Chapter Twelve: The Gold Saucer
Cloud awoke early in the morning to the same sound that he'd fallen asleep to. The waves crashing onto to the shore made a pleasant, calming sound that made Cloud feel very peaceful as he yawned and stretched. It was a great feeling to wake up near the beach. He could see himself living there, if he actually lived long enough to grow old. Sometimes he wondered if he would.
His mind started drifting to thinking about Sephiroth. He looked the same as he had all those years ago. His long silver hair flowing behind him. His face had changed a little, though. He didn't just sound insane. He looked insane.
Everyone else was asleep, so he headed down to the information office at the front of the hotel. He could see through the window that people had already gotten to the beach, and some were even swimming. The hotel clerk was a young woman that was shooting around at a pool table near the entrance. He talked with her for a little while, but he didn't find her to be a real good conversationalist. After awhile he got bored and told her he had to go back to the room. She gave him a map of the places nearby that she usually gave to tourists that stayed at Costa del Sol. She said he might find someplace interesting.
He went back to the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. The map was pretty big, and he unfolded it so he could see the whole thing. On the right side of the map was the East Continent, close to the center of which was Midgar. He placed his finger on the paper and traced the path that they had already taken from Midgar to Kalm to Junon, and finally to Costa del Sol.
He wasn't sure where they would go next. Sephiroth had obviously left the beach as soon as the boat had landed. Not far from Costa del Sol on the map was a village called North Corel. He'd heard of it before. The only reason anyone went there was because it was home to the tram that led to the Gold Saucer, a giant amusement park that was built at the top of a huge tower so that it would extend into the sky.
He grabbed a marking pen from the desk in the room and began circling the places they should go. He figured they could probably make it to North Corel in less than a day, and they could spend some time enjoying themselves in Gold Saucer as long as they were there. He'd never been there, and it was supposed to be quite a sight to see. Afterwards, they could head for Cosmo Canyon, which wasn't far from North Corel. He was satisfied with this plan of action, so he folded the map up and laid back down on the bed.
He dozed off for awhile, and about and hour later he woke up to the feeling of Barret's hand on his shoulder. He had the map in his hand.
"Did you put these circles on the map?" He asked, his face twisted almost as if he was interrogating Cloud.
Cloud sat up and rubbed his eyes. The others were awake and were sitting on the edges of the beds, talking and drinking coffee.
"What kind of way is that to wake someone up?" Cloud asked, kiddingly. He smiled, but Barret's face remained as stone.
"I'm not fuckin' kidding, Cloud." He replied. "Did you put these circles on the map?"
"Yeah I did." Cloud answered, getting defensive. "What the hell's the problem?"
"We can't go to North Corel." Barret answered, throwing the map on the floor. "End of story."
"Why the hell not?' Cloud asked. "I figured we'd go there, stay at Gold Saucer so the girls would have something to do for awhile, and then we'd head for…"
"I don't give a fuck what you figured." Barret interrupted. "We're not going there."
"Look, Barret." Cloud said, getting angry. "I don't know what the fuck your problem is but I got up early just to set up that plan. If you've got a better one why don't you let us know about it."
"I don't care what the plan is as long as we don't go to North Corel." Barret answered.
"Well I want to know why." Cloud replied. "Because I think it would be a nice place to visit."
"Not for anything, but I agree with Cloud." Tifa chimed in. "Why can't we go there."
"I used to live there." Barret answered. He turned his back to both of them, seeing that he was now fighting a losing battle.
"So?" Cloud asked. "That should be a good reason for you to want to go there."
"I had some bad experiences there, okay." Barret replied. "And I really don't want to go back there."
"Barret, you're a strong willed guy." Cloud said. "Whatever happened there when you were younger, try and put it behind you. It'll be a lot easier for all of us if you just suck it up and let us go there."
With that, he got up off the bed and walked out of the room. He slammed the door behind him.
"Asshole." Barret muttered under his breath as Cloud left.
Everyone else in the room was speechless. Cloud came back shortly, after having something to eat. He told everyone to get their stuff together, and soon they were ready to leave. Everyone knew that Cloud had been decided on as the leader when they left Midgar, and if he said they were going to North Corel then that's where they were going to go. They left on a pleasant note, with Cloud getting the girls and even Red XIII excited about the prospect of seeing Gold Saucer. Barret remained silent the entire time.
As Cloud had anticipated, the trip took less than a day. It was dusk when they reached the small town located near one of the West Continent's many mountain ranges. It was very run down, and it looked even poorer than the Midgar slums. The only thing of technological value that met the eye was the blue tram at the edge of the village. It was a propeller driven vehicle that could ride along two huge cables that led from the ground level to the top of the huge tower, on top of which sat the Gold Saucer amusement park.
As they approached the village they looked upward to try and get a glimpse of the park, but the clouds were thick and they could see nothing except for the tower extending toward the sky. The town had the distinct smell of poverty, much like the slums of Midgar. Cloud recognized it as the smell of an unbathed human being.
They walked slowly into town along a beaten dirt road that looked like it had been traveled thousands of times before them. There was a large white sign, the only clean object in the whole town, that read "Gold Saucer" with an arrow pointing in the direction that they were going. Cloud guessed that this dirty, dusty, hell hole got just enough business from travelers coming to the park to keep from disappearing from the face of the planet.
Barret was silent the entire time, but he looked very apprehensive. They soon found out why. Across the village, a few heads began to turn as they saw him walking along the beaten path with the others. He kept his face pointing forward, but they did not. Soon, a few of the young men began gesturing to other members of the village to come. They headed down to the path along which Barret was walking and approached him. Cloud and the others tried to keep walking, but the men stood in front of them and blocked their path.
"You guys stay out of this." Barret finally said. "This is my problem."
He walked in front of everyone else to stand in front of the men that had confronted them. One of the younger ones, a muscular man of medium height who appeared to be in his forties, walked right up to Barret so that he was almost close enough to feel the other's breath. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, the older man looking right into Barret's face, and Barret trying to look in another direction as if the other man wasn't even there. Then the man broke the silence, punching Barret in the midsection. Barret did not cry out, but he doubled over in pain. The fact that he stayed on his feet was a show of his strength.
"What the fuck do you think you're doin' comin' back here, Barret?" The man asked. "You know you ain't welcome here."
"My friends need to come through here." Barret answered through clenched teeth. The wind had been knocked out of him, and he was having trouble both breathing and standing. He was hunched over as he said it.
"You think I give a rat's ass about your friends?" The man asked. "If they're your friends then they're my enemies."
"Hey leave him alone, asshole!" Cloud retorted, pulling out his sword. The man backed away slightly, but a few of the other men in the back revealed old but functional guns from within their working overalls.
"No, Cloud." Barret held him back. "Don't start a fight. I told you this is my own problem."
"You got some balls takin' a sword out in front of my guys." The man said to Cloud. "If you didn't have two women with you I'd kill the both of you motherfuckers. I'd be doin' the world a goddamn favor."
"Watch it, dickhead." Cloud warned. "I could kill every single one of you if I felt like it."
"I'd like to see you try." The man retorted. "I'm gonna be nice and let you guys haul ass out of my town before I blow a good sized hole into Barret's skull."
He turned his head to face Barret, who was still hunched over.
"But if I ever see you back here again, I'll make sure that I personally get to make you suffer before I kill you."
He turned around and walked quickly back to the pathetic town from which he'd come. Cloud wanted to follow him and show that he meant business, but Barret held him back.
"Don't, Cloud." He said, sadly. "Let it go."
Cloud looked at the sad man, holding his arm over his midsection, and felt a little sad himself. He looked a different man than he did just a day ago. Before he had been a happy, albeit easily angered, leader. Now he looked like a beaten man. Cloud wondered what could have possibly happened here years ago that would have incited the other man to such anger, and to instill such unhappiness into Barret.
"Come on, guys." He said. "Let's just go to Gold Saucer."
He hoped that the cheerful atmosphere of the amusement park would cheer up Barret. As much as he would hate to admit it, he was beginning to like Barret. He didn't like to see him this way.
The terminal for the tram wasn't far from where they had been confronted. They paid the clerk operating the machine, and then they boarded the large blue vehicle. They were tethered to the two cables above, which drooped under the weight of the tram. Cloud made sure his seat belt was buckled tightly as the tram shook beneath him. In the back of the transport, the propellers had been activated and were creating a fan behind that would propel the tram up the cables and into the sky.
As they began to ascend, everyone looked out of the windows to get a wonderful view of the world around them. They could see land, sea, and mountains for miles from their high vantage point. After awhile, Tifa became too curious to hold in her thoughts any longer.
"Why did that man hit you back there?" She asked Barret. He was sitting with his eyes closed ignoring the view around him.
"I don't want to talk about it." He answered, leaving his eyes closed.
"Come on, Barret." She urged. "He was really mean to you. There had to be a reason for it."
"Yeah, Barret." Cloud entered the conversation. "What happened when you were here that would make those men hate you so much? Did you do something wrong?"
Barret looked like he wanted to cry, but that would be far too much of an insult to his masculinity so he held it back.
"Yeah, I did do somethin' wrong." He answered. "I really don't want to talk about it, but I'll tell ya if you really have to know."
"Please, Barret." Tifa replied. "Tell us. Maybe we can help."
"I doubt that." He answered, sighing. He had opened his eyes, and his face appeared all twisted. "I hate thinkin' about these memories. That's why I told you not to make me come here, Cloud."
He looked at Cloud with a cold stare. There was clearly some resentment over the fact.
"I grew up in North Corel my whole life." Barret began. "Back then it was a good town. My dad was a miner, and so was his dad. It was a mining town. Back before those fuckin' Shinra bastards all our energy came from mining coal.
"We all had pretty good money back then from the mining. I had everything I wanted. I was really happy, which is why it pisses me off so much that I screwed up."
"What did you do, Barret?" Tifa asked. "I'm sure you couldn't have done something bad intentionally."
"No, I didn't mean to do it!" He agreed, almost in hysterics. "But those goddamn Shinra messed with my head. They convinced me."
"What do you mean, Barret?" Tifa asked. "Please tell us."
"The whole town got together one day because the Shinra told us they were visiting." Barret said. "I was one of the town heads, and I had to bring everyone together. The other town head was a guy named Dyne who I was real good friends with. The Shinra sent two people, Scarlet and some other guy, to convince us to let them build a Mako Reactor to replace our coal power. They said we'd make a lot more profit off of a reactor, and they tried to convince us that it was safe and everything.
"They gave us some time to think about it, and I thought it was a great idea. A lot of the others did too, but Dyne disagreed. He and I got into a big argument over it, but he finally agreed to let them build it. They came over and built the thing right in the middle of the goddamn town."
He was still really broken up over talking about it, and he held his head in his hands for a few moments before continuing.
"They told me it was safe. Safe my fuckin' ass!" He said. "Dyne and I were out of town for a few days about a month or two after they built the thing. We got into town and there were Shinra soldiers all over the place. The town was burning, I mean literally on fuckin' fire! They told us not to move anywhere. That Scarlet bitch was with them, and she told them to open fire on us."
His eyes were burning red as he spoke. No one in the tram had ever seen him so emotional.
"We ran like hell, but there were too many soldiers. We didn't know why the hell they were shootin' at us, so we just kept running. We wound up running right up to the edge of one of the cliffs on the outskirts of town. Dyne overran the edge and slipped off. I caught him and held him as hard as I could, but the soldiers were right behind us on an overpass that ran near the cliff. They fired down on us, and one of their bullets went right through the arm I was holding Dyne with and into his arm. We both lost our grip and he fell to the ground under the cliff.
"I got away from those sons of bitches, but there was nothin' for me to run to. The whole goddamn town was burned down. So I got out of there, and I eventually made it to Midgar. I found out later that the reason they burned down the town was because there was a failure at the reactor that killed everyone inside and contaminated the land around it or some shit like that. Instead of suckin' it up and admitting they made a mistake, the Shinra blamed the accident on everyone in North Corel and lit the place up as an example for the rest of the world
"I tried to get in and save everyone but the fire was too big by the time I got there. I lost Dyne and my wife, and I almost lost Marlene. Thank God she wasn't there when it happened. The survivors that knew what happened blamed the whole fuckin' thing on me instead of the Shinra, because I was the one that insisted we let them build the reactor in the first place. That's why they all hate me back there. And you know what? He was right to punch me. They have no homes because of me. This place used to be a real town, now it's just a piece of shit slum like the bottom of Midgar. I fucked up bad, and now they have nothing because of me."
He put his head in his hands again and wept. He had lost all of his outer "manliness" and had resigned himself to cry. He couldn't help it, even in front of Cloud. Tifa rubbed his back and tried to calm him.
"It wasn't your fault, Barret." She said softly. "It was the Shinra's fault. You know that. I know that. This is just another reason for us to be fighting them."
"Yeah come on, Barret." Aeris chimed in. "We know you didn't mean for that to happen. Those people back there just don't know you like we do."
Barret lifted his face, his eyes red with tears, and looked at Aeris with a cold, deep stare.
"They know more about me than you'll ever know." He managed to say between slight sobbing. He placed his head back in the comfort of his shielding hands, and the tram became silent once again.
Outside Cloud could see that they were approaching the amusement park. There were fireworks erupting not far from the tram lines, and they lit the night sky with brilliant flares. Above, he could see the brightly shining stars. They were so high in the sky that they had the vantage point of being above the cloud cover.
The amusement park was huge and sprawling, covering every inch of the top of the wide pillar on which it sat, and extending upward. There were roller-coasters spanning the outer perimeter of the park, and large trams running above the roller-coasters that allowed for an excellent view, and moved at a slower pace than the one used to bring patrons to the park, making them much more enjoyable than utilitarian.
The docking station for the tram was shaped like the head of a huge mog (a rarely seen creature that resembled a short, pudgy, teddy bear with wings and generally inhabited areas that humans had yet to venture) and the tram went through the "mouth" to reach the actual dock. As it came to rest, Cloud could see the ticket vendor outside of the tram window, and a line of people waiting to get in.
"Looks like it's pretty popular." Cloud commented. Aeris nodded. Her eyes were flitting back and forth, as though they were trying to take in as much of the seen around them as they could. She looked completely memorized by the spectacle around her.
Cloud exited the tram first, and got on line for the tickets. Altogether they cost 3,000 gil, which burned a significant hole in his pocket but he figured it would be worth it. Normally he was rather thrifty with his money, but he could make exceptions when he felt the time was right. The ticket vendor directed them to a lobby beyond the front desk. It was a circular room with hallways leading to each of the areas in the park. At the far end of the lobby was a large directory, giving locations and descriptions for each of the areas.
Cloud walked over to the directory and looked at it to see what was interesting. There was a stage located near the lobby, but there were no shows playing for another hour so he quickly abandoned the idea of going there. Also nearby was a video arcade room (called Wonder Square), and the Battle Square which was described as "a place for one to show off their fighting skills and win prizes." Both piqued his interest, and he hoped he'd get to see them by the end of the night. The other destinations were the roller-coaster, the tram rides, and the chocobo racing arena which appeared to be the most popular attraction.
"Well, I'm interested in the arcade." Cloud said as he walked back to the patienly waiting group.
"Oh cool! An arcade!" Aeris responded. "I've never seen one before. I'll go with you, Cloud!"
Cloud nodded.
"Anybody else want to come with us?" Cloud asked.
"I think I'm gonna check out the chocobo races." Tifa replied. "I've heard they're pretty exciting."
She looked at the excitement in Aeris' eyes, and somehow she felt a warmth inside. She sighed as Cloud talked to Red XIII and Barret. There had been a time when she thought he was the only man for her. But the chemistry she saw between him and Aeris could not be denied. And somehow, it felt right for her to let them go together, alone.
Perhaps there was something between the two of them that she could feel, but she couldn't understand. She tried to push the thoughts out of her mind and let her worries go so that she could have fun. Even though she had volunteered to see the chocobo race for the sole reason of letting Cloud and Aeris be alone, she really did think that it would be an enjoyable experience.
"What about you Red?" Cloud was asking, as Tifa brooded in thought.
"I think I'm going to have a seat in the theater and wait for a show to come on." Red XIII replied. "I really must give myself a rest from walking. Even animals with four legs get tired sometimes.
"And how about you, Barret?" Cloud asked. Barret had continued his voluntary silence since the last time he had spoken in the tram. He had stopped crying, but his eyes were still red and puffy.
"You guys all have a good fuckin' time." He said angrily. "I think you're all forgettin' what we left Midgar for."
"We're just trying to take a little break…" Cloud tried to respond, but Barret interrupted him.
"Whatever, I don't give a shit." He said. "You do what you want. I'm outta here."
He stormed down the hallway leading to the fighting arena. Cloud turned to everyone else.
"Let him go. He needs some time to think by himself." He said. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna try to relax and have a good time."
The other three nodded, and then they headed their separate ways. The hallway leading to the arcade passed through a movie theater area, and Aeris was quick to check what movies were playing.
"You know, I've never seen a movie before either." She said to Cloud.
"Really?" He replied. "You don't know what you're missing. Movies can be pretty cool, when they're done right."
"My mom used to say that books were better so I wasn't really missing out on anything." She responded.
"Well, in a way she's right." He said. "Elmyra's a smart woman."
"I miss her." Aeris said, suddenly a little homesick. "When do you think I'll be able to see her again?"
"I don't know." Cloud answered honestly. "Soon, I hope."
They had begun to walk into a highly crowded area in front of the Wonder Square. There was a relatively narrow walkway leading into the arcade, and the group of people waiting to get in had to funnel into the small entrance. It provided for a natural way to lessen to crowd entering into the square. Aeris was once again looking all over the place, taking in the scenery and the atmosphere. She had never been privileged enough before to see so many people having fun in one place.
"You like it here, don't you?" Cloud asked.
"I love it." She replied, not taking her eyes away from the scenery for even a moment.
Standing in the corner was a strange looking creature hopping up and down, trying to get the crowd's attention. It appeared to be a cat, standing on his hind legs on top of the shoulders of a very large and fat mog. The cat was holding a megaphone to its mouth and yelling something about telling fortunes, while the mog was rolling dice in its pudgy hands.
"That's a weird looking thing." Cloud commented. "I wonder how it can talk."
"Maybe a magic spell." Aeris suggested. "Hey, can we get him to tell us a fortune?"
"That stuff is all made up nonsense." Cloud replied. "He'll probably just scam us."
"Oh come on." Aeris said playfully. "An innocent girl like me. Come on, lets go see. It'll be fun."
She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him toward the strange looking creature.
"Can you tell us our fortune?" She asked as sweetly as possible.
"Sure!!!" The cat answered through the megaphone. She recoiled back and covered her ears at the loud noise.
"Oh, sorry." The cat apologized, without speaking through the megaphone. "I forgot I was still using that thing."
"How can you talk?" Aeris asked, looking behind him as if she would expose some hidden microphone or recording device that could be producing a voice in the cat. She found nothing.
"How can I talk?" The cat replied. "That is an odd question, to which I have no reply. But I can give you your fortune, for a small sum."
"She asks you how you can talk and that was the best excuse you can come up with?" Cloud asked, amused by the strange being.
"I'm not here to answer questions." The cat answered indignantly. Cloud noticed that although the cat appeared tall, it was only because he was standing on the shoulders of the bright pink mog. He himself was quite short. The mog was completely silent, but continued to almost nervously roll the dice in its hands. Cloud wondered if it could speak like its feline companion.
"I am simply here to give fortunes." The cat continued. "Now, would you like me to tell you yours?"
"Yeah, alright." Cloud answered.
"That will be 200 gil." The cat said.
"200 gil?" Cloud responded angrily. "What a rip off!"
Aeris looked at him with pleading eyes. He scowled at the cat, but paid up anyway.
"Thank you." The cat said, suddenly polite. He made an almost unnoticeable signal to the mog, and it began to roll the dice faster than it had before. After rolling them a couple of times, he threw them on the ground and the cat leaned over to read the results.
"You are strong willed, but weak at heart." He read aloud.
"Huh?" Aeris asked, puzzled. "Which one of us is that for? It doesn't sound like either one of us."
The cat looked at them with a calculating gaze, as if he was giving them a once over.
"You're right." He admitted. "I'll try again."
The mog went through the same motions, and once again threw down the dice for the cat to read.
"Your lucky number is 42." The cat read aloud.
Aeris crossed her arms and gave the cat a skeptical glance.
"That's not a fortune, that's a scam." She said.
"Alright, let me try one more time." The cat replied. "Third time's the charm, as they say."
The mog made the same motion again for the third and final time, and the cat leaned over on the mog's shoulders to read the results.
"You will lose something very dear to you." The cat read, his eyes showing puzzlement as he did so. "Wow, I've never given a fortune like that before."
Aeris looked genuinely intrigued by this fortune.
"Do you think it will come true?" She asked the cat.
"I have no idea." He replied, nervously. "I've really never seen something like that before."
"So what's the big deal?" Cloud asked, skeptically. "It's not like this crap is actually real."
"On the contrary, my spiky haired friend." The cat replied. "Fortune telling is very serious. I think it would be best if I come along with you so that I might find out whether this fortune comes true or not."
"That's ridiculous." Cloud replied. "We don't even know you."
"Oh, don't be so uptight." Aeris said. "We'll get to know him. I think we should give him a chance. I mean, how many chances do you think we'll have to get to know a talking cat?"
Cloud had to admit she made a compelling point.
"Please, sir. Let me come with you. I promise I won't be a burden." The cat pleaded.
Aeris gave him another one of her pleading looks to follow up the cat. Cloud sighed.
"Alright, fine." He said. "But only until we find out whether this so-called fortune is true or not."
"Deal." The cat replied. "My name is Cait Sith. Pleased to meet you."
"I'm Aeris, and this is Cloud." Aeris said, introducing herself and her companion.
"If you're gonna come with us, you have to follow my rules." Cloud said. "First off, if you hear me or any of our friends talking about stuff that sounds like it might not be legal, you keep your mouth shut and don't ask questions. And if we happen to get in any fights or monsters attack us or something, you have to make yourself useful. Do you know how to fight?"
"My mog can defend us both if need be." Sith answered.
"So are you gonna tell us how you can talk and why you sit on the shoulders of a giant mog now?" Aeris asked.
"No." He answered curtly. "I can't tell you that, so I suggest you just accept it and move on with your life."
"Alright, whatever. We gotta get going if we want to see everything in a decent amount of time." Cloud said. "I say we head for the arcade."
"Oh yeah, the arcade!" Aeris exclaimed, suddenly excited. "Let's go!"
They spent about an hour and a half in the large arcade area. Cloud won a few prizes playing a virtual motorcycle game (which he was quite good at from experience with real motorcycles) and a basketball shooting game. Aeris spent most of her time on the virtual snowboarding machine, and Cait Sith wandered around looking for people that he knew. He was apparently a regular at the park. His strange ability to talk and his odd form of transport, sitting on the shoulders of a mog, made him a bit of an enigma. Regular visitors to the park found him to be an interesting sight indeed.
After they'd had their fill of the arcade area, Cloud decided he wanted to check out the Battle Square. He was suddenly in the mood to show off his fighting skills, and Aeris seemed content to watch him. Cait Sith really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. As they entered the battle section of the amusement park, however, they were greeted with a chilling sight.
There was normally a clerk in the room who stood behind a small desk, who was there to exchange money for a ticket to fight in the battles. She was there, but she was hunched behind the desk. She was quivering in intense fright. Not far from the front of the desk were two dead Shinra guards, their chests covered in circular wounds. Blood was splattered everywhere, and the smell of gunpowder hung in the air, accompanied by the pungent smell of death.
"What the hell happened in here?" Cloud asked the woman behind the counter. He had already unsheathed his sword, and was ready to defend Aeris if anything went wrong.
"A m-man c-came in here. He killed them." She answered. She was shaking with fear, and was slurring her words.
"What man?" Cloud asked. "Don't worry, if he comes back I won't let him hurt you."
She started to cry hysterically. In between sobs, words came out in short gasps.
"He killed them both. For no reason."
"Who killed them?" Cloud asked desperately. His eyes were darting around the deserted reception area, searching wildly for any sign of a killer who might hurt his companion. Cait Sith had backed himself into a corner and was looking around nervously.
"T-there was a man with a gun for an arm. A big black man. He s-shot them both, and he said something about hating the Shinra." She broke into another sobbing fit.
"Oh my God." Aeris said. "Cloud, you don't think…"
"Barret could never do something like this." Cloud answered her unasked question. "He might be pissed off but I don't think he would kill two guards unless he was defending himself."
"Who else could have done this?" Aeris asked. "How many guys do you know with a gun for an arm?"
"Look, I don't know how to explain this." Cloud replied. "I need some time to think, and that lady's crying isn't helping."
He wasn't going to get any time to think, unfortunately. Before Aeris could respond, the door behind them was swung open and Shinra guards swarmed the room. Behind them was a large muscular man, who was shirtless. The guards in the front of the pack saw their fallen comrades and then their gazes swung to Cloud, who was still holding his sword.
"Drop your weapon!" One of the guards yelled at him. "Now!"
"Wait a second." Cloud said, cracking a smile. "You don't think I…"
"Shut the fuck up!" The guard yelled back. "Drop your weapon or I'll open fire."
Cait Sith walked forward from his spot in the corner and took a position in front of Aeris so that he was between her and the armed guards. He yelled to the shirtless man.
"Dio!" He said. "They didn't do this. We found these bodies when we got here."
"Whatever, Sith." Dio responded, flexing his muscles as he did so. "You're a fuckin' pain in my ass. You probably did this yourself because you lost a goddamn bet or something."
"Dio, it wasn't like that…" Sith tried to respond.
"Drop 'em through the Gateway to Heaven." Dio responded. With that, he turned around an left, content to leave the commotion behind him in the hands of the Shinra.
"Back up." The front guard said menacingly to Cloud.
Faced with unsheathed swords and machine guns in the hands of at least twenty Shinra guards in their cleanly pressed blue uniforms, he had no choice but to do as he was told. He was careful to block Aeris on her right side from the guards, while Sith remained in his position covering her backside.
The large doors on the other end of the room were opening. Normally they were the entrance to the battle ring, but they could serve another purpose as well. The guards prodded the three of them into the room which had now opened. The floor of the room did not appear to be entirely stable.
"Welcome to the Gateway to Heaven." The guard said, sneering. He and his fellow guards pushed the helpless three into the room. The head guard laughed.
"Enjoy!"
Aeris jumped as the doors closed loudly in front of them trapping them in the room. Suddenly the floor beneath them opened up, plunging them into darkness. At first Cloud felt like he was free falling, and for a few seconds he wondered if he was going to die the next time he felt bottom. But before he had time to brood over it, he felt a slope beneath him, and he realized he was on a slide of sorts. They flew quickly down the tunnel on the slide, Aeris screaming and Cait Sith holding desperately onto his fellow mog.
Soon, Cloud could once again see light at the end of the tunnel. As the hole became bigger and bigger in his view, they only seemed to go faster and faster. He felt hot air rush past him and bombard his face as they flew through the hole and landed on the ground hard. Cloud felt as though his whole body had just been broken as he tried to stand up on the sandy ground beneath him. The ride down the slide had been almost a rush, but the landing was physically taxing. Near him, Cait Sith didn't seem to be injured but Aeris was groaning in pain.
"You okay over there?" Cloud asked, rubbing his arm. He'd landed on his side and that arm had taken most of the force of the fall. He was surprised it wasn't broken.
"Yeah, I'm alright." Aeris answered through clenched teeth. "My arm hurts a little, that's all."
"Same here." Cloud replied. "Looks like our cat friend is indestructible. How come you aren't in pain, Sith?"
"Oh, I uh…" Sith started to respond, "I was just lucky I guess. My mog broke my fall."
"He looks like he isn't hurt either." Cloud said, suspiciously.
"He'd good at hiding pain." Sith responded, getting defensive. "Look, everyone's okay now so just accept it and…"
"Move on with your life." Cloud finished the sentence. "Alright, whatever. Let's get going. I'm watching you, Sith."
The cat's hands went up in the air, suggesting his innocence, but Cloud ignored him. He was already trying to survey his surroundings. They appeared to be in a small wooden hut. They were alone, save for a few wooden boxes littering the dusty, sandy ground. There was an open doorway on the other end of the hut and Cloud walked outside.
"Holy shit." Cloud said, dumbfounded. "This must be the desert prison."
Not far from them was what appeared to be a prison town. There were a few men walking around in shackles, but for the most part the thugs that were scattered around the town were unencumbered. There were no walls around the prison either, just an old, tattered wooden fence, in front of which a few dead bodies had been unceremoniously placed. Outside that fence was miles and miles of desert. No one could escape this place alive. At least Cloud had never heard of anyone being able to do it.
He looked upward to see that they were now beneath the Gold Saucer itself. The clouds still blocked it from view, but Cloud knew it was there. He started to walk toward one of the old wooden houses but a few large, bulky men began to step in front of him so that he could not. He was beginning to get the feeling that the criminals in this place were very territorial. He turned around and grabbed Aeris by the hand. If any of the thugs down here wanted to get to her, they'd have to go through him first.
Not far from where they were standing, or rather walking very slowly, was a shack with the door open. There didn't appear to be any men hanging around it so Cloud began to head in that direction. He was right about there not being any men right in front of the shack, but wrong about men being near it. They were not even halfway there before a group of three large men approached them.
"Hey sweet thang." The largest one said to Aeris. "You wanna give big daddy some sucky sucky?" He licked his lips as he said it. One of the other men was staring at Aeris' chest, while the third was eyeing Cloud.
"Hey leave her alone, asshole." Cloud said. "Get the fuck outta here."
"Hey what'd you say?" The second man asked. "I'll crack your neck and rape your fuckin' girl, you talk to me like that."
"Try it, dickhead. I'll have you in a puddle of your own blood before your hand gets halfway to my neck."
The man's face turned red, and before the other two thugs even knew what was happening he lunged for Cloud's throat. In a split-second, Cloud had his sword in hand and he swung it forcefully at the man's chest. Cloud heard the man's ribcage crack as he doubled over from the blow and began to spurt blood on the barren ground beneath him.
The other two men, too stupid to run, lunged at Cloud like their fallen companion. In one clean swipe, Cloud took of one of their heads and swiped the other in the face. Before the body of the decapitated man could even fall to the ground, Cloud had finished the job on the last one. As he grabbed for his cut face, Cloud thrust his sword outward and impaled the man on the end of it. He withdrew his sword from the man's belly, and let the body fall limply to the ground to accompany the other two.
Around the prison, other thugs could be seen nervously shuffling their feet and walking into the relative safety of their shacks. Brawls were known to happen in the prison, and they often resulted in death. However, they were not used to the kind of brutality that someone with Cloud's power could commit. Cloud had the feeling he would not need to deal with any more fights while they were down here.
"Don't look at them." Cloud said to Aeris, who's eyes were fixated on the fallen men.
"You saved me." Was all she could say. "Thank you."
"My pleasure." He replied. "Let's get going. They're already starting to smell."
They continued on their way to the shack with the open door. As they approached it, they could see that it was not empty inside. There were a couple of prisoners inside the shack, but they were not as big as most of the others and didn't look as powerful. Cloud had a feeling he could probably take the shack from them without much trouble.
He entered the shack first, followed by Aeris and then Cait Sith. The two men inside were having a conversation, but they turned to the three visitors as soon as they came in.
"Hey, you fellas haven't seen a big black guy with a gun for an arm around here, have ya?" One of the men asked. "I heard he's been tearing around here shootin' up the prisoners."
"He's down here?" Cloud asked to no one in particular. "Holy crap."
"Wait, so y'all know who I'm talkin' 'bout then?" The man asked. Cloud nodded, but didn't say anything.
"Why would he be shooting everyone, Cloud?" Aeris asked. "It doesn't make sense."
Cloud didn't answer her. He didn't have time to. Aeris had barely finished asking the question when Barret barged through the front of the shack. His eyes were still burning with rage.
"Barret!" Aeris greeted him. "Are you okay?"
He didn't answer her, but raised his gun-arm to prepare to fire.
"Barret, what the hell are you doing?" Cloud cried. "Put that arm down!"
Barret didn't listen. He held his arm up for a few seconds, and then opened fire.
"Barret!" Cloud yelled, dodging out of the way. He grabbed Aeris as he fell to the ground, to keep her from getting hit. When the gunfire ceased, his raised himself to his feet to make sure that neither he or Aeris was hurt. They were not, but the two men that had been in the shack were lying dead on the floor.
"Barret!" Cloud yelled again. "What did you kill them for?!"
"They deserved to die." He replied.
"No they didn't!" Aeris said. "They didn't do anything to you."
"Did you kill those guards in the Gold Saucer, Barret?" Cloud asked. Barret nodded.
"Fuckin' Shinra are better off dead." He said.
"Barret, you can't just go around shooting people." Cloud said. "Aren't you forgetting why we came this far?"
"I don't give a shit anymore. It's not worth it." Barret replied. He turned around and walked out the door.
"Barret!" Cloud yelled after him. Barret ignored him and kept walking.
Cloud ran out the door to see Barret heading off toward what appeared to be an automobile graveyard, not unlike the train graveyard in the Midgar slums, near the far edge of the prison. He ran after him, and Aeris followed. Barret sat on the edge of one of the old cars and put his face in his hands again. Cloud walked up to him and sat nearby, but not too close as to arouse Barret's anger again. He could hear crying, and at first he thought it was Barret but then he realized it didn't sound like Barret. Barret heard it too. He lifted his head out of his hands so he could hear it better. He looked puzzled.
"You hear that?" He asked Cloud. Cloud nodded. Barret got up from his seat on top of the car and began to walk in the direction of the crying.
"Barret, where are you going?" Cloud asked. He wasn't at all sure of anything about this man anymore. He never thought he'd see Barret kill so brutally, and without reason. Barret ignored him and continued to walk, winding around the automobile graveyard and toward the cliff face beyond it. Besides being surrounded by vast desert, the desert prison also had a steep cliff on one side, the same cliff that partially bordered North Corel. Cloud wondered why, if that cliff brought back such horrible memories for Barret, was he heading right toward it.
As Barret made his way around the giant pile of destroyed trucks and cars, he could see the source of the crying. There was a man who appeared to be about the same age as Barret sitting on his knees in front of two shabby, makeshift gravestones. There were tears in his eyes. Behind him, the edge of the cliff could be seen in all its splendor, the rift extended far below them and the desert beyond stretching as far as the eye could see. The wind whistled as it blew over the cliff, and dust and sand blew at their faces. The man heard Barret and Cloud approach, but he did not turn his head.
Cloud looked at Barret and then back at the man. Barret looked as though he had seen a ghost. The man kneeling before the two gravestones was missing his left arm. Instead of a forearm, he had what appeared to be a shotgun-like gun-arm. Cloud suddenly began to piece together what was happening here.
"Dyne." Barret said under his breath.
Aeris ran up behind Cloud to see Barret facing the man in front of him. She began to speak, but Cloud silenced her.
"I heard stories about somebody getting' a gun-arm like me." Barret said. "I always thought they either weren't true, or the guy wasn't you."
"I haven't seen you in years, Barret." The man said, not turning his head from the gravestones. "I'd prefer to keep it that way."
"Dyne, please don't blame for what happened that day." Barret pleaded. "Everybody else still does."
"Who the hell am I supposed to blame then, Barret?"
"The Shinra!" Barret yelled.
"I can't bring myself to blame something so big like that." Dyne replied. "It doesn't make any sense."
"Who did you bury there?" Barret asked, changing the subject.
"What the hell do you care?" Dyne asked. "Two guys I knew down here that died in a brawl. It happens every week, at least. This is the kind of shit hole I have to live in because of you."
"It's not because of me." Barret replied. "Come on, Dyne. Come with me. I can get you out of here."
"And do what, Barret?" He asked. "Reminisce about old times? Talk about our families? Pretend we still like each other? For God sake, I haven't seen you since you dropped me down that cliff and for no good reason I survived! And now I have to live like this for the rest of my life."
He stood up and raised his gun-arm in the same fashion that Cloud had seen Barret raise it many a time.
"Dyne, come with me and we'll fight the Shinra." Barret said. "They're the real enemy. It's because of them that you have to live like this."
"It isn't worth it, Barret." Dyne replied. "It's not even worth living. You're a mouse fighting a lion. You'll never be able to do anything."
"That's not true, Dyne…" Barret began to say. He was cut off by a gunshot from Dyne's arm. He dodged out of the way as the shells barely missed his body.
"Dyne!" Barret yelled. "We used to be friends!"
Dyne raised his arm to fire again, but Barret shot him once in the knee to keep from doing any more harm. Dyne leaned over to grasp his leg in pain.
"You live in a different world than I ever did, Barret." He said through clenched teeth. "I never want to live in your world."
"Dyne, I never wanted any of this for you." Barret replied.
"I'm sure you didn't." Dyne said, still holding onto his leg. Limping heavily, he began to back up toward the edge of the cliff.
"Dyne, what are you doing?" Barret asked nervously.
"Is Marlene still around?" Dyne asked, ignoring Barret's question. Barret nodded.
"Yeah, she's in Midgar."
"Give this to her for me." Dyne said, taking off the pendant he was wearing around his neck and tossing it to Barret.
"This was your favorite necklace." Barret said. Dyne didn't reply to that.
"I don't think you'll ever be able to change this world, Barret." Dyne said. "But I hope you can, for everyone else's sake. I just don't want to be around in case you fail."
"Dyne, please…" Barret didn't have time to finish the sentence. Dyne backed all the way to the edge of the cliff, and then jumped backward into the air. He made not a sound as he fell the huge distance toward the ground at the bottom of the rift. Above, Barret, Cloud and Aeris heard a loud thump, and then silence except for the whistling of the wind. Barret sat down on the ground and put his face in his hands again.
"It's okay, Barret." Aeris said, putting her hands on his shoulders. "It was never your fault. You're a good man, Barret. You really are."
Cloud gestured for Aeris to follow him away from the cliff, and she reluctantly did so. Cloud thought Barret could use a little more time to be alone. He was surprised to see that Barret slowly got up and followed them. Cloud headed back to the shack where Barret had killed the two men, but Barret gestured for them to go a different way.
"I think I can get us out of here now." He said softly.
"Let me go get Cait Sith first." Aeris said. She ran toward the shack to go summon the cat and his mog.
"Who's she getting?" Barret asked.
"A strange creature we met at the Gold Saucer." Cloud replied. "Aeris wants him to come along with us."
Normally Barret probably would have protested, but there was no resistance left in him at this point. He was too depressed. He just shrugged and waited for Aeris to return with Sith. Once they arrived, he led them toward a small trailer not far from the hut that they had fallen into when they first arrived in the prison. There was a huge shaft extending above the trailer to the sky. Cloud guessed it probably connected the trailer to the Gold Saucer high above them.
Barret entered, and waited for Cloud to accompany him. There was a man sitting behind a desk and behind him was what appeared to be an elevator leading upward. Cloud guessed that the man was probably the jailer for the prison.
"Can I help you folks?" He asked. He looked at Aeris, puzzled that young girl like her would be in the prison. "Are you prisoners?"
"Yeah, but we want out." Barret said.
"Well I'm afraid you can't get out except under certain circumstances." The jailer replied. "Dio will often let prisoners out if they can win a chocobo race."
"So let's do that then." Cloud suggested. "I've only raced once before, but I might be able to do it."
"Well, son, the problem is there's a huge waiting list for the race." The jailer said. "You might have to wait a few months before we can schedule you, and then you might not even win."
"A few months?" Cloud asked incredulously. "We can't wait that long."
The jailer shrugged.
"Sorry." Was all he could say. He looked sadly at the four of them. They didn't seem to be bad people. Suddenly, he noticed the pendant that Barret was holding.
"Oh my God." He said. "Isn't that Dyne's pendant? You must have killed him to get that." He looked around at them nervously.
"Alright I'll see if I can get you to a race right now. Which one of you will do the racing?"
"I will." Cloud said.
"Okay, get in that elevator." The jailer said. "When you get to the top, a woman named Ester will get you all set. If you win the race, I'll make sure that Dio lets you and your companions leave the prison."
Cloud nodded, and walked toward the elevator.
"Good luck." Aeris said.
"Thanks." Cloud replied. "I'll do my best."
The jailer closed the elevator door in front of Cloud, and he was lifted upward to face his challenge.
***
When the elevator doors opened, Cloud found himself back in the Gold Saucer. This time, however, he was in a small waiting room. There were a bunch of veteran racers sitting at a table in the middle of the room. Cloud looked around nervously. He wondered if he had any real chance of beating them.
A short woman wearing heavy make-up approached him as he stepped away from the elevator.
"Why you must be the young man who's goin' to race to win his freedom." She said. "Why aren't you just a little darlin'. Come on, I'll set you up real nice."
She took him by the hand and lead him toward a small office.
"My name's Ester, by the way." She said as they walked. "What's yours, darlin'?"
"Cloud." He said. "Cloud Strife."
"Alright then, Cloud." She said. "Listen, hon. They told me down there to give you a real good chocobo to race with, but that ain't gonna win the race for ya. You gotta know what you're doin' too."
"I've raced before." Cloud replied. "I know what I'm doing."
"Don't get too cocky now, hon." Ester said. "I've seen a lot of good boys lose the race 'cause they were so sure they were gonna win."
"I'll keep that in mind." Cloud said.
"Alright, well if you're ready then you can wait outside until the race starts." She said. "I'll show you which chocobo is yours once you get in the arena. Good luck, hon."
He nodded, and then headed back to the waiting room. He sat in a chair away from the table and was silent. The veterans were chatting about various races and how they won them, or almost won them. Cloud doubted that most of the stories were true, but they were interesting to listen to anyway. After awhile, a buzzer went off in the room and the men at the table got up and began to file out of the room. Cloud followed them down a large stairwell that lead to the chocobo cages in front of the arena.
Inside the cage area Cloud could hear the loud chirps and nasal sounds of the chocobos, and outside the cheering of the fans. It made him a little nervous to know that such a huge crowed of people was a about to see him race. He hoped that he wouldn't make an embarassing mistake. In fact, he sincerely hoped that he'd win the race so that he could free himself and his friends.
Ester was standing in front of one of the chocobo cages, and she waved to him when she saw him enter the cage area. He walked toward her to see to chocobo inside the cage. It was a large, yellow bird. It appeared to be in good shape.
"He isn't very big." Cloud commented.
"She might not be very big." Ester corrected him. "But she can run like hell, and she's got good stamina too. She'll do ya just fine, darlin'."
Cloud just shrugged. With Ester's help, he opened the cage and grabbed onto the reins of the bird. Together, they guided the animal to the starting point where Cloud would begin the race. Around him, Cloud saw the other racers bringing their chocobos to the starting point as well. In front of them, the large cage doors were opening to expose to the starting points, the racers, and the chocobos to the fans. Their endless cheering became even louder.
"Just do your best and you'll be fine, hon." Ester said. "Good luck."
She turned around and ran up the stairs to the calm of the waiting room and her office. Cloud tried to remain calm as well, as he lifted himself onto the back of the chocobo. He rubbed the back of its neck slightly to calm it down, and to keep it from being frightened of him.
"Don't fail me, girl." He said to the back of its ear. "I need to win this race, and I need your help."
He felt a little silly whispering in the ear of the chocobo, but as he lifted his head and looked around he saw that he wasn't the only one doing it. At least two other racers were doing the same thing. He leaned forward and grabbed tightly onto the reins of the animal, preparing himself for the race that was about to start.
It all seemed to happen so quickly. The announcer let everyone know that the race was about to start, and a large light on the ceiling flashed red. The other races shifted in their seats at the top of the animals slightly, and Cloud did the same. The light turned yellow, and the other racers remained still, with looks of determination on their faces. The light turned green, and the race had begun.
Cloud and his opponents immediately bolted away from the starting points and into the racecourse. Cloud got a good head start and began the race ahead of everyone else. He leaned close to the animal to keep his upper body from becoming a hindrance to the aerodynamics of the running creature. He didn't know the course, but the chocobo did, and she made the turns as though she had done it every day of her life. It probably wasn't far from the truth.
Cloud found that the race was not that difficult. Ester was right about them giving him a good chocobo. The one he was riding had excellent stamina, and had been running at a good pace since the beginning of the race. The closest racer behind him was still out of sight. Around him the racecourse was illuminated by a psychedelic display of lights. After a run beneath a small tunneled area, he was exposed to the crowd again. They cheered in a huge roar for him, the current leader.
He was impressed by how easily he was able to stay ahead of the other racers. Before long he could see the end of the race. It was now all within his grasp. He pushed the chocobo to go a little faster. He saw that the other racers had done the same and were gaining a little ground on him. It wasn't enough. Even the closest racer behind him couldn't pull it together enough to get ahead. Cloud crossed the finish line first, and he and his yellow chocobo became the winners for that race.
Ester and a few other important members of the chocobo circuit came to congratulate him. Dio, still shirtless, entered the racing area followed by two Shinra guards for protection.
"Sorry about that whole prison thing." He said. "I'll let you and your friends go since you won the race."
"Thanks." Cloud said, shaking the large man's hand.
"I'll even throw in an extra something for ya, to make up for the trouble I put ya through." He added, and then walked back to join the growing crowd of Gold Saucer employees. Cloud shrugged and then headed back toward the door through which everyone had come. He was anxious to round up his companions and get the Hell out of there.
Ester lead him back to the waiting room he had come in when he was first brought up from the desert prison. Barret, Aeris, and Cait Sith were waiting there to congratulate him and thank him for winning their freedom. Cloud told Ester to make an announcement for Red XIII and Tifa to meet them by the entrance to the park.
When Cloud and the other three got to the main entrance, Tifa, Red XIII, and Dio were waiting for them.
"Cloud!" Tifa yelled and ran toward him. She hugged him tightly. "I saw you race. You were wonderful!"
"Yes, Cloud." Red XIII said. "I heard about your race. Excellent job."
"I apologize for the inconvenience to ya all." Dio said. "As part of my apology I'm gonna give you one of my personal dune buggies. It's a great vehicle, and it'll get ya around real quick. I'll have somebody take ya down to pick it up, and then you fine folks can be on your way." He turned to Cait Sith. "Sorry for throwin' ya in the prison, Sith. We're gonna miss ya around here."
Cait Sith just nodded and waved goodbye. Dio turned and left them alone, now a group of six.
When they had been taken back to the ground once again, Cloud felt relieved to know that they could finally leave. He had been excited to come when they first got there, but now he was ready to let the Gold Saucer become just a memory. Aeris and Tifa were crooning over how nice their new vehicle was, and Red XIII and Cait Sith were arguing over whether it was stranger for a cat or a wolf to be able to talk. Barret was still feeling depressed and remained silent.
Cloud took the driver's seat of the buggy and began to acquaint himself with the controls and the interior. Before long, he was confident that he could drive it. Aeris found that the control panel in the front of the buggy had the option to turn on a 3-D map of the world on it. After some deliberating while looking at the map, they decided to head for the village of Gongaga, which was about halfway between where they were and Cosmo Canyon. They would make a pit stop there, and then head straight for Red XIII's birthplace.
Cloud really hoped that Barret would be able to break out of this little funk. He wanted the good old Barret back. The one that he would get into fights with on occasion, but who was always an excellent fighter and a worthwhile companion. He was going to need the old Barret when they got to Cosmo Canyon. There was work that needed to be done, and Barret would be no help in a depressed state. Cloud just hoped that with the passing of North Corel and the Gold Saucer, Barret would be able to put his worries out of sight and out of mind.
Cloud awoke early in the morning to the same sound that he'd fallen asleep to. The waves crashing onto to the shore made a pleasant, calming sound that made Cloud feel very peaceful as he yawned and stretched. It was a great feeling to wake up near the beach. He could see himself living there, if he actually lived long enough to grow old. Sometimes he wondered if he would.
His mind started drifting to thinking about Sephiroth. He looked the same as he had all those years ago. His long silver hair flowing behind him. His face had changed a little, though. He didn't just sound insane. He looked insane.
Everyone else was asleep, so he headed down to the information office at the front of the hotel. He could see through the window that people had already gotten to the beach, and some were even swimming. The hotel clerk was a young woman that was shooting around at a pool table near the entrance. He talked with her for a little while, but he didn't find her to be a real good conversationalist. After awhile he got bored and told her he had to go back to the room. She gave him a map of the places nearby that she usually gave to tourists that stayed at Costa del Sol. She said he might find someplace interesting.
He went back to the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. The map was pretty big, and he unfolded it so he could see the whole thing. On the right side of the map was the East Continent, close to the center of which was Midgar. He placed his finger on the paper and traced the path that they had already taken from Midgar to Kalm to Junon, and finally to Costa del Sol.
He wasn't sure where they would go next. Sephiroth had obviously left the beach as soon as the boat had landed. Not far from Costa del Sol on the map was a village called North Corel. He'd heard of it before. The only reason anyone went there was because it was home to the tram that led to the Gold Saucer, a giant amusement park that was built at the top of a huge tower so that it would extend into the sky.
He grabbed a marking pen from the desk in the room and began circling the places they should go. He figured they could probably make it to North Corel in less than a day, and they could spend some time enjoying themselves in Gold Saucer as long as they were there. He'd never been there, and it was supposed to be quite a sight to see. Afterwards, they could head for Cosmo Canyon, which wasn't far from North Corel. He was satisfied with this plan of action, so he folded the map up and laid back down on the bed.
He dozed off for awhile, and about and hour later he woke up to the feeling of Barret's hand on his shoulder. He had the map in his hand.
"Did you put these circles on the map?" He asked, his face twisted almost as if he was interrogating Cloud.
Cloud sat up and rubbed his eyes. The others were awake and were sitting on the edges of the beds, talking and drinking coffee.
"What kind of way is that to wake someone up?" Cloud asked, kiddingly. He smiled, but Barret's face remained as stone.
"I'm not fuckin' kidding, Cloud." He replied. "Did you put these circles on the map?"
"Yeah I did." Cloud answered, getting defensive. "What the hell's the problem?"
"We can't go to North Corel." Barret answered, throwing the map on the floor. "End of story."
"Why the hell not?' Cloud asked. "I figured we'd go there, stay at Gold Saucer so the girls would have something to do for awhile, and then we'd head for…"
"I don't give a fuck what you figured." Barret interrupted. "We're not going there."
"Look, Barret." Cloud said, getting angry. "I don't know what the fuck your problem is but I got up early just to set up that plan. If you've got a better one why don't you let us know about it."
"I don't care what the plan is as long as we don't go to North Corel." Barret answered.
"Well I want to know why." Cloud replied. "Because I think it would be a nice place to visit."
"Not for anything, but I agree with Cloud." Tifa chimed in. "Why can't we go there."
"I used to live there." Barret answered. He turned his back to both of them, seeing that he was now fighting a losing battle.
"So?" Cloud asked. "That should be a good reason for you to want to go there."
"I had some bad experiences there, okay." Barret replied. "And I really don't want to go back there."
"Barret, you're a strong willed guy." Cloud said. "Whatever happened there when you were younger, try and put it behind you. It'll be a lot easier for all of us if you just suck it up and let us go there."
With that, he got up off the bed and walked out of the room. He slammed the door behind him.
"Asshole." Barret muttered under his breath as Cloud left.
Everyone else in the room was speechless. Cloud came back shortly, after having something to eat. He told everyone to get their stuff together, and soon they were ready to leave. Everyone knew that Cloud had been decided on as the leader when they left Midgar, and if he said they were going to North Corel then that's where they were going to go. They left on a pleasant note, with Cloud getting the girls and even Red XIII excited about the prospect of seeing Gold Saucer. Barret remained silent the entire time.
As Cloud had anticipated, the trip took less than a day. It was dusk when they reached the small town located near one of the West Continent's many mountain ranges. It was very run down, and it looked even poorer than the Midgar slums. The only thing of technological value that met the eye was the blue tram at the edge of the village. It was a propeller driven vehicle that could ride along two huge cables that led from the ground level to the top of the huge tower, on top of which sat the Gold Saucer amusement park.
As they approached the village they looked upward to try and get a glimpse of the park, but the clouds were thick and they could see nothing except for the tower extending toward the sky. The town had the distinct smell of poverty, much like the slums of Midgar. Cloud recognized it as the smell of an unbathed human being.
They walked slowly into town along a beaten dirt road that looked like it had been traveled thousands of times before them. There was a large white sign, the only clean object in the whole town, that read "Gold Saucer" with an arrow pointing in the direction that they were going. Cloud guessed that this dirty, dusty, hell hole got just enough business from travelers coming to the park to keep from disappearing from the face of the planet.
Barret was silent the entire time, but he looked very apprehensive. They soon found out why. Across the village, a few heads began to turn as they saw him walking along the beaten path with the others. He kept his face pointing forward, but they did not. Soon, a few of the young men began gesturing to other members of the village to come. They headed down to the path along which Barret was walking and approached him. Cloud and the others tried to keep walking, but the men stood in front of them and blocked their path.
"You guys stay out of this." Barret finally said. "This is my problem."
He walked in front of everyone else to stand in front of the men that had confronted them. One of the younger ones, a muscular man of medium height who appeared to be in his forties, walked right up to Barret so that he was almost close enough to feel the other's breath. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, the older man looking right into Barret's face, and Barret trying to look in another direction as if the other man wasn't even there. Then the man broke the silence, punching Barret in the midsection. Barret did not cry out, but he doubled over in pain. The fact that he stayed on his feet was a show of his strength.
"What the fuck do you think you're doin' comin' back here, Barret?" The man asked. "You know you ain't welcome here."
"My friends need to come through here." Barret answered through clenched teeth. The wind had been knocked out of him, and he was having trouble both breathing and standing. He was hunched over as he said it.
"You think I give a rat's ass about your friends?" The man asked. "If they're your friends then they're my enemies."
"Hey leave him alone, asshole!" Cloud retorted, pulling out his sword. The man backed away slightly, but a few of the other men in the back revealed old but functional guns from within their working overalls.
"No, Cloud." Barret held him back. "Don't start a fight. I told you this is my own problem."
"You got some balls takin' a sword out in front of my guys." The man said to Cloud. "If you didn't have two women with you I'd kill the both of you motherfuckers. I'd be doin' the world a goddamn favor."
"Watch it, dickhead." Cloud warned. "I could kill every single one of you if I felt like it."
"I'd like to see you try." The man retorted. "I'm gonna be nice and let you guys haul ass out of my town before I blow a good sized hole into Barret's skull."
He turned his head to face Barret, who was still hunched over.
"But if I ever see you back here again, I'll make sure that I personally get to make you suffer before I kill you."
He turned around and walked quickly back to the pathetic town from which he'd come. Cloud wanted to follow him and show that he meant business, but Barret held him back.
"Don't, Cloud." He said, sadly. "Let it go."
Cloud looked at the sad man, holding his arm over his midsection, and felt a little sad himself. He looked a different man than he did just a day ago. Before he had been a happy, albeit easily angered, leader. Now he looked like a beaten man. Cloud wondered what could have possibly happened here years ago that would have incited the other man to such anger, and to instill such unhappiness into Barret.
"Come on, guys." He said. "Let's just go to Gold Saucer."
He hoped that the cheerful atmosphere of the amusement park would cheer up Barret. As much as he would hate to admit it, he was beginning to like Barret. He didn't like to see him this way.
The terminal for the tram wasn't far from where they had been confronted. They paid the clerk operating the machine, and then they boarded the large blue vehicle. They were tethered to the two cables above, which drooped under the weight of the tram. Cloud made sure his seat belt was buckled tightly as the tram shook beneath him. In the back of the transport, the propellers had been activated and were creating a fan behind that would propel the tram up the cables and into the sky.
As they began to ascend, everyone looked out of the windows to get a wonderful view of the world around them. They could see land, sea, and mountains for miles from their high vantage point. After awhile, Tifa became too curious to hold in her thoughts any longer.
"Why did that man hit you back there?" She asked Barret. He was sitting with his eyes closed ignoring the view around him.
"I don't want to talk about it." He answered, leaving his eyes closed.
"Come on, Barret." She urged. "He was really mean to you. There had to be a reason for it."
"Yeah, Barret." Cloud entered the conversation. "What happened when you were here that would make those men hate you so much? Did you do something wrong?"
Barret looked like he wanted to cry, but that would be far too much of an insult to his masculinity so he held it back.
"Yeah, I did do somethin' wrong." He answered. "I really don't want to talk about it, but I'll tell ya if you really have to know."
"Please, Barret." Tifa replied. "Tell us. Maybe we can help."
"I doubt that." He answered, sighing. He had opened his eyes, and his face appeared all twisted. "I hate thinkin' about these memories. That's why I told you not to make me come here, Cloud."
He looked at Cloud with a cold stare. There was clearly some resentment over the fact.
"I grew up in North Corel my whole life." Barret began. "Back then it was a good town. My dad was a miner, and so was his dad. It was a mining town. Back before those fuckin' Shinra bastards all our energy came from mining coal.
"We all had pretty good money back then from the mining. I had everything I wanted. I was really happy, which is why it pisses me off so much that I screwed up."
"What did you do, Barret?" Tifa asked. "I'm sure you couldn't have done something bad intentionally."
"No, I didn't mean to do it!" He agreed, almost in hysterics. "But those goddamn Shinra messed with my head. They convinced me."
"What do you mean, Barret?" Tifa asked. "Please tell us."
"The whole town got together one day because the Shinra told us they were visiting." Barret said. "I was one of the town heads, and I had to bring everyone together. The other town head was a guy named Dyne who I was real good friends with. The Shinra sent two people, Scarlet and some other guy, to convince us to let them build a Mako Reactor to replace our coal power. They said we'd make a lot more profit off of a reactor, and they tried to convince us that it was safe and everything.
"They gave us some time to think about it, and I thought it was a great idea. A lot of the others did too, but Dyne disagreed. He and I got into a big argument over it, but he finally agreed to let them build it. They came over and built the thing right in the middle of the goddamn town."
He was still really broken up over talking about it, and he held his head in his hands for a few moments before continuing.
"They told me it was safe. Safe my fuckin' ass!" He said. "Dyne and I were out of town for a few days about a month or two after they built the thing. We got into town and there were Shinra soldiers all over the place. The town was burning, I mean literally on fuckin' fire! They told us not to move anywhere. That Scarlet bitch was with them, and she told them to open fire on us."
His eyes were burning red as he spoke. No one in the tram had ever seen him so emotional.
"We ran like hell, but there were too many soldiers. We didn't know why the hell they were shootin' at us, so we just kept running. We wound up running right up to the edge of one of the cliffs on the outskirts of town. Dyne overran the edge and slipped off. I caught him and held him as hard as I could, but the soldiers were right behind us on an overpass that ran near the cliff. They fired down on us, and one of their bullets went right through the arm I was holding Dyne with and into his arm. We both lost our grip and he fell to the ground under the cliff.
"I got away from those sons of bitches, but there was nothin' for me to run to. The whole goddamn town was burned down. So I got out of there, and I eventually made it to Midgar. I found out later that the reason they burned down the town was because there was a failure at the reactor that killed everyone inside and contaminated the land around it or some shit like that. Instead of suckin' it up and admitting they made a mistake, the Shinra blamed the accident on everyone in North Corel and lit the place up as an example for the rest of the world
"I tried to get in and save everyone but the fire was too big by the time I got there. I lost Dyne and my wife, and I almost lost Marlene. Thank God she wasn't there when it happened. The survivors that knew what happened blamed the whole fuckin' thing on me instead of the Shinra, because I was the one that insisted we let them build the reactor in the first place. That's why they all hate me back there. And you know what? He was right to punch me. They have no homes because of me. This place used to be a real town, now it's just a piece of shit slum like the bottom of Midgar. I fucked up bad, and now they have nothing because of me."
He put his head in his hands again and wept. He had lost all of his outer "manliness" and had resigned himself to cry. He couldn't help it, even in front of Cloud. Tifa rubbed his back and tried to calm him.
"It wasn't your fault, Barret." She said softly. "It was the Shinra's fault. You know that. I know that. This is just another reason for us to be fighting them."
"Yeah come on, Barret." Aeris chimed in. "We know you didn't mean for that to happen. Those people back there just don't know you like we do."
Barret lifted his face, his eyes red with tears, and looked at Aeris with a cold, deep stare.
"They know more about me than you'll ever know." He managed to say between slight sobbing. He placed his head back in the comfort of his shielding hands, and the tram became silent once again.
Outside Cloud could see that they were approaching the amusement park. There were fireworks erupting not far from the tram lines, and they lit the night sky with brilliant flares. Above, he could see the brightly shining stars. They were so high in the sky that they had the vantage point of being above the cloud cover.
The amusement park was huge and sprawling, covering every inch of the top of the wide pillar on which it sat, and extending upward. There were roller-coasters spanning the outer perimeter of the park, and large trams running above the roller-coasters that allowed for an excellent view, and moved at a slower pace than the one used to bring patrons to the park, making them much more enjoyable than utilitarian.
The docking station for the tram was shaped like the head of a huge mog (a rarely seen creature that resembled a short, pudgy, teddy bear with wings and generally inhabited areas that humans had yet to venture) and the tram went through the "mouth" to reach the actual dock. As it came to rest, Cloud could see the ticket vendor outside of the tram window, and a line of people waiting to get in.
"Looks like it's pretty popular." Cloud commented. Aeris nodded. Her eyes were flitting back and forth, as though they were trying to take in as much of the seen around them as they could. She looked completely memorized by the spectacle around her.
Cloud exited the tram first, and got on line for the tickets. Altogether they cost 3,000 gil, which burned a significant hole in his pocket but he figured it would be worth it. Normally he was rather thrifty with his money, but he could make exceptions when he felt the time was right. The ticket vendor directed them to a lobby beyond the front desk. It was a circular room with hallways leading to each of the areas in the park. At the far end of the lobby was a large directory, giving locations and descriptions for each of the areas.
Cloud walked over to the directory and looked at it to see what was interesting. There was a stage located near the lobby, but there were no shows playing for another hour so he quickly abandoned the idea of going there. Also nearby was a video arcade room (called Wonder Square), and the Battle Square which was described as "a place for one to show off their fighting skills and win prizes." Both piqued his interest, and he hoped he'd get to see them by the end of the night. The other destinations were the roller-coaster, the tram rides, and the chocobo racing arena which appeared to be the most popular attraction.
"Well, I'm interested in the arcade." Cloud said as he walked back to the patienly waiting group.
"Oh cool! An arcade!" Aeris responded. "I've never seen one before. I'll go with you, Cloud!"
Cloud nodded.
"Anybody else want to come with us?" Cloud asked.
"I think I'm gonna check out the chocobo races." Tifa replied. "I've heard they're pretty exciting."
She looked at the excitement in Aeris' eyes, and somehow she felt a warmth inside. She sighed as Cloud talked to Red XIII and Barret. There had been a time when she thought he was the only man for her. But the chemistry she saw between him and Aeris could not be denied. And somehow, it felt right for her to let them go together, alone.
Perhaps there was something between the two of them that she could feel, but she couldn't understand. She tried to push the thoughts out of her mind and let her worries go so that she could have fun. Even though she had volunteered to see the chocobo race for the sole reason of letting Cloud and Aeris be alone, she really did think that it would be an enjoyable experience.
"What about you Red?" Cloud was asking, as Tifa brooded in thought.
"I think I'm going to have a seat in the theater and wait for a show to come on." Red XIII replied. "I really must give myself a rest from walking. Even animals with four legs get tired sometimes.
"And how about you, Barret?" Cloud asked. Barret had continued his voluntary silence since the last time he had spoken in the tram. He had stopped crying, but his eyes were still red and puffy.
"You guys all have a good fuckin' time." He said angrily. "I think you're all forgettin' what we left Midgar for."
"We're just trying to take a little break…" Cloud tried to respond, but Barret interrupted him.
"Whatever, I don't give a shit." He said. "You do what you want. I'm outta here."
He stormed down the hallway leading to the fighting arena. Cloud turned to everyone else.
"Let him go. He needs some time to think by himself." He said. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna try to relax and have a good time."
The other three nodded, and then they headed their separate ways. The hallway leading to the arcade passed through a movie theater area, and Aeris was quick to check what movies were playing.
"You know, I've never seen a movie before either." She said to Cloud.
"Really?" He replied. "You don't know what you're missing. Movies can be pretty cool, when they're done right."
"My mom used to say that books were better so I wasn't really missing out on anything." She responded.
"Well, in a way she's right." He said. "Elmyra's a smart woman."
"I miss her." Aeris said, suddenly a little homesick. "When do you think I'll be able to see her again?"
"I don't know." Cloud answered honestly. "Soon, I hope."
They had begun to walk into a highly crowded area in front of the Wonder Square. There was a relatively narrow walkway leading into the arcade, and the group of people waiting to get in had to funnel into the small entrance. It provided for a natural way to lessen to crowd entering into the square. Aeris was once again looking all over the place, taking in the scenery and the atmosphere. She had never been privileged enough before to see so many people having fun in one place.
"You like it here, don't you?" Cloud asked.
"I love it." She replied, not taking her eyes away from the scenery for even a moment.
Standing in the corner was a strange looking creature hopping up and down, trying to get the crowd's attention. It appeared to be a cat, standing on his hind legs on top of the shoulders of a very large and fat mog. The cat was holding a megaphone to its mouth and yelling something about telling fortunes, while the mog was rolling dice in its pudgy hands.
"That's a weird looking thing." Cloud commented. "I wonder how it can talk."
"Maybe a magic spell." Aeris suggested. "Hey, can we get him to tell us a fortune?"
"That stuff is all made up nonsense." Cloud replied. "He'll probably just scam us."
"Oh come on." Aeris said playfully. "An innocent girl like me. Come on, lets go see. It'll be fun."
She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him toward the strange looking creature.
"Can you tell us our fortune?" She asked as sweetly as possible.
"Sure!!!" The cat answered through the megaphone. She recoiled back and covered her ears at the loud noise.
"Oh, sorry." The cat apologized, without speaking through the megaphone. "I forgot I was still using that thing."
"How can you talk?" Aeris asked, looking behind him as if she would expose some hidden microphone or recording device that could be producing a voice in the cat. She found nothing.
"How can I talk?" The cat replied. "That is an odd question, to which I have no reply. But I can give you your fortune, for a small sum."
"She asks you how you can talk and that was the best excuse you can come up with?" Cloud asked, amused by the strange being.
"I'm not here to answer questions." The cat answered indignantly. Cloud noticed that although the cat appeared tall, it was only because he was standing on the shoulders of the bright pink mog. He himself was quite short. The mog was completely silent, but continued to almost nervously roll the dice in its hands. Cloud wondered if it could speak like its feline companion.
"I am simply here to give fortunes." The cat continued. "Now, would you like me to tell you yours?"
"Yeah, alright." Cloud answered.
"That will be 200 gil." The cat said.
"200 gil?" Cloud responded angrily. "What a rip off!"
Aeris looked at him with pleading eyes. He scowled at the cat, but paid up anyway.
"Thank you." The cat said, suddenly polite. He made an almost unnoticeable signal to the mog, and it began to roll the dice faster than it had before. After rolling them a couple of times, he threw them on the ground and the cat leaned over to read the results.
"You are strong willed, but weak at heart." He read aloud.
"Huh?" Aeris asked, puzzled. "Which one of us is that for? It doesn't sound like either one of us."
The cat looked at them with a calculating gaze, as if he was giving them a once over.
"You're right." He admitted. "I'll try again."
The mog went through the same motions, and once again threw down the dice for the cat to read.
"Your lucky number is 42." The cat read aloud.
Aeris crossed her arms and gave the cat a skeptical glance.
"That's not a fortune, that's a scam." She said.
"Alright, let me try one more time." The cat replied. "Third time's the charm, as they say."
The mog made the same motion again for the third and final time, and the cat leaned over on the mog's shoulders to read the results.
"You will lose something very dear to you." The cat read, his eyes showing puzzlement as he did so. "Wow, I've never given a fortune like that before."
Aeris looked genuinely intrigued by this fortune.
"Do you think it will come true?" She asked the cat.
"I have no idea." He replied, nervously. "I've really never seen something like that before."
"So what's the big deal?" Cloud asked, skeptically. "It's not like this crap is actually real."
"On the contrary, my spiky haired friend." The cat replied. "Fortune telling is very serious. I think it would be best if I come along with you so that I might find out whether this fortune comes true or not."
"That's ridiculous." Cloud replied. "We don't even know you."
"Oh, don't be so uptight." Aeris said. "We'll get to know him. I think we should give him a chance. I mean, how many chances do you think we'll have to get to know a talking cat?"
Cloud had to admit she made a compelling point.
"Please, sir. Let me come with you. I promise I won't be a burden." The cat pleaded.
Aeris gave him another one of her pleading looks to follow up the cat. Cloud sighed.
"Alright, fine." He said. "But only until we find out whether this so-called fortune is true or not."
"Deal." The cat replied. "My name is Cait Sith. Pleased to meet you."
"I'm Aeris, and this is Cloud." Aeris said, introducing herself and her companion.
"If you're gonna come with us, you have to follow my rules." Cloud said. "First off, if you hear me or any of our friends talking about stuff that sounds like it might not be legal, you keep your mouth shut and don't ask questions. And if we happen to get in any fights or monsters attack us or something, you have to make yourself useful. Do you know how to fight?"
"My mog can defend us both if need be." Sith answered.
"So are you gonna tell us how you can talk and why you sit on the shoulders of a giant mog now?" Aeris asked.
"No." He answered curtly. "I can't tell you that, so I suggest you just accept it and move on with your life."
"Alright, whatever. We gotta get going if we want to see everything in a decent amount of time." Cloud said. "I say we head for the arcade."
"Oh yeah, the arcade!" Aeris exclaimed, suddenly excited. "Let's go!"
They spent about an hour and a half in the large arcade area. Cloud won a few prizes playing a virtual motorcycle game (which he was quite good at from experience with real motorcycles) and a basketball shooting game. Aeris spent most of her time on the virtual snowboarding machine, and Cait Sith wandered around looking for people that he knew. He was apparently a regular at the park. His strange ability to talk and his odd form of transport, sitting on the shoulders of a mog, made him a bit of an enigma. Regular visitors to the park found him to be an interesting sight indeed.
After they'd had their fill of the arcade area, Cloud decided he wanted to check out the Battle Square. He was suddenly in the mood to show off his fighting skills, and Aeris seemed content to watch him. Cait Sith really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. As they entered the battle section of the amusement park, however, they were greeted with a chilling sight.
There was normally a clerk in the room who stood behind a small desk, who was there to exchange money for a ticket to fight in the battles. She was there, but she was hunched behind the desk. She was quivering in intense fright. Not far from the front of the desk were two dead Shinra guards, their chests covered in circular wounds. Blood was splattered everywhere, and the smell of gunpowder hung in the air, accompanied by the pungent smell of death.
"What the hell happened in here?" Cloud asked the woman behind the counter. He had already unsheathed his sword, and was ready to defend Aeris if anything went wrong.
"A m-man c-came in here. He killed them." She answered. She was shaking with fear, and was slurring her words.
"What man?" Cloud asked. "Don't worry, if he comes back I won't let him hurt you."
She started to cry hysterically. In between sobs, words came out in short gasps.
"He killed them both. For no reason."
"Who killed them?" Cloud asked desperately. His eyes were darting around the deserted reception area, searching wildly for any sign of a killer who might hurt his companion. Cait Sith had backed himself into a corner and was looking around nervously.
"T-there was a man with a gun for an arm. A big black man. He s-shot them both, and he said something about hating the Shinra." She broke into another sobbing fit.
"Oh my God." Aeris said. "Cloud, you don't think…"
"Barret could never do something like this." Cloud answered her unasked question. "He might be pissed off but I don't think he would kill two guards unless he was defending himself."
"Who else could have done this?" Aeris asked. "How many guys do you know with a gun for an arm?"
"Look, I don't know how to explain this." Cloud replied. "I need some time to think, and that lady's crying isn't helping."
He wasn't going to get any time to think, unfortunately. Before Aeris could respond, the door behind them was swung open and Shinra guards swarmed the room. Behind them was a large muscular man, who was shirtless. The guards in the front of the pack saw their fallen comrades and then their gazes swung to Cloud, who was still holding his sword.
"Drop your weapon!" One of the guards yelled at him. "Now!"
"Wait a second." Cloud said, cracking a smile. "You don't think I…"
"Shut the fuck up!" The guard yelled back. "Drop your weapon or I'll open fire."
Cait Sith walked forward from his spot in the corner and took a position in front of Aeris so that he was between her and the armed guards. He yelled to the shirtless man.
"Dio!" He said. "They didn't do this. We found these bodies when we got here."
"Whatever, Sith." Dio responded, flexing his muscles as he did so. "You're a fuckin' pain in my ass. You probably did this yourself because you lost a goddamn bet or something."
"Dio, it wasn't like that…" Sith tried to respond.
"Drop 'em through the Gateway to Heaven." Dio responded. With that, he turned around an left, content to leave the commotion behind him in the hands of the Shinra.
"Back up." The front guard said menacingly to Cloud.
Faced with unsheathed swords and machine guns in the hands of at least twenty Shinra guards in their cleanly pressed blue uniforms, he had no choice but to do as he was told. He was careful to block Aeris on her right side from the guards, while Sith remained in his position covering her backside.
The large doors on the other end of the room were opening. Normally they were the entrance to the battle ring, but they could serve another purpose as well. The guards prodded the three of them into the room which had now opened. The floor of the room did not appear to be entirely stable.
"Welcome to the Gateway to Heaven." The guard said, sneering. He and his fellow guards pushed the helpless three into the room. The head guard laughed.
"Enjoy!"
Aeris jumped as the doors closed loudly in front of them trapping them in the room. Suddenly the floor beneath them opened up, plunging them into darkness. At first Cloud felt like he was free falling, and for a few seconds he wondered if he was going to die the next time he felt bottom. But before he had time to brood over it, he felt a slope beneath him, and he realized he was on a slide of sorts. They flew quickly down the tunnel on the slide, Aeris screaming and Cait Sith holding desperately onto his fellow mog.
Soon, Cloud could once again see light at the end of the tunnel. As the hole became bigger and bigger in his view, they only seemed to go faster and faster. He felt hot air rush past him and bombard his face as they flew through the hole and landed on the ground hard. Cloud felt as though his whole body had just been broken as he tried to stand up on the sandy ground beneath him. The ride down the slide had been almost a rush, but the landing was physically taxing. Near him, Cait Sith didn't seem to be injured but Aeris was groaning in pain.
"You okay over there?" Cloud asked, rubbing his arm. He'd landed on his side and that arm had taken most of the force of the fall. He was surprised it wasn't broken.
"Yeah, I'm alright." Aeris answered through clenched teeth. "My arm hurts a little, that's all."
"Same here." Cloud replied. "Looks like our cat friend is indestructible. How come you aren't in pain, Sith?"
"Oh, I uh…" Sith started to respond, "I was just lucky I guess. My mog broke my fall."
"He looks like he isn't hurt either." Cloud said, suspiciously.
"He'd good at hiding pain." Sith responded, getting defensive. "Look, everyone's okay now so just accept it and…"
"Move on with your life." Cloud finished the sentence. "Alright, whatever. Let's get going. I'm watching you, Sith."
The cat's hands went up in the air, suggesting his innocence, but Cloud ignored him. He was already trying to survey his surroundings. They appeared to be in a small wooden hut. They were alone, save for a few wooden boxes littering the dusty, sandy ground. There was an open doorway on the other end of the hut and Cloud walked outside.
"Holy shit." Cloud said, dumbfounded. "This must be the desert prison."
Not far from them was what appeared to be a prison town. There were a few men walking around in shackles, but for the most part the thugs that were scattered around the town were unencumbered. There were no walls around the prison either, just an old, tattered wooden fence, in front of which a few dead bodies had been unceremoniously placed. Outside that fence was miles and miles of desert. No one could escape this place alive. At least Cloud had never heard of anyone being able to do it.
He looked upward to see that they were now beneath the Gold Saucer itself. The clouds still blocked it from view, but Cloud knew it was there. He started to walk toward one of the old wooden houses but a few large, bulky men began to step in front of him so that he could not. He was beginning to get the feeling that the criminals in this place were very territorial. He turned around and grabbed Aeris by the hand. If any of the thugs down here wanted to get to her, they'd have to go through him first.
Not far from where they were standing, or rather walking very slowly, was a shack with the door open. There didn't appear to be any men hanging around it so Cloud began to head in that direction. He was right about there not being any men right in front of the shack, but wrong about men being near it. They were not even halfway there before a group of three large men approached them.
"Hey sweet thang." The largest one said to Aeris. "You wanna give big daddy some sucky sucky?" He licked his lips as he said it. One of the other men was staring at Aeris' chest, while the third was eyeing Cloud.
"Hey leave her alone, asshole." Cloud said. "Get the fuck outta here."
"Hey what'd you say?" The second man asked. "I'll crack your neck and rape your fuckin' girl, you talk to me like that."
"Try it, dickhead. I'll have you in a puddle of your own blood before your hand gets halfway to my neck."
The man's face turned red, and before the other two thugs even knew what was happening he lunged for Cloud's throat. In a split-second, Cloud had his sword in hand and he swung it forcefully at the man's chest. Cloud heard the man's ribcage crack as he doubled over from the blow and began to spurt blood on the barren ground beneath him.
The other two men, too stupid to run, lunged at Cloud like their fallen companion. In one clean swipe, Cloud took of one of their heads and swiped the other in the face. Before the body of the decapitated man could even fall to the ground, Cloud had finished the job on the last one. As he grabbed for his cut face, Cloud thrust his sword outward and impaled the man on the end of it. He withdrew his sword from the man's belly, and let the body fall limply to the ground to accompany the other two.
Around the prison, other thugs could be seen nervously shuffling their feet and walking into the relative safety of their shacks. Brawls were known to happen in the prison, and they often resulted in death. However, they were not used to the kind of brutality that someone with Cloud's power could commit. Cloud had the feeling he would not need to deal with any more fights while they were down here.
"Don't look at them." Cloud said to Aeris, who's eyes were fixated on the fallen men.
"You saved me." Was all she could say. "Thank you."
"My pleasure." He replied. "Let's get going. They're already starting to smell."
They continued on their way to the shack with the open door. As they approached it, they could see that it was not empty inside. There were a couple of prisoners inside the shack, but they were not as big as most of the others and didn't look as powerful. Cloud had a feeling he could probably take the shack from them without much trouble.
He entered the shack first, followed by Aeris and then Cait Sith. The two men inside were having a conversation, but they turned to the three visitors as soon as they came in.
"Hey, you fellas haven't seen a big black guy with a gun for an arm around here, have ya?" One of the men asked. "I heard he's been tearing around here shootin' up the prisoners."
"He's down here?" Cloud asked to no one in particular. "Holy crap."
"Wait, so y'all know who I'm talkin' 'bout then?" The man asked. Cloud nodded, but didn't say anything.
"Why would he be shooting everyone, Cloud?" Aeris asked. "It doesn't make sense."
Cloud didn't answer her. He didn't have time to. Aeris had barely finished asking the question when Barret barged through the front of the shack. His eyes were still burning with rage.
"Barret!" Aeris greeted him. "Are you okay?"
He didn't answer her, but raised his gun-arm to prepare to fire.
"Barret, what the hell are you doing?" Cloud cried. "Put that arm down!"
Barret didn't listen. He held his arm up for a few seconds, and then opened fire.
"Barret!" Cloud yelled, dodging out of the way. He grabbed Aeris as he fell to the ground, to keep her from getting hit. When the gunfire ceased, his raised himself to his feet to make sure that neither he or Aeris was hurt. They were not, but the two men that had been in the shack were lying dead on the floor.
"Barret!" Cloud yelled again. "What did you kill them for?!"
"They deserved to die." He replied.
"No they didn't!" Aeris said. "They didn't do anything to you."
"Did you kill those guards in the Gold Saucer, Barret?" Cloud asked. Barret nodded.
"Fuckin' Shinra are better off dead." He said.
"Barret, you can't just go around shooting people." Cloud said. "Aren't you forgetting why we came this far?"
"I don't give a shit anymore. It's not worth it." Barret replied. He turned around and walked out the door.
"Barret!" Cloud yelled after him. Barret ignored him and kept walking.
Cloud ran out the door to see Barret heading off toward what appeared to be an automobile graveyard, not unlike the train graveyard in the Midgar slums, near the far edge of the prison. He ran after him, and Aeris followed. Barret sat on the edge of one of the old cars and put his face in his hands again. Cloud walked up to him and sat nearby, but not too close as to arouse Barret's anger again. He could hear crying, and at first he thought it was Barret but then he realized it didn't sound like Barret. Barret heard it too. He lifted his head out of his hands so he could hear it better. He looked puzzled.
"You hear that?" He asked Cloud. Cloud nodded. Barret got up from his seat on top of the car and began to walk in the direction of the crying.
"Barret, where are you going?" Cloud asked. He wasn't at all sure of anything about this man anymore. He never thought he'd see Barret kill so brutally, and without reason. Barret ignored him and continued to walk, winding around the automobile graveyard and toward the cliff face beyond it. Besides being surrounded by vast desert, the desert prison also had a steep cliff on one side, the same cliff that partially bordered North Corel. Cloud wondered why, if that cliff brought back such horrible memories for Barret, was he heading right toward it.
As Barret made his way around the giant pile of destroyed trucks and cars, he could see the source of the crying. There was a man who appeared to be about the same age as Barret sitting on his knees in front of two shabby, makeshift gravestones. There were tears in his eyes. Behind him, the edge of the cliff could be seen in all its splendor, the rift extended far below them and the desert beyond stretching as far as the eye could see. The wind whistled as it blew over the cliff, and dust and sand blew at their faces. The man heard Barret and Cloud approach, but he did not turn his head.
Cloud looked at Barret and then back at the man. Barret looked as though he had seen a ghost. The man kneeling before the two gravestones was missing his left arm. Instead of a forearm, he had what appeared to be a shotgun-like gun-arm. Cloud suddenly began to piece together what was happening here.
"Dyne." Barret said under his breath.
Aeris ran up behind Cloud to see Barret facing the man in front of him. She began to speak, but Cloud silenced her.
"I heard stories about somebody getting' a gun-arm like me." Barret said. "I always thought they either weren't true, or the guy wasn't you."
"I haven't seen you in years, Barret." The man said, not turning his head from the gravestones. "I'd prefer to keep it that way."
"Dyne, please don't blame for what happened that day." Barret pleaded. "Everybody else still does."
"Who the hell am I supposed to blame then, Barret?"
"The Shinra!" Barret yelled.
"I can't bring myself to blame something so big like that." Dyne replied. "It doesn't make any sense."
"Who did you bury there?" Barret asked, changing the subject.
"What the hell do you care?" Dyne asked. "Two guys I knew down here that died in a brawl. It happens every week, at least. This is the kind of shit hole I have to live in because of you."
"It's not because of me." Barret replied. "Come on, Dyne. Come with me. I can get you out of here."
"And do what, Barret?" He asked. "Reminisce about old times? Talk about our families? Pretend we still like each other? For God sake, I haven't seen you since you dropped me down that cliff and for no good reason I survived! And now I have to live like this for the rest of my life."
He stood up and raised his gun-arm in the same fashion that Cloud had seen Barret raise it many a time.
"Dyne, come with me and we'll fight the Shinra." Barret said. "They're the real enemy. It's because of them that you have to live like this."
"It isn't worth it, Barret." Dyne replied. "It's not even worth living. You're a mouse fighting a lion. You'll never be able to do anything."
"That's not true, Dyne…" Barret began to say. He was cut off by a gunshot from Dyne's arm. He dodged out of the way as the shells barely missed his body.
"Dyne!" Barret yelled. "We used to be friends!"
Dyne raised his arm to fire again, but Barret shot him once in the knee to keep from doing any more harm. Dyne leaned over to grasp his leg in pain.
"You live in a different world than I ever did, Barret." He said through clenched teeth. "I never want to live in your world."
"Dyne, I never wanted any of this for you." Barret replied.
"I'm sure you didn't." Dyne said, still holding onto his leg. Limping heavily, he began to back up toward the edge of the cliff.
"Dyne, what are you doing?" Barret asked nervously.
"Is Marlene still around?" Dyne asked, ignoring Barret's question. Barret nodded.
"Yeah, she's in Midgar."
"Give this to her for me." Dyne said, taking off the pendant he was wearing around his neck and tossing it to Barret.
"This was your favorite necklace." Barret said. Dyne didn't reply to that.
"I don't think you'll ever be able to change this world, Barret." Dyne said. "But I hope you can, for everyone else's sake. I just don't want to be around in case you fail."
"Dyne, please…" Barret didn't have time to finish the sentence. Dyne backed all the way to the edge of the cliff, and then jumped backward into the air. He made not a sound as he fell the huge distance toward the ground at the bottom of the rift. Above, Barret, Cloud and Aeris heard a loud thump, and then silence except for the whistling of the wind. Barret sat down on the ground and put his face in his hands again.
"It's okay, Barret." Aeris said, putting her hands on his shoulders. "It was never your fault. You're a good man, Barret. You really are."
Cloud gestured for Aeris to follow him away from the cliff, and she reluctantly did so. Cloud thought Barret could use a little more time to be alone. He was surprised to see that Barret slowly got up and followed them. Cloud headed back to the shack where Barret had killed the two men, but Barret gestured for them to go a different way.
"I think I can get us out of here now." He said softly.
"Let me go get Cait Sith first." Aeris said. She ran toward the shack to go summon the cat and his mog.
"Who's she getting?" Barret asked.
"A strange creature we met at the Gold Saucer." Cloud replied. "Aeris wants him to come along with us."
Normally Barret probably would have protested, but there was no resistance left in him at this point. He was too depressed. He just shrugged and waited for Aeris to return with Sith. Once they arrived, he led them toward a small trailer not far from the hut that they had fallen into when they first arrived in the prison. There was a huge shaft extending above the trailer to the sky. Cloud guessed it probably connected the trailer to the Gold Saucer high above them.
Barret entered, and waited for Cloud to accompany him. There was a man sitting behind a desk and behind him was what appeared to be an elevator leading upward. Cloud guessed that the man was probably the jailer for the prison.
"Can I help you folks?" He asked. He looked at Aeris, puzzled that young girl like her would be in the prison. "Are you prisoners?"
"Yeah, but we want out." Barret said.
"Well I'm afraid you can't get out except under certain circumstances." The jailer replied. "Dio will often let prisoners out if they can win a chocobo race."
"So let's do that then." Cloud suggested. "I've only raced once before, but I might be able to do it."
"Well, son, the problem is there's a huge waiting list for the race." The jailer said. "You might have to wait a few months before we can schedule you, and then you might not even win."
"A few months?" Cloud asked incredulously. "We can't wait that long."
The jailer shrugged.
"Sorry." Was all he could say. He looked sadly at the four of them. They didn't seem to be bad people. Suddenly, he noticed the pendant that Barret was holding.
"Oh my God." He said. "Isn't that Dyne's pendant? You must have killed him to get that." He looked around at them nervously.
"Alright I'll see if I can get you to a race right now. Which one of you will do the racing?"
"I will." Cloud said.
"Okay, get in that elevator." The jailer said. "When you get to the top, a woman named Ester will get you all set. If you win the race, I'll make sure that Dio lets you and your companions leave the prison."
Cloud nodded, and walked toward the elevator.
"Good luck." Aeris said.
"Thanks." Cloud replied. "I'll do my best."
The jailer closed the elevator door in front of Cloud, and he was lifted upward to face his challenge.
***
When the elevator doors opened, Cloud found himself back in the Gold Saucer. This time, however, he was in a small waiting room. There were a bunch of veteran racers sitting at a table in the middle of the room. Cloud looked around nervously. He wondered if he had any real chance of beating them.
A short woman wearing heavy make-up approached him as he stepped away from the elevator.
"Why you must be the young man who's goin' to race to win his freedom." She said. "Why aren't you just a little darlin'. Come on, I'll set you up real nice."
She took him by the hand and lead him toward a small office.
"My name's Ester, by the way." She said as they walked. "What's yours, darlin'?"
"Cloud." He said. "Cloud Strife."
"Alright then, Cloud." She said. "Listen, hon. They told me down there to give you a real good chocobo to race with, but that ain't gonna win the race for ya. You gotta know what you're doin' too."
"I've raced before." Cloud replied. "I know what I'm doing."
"Don't get too cocky now, hon." Ester said. "I've seen a lot of good boys lose the race 'cause they were so sure they were gonna win."
"I'll keep that in mind." Cloud said.
"Alright, well if you're ready then you can wait outside until the race starts." She said. "I'll show you which chocobo is yours once you get in the arena. Good luck, hon."
He nodded, and then headed back to the waiting room. He sat in a chair away from the table and was silent. The veterans were chatting about various races and how they won them, or almost won them. Cloud doubted that most of the stories were true, but they were interesting to listen to anyway. After awhile, a buzzer went off in the room and the men at the table got up and began to file out of the room. Cloud followed them down a large stairwell that lead to the chocobo cages in front of the arena.
Inside the cage area Cloud could hear the loud chirps and nasal sounds of the chocobos, and outside the cheering of the fans. It made him a little nervous to know that such a huge crowed of people was a about to see him race. He hoped that he wouldn't make an embarassing mistake. In fact, he sincerely hoped that he'd win the race so that he could free himself and his friends.
Ester was standing in front of one of the chocobo cages, and she waved to him when she saw him enter the cage area. He walked toward her to see to chocobo inside the cage. It was a large, yellow bird. It appeared to be in good shape.
"He isn't very big." Cloud commented.
"She might not be very big." Ester corrected him. "But she can run like hell, and she's got good stamina too. She'll do ya just fine, darlin'."
Cloud just shrugged. With Ester's help, he opened the cage and grabbed onto the reins of the bird. Together, they guided the animal to the starting point where Cloud would begin the race. Around him, Cloud saw the other racers bringing their chocobos to the starting point as well. In front of them, the large cage doors were opening to expose to the starting points, the racers, and the chocobos to the fans. Their endless cheering became even louder.
"Just do your best and you'll be fine, hon." Ester said. "Good luck."
She turned around and ran up the stairs to the calm of the waiting room and her office. Cloud tried to remain calm as well, as he lifted himself onto the back of the chocobo. He rubbed the back of its neck slightly to calm it down, and to keep it from being frightened of him.
"Don't fail me, girl." He said to the back of its ear. "I need to win this race, and I need your help."
He felt a little silly whispering in the ear of the chocobo, but as he lifted his head and looked around he saw that he wasn't the only one doing it. At least two other racers were doing the same thing. He leaned forward and grabbed tightly onto the reins of the animal, preparing himself for the race that was about to start.
It all seemed to happen so quickly. The announcer let everyone know that the race was about to start, and a large light on the ceiling flashed red. The other races shifted in their seats at the top of the animals slightly, and Cloud did the same. The light turned yellow, and the other racers remained still, with looks of determination on their faces. The light turned green, and the race had begun.
Cloud and his opponents immediately bolted away from the starting points and into the racecourse. Cloud got a good head start and began the race ahead of everyone else. He leaned close to the animal to keep his upper body from becoming a hindrance to the aerodynamics of the running creature. He didn't know the course, but the chocobo did, and she made the turns as though she had done it every day of her life. It probably wasn't far from the truth.
Cloud found that the race was not that difficult. Ester was right about them giving him a good chocobo. The one he was riding had excellent stamina, and had been running at a good pace since the beginning of the race. The closest racer behind him was still out of sight. Around him the racecourse was illuminated by a psychedelic display of lights. After a run beneath a small tunneled area, he was exposed to the crowd again. They cheered in a huge roar for him, the current leader.
He was impressed by how easily he was able to stay ahead of the other racers. Before long he could see the end of the race. It was now all within his grasp. He pushed the chocobo to go a little faster. He saw that the other racers had done the same and were gaining a little ground on him. It wasn't enough. Even the closest racer behind him couldn't pull it together enough to get ahead. Cloud crossed the finish line first, and he and his yellow chocobo became the winners for that race.
Ester and a few other important members of the chocobo circuit came to congratulate him. Dio, still shirtless, entered the racing area followed by two Shinra guards for protection.
"Sorry about that whole prison thing." He said. "I'll let you and your friends go since you won the race."
"Thanks." Cloud said, shaking the large man's hand.
"I'll even throw in an extra something for ya, to make up for the trouble I put ya through." He added, and then walked back to join the growing crowd of Gold Saucer employees. Cloud shrugged and then headed back toward the door through which everyone had come. He was anxious to round up his companions and get the Hell out of there.
Ester lead him back to the waiting room he had come in when he was first brought up from the desert prison. Barret, Aeris, and Cait Sith were waiting there to congratulate him and thank him for winning their freedom. Cloud told Ester to make an announcement for Red XIII and Tifa to meet them by the entrance to the park.
When Cloud and the other three got to the main entrance, Tifa, Red XIII, and Dio were waiting for them.
"Cloud!" Tifa yelled and ran toward him. She hugged him tightly. "I saw you race. You were wonderful!"
"Yes, Cloud." Red XIII said. "I heard about your race. Excellent job."
"I apologize for the inconvenience to ya all." Dio said. "As part of my apology I'm gonna give you one of my personal dune buggies. It's a great vehicle, and it'll get ya around real quick. I'll have somebody take ya down to pick it up, and then you fine folks can be on your way." He turned to Cait Sith. "Sorry for throwin' ya in the prison, Sith. We're gonna miss ya around here."
Cait Sith just nodded and waved goodbye. Dio turned and left them alone, now a group of six.
When they had been taken back to the ground once again, Cloud felt relieved to know that they could finally leave. He had been excited to come when they first got there, but now he was ready to let the Gold Saucer become just a memory. Aeris and Tifa were crooning over how nice their new vehicle was, and Red XIII and Cait Sith were arguing over whether it was stranger for a cat or a wolf to be able to talk. Barret was still feeling depressed and remained silent.
Cloud took the driver's seat of the buggy and began to acquaint himself with the controls and the interior. Before long, he was confident that he could drive it. Aeris found that the control panel in the front of the buggy had the option to turn on a 3-D map of the world on it. After some deliberating while looking at the map, they decided to head for the village of Gongaga, which was about halfway between where they were and Cosmo Canyon. They would make a pit stop there, and then head straight for Red XIII's birthplace.
Cloud really hoped that Barret would be able to break out of this little funk. He wanted the good old Barret back. The one that he would get into fights with on occasion, but who was always an excellent fighter and a worthwhile companion. He was going to need the old Barret when they got to Cosmo Canyon. There was work that needed to be done, and Barret would be no help in a depressed state. Cloud just hoped that with the passing of North Corel and the Gold Saucer, Barret would be able to put his worries out of sight and out of mind.