Chapter 43 – Monster

Translated by Mecorx, Proofread by Crashouch

“Go back to the room once you’re feeling better. We’ll… investigate.”

Tseng said, and left the hut with Elena. Were they searching for the monster? I lay on the ground, as Elena’s injection took effect, easing the pain. The drug took effect nicely and the pain had subsided to what could be called a throb. However, there was no sign of it going back to way it was like before, where I couldn’t feel anything. So, I relented, getting up while trying as much as possible not to bump my shoulder, and exited the hut. When I looked back in the room, I saw that it was just a small, nondescript office. It had a desk and a chair. There was a phone mounted on the wall. I felt I needed to call Dr. Drake, but couldn’t remember his number. I wondered if the doctor had been bloodied up by that monster. There was no doubt that it was my fault. It was all because I needlessly took an interest in that photo of Jenova and remembered it that Dr. Drake suffered. I prayed for the doctor’s safety. Then…

“Kyrie!?”

I rushed to the inn as fast as I could, almost falling.

–

When I arrived at the inn, a middle-aged man had dozed off at the reception counter. I walked quietly, trying not to wake him up, went to room 3, and stood in front of the door. I heard a voice from inside. I pressed my ear to the door.

“Hey, let me look inside your ear.”

“Why?”

“If you have a mole there, I’ll believe you’re Kadaj.”

“Go ahead.”

“Let’s see.”

“Well?”

“Kadaj!”

“Right?”

“I’m glad…”

“That’s a lie. You’ve only been thinking of that other guy this whole time, Kyrie.”

“This and that are different things. We’re old friends, Kadaj. Of course I’m happy to see you.”

“I hate that guy. I want to kill Evan.”

“There’s no way…”

A gunshot rang out.

“I’m not letting you do that..”

Kyrie was sitting on the bed when I opened the door. She had a gun in her right hand, and was looking down at the man lying on the floor. It was the unforgettable face I saw for just a moment in the hut. The silver haired boy shifted slowly, drawing his arms and legs to his body.

“How could you… shoot me…”

Kyrie pointed the gun at the boy, and posed again to shoot another bullet.

“How could you shoot the man of your past…”

Kyrie pulled the trigger. The shot echoed through the inn. I could hear footsteps coming from the reception counter.

“Excuse me, guests!” I saw the figure of the man at the reception desk immediately. “What’s going on here!?”

“I’ll kill you.”

As boy said that, he stood up with superhuman speed. In his hand was a narrow, sharp sword. The sword seemed to have appeared from thin air. I finally moved from the spot I had been glued to at the doorway and ran into the room to pull Kyrie by the hand, making her stand. The boy smiled a smile that could only be described as sinister.

“Kyrie, we’re gonna run.”

I lead her by the hand, and exited the room. The man from the reception desk had come all the way to us, but ran away at full speed. We ran through the hallway after him. I looked back as we turned the corner and saw that the boy was walking towards us with his sword still held loosely in his hand. I pulled Kyrie who was fixated on the scene behind us and exited the inn, then I got my bearings, and ran toward the exit of the village. But then there stood the boy who had arrived there ahead of us. No, it was a monster. It wouldn’t do something as tedious as running ahead of us. It simply appeared in front of us. It could be that running away was futile. Nevertheless, we couldn’t just not run. I turned around and we headed for the north side. When we passed by Icicle Inn, there was a smell of burning. Then, Kyrie stopped moving. Kyrie shook off my hand and crouched with her head in her hands.

“Kyrie?”

I noticed that Kyrie’s slender shoulders were exposed. I took off the down jacket, and attempted to put it on Kyrie. Just then, everything around us became dyed in a bright red.

“I’m scared of fire.”

Fire? When I looked up, I saw that the inn we had just left was spewing out red hot flames. The flames brightly lit up the area and I could see sparks flying about the village like servants of the monster. The snowstorm had stopped without me noticing.

“Get a hold of yourself, Kyrie.”

I went around in front of Kyrie, and forced her to stand up. I held both of Kyrie’s cheeks as she childishly shook her head, and made her face me.

“Yes, the fire is scary. But now we’re being chased by an even scarier guy. Can’t you see?”

Even as Kyrie continued trembling, she nodded repeatedly. Alright, calm down. Calm down, Kyrie. Calm down, Evan. Kyrie looked at me with pleading eyes. I have to say something.

“But, it’s okay. I’ll do something about this. My father was the founder of the Shin-Ra Company. The Idiot President is my older brother.” What the hell am I saying? “I’m sorry I hid it.”

“I knew.” Kyrie said, sighing. “I heard it from Tseng. But I was worried if I talked to you about it, you would become distant, Evan…”

“I’m still me. But it’s different now. Shinra blood gives me power. Yeah, the Shinra know everything.. Just leave everything to me.”

This was ridiculous even for me, I thought.. But, Kyrie smiled. This was it. This blood wasn’t what gave me power.

“Let’s go.”

I lead Kyrie by the hand, and started walking. We headed North. I had to keep Kyrie away from the flames. I didn’t want to see Kyrie like that again.

“It’s about to explode.”

Kyrie said from behind.

“What?”

“The bomb on your back, Evan.”

“Ah.”

“It looks cool.”

“I know.”

* *

“Did you contact Reno and the others?”

As Tseng finished inspecting the rocket launcher mounted on the bottom of the helicopter, he called out to Elena who was inside.

“Looks like they’ll be arriving soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sooorry, they contacted us while you were out, Tseng, and I accidentally let slip that we were here.”

“Good work.”

Elena looked at her boss, dumbfounded. Tseng boarded the helicopter, ignoring her, and looked toward the village. The inn burned, and the sky was colored red.

“Take us up.”

“Roger!”

* *

As we got close to the hut where that guy changed himself into Fabio, I heard the roar of a helicopter from behind. When I turned around, I could see that it was Tseng’s helicopter taking off. It circled at low altitude, lowering its nose when they determined our position, and began to head our way. Before long, the helicopter came to a hover above the village, and started turning slowly.

“Aren’t they looking for us?”

“I wonder… Whoa”

I saw the boy come out of nowhere and jump from the ground to the helicopter. It didn’t seem real. Immediately after I saw sparks fly around in the window of the helicopter, I heard the sound of a machine gun. It was a powerful, reverberating sound, which was completely different from the sound made by ones we had. The Turks were fighting back. The helicopter soared into the sky with the enemy still on board. It flew in front of the full moon, which had revealed itself at some point. As I looked up at the round moon, I recalled scenes from my past. Memories of when I was seventeen. Those seven days that signaled the world’s destruction. Meteor. The disaster that came from the skies. Or had it been a calamity?

“Oh…”

“What?”

The calamity from the skies wasn’t referring to Meteor. I must have heard those words from someone. Oh, I know.. It was Dr. Drake.

《I don’t blame you for not believing me, but Jenova was the mysterious life-form that the Shin-Ra Company had always been researching. It apparently came from outer space a long time ago. It was known as the ‘calamity from the skies’.》

Then, it hit me. This was perhaps the first time I had ever hit upon a good idea. The roar of the helicopter grew, as it flew at low altitude over our heads, heading North. The flashes and sounds of the machine gun that rang out intermittently told of Tseng and Elena’s hard fought battle, or perhaps their confusion. It felt as if the guy was watching and laughing at us as he hung off the helicopter with one arm.

“Kyrie, we may be able to defeat him.”

“Yeah.” Kyrie answered as she continued staring skyward, following the helicopter with her eyes. And then… “Did you say something, Evan?”

“Let’s defeat that guy.”

Kyrie’s eyes shot wide open in surprised. Then, she put her arms around my neck hugging me, and spoke.

“Evan, you’re still the best!”

Still? Oh well. I desperately wanted to be so until the end.