured, I stayed down in the bar for a few more drinks, sitting alone but keeping my ears open. Places like this were great for gathering information; alcohol always loosened people's lips. I might even be able to find out if the infantry had issued some kind of warrant for arrest, or if they had given up and forgotten about me.
...Since I had bolted right in front of Genesis-fuckin-Rhapsodos, somehow I doubted that.
Either way, I was sitting quietly, minding my own business, when an unfamiliar voice interrupted my train of thought.
"...Excuse me, miss."
I looked up, raising my eyebrows slightly to the newcomer. He was wearing a clean white shirt with a black tie, and his dark hair was slicked back. A little too dressed up for these circumstances—back from a long workday?—but nothing extremely out of the ordinary.
"Yes?" I asked neutrally.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but I couldn't help but notice your sword..."
My back went ramrod straight before he could even finish his sentence. I immediately tried to cover up my alarm, but I had the feeling it was too late. His expression told me I was right. But he just shook his head.
"Don't worry about that, I don't have any intention of reporting you. I'm looking for bodyguards—mercenaries, actually."
I frowned, hesitant. "...Well, you found one. What's the job?"
Relief flooded his features. "Good, good. I've hired two others, but I'm one short. My name is Trent Cavanaugh. I'm a businessman from Midgar. I came here under Shinra's protection with my wife in order to meet a few associates; I'm scheduled to return tomorrow." His face took on a troubled expression. "However, something seems to have come up. My acquaintances at Shinra won't tell me anything but that the airship I was going to board is now unavailable. I fear it has been put to use in the Wutai effort."
"I was told I would be able to return by next week," he continued, "but unfortunately I have a meeting I absolutely must attend on Friday. Rather than waiting for a ship, I've decided to make the trek on foot."
"All the way to Midgar?" I raised my eyebrows.
He shook his head. "Shinra has offered to send a vehicle to meet me halfway, in the grasslands. I just need a group to accompany me through the Mythril Mine."
"And the marshes?" I asked immediately, noting how he conveniently left that part out.
The businessman just smiled. "No worries there. I have Chocobos for the journey."
"So let me get this straight," I said slowly. "You just need a bodyguard for you and your wife, and I need to accompany you to the grasslands area past the marsh, where your Shinra convoy or whatever will be. And there are two other mercenaries in our group. Yes?"
Trent nodded. "That's correct. From that point, we can part ways, or you can come with me as far as the city if you should choose."
"Hmmm..."
"Of course, I'll pay you handsomely," he said smoothly as I deliberated. "The first 5,000 gil will be a down payment for you to do with as you please. You can have the other 25,000 when the job is complete."
I nearly choked on my beer. Thirty-thousand gil?! That was double the Malboro bounty! All that for a single escort mission?
"I'm a bit desperate, as you can see," Trent admitted. "Not many are keen on going near the marshes, Chocobo or no. So I suppose it's a matter of whether or not you think you can handle it."
In my head, it was already a done deal. I forced myself to stop and try to think it through, but faced with that pay, it was hard not to jump on the opportunity. I needed someone to get me out of Junon. This was the perfect opportunity! And I could use the money. Maybe I could get someone to forge me an ID if I paid enough, and then I would also have the funds to get wherever I needed to go.
For obvious reasons, I agreed to the job. And now here I was, walking down a rocky path in the mine with Trent, his wife, and two other mercenaries in tow.
Though it was an abandoned mine, it wasn't completely dark. Some lights lining the walls still seemed to be working, though they were dim. I had to wonder how they could still be functioning.
I was heading our little group; the two other mercenaries brought up the rear. Speaking of said mercenaries...remember Dean and Boss, aka Grant? Well, they had gone on a trip to Junon themselves looking for work, and this adventure was one big happy reunion.
...Well, kind of. Anyway, Grant was the whole reason I had been approached by Trent in the first place. Normally, I wouldn't strike anyone as a fighter, but apparently killing a Malboro kind of helped my mercenary image.
Either way, I was glad to be familiar with the other people I was traveling with. Regardless, this time around I preferred to lead, just because I was the one with the Exsphere—though obviously they didn't know anything about that. I just wasn't sure how strong these two actually were.
"What is this place, anyway?" Dean piped up.
When the redhead received a few strange looks for the question, Grant jumped to his defense. "This is the first time the kid's been further than Junon."
"This is the Mythril Mine, upon which much of Kalm's economy is based," Trent's wife offered.
The businessman nodded. "Until recently, anyway. Increased monster activity around the mines has prevented the miners from returning here. The Midgar Zolom population hasn't been kept in check—now, it's much too dangerous to cross the marshes on foot, and unfortunately mining equipment can't be carried using Chocobos."
I turned to glance at the bird I was leading along. We had to move slowly to accommodate for the creatures, since the birds weren't used to traversing this sort of terrain. Each one of us was leading a Chocobo by the reins to use once we got to the marsh. I had privately named mine Cloud, just because I could.
"Can't Shinra do something about it?" Dean asked with a frown. It was clear that he still wasn't a big fan of the company—neither was Grant, for that matter—but like me, they were also willing to do a mission like this if they could make a large sum off of it.
Trent sighed. "The entire reason why the population has gotten out of control is because Shinra has stopped controlling it."
"The war with Wutai," Grant offered.
"That's right. The army is stretched too thin at the moment. I doubt they have the resources to dispatch troops for a monster hunt."
"I guess that makes sense," I murmured, even though it didn't...not to me. Shinra was so obsessed with money and power that they were forgetting to protect the investments they already had. Letting the people of Kalm suffer just so they could send troops overseas to fight a pointless war that they had initiated in the first place...ugh.
Just another reason to hate Shinra, I guess. I'd add it to the list.
After a few hours of walking, we finally seemed to reach the other end to the mines. A light at the end of the tunnel revealed a wide, grassy plain. We came out on to the grass, letting our eyes adjust to the sudden light.
"Well done so far," Trent said cheerily. We had only encountered a few monsters in the mines, and had killed them off swiftly. Things were going well so far—those monsters hadn't been a problem at all.
Now came the hard part.
The grass only extended to a certain point; I could see, further ahead, where it grew wetter and wetter until it was all submerged in water. From there on out, there were patches of land and shallow water as far as I could see. The marsh had to extend for at least a couple of miles in every direction. Crossing this wouldn't be a quick three-second dash, like in the game.
We all got on our Chocobos—I had made sure to teach myself how to mount and dismount before heading out on this trip—and we turned back towards the marsh. The clouds overhead were beginning to darken, making the entire scene rather ominous.
"I've done this before," Trent said. "It should take just under an hour to cross. Everyone, just stay in formation, and don't stop for any reason. With that said, if something does happen..."
"We'll take care of it," Grant grunted. "You just keep on going."
"Very well," he said, pleased. "Is everyone ready?"
"Ready as I'm gonna get," I replied, and Dean nodded his assent as well.
And so, we set off.
It had been a tense forty minutes. The marshes were wide open, which under normal circumstances would comfort me; there weren't many places for monsters to hide, after all. But then I considered the water, and wondered when I'd see it ripple with movement. There was one here somewhere...
Chocobos were best for traversing this marsh not only because they were able to evade attacks better, but because their fleet-footedness helped conceal their presence. They didn't slosh around in the water as much as humans would, thereby decreasing the risk of being discovered. They also seemed better able to sense danger, because whenever we were about to be attacked in the mines, the birds had started voicing their discomfort well in advance.
I knew it had been almost an hour, and I was sure I could see the end of the marsh from here now. Unfortunately, it had started raining about fifteen minutes into our trip across the marsh, and now the rain was coming down so hard it was tough to tell whether or not the end was really in sight. Worse, the depth of the marsh water had increased, bogging us down.
...Come to think of it, the heavy rain was probably extending the marsh, increasing the range of the—
"Wark!"
Fuck. That was Cloud, and his head had just jerked to the right, looking at something. Then he started running a little faster.
"Uh, guys—" It was hard to hear over the downpour, but it looked like everyone else had noticed the large, dark shadow following us just beneath the water.
"Dean!" Grant yelled. "Move left! To the left!"
I realized with horror that the monster was just behind the redhead, but it was too late. The snake's head emerged above the water and I caught a glimpse of deep red eyes. Then it shot forward, its mouth opening wide. Dean screamed and launched himself from his bird, falling into the shallows with a splash.
The Chocobo shrieked, immediately caught in the snake's jaws. The Zolom tossed its head and swallowed the bird whole in a flurry of blood and yellow feathers. I felt sick.
We had stopped for Dean's sake; Grant got off his own bird, yanking the teen to his feet and away from the snake. I knew what strategy we had agreed on, so even though I wanted to puke, I dismounted my own bird and gestured for Trent and his wife to continue on. They stared back at us in alarm, but didn't hesitate to dash on ahead.
"Shit," Grant growled, paling as the Midgar Zolom reared up out of the water, revealing its full height.
The snake was huge. We were dwarfed—it had to be at least thirty feet tall reared up like this. I couldn't imagine what its full length was, as the rest of its tail was still concealed underwater.
Since we had dismounted our birds, they understandably decided not to stick around. It wasn't long before our only means of escape was gone, and we were left to face the Zolom or die.
...This was what I had been afraid of. The worst-case scenario. Screw Murphy's Law—I was starting to think I should rename it Brittany's Law.
Grant sent a powerful looking Ice spell at the snake, and it seemed to just shrug it off. I drew out Kerberos and prepared for the worst. The rain continued to pelt us.
"What do we do, boss?!" Dean yelled, panicked.
"This is bad," Grant said, keeping a defensive stance. "Only SOLDIER can kill these things. We're way out of our league."
As if to show its agreement, the Zolom tensed and then shot forward, striking out at the older mercenary. He dove out of the way just in time, and the snake got a mouthful of murky water. Knowing there was nothing else I could do, I took the opportunity to run forward and attempt an attack.
Kerberos glanced off the scales, not even so much as scratching them. They were too tough to simply break through, and there didn't seem to be any visible gaps or weak spots between them. Damn...
The snake submerged itself again, moving underwater with a speed that was alarming considering its size. It circled around me, and I dove over it in order to avoid being caught in its coil. The Zolom retaliated by whipping its tail around, catching Grant off guard and sending him flying. He landed in the water twenty feet away with a huge splash.
"Boss!" Dean cried, running to his aid.
Blood red eyes focused on the teen, and I understood the monster's intentions now that the boy's back was turned. I yelled as loud as I could, finding the end of the snake's tail and bringing my sword down on it with all my strength.
Apparently I'd found a weak spot, because a small chunk of the tail was sliced right off—not enough to actually harm the snake, but enough to really, really piss it off.
The Midgar Zolom whipped around to face me, opening its mouth and hissing, revealing a pair of very long and deadly fangs.
"Hey, you there! Back off real quick!"
A new voice caught my attention. The snake turned to investigate the newcomer as well, buying me some time to do as he said.
I caught a glimpse of a purple uniform, and then a green flash dominated my vision. The snake let out another hiss, writhing in pain. Was that...Bio? I turned my head, attempting to find the caster.
"Are you all right?"
He had come up beside me. I looked over, raising my eyebrows. That helmet and that uniform...no way. This was a SOLDIER—second class, to be more precise. Why was such an elite fighter all the way out here? Well, it was lucky for me, at least. Maybe the situation wasn't as bleak as I'd initially thought.
"I'm fine," I answered when I realized he had asked me a question.
He nodded, offering a quick smile. "SOLDIER second class Kunsel, at your service. Mr. Cavanaugh sent me."
I sighed with relief. Kunsel! Someone I could trust!
"I see," I replied. "I'm Brittany Furness, a mercenary. How exactly do you plan to kill this thing?"
Kunsel turned his head back to the snake, which was recovering fast. "Not sure. I've never fought a Zolom before, only read about them." He frowned. "I do hear they have a pretty nasty attack called Beta that they use when cornered, so we'll have to kill it quick once it's weakened."
"Right," I said, more confident now that I had a strong fighter beside me. I turned to Dean, who was pulling his companion from the water. "Dean! Take Grant and get out of here!"
"Mr. Cavanaugh is waiting at the edge of the marsh with a Shinra-issued vehicle," Kunsel called. "Go there. We have a medic on board, he'll take care of you."
The redhead nodded, helping a semi-conscious Grant to his feet and beginning to run in the direction of the marsh's edge. The snake saw the two fleeing men and reared back slightly, preparing to strike.
Kunsel saw this and ran forward, leaping into the air. He timed his jump perfectly, meeting the Zolom in the split second it was in mid-strike. He swung his sword, hitting the snake's neck with the flat of the blade. The brute force was enough to knock the beast off course, even sending it tumbling back into the water. The SOLDIER landed with a splash, but was knocked back by the writhing of the snake's tail.
I scowled, fighting to think. Blades weren't enough to pierce the snake's scales, so close-range combat wasn't a great idea. Kunsel's Bio spell seemed to have had an effect, though. Maybe if he had some higher-level materia, he would be able to do some decent damage? I'd have to be the meat shield once again, then. If nothing else, I could be a distraction so that my stronger ally could cast.
"Kunsel!" I called. He picked himself up from the water, and then nodded in my direction to show he was listening. I glanced to make sure the snake hadn't recovered, and then looked back over at him. "Got any strong materia on you?"
"Poison and Fire are the strongest I've got," he told me. "But I have a low-level Lightning and some support materia as well. Why?"
"Fire away!" I yelled, running at the snake as it lifted its head. "I'll distract it, just let me know when you're gonna attack!"
I heard Kunsel make a noise of protest, but then he just yelled "Be careful!"
When the Zolom drew to its full height again, part of me wondered how I could be such an idiot. Every time I had taken on this thing in the beginning of the game, my party had been completely annihilated. One bite was enough to kill, I remembered that much. I couldn't get hit.
The snake hissed and tensed, and I dove to the right and rolled just as it shot forward. Water splashed everywhere—at this point, we were all completely drenched. The rain was relentless. I wiped at the hair plastered to my forehead and ran forward once more. The Zolom swung its tail beneath the water and I jumped, just barely avoiding it.
"Incoming!" That was Kunsel.
I leapt backwards just as a large ball of flame crashed into the monster. It let out a loud growl, swinging its head left to right in pain. Angered, it spotted the SOLDIER and lunged, only to have its opponent dodge out of the way.
Magic was definitely the way to go, though Kunsel looked miffed. It occurred to me that his high-level Fire materia wasn't working as well as he'd hoped in this storm. The snake recovered quickly, its attention now focused on my ally.
Damn...if there was some way I could get to its eyes, I could at least blind it and make this a hell of a lot easier.
Just as the Zolom struck again, flattening its body and submerging itself in the water, I had an idea. Leaping on to its tail, I began to run at full speed up the length of the snake's body, my heart hammering in my chest. It started rearing up and I had to fight to keep my balance.
I reached its head just as it was rising into the air. My fear of heights kicked in and I wobbled, trying to search for its eyes without focusing on how far below the ground was.
There! I spotted one eye and adjusted my grip on Kerberos before thrusting it downward. The monster let out a terrible screech as the blade pierced its right eye, blood and fluid leaking out and down its scales. I attempted to brace myself and plant my feet, but nothing prepared me for what was about to happen. It turned its head and with one powerful jolt, sent me flying high into the air.
My stomach tied itself in knots at the sudden feeling of weightlessness and the world spinning around me. I was too shocked to scream, but I did remember myself enough to keep my sword in a deathgrip, holding it out and away from me. Then I was underwater.
I flailed around for a minute before I found my footing, and pushed myself above again. The water was waist-deep where I was standing—not good for quick movements. I needed to get to the shallows—
"Brittany! Look out!" That was Kunsel. My head shot up.
The Midgar Zolom was right in front of me, reared up and staring down at me with its one good eye. It opened its mouth wide, fangs in plain sight. I felt the blood drain from my face when I saw that it was already tensed, and I knew that the split-second I had left wouldn't be nearly enough to dodge. If I moved in any direction, I would just get bitten in half rather than swallowed whole.
I held Kerberos up in shaky hands. "Guardian."
The beast lunged, and I jumped. There was a pale green flash from my tech, and then the world went black.
When my feet touched down again, it was on an unstable, moist surface. I drove the tip of my blade into the soft tissue beneath me to give myself something stable to hold on to, and was jostled around as a result.
I was inside the snake's mouth. It was pitch dark in here and stifling hot.
Just don't get swallowed. Don't get swallowed...
I couldn't breathe. There was precious little air in here, and the Zolom's jaws were clamped shut. What could I do? If Kunsel attacked, I might get hurt too, and for all he knew I was dead.
Claustrophobia set in. I had to stand nearly doubled over in order to avoid being crushed. I had to get out. How could I get out? How could I—
I considered the flesh below me, how easily the sword had lodged in it. The inside of the beast wasn't protected with scales.
Coming to a decision, I braced my feet against the teeth on either side of the snake's jaw, my back against the roof of its mouth. Then I pulled Kerberos out and shifted my grip so that the tip of the blade pointed upwards.
Then I squeezed my eyes shut, called upon the last reserves of my strength, and thrust upwards as hard as I could.
At first there was a feeling of resistance, but then Kerberos punched through and slid in easily right up to the hilt. Suddenly a high-pitched shriek stabbed at my ears, and I realized it was coming from the Zolom; then I was jostled left and right and forced to hang on for my life. Finally there was one last crushing impact, and I lost my grip and fell to the bottom of the monster's mouth.
The world was still, the wind knocked from me. I began to feel faint from lack of oxygen, and knew I wouldn't have the strength to escape.
A few seconds passed, impossibly long. Then there was the feeling of something shifting, and a crack of light fell on my face. I squinted, seeing the crack widen, and cool air rushed in. I gasped, flooding my lungs with the air they so desperately needed.
There was a grunt, and I saw a boot pressing down on the Zolom's bottom jaw. Then the jaws were forced apart, revealing the figure of Kunsel.
"...You all right?" He asked, grimacing slightly with the effort.
I responded by coughing hard and then taking in another breath of fresh air. My strength returning, I wasted no time in clambering to my knees, retrieving Kerberos, and launching myself out of the snake's mouth and into the water with a large splash.
When I surfaced, it was to a gloved hand being held out to me. I took it, letting the SOLDIER pull me to my feet.
"Thanks," I managed to croak.
Without another word, we both turned to look at the fallen snake. The water around its head was beginning to turn crimson with blood. From here it was easy to see the red hole at the top of its skull where Kerberos had punched all the way through. In my moment of desperation I had punctured the Zolom's brain, killing it instantly.
Now that it was still, I had time to see the full length of its body submerged in the water. It was easily a hundred feet long. Even now, I half expected it to revive itself and attack once more. It was hard to believe that such a massive creature could've been killed...especially by me. Had I really done that? I guess for all the bad stuff being thrown my way, I had to get lucky once in a while to make up for it. The thought was strangely comforting, until I realized that I was probably going to get slapped with some horrible new dilemma now that I'd resolved this one.
"It's dead, all right..." Kunsel murmured, shaking his head. "That has to be the craziest thing I've ever seen. How the hell did you survive that?"
"...I've been told I have the tenacity of a cockroach," I replied slowly, my expression going a bit sour. Yuan had been the one kind enough to inform me of this trait.
"Well, I'm impressed," he said with a smile. "That was some quick thinking. You're pretty strong for someone who's not in SOLDIER."
"I guess," I mumbled, embarrassed by the praise. I knew I wasn't a bad fighter, but I was also sure that a lot of my advantage came from the Exsphere's strength. Otherwise I probably would've died a thousand times by now.
"Anyway, shouldn't we get going?" I asked, eager to change the subject.
His smile fell. "Yeah, you're right. The other Zoloms in this marsh might have been drawn by the commotion." Kunsel began to walk. "Follow me; the others should be waiting up ahead."
I nodded. "All right."
The ride up through the grasslands was a little bumpier than I would've liked. Because of the heavy rains, parts of the dirt road had been washed away enough to expose rocks. It'd be another hour before we reached a highway, and then it was all smooth sailing from there. I hadn't even realized there were highways running through the continent. Maybe it was silly of me, but I had always pictured Midgar as being the only place around here with that sort of thing. I guess it'd be kind of hard to get around the world using only helicopters and airships...
Either way, we were all buckled in to a large black van with the Shinra insignia on the side, heading northwest in the direction of Midgar. I had requested to be let off near Kalm, as I had no interest in going near the corrupt city.
Trent and his wife were perfectly fine, and it looked like Dean had made it out of the battle unscathed. Grant was still conscious, but he had a few broken ribs. The medic on board was tending to him with a Cure spell, and he seemed to be doing okay for the time being.
I had to try very hard to keep my face set in a neutral expression, distracting myself by rubbing my hair dry with a towel I had been given. I was glad to be safe and out of the rain, but at the same time...
"Chocobos through the marsh?" Reno guffawed from the front passenger seat. "Man, that's one lunatic stunt. No wonder we had to bring a SOLDIER out here. You do this kind of stuff all the time?"
Trent grimaced slightly. "...I'll admit, I underestimated the power of that creature. I had heard Midgar Zoloms were large, but..."
"It was bigger than even I had expected," Kunsel admitted.
I chewed on my lower lip, only half keeping track of the conversation. I was a little more consumed by the fact that Reno was in the passenger seat. Worse, Rude was driving. Why the hell were there Turks here? A pair of Turks and a SOLDIER...call me crazy, but that seemed a bit overkill for a regular businessman. Who was Trent Cavanaugh, really?
"So you're a SOLDIER, right?" Dean asked curiously. "How did you manage to kill it?"
"Don't look at me," he said with a smile.
That caused the redhead's eyes to go wide, and he turned to me. "...Brittany?"
Reno rolled his eyes. "Quit yankin' my chain. There's no way a normal person could kill one of those things."
"It's the truth," Kunsel insisted. Then he related the details of our battle, telling of how the snake had tried to swallow me, only to get my sword thrust through the roof of its mouth. "You can go back and check the carcass if you don't believe me," he added.
"That's impressive," Trent said thoughtfully. "But then again, that's the entire reason I hired her for the job. As I recall, Grant here was telling me how she singlehandedly killed a Malboro near Banora."
"A Malboro too, huh?" Kunsel chuckled. "You're full of surprises. I guess looks really are deceiving."
"Heh." Grant snorted. "Looks...she looks like she'd blow away in a strong wind. No brawn at all."
"Gee, thanks," I mumbled.
Reno exchanged a quick glance with Rude, and then stared at me with interest. "So the story's true, then, huh? You killed a Midgar Zolom."
"...It's the truth," I said with a shrug. It wasn't like I could deny it in front of everyone after all that, but I still didn't like the way he was looking at me.
He turned around slightly in his seat. "Your name's Brittany, right? You're a mercenary?"
"That's right."
The Turk smirked. "Name's Reno. Department of General Affairs, Investigation Sector."
"Department of General Affairs?" Grant grunted. "Aren't you guys responsible for scouting out potential SOLDIER recruits?"
"Among other things," Reno replied blithely, then turned back to me. "Killing a Midgar Zolom's no joke, yo. I've seen full-fledged SOLDIERs taken out by those things before."
To my left, I saw Kunsel nod a silent confirmation of this fact.
I fought the urge to squirm uncomfortably. "It was a stroke of luck. I didn't plan to get nearly swallowed, I'm not that gutsy."
"You don't give yourself enough credit. I know where your abilities could be put to better use," he said, smiling wryly. "How'd you like to work for Shinra?"
There it was, the million-dollar question. I offered him a blank stare, scarcely able to believe he'd asked in the first place. In the driver's seat, Rude was a silent statue, his face betraying nothing.
Working for Shinra? The mere thought of it made me want to cringe. I wanted nothing to do with those bastards.
"...Sorry," I said. "I'm not interested."
"You'd be making a hell of a lot more money than you are now," Reno offered, cocking an eyebrow.
I just shook my head. "I don't really care about the money. I don't want to be tied down to a corporate salary—mercenary work is fine for me, but thanks anyway."
"Are you sure?" Trent spoke up. "That's a big opportunity to pass up."
"You'd be the first female SOLDIER," Kunsel told me, his tone thoughtful. "Come to think of it, the only reason SOLDIER is all male is because no women have been able to meet the physical requirements for the mako treatments. You're definitely strong enough for it, I know that much."
Grant and Dean were both frowning, but neither of them said a word.
I sighed. "Even so, I..."
"Listen," Reno piped up. "Come to Midgar and stay the night. I'll have Shinra cover hotel expenses. You meet with my boss tomorrow morning, talk it over, and come to a decision then, yeah?"
Spending the night in Midgar? Meeting Tseng? This was getting crazier by the minute, and I didn't like it one bit. Why the hell was it that when I tried to avoid getting involved, all of these people came to me? Even Genesis! What were the chances that I'd bump into him of all people in a crowded city? It just wasn't fair, dammit!
"...And if my answer is still no?" I asked, stalling.
The Turk smiled, as if to a private joke. "I don't think that'll be an issue. The boss is pretty persuasive."
I met his eyes. Though his statement had sounded like it was in good humor, I heard the unspoken threat. It looked like I had never had a choice in the matter to begin with.
Because I could feel the others' eyes on me, I leaned back and smiled for the sake of dissipating the suddenly tense atmosphere. "...Fine, fine. I'll come."
"You won't regret it," he told me, though I was pretty sure I would.
A/N: Aaaaand things are set into motion now. B-) Since OC Brit doesn't want to get involved, I want to chuck her right in the thick of things. More fun that way!
Planning on updating this weekly, maybe every Monday. This will last until we get through all the stuff I've already written, so you can at least plan on a few weeks of me actually being on time. XDDD I'll let you know when this story has caught up.
Review and...I'll give you Reno's goggles! :D
Next time: Shinra. Meeting Tseng.