Chapter Four

I had only been in town about a day, when I heard the all-too-familiar chime of the doorbell. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy about it. For one thing, curious townsfolk had been knocking on my door nonstop, interested in meeting Tifa Lockheart, AVALANCHE member and former Nibelheim resident. For another thing, it was five in the morning. I was awake, but I'd just stepped out of the shower, and no girl likes to be disturbed in the midst of her daily grooming.

So it was with some surprise, and a little irritation, that I threw the front door open to find myself staring at the mayor himself. Great. Tifa Lockheart, AVALANCHE member and former resident of Nibelheim, had just greeted the mayor in her bathrobe. At least it wasn't fuzzy and pink.

Now, don't get me wrong, the current mayor of Nibelheim was a decent guy, despite being a hired actor. He'd taken the role quite seriously, and it was partly due to his influence that the town had stayed together after Meteor. Still, I couldn't help but remember that before Sephiroth came, my father had been the mayor. So I resented the guy, just a little. I tried not to let it show . . .most of the time.

"Can I help you . . . sir?" I asked a bit groggily, curious as to what merited such an early visit. It was then that I noticed the man looked a little nervous. He was glancing over his shoulder, and wringing his hands like a second Meteor was hanging over our heads. In fact, scratch nervous, the man looked downright terrified. This softened my mood a little. I hadn't been that mean to the locals, had I?

"Miss Lockheart, I'm terribly sorry to intrude upon you at this hour."

"Please, come in," I offered, stepping aside. I was betting that if this guy didn't get inside soon, he was going to completely freak out on me. And that was one thing I didn't need right now. The mayor quickly scurried through the door, seeming to calm down a little now that he was in a more enclosed space.

"Is something . . .wrong, sir?" I asked, searching his eyes for clues. He began nodding emphatically.

"Well, I was hoping to persuade you—you being a member of AVALANCHE and all—"

"Please," I interrupted politely, "If anything, it's 'former member.' AVALANCHE isn't really together anymore."

"Er, yes, well. Being as it may, I was still hoping that with your. . . expertise, you might consider dealing with a bit of trouble."

"Trouble?" I repeated, already not liking where this was going.

"You see, Miss Lockheart, for several months there have been. . . noises, coming from the Shin-Ra mansion."

"I'm afraid I don't follow you, sir."

"Strange noises, thumps, screaming . . .growling. The townsfolk are in a terrible fright."

They're not the only ones, I thought, eyeing the mayor's pale, sweat-soaked brow. But being the polite girl that I was, I didn't voice my opinion aloud. Still, I had a pretty good idea what was going on here, and I was already sick of it.

"So, you'd like me to go check things out?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, if you wouldn't mind!" He chirped excitedly. Inwardly, I sighed, but all I did was stick out my hand and smile.

"I'd be happy to, sir." The man shook my hand enthusiastically, his eyes wandering a bit lower than my face as my arm was jostled up and down. I withdrew my hand and crossed my arms over my chest in a gesture that was all too habitual with me. Why was it that every man on the Planet seemed drawn to my chest area? Well, okay, so it was pretty obvious why. That was one thing I missed about Cloud. He may have ignored me a lot of the time, but he always looked me in the eyes when he talked to me.

I stopped my train of thought before I could start missing him again, accepted the mayor's heartfelt thanks, and shut the door in his face as politely as I could. Well, if I was going to go on a monster hunt, now seemed as good a time as any.

The old Shin-Ra mansion was exactly as I remembered it, if a bit more dilapidated. The rooms were still filled with furniture in varying stages of decay, and the walls were covered in a strange fungus that seemed to possess an eerie green glow. I remembered Cloud saying something about Mako leaking into the air, and that was what made the walls glow. All I knew was that the last thing I wanted was to be eaten by mutant mold.

The lower floor didn't seem to contain anything out of the ordinary, just the same, deathly silence it had always had. But there was just something about the place that seemed to force you to walk on tiptoe and peer cautiously around corners.

It wasn't until I got upstairs that I heard any sign of life at all. I was poking around one of the bedrooms, when I heard a loud, echoing thump from somewhere below me. It was so large that it made the floor vibrate beneath my feet, and for a moment or two I stood perfectly still, hoping the rotten wood wouldn't collapse right under me. Just what in Planet had that been?

I felt around on my glove until I found the lightning materia I'd brought with me, then snapped it out of its slot. With a few murmured words to the Planet, the materia began to emit a soft glow, allowing me a slightly wider range of vision. The sun wouldn't be up for another hour at least, and I knew I was going to need the light. Because I had a sinking feeling I knew exactly where the sound had come from, and it was the last place I wanted to go. The basement.