Premonitions II: Crisis Core

Chapter 81: The City on the Other Side

Zack was the first to step out of the sphere and onto the dock. His surroundings reminded him of Junon, but the atmosphere felt very different. It was something he could not put his finger on. True, the city seemed somewhat more advanced in technology, but there was something else as well. He could only describe it as the vibe of the city. It seemed much more...orderly.

Jessie was the second to disembark the sphere.

"Where are we?" she naturally asked.

"This is the Southern Continent," Red XIII answered as he emerged. "We made it. So, it does exist."

He had spent his past forty-eight years wondering of its existence. He was at a loss, now that he knew the answer.

"A new world for all of us," Cait Sith added as he stepped onto the dock.

He found the situation strange since, as he was actually Reeve controlling Cait Sith remotely, he had never been in any actual danger.

Yuffie was the next to disembark, slightly wobbly from the trip across the Storm Belt.

"Sorry about the puke," she apologized.

"I didn't step in it," Barret replied.

Vincent was the last to emerge; he did so silently.

He was also the first to notice that they had company on the dock.

"Good afternoon," greeted a uniformed individual who seemed to be somewhat of an authority figure.

"Greetings," Vincent replied. "Are you a policeman?"

"My name is Euran," he greeted. "Director of Security here at Welsanlai."

Vincent felt his heart sank; he had been hoping that this new city was Xenara. Still, Sephiroth could be in town.

"Welsanlai?" asked a curious Red XIII. "Is that the name of this city."

"That is correct," Euran replied. "We have not seen outsiders in many years."

"We never heard of this place," Vincent informed him.

Euran took several minutes scanning their arrival vessel. He no doubt recognized it.

"I have seen your sphere before," he continued. "But not you. In any event, where did you come from?"

"We came from the north," answered Red XIII.

"You came from the north?!" Euran exclaimed.

"North of the Storm Belt," Zack answered.

"You mean those stormy gray clouds to the north?" Euran asked.

"You got it," Cait Sith replied.

"And it was said that nothing could survive them," Euran observed.

"It was only because we took a sphere," Cait Sith clarified. "Anything else would have capsized."

"Do you know anyone named Ellie?" Yuffie asked.

Euran ran his hand over his chin.

"I remember Ellie," he replied. "She lived here years ago. She was a solid citizen, following every law we have. I though she might even make General Secretary someday. But she seemed very unhappy. We sent her to the best psychiatrists in Welsanlai, but she never changed. And then, one day, she made a sphere, just like the one you arrived in."

"And?" inquired Vincent.

"She took it on a suicide expedition," Euran explained. "She was not content with our perfect society. She did not even leave ashes for us to spread. She sailed it straight into what you call the Storm Belt, and was never seen again."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Vincent said.

He decided not to tell the truth; Ellie had left Welsanlai for a reason. She certainly did not want to be found.

"But," continued Euran, "like I said, we haven't had visitors in years. I'm personally thrilled to meet all of you, but I need to speak with the Immigration Committee about your arrival."

Jessie folded her hands behind her back. She felt somewhat uncomfortable with that idea.

"We strive for perfection, here in Welsanlai," Euran explained. "We can't upset the balance of our population. But the Committee will likely begin a program to integrate you all into our society."

"I guess there's only one way to find out," Zack said.

Somehow, he did not like the sound of that.

"In the meantime," Euran said, "feel free to explore the city. We'll book a hotel for all of you for tonight."

LATER...

The seven of them split up and began to explore Welsanlai, keeping their eyes peeled for Sephiroth.

Welsanlai was an interesting city. There were four blocks of commercial buildings that appeared to be uniform. Beyond those, every building was residential, and those buildings were also uniform. The city itself appeared to be a perfect square, the same way Midgar was a circle, and the ground seemed to be artificial, as if the city of Welsanlai had been built on a giant dock.

Barret and Jessie explored together. Jessie was quiet the entire time, and her companion began to grow concerned.

"You okay?" Barret asked.

"I don't know," Jessie replied. "Something's bothering me about this place."

"Y'know," he added, "I was feelin' the same thing."

THAT NIGHT...

Vincent stood alone in his hotel room. He never slept; the sole reason that he was in that hotel room was that there was a curfew at ten. All citizens of Welsanlai were required to be indoors at that time; God only knew the consequences for violating.

He observed the room and noticed it had a simple queen sized bed, a television, and a night table beside the bed.

The bathroom was just as simple, with a shower, toilet, sink, and a mirror.

It was a small but peaceful atmosphere.

And then, Lucrecia appeared in the mirror.

"Don't speak a word," she immediately commanded. "There's a notepad and pencil on the night table. Go and get it. I won't disappear, I promise."

Still skeptical, but with no alternative, Vincent went to the night table in the room lounge and retrieved the notepad and pencil.

Lucrecia was still in the mirror when he returned.

"Why can't I talk?" he scribbled on the notepad.

"We're bugged!" she replied. "The hotel is bugged!"

Vincent, at first, found that hard to believe.

"Can they hear you?" he wrote.

"Of course not," Lucrecia replied. "Only you can hear me."

"What is it?" he scribbled.

"My son isn't here," Lucrecia began. "I feel him further south."

"You appeared to tell me this?" the obviously annoyed Vincent wrote.

"That, and I need to warn you about this place," she replied. "You really have to watch what you say here. If you insult Welsanlai, you disappear and are never seen again."

"I'll be careful," he wrote.

"Not to mention," Lucrecia continued, "drug trafficking and assault and battery carry the death penalty."

"I said I'll be careful!" he jotted down.

"Just looking out for you," she said.

Vincent realized that he needed to try and ask her again. Maybe she was waiting for the right time.

"Forget looking out," Vincent wrote. "How about coming out of there?"

She gave him a sad, solemn look.

And then, Lucrecia vanished.

"Dammit," he muttered aloud, tossing the notepad to the ground.

THE NEXT DAY...

Wednesday, February 6, 0008

Vincent, Yuffie, Jessie, Barret, Red XIII, Zack, and Cait Sith stood outside the hotel. It was none in the morning, and everyone was eager to continue on their quest.

"Well," began Barret, "what now?"

"I haven't seen a trace of Sephiroth," Zack replied. "Has anybody?"

Everyone shook their heads in unison.

"He's not here," Vincent said. "He's further south."

"You sure?" asked Barret.

"None of us have seen him in Welsanlai," Vincent pointed out. "Therefore, he's somewhere else. We have to push on further south."

"It's a whole new continent," Red XIII pointed out. "There's no telling what else we might find here."

Everyone was silent. A week ago, none of them had known for sure that this continent had even existed. Now, there were all sorts of questions.

Are there other towns and villages?

What kind of creatures live here?

Is there a South Pole somewhere?

A Southern Crater?

"We can't stay here, anyway," Zack announced, breaking the silence. "We haven't found a trace of Sephiroth in this city. He's obviously not here. We need to keep going."

"I saw a gate to the south," Cait Sith pointed out. "It looks like the only way out of town."

"We only need one way, anyhow," Jessie said.

"There's something I need to inform all of you," Vincent suddenly announced. "My hotel room was bugged."

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Bugged?!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Yes, bugged," Vincent reinforced. "I think it's safe to say we need to watch what we say here. The streets might also have microphones."

"We won't be here much longer anyway," Zack pointed out.

The seven made their way towards the southern exit. Along the way, they passed the clean, graffiti-free streets and uniformed apartment blocks. Every human being was going about their daily lives in an organized manner.

It seemed perfect.

And that was what bothered the seven visitors.

Soon, however, they reached the southern exit. There were two guards stationed there. The third person they saw was Euran.

"Good morning," he greeted.

"Good morning," Zack greeted back.

"You must have been looking for me," he mistakenly believed. "The Immigration Committee should make their final decision before they adjourn for the evening."

"That's good to hear," Zack said. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"By all mean," Euran permitted.

"Is there a place called Xenara nearby?"

Euran quickly shook his head.

"We do not allow that kind of myth and superstition here," he stated firmly.

"Myth and superstition?" Red XIII asked.

"We have prohibited belief in the supernatural here In Welsanlai," Euran explained. "And good riddance. All loyalty here is to the state."

"But," Jessie insisted, "what about the Lifestream?"

"There is no such thing as Lifestream," Euran dismissed.

"Didn't you see Meteor?" Yuffie protested.

"Of course we did," Euran replied. "We were not living under a rock."

"Surely you know what happened to Meteor?" Yuffie insisted.

"Of course we do," Euran answered. "It burned up in the atmosphere."

Everyone looked at each other skeptically.

"Did you see a green glow that night?"

"We certainly did," Euran answered. "It was an Aurora Australis."

"An Aurora Australis?!" Yuffie mouthed.

Zack, meanwhile, thought up a question that might be more reasonable answered.

"Have you seen anyone with long, silver hair pass through this city?"

"We have not," Euran replied. "Our surveillance would have picked him up."

"Surveillance?" asked Red XIII.

"We have cameras at every street corner to assure that no one breaks the law," Euran explained. "We keep microphones in public as well, to make sure that nobody insults Welsanlai."

Vincent, at that point, looked at everyone else as if to say "I told you so."

"In that case," Zack said, "we'll need to push on further south, until we find him."

Euran gave them a solemn look.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," he informed them.

"What to you mean?" Zack inquired.

"Nobody's allowed to leave," Euran replied.

"Nobody's allowed to leave?" Yuffie asked skeptically.

"That's right," Euran answered. "It would upset the balance of our way of life if people were permitted to emigrate."

Zack turned to Vincent.

"Why did I have a feeling leaving here wouldn't be so easy," he muttered.

Barret, meanwhile, sighed; he realized that he had no choice.

He aimed his gun-arm at one of the guards and fired, causing the guard to fall lifelessly to the ground.

"That prosthetic's a weapon?!" Euran exclaimed.

Those would turn out to be his last words.

Cait Sith saw his chance and charged at Euran, pounding his head with his fists and breaking his neck in the process.

"Let's get the fuck outta here!" Barret demanded as he charged through the southern exit.

An empty field lay beyond, with no farms, nor any activity whatsoever. It did not concern the adventurers, as their prime concern had been escaping with their lives.

As they escaped further away, more security personnel began to pursue them.

"Incoming!" Cait Sith announced.

Barret immediately spun around and dispatched of the pursuing guards.

The fugitives continued their run south down the empty field. None of them would dare turn around, out of fear that pursuing guards would get closer.

Finally, Zack turned around, and could, to his surprise, see that they were no longer pursued.

Eventually, trees began to appear in the distance. They appeared to be boreal.

"A forest?" Jessie exclaimed, still running.

"Looks like it," Barret replied.

"Are we going in?" asked Yuffie.

"Unless you want to go back to Welsanlai," Zack replied.

"No thanks!" Yuffie quickly dismissed.

The seven of them continued to run until they were several yards into the forest.

"They won't find us in here?" Yuffie pleaded.

"I think they stopped searching for us a few feet from the city," Vincent suggested as he slowed his pace to a walk.

"I'm simply wondering why they haven't followed us all the way here," Red XIII pondered aloud.

"It's as if they want to avoid this forest," Zack replied. "But why?"

That question resulted in a silence.

A silence of concern for what might lie ahead.

And then, the silence was broken by a giggle.

"What's so damn funny?" Barret demanded.

"Euran," Yuffie giggled. "His name sounded like 'urine!'"

Everyone broke out laughing. It was a relief they had needed.

And then, things were silent again. They had all realized that Sephiroth might be in the forest.