Chapter 44: Booked
October 7, 0002
A week after the recital, Tifa and Miranda stood, once again, in the auditorium. But, this time, there were no dancers on the stage.
"What are we doing?" Miranda asked. "What is this?"
"Auditions," Tifa replied.
"For what?"
"Alfred and the Dragon: The Musical," she answered.
"You mean that silly play they have at Gold Saucer?" Miranda asked. "They actually made that into a musical?"
"I'm just as surprised," Tifa admitted.
"So," Miranda repeated, "what are we doing here?"
"Auditioning!" Tifa replied.
"You want to be in this thing?" Miranda asked.
"I was in this thing," Tifa informed her. "December, 0007 to be exact. I snuck Cloud out of his room and we starred in it. I was Princess Rosa."
"Is that what you're auditioning for?" Miranda asked.
"Actually, I'm just doing it for shits and giggles," Tifa replied. "I don't care what I get, or even if I get anything. But I just tried ballet, so I wonder how good I am at theater."
The two girls then spotted someone they knew.
There was Riggs.
"Hey, ladies!" he greeted.
"Hey there!" Miranda greeted back.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Looking for jackasses," Miranda replied.
Riggs scratched his head.
"At an audition?" he asked.
"I found one, didn't I?" she playfully answered.
"Who are you going for?" Riggs laughed.
"Whatever I get, I get," Tifa replied. "You?"
"I'm going for Alfred," he announced.
"Me, too," Milton, who was standing nearby, added.
"May the best man win," Riggs said.
He then turned to Miranda.
"How about you?" he asked. "Are you auditioning?"
"The play's not until April," Miranda dismissed as she shook her head. "Of 0004."
"Your point being?" Riggs asked.
"I could be dead by then!" Miranda sighed.
"So could I," Riggs retorted. "Or anyone else, for that matter."
"I'm the one with a fatal heart condition," Miranda reminded them.
"If you audition, I will," Riggs promised.
"You're already auditioning!" Miranda protested.
"Just do it," Riggs pleaded. "Please? If you don't audition, then I won't. And I'll never help you study again. And I'll come into your dorm and use your bathroom. There now!"
Miranda sighed.
"If it will get you off my back," she groaned.
October 9, 0002
The cast was officially posted two days later.
ALFRED….Riggs Benson
PRINCESS ROSA….Miranda Kisaragi
VALVADA…Julie Lane
SANCHO PANTSOFF….Milton Richard
KING QUINN….Aaron Bartz
QUEEN KAREN…Amy Banning
Miranda stared at the posting in disbelief.
"I don't believe it!" she said to herself. "I actually got the female lead!"
"You're good," Riggs assured her.
Miranda laughed.
"I twisted Tifa's arm into the ballet thing," she observed. "Now mine's been twisted into a musical. I suppose what goes around comes around."
"You'll do fine," Riggs assured her.
"It's sixteen months away," Miranda pointed out. "I'll just have to make sure I live that long."
"Maybe it'll keep you going," Riggs suggested.
Miranda half-smiled.
"We'll see," she said.
LATER….
November 14, 0002
Rehearsals started immediately. Miranda, Tifa, Riggs, and Milton would show up together, with Cloud occasionally coming to watch. Amy, who was also in the play, ceased to say hostile things to Miranda or Tifa, though she made it clear that she was not to be approached.
Miranda was very surprised she had won the role of Princess Rosa. She never saw herself as a princess, nor as any damsel in distress, but she found the acting very easy. The fact that she was acting alongside Riggs and Tifa helped. She soon fit into the role very well, earning praise from the director, Mr. Antonio, who otherwise seems quite unenthusiastic about his job.
But what stood out the most was her voice. There were three songs in the play where she sang the lead, and one song she shared with Alfred, who was, of course, her love interest.
Tifa, Cloud, Riggs, and Milton were all awe-struck on how beautiful Miranda's singing voice was.
It really stood out during the love song she shared with Alfred. It was a heart-melting sight to watch, and Miranda nailed it perfectly.
She was deep into her role.
So was Riggs.
They acted as if they were actually the characters during that song.
Tifa began to suspect something.
So did Cloud.
November 16, 0002
For Miranda, it became really amusing when she rehearsed "Beware the Dragon," which was spoken instead of sung.
Mr. Antonio was not amused.
"The line is: 'She maims the first man, burns the second, and eats the third,'" he reprimanded. "Say it right."
"That's what I said," Miranda insisted.
"But it sounds like you're saying: 'She maims the first man, burns the second, and eats the turd."
"I said 'third,'" Miranda insisted.
"Must be your Wutai accent," sighed Mr. Antonio muttered to himself.
"I heard that!" Miranda reprimanded. "That sounds pretty racist!"
"It's an accent," Mr. Antonio said. "Not a race."
"I don't even have an accent," Miranda retorted. "I was raised bilingual. My mom's not even from Wutai; she's from Kalm!"
"You're half white?" Mr. Antonio asked.
"Can you tell?" Miranda asked angrily.
"From the top," Mr. Antonio commanded, ignoring the question.
Miranda sighed, and began to speak-sing.
"Beware the dragon, big and green.
The fiercest dragon ever seen.
Her name's Valvada, a fearsome word
She maims the first man, burns the second, and eats the turd."
She then began to cackle.
"Dammit!" Mr. Antonio snapped. "This isn't funny!"
"Sorry," Miranda apologized. "I'll say it right this time."
"Your better," Mr. Antonio reprimanded.
"I will," Miranda assured him. "Hippohumpersayswhat?"
"What?" demanded Mr. Antonio.
Miranda simply cackled again.
THAT NIGHT….
"Where are we going?" Miranda asked.
"It's right up ahead," Cloud replied as he led her, Riggs, and Tifa through the woods at the southwestern side of the peninsula.
The sun was down, and it was dark out; only cell phones could light the way. The woods were creepy, and owls were constantly hooting. That did not bother anyone, especially Miranda.
"Any way to get away from that racist SOB," she said when agreeing to follow them.
She noted Cloud and Tifa had been talking about something in secret at the end of rehearsal. They then announced they wanted to "take her and Riggs" somewhere.
Suddenly, Cloud led them off the path, and through two overgrown forsythias. Beyond those, there was a large rock, with a smaller rock in front of it.
"A rock?" Miranda asked skeptically.
And then, Cloud pushed the smaller rock aside.
He thus revealed a passageway leading down.
"Who knows about this?" Miranda asked.
"Just us," Cloud replied as he lit up his cell phone. "And now you."
Miranda, Riggs, and Tifa lit up theirs as they followed him.
Once inside, they began to descend a stairwell.
"There are stairs here?" Miranda asked. "Is this man-made?"
"I think this used to be a tomb," Tifa replied. "Cloud and I found a marble sarcophagus on the surface."
"But when I opened it," Cloud added, "there was no body in there."
They arrived at the bottom, and Miranda beheld a boat docked where the stone ended.
Beyond was a large tunnel; it seemed as if it held a bigger ship at one point.
"Follow us," Tifa commanded as she led Miranda into the vessel.
"Is this your boat?" Miranda asked as she scanned her surroundings.
"Welcome to it!" Cloud greeted.
"You had this parked down here the whole time?" Riggs asked in surprise.
Cloud nodded.
"We parked it here as soon as we decided to impersonate the Lane cousins," he informed them. "We turned ourselves in afterward."
"So you can escape any time you want?" Riggs inquired. "And become someone else?"
"Technically," Tifa replied. "But we need to hide from history, so we don't."
"Wow," said Riggs.
It was a sad fact that Miranda and Riggs were really Miranda and Riggs, and any escape would leave them still fugitives.
"I take it you have an anchor dropped?" Riggs began.
"You got it," Cloud replied. "Its chances of floating away are nil."
"Aren't you ever worried someone might steal it?" Miranda asked.
"It's hidden very well," Tifa replied.
"And it can't be started up without a code," Cloud added.
Tifa then pointed to the cabin.
"Go ahead," she offered. "Have a look around."
Miranda and Riggs entered the cabin. They were amazed at the kitchen and sleeping area.
"I could live in one of these," Riggs said.
Just then, Miranda spotted the safe Cloud and Tifa had never been able to open.
"What's in there?" she asked.
"I have no idea," Tifa replied.
"You've never opened that?" Riggs asked, somewhat amused.
"It's locked by a combination," Tifa continued. "We haven't figured it out. The previous owner could've set it."
"I wonder who the previous owner was," Cloud said.
"Maybe it was that Darill guy," Tifa suggested.
"Who?" Miranda asked.
"The guy who was supposedly buried in that sarcophagus up there," Cloud answered. "I doubt it, though. That coffin looked pretty weathered."
"Wouldn't it be funny if that locked box contained the key to defeating Sephiroth?" Miranda suggested.
"Highly unlikely," Tifa laughed.
And then, Miranda spotted the most precious item on the counter.
"Is that the Chronus Wand?" Miranda asked.
"It is," Cloud replied. "It's what brought us to 1996 from 0011. Before that, it came from 0016."
"How long is it supposed to last?" Miranda asked.
"That never crossed my mind," Tifa replied. "Right now, we're on a mission to stop Sephiroth. But once that mission is over, Cloud and I agreed to destroy it."
"Why?" Miranda asked in surprise.
"We can't let it fall into the wrong hands," Cloud answered. "Lately, we've been wondering if we are the wrong hands."
"It's a good thing nobody stumbled across the boat and took it," Miranda said.
Cloud and Tifa then looked at each other silently. It was something they had not considered.
"She has a point," Tifa said. "What if someone does stumble across the boat?"
"I have a safe in our room that I don't use," Miranda informed them. "The password's my birthday. You can keep it there."
Cloud and Tifa both nodded in unison.
It was a good idea, and rather foolish to keep leaving it unguarded.
"And what's this?" Riggs asked.
He had picked up the small hand-held mirror. It was the turquoise one. On the bottom was a rifle, with the word "Checkhov" engraved below.
"I dunno," Tifa replied. "We just found that there."
"Perhaps the previous owner of the boat was someone named Checkhov?" Miranda suggested.
"Perhaps," Cloud replied.
EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER….
April 12, 0004
Miranda looked at herself in the mirror.
She was now seventeen, a number she never thought she'd see. Nothing much had changed, though her hair was slightly longer.
Miranda laughed.
"I really made it this far," she said.
She was not saying it to herself; Riggs, now nineteen, was also in the room.
"I think this silly musical did it," she continued. "I spent the last eighteen months thinking. 'I can't die, I'm booked!'"
The musical would be performed in three nights; the first was tomorrow.
Miranda turned to face her friend.
"Thanks for keeping me going," she said with a smile.
"Don't mention it," Riggs answered, smiling back.
MEANWHILE…
Lynn, ever the art-lover, turned through the pages of a book called Sketches of History. This book mainly featured sketches of the Wutai War, but occasionally, it featured sketches from events hundreds of years before.
At the same time, she was thinking of a way to ruin Tifa. She had failed at the ballet recital. Now she was determined to get her back, even harder.
She continued to plow through the pages.
Then she stopped.
"Hello, what's this?" Lynn said to herself.
There was a sketch of a purple tentacled creature next to a four-ton weight, and it appeared to be above a stage.
"Eureka!" Lynn said aloud. "Not only will I ruin the play, but I'll break her neck and kill her!"