I know it seemed like I changed Chapter 11 to make a few disgruntled readers happy but that was just what it looked like. The moment I posted the original chapter 11, I changed my mind on that part of the plot, mainly because a romance between two characters should develop over time, not just appear like a slap in the face. So no matter how you readers reacted, I would have rewritten it. The reaction was just incentive to get it done sooner.
But I know you would much rather continue the story than listen to me ramble, so on with the story.
Several machines beeped lazily as they recorded each and every heartbeat and breath of the unconscious occupant of the sterile white bed. Other machines huffed as they pulled and pushed air through the damaged lungs of the young patient. Another machine was connected to long clear tubes and was responsible for the chemicals that kept the girl's body and blood full of nutrients to aid the recovery.
A man with black hair and a suit flipped through the pages attached to a steel clipboard. He could not believe she was even alive, he had watched the security footage a dozen times and could not help but think she was dead in some way. The report and the machines confirmed that her heart was still beating, her lungs still breathing, and her brain still functioning. But it would be a long time until anyone knew the extent of the damage done to her mind.
The man in the suit walked over to a chair, sat down, and stared out the window. The security footage from the reactor was burned into his mind from the multiple views and in depth analyzing. The young girl now lying in a hospital bed in Midgar had been forced to fight Sephiroth, the best of the SOLDIER operatives, unrivaled through his entire career, and the adoptive father of the girl and her sister.
The man in the suit may not have known Claire by anything more than her name and face, but he knew that when she was faced with having to kill her father figure, she could not go through with it. She had tried hard to best Sephiroth in their fight, even managed to gain the upper hand for a moment but she had not been able to give it her all. The data from the virtual reality training simulator had said she could nearly rival Genesis in a controlled fight but was still far from being able to best Sephiroth. It was understandable to the man, Claire not being able to properly fight Sephiroth, he had been her mentor, friend, and father for a number of years prior to the conflict in the reactor. Not to mention Sephiroth had taught her all she knew about fighting, so he had known exactly what she was going to do.
The man's gaze slid over to the bed and he visibly winced from the sight, it was still just painful to look at. Claire's head had bandages wrapped around it because her skull had been fractured in the back, her face was bruised, swollen, and bandaged, her entire right arm and left leg in a cast, and layers of bandages covered her torso. The doctors said that she fallen into a coma, either from the head injury or from her brain being stressed to the extreme by the pain. There was one question running through the man's mind that made him more curious than anything else about what Sephiroth had done.
Why had Sephiroth just savagely beat her and left her to bleed to death? Sephiroth never left any opponent alive, in the training simulator or on the battlefield. The legendary warrior barely ever fought hand to hand either, if he lost his sword he would retrieve it before continuing the fight unless he was sparring with Angeal. It was almost as if Sephiroth knew Claire would survive, almost as if he wanted her to survive. Sephiroth always had an ulterior motive well hidden behind his every move.
The man was so lost in his thoughts he almost did not notice his phone ringing in his jacket pocket. He pulled it out and flipped it open.
"Sir?" the voice of a young man asked "She is here, should I escort her?"
"Yes, but don't say anything. Got it, Reno?"
"Yes, sir," Reno replied flatly.
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door to Claire's room in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. The suited man pulled a curtain to shield the sight of Claire from the doorway, pulled two chairs near the door, then went and opened the door. He glanced down at the pink haired, blue eyed girl that was obviously Claire's sister. He had never seen Serah before now and that worried look in her eyes prodded a part of his being that he thought no longer existed, it had been a long time since he felt the need to comfort someone.
"Come on in, Serah. Have a seat," The suited man turned to Reno "You're dismissed," He turned back to Serah "I am Tseng, the Director of the Turks. I'm sure you are wondering why you are here," Serah nodded wordlessly. Tseng sat down in the chair opposite of Serah.
"Do you know where my sister is? Its been almost a month since I last heard from her and she said she would call me as soon as she got back to Midgar," Serah said quickly, the worry still in her eyes.
"Yes, I know" Serah was about to speak again "Please allow me to tell you why you are here," Tseng pulled a folded page out of his jacket and calmly unfolded it before speaking "Your school records show that you have already completed and exceeded the requirements needed for graduation from the academy you currently attend, other than twelfth grade history. That is quite a remarkable achievement for a fifteen year old student."
"Well, I knew that the sooner I finished school, the sooner I could be with Claire and Sephiroth again," Serah said cheerfully, although the worry was still in her eyes.
"Serah, due to your exceptional progress through education, I am offering you a position with the Turks," Tseng said without emotion. The look of surprise on Serah's face was amusing but he did not let it show.
"Aren't I a little young?" Serah asked the Director.
"Most SOLDIER members join between the ages of eleven and thirteen. But the Turks is a much safer job and we get paid more than most SOLDIER operatives," Serah looked to the floor as she carefully considered the option "I know there is a lot of negative rumors about the Turks out there but we are the reason why many SOLDIER members, including your sister, even make it home sometimes," It was quite for a few minutes while Serah mulled it over. Tseng was not about to grow impatient with her as it was rare to find someone with her brains.
"Why did you bring me here to interview me?" Serah asked, finally breaking the monotonous pattern of beeping "Don't you have an office?"
"Please focus on the matter at hand," Tseng replied calmly "Our reason for being here will be revealed soon," Silence fell between them as Serah continued to mull over her choice.
"Okay," Serah said quietly "I accept your invitation into the Turks," Tseng nodded and stood up. He pulled back the curtain and Serah was on her feet the instant she saw the pink hair "Claire! What happened?" Serah was nearly screaming hysterically and tears were already rolling down her cheeks. Tseng let the young girl cry for several minutes.
"Sephiroth went rogue," Tseng answered calmly. The Director of the Turks wished he did not have to tell Serah the truth about what happened but he wouldn't forgive himself for telling her Shinra's official story.
"What? He did this? That's not possible!" Serah was on her knees beside the bed that held her sister. She was still screaming but not as loudly as at first "He would never hurt Claire!"
"He burnt Nibelheim to the ground, killed all the townsfolk, the infantry that accompanied him, and Zack," Tseng knew Zack was not dead but the official story said he was missing in action "Claire is the only survivor of the incident."
"Sephiroth is dead?" Serah asked between sobs.
"Stabbed then thrown into the mako reservoir of the Nibelheim reactor by the infantryman, Cloud Strife. Private Strife was stabbed by Sephiroth before he sent Sephiroth to his death."
"So we're orphans again," Serah said as her sobbing ended "I guess I have no choice now but to work to pay for her medical bills."
"Speaking of which, I have some financial concerns to discuss. When Genesis and Angeal passed on, they each left all their assets to Sephiroth as they had no family. Sephiroth only had Claire listed as his next of kin and you are Claire's only living family," Serah could not believe Tseng was calmly talking about money while her sister was lying half dead in front of them "Unfortunately, since neither you or Claire are eighteen, you can't touch the inheritance. And depending on what happens to Claire-"
"She will wake up," Serah had a lethal tone that surprised Tseng.
"I never said she wouldn't wake up."
"Well how bad is it?" Serah's voice had lost its edge but Tseng knew it was just hidden.
"Claire has suffered from extreme head trauma. She could wake up and be perfectly fine, she could have amnesia or complete memory loss, or possibly even be reduced to-" the look Serah threw at Tseng made him stop talking about that topic "The other injuries she received are; all her ribs have been broken, all bones in her arm and leg are broken, roughly a hundred other bones have been cracked and her spine has been severed just above her naval."
"So she's paralyzed," Serah knew that news would destroy Claire. If there is anything left to destroy. Her mind cruelly added "So when do I start?" Serah asked Tseng.
"Whenever you are ready to begin training."
The next four months for Serah were filled with constant exercise and visiting Claire as much as possible. If it had not been for her Shinra identification card, with enhanced clearance because of Sephiroth, Serah would have had to sleep in Claire's hospital room every night. Not that Serah had anything against spending more time with Claire but it was nice to sleep in an actual bed every now and again, even though it was in Claire's room of the SOLDIER barracks.
The following two months were focused on Serah learning how to pilot a Shinra helicopter. Serah was very glad they were using a simulator because for the first two weeks, she crashed every time the chopper left the ground. It was a long and very difficult piloting course but she was able to pass it with flying colors. Serah felt much better when she learned her coworker, Rude, still wasn't very good at flying a helicopter, which is why he was always paired with Reno, who was easily the best pilot out of the Turks.
Once Serah was no longer busy with getting in shape to meet the Turks standards, which were surprisingly high, or learning how to fly, she made friends. Cissnei was almost immediately a close friend, Reno took some time to even notice Serah, and Rude just helped Serah out every now and again. It took nearly a week and a half, and much help from Cissnei, for Serah to decide on a weapon to use. Serah tried knives, handguns, rifles, an electro-baton like Reno, a compound bow, her bare fists, and a shuriken like Cissnei, but settled with the compound bow which she seemed to have a talent for.
Seven months after joining the Turks, Serah was given her real weapon. It was still a compound bow but it was designed to collapse into an elctro-baton for both easy transport and close range combat. The arrows for Serah's bow were specially designed. The arrow heads were razor sharp and made out of the same alloy that had seen use as the blade of the Masamune, Sephiroth's famous long sword. Tseng told Serah the arrows were almost indestructible but the fletch could be damaged enough to make them useless and they were too expensive to mass produce so Serah would only ever be allowed to have a maximum of forty arrows at any given time.
As Serah was leaving for the night, to spend another night waiting for Claire to wake up, she spotted Cissnei waiting at the front doors to the Shinra building.
"Hey Serah," Cissnei said pleasantly.
"Hello," Serah calmly replied with a smile.
"Want some company?"
"It would be nice to have someone to talk to," Serah commented.
Cissnei walked with Serah to the hospital where Claire slept. They two girls grabbed a coffee along the way and shared meaningless stories with each other. Both of them, along with the other Turks, knew that the only person a Turk could trust as a friend was another Turk. Most people wanted nothing to do with a Turk, which was sometimes a good thing. No Turk had ever been assaulted in an alleyway or in the slums but there were reports of SOLDIER operatives, other than firsts, being mugged or even killed in the same scenarios, which amused Reno and inflated his ego to no end.
Cissnei accompanied Serah up into Claire's room and gasped when she realized why Serah's sister sounded so familiar. Claire swiftly recovered from her injuries over the last seven months but was still in a coma. Serah's older sister just looked as if she was resting peacefully.
"Your sister is Lightning?" Cissnei stated more than asked "I can really see the resemblance now. I wonder what its like to be related to a SOLDIER first," the red haired young woman mused.
"It was scary," Serah replied "I was always expecting to get the call," Cissnei knew what Serah meant by 'the call' "But she would send me a letter and some gil every week. When she wasn't on missions, of course," Serah felt tears starting to well up in her eyes "We were raised by Sephiroth and he taught Claire to be a warrior so she would be able to protect me if she ever needed to," Cissnei walked up to Serah and wrapped her arms around the small pink haired girl. Serah buried her face in her friends shoulder "How could he do that? How could he hurt Claire and all those people?" Serah sobbed into Cissnei's shoulder as the red haired young woman hugged her tight. It took a few minutes for Serah to recover her composure but when she was calm, Cissnei released her.
"Where are you staying tonight?"
"I'm going to stay here, with my sister," Serah answered solemnly.
"Promise you will call me if you need anything, okay?" Cissnei said with a fake serious tone.
"I promise. Thank you, Cissnei. You're a great friend."
"No problem Serah," Cissnei said with a wave as she turned and left.
Serah spent the rest of the daylight making Claire look presentable and taking care of her. Serah was irritated by how the nurses always made Claire's hair so messy but it was unavoidable when changing her clothes and bedding. Serah sat on the side of the bed and gently pulled Claire up just enough to brush her hair and pull it over her left shoulder. The next hour was spent on cleaning and trimming Claire's nails, Serah knew all she was doing could be done by the staff but she wanted to do something for Claire. As the sun started to set behind Reactor Four, Serah started to massage the muscles in Claire's arms, hands, legs, feet, neck, and back.
"Any day now Claire. I know you will wake up any day now because you promised you wouldn't let anything happen me and that you would always be there for me," Serah whispered as she held her sisters hand tightly in hers. Serah pushed up Claire's white hospital shirt slightly to look at the scar from the Masamune, it was barely two inches long and Serah knew there to be an identical scar on Claire's back.
Life for Serah became such a routine she barely noticed three years had passed since she joined the Turks. Going to see Claire in the hospital nearly every day had started to wear down her sanity to the point of Serah not remembering going to the hospital. Serah's near daily visits had become weekly visits then only once every two weeks and eventually once a month. She felt terrible for putting herself before her sister that had been unconscious for years but Serah knew that she had to face the truth. The doctors had said that at this point, it was unlikely that Claire would ever wake up and being her only family, Claire's life was in Serah's hands.
Serah promised that she would never give up on Claire. Serah knew that Claire would wake up but her cruel mind always gave her an image of Claire, bound to a wheelchair and permanently in a state similar to high level Mako poisoning. Serah refused to believe that is what would happen to Claire. Claire had been a First Class operative of SOLDIER, one of the strongest fighters in the world, had called herself Lightning because of how swift and deadly she had been on the battlefield, Claire would not be reduced to such a state when she woke up.
Cissnei had surprised Serah for her eighteenth birthday. Her, Serah, and the newest Turk, Elena, went to her apartment for a quiet evening and Serah's first alcoholic drink, something Serah really hoped to share with Claire. The three Turk women spent many hours talking about their coworkers and their boss, and shared many laughs as they became tipsy from the drinks. In the early hours of the morning, Elena went home and Serah fell asleep on Cissnei's couch. Cissnei sat with Serah as the small pink haired girl started to cry in her sleep, having read Serah's file, the red haired Turk wondered how often this happened to Serah. The next morning Serah was called into Tseng's office.
Serah sat in one of the chairs facing Tseng's desk as she waited for him to enter the office. She had been called by Tseng for a 'delicate assignment' as he had put it. When the director finally entered the office he dropped a file in front of Serah and a placed a cell phone beside it.
"You are being sent undercover," Tseng said as Serah opened the file "We only recently discovered Avalanche's informants here on the plate. It is a small group that calls themselves NORA," Serah read the information as Tseng spoke "We don't know who is in the group mostly because they never attracted Shinra's eye before now. All we know is they are a group of vigilantes that have aided in the capture of some criminals which is why Shinra ignored their existence for so long."
"Then how did we discover their connection to Avalanche?" Serah asked as she flipped the page, most of the information was entirely unnecessary.
"We apprehended a member of Avalanche a month ago and he finally revealed where Avalanche has been getting its info," Tseng said as Serah turned to the last page. It had information on a person who's picture was clipped to the page "The leader of this NORA, and presumably the other members, are located in Sector Seven. Your job is to infiltrate NORA and get close enough to the leader, Snow Villiers, that he will tell you what information he is passing to Avalanche so we can stop them from hurting people."
"Yes sir," Serah said as she flipped the file closed and stood up.
"It matters not how you gain entry into NORA but you must as soon as possible. Also, that phone is for you. It is designed to have an untraceable signal, incoming or outgoing. If you need assistance or extraction, dial eight-eight-seven-five. Clear?"
"Infiltrate NORA, gain Snow's trust, report any information, dial eight-eight-seven-five for help," Serah said to Tseng.
"Very good. Do not let anyone use that phone, and just so we are clear, as of now you are considered dead to the other Turks, no help is coming unless you dial that number," Serah nodded and left to begin her mission that likely take several months, possibly even years to complete.
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