watch now! detail...
the new house, nestled in a rows of cookie-cutterhomes, was empty, except for a big box holding the tv. arkham took it out of the box andhooked up the cables. together they watched the news. they werestill airing the video of mako reactor one exploding. all denzel could think about waswhen arkham would leave. "i'm hungry." "you got it. i'll go pick something up" just then, the entire house shook. a hugeexplosion could be heard in the distance. as arkham opened the door, they could hearthe screams of twisting metal coming from outside.
"stay here." "wait, what about -- ?" just as denzel was about to follow, therewas an anouncement on the tv. "breaking news""we interrupt our regular broadcast for this breaking news. we have unconfirmed reportsthat sector seven has just exploded. yes, there seems to have been a tremendous explosion..." footage of an entire town caving in appearedon the screen. it took denzel a few moments to recognise it a sector seven, where he andhis family had been just hours before. the scene changed.
"you are now watching live footage from sectorseven." there was nothing there. sector seven wasgone. denzel burst out the house. the streets were in chaos. people were running all overthe place shouting that sector five would be next. he ran as fast as he could and didn't stop,even with the chaos around him. he made it to sector six, completely out of breathe.soldiers were putting up a barrier. denzel approached, trying to get a look at sectorseven. there was nothing there. it was as though nothing ever had been. he could seesector eight in the distance. the joins for the sector seven plate were peeking out.
"whoa, kid! you wanna get hurt?.""where do you live?" denzel pointed into the empty space. "i see... damn shame, that." the soldier's voice was gentle. "where are your parents?" again, denzel pointed into the space wheresector seven used to be. *the soldier let out a sigh*, he stood next to denzel and placed his handon his shoulder "this is avalanche's doing. don't you forgetit. when you get bigger, you pay them back
for what they've done." "... you have to go. you can't stay here" the soldier turned denzel toward sector sixand urged him away. he started to walk absent-mindedly. the voicesof concerned strangers passed in one ear and out the other. which place was going to be next? ... dad!... will it be alright here? ... mom! ... i won't forgive those avalanche scum! ... whatare the shinra doing! ... dad! ... mom, where are you? the pathetic child's voice was the only onehe couldn't tune out. when he realised it
belonged to him, he couldn't walk any further.tears came welling up. "is it true shinra did it?" "yes." reeve looked away from him. it seemed he wasdetermined not to show any signs of emotion. "do whatever you like with me, if you despiseme for it." denzel shook his head. ** the next day, denzel awoke to find himselfin the new house in sector five. beneath him was a matress that couldn't have been therethe day before, yet there he was, lying on
it. someone had left a note and a pastry athis bedside. "i'm at the office. i'll drop by to checkon you once in a while. don't wander off too far. everyone is riled up just now, so it'spretty dangerous. more importantly, it would be very hard to find you. you're a prettyimportant boy. p.s. i borrowed the mattress from the neighbour, so please make sure toreturn it. - arkham." they aired the footage of sector seven's collapseon the tv, over and over again. denzel heard shinra's announcement that midgar was safenow. his own parents might be dead; they could say it was safe all they wanted, but he wouldn'tbuy it. "now that it's so safe, does everyone getto live happily ever after? does that include
me?" denzel tried to eat the pastry. before takinga bite, he noticed that he had inadvertantly squashed it, and the cream in the middle wasoozing out. anger surged in him. he threw the pastry at the tv, and stormed out of thehouse. it was quiet. he could see the shinra buildingtowering over the center of midgar. "dad might be alive. he might be at the officewith mom. at a time like this, he must be way too busy to get away. there are lots ofshinra houses around here; maybe somebody knows dad. i hate talking to grownups i don'tknow; but i've gotta suck it up and ask." he went to the house to the right and rangthe doorbell. there was no answer. he tried
opening the door. it wasn't locked, so hepoked his his head inside. "hello?" he waited for a moment, but as before, therewas no answer. arkham had borrowed the mattress from this house, it seemed. "what are we, thieves? taking stuff withoutasking? is that how we have to live now, stealing and doing whatever else it takes?" the house on the left, the one across thestreet, the one next to that. they were all empty. everyone had left. he went to checkthe houses further down the street. on almost every door was a piece of paper which statedthat the tenants were taking temporary refuge
and where they could be contacted. no one was left. it didn't seem possible thathis parents were at the office. if they were, they would have come here. even if it wasimpossible for denzel's father to come, his mother certainly would have. the hope he held onto was shattered as hewalked away. before he knew it, denzel noticed he had completely lost his way. he couldn'tremember how he got there, or even where he came from. tears flowed down his face. theyweren't so much tears of sadness, but more of anger. he stopped and sat down in the street, butjumped when he realized he had sat on something
sharp. it was a small model of one of shinra'sairships. a kid must have dropped it. denzel picked it up and threw it as hard ashe could at the closest house. "i hate everyone!" the sound of a glass breaking echoed throughthe deserted street, followed by a woman's voice. "who's there? who did this!" before denzel realized what he had done, anold lady came out of the house in front of him. maybe she wasn't really that old, butto denzel, anyone over a certain age was old. "you did this?!",
she was holding the model airship infrontof denzel. he gave an honest nod. "why would you...?""are you crying?" denzel shook his head in denial, but he couldn'thide his tears. "where do you live?" he couldn't bring himself to answer her. tearswelled up and would stop. "well, why don't you come inside?" the inside of ruvie's home seemed very differentto denzel's, it felt very cozy. the wallpaper was printed with lots of flowers, the upholsteryhad a similar pattern. the actual flowers that decorated the room were artificial, butstill the room had a sense of warmth and tranquility.
denzel took a seat on the sofa and lookedat ruvie. she was struggling to patch up the shattered glass window with a plastic bag. "when my son gets home, he'll be able to fixthis up right as rain. this should do for now." "i'm sorry, ms. ruvie." "if times weren't how they are, i'd go giveyour parents an earful." "my mom and dad, they're..." "what, you expect me to believe they leftyou here and just ran off?" "... they were in sector seven."
ruvie stopped what she was doing. she satdown on the sofa and held denzel in her arms. once he had calmed down, she suggested theygo outside. they decided to go look for his house. the two of them walked hand in hand.when denzel reached the age of six, he had stopped holding hands with his parents. itmade him look uncool. but right now, he never wanted to let go. the shinra employees among the residents werestaying at headquarters, working to resolve the situation. their families were takingrefuge in junon or costa del sol. ruvie remained behind because, as she explained it, if you'regoing to be alone no matter where you go, then theres no place better than your ownhome. eventually, they found denzel's house.
"thank you very much. and about the glass...i'm sorry." ruvie nodded silently. as denzel opened thedoor, she peered inside the empty house. "what are you planning to do with a housethat doesn't have anything? come to my house, ok?" and so, that was how denzel came to live withruvie. when mako reactor one was destroyed, ruvieknew that trouble was on its way, so she bought lots of food. the storage shed in her backgarden was full of canned food and nonperishables. "there's no need to worry when you're prepared." ruvie was busy everday. cleaning the insideof the house, cleaning the outside of the
house, preparing food, her sewing. denzelhelped with everything but the sewing. before she went to sleep at night, she read a book.ruvi picked thick, challanging books. when denzel asked if it was any good, she replied,"not one bit". they were her son's, she told him. for more than five years, she had continuedto read them, thinking they might help her understand her son's work. she laughed whenshe realized they were only good for putting her to sleep. ruvie leant denzel an encyclopaedia of monster,telling him it would be useful. that too belonged to her son, he had read it when he was arounddenzel's age. it contained descriptions and colour illustrations of monsters. the samething was written on every page; if you encounter
a monster, run. then tell an adult. "... if i run into a monster right now, ami really supposed to tell ruvie? she doesn't look like she'd be a very good fighter. wouldi have to fight it, then? am i strong enough to? could i win?i'm completely useless. thats why my parents didn't want me to go with them" * * * the sun had grown stronger and denzel wassoaked with sweat. "damn... this heat." denzel took out a hankerchief to wipe awayhis sweat.
"what an adorable pattern. like a little girl's." "yes, sir. " denzel smiled, staring at his hankerchief. one morning when denzel awoke, ruvi was thereholding a shirt by the collar. "denzel. put this on. i made it for you, butthis was the only fabric i could find." on the white shirt was a patern of littlepink flowers. it was something that denzel would have normally flatly refused to wear,but he put it on, delighted. "thanks, ms. ruvie." "well, i had extra fabric. here."
she held out a handkerchief with the samepattern. there must have been a lot of extra fabric, judging from the number of handkerchiefsshe had made. denzel took just one, and folded it neatly into his pocket. "denzel...", the smile faded from ruvie's face, "i don't know how to explain this..." denzel considered what she might say to him.the words he feared most came to mind; get out. the very notion made him tremble withanxiety. "lets go outside."
ruvi went outside into the back yard. denzelhesitated, but eventually followed. he walked along the thick bed of soil and stood nextto her. she stood gazing at the sky. denzel looked too. there was a great blackspot up there. it was a truely ominous sight. only blue and white belonged in the daytimesky. surely any other colour spelled gloom and turmoil. "they're calling it "meteor." that's aboutall i know about it. but they're saying that thing is going to crash into the planet...and put an end to everything" ruvi took two cans out of the shed and handedthem to denzel. "how do you prepare for something like that,for crying out loud?"
that day, ruvi didn't clean, sew or do anythingelse. she just sat on the sofa thinking. she did, however, make several phone calls.whoever it was, they werent answering. denzel thought she must have been calling her son.he was having trouble visualising what meteor's impact would be like. more importantly, hehad a question to ask, but he couldn't find a way to bring it up. as night fell, ruviebegan to clean as if to announce her return to reality. "denzel, you're doing it all wrong. haven'tyou been watching how i clean?" that was the ruvie he knew. it was night and the two of them sat sideby side on the sofa, reading their usual books.
"denzel. i intend to wait for the end righthere. if the planet is going to be destroyed, one place is as good as another. what willyou do? if you plan to go somewhere else, take any food in the house with you. i knowyou're still just a boy, but i think you should choose where you face the end." denzel thought carefully about what ruviesaid. finally, he asked the question he had been longing to ask all day. "is it okay if i stay here?" ruvi looked up from the book at denzel andsmiled. after that, she carried on the way she alwayshad, except she never cleaned outside. the
yard work was denzel's job now. he saw construction had started at the shinrabuilding. in no time at all, they installed an enormous cannon. "shinra's gonna get rid of meteor for us" "that company always finds a way to screwup," in the end, the cannon fired just one beamat an unseen target before collapsing in a wreck. as if that weren't enough, the shinrabuilding itself was attacked. "what kind of monster is out there?" he couldn't even begin to imagine a monsterthat could destroy buildings. up in the sky
hung meteor, unchanged. all hell may havebroken loose elsewhere, but denzel's days were peaceful there were times when he couldn't suppresshis longing to see his parents and wept aloud, but ruvie's embrace would always comfort him.if the end was to come while he slept next to her, then he really didn't mind. what robbed denzel of his peace in the endwasn't meteor, but an angry torrent of light. the lifestream may have been a force of goodthat effectively destroyed meteor, but the dense life energy also worked its destructionon people. the chosen day, denzel and ruvie were in bed,about to fall asleep. outside, they heard
a fierce wind howling. but it was too loudto be just the wind. soon the entire house began so shake. the end had come. denzel hoped it would beover quickly, but as more time passed, the worse the tremors grew. and noise grew too,it crescendoed to such a roar, like a train speeding past the house. denzel held on tightlyto ruvie, shutting his eyes trying to brave it as best he could, but five minutes provedto be his limit. "miss ruvie, i'm scared." she sat up, and just as she went to turn onthe light, the flower patterned curtains turned bright white. it was as though the whole housewas engulfed in light.
"cover yourself with the blanket." as ruvie left the bedroom, the shaking intensifiedand the flowers on top of the dresser fell to the floor. denzel lept out of the bed andwent after ruvie. she stood, staring at the living room window- the one she had crudely patched up with nothing but a plastic bag. the plastic hadswelled up and looked ready to burst at any moment. ruvie ran to the window and used bothhands to hold it in place. "denzel! get back inside! denzel was trembling. he couldn't move, asif his feet were stuck to the floor. it was me who broke the window. it's my faultthis is happening.
ruvie left the window and rushed over to denzel.he clung to he even as she forcibly pushed him back into the bedroom. at that moment,the prastic burst and a dazzling wave of light came flooding into the house. ruvie quicklyshut the door "denzel, you keep the door shut." "miss ruvie!", denzel cried as he grabbed the doorknob andtried to open the door. "denzel, stop it!" "but-!" denzel tried at the doorknob again.
ruvi stood there with her back towards thedoor. feet apart, and arms extended, taught across the doorframe "keep it closed!" beyond ruvie, he saw a stranded wave of lightcrash into the walls an rebound. it writhed violently inside the room, like a glowingsnake running wild. i didn't think it was a monster from the monsterencyclopaedia. should i run and tell an adult about it. no, in this house, i must standand fight. "miss ruvie!" the light lunged at her as he yelled. a shortmoan could be heard. the light morphed into
what looked like a slender piece of rope,forcing its way into the bedroom through the gap between ruvie and the wall. ruvie fell crumpled where she stood as denzelgot thrust back unconcious.
