Every Now and Then
Chapter 7: Persistence of Memory
“Reno?”
Where was that idiot, Strife, anyway? He couldn’t have gotten far. Why was he playing this little game of hide-and-seek with them? And why did Yuffie have to keep running off? This was the second time in ten minutes he’d lost sight of her in the shadows. That girl was more trouble than she was worth. Sometimes he wished he’d never bothered to worry about her in the first place. It did nothing but give him a headache.
“Reno?”
Besides… There were more pressing things to worry about. There was something strange about this place – more than just the fact that some creepy little weirdo was running around in the shadows – it was something in the air… something in the land… it was just something about this place. And it was starting to get to him. The unnatural quiet and stillness had the fine hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. As they made their way deeper into the facility, Reno could swear that the disturbing sense of foreboding he’d had for some time now was steadily getting stronger. Something was here. He didn’t know what, and he was fairly certain that he would rather not find out… but something was definitely here, with them… watching them. It was more than just the strange cloaked figure they’d run into upstairs. He was on his guard, and keeping a sharp eye out for that particular nutcase… though admittedly, the feeble light from the tip of his electro-rod didn’t do much to chase away the shadows. ‘Should’ve brought a damn flashlight…’ he thought as his gaze roamed the darkness beyond the little sphere of light.
“Reno?”
He hated being on edge like this. It wasn’t like him to get jumpy, and it left him with the sensation that he had no control over the situation. Where the hell was Strife?! The sooner they found him, the sooner they could haul ass out of this place. They weren’t going to find any scientists… he’d known that since the moment he and Yuffie had found the skeleton on the second floor. If they kept looking, they would probably just find more of the same… Reno preferred not to share that fate.
“Reno?”
“What, Elena?!” the Turk snapped, as his persistent comrade finally succeeded in jarring him from his thoughts. He realized that she had been trying to get his attention for some time now, but he wasn’t much in the mood to talk. Elena took an involuntary step back as the red-head rounded on her.
“I… I… N-nevermind,” she said quickly. Reno sighed. No sense taking out his frustration on her.
“What is it?” he asked, a bit less harshly.
“R-Reno… Do you really think I’m weak?” she asked, unable to meet his gaze. Reno blinked… He hadn’t expected that. Now that he thought about it, though, he had to admit that it was a fair question. He’d been saying it practically from the day she’d been promoted to the Turks. ‘Don’t act so weak, Elena.’ It was one of his favorite insults. Personal, condescending, infuriating… It fit damn near any occasion.
“Well… Do you?”
He’d been so caught up in pondering her query, he’d nearly forgotten that she was waiting for an answer.
“Tch… ‘Lena, why’re you asking me this now?” he replied, shrugging it off and hoping she’d drop the subject. ‘Where in all of Holy did Yuffie and that damn lizard get to?’ he wondered.
“Because I want to know.”
She stared down at her hands, as if expecting to hear the worst. Reno swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. If there was anything he hated more than being on edge, it was a guilt-trip.
“Look, ‘Lena… I…”
“Hey! Hurry up, you two! There’s an elevator over here!” a voice called from farther down the hall. ‘Saved by the shrill, impatient yell…’ thought Reno.
“Yeah, yeah… We’re comin’ Yuff!”
———-
It watched them from the shadows. They were moving towards the light on their own, and It was overjoyed. They would make it easy for It if they only kept moving… deeper, deeper, deeper… Deeper into the darkness. And from the darkness, they would emerge into the light. They even brought the little one with them. The light would be pleased indeed. The light would give It everything it wanted for bringing them.
Everything It wanted…
———-
“Cloud! Answer me!” she called, stopping short as she walked right into a spider’s web, all but invisible in the darkness, that criss-crossed the hallway, “Gah… Stupid spiders…”
She stopped to pull the web away from her arms.
The light that had shown through the collapsed ceiling in the large room they’d come from was no longer visible, but Rude – and Tifa grudgingly had to give the Turk credit for his preparedness – had a small, but surprisingly decent penlight. In fact, it was much brighter than she’d have expected something so miniscule to be.
‘Probably standard issue for those bastards…’ she groused silently. But at least two of them weren’t forced to grope their way through the dark hallway. They had come across only one door in the long stretch, which had turned out to be only a small store room. The voices of the other group had faded into the darkness. It was just her and Rude now. And she was making no effort to hide that she was none too pleased by the fact. Her only real consolation was that it could have been Reno. Tifa was fairly certain that she would have killed the red-head by now had she ended up stuck with him. She didn’t know how Yuffie could stand him at all. Rude, at least, was tolerable.
“Where is he?” she wondered aloud.
“He didn’t come this way,” Rude said from behind her. She jumped slightly. ‘I really wish he’d quit doing that!’ she thought. It was the second time one of his sudden statements had caught her completely off-guard.
“How do you know that?” she asked, suspiciously, wondering what gave the Turk such an insight.
“… You wouldn’t have walked into that if he had,” Rude replied, motioning toward the remains of the spiderweb that clung to the ceiling and walls.
———-
“Hurry up you two!” Yuffie yelled from the end of the hall. Reno could only just make out her figure in the shadows.
“We’re coming… We’re coming…” Reno muttered as he moved toward her. Elena brought up the rear. His footsteps were entirely too loud on the tile floor. Or everything else was just too damn quite. He wasn’t sure which anymore. Each step seemed to grow louder to his ears, until suddenly, his foot came down without a sound. Reno froze.
Slowly he looked down. Where there should have been cold, white tile there was… water? Tiny waves rippled out from where he stood. He turned around. Elena was no longer behind him.
“What the hell… ?”
There was nothing behind him. There was nothing in front of him either, for that matter. Only a vast expanse of dark water stretching on Odin only knew how far. And there was a light. Oh yes, there was a light, but he couldn’t see it’s source.
“Elena? Yuffie?”
“It’s alright, Reno… It will all be alright.”
He turned at the sound of the voice, weapon drawn and ready for a fight. The woman he saw was beautiful… pale and slender, and perfectly at ease in this strange place. Her hair was as red as his, neatly puled up and back, a few locks left loose to frame her lovely face. And she was smiling. Reno remembered that smile.
“M-mom?”
“Come with me, Reno… Come with me, and everything will be alright,” she replied.
“I’m losing my mind… I’m totally, utterly, and completely losing my mind…” Reno said, more to himself than to the woman who stood demurely before him. He backed up a step.
“Reno…”
“No… No fucking way…”
“Reno…” She moved slowly toward him.
“You’re dead…” he said, taking another step back. The hand that gripped his electro-rod shook almost imperceptibly for a moment, until he forced it to stop.
“No, Reno… I’m not. Come with me.”
“You’re dead,” he repeated, “You fucking died when I was a kid!”
“Reno…”
“Get back!” He fell back into a defensive position, poised to strike if the woman came closer. When she stepped toward him, he attacked.
“Reno!”
This was a different voice… a much different voice. A familiar voice… Elena? He stopped just in time.
“Reno! What the hell is wrong with you?” Yuffie cried, coming up behind him. The electro-rod clattered to the floor.
———-
Reno was staring at her, his face white as a sheet and uncharacteristically readable. Confusion was etched in startling clarity across his features… perhaps even a little shock, and fear. Elena didn’t so much as twitch until he dropped his weapon.
“R-Reno? A-are you alright?” she asked, hoping that whatever had come over her fellow Turk had passed.
“Elena?”
She nodded, slowing, in confirmation.
“About what you said earlier… About seeing Tseng…”
“Y-yes?”
“I believe you.”
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