Chapter 41 – Icicle Inn And Mother’s Letter

Translated by Mecorx, Proofread by Crashouch

Icicle Inn was a snow-covered village far to the north. On the way down the slope to the village, we were freezing. I was wearing my leather jacket so I still fared decently, but Kyrie was in shorts and a sleeveless jacket.

“I wish they’d taken us down closer.”

Kyrie said, with her teeth chattering. Tseng had landed the helicopter in an area about 15 minutes away and was on standby. Perhaps it was a measure to avoid unnecessary problems. He ended up handing me a cellphone so we could contact each other in a timely manner.

“Woah!”

Walking down the left side of the snow-covered road, Kyrie lost her footing, and almost fell. She quickly grabbed onto my left arm.

“Sorry! Did that hurt?”

As usual, there was no pain. Just to be safe, I asked for a light medicine, and took a dose of it. Tseng had a case containing many kinds of drugs, which seemed to serve a wide range of purposes. He told me there was medicine to knock me out if the pain was to much to bear. I didn’t want that.

“Come walk on this side.”

Kyrie went around to my right, and clung to my arm.

“You always walk in front of me, Kyrie.”

“Yeah. Because you said I looked cute from behind. So I usually walk fast.”

This came as somewhat of a shock. It wasn’t that I was falling behind. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“That’s good. You laughed, Evan.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve looked so serious since we left Nibelheim.”

“Is that so?”

Well, of course. I could have been on the verge of finding my mother.

Before long, the slope came to an end, and several log houses came into view.

“Look… that must be the inn Tseng told us about.”

We headed for the building with the small sign marked Icicle Inn.

–

The inside of the building was heated and it almost felt hot. There was a small reception counter right in front of the entrance, and guest rooms through to the right of the counter. On the left, there was a dining room, about the size of Tifa’s 7th Heaven, where three groups of visitors were chatting. There was a stand off in the corner of the dining room, where warm coats and bulky jackets were being sold.

“I’m gonna check out the stand, you try and get some info, Evan.”

Staring into my eyes, Kyrie nodded. I nodded back and headed to reception counter up front. The middle-aged woman forced a smile at me.

“Welcome to Icicle Inn. Do we have have a reservation from you?”

“No, actually, there was something I’d like to ask.”

The smile on her face faded a little.

“I was wondering, do you know someone named Annette Townshend? She had to have come here 2 years ago―to this village”

The woman looked down, and seemed to be thinking of something. When she finally looked up, she hadthat same fake smile again.

“My sincerest apologies. I only came here recently. But I believe the hostess would know.”

“Could I meet with the hostess?”

“Unfortunately, she’s off today… If you’re here tomorrow, you could probably see her…”

“I see…”

“May I suggest you stay here? I’ll give you a discount.”

“…Well, okay then.”

“Thank you very much.”

I went through the check-in procedure as per her instructions and paid the fee. When I went to the stand and explained the situation to Kyrie, she looked at me dubiously.

“Bad idea?”

“No, that’s not it, but…” Kyrie glanced over at the woman at the counter. “Why don’t we just go to the room for now?”

I felt awkward. I should have asked Kyrie’s opinion first. We headed down the hallway at the side of the reception, towards room 3 as directed. We stood in front of the door marked ‘3’.

“Wonder if there other room is available. I’ll just go ask real quick.”

“It’s fine. Let’s think about it if it’s cramped inside.”

Kyrie snatched the key from me, noisily unlocked the door, and quickly entered the room. I followed behind her. The room was about the same size as my beloved home, but most of this one was taken up by the large bed. I wasn’t able to tell if this place was small or large. I left t to Kyrie to decide. Kyrie immediately jumped on the bed, fully stretching out her arms and legs.

“Mmmm! Feels good!”

I averted my gaze from her amazing, now exposed legs, and sat down on the edge of the bed. Kyrie propped up her body with her elbows, and looked towards me.

“Hey Evan. Where do you think the landlady of the inn lives? I mean, there’s nowhere else anyone could live around here, right?”

It occurred to me that she was right.

“So, we didn’t need to rent a room?”

“You betcha. That woman is pretty good at this.”

“I feel embarrassed.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. This bed is comfortable, and hey, there’s a shower too!”

“Yeah.”

“Well, wanna relax for the day?”

“Sure.”

“Don’t feel too bad. That woman was a cut above them. That’s all.”

As Kyrie said that, she got off the bed.

“I’ll contact Tseng. Also, I’m doing some shopping. I want a warm jacket. Then, I’m going to have some tea in the dining room, so in the meantime…”

Ah, yes.. I had to read my mother’s letter that I got from Gould Arde.

“Got it.”

“Should we go together, instead?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Alright, come call me when you’re done.”

“Yeah.”

Kyrie stepped lightly―probably as lightly as she could and she left the room. Now that I was alone, I thought if I simply took a breather now, I’d put it off again, so I took out the envelope from my bag. I carefully tore off the firmly glued lip, and opened it. When I shook the envelope upside down, two or three pieces of folded paper and small scrap of paper fell out. I began by picking up the small piece of paper and looking at it. It was my dear mother’s handwriting. The beginning of the note was marked, “To Nick Foley”.

[I’m sending you this contract, because it seems my stay here will end up being extended. If something happens to me, please arrange for the money left over to be securely transferred to Evan. An advance payment is located at the specified location in my home. Also, thank you in advance for taking care of the surgery. Evan doesn’t know anything, so be careful not to scare him. The doctor in question is a medical officer from Junon, named Dr. Dimitry. I really appreciate your assistance in this matter.]

I set down the note that was in my trembling hands, and took a look through what she called the contract. It was littered with difficult words, but in summary, it said that she would be living as a Nibelheim resident for one year, and stated that she get the money if she promised to keep quiet about it. The amount of money listed at the end exceeded what was normal. . Then, my eyes became fixated on the words written above my mother’s signature.

[I agree to not reveal any information obtained in my place of work, or the contents of this agreement. If a breach of contract is proved, I pledge to recompense with my life, signed]

Straight away, I went to the washroom to wash my face and calm down. It was of no use. According to my mother’s note, I seemed I had no choice but to have an operation. And, in order to cover the cost, my mother was told to do something as ridiculous as taking a job where she had to live in Nibelheim for one year, as well as put her life on the line, yet, she signed that menacing document. It was all for me. My knees trembled.

–

“They say this kid’s pretty dumb in the head, too. I heard his mother collapsed after hearing that.”

“Shh. Don’t talk about these things in front of the patient.”

–

I went back to the bed and sat down.

“Evan?” It was Kyrie’s worried voice. “I waited, but you never came…”

As I looked up, there was Kyrie with a red down jacket, which she seemed to have bought at the stand. She approached me with an expression of surprise. She placed the jacket on the bed, timidly reached out, and hugged me.

“Don’t cry. I’m here for you.”

Oh, was I crying again?

I wondered how long Kyrie had been hugging me. Outside the window it appeared faintly bright because of the snow. But I realised that night had already fallen. There was a sound of knocking.

“Yes.”

Kyrie got up and responded. I heard a hoarse voice from the other side of the door.

“Wait a minute, please.” Kyrie came back and asks me. “The landlady’s here, she said you wanted to talk to her.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, I’ll have her come in then.”

When Kyrie faced the doorway and called for her, a grey haired old lady, with a hunched back, entered.

“Hello, my guests. I am the landlady, Windey. I heard that you wanted to know something about Annette Townshend…”

“Yes. I’m her son, Evan.”

“Oh my, her son!”

Said the landlady as she came to the bed with surprising speed, and suddenly took my hands.

“My my, good on you for coming all this way I am quite impressed you made it all the way to a place like this. , You are certainly a son to be proud of.”

Really, I was anything but.

“So, the operation go well?”

“No…”

I looked at Kyrie’s as I replied. Everything that was important was revealed to Kyrie through someone else’s words. I saw her mouthing the word, “operation?” I nodded silently.

“Could you tell me about my mother?”

“Of course…” The landlady approached the window, sat down in a chair, and looked outside. “But I only know of the time when Annette was here in this village.”

“That’s fine.”

“Back then, two years ago, it was quite the troubled time for these parts…”

**

Tseng and Elena were in the freezing helicopter. They were wrapped up in blankets, listening to the voices coming from the speakers. The wiretap was in Evan’s bag. The proprietress of the inn spoke about 2 years ago, when Tseng was on the verge of death at the hospital in Junon. It was around the time when Elena believed that the boss she had looked up to had been killed, and came in pursuit of the culprits, Cloud and his companions ― although it would end up being a misunderstanding. The two of them listened to the old woman’s story, as they looked back into their own pasts.

“There’s snowfield that spreads out to the north of this village, which should have been full of people enjoying skiing and snowboarding, but back then, creepy people would gather there in great numbers from somewhere… people who muttered to themselves as they donned black, hooded clothes.”

“Hojo’s research subjects.”

Tseng muttered.

“Jenova cells, right?”

“He was said to have used Sephiroth’s cells, as well.”

In the Shin-Ra Company, various experiments were conducted using cells from Jenova, known as the calamity from the skies. In many cases, it consisted of the dangerous practice of putting cells and tissue into the human body. Moreover, the company hadn’t grasped all of the implications. The details of the experiments were lost along with Prof. Hojo, who had conducted them at his own discretion. Therefore, there was no way for the landlady to know the nature of the experiments these victims had been subjected to. However, the phenomenon she observed wherein those directly or indirectly infused with Jenova cells, made their way to the large crater to the North as if in response to something had been known to some of those who were involved as the “Reunion”.

**

“Your mother said she was in charge of taking care of the people in black. So she was obliged to bring everyone back, it seemed. She would have to arrange vehicles and the like by herself, and it seemed to have put her through a lot of stress. But, this was all after they began heading even further north. In the end, she gave up and returned home. But after about two months, she came back again. She had to finish her job, she said. I tried stopping her by telling her she wouldn’t find anybody anymore, but she went anyway. Then after that…”

“She never came back, did she?”

“Right.”

「
“What is there to the North?”

「
“At the time, there was just a snowfield, and a wall of ice beyond that. I heard if you climbed over the wall, there was a gaping hole that seemed to lead into the depths of the Planet, but I’ve never seen it myself, so there’s nothing I can say about it.”

I imagined the gaping hole on the other side of the ice wall. A hole leading down into the abyss. I wonder if my mother fell in there. No, impossible. My mother would never have been able to scale a wall of ice like that.

“Is it possible to go there?”

“When the lifestream erupted two years ago, crevasses opened all over. You know what crevasses are? They are rifts in the ground. There are some concealed under piles of snow, too. They’re practically pitfalls. It’s all very dangerous you see, so I would not recommend it. Although, it is a different story if you could go by air.”

* *

Noises were starting to get mixed with the voices coming from Evan’s end as they came through the speakers, and the transmission began cutting out.

“I wonder if Evan intends on going?” Elena said, turning the gain adjustment dial on the receiver. “The weather’s starting to get rough.”

Then, the sound cut off altogether.

* *

“I wonder if it’s all true, yo.”

Reno glared at the former Soldier 2nd Class who identified himself as Gould Arde.

“There’s no reason to lie.”

“You…”

Reno reached out to grab the man’s lapels, but Rude held him back.

“Reno, we’re leaving.” Rude turned around, and re-boarded the helicopter.

“Hey, w-! Partner!”

Reno rushed after him. Just as he boarded the helicopter, the rotors on the idling craft began picking up speed. Sand and dust blew around and the residents who looked on from a distance, grimaced and turned away.

“Yo, Rude.”

Rude ignored him and took of anyway.

「見ろ」
“Look.”

As prompted, he looked down at the ground, and saw that next to the water tower, there was evidence that another helicopter had land there.

“I think they came by here after all.”

“What are you talking about?”

Doyle butted in from the back seat.

“It’s all ‘cause people hate us.”

Reno sighed, picked up the radio, and called Tseng’s helicopter. But there was no answer.

“Why aren’t they answerin’, yo?”

* *

Tseng and Elena were in room 4 in Icicle Inn.

“We’ll be able to hear from here.” Elena said, placing the receiver of the listening device on the small table. In the next room were now just Evan and Kyrie.

“Why don’t we go back to Junon? We have to find Dr. Dimitry. We can leave searching for your Mom for after you get well, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. Let me think about this.”

The conversation in the next room could be heard with clarity.

“Tseng, do you know of a doctor in Junon called Dimitri?”

“Indeed. You met him several times, too. In Under Junon.”

“Would you happen to mean Dr. Eugene?”

“Yes. Eugene Dimitri.”