Start Date: November 27, 2022
Windwillow
The bolded text is Shera's flashback.
Final Fantasy VII
Sephiroth's cryptic invitation to a Reunion never faded from Cloud's mind, although he didn't know what he was talking about. When he met Sephiroth in the Nibelheim library he'd faced his worst nightmare and ended up unconscious on the ground. Determined not to lose again, Cloud and his friends have passed through Mt. Nibel and exited onto the far northwestern part of the western continent, the final stop and the only remaining place on either continent where Sephiroth could be hiding. Right?
Chapter Thirty-Six: The Captain's Dream
Scene One
The journey through Mt. Nibel was an eventful one. A perilous bridge crossing was followed by a foray into the pipes of the ruined Mako reactor, an environment that brought out the worst in Yuffie, as usual. Vincent Valentine, their newest ally, debuted his fighting skills against two vicious opponents, and revealed himself capable of using Blue Magic - a rare, almost unheard of form of magic that turns a monster's attacks against them. But how did he do it? Even he didn't know, as he's oblivious to the power that sleeps inside his core, a gift from his long lost friend Lucrecia. But that, of course, is not only another story, but another game.
"I've never been happier to get off of a mountain..." sighed Tifa with relief. She'd had bad experiences there, in fact two near-death experiences, and after having had her lungs paralyzed by a monster and nearly cut in two by Sephiroth, leaving Mt. Nibel behind gave her a swell of happiness. "I hope I never go back there again..." she said softly.
"Remember, Tifa: We're still on the same journey with the same objective..." Cloud said planly. Although he was also pleased to leave the mountain, he knew that the road ahead was filled with dangers that, although shaped differently, held just as many dangers as Mt. Nibel. But he was quite frankly happy to have left too. "Memories are memories... But now we're walking into danger again," he sighed, "and to be honest it'll probably be just as painful."
"Things will only get worse from here," said Vincent. He was pleased to have escaped Nibelheim too, his own memories just as painful as his friends' own. Leaving behind his self made tomb was an alien, though welcome, feeling. "At the start of every road there are dangers," Vincent sighed. "They're just new, that's all."
"The only thing in the next town is some sort of space rocket..." said Cloud. Though he honestly doubted it was possible to travel into space, he'd heard rumors of a man who'd attempted to build such a rocket. "I think his name is Cid Highwind... Maybe?" wondered Cloud. "I don't believe that the technology we have could ever take us into space, though..."
"Cid... Cid? As in, Cid of the Lufaine?! Henschel mentioned him when he gave me the Limited Moon!" exclaimed Red XIII. He remembered hearing the name Cid in reference to an ancient airship, as well as having created a vehicle to rocket into outer space. "If we're going to see something like a rocket ship, I must say, I'm intrigued!" he said happily.
"Ooh! Oh! Oh! People can go into outer space?! Cool!" tittered Yuffie happily, hopping from side to side like Cait Sith usually did. In all the time she'd been alive, she'd never been in the sky. The idea that you could break the atmosphere and travel to the stars excited her like nothing else. "I wanna ride one!" she trilled. "Think he'll give me a ride?!"
"If you do, the vacuum of space will kill you," said Vincent flatly, much to Yuffie's horror. The sheer terror on her face was almost beyond any kind of fear she'd ever experienced, the idea of having her guts come out of her mouth horrifying her to a nearly catatonic state. She gripped her shoulders tightly and began to shiver, a chill running down her spine.
"Um... Yuffie? I don't think you'd be outside the rocket... Um... You'd probably be inside..." muttered Cloud, much to Yuffie's relief. As she breathed a deep sigh of relief, Cloud put a hand to his head to stifle his omnipresent migraine. "What makes you think you'd be grabbing on to the damn thing like you're riding fireworks?" he wondered flatly.
"Yeah! Yeah! On the inside, obviously! I knew that!" Yuffie said with embarrassment. For a moment she'd been filled with excitement, which turned to dread, which faded to relief, but then she began to fume again at Vincent. "Hey! You shouldn't go terrifying young ladies like that, Dracula!" she shouted as she pointed dramatically at Vincent. "A gentleman respects ladies, right?! Aren't you supposed to be a gentleman?!"
"I never said I was," Vincent said flatly, further stoking Yuffie's anger. As she danced around with indignant fury, Vincent sighed and held his face in his hand, not to relieve a migraine like Cloud, but mostly out of embarrassment. "Shouldn't we be moving on?" he wondered coldly. The way he said it caused Yuffie to freeze solid from sheer terror, and as she began shivering again, Vincent slowly turned to leave the area as she began to convulse in both fear and rage.
"I'm with Vincent. We ought to keep going..." Cloud sighed as he turned to follow Vincent. "I want to see this rocket, too," he said, almost with excitement. As the others followed, Yuffie again began to quake with fury, and an aggravated Cloud grabbed her by the shoulder and began dragging her forward. Though she balked, Yuffie furiously followed after a short tantrum.
"None of you are gentlemen! Gawd!" shrieked Yuffie, balling her fists and sticking out her tongue. "I said I was just kidding! Why do you punks have to always-" A quick glare from Vincent immediately silenced her, and she began to waddle on forward to join the rest of the party. "God, almighty! You're so damn freaky!" she snarled. Vincent did his best to ignore her, which wasn't hard for him.
Scene Two
In between Mt. Nibel and the next town, fortunately, there were no further monster attacks. Instead, for the entirety of the trip, Yuffie bickered with Tifa, who was still slightly sore that she'd abandoned them back in Nibelheim. Yuffie's opinion was that she acted in self preservation, while Tifa's response was to call her an outright coward. Before anything could come of the altercation, Vincent coldly dismissed Yuffie, telling her to keep moving, which again activated that omnipresent self preservation instinct that told her to shut up and keep moving. Soon, what had to be the town came into view, with a most bizarre centerpiece settled at the back of the village.
"That... looks like a gigantic pencil, doesn't it?" pondered Aerith as the town came into view. Indeed, a large, cylindrical object was situated at the back of the village. What she assumed was the space rocket was a long, thick tube of solid steel that had been propped up precariously on its side diagonally. "Number two, you think?" she chuckled.
"That's obviously Cid's space rocket..." remarked Red XIII as the party continued to advance inside the village. As they did, a small town came into view that seemed built around the ruined rocket. "It doesn't look like a very old village... Maybe a decade or two old?" he suggested. "Its architecture is... sort of haphazard. I'm sort of surprised some of those houses actually stay together, the way they've been placed..."
"Son of a... bitch! This place sucks!" shrieked Yuffie as she balled her fists and stuck out her chest. The village's houses weren't terribly well put together, seemingly having been erected by amateurs that hadn't been properly trained in carpentry. As she stared at the tilted rocket, Yuffie's mind tried to formulate how it would have actually worked. "Crud... Can you even fit someone in that pile of scrap?" she gasped. "Aerith's right, it looks like a pencil!"
Does that thing even fly? What a piece of garbage!
"I've never seen this technology... Remarkable..." Vincent sighed, sizing up the rocket. Despite its town's lack of finesse, the vessel itself seemed sturdy enough to withstand significant pressure. Clearly it had been more well designed than the town itself.
Shinra's technology was never this advanced when I went to sleep. Seems I've been out for a bit too long, if this piece of crap's so amazing to me.
Upon arriving in town, a quick survey of the closest villager revealed the town to be named, shockingly, Rocket Town. The village had been created sixteen years earlier, when a great disaster ruined Shinra's space program. Beyond that, the person they talked to wasn't much more helpful, so the team decided to split up. Barret's team, which included Aerith and Red XIII, would check in to the Inn and see what they could learn. Cloud's team, consisting of Tifa, Yuffie, and himself would explore the rest of the town for answers. Cait Sith declined to participate, and Vincent also decided to remain outside the village.
"The timing could be worse, I suppose, but not by much..." Cait Sith muttered, the robotic cat reclining atop his moogle. Far away in Midgar, Reeve was a little bit more on edge. The mission that Shinra had sent here included Rufus himself, and any mistakes could cause an incident that he would rather avoid. "As long as they don't interfere too badly," he sighed, "it ought to turn out alright."
Come to think of it... Maybe having some wings might help us, too? Leaving that beauty in that cretin Heidegger's paws ought to be a crime...
"I'm sure you're having a grand conversation with yourself," Vincent said flatly, "but remember: You're part of our group, as well..." When Vincent spoke, back in Midgar, Reeve spewed out a bunch of his coffee as Vincent's firm hand tightened around Cait Sith's shoulder. As he turned around, Reeve found a very much less than pleased Vincent staring at him through his cat's animatronic eyes, and he quickly jolted to attention. "Talk," growled Vincent. "Now."
"R-Right... I should have been a bit more forthcoming with you, eh?" sighed Reeve. The mission itself was vital, but the method they'd be using to carry it out seemed thuggish at best. "President Rufus will be here to ask a very important question of the town's engineer..." he said softly.
"And that question would be?" Vincent asked coldly, lifting a shaking Cait Sith to meet his own eyes. Even from such a vast distance, Vincent's stare was incredibly intimidating. "I expect you to be candid, Reeve," he growled. "Tell me now: Why is Shinra's highest authority coming all the way out here?"
"Don't shoot the messenger, Vincent! God, almighty!" Reeve screeched, taking a hold of his drink and bringing it lightly to his lips. As he stared at the mission's dossier, Reeve's emotions flickered between indifference and disgust. "We shouldn't do it like this, but we have no choice..." he sighed. "The Highwind and Gelnika are both out of service, and even a dinky little plane like the Tiny Bronco could make a difference in our search for Sephiroth."
Still, taking it at gunpoint leaves a bad taste in my mouth...
Scene Three
Rocket Town's buildings were indeed haphazard. In the previous sixteen years, none of the visitors to the village knew much about carpentry or construction. They'd hired a few outside contractors to build Rocket Town, but in the end much of it was a labor of love for the citizens. Even the Inn was rather slipshod, although the souvenir department for the town kept a good stack of merchandise at the counter. The Innkeeper, Philip, served as the town's treasurer as well as chief of the town council, a sour looking old codger that had been one of the town's first residents. The inside of the Inn looked more like a souvenir store than a place to rest. There were shelves and shelves of miniatures and pamphlets, all sorts of merchandise ranging from commemorative pins to action figures of the town's Captain that included his handmade spear as an optional attachment.
"No, no, no! Absolutely not! Pictures, yes! Rides, no!" scolded Philip, shaking his cane at a group of tourists, who quickly ran out of the building. They'd come from the eastern village of Mideel, mostly older enthusiasts who'd been drawn in by the belief they could ride the rocket. "Oh, fudge... Lost another bunch..." Philip groaned as he leaned back in his chair. "Next time, I ought to tell them off after they buy something... Sales are down, damn it!"
"You know, dude? You have some serious anger issues!" groaned Barret as the team approached the counter. Philip adjusted his glasses as they stepped up, but before he could reach for a shelf of merchandise, Barret slammed his hand on the counter and startled him. "And we ain't looking to buy none of your junk!" he said bluntly. "We came here to find out a few things, and..."
"Find out, you say? Absolutely! The story itself is free, but informational pamphlets start at five hundred Gil!" Philip said as he rubbed his hands together, anticipating a purchase. Though Barret's eye twitched, Aerith firmly gripped his shoulder and made him stand down. "I'm sure you're here for Shinra Twenty-Six, right? Of course you are!" he tittered. "Oh, and we are taking donations for the town's bake sale..."
"You, uh... um... You really need to calm down, man..." sighed Aerith as she folded her arms over her chest. As a deep frown crossed Philip's face, Aerith shrugged and leaned against the counter towards the Innkeeper. "But, yeah... We're here to ask about the rocket!" she said cheerfully. "We aren't going to buy anything, but we're here for the story!"
"Cheapskate little girl... Well, whatever. Like I said, the story's freely available!" said Philip, taking up a cup of tea and lifting it to his lips. "Sixteen years ago, Shinra ran a successful space program, which was centered here in this area!" he chortled. "Sixteen years ago, a very intelligent man named Cid Highwind settled here, where he created Shinra Twenty-Six in preparation of heading out into the stars!"
"Cid Highwind, eh? His last name does seem to be something a pilot would call himself..." muttered Red XIII. As he sat down and curled his tail over his nails, Red XIII cleared his throat and turned a friendly look to Philip. "Is he descended from Cid of the Lufaine?" he asked politely.
"Indeed, sir. Cid Highwind can trace his family back to this fellow called Cid of the Lufaine!" Philip confirmed cheerfully. "Cid of the Lufaine was a world famous engineer back in the times of the Ancients!" he bragged. "Rumor has it he created airships that didn't rely on Mako energy... Not sure how you'd get something so big in the air without it, but whatever. Our Cid's developed his own airship though! The Highwind is his pride and joy, a marvel of engineering!"
"An airship, huh? Wow... I'd love to see that in action!" tittered Aerith. Though she wasn't aware of it, she'd been very close to the Highwind, way back when it was docked in Junon, and it was the same vehicle she'd asked Cloud to take her in back in the cargo ship. "Do you think I can ride it?!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "If they're offering tours..."
"Nope, afraid not... Shinra confiscated the Highwind sixteen years back..." sighed Philip sadly. "When Cid failed to launch Shinra Twenty Six, Shinra threw a hissy fit and stole the Highwind from him!" he growled. "Even with all the work he's done for them, even after he made his pride and joy, they still deprived him of what he deserves! At least he still has the Tiny Bronco, though... If someone tried to take that, they'd have to pry it out of Cid's cold, dead fingers, first..."
Scene Four
As Barret's team looked for information at the Inn, Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie visited a number of other houses, where they were warmly received. Everyone in town readily talked about the rocket, which they called Shinra Twenty-Six, but beyond praise for it and its "Captain," the party got little useful information until they were directed to the Captain's house. When they entered it, the house seemed quaint but empty, and Yuffie being Yuffie she quickly sniffed around until she reached the back yard.
"Holy crap! Now, that thing's got to fly!" Yuffie exclaimed in awe. What awaited in the back yard was a large, dual-propeller airplane, a light violet in color with the vehicle's name - Tiny Bronco - painted onto the left wing. On the right side was the same name, painted in a mirror image of the other wing. Of the two, the left wing had been etched a bit more proudly than the other, like its creator favored the left side. "I wanna ride!" she tittered.
"Are you sure, Yuffie?" wondered Tifa. Folding her arms over her chest, she sized up the plane and was less than impressed. Though it seemed sturdy, the idea that it could handle more than a single pilot seemed unlikely. The wings didn't seem strong enough for anyone else to sit atop it. "Besides, it's not ours!" she scolded, causing Yuffie to scowl at her.
"Excuse me, but can I help you?" came a voice from inside, one that soon revealed itself to be a beautiful, bespectacled brown haired woman in a tattered white lab coat. Approaching apprehensively, the woman seemed unconcerned that they were there, almost as if she were expecting them. "What are you folks doing here?" she asked gently, almost submissively.
"Oh, hello, ma'am... Um... We're... It's complicated..." stammered Cloud, trying desperately to compose himself. Having invaded someone's home and been confronted with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar, what exactly do you say? Still, as Cloud thought more about it, he eyed the airplane with a look of inspiration. "Can we borrow this, ma'am?" wondered Cloud, much to his friends' surprise. "We're looking for a man named Sephiroth, and this might be our ticket to doing so..."
"Can't say I know who this Sephiroth fellow is... But it isn't my vehicle," sighed the woman sadly. Pausing, she turned her eyes to the massive rocket in the back of town, and a strangely pained look crossed her face. She seemed to shake it off, and returned her attention to Cloud. "It belongs to the Captain... You can find him in the Shinra Twenty-Six up north..." she said politely.
"Thank you, ma'am! We'll... um..." Tifa paused, the look in the woman's eyes unsettling her. There was more to her story than, 'go talk to the Captain.' Upon silently observing the woman's passive nature, Tifa quietly turned to her with a gentle smile. "I'm sorry..." she said apologetically. "But you've been looking at us oddly. Have we done something wrong?"
"I, uh... N-No... not quite..." the woman stuttered. Still, the more comfortable she became around the three, the easier it was for her to hope. "You don't happen to be from Shinra Inc., perhaps?" she stammered, her eyes turning to the ground. "If you are-"
"Oh, hell no! We are not associated with those jerk-offs!" snarled Yuffie, much to the woman's shock and Tifa's outrage, outrage clear as she promptly whacked Yuffie on the head before she could say anything else. "Glad we're back to business as usual," she snapped at Tifa, "but why the hell did you just hit me?!"
"O-Oh, I... I'm sorry... Um..." The woman sighed, attempting to compose herself. With a shake of her head, the look on her face brightened a bit, although it was clearly artificial. "It's just that if the President's coming here, I wanted to know if he would restart the Space Program..." she sighed. "Since he's on his way here, the Captain's been waiting to hear if he'll restart it... I'm just afraid it will never..." With a pause, she shook her head and smiled again. "My name is Shera," she said cheerfully. "You can find the Captain in the Shinra Twenty-Six up north... If you want to ask anything, it'll have to be directed to him."
"P-President?! Rufus is coming here?! What is he... hmm..." Cloud tried to find the right words to say, but it came out wrong. If Rufus was on his way, trouble had to follow, and if he wanted something from this 'Captain,' they had to get to him first. "We'll... talk to the Captain, then, ma'am..." sighed Cloud, flashing a look to Tifa, indicating that the situation had changed. As they left, Tifa paused just before passing Shera, who quietly shut her eyes tight as they passed each other. Somehow, she could sense her pain, and it was a familiar one.
I know what she's feeling... and it's regret... What is going on here?
Scene Five
Built by Cid Highwind sixteen years prior, Shinra Twenty-Six - the twenty-sixth model he'd developed - was a marvel of engineering, unlike anything seen before on the entirety of the Planet. Its engines, its heat shields, every single plate and screw had been carefully and painstakingly crafted by Cid, the manifestation of his dreams of entering outer space. Even now, tilted on its side and attended to by long abandoned platforms and ladders, he found it beautiful. Once the trio had climbed the various obstacles, they found themselves at the entrance to the rocket, seemingly with no one around to talk to.
"This thing is cool! Super, duper cool! I can't even imagine it working, though..." gawked Yuffie, running her hand along the rim of the door. The feeling of the steel was clearly rusty, but still had been maintained somehow in the intervening years since the launch. "This is neat and all..." she muttered, eyeing the front of the rocket. "But can this beaten up old piece of junk even fly?"
"Could've, would've, should've... All of the above, kid," said a voice from behind the door which, as it slid open, Yuffie gave a shriek and hid behind Tifa. The speaker was an older man in a navy blue flight jacket, with a dark shirt, dark green cargo pants, with a scarf and goggles that indicated he had to be in charge. As the Captain approached, he flicked on a lighter and ignited the cigarette that was already in his mouth. Taking a deep breath in, the Captain exhaled a puff of smoke sharply and shifted his eyes to Yuffie. "It could have worked, should have worked, and would have worked if it weren't for a certain screw up..." sighed the Captain. "What are you jokers doing here?"
"Could have, would have, should have... Huh? What?! You aren't making any sense, old man!" snapped Yuffie, darting out from behind Tifa with an odd sense of confidence. Again eyeing the rocket, Yuffie tilted her head in an attempt to deduce something, coming up empty as usual. "What is this thing supposed to do, anyway?" she pondered.
"Way, way back when, before Mako came 'round, Shinra was a weapons manufacturer," said the Captain. "Before that stupid war they started getting interested in space travel, they found me, and we started a space program!" he said with increasing excitement. "Back when I was sixteen, which was sixteen years back, I helped develop this little baby: Shinra Twenty-Six! I was supposed to be the first man in space!" As a look of anger crossed his face, the Captain took a deep puff of his cigarette. "If it weren't for that worthless idiot Shera I would've been!"
"Shera? The woman who lives in your house?" pondered Tifa. Crossing her arms over her chest, she attempted to piece things together. If something had happened because of Shera, was that the reason she was so wracked with regret? "We met her just a few minutes ago..." she said softly. "Is she your wife?"
"Wife?! If I ever married that idiot, it would have to be 'cause I went senile!" snarled the Captain, shocking Tifa considerably. "It's because of her that I never went into space! That little idiot..." he growled, folding his arms over his chest. "Shinra only gives a damn 'bout money, and once they lost interest in the space program, this crap happened! I don't know what'll happen first, the rocket falling or me giving up entirely! That's why I'm expecting that little punk Rufus to come, and I'm hoping he'll restart the space program!"
"O-Okay... I don't get what's going on, but it's too bad whatever happened, happened..." muttered Cloud. The idea of Rufus coming was alarming, but just as important was beating him to the punch on the Captain's airplane. If they got it first, they'd deprive Shinra of the skies and the party could continue searching for Sephiroth. "We came to ask if we can borrow your airplane," he said politely.
"You've got to be out of your Goddamn mind!" the Captain roared, taking Cloud by the collar and lifting him into the air. Though Cloud struggled, the Captain was strong enough to keep him airborne. "You want to take away the only wings I got left?! The hell with you!" snarled the Captain, taking Cloud by the shoulders and shoving him out of the rocket. "Get the hell out of here! Get the hell out of town! Get the hell out of my face!" he growled. While Cloud and the others left, the Captain took another drag of his cigarette before snuffing it out by clenching it in his fist. As a dark scowl formed on his face, it quickly lightened and he put a hand to his face, stressed by what he'd just done.
Ain't their fault... Dammit, Cid, what are you doing? It ain't their fault, so why did I have to act like such a bastard?
Scene Six
Rocket Town was a mixed bag of information. Barret's team had learned a little about Cid, a man descended from Cid of the Lufaine, who was the one who developed Red XIII's Form materia. He'd apparently build not only a space rocket, but also an airship named after himself that had been confiscated by Shinra. Cloud's party met with Shera and Cid, where they learned of the Tiny Bronco airplane, asked to borrow it, and were thrown out by the Captain.
"Whole damn town's a bunch of crap... Geez!" Barret snarled, putting his hand to his face, as Cloud does to relax his headaches. After all that, they'd learned of a vehicle to chase Sephiroth, but were denied use of it. "I say we take the damn thing!" he growled, much to his friends' amazement. "We need it, he has it, Shinra wants it... It doesn't take a genius to figure this out!"
"So you'd become a thug like the Shinra are?" asked Vincent, startling Barret. Narrowing his eyes at his friend, Barret quickly regretted bringing up the issue. "If we're fighting these people, sinking to their level only proves we're no better than they are," he said flatly.
"There's another important issue here... Space!" Red XIII said pointedly. As he sat down and curled his tail around his paws, he turned to Barret and tilted his head. "It's an airplane. How would all of us fit?" he wondered. "Cait Sith and I certainly wouldn't. Taking it and not using it to its fullest just makes us petty thieves."
"Red's right... From what you guys describe, it could maybe hold three people and a pilot, if everyone held on to the wings..." sighed Aerith. As she threw her arms in the air, Aerith turned back to Barret and scowled at him. "Which of us wants to grip to the wing of a flying airplane?!" she exclaimed. "It just doesn't make sense... And you've got one hand. Do you want to try holding on with just your left hand?"
"What I'm interested in is the relationship between Shera and the Captain..." Tifa said with a sigh. Whatever they thought of each other, the fact remained that Rufus was coming to talk to them about something important, and that whatever was important to Shinra, they had to take it first. "If Rufus is going to be here soon, we don't have much time..." she said. "Cloud? What do you think?"
"Tifa has a point, Cloud," said Vincent. As he worked a kink out of his neck, he tried to remember Rufus from when he was a child, and came up empty, so he had to be younger than thirty. Not knowing the man made analyzing him difficult. "You and Tifa should go see this woman... and fast," he said flatly.
"Ooh, me, me! Pick me!" tittered Yuffie wildly, surprising her friends. The idea of air transportation meant they could reach her homeland, and that meant realizing her ultimate scheme. Besides that, she wanted to ride the plane anyway. "Take me with you, Cloud!" she said. "I won't be a hassle!"
"Yes, you will," Cloud deadpanned, much to Yuffie's fury. While she stewed, Cloud sighed and put a hand to his head in an attempt to think. An extra pair of hands couldn't hurt much. "Alright... Tifa and Yuffie, you're with me; the rest of you go back to the Inn and wait for us to get back..." said Cloud softly. "I take it we're clear, everyone? Then... Let's go."
Scene Seven
With the decision made to ask Shera for more information before they confronted the Captain again, Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie left to speak to her while the rest of the party remained behind at the Inn. Quite simple: They knocked, she opened the door and let them in. But before anyone could say anything, the Captain barged into the house. Though they expected him to throw them out, instead he took in a deep breath and sighed. He didn't seem angry at them.
"So, it's you jokers? Bah, I'm sorry about what happened at the rocket..." apologized Cid. As he stepped into the house, he pulled up a chair and plopped down, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. "And you, Shera! We got guests, so serve the jokers some tea!" he scolded her. When she hesitated, he slammed his fist on the table and glared at her. "I said, give them their God damn tea!" he growled, and Shera went about fixing tea for the team.
"Okay, I can't stand it anymore!" growled Tifa, pulling up a chair and sitting backwards on it, she faced towards Cid with a nasty scowl. Though he scowled back, her face ended up winning the battle and he slowly retreated. "Stop treating Shera like she's your work horse!" she scolded. "She's a human being!"
"How I treat Shera ain't none of your business, you little twerp!" Cid snapped back. After another brief stare down that again ended in his loss, he angrily snuffed his cigarette out and turned towards the backyard. "Screw it! I'll be out tuning up the Tiny Bronco!" he snarled as he kicked open the door to his backyard. For a moment the party lingered, and in that short time Shera had already served them tea.
"Why the hell do you sit there and take that, lady?!" Yuffie snapped angrily. She briefly took a drink of her tea, realized she didn't want it, and politely slid it back to Shera. "Stand up for yourself, dammit!" she scolded.
"Oh, no, no... It's perfectly fine with me!" Shera said politely, complete with a bow. While the others stared in amazement, Shera pulled up a chair and sat down. She stared pensively into her cup of tea, a slow, painful look passing her face before she slowly sipped the tea. "It's all totally justified," she said flatly.
"Like hell it is," Cloud shot back sharply, though it didn't seem to faze Shera much. Still, she sincerely seemed unaffected by the abuse, quietly sipping her tea as if nothing had happened. "How is that justified?" asked Cloud pointedly. "If I were you, I'd knock that son of a bitch on his ass!"
"You are you, and I am me... Like I said, it's justified," sighed Shera. Upon seeing the disbelief in the trio's eyes, she quietly set her tea down and reclined in her seat. "Sixteen years ago, I was his assistant on the Space Program, in charge of maintaining the Shinra Twenty-Six," she explained. "And the reason I am how I am is simple... I'm atoning for ruining Cid's dream all those years ago." With a sigh, she put a hand to her face and quickly her demeanor changed. "I did my best, but..."
The Shinra Twenty-Six was Cid Highwind's masterpiece, meant to fulfill his dream to travel into the stars. While Shinra had funded the project and provided help, it was largely Cid's own genius that had created Shinra Twenty-Six. Sixteen years ago, Cid's head technician was Shera, and she took her job very seriously, in fact too seriously, for a very good reason.
"What do you mean, Tanks Seven and Eight are defective?!" snarled Cid, back when he was a sixteen year old hotshot pilot who hadn't even started smoking. Standing adjacent to him was Shera, an old friend of his from school who had decided to help with his rocket project. "You're overthinking this, same as always!" he snapped.
"Like I said, Tanks Seven and Eight of the oxygen system haven't performed up to standards," Shera said flatly. The oxygen tanks were vital in providing air to the pilot once he had reached outer space. "This program needs to be thoroughly tested, before you take off!" she said politely. "Otherwise, it might malfunction and-"
"Knock it off! Now! !" scolded Cid, causing Shera to recoil in fear. As he saw the terror in her eyes, Cid quietly thought for a moment before placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're too damn smart to be focusing on details," he said flatly. Flashing a smile, he took his fist and pounded his chest. "No way for me to see my dream through without you! So calm down and have some faith!" he said proudly.
"That's a complete one-eighty from how he acts now!" growled Tifa, taking a drink of her tea. It was actually quite good. As she set it down, Tifa stared deep into Shera's eyes, trying to shake her doubts, but failing. "Did he... have feelings for you?" she wondered.
"That question is irrelevant. There's no need for me to doubt or confirm that," shrugged Shera. Though Tifa's confusion and distress continued to increase, Shera nonchalantly took her tea and sipped it. "I guaranteed that he would never love me," she said sadly, "when I... well..."
Standing before a row of his finest technicians, Cid took a final head count of everyone who'd assisted in the project, committing the names and faces of them all to memory. Once he was in space and triumphantly returned, he intended to thank them each personally when he came back. After being saluted, he entered the cockpit and plopped down in the pilot's seat. He checked his instruments, said a silent prayer, and took in a deep breath of relief. His dream was coming true...
"The engine's pressure's rising... Launch time, three minutes!" Cid said proudly. Once again the reality of the moment struck him hard, that he would be the first man in outer space. "I can't believe it's finally going to happen..." he whispered softly.
"Captain? Captain Cid! Do you read?"
"Y-Yeah, the communications are working fine!" snapped Cid. For a moment, he considered why they would be calling him, and realized that they'd only done so when there had been an emergency. "Wh-What's going on?" he asked softly.
"Captain Cid! Shera is still in the engine room! She's trying to fix the oxygen tanks!"
For a moment, nothing computed. Then, slowly, painfully, all the color in Cid's face began to drain. If she was still there when they launched, she'd die. Trembling, he flipped open his communicator and opened a channel to the engine room.
"Shera! What in the high holy hell are you doing?!" snarled Cid, slamming his fist on the control console. The thought of her being in danger was something he'd never considered thinking about, but now, his elation had quickly turned to fear. "Get your ass out of the engine room! Now!" he ordered.
"Uh... I don't get it. What kind of engine is it, anyway?" wondered Yuffie, tilting her head in confusion. Her knowledge of technology was severely limited, as Wutai had no real technology. "Why would it matter if you were in there when it launched?" she asked.
"To put it simply? The heat of the rocket's engines would ignite and heat the room to an incredible level," said Shera plainly. "That heat would continue to build and, when the rocket launched, I'd be totally incinerated by the heat and reduced to dust," she sighed, much to everyone's shock.
"This is insane!" snarled Tifa. As she spoke, she angrily slammed her fist onto the table and nearly shattered it, sending her cup of tea flying away until it crashed to the ground. "You would do that?! You would... You'd... What the hell is wrong with you?!" she roared. "If you were going to die, why would you have done it?!"
"My death would have been acceptable," Shera shrugged flatly. Tifa's anger continued to build, but it quickly faded as she saw the beginning of tears in Shera's eyes. "Cid's dream means more to me than my life..." she sighed. It was then that Tifa's face froze solid, and her mouth slowly went agape.
"You're out of your fricking mind, lady!" Yuffie yelled angrily. When Tifa had struck the table, Yuffie had made sure to grab her tea, and with a huff she quickly sipped it. "What is wrong with you?!" she growled. "Why would you-"
"Because you love him... right?" Tifa asked, shocking her two friends. Shera's tears quickly began to flow in earnest, and Tifa quietly dropped down in her chair. "You... were willing to die for his dream because..." she gasped, "because you love him?"
"Yes... You're right... I love Cid, and I have since we were children..." Shera sobbed, brushing away her tears with a desperate gasp. No matter how she tried, the tears could never have been stopped. "But I made sure that he would never love me!" she snapped angrily, brushing the tears from her eyes. "I killed... I killed his dream, you know?! Me!" gasped Shera, sobbing.
"I'm almost finished, Sir... Just a few more maintenance checks and it'll be complete," Shera said over the intercom. As she fiddled with the oxygen tanks, she carefully examined each valve as if she were a surgeon going from vein to vein, assessing the state of each pipe. "Give me just a little more time..." she said coolly.
"You... You bloody fool! You're going to die, dammit!" screamed Cid, his voice haggard as he spoke through the intercom. "Pull your head out of your ass and think!" he growled. "There's not a chance in hell you'd survive the launch!"
"Sir... Cid... Continue the launch. My tests indicated vital defects in the tanks," Shera said, struggling to keep her voice stable. "If something goes wrong, you could be left without oxygen..." she said calmly. "I can complete the tests within the three minute time limit, so please, continue the launch."
"Y-Y-You... You idiot! Have you lost your damned mind?!" shouted Cid. The weight of the situation had begun to take hold of him, the danger becoming very real. "Get the hell out of there!" he snarled. "Do you have a damned death wish?!"
"No, I would prefer to live," Shera said plainly, continuing to check her instruments. Each calculation was performed with the utmost detail, her dedication to her work overriding her common sense. "But if this means the launch will not succeed," she said, much to Cid's shock, "I'm willing to die to make sure that this mission is successful," murmured Shera, sending chills down Cid's spine. "I won't let myself interfere in your dream..."
We can't wait any longer, Captain. We're engaging the engine, take-off in one minute.
"What the hell do you mean, you're launching, you jokers?!" Cid yelled, with all the force in his body, which had already begun to shake uncontrollably. "Shut it down! Now!" shouted Cid. "This is a direct freaking order! Stop the Goddamn launch, now!"
Sir, if we don't launch now, it will be six months before we get another chance. Think about the mission.
"To hell with the mission! Stop the Goddamn countdown! Now!" screamed Cid. Despite his pleas, however, the thirty second countdown began to flash on his console. Now desperate, Cid took the communicator in both hands and lifted it to his mouth. "God damn it, Shera! You want to make me a murderer?!" he shrieked. "I..." Pausing, he remembered the thousands of hours he'd spent with Shera, working on the rocket; her endless determination, her boundless optimism, and most of all her smile. "I couldn't live with that!" Cid shouted in anguish.
"I've managed to stabilize Tank Seven, but Tank Eight needs a few more seconds," Shera reported plainly. "Give me just a few more seconds..." she begged. "I can make this mission work! I can take you to outer space!"
The thirty second timer has been initiated. Countdown to take off in thirty... twenty-nine... twenty-eight...
Cid could barely remain conscious by this point, his pulse having gone wild and sweat dripping from every pore on his body. Each breath he took echoed in his ears, as did Shera's voice. Over and over the heat built, the countdown lowered, and Shera remained in the engine room. The countdown approached five seconds, and with all the force in his body and all the determination in his heart, Cid took hold of the emergency stop lever and slammed it down.
Scene Eight
"The aborted launch critically damaged Shinra Twenty-Six and caused it to tilt on its axis..." Shera said sadly. "Shinra emptied the Space Program's budget, and in the last sixteen years hasn't poured a penny into it..." she murmured. "Over time, tourists came to see the rocket and built a town around it, and Cid kept slowly deteriorating... When Shinra confiscated his airship as punishment for the mission's failure, he started smoking and drinking. So..." Taking in a deep breath, Shera's emotions calmed and she returned to her usual self. "In penance for taking Cid's dream from him," she said plainly, "my dream became to atone for that sin. It has been for the sixteen years that I've served him."
"You're full of it, Shera!" Cloud shouted, slamming his hand on the table and this time cracking it open. The tablecloth slightly ripped and its legs nearly buckled, as Cloud reached across the table and grabbed Shera by the collar. "You don't stand up for yourself out of guilt?!" he yelled, shaking her back and forth. "He didn't save your life just for you to give up on it!" Cloud exclaimed, shaking Shera emotionally rather than physically.
"Damn, man! You're making so much noise I... What the hell did you do to my table?!" Cid screamed, quickly dashing in from the backyard and sliding to a stop at the start of the dining room. "You jokers trying to pick a fight with me?!" he shouted angrily. "Don't make me put my foot up your sorry asses!"
Just before Yuffie was able to break free from Tifa and attempt to maul Cid, the door opened, revealing a fat, tubby man in a beige suit. He was someone that they all recognized, with the exception of Yuffie: Palmer, head of Shinra's Space Program, and the one man Cid would have given money not to see.
"You fat bastard! What the hell are you doing here?!" Cid exclaimed, before his anger quickly switched to a face with more hope on it than it had seen in sixteen years. He dashed past Cloud and stopped cold in front of Palmer, skidding to a stop. As he attempted to catch his breath, the look in Cid's eyes became something between hope and mania. "Is he here?!" he asked excitedly. "Is the President here?! Is he going to restart the program?!"
"Um... Hi. Yes, President Rufus is outside, and he needs to speak with you... Go see him," said Palmer with an uncomfortable snicker. As Cid vaulted over the executive, Palmer turned to Shera with a bizarre smile. "I'd like some tea, please! Lots of lard!" he tittered. Slowly, he turned his head to see a very dissatisfied Cloud and Tifa, and a look of sheer horror became etched across his fat face. "Oh, my... God! It's... You people!" he shrieked.
"Tell me now: Is Rufus going to restart the space program?!" exclaimed Tifa, grabbing Palmer by his tie and dragging him to meet her scowl. "The man's been through so much, so you'd better be giving him his dream back!" she snarled.
"O-Oh, th-that... r-right... um... They aren't doing that," Palmer stammered, much to Tifa's horror. He managed to pop out of Tifa's grip and plopped to the ground, adjusting his tie with a fevered brow. "We came to take his airplane, the Tiny Bronco," he said plainly. "We... Gah!" Palmer's words were muffled as Cloud grabbed him and slammed him into the wall before dashing outside, where he found Cid, Rufus, and a small group of Shinra infantrymen.
"What the hell do you mean?! You want to take the Tiny Bronco, now?!" Cid screamed, balling his fists and stomping the ground in fury. "What's wrong with you, you little punk?!" he snarled. "Whatever the deal is with this asshole Sephiroth, it ain't got nothing to do with me!"
"Our search has become... complicated. We've been going at things the wrong way," Rufus said flatly. "We need to find an item called a Keystone, and to do it we need wings!" he shouted. "If we're going to reach the Temple of the Ancients before Sephiroth does, we need the Tiny Bronco. Now, pony up."
"What the hell... What about the Highwind?! Or the Gelnika?!" Cid roared, fury building that he hadn't felt in years. "You stole my wings, you have your own wings, so what the hell do you need the Bronco for?!" he snarled.
"The Highwind and Gelnika are... out of action at the moment..." Rufus sighed, folding his arms over his chest. "There have been a few malfunctions, and that imbecile Heidegger hasn't found anyone to repair them yet..." he moaned. "That incompetent fool."
"Y-You... did... What did you do to my baby?! How did you screw up my airship?!" screeched Cid angrily. "It's bad enough I lost my dream, but now you screw with everything I have left?! What did that fat screw up Heidegger do to my masterpiece?! What about my dream?!"
"Your dream consisted of a handful of words and numbers written on a paper on my father's desk, sixteen years ago," Rufus sighed, much to Cid's fury. "That was my father's project, and I find it to be worthless," he said flatly. "I'm not restarting the program, but I am ordering you to turn in the Tiny Bronco. All I'm doing is to ask for our property back... Remember, we funded its construction."
"Y-Y-You worthless... sack of crap!" Cid screamed, grabbing Rufus by the collar. When he found himself at the end of several rifles, he furiously retracted his hand. "Y-You're serious? That's it?" he gasped. Clenching his fist he furiously stomped his foot on the ground hard enough to injure it. "That's the end of it... of all of it?" Cid rasped in fury.
Cloud had seen enough. Before he could grab his sword, however, Shera pulled him inside by the back of his uniform and quickly locked the door behind him. At first angry at having been manhandled, Cloud quickly fell in line when he saw the resolution in Shera's eyes, eyes that had finished shedding tears and turned to burning ahead a new road, for both Cid and herself.
"Cloud... I... have a request to ask of you... And it's okay if you say no, but... please..." stammered Shera. As time passed, her resolve hardened and the tears in her eyes dried up. "Please. Steal the Tiny Bronco... If you want me to beg, I will."
Scene Nine
"Y-You... want me to... do what?! Are you serious?!" exclaimed Cloud. While at first he thought she was kidding, the desperation in her eyes proved to him that she wasn't. "You want me to steal Cid's plane?!" he yelled.
"If he wants to scold me, then I'll let him do so, but... I won't let them steal his dream from him twice!" Shera exclaimed resolutely, shocking Cloud. "If I let them have their way again... No matter how much I try, I could never make it up to him!" she stated firmly. "So, please... Like I said, if you want me to beg, I will... Palmer is in the backyard, he could take it any moment. So..."
"I have to make a quick call..." growled Cloud. He snapped open his phone and swiftly dialed Aerith, but before she could even speak, he did. "Cover us..." he said cryptically. "We're taking the plane before they can. We'll be out in just a minute..." said Cloud, quickly snapping his phone shut and dashing outside with Tifa and Yuffie.
"Yes, hello? What... What do you mean, cover you?" gasped Aerith, but before she could respond the line went dead. "I... um... What does that mean, anyway?!" she exclaimed. "I don't get what he wants us to do!"
"We take out the guards and deal with Rufus while they take the Bronco!" Cait Sith exclaimed suddenly. Before Aerith could respond, she watched as the animatronic cat stared back at her with a determination she'd never seen. "There's no time to debate this! Look, Barret and Vincent have already left!" he shouted. Much to her surprise, Aerith found that they had left the Inn. Before she could even respond, Cait Sith had hopped on his moogle and left as well. Back in Midgar, Reeve had made his choice.
I don't want to be party to stealing this man's dream again.
As he rushed to the backyard, Cloud found Palmer fiddling with the Tiny Bronco, presumably in an attempt to hijack it. That was quickly stopped as Cloud put the blade of his sword on Palmer's neck. Mortified, Palmer quickly plopped out of the pilot's seat with a thud and skittered backwards.
"Y-Y-Y-You want the plane, r-right?! Right?!" stammered Palmer, backing away from Cloud. "Let's talk about this like adults, okay?! Adults... do this!" From behind his back, Palmer lifted up his Mako gun and aimed it at Cloud's head. Said gun promptly fell to pieces as Yuffie struck it with her shuriken, shattering it to bits.
"I have so had it with you jerk-offs!" snarled Yuffie, drawing her shuriken to her shoulder and tapping it twice. As Palmer struggled to stay conscious, Yuffie pointed her weapon straight at the executive. "The plane is ours. Now get the hell out of here!" she growled.
Palmer took the advice to heart, quickly attempting to climb inside the Tiny Bronco's cockpit. As he started to fiddle with the controls, he felt his collar being pulled, and since it was pulled by Tifa, she hurled him off the plane and sent him crashing into the wall of Cid's house. Cloud and Yuffie quickly hopped aboard the Bronco, which had already begun to move. It didn't take long for them to realize they couldn't operate it. The Tiny Bronco soared out of the backyard, zooming around Rocket Town in a wide arc, swinging past the rocket and directly at Cid and Rufus. Cid wasted no time, slamming his fist into Rufus' jaw before running towards his airplane. As Rufus staggered, Cid made a daring leap and jumped onto the Bronco, quickly taking the pilot's seat as the others grabbed on to the wings, literally for dear life.
"What the hell are you idiots doing to my plane?!" shrieked Cid, lashing back and catching Cloud in the face before turning back to the controls. As the plane continued to climb, Cid slowly began to grin and he pulled up high into the air with the Tiny Bronco traveling at high speed. "Whatever it is, I don't care!" he whooped. "Let's get the hell out of dodge!"
Back on the ground, while Rufus angrily screamed at them the Shinra infantrymen, they quickly took up their rifles and began to pepper the Bronco with gunfire. Through a hail of bullets, Cid attempted to steer his vehicle up above the fire, but failed as the gunfire struck the Tiny Bronco in multiple places, causing it to sputter and swing wildly out of sight. Before the soldiers could follow up, they were quickly mowed down by Barret's Gun-arm, while Vincent held Rufus at gunpoint, his gun aimed straight at his face.
"You worthless punks! What the hell are you doing to me?!" snarled Rufus. Though he wanted to draw his shotgun, he didn't dare do so while Vincent had his gun trained between his eyes. As his anger began to boil over, Rufus furiously grabbed Vincent by his scarf and attempted to drag him face to face. "I am the President of the most powerful corporation on Gaia!" he hissed, getting in Vincent's face. "I demand that you release me!"
"Pardon the parlance, but up yours," grinned Vincent. As the rest of the Shinra army began to approach, Vincent stared Rufus straight in the eyes and gave him the most sinister smile he could. "We're taking the plane. See you later!" he said plainly. Vincent quickly withdrew his revolver from Rufus' face, and joined his friends in fleeing from the oncoming infantrymen. While the party withdrew and managed to escape, Rufus staggered to his feet and glared at the back of Vincent's head with pure hatred.
"Oh, you will pay!" Rufus growled, drawing his shotgun from beneath his coat. Before he could fire, Vincent had already fled his sight, leaving Rufus and a single infantryman alone in the middle of a bullet ridden Rocket Town. Quaking with rage, he lifted his weapon and shot the lone soldier in the gut, and as he fell, Rufus clenched his shotgun hard enough that he could feel the steel begin to buckle. "You bastards!" he roared. "No one does that to me! No one!"
Scene Ten
The Tiny Bronco had been hit in a variety of key places, and as it continued to fly forward, it began to slowly decline. Cid tried his best to keep the airplane in the sky, but eventually he was forced to make a crash landing in the middle of the ocean. Wild waves kicked up around the plane that nearly toppled its impromptu passengers, until finally the Tiny Bronco sputtered to a stop in the middle of nowhere. With all the effort he could muster, Cid ensured that the landing was at least vaguely safe, safe enough that everyone came to a stop just a few minutes later.
"Well, Goddamn it! You jokers pulled this one off... like crap!" shouted Cid, slamming his fist into the broken console of his vessel. He opened the cockpit and skittered onto the wings, promptly flipping the party off. "Look what you idiots did to my Bronco!" he yelled angrily, slamming his fist on the wing. "Ain't a chance in hell this will ever fly again!"
"Okay, so maybe we could have planned this better..." Cloud groaned, finally beginning to feel his head again. He looked to his sides and saw Tifa and Yuffie halfway off the airplane's wings, with Yuffie's head submerged beneath the waves and her ankle caught in a part of the plane. Tifa managed to crawl up on top of the Bronco's wings, joining Cloud with a sheepish grin. "But maybe this thing could work as a boat?" wondered Cloud in a moment of inspiration.
"Bite me, you little jerks!" snapped Cid angrily, crawling to a stop and dropping to his seat to pout. "Do whatever you want, it's yours!" he growled, holding his head in his hands and loosing a primal scream. "You broke it, you bought it, you assholes!" snarled Cid as he began to pout. "Oh, God, what a mess..."
"Um... yeah... That probably could have gone better..." muttered Tifa as she dropped to her back on the wing. While Yuffie finally freed herself and flailed her way to the top of the plane, Tifa took in a deep breath and exhaled a gust of air. She was exhausted, and drenched in sweat and sea water. Once she'd gathered herself, Tifa sat up and stared at a gloomy Cid. "What are you going to do next?" she wondered.
"Yeah, good question! Bet Shinra's got a bounty on me, Shera's got the damn house... Crap!" Cid cursed. Staring down into the sea, he assessed his options and came up empty. "I ain't got nothing left at this point!" he groaned, dropping to his back in exhaustion. "What about you jokers? What are you going to do now that Shinra's got it in for you?"
"They... they kind of already want to kill us, actually," Tifa chuckled. She gave the situation a lot of thought, and what she came back to was the plane itself and Cloud's suggestion that it could be used as a ship. Since a ship needs a pilot, the next question was clear. "Do you want to join our group?" she asked with a giggle. "We can always use an extra pair of hands."
"Oh, really? Nice to see that I jumped right past the job interview..." muttered Cid. No matter how he looked at it, his life was pretty much over. Shinra wanted him dead, Shera clearly took over the deed to the house, and now he was in the middle of nowhere with three lunatics that stole his plane and nearly killed him. "What do you jokers even do?" he asked. "In between the heroics and the stupidity, I guess I never took the time to ask..."
"Well, we call ourselves AVALANCHE, and we're an anti-Shinra insurgency..." muttered Cloud, putting a hand to his head to fix his migraine. "While we're at it, we're chasing a lunatic named Sephiroth, and somewhere along the way we're hoping to save the Planet..." he groaned. The more he talked, the more ridiculous he sounded. "God, what the hell are we not doing at this point?" he moaned.
"AVALANCHE, Shinra, Sephiroth, save the Planet... You jokers are out of your damned minds! And I love it!" laughed Cid. Since he didn't have anything to lose at this point, and didn't have anything to do either, he gave in and decided to throw his lot in with the band. "Whatever, I'm in!" he chuckled. "We just need to give Shera a call so I can get my spear... I ain't doing no fighting without it..."
"Assuming the crash didn't destroy my cell, we can do that," Cloud muttered, rustling through his pack for his phone. When he found it, he flicked it open and examined it, finding it to still be in working order. "Yeah, we got a phone..." he sighed, clicking his cell closed. "But we still don't have any idea what to do at this point... We have no idea where Sephiroth is..."
"Oh, right... That little brat Rufus mentioned something about this Sephiroth dude..." Cid sighed, putting a hand to his head to recall the memory. "Something about a Keystone and the Temple of the Ancients... whatever the hell that means..."
"Keystone... Keystone? Hey, I remember hearing that before..." muttered Yuffie. Once she'd thought a bit, her memory returned to the Weapons Seller, who displayed the Keystone and put it at the price of a million Gil. So, to get to the Temple of the Ancients, they had to go see Henschel. Suddenly, a wicked thought crossed her mind, one that she couldn't put out of her head.
But I can't pass up this chance... We might never go to Wutai if they know where to find it... Looks like it's time to put my plan into action!
"You know what? I remember that there's a Keystone in Wutai!" Yuffie exclaimed happily. Turning to Cloud with a look of excitement, she cracked an uncomfortably mischievous grin as she stared at him. It was a lie, but it was also her best shot. "If we go to Wutai now, we might find the Keystone!" she tittered.
"Eh... Whatever, worth a shot..." Cloud moaned. At this point he was running on fumes, tired, hungry, and angry. Without a better plan, he shrugged and dropped to his back in exhaustion. "I'll dial Aerith and tell them to meet us at-"
"No, no, no! We've got to go now!" insisted Yuffie, to Cloud's surprise. When he stared at her looking for a reason, Yuffie quickly formulated a plan even Aerith would be proud of. "I mean, we're already out, right?" she tittered. "Why bother heading back if we can find this thing before we head back? I mean, why put any more hassle on ourselves than we have to?"
"I agree with the spunky little brat... We're already out..." Cid muttered. As he turned his head to Yuffie, he saw an uncomfortable smile on her face. "Dunno what she's all excited about, but whatever..." he moaned. "Where is it? I'll navigate us there in a day or two... I think there's a fishing pole somewhere so we can actually eat..."
"Okay, fine, whatever! God, you people are trying to kill me..." groaned Cloud, finally surrendering to the inevitable. As he moved his stare from his cell phone to Yuffie, he didn't like the look on her face. Something was working inside her head, and that never ended well. "I'll dial Aerith... We can meet back at Rocket Town in a few days... after we go to this Wutai place. They better have some good grub..."
Author's Notes
I did most of this one in a day... God, what a chore. I shouldn't do that anymore. -_- But there are a couple notes. First off, the Innkeeper's name. Philip was the name of a guy named Philip Sidney, a poet and statesman from the sixteenth century. I'm guessing I don't need to elaborate too much on that, right? I'm hoping I got all my timeline information right, too... I checked Cid's age a couple times and found that he's 32 in the game, so he was sixteen when he built the rocket... I think... That's what I wrote so I'm going with it.
Next up is Wutai. This one is pretty heavily adlibbed, and the notes I have for it may not necessarily reflect what happened in the game... I can't remember how accurate I made it at this point. But it's done, and will be published this month in around ten days or so.
Also, the first chapter of the new year! As of this writing, I've actually finished all the way up to the big finale of Disc One, which also ends Part Two: The World Beyond. I have yet to start the writing for the Reunion, but the notes are finished. I really hope you guys are enjoying this, because I'm having a blast writing it.