Chapter X

Kindred Spirits

(One Year Later) {Year 1 After Midgar}

"Whoever said 'It's a small world' should be shot," I said for the thousandth time.

"Well, kupo, we've searched almost the whole world now, and It's only been one year," Bibble replied. "That phrase must have some truth to it."

"But we still haven't found anything," I shot back.

I rode on Jamie's back as he trotted along the ground. We didn't feel like flying that day. We had just left a small town called North Corel. It was a messy town on the continent on the other side of the ocean from Midgar. There was lots of mining going on. There was also a trolley service that went to a theme park called The Gold Saucer. As we left, I started wondering if we'd ever find what we were looking for. As we went up and over the mountains surrounding North Corel, I decided to start complaining about how small the world wasn't. It was the only thing on my mind. It was mid-afternoon, so I didn't really feel like sleeping. So complaining seemed to me like the only thing to do on the trip.

"On the bright side, kupo, we got to see some amazing sights."

"Heh, yea, like the amazing town of Junon, which was missing its famous giant cannon, which is rusting away in Midgar's ruins now."

"It was still a cool place to visit, kupo. It had all sorts of other giant machinery."

"It also had a giant hole in the main building."

"That happened while they were fighting Weapon, kupo."

"Another one of those giant Weapon monsters that were running loose while Meteor was on its way?"

"Yup."

"Wait, wasn't that the one that was hding in the dessert under the Gold Saucer?"

"That was Ruby Weapon, kupo."

"And the one that was lurking in the ocean?"

"Emerald Weapon."

"And the one that attacked Midgar and got blown up by the giant cannon that used to be in Junon?"

"Diamond Weapon."

"And this one was just called Weapon?"

"Yup."

"Yeesh. All this while I was sleeping in Hojo's lab."

"The Gold Saucer was a fun place to visit, kupo."

"Yea, except half of the rides were close for renovations and the other half had people that didn't like my face, so they didn't let me on any of 'em."

"Well, you gotta admit that Costa Del Sol was a pretty town, kupo. Right by the warm, sunny beach."

"Too hot. After several hours being there, I started to wonder if the sun was gonna light my fur on fire."

"You didn't like the ocean?"

"As you may recall, I didn't go near it because of all the people on the beach."

"There must've been some place you liked, kupo."

"Nope. Everywhere we went there were people gawking, pointing, and making stupid comments and faces at me. And don't tell me I'm wrong about the stupid comments. These big cat ears don't miss much."

"You should learn to ignore things like that, kupo."

"I know, but it still bothers me."

"Hey! We're almost at Rocket Town, kupo."

"Wonderful," I droned in sarcasm as we approached the front of the town.

The town didn't look too bad. It had fewer houses than Kalm did, but it took up more space, so the houses were a bit further spread apart. The first thing I noticed was a familiar-looking airship parked behind the town. As we rode in, I decided to speak the second thing I noticed.

"Well, we have a Rocket Town, but we don't have a Rocket," I sneered, looking up at Bibble, floating to the right of me.

"Well, Rufus used it to try and blow up Meteor, kupo," Bibble answered.

"So he launched Rocket Town's famous piece-of-crap rocket," I replied, "And let me guess, it didn't work, right? So now all that's left is the giant launch pad where the rocket used to be. This place should be called Airship Town now because that's mostly what you see."

"Miss Moira, you really should work on your anger problem," She advised, "It's really starting to worry me, kupo."

"I can't help it, Bibble," I sighed, calming down a little, "It's just been so frustrating, and I don't just mean the people we meet."

"I know, kupo," She said, "Don't worry. We'll find Mr. Raven... eventually."

I then suddenly felt a subtle pain in my chest, like someone placed a rock where my heart was. Remembering how much I missed Raven was the last thing I wanted to do at the moment. I found myself unable to speak for that moment.

"Oh I'm sorry, Miss Moira," Bibble apologized, "Come on, kupo, let's just go inside."

"Let's see if anyone will actually let me stick around."

Jamie stopped walking at the center of the town. I looked around, and I didn't see anyone outside. I got off his back and onto the ground.

"This seems odd," I pointed out as I looked around, "Usually at a town there'd at least either be a bunch of children playing or a crazy old man standing by his house waiting to tell a long and wordy story."

"And sometimes both, kupo," Bibble added.

"Yea, but I don't see either. There's nobody out here."

"Maybe everybody's sleeping, kupo."

"In the middle of the afternoon? I don't think so."

I started listening for possible inhabitants of the quiet town. After a while, I managed to pick up faint whispers coming from the inside of the houses.

"I thought so," I said, "There are people here. And they're hiding. It figures."

"And you're so sure it's you they're hiding from, kupo?" Bibble remarked.

"Are you saying it's not?"

"Well... Uh..."

"I thought so," I said as I got ready to get back onto Jamie's back. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

"Where will we go, kupo?"

I stepped up to mount Jamie, but then I stopped as a thought occurred to me.

"What's the nearest town from here?" I asked in curiosity.

"I think it's Nibelheim, kupo, but we'd have to climb more mountains to get there."

"So it's to the south of us?" I said and pondered it for a moment, "And I really don't feel like climbing more mountains."

"So what'll we do, kupo?"

I breathed a sigh, not quite sure what to do. I stepped back down and leaned my head on Jamie's back.

"Wark," Jamie squawked.

I looked up at him, and he looked back at me. He looked exhausted. Climbing the mountain was a strain for him, since he wasn't exactly a mountain chocobo. And then walking for several miles after that without rest wasn't exactly easy for him either.

"Well, it doesn't seem like we have much choice but to rest here," I concluded.

I started walking to the back end of the town.

"But we can't go there, kupo!" Bibble yelled out after reading where I had in mind for us to rest.

"We have to," I replied, "The Rocket's launch pad is the only place where we won't bother anyone."

"But Miss Moira..."

"You suggesting we go into the airship?"

"No, kupo, but..."

"I don't see the problem, Bibble," I insisted, "Since there's no Rocket, and Shinra's not around to fund people to make things like that anymore, the place should be abandoned."

"Ohhh..." she whined as I made my way to the empty launch pad.

"Besides," I continued, "Jamie needs the rest more than we do."

"I guess so, kupo."

As we walked past the houses and into the launch pad, I noticed that the place wasn't in as big a mess as I expected. There were pieces of scrap metal in piles sorted by size, shape, and color. There were machine parts sorted and stacked in other places. It started to look like the launch pad wasn't so abandoned.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," I said. "Maybe we should just go rest someplace outside of town."

"Someone's coming, kupo," Bibble announced as I started to hear footsteps coming from the town behind me.

I turned around and saw a scruffy-looking guy with blonde hair stomp up to the launch pad behind us. He wore dark pants, a blue jacket, and a set of gloves, scarf, and goggles that a fighter pilot would wear. He had an unlit cigarette in his mouth and a full pack of cigarettes tucked under the strap of his goggles.

As he walked up he lit up a match and lit the cigarette in his mouth. He then walked up to me and stopped only a few feet from me and started yelling at me, smoking as he went.

"Alright, who the fucking hell are you and what do you want here?!"

After a moment he shook his head in confusion and just pointed at me.

"No, scratch that. WHAT the fucking hell are you?"

And then he noticed Bibble and pointed at her too.

"And YOU?!"

"I'm a moogle, kupo," Bibble answered in a little cutesy voice. "My name is Holly Bibble."

"Alright, now I know YOU can talk." Then he looked back at me, crossing his arms, "And what about you?"

"WHAT or WHO I am is none of your business," I answered. "All I want here is to give my chocobo some rest. He just hiked over a mountain and walked hundreds of miles from North Corel, carrying me on his back!"

"Well, you can rest wherever the hell you want, but not here!"

"Geez!" I rolled my eyes and looked up at Bibble, "We've only been in this town a few minutes and we're already being kicked out of it."

"Who the fuck said I was kicking you out of town?!" He spat, "I just said you can't rest your damn bird here in my launch pad!"

"YOUR launch pad?" I raised an eyebrow.

"That's right, MY launch pad!" He answered, "I am Captain Cid Highwind of the airship Highwind!"

"The Highwind?" I repeated, looking over at the airship parked next to the launch pad. "I knew that airship looked familiar. It's yours?"

"You're damn right she's mine. Everything you see in this launch pad is mine. I use it all to build and repair aircrafts, and I don't want you, your bird, or your... moogle to fuck anything up here. So if rest is really all you want, then come with me."

"Huh?" I blurted in confusion, blinking a few times. The sudden change in direction from rude to hospitable seemed off.

"What?! Are you fucking deaf? I said come with me! And bring your bird and your... moogle with you!"

"Uh... Bibble?" I thought to her.

"We can trust Mr. Cid, Miss Moira," Bibble whispered to me, "He's not really as mean as he sounds."

I reluctantly followed after Cid. He took us to a house on the far side of the town, not far from the launch pad. Parked behind the house was an old airplane with the words "Tiny Bronco" painted on each of its wings. As we approached the house, I just kept looking at the plane.

"A plane?" I wondered out loud.

"I told you I build and repair planes," he answered, "That was the one Shinra funded me to build, but that retarded buzzard didn't fly very far when we needed it too. It ended up crashing into the sea, and all we could use it for was as a shallow-water boat."

"I guess it was Shinra that funded you to build the Rocket too, right?"

"Actually, Shinra just decided to build the rocket here and hired me to fly it into outer space, there wasn't a town here at the time, so there wasn't a problem. That Rocket was a damn masterpiece, too. But Shinra was a bunch of assholes about it. They abandoned it after it failed to take off the first time. So it ended up just sitting on the launch pad for a couple of decades, then this town was built here and named itself for the rocket that stuck out of it. Then some years after that the Shinra decided to fix it and send it into Meteor. What a damn waste! The only good that came out of it was that I got the chance to see outer space. Shinra seemed to REALLY like pissing the hell out of me by giving me the money to build my aircrafts and then coming here to take 'em away from me. But now I have enough spare parts layin' around so I don't need much funding."

"Outer space..." I repeated, looking up at the sky. "I'll bet that was a really cool sight."

"More beautiful than anything you could ever find on this shitty planet, except of course for the open sky."

"I know what you mean. My chocobo has flown me all around the world, and I've yet to see a better sight than watching the world from high above the ground."

Then he stopped for a moment and turned around.

"Wait a minute? Your chocobo FLIES?"

"That's right," I answered, petting Jamie on the neck. "I trained him myself."

"Heh, well you're gonna have to show me after he's all rested," he said as he turned back around and started walking again, "How 'bout it? I let you spend the night here, you show me how your bird flies, and we'll call it even."

"Ok," I agreed, "But do the other townspeople mind if I stay here?"

"Honestly, I don't give a flying rat's ass what they think," he answered, "They think I'm crazy for being so damn obsessed with flying, but that's my first true love. That's why the Highwind and the Tiny Bronco mean just about everything to me, even if the Bronco is a piece of shit now."

We kept walking towards the house, and I got a good look at the Tiny Bronco. It was severely rusted, probably from floating around in the sea. The wings were loose, and one of the engines was burnt off. It definitely looked like it had seen better days.

"Well, we're here," he said as he opened the door to the house, "Make yerselves at home. Your bird can stay out on the front porch."

"Ok," I turned around and looked up at Jamie, "I think you can figure out where it is, right Jamie?"

"Wark," He nodded and walked away and around the house.

I turned back around and found the door opened.

"Well?" Cid urged, "You coming in or what?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

I walked into the door and Cid shut it behind us. Everything in the house was greasy, and the house reeked of cigarette smoke. After letting us in, Cid looked around and seemed annoyed about something.

"Dammit! Where the fuck is she?"

"What is it with him and swearing so much?" I whispered in thought.

"It's to hide his soft side, kupo," Bibble whispered back.

"What little he has of a soft side, anyway," I thought.

He went and opened the front door, and I saw Jamie being petted by a nice-looking young woman with a soft smile on her face.

"SHERA!!!" Cid yelled.

"Oh! Sorry," the woman replied, startled, but still smiling. "I was just wondering where this chocobo came from."

"We have company, Shera," Cid said, "The chocobo belongs to them."

She then looked behind Cid and over to Bibble and me. Her jaw dropped at the sight of us.

"Well don't just stand there gawking, woman!" Cid demanded, "Make our guests some tea!"

"Oh! Yes, sir!" She replied as she rushed over to the stove and quickly placed a full pot of water on it.

Cid then looked over to us, still with that annoyed look in his face.

"Well? Don't stand there! Sit the fuck down and relax!" He yelled pointing at the nearest chair, which was one of two at the table.

I quickly sat down on the chair nearest to me while Bibble sat down on the tabletop. We looked at each other, both rather surprised.

"Let me guess," I thought to Bibble, "He spoke his mind before processing and it caught you by surprise?"

She nodded in reply.

Cid sat down on the chair on the other side of the table from us and put his feet up on the table. He picked up a remote control that was laying on the table and turned on the TV that was on the kitchen counter nearby. The news happened to be on at the moment.

"...was irrelevant," the news anchor said as the sound on the TV came on, he was a serious-looking man with a dull voice, "Our next story talks about an unfortunate group of people suffering from a newly-discovered degenerative disease."

"What kind of shit are they tryin' to feed us here?" Cid remarks, "Shera! Where's the damn tea!"

"It's coming!" she yelled back from the kitchen, walking up a moment later with a tray carrying a teapot and three cups. She served us the tea and went outside. I looked at my cup, not really interested in the newscast.

"You may have encountered these individuals during the Meteor Crisis last year," the news anchor continued, "Many of them were dressed in mysterious black cloaks and uttered the words 'Jenova' and 'reunion'. These people have been dubbed 'Jenova Cases' simply because 'Jenova' was one of the only two words they said."

My ears perked up at the word "Jenova". I then looked back up at the TV

"No, not more of this shit," Cid said as he began pointing his remote at the TV.

"No wait!" I protested, "This might have information I need!"

"What? You're lookin' for one of 'em?" He asked, still holding up the remote.

"As a matter of fact, yes!" I retorted.

"Agh, fine," he groaned and put the remote down, grumbling as he went.

"Though many of these people died during Meteor," the news anchor continued, "There were many still that managed to live through this terrible time. After Meteor passed, they seemed to have returned to being normal people and have continued living their lives normally, but recently, the Jenova Cases have been suffering from a mysterious illness that has left some of them weak, and some others dead. We take you now to Martha Kibble in the town of Nibelheim, where many of the Jenova Cases lived. Martha."

"Shit, I coulda told you they were all in Nibelheim!" Cid yelled out as he puffed a cloud of cigarette smoke.

The screen switched to a scene of Nibelheim with a young blonde woman in a red suit standing in front of it.

"Right here, Tom," answered the blonde, "It's just tragic what happening to these people, and the other townspeople are doing all they can to help them, but there just doesn't seem to be any cure for this. The only good news is that it was just confirmed that the disease only affects Jenova Cases, so the rest of the human race has nothing to worry about."

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel better," I replied.

"However, this disease, that some have called the Jenova Virus, is a serious threat to the Jenova Cases. It seems to be a degenerative disease, affecting muscle strength and the aging process. Thus far these are the only known effects of the disease, but it affects each individual differently. In most cases, it weakens and ages the victim to death within a few weeks. In fewer cases, it happens within a few days, but others still have been able to continue living with it, some aging and weakening faster than others. It is not certain why the duration of the Jenova Virus varies so much, but resident doctors will continue studying until a treatment, or even a cure, is found. Back to you, Tom."

None of that story was easy to take in. I'd assumed everything would be alright with Raven since Jenova was gone, but then I realized the urgency of my search.

"I have to go to Nibelheim," I concluded out loud.

"Now?" Bibble asked after sipping her tea, "But Miss Moira, we just got here. And Jamie still needs rest, kupo."

"Then let him rest," I answered, "You stay here with him while I go to Nibelheim."

"Are you fucking crazy?" Cid spoke up, "Nibelheim's on the other side of the damn mountains from here. It would take weeks to walk around it, and only a complete idiot would try to climb it."

"But I have to go there," I insisted.

"Hmph," he scuffed with a crooked smile on his face, "Well, then there's only one option for you, and you wouldn't even have to leave your friends behind."

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.

"Come on and I'll show you."

He got up off the table and walked over to the back door again. I got up and followed, and Bibble floated up and followed me. Cid opened the door and walked outside, and Bibble and I followed close behind. He then stopped and pointed up at the airship.

"It would only take an hour or so if we used the Highwind," Cid said.

"We?" I asked.

"Well, do YOU know how to captain the crew of an airship?"

"Uh, no,"

"Then shut up and let me call the crew."

He pulled out of his pocket a device that looked like a phone. He pushed a button and it beeped before he spoke into it.

"Yes, Captain Cid?" said a voice from the device.

"Get the crew ready for take-off," Cid ordered, "We're heading for Nibelheim."

"Aye, sir."

He then clicked off and looked over at me.

"Well, go get your bird and we'll be off."

"What do you mean go get him?" I asked.

"Well, you're not just gonna leave him here by himself are you? He can rest in the airship. There's a little mini-stable that can hold one chocobo, with a crew member meant for taking care of it."

"You... You'd really do that for me?" I asked.

"Don't waste your fucking time asking me stupid questions. Just get the bird into the airship, and I'll take you to Nibelheim."

"Uh, thank you," I replied and ran around the house to the front, with Bibble floating close behind.

I saw Jamie sitting down on the front porch with his head curled into his back. I went over to his and petted his neck. He lifted his head and turned it to me.

"Wark?" he squawked sleepily.

"We're leaving again, Jamie, except you'll be a passenger on this trip."

"Wark?" he tilted his head in confusion.

"Come on," I urged, "Everyone's waiting."

"Wark."

Jamie got up and followed me around the house and back to the back yard. By the time we got there, Cid was already by the airship, and the engines were already started.

"Wow," I uttered, "That was fast."

"Mr. Cid's a good captain, kupo," Bibble replied, "It was nice of him to offer us a ride to Nibelheim."

"Yeah, considering we're total strangers."

We hurried over to the airship. Cid was waiting for us beside a boarding ramp leading up into the airship. Jamie and I climbed the ramp into the airship, followed by Bibble and Cid. When we got inside, one of the crew quickly took Jamie from me and led him to a small room I couldn't see from where I was.

"The crew wastes no time making the passengers comfortable," Cid remarked, "That's just about the only thing these idiots are good for. Other than that, they're usually screaming for my help."

"Captain Cid!!!" one of the crew screamed from a distance.

"See what I mean?" Cid said to me as he walked over to the bridge, which was where the yelling was coming from. Bibble and I followed close behind.

"Alright, what is it?!" Cid yelled as he walked into the bridge.

"The engines aren't responding, Sir!" a young man at the control console reported, "They won't power up any further. We'll never be able to lift off at this rate."

"Dammit!!!" Cid screamed, "Can't you idiots handle anything by yourselves?!"

He walked over to the console, shoving the crewmember aside. He pulled some levers and pressed some buttons, and then after a few moments, I heard the engines start to make a "whirr" sound.

"There!" Cid said as he finished. "See if you can remember that next time! I don't fucking believe this! You were the crew that flew this airship to the world's salvation only ONE year ago, and you forgot how to work the damn engines?!"

"Sorry, Captain Cid, Sir! It won't happen again, Sir!"

"See that it doesn't!" He then turned around and looked at us, "If you yourselves need rest, there's a crew member upstairs in charge of making the passengers comfortable during our flight. He'll show you to your room. He's usually in the meeting room. It's the one with the big double-doors. You can't miss it."

"Uh, ok," I stuttered as I was quickly escorted out of the bridge and into the main hall again.

I then made my way across the hall and through a set of double-doors, into the meeting room of the airship.

"Who would've thought that an airship would need a meeting room?" I wondered in thought.

"This used to be Shinra's airship, kupo," Bibble answered my thought, "They had meetings during flight."

"You must be the passengers the Captain was talking about," said a voice from the corner.

I turned and found a stout man wearing a blue uniform. He was just standing straight and tall in the corner of the room with his hands behind his back. It occurred to me that it didn't seem like he noticed the way I looked at all. Confused at this, I couldn't help but ask.

"You do know that I'm not human, right?"

"Yup," he answered in a cheerful tone, "But don't worry too much about it. I've seen stranger-looking things than you on this airship, which is why I'm also not surprised at the little mog following you around."

"Uh, I'm a moogle, kupo," Bibble corrected, "It's a common misconception that we're called mogs. Mog was the name of a moogle that helped save the world thousands of years ago, kupo."

"Oh well, I stand corrected. Would you like to rest up while we prepare for take-off?"

"I'd like to see my chocobo first, if you don't mind," I requested, "He was sort of snatched from me when I walked in."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll take you right to him."

He then began walking over to the door. I followed close behind, with Bibble floating along behind me. He walked out and turned left from the door. We went down the hall and through another door. There I saw a very small, yet cozy stable with plenty of food and water to feed a full-grown chocobo. I then saw Jamie, happily sleeping on some soft hay.

"See?" The stout man said, "Nothing to worry about. Our crew's chocobo keeper checks on the passenger chocobo every fifteen minutes to make sure everything's ok. So I can assure you that your chocobo will be in good hands during our flight."

I was relieved that Jamie was ok. Having everything happen so quickly was stressing, but it turned out that everything was under control, so I finally took a breath and relaxed.

"I think I'm ready to rest now," I said.

"Right this way ladies," the stout man said, leading us out of the little stable and to our resting quarters.

It was a small room, one bed, big enough to house one person, but it was plenty for Bibble and me. Since Bibble was so very small, she could just sleep on my bed somewhere and I wouldn't notice.

"I hope you enjoy the trip," the stout man said as he left us alone in the quarters.

"See, Miss Moira?" Bibble said, "I told you not all towns are bad, kupo."

"The town was still bad," I insisted, "We were let in by the town freak."

"So Mr. Cid's an outcast. So what, kupo?" Bibble bounced back, "At least we found someone kind enough to offer us a ride to the next town, kupo, as well as a place to stay."

"You're right, he really didn't have to do all this. He could've just kicked us out of the launch pad without inviting us in."

"He has his reasons, kupo, but I didn't pry in, so I don't really know what his reasons are."

"I think I'll ask him the next time I get the chance to, but for now, let's get some sleep. I didn't really realize how tired I was until just now."

"I know what you mean, kupo. Traveling a long way nonstop can be tiring, even for a passenger."

I got into the bed, and Bibble cuddled up in the corner of the bed near me.

"Good night, Bibble," I said, even though it was mid-afternoon.

"Good night, Miss Moira," she answered with a yawn.

I then shut the bedside light off and went to sleep.

(One Hour Later)

"Hey Miss Moira, wake up, kupo!" Bibble insisted.

I woke up, disturbed from Bibble's high-pitched voice.

"Uh..." I groaned as I sat up in bed, "What is it?"

"We're here, Miss Moira," Bibble answered, "We've arrived at Nibelheim, kupo."

"What? Great!"

I then found my energy and got out of bed. We hurried out of the room and over to the place where we boarded the ship. Cid was waiting for us at the door, arms crossed, lit cigarette in his mouth.

"Seems like your chocobo wasn't the only thing that needed rest," Cid said as I approached.

"I didn't realize how tired I was from the trip," I replied.

"Well, we'll be parked here until you're ready to go back," he assured me.

"You'll wait for me?" I wondered out loud.

"You still owe me a flying demonstration," he answered, grabbing his cigarette and puffing some smoke. "And that can't happen until your damn bird has the energy to fly. So until then, you can run around Nibelheim lookin' for your Jenova Case. The town entrance is just outside and down the ramp."

"Ok," I answered and started out the door.

"And be careful, alright?" Cid said as I walked out the door, "The people in this town are really weird."

I then walked down the ramp and into the town. Bibble followed close behind me, of course.

It wasn't like any other town I'd been to. There was a small water tower in the center of it and a huge mansion behind it. Even further behind it was a path leading over to the mountain. The entrance to the town looked like the entrance to a farm or a ranch, with a large wooden arch held up on wooden poles.

The atmosphere of the town was dark. There were only a few people outside, and there weren't any children that I could see or hear.

"This town is creepy," I said.

"Is it because of the fact that the townspeople are really hired actors, kupo?" Bibble asked.

"Or at least WERE hired actors," I answered, "That's partly it."

"What's the other part?"

"That mansion behind the town doesn't look like it fits with the rest of the town."

"Well, that's because it's the only part of this whole town that didn't get burnt down six years ago, kupo."

"I guess that would explain why it looks older."

"Let's go look inside, kupo."

"I came here looking for Raven, not to check out a creepy house."

"How do you know there aren't any Jenova Cases inside?"

I couldn't argue with that. I stayed silent for a moment and looked up at the mansion.

"Ok, fine. We'll go in."

"Kupo!"

"But after we check out the rest of the town first."

"Ok."

I looked to my left and saw the Inn and the bar right next door to each other.

"Hmm, this artificial town has a bar," I commented.

"Don't even think about going inside to drink, kupo."

"Just a thought."

"A not-healthy one, kupo."

"Ok, ok, get off my back about it."

"Kupo."

So then it was decided that we'd look in the Inn first.

There were several people in the Inn, many of which were lying sick in bed while the rest were attending to them.

"I guess the ones in bed are the Jenova Cases," I said.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," said a woman's voice from behind the clerk desk, "But the Inn is not admitting anyone at the moment."

I looked over and saw a young woman in her late teens with brown hair tied in a ponytail. She was constantly chewing on something that looked like gum. She looked at me like I was a normal person, which seemed strange to me. I just sort of stared back.

"In case you're wondering," she answered before I could ask, "I've seen much weirder-looking things than you in this town coming out of that airship. Ugly things, too. At least you're a cool kind of weird."

"Uh... Thanks... I think," I replied uneasily, "Are the people in bed Jenova Cases?" I asked.

"Yes they certainly are."

"Thank you," I said as I walked on into the Inn.

I looked at each of the people in bed, hoping to see a familiar face, but with each bed was another disappointment. I also kept my nose on guard for his scent, but I found no trace of it anywhere in the Inn.

As we were about to leave I looked over at the desk clerk again.

"Couldn't find the one you were looking for?" She asked, chewing her gum.

I just shook my head in disappointment.

"Well, you can try in some of the homes on the other side of town," she suggested. "The people don't mind strangers walking in and out of the houses."

"Still just acting like townspeople?" I scoffed.

"Oh no, we stopped doing that after the whole Meteor thing. After that we decided to just live here like normal people, and the Jenova Cases have been living here with us. But we still play along when the occasional tourist comes to see the place."

"Hmm," I replied.

"But don't let me stop your search," she continued, "Just go on ahead into the houses. Nobody will mind."

"Ok, thanks."

We left the Inn and continued through the town. I looked at the bar again as we passed it.

"I could really use a drink right now," I thought.

"No you don't," Bibble said, "Drinking alcohol is not the answer, kupo. It won't get you any closer to finding Mr. Raven. Or finding a way to help Miss Hikorai."

"No, but it'll certainly make me not feel so awful about this whole thing."

"Well, we haven't finished searching the town yet, kupo," she insisted, "You're giving up too easily."

"Maybe that's true, but I'm tired of coming up empty-handed."

"Let's just keep looking, kupo."

We moved on and searched each of the houses. Like the clerk said, nobody minded. Nobody even gave me a thought. As I walked in, they pretended I wasn't there. They just went along with what they were doing, which in most cases was to take care of the Jenova Case or two that happened to live with them.

Most of the Jenova Cases I saw were too sick to move, though there was a small handful that didn't seem to be affected by the strange sickness. I didn't know some of them were Jenova Cases until it was mentioned in conversations. Even though there were many Jenova Cases in this town, none of them was the one I was looking for.

After searching every house, it seemed the only place left to look was the ever-so-glorious Shinra Mansion.

"Well, this is a long shot if I ever saw one," I said, looking over to the mansion.

"Maybe this is the shot we need, kupo," Bibble replied.

"Maybe."

We followed a path that led through the center of town and towards the mansion and entered the gates into the front yard.

The yard looked like it had been neglected for several years. There was nothing but dirt and dust all around, with only a few specks of dried up grass and a couple of withered trees.

The mansion itself looked worn out. Some of the boards on the walls were falling off, and many of the windows were broken or missing. The windows that weren't broken were too dusty to see through. The front door was loose on its hinges, and it had a couple of holes in it.

"This is the famous Shinra Mansion?" I wondered out loud.

"Yup," Bibble answered.

"It looks like it should be haunted," I commented. "Or maybe have an ongoing thunderstorm around it... Or hundreds of bats flying in and out of it."

"That's a bit clich‚, kupo."

"That's still how this place looks."

I opened the door, and we walked inside. The front door led into a large main hall. It looked like the sort of place you could hold a party, except for the fact that there were several loose floorboards and broken stair steps. There was dust covering everything. I was amazed the floorboards didn't creek as we walked in. To the left was a doorway that led to a room. In front of us was a staircase that went to the upstairs hallway, which went both to the left and right, left leading to yet another room and right leading to another hall with two rooms in it.

"This p-place is sp-pooky, kupo," Bibble said, shaking out of nervousness.

"Well it was your idea to come in here," I spat back. "So now we're gonna search this place from attic to basement."

"But it d-doesn't even look like th-there's even anyone living here, k-kupo."

"But we don't know for sure that there's nobody in here."

With that I walked over to the left to check the room. There wasn't anything but dusty furniture, so I turned around and went up the stairs. I then turned to the left again and went to the room there. This room had an old safe in it, and its door was wide open, revealing that the safe was empty. On the far side of the room was another doorway. I walked over to the doorway and checked out the room there. This room caught my interest when I saw an old piano sitting in it.

I walked in and over towards the piano. Bibble soon entered the room behind me, and then she seemed to have lost her fears when she saw the piano.

"Oo, a piano," she said. "I wonder if it works, kupo."

"I dunno."

"Play it."

"But I don't know how to play the piano."

"Just press the keys to see if they work, kupo."

So I pressed each of the keys on the piano. They all seemed to sound fine, except for two that didn't make a sound when I pressed them.

"Hmm, two of the strings are missing, kupo."

"Is that why it's only making a click sound?"

"Yes, kupo."

"Well, that's enough of my musical talent. Lets move on."

"Ok, kupo," she whined as I turned away from the piano and walked out of the room.

I walked down the hall, passed the stairs, and turned left at the next hall. At the end was a small room with nothing but a bunch of dusty opened treasure boxes, so I turned around and went to the room on the other side of the small hall.

In this room were a chair, a couple of desks, a lamp, and a large bookcase.

"You know, for a mansion, it's a lot smaller than it looks on the outside," I commented, realizing that this was the last room in the building. "Even the library in this place is dinky."

"Maybe there's information in here, kupo."

I walked into the room to look around. Then I noticed a loud creaking sound as soon as I stepped in front of the chair.

"Of all the loose floorboards in this entire house, why does it only squeak here? The board here isn't even loose."

"Maybe it's part of a secret, kupo."

"Yea right."

"But spooky houses ALWAYS have spooky secrets, kupo."

"Ya, but I highly doubt the house's secrets would include something as stupid as having only one creaky floorboard in the whole house. Why would anyone go through the trouble of making it so only this particular board squeaks?"

"You never know, kupo."

"Let's just keep looking."

I kept walking over to the bookshelf on the far side of the room. The shelf itself was filled from top to bottom with books. I skimmed through all the titles, but didn't find anything of interest... That is until I found one titled "Loveless".

"That's weird," I thought out loud. "I didn't think there was a book for this play."

I reached for it and grabbed it, but when I tried to pull it out, the shelf started moving. Startled, I jumped back and watched as the midsection of the bookshelf disappeared behind the rest of it. It revealed a place that didn't have much light.

"Spooky," Bibble said.

"No kidding," I replied, and then stepped through the new doorway.

"Hey, Miss Moira, wait!"

"What?" I replied as I kept walking.

"You don't know what's in there, kupo!"

"So?"

"What if we find something too dangerous to escape from?"

I stopped walking for a moment and looked back at Bibble.

"What are you so worried about? You told me yourself that you're immortal and indestructible."

"Actually, that was a lie, kupo," she confessed, "Death is very possible for me. I only said that because I knew that you wouldn't make a second attempt to kill me if that's what I told you."

"Hey!" I yelled.

It echoed through the new room I was in. I then noticed that the echo was coming from below. I looked down at where I was about to step and found a stairway spiraling downward further than I could see. There was also an eerie green glow coming from below.

"Well, that would've been messy," I said.

"You should've paid attention, kupo. In this dim green light, I'm sure your cat eyes should've caught it."

"I just didn't want to hear your incessant whining anymore," I said as I continued forward and downward.

"Ok, fine, kupo."

She floated downward with me as I stepped down the spiral stairs. After a while, it seemed like it would never end. I looked over the rail to see where the bottom was, but I couldn't see one. I kept going anyway.

"Yeesh, does this thing go on forever or something?"

"There's no such thing as endless stairs, kupo. That's physically impossible."

"Well, I just wish these stairs would hurry up and finish."

It was at least fifteen minutes before we finally hit the bottom of the stairs. I had to sit down at the bottom step and rest a bit before moving on. I looked in front of me and saw a long tunnel.

"So we're gonna have to walk the endless tunnel, too?"

"It was your idea to come down here, kupo."

"Oh, hush," I glared up at her.

After a while, I got up again and started walking through the long tunnel. Thankfully, it wasn't as long as the stairs. It only took half a minute to walk through it. To the left was a closed door, and in front was an opened one. I opened the shut door and found a room full of coffins. All but one of them had skeletons in them. The coffin in the center of the room was empty.

"Ugh!" I eeked in horror.

"I don't wanna see it, kupo, you're thoughts of it are scary enough."

"It's not a pretty sight in there," I answered, quickly shutting the door. "Let's move on, shall we?"

"Must we?"

"Yes."

"...kupo."

We moved away from the closed door and over to the opened one. The doorway led to a large room. To the left were many bookshelves half-filled with books. The books that would've filled the other half were all piled up on the floor. In the middle of the left wall was another hall. The room would've just looked like a messy library if it weren't for the laboratory equipment lining the back wall and the operating table in the center of the room. There was also a very familiar smell, but it wasn't a pleasant one.

"This place reeks of Hojo," I groaned, walking into the room.

"Maybe he used to live here, kupo."

"It just figures that I come here looking for Raven and I end up finding someplace that Hojo's been in. Good thing that bastard's dead."

I continued into the room towards the hall in the middle of the left wall. It was a short hall lined with bookshelves, also half-filled with books while the other half was piled up on the floor. Beyond the hall was a small room that looked like a study. The entire wall was lined with even more half-filled bookshelves, except this time some of the books were piled on the study desk in the center of the room.

Placed at the center of the study table was one book. I walked over to the table and picked up the book.

"The Jenova Project," I read out loud, looking at the cover. I was about to open it when I was startled by a sudden sound.

"Do you need help with something?" Asked a deep voice from behind me.

I dropped the book back onto the desk and turned around. Standing at the other end of the library hall was a tall dark figure wearing a black outfit with a dark red cape draped over his shoulders. Part of his cape stuck up around the neck area, covering the bottom half of his face. He had long, messy jet-black hair, deep red eyes, and a mechanical claw on his left arm.

"I'm guessing you're the creepy resident of this house?" I answered.

"Yea, and I'm guessing that you were one of Hojo's victims," He replied.

"Wait..." I said in surprise, "Huh?"

"This," he waved his claw hand up and down, pointing his finger at me, "Looks very much like something Hojo would do. That and I overheard you mentioning him on your way in here."

"Well, you're right," I replied, "Hojo did this to me."

"That gives us something in common."

"So," I started, "What did he do to you other than give you a mechanical arm and a vampire complex?"

"Running through my veins are the essences of four different monsters. Each of them unique with their own set of power, but all of them mindless killers. Hojo put them there and cursed me with the ability to transform into any one of them. I lose all control until I change back, though I am completely aware of what's going on."

"Four?!" I replied. "Yeesh, and I thought only having one monster transformation was bad. At least you still look somewhat human."

"You have a mindless beast inside you?"

"Well, not really. I'm not completely sure why my transformed body goes through the mindless rage, but I know it has something to do with the mind of the other being inside me.

"So you have two separate minds from two separate beings occupying the same body? How did Hojo accomplish this?"

"Well..." I began as I pulled Hikorai's dead Magecite out from my pocket. "This Magecite piece is the remains of an ancient creature called an esper that died thousands of years ago."

"It looks like it used to have magic in it."

"Hojo sucked everything out of it and fused it into my DNA, which pretty much explains my change in appearance. The soul of the dead esper that was peacefully resting in here is now trapped in my body. Her mind struggles to keep back away from the controls of the body."

"So then the transformation happens when she is unable to keep her mind back?"

"Yea, and after that, both of our minds are tossed around in my head while the monster transformation mindlessly rampages wherever we happen to be... My... hometown was destroyed this way."

There was an awkward silence after this. I then stuck the Magecite back in my pocket.

"So, Mr. Vincent," Bibble spoke up, "What's you're story?"

He looked up at Bibble, eyebrow raised. "First tell me how you know my name."

"Your name is Vincent?" I wondered.

"Yes it is," he answered, "Vincent Valentine."

"Moira Lenore," I answered back. "And Bibble here is a mind-reader. That's how she knew your name."

"Well, before I answer that question, I think we should go upstairs so we can find someplace comfortable to talk about this. We can start talking on the way up."

"Up...? The stairs...?" I dreaded, even though I knew I'd have to eventually go back up the stairs to leave the mansion.

"Remember, kupo, it was your idea to go DOWN the stairs."

"Just shut up, Bibble."

"Well, we could just sit and talk in the room with all the coffins," Vincent suggested.

"Ah! No thanks!" I answered.

With that he turned around and started walking out of the hall. Bibble and I followed close behind. After walking out the door and through the tunnel, we started going up the stairs. He was really quiet for a couple of minutes, and then he started telling his story.

"I once worked for Shinra," he started, "I was one of the Turks. I was twenty-seven hears old. Hojo was head of the science and research department, of course, but back then he worked with a partner. A woman named Lucrecia. They worked together in their experiments."

His story already confused me. Hojo never had a partner when I worked for Shinra, and I never heard of him having one. I also thought that it couldn't have been that long ago because he said he was twenty-seven then, and he didn't look that much older. But I decided to not ask questions and let him continue his story.

"Lucrecia and I spent a lot of time together," he continued, "I was deeply in love with her. I wasn't all that sure she had the same feelings for me because of all the time she spent with Hojo. After a while I discovered one particular experiment that they were working on together, and it disturbed me. The experiment was to inject cells of an ancient being called Jenova into the both of them and attempt to recreate Jenova's son, Sephiroth."

"Recreate Sephiroth?" I thought to myself, trying to make sense of what he was saying. "But Sephiroth was SOLDIER's most famous member, and the guy who nearly destroyed the world."

"When I found out of their plan, I confronted Hojo directly with my objection, expressing my concern for Lucrecia. Hojo obviously didn't want me near her, because he had me captured and brought down here. He took me to his laboratory basement and experimented on me. After he was finished, he left me in a coffin in the next room to rest, to think, and to suffer. I stayed there until one day a group of people wandered in here, looking for clues to find Sephiroth. They ended up finding me. They also mentioned going after Hojo, so I joined them, and together we ended up saving the world."

"How long did you have to wait in that coffin?" I wondered out loud as we neared the top of the stairs.

"I think it was thirty years," he answered.

"What?!" I stopped climbing on hearing the number. "Thirty?! But you..."

"Don't look fifty-eight?" He finished my sentence for me, as he stopped and looked back at me. "I'm pretty sure it's because Hojo wanted me to suffer until the end of time and made sure that I would. The only part of me that keeps growing is my hair."

"Well, at least now your story makes more sense," I replied as we finished climbing the stairs, "In all the time I was in Midgar working for Shinra, I never heard anything about Hojo having a partner, even the people that worked for Shinra before me."

"It took place before Midgar was built," Vincent asked. "Back when Shinra was based here in Nibelheim. What was your position in Shinra?"

"I was a security guard. I guarded President Shinra's meeting room door. Then Hojo, taking advantage of how bored I was of my job, offered me a job guarding his lab. Of course, like an idiot, I accepted, went to do the job, and got myself captured and experimented on. Except in my case, he just wanted someone he could stuff all the Magecite magic into, and instead of a coffin for thirty years, he put me in a giant tank for several months. I woke up just in time to see Meteor come down."

We walked out of the bookshelf staircase and into the room with the chair. As Vincent passed in front of the chair, the floorboard squeaked.

"Say," I began, "Why is it that that's the only floorboard in the entire house that squeaks?"

"It was part of a game," Vincent answered, "One of several clues that led to the combination to open a safe which contained the key to open the door to the room in the basement I was sleeping in. The group of people that wandered in here followed the clues and found me in the end. They later told me about how they found me with all these clues."

"See, kupo? I told you it was part of a secret."

"Uh-huh." I said in a dull tone, not wanting to admit she was right.

"Another of the clues had something to do with the piano in the room downstairs," he continued.

"Could be why two of the notes are missing," I replied.

"I think that's what it was," he said, "At any rate each clue led to one of the three numbers in the safe's combination."

"Weird."

"Hojo didn't think anyone would actually be smart enough to figure out his clues and riddles, so he left them hidden in a pot in another room downstairs."

We started walking down the stairs to the first floor of the mansion. After reaching the bottom step of the stairs, Vincent turned around and looked at me.

"Out of curiosity," he started, "What brought you all the way down to my basement?"

"I'm looking for someone very important to me," I answered. "He's a Jenova Case, and I heard that many of them were living here in Nibelheim. I searched all over the town, but couldn't find him. This mansion seemed to be my only other option."

"You must've also heard of this so-called 'disease' that's started to affect them."

"You sound like you know something about it," I replied.

"I know that it's not a disease," he answered.

"Do you know what's causing it?"

"All I know is that it is a side effect of the dead Jenova cells floating around in their bodies," he answered, "And that the severity of the 'disease' depends on the amount of Jenova cells injected into them. The more Jenova cells they carried, the faster it takes affect."

"And... How exactly do you know this?"

"I know Hojo that well," he said, narrowing his red eyes.

He then turned back around and continued down the stairs.

"I'm sorry you weren't able to find who you were looking for," he said as he continued away from the stairs and into the room on the right.

"I've pretty much gotten used to coming up empty-handed by now," I answered. "I've been searching for a year and haven't found anything, and I've pretty much been everywhere on this planet."

"If you keep searching, you're sure to find something, whether it be him or a clue that he's been there," he assured me, walking over to a cabinet on the far side of the room, "Though I'm pretty sure you don't want to show your face in public. I know I didn't when I left this mansion, and my appearance wasn't altered nearly as much as yours."

"Well, you're right," I answered.

"Then take this," he answered, pulling out a large black cloak and tossing it to me. "The Jenova Cases left them here after Meteor passed, since they were sure they could live normal lives again."

I caught it and stared at it for a while. I held it out in front of me, letting it hang to let me see what it looked like.

It was a plain cloak with a hood. There was nothing special about it. It was made of a thick heavy material that felt like it would be comfortable to wear in most conditions.

"It's..." I stuttered, still staring at the cloak in my hands, "...big."

"You want to cover yourself up, don't you?"

I couldn't deny that he was right, so I put the cloak on without further hesitation. It wasn't as heavy as I thought it was going to be, and easier to put on than I expected. Being so big, I thought I'd end up getting caught halfway through it, but it ended up fitting me perfectly, with the bottom of the cloak barely touching the floor.

"Do you really think a cloak is necessary, kupo?" Bibble asked, breaking her silence.

"I know what it's like to formerly be human and feel lost among what used to be your own kind," he answered, "I'm just trying to help soften her journey by giving her a disguise."

"Besides," I continued, "If I transform again, I don't want people to know what my face looks like. I might end up with a bounty on my head, and probably a big one."

"Do people even DO that nowadays, kupo?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to find out," I answered, and then looked over to Vincent, "Thanks."

"No problem," Vincent replied and started walking away from the cabinet and out of the room.

"Travel safely," he said as he started up the stairs. "I hope you eventually find what you're looking for."

"Sure," I answered, "And thanks again for the cloak."

He then disappeared into the bookroom, leaving Bibble and me by ourselves.

"Well, that was certainly interesting, kupo," Bibble said.

"Yea," I agreed, "I didn't think anyone but me and the Jenova Cases were victims of Hojo's twisted schemes."

"Well, now you've found someone you have something in common with, kupo."

"Yup," I then turned around and walked to the front door, "I think it's time to leave now."

"Ok, kupo," she said as she floated along behind me.

We left the mansion and again walked through the town. I looked up and noticed that the sun was getting ready to go down.

"We took longer than I thought," I pointed out.

"Those stairs WERE very long, kupo."

"Yea yea, don't remind me," I groaned.

As we kept walking, I again saw the bar and again craved a drink.

"Miss Moira," Bibble groaned, sensing my craving.

"Can you really blame me, Bibble?" I groaned back, "I haven't had a beer in more than a year, and I really miss the taste of it. Though more than that, I miss losing myself in it."

"That's exactly why we shouldn't go in, kupo. Your old drinking habits keep trying to kick back, and I know how grumpy you get when you're drunk compared to how grumpy you are when you're sober."

"Ugh, fine," I accepted as we kept going to the entrance of town.

When we got there, Cid was waiting for us by the main archway at the entrance, smoking another cigarette.

"Couldn't find anything, eh?" He asked as I came walking up, puffing smoke with each word he spoke.

"No," I answered, "But I did get this cloak, so the trip wasn't a total loss."

"Well, get back aboard the ship so we can head back," he said as he turned around and started walking towards the Highwind.

When we got into the airship, I immediately headed to the chocobo room to see how Jamie was doing. When I saw that he was still peacefully sleeping, I stepped back out and headed over to the meeting room, all the while with Bibble following.

"Are you ready to go back to your quarters?" The man standing inside asked.

"Actually no," I answered. "I was just wondering where the outer deck was."

"Ah, you want to enjoy the view outside?"

"Yes, I think I'd like to enjoy the flight this time around."

"Well, follow me," he said and walked out the door. Bibble and I then followed.

He turned right after exiting the room and kept going in that direction to the other side of the walkway. He then turned right again, going through a doorway and up some stairs. At the top of the stairs was a shut door. He opened it, revealing the deck outside.

"Here you are," he announced and held the door open for us while we walked out through it.

"Thanks," I said.

"You're welcome. Just call on me if you need anything else."

He then went back into the door and down the stairs. After he was out of sight, I turned around and leaned on the railing, looking down at the ground. The ground looked really far down, even though we hadn't taken off yet. I lifted my head up and looked over at the town of Nibelheim.

"I really do wonder if this search is worth it, Bibble?" I blurted. "I wonder if I'll ever find him. If he's even still alive."

"You shouldn't give up, kupo," she answered, "And besides, it's not just Mr. Raven we're looking for, 'member?"

"Yea, I know. But that seems even more impossible. I don't even know what I'm doing as far as that search is concerned. I mean what the hell am I supposed to do with this Magecite?"

I pulled the Magecite out of my pocket again and stared at it.

"I don't know, Miss Moira, but you really should stop thinking like that."

"I know... But what else can I do?"

"You can think about what you DO have instead of what you don't, kupo."

"Really? And what DO I have?"

"Friends."

I smirked at this, mostly because I expected an answer like that out of her. I took a deep breath and sighed, putting the Magecite piece back into my pocket.

A few seconds afterwards, the ship gave a shake as the engines kicked into motion. I looked down and watched as the ground moved further and further away. After a few short moments, we were flying over Mt. Nibel, just north of the town.

Looking over the mountains, I spotted a small building sitting ontop of it. I recognized it to be a mako reactor, similar to the ones in Midgar, except this one looked like it hadn't been used in several years.

As we passed the mountain and over the mako reactor, I heard footsteps coming from behind me. I turned around and saw Cid walking up to where I was. This time he had an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"Not a bad view, is it?" he asked as he came up next to me and leaned backwards on the rail.

"It's wonderful," I answered, "Much higher up than my chocobo ever flew."

"The Highwind's top class," he bragged, "There ain't a damn thing on this planet that can outfly this baby. We even chased down the Ultima Weapon, and he was a fast son of a bitch. But we managed to keep up with 'im and in the end beat the shit out of 'im. Sure this crew's a bunch of idiots, but they get the job done when it really comes down to it. I wouldn't trust anyone else with this ship."

He pushed himself off the rail and turned around to face the wind, which was blowing to his back when he was leaning on the rail.

"Why did you help me?" I asked. "Why did you go through all this trouble just to get me to Nibelheim?"

"You and I have something in common."

"What do you mean? What do we have in common?"

"When you fly on your chocobo, dontcha feel a sense of total freedom? Like nothing can bring you down? With the wind in your face and the clouds looking so close, you feel like could almost touch 'em. And when you land, it's like you're waking up from a dream, the kind that you don't really want to wake up from."

I was left speechless as he just spilled out his feelings about flying. It was strange because I did feel a lot of that whenever I flew with Jamie. After a moment, Cid looked at me and half-smiled.

"Well, do ya?"

"Your description is pretty close," I answered.

"I know it is. You know how I feel. You understand my obsession. You know what it's like. And most of all, you know what it's like to ride the wind without the use of a machine. The closest thing I've ever come to that is skydiving off the Highwind to get inside of Midgar. You actually have that on a regular basis, and I admire that. That's why I helped you."

"It seems like a silly reason to help someone like me."

"What, that we have flying in common? It ain't silly to someone who loves flying as much as I do. Besides, you seemed dead set on going to Nibelheim, and I agreed to let your chocobo rest where you needed him to on the condition that you'd show me how he flies. You can't give me the demonstration if you're still climbing over the damn mountain to get to Nibelheim, so I figured I'd make your trip faster."

"Well, thanks for everything," I said, "Before today I'd never actually been on an airship. And now I have more information to help me with my search."

"I hope you find the person you're looking for," he said as he turned back around and started walking back to the door downstairs. "Looking for any particular person in this world can be a pain in the ass, unless he's so fucking famous that everyone has tabs on him."

"Heh, well unfortunately for me, the closest thing to famous is that the one I'm looking for is a Jenova Case."

"Well, at least you have a way of narrowing your search."

He then disappeared through the door and down the stairs. I leaned onto the rail again and watched the scenery go by as the sun went down and the world was covered in dark.

(One Hour Later)

Toward the end of the flight, when Rocket Town came into view, I decided to go back below deck and see how Jamie was doing. When I walked in, I saw that he was happily crunching on some greens that were set in front of him. I walked up to him, with Bibble floating behind me, and I patted him on the head. Startled, he twitched and looked up. Realizing it was me, he nuzzled his head against me.

"Hey, good evening," I greeted with a chuckle, "Did you have a good rest?"

"Wark," he answered happily.

"That's good, because after this airship lands, we'll be heading out of here."

"Aren't you gonna show Mr. Cid how Jamie flies, kupo?" Bibble asked.

"Of course I will," I replied, "We'll be flying out of here."

"But it's too dark to see anything, kupo."

"The launch pad has powerful lights," I answered, "And so does the airship. He should be able to see us take off if he turns either of them on before we leave."

"That sounds like a plan to me."

"Wark," Jamie agreed.

I felt a jolt as the airship hit the ground.

"I guess it's time to go," I announced.

Then the three of us walked out of the room and towards the exit. Cid stood there by the closed door, arms crossed, waiting for us. We stopped right in front of him.

"I guess you're leaving now?"

"Yes," I answered, "But I still have to give you your demonstration."

"I have all the lights on the Highwind set to maximum. I'll be able to see it perfectly from here."

He then pounded on a button on the wall next to the door, and the door started to slide open. As it opened, I was nearly blinded by the bright light that came from the other side of it. After my eyes adjusted, I saw the ground lit up for several hundred feet in front of me. The lights were so bright that I couldn't see anything that was in the sky. I looked over at Cid and paused a moment.

"Thanks again for everything," I said, "I wish I could give you something more than just a flying demonstration as I'm leaving."

"Believe me, kid. Seeing a chocobo fly is thanks enough for me. Now beat it! I hate long goodbyes!"

"Alright, Bye then."

I then led Jamie out the door and mounted him right afterward.

"Bye, Mr. Cid!" Bibble called and waved as she sat down in front of me on Jamie's back.

"You ready Jamie?"

"Wark," he answered as he positioned his wings in preparation for the runway.

"Alright, let's go!"

Jamie then sprinted down the ramp and began flapping his wings. After a few seconds we were in the air and soaring high above the ground. I looked back and saw Cid still watching us leave. We were already so far off, he looked like a small toy figurine. I waved over to him, saying the last goodbye to him. He waved back, but only for a couple of seconds. I turned back around and again saw the clouds and the stars in the sky. I looked down at Bibble and noticed she was looking up at me.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Shouldn't you start wearing that hood, kupo?" she asked, "If you're gonna start going around in disguise, you should cover your head, too."

"You're right," I answered, "I'll pull it up the next time we land. It would be a pain to try that right now with all this wind."

"The next town we spot, kupo, we'll land far enough away for you to put the hood on before we go in."

"Where IS the next town?"

"I dunno. I don't even know what direction we're going in, kupo. Maybe if we fly far enough, we'll find something."

"Maybe, or maybe we'll just find more mountains."

"Then we'll know we're going in some form of south, kupo, cuz that's where all the mountains are."

"Well, we'll just have to find out."

We stayed quiet after that, just enjoying the flight, feeling the wind and watching the clouds pass by with the moon drifting along. I let myself go and felt the freedom that Cid was talking about. The freedom I always felt when flying on Jamie's back. It was the only time I felt like I could just let all my troubles go, letting the wind take them to wherever it chose to. So I did. I forgot my sadness, my grief, my stress, and for that moment, I actually felt happy.