I woke up to the smell of cooking food. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I noticed that Chris was no longer on the couch. Checking the other rooms, I found them all empty. I came back to find that our host was in the kitchen. Little Priscilla was at her side helping to make breakfast.
Me: Good morning.
She turned with a start.
Woman: My. You're finally up. I don't think I introduced myself last night. My name is Jane Austin.
Me: Tyquiil. You feeling ok Priscilla?
I bent down to her level and rubbed her hair a little.
Priscilla: I'm ok. Thank you for saving me.
Me: I didn't do it alone. Mrs. Austin, do you know where the others went?
Jane: Please, call me Jane. They left a while ago to walk around the harbor. Unfortunately the gate way to Junon has been sealed for the celebration.
Me: The celebration for what?
Jane: For the new president. Rufus is supposed to arrive today and so Junon is throwing a sendoff.
I felt the hairs on my neck stand up.
Me: A sendoff? Didn't you just say he's only arriving though?
Jane: The only thing I know is that he's taking a boat over to the other continent from here.
Priscilla started to tug at my sleeve.
Priscilla: I have something to give you.
Jane: Right! After she woke up, she snuck out and looked for some stones on the beach for each of you as gifts. The others already got theirs.
Priscilla: I hope you like it.
Priscilla held out a red crystalline stone. I recognized it for what it really was; summon materia.
Me: It's beautiful. Did you really find this on the beach?
Priscilla: Yah, it washed up on the beach when I was looking.
Me: Well then Priscilla, I'll make sure to keep it close to me always.
I turned back to her mother.
Me: Can you tell me where exactly they went?
Jane: I don't, it could be possible that they made it through the gate before it was sealed.
Me: Do you know of any other way up to Junon. I really need to catch up with them.
Jane: I'm afraid there is no other way.
Priscilla: I know how! Come on I'll show you.
Priscilla grabbed me by my arm and led me out the door.
Jane: Priscilla, please be careful!
Priscilla: I will mom!
She pulled me all the way to the stone beach where we had first met her. Priscilla ran to the water, only going far enough to where the water was up to her ankles. She took a deep breath, and putting her fingers to her mouth, gave a sharp pitched whistle.
Me: That was very good; I could never learn how to whistle like that.
Suddenly I saw something swimming towards us; it was just coming past the corps of the Bottomswell. I quickly ran to Priscilla's side with my sword in hand.
Me: Priscilla run, I got this.
Priscilla: No, it's ok. It's Mr. Dolphin.
I looked back to see that it was a dolphin, the same one from yesterday. It now came as far as it could to the shallow water; Priscilla went the rest of the way and began to stroke its back.
Priscilla: Mr. Dolphin is a great swimmer and a great jumper. He could help you get up to the top.
Me: Um. I don't think your dolphin will be able to help me get all the way up there.
Priscilla: Yah he can, watch.
As if on command, the dolphin swam back in the direction of the electric tower. It closed the distance in short time and then leaped through the air, sailing over a metal beam that was probably ten meters up.
Me: That was incredible. But could he really get me up there? Wouldn't I just weigh him down?
Priscilla: Yah, you can make it no problem.
My eyes settled on the Bottemswell.
Me: No, there is a problem. That tower is electrified, there's no telling if that portion is safe or not. But I'll find out.
I took the time to unstrap my gauntlet and swam out until I was close to where Bottemswell had crashed into the electric tower. Taking a steadying breath, I threw my piece of armor, the moment it made contact; sparks had sprayed out in all directions. No visible damage could be seen once I found the gauntlet and with another heave, I threw it at the beam. There was no reaction, no sparks, just the sound of metal hitting metal.
I turned to Priscilla; she was still standing at the shore watching.
Me: Looks like it's a good spot. Now what?
Priscilla: Don't worry, Mr. Dolphin can handle the rest.
With a short whistle the dolphin swam back to her. All I saw was her pointing at me and the dolphin suddenly went back under. The dolphin quickly started to come into view from below me, the water had been deeper here than I had thought. Without much warning, the dolphin hit me full on in the stomach and lifted me in the air along with it. I was momentarily stunned by what had just happened.
Me: Did this fish just sucker punch me?!
I looked up and noticed the fact we weren't going to make it over, I was too heavy. With a desperate attempt, I grabbed the edge of the beam, almost slipping in the process due to my wet hands. I dumped the gauntlet on top and grabbed on with both my hands. I pulled myself up and lay there for a moment, trying to get the air back into my lungs.
Priscilla: Are you ok?
Me: I didn't get electrocuted, so yah, in my book that's ok. That dolphin has one heck of a punch you know that.
The dolphin was down below me making a squeaking sound that I swear sounded like laughter.
Me: What are you laughing at flippers?
I couldn't help but laugh; I had actually made it up here with the help of a dolphin. The others were not going to believe this. Then it came to me.
Me: Hey Priscilla, do you think that you can find my friends and help them up here? We all needed to get up to town.
Priscilla: Sure, I don't think Mr. Dolphin would mind at all.
Me: Thanks, can you tell them that I've gone ahead?
Priscilla: Sure.
Priscilla ran up the stone stairs and out of sight. I turned to the tower, testing the portion with my gauntlet; no reaction. It seemed that only a part was electrified.
After fastening the gauntlet back into place, I started to climb. It wasn't as bad as I had thought. In only a few minutes I had reached the top and had ended up on a heliport. It was separated into two sections. The one I was standing on had two spots where a helicopter would land. On a slightly higher section was a landing strip. Lined up on either side of the strip were several airships. Most seemed to have been for military use, being that they were painted with a camouflage design. Their wings were folded in on themselves, each airship had four propellers. The only one there that wasn't like the others was a larger airship that was hovering in the air with the aid of two large propellers; it was tethered to the ground with a large chain. The airship was much older than the others. Its paint was peeling off in patches and exposed metal showed signs of rusting. I took my attention off the things and refocused on the task at hand.
I needed to get my gear fixed and look for Sephiroth. I went over to a door and was getting ready to enter when I saw a troop of Shinra soldiers through the window. I quickly ducked down and peeked carefully over the edge just enough to see them march by. I was standing back up when a door started to open; I would have ducked down again if I hadn't seen the spiky yellow hair. Cloud had stepped into the hall of the building and our eyes locked. I was surprised to see that he somehow got here before me.
An officer in a red soldier uniform stepped out of the room and spotted Cloud right away, I ducked down before I was noticed. I kept watch as I saw Cloud get led away by the soldier. I got up and followed behind them, keeping enough distance between us so I wouldn't be seen. Cloud had entered a room with the man and after another few moments the officer left the room with another man in uniform. I dove into a room before I was spotted as they made their way towards me. I was in a closet; peeking through the door, watching as the officer walked past, the other stopped directly at the door.
Cloud: You ok?
Me: Cloud? What are you doing dressed like that?
Cloud: The guy thought I was out of uniform; he's taking me to the ceremony for Rufus.
Me: How did you get here? Priscilla was supposed to help you get in the way I did.
Cloud: We had already found another way in when she told us. Did you really get up here using a dolphin?
Me: I recommend not doing it again, or even once for that matter.
Officer: Hey, what are you doing?!
The officer had come back. Cloud quickly stood at attention.
Cloud: Sorry sir! My shoe lace got untied sir!
I had forgotten that he was former military for the Shinra corp., he was really good. The officer looked right at me. It felt like my heart skipped a beat. His hand reached slowly for the door knob and swung it open swiftly. I had just gotten behind the door. The officer stepped inside, looking around.
Officer: I could have sworn I heard something in here.
Cloud: Maybe it was mice, sir!
The Officer stepped out and slammed the door shut.
Officer: Alright, to the ceremony. Double time!
Cloud: Sir!
I could hear their footsteps grow faint as they marched away. I started to look for a way out of the military facility, taking care not to get caught. I stumbled along a locker room and found one of the locker open with a soldier uniform inside. Thinking it over, I thought it best if I went on looking like them; hide in plain sight, sort of thing. Besides, walking around in my clothes would most likely get me caught.
The uniform consisted of two layers. The first was of a bullet proof armor that covered both my upper and lower body. The second was the familiar blue uniform that the soldiers wore. Blue shirt and trousers with black combat boots and a black leather belt. The look was complete with a blue helmet with a red tinted visor for seeing.
Seeing as I was in a Shinra uniform, it would look suspicious walking around with my own gear. I wrapped up armor and my weapons in a cloth and carried them under my arm as I walked around until I found the town.
All the buildings looked the same. They were all apartment buildings, some of the many windows had their shades down, some had lights on, and others were dark. I stopped by a building and asked a man that was sweeping dust off his steps. The man stopped what he was doing and gave me a sharp salute. I had forgotten that I was in disguise; I returned the salute.
Me: Excuse me sir, but can you direct me to where I could get this checked out.
I unbounded my gear slightly, revealing a part of the armor.
Man: I don't see anything wrong with it.
Me: I want it checked out, in case anything may be damaged after what happened in the water.
Man: You went in while Bottomswell is still loose?!
Me: Its dead actually, the body is still lying there in the water.
The man's eyes widened.
Man: So it's finally dead. This is great news to hear. Oh, right the shop. If you go further down to building 24 A and go to the third floor you will enter Max's shop. He's an armor shop owner.
Me: Thank you.
As I walked away the man spoke again.
Man: Shouldn't you already know where everything is though? It is your job.
Me: I'm…new here, I was brought in to help out with the ceremony for the president.
Man: Than I hope you do well in welcoming him.
I followed the man's directions, stopping at building 24 A. The entire third floor was one armor shop. There was no one there but a man at the counter polishing a shield.
Me: Excuse me, are you Max?
The guy looked up and dropped his shield right away, and gave me a salute. I saw a pained expression cross his face once the shield hit the ground. He still held the salute.
Me: That isn't necessary, are you ok?
Max: Yah. Think I might have broken a toe or two.
Max sat back down in a chair and pulled off his boot revealing his injured foot.
Me: Allow me.
I summoned my cure materia and watched as a trail of green mist move from my hand to his foot quickly mending it.
Max: Thanks' a lot sir. What can I help you with?
I placed the bundle on his counter and revealed the contents.
Me: I need to get this checked.
Max took the gear and inspected it for a while.
Max: This armor seems to be in good shape, although there is slight rusting in the joints of the gauntlet.
Me: Good, how much do I owe you?
Max: Free of charge seeing as how you're military and you healed my foot.
Me: No, I would prefer that you charge me like any costumer. How much?
Max: One hundred and fifty.
I took out my wallet giving the man two hundred and told him to keep the change.
Me: How long exactly?
Max: Probably 'bout two hours.
Me: Thank you again.
Now was the perfect time to work on finding Sephiroth.
