The cold, dark, eternal prison seemed so torturing to her. So hadn’t seen light for a long, long time, almost forgotten how the outside world looks like. She remembered herself, once free as a bird, running down the streets of Midgar, then bumped into Cloud and started a journey to save the from evil and greed. But now those were just memories to her. She no longer wanted anything but freedom. Freedom to move about, than staying in a prison that feels like hell.
The
girl sat in a corner, thinking about the past. She remembered the days where
she was just an ordinary girl, selling flowers in the slums. Those days were
beautiful, truly. Although she was an ancient, it doesn’t really bother her
much. She still get attention from guys all around, girls envying her and many
other things. She remembered the church she used to go. The flowers that
bloomed here, the people who came to pray, the music of the organ
playing...those were the past. The present? Look at her now.
The
girl looked around, although she had already done this more than a thousand
times. The sanitary basin still remain ‘unclean’, the room that really, really
stinks, the darkness she got used to till she could see every minor detail in
the room as if there was light in it. She looked at her clothes and saw the
wear and tear and the wounds on her body. She stopped thinking about it. It was
too brutal, way too brutal for her...
The
girl now started to wonder about the future. Ever since she entered this
eternal prison, her future seemed so dark to her. It seemed that she had no
future other than sitting here for the rest of her life. Sometimes, she hoped
herself death rather than living in this hellhole. For some reason, her
‘keeper’ kept her alive by sending her food, although the food might look
inedible. Many times, she thought of committing suicide but the hope that
someone will come and save her kept her alive.
After
staring at the floor for a long time, she heard the noise of the small food
window opening. A dish was pushed into the room and then the window closed
immediately. Like an animal, she crawled towards the dish and started to gobble
up what ever that was on that dish. If she hadn’t lost the sense of time, she
was given food once a day. The food taste and look terrible but she still
gobble it up because of hunger. She remembered when she just entered this
place, she was sick because of the food but no one even cared about her. She
remembered how her stomach became painful gradually and how fever eluded her.
But slowly, she recovered and became used to the food. Boy, that must had been
tough.
After
finishing her food, she returned to her favorite corner and waited again.
Quietly, she prayed to god, hoping that one day, she will be set free, far away
from this place, and never again will return here. Although chance that she
will get out was slim, she still had in faith in someone, someone that will
search for her, until he found her.
Cloud,
still feeling stupid after being conned by the Turks, looked out of the
helicopter that was heading towards west. In the same chopper with him was the
three turks, Agent Dubchek, the criminology expert and kid, the explosive
expert. Together with four choppers with all the other experts and the other
choppers left behind at Kalm, they headed west, towards a mountain area.
“So
Cloud, what actually are we going to do first?” Kid asked, not fully
understanding what was the situation.
“First,
we will go look for a friend of mine, and then, we will do an investigation in
a mansion there.” Cloud answered.
“We
are heading for Nibelhelm right? Nice place I heard that town was. Peaceful and
quiet, a paradise if you ask me.” Kid continued.
Cloud
just kept quiet. Peaceful and quiet? My foot! That place was his hometown and
all his nightmares came from there. No doubt that Nibelhelm was peaceful at
first, but after Sephiroth came and plagued the town, Nibelhelm was like a war
torn country, left only in ashes and destruction. But strangely, Nibelhelm
looked like it was fixed up and people sent in to stay to cover up the
destruction caused onto it. The reason? Nobody really knows.
“Nibelhelm
might look nice, but it was a very false place, if you ask me.” Agent Dubchek
said.
“False?”
Kid asked with a curious tone.
“Yes,
false. I shouldn’t be telling other people about this but I was the one in
charge of training the people who replace the citizens of Nibelhelm after the
fire in Nibelhelm. Nibelhelm was destroyed in a fire and Shinra decided to
rebuild it for some reason. People from different places were recruited to
pretend as Nibelhelm citizens to make it looked like nothing had actually
happened.” Agent Dubchek replied and Kid listened carefully. Kid, not knowing
that Nibelhelm holds such a secret listened in awe.
Cloud
that was listen to Agent Dubchek too sat there quietly. He remembered the first
time he revisited Nibelhelm with Sephiroth, Sephiroth seemed so disturbed and
awkward. Then, hell broke loose and Sephiroth went berserk. Sephiroth killed
every one in Nibelhelm, burned it down and left Cloud in total grief. Cloud
remembered the time he nearly lost Tifa. He couldn’t imagine himself losing
her.
“Say,
Cloud. What makes you think that we will find something useful at Nibelhelm.”
Kid asked Cloud.
“Like
Cloud told us, the body he found was a clone-like thing. Who in the world do
you think is capable of creating something like that?” Reno replied for Cloud.
“Who
else if it isn’t Hojo?” Agent Dubchek interrupted.
“Exactly.
We believe that this case had something to do with Hojo and the only way we are
going to find out was to search his lab under the Nibelhelm mansion. Of course,
he might not conduct his most fabulous experiments there but that place will be
a good head start for a search.” Reno replied.
Kid
listened and recognized the name Hojo. He heard that name many times because
Hojo was well known with his work on Jenova and genetic engineering. Due to
this, he had quite a reputation. Among the Shinra community, he was a scary
person and seemed unpopular. Many people don’t really want to know what he
actually did to animals.
“So,
who is the friend you guys are talking about?” Kid asked a final question.
“You
will know when we get to meet him.” Reno answered while looking at the town of
Nibelhelm through the window of the chopper.
“Hey
Mike! Get your slow movin’ a$$ here on the double!”
Immediately
after that command, a teenager around the age of twelve wearing a cap and a
loose T-shirt with short pants ran into shop. He greeted the shop owner.
“The
usual delivery guy was sick today. Take this bag of groceries to the guy in the
mansion.” The shop owner said while handing the boy a bag of groceries.
“The...the
mansion?” The boy asked with a frightened tone.
“What?
You scared of ghost? Let me tell you something, there is no such thing as
ghosts, so get your a$$ movin’!” The shop owner shouted a the shivering boy.
“But...there
was a weird guy that stays in there. They say he had sharp teeth, red eyes and
suck human blood.” The kid continued.
“Yea,
yea. If he suck blood, I wonder why the hell he need sausages and ham.” The
shop owner replied.
“But...”
“No
buts! You have to learn how to shape your courage and not act like a timid
little girl! Now go run to the mansion and be back quickly! I have other
delivery for you to make!”
The
shop owner grew impatient. The kid only nodded and walked out of the shop
slowly. Suddenly, they heard roaring noises approaching. The shop owner went to
the window and had a peek outside. He saw four dots approaching towards them.
He then notice they were helicopters and flying towards them in high speed.
“What
in the world...”
“What
is it, sir?” The boy asked.
“Nothing.
Just hadn’t seen visitor coming this way before. Wonder what they are up to?”
The shop owner answered.
“Are
they military choppers? Will they attack us?” The boys asked again.
“Even
if they are military choppers, there isn’t a reason why they will want to
attack us. Without the Mako reactor working, Nibelhelm had virtually no
economic value. They are probably here for something else. Hey what are you
still here? Dilly-dallying?”
The
shop owner scolded. The boy quickly, ran out of the door, and headed towards
the mansion.
The
boy, now standing outside of the mansion, looked at the mansion in awe. The
mansion was huge and beautiful, but somehow, it looked creepy, especially when
the wind started blowing. The boy opened the gate and entered the porch. He
looked around and saw the plants nearby were mostly dead. He started shivering.
All he wanted was a part-time job, and now he was given such a job. He took a
deep breath, and knock on the door.
No
reply. The boy waited for a while and knocked harder. Still nothing. Then, he knocked
hard and the door opened with a creaking sound. The door wasn’t lock. The boy
took a peek inside. It was quite dark inside, although he could see light
shining from a large window. He tiptoed into the mansion and looked around.
Suddenly he felt a gust of wind and the door closed behind him with a slam. He
was shocked. When he turned around, he saw a dark figure standing in front of
him, with red eyes gazing at him and a claw reaching towards him. He was so
scared that he could find his find. His legs lost all strength and he collapsed
onto the floor, looking back at the figure.
The
figure slowly approached him. The boy was petrified and the red eye scared him
most. He brought out him arms in a helpless attempt to protect himself from the
figure. He could feel that the figure was coming towards him, slowly. Then he
felt the claw made a swift move. His nerves alarmed as he was so afraid they
would hurt him. But they didn’t. The figure just snatched the bag of groceries
from him. The figure checked the groceries in the bag, and hand the boy five
hundred gil. The boy still petrified, slowly reached out to receive the money.
“Keep
the change.”
The
figure spoke. The boy, now became calmer, pushed himself up slowly. Although
the figure spoke quite politely, he was still afraid of him. Mostly because of
the figure’s appearance. The boy counted the money, and started to walk towards
the exit to end this ordeal.
“Hey
kid. What was the noise coming from the east?” The figure asked coldly.
“I
don’t know, sir. They are choppers heading towards this way. I don’t know why
they are here but there were about four or five of them.” The boy replied.
“Thanks.”
The
figure lifted his hand and the door opened. The boy ran out and the door closed
behind him.
“What
is it this time?” Vincent, although only had slight information about the
choppers, could tell that he will be involved in something big, again.