Premonitions II: Chapter 80: The Crossing
The sphere departed from the dock, and immediately began heading south. Vincent, Jessie, Cait Sith, Barret, Zack, Red XIII, and Yuffie were all able to fit comfortably inside. Zack, being the most experienced with cutting-edge technology, was elected to pilot the trip.
Jessie stared at Eros Nova, which was consistently appearing smaller, as they were sailing away from it. The waters were gentle now, but one look in the opposite direction was a ready reminder of what was to come.
Vincent, as usual, was in his own world. The past continued to linger.
FLASHBACK...
Vincent had discovered Lujo several weeks after the breakup.
It had happened as he was patrolling Nibelheim as usual, when he spotted Lucrecia and Hojo near the town square, standing across from each other and holding hands.
Vincent climbed to the well and hid behind it; he knew he would not be seen that way. He thus remained hidden as he watched his world continue to fall apart.
"What about your ex?" asked Hojo.
"Don't worry about him," Lucrecia dismissed. "Vincent's a destructive person, and when people are destructive, they break things."
That stung. Vincent knew full well that he had done nothing wrong. Of course, it was not the first time he had heard a woman negatively embellish her previous relationship, but he had not imagined that it would happen to him.
"There's an alley behind the diner," Hojo suddenly announced. "It's where wonderful things can happen."
"In an alley?" Lucrecia asked skeptically.
"I'll show you!" Hojo relied with a smile as he took Lucrecia's hand and led her into the alley.
Vincent climbed down from the well. He stealthily crept towards the alley to avoid being heard. Using a mirror, he was able to see exactly what was going on there.
It was a semi-well-lit alley, and Vincent could see that the other end led to the great out-of-town.
Hojo and Lucrecia stood right in the center.
"So about those wonderful things," Lucrecia began, still with a skeptical tone in her voice. "What did you mean?"
"A girl can lose her pants back here!" he replied seductively.
Before Lucrecia could react to the comment, Hojo unzipped her khakis and pulled them down, along with her panties, to a couple of inches above her knees.
Vincent looked on in horror.
Lucrecia let out a gasp of surprise, followed by a few long moments of silence.
Smack him, he thought. No, pull up your pants and kick his balls!
And then, Lucrecia responded.
She kissed him deeply.
Motherfucker, thought Vincent. She moved on that fast. He stared in regret at the exposed rear end that was no longer his to touch.
"If my butt gets goosebumps," Lucrecia playfully warned, "that's on you!"
"I'll keep it warm," Hojo replied as he began to lower his hands.
This is too much.
Vincent turned and ran; an audible move.
"I think I heard somebody," Hojo announced.
"Shit," muttered Lucrecia as she quickly pulled her pants up. "A pervert."
The two new lovers emerged from the alley, only to find the town square deserted.
Vincent did not stop running until he was well out of Nibelheim.
...END FLASHBACK
The flash of lightning brought Vincent back to the present.
The sky was pitch black, and the rain pounded the sphere with such force that the travelers thought that it would break the glass. The tropical paradise to the north was no longer visible.
The worst part was the waves. They would rise over twenty feet in the air, taking the sphere with them, and dropping it that many feet.
Zack, meanwhile, continued to pilot the sphere further south, as calmly as he could.
"Can we please turn back?!" the terrified Yuffie pleaded.
"The ship has sailed," Zack retorted. "Both figuratively and literally."
Another wave lifted the sphere into the air and dropped it.
And then, no longer able to stand the motion, Yuffie vomited.
"Shit!" muttered Jessie. "Everyone, watch your step!"
"Sorry," Yuffie weakly gasped as she began to cry.
"Try turning around," Red XIII suggested. "It might help the movement."
Yuffie did as suggested. The movement began to feel easier.
And then, Yuffie's eyes widened, and she began to scream.
Red XIII turned around, and his eyes widened in horror.
Barret was the next to turn around.
"Motherfucker!" he exclaimed.
He saw what was heading toward them. And he knew right away that it was the finger of God.
"Zack!" commanded Red XIII. "We need to go faster!"
"This is as fast as this thing can go!" he exclaimed.
"Well," retorted Jessie, "you'll have to go faster or we're all dead!"
The sphere continued south at full speed, but the tornado kept gaining. It was a thousand feet away at first.
Then, it was nine hundred feet away.
Then eight hundred.
"We're totally fucked!" sobbed Yuffie.
Seven hundred feet.
Six hundred.
And then, the tornado died suddenly. It disappeared into the pitch-black sky.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was close," Red XIII sighed.
"Let's just get the fuck through here before another one comes!" Yuffie tearfully pleaded.
Zack obliged, and piloted the sphere on its course. Gradually, the waves began to subside as well. The black sky became gray, and finally blue again.
"Thank God!" Yuffie exclaimed as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"We're through," Red XIII acknowledged softly.
"Are you sure?" aske Jessie, preparing to cite her next greatest concern. "Don't tell me we were blown north again!"
"No," Zack dismissed as he checked the GPS. "We're definitely south of the Storm Belt."
"Hard part's over," Yuffie sighed.
Barret sighed in relief.
"We did it. We actually did it."
"And now," added Vincent solemnly, "Sephiroth."
Zack continued to pilot the sphere south. By the time it was three in the afternoon, land could be seen in the distance.
"We made it!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Land ho!"
As the sphere moved closer, a city appeared on the land. It seemed to be about the size that Junon had been.
"Where could we be?" Red XIII asked aloud.
"Undoubtedly where Ellie came from," Cait Sith replied.
The travelers eased their way to what appeared to be a dock, and were amazed at what they saw. The architecture and clothing was nothing like they had ever seen before. The buildings all had solar panels, and everyone seemed to travel by bicycles that appeared to hover.
"They're advanced," Red XIII pointed out. "That's for sure."
"But are they friendly?" Jessie asked.
"More importantly," Vincent added, "could this be Xenara?"
"There's only one way to find out," Zack commented as he parked the sphere in one of the open docks.
"And Sephiroth could be hiding somewhere in this city," Cait Sith added.
"Same as I said before," Zack replied as he opened the sphere's hatch. "Well?"