To Caius, it felt as though Shinra ruled the entire world.

A funny thing to say about a corporation, really. But the government of Midgar seemed to go with everything Shinra did without question. Shinra wanted to make Midgar completely dependent on them and their mako? It happened. They wanted to develop weapons and then have an entire military division that served as, well, Midgar’s entire military? Off they went. Shinra had been given the keys to destroy the entire city and kill them all if they chose to. Even security measures, down to the subway tracking system, was run by Shinra. Shinra ruled all. And that had been how it had been for as long as Caius could remember.

Somewhere in his early 20s, Caius had grown up in the slums of a sector he couldn’t even remember anymore. His parents had worked for Shinra, as part of their agricultural division. But one day, they didn’t return, and he had found himself alone. With nobody to support him, he had to support himself, and had taken up mercenary work to make ends meet. On the side, he built weapons using what scraps he could find, and sold them for cheaper prices than what Shinra’s vendors were selling.

Then one day, he met two sisters. An older and a younger, the older being around his age. The two sisters had also lost their parents, and the older, by the name of Claire, had been trying to make ends meet for herself and her sister. The two hit it off, and in time, they and Serah were inseparable. Living together as a found family of three.

Perhaps it would be crazy for Caius to want to join Shinra’s infantry division, given the way he had seen them treat civilians. But he also saw how SOLDIER operatives like Sephiroth and Angeal handled monsters, keeping people safe. Seeing people at risk of losing their loved ones to monsters and the “invaders” of Wutai, Caius chose to join up. His hope as well, was that he could finally make a living to support Claire and Serah. As much as the two had tried, they were still barely making ends meet for their family of three. If he could make it into SOLDIER, become a First Class… Maybe they could finally move Serah into a nice place, above the plate.

Well, apparently Claire had caught onto the intentions of the plan. Because it wasn’t long after that she joined him. Working as a team, it wasn’t long before they made SOLDIER. But it hadn’t been easy either. Wutai didn’t feel like “invaders” at all, he had come to realize, as much as Shinra’s propaganda made it seem such. Instead, it felt more like they were the ones invading Wutai. All because Wutai didn’t want Shinra to move their operations into their nation, and build a mako reactor there.

How many times now had he been called a monster? A parasite destroying people’s lives for the sake of Shinra’s profits? More times than he could count, probably. And for a time, Caius had considered if this was worth it. But once they made SOLDIER, and the pay increased… And they didn’t have to worry about skipping meals just to ensure Serah was fed anymore. Caius found a new dream.

And that was to protect people the best he could. He couldn’t save the people of Wutai from Shinra’s dominion, but he could keep them from dying. And the people in Midgar, those that opposed Shinra or whom simply were in the wrong place at the wrong time, even if he seemed like a demon to them, an oppressor, a monster…

At least he could keep them alive.

For the most part, Shinra overlooked his non-lethal methods. He got results. And for a business, results were exactly what they wanted. But he would have never been able to handle all that pressure if not for his partner, his teammate. Shinra had realized quickly that they worked well together, so even as SOLDIER, the two had been kept together for the most part. Occasionally they were on separate missions and he missed Claire, or “Lightning” as she had dubbed herself on duty, very dearly. But when together, they kept each other strong.

Or at least, he knew she made him strong. But he needed to keep fighting, make it to Second Class… And then First. Serah was getting older, and the both of them wanted to send her to a nice school. Somewhere away from the chaos of Midgar, if possible. Somewhere she would be safe, and happy, and could make her living doing something she liked. A few years in, some rumblings had started of Caius being ready to move to Second, and that it was well overdue, may have even happened already if he hadn’t, in some form he wasn’t aware of, ruffled the feathers of some higher-ups who were keeping him and Claire held back as some form of lesson. But with the public eye starting to take notice of a very efficient Third, they may not be able to hold off much longer…

Unfortunately, today had been one of those “separate” kind of missions. Caius had just arrived back, and had hoped to return home to Serah. But instead had found himself on patrol duty. Apparently a bunch of SOLDIER’s best had been sent out to Wutai for an advance assault, in preparation for a big, final strike against Wutai’s forces that would finally put an end to the war that Shinra itself had started. Meaning the little guys would be working overtime to protect Midgar, in case Wutai tried anything while the big guns were gone.

To his delight however, his patrol partner was in fact Miss Lightning herself. Getting in touch with her, Caius arranged for them to meet at the fountain in the square in front of the Shinra building. Considering it was probably the first indication that Claire would get that Caius was even alive after being on a mission that had, well, not in fact been only a day. More like several weeks at that. Considering that, he wouldn’t be surprised to find her just a touch antsy. Hopefully he could alleviate that. So he sat down at the fountain and just… Watched for a good while. It was the first chance he’d had in a good while now where he could actually, well. Relax.

Shinra wouldn’t care if he sat down for a few minutes, right?

Well, probably. But what they don’t know won’t kill him.