FORTY-EIGHT
Godo Kisaragi's estate was large, decorated with lush gardens, and patrolled by Wutaian soldiers in Shinra uniforms. They walked around with their eyes wary and looked more like they were keeping him from going outside than letting anyone in. Given everything we'd learned so far from Yuffie and Gorki about the situation, I was sure they were. Or at least that they thought they were. Gorki's comment about how Godo wasn't as imprisoned as he made himself out to be made me wonder if there was more going on here than it seemed.
Tifa led the way to the front door of the main building, with Jessie, Cid, Vincent, and I right behind her. There were two soldiers standing guard there, one on either side of the wide screen door, and they stared suspiciously at us as we approached. Their blades were sheathed at the moment, but their hands stayed close to them.
"You can't enter," one of them said. "Lord Godo is currently under house arrest and may not have any visitors."
Tifa showed them the gold token Master Gorki had given her. "Let us in. Unless you'd rather face down one of the Wusheng. I'm sure that would go over really well with your superiors at Shinra. If you recover, that is. Now either you move or I'll move you."
The guards exchanged a surprised look, then stood aside and let us in. Inside, the rooms were all divided by large screens instead of walls, and the hardwood floors were covered with soft rugs. We followed the single narrow hall around a corner, passing rooms as we went. None of them were occupied, but we saw what looked like a study and a library of some kind. At the far end of the hall there was a large bedroom, and it wasn't empty. A man was laying tiredly on the bed, which was more a soft mat and cushions than a mattress and frame. He glanced warily at us as we walked in but didn't get up to meet us.
"What do you want?" he grumbled. "I don't have much, but Gorki sent word to expect visitors. If you need somewhere to rest, you can do so here. As you've probably guessed, I am Godo."
"Yuffie's father?" Tifa asked.
He waved us off. "Never heard of her."
"You sure about that?" I frowned.
"I said I don't know her!" Godo insisted, sitting up. "There's no one here in Wutai with that name! No one at all!"
Then he stood up and faced us. He was a tall, broad man in a black gi and belt with a white long-sleeved tunic underneath it. His long hair and neatly-trimmed goatee were as dark as the eyes that looked warily at us. He folded his arms behind his back, then let out a long, tired sigh and began pacing. He was lying about Yuffie, but why?
"There have been a lot of Shinra soldiers here lately," he said. "And too many of my own people are among them."
"We noticed that," I agreed. "Things are tense."
Godo nodded. "To put it mildly. And on top of that, many women have gone missing lately. Young, mostly. Usually two or three a night. I do not know who is responsible for this. And I can do nothing about it so long as I am in this cage. One of my own making…"
"You said women have been disappearing?" Jessie frowned darkly. "How long has this been going on for?"
"Perhaps three months," Godo answered.
She clenched her fist and looked at us. "The timing fits, guys. He's here… that son of a bitch. It's gotta be him."
I blinked. "Corneo?"
"Who's that?" Cid wondered.
"A lowlife crime lord we ran into back in Midgar," Jessie explained, her eyes blazing. "That sick bastard preys on women and feeds them to his pet monsters when he's had his way with them."
Cid narrowed his eyes. "Sounds like an ass waitin' to be kicked. I'll be glad to help ya bring him down, Jessie."
"He won't get away this time," Tifa agreed.
"Not a chance in hell," Jessie swore. "I still owe him for what he did to Lydia. She was just a kid and he shot her."
Vincent glanced sharply at her. "Did she survive?"
"Yeah," she replied.
"He won't," Vincent promised.
I felt the same as I gave Jessie a firm nod. "We're not leaving Wutai until we nail that slimeball, Jessie. We'll get him."
"I love you, Cloud," she smirked.
"As it seems you all are familiar with this man, I leave him to you," Godo said. "However, should you run afoul of Shinra, you must leave. I cannot placate them if you are causing them trouble."
I shook my head. "They're already after you. That's why we're here. We intercepted a group of soldiers on our way to the city, and they said the Turks had been assigned to take you out."
"So it comes at last," he murmured softly. "I wondered why it took so long for them to act. But if I fight, it may harm Wutai. Perhaps I can reason with them and turn them away from their task."
Suddenly, there was an explosion of sound from outside, shouts of surprise from the guards followed by the unmistakable bursts of magic. And then, just a minute later, Yuffie rushed in, materia glowing on her silver armlet and the new six-pointed shuriken she carried. As soon as she saw us, she froze, then motioned to her father.
"Come on, Dad!" she urged him. "Let's get outta here!"
He frowned at her. "No. Stop this foolishness at once! If we fight, it only invites Shinra to finish what they began."
Yuffie's eyes narrowed. "What's the matter with you!?"
"What?" Godo blinked. "Yuffie!"
She ran into the room. "Are you really that scared? My friends here aren't! They're fighting Shinra like you and all the rest of the Wusheng oughta be! How can you just sit there and do nothing!?"
"Silence!" he ordered. "What would you know about it?"
Yuffie went on. "They beat you once and so you gave up? That's it? What happened to you, Dad? Used to be nothing could stop you. What happened to the mighty Wutai I used to know?"
Godo stalked toward her, his dark eyes blazing. "You disrespectful little child! How dare you speak to me like that!"
"That's the only way I can get through to you!" she fired back. "You sure are stubborn! Don't you order me around! Mom would be so mad if she could see what you let happen to our home!"
"Iyufikara Kisaragi!" Godo thundered. "BE SILENT!"
Yuffie gulped. "Oh, shit…"
"You will not speak of your mother to me! Not when you are acting like such a terrible daughter! I am ashamed of you! And why have you returned home alone like this? Where is Sonon?"
"He… he didn't make it," she sighed.
Godo stared icily at her. "Explain. What happened?"
Hesitantly, Yuffie told him about her ill-fated venture with Sonon into Scarlet's Advanced Weapons Research lab hidden in the bowels of the Shinra Building. She'd never spoken of it until now, but Jessie gazed knowingly at her, sympathy and understanding in her eyes. I wondered if Yuffie had opened up to her about it already, at least somewhat. They had met on the way to Fort Condor, before the rest of us had gotten to know her, so I supposed it was possible. And I felt for her, too. Losing a friend is never easy. He had given his life for her.
"I see," Godo said softly when Yuffie was finished, folding his arms in front of him. "This is unfortunate. Sonon was a fine student and had great promise. We will all be lessened by his loss."
"Shake's gonna be pissed," Yuffie grimaced.
He nodded. "She was very fond of him. A pity the two of you have grown so far apart. Childhood friends should remain close. I recall the many days the two of you once spent together."
"So do I," she sighed. "Me, Shake, and Hiroshi were always playing around together and getting into all kinds of trouble. I'm still searching for him, Dad. I know you've given up, but I haven't."
"He's been gone for five years now, Yuffie," Godo argued.
Yuffie frowned. "You think I don't know that!? But Jessie here's got sources inside Shinra who are helping me, and if anyone can find him, it's her. We've already found some promising leads."
"Do not give Teshaki false hope, Yuffie," Godo said. "Her brother is gone. You must both let him go, hard as it will be."
"Like hell I will!" Yuffie retorted, her temper rising again. "He's out there somewhere, maybe hurt, and I owe it to Shake… and to myself… to bring him back home safe and sound!"
Godo shook his head. "Why must you be so stubborn!?"
"I could say the same thing about you!" she shot back. "Now, then, are you coming or not? We don't have much time."
He folded his arms in front of him. "No. I am not."
Yuffie stared at him in disbelief. "I came here to save you!"
"And I do not wish to be saved!" Godo snarled.
"Oh, the hell with you!" she yelled, rushing out of the room with a choked sob amidst a stream of angry tears.
Godo followed her into the hall for a moment, then returned. "She simply does not understand. We simply cannot fight Shinra if we are to protect Wutai. And… I do not wish to lose her. She is highly skilled but reckless, and I fear for her safety. Losing her mother so many years ago was bad enough, but I could not bear it if…"
"We won't let that happen," Jessie promised.
"You are her friends?" Godo asked.
I nodded. "Yeah."
He drew himself up then, tall and powerful, and gazed at us. "Then look out for her. Keep her safe, for me and for Wutai."
"Of course," Tifa assured him.
We hurried outside, but Yuffie was already long gone. The soldiers glared suspiciously at us but didn't interfere as we headed back into the wide plaza. By now it was dusk, and the sun was sinking slowly behind the Da-Chao mountain. My stomach rumbled then, reminding me that we hadn't really eaten anything all day, not since morning. We'd have to take care of that, though, before much longer.
"Any idea where the kid went?" Cid wondered.
Jessie shook her head. "Not a clue."
I looked around for a minute and sighed. "Same here. Yuffie could be anywhere by now. Finding her's not gonna be easy. But I doubt she'll leave town yet. She knows we're here. And that the Turks are coming, if they haven't already arrived. She'll turn up again sooner or later. So let's stick around, keep our eyes open, and stay alert."
"Right," Jessie agreed. "And along those lines, how about we go get us a bite to eat and refuel? Gotta keep up our strength, especially while on a stakeout like this. Then we can look for Yuffie."
I nodded. "Yeah, sounds good."
"We passed this nice bar earlier on the southern end of town," Tifa suggested. "It's pretty big and looks like a popular place."
"What's it called?" Jessie asked.
She thought for a moment. "The Happy Turtle."
"We'll go there, then," I decided.
"We'll also need to find out where Corneo's holed up," Jessie added. "There's gotta be someone around here who knows."
Tifa's face was determined. "We will, Jessie. We will."
The Happy Turtle was a large structure in the southern part of the city on its own little island separated by a curving stream with a pair of stone bridges arcing across it on two different sides. It was made out of stone and wooden beams painted red and decorated in the traditional style, with a sloping roof, sliding doors, and a large scroll hanging over them with the pub's name in Wutaian kanji. A sign stood to one side of the door and a large wicker basket sat on the other, its lid fitted snugly on top. It quivered slightly as we passed it.
Inside, the place was much the same, with paneled floors and thick red support beams along the stone walls in the same polished wood. A few wide, framed scrolls of more kanji hung here and there, and a large stone fountain decorated with little bonsai trees stood in the back right corner of the room. The bar was on the opposite side, lined with stools covered in green cushions and backed by shelves full of various bottles and glasses. The place was busy, full of people sitting there and around the collection of square tables that each had a bonsai tree in the center along with a pair of softly burning red candles.
Then Jessie's eyes widened as she seized my shoulder. "Look! Over there! Sitting in the middle of the room!"
"They're here," I frowned when he saw them.
At one of the tables almost right in front of us sat Reno, Rude, and Elena, eating and drinking as they talked. Mostly Reno and Elena, that was. Rude didn't say much, and like always he wore his dark sunglasses over his eyes. They didn't notice us at first—Reno and Rude were both well into their drinks, which didn't surprise me in the slightest—but as we drew closer, Elena shot up out of her seat, her brown eyes wide and her jaw dropping to the floor so fast she almost tripped.
"You!" she sputtered, staring at us. "How the hell did you get here? Last we heard, you'd crashed in the ocean."
Jessie smirked. "Splashed, maybe. But we're still in one piece."
Elena clenched her fists. "Not for long! I guess we were destined to meet again. Get ready to meet your maker!"
"You don't have to do this," Jessie sighed.
"The hell I don't!" she snarled. "You lied to me!"
Jessie shook her head sadly. "No, I didn't. I'm sorry I never told you about me being in Avalanche when we first met, but I just couldn't risk it. Not only for me, but for you, too. It might've gotten you in trouble if I had, and I didn't want that. And I think you held back about being in the Turks for the same reason. Isn't that right?"
"What?" she blinked.
"I don't want to fight you, Elena," Jessie went on. "Even though you and I should be enemies. You were my friend once."
Elena didn't budge, though. "Tough. Times change, Jessie."
"You talk too much, Elena," Reno drawled.
"What!?" she gaped at him.
He looked up at her, his blue eyes annoyed. "Remind me. What are we doing way the hell out here in Wutai?"
"Well, our orders are—" she began.
"No, other than that," Reno corrected her.
Elena swallowed heavily. "Oh, right. We're on vacation."
That I didn't believe for a second. "Is that so?"
"Yeah, we are!" she insisted.
"Now you've ruined it," Rude grimaced, setting his half empty glass down with a sigh. "Even the booze here sucks now."
Elena sighed and sat back down. "Sorry…"
"Forget about it," Reno shrugged.
"What are your orders?" I asked, folding my arms in front of me.
Rude stared impassively up at us. "Classified."
"We know you're here to take out Godo Kisaragi," Tifa said. "Don't bother denying it. We won't let you hurt him."
"Boy, you sure bought it, didn't you?" Reno chuckled.
Jessie raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"You sayin' that's not why you clowns're here?" Cid added, looking as skeptical as I felt. "Them soldiers told us otherwise."
"Of course they did," Rude said.
Reno snickered. "We've got a target here, alright. But it ain't him. If the guy we're after thinks he's safe, he'll let his guard down and slip up. Then we'll make our move. Godo's not our problem."
"We just let everyone think we're after Godo to keep the fat bastard we're really here for off guard and catch him unawares," Elena boasted. "It's a totally flawless plan, worthy of the Turks."
Jessie's eyes narrowed. "I knew it! We're after him, too."
Reno shrugged. "Whatever. Just stay out of our way. We're not here to fight you… today. But no matter what, he's dead."
"On that, we agree completely," she nodded.
With that, we moved away. After being seated at our own table, we settled in for dinner. I knew Jessie hated that things had gotten so tense between her and Elena, but there wasn't much we could do about it. So we focused on eating. Luckily for us, the waiter spoke our language—I supposed this place got plenty of visitors from outside Wutai—and the menu was in our language as well as Wutaian. Most of us weren't really familiar with some of the dishes, but Tifa was, and she helped us pick a few things that turned out to be pretty good.
"So how do you eat with these?" Jessie asked, staring uncertainly at the two long, slender sticks she was holding.
Tifa smiled. "Like this, Jessie. Here, I'll show you."
Since I was having a little trouble with the chopsticks myself, I paid close attention as Tifa showed Jessie the right way to hold them. Once I adjusted my grip, I was able to get the hang of it. Jessie caught on pretty quickly as well, deftly using the chopsticks to pick up pieces of chicken, beef, rice, and vegetables from her plate as I did the same from mine. It felt a little weird at first, but I soon got used to it.
"Do you think the Turks were telling the truth?" Tifa asked.
I shrugged as I ate. "Seems that way. But we'd better keep an eye on them just in case. They may lead us right to Corneo."
"I certainly hope so," Jessie added.
Then I glanced at Cid. "Think you'll be able to fix the Tiny Bronco once we're done with our business here in Wutai?"
He nodded. "As long as I get the parts I need. Shouldn't be too hard to find. Just some plate steel to repair the tail and patch up the fuselage where them bullet holes are. And a welder or two to do it with. If Jessie and I work together, we can have my baby fixed up and ready to go in a few hours once we get back to where we left her."
"Count me in!" Jessie grinned.
"We have just enough fuel to make it to Cosmo Canyon, then we'll have to get more," Cid went on. "Luckily, that old Bugenhagen fellow's pretty sharp, and he'll see that we get what we need. I've dealt with him before. And we can land at an abandoned airfield nearby, I've done that a few times in the past. It ain't far from town."
Tifa smiled. "We've met him. He's a sweet old man."
"That'll make things easier, then," Cid chuckled. "And we can fly to the Gold Saucer from there and meet up with the rest of your friends. I know about another airfield out that way we can use, too. Doesn't see a lot of action nowadays, so we'll have it all to ourselves."
"Sounds like a plan!" Jessie laughed.
Cid nodded as he took another swallow of his drink. "Sure is. Now how's about you all fill me in on what all's been goin' on with you guys? Ain't really had much of a chance until now, I admit, and I figure if I'm gonna be travelin' with ya, I oughta know about it."
"Sure," I agreed. "Guess we should start at the beginning…"
Jessie, Tifa, and I all took turns telling Cid about us, Sephiroth, our battles against Shinra, and everything else that had happened since we had attacked Mako Reactor 1 back in Midgar. Had it really been only a few months? It felt a lot longer than that. Another lifetime ago, maybe. Everything had changed after that night.
"Well…" Cid drawled when we'd finished our story, "you're all even crazier than I thought. Not that I mind. Like I said before, you've got a lot of guts. And Shinra… they're worse than I ever imagined. Droppin' a whole entire section of the city right onto the slums… did they really do that? And kill thousands of innocent people?"
"Oh, yeah," Jessie shivered. "They did. I almost died that night."
Cid looked thoughtfully at her. "Yeah. Now I understand what you were tryin' to tell me back home. What you meant when you said your temper nearly killed ya. I'm glad you pulled through."
She nodded. "So am I, Cid. So am I."
"We all are," Tifa added warmly. "This journey of ours wouldn't be the same without her. She's a part of it now."
"Thanks, Tifa," Jessie smiled.
Cid turned to me next, an amused grin on his face. "I can't picture you in a dress, though, Cloud. You don't seem the type."
I sighed and looked at the girls. "You just had to mention that."
"It's part of the story," Tifa nodded cheerfully.
"A really fun one, too!" Jessie added.
I folded my arms in front of me. "Apparently so."
Vincent sipped his wine. "You did what had to be done."
"I suppose," I agreed.
"Cloud," he said, more seriously now, his gaze on the Turks. "Look. Our friends have company. Shinra soldiers."
He was right. A pair of Wutaian troopers in blue uniforms had just walked inside, blades at their hips, and they headed right over to where Reno was leaning casually back in his seat with Rude and Elena sitting on either side. He looked over as the troops approached but otherwise didn't budge an inch. Elena frowned, and behind his sunglasses, Rude's face had all the expression of a slab of rock.
"He's here!" one of the soldiers exclaimed. "Our target! Just like our reports said. We've found him! But we'll need backup."
Reno shrugged. "Tough shit."
The soldier gaped at him. "Huh? You're off duty, but—"
"If you knew that, then get lost," he snapped. "We've got this under control. Lookin' at you's makin' me sober."
"But you've got orders to find him, too," the soldier argued.
Reno stared darkly at him. "So?"
"Fine!" the soldier retorted. "We'll get him without your help! And don't think headquarters isn't going to hear about this!"
Then he and his partner stormed out amidst the hushed murmurs of the crowd. Reno and Rude had already lost interest and gone back to their drinks, but Elena seemed worried. She looked in the direction the soldiers had gone, then back at her friends.
"Are you sure that was such a good idea?" she asked. "Is that really the way a professional, a Turk, would act?"
Reno took a swallow of his drink. "Elena. Don't get the wrong idea. A pro ain't someone who'll die for his job. That's just a fool. We may do a lot, but we aren't gonna blindly follow orders. Because some just ain't worth it. We gotta draw the line somewhere."
I exchanged a surprised glance with Jessie and Tifa, wondering just as they did if Reno had been talking about the Sector 7 pillar. It looked as if what had happened that night had affected him more than we had realized. It would make it easier for us to reason with him later. He and Rude had backed off and walked away in Gongaga readily enough once Cissnei had intervened to stop us from fighting.
"Rude?" Elena glanced at him, looking for support. When he didn't give her any, she stood up and glared angrily at him and Reno. "Well, I don't believe you! I'll get Corneo myself! Later!"
Then she stalked out the door like a soaked cat, but Reno shrugged it off as Rude looked questioningly at him. "Relax, old buddy. She's not a kid. She can handle herself. Let her go for now. She just needs to blow off some steam for a while, that's all. She'll be fine."
Jessie glanced uneasily at me. "Elena's a Turk and our enemy, but… I'm worried about her. It's getting dark outside, and that's when Corneo and his flunkies have been kidnapping girls. Elena's a good fighter, but she's inexperienced, and if they took her by surprise…"
I nodded. "We'll look for her. Yuffie, too. So finish up, everyone. As soon as we're done here, we'll go and find them."
It didn't take long, and once we were done, we paid our bill and left the Happy Turtle, eyes and ears alert. It was, as Jessie had said, evening now, and an odd mix of streetlamps and colorful paper lanterns chased away the gloom. There were plenty of people coming and going, some of them passing by us to enter the bar while others went on about their own business, but Elena was nowhere to be seen.
Just as we were passing that basket by the door, it quivered again. I had a sudden suspicion, and after motioning to the others to stop for a minute, I gave the basket a little nudge with my booted foot. Almost at once there was a muffled groan, then the lid popped off and a familiar figure jumped out in a graceful flip. Yuffie landed on her feet and cast a wry grin in my direction as she rubbed her side.
"Figured it out, huh?" she said. "Was wondering how long it would take for you to catch on. I heard everything, by the way. So they weren't after my dad after all. That's a relief. Still gotta stop that creep that's out nabbing women, though. I won't let him get away."
I frowned. "Where's our materia?"
Yuffie chuckled. "Oh, that. Safe, don't worry. But I'm gonna have to hold onto it for a while longer until I've dealt with that Corneo guy. He sounds dangerous, and I'll need all the help I can get."
"Do you seriously think we'll let you go after him all by yourself?" Jessie demanded. "He isn't one to take lightly."
"He's in my homeland messing with my people!" Yuffie argued. "So it's my responsibility to trash his sorry ass and kick it so far from Wutai that even Da-Chao can't see him. Catch ya later!"
Then, before we could stop her, she slipped nimbly away and sped away across the nearest bridge and off toward the northern part of the city. Although I respected her sense of duty to her homeland, I couldn't let her go after Corneo alone, and I knew the others felt the exact same way. We hurried after her, quickly slipping through the crowded streets until we found ourselves back in the large plaza we'd visited earlier. The pagoda rose up tall and graceful at the far end.
"Where's she go?" Tifa wondered.
I shook my head. "I don't know. But she was going in this direction last we saw her, so she's here somewhere. I—"
Jessie grabbed my arm and pointed. "Cloud, look!"
Just ahead of us, in the shadow of the round platform at the center of the plaza, two figures moved furtively around the side carrying what looked like a struggling bundle between them while a third sped up to the top and rang the gong. Amidst the noise, a door swung open in the side of the platform and the figures all rushed silently inside with their captive. Then the hidden door swung shut again.
"So that's how they're nabbin' them girls," Cid muttered. "We'd best go after 'em and put a stop to this nonsense."
"Gladly," Jessie glared, her eyes on the closed door.
While she and the others moved in front of it with weapons ready, I hurried onto the platform and rang the gong. The door opened again, and as soon I dropped back down to the ground, we rushed inside. We found ourselves in a storage room, with colorful square mats covering the floor and thick red beams supporting the wooden walls. Crates and boxes were stacked up along both sides of the room, and another set of stairs at the far end rose up to an open doorway.
"Let me go!" a familiar voice yelled. "I said let me go! Do you have any idea who I am, you jerk? You're gonna get it now!"
"Yuffie!" Tifa gasped.
She was caught firmly in the grip of two men in black ninja outfits with masks that totally covered their heads aside from their eyes. They stood behind an overweight middle-aged man I recognized right away. His back was to us, and he had his hands folded behind him. When he spoke, he didn't look at us at first, his eyes on Yuffie.
"Hehe… she's a feisty one, isn't she?" the man cackled.
"Corneo!" Jessie snarled, pointing at him with one lit blaze talon.
He whirled around to face us now, his eyes bulging at the sound of her voice. "F-Firebrand!? What are you doing here?"
"Finishing what I started in the sewers!" she spat.
"It's over," I added, hefting my swords.
Don Corneo, his pudgy fingers glittering with rings and his blond mohawk neatly brushed, backed away a step, seeing the pure murder in Jessie's eyes. His red, fur-lined smoking jacket and gold medallion were as gaudy as ever, and he held a lit cigar in one hand. He looked over at Yuffie again, his eyes shifty, then back at us.
"I got me a new girl!" he sneered. "Two, actually!"
"Two?" Tifa blinked.
Then four more ninjas appeared as part of the wall behind Corneo slid open, and two of them had Elena firmly in their grasp. She fought to free herself, but one of her captors quickly put a katana to her throat as Yuffie was similarly restrained at the same time.
"Let me go!" Elena demanded. "Or you'll regret it!"
Corneo leered at her. "I don't think so."
Then, while two of his ninjas moved to block us, he and the others rushed up the stairs with their captives and left. It didn't take very long for us to fight our way past Corneo's lackeys, and we left them lying in a broken heap on the floor as we raced after him.
Upstairs, we found ourselves in a small shrine. The room had been made in much the same style as the one below, but a statue of Da-Chao stood at one end with burning braziers on either side. We emerged just to one side of it to find Corneo alone, about to slip out the door on the other side of the room. His men had already gone. But before we could catch him, three Wutaian soldiers in Shinra uniforms suddenly rushed into the room from the hall outside, blades drawn.
"There he is!" one of them called. "Don't let him escape!"
Then they charged. Corneo took one look at them, then us, and as they closed in, he quickly darted off to one side and raced out the door before any of us could stop him, moving surprisingly fast for such a big man. The soldiers didn't stop but rushed right at us, no doubt thinking we were more of his flunkies, and we had to fight. We took them down fast, knocking them senseless instead of killing them. The shrine was a sacred place and looked to be pretty important, so I didn't want to take any lives in there if I could possibly avoid it.
The hall was short and led back outside, but Corneo was long gone by the time we got out there. The building holding the shrine stood in the midst of carefully planted gardens, and I realized with a start that it wasn't all that far from Godo's estate. It stood near the plaza just a short distance away, close enough that Godo could've walked right over to it if he wanted to. There were probably even more of those underground tunnels all over the city, which explained how Corneo had managed to kidnap all those women without being seen.
"So Corneo was doin' his dirty work right under Godo's nose," Cid muttered. "Guess that's how he avoided gettin' caught."
"Not for long," Jessie swore.
I motioned to the others to stop. "Look. We're not alone."
"I see them," Tifa said.
Just ahead of us in the plaza, Reno and Rude were looking around, searching for any sign of Elena or Corneo. I wasn't all that surprised to see them there, but it didn't look like they'd noticed us yet. I decided to listen in for a moment before changing that.
"That Corneo's a hell of an escape artist," Reno frowned.
Rude's face was as impassive as ever as he scanned the area, but his voice couldn't hide his concern. "Elena…"
Reno nodded. "Yeah. Come on, buddy. Let's teach that sick bastard what the Turks can do. I think I know where to find him. It's really the only place he can go now. But it won't save him."
"And where would that be?" I asked.
He turned as I led the others toward him. "Hmm… I could tell you what you want to know… but if he's got Elena, things could get dicey. I ain't about to let anything happen to her. So…"
I saw where he was getting at. "He's got Yuffie, too. She's our friend, but she also has our materia. So we need her."
"Don't get the wrong idea," Reno said. "We ain't gonna be best buds or anything. But until this is all over, we'll stay out of your way if you'll stay out of ours. Works out for both of us. Got it?"
That was fine with me. "Yeah. Now where'd he go?"
"Smart man," Reno quipped. "Here's a clue, Mr. First Class. He'll be holed up at the place that stands out the most."
Then he and Rude ran off, heading toward the southern part of the city to continue their search. What had that little riddle of his meant? I didn't know, and I couldn't make any sense of it. The others looked just as confused, and for a moment we just stood there mulling it over and trying to figure out the answer to Reno's puzzle.
"The place that stands out the most?" Tifa wondered.
Cid scratched his head. "Ain't got a clue…"
I shrugged. "Me either. What the hell could he be—?"
"There!" Jessie suddenly pointed. "That's it!"
The rest of us quickly turned and followed her gaze, and suddenly what Reno had said made perfect sense. Rising high above the city was the single mountain with its five intertwined statues. That was what he had meant. That was the answer to the riddle. Corneo was somewhere up there, and that meant Yuffie and Elena were, too. For a moment, we just stood there and stared at that single solitary peak, and I folded my arms in front of me, my eyes set and determined.
"Da-Chao…"
