Chapter 25: Climb to Mt. Corel
When the group got far away from Costa del Sol, Naruto summoned the chocobos Myifee, Heppe, and Jansen. Naruto and Yuffie road on Myifee, Barret and Tifa road on Heppe and Cloud and Aeris road on Jansen. Nanaki ran along side them while Gaara used his hover board. After about an hour of riding (or in Gaara's case flying) across the Costa Plains they reached a magnificent sight.
"Wow!" Yuffie exclaimed, her eyes wide in excitement. "It's so pretty!"
The ground began to slope up the closer they got to Mt. Corel. They had reached the south of the northern part of the continent, where a large river separated them from the rest of the southern part. The only way onward was west, towards the entrance of the mountains. So they had decided to take a break on a ridge overlooking the river, where they could see the rest of the land.
On the other side of the river was another large stretch of grassy land, with the mountains on one side and the vast ocean on the other. What had caught Yuffie's eye was a tall and shiny structure built right in the middle of that land, in the centre of an equally vast patch of desert. It was strange to have desert growing in the middle of grassland, but it was the brightness of the tower-like structure that made Yuffie's eyes shine.
From a distance it looked like a giant, oversized flower made entirely of gold, with a number of rounded, golden leaves sticking out from the sides. It looked entirely cut off from the rest of the land, apart from two large cables coming from halfway up the structure to where the first of the 'leaves' was built, and down towards the mountains.
"What is that?" Yuffie asked as she slid off Myifee for a better look. Naruto was intrigued as well.
"I've heard of it," said Aeris, kneeling down beside Yuffie. "It's the Gold Saucer. It's a theme park. It's got loads of attractions, Chocobo Races, that sort of thing. I've never been there." She turned back to look at Naruto. "Can we stop there?"
Naruto nodded as he wanted to check it out himself. Cloud then spoke up. "First we have to get through the mountains." He turned away and saw Barret standing on the edge of the path winding up towards the mountain entrance. The elder man was the only one not looking at the Gold Saucer, and was tapping his foot impatiently on the ground. "What's wrong with you?" Cloud asked.
Barret looked over at him, and for a second Cloud thought he looked anxious. After that second had passed Barret's usual angry look replaced it. "Mind yer own business, pointy-head!" he snapped. He ran forward towards the edge, where everyone was looking at him. "Are we goin', or are we wastin' time sittin' here?"
Yuffie and Aeris got back on the chocobos and headed onward across the plains towards the mountain. It wasn't long until they were walking right alongside the mountain, following its trail to a second ridge where they could see the port town of Costa del Sol in the distance behind a small hill. From that point they could also see that they weren't being followed by anyone from the Shinra, and that most of the monsters residing in the area had not waken up yet. Still they kept on going, hoping to reach the next town before midday.
A long mountain ran along the side of the mountain, artificially carved by workers aiming to join up the often-disjointed fragments of the western continent. So a smooth, almost entirely level path had been cut out of the mountain, making it safe for travellers to cross. At the single point where the mountains separated to allow the river to flow between them, a strong wooden bridge had been built. Many travellers passed this way through the mountains to catch a glimpse of the waterfall, where water poured out of the side of the mountain and into the river. Yet the trail was a haven for Cockatolis and Needle Kiss birds that were known to attack unwary travellers, so they kept on going.
Finally they reached the spot they were looking for. In between all of the tall jagged points of Mt. Corel, there was one smaller mountain with a ragged natural path riding all the way to the top. Crossing that path would take them further into Mt. Corel, and hopefully towards the other side.
Thankfully, after many years of use by traveller and miners hunting for materia or coal, the path had become quite smooth and safe to cross. They hardly had to climb at all apart from the odd spot where the ground swiftly raised upwards and they had no choice but to climb over it.
Even on the mountain path, there were still plenty of trees growing on either side of the path, their winding leaves and grass covering the sides of the mountain. The ground was also still soft beneath their feet despite the roots that grew up and across the path, and the faint touches of rock that joined the path to the mountain. Looking ahead they could see the sun in its morning glory, a greenish light flickering between the trees and onto the floor, creating dancing patterns from the shadows of the leaves.
The group were surprised as they climbed over one particular ridge. As they climbed up and looked ahead they saw a man, obviously a traveller-of-sorts, sitting on a nearby rock and taking a break from the long haul up the side of the small mountain. He was just sat there on the rock, looking down at a map he had laid on his lap, and was muttering quietly to himself. He barely even looked up as Cloud and the others approached and stood near him, wondering if maybe they could ask for directions to save them wandering through the mountain.
"Whew!" the main sighed suddenly, wiping his forehead. He looked up suddenly and saw the group standing around him, and a wide smile spread on his face. "Hey! You're actually talking to me."
The group looked at one another, thinking that none of them had actually said anything to the man. Travellers were often reputed for being a little strange, talking to anyone whenever possible after many days of lonely travelling. This man had obviously been travelling for days although he looked freshly washed, probably from the waters of the river. They couldn't really deny him his chance to talk to someone after a long time.
"What is it?" Cloud asked.
The traveller smiled again, clearly happy to have the chance to talk. "I just passed a guy in a black cloak back there," he said, his brow creasing as he frowned at the memory. "I just tried to tell him that it's dangerous up ahead, and he ignored me!"
All sympathy for the travelling guy evaporated then, as Cloud spun round to look at his friends. A guy in a black cloak could mean only one thing…
"Sephiroth…" said Cloud, confirming everyone's thoughts.
There was another thing everyone realised right then, too. If the traveller was being truthful (for they were also known to exaggerate at times), then Sephiroth would not be very far ahead of them. He could still have been within the very same mountain they were standing on now, going in the same direction that they were. It seemed that Hojo was indeed telling the truth, despite how surprising it seemed. They were going in the right direction.
"Let's hurry on," said Tifa urgently, and the others nodded in agreement. They needed to follow this trail while it was still hot.
Without saying a single word more to the traveller they ran off into the mountain, their enthusiasm pumped up with the thought of catching Sephiroth while he was still inside the mountain. If they kept up a quick pace they could probably catch up to him before he escaped.
They ran on past the grassy path and onto the actual mountain path itself. In their hurry to catch up with Sephiroth, the group didn't even notice the quick and rapid changes in the scenery around them. Their minds were too intent on running to notice how the trees began to wither as they ran on, the brown of their trunks transforming into a dull and dreary grey as they struggled to hold onto life. The rocks beneath their feet turned the same familiar dead shade of grey, all of the life sucked from the ground to leave it blank. The only colour came from the sun in the sky, still casting its green morning glow, although not even its life-giving energy could not touch the dead ground.
The top of the path lay just ahead of them, and the group powered their way up to reach it and look down into the heart of the mountain. They didn't stop running until they reached the very top, where they skidded to a stop and looked down before toppling in.
Only then did they notice the dryness of the land and how dead everything had become the further into the mountain they headed. Thoughts of Sephiroth disappeared from their minds as they looked down into the crevice below, to the structure that was so horribly built at the bottom.
It was a Mako Reactor. A Mako Reactor built deep in the heart of Mt. Corel, in the location that was once a popular mining spot. Many tunnels had been dug into the sides of the mountain – paths for miners with trolleys who would dig up coal to take back, use and sell to other towns.
That, of course, was a long time ago. Coal energy hadn't been in use since the discovery of Mako energy, so even here a Mako Reactor had been built to replace it, and the miners were all long gone, taking the land with them.
"Oh man," breathed Naruto as he looked on in sadness. They all got off the chocobos and Naruto dismissed them, sending them back to their relm. Then everyone moved towards the edge and looked down.
Barret raised his gun-arm and fired a single, solitary bullet towards the reactor. The bullet flew down and struck the metal of the reactor, even at such a great distance, and a loud ping resonated throughout the cavern, followed by the ricochet of the bullet as it fell to the ground and tumbled off the edge.
Everyone turned to look at Barret. They weren't surprised that he was angry at seeing another Mako Reactor, sucking up all the Planet's life energy, but they were surprised that he had only fired a single bullet at it.
Barret stood poised for a moment or two, looking out over his outstretched arm at the Reactor. He longed to fire a million bullets at it, tearing it to shreds with his own arm, or gun, whatever he could use. Just looking at the reactor as it stood there, the pipes running through the miners' tunnels to suck up the Mako from the Planet, made him feel sick. Eventually he lowered his arm, glared at the Reactor for a few seconds more, before he turned away from the others and began to head down the path that led towards the reactor. The others watched him silently, and then followed him down.
They had no choice but to pass the reactor. There was no way around it. The path they were on joined up to the metal bridges that wound their way around the perimeter of the reactor, so they had to walk right up close to the reactor's entrance in order to pass.
Barret remained entirely silent as they passed the reactor, barely even looking at it as he passed swiftly passed without a single pause. He turned at the next bridge to head back towards Mt. Corel; although this time they were on the other side of the river, where they needed to be. He was walking at such a rapid pace that it was hard for the others to keep up with him, but they had no choice.
They tried to get him to slow down at one point, as they passed the reactor and back into the mountain. It was clear from the layout of the paths that miners had once used them. There were many sturdy bridges specifically designed for carrying coal, swerving up and down where the mountains temporarily ended to reveal a deep chasm. The wood creaked loudly under their feet, but the wood seemed to be sturdy enough despite its age.
After a few minutes of walking across the bridges, Nanaki chose to run ahead to explore the immediate land ahead of them, to make sure that all was well for them to cross. There were many places where the bridges ran close and overlapped, as well as many places where the bridge broke apart with age. No doubt many miners would have lost their lives because of the wood's weakness. Thankfully with the age of Mako energy miners very few used the bridges, and less lives were lost.
As they took a lower bridge towards the river, they spotted Nanaki again. He was sat back on his haunches cleaning the fur of his paws with his tongue. He couldn't go any further because the bridge ahead of cut off – a drawbridge. Even though he was a canine-like animal with canine senses, he didn't hear Naruto and the others approaching. As such he was very surprised when he finally caught their scent on the faint breeze, and the sound of their footsteps, and turned sharply.
"Wha?" he asked, seeming confused. The cleaning of his paws must have been something to calm his mind while he thought about his predicament, but he calmed when he saw it was just the others. "Oh, it's you. There seems to be an instrument in that hut that manipulates this bridge. Perhaps it's best if we rest a moment."
Everyone stopped and looked across the gap. They could see the hut on the other side on an opposite bridge, with the faint shadow of controls visible in its narrow slit window. The only way across to it was back across the bridges, and cross where they overlapped to reach the other side.
"Okay, then… Let's move on!" Naruto said encouragingly.
"We'll wait here, you can move the bridge," said Aeris as she plopped herself down on the tracks. Everyone followed her example, even Gaara. Naruto glared at everyone before giving in. He turned around, muttering under his breath, and started to walk back up. He soon found the perfect place to cross in order to reach the bridge. Where the bridges wound up and down to carry the trolleys of coal, the bridges passed close together with only a small gap separating them from the long chasm below.
Even though the bridges stood so close together, Naruto took his time when preparing to cross them. After all the wood was quite old, and although it had managed to hold them all when they walked across it, he didn't know how it would hold when he jumped across. Just looking at the beams he could see the cracks in the framework, but it still looked sturdy enough.
Naruto stepped up to the edge of the beam, making sure everything was attached securely. He avoided looking down as he stepped up, for it was a very long way down and he didn't want to even think of falling down all that way to a painful death.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Naruto prepared himself for the jump. It wasn't that far a jump, not even a whole metre, but he couldn't just stretch across. When he was ready he stepped back on one foot, and then pushed himself off and jumped towards the other bridge.
There was a very loud creak as Naruto landed on the opposite bridge, his boots pressing down on the framework. It turned inward slightly as his full weight landed on the wood, and Naruto was sure he could hear the sound of splinters breaking from underneath him. He froze for a minute, his body frozen in the position he had landed – arms out, legs apart, slightly crouched over. He wasn't even breathing, his ears attuned to listen for any sign of breaking wood.
A full thirty seconds passed by before Naruto began to breathe again, choosing to take the risk as his lungs began to burn in need of air. Naruto relaxed his body at last, letting his arms fall to his sides as the tension subsided.
"That was f-ing close," he said out loud.
Yet as Naruto relaxed he unknowingly pressed down harder onto the wood. Beneath his right boot the wooden beam creaked further and a long crack split up the middle from where his boot was applying pressure.
"Ah shit," said Naruto before the beam broke apart beneath him and his foot fell down the gap, toppling his balance. The other beam supporting his other boot broke just a millisecond later from the strain and Cloud fell down, breaking the other thinner beams that crossed the bridge and towards the chasm.
Naruto, thinking very fast, did the Dragon and Monkey hand signs and yelled, "Fuuton: Tobikumo no Jutsu,"
He swooped out of there and started using the cloud to soar back into the air.
'I don't know why I didn't use this jutsu earlier but I guess that even though I've stopped holding back I'm still a little stupid,'
'You got that right,'
'Shut up, you,'
He deposited himself on the bridge and looked round. He then remembered that the others would be waiting for him to lower the bridge, so he shook himself off and headed quickly along the new bridge towards the control hut they hoped would lower the bridge.
The others were all looking up at the opposite bridge above them earnestly as Naruto finally passed by overhead. Aeris spotted him first and she jumped up and down enthusiastically, cheering loudly. The others looked seconds after that, shouting up words of encouragement to him as he ran on towards the hut.
It seemed more of a shack than an actual hut, Naruto noted as he approached it. It was incredibly small, much smaller than he had imagined it to be. He found out just how small as he threw open the door and ran in – right into the controls.
"Fuck!" he swore as more sharp pains hit his leg, which he realised was the edge of a metal table containing the control panel. He put out an arm as he felt himself fall, but his arm didn't even reach out before it hit the wall. "Sure is tight in here…" Naruto commented. "I guess that's what I get for running into here. Now lets see,"
He looked around at the panels in front of him. It was all very simple. All there was in front of him was a metal table with a large metal box on it, containing an old wheel that was covered in rust. It was too dark in the shed to see how it was connected to the bridge, but it was the only device in there – at least that wasn't too rusty to work.
"This is it," Naruto said confidently. "Maybe if I turn this…… something should happen. If not, I'll just force that bridge down myself."
He reached out and tried to turn the wheel. It was incredibly stiff after years of neglect, and flakes of copper-coloured rust broke off on his gloves as he gripped them. Realising that it would take a much harder push to make the wheel turn, Naruto took a step back, then leaned forward slightly to grip the wheel again, and began to push with all his might.
Finally, the wheel began to turn. A high-pitched screech echoed throughout the shed as more rust broke off the joints of the wheel and released it, letting it turn in short, sharp shots.
Outside, the wheel was beginning to have an effect on the bridge. The others looked on as the raised bridge shuddered slightly and began to lower itself down towards them. Aeris and Yuffie cheered together as the bridge then lowered faster, until it finally settled down in front of them, connecting the two halves of the bridge together to make it whole. Moments later they saw Naruto emerge from the shed, rubbing the wrist that was still bandaged by Tifa, and turned towards the others, who were running across the bridge already.
Instead of going back all the way across the bridges (and to avoid jumping over the bridges again), Naruto went up to the edge of the ledge he was on and slid down the side of the rock. He met the others as he reached the bottom, and they ran on round the side of Mt. Corel towards the final bridge that would take them back onto the continent.
The final bridge was much more secure than the other bridges, despite it being a rope bridge. The bridge stretched across another long chasm on the mountains, lowering down gently towards a final ledge near the foot of the final mountain. Many of the short wooden planks that made up the bridge had been replaced over the years, some still fairly new, so clearly people still used the bridge. Even the rope that joined the bridge to the mountain edge had been refreshed and was secure, so they were not too worried about falling off. Even so, they still held on tightly onto the rope handrail. Just in case.
Barret continued his silence all the way down the bridge, although he moved ahead of the others rather briskly, his large boots making the bridge shudder slightly. He ignored Naruto's protests for him to slow down and moved hurriedly ahead, almost deliberately, although no one could figure out why. Eventually they gave up calling to him and let him go on, where he reached the end of the bridge and ran off further ahead of them, disappearing behind a rock face.
When Naruto and the others finally reached the bottom of the rope bridge and onto the bottom ledge of Mt. Corel, there was absolutely no sign of Barret anywhere. He had run off somewhere, but they couldn't see him. Even when they called out to him he didn't answer them.
"Barret!" Tifa called. Her voice echoed throughout the mountain and sounded back to them, but there was no reply. She looked at Cloud, who shrugged back at her. He had no idea where Barret was.
"He is somewhere nearby," Nanaki confirmed. He was standing on a large chunk of rock, his head high to sniff the air. "His scent is still in the air." He took a deeper sniff. "There are others, too. Humans… and metal. But Barret is definitely there." He jumped down to Cloud.
"Hey," Aeris said suddenly, running over. "Has anyone else noticed Barret acting strangely since we entered Mt. Corel?"
Cloud nodded. "I always thought it was because of the Mako Reactor, but it's not like Barret to be quiet about it." He scratched his head thoughtfully. "Normally he'd have a rant, going on about how much he hates the Shinra." He thought silently for a moment, before he looked up at Tifa. "Tifa, you've known Barret longer. What do you think?"
"I don't know," Tifa admitted. "I was part of AVALANCHE, but I didn't really know much about Barret. I just ran The 7th Heaven and kept people from intruding into the base. I didn't go on any missions until the No. 5 Reactor…" She turned away and walked to the edge of the ridge, looking down into the chasm. "Barret never talked about himself much, other than his beliefs that the Shinra were killing the Planet with their reactors. We – that is me, Jessie, Biggs and Wedge – never questioned him about it. We all shared the same hatred.
"Jessie had her own reasons for fighting the Shinra – her father was killed in a weapons experiment, and they blamed it on his incompetence, so her mother got nothing. Biggs and Wedge had their reasons too, as did I. Barret… I've never asked what his reason was." She turned to Naruto, looking at him earnestly. "We just followed whatever he told us to do."
Naruto looked at her earnest eyes, and eventually nodded. He was about to say something to her when the sound of angry shouting echoed from ahead of them. Everyone jumped and turned towards the mountain path heading out towards the plains. Naruto signalled to the others to follow, and they ran down the path.
More angry shouts could be heard as they ran – all human, as Nanaki had said. They sounded very angry indeed, filled with curses of outrage and fury, but there was no sign of Barret. They got closer and closer, until finally Naruto's team turned a corner and skidded to a stop, looking ahead of them.
Barret was standing just a few metres ahead of them between the mountain wall and what looked like the back of tent made of shaggy cloth. There were three men in front of him, a lot smaller than Barret, but they had extremely angry looks on their faces. Tifa made to run forward, but Naruto put his hand out in front of her to stop her. She looked at him, but he shook his head.
As they watched, one of the three men stepped forward and stood in front of Barret. The edge of his mouth twitched slightly as he struggled to contain the emotions welling up inside of him. Finally he swallowed, before suddenly clenching his fist and swinging it forwards.
It met Barret's jaw with a loud crack, and the others all gasped in shock, Naruto grasping the hilt of his sword. There was a momentary pause as the man stood poised with his fist in the air, and Barret's head tilted to the side from the punch, until the man finally lowered his arm and stepped back, his sudden burst of anger dying down just a little. Only when he stepped back did Barret move again, but he made no move to strike the man back. He just stood there, his face blank.
"Well, lookey here!" the man who punched Barret exclaimed mockingly, motioning to Barret. "Never thought I'd see your face again. They kick you out of another town or somethin'? You destroy everything you touch."
Barret remained perfectly still, his arms flat by his sides. Naruto noticed that his muscles were relaxed, as though he wasn't even angry. Normally Barret would have torn this man to pieces, but instead he just stood there and took the abuse that the man was throwing at him, ignoring the sneering faces of the other men.
"You got a lot of balls comin' back here!" the man continued, the anger rising again as he clenched his fists. He turned sharply and motioned to the land behind him. "Look at this place! It's all your fault North Corel turned into a garbage heap!" He looked back at Barret, who was still silent. "Why doncha say something? Or did ya forget what you done here already?"
The three men glared at Barret sternly through their angry eyes. Barret looked slowly from one to the other, hardly able to meet their gazes. Yet he accepted their condemning gazes in turn, before he sighed heavily and lowered his head to look at the dry, dirt-covered ground.
"…I'm sorry…" was all he could muster as a reply.
"Shit!" one of the other men said with a grunt, looking down his nose at Barret standing pathetically before them. "You ain't even worth the effort."
The third man nodded in agreement. "Don't waste your time talkin' to that Techno-freak!" he snorted.
With that, the three men all turned around and walked away from Barret, back into the 'garbage heap' that they called North Corel. Barret still didn't move as they left, and he didn't look up either. Behind him the others continued to watch, Tifa with her hand over her heart and a look of sympathy on her face, as well as confusion. Why did the men hate Barret so much? She watched as Naruto released his hold on his sword and walked slowly towards Barret.
"You heard 'em…" Barret said suddenly. Naruto froze. Barret must have heard them approaching. He watched as Barret sagged heavily once again. "It's my fault this town was… destroyed…"
Before Naruto could say anything to him Barret was up and off, breaking into a run towards North Corel and out of sight once again. He jumped as he saw Tifa run past him, trying to catch up to him before he ran too far. Naruto left her to it – she would probably have a better chance at catching up to Barret than he or the others did. Still… he also wanted some answers. He turned and nodded to the others standing patiently behind him, and together they slowly walked into the town of North Corel.
Entering the town, they saw why one of the three men attacking Barret had called it a garbage heap. There was hardly anything left worthy enough to call it a town, other than what had been made out of rubble and rock and whatever else they could find.
There were a few rundown houses standing, but that was all. Some of the houses had been built out of rock, made as best they could by the coal miners still living here. But other houses were merely tents made out of cloth that was barely able to keep out the rain. It was a complete contrast to the lively holiday resort of Costa del Sol, full of brand new buildings and bright, light colours. This place was mainly grey, like the mountain.
As for the people living in North Corel, none of them looked very happy. Their faces were long and drawn with the hard times that had been forced upon them. There were few women around; probably in the homes making sure the children didn't play in the rubble. The men were outside either running the odd few stalls they had, or collecting bits of metal to try and make something that would get some revenue into the town. The stalls were not very good, the items they had were very basic, and some had clearly been repaired from bad damage, and it still showed despite their efforts. Cloud could see why they had built the town in this specific area – travellers had no choice but to pass through when crossing the mountain.
When Naruto and his friends walked past the stalls, they could see the hopeful faces of the people, praying that they would buy something to get even just a little bit of money in. Naruto wondered what had happened to these people to leave them in such a miserable state.
As Cloud was following Naruto he saw Aeris walk over to one of the stalls – an items stall. Even though there was nothing particularly useful on the stalls, Aeris purchased a small bangle. She felt so sorry for the people, she just had to give something, and she knew they wouldn't accept handouts from them. The owner of the stall thanked Aeris as she handed him the money, and Aeris just smiled.
She caught Cloud watching her as she walked away from the stall, and she shrugged. Cloud felt the corners of his mouth move into a faint smile that no one else could see, but Aeris noticed it. She just beamed back at him, making Cloud tilt his head to the side in puzzlement. What was she smiling about? For some weird reason he felt a hot flush began to spread across his face, and he quickly turned away from her, scratching the back of his head.
"Cloud," said Nanaki suddenly.
Cloud looked up, relieved to feel the flush fading from his face, and looked to where Nanaki was standing and nodding his head. Looking past the hound he spotted Barret and Tifa next to what looked like an air station. Sure enough, there was a sign nearby saying 'Ropeway Station'. There was a large blue air cab standing on the rails attached to large cables heading away from the town. Tifa and Barret were standing on the platform, Barret turned away from Tifa as she spoke to him, but he didn't seem to be listening.
Tifa looked up as Naruto and the others approached. She seemed relieved to see them, and Naruto was sure he could see tears in the corner of her eyes. She then turned back to Barret, who continued to stand with his back to them, as though they weren't even there. Aeris was the first to break the silence.
"Barret, what happened?" she asked simply.
Slowly Barret turned his head and looked at Aeris, right into her calming eyes. Looking into the eyes of the Ancient, he felt a pang of regret.
"Sorry," he said simply, still looking at her.
"What happened?" Cloud asked, repeating the question just a little more harshly.
Barret turned his head further and looked at Cloud's stern face, before turning away from them all again. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently on the ground, clearly trying to make a decision. Cloud in turn crossed his own arms and tapped his own foot, waiting for Barret to hurry and make up his mind. He didn't have to wait long, for a moment later Barret nodded to himself and turned back to them.
"My hometown used to be around here."
"What do you mean 'used to'?" asked Red XIII.
Barret shrugged. "It ain't here no more," he answered. "Heard it got buried… in just four years."
"But how could those people say those terrible things?" Aeris asked. Cloud glanced at her. Clearly she hadn't figured it out like he had.
"An' it's my fault," Barret said, making everyone jump in surprise. "ALL my fault."
"…My hometown, Corel's always been a coal mining town," Barret explained. He felt slightly awkward having to explain his own past, but he went on regardless. "It's so dusty, but calm and so poor… A real small town, this one. That's the first time I ever heard the word 'Mako Reactor' mentioned since that time…"
Barret then explained his and Dyne's augment on the Mako Reactor. Apparently Barret managed to convince him that having a Mako Reactor would be a lot safer and easier.
"That's how the Corel Reactor was built… …and completed. We all thought it would bring us an easier life."
"It happened when Dyne and I were out of town for a few days," Barret said. He looked down at the ground. "Corel was burned to the ground by Shinra troops. All the townspeople… all my relatives… Everyone… everything…"
"Shinra troops?" Cloud exclaimed. "What for?"
Barret narrowed his eyes angrily. The flames of the fire were almost burning in his eyes as he remembered seeing the flames ripping through his hometown. "There was an explosion at the reactor," he explained. "Shinra blamed the accident on the people. Said it was done by a rebel faction."
"That's so terrible!" said Tifa in horror.
"Well, I guess that's true," Barret admitted. "But more than Shinra, I couldn't forgive myself." He folded his arms and turned away, his face sour as he pouted in disgust. "Never should've gone along with the building of the reactor…"
"Don't blame yourself," Tifa assured him, giving him a comforting tap on the shoulder. "We were all fooled by the promises Shinra made back then."
"That's why… that's why I get so pissed off!" the man shouted suddenly. His gaze fell down on his gun-arm replacing his right hand. He placed his left hand firmly around the cold metal barrel, feeling the unnatural texture that should have been flesh, blood and bone. It was so unnatural, an eternal reminder. "Not only did they take advantage of me…… But I lost my wife, Myrna, too…"
He went silent then, along with everyone else. In the background they could hear the sound of scraping metal across the rocky floor, able to guess what happened after the fire. The survivors, however many they were, left the burned ruins that was Corel and settled home in North Corel, saving whatever money they could to survive. Aeris wanted to go back into the town and purchase a few more bangles, but Nanaki put his tail out in front of her and shook his head. The people of North Corel may have been poor, but they also probably didn't want the pity of outsiders. Aeris looked at him, and then slowly nodded her head.
"Hey, everyone!" Everyone turned to look behind them, towards the small office box that stood at the corner of the platform. A man was leaning out of the small window, looking at them with a look of impatience. "If you want to go to the 'Gold Saucer', hurry and get on!"
Naruto turned to the others and asked, "This is our chance to check out that park place,"
Everyone except Barret nodded their heads and they headed to the air cab. Aeris looked at Naruto with a smile on her face and mouthed "Thank you," Naruto just smiled back before turning back to Barret.
"Dyne was my best friend," he said, half under his breath. "We was close ever since we was kids…" He shook his head firmly, shaking off the memory, and headed into the air cab after the rest.
AN: Another chapter finished. Keep those reviews coming. I've been thinking of new ideas for the story and so I hope you stick around to find out what happens later.
Naruto: That is such a short piece at the end.
Kyuubi: Yeah it is.
JS: Well I don't know what else to say.
Naruto: By the way, what do you mean 'new ideas'?
JS: That's for me to know and you to find out.
Kyuubi: Don't worry Naruto. I'm sure we'll find out soon.
JS: Oh and by the way, I like the name for your new village.
Naruto: What name?
JS: You'll find out. There will be a spooky prediction later too.
Naruto: That doesn't sound good.