Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of the Final Materia ❯ Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Selphie turned her around to face her. She smiled warmly at Shukera, making her feel a lot calmer. "Come on Shukera. You can trust me. I can tell that this, what ever it is, is really upsetting you."

Shukera laughed, "Here I go again. Big brave combat Soldier crying my eyes out for nothing." She tried to play it off, but she could see that Selphie wasn't convinced. She knew the girl would never give up.

Selphie got up and sat across from Shukera in a chair. "That's because something is really bothering you. You may be a soldier and all, but still have feelings and emotions…you are still human."

Shukera looked at her and laughed, "Emotions. Ha! The only emotions I have are worry, anger, and frustration."

Selphie wanted to know exactly what was going on. "Why? What's wrong that has you worried and feeling frustrated?? Or angry."

Shukera looked up at Selphie and opened her mouth to give her an answer when her laptop beeped, signaling an incoming message. She stood up from the bed, walked over to her bag, and pulled her laptop out. The message light was blinking red, which meant urgent message. Quickly, Shukera sat back in the bed and opened her laptop. Selphie watched curiously from across Shukera, as she opened the message and began reading it. It was a warning from Reeve.

"Shukera, all hell is breaking loose over here!! Scarlet has joined forces with the Turks and they are furiously searching for the resistance group, and they will stop at nothing to get every one of them. Plus, I don't know how, but it's all over Shin Ra that you and Sephiroth are no longer speaking to each other. He is furious over it!! He can't control your actions and is beginning to see you as a threat to his mission. Watch yourself Shukera!! It's only a matter of time before they find and kill every member of the group!!"

Shukera read over Reeve's message once again and felt the anger slowly returning. She snapped as she quickly typed out a message, "That sorry son-of-a-bitch!! I'd like to see him try!!!" Shukera's fingers seemed to glide over the keyboard as she typed out her reply, "DO IT TONIGHT!!! LET THE AVALANCHE LOOSE!!" She sent the message immediately and closed her laptop.

Selphie was beginning to feel uneasy. She watched Shukera read the message and knew by her facial expression it was not good news. Something in her gaze alerted her and she began to worry. "Uh, Shukera. Please tell me what's going on. You're beginning to scare me now. I promise you that I will not tell anyone, but someone has to know what's going on!!" Selphie stared at her waiting for an answer.

Shukera stared at her for a moment as she thought it over. Could she really trust the girl?? Was she just another spy Shin Ra sent to watch over her??? Upon looking closer at Selphie, Shukera saw sincerity in her eyes. She was being genuine and was really worried. After careful consideration, she sat closer to Selphie and whispered, "I hope you are honest with me about trusting you. I'm about to tell you something that may place you in danger just by knowing it. So you have to be sure you want to know!!" Shukera stared directly into her eyes without blinking. She had a very serious look on her face.

Selphie nodded, "Yes, I'm serious." Shukera nodded and decided to tell her everything. "What I'm about to tell you is known by only a few people, including Raijin. But before I tell you, you have to know the amount of danger you will be just by knowing this. Can you handle that??"

Selphie shook her head. "Yes. I'm absolutely positive about it. Shukera in just the short while I have known you, you have become one of my very best friends. I just wanted to let you know that I am closer to you than I have been to anyone, including Rinoa."

Shukera ran her hand through her hair and sighed, "What ever you do, don't ever repeat what I'm going to tell you." Taking in a deep breath she began, "To begin with, I'm not who Sephiroth thinks I am. I never told him the truth about me."

Selphie leaned closer to Shukera, her curiosity getting the better of her. She had come this far, now she wanted to know it all. The danger of it all excited her. "What is the truth Shukera?? I need to know. Maybe it's something I can help you with."

Shukera looked Selphie directly in the eyes and began. "I am a rebel force leader in a group formed against Shin Ra."

Selphie laughed and waved Shukera off. "Oh is that all??? I'm sure with Shin Ra around there's thousands of them."

Shukera shook her head, "No you don't understand. I am the leader of the only resistance group against Shin Ra! There are so many prices on my head, that I lost count of them all. Shin Ra has ordered me to find the leader! But it doesn't matter…Sephiroth was ordered to kill me if I interfered here in Balamb."

Selphie sat quietly, staring at Shukera as she tried to take it all in. Once Shukera paused to take in a deep breath, Selphie shook her head. "Shin Ra must really be bad. That's awful!!"

Shukera laughed a bit, but became serious again, "Bad is an understatement. There is a scientist that works for them who does experiments on humans. He creates monsters and Shin Ra uses them to keep the people in fear so they will stay supportive of the company. And that's just the tip of the iceberg!! They are ruthless and cruel. They stop at nothing to get what they want, no matter who they hurt or destroy along the way."

Shukera rested her hands in her lap and lowered her head. "The only way I was able to keep the people in my rebel group safe was the band I told you about. The band itself was made up of people who I kept closest to me. We would play at different places within Midgar and encoded secret messages in the songs we sang. Either they were hidden in the lyrics or the order of songs we played. No one outside the rebels had any clue as to what we were doing. Several members of my group are actually working for Shin Ra like I am, that's why we have to be so careful. The others are scattered around here and there."

Selphie's eyes grew wide with amazement. "WOW!! You guys really like danger, huh?? Now I understand why you are uncomfortable around people. You are afraid that if someone gets close to you, they will end up getting hurt or killed. But Shukera, do you really think Sephiroth would really kill you if found out who you are?? I mean you guys have been friends for a very long time. It just seems weird to me."

"In a heartbeat he would! Friendship, loyalty, love, none of that means anything to him or the one's he's working with. The most important thing to them is power and greed, with the will to control. That, my friend, is what we are up against."

Selphie thought for a moment then asked, "And this has something to do with the argument you guys had?? If you don't mind me asking, what happened between you two?? He seems really upset over it."

Shukera glared at Selphie, "Its part of his act!! He wants you to think he is upset!! He wants you to feel sorry for him!!" She lowered her head for a moment as she wondered if she really wanted to talk about this. She knew she had to tell someone or she would explode, and if she didn't tell Selphie, she would be grilling her later for it.

Sighing, she lifted her head and closed her eyes for a moment. "Sephiroth slept with my worst enemy before we came here. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not what he did that bothers me."

Shukera shifted to get more comfortable as she leaned back against her arms, her weight resting on her hands. "It's what I heard them talking about that makes me so damned mad!! All I can say about that is Quistis has no idea how much danger she's really in. Her and everyone else here are in immediate danger because of Shin Ra!! I volunteered to come here because I may be the only one who can stop him. Since he trained me, I am familiar with how he fights."

Selphie looked at her with eyes filled with concern. "Shouldn't we tell Headmaster Cid or Squall?? They should be aware of what's going on."

Shukera shook her head. "We can't tell them anything yet. Shin Ra has to be caught off guard. You have to beat them at their own game. Believe me; Shin Ra has ways of turning things around and using them to their advantage." She smiled at Selphie reassuringly, "Right now we have things under control, but the moment it gets out of hand, I promise I will tell Squall or your headmaster."

Selphie placed her hand on Shukera's. "I want to help any way I can."

Shukera looked away from her a bit embarrassed. "You already have helped more than you know." She stared down at the floor for a moment, wondering what to say next.