Chocobo's Final Fantasy Haven
Ray Pang
Story
Story
Story |
CHAPTER VIEATING WITH THE ENEMYYuffie
ran over to the small window and looked out. The room she was
in was high up in the fortress and overlooked a small
courtyard. Nine men were down in the courtyard below,
excersizing. She stood looking out the window, running
vigoursly in place, as she had been for the last half hour.
Sweat dripped from her forehead and her clothes were soaked. She
ran back into a corner of the room where she could not be seen
just in case someone looked through the little window in the
door to her chamber. Although it was unlikely anyone would. No
one came to her room until shortly after they had finished
excersizing outside. They were so predictable. She
continued running in place, every once in a while going over
to look out the window, until she saw the people below leaving
the courtyard. Then she started to count to herself. When she
reached five hundred she walked over to the bed, lay down and
closed her eyes. Less
than five minutes later she heard someone at the door. It
opened and she heard them come into the room. Although she did
not open her eyes, she knew from previous experience there
would be two of them. "Hey,
you alright?" she heard one man say. She
didn't respond. "Hey,"
the man said. It sounded like he was right beside her now. "Is
she okay?" she heard the second man ask. Someone
shook her. "Are
you alright?" he said loudly in her ear. She
turned her head slightly and moaned. "She's
sweating like a pig," said the man. She
felt a hand on her forehead for a moment. "She's
burning up." "She
seemed sick for the last few days," she heard the second
man say. They
were silent for a moment. "You
better go get someone to take a look at her. We don't want her
to die just yet." She
heard footsteps slowly fading away. She opened her eyes a slit
to see the man who was left glancing back toward the door. Her
foot came up and caught him in the back of the head. "Ugh,"
he said, and fell to the side. She sprang up and pummeled him
with numerous quick blows. He was too surprised to defend
himself, and after half a dozen blows fell to the floor and
lay still. She
jumped past him and ran out the open door. To the left the
hall ended blindly. She turned to the right and saw a man with
white hair and beard leaning against the wall, looking at her
thoughtfully. She
stopped. "Damn!"
she exclaimed. He
walked slowly over to her. "Much
as you may find it hard to believe, but we are not all idiots.
I hope you didn't damage Danz too badly. He's a good man,
though a little green." He
indicated her chamber. "Shall
we go back in?" She
looked him over for a moment but did not move. He
smiled. "Do
you wish to challange me again? I have to admit I admire your
spirit. You are very brave, though still young and foolish. If
you play your cards right, you may still get out of this with
your skin intact. As the daughter of the leader of Wutai you
are a valuable prisoner, one I would not wish to see die
unneccesarily, but if you keep up these foolish escape
attempts, you may leave me with no choice." He
stepped back into ready position. "So
what will it be?" he asked casually. She
looked at him for a moment in silence, then sighed and walked
back into her chamber. He followed her in, but she could sense
he still had not let down his guard. Danz
was just getting up from the floor, holding his head. He
turned and looked at Yuffie darkly. "You're
going to pay for this," he said through clenched teeth. "Enough,"
the white haired man said commandingly. "It is not her
fault you were stupid enough to fall for her trap. Understand
your mistake and learn. Never underestimate your enemy nor let
down your guard in their presence. That is what you should
take from this, not a witless desire for revenge. Do you
understand?" Danz
bowed his head. "Yes,
honored one." "Good.
You will make a fine warrior someday, but you have much to
learn. You will continue to guard our prisoner, and she will
not escape or be harmed in any way, or you will be held
responsible. You have seen her tricks, and have fallen into
one of her traps, but that can be forgiven. To have it happen
again, however, would disgrace you. Do not let that
happen." "Yes,
honored one, thank you" Danz replied again. "Very
good. Now why don't you get our 'guest' some clean clothes.
She seems to have rather abused the ones she's wearing, and we
wouldn't want her to be uncomfortable." Danz
walked out the door. The older man followed but turned to
Yuffie when he reached the entrance. "My
guess is that it would be pointless for me to ask you to stop
making these escape attempts. I think you feel duty bound to
continue regardless. A point of honor, I would say. At least,
that is how I would feel about it. Nevertheless, I am going to
ask. You will not escape. I will be watching at all times.
Continuing can only lead you to harm, and even though I do not
wish that, do not doubt that I will kill you if it becomes
neccesary. Your stay here can be quite pleasent or otherwise,
it is up to you." He
turned away and closed the door. Yuffie did not move for some
time, then turned slowly and lay down on the bed, staring up
at the ceiling. Already she was thinking about her next move. Cloud
awoke refreshed. He thought he had dreamed some, but he
couldn't remember what about, only that it left him with a
satisfying feeling. He couldn't remember the last time he had
had a pleasant dream. Tifa
was in the kitchen, whipping up breakfast for all of them. The
others were in the main room, all except Reno and Cid, who
were still presumably sleeping. After a while Vincent and Rude
went to fetch the two laggards, and finally managed to get
them up with threats of missing breakfast. Soon after they
gathered their gear and headed up into the hills in the
direction Cid and Vincent had seen the mysterious fog the day
before. It
was a little warmer than the day before, but not much. The sky
was clear and the trail seemed little changed. It didn't take
them long to reach the place where the previous days
altercation had taken place. They inspected the area where the
missles from the Slipstream had hit but, like yesterday, found
nothing of significance. There was a narrow path that led up
through the rocks to the west, and Cloud soon led them up it. The
path led over the top of a jagged ridge, and then dropped down
into a shallow valley. Or what they took for a shallow valley,
for all they could see below them was a sea of fog. "I
guess this must be the place," Cloud commented. The
path narrowed as it dropped down into the mist, and they were
forced to walk in single file. Cloud could see but a few feet
ahead through the fog, and the walls of the canyon rose up
steeply on either side of them. He moved foward slowly. He did
not have a good feeling about this. The lack of visibility and
narrow confines practically screamed ambush. He
drew his sword and continued on. If they did run into an
ambush, he was going to be prepared. He listened intently as
he went. With the low visibility he thought he might hear
something before he saw it. Even that was unlikely, however.
Anyone walking through the soft snow would make little sound,
and they wouldn't have an opportunity to hear even that if
their enemy was already waiting on the trail ahead. The only
way to hear them would be if they slipped up and spoke or made
some other sound accidently, and he didn't think that would
happen. Even if they did slip up and make a sound, it was
unlikely he would hear it with all the talking that was going
on behind him. He
turned to look at the others. "Quiet,"
he said, trying to speak loud enough for all of them to hear
but not loudly enough to be overheard by others. "With
all this talking we might as well be shouting 'here we
are.'" Some
of the others gave him a look but they all fell silent. He
turned around and led them down the trail once more. They
seemed to have reached the floor of the valley, for the ground
leveled out and the steep walls on either side of them fell
away. Now they were walking in a sea of snow and fog with no
landmarks at all except for trees that materialized out of the
mist occasionally around them. They
walked on for some time with no sign that anyone else was in
the area. Though he was walking what he hoped was a more or
less straight line, with little visibility and few landmarks,
Cloud soon became unsure of which direction they were
traveling in. He hoped he wasn't just leading them in circles.
Barret,
who was directly behind him, seemed to be thinking much the
same thing. "In
this fog we could walk within ten yards of someone and not see
them," he said softly. "We could wander around in
here for months. How are we going to find them? Assuming, of
course, that there is in fact someone in here and we're not
just walking around on some wild goose chase." "I
feel the same way," Cloud replied. "but I don't see
that there is anything we can do about it, unless someone
knows some way to make this fog magically disappear. We'll
just have to keep trudging along and hope to stumble upon
something through blind luck. I don't think we are wasting our
time, though. I know they're here somewhere. We're close to
them, I can feel it." Barret
did not reply, willing to trust Cloud's instincts, but he was
not happy about it. With each passing minute he felt more and
more like a rat trapped in a maze. They
moved on, and soon after Cloud did hear a sound ahead of them,
the sound of flowing water. A river appeared out of the gloom
and they stopped at it's bank. The water was flowing swiftly,
preventing it from freezing over. It was not very wide, but it
looked too deep to wade through, and he knew none of them
would be anxious to swim in freezing water. "What
now?" Elena said. Cloud
looked across the water, but he could not see much past the
far bank. "Well,
we can't cross here. Let's head upstream. Maybe we can find
somewhere to cross further on." There
wasn't much else for anyone to say, and they followed him once
again as he led them beside the river. For a while they saw
nothing, but then something dark appeared on the river ahead. "What's
that?" Aeris asked. Before
anyone could answer the mist cleared slightly and they could
all see it was a wooden bridge that spanned the river. "A
bridge," Cloud replied unnecessarily. He
led them quickly over to it, heartened to have finally found
some sign that they were not traveling through empty
wilderness. When they reached the bridge he found something to
please him even more. A trail of footprints came from out of
the mist and crossed over the bridge. "Looks
like we're not alone out here after all," Cait said. "It's
about time we found something," Barret commented. Cloud
said nothing but led them quickly over the bridge. The tracks
led off to what he considered the west, athough in the fog
that was only a guess. He led them swiftly now, though he
still kept his eyes open. He felt much better now that they
were no longer wandering around aimlessly, but by the same
token he knew the chances of an ambush were greater as well. The
trees closed in around them, but the track went in a more of
less straight line and was easy to follow. Soon they saw a
dark mass loom up out of the mist in front of them. The
stepped forward to find themselves at the base of a large
stone building. The
tracks led up to an iron bound wooden door. "Never
thought I'd see anything like this out here," Cid
commented. Even
as he spoke dark figures materialized out of the fog around
them. There were more than twenty of them. They all wore the
same identical black outfits. Not exactly designed to blend in
with the snow, but the fog had hidden them well enough. A man
Reno recognized as the one he had spoken with yesterday
stepped forward. "I
told you it wasn't over," he said, looking at Reno.
"I knew you'd be back. Some people are just gluttons for
punishment. I see you've brought some friends, for all the
good it will do you." He
looked up. "And
I don't think we'll be getting any rude interruptions from
above," he added. "It is death to look upon this
fortress." "Yeah,
yeah, we know," Reno replied dismissively. "We heard
it all yesterday, but surprise, surprise, we're still
here." "Not
for long," the man replied. "Yesterday I said I
would not enjoy killing you, but after that dirty trick with
that airplane it will be a pleasure." "You're
wasting time," said a deep voice from the back.
"Finish them." Their
opponents started forward immediately. Cloud did not have time
to form a battle plan, and the fight soon became a confusing
melee. It was impossible to keep track of everyone, and he
quickly decided it was best to tend his own business and not
worry about the others. Not waiting for the enemy to reach
him, he sprang forward to the attack. Tifa
tried to stay close to Cloud. As she followed him a man came
up on her left. He struck at her with his fist. She blocked
and kicked at his knee, but he dodged nimbly out of the way
and countered with a kick of his own. It got under her guard
and hit her in the side. With a grunt she went down. He
stepped toward her and she instantly swept her leg around and
brought him down too. She sprang to her feet and kicked again
before he could get up, hitting him in the side of the face.
He fell back and lay still. She turned to follow Cloud, her
side aching. Elena had been right, she thought ruefully. They
were good. Cid
had formed a defensive line alongside the Turks, with Vincent
to back them up. He saw Reno's nightstick flash once with
electricity before the enemy was upon them. He slashed
visciously with his spear at anyone who came near him, but it
seemed all he could hit was air. Every one of their opponents
seemed to be amazingly fast. He swung at another one, who
jumped quickly out of the way. "Stand
and fight, you little SOB's," he growled. Almost
immediately he felt his knees buckle as he was struck from
behind. He scrambled to dodge a second blow as the man
attempted to finish him off. He heard the sound of gunfire and
the man cried out in pain and, clutching his leg, stumbled
away. Cid
looked over at Vincent, but he was now firing at a group of
men who had surrounded Reno and Rude. He was about to go help
them as well when he saw another man run up to Vincent. He
kind of stood out because he had white hair and looked much
older than any of the others. Too old to be fighting this kind
of battle, Cid thought. Vincent turned toward the man and
fired at point blank range, but somehow the man managed to
twist out of the way. His arm came up, and Vincent's gun went
flying through the air. Vincent
swung his fist, but the man ducked under it. His arm came up
again and Vincent when down hard. With
a cry Cid ran over to them. The man turned toward him but made
no move, waiting for Cid to attack. Cid was happy to oblige.
He swung angrily with his spear, but the man almost casually
stepped out of the way. Cid swung again, and the man stepped
inside of the blow and struck Cid on the chest. Pain radiated
throughout his body and he fell to the ground, dropping his
spear beside him. He tried to get up, but his body would not
respond. He could only watch helplessly as the man stooped
down beside him. Then everything faded into darkness. The
old man stood up and glanced around. Even as he did so another
man appeared out of the mist. He quickly hurried over. "Honored
one," he said with a bow, "we request your
assistance. The man with the sword fights with the strength of
ten." The
old man looked over to where the Turks were fighting. They
were cornered against a rocky slope. Already one of them was
on the ground, and the other two were barely holding their own
against six opponents. He nodded and quickly followed the man,
who swiftly led him away. Barret
fired a long blast from his gun and his opponents scrambled
for cover among the rocks. "Yeah,
go ahead and run you little shits," he said with a smile.
He turned to his left. Aeris and Red were battling against
four others. He started over toward them when another man
appeared in front of him. He fired and the man dodged away. "You
wouldn't be so tough without that gun," the man called
from behind some rocks. Barret
smiled again. "Tough
luck, bub, it's part of the package," he replied, and
fired another blast in the man's general direction. Suddenly
three others sprang out of the rocks nearby and charged at
him. With a curse he turned and fired. He thought he got one
before he felt a stinging blow to the back of his head. He
fell to the ground. He tried to get up again immediately, but
when he did his head practically exploded with pain. He fell
back down and quickly slipped into unconciousness. Red
saw Barret go down, but they were too far away for him to do
anything about it. Besides, he had enough problems of his own
trying to hold off three attackers. He had remembered Cloud's
concerns about Aeris and tried to stay with her, but he had
been so busy fighting for his own life he hadn't had much time
to be worried about her. She
stood not far behind him, holding her own against the lone
other attacker. Three of the four that had taken down Barret
were now rushing toward them, the other one was on the ground,
wounded. Red knew they would stand no chance against seven. He
lauched himself at the one man who stood between himself and
Aeris. The man jumped out of the way and Red raced over to
her. The man she was fighting saw him coming and turned, but
as he did so Aeris struck him solidly with her rod. He grunted
and then scrambled out of the way. "There
are too many of them," Red said as he came up beside her.
"See if you can get us some help, I'll try to hold them
off." Aeris
hesitated. "I
don't want to leave you," she said. She couldn't see the
others in the fog, although she could hear the sounds of
battle nearby. She knew Red wouldn't last very long at seven
to one. "No
time to argue," he said curtly. "It's our only
chance!" Aeris
looked at him, then turned and ran. However she may feel about
it, she knew he was right. He
turned and crouched as the seven men slowly approached,
fanning out around him.He watched them carefully. Even if the
others were not in the same predicament as he, or worse, he
doubted Aeris could get back in time. Whatever happened, he
was on his own, and the odds didn't look good. He didn't stand
much of a chance at seven to one. But he couldn't help but
remember someone else who had fought bravely against even
longer odds. They
had him surrounded now, and they cautiously approached. He
turned to look from one to the other, trying to look confused
so as to conceal his intentions. Perhaps he could catch them
off guard, though they seemed too seasoned to fall for that.
Still, any little advantage might help. He waited a moment
more, crouched down, and then, thinking of his father,
suddenly lauched himself at the nearest opponent. Cloud
found himself back by the river, although not by intention. He
fell upon his enemies with wild abandon, swinging the sword as
one possessed, and even his opponent's formidable hand to hand
skills were no match for him. They fell back before him, and
soon realized they could not challenge him directly, at least
not one on one. But Cloud's aggressive style left him open to
attack on his flanks, and if he had been alone he soon would
have fallen in spite of his considerable skills. But Tifa and
Cait remained with him, guarding his flanks. With Cloud thus
protected he was nearly unstoppable, and the enemy soon
concentrated their attacks on Tifa and Cait, hoping to peel
away his protection. But in Tifa they met an opponent with
hand to hand skills at least equal to their own, and Cait's
huge body could absorb a lot of punishment without much
discomfort. For a long time they more than held their own. Cloud
swung his sword one more time as an enemy ran by, then looked
up. For a moment their opponents had fallen back, and it was
quiet around them. He glanced around warily. "Where
are the others?" he asked. Tifa
shook her head. "I
don't know," she replied. "But I don't like it. I
don't hear any more fighting." Cloud
nodded. They could have just moved so far away from the others
that they were out of earshot. Or it could mean that the other
battles were over. If that were true it did not bode well, for
if their friends had won then why hadn't they come to help. On
the other hand, if their opponents had won, why hadn't they
come to help their side. Even
as he thought this he heard a shout and their opponents
attacked again. Cloud was not sure how many there were. He
could see three right in front of him, and some others to the
sides, but he had no time to stop and count them. He heard a
shout from Cait that there were some coming up behind as well.
He
attacked. Two of the three in front of him dropped back as he
came at them. The third man stood his ground. He was a much
older man with white hair, and he looked out of place in the
middle of the battle, but Cloud wasn't about to stop and ask
questions. His
sword whistled through the air, but that was all it cut.
Though Cloud was sure the man could not dodge the blow he
somehow managed it. He stepped toward Cloud and struck at his
chest. With
catlike relflexes of his own Cloud dodged backward to avoid
the blow. But doing so made him loose his balance and he
stumbled backward into Tifa. The old man moved in while Cloud
was off balance, but before he could stike Tifa turned to face
him. They
both stopped and stood staring at one another. Neither one
moved. "Zangan,"
she said softly. Zangan
looked at her, the raising of one eyebrow the only indication
of his surprise. He saw one of his men coming up behind her. "Stop!"
he shouted commandingly. Their opponents immediatly broke off
their attack and stepped back. Zangan
looked around, making sure he had everyone's attention. "This
battle is over." Cloud
sat beside his frends in a large common room inside the
fortress. They were gathered around a wooden table in the
center of the room. A table covered with dishes and plates and
food of all varieties. Across from them at the same table sat
many of the men they had been battling to the death just a
short time ago. He thought it amazing how quickly things had
changed. Zangan
sat at the head of the table, with Tifa to his right and Cloud
next to her. The two had been talking almost non stop since
they had recognized each other. Cloud looked the man over. So
this was her famous mentor. They had met once briefly in
Nibelheim, but Cloud would never have recognized him after all
this time. Except for the fact that his hair was as white as
any he had ever seen, the man looked downright ordinary.
Walking by him on the street Cloud would never have guessed
that this was the man who taught Tifa practically everything
she knew about fighting. If he had not seen the man in action
himself he would have thought him long past his prime. Though
Zangan seemed perfectly at ease Cloud could tell that some of
the others at the table were not. He could see that more than
a few of them, most with wounds inflicted just recently, were
eying the newcomers darkly. Cloud could hardly blame them. In
fact, he could see some people on his side of the table with
the same look on their faces. Zangan
noticed as well. "Let
me apologize again for the rudeness of your reception,"
he said. "Our mission is to guard the fortress against
theives. Important work is going on here, and there are some
who would go to great lengths to interfere with it. I assumed
you were here for the same purpose. It was foolish of
me." "So
you treat anyone who happens by as if they were a thief?"
Barret said. His head still ached from the blow they had given
him. "Barret!"
Tifa exclaimed. Zangan
held up his hand. "No,
he's right," he said. "Again I apologize. It's just
that this place is so secluded I thought anyone who came here
would have to be up to no good. I realize now how wrong I was,
but I cannot take back anything that was done. I am just
thankful that no one was killed. If it makes you fell better,
we have just as many, if not more, bruises to show for it.
Your fighting skills are admirable." Barret
scowled but said nothing more. "Exactly
what kind of work are you doing here?" Red spoke up. Zangan
looked at him and shook his head slowly. "I
have heard about the legendary beasts of Cosmo Canyon that
talk like a man, but I had only half believed it," he
said. "We
can talk business later if you wish," he continued,
returning to the point of Red's question. "For now relax
and enjoy your meal. Perhaps our hospitality now can make up
to some extent for what we put you through." Cid,
who had been eating almost nonstop since the meal was laid
before him, looked up. "Well,
it certainly doesn't hurt," he stated. "My
compliments to the chef." Cloud
wondered if Zangan was evading the question, but he supposed
they would find out soon enough. "You
said your job was to guard this place," he ventured.
"Who hired you? Who's running this place?" "To
guard it, and to train the security forces," Zangan
replied with a nod. "The man who actually owns it is a
scientist named Quays. He should be coming up shortly, but he
is kind of an eccentric and doesn't like visitors." "That's
apparent," Elena piped in. Zangan
glanced up briefly at her for a moment and then continued. "He's
working on one of his projects right now. In fact, he spends
almost all his time down in the lab. He set this whole thing
up in this secluded area just so there would be no one around
to disturb him." "It
seems like he's gone through an awful lot of trouble to keep
people away," Cloud said. "It what he is doing
really that important?" Zangan
started to reply and then looked past Cloud. "Here
he comes now," he said. "I'll let him answer for
himself." They
turned and saw a man approaching. He was wearing ordinary
clothes, and was the first person they had seen here who was
not dressed in the black outfit. He had short brown hair and
looked suprisingly young. He did not fit Cloud's image of a
scientist at all. The
man walked around behind them and came up beside Zangan. He
looked at them and nodded a greeting. "I
assume you want some sort of explanation of what is going on
here," he said. "I will be happy to tell you about
it, but it's too noisy in here, and some of the imformation
might not be suitable for all ears. Why don't we retire to the
sitting room. It's much quieter there, and more secluded. Cloud
shrugged in agreement. Apparently the man trusted his own
people little more than strangers. They
got up and followed him down a short corrider into another
large room, although not quite as large as the first. This one
contained shelves filled with books along three walls. Quays
paced back and forth for a few moments waiting for the others
to get settled. Of all of his men, only Zangan had stayed with
them. "You
are probably wondering why we are so worried about security
here," Quays said. "The simple answer is that the
work we are doing is so revolutionary that it could change the
world." Even
while he talked he continued to pace back and forth. "I
am sure you have all used materia at one time or another in
the past, and are aquainted with it's properties and
usefulness. On a small scale materia can use the elemental
powers of the planet to significant effect, and cause a wide
range of changes in a limited locale. What we are trying to do
here is take that concept and expand it significantly." "I
am creating a process that concentrates the power of materia
to an extent never seen before, never imagined before. Instead
of the materia affecting a single object or a small area
nearby, the concentrated materia will be able to influence a
huge area." He
stopped and looked at them. "How
huge, you might ask," he said, supplying his own
question. "There's really no telling at the moment. But
the difference in effect could be quite staggering. Imagine
using barrier to stop a flood, or casting cure on an entire
city." "Or
casting fire on an entire city," Barret suggested. "Exactly,"
Quays answered. "In the wrong hands this power could
cause worldwide devestation. So you see the need for all the
security. If we seem paranoid, it may be for good
reason." "So
you are the ones sucking the power out of all the
materia orbs in the region," Red stated. "Yes,"
Quays replied. "An unfortunate side affect. The process
draws it's power from ordinary materia and concentrates it.
All ordinary materia loses it's energy in the process. But the
end result is something much stronger." "But
you're taking materia energy away from other people without
their knowledge, without their permission," Aeris said.
"Materia energy they might need." "Temporarily,
yes," Quays replied. "But when our process is
perfected we will be replacing it with something infinitely
better. There is no other way to do it." "But
materia wasn't meant to be concentrated like that," Aeris
continued. "That much power would be unstable. It's
dangerous." Quays
looked at her skeptically. "I
assure you all precautions are being taken to make sure the
process is safe," he replied. "I really must be
getting back to my work now. We are at a critical point in our
experimentation and I cannot stay away any longer. Zangan will
see to your comfort, and if you have any other questions you
may address them to him." "What
about Yuffie?" Reno asked. "Who
is Yuffie?" Quays questioned. "A
young girl," Tifa replied. "She is the daughter of
Godo of Wutai. She is a friend of ours. Godo sent her up here
to investigate what was happening to the materia, but she
disappeared. We found another man that was sent with her dead
in a cave not far from here. He appeared to have been killed
in hand to hand combat. Do you know anything about this?"
Quays
shrugged. "No,
I do not," he said. "My only concern has been my
experiments. Zangan, has you seen this girl?" Zangan
shook his head. "No,"
he replied. "But there are other groups that know of the
experiment and have been trying to steal it. The largest is
led by someone named Renada. We have already had a couple of
pitched battles against some of his people. It could be that
this girl ran afoul of them. If she did, and they find out she
knows nothing of value, it is not likely she is still
alive." Quays
turned and walked quickly out of the room. Cloud
turned to Zangan "Where
can we find this Renada fellow?" "We
know he is somewhere here on the great glacier, but we do not
know his exact location," Zangan replied. "So
we have to start seaching all over again?" Barret
commented, sounding none too pleased with the idea. "If
you wish," Zangan said. "But I have a better idea. I
already have people looking for him, and it's just a matter of
time before we track him down. Why don't you stay here with us
for a few days and let my men do the work? Then when we find
him, you can come with us to ask Renada all the questions you
like." "That's
very kind of you," Cloud responded slowly. "But
we'll have to give it a little thought. You don't need to know
right this minute, do you?" "Of
course not," Zangan replied. "Take your time and
decide when you wish. In the meantime, I have arranged
accomodations for you. I will get Danz to show you to your
rooms. Due to the sensitive nature of the work going on here,
I am afraid that there are some areas of the building that
will be off limits to you, but feel free to consider the rest
of the fortress your home." Zangan
got up and walked into the hallway for a moment. He came back
followed by another man, who gestured for them to follow. They
got up and filed out of the room. As Tifa walked by Zangan
took her by the arm. "Stay
a moment," he said. Cloud
glanced at them but walked out without a word. The others
followed, and in a moment they were alone. Zangan sat back
down and offered her a seat beside him. "It's
good to see you again," he said. "It's
great to see you too," she answered with a smile. "I
was wondering if I would ever see you again. When meteor
destroyed Midgar I was afraid you might have been killed. I
asked around afterward but no one had seen you. You don't know
how glad it makes me to see you alive." Zangan
smiled. "I'm
afraid I'm too tough to be killed that easily," he
replied, almost sadly, she thought. "I heard about your
exploits against Shinra and your battle with Sephiroth. It
looks like you were right all along. You've made quite a name
for yourself. I'm proud of you." Tifa
blushed and shook her head. "I'm
sure the stories are blown way out of proportion," she
replied. "The truth is that you were right. Before
we parted ways you told me that fighting Shinra using
terrorist tactics was dishonorable, but after Nibelheim was
destroyed I was so filled with hatred that I would have done
anything to get revenge against them." She
turned away and bowed her head. "Anything,"
she repeated. "And I am sure you are aware of the
results. We blew up those reactors. Many people lost their
lives. Innocent people. The truth is when we killed those
people we became no better than the company we were fighting.
Those acts can never be repented or made right. You saw that
then, but I didn't. I do now." Zangan
came up beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Rare
is the person who looks back and sees nothing to regret,"
he said softly. "Your methods may have been questionable
but no one can argue with your results. If you hadn't done
what you did, how many more people would be suffering even
now?" Tifa
shook her head. "Even
the destruction of Shinra doesn't justify what we did,"
she said. She turned to look at him and managed a wane smile. "But
enough of that. What's done is done and I just have to live
with it. How have you been? Were you in Midgar when Meteor
struck, and how did you end up here?" Zangan
shrugged. "Yes
I was in Midgar," he replied, and again she heard a tinge
of sadness in his voice. "I managed to get out, just
barely. After that, well, you know how much of a wanderer I
can be. I did a lot of traveling. Mostly in the south. About
six months ago I met Quays in Junon. He was working on this
project even then and was looking for someone to train a
security force. That's really all there is to it." "And
this thing he's doing with the materia, do you think it's a
good idea?" she asked. "I
don't know," he replied. "I'm not a scientist. I'm
just in charge of security." He
got up. "I
guess I better be getting back to work myself," he said.
He extended his hand and helped her out of her seat, then
clasped her hand in both of his. "You
don't know how happy I am to see my favorite student
again," he said. "From what some of my men, and the
bruises they have, tell me, you've been keeping up your
training. It's good to see." "Thanks,"
she replied. "I know we didn't part on the best of terms,
and it was all my fault. I'm sorry." He
held up his hand. "No
need to apoligize. You were young and doing what you thought
was right. I don't blame you, and it's all over with
now." He
let go of her hand. "Come
on," he said. "I'll take you back to the
others." "So
what do we make of all this?" Cloud asked. They
were gathered togther in a sitting room just off a row of
bedrooms that Danz had told them were theirs to use, before he
had left them alone. "Well,
let's see," Reno replied. "We find Staniv dead, in
the middle of nowhere, killed by someone skilled in hand to
hand combat. Then we run into these people who just happen to
be skilled in hand to hand combat, who try their damndest to
kill us until they find out that one of them is an old friend
of Tifa. Doesn't take a genius to figure there must be some
connection." "So
you think they killed Staniv?" Cait said. "And
probably Yuffie too," Reno replied. "Unless there's
another group of martial arts experts wandering around in this
God forsaken place. How likely do you think that is?" "I
don't believe it," Barret spoke up. "I didn't know
Zangan myself, but Tifa talked about him like a father. I
can't believe he could have done something like that." "Maybe
not then, but people change," Reno replied. "How
long has it been since she's seen him?" "About
two and a half years, I guess," Barret said. "But I
still don't believe it. There has to be some other
explanation." "Perhaps
some of Zangan's men did it without his knowledge," Red
suggested. Reno
looked skeptical. "He's
in charge of security," he countered. "If he doesn't
know what his own people are doing, I'd say he's not doing a
very good job." "You're
being unfair," Vincent said. "No one can keep track
of everyone all the time. You have to place some trust in your
friends, or coworkers, even if you are head of security."
Reno
shrugged. "You
asked for opinions and I gave mine. If you're too thick headed
to see it, that's your problem." "All
right," Cloud cut in. "That's enough of that. Reno,
you're entitled to your opinion, and I have to admit it makes
a lot of sense. But we can't discount the possibility that
there may be some other explanation. Unlikely as it may seem,
it could be that everything Zangan told us was the truth, and
this Renada fellow is the one we need to find." "At
any rate," he continued, "Zangan has offered to let
us stay here for a few days. I'm tempted to take him up on the
offer. If his men are searching for this mysterious Renada, we
won't really be losing any time, and if something is going on
here, it'll give us a chance to look into it. Does anyone have
any objections?" "Actually,
I think that might be a good idea," Red agreed. No
one else spoke. Cloud
was about to continue when the door opened and Tifa walked in.
Cloud turned toward her. "Good,
you're back," he said. "We've decided to stay for a
while." "Great,"
she replied. "Yeah,"
Reno spoke up. "It'll give us a chance to find out what's
really going on here." "What
do you mean?" she said. "Reno
thinks Zangan is behind this whole thing," Barret
answered. "He thinks he killed Staniv and probably Yuffie
too." Tifa
looked at Reno and frowned. "That's
ridiculous," she said. Reno
folded his arms across his chest and looked at her. "Great
minds are never appreciated in their time," he said
sullenly. "Zangan
would never do anything like that," she continued
emphatically. "I never met a man with higher standards.
He is more honorable than anyone I ever met, but I guess that
is something you know nothing about." Reno
looked at her darkly. "Don't
talk to me of honor after what you did in Midgar," he
shot back. "You
should talk!" Barret interrupted. "At least we were
fighting for a cause. What was in it for you when you
destroyed sector seven? What did you get out of it, a
raise?" "He
was helping to get rid of some people who were trying to
destroy our society," Elena suddenly cut in. "And
a fine job you did," Tifa said distainfully. "Terrorists,"
Reno said accusingly. "Murderer,"
Barret replied. "ENOUGH!"
Cloud said angrily. "We've got enough problems without
this bickering. I don't expect you to forget what happened in
the past, but fighting like this is just a waste of time. Cut
the crap and concentrate on the missison." He
glared at the four of them and they fell silent. But from the
looks they gave each other he knew this feud might surface
again at any moment. He had been afraid something like this
would happen, even though he had wanted to avoid it. He just
hoped they would all listen to reason and this wouldn't evolve
into open warfare. "There's
something else," Aeris spoke up. She had been sitting
quietly since they had entered the room, seeming to ignore the
entire conversation. Now she had a troubled look on her face. "What
is it, Aeris?" he asked. "In
Icicle Inn I told you the the planet sensed danger, but I
couldn't say what that danger was," she said. Cloud
nodded. "I
still can't say what the danger is, but I can tell you that
the source of the disturbance is here." "Here,"
Cloud repeated. "You mean, in this fortress?" "Yes,"
she replied. "I don't know exactly what is going on, but
something is very wrong." No
one spoke for a moment as they all digested this newest bit of
information. Reno gazed at her with a look of vindication. "There
you go," he said. "I'm not the only one who thinks
something funny is going on here." Cloud
shrugged. "Let's
just see what happens, okay. Anyway, I think I've had my fill
of this dicussion for one day, I'm going to go get some
sleep." "Sounds
good to me," Cid agreed quickly. Cloud
started to turn but Tifa came up and grabbed his arm. He
looked at her. "I
know Zangan wouldn't do something like that," she said,
with a pleading look in her eyes. "You believe me, don't
you?" Cloud
realized that any hesitation in his response would answer the
question for her. "Of
course I do," he replied. "I
can't believe you actually invited them into this place,"
Quays said angrily. He and Zangan were alone in Quays' office
just outside of the lab. "Why didn't you just kill them
when you had the chance?" "Don't
be a fool," Zangan replied evenly. "To kill them
would not only have been sensless, but
counterproductive." Quays
paced rapidly back and forth as he spoke. He reminded Zangan
of nothing so much as a mouse scrambling back and forth trying
to escape the claws of a cat. "Counterproductive?
How can you say that? If they find out we've got that girl
it'll ruin everything." "Leave
that to me," Zangan replied. "You don't waste
resources in your experiments, and I don't waste human
resources. You didn't see them fight, you don't know how good
they are. No one here, save perhaps myself, is a match for
Tifa in combat, and that young man with the sword. No one has
successfully dodged that chest blow I gave him in the ten
years since I've learned it, but he managed it. The two of
them together are worth twenty of the men you have now. Having
all of them work for us would make this place impregnable.
Wouldn't that be much more useful to us than just killing them
off?" Quays
looked at him and frowned, but his anger seemed to diminish. "That
sounds fine, but how are you going to get them to work with us
when we've got their friend locked up in the tower?" "Again,
leave that to me," Zangan replied. "The other girl.
Aeris, I believe her name was. Was she right, is concentrating
the materia dangerous?" Quays
looked surprised. Zangan had never questioned him about the
experiment before. "Leave
that to me," he responded with a smile. "Of course
there is some danger, but like I told her, we are taking
precautions." He
stopped his pacing for a moment. "Is
this girl really as good as you say?" he asked. Zangan
nodded. "Of
anybody I taught," he replied, "she was the
best." Quays
looked at him for a moment. "Anybody?"
he said doubtfully. "Anybody,"
Zangan reaffirmed. There
was a long pause as they looked carefully at each other.
Finally Quays turned away. "I'm
a scientist, not a fighter," he said slowly. "Your
scientific skills are beyond my ability to judge," Zangan
replied. "However, it was obvious from the first lesson
that you were no fighter." Quays
looked up again angrily. "You
are not helping your cause by insulting me," he said.
"But I see your point. They can stay, but you had better
keep a close eye on them. If anything goes wrong, of if they
find out something they shouldn't, I expect you to take care
of them. Do we understand each other?" Zangan
nodded. "I understand," he replied. "Probably better than you know."
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