: Chapter Four : Corel
The delicious sun and sea of Costa del Sol was left far behind early the next morning as the five set off west for Mount Corel. From the tropical climate of the sandy beaches the group was now welcomed with the soaring mountain ranges that lay at the heart of the New Continent. A low, misty fog rested over the majestic peaks that towered to the very roof of the heavens, and the large tawny mountain birds circled the crests above their heads.
"What if we pass through the mountains and find there's no where to stay afterward?" Tifa asked as they began to trudge through the grit paths that had been worn down by the passing hikers throughout the ages. "I don't particularly fancy wearing myself out and then sleeping out in the cold."
"I wouldn't worry," Barret replied, panting as they scaled a number of mossy boulders. "There's a village on the other side of this mountain. It's called Corel."
The others, eager for the comfort of a warm bed in Corel, hastened their aching feet across the craggy ranges. That was not to say that Mount Corel was not an awe-inspiring location. As the day wore on, the sun seemed to rest on the summit of the highest peak, and the almost dense scattering of rich, green firs released an unmistakable waft of pine onto the air. However, the thinning of oxygen soon got to Cloud and his companions, and they were thankful to finally get to the top and eventually climb down to the other side.
However, their admiration of the scenery was short-lived. The other side of Mount Corel was a great disappointment compared to the first. A great Mako Reactor had been planted amongst the gritty rock-faces and the aesthetic nature of the surrounding landscape. The Reactor's metal structure had an air of indifference, and the bitter gleam of the electric neon lights and the rigid bodies of the Shinra guards all added to its stark contrast with the picturesque setting around it.
Aerith stared round in dismay.
"How horrible! How could anyone even think of destroying such a beautiful place with this awful machine!"
After this, Cloud seemed to detect a marked change in Barret's temper: he said nothing at all to the others, and wore a sulky expression on his face.
After trekking past the daunting Mako Reactor, the downward trail gave way to many winding and confusing threads of railway tracks. Several old abandoned steam engine cargo carriages stood stationary on the tracks, some still chock-full of age-old coal. A thick layer of dust lay on the rotting sleepers, and every so often a gust of wind would send up a burst of stifling soot clouds.
"What happened here?" Tifa muttered, taken aback at the derelict ruins of the once obviously thriving railroad.
"It would appear that the village of Corel was once a coal mining town," replied Red dryly.
Barret set his jaw and scowled, but said nothing.
They followed the tracks over an aqueduct that stretched out over a murky, polluted lake and further onto aswinging, swaying rope bridge. The now harsh wind was rocking the dubious structure from side to side, emitting a resonant creaking noise. Tifa looked hesitant.
"Is it safe, do you think?" she stammered.
Cloud protruded a foot cautiously on to the first wooden plank of the overpass. It groaned under his weight. He stood back on to the gravel.
"It's isn't, is it," Aerith cut in, her voice shaky.
"Well, there's no other way of getting across," Red stated.
"Red's right," Cloud decided. "We're going to have to cross it anyway."
Tifa looked uncooperative.
"Well, I'm not going first!"
There was a silence as each one of them waited for a volunteer. Finally, Barret stood forward and on to the first plank.
"God, you're such a bunch of babies! Looks like I'm gonna have to go first then, doesn't it!"
"Barret, are you sure...?" Cloud intervened, but Barret snapped at him angrily.
"'Course I'm sure! If this thing can carry me, it can sure as hell carry you guys!"
They began to travel painstakingly across the bridge, Barret in the lead, Cloud covering behind, pushing the reluctant girls ahead. As they got to the end of the bridge, Cloud wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Whew! We made it!"
Barret turned to the others, his face tense. He pointed out to a thin trail of smoke between a deep gorge in the valley. It seemed they had reached the base of Mount Corel.
"Corel village is over there," he informed them in a strained voice. He began to walk ahead, leaving the others standing behind, baffled, behind him.
"What's got into him?" Aerith asked, anxiously. Tifa sighed and shook her head.
"He always gets like this. You just get used to it." She slowly began to cheer up. "Well, at least we can all rest when we get to Corel. I'm starved!"
However, Tifa's expectations of the village were not to be fulfilled. As the group entered the so-called town, they saw that it was nothing more a cluster of pitched up tents, ruined buildings and piles of metal and rubble littering a dull, grainy landscape. The local residents, dressed in muddy, gritty caps and mining uniforms stumbled about with cartels full of worthless rubble. There was a hush as the party entered the place. A grisly old man sat on a crumbling stool outside his tent, glaring at the five with vacant blue eyes. Tifa gazed round in disappointment.
"What happened here? Why is this place like this?"
Barret advanced a single step forward. From a tent in the middle of the ruins, a group of bulky looking men were shouldering towards them menacingly. Cloud looked at Barret in alarm.
"Barret...?"
The large man remained silent, his lower jaw protruding, a strangely stolid countenance moulded on to his lined features. Slowly, he began to walk forwards towards the men. The others watched on in silence, surprised and puzzled. A ripple of unrest spread through the place as tangible as a sigh.
"Well look who it is!"
Cloud noticed that many of the people had come out of their abodes to watch the arrival of Barret. He could hear the murmured whisperings of them as Barret levelled with the men. They said nothing to each other; besides, the fury of the men's faces said it all. Barret, noting the looks, hung his head in something Cloud read as complete and total shame. He held his breath. What was going on?
Someone at the back of the group of men began to move forward. A wave of disturbance and then quiet rustled through the locals like an autumn wind. As the man got to the front of the crowd, he glared at Barret for a moment in pure hatred - then, unexpectedly, he punched his fist right into the side of Barret's face. Barret did not even attempt to wipe his bleeding nose. He stood, motionless, with his eyes on the ground. The man who had punched him suddenly spoke.
"Why're you back here?" he yelled at Barret. "Where did you find the bloody balls to come back here!"
Barret's mouth moved slightly, and an abashed, inaudible voice came out.
"I'm sorry."
The man turned back to the other men mockingly.
"Lissen to him! 'Sorry' he says!" There was an indignant stirring amongst the villagers and the man turned back to Barret furiously. "Just look at this place! Just look at Corel, Barret, your hometown!" He spread his arm out over the pitiful wreck of a village. "It's your fault our town turned into this rubbish heap! You know what we have to do to make a livin'? Do you have any idea!"
Barret still said nothing, nor did he move. The man kicked violently into the dust with his right foot, the sole of his worn boot flicking loose grime into the air.
"We have to scrabble through this trash, that's what!" he shouted, his voice full of pain. "Reduced to being scavengers, the lowest of the low!" He stepped back in disgust, never taking his eyes off Barret. "You know what Barret, we don't want you here no more! You're despicable!"
He turned back to the group, looked over his shoulder resentfully.
"Just get outta my sight, will ya?"
The group of men began to disperse, each throwing scornful looks in Barret's direction. Barret remained just as ever, his head facing the ground. Aerith, Tifa and Red passed each other bewildered glances, as the eavesdropping locals began to disappear back into their tents. Cloud, breathing in more freely, walked slowly up to Barret and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay, man," he comforted softly, but Barret shook his hand away.
"Look, just leave it, okay? This is all my fault, the fellas are right." He shook his head sorrowfully. "I got what I deserved."
He began to walk off by himself. Cloud, not knowing what to do, signalled for the others to follow him. They began to trail Barret at a respectful distance, right through the group of muddy tents. Barret seemed to be aware of them following him, but he didn't tell them to stop, he just simply walked on. Presently, he led them straight to the only occupied building in the place. A corrugated metal sign that read 'HOTEL' had fallen from its place above the doorframe and on to the dusty floor. Barret walked right on in. Cloud and the others followed wordlessly.
An old, scraggy man was sitting at a roughened wood desk, sleepy-eyed. His face suddenly came alive with recognition as he watched the new visitors enter. His lips pursed up into an angry, thin line; Barret, however, took no notice.
"I want a room for five, old man," he ordered gruffly. The man said nothing, but charged Barret and handed him a rusty key. Barret grabbed it rudely.
"Thanks a lot," he replied, with an intonation that implied exactly the opposite. The old man remained silent once again and ignored Barret completely.
The others followed Barret through a grubby, cobwebbed corridor and then into the hotel room. As expected, it left much to be desired for. Every single thing in the room was so dusty the place didn't look as if it had been occupied in years. The walls had deep, grooving cracks running through them, and a pile of fallen plaster from the decaying ceiling had been swept into a corner and left there. The four sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting patiently for Barret to decide to speak. The larger man stood in the middle of the room, looking round him pensively. Then, he finally chose to speak.
"This place sure has changed. I remember, it used to be bustlin' with people, all year round. Some hotel this is now."
"What happened?" Cloud asked gently. Barret shut his mouth tight and wiped the blood from his nose slowly. He lowered his head and took in a deep breath. Then he sat down on the bed with a jerk.
"You guessed right when you said Corel was a mining town," he sighed, not looking at any of them. "Corel's always been a mining town. It's the village's tradition. Our ancestors have been mining for centuries! But then, stupid ol' me had to go and ruin everything.
"One day, that woman, Scarlet, and a band of Shinra soldiers came to Corel. They had a great new proposition to make. They wanted us to leave our old way of livin' behind and help them build a new Mako Reactor in the nearby Mount Corel. We were all thrilled. Everyone, that is, except for my best mate, Dyne."
Barret shifted a foot guiltily on the sooty floor, sending a few wafts of the grit into the air before he continued.
"I tried to reason with him, and so did the Head Man of Corel. I told him that no one uses coal nowadays - everything's Mako fuelled. By building a Mako Reactor, we could make more money for Corel. Dyne was reluctant, but in the end, he agreed."
Barret looked up honestly at them.
"At first, I thought it was all for the good of the village. But now, I realise it was all selfishness. I just wanted to get rich."
Tifa leaned forward inquiringly.
"So how did the place end up like this?"
Barret sighed sadly and shook his head.
"Everything went all right for a couple of years. Until..." His face suddenly clouded over with a wave of pure anger and hatred, "...until those evil Shinra monsters took away everything!" For a moment he could not speak for his bitterness, and then he managed to continue through clenched teeth. "One day, the Mako Reactor suffered a small explosion. It was nothing bad, but the Shinra blamed it on a terrorist attack. They blamed it on the poor, innocent people of Corel! And of course, the Shinra had to exact their revenge! And what they did was..."
Barret slammed his fist into the rock hard mattress.
"They burnt Corel! They burnt the entire village!"
The others gazed on in silence, too shocked for words. When Barret next spoke, his voice was choked.
"Nearly everyone died that day. Hardly anyone survived. My wife, Myrna...Dyne...his wife, Eleanor...they were all murdered. Only Marlene and I escaped, with a handful of others. Marlene...was Dyne's daughter. I swore I'd take care of her, for his sake."
Aerith looked touched.
"Oh, Barret...that's so good of you!"
Instead of looking comforted, Barret began to look angry again.
"You just don't get it, do you! I'm the one to blame for everything, I was the one who wanted that dumb Mako Reactor, I was the one who was damn selfish!" He glared round at them with flashing eyes. "Even if I have given Marlene a home, that still doesn't change anything! I still messed up an' her parents are still dead! I'm still guilty of everythin'!"
He got up like a shot and stormed out of the room in a bitter rage, slamming the door behind him and sending a shower of plaster down into the middle of the room. Aerith looked after him in dismay.
"Oh dear...poor Barret!"
Red, who'd been lying on the bed next to her, shook his head.
"There are some things you'd never guess about some people."
Cloud nodded his head vigorously.
"You hit the nail on the head there, Red."
Tifa yawned suddenly, stretched herself, and ripped off her boots viciously.
"Well, this is no five-star hotel, but I'm going to sleep now and that's the end of it." She pulled back the duvet and jumped in. "Goodnight!"
Aerith looked worried.
"What about Barret?"
"Oh, he'll come back when he's good and ready," Tifa replied, cheerfully. "He just needs to cool off, that's all."
"I have a feeling," Red cut in solemnly, "that this is going to take a long time for him to cool off about."
"How right you always are!" Cloud sighed, as he got into bed also and pulled the coarse bed covers over him. "Well, I guess we've got to rest."
"And how right you always are," Tifa intervened softly. Cloud grinned at her and turned on to his back. There was something still bothering him.
What about Barret's lost hand?
-oOo-
Next morning, Barret woke them all up roughly and refused to let them lie in.
"Wake up you guys! We gotta get outta here! I'm not stayin' in this place any longer!"
Dragged out of bed in the early morning, the others generally felt extremely bad-tempered, all except for Aerith, who never let such things get the better of her. As they stumbled, half asleep, half awake, through a mostly slumbering Corel, they were suddenly jolted into life by the persistent callings of a man at a rusty stand nearby.
"Climb the Ropeway to the Gold Saucer and do it today! No costs! Pay at the Gold Saucer entrance! Climb the Ropeway for fun, thrills and spills!"
Barret, who'd been walking past with an aura of wrath about him, suddenly stopped and shouted at the man.
"Look, would you shut up! People round here are tryin' to sleep, in case you hadn't noticed!"
"Yeah, and it's a pity it isn't us lot!" Tifa muttered under her breath.
The man, who'd been staring in fright at Barret, astonished at his sudden outburst, stammered out his excuses.
"But sir...the Ropeway's the only business Corel gets nowadays!" He pointed to a large monorail tram that was off to his right. "I've gotta do my job, ain't I!"
Aerith peered after the rails that the monorail ran along. In the distance was a large towering metal structure, painted in gilt that gleamed in the misty morning sun.
"Is that the Gold Saucer?" she inquired of the man. He nodded eagerly.
"Yup, it's owned by the great entrepreneur, Dio. It's a casino-amusement park. See, it's so big, it reaches sky!" He made a flourish with his arm in the direction of the golden building. "I swear, once you go there, you won't want to leave!"
Aerith gave a cry of delight.
"Oh! This is exactly what I need! An amusement park!" She turned to Cloud beseechingly. "Oh Cloud, please let's go up the Ropeway! Please!"
Cloud scratched his head reluctantly.
"Well...it depends on much it'll cost. Besides, we're meant to be looking for Sephiroth."
Aerith gave him an injured look.
"But, Cloud, let's stop being so serious! Let's have some fun instead. Maybe Sephiroth went up there as well!"
Barret scoffed at her.
"What? As if that madman would want to waste time on dumb roller-coaster rides!"
Aerith ignored him and looked pleadingly into Cloud's eyes.
"Cloud, please!"
Cloud relented.
"Oh, all right." The man earnestly handed him out with five brochures. "Aerith, I don't know why I'm doing this."
"You won't regret it!" the man put in cheerfully and he ushered them into the tram. "Have a great time!" he finished, as they all sat down on their seats. Shutting the door behind them, the sound of a whistle blew and the monorail began to jolt into life. Slowly they began to move upward. Aerith gazed out of the window in excitement as the ground began to move away from them.
"Oh, this is so exciting!" she enthused.
Cloud remained quiet. He leaned his elbow on the window ledge and looked out on to the landscape that was slowly sliding away from them. He was not so sure that he shared Aerith's enthusiasm.
Because he had a foreboding about going up to this Gold Saucer.
He had a feeling he might do something he'd regret later.
-oOo-
Next: The team's trip to the Gold Saucer doesn't turn out to be as fun as they thought it would be... Naturally. And there's a new addition to the team! ;)