Chapter 42 – Fabio

Translated by Mecorx, Proofread by Crashouch

I could hear the sound of Kyrie taking a shower. Steam leaking from the bathroom filled the room, fogging up the windows. I lay face up on the bed and gazed up at the ceiling. Mixed with the sound of the hot water, I heard humming. It was the tune from the Costa Del Sol commercial. It was getting on my nerves that Kyrie was acting peppy in order to cheer me up. Getting on your nerves? Evan. Evan Townshend. You’re the worst. You should hurry up and do what you have to do. Deal with your problem, and take Kyrie to Costa Del Sol. Give her back her life . But, how? I mean, where do I start?

* *

“Tseng, sir, try to get some sleep while you still can. I’ll keep an eye on them. They’re not going anywhere in the middle of the night, especially in this snowstorm.”

“No, I’ll go talk to them. You rest first.”

“It’s embarrassing for you to have to see me sleeping, Tseng!”

Tseng approached the window, ignoring the words of his subordinate. The windowpane was clouded. He casually wiped it by hand, and looked outside. Just outside the window, was a young man. Tseng let out a gasp. A silver-haired boy fixed his gaze on Tseng, and smiled. The boy put his index finger to his lips, and calmly ordered him to stay quiet.

“Elena, I’m going out for a bit. Wait for my orders.”

“Where are you going?”

“To check the helicopter.”

Even he didn’t know why he had lied.

* *

At first, I thought it was the sound of the wind. Before long, I realised that someone was knocking on the window from outside. Maybe it was Tseng or Elena. The Turks were the only people who I knew would even attempt to knock on a window in the middle of the night during a snowstorm. I went to the window and looked out, wiping the clouded glass with my hand. It was Fabio. I yelped, and took a step away from the window. Then, the window opened, and Fabio peeked his face in.

“Fabio!?”

“Hey, Evan. Can we right now?”

Fabio slid his glasses down, and looked at me with upturned eyes. Was this something Fabio would do?

“Come out, Evan. I’ve got something to tell you. If you don’t come out, I’m gonna kill Kyrie.”

That’s it. This guy was not Fabio. He looked like Fabio, but he wasn’t Fabio. So, who was it? No, what was it? A chill ran through my whole body, and I started to shake.

“Evan, is someone there?”

Kyrie shouted from the bathroom.

“Wait there. I’ll be right out.”

I responded out the window, and closed it. I couldn’t stop shaking.

“I’m gonna kill Kyrie.”

I felt like I could hear the voice again. I felt that if I just stayed here, his words would become reality. I put on the bomber jacket for warmth, and then the two jackets with the bright, red feathers that Kyrie bought from the stand. I took out Rufus’ pistol from the bag. I hesitated briefly, but shoved it inside Kyrie’s backpack. I looked for anything else that could have been used as a weapon, but there was nothing. As I prepared myself and opened the door to the room, Kyrie peeked her face out of the bathroom.

“Evan?”

“Just going to buy a drink.”

“Get one for me, too!”

I acknowledged her request and left the room. As I walked down the hallway, I thought about the guy waiting for me outside. I probably had no chance against him. It would be the same whether I had a gun or not. I saw absolutely no way out of this, but wondered if I had any other options aside from getting that guy away from Kyrie.

* *

Tseng moved along the wall of the inn, and peered at where the silver haired boy was. Snow had fallen thick at the back of the inn. He couldn’t see anyone there, not even footprints.

* *

Elena shoved the receiver for the wiretapping into her pocket, and ran out of the room. She didn’t see any sign of Evan, who had just come out of the next room. She cautiously proceeded toward the reception counter. Elena had a hunch that the unpleasant goosebump-like sensation on the surface of her skin was not being caused by the cold.

* *

“Over here.”

Directed by the voice, I walked to the back of the village. Because of the strong wind, snow was blowing right at me. The piles of snow also seemed to be getting whisked up from around me, making it hard to see anything.

“There’s a guard’s hut. It’s just a little further.”

The voice sounded pretty close. I tried to see where he was, but he seemed to be upwind, so the snow would hit me straight in the face.

“Look, over there.”

Looking ahead of me, there was indeed a small building. It was a log hut, just like the other buildings in the village. I could make out the silhouette of a person dressed from head to toe in green standing in front of the hut, and opening the door. I followed, losing my footing in the snow. Then, I went inside.

“Come on, close the door.”

“No…”

No matter what happened, I wanted to make sure I had an escape route. As I looked for a reason not to close the door, it shut on its own. Did the door close on its own? Immediately, my legs began to shake.

“Evan. I have something I want you to look at.”

“I want to ask you something, too.”

I said it in a hoarse, trembling voice, but somehow I managed to say it.

“I’m going first. I’m in a hurry.”

In this pitch black room, I could see just the person who stood before me, who was glowing dimly.. There must have been something wrong with my eyes or my brain. I had a disease in my head so severe that it required surgery. It wouldn’t be strange for it to have affected my vision, as well.

“So, where is this from?”

The person who looked like Fabio had shoved a weird photo in front of me. I had seen it at Dr. Drake’s. It was a picture of…

“Yes, Jenova. I asked Dr. Drake, but he said he doesn’t know where it was, either.”

“I wouldn’t know where to find it either. I just saw the photo at the doctor’s…”

I noticed that photo was quite dirty. It had a few black smudges… No, brown, blood, probably.

“Is that blood?”

“Yes, Dr. Drake’s blood. I saw in the doctor’s consciousness that Jenova was high up in the Shin-Ra building, so I tried going to the building. But it wasn’t there. I thought that I had been deceived…”

“What the hell are you saying?” No, that was a bad way of putting it. “Who are you?”

“I wonder. Even I don’t know. Would you happen to know?”

In the darkness, he stretched out his hand and touched my left arm.

“…it appears that you don’t.”

For a moment, before my eyes, Fabio was suddenly a slender, silver haired boy. But in the next moment, the grey haired Dr. Drake appeared. He stuck out his tongue as if to mock me.

“And here I was so pleased at the thought that you knew about Jenova. Who would have thought that you had only seen the photo. The doctor had only seen the photo, too. Who is the one who knows where the real one is?”

“I don’t know anything.”

“I even went through all that trouble to heal your shoulder. You sure are worthless.”

Just as I thought blood was spurting out of Dr. Drake’s mouth, his figure began to blur. What stood before me was a monster. A monster who took the form of people who would elicit a reaction from me. The monster now took the form of my mother.

“Stop.”

“Evan, you know that it’s all thanks to me that your shoulder doesn’t hurt anymore, right? But, that’s all over now.”

As the monster in the form of my mother, moved it’s hand away, severe pain shot through my whole body. I screamed out as I was assaulted by the dizzying pain.

* *

As he passed in front of the hut, he heard a scream cut through the wind. Tseng pointed the gun he had been grasping, and opened the door of the hut. It was pitch black inside. Goosebumps rose all over his body as he sensed someone dangerous lurking. Tseng knew this feeling. It was something one felt when death drew near.

“Evan?”

Tseng withstood the chills, and stepped into the darkness. He knew that Evan was lying on the floor. As he squatted down to see if he was alive or dead, he was grabbed by the neck from behind.

“You…” He heard the voice of the boy behind him. “You thought Evan could lead you to Jenova, didn’t you?”

Tseng tried to turn his head, but the force that held his neck in place was no ordinary one.

“Why is that? Evan doesn’t know anything.”

Tseng focused his mind, trying not to think of anything. Something began to flow into his neck and then he felt an unpleasant sensation of something being drawn out from him.

“What? You think that I’m Jenova? You’ve got it wrong. Jenova is my mother. I’m looking for my mother, you see”

The monster behind him was reading his consciousness. He had to avoid giving him any more information. But Tseng couldn’t help but remember the man who once called Jenova his mother.

“Sephiroth? Oh, I know that name. Vaguely… I felt him in the lifestream… there’s something nasty about that guy.”

“It hurts…” Evan let out a groan. “Tseng, the medicine. Painkillers…”

“I don’t believe this! So, nobody knows anything?!”

As the monster yelled, the binds on his neck disappeared. Tseng slumped forward, and collapsed on top of Evan. Evan’s screams rang in his ears.

* *

Elena followed the nearly faded footsteps leading away from the inn, and arrived at the hut to find Tseng and Evan.

“Tseng!”

“I’m alright. Give Evan some medicine.”

“Got it.”

Elena crouched down and took out a gas-filled syringe from the holster on her belt, and pressed it against Evan’s neck, eliciting a response as the highly concentrated potion was injected into his body.

“What happened?”

“There’s a monster here. A monster displaying the characteristics of Jenova.”