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"Final Fantasy VII Lateral Biography: TURKS - The Kids Are Alright"

Tashasaurous

Tash for Short
AKA
Sailor Moon, Mini Moon, Hotaru, Cardcaptor Sakura, Meilin, Xion, Kairi, Aqua, Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, Elena, Misty, May, Dawn, Casey, Fiona, Ellie
Loved the Book!

I love this book so much! Thank you so much for translating it.
I've wanted to read it since it first came out, but it was only in Japanese and my Japanese is slim to nil.

I hope I get to read the Second half of it very soon. I've been waiting for ages.:joy::moar:
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
31. A Peaceful Trip, and Reminiscence

I drove the car, stopping to take short breaks in between. It was nearly noon now. I hadn't realised that, even though this was a wasteland, there would still be road markers. There was evidence of the comings and goings of people, which served as replacements for signposts. If we drove until night, slept, and resumed tomorrow morning, we'd reach Under Junon by evening at the latest. I made vague plans like these as we drove. It wasn’t without its problems. The frequency with which unidentified objects, not just the wind, blew into the car was far higher than back in Edge. To shield myself, I copied Kyrie and drove with goggles and a cloth covering my face. Naturally, we had to talk pretty loud. At first, we eagerly shared our impressions every time we saw a new landscape but our voices didn't carry, because of the cloth and the sound of the wind. The “huh”s and “what”s we exchanged grew more frequent and eventually, we stopped talking altogether. When Kyrie saw scenery she wanted to show me, she’d let me know by tapping me on the arm or shoulder. And I did the same. In the end it reached the point where I was looking for landscapes as an excuse to touch Kyrie. Evan. Evan Townshend. I gathered every bit of self-restraint from my whole body.

"..."

"What?"

"You must be hungry."

Oh. Well, now that you mention it. I stopped the car and removed the cloth from my mouth.

"Why don’t we eat Marle's bread?"

"But, the scenery," Kyrie looked around regretfully.

There was the green from the grass, the light-brown of the dry soil, and the blue sky with white clouds. In these past two hours, we had grown accustomed to a world that was divided up by these four colors. Kyrie let out a sigh, looking defeated as she opened the parcel of bread. She tore off an end and ate it. She said it was delicious, tore off a piece from about half way and handed it to me. I lifted it to my mouth straight away and bit into it.

"This bread is delicious. So rich!"

"I know, right?"

A slightly sweet loaf. On Midgar's plate it was pretty common. I wondered if Marle grew up on the plate. I tried imagining her life. I recalled the photos I saw at Corneo's. The life I imagined ended up not being very pleasant. The only silver lining was the radiant smile she had when she was with Leslie.

"You should get her to teach you how to make this."

"That might be a good idea, but I don't think I could make it."

I remembered Leslie telling me that Kyrie couldn't use the fire. "No problem. Leave it to me."

"Oh, well I’m glad I can count on you!" Kyrie put another piece in her mouth. She chewed quietly, looking into the distance. She seemed like she was looking into the future. Kyrie's cheeks slackened. I wonder if she saw me there, making bread. I took another bite and looked straight ahead. The indistinct road of the wasteland stretched into the distance. I hoped I wouldn’t lose sight of it...

"Think we should get going?"

"Sure."

Kyrie sat in the front passenger seat, removing and inserting the magazine of the machine gun. Occasionally, she would say "maybe like this" and pretend to shoot at stuff ahead of us.

"Why don’t you try shooting it?" I said out loud.

Kyrie hesitated for a while, but eventually leaned forward and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened.

"It's broken!" she said, turning her body, and returned the machine gun to the back seat. She picked up another one, attached the magazine, and pulled the trigger. "This one’s broken, too!" Kyrie slowly lowered her head in disappointment.

So far, there hadn't seemed to be any sign of monsters, so I hadn't really thought about it. But now that we didn't have a working machine gun, I suddenly began to worry. But there was no use in getting worried all by ourselves.

"I have the gun I got from Rufus ShinRa, so let's use that." I took the pistol from my jacket pocket and handed it to Kyrie.

"Hey... I gave this to Dr. Drake."

"He ended up just giving it to me."

"Why?"

It was too long a story to yell out loud. "I’ll tell you later."

Kyrie seemed to understand. She pointed the gun forward and put her finger on the trigger. Kyrie's arms shook up and down in sync with the vibration of the car. There was no way she would hit anything like that, I was sure of it. I prayed that monsters wouldn't appear.

-

Before long, dusk fell. I looked around for a place to spend the night. But this was a wasteland. We'd have to sleep in the car, of course. I pulled over to a lee under a rocky outcrop we had spotted and turned off the engine. There was no evidence that the surrounding area was safe. But it was no different to how I usually slept. I had a habit of sleeping against a wall.

"Let's try here."

"You think it’s okay?"

I thought we would manage so long as we had fuel, so I hadn't even considered bringing anything else. I didn't even think about food for the journey. There was no way I could say if everything would be alright.

"Want me to drive? It looks easy compared to the Turks' truck. It's practically a toy." Kyrie, who had been silent, said to me.

It was actually pretty easy to drive, but it still hurt a little.

"I can drive tonight while you sleep, Evan. And we can switch in the morning. How about that?"

I said yes, but then hesitated, thinking it might be better to swap from time to time. But, in the meantime, Kyrie had gotten out of the car, and come around to the driver's side. I reluctantly switched.

"First, the key..."

"Shhh!" Kyrie turned the ignition key to shut me up. The engine rumbled.

"Now, reach down with your left hand..."

"Shhh." Kyrie looked under the steering wheel, and released the handbrake lever. With an “aha!”, she stepped on the accelerator. "Easy-peasy!"

"When there isn’t anyone around, yeah. Try the square in Edge..."

"Don’t worry, I won't drive anywhere like that."

And brake.

"Now, go sit in the back."

"I’m fine here."

"But you can’t keep your mouth shut, can you?"

-

I lay down on the back seat, which, at some point, had become like Kyrie's room. I had my head on the passenger's side, so I could see Kyrie driving. As we drove through the darkness of the wasteland, I thought of more and more things to warn her about, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Go to sleep already."

"Alright." I closed my eyes, holding the broken machine gun to my chest.

"Hey, why did we leave Midgar at night? Wouldn’t you normally leave during the day?" Kyrie said after a while.

I didn't know what she was talking about, so I inquired further.

"Well, you know, the day we met. The headlights reminded me of that...”

"Oh, back then."

"Sorry, I shouldn’t be talking to you. Sleep."


**


But, it was already impossible for me not to remember.


**


Two years ago. For seven days after Meteor was destroyed by the lifestream, I just stayed put, expecting my mother to come back. I even got angry with her for not returning, despite how much I worried. It was such a selfish sort of anger. I heard rumours that Midgar would collapse, and that an evacuation advisory had been issued. The neighbours had fled quickly, it was so quiet in Midgar now that the hustle and bustle of just a little while ago seemed like a lie.

By the fifth day I had eaten all of the food in the house. I was drinking the water that had collected in the toilet cistern, because the water supply system had stopped functioning. Even though it was an emergency, it was nonetheless a horrible experience. I only drank it when I really needed to. But, still, I had nearly gone through all of it, and that would be it. I went to sleep thinking I would leave the next day, but when I woke up, I thought about Mom again. The hunger was unbearable, but I still couldn't decide. This time, I’m going. I'm leaving tomorrow, for sure. I told myself that I could just come back.

So, on the seventh day, I finally decided I would try taking a look outside. I had intended to go back inside right away, so I just packed what I could get my hands on in the shoulder bag I got for my birthday. It was around two o'clock in the afternoon. That was the time Mom would usually come home from the cafe for a late lunch, before she disappeared. I decided to wait a little while, despite knowing that wouldn't happen. I casually picked up a nearby book, and started turning the pages. It was the first book in the "Escape from Wutai" series, which I had read many times since my mother left. When I read up to the part where the stupid man in question died, I noticed that the room had became dark. It was already evening. I had missed my chance again. As I contemplated doing it tomorrow, my stomach rumbled. It seemed to be protesting my decision. I felt like I could put up with the hunger, but the thirst was unbearable. I had put the last of the water from the cistern into a bottle, but if I drank that, I was done.

I finally left. It was dark. As I illuminated the surroundings with my flashlight, I scoured my memory for any public places where I could find water to drink. Since there were many abandoned houses, it occurred to me that I could try sneaking in, but they wouldn't have running water, either. There was no way I was drinking water from someone else's toilet.

Then I met her. Bare legs stretched out from cream-coloured shorts, sat by the roadside. Her right knee was covered with blood. When I pointed the light at her, she shielded her face from the brightness with her arms.

"Sorry." I turned off the light, and was just about to leave.

"Are you from around here?"

"Um, yeah."

It was our memorable first conversation.

"Do you have any water? I’d like to wash out this wound."

"Yeah, here." I approached from the darkness, taking the water bottle out of my bag, and held it out to her.

"Thanks." She looked up as she opened the lid. "Oh, is this the last of your water?"

Her long, straight, black fringe framed a small face with big eyes and soft, smiling lips. For a moment, I forgot about my problems.

"Can I use about half?"

"It's okay, use as much as you like."

"Sorry." She poured the water into the palm of her hand, and quickly started washing her knee with it. "I have to get the dirt out at least."

"Right."

"Alright, I think this is good enough. It’s stopped bleeding."

She stood up and took a step towards me with her right foot, but staggered in pain. Toward me, no less. I quickly caught her by the side.

"Aw man. It still hurts."

"Want me to carry you?"

I think the correct response would have been to lend a shoulder. But what I said was that I would “carry” her.

“You don’t have to go that far...”

Usually, a girl wouldn't let a guy she just met carry her over a bit of leg pain. But, I didn't even think of that.

“Actually, could I ask that of you?” Limping, she started moving behind me. I quickly turned my back to her.

"Sorry about this."

As I lowered myself down a bit, she put her hands on my shoulders. Soon, I felt her weight in my legs and her softness on my back. I quickly held her bare legs in place.

"Where are you heading?" I asked her nonchalantly.

"The Slums."

"Gotcha." I understood, but it was unexpected. From the way she was dressed, I figured she was from this area. "Leaving Midgar?"

"Something like that."

"Actually, I am, too."

This was probably around the time I decided to descend from Midgar. It was thanks to this encounter, coloured by lies.

"Heh, it's pretty uncommon to be leaving at night."

"Could say the same for you, right?"

"Oh right."

"Oh, I'm Evan Townshend. You?"

"I'm Mireille Dudley."

How many lies had she told me in that first, short conversation? Of course, I had no reason to suspect her at the time.

"Hey, Evan. We're pretty far from the Slums, so let me know if you're tired. No use pushing yourself too far."

"Sure."

"Can I hold myself close to you, like a kid does? So, you know, it's easier on both of us?"

"Oh, right."

And her thin arms wrapped themselves around my neck. The light from the flashlight bounced wildly.

Then, we slowly made our way to the station. There were quite a few others there, most of them hesitating a bit before going down onto the tracks. They were going down to the Slums on foot. Maybe they’d never return to Midgar again. Anyone would hesitate. But I didn't stop. I simply used the stairs at the end of the platform to get onto the tracks. I wanted the girl on my back to think that I was different from the others.

I made my way down the tracks, spiralling around the central pillar, minding my step. I had no idea how far we'd have to walk. A few times along the way, she suggested that I take breaks, and said she could probably walk on her own now, but I refused and continued walking. Of course, that was just down to vanity and pride.

"Hey, Evan? Want me to carry the bag?"

"I'm alright."

"It's not that. It's hitting against my foot, it's sore."

"Oh, I didn't notice."

"I'll take it off you, then." She moved skillfully on my back, and pulled loose the strap of the bag, which I had wrapped around my shoulders.

-

My knees almost gave way several times. I regretted leaving home just like that, despite having spent so much time thinking it over. But, regardless, we ended up arriving at the station at the end of the tracks.

The station was jam-packed with people who had evacuated from Midgar, but had nowhere to go. A foul smell lingered in the air. It was one that I hadn't smelled before. I immediately realised that it was the smell of burning corpses. Geostigma...

It was an unknown, mysterious disease at the time. It didn't have a name. They were burning the dead near the train station.

"Thanks." Mireille jumped off my back... Kyrie, that is. "You know, you should have taken a little break." She said jokingly. "Huh?" Kyrie said, and pointed behind me. "I think someone just called your name. Evan, they said. Did you hear a woman's voice?”

In my surprise, I looked in the direction she was pointing, trying to find where the voice was coming from.

"Where?"

A woman who called my name? It could only have been my mother. I looked for her as I waited for a reply.

"Mireille, where is she?"

There was no reply. When I looked around, I saw Mireille running off. My bag was bouncing on her back. It was unbelievable. When I took a step forward, my knee gave way, and I lost my balance. It was as if I had lost all sensation in my leg. All I could do was sit my ass down, right where I was. It was then that I finally realised the situation I was in. But I couldn't bring myself to blame her. I just felt ashamed and embarrassed for being taken in by my own stupidity.

-

"What's wrong with you? Are you sick? Hurt?" Half a day had passed since I arrived in the Slums. I had been crouching down for a while, when a tall, bearded man called out to me.

"No, I'm alright. Just resting." My stomach rumbled.

The tall man laughed and threw something right in front of me. "You came from the plate, right? Eat that and start working. Forget all about your life up on the plate and get used to living here. You're going to have to start living like a stray cat. 'Cause there's nobody who's going to want to keep you around.”

I stared at the chocolate bar that had landed in front of me, and listened to the guy bellowing at me. I vaguely remembered Grey. In the same way he was our cat, my mother also took care of me. I felt strange for having worried about Grey so much. Tears flowed. I closed my eyes tightly, and when I opened them, the chocolate bar was gone.

"Evan?"

Just then, I heard her voice. The girl who screwed me over. I was practically lying on the ground, so when I looked up, I noticed her bandaged leg straight away. I guess the wound was the only thing she wasn't lying about.

"Come with me." She took my hand and helped me up. We walked through the Slums for a while. It was my first time in the Slums, but there was no time to look around. She looked back apologetically at me from time to time, saying sorry. Eventually, she confessed to being a piggyback robber. She would pretend to be injured, ask to be carried and tire her victim out before finally holding a small knife to their throat and stealing from them. In most cases, they would be too exhausted to resist. She said she would target middle-aged men who didn't seem in good shape. I guess I just got caught up in it. In fact, I volunteered. How stupid of me.

"I didn't intend to do that this time. Since everyone disappeared from Midgar, I heard from my friend that it was a free-for-all... then I really got injured... since you were nice to me, Evan, I kept debating about whether or not to go through with it the whole way... sorry."

Well, at least she didn't pull a knife on me. I decided to leave it at that.

"Why did you come back?"

"I was scolded by my grandmother."

-

Before long, we arrived at a house. It was the house that would later become the Mireille Detective Agency. The walls had random wooden boards fixed to them, it seemed they were pretty poor. There wasn't even glass in the windows, they were plastic, and so clouded with dust that you couldn't even see inside. It was exactly what I imagined a Slums house to be like. As soon as she opened the flimsy-looking door, we were greeted by a tiny living room. But all of the walls were covered with cream coloured fabric, so, despite the outward appearance, it felt cozy. There was a prominent glass cabinet in the middle of the wall on the right. Its shelves were lined with expensive looking porcelain dolls.

"Booty?" As I asked, she cast her eyes downward. That was my first, and last, jab at her.

The door to the back room opened, and a short, fat, old lady came out. She approached me with a gentle smile, and suddenly hugged me. "I'm sorry, please forgive my granddaughter. I told her to observe her targets well before deciding who to take from, and she usually does exactly that. But, you see, she was all tired-out this time… really, I am so sorry,” said the old lady in one breath. “You can have this back, of course,” she held out the shoulder bag to me. "You mind checking the contents?"

I did as I was told, taking the bag from her, and checked the contents. I couldn't remember what I had put in there in the first place, so I was surprised when I looked inside. I kept pulling out items associated with my mother. Mom's book, her handkerchief, the photograph I had taken with her...

"The person in the photo is your mother, right?" The old lady asked.

"Yeah."

"Is she doing well?"

"No..."

"You know, I knew it. It would be terrible to rob someone of those memories. The only ones you should be targeting are those dirty old men, full of ulterior motives.”

I fidgeted in embarrassment.

"Please forgive Kyrie."

"Kyrie?"

"Oh, my real name is Kyrie. Kyrie Canaan."

"How about it? Do let us atone for our wrongdoings, alright? We steal for a living, so if we don't make amends for the bad things we do, we'll really turn into bad people. Won't you give us a chance?”

Even as the old lady stood before me with both hands clasped together, I couldn't understand her concept of good and bad. I smiled unintentionally.

"Thanks, Evan."

She seemed to have misunderstood my smile. Kyrie smiled next to her.

-

The third night after I came under the care of Kyrie and Mireille, Kyrie rushed back from "work", and told us to look as she placed two banknotes on the table.

"What kind of a person did you get these from?" The old lady asked.

"No, no, not that." Kyrie seemed excited. "I met with Fabio today. He told me to help out because there was good money in it, so I went with him to the Sector Seven Slums. You know, the junk heap."

The old woman nodded. I could only imagine such a place.

"It seemed an old man who used to live on the Sector Seven plate was searching for something, and asked Fabio and I for help. He promised to reward us if we found what he was looking for. The amount he offered us was huge! We were determined to do it, so we called Leslie, and then he called some friends. I think we ended up with six in total? The six of us searched until nightfall before finding it. It was a large safe. The old man was overjoyed, and thanked us by paying us these."

"There was this much after dividing it between the six of you?"

"Yup, it was a sweet deal, and it made him happy. I love making people happy!"

That was the start of the Mireille Detective Agency. I was also invited to join in due time. I declined the offer at first, but decided to join under the condition that I was able to quit whenever I wanted to.

The next day, I went back up to the Midgar plate with a big bag that I borrowed from Kyrie. The long walk up the tracks was a pain, but I wanted to leave the house with closure. Of course, there was also the issue of my mother. When I got there, the house had been ransacked. It seemed to have been broken into by thieves. I immediately checked that the money was still in the ceiling. It was safe. Then I walked around the house, checking the damage. The TV and phone were gone. Other stuff might have been stolen too, but I couldn't bring myself to check. I was more angry that the rooms had been disturbed than I was about the stuff that had been stolen. I took time to tidy things up, while cursing the thieves. I boarded up the window that the thieves had broken with tiles I took from the ceiling. Then I finally got to work choosing what to take with me. I had lived in that house since I was born. Every item brought back feelings and memories. I couldn't bear to choose just a few of those things to take with me. In the end, I simply took the money from the ceiling and a few articles of clothing. I wasn’t getting rid of this house, I was just going away for a while. I could come back anytime, as long as the tracks were connected.

Finally, I left a note for my mother. Since I didn't have a stable residence or a means for giving directions to Kyrie's house, I just wrote that I would be at the station in the Slums every day at noon for one hour. Then, I bid farewell to Midgar.

Back in the Slums, Kyrie had come to collect me from the station. She was with two men of around the same age. The grey haired guy brushed his hair back as he looked me up and down, as if appraising me. The chubby guy looked at me through the thick lenses of his glasses and chuckled. They were Fabio and Leslie, I had only heard their names until then. They were introduced to me as partners who would do detective work with us. I felt kinda uncomfortable listening to the old friends bantering. I guess it felt like I was being assaulted by a need to get to know them quickly, as well as the sense that it was a mistake for me to even consider living in the Slums.

"I know of an empty house, but it’s not really in the best area. It might be tough for someone who was raised on the plate.” Fabio said.

"Sure, I was raised on the plate. Don't go looking down on me, though."

Kyrie and Fabio looked at me, wide-eyed. Leslie turned away and stared at the ground. Thinking back to it now, I'm sure he was just trying not to laugh.

And so, my life in the Slums began. The environment of the vacant house that Fabio recommended was the worst. Unsavoury characters lurking all around. Leslie introduced me to each and every one of them. Actually living there, I didn't really get much trouble from them. I now know the reason. It’s all thanks to Leslie.

The detective business we started took off surprisingly well. Since the orphans had a monopoly on finding things, working for pennies and candy, we decided to focus on searching for people. We offered our services to the people running around in confusion near the station, finding family and friends who had become separated, for a reward. In many cases, it wasn't that difficult, since they were usually found not too far from the station. Refugees from the plate tended not to move too far from the station.

We were good at finding clients. We found and spoke to the well-dressed. Everybody was looking for missing family, friends and acquaintances. I was no good at talking to strangers, but I did my best, knowing that I had to if I wanted to live. I only waited at the station, as I had written in the note to my mom, for the first three days. Besides, I was having enough trouble with just finding a place to belong. After a month or so, I had that full-fledged stray cat feeling.
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
Chapter 32 - The Girl On The Chocobo

When I woke up, it was already night, and the car was parked. After quickly checking that Kyrie was still there, I let my head drop back down onto the passenger side seat and fell back asleep. My neck was starting to get sore. I moved my body slowly so as not to shake the car.

“Ngh” Kyrie groaned as she woke up. She stopped after the words "my neck".

I reached from behind to support Kyrie's head, and gently helped her sit up. "You okay?"

"Ugh." Part way through she began moving of her own accord and started loosening her neck.

"Sorry, I got sleepy..."

"Shhh!" I stopped Kyrie and pointed forward.

"Oh."

There was something about 20 metres ahead of us in the moonlit wasteland. This was the first time I had seen a real chocobo. It was looking at us with sleepy eyes. Moreover, a petite girl was riding on the chocobo’s back. I picked up the machine gun, which had fallen at my feet. As far as I knew, chocobos weren't dangerous creatures. I didn't feel any hostility from the girl either. But it was better to be safe than sorry. I couldn't rely on my knowledge. I even had trouble understanding the feelings of the girl sitting next to me, after all.

"What should we do?" Kyrie asked.

"Leave it to me." I would be alright so long as I had a gun. I opened the door quietly, fixed my eyes on the girl, and got out.

"That's broken, you know." Kyrie whispered as I got out.

I had completely forgotten. But it was too late. I got out and stood beside the car. I slowly pointed the muzzle at the chocobo.

"Stop!" I shouted. But the chocobo kept approaching with the girl on its back.

I faltered as I saw the size of the yellow, flightless bird that bounded towards to me. It seemed it could easily fracture my skull with it's beak.

"Stop!" I repeated again as I retreated. Kyrie got out of the car too, and came around behind me.

“You guys are stupid!” The girl skillfully maneuvered the chocobo toward us as she cursed at us.

I wanted to retreat even further, but I bravely stood my ground in front of Kyrie. "Who are you calling stupid?" How’s that for a counter, Kyrie?

"Hey, nevermind that, is it true that there's medicine for Geostigma?"

"What?" I inadvertently lowered the muzzle.

"Good, good. You can't just go pointing guns at people outta nowhere. Let's follow the rules of the wilderness, alright? So, they made a medicine for Geostigma? I've been hearing rumours about it."

"Actually, the medicine just reduces the pain of Geostigma. It's not a cure." I answered, hiding my awkwardness.

"Where can I buy it?"

"It’s not on the market yet. I think the WRO hands it out."

"Hands it out? You mean it’s free?"

"Probably."

"Awesome! Thanks for letting me know!" The girl happily thanked me, and just as I thought she was moving away from the car... she came back again. "Hey, dude! You can’t fire a machine gun without releasing the safety catch! Ugh, how embarrassing." This time she really went away, laughing.

"Who was that girl?" Kyrie muttered.

But there was no way we would find out now. There were plenty of people in the world who lived in ways we don't know about. Midgar, the Slums and Edge made up only a small part of the world.

"Try it."

I examined the machine gun. There was a small metal plate attached to the body of the gun, near the trigger. The only other button was the magazine release, so I slid the mechanism I thought was the safety catch with my finger. It clicked. Then, I aimed the gun and pulled the trigger. There was a satisfying ratatatat, and sparks flew. Both of us screamed. I found out for the first time that the recoil made your shoulder really sore, and that a shell casing pops out for each bullet you shoot.

"I wonder what the rules of the wilderness are." Kyrie said, sitting in the passenger seat.

"The first rule is probably that you don't randomly point guns at people.”

"It's pretty annoying, when someone’s like “you didn’t know?” and starts laughing at you."

"Yeah." I remembered that had been said to me on a daily basis when I moved to the Slums.

"... sorry." It seemed Kyrie remembered too.

"It's alright. The more you have to be frustrated about, the stronger you grow."...That’s what I think, anyway. Though I had no real experience. Frustration just made me a liar.


**


It was almost dawn. I turned off the headlights as I drove.

"Kyrie, you should get some sleep. You'll be taking over at around noon."

"... I'll try." she said in a feeble voice, and began moving toward the back seat. It seemed she was going to squeeze through the narrow space between the driver's seat and front passenger seat. Her upper body went through without difficulty, but her butt got caught between the seats. Kyrie's legs flailed around right next to me. Before long, she slanted her body, accomplishing her goal.

"’night, then."

"Yup."

-

For someone who said she probably wouldn't sleep, Kyrie seemed to fall asleep straight away. I occasionally looked at her figure in the rearview mirror as I drove. I was glad, from the bottom of my heart, that she came with me. If I were a stronger man who could tolerate the loneliness, I might have thought she would get in my way. But I was someone who had an unbelievably low tolerance for loneliness. I recalled the few days I spent waiting for my mother in Midgar. Actually, I had a similar experience before that as well.

Suddenly, the memories started to come back. It was just after I had heart surgery, when I was still just a kid. Mom collapsed due to overworking, and I was alone for a few days. There were nurses and doctors around because I was in a hospital. But, to me, they were just people who brought me pain. I only had Mom for protection. I grieved over her absence and cried the whole time. Nevertheless, it was frustrating to be seen in such a state by the nurses, so whenever it felt like someone had come by I would pull the blanket over my head and hold my breath.

-

"They say there’s something wrong with this kid’s head. I heard that his mother collapsed after hearing that."

"Shh! Don't talk like that in front of the patient."

-

What was this memory? I think it was a conversation I overheard the nurses having while I was pretending to be asleep. But what did they mean? Mom collapsed? It wasn’t because she was overworked? I slammed on the brakes.

"What's wrong?" Kyrie said in a sleepy voice.

"Nothing..."

"Wow, this is awesome! Did you want to show me this?"

I didn't know why she was excited. Looking back, I saw she was glued to the window, gazing out. Vast grasslands spread out ahead of Kyrie. And a few dozen metres away was a large pond. A spring? A lake? I didn't know the difference. It was as large as Edge's central square and reflecting the morning light. It was the first time I had seen such a large body of water. The overwhelming landscape pushed away the real reason I had stopped the car.

"Wanna go?" Kyrie got out of the car without waiting for a reply, and started running through the meadow. A gentle slope continued down, so it seemed it would be easy to reach the water's edge. Kyrie suddenly stopped and looked back. "Hey, are you bringing the machine gun? Better safe than sorry, right?"

"Oh yeah." I got out of the car, opened the rear door, and lifted out the machine gun. I noticed that the pistol had fallen behind the passenger seat. What an unsafe car. I thrust my body into the the car, trying to pick it up, and figured I'd take out my shoulder bag and Kyrie's backpack. These were our valuables, after all. I decided to put the pistol in my bag, and made my way down to the water's edge.

"Evan!" Kyrie's excited voice called out. She crouched at the water's edge, and put her hands in the water. "Wow! It's so incredibly clear!" She got up and ran toward me. "I'll go change. Don't look towards the car until I say."

"Huh?"

"Go on. You can even see fish."

"Oh, okay." I walked toward the water's edge, still not knowing what Kyrie was up to. Before long I reached the shore where the meadow gently sloped down, until the grass was swaying in the clear water. I could see tiny fish swimming, poking through the grass. It was a scene I had only ever seen in videos. The reality was that I could now touch it if I just reached out my hands. I put down the machine gun, and put my hand into the water, just like Kyrie had. It was cool and serene.

"Let's go!"

Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me, and Kyrie, wearing a flashy, orange bathing suit, ran, splashing into the pond. It seemed to get deeper as she got further from the edge, as Kyrie's body gradually became submerged in the water.

Before long, she got to where it reached up to her chest, and turned around. "Hurry up!"

"I'm good."

"Let's catch fish to eat!" Saying that, she put her face close to the surface of the water, and peeked through. "I see some... there’s some pretty big ones..."

I didn't know the habits of the fish at all, but I didn't think there were any we could catch.

"I didn't pack any swimwear."

"Aren't you good as you are? Just take off your shirt. You know, you can take a bath, too." Kyrie stretched out her left arm, and started rubbing and scrubbing it with her right hand. “Don’t be such a spoilsport!” Kyrie said, laughing.

I took off my shirt, muttering that it seemed I had no choice. Kyrie was chasing after a fish. Don’t be such a spoilsport... those were the words Kyrie, Leslie and Fabio often used, words that would always provoke and humiliate me. But, now, I was determined to enjoy myself.

"Let's go, Kyrie!"

"Yeah!"
 

Tetsujin

he/they
AKA
Tets
It occured to me I hadn't actually begun reading this whatsoever. So I just finished chapter one, and...three days to walk around Midgar?

I think Nojima lacks a sense of scale because that's ridiculous.
 

Jason Tandro

Banned
AKA
Jason Tandro, Doc Brown, Santa Christ, FearAddict, Thibault Stormrunner, RN: Micah Rodney
It occured to me I hadn't actually begun reading this whatsoever. So I just finished chapter one, and...three days to walk around Midgar?

I think Nojima lacks a sense of scale because that's ridiculous.

All the travel in the game apparently took place within one month. That means in three days they could get to Junon.
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
In Case of Shinra, he writes that Kalm is three to four hours from the coast.

FFVII_WM_Kalm_zps04oztzwr.jpg
 

Jason Tandro

Banned
AKA
Jason Tandro, Doc Brown, Santa Christ, FearAddict, Thibault Stormrunner, RN: Micah Rodney
I'll grant the world map isn't to scale, but I wonder if we could science that bitch out. Like take Cloud's footsteps from the edge of Kalm to the shoreline and then pace around Midgar and compare.

... Huh....
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
33. Rude Targeted

Midgar's Sector Eight. Rude was repairing the aircraft in the warehouse. He was crouched in an awkward position underneath the body of the helicopter, reinstalling the starter motor which he had disassembled and repaired. He was paying attention to the warehouse entrance while he continued to work. The door was open just enough that one person could get through. Someone had been eavesdropping on his conversation with Tseng. Rude thought that someone would eventually act on that information. As such, he had left the door open on purpose so as to lure in and capture the individual.

He heard the sound of metal scraping. They were here. Rude focused his attention. He had scattered metal junk parts near the warehouse entrance. But nothing happened. C’mon, get on with it. Rude stopped what he was doing, moved away from the helicopter, and stretched. Then, he quietly walked to the door. There was no sign of life.

As he went outside, he looked through his sunglasses toward the warehouse district, which should have been illuminated by the morning sun. Without moving his face, he scanned the surroundings with his eyes. Then, he noticed someone moving on his right. He spotted something flying through the air, arcing towards him. He knew what it was immediately. It was a cylindrical bomb used in construction. The fuse was lit. He tensed up for a moment. The bomb landed a little ahead of him, bounced a few times, and rolled to his feet. Rude held his breath, quickly picked it up, and threw it back.

"Aaargh!" There was an anguished scream, immediately followed by an explosion. Dust flew everywhere, and the area was filled with smoke.

"Who sent these idiots?" muttered Rude, as he approached the blast radius.

Two men were lying face down. He got down on one knee, and grabbed the shoulder of the smaller man, turning him onto his back. The man had died with a look of surprise and fear on his face. He had a face like a rat. Rude knew the face, but he didn't know the name. As he approached to check the other man, he heard a crunch under his feet. It seemed he had stepped on a pair of glasses. He kneeled beside the man and looked at his face, which was turned to the side, but didn't recognise him. He went back, picked up the glasses and put them back on his face...

"Oh." Rude seemed to recall that this man had a younger brother with geostigma.


**


Reno watched Doyle as he gave out orders to the volunteers. Since Doyle joined, work had been progressing well. The memorial monument was practically finished now. Reno figured maybe he would entrust the role of foreman to the man, and just check in on things later. Since hearing about the Jenova search project, his interest in the construction was completely gone.

"Yo, Mister Doyle." Reno called out to Doyle respectfully.

"You mind dropping the mister?" Doyle shook his head with a wry smile.

"Did you used to do this kinda work? You seem pretty used to it."

"I was in the Urban Development Department."

"So we're Shin-Ra colleagues, then!"

Doyle looked around at the volunteers, and gave a vague reply of ‘I wonder’.

"Tsh, ‘don't associate me with the people who do the dirty work’, huh?" There were quite a number of departments that would try to distance themselves from the Turks.

"Well, I've been thinkin' lately," Doyle stared at Reno. "What you guys do isn’t that bad."

Reno looked away unintentionally. He felt uncomfortable receiving the approval of someone other than his fellow Turks. "The medicine and this memorial monument are the first step. Just you wait and see. It won't happen right away, but Shin-Ra will make a recovery. We’re gonna bring it back." It was an idea he had been toying with lately, but this was the first time he had mentioned it to an outsider.

"You're doing what?" Doyle frowned at him.

Reno instantly regretted letting that slip. "I can't say."

"I bet. But tell the President, nobody’s gonna give in to violence anymore."

"I'll tell him if I remember, Mister Doyle. Don’t tell anyone the President's whereabouts... No, don't even say he's alive. He's still not in good shape. Some still bear a grudge against him. We want to avoid any trouble."

"What’ll you do if I tell?"

"It’ll mean more work for the Turks," Doyle chortled.

Just then, Reno's cellphone rang. "I’ve got something to tell you, so give me a minute," Reno said, and then answered the phone. "Hey, partner. How’s the helicopter?" He noticed that Doyle was looking his way, and turned his back to him. "What!?" He couldn't understand what Rude was telling him on the other end of the line at first. "I’ll do some investigating." Reno hung up and stared at the former Shin-Ra man. "Hey, man. I didn’t see Keough here today... why’s that? And what about Fabio?"

"...Did something happen?"

"They're both dead."
 

Tetsujin

he/they
AKA
Tets
Read up until chapter 30.

Thanks for all the hard work so far. :)

I'm rather enjoying the story so far. Nothing offensively stupid such as Blitzball bombs in sight, that's a plus.
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
34. Red Beast And Black Water

As expected, we hadn't caught a single fish. Besides, neither of us could swim. There's really not much that non-swimmers can do in the water. We splashed water at each other, nothing more.

"Why did you bring a swimsuit?"

"I thought maybe we'd be passing by Costa del Sol. Does it suit me?" Kyrie put both hands on her hips, and posed.

The water lapped Kyrie's naval. I raised my gaze. Her stomach, her chest, her face, then to the sky. Where was I supposed to look?

"Cute."

Kyrie made a huge splash in the water with both hands as she headed in deeper. The contrast between the orange of the suit and the white of her back was dazzling. I muttered that it really suited her. Costa, Costa, I could hear Kyrie humming the advertising jingle. She was out of tune, but it was still good.

"Evan, I'd be ok with heading back, so..." Kyrie looked back.

The smile disappeared from her face. Then, she pointed behind me. I quickly turned around to find a bright red monster. It approached slowly, looking at the car. It seemed to have noticed us.

"Evan, where’s the gun?" She was almost screaming.

I attempted to move slowly towards the shore, incase I startled the beast. It was... a huge, bright red dog, no, a wolf, or maybe a lion. The tip of its tail was on fire... oh, it was watching me. I went to the shore, not taking my eyes off it, crouched down next to the machine gun that was placed on top of my clothes. I reached out and released the safety catch after feeling around for it. The monster attempted to take cover in the shadow of the car. I held up the machine gun, and squeezed the trigger. The ratatatat rang out. White smoke rose from behind the car where the bullets hit.

"Wait!"

I had a feeling that I heard someone's voice. I released the trigger, and weighed up the situation.

"Did you get it?" I heard Kyrie's voice behind me.

Then the monster got on the roof of the car.

"Get off!" I squeezed the trigger as I shouted.

The monster opened its mouth. I could see its sharp fangs. As I moved the muzzle to shoot into its open mouth, my target moved from the roof to the top of the trunk. When I followed the figure with my muzzle, bullets flew into the back of the car. I immediately knew that was a bad idea. Just then, the car momentarily lifted off the ground, bursting into flames and spewing black smoke. I was assaulted by the sound of an explosion and waves of heat. I must have fired through the fuel tank, or the fuel can in the trunk. I was the world's biggest idiot.

"Evan!" Kyrie cried out.

But I couldn't take my eyes of the burning car.

"Evan, help!"

Help? When I looked back, I saw that Kyrie was desperately struggling to keep her face above the water. When did she get so far in?

"I can't feel the bottom!"

I didn't understand. I tossed the machine gun aside and went back into the pond. The resistance increased around my calves, knees and waist the deeper I got. I ran, leaned into the pressure so I could continue pushing onward. But, I wasn't getting any closer to Kyrie. Instead, it seemed like she was getting further away. What's going on?

"Kyrie!"

"Eva..." The voice calling me was cut short as she sank into the water. The ripples were black in color. Black?

I couldn't see Kyrie. I moved forward, trying to get closer. The black water drifted around me. I was as deep as I could go.

Water entered my nose and mouth. I dove into the water, and opened my eyes to search for Kyrie. It was a pitch black world. I became afraid and resurfaced. Even in this situation, the sky was blue, and clouds drifted.

People die easily. And all too quickly. Kyrie is no exception.

"Kyrie isn't dead!"

I dismissed the nonsensical notion that surfaced in my mind, and dove into the water once again. I felt something pass next to me. I came to the surface of the water in surprise.

"Get back on land!"

It was a while before I realised it was the voice of the red monster.
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
35. Reno And Rude Fly

The helicopter left the sky over Edge, and headed toward Under Junon in the southwest.

"Fly, fly!"

"Too loud." Rude, sitting in the pilot's seat, complained to Reno, in the co-pilot seat. When Reno talked through the intercom, he had a habit of yelling to be heard over the roar of the helicopter. He didn’t think it would be of any avail, but Rude couldn't help pointing out his amateurish behavior.

"So, what did Doyle say?" Rude asked.

"You met those guys, right? At the warehouse with the helicopter? He was the one eavesdropping on us. He thought we were intending to do something bad, so he followed us.”

"And why did things turn out the way they did?"

"It seems he told Fabio that we had a helicopter in the warehouse. He said he didn't know about what happened afterwards. And he was probably telling the truth."

"What was Fabio trying to accomplish?"

"This's according to Throp... That Throp guy, he may not look it, but he used to be in the army. And flying a helicopter is easy-peasy for him. Anyway, Fabio asked Throp to pilot it. Said he wanted him to fly the helicopter for Evan."

"So, this is about Evan, again? What does he have to do with this?"

“That’s what we’re gonna go find out, right?”


**


In the past, Under Junon had been a prosperous fishing village. It was just called “Junon”, without the disparaging “Under” part, which was added after the towering fortress city, Junon, was built above the village. The city of steel made it so fish could no longer be caught, and placed the village on the path to decline. Before long, the village was driven to the verge of complete abandonment, but that all changed two years ago. Shin-Ra company collapsed around the same time as the Meteor crisis, and cut off the Mako energy supply as well. As a result, the air transportation network, which had flourished against the backdrop of abundant energy, was virtually destroyed. The people of Under Junon used this opportunity, and started a shipping business. There were many people who wanted to cross the sea, so the villagers’ plans were right on the money. The money brought in by travellers had led Under Junon to experience unprecedented levels of prosperity. Tseng and Elena were at a Costa del Sol-style beach house that had recently opened in Under Junon. The lukewarm sea breeze of the afternoon enveloped the two of them as they sat on the terrace seats.

"Who's going to be coming next?" said Elena, who looked the part of a resort-goer in her white dress and straw hat.

"Beats me." Tseng, who answered, was dressed in a three-piece suit, disguised as a businessman. They had managed to hide their Turks identities, but the two of them together couldn’t have been any less inconspicuous.

"They're just going to be reporting the same thing as before. I mean, Jenova..." Tseng glared, and Elena averted her gaze as she continued. "Sorry, but I think it's impossible to find."

"It may be difficult on our own. But it's not impossible. Also, keeping in touch on a regular basis, and meeting face to face, are necessary to keep the organisation going."

"How many..." Elena looked around and proceeded to whisper, "of the original Turks are going to be helping us?"

Tseng recalled the faces of his former subordinates. How many have I been in touch with…?

"Looks like something’s going on."

Tseng stopped thinking, and turned his attention to Elena. They heard loud voices coming from the entrance of the village. Curious employees and customers burst out of the shop.

"Go look." Tseng smiled wryly behind his subordinate, as she stood up and left. Her legs, visible below the hem of her light dress, were covered in scars. Anyone who became a Turk was a Turk for life. Even those who were pursuing other interests could be mobilized with a single phone call. Tseng sighed, musing that what he did might be cruel.

Before long, Elena returned. "It seems a drowned young woman was carried here. And get this, Tseng, she was carried by a big, bright red wolf, with its tail on fire..."

"Red XIII?"

"I wouldn’t doubt it. Apparently he explained the situation, and then asked for help."

"That’s him alright. I’m going to go take a look, too."

"He's not there anymore."

"I meant the woman."

"Well, then you’ll want to go to the clinic. It’s toward the back of the village..."

"I know where it is." Tseng got up and left the shop, heading for the clinic.

Nestled between the robust steel poles supporting Junon above was the clinic. The white, wooden building, which seemed like it had been repainted recently, looked like a small, fashionable cafe. There was a waiting room immediately when he opened a door. There was nobody there at the moment, but it looked like it could hold around twenty people. Tseng was about to call out to the receptionist, but then he noticed her. She had been laid on one of the four comfortable-looking sofas. The young woman was wearing an orange swimsuit. Her brow was furrowed, like she was in pain. A jacket with an illustration of a bomb on it had fallen on the floor. Tseng picked up the jacket, and replaced it over the woman's body, getting a good look at her face. It was a familiar face. She was the woman who had been outside the lodge during the explosion incident at Healin. Her name was Kyrie. She was with the President's half brother, Evan.

"Tseng? Is that you, Tseng? Man, it's been awhile. How are you doing?"

Turning towards the voice, he saw a doctor in a white coat. He was a man who had once saved the lives of many soldiers as an army surgeon. Tseng himself had been under his care after nearly losing his life. The doctor had to have been around sixty years old, but his age was well disguised by his robust physique, which was likely a product of weight training.

"Good, thanks to you, Dr. Eugene."

"I guess so. My work is always perfect. Oh hey, you don’t happen to know this girl?"

Tseng shook his head in response.

"I see. Well, I guess I can only wait for her to regain consciousness.”

"What happened?"

"There was no physical trauma. The girl just drowned. That's it.”

"She was carried here by a red beast?"

"Hmmm... a beast. Red XIII. You know of him, right? A plaything to the folks over in the Science Department. Seems he’s no different from a wild animal now."

"Where did he go?”

"Hell if I know."

Tseng said his goodbyes to the dismissive doctor, and went outside. Just like with the Science Department, ShinRa’s medical team was also staffed by first-rate members. But, he wondered why so many people from this highly acclaimed, ultra talented bunch seemed to have such defective personalities. Tseng smiled wryly.

When Tseng returned to the beach house he sat in front of Elena, arms folded.

“How was she?”

"We'll see."

What was it that had happened? It was clear from the swimsuit that Kyrie had been swimming somewhere. Then, Red XIII saved her from drowning. Did Red just happen to be there? Was there some connection between Red and Kyrie? Kyrie was involved with Evan Townshend. Evan was the half-brother of the President. Were Evan and Red XIII connected, somehow? Did Red XIII still have anything to do with Cloud? What about Cloud and Evan? If the President's younger brother made contact with the Turks’ former enemies, what would that mean for them? On the other hand, it could all just have been a coincidence. It may be that they all met, but none of them knew each other's true identities. But, based on past experience, Tseng knew that a string of coincidences always meant something of great importance. It wasn’t something to ignore. What was the significance of the fact that all of these connections were surfacing now that they were searching for Jenova? What was the significance of the fact that Kyrie had been brought to the same place as Tseng and Elena, the people looking for Jenova?


**


Rude examined Evan's burnt out car, as Reno made a phone call.

“Looks like he shot it with a gun." Rude looked at the pond. The water was murky and stagnant. "There was a machine gun by the water. He probably shot from there."

"Why shoot the car? And where the hell did he get a machine gun…? Oh, Chief. It's me. We were following Evan in the helicopter, but..."


**


"What do you mean, ‘following Evan’?"

Elena noticed a crease had formed in the middle of Tseng's forehead. Her boss hardly ever changed his expression. Something major must have happened. She listened carefully to Reno’s voice, which could be heard through the phone, “Fabio is dead... The car exploded…”

"Understood. You guys should come here. If you find Evan on the way, pick him up." Tseng hung up and stared at Elena.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any other clothes?"

“There’s another outfit like this back at the helicopter.”

"Let me borrow those clothes. Meet me in thirty minutes, at the helicopter."


**


Tseng walked while thinking about Reno's report. Fabio, the man who stole the medicine from Healen, died trying to steal the helicopter with his companions. Everything seemed to have started with Evan. He opened the clinic door again. But Kyrie wasn't there in the waiting room.

"Doctor?." Tseng called out towards the examination room in the back.

The doctor appeared, looking rather annoyed. He had a dumbbell in each hand, and beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Where is the woman from before?"

"She isn't there? Tch, guess she ran off. Didn't even pay for the treatment. Well, I guess she didn't look like she had any money."

"What kind of treatment did you perform?"

"Mainly palpitations." The doctor's shoulders shook as he vulgarly laughed out loud.

Tseng removed a clip of money from his pocket, and tossed it on the sofa. "Will this cover it?"

"Oho! But, why would you pay for the treatment of a girl you don't even know?

"She struck my fancy. It's hush money and the treatment costs. Nobody needs to know about this."

"Well, hope things go well between you two.”

Tseng ignored him, and stepped out. He looked around from the doorway, but could see no sign of Kyrie. As he was about to start walking, he heard a voice coming from behind the building.

"Where’ve you been all this time?" It was the voice of a woman. Was it Kyrie?

"Here and there ... I was wandering around." The voice of a young man answered.

Whilst concealing his presence, Tseng approached the back of the clinic, where the voices were coming from. He advanced to a position where neither of them could see him, and where Tseng couldn't see them either, before pressing his back against the wall and listening in.

"I thought you died… in the fire."

"Bad people don't die."

"...I've already gone legit, so I might die young."

"Because of that guy, Evan?"

"It's not his fault. Actually, it’s all thanks to him. Hey, how come you know Evan?"

"I know everything you know, Kyrie."

So it was indeed Kyrie. But, who was the man? He had to see his face. Turning the corner of the building, Tseng revealed himself to them. Kyrie, who was looking his way, had a jacket draped over her swimsuit, and what looked like slippers from the clinic on her feet. She had a dubious look on her face. Standing next to her was a thin, silver haired boy. Tseng felt as if his blood was bubbling. The boy's appearance reminded him of the monsters the ShinRa Company used to produce. Then again, it wasn't just his hair that was the same. Those piercing eyes clearly reminded him of that man. The man who was once known as a hero. The man who tried to destroy the world. Sephiroth. It brought back memories of confronting the crazed Sephiroth. He had been stabbed, and ended up on the brink of death. Tseng firmly stilled his limbs, so as to prevent them from shaking, and looked back at the boy.

"Who is he?" the boy asked Kyrie.

"I don't know... Oh! He was in Healen!"

Tseng nodded. Then the boy stretched out his right hand and began to approach. His rather new-looking, black leather rider suit made creaking noises.

“Hello, there. I'm Kadaj. An old friend of Kyrie's."

Tseng stared at his outstretched right hand and then held out his own. The boy slowly clenched his hand. It sent chills through Tseng's entire body. He quickly pulled his hand away. Tseng was convinced that he was not human.

"Pleased to meet you," The boy said, turning up the corner of his mouth, "Tseng of the Turks."

Tseng hadn't said his name, yet the boy knew who he was.

Kyrie looked at the boy with another dubious expression.

"Well, I’ll see you later. Kyrie, you'd better not hang around with this man too much." The boy stepped back.

Just then, Kyrie's eyes rolled back, and she lost consciousness. As he took a step forward, to support Kyrie as she collapsed, Tseng's vision went dark.


**


Rude flew the helicopter while looking down at the countless tyre tracks that crisscrossed the wasteland. It wasn't the quickest route to Under Junon, but if Evan was travelling, he likely wouldn't have strayed too far from the road. “He’s just that kind of guy”, was what Reno claimed, and Rude figured he had a point. And before long...

"Hey, Reno."

“Hmm? Oh!”

Evan was standing in the wasteland below, looking up at the helicopter.

Rude realised he felt genuinely relieved.

"What the hell?"

Evan was wearing his usual shoulder bag, with a backpack over it on his back. He had a pair of boots, tied by the laces, around his neck. Rude flew ahead of Evan and turned, decreasing their altitude. Evan started to run away, unsteadily.

"Wonder why he’s running away?"

"He probably feels guilty." Rude cornered Evan and descended.

"Hey, buddy," Reno said in a low voice, "Fabio tried to steal a helicopter from us. And depending on the reason for that, Evan, you might be in some trouble."


**


He still had pain on the side of his head from hitting the ground when he collapsed. That meant he had only lost consciousness briefly. Tseng stood up and looked around. There was no sign of the boy who had introduced himself as Kadaj. He kneeled beside Kyrie, who was still unconscious, and lightly patted her cheek.

"Kyrie, are you okay?"

Kyrie opened her eyes slightly, and quickly got up when she saw Tseng.

"My subordinates are taking care of Evan." It was a lie, but that didn't matter. His priority now, was this girl.

For a moment, Kyrie looked relieved. But soon, her expression changed.

"They're coming back in the helicopter now. Evan's going to be arriving too, but what are you going to do?"

"Well I'm coming, too, of course."

Tseng nodded, and start walking towards the village exit. He could hear Kyrie's footsteps behind him.

"I wonder why I collapsed?"

“Beats me. Maybe because you were still weak?” He didn't tell her that he had also lost consciousness.

"Does that actually happen? And besides, how did I get here, anyway? I was drowning and then I lost consciousness...”

“No idea. I just happened to be here. You should ask Evan for the details. By the way, who was that Kadaj person?"

"...An acquaintance." She didn't seem to want to go into detail.

"Was it really him?" He thought that was something he absolutely needed to confirm.

"What do you mean?"

"I overheard your conversation. You said that you thought he was burned to death in a fire."

"Of course it was him. He had a round nose and orange hair. That's just the way Kadaj looks. You saw him, didn’t you?"

Kyrie’s description was completely different from the appearance of the youth that shook Tseng’s hand. And the reason for that? It was because he didn’t know Kadaj. He had manipulated Kyrie’s brain to recreate the youth named Kadaj, who had actually died in a fire. Tseng could only think of one being with the ability to do something like that.

"Orange hair?"

"Yeah. It's dyed that colour. Probably takes a lot of work.”

He turned around to look at Kyrie's expression.

Kyrie was walking while gazing toward the village. As she hadn't noticed that Tseng had stopped, she ended up bumping into him. "Oh."

Tseng grabbed both of Kyrie's shoulders as she awkwardly tried to pull away. "The boy who identified himself as Kadaj..." Tseng said. "He is not human. He's a monster."

Should he have told her? He wasn’t sure. However, it was a necessary part in gaining the girl's trust. He needed something to influence her to become dependent on the Turks.

"That sounds like nonsense."

"It is understandable that you don't believe me. But you need to be careful in the future if you come into contact with him again. He will likely try to control you. Similar things have happened in the past."


----


There had been an incident where the revival of a dead person had caused the deaths of many. It was Jenova’s doing. Tseng recalled that it was a story he heard from Professor Hojo, who was in charge of the Shin-Ra Company's Science Department.

“According to records, a long time ago, Jenova almost destroyed the world. The method it used was very clever, indeed. First of all, it took the form of someone important to whomever it wanted to deceive, in order to get close to them. For example: a parent, sibling, friend, or acquaintance. It would also sometimes take the form of a dead person. Jenova had just such a power. It then gained their trust, and influenced them. ‘Somebody bears a grudge against you.’ ‘Somebody wants to kill you.’ Once you start telling people these kinds of things, they start getting suspicious.. And, before you know it, people start fighting. It’s self-destruction, really.”

Professor Hojo was the person who was in contact with Jenova for the longest. In the end, it was believed that he had gone mad, but perhaps he had actually fallen under Jenova’s spell and ended up destroying himself because of it. What kind of illusions had the doctor seen? He was a prodigy, but surely even someone with values as twisted as his must have had people who were important to him, right?

-

"We will protect you. There's no need to worry."

"Why?"

"You’re a friend of Evan’s. Evan is someone important to us. You heard about that, right?"

"No."

Tseng proceeded to tell her about the relationship between Evan and Rufus ShinRa. "...and that’s the situation. We are protecting Evan. And, of course, you too."

After saying that, it crossed Tseng’s mind that, perhaps, his own methods were the same as Jenova’s.


**


"Is she a Turk too?" Kyrie asked, after spotting Elena who was leaning against the helicopter.

"That's Elena. She’s prepared some clothes for you."

"She's the one who hurt Fabio?"

"Yes. But I’d prefer if you let that matter go. What's done is done."

“That’s easy for you to say,” muttered Kyrie, as she hurried past Tseng, and started running towards Elena. “How dare you hurt Fabio!” Kyrie thrust her index finger in Elena's face.

"Stop with the accusations. It's not my fault that he's dead." Elena argued, brushing off Kyrie's finger.

"... Who's dead?"

“Oops,” said Elena as she looked at Tseng, and shrugged.

Tseng approached the two, shaking his head.

"Fabio is? No way! Lies!" Kyrie tensed up like a child having a tantrum. "I get it! You people did it!"

"It was an accident. We ..." Before Elena could finish, Kyrie went to punch her.

Tseng grabbed Kyrie’s slender arms, and held them fast. "We wouldn’t do anything to cause Evan grief. I told you that, didn’t I?”

Kyrie's lips were trembling. There was no reply.

"Oh. Oh yeah. Evan will be here soon. We were contacted by the guys."

"Where's my change of clothes?" Kyrie finally opened her mouth.

Tseng didn’t understand how Kyrie processed this chain of events and information at all. It was hard to keep young girls under control. Sometimes, he didn’t even even understand his subordinate, Elena. He had no choice but to take advantage of Evan. He would use the both of them, and then the Turks would take Jenova for themselves. Tseng strengthened his resolve.

Tseng walked away from the helicopter, took out his phone, and dialled a string of numbers he knew by heart. He had ordered his subordinates not to save it in their phones. The person picked up immediately.

"Jenova may be surprisingly close, Sir." Tseng told the person on the other end, Rufus ShinRa, who simply responded with a single word, “understood”.

"Do you remember the girl named Kyrie? ...Yes, that's right. Kyrie said she met with a friend who should have been dead."

Rufus understood what he meant from that explanation alone.

"Yes, Sir. I think it's worth taking a chance. But, I think it could put Evan and Kyrie in danger..."

“I have no reason to refuse,” was Rufus' response. And then he laughed briefly, contemplating what a strange coincidence it all was.
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
36. The Turks Were Scary After All

I fled as the helicopter approached, only because I felt in danger from an unidentified helicopter approaching, that was all. That’s why I thanked them after I boarded the helicopter, and even carefully explained what had happened. It was hard to speak in such a way that my voice wouldn’t get drowned out by the noise in the cabin.

"The Chief said they’re taking care of Kyrie in Under Junon." Reno said, without making any remark whatsoever about my explanation.

"That’s good... Wait, what? The Turks have allies in Under Junon, too?"

But Reno and Rude didn't respond at all. It continued to remain silent after that. It was suffocating. I tried talking to them several times to find out why, but I was told to shut up by Rude, and that was that. They were back to the two people who broke into my house.

Rude pointed out the window, urging Reno so the redhead looked down at the ground. I looked down, too. There he was. Nanaki was running, extending his powerful tail with the burning tip. Before long, he came to a stop right under the helicopter, and looked up at us.

"Can you take it down a bit? I think he’s come back to help me. I need to tell him that I’m fine now.” But they ignored my request, and continued flying the helicopter.

-

Nanaki saved Kyrie's life, no, both our lives. He had me stand aside, when all I could do was panic in the water as he saved her from drowning, and carried her to the water's edge. Then, since I didn’t know how to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he straddled Kyrie, and pushed her chest with his front paws. Before long, Kyrie spat out a large amount of water, and was back to life. But she immediately fainted again.

"How strange. That water..." Nanaki shifted his gaze to the surface of the water. When I looked at the surface of the water, which should have been clear, there were patches of a black substance drifting around.

"You felt something malicious, didn’t you?"

"I think... I might have."

"I think she is alright now, but let’s get her to Under Junon just in case. There should be a doctor there."

I looked at him, without replying.

Then Nanaki's whole body shook, and he gave a menacing growl. It was the voice of a beast. "I am Nanaki. I just happen to be this creature. I have no way to explain, so just accept this fact quickly. I don’t make a habit out of attacking humans, and I don’t eat them or anything, either. Now, get moving. Lift her onto my back."

"Okay." I lifted Kyrie's limp body onto Nanaki's back, as he instructed. My heart ached seeing her lying there, face down, with her arms and legs dangling.

"I will drop her if I run, so it will take time. But I’m sure I’ll be much faster than you. I will come back to get you, so just start heading towards Under Junon."

"One sec." I covered Kyrie's back with my jacket, which I had taken off and thrown on the ground, and tied the sleeves around her waist. I was able to completely cover her lower body, just as I had expected.

"I’ll be off, then.”

"Please look after Kyrie."

Nanaki shook his head, and started walking carefully, eventually picking up speed. He stopped after he had got a distance away, and looked back. "I thought you’d probably have a phone. I should have explained things better to begin with. I'm sorry.” He sounded apologetic.

-

Nanaki was sitting like a dog or a cat, craning his neck from side to side to look at the helicopter.

"I'm sorry. Thank you. It's not your fault, Nanaki. It's my fault for forgetting the rules of the wilderness." I pressed my face to the window, and spoke these words in my head.

-

Before long the huge steel fortress, which I had seen on TV, came into view. It was Junon. Only the silhouette of the structure bore similarity to the Shin-Ra building, aside from that it was truly a fortress. Even now, it seemed to be scowling at any enemies approaching from the West. Was Under Junon really beneath all that? Soon, the helicopter changed direction, heading slightly away from Junon. A small inlet came into view. As the helicopter landed, a girl wearing a leather jacket over a white dress was waving. It was Kyrie. I felt my chest tightening; I was so happy she was safe.

-

"Evan!"

As I got off the helicopter, Kyrie, who had been waiting, came running. She wrapped her arms around my waist.

"I'm sorry, I was stupid."

I wrapped my arms around Kyrie's back, and pulled her close. “Don’t worry about it.”

I heard a muffled voice coming from my chest. "Thank goodness..."

It was like the end of an adventure. That's how it felt. Never mind about my mother. As long as Kyrie's here, that’s all that matters. What more do I want? I want to convey this feeling to her, but, not in words... looking around, I saw the Turks had gathered near the helicopter, and were talking about something. Nobody was looking at me. Now’s my chance.

"Kyrie..." I made up my mind and called out to her.

"Evan... let's escape. We’ll run on the count of 3."

"Eh?"

"They said Fabio is dead. Surely one of them did it."

"Eh!?"

"I don't want to be around people like them. So, let’s escape, okay?"

"Yeah."

Kyrie stretched up, and lightly kissed me on the cheek. "1, 2, 3!"

We started running. Well, it was more like Kyrie started running, and pulled me along.

From behind us, the voice of a woman shouted,

"Stop!" She warned that she would shoot.

A shot immediately rang out, and I felt a strong pressure on my left shoulder. At the same time, my body involuntarily twisted, and collapsed. After I collapsed, I realised that I had been shot in the shoulder. The pain was unbearable. It was a pain that I had never experienced before. Kyrie hugged me, looking as if she was about to cry, and called my name over and over. It seemed I was shot by the woman

...Elena! I heard Reno's voice shouting at her.

-

Rude lifted me onto his shoulder, and carried me to the Under Junon clinic. I had no choice but to bear the pain until the doctor, who was smirking joyfully for some reason, anesthetized me. Well, actually, the pain was too much for me, and I ended up yelling in agony and even shedding tears. Meanwhile, Kyrie continued trying to talk me through it. It seemed she was done with being disappointed at seeing me be a loser. I guess knowing that much was some consolation. I fell asleep thinking about this, then woke up several times, sleeping, waking up ... I had no sense of time.

I was awake. But it was completely dark. I couldn’t see anything. I could feel there was someone nearby.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, Fabio. Evan, I heard you were in trouble, so I flew here."

"You flew?"

"That’s how I got here so fast. So, you were shot in the shoulder?"

"Yeah."

"Let's see."

I felt pressure on my shoulder, and soon, my shoulder became hot, and my entire body started burning.

"Fabio, what are you doing?"

I heard something breaking, and the sound of metal creaking, then my shoulder suddenly loosened up.

"Nooothing at all. Hey, Evan, I'm just glad you're safe."

"Oh, thanks." Then I remembered. "Fabio, I heard you died. Kyrie told me."

Suddenly, everything went bright. I slowly opened my eyes. Opened my eyes? So they were closed until now? There were metal bars and rails above me, and above them I could see a white ceiling. A light was shining brightly. I wondered how their electricity supply was doing. As I absentmindedly thought about that, I turned my head to look for Fabio.

"Fabio?"

But there was no answer. I couldn’t see him either. I wondered if it was a dream. If it was, then it was a vivid dream. That doubt lingered as I got off the bed and went out of the small hospital room. I was completely naked, apart from a short robe they had put on me. I looked pretty vulnerable. I went back to the hospital room, and looked for my clothes. Something unfamiliar had fallen next to the bed. It was something made of ceramic or iron that had broken into several pieces. Discarded there was a long, clumped up bandage resembling the shedded skin of a snake. As I shifted my gaze, I saw there was a basket on the floor with my clothes in it. As I first tried to find my underwear, I noticed that my left arm moved normally. There was no pain or discomfort, either. I wondered if it was thanks to the surgery performed by that grinning doctor. If so, his talents were to be praised. I quickly changed my clothes, putting on my bomb jacket last, and exited the hospital room again. There was a narrow corridor, with a door at the end. As I thought about how it was like Dr. Drake's clinic, the door opened, and Kyrie emerged. She was in her usual rider's jacket and shorts. And boots, as well. I had gathered them from around the burnt car, and brought them. She looked good in the one-piece dress, too, but this was how Kyrie was supposed to look.

"Evan!? What are you doing? What about the cast?"

I realised that the covering that fell on the floor was a cast.

"I seem to be okay now." It was true. I tried rolling my left shoulder around.

"That’s impossible! You were operated on for five hours. It's only been 2 days since the operation. Besides..." Kyrie looked downcast, like there was something hard for her to say.

"Besides what?"

"It might not work like before."

My shoulder might not recover. I had a hard time imagining it. I mean, you know... "But it doesn't hurt at all." I laughed while rolling my shoulder again.

"It’s thanks to the drugs... anyway, let's get you back to bed. You’re not supposed to move." Kyrie said, while urging me back to the hospital room.

"Fabio was here."

"What?"

"It was probably a dream." I sat down on the bed in the hospital room.

Kyrie shook her head and sat down to the right of me. "They said Fabio is dead. He and Keough were probably messing around with a bomb, they said."

"Who told you that?"

"Reno."

"You don’t have to lie to me. So, I guess he really was here..."

"I wish it was a lie." Kyrie's voice and her body began to shake.

I stretched out my right arm, and drew Kyrie close. What was it that Fabio was doing? Messing around with bombs with Keough? Why would he do that? I recalled the pact that the brothers, Fabio and Vits, had made. They were going to kill President ShinRa... perhaps the bomb was for that. If not for that, even if Keough might have done something like that, I couldn’t think of any reason for Fabio to go near a bomb. No, it doesn't matter why he did it anymore. Fabio was dead.

"I wonder how Vits is doing," Kyrie said.

"Let’s go back to Edge."

"What about Nibelheim? You’re not going to look for your mother?"

"I’m sure there’ll be other opportunities for that. If I live, that is."

If I live. Fabio doesn't have a chance to do anything anymore. Fabio's green clothes, glasses and his deceiving, plump body. But despite his appearance, he had 100 times more guts than me, I recalled. The back of my eyes started to burn, and my nostrils filled with moisture. And, in reaction to that, tears started to run down my face. Kyrie clung to me and cried.
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
37. Beloved Shin-Ra

Reno, who had been listening to the pair’s whispered conversation from outside the hospital room door, went back to the waiting room, where Tseng was waiting.

"They don't seem to know what Fabio was trying to do. They totally believe the story I made up."

"Are you sure?"

"I mean, they're crying, after all. Maybe Kyrie could pull it off, but Evan can't act at all, right?"

"He did it for Evan. What do you think about the fact that Fabio said that?"

"I dunno. But that came from Throp, right? Wonder if it’s trustworthy..." Reno shook his head and sat down next to the sofa, next to Tseng. "Let's make sure we ask that Throp guy about it later, huh, Chief... but, there’s something I wanted to ask you...”

"What is it?"

"Evan intended to go to Nibelheim to search for his missing mother. But he said he was giving up on that a while ago... you think we could we fly him there with the helicopter?"

"Hmm... Nibelheim, huh?"

"It’s pretty close by helicopter, isn’t it?"

"Alright, fine."

"I knew it, Chief! I knew you’d get it."

"But, Elena and I will take him."

"Why?"

"I don’t mind being the beloved Shin-Ra... but Shin-Ra are also not to be messed with."

"You mean, I'm being messed with?"

"I wonder. It’s just that you’re too committed. It’s not a good sign."

"Well, he is the President's brother."

Tseng listened to those words, and decided to carry on in a professional manner. Persuading a subordinate as compassionate as this one was no easy task. "You and Rude will be taking over our duties. Stay here and wait for our colleagues to report in."

"Well, I guess I can do that..."

"It will be good to renew old friendships."

"Chief, I’ll leave Evan and company with you, then."

Tseng left the clinic without saying anything.
 
"Persuading a subordinate as compassionate as this one was no easy task."

Wow - I'm seeing a whole new side to Reno!

Pixel, thank you so much for undertaking this task!
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
38. Proposition

Before we knew it, we were sleeping side by side. When I looked at the clock on the wall, it was still in the early hours. It seemed I hadn’t slept all that much. I got up, and focused on my shoulder. There was hardly any pain at all. I wondered if it was because those painkiller-like drugs had taken effect. Either way, I was thankful. Relieved, I looked over at Kyrie's face and saw that she was sleeping peacefully.

"Oh, I overslept." Excusing himself, the Doctor came in and looked at me. Then, he looked away. "What happened to your cast? And why are you out of bed? What happened to the restraints?"

I followed the Doctor's gaze to three struts protruding from above the headboard of the bed, with an arm attached, extending parallel to the floor. It was like a crane. A broken wire was coiled around the pulley. It seemed that it wasn’t just the plaster cast, but that my whole body had been fixed to bed. The same could be said for the cast, but this wasn’t something that I had taken off myself. That much I was sure of.

"Don’t you feel any pain? It should be bad enough to make you faint."

The Doctor said, having grown impatient with my silence.

"No, it doesn't hurt at all."

"That’s ridiculous. Wait, is it the drugs? They should be wearing off soon..."

"I mean it."

I demonstrated by rolling my left shoulder around.

"Your shoulder is broken." The Doctor shook his head, baffled. "I reattached everything with things like wires, bolts, and a plate, but that didn't go so well. It wasn’t something that could be fixed easily. Damn it. I’m going to go investigate. Find out what happened, that is. You just sit tight, got it?”

The Doctor said that as if to threaten me before going out of the room. Elena proceeded to enter in his stead.

"Morning. I kinda heard you're already up and about..."

She said all that without looking me in the eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry for shooting you."

I knew she was saying that unwillingly.

"But it doesn't hurt at all, right? That Doctor went and said your shoulder was broken. And for that surgery, I bet he just went and took extra time on what was actually a simple procedure, right? Well, anyway, it’s a relief. C’mon, wake that girl up. We're leaving."

"Leaving... Where to?"

"You’re heading to Nibelheim, aren’t you? If you can move, then let's get going."

"Why are the Turks going with me?"

"To apologise. For shooting you. But you shouldn't have tried to escape."

This time, she spoke defiantly. Perhaps this was how she really felt.

"I'm done with that. If it’s alright with you, let's part ways here."

"Evan, I think it’d be better to go with them?"

Said Kyrie, apparently having woken up a little while ago.

"I'll wait outside. Hurry up and talk things out."

Elena went out of the room.

"I'm done already."

"Yeah, I know. But, I want to go."

"Why?"

"Gould Arde."

What came out of Kyrie's mouth, was a name I had completely forgotten.

"Oh, yeah."

"It's the Mireille Detective Agency's last assignment. Why don’t we try to do this properly? You can do whatever you want when it comes to your mother. I’ll follow along.”

Even though we were having a serious conversation, I unintentionally burst into laughter.

"What?"

"Follow? You will, Kyrie?"

"Is that a problem?"

She pouted. It was my favourite look. I had even more doubts and worries, now. I was nothing but confused about how the situation was developing, too. But Kyrie’s with me. She's my queen. Kyrie will be there for me in times of joy and sorrow.

"You're grinning... that’s weird, Evan."

It was strange, even for me. This elation. The sense of bliss. I wonder where it all came from.

"Wonder if it's the drugs. I feel awfully happy."
 

The Twilight Mexican

Ex-SeeD-ingly good
AKA
TresDias
Sorry it took so long. :monster:


Overall progress on final drafts now stands at approximately 83%. Everyone give thanks to Pixel and mecorx this Thanksgiving (or even if it's not Thanksgiving in your neck of the woods).
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
CrashOuch is also doing some proofread now. Always great to have an extra pair of eyes to check things. :D
 
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