Chapter 20
Both the friends walked quietly. Sifan was silent as he and avatar sat on a concrete ledge, which perturbed over the seawater. The huge heliport behind them looked very worn out as Avatar looked up at the sky. They weren't sure whether they were getting back but avatar had said that even if they did find out how to get back to balamb, they would have to put it on hold till he found out about his past. Reluctantly, Sifan had agreed.
"Sifan." Avatar said, "Tomorrow, we'll split up, ok?"
"What?" Sifan asked, surprised, "Spilt up?"
"Yeah." Avatar continued, "You can go ahead to Aquadia city and meet Professor Lorenz about getting back to our world while I go back to those ruins where I ran into that Fenis guardian. I'll meet you at Aquadia city hotel tomorrow evening."
[I am going to have to borrow some money from Harrison. Sigh, no choice, I guess.]
"Well..." Sifan said stretching the word 'well', "Will you be ok on your own?"
"Yeah." Avatar said, "Nothing much that I cant handle."
"Fine." Sifan said, "So we'll do that."
Avatar gave Sifan a tight sideways hug, "I am sorry, pal. It's just that I want to know everything about my life before Fisherman's horizon. I have to."
"Yeah." Sifan said nodding his head, "I understand."
"I am lucky to have a friend like you." Avatar said looking at the water.
"Same here, buddy." Sifan said quietly.
Before he could say anything else, the air was suddenly filled with the loud hum of an engine. The both of them turned around and saw an airship with a big 'G' on its side descend to the bottom. As soon as it landed loudly on the heliport, the megaphone on top of the cockpit burst in to life, "This airship will be leaving to gold saucer in ten minutes! Tickets are available inside, please hurry!"
"Hey." Sifan said pulling out the two tickets Harrison had given him, "This gold saucer stuff is supposed to be entertaining."
"Yeah." Avatar replied as the megaphone repeated the same sentence every minute, "I read about it a little in the newspaper back at the inn."
"Well, Let's go then." Sifan said getting up and dusting himself, "We're not gonna do much sitting around here anyway."
Avatar agreed and the both of them hurried towards the airship, which was getting ready to lift off to the golden saucer.
As soon as they had got inside, they were surprised to see huge photographs of golden saucer from a variety of angles. The airship's interior looked much bigger than anyone would have imagined it to be on the outside. It had hardly been around a few minutes since the airship had landed but there were already people inside looking and ooh-ing and aah-ing over the photos. Avatar's attention was on a side of the airship elucidating on the various rides and attractions on the wall.
Sifan decided to take a quick tour around the large hallways inside the airship, which were complete with red carpets. There was even a small waltz music being played from speakers on the wall. After seeing the video games section and the various screenshots from them, he proceeded to turn around a corner. His eyes were glued to the spooky looking characters of the golden saucer hotel on a photo frame when he bumped into someone from behind. The figure he had bumped into didn't move and had his back turned towards Sifan.
"Excuse me." Sifan said nonchalantly but the figure didn't move. Sifan pushed his way from the side and almost pushed the figure aside when a hand shot out from under the figure's cloak and pinned Sifan's neck to the wall. Sifan had never felt anything like it before, and he gasped for breath desperately.
He felt his feet alight from the ground as the figure slowly lifted him up. Then slowly, he turned his head to Sifan. His entire face was covered with long black hair and only his sharp nose and dry lips were seen. One of his eyes was closed and he wore a hood over his face. The grip grew even stronger literally paralyzing Sifan's nerves. Then, with a loud grunt, Sifan kicked the man's shin but he didn't even flinch.
The man examined him for a while and then dropped him to the ground. Sifan fell on his knees, almost completely out of breath. He clenched his neck when the man spoke in a stone cold voice, "Your coat looked like his."
Sifan breathed slowly, not looking up the man who had almost killed him, "I don't think t-there are a-any other people with a S-SeeD coat."
"Blonde hair... and a coat like that." The man said turning away from Sifan, "know him?"
[Relafen...]
"No." Sifan said, "I don't."
The figure didn't reply and walked away around the corner to another hallway.
[Shit...why the hell was that guy after Relafen?]
Sifan slowly got up when Avatar arrived from behind him and helped him up, "what h-happened?"
Sifan explained everything that had happened as they walked away to the seating room.
"Relafen?" Avatar exclaimed as he examined Sifan's reddened neck, "Why did he want him?"
"Dunno." Sifan replied leaning back on the chair, "He had a hand that felt like iron. That's all I know."
"Relafen probably picked a fight with that guy who choked you."
"If he did, then he sure picked the wrong guy." Sifan replied yawning, the pain easing on his neck. The both of them looked around but they saw no one with a hood. Sifan, especially, was not that eager to find him.
However, Sifan forgot about him when Avatar let out a gasp, "Whoa!"
He was looking out the window. Sifan did the same. The sun was completely gone and the outside sky looked scarlet. Sifan saw the reason soon enough. As they lowered altitude, Sifan felt a barrage of lights almost blind him. He rubbed his eyes and looked properly. The airship flew around what looked like an enormously tall tree towering from amidst a desert. At the end of each branch were gold saucers shining with a sea of lights. Different colored spotlights made the sky a feast to look at. Sifan could see all the different sights he had seen on the photographs. He saw chocobos run around spiral racetracks, which ran beside another roller coaster track. He even saw the spooky hotel at one corner a little far away from the shining lights of the videogame arcade. The tunnel of horrors looked especially long, ending near a pathway, which led to the hall of mirrors. Various stalls were scattered through out the place selling hot dogs and burgers bigger than the ones Sifan remembered Zell eat. Seeing all this in a bird's eye view, it made him want to get down there as soon as possible.
Soon, the speaker in the corner crackled, "We have arrived at the gold saucer. Please use the rear entrance to exit the airship. Also, kindly use the elevators outside. Thank you for your co-operation."
After they felt the airship jolt a little from the landing, the passengers rushed their way towards the rear end. Sifan and Avatar followed and soon they were outside the airship.
After waiting for the crammed elevators to become empty after a few minutes, Sifan and Avatar used the elevator and arrived at a large circular hall with several holes. The holes were large enough to fit the fattest of men. Each of it had a name on it. Avatar watched a well-built man jump into the battle square hole and disappear down the hole with an excited scream of enjoyment.
"Hmm..." Avatar said standing in front of the 'wonder square.' Hole scratching his head, "this is the place which is supposed to have the videogames, right?"
"Hey." Sifan said, "I bet you can't beat the ones here like the ones in the Esthar shopping mall."
"I don't think so." Avatar Fenis said and leapt in to the hole that led to the wonder square, "WHOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO! YEAH!"
[Uh, kids...you can't do without 'em.]
Sifan shrugged and jumped in to the hole after Avatar.
**************************
General Rupert's iron grip made Professor Hamilton cringe, "Not so hard please."
"Shut up." Rupert barked, "I am a shin-Ra general. Yer jus' a lowly science freak. So shut yer mouth."
After making sure that no one else was around on the computer floor, he pushed him outside the elevator. He followed him after making sure the elevator door had shut. Hamilton slowly walked to the door prodded hard by Rupert.
"Can't that damn Lorenz wait till midnight like he said?" Rupert muttered as the kidnapped professor opened the door. The main computer stood with its bright screen making the dark room blink with white flashes. The cursor on the screen stood on 'password 2' with the first password already typed in. A man with a thin and serious face sat on a chair. When he saw professor Hamilton, he let out an excited yelp, "AH, Professor! How nice of you to come."
He looked at Rupert and smiled, "Sorry about calling you a bit earlier than we had planned Rupert. I jus couldn't wait. Besides, all the others went home early today."
Hamilton just grit his teeth, "What do you want with me, Lorenz?"
Rupert grabbed Hamilton by his shoulders and made him sit on a chair in front of the computer. He then flipped out his revolver and stuck it to back of his head, "Better do what Lorenz her tells ya to, else yer ass is dead as hell."
Hamilton sighed and put on his glasses and looked at the computer screen. When his eyes fell on the display, he swallowed hard and turned to Lorenz who was growing impatient by the minute, "MY GOD, Lorenz. How did you-"
"Put a lid on it, Hamilton." Lorenz snapped, "Ya think I won't know if ya jus' rename the project?"
"Lorenz, you're nuts!" Hamilton said, sweating under the general's pistol, "Why Project J-JENOVA of all the damned ones?"
"Because..." Lorenz said walking up to a nervous Hamilton, "I want to finish what Professor Gast started, and what Hojo failed to complete."
"WHAT!?" Hamilton said, "Don't you realize you could die as a result of touching that project, Lorenz?"
"You're a bad scientist, Hamilton" Lorenz replied, "Science without danger is like rain without water. Science is meaningless without the danger."
Hamilton didn't say anything.
"The perfect soldier's recipe is in that project, Hamilton." Lorenz said bending down to look at Hamilton's scared face, "Now, if you please, the passwords."
"NO!" Hamilton said, "Kill me if you want, but no way in hell you're getting the passwords."
Lorenz sighed, "Rupert. I think its time for your one of your crazy antics."
Rupert guffawed loudly and wheeled Hamilton's chair around, "Ya know what ideas ya get watching all those villains in the movies?"
"This." he completed and pulled out his cell phone and placed it on Hamilton's ears.
Hamilton's eyes grew big when he heard the voice scream at the other end of the phone. Before he could reply, Rupert pulled away the phone and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Love your daughter, don't ya, Hamilton?" Lorenz said.
"You'd rather keep the passwords to yerself and let yer beloved daughter go to hell?"
Hamilton swallowed, "The passwords will be yours, just let my daughter go!"
"Okay then." Lorenz said, "passwords please?"
"XDKVM1324" Hamilton said, dejectedly.
"No way, they'll guess that, eh Hamilton ol' boy?" Lorenz said writing the password on his notepad, "And the other?"
Hamilton sighed, "Laura."
"Ah yes." Lorenz said, "I kind of knew that when you sighed like that. Don't worry Hamilton, we won't let yer little Laura die."
"Well." Hamilton said, getting up, "Can I go now?"
Rupert laughed his loud laugh again, "We said we'll let yer little daughter go, not you!"
Lorenz seized Hamilton around his neck and injected a syringe into it. Hamilton took a step back and then watched his eyesight go blurry, and then fell down, unconscious.
"Take him to the secret room in my lab, Rupert." Lorenz said, "I have some use for the dear professor."
Rupert picked up the out cold Hamilton and put him on his shoulder, "What about the plan ya had for that Mideel resistance leader, Phillona?"
"Later, Rupert." Lorenz replied and swiveled his chair around to the computer, "I have bigger fish to fry."
***************************
Both the friends walked quietly. Sifan was silent as he and avatar sat on a concrete ledge, which perturbed over the seawater. The huge heliport behind them looked very worn out as Avatar looked up at the sky. They weren't sure whether they were getting back but avatar had said that even if they did find out how to get back to balamb, they would have to put it on hold till he found out about his past. Reluctantly, Sifan had agreed.
"Sifan." Avatar said, "Tomorrow, we'll split up, ok?"
"What?" Sifan asked, surprised, "Spilt up?"
"Yeah." Avatar continued, "You can go ahead to Aquadia city and meet Professor Lorenz about getting back to our world while I go back to those ruins where I ran into that Fenis guardian. I'll meet you at Aquadia city hotel tomorrow evening."
[I am going to have to borrow some money from Harrison. Sigh, no choice, I guess.]
"Well..." Sifan said stretching the word 'well', "Will you be ok on your own?"
"Yeah." Avatar said, "Nothing much that I cant handle."
"Fine." Sifan said, "So we'll do that."
Avatar gave Sifan a tight sideways hug, "I am sorry, pal. It's just that I want to know everything about my life before Fisherman's horizon. I have to."
"Yeah." Sifan said nodding his head, "I understand."
"I am lucky to have a friend like you." Avatar said looking at the water.
"Same here, buddy." Sifan said quietly.
Before he could say anything else, the air was suddenly filled with the loud hum of an engine. The both of them turned around and saw an airship with a big 'G' on its side descend to the bottom. As soon as it landed loudly on the heliport, the megaphone on top of the cockpit burst in to life, "This airship will be leaving to gold saucer in ten minutes! Tickets are available inside, please hurry!"
"Hey." Sifan said pulling out the two tickets Harrison had given him, "This gold saucer stuff is supposed to be entertaining."
"Yeah." Avatar replied as the megaphone repeated the same sentence every minute, "I read about it a little in the newspaper back at the inn."
"Well, Let's go then." Sifan said getting up and dusting himself, "We're not gonna do much sitting around here anyway."
Avatar agreed and the both of them hurried towards the airship, which was getting ready to lift off to the golden saucer.
As soon as they had got inside, they were surprised to see huge photographs of golden saucer from a variety of angles. The airship's interior looked much bigger than anyone would have imagined it to be on the outside. It had hardly been around a few minutes since the airship had landed but there were already people inside looking and ooh-ing and aah-ing over the photos. Avatar's attention was on a side of the airship elucidating on the various rides and attractions on the wall.
Sifan decided to take a quick tour around the large hallways inside the airship, which were complete with red carpets. There was even a small waltz music being played from speakers on the wall. After seeing the video games section and the various screenshots from them, he proceeded to turn around a corner. His eyes were glued to the spooky looking characters of the golden saucer hotel on a photo frame when he bumped into someone from behind. The figure he had bumped into didn't move and had his back turned towards Sifan.
"Excuse me." Sifan said nonchalantly but the figure didn't move. Sifan pushed his way from the side and almost pushed the figure aside when a hand shot out from under the figure's cloak and pinned Sifan's neck to the wall. Sifan had never felt anything like it before, and he gasped for breath desperately.
He felt his feet alight from the ground as the figure slowly lifted him up. Then slowly, he turned his head to Sifan. His entire face was covered with long black hair and only his sharp nose and dry lips were seen. One of his eyes was closed and he wore a hood over his face. The grip grew even stronger literally paralyzing Sifan's nerves. Then, with a loud grunt, Sifan kicked the man's shin but he didn't even flinch.
The man examined him for a while and then dropped him to the ground. Sifan fell on his knees, almost completely out of breath. He clenched his neck when the man spoke in a stone cold voice, "Your coat looked like his."
Sifan breathed slowly, not looking up the man who had almost killed him, "I don't think t-there are a-any other people with a S-SeeD coat."
"Blonde hair... and a coat like that." The man said turning away from Sifan, "know him?"
[Relafen...]
"No." Sifan said, "I don't."
The figure didn't reply and walked away around the corner to another hallway.
[Shit...why the hell was that guy after Relafen?]
Sifan slowly got up when Avatar arrived from behind him and helped him up, "what h-happened?"
Sifan explained everything that had happened as they walked away to the seating room.
"Relafen?" Avatar exclaimed as he examined Sifan's reddened neck, "Why did he want him?"
"Dunno." Sifan replied leaning back on the chair, "He had a hand that felt like iron. That's all I know."
"Relafen probably picked a fight with that guy who choked you."
"If he did, then he sure picked the wrong guy." Sifan replied yawning, the pain easing on his neck. The both of them looked around but they saw no one with a hood. Sifan, especially, was not that eager to find him.
However, Sifan forgot about him when Avatar let out a gasp, "Whoa!"
He was looking out the window. Sifan did the same. The sun was completely gone and the outside sky looked scarlet. Sifan saw the reason soon enough. As they lowered altitude, Sifan felt a barrage of lights almost blind him. He rubbed his eyes and looked properly. The airship flew around what looked like an enormously tall tree towering from amidst a desert. At the end of each branch were gold saucers shining with a sea of lights. Different colored spotlights made the sky a feast to look at. Sifan could see all the different sights he had seen on the photographs. He saw chocobos run around spiral racetracks, which ran beside another roller coaster track. He even saw the spooky hotel at one corner a little far away from the shining lights of the videogame arcade. The tunnel of horrors looked especially long, ending near a pathway, which led to the hall of mirrors. Various stalls were scattered through out the place selling hot dogs and burgers bigger than the ones Sifan remembered Zell eat. Seeing all this in a bird's eye view, it made him want to get down there as soon as possible.
Soon, the speaker in the corner crackled, "We have arrived at the gold saucer. Please use the rear entrance to exit the airship. Also, kindly use the elevators outside. Thank you for your co-operation."
After they felt the airship jolt a little from the landing, the passengers rushed their way towards the rear end. Sifan and Avatar followed and soon they were outside the airship.
After waiting for the crammed elevators to become empty after a few minutes, Sifan and Avatar used the elevator and arrived at a large circular hall with several holes. The holes were large enough to fit the fattest of men. Each of it had a name on it. Avatar watched a well-built man jump into the battle square hole and disappear down the hole with an excited scream of enjoyment.
"Hmm..." Avatar said standing in front of the 'wonder square.' Hole scratching his head, "this is the place which is supposed to have the videogames, right?"
"Hey." Sifan said, "I bet you can't beat the ones here like the ones in the Esthar shopping mall."
"I don't think so." Avatar Fenis said and leapt in to the hole that led to the wonder square, "WHOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO! YEAH!"
[Uh, kids...you can't do without 'em.]
Sifan shrugged and jumped in to the hole after Avatar.
**************************
General Rupert's iron grip made Professor Hamilton cringe, "Not so hard please."
"Shut up." Rupert barked, "I am a shin-Ra general. Yer jus' a lowly science freak. So shut yer mouth."
After making sure that no one else was around on the computer floor, he pushed him outside the elevator. He followed him after making sure the elevator door had shut. Hamilton slowly walked to the door prodded hard by Rupert.
"Can't that damn Lorenz wait till midnight like he said?" Rupert muttered as the kidnapped professor opened the door. The main computer stood with its bright screen making the dark room blink with white flashes. The cursor on the screen stood on 'password 2' with the first password already typed in. A man with a thin and serious face sat on a chair. When he saw professor Hamilton, he let out an excited yelp, "AH, Professor! How nice of you to come."
He looked at Rupert and smiled, "Sorry about calling you a bit earlier than we had planned Rupert. I jus couldn't wait. Besides, all the others went home early today."
Hamilton just grit his teeth, "What do you want with me, Lorenz?"
Rupert grabbed Hamilton by his shoulders and made him sit on a chair in front of the computer. He then flipped out his revolver and stuck it to back of his head, "Better do what Lorenz her tells ya to, else yer ass is dead as hell."
Hamilton sighed and put on his glasses and looked at the computer screen. When his eyes fell on the display, he swallowed hard and turned to Lorenz who was growing impatient by the minute, "MY GOD, Lorenz. How did you-"
"Put a lid on it, Hamilton." Lorenz snapped, "Ya think I won't know if ya jus' rename the project?"
"Lorenz, you're nuts!" Hamilton said, sweating under the general's pistol, "Why Project J-JENOVA of all the damned ones?"
"Because..." Lorenz said walking up to a nervous Hamilton, "I want to finish what Professor Gast started, and what Hojo failed to complete."
"WHAT!?" Hamilton said, "Don't you realize you could die as a result of touching that project, Lorenz?"
"You're a bad scientist, Hamilton" Lorenz replied, "Science without danger is like rain without water. Science is meaningless without the danger."
Hamilton didn't say anything.
"The perfect soldier's recipe is in that project, Hamilton." Lorenz said bending down to look at Hamilton's scared face, "Now, if you please, the passwords."
"NO!" Hamilton said, "Kill me if you want, but no way in hell you're getting the passwords."
Lorenz sighed, "Rupert. I think its time for your one of your crazy antics."
Rupert guffawed loudly and wheeled Hamilton's chair around, "Ya know what ideas ya get watching all those villains in the movies?"
"This." he completed and pulled out his cell phone and placed it on Hamilton's ears.
Hamilton's eyes grew big when he heard the voice scream at the other end of the phone. Before he could reply, Rupert pulled away the phone and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Love your daughter, don't ya, Hamilton?" Lorenz said.
"You'd rather keep the passwords to yerself and let yer beloved daughter go to hell?"
Hamilton swallowed, "The passwords will be yours, just let my daughter go!"
"Okay then." Lorenz said, "passwords please?"
"XDKVM1324" Hamilton said, dejectedly.
"No way, they'll guess that, eh Hamilton ol' boy?" Lorenz said writing the password on his notepad, "And the other?"
Hamilton sighed, "Laura."
"Ah yes." Lorenz said, "I kind of knew that when you sighed like that. Don't worry Hamilton, we won't let yer little Laura die."
"Well." Hamilton said, getting up, "Can I go now?"
Rupert laughed his loud laugh again, "We said we'll let yer little daughter go, not you!"
Lorenz seized Hamilton around his neck and injected a syringe into it. Hamilton took a step back and then watched his eyesight go blurry, and then fell down, unconscious.
"Take him to the secret room in my lab, Rupert." Lorenz said, "I have some use for the dear professor."
Rupert picked up the out cold Hamilton and put him on his shoulder, "What about the plan ya had for that Mideel resistance leader, Phillona?"
"Later, Rupert." Lorenz replied and swiveled his chair around to the computer, "I have bigger fish to fry."
***************************