Chapter 10
The laser dot stood frozen on Sifan's chest,
[Whoever this sniper is, he isn't moving a ligament...]
Avatar decided to clear the predicament as fast as he could.
"HEY" he screamed, "WE ARE LOST...we aren't thieves or whatever you think we are..."
The dot moved from Sifan's chest to Avatar's. Avatar took a step back, "WE AREN'T LYING FOR GOD'S SAKE. GET THIS THING OFF ME!"
It was Sifan's turn, "Yeah. Our Airship crashed. And we saw this light...and we came here."
Only muteness prevailed. The laser dot was still on Avatar. Sifan turned and saw the source of the sniper sight. The air was a little misty, showing a thin perforated red line from the point on Avatar's chest leading to a tree at the far corner of town.
[He's sniping from that tree.]
"Yes, he IS on that tree..." said a female voice from behind a cottage a few feet to the left from Sifan.
A girl with dark brown hair stepped out of the shadows. Her knees were padded up and thick leather gloves stretched to her elbows, a few gleaming stones fixed in slots on the gloves. The wind blew her long hair behind as she walked up to the place where Avatar was standing stock-still.
"Uh..." Avatar said looking at the girl, "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this, honey?"
[Oh brother...Avatar's the kind that'll flirt with Ultimecia...]
As if the sniper had heard Avatar, the red dot moved up right between his eyes.
"WHOA" Avatar said, "Tell sniper boy to go easy, will ya...?"
The girl looked at Sifan and Avatar for sometime and raised her hand. The sniper sight disappeared from Avatar as both of them relaxed.
"Geez..." Avatar said wiping his brow, "Is this the way you treat your guests..."
"Cut the sweet talk. What's your game this time?" She said tilting her head.
"Game? Our Airship crashed and we came here. Does that sound like a game, beautiful?" Avatar said, annoyed.
"Shin-Ra's pilots usually don't crash their airships...neither do they fly at this time of the night..." the girl said folding her hands.
"Shi-what? I don't know what you're talking about, sister...we're from balamb garden. We're SeeDs. We were coming back from Esthar when we had the little misfortune..."
"Balam garden? SeeDs? Esther?" the girl said puzzled, "you must have taken quite a crash. You're talking Greek..."
Suddenly, another shorthaired girl came running from the far opposite end of the village. She almost stumbled and fell, as she coughed out, "Phillona! Shi-Shin-Ra. they're coming...around fifteen of them, southwest of here..."
"Assist Trex with those soldiers, Marlene. Have Trex snipe as many soldiers as he can. You support him with magic..." Phillona said and turned to Sifan and Avatar, "I'll take care of these two Shin-Ra twerps..."
"So...that's very clever you know..." Phillona said tightening her fists, as Marlene ran away in a hurry, "Providing a distraction, so your pals can storm in from the other end..."
"NO! Wait..." Avatar said as he bent backwards, Phillona's feet missing his chin by inches. He staggered backwards in a half-ready fighting stance.
Sifan's heart skipped a beat when the sniper sight re-appeared in his arm.
[Damn!]
Sifan tried to run but the minute he took the first step, a bullet zinged through the air, and dejected in to his left arm.
[Aargh! I am hit...]
He clenched his left arm with his right hand, looking around for a place to conceal himself. Before the sniper sight could fall on him again, he ran to a narrow gap between two cottages and flattened himself against the wall, his arm starting to bleed. He removed the coat, with some difficulty, and sat down. He tore away the sleeve of his black shirt. The bullet's impact had been condensed to a fair bit by the SeeD coat but it had still managed to inter itself in the flesh. Sifan grit his teeth. The pain was excruciating.
Avatar's hesitation to a fight a girl proved costly. An uppercut from Phillona almost cracked his jaw as he flew backwards and fell on a clay pot, pretending to be out cold.
Phillona hurriedly went away thinking Avatar was knocked out. Avatar got up, clenching his jawbone, which Phillona had almost taken apart. His eyes fell on Sifan and he ran over to him past another sniper bullet that barely missed him.
"Hey, you ok buddy?" He said crouching near Sifan, "Shit. That son of a bitch got you..."
"Uh...look..." Sifan said, "Help them..."
"Forget it..." Avatar said, pulling out his katana blade "We got to get this bullet out first...it's iridium-tipped."
"No...neither of our swords is clean. You'll end up contaminating me if you use the sword. And we are going to need something sharp. So don't bother..." Sifan said, the pain heightening, "Help these Mideel guys fight those Shin-something guys, that's the only way they're gonna trust us..."
Avatar tentatively got up, but he nodded.
"Take care of yourself...I'll be back soon..." he said and rushed out. To his luck, the sniper was busy focusing on the Shin-Ra troops that were heading towards the village. He ran directly to the tree and jumped on a branch, and flipped to the thickest branch. A boy was crouched there, looking into the eyepiece of a sniper rifle. The boy was too engaged with the sniping to notice Avatar. Avatar slipped out his sword silently, and placed it on the neck of the boy.
"Look...Mr. Trex..." he whispered, "You hit my friend back there. And believe me, he's bleeding to hell. Now, I can slit your neck open in a minute but I am not going to."
The boy stayed motionless as Avatar continued, "I am not your Shin-whatever soldier. We were speaking the damn truth. Now, I am going to take out those troops who you're fighting. You try sniping me, believe me, I can sense your laser sight faster than you think. If I see a single red dot on me, the beautiful martial-arts girl gets a shruiken in the head, got it?"
The boy nodded as Avatar jumped down and rushed towards the place where he heard gunshots. A little away from the village, in rocky out plains with trees all round, Phillona and the other girl, Marlene stood against an avalanche of Shin-Ra soldiers. Phillona's ice spell knocked a soldier out of his senses and a couple of bullets from Trex pinned another two down. The soldiers, however, were closing in and the barrier Marlene had cast was getting weak from the bullets it was receiving. Moreover, the soldiers had spotted the sniper and a few of them ran towards the tree where Trex was sniping.
Avatar looked around. To his luck, there was a row of trees leading to the Shin-Ra airship from where the troops were approaching. He took to a tree without delay and being a ninja, he moved silent as a snake and swift as a bat. He somersaulted and jumped from tree to tree with utmost effortlessness. Soon he came to the place where the Shin-Ra airship had landed. His grappling hook often came useful for making long distances like the one between Avatar's tree and the ship. He aimed at the propeller and shot his grappling hook, which latched on with no problems. After swinging to the airship wing, he hung from the edge of the wing with one hand. Directly below him stood an unsuspecting Shin-Ra soldier. Avatar removed his sword from its holder and let go of the wing he was hanging from. He landed on the soldier, his sword sinking straight into the soldier's lungs, killing him instantaneously.
One down, fourteen to go. Avatar told himself as he turned around examining the airship. His eyes fell on a tank, which read, 'Fuel Reservoir-caution'
Avatar smiled. He raised his katana and buried it into the tank, which cut through the steel like it was butter. He pulled his sword down and wrenched open the tank as the fuel poured out. He walked to the other side and opened the door to the soldier's cabin. All the soldiers had rushed out towards the village and hence, no one was around. Sifan tiptoed into the cabin. There were all sorts of pictures on the wall. "Perverts..." Avatar muttered under his breath as he inched his way along the wall towards the cockpit.
The cockpit door slid open and the Shin-Ra captain walked out only to find himself staring at the tip of Avatar's sword on his heart.
"Do as I say...or..." Avatar slid the sword down to the captain's groin.
"NO!" the captain screamed, "Anything but that.... PLEASE! I ll do whatever you tell me..."
*****************************
The Shin-Ra soldier smiled. Their barrier was broken, and both his opponents were too weary to fight. He aimed his gun at the brown-haired girl's forehead, "Its such a shame...a beauty like you...."
His fellow soldiers snorted and laughed as the soldier aiming at Phillona Strife and Marlene Wallace placed his finger on the trigger.
The air, all of a sudden, crackled alive with a voice from the megaphone on the ship behind them, "This is the captain speaking. All Shin-Ra units. Report to the airship please. We have orders to withdraw now..."
The soldier with the gun fumed. He pulled out his pocket communicator as the other soldiers remained immobile with their guns pointed at the two girls, "Negative. We have everything under control. Even the Sniper has been captured."
"We have orders from GENERAL RUPERT THORNE! GODDAMMIT! GET YOUR FRICKIN' ASSES BACK HERE. DON'T TAKE HOSTAGES AND DON'T HURT ANYONE!!!" the captain screamed, feeling Avatar's sword go through his pant's zipper.
"Affirmative." The soldier's voice came over the speaker in the cockpit, "Are you ok, captain? Your voice-"
"I AM FINE. JUST GET THE HELL BACK HERE!" the captain cried and hung up the communicator. Sweating, he punched in a few buttons and called Shin-Ra headquarters like Avatar had told him.
"This is headquarters. We hear you Unit Alpha 5. State your purpose."
The captain stuttered, "W-we've been defeated again. All soldiers in Alpha 5 are dead. Mission failed."
The voice at the headquarters was silent and then spoke, "Unit Alpha 6 will be at your co-ordinates in a few minutes. Bring the bodies back to HQ. Do not re-attempt mission. You're on stand by till then."
With that the line went dead. Avatar smiled, "good boy..." He raised his hand, and struck the captain across his neck. He fell unconscious in a second. Avatar looked up. He smashed the glass on the top of the cockpit and squeezed himself out through the top, managing to get on top of the airship. He aimed at a nearby tree and grappled there in a flash.
Reluctantly, the soldiers pulled back after cursing something or someone under their breath. Avatar waited impatiently on the top of the tree, as the soldiers made their way back to the airship. Phillona and Marlene stood there puzzled. The soldiers climbed in to the ship in a hurry, much to Avatar's satisfaction.
Avatar grinned as though he was evil. He concentrated and cast a fire on the broken fuel tank. The explosion was drastic as the Airship went up in giant flames, which soon reached the engine causing it to blast again. Soon, there was nothing but a huge wall of fire where the Shin-Ra airship had stood.
The ninja landed in front of the two on-lookers, both of them, their jaws wide open. Phillona had seen Avatar jump across the trees. She had thought the Shin-Ra coward was running for the safety of his ship. She didn't know she would be this wrong.
"Now, do you believe we are not Shin-la...or whatever...?" Avatar said grinning.
"You did that-?" Marlene asked, "I mean. All that...."
"The captain helped out a bit..." he said winking at Marlene.
She threw herself around Avatar Fenis' neck, "Thanks..."
Phillona sighed as Marlene stepped back, embarrassed of how she had lost control, out of gratitude.
"Yeah...Thanks" Phillona said, "Couldn't have done it without you."
Avatar walked away towards the village, the fire behind him dying out slowly when the thought of Sifan's condition came to his mind.
"Oh by the way." He turned around, the smile on his face vanishing, " Your sniper sent an iridium-tipped bullet into my friend's arm...if you don't know...Iridium can kill in three hours or less..."
*******************
Avatar crouched down near Sifan who was still in the same place, "Hey..."
Sifan looked up at Avatar, "I took that bullet out with my gunblade. To hell with getting contaminated. The pain was killing me."
The villagers had come out after the incident, hearing the explosion. Marlene and Phillona were busy sending them back to their beds, assuring them everything was all right.
Trex Denver walked over to Sifan, who was on his feet but still clenching his left arm.
"Meet your friendly neighborhood sniper" Avatar said putting Sifan's right arm around his neck to support him, "Thanks a bunch, kiddo..."
"I am sorry..." Trex said, "The medical room is just over there. P-Phillona will have h-him fixed in no time. Sorry...I..."
"It's ok...." Sifan said, "don't sweat it..."
Trex ran over to the medical room and opened the locked door with a key as Avatar helped Sifan.
"What did you do back there?" Sifan asked, "I heard an explosion..."
"I blew up their airship...." Avatar said smiling, "along with them..."
Sifan sighed, "You killed a dozen soldiers...?"
"Don't make it sound so apocalyptical..." Avatar said as Sifan sat down on the bed inside the medical room. It was a small room, with the walls painted in a creamish white color. There was a picture of a man with Spiky-blonde hair and another woman with brown hair standing together. Sifan noticed that the woman in the picture bore a lot of resemblance to Phillona. A diminutive table stood at the right, with a flower vase on top of it. A small cupboard was near the wall where Sifan guessed they kept their medical supplies. A clock on the wall showed 12 A.M, which was three and a half hours before Sifan's watch.
Avatar stood looking at the picture of a lion with its tail on fire, "Hey Sifan..."
"Yeah?" he said, slowly lying down on the soft bed, after adjusting his watch with his uninjured arm.
"Where do you think we are...?"
"I don't want to think about it...."
Avatar smiled, "Guess you thought it over too, huh...?"
"That girl didn't seem to know SeeD or balamb. Ok...that's agreeable. But I don't think anyone wouldn't know Esthar." Sifan said, recalling how confused Phillona had looked when he had mentioned Esthar.
a
"Irvine told me at the party...." Avatar said, "That turbo-warp was another one of Odine's IDTD disappointment models..."
Sifan closed his eyes, the pain starting to rise again, "ID-what?"
Avatar continued, "Inter Dimensional Transport Device...Odine had been trying to do inter-dimensional warps for the whole of last decade..."
"Yeah.... I heard about it..."
"But every gadget he dreamed up or produced was a flop...one of them, however, warped people within their world. He altered it..........made a few tweaks here and there........."
".... And got it to warp people where they wanted it to..."
"Yeah..." Avatar replied, "he thought it might be useful with the Ragnarok, since it was used so much."
"So...Relafen's bullet screwed it up. It did what it was actually created to do and we've become victims of an inter-dimensional warp? Tell me this is all one big dream...."
The pain in his arm shot up, brutally reminding Sifan that he was nowhere near dreamland.
********************
The laser dot stood frozen on Sifan's chest,
[Whoever this sniper is, he isn't moving a ligament...]
Avatar decided to clear the predicament as fast as he could.
"HEY" he screamed, "WE ARE LOST...we aren't thieves or whatever you think we are..."
The dot moved from Sifan's chest to Avatar's. Avatar took a step back, "WE AREN'T LYING FOR GOD'S SAKE. GET THIS THING OFF ME!"
It was Sifan's turn, "Yeah. Our Airship crashed. And we saw this light...and we came here."
Only muteness prevailed. The laser dot was still on Avatar. Sifan turned and saw the source of the sniper sight. The air was a little misty, showing a thin perforated red line from the point on Avatar's chest leading to a tree at the far corner of town.
[He's sniping from that tree.]
"Yes, he IS on that tree..." said a female voice from behind a cottage a few feet to the left from Sifan.
A girl with dark brown hair stepped out of the shadows. Her knees were padded up and thick leather gloves stretched to her elbows, a few gleaming stones fixed in slots on the gloves. The wind blew her long hair behind as she walked up to the place where Avatar was standing stock-still.
"Uh..." Avatar said looking at the girl, "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this, honey?"
[Oh brother...Avatar's the kind that'll flirt with Ultimecia...]
As if the sniper had heard Avatar, the red dot moved up right between his eyes.
"WHOA" Avatar said, "Tell sniper boy to go easy, will ya...?"
The girl looked at Sifan and Avatar for sometime and raised her hand. The sniper sight disappeared from Avatar as both of them relaxed.
"Geez..." Avatar said wiping his brow, "Is this the way you treat your guests..."
"Cut the sweet talk. What's your game this time?" She said tilting her head.
"Game? Our Airship crashed and we came here. Does that sound like a game, beautiful?" Avatar said, annoyed.
"Shin-Ra's pilots usually don't crash their airships...neither do they fly at this time of the night..." the girl said folding her hands.
"Shi-what? I don't know what you're talking about, sister...we're from balamb garden. We're SeeDs. We were coming back from Esthar when we had the little misfortune..."
"Balam garden? SeeDs? Esther?" the girl said puzzled, "you must have taken quite a crash. You're talking Greek..."
Suddenly, another shorthaired girl came running from the far opposite end of the village. She almost stumbled and fell, as she coughed out, "Phillona! Shi-Shin-Ra. they're coming...around fifteen of them, southwest of here..."
"Assist Trex with those soldiers, Marlene. Have Trex snipe as many soldiers as he can. You support him with magic..." Phillona said and turned to Sifan and Avatar, "I'll take care of these two Shin-Ra twerps..."
"So...that's very clever you know..." Phillona said tightening her fists, as Marlene ran away in a hurry, "Providing a distraction, so your pals can storm in from the other end..."
"NO! Wait..." Avatar said as he bent backwards, Phillona's feet missing his chin by inches. He staggered backwards in a half-ready fighting stance.
Sifan's heart skipped a beat when the sniper sight re-appeared in his arm.
[Damn!]
Sifan tried to run but the minute he took the first step, a bullet zinged through the air, and dejected in to his left arm.
[Aargh! I am hit...]
He clenched his left arm with his right hand, looking around for a place to conceal himself. Before the sniper sight could fall on him again, he ran to a narrow gap between two cottages and flattened himself against the wall, his arm starting to bleed. He removed the coat, with some difficulty, and sat down. He tore away the sleeve of his black shirt. The bullet's impact had been condensed to a fair bit by the SeeD coat but it had still managed to inter itself in the flesh. Sifan grit his teeth. The pain was excruciating.
Avatar's hesitation to a fight a girl proved costly. An uppercut from Phillona almost cracked his jaw as he flew backwards and fell on a clay pot, pretending to be out cold.
Phillona hurriedly went away thinking Avatar was knocked out. Avatar got up, clenching his jawbone, which Phillona had almost taken apart. His eyes fell on Sifan and he ran over to him past another sniper bullet that barely missed him.
"Hey, you ok buddy?" He said crouching near Sifan, "Shit. That son of a bitch got you..."
"Uh...look..." Sifan said, "Help them..."
"Forget it..." Avatar said, pulling out his katana blade "We got to get this bullet out first...it's iridium-tipped."
"No...neither of our swords is clean. You'll end up contaminating me if you use the sword. And we are going to need something sharp. So don't bother..." Sifan said, the pain heightening, "Help these Mideel guys fight those Shin-something guys, that's the only way they're gonna trust us..."
Avatar tentatively got up, but he nodded.
"Take care of yourself...I'll be back soon..." he said and rushed out. To his luck, the sniper was busy focusing on the Shin-Ra troops that were heading towards the village. He ran directly to the tree and jumped on a branch, and flipped to the thickest branch. A boy was crouched there, looking into the eyepiece of a sniper rifle. The boy was too engaged with the sniping to notice Avatar. Avatar slipped out his sword silently, and placed it on the neck of the boy.
"Look...Mr. Trex..." he whispered, "You hit my friend back there. And believe me, he's bleeding to hell. Now, I can slit your neck open in a minute but I am not going to."
The boy stayed motionless as Avatar continued, "I am not your Shin-whatever soldier. We were speaking the damn truth. Now, I am going to take out those troops who you're fighting. You try sniping me, believe me, I can sense your laser sight faster than you think. If I see a single red dot on me, the beautiful martial-arts girl gets a shruiken in the head, got it?"
The boy nodded as Avatar jumped down and rushed towards the place where he heard gunshots. A little away from the village, in rocky out plains with trees all round, Phillona and the other girl, Marlene stood against an avalanche of Shin-Ra soldiers. Phillona's ice spell knocked a soldier out of his senses and a couple of bullets from Trex pinned another two down. The soldiers, however, were closing in and the barrier Marlene had cast was getting weak from the bullets it was receiving. Moreover, the soldiers had spotted the sniper and a few of them ran towards the tree where Trex was sniping.
Avatar looked around. To his luck, there was a row of trees leading to the Shin-Ra airship from where the troops were approaching. He took to a tree without delay and being a ninja, he moved silent as a snake and swift as a bat. He somersaulted and jumped from tree to tree with utmost effortlessness. Soon he came to the place where the Shin-Ra airship had landed. His grappling hook often came useful for making long distances like the one between Avatar's tree and the ship. He aimed at the propeller and shot his grappling hook, which latched on with no problems. After swinging to the airship wing, he hung from the edge of the wing with one hand. Directly below him stood an unsuspecting Shin-Ra soldier. Avatar removed his sword from its holder and let go of the wing he was hanging from. He landed on the soldier, his sword sinking straight into the soldier's lungs, killing him instantaneously.
One down, fourteen to go. Avatar told himself as he turned around examining the airship. His eyes fell on a tank, which read, 'Fuel Reservoir-caution'
Avatar smiled. He raised his katana and buried it into the tank, which cut through the steel like it was butter. He pulled his sword down and wrenched open the tank as the fuel poured out. He walked to the other side and opened the door to the soldier's cabin. All the soldiers had rushed out towards the village and hence, no one was around. Sifan tiptoed into the cabin. There were all sorts of pictures on the wall. "Perverts..." Avatar muttered under his breath as he inched his way along the wall towards the cockpit.
The cockpit door slid open and the Shin-Ra captain walked out only to find himself staring at the tip of Avatar's sword on his heart.
"Do as I say...or..." Avatar slid the sword down to the captain's groin.
"NO!" the captain screamed, "Anything but that.... PLEASE! I ll do whatever you tell me..."
*****************************
The Shin-Ra soldier smiled. Their barrier was broken, and both his opponents were too weary to fight. He aimed his gun at the brown-haired girl's forehead, "Its such a shame...a beauty like you...."
His fellow soldiers snorted and laughed as the soldier aiming at Phillona Strife and Marlene Wallace placed his finger on the trigger.
The air, all of a sudden, crackled alive with a voice from the megaphone on the ship behind them, "This is the captain speaking. All Shin-Ra units. Report to the airship please. We have orders to withdraw now..."
The soldier with the gun fumed. He pulled out his pocket communicator as the other soldiers remained immobile with their guns pointed at the two girls, "Negative. We have everything under control. Even the Sniper has been captured."
"We have orders from GENERAL RUPERT THORNE! GODDAMMIT! GET YOUR FRICKIN' ASSES BACK HERE. DON'T TAKE HOSTAGES AND DON'T HURT ANYONE!!!" the captain screamed, feeling Avatar's sword go through his pant's zipper.
"Affirmative." The soldier's voice came over the speaker in the cockpit, "Are you ok, captain? Your voice-"
"I AM FINE. JUST GET THE HELL BACK HERE!" the captain cried and hung up the communicator. Sweating, he punched in a few buttons and called Shin-Ra headquarters like Avatar had told him.
"This is headquarters. We hear you Unit Alpha 5. State your purpose."
The captain stuttered, "W-we've been defeated again. All soldiers in Alpha 5 are dead. Mission failed."
The voice at the headquarters was silent and then spoke, "Unit Alpha 6 will be at your co-ordinates in a few minutes. Bring the bodies back to HQ. Do not re-attempt mission. You're on stand by till then."
With that the line went dead. Avatar smiled, "good boy..." He raised his hand, and struck the captain across his neck. He fell unconscious in a second. Avatar looked up. He smashed the glass on the top of the cockpit and squeezed himself out through the top, managing to get on top of the airship. He aimed at a nearby tree and grappled there in a flash.
Reluctantly, the soldiers pulled back after cursing something or someone under their breath. Avatar waited impatiently on the top of the tree, as the soldiers made their way back to the airship. Phillona and Marlene stood there puzzled. The soldiers climbed in to the ship in a hurry, much to Avatar's satisfaction.
Avatar grinned as though he was evil. He concentrated and cast a fire on the broken fuel tank. The explosion was drastic as the Airship went up in giant flames, which soon reached the engine causing it to blast again. Soon, there was nothing but a huge wall of fire where the Shin-Ra airship had stood.
The ninja landed in front of the two on-lookers, both of them, their jaws wide open. Phillona had seen Avatar jump across the trees. She had thought the Shin-Ra coward was running for the safety of his ship. She didn't know she would be this wrong.
"Now, do you believe we are not Shin-la...or whatever...?" Avatar said grinning.
"You did that-?" Marlene asked, "I mean. All that...."
"The captain helped out a bit..." he said winking at Marlene.
She threw herself around Avatar Fenis' neck, "Thanks..."
Phillona sighed as Marlene stepped back, embarrassed of how she had lost control, out of gratitude.
"Yeah...Thanks" Phillona said, "Couldn't have done it without you."
Avatar walked away towards the village, the fire behind him dying out slowly when the thought of Sifan's condition came to his mind.
"Oh by the way." He turned around, the smile on his face vanishing, " Your sniper sent an iridium-tipped bullet into my friend's arm...if you don't know...Iridium can kill in three hours or less..."
*******************
Avatar crouched down near Sifan who was still in the same place, "Hey..."
Sifan looked up at Avatar, "I took that bullet out with my gunblade. To hell with getting contaminated. The pain was killing me."
The villagers had come out after the incident, hearing the explosion. Marlene and Phillona were busy sending them back to their beds, assuring them everything was all right.
Trex Denver walked over to Sifan, who was on his feet but still clenching his left arm.
"Meet your friendly neighborhood sniper" Avatar said putting Sifan's right arm around his neck to support him, "Thanks a bunch, kiddo..."
"I am sorry..." Trex said, "The medical room is just over there. P-Phillona will have h-him fixed in no time. Sorry...I..."
"It's ok...." Sifan said, "don't sweat it..."
Trex ran over to the medical room and opened the locked door with a key as Avatar helped Sifan.
"What did you do back there?" Sifan asked, "I heard an explosion..."
"I blew up their airship...." Avatar said smiling, "along with them..."
Sifan sighed, "You killed a dozen soldiers...?"
"Don't make it sound so apocalyptical..." Avatar said as Sifan sat down on the bed inside the medical room. It was a small room, with the walls painted in a creamish white color. There was a picture of a man with Spiky-blonde hair and another woman with brown hair standing together. Sifan noticed that the woman in the picture bore a lot of resemblance to Phillona. A diminutive table stood at the right, with a flower vase on top of it. A small cupboard was near the wall where Sifan guessed they kept their medical supplies. A clock on the wall showed 12 A.M, which was three and a half hours before Sifan's watch.
Avatar stood looking at the picture of a lion with its tail on fire, "Hey Sifan..."
"Yeah?" he said, slowly lying down on the soft bed, after adjusting his watch with his uninjured arm.
"Where do you think we are...?"
"I don't want to think about it...."
Avatar smiled, "Guess you thought it over too, huh...?"
"That girl didn't seem to know SeeD or balamb. Ok...that's agreeable. But I don't think anyone wouldn't know Esthar." Sifan said, recalling how confused Phillona had looked when he had mentioned Esthar.
a
"Irvine told me at the party...." Avatar said, "That turbo-warp was another one of Odine's IDTD disappointment models..."
Sifan closed his eyes, the pain starting to rise again, "ID-what?"
Avatar continued, "Inter Dimensional Transport Device...Odine had been trying to do inter-dimensional warps for the whole of last decade..."
"Yeah.... I heard about it..."
"But every gadget he dreamed up or produced was a flop...one of them, however, warped people within their world. He altered it..........made a few tweaks here and there........."
".... And got it to warp people where they wanted it to..."
"Yeah..." Avatar replied, "he thought it might be useful with the Ragnarok, since it was used so much."
"So...Relafen's bullet screwed it up. It did what it was actually created to do and we've become victims of an inter-dimensional warp? Tell me this is all one big dream...."
The pain in his arm shot up, brutally reminding Sifan that he was nowhere near dreamland.
********************