Chapter 35 – Reno And Rude Fly

Translated by Mecorx, Proofread by Crashouch

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.