Final Fantasy VII
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Forty-Three
Three days had passed before Dyne and Barret finally reached Mt. Corel again, glad to see the rocky landscape and the mines, although the mines were now abandoned now that the Mako Reactor had been built. They were relieved to be back on their own continent after the long journey across the sea, where they had seen a Mako Reactor being built in another town.
Like Dyne, many people had been reluctant to allow Shinra to build a reactor; afraid it would ruin the landscape. They had eventually given in, but only because they had no choice. The reactors had proved to be very prosperous, and money had been flowing in steadily into the towns where reactors were built. There were rumours going around that the land around the reactors was slowly withering and dying, but so far Shinra were denying all knowledge of that.
Dyne and Barret were just crossing the bridge away from the Mt. Corel Reactor when it happened. They had tried to ignore the unsightly form of the reactor embedded in the mountain crevice that had once been the main mining point for Corel, the tunnels now filled with pipes sucking in Mako instead of coal. They were eagerly waiting to see the sights of home, when they looked ahead and saw an old man they recognised from Corel running towards them. Red-faced and panting hard, it looked like he had been running for a long while.
"Barret! Dyne!" the old man called as he ran across the bridge, staggering a little as he ran. Unable to run any further he stopped a few feet away from them, his lungs heaving for air, although he managed to gain enough breath to shout out his message. "Come quick! The village's being attacked! It's Shinra soldiers!"
Barret jumped back. "What?" he cried.
Without waiting to hear anymore, he turned and jumped off the bridge to its rocky base, dashing to the end to look out at North Corel and the desert beyond. Dyne was right behind him, the same thoughts crossing his mind.
They stopped at the end of the ledge and looked out. Their eyes opened wide as their gazes fell on the sights of North Corel at the mountain's exit, and the red-hot flames that were rising up from it. Although they could not hear the screams they could imagine what must be going on in Corel at that moment – people running and screaming, desperate to get away from the flames and the smoke as it choked the last of the life out of them. Barret stared angrily, feeling the fire burning in his own eyes even at this distance. Suddenly he threw his arms up to the air and shook them madly, barely able to contain his horror.
"What the hell happened?" he raged. His throat was dry, as though the smoke had somehow reached him and was eating away at his throat and lungs. "……" was all he could say. He fell down onto his knees, his palms pressed firmly against the rock, and shook, wishing he could break the rock into pieces as he watched North Corel burn.
Behind him Dyne also saw the flames, but instead of seething in anger like Barret, he slowly looked away. This was just what he'd been so afraid of – Shinra going against the deal and wiping them out, leaving them free to do whatever they liked. He was suddenly broken from his thoughts as Barret hit the ground with his fist, and was brought back to reality. He shook his head and looked at his friend kneeling on the floor.
"Hey, Barret! It's not over yet!" he said, sounding positive. Barret slowly turned his head and looked up at him, fighting back the tears of rage that were welling inside of him as he looked up at Dyne hopefully. "Everyone's waiting! Let's go back to the village!"
Barret continued to stare at him for a few seconds more, feeling sure that Dyne was holding onto a false hope. Still, even a false hope was worth holding onto at a time such as this, so he nodded his head and climbed to his feet, his arms aching from the strain of pushing down on solid rock. They turned back to the bridge, where the old man was looking back down the path with a look of fear on his face. Suddenly he turned back to them and called out desperately.
"Barret! Dyne! Protect the village!" he shouted, before he turned and began to run across the bridge.
Dyne and Barret soon saw why he was running, for at that moment a group of four Shinra soldier suddenly emerged from the mountain path and onto the bridge. Their rifles already raised and cocked ready, they opened fire on the old man as he tried to flee.
"Hmp! Old man!" Barret cried, but it was far too late. The old man fell facedown onto the bridge and moved no more, his life snuffed out by the bullets. As the Shinra soldiers looked around for them, Barret looked to Dyne. Dyne nodded back at him, and they turned to run under the bridge out of sight of the soldiers.
Dyne was the only one who made it there. As he jumped aside towards the bridge, the four soldiers located Barret and opened fire. Barret jumped back as bullets struck the ground near his feet, riddling the ground and sending dust into the air. Barret was forced to keep his feet moving as the bullets danced around him, otherwise he'd lose his feet.
"C'mon, Barret!" came Dyne's voice from the bridge. "We gotta hurry!"
Barret looked ahead as the bullets danced past him, and saw Dyne running under the bridge to the other side, where a natural rocky ledge was standing. Barret spotted his chance as the soldiers stopped firing for a split second to reload their guns. Barret grunted loudly and threw himself forward just before they fired again and ran to the bridge, leaping underneath the wooden form of the bridge and jumping to Dyne on the other side.
As the two stopped on the ledge, they heard the sound of guns firing again, but the bullets landed nowhere near them. Barret and Dyne stood firm against the mountain wall, when they heard another sound cut through the gunfire. The soldiers stopped firing as Scarlet, still in her red silk dress, stepped up from the mountain path, laughing her annoying laugh.
Dyne turned to Barret and grabbed his arm. "Barret! You stay here!" he ordered his friend sternly.
"Kyaa haa, ha!" Scarlet cackled, stopping just behind the soldiers. The soldiers looked back at her smug face. "You can shoot all day and never hit them with aim like that."
Barret turned back to Dyne and shook his arm free. "Shu'up!" he replied, realising what Dyne was probably planning.
While they were arguing, Scarlet moved over and knocked one of the soldiers off the bridge, letting him fall over the edge and onto the ledge below, knocked out from the fall. The other soldiers raised their guns instantly and aimed at Barret and Dyne, awaiting Scarlet's orders.
"Haa, ha, ha!" Scarlet laughed, covering her mouth daintily like an actor playing up the role of a damsel. She then stopped laughing and motioned to the soldiers. "Stop playing around and cover me!"
The soldiers didn't waste any time in doing so. They moved around her and guarded her in a half-circle, now in a better position to fire at the two as they stood cornered on the ledge. Then, when Scarlet pointed ahead, they opened fire.
"Watch out!" called Dyne. He moved forward in the hope of moving in front of Barret and shielding him from the approaching gunfire, but as he stepped forward his foot caught on a loose piece of rock lying on the ledge. He staggered, but lost his balance and slipped off the edge of the ledge, falling towards the chasm.
Barret was by his side in an instant, grabbing hold of Dyne's hand and holding it tightly to stop him from falling. Falling to his knees, Barret kept his fist firmly around Dyne's hand as his friend dangled loosely over the long chasm leading to the foot of the mountain. If Dyne fell, there would be a very minimal chance that he'd survive.
"Dyne!" Barret shouted desperately, his voice barely heard over the sound of the gunfire. "Hang on! Lissen to me! You're comin' back to the village, hear?"
Below him, Dyne looked up meekly, a cut on his forehead from where his head had connected with the mountain wall. "Yeah…" he replied, sounding slightly dazed. "I ain't lettin' go… You're comin' back… Everyone's waitin' for ya… Eleanor… and Marlene… They all waitin' on us…"
Up on the bridge, Scarlet urged the soldiers on, shouting at them hysterically for them to continue firing and aim right. Slowly but surely the line of bullets moved across the mountain wall, getting closer and closer to the spot where Barret was holding on so desperately to Dyne. The bullets moved right along the ridge, to where Barret's hand was holding onto Dyne's wrist.
Barret cried out and clenched his eyes shut suddenly as he felt the pang of a dozen bullets suddenly fire into his right arm. At the same time Dyne cried out, feeling the same pang in his left arm. Barret clenched his teeth tight and held on as hard as he could, fighting back the pain.
Then, without warning, he suddenly felt his arm go limp, his muscles giving way and his arm falling loose. He looked down just in time to see his grip fall free, releasing Dyne's arm. He looked further down and saw Dyne's blank face looking back up at him, still reaching out with his own weak left arm as he fell back away from the ledge and down into the chasm, the shadows swallowing him up and out of Barret's sight.
"From then on, I couldn't use my right arm no more," said Barret slowly, closing his eyes as he remembered Dyne's calm, accepting face as he fell away from the ledge. He had almost seemed to accept his face, and that image was burned into the back of Barret's mind. "…I was depressed for a while. But then I threw away my artificial arm and got this gun grafted in." He turned away from the others, and looked down at the unnatural metal gun that had replaced his hand. "Got a new right arm to get revenge on the Shinra, who took everything away…" He put his good hand over the cold metal and gripped it tight, before he turned back to the others. "Back then, I heard the doc say there was another man who got the same operation as me. But his was the left arm…"
Around him, the others remained silent for a few moments as they absorbed all this information, thinking it over. A lot of things were beginning to make sense now, such as Barret's intense dislike for the Shinra. Now they knew why he had acted the way he did – it was all a case of getting revenge for what the Shinra had taken away from him. And being in Corel Prison, rebuilt from what had once been his home, had brought it all back to him. It also answered the question as to who had committed the murders up in the Battle Square. The one other man who had a gun-arm… Dyne.
"……" Cloud breathed softly.
"But…" Aeris said suddenly, the first to break the silence that had filled the hut. "Dyne's injury was the same as yours, right?"
"Yeah, that's right," said Tifa, clicking her fingers. "He was deceived by the Shinra, too. He'll probably join us to fight against the Shinra."
Barret shook his head firmly. "…Wouldn't bet on it," he replied. "I gotta 'pologise to Dyne before I can rest in peace." He lifted his gun-arm and cocked it ready. "An that's why, I gotta go alone." Everyone stayed silent, looking at Barret.
"Do whatever you want…" Cloud said suddenly, surprising everyone. One by one they turned to look at Cloud, who had turned away at the end of the story, his eyes shut. Then he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Barret. "Is that what you want to hear?" he asked. He shook his head fiercely. "Well, I can't let you do it. Because, if you die on me, I'm gonna have nightmares."
"Barret, this isn't the end," said Aeris, catching on to what Cloud was saying.
"Weren't you going to save the Planet?" asked Tifa.
Barret glared at her angrily, his temper flaring again. "Shit!" he cursed. "Tifa, you oughtta know by now." Tifa jumped slightly and flushed a little as she recalled the true reason. Saving the Planet had never been part of Barret's plans. To everyone else, AVALANCHE was a resistance group trying to save the Planet. For Barret, it was just a way to get his revenge on the Shinra.
Tifa put her hands together and looked down at them. "…That's all right," she said quietly, a faint smile on her face. "I'm not so different from you."
"That's easier to understand," said Aeris. "It's you, Barret."
"So there it is, Barret," Cloud said, walking up to him. "So I guess it'll be Barret, me, and……" He looked around at the others, waiting for someone to volunteer to join them. After all, it wasn't necessary for them all to go in search of Dyne, and it was dangerous inside the prison.
"Hmm? Shall I go with you?" said Red XIII.
Cloud slowly nodded his head in agreement. He was hoping Red XIII would volunteer. Troublesome prisoners would be less likely to bother them with Red XIII around – from a distance he just looked like a big, fierce wolf. He was sure the others would be able to look after themselves.
"You sure are all acting pretty heroic," Yuffie commented suddenly. She jumped over to the couch and sat back in its old seats, sinking back into the cushions as she prepared for the wait. "Considerin' we're not makin' any money on this…"
Cloud and his group never heard Yuffie's last words, for they had already left the house and shut the door behind them, making sure the door was secure and the others were safe inside.
As Cloud had hoped, the majority of the prisoners stayed away from them once they saw Red XIII. The ones who did dare approach Cloud and Barret were quickly scared off once Red XIII extended his long claws and bared his teeth, giving them such a snarl that they quickly turned and fled with their money-pinching fingers fleeing ahead of them.
It wasn't too long before Cloud, Barret and Red XIII were back where they all started, just outside the perimeter of the prison. As they discovered as they walked along close to the fence was that the prison was rather open, and they were perfectly free to step out into the desert if they wanted to. However they all knew about the invisible pits of quicksand that dotted the desert, and so they kept as close as they could to the fence.
They found that part of the fence was broken about thirty metres out of the prison, leading into another part of the prison that was filled with disused junk that had been so carelessly dropped from the Gold Saucer and moved aside by the residents of the prison.
Red XIII was the one who found the injured man first, catching the scent of blood on the wind. He ran ahead and found the man, another prisoner, lying facedown on the sand. He was still alive, but it wouldn't be long before he died also, and there was nothing they could do for him.
Cloud knelt down and saw a deep, bloody wound in the man's back. "This one's been shot, too…" he observed.
He looked up suddenly as he heard the steady, constant sound of gunfire ring out through the air. Red XIII pricked up his ears and listened, his nose twitching as he tried to catch the scent on the breeze. Unable to smell anything, he suddenly leaped up onto a strange metal machine covered in rust just lying on the sand, and took another deep breath of air. This time he did catch a scent – a human scent, along with metal. "Over there," he called back down to Cloud and Barret, motioning around the next corner of crates and machinery.
Barret wasted no time in running forward, startling Cloud as he brushed rudely past him and down the sandy path. He ignored Cloud's calls for him to slow down and ran on. He was sure that it was Dyne behind the next corner – he could almost sense him.
He finally reached the corner and turned it, skidding to a stop as he turned. His jaw fell open as he saw the figure standing ahead of him at the edge of a ridge that had opened up in the middle of the desert.
There standing ahead of him, dressed in old rags that were in desperate need of a good wash. His skin was scarred and pale, and he was incredibly thin, as though he hadn't eaten properly for days. His clothes hung off his frail body, and in one of his legs there was a terrible scar showing through the tears of his trousers. And there, on his left arm, was a gun grafted onto his flesh.
He didn't look up at Barret as he approached, nor as Cloud and Red XIII finally caught up to him and stopped behind him. He simply stood, his head lowered to look at the ground, firing steadily into an old stone wall and a fence beside him.
Barret stared, open-mouthed, as he saw Dyne standing ahead of him. It was definitely Dyne, there was no doubt in his mind. Through the corner of his eye he saw Cloud walking up behind him, and very quickly put his hand out to warn Cloud back. Cloud stopped but did not move back, and Barret slowly began to walk forward towards Dyne, who continued to fire into the fence.
"…Dyne," Barret said, his voice stammering. "…Is that you?"
Dyne stopped firing and let his arm fall loosely by his side. He lifted his head very slowly and let his eyes fall on Barret. He seemed to stare blankly for a few seconds, as though he couldn't see or couldn't quite focus on him. Then a faint look of recognition crossed his face. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly into an expression that could only have been described as pure anger, before falling back into an expressionless glare.
"Now that's a voice I haven't heard in years…" he said, his voice low. He then began to walk forward, walking with a strong limp on the leg where the large scar was showing. Clearly when he had fallen off the cliff, he had done more damage than simply injure his arm. His entire leg had been badly damaged. "A voice I'll never forget…" he said as he walked.
There was something strange in the way he spoke – something sad and quiet, or possibly even a quiet anger. He also could barely look at Barret as he walked forward, and his mouth was slowly stretching into an uncomfortable, manic grin. Cloud, watching from the back, suddenly got the impression that was well as losing his arm and most use of his leg, Dyne had also lost most of his mind.
"I always hoped I'd be able to see you again someday…" Barret said, trying his hardest to sound normal and open, as though he couldn't see Dyne's slightly unstable state of mind. "I knew you were alive somewhere… we had the same operation. Listen to me, Dyne. I want to…"
He stopped suddenly as Dyne lifted his own gun-arm and fired a single round right at Barret's feet. Barret stood frozen as the bullet recoiled off the ground and into the nearby wall, sounding with a metal clang. For the first time Barret saw the manic expression on Dyne's face, and realised that Dyne was nothing like he used to be. Too much had happened… He watched as Dyne suddenly looked up at the sky, his eyes softening just a little.
"What's that? ……I hear her voice."
"……?" asked Barret, sounding confused.
The manic grin on Dyne's face softened for a moment as he looked at the sky. "I hear her voice, Eleanor's voice," he said. He closed his eyes for a moment as though listening, before he looked back down and pointed his gun-arm at Barret. "Begging me… not to hate your rotten guts. That's why I didn't hunt you down."
"I know I was stupid," Barret said, interrupting him. "I'm not going to ask you to forgive me. But… What're you doin' in a place like this? Why ya wanna kill those that ain't even involved? Why?"
Dyne stared, his eyes flaring up in anger. "…Why?" he cried, outraged. He continued to hold out his left arm, which was shaking in the sheer anger that was rising inside as he looked at Barret. "The hell you care for? Are the people killed going to understand 'why'? Are the people of Corel going to understand just hearing Shinra's excuses? I don't CARE what the reason is! All they give us is artillery and stupid excuses… what's left is a world of despair and emptiness…"
Barret lowered his head and looked at the ground. "……" he mumbled. It was clear that Dyne was in a lot of pain, and a simple 'sorry' was not going to change any of that. He didn't know what to say to him to make anything better.
"You still want to hear 'why'?" Dyne asked suddenly, and Barret looked up. "…All right, I'll tell ya. Cause I want to destroy everything." He pointed his gun-arm away from Barret and shot a nearby broken car, the bullet sticking in its already dented surface. "The people of this city." He pointed his arm the other way and shot the fence again. "This city itself."
He suddenly pointed his arm forward and shot three rounds at Barret's feet. Each time Barret felt the hot recoil of the bullets near his boots and flinched, but he didn't step back. He didn't believe Dyne wanted to hurt him.
"This whole world," Dyne finished, lowering his arm. He turned around, wincing in pain as he put weight on his scarred leg, and wouldn't look at them. "I got nothing left in this world. Corel, Eleanor… …Marlene……"
Barret suddenly stopped as he realised. He looked up at Dyne. "Dyne," he said, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes. "Marlene…… Marlene's still alive."
He heard Dyne gasp as his breath stopped short. Slowly but surely Dyne turned his head and looked at Barret properly for the very first time, his eyes seeming awake and open for the first time in a long time. "……?" he breathed.
"I went back into town," Barret said, taking a step forward. He finally felt as though he had found the one thing that would make Dyne listen to him. Dyne's daughter, Marlene… "I thought she was gone for sure. That is why I wanted to be by her side till the end. That's when I found her…… Found Marlene."
Dyne stared at him, his eyes widened. He couldn't say anything, even though his mouth moved as though he was trying to say something. "…"
"She's in Midgar," Barret continued. "Let's go see her together, all right?"
He looked at Dyne hopefully, until Dyne slowly turned away. Dyne could feel his heart pounding heavily inside his chest, the first time he'd felt it in a long time. He closed his eyes and listened carefully to the strange little voice that was talking silently in his head. Finally Dyne nodded slowly, and took in a breath.
"So… …she's still alive…" he said. His voice was trembling slightly. "All right, Barret. I guess that means you and I gotta fight."
Barret jumped back in shock. "What?" he exclaimed.
Dyne turned around to face him, ignoring the pain of his leg. "Eleanor's all alone by herself," he said. "I've got to take Marlene to her."
Barret shook his head in disbelief, unable to believe what Dyne was suggesting. "Dyne… are you insane?" he cried.
"Marlene wants to see her Mom, don't she?"
Before Barret could even think of an answer, he lifted his gun-arm and fired at Barret's feet. Barret almost jumped back, startled, but he knew that Dyne was prompting him to fight him.
"Stop, Dyne!" Barret pleaded with his friend. "I can't die yet."
Dyne did stop, but only long enough to say, "Oh yeah? Well, my life's been over since then." He began to fire again, and this time he wouldn't stop, the manic, hysterical smile wide on his face.
"Stop it!" called Barret. "I don't wanna fight you!"
"Barret!" came Cloud's voice from behind him. Barret turned in time to see Cloud running forward, ready to draw his sword.
"Cloud, you stay the hell out of it!" he snapped back fiercely, forcing Cloud to stop. "This is MY problem!"
Cloud stopped and slowly relaxed his grip on his sword, but he did not let go of it. It may be Barret's problem, but he was not going to stand by while Barret got himself hurt or even killed.
But none of that crossed Barret's mind as he turned back and faced Dyne, who had finally stopped firing his gun and was looking at Barret with a look that he had never seen before. It was probably the same look he had had when he killed all the people in the Battle Square. And this time, it was aimed directly at Barret.
