Chapter 36 – The Turks Were Scary After All

Translated by Mecorx, Proofread by Crashouch

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.