Most of the characters and places (you know which ones) belong to Square Enix. Other characters and places are my own invention. Some elements of the story, such as places, cultural practices, foods, and mythology, are inspired by real-life counterparts. Any resemblance between the story's events and real-life events, however, is coincidental. In no way is the story an allegory for any real-world country.
Long, long ago, there existed no one and nothing but Tianhou, the Empress of Heaven. The universe was dark and empty.
In the midst of this darkness and emptiness, Tianhou created the sun. The sky became full of light and warmth. Then Tianhou created the moon and the stars in their celestial array, to light the sky in turn with the sun. Thus were the day and the night created, and the flow of time first began its course.
Tianhou saw that though the sky was full of light, the earth remained dark and empty. She filled the void with fire and rock, and thus were the first volcanoes created. From those volcanoes, rivers of fire flowed and cooled to become the hard rock of the earth's surface. Thus did the land take shape and fill the emptiness of the earth.
Tianhou had expended much of her strength and retreated to a chamber deep under the earth to rest. In her dreams, she saw two gods: Da-chao, a four-armed man with a crown upon his head; and Leviathan, a serpentine dragon with shimmering turquoise scales. And as Tianhou dreamt, the two gods came into being.
The gods knew that Tianhou had called them into being and that she had left them the vast, mountainous landscape to guard and cultivate. But they quarreled over how much each of them was to rule. In their argument, Leviathan, the Water God, caused a fearsome storm that quenched the fire of the volcanoes and covered the entire land with a vast ocean. Thus he claimed all for his domain. But Da-chao, the Earth God, raised the mountains from the seabed and broke the surface of the water. Thus he preserved the land that Tianhou created and that Leviathan tried to destroy.
Then Tianhou, still dreaming deep inside the earth, dreamt of life. Seeds sprouted and bloomed upon the land. Animals roamed the sea, the land, and the sky. And finally, Tianhou dreamt of our ancestors, the first humans. They roamed the mountainous land, hunting for their food and taking shelter in caves. And when they reached the eastern cliffs where daily the sun makes its ascent from the sea, they met Leviathan.
The Water God sought to test our ancestors in battle. He swore an oath that if they could prove their strength, he would seal himself away and allow them to call on him in need. Our people struggled against the god, whose power was great. After many days and nights of training and meditation, the first feng shui warrior, Jidan, proved his strength by bending nature to his will. With his mastery of all creation, achieved at the cost of his life, he at last proved our ancestors worthy of Leviathan's protection. True to his word, the god sealed himself away.
Weary from their battle and their constant travels, our people journeyed north in search of a place to settle. At the end of the mountain pass, they found a great river valley. They followed the river into a forest at the foot of the mountains, where they met the Earth God, Da-chao. Jidan's wife Huoda used the same technique that took her husband's life to master all creation and secure the god's protection. He, too, sealed himself away to be called upon in need.
There, where they received the blessing of the Earth God, our people laid the foundations for our city. It is there at the Place of the Earth God's Repose that the Pavilion of Heavenly Harmony, the Pagoda of Martial Glory, and the Palace of Earthly Peace stand to this day. This is where our history began. This was the beginning of Wutai.
For many years now, our people have flourished under the blessings of the two gods Da-chao and Leviathan. But some say that these blessed days will not last forever. According to an ancient legend, one day the vengeance of Leviathan will outweigh the oath he swore to our people. On that day, they say, the god will wrap his serpentine body around the land and drag it into the depths of the ocean. Thus he will reclaim the kingdom Da-chao stole from him, and reign supreme over the world.
From the airship, the city burst with light against the darkness of night. To the east was the clear boundary between the city lights and the waters of the South Sea; to the north were scattered points of light at the city's construction sites. Month by month, these construction sites crept northward, transforming the rocky peninsula into cityscape.
This was not the city of Wutai, but the city of Longhua. Yuffie raced to the railing and leaned over, captivated by the sight. "Look at it! Think it'll reach the mountains next time we come back?" She turned to her friends Yvonne and Wade, who laughed at her. "What's so funny?" she demanded.
"You always get so excited every time we come back," Yvonne said.
"You can't blame her," Wade remarked to her. "Look at what she has to come home to."
Yuffie bristled. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked indignantly, but she knew what they meant. Every year it became more and more embarrassing to compare the old city of Wutai and the new city of Longhua. Until very recently, Longhua was just a small fishing town by the southern bay of the Wutaian continent. A new leader by the name of Takuji Minazuki turned the town on its head. Disregarding the old prejudice against foreign businesses, Minazuki brought them to Wutai by the dozens. Almost overnight, the small fishing town transformed into a modern port city of glass, concrete, and steel. The old huts and narrow, rambling dirt paths gave way to high-rises and grids of wide asphalt roads.
The rapidly growing city quickly replaced the village of Youguo, east of the capital, as the country's busiest port. The WRO even set up a base in Longhua to recruit more Wutaian members. Yvonne and Wade were among the first recruits. There were now enough Wutaian members that the WRO sent them home by airship direct from headquarters twice a year: once in winter for the Wutaian New Year and once for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Yuffie would usually spend some time with her friends in Longhua before making the journey north to visit her father.
"Wutai's cool too," Yvonne said in response to Wade.
"You're only sayin' that 'cause you grew up there, Yinying," Yuffie accused her. She called Yvonne by her Wutaian name to tease her. They knew each other from their ninjutsu training when they were children. Back then, Yvonne had a competitive streak and was always trying to prove she was better than Yuffie. Shortly after she moved to Longhua, she became one of Yuffie's first recruits to the WRO. Soon after that, they became friends, even as Yvonne became popular among the men of the WRO because of her dark blue eyes.
"So where are we going tonight?" Wade asked.
"My friend told me there's a new wine bar called the Global Lounge," Yvonne supplied.
Wade turned to Yuffie. "Better be careful. Remember what happened last time with the Tranquilizer-"
"I know, I know! You don't have to remind me," Yuffie snapped. Ever since they started visiting bars immediately after returning to Longhua, Yuffie, not wanting to miss out, began taking Tranquilizers to fend off her airsickness. Last time, something went wrong. It was something about the mixture of Tranquilizers and alcohol. In any case, she ended up in the hospital. It was a trip she didn't want to repeat.
The airship descended into the WRO base's dark airfield amid the bright city lights, and the passengers disembarked to board the bus that would bring them to Shoreline Plaza, a common meeting point in the city. Yuffie, Yvonne, and Wade disembarked from the bus and began walking down Seaward Boulevard, the wide road in the center of the city. On its east end, the boulevard intersected with the city's other major street, Bayshore Drive, which ran along the coastline of the bay. Past its intersection with Bayshore Drive, Seaward Boulevard became a pedestrian boardwalk terminating in a plaza with a giant statue of Leviathan. The statue was made of a brilliant metallic turquoise that flashed in the sun by day and the floodlights that illuminated it by night, so that there was no escaping from its ferocious snarl.
As Yuffie, Yvonne, and Wade walked down the brightly lit sidewalks of Seaward Boulevard, the whirring of engines filled the air, occasionally drowning out the chatter. Everywhere there was motion: the cars whizzing by on the street, the people walking briskly to keep warm in the breezy chill of the winter evening, the flashing electronic displays advertising the latest imported goods. All of it made Yuffie smile every time she came back to Longhua. The city made her heart beat faster, as if to keep up with the brisk pace of life in Longhua. Something about the city promised excitement, promised there was always something new to discover – like this new wine bar in the newly constructed neighborhood in the north.
The Global Lounge, true to its name, boasted wines from all over the world. "Except for Wutai," Yvonne commented as they perused the menu. She had to raise her voice to be heard. The lounge was packed.
"You want your rice wine, you go to Wutai," said Yuffie, referring to the city. "Ain't no better place to get it!"
They were joined by two of Wade's friends, Naoki and Jenshi, who lived and worked in Longhua. They went by the names Nick and Jen. "So what's new?" Wade asked after they all received their drinks.
Jen proudly announced that she and her friends were renting a house in a newly constructed suburban neighborhood on the cliffs overlooking the sea. "There's a party later tonight. You guys should come!"
"What's the occasion?" Yvonne asked.
Jen shrugged. "Housewarming? I don't know. Do we need an occasion?" She laughed.
"There's not much to celebrate these days," Nick commented pointedly.
Silence followed his comment. Nick gave a cough that sounded like, "Ask me why."
After another short silence, Yvonne asked, "Why?"
"Minazuki had a meeting with Lord Godo a few weeks ago," Nick reported, naming Longhua's leader. "The word is, it didn't go so well."
"What was the meeting about?"
"You've heard that South Lake is drying up, right?"
Wade's eyes widened. "No way. That's where we get our water."
Yuffie had never seen the lake, but it and its surrounding gardens were Longhua's main attractions when the city was still just a fishing town. Back then, when people went to Longhua, it was usually to see South Lake. Its natural beauty featured in many of the paintings back home in the Palace.
Nick continued, "Minazuki's trying to convince Lord Godo to dam the Lotus River. Then we could build a pipeline from Wutai all the way to here."
"And Lord Godo's against it?" Wade asked.
"Yeah. He said something like we shouldn't mess with the river and it doesn't have enough water-"
"Bullshit," Yvonne declared.
Nick shrugged. "No one was surprised. Lord Godo doesn't exactly like us."
"Why not?" Yuffie wanted to know. This was all new to her.
"We built a huge new city on foreign money."
"Wutai runs on foreign money too," Yuffie pointed out.
"I think he means foreign businesses," Yvonne commented. "That's the real issue, isn't it? After what happened with Shinra, Lord Godo thinks inviting foreign businesses to Wutai is a disgrace."
"That doesn't give him the right to deny us water, though," Wade said. "He's the leader of Wutai. It's his job to help us out when we need it."
"You think this could get serious?" Yuffie asked. "Like war-serious?"
The table fell silent. "Hopefully not," Jen finally answered. "Maybe they'll work something out."
"But if worst came to worst," Wade said, looking around the table, "would you fight?"
"Yeah," Jen responded. "I think we should stand up for our hometown. You'd do the same for Wutai, right, Yuffie?"
All eyes fell on Yuffie, who shifted uncomfortably. "I dunno," she said. "Just 'cause I'm from there doesn't mean I'd fight."
"You'd go to war against your dad?" Yvonne asked.
Yuffie flared up. "What's it matter what I do? I'm not a kid anymore, no one can tell me what to do-"
Yvonne laughed. "Even when you were a kid, no one could tell you what to do."
The rest of the table burst into laughter. Yuffie didn't know why she was suddenly so annoyed. She just was.
"Her dad's Lord Godo," Wade explained to Nick and Jen.
They both stared at her, wide-eyed. "Really?" Jen asked. "But your eyes aren't purple."
"Yeah. I get that a lot," Yuffie said. There were two kinds of people: those who said Yuffie's eyes were "Kisaragi violet" and those who said they were dark brown. Yuffie herself didn't know what color her eyes were, much less why she couldn't tell.
"It's nice, isn't it? She can blend in with the rest of us peasants," Yvonne teased.
Yuffie shrugged. "It sucked being a princess anyway. You never get to go anywhere, or do what you wanna do."
The others nodded sympathetically. Yuffie enjoyed the attention. She had long learned that even if she was no longer the Princess of Wutai, she still received the attention of having been a princess in the first place. It was the best of both worlds.
Yvonne raised her glass. "At the risk of sounding super Western, let's have a toast to freedom."
They all laughed and raised their glasses in a toast. After they finished their drinks and went outside, Jen reminded them of the party. "When does it start?" Yvonne asked.
Jen checked her phone. "It started a few minutes ago. If we go there now, we'll be right on time."
Nick laughed. "Maybe we need some time. We don't wanna be awkwardly early."
"I have to sit this one out," Yvonne said. "My dad asked me to visit him as soon as I got back."
"Alright. We'll miss you!"
Yvonne waved and set off in the direction of Seaward Boulevard. Jen called someone to drive the four of them to her house, explaining that the lack of sidewalks made it easier to drive than to walk. It was a short ride along the winding road in the cliffs. Yuffie was just starting to get carsick when the car pulled up in front of a house with huge windows overlooking the sea.
Wade gaped. "This is your house?"
Jen grinned proudly. "Yeah!"
Inside, the lights were low, the DJ was pounding out Western hits, and the sticky-sweet smell of beer filled the air. Over the booming bass, Jen's friends and their friends shouted conversations at each other with red plastic cups in their hands. Not long after arriving, Yuffie was only aware of her surroundings in bits and pieces: chatting with a stranger who somehow noticed her violet eyes in the dim light, overhearing Nick point out "the Kisaragi girl" while she was on the dance floor with her stranger, and stifling her laughter while Jen drunkenly made out with someone on the couch. All of it disappeared when she opened her eyes the next morning.
She was under some fuzzy blankets on the couch in the living room. Her phone was purring and chiming loudly on the table nearby. Yuffie closed her eyes and went through the night in her head. If she remembered anything at all, she didn't drink too much.
The clock across the room read 8:35. She was in no mood to get up, but she had to move if she wanted to reach Wutai by midnight. She mustered all the strength she had and rolled off the couch and onto the floor. The blanket still wrapped around her cushioned her fall. Struggling to her feet and wrapping the blankets around her, she hobbled out of the room and into the bathroom. In the mirror she saw a petite Wutaian woman with short, chin-length hair, half-open eyes, a wicked slouch, and several layers of fuzzy gray blankets. Yuffie let the blanket fall to the floor, turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water on her face. When she looked in the mirror again, she smirked. With the mischievous look in her eye, she was Yuffie Kisaragi again.
She returned to the foyer of the house, retrieved her black coat, shuriken, and hoverboard, and left the house. Outside, the sky was ominously gray, as if something portentous had happened during the night – or was about to happen. She walked along the side of the road that led to downtown Longhua, flattening herself along the side when cars roared by. Below, the city of steel, glass, and concrete sprawled out along the shore, with the wide Seaward Boulevard marking the center and the Leviathan statue atop the blue-gray waters of the bay. At the southern edge of the city, she could see what the darkness of night had hidden: the factories, the surrounding brown fields, and a large, greenish-brown pond that looked like it used to be a lake.
A boom like thunder from the plain to the north startled her. Just outside the city, beyond the construction zone, were ranks of uniformed people organized into rectangles. Soldiers? she wondered. Not far from them, crews of mechanics were hard at work building large, tower-like machines.
At the bottom of the road, two police officers turned to greet her. "Where are you headed, miss?" one asked.
"Wutai."
"Just keep to your left as you approach the mountain pass and you'll be fine," the other officer said shortly.
Yuffie pointed towards the distant mass of soldiers. "What's going on there?"
"An exercise for the police force," the first one answered.
"And what're those?" She pointed at the machines.
"A new security system," the second officer said.
"It'd probably be more useful on the east side. You know, on the cliffs by the sea, where all the ships come in?"
The two officers looked at one another. Finally, the second officer said, "We are prepared to deal with threats on all sides."
"Threats on all sides, huh?"
Something about that sounded threatening to Yuffie, but instead of wondering why, she dropped her hoverboard to the ground, stepped on, and sped off towards the mountain pass that would take her home.