Chapter 1: Cloudy Skies and Strange Goodbyes
Persocom. That is what we call the humanoid computers created by Doctor Simon Hojo or the ShinRa Electric Power Company. Dr. Simon Hojo, my recently deceased husband, created the first Persocom in hopes of creating a way to heal the pains of humans who could not bare children or have lost love or cannot love at all.
His dream was pure in the beginning. He wanted the Persocoms, his children, to be loved as if they were not machines and in return, he hoped that his children could love them back. With this goal in mind, my husband created the first Persocom, Sephiroth. He was our child, created because I cannot bare children.
Oh, silly me, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Lucrecia Crescent, Dr. Hojo's wife and owner of a small apartment complex. But this isn't just my story. It is the story of many. Of my husband and my sons. Yes, I said sons. Of a young woman named Tifa Lockheart and the struggles of her life. Of two young 'coms named Vincent Valentine and Yuffie Kisaragi. Its about all of the Humans and Persocoms in world who have ever shared this dream, one dream,
A dream of love.
From The Creator of Final Fantasy's:
Two Where There Was One
&
Silent Hill Preview
And Devil May Cry's:
Unplugged
Blindfolded Angel Presents The Chobits FF7 Crossover
Grew Up Wishing
"Tifa! Make sure you stay safe on the walk home, 'kay?" a voice called out from somewhere behind her, kind and reassuring.
"Will do, Manager! Thank you!" Tifa called back, her long ebony locks swaying lazily behind her as she walked down the darkness of the streets of Midgar.
Tifa Lockheart was a rare thing to be seen in the slums of Midgar. She was beautiful and kind, but she refused to sell herself to get ahead. She was flat out broke but refused to stoop so low as to steal or sin to get by. She relied upon herself and no one else to move ahead in life.
She devoted herself between three things. Her studies, work and getting the bills paid. Everything else was just something she had no time for. She couldn't be like normal people her age, she couldn't afford it in any sense at all.
So here she found herself, walking through the risky, dark streets of the slums, head tipped high as she walked along. She wasn't afraid, not like she used to be, of the risks of the city. Crap happens, she knew it, but there was nothing she could do about it so she'd roll with the punches. Wasn't like it would be the first tragedy of her life.
Her skin crawled just thinking about it. The heat, the fire, crackling and horrible… No one knew why Nibelheim was burnt to the ground. But there were plenty of rumors to make up for it. Rumors going anywhere from arsenal, to aliens, to accidents and…to the more realistic. To cover up laid out by the government. The city knew of the one who lived at the height of Nibelheim. Doctor Simon Hojo of the ShinRa Electric Power Company were known to be an anti-social lot. Nobody knew much about them besides the fact that they worked for the government. They didn't know anything about what went on behind the wooden walls of the ShinRa Manor and most didn't want to find out. It could have been something revolving that…
But she'd rather not know. Yeah, she was alone because of that accident. Her parents…well, parent, her Mother left her and her Father long ago, was dead thanks to the Nibelheim tragedy. She was left with nothing. No family, no money, nowhere to go and no future. But instead of moping about it she made up her own future. Unwilling to stick around the country scenery any longer, she moved to the city in hopes of drowning out her past.
Shrugging the thoughts off, she turned the corner to take a short cut to the apartment she rented out from Miss Crescent. She was a nice woman who let Tifa pay her bills just a little later than the rest, understanding that she was working hard and couldn't do more than she already was.
She was thrown out of her thoughts as a rough voice brought her back to the reality of the dangers of the alley she was in.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" said a hungry voice, rough and crackly, "A little kitten has gotten lost."
Tifa's brows drew close in frustration. She was tired of the men always hitting on her in hopes of a one-night stand. She wanted something stable and true or nothing at all! Why did they even think they could have her?
"I don't want any trouble," she said softly, slowly moving to put her purse on the floor between them, "There isn't much but just take it and go. There's no need to do anything rash."
The man whistled, "Whew-wee, look at that. The whore paying me instead of the other way around, I think I like that," he took a rough step closer, eyes glinting with a feral light.
Tifa took a step back, her heart sinking. She knew some fighting skills, yes, but nothing that she could do in the high heels and confining uniform given to her to work in at the bar, 7th Heaven.
"You don't have to do this," she said, trying to keep her voice level, eyes darting for something, anything, to prevent the inevitable.
"No, I don't have to. But I want to."
Tifa turned on heel to run but she never was good with the twig thin shoes women seemed to love to wear now a-days. Cursing her luck, her ankle gave way beneath her and she stumbled into the way beside her, closely followed by the man. He grabbed her wrists in a bruising grip and pinned her to the wall.
His breath was thick with a smell she didn't want to think about, let alone let anywhere near her mouth, She turned her cheek to him when she felt his mouth draw close. Her cheeks heated when she felt his hands groping her shamelessly. He might not remember this in the morning but she would remember it forever if she didn't do something!
No one will come to save me. There is no higher influence in life; I don't care what religion says…not that it matters. Even if there was a higher power, it was obviously ignoring her.
She was about to give up when she felt the man knocked to the side with a force to be reckoned with. A quick glance to the left showed that the molester was flat on his face. A look to the right showed a lithe young man, nearly half the huge thug's size, standing there, fists raised and in position to aide her.
She felt her heart soar. No one ever helped her but maybe…maybe her luck was finally changing?
She watched as the thug slowly stumbled onto unstable feet, wiping his bloody and broken nose on the back of his shirt sleeve, his voice was a liquid sound, "What the hell do you think you're doing, punk? I'll teach you!"
The man threw himself forward, knife at the ready and Tifa wondered where and when he pulled it out.
She turned to the young man, prepared to tell him not to worry about her and just run when she was shocked again that night.
The young man barely blinked a bright blue eye as he ducked the silver flash of metal. Bending low and gather his muscles into a whipcord tight force, he thrust the heel of his palm up into the man's jaw, a resounding crack following the blow. The thug was lifted into the air, right off his feet, but the boy didn't miss a beat. Twisting and lunging up with a grace only known to be blessed to cats, he brought his elbow down hard against the assailant's abdomen, causing him to crash down to the ground in another series of sickening sounds.
The thug groaned and curled in on himself for a moment, spitting blood onto the puddles of the alley street. When had it started to rain? She wondered distantly as she watched the man slowly gather himself up, curse them a warning for 'next time' and run off into the darkness of the city slums.
She looked with wide eyes from where the thug once sat to the young man behind her.
"Thank you."
He didn't say anything but she didn't notice, more preoccupied by his appearance. He was a young man, near her age, in his early to mid twenties. His hair, despite the down pouring rain, sat in rough blonde spikes upon his head, distantly making her think of the Chocobo her Father taught her to ride when she was young. His clothing was ragged and tattered, made of thick black leather and intricately designed to a complex degree. His eyes, big and shaded with the purest blue she had ever seen, watched her with an innocent curiosity that she couldn't really place, something between cute and disturbing.
"Err…I can pay you, if you want but I don't have much…"
He only tilted his head, unable to understand her.
"You alive?" she asked, quirking a brow and putting her hands on her hips.
He sighed softly and looked up at the rain clouds, letting the rain fall down upon him in sheets.
She shook her head and sighed, "Do you have anywhere to go?" when he didn't answer she said it more slowly for him," Do. You. Have. A. Home?"
He didn't answer, merely shifted his bright eyes to look at her once more but…was there a hint of sadness behind them? Oh Gaia! Was he a mute? She would feel so bad if he was. Cursing her luck, she grabbed him by the arm and gave him a no nonsense look, "C'mon, you can crash at my place. It's the least I can do."
"Whoa, that all really happened? Is he hot? What does he look like?" Aeris began to babble from the other side of the phone the second she finished her story. Tifa rubbed her temples softly, holding her PHS up with her shoulder as she sat on the lip of her tub in the closed privacy of her very small bathroom.
"Aeris, pay attention here! What should I do? He won't talk; I don't know what's wrong with him! He just sits by the window and stares out at the rain."
"Well, did you offer him a towel, Tifa? I bet he's soaked!"
…forgot about that… she thought to herself as she towel her own hair dry, already in comfy and dry clothes.
"I'll call you back," she said and hung up the phone in time to hear the giggle from the other line.
Pressing through the bathroom door and entering her bedroom, she searched for clothing big enough to wear. Finding a pair of large sweat pants and a large shirt, she tossed them onto her shoulder and walked out to the remaining room of her apartment.
Her apartment was small and consisted of three rooms. One that served as the living room and kitchen, one that served as the bathroom and one that served as the bedroom. Other than that, it was a simply furnished place. A nice couch that came with the apartment (she could never afford it with her pay!). A very small TV with no cable, a cheap DVD player near the end of its days, a couple of stray movies she loved too much not to buy and stuff she needed for everyday life. Things like food, kitchen stuff (very limited), a bed, a comforter, clothes and bathroom needs.
He sat by the window, just like she left him, leaving a small puddle of water underneath him thanks to the rain soaking him through.
Grabbing a towel from her laundry basket filled with freshly cleaned things, she threw it playfully onto his head. Dropping the bundle of clothing onto his lap, she told him to get changed, to call her when the coast was clear while she hid out in the bedroom.
A few moments later she heard a soft tap on her door. Opening it, she found the young man before her, watching her with his curious blue eyes. He looked cute in the clothing, even if it was too big for him. With a soft scowl she noticed that his droopy wet hair was still dripping, the towel left forgotten by the window. Instructing him to sit down on the floor, she grabbed the towel and sat behind him. Dropping the towel onto his head again, she began to softly but thoroughly towel his hair dry. When she was satisfied she ran one hand through his blond spiky locks and smiled, "There, all better."
She blinked when she felt something cold and metal brush against her wander fingertips.
Were those…metal ears?
Gasping, she brushed his hair apart to find a set of metal pieces were the man's ears shoulder of been. The pieces were shaped like drooping dog-ears, blue and white.
Turning him by the shoulders to look him in the eye, she asked breathlessly, "You're a Persocom?!"
Sorry its shorter than I normally write but that's all you get for today! I'm going to try and alternate between this story and Two Where There Was One evenly so hopefully it will get updated every other day accordingly?
Hope you enjoyed it, this was just to get it started, I haven't even gotten started with the plot twists yet!
REVIEW if you want me to continue, don't want to make the people from the other story wait if this doesn't have anyone who wants to read it!
-Spazzy