It
was midnight. Elena was standing alone in the balcony of her hotel staring away
into the grassland. She enjoyed the breeze and in only a while, she was sleepy
already.
Then,
she saw something moving in the dark far away. It was too dark and too far to
see what it was. She strained her eyes and looked at that movement. Then, a
bright light appeared. It grew brighter every second. It grew brighter and brighter
and suddenly, it launched into the sky. The light came closer. It was heading
towards her direction.
The
light came nearer and nearer. Then, she could see it clearly. It was a big,
vast fireball. It crashed right into a building nearby and exploded. Screams
and shouting were heard and people were running all around.
Elena
was stunned. She shook her viciously. But it wasn't a dream. Then, an urgent
knock was heard. Elena opened the door and saw Reno and Rude outside still in
their pajamas.
"We've
gotta go. Something was wrong." Reno said and pulled Elena's hand and ran
towards the exit.
The
three ex-turks ran as fast as they could. Other people in that hotel were doing
the same too. All of them were running for the exit. The exit was too small and
all of them ran as fast as they could to get out first. Soon, a panic situation
occurred.
Fortunately,
the three turks was fast and went out of the building first. They looked
around. People were running around and they were shouting and screaming. This
wasn't a pleasant sight. They looked up at the sky. It was raining fireball.
Now
the three ex-turks have to escape from Junon as soon as possible. Nobody would
care to stop and offer them a ride. They just have to find another way to get
out. Suddenly, they saw a lorry past by.
"I
got an idea." Reno said.
He
pointed at the lorry and chased it. The other two ex-turks followed him. He
skillfully jumped and caught hold of the lorry. He then slowly climbed onto it.
The
other two were too slow to catch up. Reno pulled out a materia and mumbled
something.
"Slow…"
The
lorry suddenly moved very slowly. The other two ex-turks now climbed aboard and
Reno cast haste to make it go faster.
"I
thought you were going to dump us." Elena said.
"Did
I look like the kind of guy that will do that?" Reno asked.
Elena
didn't reply. She just held on to something so that she will not fly away.
The
lorry was now out of Junon. The three ex-turks jumped off the lorry and landed
on the grass.
"That
was some kinda fireworks." Reno said pointing towards Junon that was destroyed
by rain by fireballs.
Elena
just watched. Junon, once a military city was now so easily destroyed. She
shook her head and looked at Rude.
"Where
do we go from here?" Rude asked.
"The
nearest shelter is Fort Condor. We will go there." Reno answered.
"Are
you mad? They were once the enemies of Shinra!" Elena cried out.
"We
have no choice. Anyway, they won't notice us when we are there. It will be
packed with refugees and we can stay there until something else happened." Reno
said and walked towards Fort Condor.
Rude
followed Reno from behind. Elena took a last look at Junon, and followed her
friends.
Immediately
after Cloud found out about the mysterious tracks, he rushed back to the Icicle
Inn. He walked into Aeris's house and shouted.
"I
found something!"
"Shh!"
He
was replied this way. Everybody was in front of the television. Cloud walked
towards the television to take a look. It was the news.
"I
am standing about two miles away from Junon. At about midnight yesterday, an
unknown force attacked Junon. According to the survivors, rains of fireballs
came down and destroyed the city. The number of casualties were enormous and
other than that, not much was known because Junon was still in flames."
Cloud
was shocked when he heard this. Junon destroyed? How could that happen?
Although Junon was no longer a military base, the heavy fortification was still
there. Shinra once took this city as a fortress, and now it was destroyed in
only one night?
Not
only Cloud was shocked, everybody who heard the news were. No one could tell
what's going to happen next.
"What
kind of freakin' thing could destroy Junon in only one night?" Cid exclaimed.
"It
was an army. Probably an army that uses magic." Cloud answered.
Everybody
looked at Cloud. Cloud then explained what he saw outside.
"According
to the tracks, there are at least a few thousand men. It came from the
forgotten city. As far as I know, there are no resident there." Cloud
continued.
"The
forgotten city…Ancients probably?" Red XIII suddenly popped up a question.
"It
couldn't be. Cuz those ancient were extinct for more than a thousand years
ago." Barret replied.
"Then
what is it?" Yuffie asked.
"I
have no idea. I am certain that the planet is facing a threat now." Cloud
replied.
Everybody
looked at each other. Nobody knew what to do.
"Oh,
relax. I am certain that they won't be able to get through Fort Condor." Yuffie
tried to comfort everybody.
"Besides,
we could run to Wutai. I am sure nothing could penetrate Wutai's warrior's
defense." Yuffie continued.
Everybody
looked at Yuffie.
"That
gave me a good idea…" Cloud said.
"What?
What did you say? We are going to go to Wutai?" Yuffie asked.
"No.
Only you are going to Wutai. You could get help from your father. I am sure he
is willing to help us." Cloud answered.
"Wait
a minute. Yer gonna let dat sneakin' little weasel go?" Barret protested.
"What
wrong with that?" Cloud asked.
"Barret
had a point. We don't know if Yuffie is able to handle the job." Tifa said.
"Of
course I can! I am the best ninja in Wutai!" Yuffie replied angrily.
"I
suggested that we let someone follow her." Vincent suggested.
"That's
a very good suggestion." Cloud agreed with Vincent.
"What?
I am no kid! I don't need a babysitter!" Yuffie disagree with Vincent's idea.
"Ya
surely gonna get lost." Barret said.
"I
am not."
"Yes
you are."
I
am not!!!"
"Yes
you are!!!"
Barret
and Yuffie started arguing. The team just stood there and watched.
"Barret,
why don't you go with Yuffie?" Cloud suggested.
"What?!
Yer crazy? I ain't no ^)%^ babysitter and I ain't gonna go wit this weasel!"
Barret shouted.
"But…"
"I'm
not gonna go. Let her go by her own." Barret cut off Cloud before Cloud could
even finish.
The
sounding of a chocobo warking was heard. The team rushed out of the house. They
saw Yuffie rode away with the chocobo Cloud rented from the stable.
"I
am not going go chase dat thief this time." Barret replied while folding his
arms.
A
day after that disaster in Junon, Fort Condor, which is the nearest military
base to Junon was packed with refugees from Junon. The three ex-turks were
among them.
"Are
you sure this is a good idea?" Elena asked.
"Relax.
They wouldn't notice us, they are too many people here." Reno answered.
Elena
took a look around. There were people all around and they were trying to
squeeze into every inch of space. Some of them were in perfect, while some of
them were badly injured. Some were crying and sobbing while some talked about
what happened.
Elena
just doesn't feel right. She felt like a hopeless refugee seeking for shelter.
She was a turk, she should had done something else that could help those
people.
"ID
please." A soldier of Fort Condor stopped them.
"We
left it in Junon." Reno replied.
"Name?"
the soldier asked.
"I
am John. This is my wife June and this is my brother James."
Elena
was shocked when she heard Reno said that she was his wife. How could he? Elena
tried to protest but was silently pinched in the arm by Reno.
"Okay,
just make yourself at home." The soldier said and turned away.
Just
a while after the soldier left, Elena slapped Reno in the back of his head.
"I
know we gotta tell them some fake information, but why in the world would you
think of telling them that I am your wife?" Elena asked angrily.
"Hey,
I can't say that you are my sister, we don't have the same hair color." Reno
tried to defend himself.
"You
could just said that I am rude's sister or I am just your friend." Elena
scolded.
"I
haven't thought about that yet. Now, just let's sit down and do what others
do." Reno said and sat down. Rude shook his head and asked Elena to do the
same.
"I
saw you before." A voice came from behind Reno.
Reno
turned his head. He saw an old man
looking at him.
"We
hadn't met before." Reno replied and ignored the old man.
"No,
I am certain I met you before. It's…it's…somewhere…in…"
The
old man tried to remember. Reno thought that old man had mistaken somehow. Then
that old stood up and shouted.
"I
remembered! You are the Shinra's men in blue! What do they called it…"
Everybody
looked at them. The three turks started to get nervous.
"Turks?"
someone from the crowd replied.
"Yea!
That's what they called them. The Turks!" the old man shouted again.
"This
whole disaster was probably Shinra's job. They wanted to retake Junon from us!"
another man among the crowd shouted.
The
crowd walked nearer towards the three ex-turks. The crowd surrounded them. They
couldn't probably escape.
"What's
going on down here?" a well-dressed soldier came down from on top.
"Those
three in the middle are turks!" the crowd replied.
The
soldier walked towards the ex-turks. He looked at them and spoke.
"Do
you remember me?" the soldier asked.
"I've
never met you before." Reno answered.
"Of
course you didn't. You killed too many people. It's your job right?" the
soldier said.
"Who
are you?" Reno asked.
"I
am the son of someone you killed." The soldier replied coldly.
Reno
kept quiet. It was true he killed many people when he was working for Shinra.
He made people lost their family and friends. This soldier was one of his
victims.
"Lock
them up." The soldier said and walked away.
Three
other soldiers came from behind them. They pulled the three ex-turks away.
"Wait!
You can't do that! We are not turks anymore! We are just normal mercenaries!"
Elena cried out loud but was ignored.
They
were thrown into a cellar. The soldier locked them up and walked away.
"So
much for your 'they will not notice us' thinking." Elena sat at a corner and
folded her arms.
Reno
just looked up at the ceiling. He hoped that someone would come and rescue
them.