FicWad

Stained Halo
Chapter 3: Tumbling Dice

Aeris wasn't aware that she was screaming until her lungs gave way. The only feeling racing within her that one could accurately label would be despair. There was no amount of comfort that could soothe her pain. Its only release lied in her wails. She clung to Ifalna's lifeless body as if even her physical form would slip away if she let go. Her mother, her best friend, the only thing that loved her in the world was gone. She had never felt this kind of sting before - it hurt so bad. When there was no more energy left within her to keep sobbing, she submitted to lying atop her mother's figure whimpering. She wanted her back so badly, why couldn't she just come back? Or why couldn't she have gone with her? She didn't want to be without her Mama, without any comfort or love.

The scene managed to instill pity even into the hardened inhabitants of the Midgar slums. People lost love ones on a daily basis in those parts; but to see such a young child go through the ordeal of losing her mother alone was too much. The train conductor decided to call a guard. He was sure he wouldn't be able to comfort the girl, but at least he could get a roof over her head in an orphanage.

When the guard reached the scene he carefully touched Aeris' shoulder to catch her attention. She shook it off, keeping her head buried in her mother's dress. No one could fix this, no one could bring her back, and she didn't want to speak or look at anyone as long as that was the case. If Ifalna had at least gone with a smile, if she had at least closed her eyes peacefully, then maybe Aeris would've been more calm. But she had heard the despair in her mother's shaky voice and seen the anger in her eyes. They had done this to her. Everyone. The Cetra had abandoned her. Those people on the train had looked at them with such contempt. And those stupid, stupid Shinra soldiers had shot her mom, had killed her, just to get them to go back to that stupid lab.

Filled with sudden dread, Aeris looked up at the man hovering above her. That blue uniform, that gun at his right side... Anger and panic filled her as she recognized his outfit. He was part of Shinra. He would take her back. He would take her from her mother and make her go back to the lab. No. No!

A fresh wave of tears threatened to break out of her as she realized they would never leave her alone. She just wanted to lay with her mama for a little while, but not even now would these monsters leave her be. She looked down at her mother's cold face and kissed it, knowing what she had to do - what she would continue to have to do for the rest of her life. Her mama had died for this. The guard was saying something to her but she was ignoring it and focusing her attention on the silent battle raging within her.

Go.

Whether it had been her mother, the Cetra, or her own will for survival, she wasn't sure - but all it took was that small voice to get her on her feet and running, no, flying through the streets of Midgar. Buildings and people were all a blur to her as she whizzed past them. The only thought in her mind was escape, and she felt her little legs moving at an unthinkable pace as she willed them to grant her this.

Twists, turns, corners, cars, alleys, she ran her way through and around all of these. Her vision never flickered anywhere but straightforward. She had to run as long as she could without thinking. If she dared to think about anything she would break down and the monster would catch her. She had to go, go, go...crash.

All went black, but only for a second. Her eyelids struggled to separate as her head and side screamed for them to shut. It only took a few moments for her to realize what happened as an angry pedestrian told her to watch her "damn step next time". The only response she managed was a painful groan. Gathering what little was left of her breath and consciousness she crawled over to a corner of the building she was next to. She didn't want to do anything more than sleep, and so she did with the concrete as her mattress and her whimpers as her lullaby.

She found herself in total blackness a second later, Ifalna's arms around her in an eternity of stillness. How odd it was for her to feel so much warmth after the previous stinging cold. And yet, she didn't feel overwhelmed at all. She didn't ask any questions, nor did she cry, she just laid in her mother's arms, enjoying the ever-fleeting moment. Her hair was stroked, her forehead kissed, and her cheek caressed many times before Ifalna's voice broke the beautiful silence.

"It's going to be hard for you my darling," she whispered. Aeris said nothing.

"But you're going to make it. Oh yes, you will," there was something odd about her voice. Years later she would realize it had been the beginning of a loving, but very bitter obsession being vocally expressed, but for now she did not care. She just wanted to continue being comforted and loved.

Looking up at her mother she asked whether they could stay here forever, in this black abyss, where nothing could intrude upon their peace. An enigmatic smile crossed Ifalna's features.

"Well I think I'll always be here. I won't go to them, no I won't. Mommy's not as strong as she would be in the lifestream, but that doesn't matter. But you my heart, you can't stay. You have to live. You promised, remember?"

"I did, but..."

Ifalna held a finger to Aeris' mouth.

"Ssh. I'll be in your dreams and your thoughts when you need me. No matter how bad things get, know that I will never abandon you. Never. But now you're going to wake up, and you're going to be a brave little angel. Go on."

Before any protests could be made on Aeris' part, the blackness and her mother faded away and were replaced by hurtful consciousness and ... car horns? Her eyes fluttered open, and she found herself lying in the same spot where she had fallen. It was still dark, but a look upwards showed an immense ceiling over the entire area. Kind of like a citywide ceiling? How weird.

Despite her sore body's protests, she slowly picked herself off the ground, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Tears threatened to spill at the remembrance of the previous night. But that dream had calmed her, and she didn't want to disappoint her mama. She had to be the brave angel she asked her to be. Climbing out of her hiding spot she noticed the streets were a lot fuller than the night before. Must be morning. The growling in her stomach confirmed this guess, and she set out to look for food.

Unfortunately she hadn't the slightest idea of where to look for it. She wandered the streets for what seemed an eternity. The people were so busy there; twice she had asked someone for help and had been shaken off before being able to utter a word. Growing frustrated, she decided to grab the sleeve of the next woman passing by her.

"Look I don't have any money," the woman impatiently huffed at her before attempting to walk away.

Aeris pursued, "But I don't want money! I just want to know where I can find food!"

The woman paused and pointed her in the right direction before scurrying away again.

"Geez..." Aeris mumbled to herself. After about fifteen minutes she reached a small market. There were stands all around her, but she was left feeling hopeless yet again. She did need money. But how was she supposed to get it? She was starving and penniless, and by the looks of the suspicious vendors that was a bad combination. She plopped down near one stand to pull herself together before starting to cry again. She wasn't a brave angel, she was a poor, defenseless girl left to ward for herself in the most cruel city in the world.

Cling.

Aeris looked down to find that two gil had landed next to her. A man walking by her nodded and mouthed, "You're welcome." So she could eat after all! Quickly she gathered up the gil and ran to the nearest fruit stand. Her mouth watered at the sight of it. She grabbed two apples and handed the vendor her money. The satisfied look on her face proved that the first bite she took did her well.

But in the next second the apple she bit into was snatched out of her hand. The vendor was standing before her with a very displeased look on his face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he spat at her.

She was so confused. "Eating the apple I paid for?"

He grew even more infuriated. "The hell you did! These apples are five gil each! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get real fruit in this dump? Now give me the other one you filthy little rat!" He dove at her to grab the other apple out of her hand.

But Aeris had had enough. She spun around and broke into a dash. So she was stealing. So it was wrong. But she had paid for the apple, and that man had no right to yell at her. Unfortunately she only made it a few yards before crashing into someone's legs.

That was all the time it took for the vendor to reach her, grab the apple, and give her a hard slap across the head. Not being able to handle his cruelty, she fell to the ground and broke into sobs.

"My, my picking on children now Martin?"

Her watery eyes traveled up the body of the man she had run into. It was a man who looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties; dressed in a sharp black suit that starkly clashed with the people in rags surrounding him. He had short black hair, shiny, full, and very neatly and stylishly arranged atop his head. His eyes were a playful blue, shaped in such a way that one would find him to have a constant mischievous squint in them. His facial features were quite pleasant - a small nose, lightly defined high cheekbones, and sparkling white smile. All in all, he looked completely off in this setting.

The vendor staggered back, "She stole my goods, sir. Nothing but a thief."

Aeris was going to protest, but the stranger spoke up first.

"Ah, stole, did she? Yes, you must know a lot about that. Isn't that right Martin? Don't you know quite a bit about stealing?" He raised an eyebrow, as if awaiting an answer, but did not have the patience to listen to the crude vendor trying to grunt out a reply at his defense.

"Yes, she probably picked the worst of them all to steal from. Bad decision on her part I'd say. But that's another field you are certainly an expert in - stealing from the wrong people," he cocked his head to one side, "isn't that right?"

The vendor dropped the apple. He took a few steps back and held his hands up in defense, "I can explain!"

But the other man silenced him with a wave of his hand. He shifted his gaze down at a very confused and frightened Aeris and gave her a smile.

"I'm sorry this imbecile bothered you, dear. Are you still hungry?"

Slowly she nodded at him. Was someone actually being nice to her?

"Of course you are. How about Martin give you back that apple as an appetizer and then we go get some real food?"

He extended his hand to her, which she apprehensively took. Despite his charms, something about this stranger made her uneasy. But she was very hungry, and he was the first person in Midgar to treat her like a human being. He lifted her up and turned to one of the men standing next to him. For the first time Aeris noticed he had three men with him, also dressed in black suits. They were all very tall and scary looking to her little eyes.

"Jay, take her to the car and watch her, will you? Stay there until we finish attending to business with Martin here."

Jay, a tall, muscular man with sandy hair buzzed off to a bare minimum looked odd in his business suit. He looked like he belonged in some camouflage outfit complete with a very large gun. But he looked even more odd holding the hand of a wide-eyed seven-year-old girl whilst leading her away.

If the previous man had frightened her, this man terrified her. But she had no real choice here - either go with these men or starve in the streets. It only took a few moments to reach a jet-black car. Jay moved to one of the back doors, opened it for her, and motioned for her to climb in. She felt a voice enter her mind. It was the Cetra's.

Don't.

She frowned. Get out of my head. And then climbed in.

Instead of closing the door, Jay left it ajar as he leaned against the car and lit up a cigarette. Aeris wanted to ask him about where they were going and who that man was and why he was helping her, but Jay really didn't look like the talkative type. Her little body jumped when after five minutes of silence she heard an all too familiar sound - a gunshot.

"What was that!" she demanded.

Jay looked down at her and shrugged. Seconds later the man from before and one of his men appeared, nonchalantly walking towards the car. He gave her a broad smile and a wink as he climbed in next to her.

Turning to Jay who was still standing outside of the car, he said, "Todd is going to clean up back there, so we'll be leaving now."

Jay nodded and he and the other man moved to the front of the car, Jay in the driver's seat started the engine. "Where to, sir?" he asked as he began to pull out of the parking spot.

The man next to Aeris grinned at her, "How do you like pancakes dear?"

A little smile played on her features, "I like them a lot."

He snapped one of his fingers and nodded at Jay, ordering him to head home at once and call Magda to have her make the "most fabulous pancakes in the world." After they began to drive off he turned back to Aeris.

"I'm sorry dear, this has been terribly rude of me. I haven't even told you my name!" He shook his head in playful disgust with himself, "I'm Luke, and quite pleased to meet you!"

"I'm Aeris," she began, "thanks for helping me, but can I ask where we're going?"

Flashing his pearly whites again he responded, "To my humble abode atop this awful pillar. We'll get some food in you there, how does that sound?"

"Really good..."

"Good, now Aeris, tell me about yourself, why are you out here alone?"

At this her expression darkened, not due to mistrust, for she was an awfully trusting child. It darkened with the remembrance of her whole stupid situation.

"I'm uh, well it's a long story. Me and my mom used to be kept in this awful lab, and we escaped, but ... she didn't make it."

He frowned, "I'm terribly sorry, my dear." A research laboratory? How odd. He had never had much of an interest in science, and thus didn't really care to delve into the details of the ordeal.

For the rest of the trip they were in constant conversation. He was delighted to find out that she was quite the social little creature. She asked about everything they passed on the road, and asked even more eager questions as soon as he gave her an answer.

After about a half hour of driving through Midgar the car stopped. Aeris ripped herself out of the conversation, managing to stop talking long enough to marvel at what she saw outside her tinted window. They were at a grand gate before a magnificent white house. Since they were now at the top of the plate, there was sunshine streaming around them, making the house's windows gleam and its white paint appear even more brilliantly so.

"...This is your house?" she gaped. He chuckled at her amazement.

"Yes, this is it. I'm quite fond of it myself. Come now, in we go."

They stepped out and made their way to the entrance. Everything was so beautiful and looking at how well Luke fit in with the scenery, Aeris realized why he had appeared so out of the place in the slums below. This was his habitat - a modern palace. It was by no means tacky, but accomplished the job of drawing out marvel at those before it. Not unlike Luke himself.

When they reached the top of the staircase, he grabbed a set of keys out of his pocket and opened the way for her to walk in. The interior of the house was as impressive as the outside. Its white furniture was impeccably clean, and the unique decoration that filled it gave it a sophisticated edge. Aeris' mouth watered as the scent of pancakes filled her nostrils and was more than delighted when Luke escorted her to the kitchen, where an older woman was cooking.

"I see the food's all ready. Magda, will you make sure Aeris here gets as much as she likes?"

She gave the girl a funny look and then raised an eyebrow at Luke. It was visible she was very confused as to why he was bringing her to the house, but nodded anyway, "Sure. Oh, and Byrne wants to see you."

"That's good, because I need to talk to him. Where is he?"

"Your study, I think." She grabbed a plate and set it on the small table at the side of the kitchen. Aeris went over and sat down as Luke left the room.

The food tasted even better than it smelled. Before long she had finished the whole plate and was chatting Magda up and down. However, the older woman didn't have the time nor the patience to talk to the very curious Aeris, so she told her to sit and wait for Luke to return while she left the kitchen to run errands. Aeris nodded, but discarded the instructions after five minutes of boredom. She was in a strange new environment and had every intention of exploring it. Quiet steps filled the house - she wandered all around feasting her eyes on all they could take in, but knew better than to touch anything. The house was the prettiest thing she'd seen in a long time.

While on the second floor, she heard Luke's voice a few doors away. She decided to approach him since there was no one else to talk to, but stopped short of entering once she realized he was involved in a somewhat heated discussion with some man.

"You've gone mad, simply mad, Luke!" That was the stranger.

"No, this is genius! You were the one who told me that I need to improve my image, make myself look more wholesome and all that. This is the perfect opportunity."

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of something rational such as donations, not your senseless plan of adopting some random child you met in the slums."

"Oh whatever, anybody can make a measly donation. That won't change a thing. I want big results, Byrne. And for that I need to make some big changes. You said I don't look vulnerable enough for the rest of the bosses to want to deal with me. A daughter can change that. You said the public businesses wouldn't want to deal with a rich playboy because of their own image. A daughter can change that too. This will work to our advantage Byrne, it'll be the best business decision I've made in years."

"I still say this is ridiculous. Even if you do adopt her, you can't care for a child, you have no idea how to, nor the interest to learn if I know you well enough."

Aeris heard Luke laughing. "If that's the worst of your concerns, you can relax. I pay people to take care of all other strenuous assets in my life. What would make this any different?"

A sigh, "Because she's not one of your cars that needs washing, nor one of your floozy girlfriends that needs to be attended to. This is a child Luke. If anything goes wrong your image will be ruined."

"Nothing will go wrong. You'll make sure of that. Besides, I've already made up my mind. She's staying. I want some public appearances booked, get the news out. This is going to be big."

Were they talking about her? Why would he want to adopt her? The Cetra's voice suddenly swarmed into her head, ordering her to run out of this place. She closed her thoughts off, ordering them out. Luke was the only person who had been nice to her. Nicer than them. Her mother would be so happy to know that someone would take care of her. She stepped inside the room. Luke and the stranger's eyebrows both went up.

"Hi Luke, I finished my pancakes."

A smile crossed his features. "That's great. I hope they were good," noticing the way Aeris was staring at Byrne with wonder, and how he was looking back at her with annoyance, he introduced them to each other. Aeris smiled and gave him a polite "Nice to meet you" and Byrne nodded back.

"Well then. I have things to do, if you'll excuse me, sir." Byrne walked out of the room.

Luke waved her over to a chair. She plopped down on it, knowing what was coming.

"So you really want me to stay here?" She asked.

His expression showed he was quite taken back by her forward nature but quickly recovered and gave her a little wink, "Well, you don't have anywhere else to go right? And I just happen to love kids. Thought that would make a winning combination."

She nodded eagerly, "My mommy was so scared that I'd be all alone, she'll be so happy that you're going to take care of me."

"Yes, yes, that's great." He pulled an apple out of his pocket and polished it a bit with his sleeve before handing it over to her, "This is from before, I thought you might want it back."

Aeris reached for the fruit and held it in her hands. It was this very apple that had turned everything so perfect for her all of a sudden. She looked up at Luke, her emerald eyes sparkling with delight.

He smiled back at her and made a grand motion with his arms, "Well then darling, welcome to your new home."