Author's Note: I'm back! With the longest chapter to date! YAY! It's almost twice as long as usual, so I hope that keeps everyone happy since I know it's been a while...sorry guys. Oh, and as a little side note, I apologize to everyone for all of the previous chapters lacking any kind of spacers in between scene changes. Apparently asterisks don't appear on this site...I just felt really bad about that since I'm so anal about stuff like that when I'm reading other people's stories and I don't even realize that I'm a complete hypocrite...gah. Anyway, I marked them differently this time so hopefully they'll show up and no one will be confused! Let me know if, for some reason, they don't. So yeah, on with the story!
Disclaimer: Wait, let me check...uh, no.
:. Sheer Equality.:
Chapter Six: One Last Look
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
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Elena hopped off the train, allowing herself a minute to stretch her stiff limbs. She'd forgotten how long it took to travel long distances across the city. And it didn't help that she'd picked a bad time to travel; she had completely forgotten that tonight was the grand opening of Loveless. The train was packed with eager people, predominately women of all ages, occasionally dragging along a reluctant male.
One couple in particular had been sitting behind her on the train. It was clear to anyone that set eyes upon them that the man wasn't enjoying the ride; however, it was also clear that he obeyed his wife unquestionably. After taking in the woman's frightening appearance, Elena couldn't blame him. And after listening to the nonstop, relatively offensive drivel spewing from the woman's mouth, Elena was certain that the entire company aboard the train would keep the woman's husband in their prayers that night.
As she watched the rather unfortunate couple make their way toward the theater, she tried to get some bearing on where she was. Under normal circumstances, navigating through Sector 8 wasn't particularly difficult, but the swarming crowd coming from every direction certainly complicated things a little. Slowly, Elena attempted to make her way through the crowd that had gathered in the main square of the Sector, trying to be as discreet and polite as possible. But once she caught sight of the looming clock tower nearby, she realized she was late. Soon, civility was thrown to the wind. After all, no one else seemed to be showing her the same courtesy.
Finally, after pushing and shoving her way out of the square, she found herself on the correct street, amongst a smaller, yet more condensed crowd. She stood on her tip-toes, peering over the many heads in search of the dark-suited Turk. Although many of the event's attendants were well-dressed, none of them possessed the familiar stoic expression and raven-colored hair that she was attempting to locate. She returned to her feet, feeling impatient. Although Elena wouldn't deem herself a claustrophobic, she never did like crowds. She always had a sense of insecurity in crowds, feeling that something dangerous would catch her unawares.
For a brief moment she considered calling the Turk, but discarded the idea once she decided that it would be impossible to hear over the noise of the crowd anyway. Elena sighed. All she could do at this point was wait.
Not a second later, she felt a firm grip on her shoulder. Spinning around, she was greeted by a pair of commanding, yet warm almond eyes.
"Sir!" She almost squeaked out. One of these days, she was going to learn to sneak up on people like that. Probably one of those Turk instincts she'd heard about. She vaguely wondered what sort of other abnormal abilities came with the job...perhaps the uncanny ability to look drop-dead gorgeous in a simple suit...
"...If you would just follow me, we could—are you listening to me, Elena?" Tseng gave her an odd sideways glance, bringing her out of her reverie.
"Yes, of course, sir. I just thought I saw someone I knew," she lied. She was almost certain he didn't buy it. Yep, it was official; Elena could now be crowned queen of horrific first impressions.
She swallowed a lump in her throat before changing the subject, "Where exactly are we going again? Why not headquarters?"
"In a way, where we're going is still headquarters. Sort of our home away from home," he explained while they journeyed through the sea of people. It was ironic how he made shoving people out of his way while speaking to her at the same time seem graceful. "I can't say much more about it right now." Elena nodded in understanding.
Finally, once they'd reached the crowd's edge, Tseng led Elena down the narrow street, opposite the direction of the theater. Stealing a quick glance behind her, Elena briefly wished that she was part of the wild, screaming crowd. It was a strange feeling considering she'd never had the level of interest for Loveless that many others did. She would clearly be out of place around all of its adoring fans. But then again, she'd probably rather be anywhere than with a man she'd met only a day before, going to who-knows-where. Such a thought only served to remind her how frightened she really was. She could only imagine what was in store for her later if she survived whatever the hell she was getting herself into now.
The buildings and street lamps that hugged the street eventually thinned and dissipated, leaving the two on the outskirts of the plate. Elena found it strange seeing the city when it wasn't doused with its usual share of light pollution. It felt peaceful. Well, almost. Her current situation pretty much cancelled out the feeling anyway.
Although the buildings grew more and more distant, they still managed to cast shadows on the already dark street. It was nearly impossible to see anything, and Tseng's primarily dark choice of wardrobe blended in perfectly with their surroundings. Sure, it made sense, but it also meant that it was much easier for her to lose him. The only things her eyes could follow were his crisp, white dress shirt and his pale, milky skin.
Their lonely path took them down a few rarely used backstreets, occasionally making an unexpected turn. Elena decided to make use of the rather lengthy walk by mentally preparing herself. She ran positive mantras through her mind, as well as countless answers to any question Tseng could ask in the hopes that she wouldn't be caught off guard again.
Suddenly, Tseng stopped walking. They had ended up in a decent-sized parking lot with what appeared to be an abandoned train station at the opposite end. The entire atmosphere of their location was undeniably gloomy and particularly eerie, and it certainly wasn't alleviating Elena's fear one bit. Internally, she hoped she didn't look the way she felt.
However, Tseng seemed to take note of her hesitation and wordlessly took the lead. After a few moments of standing in place, Elena welled up enough guts to continue after him, soon falling into step next to him. "This isn't it...is it?" She asked, her gaze switching from the rundown building to his coffee brown eyes.
"Charming place, isn't it?" He gave a wry smile before continuing, "No, this place is exactly what it appears to be, believe it or not. It's probably the most logical way to reach where we're going, without drawing attention to ourselves, of course." By this time they'd reached the doors of the station and pulled them open, emitting a painful creak.
The interior was pretty predictable and not unlike the exterior. The room and floor were covered in grime and smelled of must, which caused Elena to start sneezing the second she entered the room. It was poorly lit by an old chandelier, which in its day Elena surmised would have looked stunning. But now it was covered in dust and only contained two working bulbs that flickered every now and again. As they crossed the mostly bare space, she noticed a bulletin board hung to her right, listing aged train schedules and departure times. A shiver ran down her spine, and she wasn't sure whether to attribute it to the temperature of the room or something else.
They followed the path next to the track around the corner and Elena gasped. Now in full view was a train exactly like the ones seen all over Midgar. It was far from luxurious, but it definitely stuck out like a sore thumb among all of the cobwebs of the station. Standing next to it was a short, plump man who seemed mildly irritated. Tseng gestured for Elena to make her way toward one of the open cab doors while he took off at a brisk pace toward the stranger.
She took a quick peek at Tseng and the man before entering the car. The man shook Tseng's hand, still looking miffed. But it was clear to Elena that he knew Tseng and wasn't going to lash out at him, due to either respect or fear...she couldn't tell which. He cheered up a little once Tseng handed over a palmful of gil, giving Tseng a nod before entering at the head of the train. Elena then boosted herself up into the cab and took a seat, pretending like she didn't just witness the exchange.
Tseng entered a few moments later, taking the seat across from her but refraining from leaning back at all, remaining straight as a board against the seat. "It's strange...the guy's been working for Shinra for years now, and he hasn't changed one bit. Still hates dealing with Turks...although it's kind of ironic, considering we're the only ones he can take orders from," he said, looking pointedly at Elena while saying the last bit, as if giving some sort of warning. She was a little taken aback. He didn't seriously think she was going to attempt finding her way back here in the future, did he? In fact, Elena had been worrying that she wouldn't even be able to find her way home. But it did raise a question in her mind...
"So then...if it's so important that this place stays a secret, why even bring me here in the first place?" Elena asked, watching from the window as the train pulled slowly out of the station.
Tseng sighed and looked away. "There's only so much I can tell you about that. But what I can tell you is that we follow the same procedure for any future member of the Turks. The idea is that we keep everyone as far away from Shinra as we can, with the least amount of contact possible, in order to ensure maximum security. Of course, we need a place for the application process to take place, ideally somewhere that is nowhere near any prying eyes...and this is what we have decided was best." He paused for a moment. "Although your case was a little different. We had limited records of you due to your lack of previous Shinra schooling; plus, because we approached you, I wasn't certain of your desire to become part of our team. So my colleagues and I thought it best that I meet you in person first to iron out some minor details before continuing with the normal procedure. But I will admit; I was less than pleased when I was informed that you were told to meet me in my own office." He frowned a little at the last bit.
"But I wouldn't ever put the company at risk, so no worries...right?" She said nervously, daring to meet his gaze. He smirked a little.
"No, you certainly wouldn't want to do that." There was no mistaking the dangerous undertone. Elena blinked a few times, not certain that she heard him right.
"Looks like we're here," he continued as they felt the train come to an abrupt halt in the middle of a tunnel, as if the previous conversation had never taken place. It truly was amazing; if Elena had been introduced to the man under ordinary circumstances, she would have thought him to be the perfect gentleman. But the more she talked to him, the more obvious his career choice became to her. And the more time she spent with him, the less she felt that she knew him.
She glanced around the train, quickly realizing his absence and followed him out the still-open cab door.
Once outside, she found him speaking to the conductor again, apparently giving some sort of instructions. The man grumbled something unintelligible back and soon clambered back inside the train. It was then that Elena noticed that the train had stopped in the middle of a tunnel.
"Here?" She asked, utterly baffled, watching Tseng continue up a narrow path in the tunnel until he reached a small alcove in the wall.
"Like I said, away from prying eyes," he said shortly, the shadow of a grin flitting across his lips.
She watched as he pulled out his I.D. card and swiped it along a device on the wall that she knew she wouldn't have noticed on her own, as it was hidden between several loose stones. And in a few moments the small section of wall moved to the side to reveal a hidden segment of tunnel. Elena just stared, completely dumbfounded. She half-expected Tseng to reveal to her that she was being filmed for an upcoming movie right then and there.
Once they'd reached the end of the long tunnel, the ceiling grew higher and Elena soon found herself in a toned-down version of the Shinra Company's lobby. It was complete with the usual marble tiled floors, blindingly white walls, and black countered front desks which were, at the moment, surprisingly left unattended. The longest wall in the room was branded with the familiar red diamond Shinra logo, and a large, ornate fountain quietly trickled in one of the more remote corners. On second thought, maybe it wasn't that toned-down...
Tseng started down one of the hallways located near the fountain, with Elena following close behind. On both sides of the hallway wall were countless portraits of men and women, wearing suits akin to Tseng's. As they went along, Elena tried to read as many of the names and captions as she could. From what she could tell, each portrait included the person's name, followed by their life span, the years they had served Shinra, and their weapon of choice, all embossed in gold lettering underneath. Some were grayscale, others were in vibrant color, but none of them were smiling.
The portraits became more recent toward the end of the hall. Elena managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar blonde with heavy set bangs and bright blue eyes...Rosalind.
Elena's eyes darkened a little at the sight of her. She knew that she had seen the exact picture before...in fact, it was still on proud display in their living room.
Lost in her thoughts, Elena only saw bits and pieces of the rest of the pictures...that was, until a flash of bright red in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Glancing back quickly, she found that the flash of red was actually someone's hair...could it be...?
But Tseng happened to be a fast-paced walker and Elena was having enough trouble keeping up with him as it was. So to her chagrin, she never had a chance to figure out the name of what was sure to be the red-headed stranger from her earlier adventure. And after the way the previous conversations with Tseng had gone over, she wasn't in any position to start asking him more questions.
Suddenly Tseng stopped at a walnut door and pulled it open, signaling for Elena to follow. Inside were a few office desks arranged against the walls, with a large table and chairs in the middle of the room. In two of the desks in one corner of the room were a boy and girl, around Elena in age and similar enough for her to assume that they were related. Tseng retrieved a stack of papers from the table in the middle and turned to her, dropping the heavy load into her hands. "Pick any seat you want and get started."
Elena tried to hide her disgust, but it didn't escape anyone in the room. "Don't worry; it's not as bad as it looks," the boy piped up, his own stack sitting in front of him, more than halfway completed.
Tseng nodded. "Most of it is just simple questions that we need to have on file or papers to sign. And the good news is you won't see any more of it for another six years or so." Elena had to smile a little at that.
Choosing a seat near the other two, she settled herself and got to work, looking up for a moment when Tseng left the room. The first twenty or so papers just asked for basic information and only took a few minutes to complete. But the next batch got a little more complicated, all of them filled with confusing statements that required her signature. She knew it was never a good idea to sign something that she didn't understand and may not even agree with, but she didn't have the time to read through all of the small print. She considered asking one of the other two, but both were completely immersed in their own work, flipping through the papers at inhuman speed. She deduced from that that they obviously didn't seem concerned with any of the fine print and followed suit.
Many of the papers dealt with her previous education and some even asked for explanations of what her classes were like. Others were easier, asking the same questions that Tseng had asked during the interview. Assuming that what she said in his office what good enough to get her where she was, she answered them the same way.
She was in the room for about a half an hour before the two siblings finished theirs. Without a word, they both stood, placed their stacks on the center table, and left the room. Elena continued rifling through the work, vaguely wondering where Tseng had disappeared to. Internally, she hoped that the papers were filed immediately after she finished and never looked at again.
Finally, after over an hour of writing, she had completed all but one of the papers, the written statement that validated that she agreed to all of previous papers. As she completed it and signed her name at the bottom for the last time, Tseng ambled into the room. He briefly looked over the papers that had been set on the table by the other two while Elena gathered her own papers and laid them next to the other two stacks. Noticing them, he said, "Good. Follow me, there's just one more thing."
Together, they left the room and continued further down the hallway. At the very end there stood a large set of double doors with small glass panes. Once they were on the other side of the doors, Elena discovered that they had entered a gym. Most of the walls and floors were covered with dark blue padding, and some punching bags hung from the high ceiling on the far side of the room. In the opposite corner, there was a glass wall that sectioned off part of the gym with exercise equipment on the other side. Elena gulped. There was definitely no mention of this in any previous conversations!
In the middle of the padded section of the gym were the boy and girl she had seen earlier, engaged in the middle of a sparring match. Both seemed to know what they were doing, executing adequate defense and well timed punches. But in a flash, the boy had managed to bring both of the girl's hands behind her back and pushed her to the ground face first.
"Very well. I've seen enough," Tseng called to them from beside Elena. They both stopped and stood up, brushing off their clothing. Turning to Elena, he asked, "Are you ready?"
She knew what she wanted to say, but instead of dissenting, she just nodded. "Good. You will spar with him, then," Tseng cocked his head toward the boy who had just won.
The boy's eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute. You didn't say I would have to do this twice! Besides, I don't even know her!"
Tseng brushed off his contempt and replied, "I hope you don't expect to only fight with those you know in the future. If so, you won't be doing too much fighting." The boy fell silent, sulking a little.
Tseng gestured for Elena to join the boy on the mat. "Well, whenever you're ready, then."
Slowly, Elena stepped onto the mat and walked over to meet the boy. Before they began, Elena asked quietly, "Hey, do you know if this affects us getting in?"
The boy shook his head. "I don't think so. I heard we're already in," he whispered back. Elena grinned. "Don't think that I'm gonna go easy on you though," he said lightheartedly, grinning back.
"I wasn't counting on it. Same goes for you, by the way," she added quickly, catching him off guard by initiating the fight with a kick. He swiftly ducked out of the day, countering her with a series of rapid punches, all of which she blocked. Working her way to his side, Elena delivered another kick and managed to make contact, causing him to stumble back a little. He recovered quickly, responding by sending a high kick to Elena ribs. She started to fall backwards but caught herself before her back touched the ground, using her hands to immediately turn her body around and propelled herself back up by kicking through the air. She felt her leg hit him in the shoulder in the process, and once she was on her feet again, she found that he had actually lost his balance and fell to the ground face first. She tried to reach him before he stood again, but she wasn't quick enough, and soon found herself blocking more of his punches.
The fight continued for a few minutes, the two evenly matched. Elena was nearly out of breath, but she knew that Tseng hadn't moved from his spot and was still calmly observing the fight. She wasn't sure if she could believe the boy when he said the fight didn't matter. He seemed honest and friendly enough, but it very well could have been a trick to get her to lose the match. And she promised herself and her pride that she wouldn't lose the fight in front of Tseng...even if it didn't count for anything.
After a while, Elena discovered the boy's weak point: he didn't guard his left side as closely as his right because he was right-handed. So, conjuring up a plan, she sent a combination of perfectly timed kicks and jabs that tended toward his left and eventually caught him off guard enough to give him a firm kick. He flinched a little and tried to start toward her, but she tripped him before he could come close enough. As soon as he hit the ground, Elena pinned his arms to either side of him, barely able to restrain them. After a few seconds, Tseng's voice reached her ears, "Good. That's enough."
"Damn," the boy muttered from the ground. She relinquished her grip, standing and rubbing her hands together a little to clear them of sweat. The boy picking himself up quickly, extending his hand to her, which she shook weakly. "Hey, good match. Hope it won't be the last."
Elena nodded. "You too," she breathed out, completely exhausted.
Soon, they were joined by Tseng and the other girl. "Not bad. Although you have much to learn," he said. "Of course, it's only a small taste of what you're in for. But it's a good way to begin."
"Does that mean we're all in?" The girl asked, her eyes brightening.
He nodded. "Well, it would have been cruel of me to give you all that paperwork if you weren't," he said, cracking a rare smile. "But don't get used to any kind of special treatment. You may be training to become a Turk, but all of the military start on the same level. You must first prove your worth in order to reach the top." He paused for a moment. "The road isn't an easy one, I can promise that. So I'm giving each of you one last chance to back out now, if you don't deem this a good way to spend the next six years of your life."
The siblings shook their heads, stating they were both in for life. Tseng looked to Elena. "You are sure as well?"
"Positive," she replied.
"Good. I will give you a day to prepare your belongings and whatever you need to begin your stay at the Academy. After that, be ready to start classes on the day of your arrival. You'll have quite a bit of catching up to do, so it's easiest to begin as soon as possible. I've already arranged special sessions for you three and a few others in order to do so," he explained, leading them back down the hallway and through the lobby.
Once they had reached the end of the tunnel and found the train again, Tseng told them to board it, while he remained outside. "The train will take you back to the Sector 8 square. I imagine you can find your way home from there?" They all nodded. "Very well. I hope to see the three of you again as Turks. Good luck." And with that, the doors closed and the train pulled out of the station.
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Elena searched through all of her dresser drawers one last time, making sure that she hadn't forgotten anything. Finding them empty, she then pirouetted around the entire room as well, checking her closet, underneath her bed, anywhere that may have hidden something that she needed. After a few minutes, she was satisfied. Turning to look at the many suitcases that she had piled onto her bed, she vaguely wondered if she would be able to fit all of it into her car; making two trips was definitely out of the question.
It was still hard for her to believe that in less than 24 hours, she would be at the Academy. It felt good to think about, but it also scared her a little. Being at the Academy meant she would hardly ever be at home, which to her was a good thing, but it also meant that she was basically starting over in school. New teachers, new people...she wasn't even sure if any of the material she had learned at her old school was even applicable to what she would soon be learning there.
But that wasn't even the biggest dilemma at the moment. What she was really concerned about was how she was going to get to the Academy from her house without her parents knowing. There was no way she could get a decent amount of sleep and still wake up, get through her morning routine, and load all of the suitcases in the car without someone waking up before she was done. Maybe it was a better idea to just tell them she was leaving tomorrow and go, no matter how hard they tried to stop her...
She thought all of this through as she attempted to zipper the first suitcase, finding that she had completely stuffed it. Since she wasn't willing to give up anything in the suitcase, she climbed on top of it, pressing her weight down on it and just barely managed to close it.
She then started on the next suitcase, but stopped when she heard voices coming from downstairs. Running to her door, she crept across the second floor and stopped short at the wall next to the staircase. From where she was, she could tell that her parents' voices were coming from the kitchen and that they seemed distraught about something.
"But we can't just let this happen," her mother said, "I think it would be a very big mistake."
"Dear, we don't have a choice in this," her father replied, sounding defeated. "They never give anyone a choice."
"Well then we have to fight it."
Her father gave a bitter laugh. "Us, fighting against them? It would only get worse, then."
"I still don't understand how any of this is legal." Her mother let out a long sigh.
"Oh, I know for a fact it isn't."
"And why are they so desperate to enroll our daughter anyway? Don't they have enough students there right now?"
"Not as many as they used to. I suppose they want as many as they can get."
"But that's no reason to go around threatening to fire their own staff!"
There was silence for a while. So that was it, Elena thought. That's what Tseng meant when he said he would take care of everything. She wasn't sure whether to be happy or not. Sure, now she didn't have to break the news to them that she was leaving or attempt sneaking out, but she couldn't help feeling guilty about everything, even though it really wasn't her fault.
Finally, her father spoke again. "It's the worst threat to this family that they could make, besides actually killing someone. That's why they did it." She heard his fist pound the table. "I hate that man! Those Turks are nothing but trouble."
Slowly, Elena moved away from the wall she was pressed against and snuck back into her room. She didn't need to hear anymore.
After a few minutes of trying to close all of the other suitcases, she heard her door creak open from behind her. Jumping a little, she quickly spun around and found her mother standing in the doorway.
Her first instinct was to try and hide all of the suitcases on her bed, but she soon remembered that she didn't have to anymore. Her mother's eyes immediately fell on them, but they soon left, instead looking around the mostly-bare room. "Were you going to tell us that you're leaving?" She asked sadly. Elena remained silent. Her mother shook her head. "It doesn't really matter anyway; we already knew." She took a seat on an empty spot of Elena's bed. "Your father got a phone call at work today from that Tseng man. And he had the nerve to threaten—"
"I know," Elena admitted. "I could hear you two from up here."
"So...your mind's all made up then? You're not going to tell them no and do the right thing?" She asked sharply.
"I'm going. And that's the right thing," Elena said firmly.
"Is it? After seeing what happened to..." She trailed off for a moment, her voice breaking a little. "You would do that to us, so we have to relive that?"
Elena eyes widened. "What? Is that why you didn't want me there in the first place?"
"Yes. And we didn't want Rosalind there, either," she confessed. "If I had it my way, this family wouldn't have anything to do with that company. Why did you think we didn't want you there?"
Elena just shook her head. "I don't even know..."
"We just...we didn't want you to get hurt."
Hearing her mother say that made Elena feel even guiltier. She had been wrong; all of the years that she thought they didn't care...they were trying to protect her. Trying to raise her to live a normal life. Knowing that changed her whole perspective. But it didn't change the fact that she'd never really wanted a normal life. And it wasn't enough to change her mind now.
"I promise I'll be careful, Mom." She knew her word wasn't enough to quell her mother's fear, but she felt she needed to say it.
She nodded a little. "Please do." She looked down at her watch. "It's getting late. You need to get some sleep if you're leaving early tomorrow." She then stood up and walked slowly to the door, turning back to Elena before she left. "Make sure we're awake tomorrow when you leave."
"I will," Elena promised. Her mother smiled and closed the door behind her.
Elena sighed, looking over to her stuff again. Suddenly, an idea crossed her mind. She darted over to her desk, searching through the drawers until she found what she was looking for. She then left the room and entered the adjacent bathroom. Making sure to close the door, she stood silently in front of the mirror. She needed to now; she needed to feel like she was beginning anew. And this had to be the best way to do it.
So, taking one last look, she took her long blonde hair in her hands and slammed her eyes shut. And with one pinch of the scissors, the hair fell to the ground.
Author's Note: Whew, it's done! Still not my favorite, but I did enjoy writing some parts of it :) I wasn't originally going to end this chapter this peacefully, but it just felt like Elena needed to have some sort of closure with her family...so that's that. Just to let everyone know, this is the last chapter of the sort of "prelude" I've been doing about Elena, so the next chapter is where the actual story really starts to pick up. I'm going to be doing a little jump in the timeline, since I don't think anyone really wants to read about six years' worth of military training...just a little fyi so no one's confused later on...but that's all I'm saying for now! Yup, so please let me know how I did with this one! I love hearing from all of you! Toodles!
