This is an important chapter. No, really, it is.
Prize for whoever spots the reference to Final Fantasy VII. Probably not a good prize (I haven't thought of it yet) but you'll get one.
Oh, and before I continue, thanks to reviewer SimpleNClean92 who's helped with grammar issues, as well as other things, in previous chapters.
The statue was constructed of stone salvaged from Cocoon. It was simply of a man in a suit, a memorial of the first Governor the new city on Gran Pulse had, back in its first few years. A plaque at the bottom identified it, though, as Choco wandered past, the two Gran Pulsians recognized the figure without needing to read it.
The plaque read: 'The first Governor of New Cocoon. Governor Bartholomew Estheim'.
"Isn't that…Hope's dad?" Vanille piped up, nudging Fang and pointing at the statue. The man, Bartholomew Estheim, was standing simply, one arm at his side, with the other reaching up to the sky, as if trying to grab something.
"Bartholomew? Sure," Katz replied before Fang could, "The first Governor we had after coming down to Pulse. The only official who was actually willing to make a start at surviving rather than trying to get back up to Cocoon."
"Who'd have thought the guy had it in him?" Fang muttered, appreciative.
"Wish I could've been there," Vanille sighed, almost wistful
"No you don't, trust me," Katz quickly responded, guiding Choco to pass closer to the statue, "It was a few months before anyone actually listened to him. Anarchy, up until the people realized they needed some controlling influence, then they voted him in. Not surprising really, the other candidates were either PSICOM or clinging to lost ideals."
"Sounds fun," Fang muttered to herself, swaying gently
"Anything but," Katz shook his head, "Nine out of ten people you'd meet would be eying you for cash, and there's no one who'd help. Ironically, the public voted for the Governor Estheim over there, the only candidate who wasn't raving solely about security measures."
Choco plodded on in silence, hopping and flapping over a barrier, before lightly touching down in a park. The bird waddled onwards, gradually slowing, at Katz's instruction, in front of a sign, just below the skywards-gazing face of Governor Bartholomew Estheim.
Bartholomew Estheim: First Governor of Gran Pulse. His son was among the l'Cie responsible for the safety of the peoples of Cocoon, and his wife was one of the first victims claimed by the Purge.
"Why did they build the statue here of all places?" Fang asked, peering around, trying to see any landmarks
"Questions, questions," Katz looked down, lightly patting Choco, encouraging the bird to start walking again
"You always say that," Vanille interjected, accusing, jokingly prodding the chocobo driver.
"I know, just…" Katz looked away, "It's not the best story on your first day here."
"Huh? Why?" Vanille leant forwards
"Really want to know, huh?" Katz looked down at the ground, as Choco moved onwards. "It was the place the Governor was killed."
"Killed?" Vanille recoiled
"Halyard Lee Wevos, a PSICOM remnant. Needless to say, they weren't happy with a pro-Pulse Governor. It happened four, five years after the Fall. They caught the gunner almost immediately," Katz sniffed, rubbing his eyes.
"Poor Hope…" Vanille murmured, "His mother, then his father… What happened to him?"
"To Hope? Don't know, history is a little vague in the next few years."
The trio, and Choco, trotted on in silence, moving past the Governor, the figure still facing the sky.
The chocobo paced onwards, each step bringing it closer to the distant New Oerba. A flock of Sylph flew, almost as one entity, out of a diamond-shaped-flash, curling through the air. The stream of pale fal'Cie swirled towards Cocoon, moving a few metres of the impossible distance, before glimmering again and fading away.
"Where did you say you met the Sylph?" Fang murmured
"Huh, them?" Katz looked up, just in time to see them twinkle away, "Mah'habara, so the story goes. Before the mines became a fal'Cie haven, a few months after the fall. Sazh and his son were exploring the mines, when the chocobo chick in his hair ran off. D-Dajh found the chick, playing with the first Sylph ever met."
"I'm sulking," Vanille slumped, "We never had them back on Gran Pulse, and they look cute."
"You're getting one, don't worry," Katz chuckled, "There's a Sylph who had a pretty major role in the operation to get you out of there," Katz gestured towards Cocoon, "He, she or it wanted to meet you. I'm telling you, if Freya was a Sylph, things would be easier," Katz muttered the last bit to himself.
"Hey, you still didn't tell us," Vanille prodded Katz's shoulder
"Tell you what?"
"Did Sazh ever name his chocobo? Come on, we want to know, right Fang?" the redhead turned, beaming
"Sure, why not?" Fang shrugged.
"Questions, questions, as I said before. Wait till you get to your house, I can't concentrate when I'm guiding Choco," Katz replied, a little irate
"Is this your way of saying that you don't know?" Fang shot back
"If that'll make you happy," Katz sighed, stroking Choco, "I'll tell you one thing though, did you know Sazh started a new fashion?"
"Sazh? Really?" Vanille was sceptical
"Yeah. For the next hundred years or so, people carried chocobos in their hair. It was meant to bring luck. It ended up bringing mess when people forgot to house-train the chocobo chicks before carrying them around."
"Oh," Vanille grimaced, "Yuck."
"Yuck is right," Katz laughed, "It's a bit of a miracle the fashion kept on as long as it did."
Choco cawed in agreement.
There was a few moments' silence before Vanille piped up again: "Are we there yet?"
"Does it look it?" Katz groaned, "We're on the borders of New Oerba, that's all."
At that moment, one of the bikes in the centre of the road swerved, darting across and hurriedly parking just behind the ambling Choco. A man stepped off the bike, wearing a very bright orange jacket. He ran a few steps, until he was walking, quickly, aside the chocobo. He took off a greenish helmet, exposing a pale complexion and flattened, almost, greyish hair.
"Hey Katz!" the man stroked the side of Choco's head, just keeping up.
"Babil, good to see you," Katz nodded, moving his hand across Choco's neck, to shake hands with the newcomer.
"Thought you might want to know, Sai has convinced Freya after all, they're on their way, flying over the Tower. Rudra and Herjo are already there," Babil spoke quickly
"Thanks. Why'd you take this route then?""
Babil didn't reply for the next few seconds, only looking, almost subconsciously, back down the road, where he'd just come from.
"Ah, of course," Katz nodded, "The statue. Well, anyway, I'll be seeing you when we get there."
"If we get there," Vanille interjected, sighing in boredom.
Babil nodded, watching Choco go past before he turned and started running back to his bike. A few seconds later, Babil shot past, holding tightly onto his speeding vehicle.
"Who's he? I think I've seen him before," Vanille murmured, curious
"You have. He's Babil, one of the higher-ups in the project. He's one of the two you saw in the courtyard back at the base," Katz replied.
"Why did you mention the statue?" Fang spoke up, almost accusing
"Again with the questions," Katz rolled his eyes, "We're in Oerba already, it's a matter of minutes until we get to your new home, can't it wait until then?"
"One thing," Fang said, looking sideways at the blurred bikes rocketing across the main part of the road
"You've said that before. Oh, sure, why not?" Katz shrugged
"When did bikes get so fast? We had to fight a few back when there was still the Sanctum, they were nothing like that,"
"You like the bikes huh?" Katz chuckled, "Without the fal'Cie hindering our development, like they did back in Cocoon, you'd be surprised at the advances we've made. Of course, if you want fast…" Katz whispered something into Choco's ear. The chocobo rushed for twenty or so metres, sprinting a lot faster than its general, carefree walk.
Once it slowed again, Katz spoke up, "They used to have chocobo races around here, still do actually, twice yearly. Choco and I entered one a while back, came second, would've won if it wasn't for some guy named Joe."
"How long ago was this?" Fang rolled her eyes. Great, she'd been taken out of crystal, become a minor (possibly major) celebrity, as well as a cuddly toy, and now she was riding to a new home via racing chocobo. Could things get any more high key?
"Fifty, sixty years," Katz shrugged
"Kidding again?" Vanille poked him, a joking accusation in her voice.
"Maybe," Katz chuckled in response, "And, we're here."
Katz stroked Choco lightly, letting the bird slow down, until it stopped in front of a largish house.
"Your new home," Katz smiled, gesturing towards it. He hopped off the chocobo, taking a few steps, excited himself, over to the door.
The house had two floors. The lower floor had wide windows, making most of the room within visible, though two cream curtains were visible each side. The curtains were open in the room to the right of the front door, showing what appeared to be a dining room or some such thing; there was one, long table in the centre, with several cabinets along the edges. On the left of the door, on the bottom floor, the plain, cream curtains were pulled across, hiding the interior of the room.
The top floor of the house appeared much plainer, at least on the outside. There were no huge windows, only a couple of small ones, just enough to let light in. The walls of the house, on the outside, were pale, with a slight golden sheen.
"Floor plan should be familiar," Katz nodded, lightly putting the carrier bag, still holding greens and two dolls, by the side of the door. "We copied it as best we could from Oerba. Apparently you didn't own houses to the same degree back then, that's one thing or you to get used to here I guess, but anyway, it's the house with Bhakti in, well, that's what I was told."
Katz watched as the two Gran Pulsians got off the chocobo. He gently opened the door as they neared and, quietly, they entered the property that was now theirs. The two Gran Pulsians looked to the sides; it did look quite similar to the house in Oerba, just with more life to it, somehow, more like Oerba was in the days people lived there.
"And in here," Katz murmured, taking them into the room on the left. The curtains were drawn shut, but a little natural light seeped through them, and besides, the rest of the room was well illuminated by neon tubes along the ceiling.
"Welcome!" a voice squeaked. With a flash, a Sylph hovered up from the floor, twirling around Fang and Vanille, almost curious. Then, spinning, it flashed and vanished.
"If I'm not mistaken, that was your native Sylph," Katz chuckled, standing just ahead of them as the two Gran Pulsians stood by the doorway.
"It was," a new voice spoke up, and a man entered the room, coming through a door at the back of it, "About time you got here Katz."
"You met Babil," Katz gestured towards the newcomer
"Better known as…" prompted the newcomer
"Later," Katz sighed, "Wait for the rest,"
"Fine, S-"
"Rudra!" Katz interrupted.
A tallish man, with unkempt blonde hair reaching past his ears entered the room.
"Uncanny," muttered Fang, under her breath. She shook off the thought as Katz spoke.
"Am I missing anyone?" he mused, in a stage-whisper.
"Ha, ha," a sardonic voice called from the other room.
"Fine, come on in dad," Katz shrugged.
A dark skinned man, wearing a greenish jacket, walked into the room. He smiled sideways at Vanille, "Good to see you again,"
"Quiet Herjo," Rudra muttered, "Wait for Freya."
"Always am," Herjo chuckled to himself, taking his place next to Rudra.
"I know what you mean," Rudra muttered back.
"Anyway," Katz interjected, staccato, smiling to himself as he saw Vanille point at Herjo and nudge Fang, "For one, I did say you'd have more questions when you got here. And now, the last two people, Sai and Freya."
Slowly, a duo walked into the room. On the right was a woman in a hood, walking slowly, almost reluctant. Next to her, stood another woman, arm interlinked with the hooded Freya. The woman, who had to be Sai, on the left had short, pinkish hair, in a ponytail on one side of her head, up until her shoulder. Silent, Freya slipped her arm out of Sai's grasp. The hooded woman stood still in the centre of the room, sidelining Katz, and watching as Sai took her place standing next to Rudra.
"You two," Freya murmured. They could hear the smile in her voice. "People always thought it was impossible, so they never looked twice, never questioned. Besides, most of us look different, though not to you. Not with all of us here."
Freya slowly walked across to Babil. The silver haired man grinned up at her, the smile soon dying on his lips.
"Babil, better known as Hope," Freya nodded, smiling to herself at the shock on the two Gran Pulsians' faces. She wandered across, to Herjo. "You remember Sazh," Freya spoke softly, "And his son, Dajh, though he has grown a bit," Freya pointed over to Katz, who grinned over at Vanille.
"How are-" Vanille began.
"Questions, questions," Katz, or rather, Dajh, chuckled, "Besides, she's not finished yet."
"Rudra, as insufferable as ever," Freya began again, pointing to the tall, blonde man holding Sai in his arms, "Also known as Snow. And of course, his fiancée, Serah, not Sai."
Freya wandered to the centre of the room again.
"Don't forget Choco," Katz piped up.
"Of course," Freya nodded. Was that even her name? "The chocobo chick Sazh always used to carry around, you rode over here on it."
Fang span around on the spot, about to go back out the door to look, before deciding to face 'Freya' again.
"You really didn't think we'd leave you alone, did you?" Freya spoke again. The Sylph flashed, sparking across the room.
Silently, almost solemn, Freya grasped both sides of her hood. Gracefully, she pulled the fabric back, revealing pinkish locks, struck through with grey, the hair lightly framing unmistakable features.
"Do I really look so different?" Lightning smiled softly.