Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Demons & Angels ❯ Entry 1: The Old Days ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Entry 1
The Old Days
 
 
10 August 1995
 
One down side of working with Shinra is barely any vacation time. So I usually sneak out to the SOLDIER Floor of the Shinra Building to visit Angeal and Genesis. It's a hassle—sneaking around—but it's fun nonetheless. Especially when Angeal can get us into the training room when no one's looking.
It was during one of our “escapades” that I met him.
“This is Angel,” Angeal introduced us. “She's a Turk. Been one for as long as we've been in SOLDIER.”
“You make that sound like an accomplishment,” Genesis snorted. “It's not like we are important, Angeal. We are only Seconds.”
Both Angeal and I rolled our eyes.
“It's a pleasure,” I said turning and smiling to the only other SOLDIER 2nd Class in the room, “Sephiroth.”
He nodded towards me with a smirk, “likewise.”
The four of us were inseparable after that. Three SOLDIER 2nd Class and one Turk…quite a curious group, I'd say. I'm actually surprised I still remember that first meeting…so much has happened since then…I would've thought my mind would have blurred it with everything else from before the Nibelheim Incident…
 
25 October 1995
 
I swear, Genesis has a serious phobia of Halloween. I've never met a person who absolutely abhors the holiday like he does. But then again, he was always like that, even when we were kids.
I remember that Angeal and I would find some way for Genesis to join us in Trick-or-Treating.
When we were 10, I had to “bribe” him into the cowboy outfit his mom bought him by promising him 13 kisses. I've never seen his face so red! To this day I'm still unsure if it was because of my “bribe” or because of how he looked in the cowboy get-up. Ha-ha! Not to mention he looked like someone told him he'd live another 25 years when I handed him 13 Hershey kisses by the end of the night. Angeal never let him live that one down!
At age 15, Angeal blackmailed poor Genesis into dressing up for a Halloween party we were invited to at one of the houses up the hill. I still don't know what Angeal said to him, but every time he brought it up Genesis would get so flustered! I think Angeal said he wouldn't tell a girl that Genesis liked her or something…I wouldn't put it past him. That would explain why they never told me…I'd probably blab. :)
Ah, but this year, surprisingly, Genesis willingly participated in Halloween! Can you believe it?
THE Genesis Rhapsodos willingly going to the annual Shinra Halloween Party! As a Turk, no less.
I still think he was making fun of me, no matter what he said.
Angeal went as a black Chocobo. It was so cute! Granted, it was my idea, but he pulled the costume together so well! I think he secretly wanted to be one, despite his insistence to Sephiroth and Genesis that I made him do it.
I went as—what else?—an angel! Shockingly, I was originally gonna go as a moogle. But Sephiroth said that an angel “suited me better.” Pfft, the prick knows me for a few months and thinks he knows everything about me! Can you believe him!? Well, I ended up going as an angel anyway at Angeal and Genesis's insistence. I swear, if I hear Genesis call me “Shinra's Most Nettlesome Angel” one more time I'm going to punch him!
Sephiroth went as a samurai. Talk about predictable. I swear, he just loves to flaunt his sword. Ok, granted, he took a wooden katana to the party, but the principle still applies, right? And the nerve of Angeal! He mocked me all night just because I commented how Sephiroth looked less like a prick with his hair in a ponytail. I think Genesis and Angeal have a sick pleasure of making me irritated. Sad thing is it humors Sephiroth, too! Gratuitously, he doesn't mock me outright, but that smirk! That smirk is just as bad as mocking me.
Anyway, the Halloween Party had to be one of the most memorable moments of working for Shinra. It was one of the rare events where all branches of Shinra could get together and drink themselves stupid. And that's exactly what most of them did.
And when I say most, I mean Reno.
He has to be the most unconventional employee in all of Shinra! But then again, I'm not exactly the stereotypical Turk, either. Now Tseng, our superior, definitely fits the description of a “Turk.” But looking at him at the party, you'd never think so. Who knew that uptight Tseng would be the one to dress up like a woman for Halloween? But then again, I have a strong feeling he lost a serious bet against the President…
“Would you care to dance?” I turned to see one of the SOLDIER 3rds smiling at me, dressed in a `Prince Charming' get-up. Eh, why not?
“Sure,” I replied as he led me to the dance floor near the entrance of the Shinra Building.
The dance ended after 2 songs, though. He politely said his farewell with a smile I'm almost positive was forced. I mean, I knew I was a bad dancer but still…
“You look disappointed!” I heard Angeal laugh from over by the bar. I blew him a raspberry before walking over to him and Sephiroth.
“You just wish it was you I was dancing with,” I snorted.
“I believe Angeal appreciates having the nerve endings in his feet intact.” I glared at Sephiroth, his comment not “appreciated” in the least. Angeal just laughed at us…the nerve.
“Jealous bastard,” I huffed before walking towards Reno's end of the bar…the poor guy was so drunk he couldn't walk straight. I could've sworn I heard Angeal laugh and Sephiroth snort as I left. Pricks.
“I think that's enough drinking for you, Reno,” Tseng said as he tried to pry the heavy concoction from his subordinate.
I walked up to them, snatched Reno's drink from him—shockingly, I was more successful at it than Tseng—and chugged it, placed it down on the bar counter and glared at Reno, “drunk bastard.”
Tseng and Reno stared at me. Tseng in mild astonishment at how fast and soberly I downed the hardcore drink; Reno in a drunken stupor.
I looked around the room, spotted one of our other subordinates—Rude—talking to one of the members of the Research Department. I sighed and turned to Tseng, “I think I may just turn in early, sir.” Turning, I left my boss and colleague to head home…only to bump into Genesis. I frowned, the effects of Reno's drink starting to blur my senses.
“Why so sour, angel?” My frown deepened. My mind becoming so fuzzy I couldn't catch that he used my name in a mocking tone to my costume rather than my name.
“I'm going home.” I sneered.
“Your attitude has turned south rather quickly,” he deadpanned, “is it because of your two left feet?”
I glared up at him, “no! It's because I'm constantly mocked because of my two left feet!”
Genesis only smirked before patting my head and letting me pass. He said something to me then, too. But my mind was too hazy to care or hear. Only later would I recall his statement, “infatuation makes one blind to one's own feelings.”
I swear, they're all pricks.
 
 
17 April 1996
 
I'm so proud of them! I feel like a mother watching her children graduating high school!
But in reality, I'm a childhood friend hearing about her 3 best friends getting promoted to SOLDIER 1st Class.
Okay, so really it's just Angeal and Genesis since Sephiroth was promoted last month, but the feeling is still there.
My boys are getting so big! Ha, Angeal whacked me upside the head for saying that to him. Geez, 22 years old and he still gets embarrassed like a teenager!
“How does it feel to be a SOLDIER First Class?” I grinned at them as we all sat on the fountain edge in Sector 8.
“No different than when we were Seconds,” Sephiroth scoffed, “You ask the most childish questions, Angel.”
I just stuck my tongue out at him—kinda proving his point about the childish thing, but whatever—and turned to Angeal. “SOLDIER First Class Angeal Hewley. Has a nice ring to it,” I smiled.
Angeal laughed. “Maybe. It sounds unbelievable to me.”
“Such little faith in oneself,” Genesis smirked, “I, personally, am proud of my new title. Wear it with pride, my friend.”
“I agree with Genesis,” I added, “First Class is a rare occurrence in SOLDIER. The fact you all made it is a wonderful thing.”
Sephiroth snorted, which I ignored of course. I wasn't going to let his ego bring down my good mood.
Angeal stood up and removed the Buster Sword from his back and looked at it in reverence. Sephiroth, Genesis, and I stayed silent out of respect. The sword was an heirloom made for him and meant a lot to him. We weren't foolish enough to question his sentimentality towards it…it was a symbol of his dreams, his honor.
I guess…that's when I started to look at the three of them in a different light. They were my best friends, but they were so much more powerful than I…and I never really knew why. I think…at that moment, I finally understood.
Each of them had their own personal story; each had their own reason for joining Shinra's SOLDIER…just like I had mine with the Turks.