CHAPTER IV
I had grown up in the city of Midgar all
my life, but never in my eighteen years of existence had I ever seen it look so
unfamiliar. All the scenery blended into a vast, snow-covered blur, whisping
around me like a soft cloud, and the only proof in my mind that I hadn’t died
from fright back in the apartment was the reassuring grasp of Vincent’s cold
hand about my left wrist.
The wind howled about me like a rabid
animal, scratching at my skin, screeching in my ears. I could faintly hear the
sound of my shoes crunching the snow beneath me, and occasionally I could pick
up the vibration of a train in the icy air or a conversation between two
unfamiliar people. I continued being lead forward, blind to my surroundings, my
free hand clutching Vincent’s waving jacket for assurance. ....So cold.....
I thought dimly, bracing myself against another lash of a gnawing gale. Where
is he bringing me....? Vincent, where are we going...?.........
I came to.
"...Wh...what?!" I gazed around
me in shock, sitting up from my lying position down on a cushioned row of seats.
"Where....where the hell am I?! What’s going on?!" I shifted
upright, gazing about me with panicked movements. The seats I had been sprawled
out on faced another row of the same, maybe three feet from me, where several
confused people gaped over at me in a nervous silence. A young girl, maybe of
age four or five, clung to her mother in fright, staring at me with wide,
frightened eyes. I stared back at them, my breaths slightly ragged, then pushed
aside the blanket that had been resting atop my shoulders and stood.
"........I.....I don’t know who the hell all of you are, and I really
don’t care!!" I snapped nastily, forcing myself to stay on balance as a
surge of queasiness spread through me. "I don’t know what you’re trying
to prove by--"
All at once the large sliding door to my
right flew open, revealing the eerie form of Vincent. He immediately strutted
into the room, walked over to me, and clapped a hand over my mouth. "Shhh.
Calm down. You’re ok, see?"
"Mmmmmmmpphh!!" I struggled
violently against him, attempting to break away, but he simply turned to the
other frightened family sitting across from me, bowed his head respectfully, and
dragged me, still fighting angrily against his grip, out into the hallway,
sliding the door shut behind him.
As soon as we were in the safety of the
corridor, I tore his hand from my mouth and backed myself up against the wall
behind me. "Let go of me!! Are you out of your mind?!"
"Shhhh. Be quieter, please." He
lifted a finger to his lips. "You’re all right, you must calm down."
"What the hell--! Where am I??! What
happened?! What have you done--don’t you ‘shush’ me, mister!! I’ll be as
loud as I goddam want to, you understand me??!"
"Do you want us to get kicked
off??" he questioned firmly, seizing hold of my wrist.
" ‘Kicked’....??" I stared
up at him in silence, then gradually felt myself regaining my composure.
"....Where...where are we...?"
"Why don’t you listen for
yourself...?" He pointed upwards towards the ceiling, and several seconds
later I could hear a tumultuous roaring noise ring from somewhere above me,
followed by a whistle and a bell.
".......................A
train....?" It took several minutes for my disconcerted mind to piece
everything together, but I finally turned to face him. ".....We’re on a
train...?"
He nodded slowly, unbuttoning the top two
clasps of his coat. "...Bound for the Gold Saucer. We should be arriving in
approximately half an hour."
"The Gold what?" I clumsily
followed him, struggling to keep balance as I could feel the floor moving
beneath my shoes, as he began walking in the opposite direction. "Wait a
second, you, where--"
"...I have a name, you know," he
interrupted irritably, turning slightly so he could see my face. "You think
you’d be slightly more respectful towards the person who saved your
life."
I stared at him in silence for several
seconds, and soon he turned and continued down the hallway. I gazed down towards
my feet, then back up towards him. "........I’m sorry."
He stopped, then revolved slightly back
towards me. I stared back towards him, then lowered my eyes to the floor once
again. I heard him exhale a weary sigh, then slowly turn around completely and
head back in my direction. "...The Gold Saucer," he replied, halting
maybe two or three feet in front of me. "It’s a large amusement park
built in a tower in the middle of a desert. The bar I work for is catering there
today, and I had returned home just to get some odds and ends when I came upon
you and that....stranger. That’s the last time I leave you alone."
"Hey, wait a second, I don’t need
you to be my--" I stopped again, then scratched uncomfortably at the back
of my neck. "...I...I mean...."
The train halted suddenly, almost causing
me to plunge forward onto my stomach. Vincent gazed calmly upwards, then over
towards me, clinging weakly to the wall at my right. "......I guess we
arrived sooner than expected..."
I emitted a squeal as the sliding door
behind me snapped open and several people rushed out, shoving me roughly until I
fell forward into Vincent’s arms. I blinked several times, gazing up at him,
then shifted to my feet and dusted myself off. ".....I...I....ummm....thanks.....I..I
mean...I didn’t need you to.........what I mean to say is..."
Vincent gazed over at me, then turned away
and began heading towards the exit along with the multitude of other passengers.
"......You’re welcome."
*****
"Holy crap!!" I gasped in awe,
surveying the incredible spectacle surrounding me. After Vincent and I had
dismounted the train at a nearby station, we had made a short trip into some
broken-down community or other before me boarded a large mechanical trolley
suspended on a wire that brought us up to what I could only assume was the Gold
Saucer. I now stood in a large entranceway, elaborately lit by chains of
multi-colored lights, and faintly before me I could hear a tumultuous din of
various noises, ranging from joyful laughter to the loud hum of some distant
machinery.
"...Come on." I was awakened
from my thoughts as Vincent seized my arm and began to drag me towards the large
main doorway, leading into the park. "I’m not letting you out of my
sight. Let’s go."
"Hey, c’mon--!" I pulled
against him for a second, then gazed sarcastically up towards his face.
"But, daddy, I want a bawwoon!!"
He countenance flushed a faint shade of
crimson, and immediately he gave me a rough jerk and dragged me after him.
"....Cut it out."
I was too awe-struck by my surroundings to
truly pay attention to where he was leading me. The rooms about me was amusingly
beautiful, with flickering, rainbow-colored lights and various doors leading to
different sections of the park. I had passed several rides that had struck me as
entertaining, and within me I could feel a child’s curiosity reaching out
towards them. I exhaled an internal laugh and gazed towards my feet. What a
retard I am.....I want to go on some stupid kiddy rides just because I’ve
never seen them before....Allie, this may be your first trip to an amusement
park, but let’s hold onto our sanity here, huh?...
".....Here." I was jostled awake
as Vincent suddenly stopped walking and I unexpectedly slammed into him. He
remained undaunted, but I had to grab for his arm before I was sent sprawling
onto my back.
"... ‘Here...’?" I glanced
around me in confusion, noticing several even rows of betting tables and a large
television screen showing clips of various races between bunches of large birds
of varying hues and their jockeys. "...And where exactly would ‘here’
be...?"
".......Don’t worry about it."
He gazed about him, then noticed a pair of figures standing over by one of the
tables, setting up drinks and other various refreshments. He removed his arm
from my grip and started over towards them. "...Tifa, Cloud, I’m
back."
"..... ‘Tifa....’?......
‘Cloud’......?" I had begun to follow him but immediately froze in
place. "..............Uh.. .............. oh.................."
"You!!!" A man with spiky
blond hair, whom I instantly recognized as Cloud, lunged towards me, and with a
squeal I leapt backwards. "You’re that goddam little flower bitch!!"
he snapped nastily, pointing an accusing finger over towards me. "What the
hell do you think you’re doing here??!"
"...I--!"
"Wh...what the hell...?!" The
girl I knew as Tifa suddenly came up behind me and seized the bottom edge of my
shirt. "These...these clothes....They’re mine!! Do you steal
clothing along with wallets, you little rat??!"
I ducked protectively behind Vincent, who
calmly cast a glance over his shoulder down at me. "....You’ve met them
before, I presume...?"
"Give me back my money, you little
cheat!!" Cloud demanded angrily.
"...Wh...what money?!" I
retorted, not moving from my position behind Vincent’s back. "You barely
had any, you cheapskate!! How the hell am I supposed to know where I put
it?!"
"Then where’d you get my
clothes?!" Tifa snapped. "Did you follow me home or something, you
lousy--"
"...I believe I am to blame for
that," Vincent interrupted. "You had a large bag of clothes you had
been thinking of giving to the orphanage at the bar. I figured you wouldn’t
notice if I swiped a couple to help a girl in need."
"Girl in need my--" Cloud
immediately stopped, then turned to face Vincent. "....You...you
mean...that you....you helped this little homeless whore...?"
"Hey, you wait just a--" I began
angrily.
"...Yes," he replied, gazing
back towards me for several seconds and then directing his vision back up onto
the pair of them. "I suggest that you attempt to be slightly more amiable
towards her, since after she met up with you she happened to undergo a
rather...unfortunate accident."
I froze in place, and then my gaze
immediately dropped to my feet, where out of the corner of my eye I could see my
wrist, now without bandages, resting weakly against my hip.
"....What are you--" Cloud
started.
"Oh my gosh!!" Tifa interrupted
loudly, covering her mouth with both hands. "You...you mean she
was...was...."
Vincent whipped a finger swiftly in a
horizontal line across his throat, signaling for her to remain silent.
"..................Yes. I’m afraid so. Which is why I have decided to
look after her for a while."
".... ‘Look after...’?"
Cloud blinked several times. "Whoa-HO, Vin-man, you think you’re ready to
have a chick under your roof?? You won’t try anything, will you???"
Vincent glared darkly over towards him and
remained silent. I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably, gazing aside. Goddammit...I
thought angrily to myself. It figures that out of the whole damn city I gotta
meet up with the pair of people I robbed...
I whirled to face the entranceway as all
of a sudden a loud commotion of masculine voices could be heard, and all at once
a gigantic horde of shouting males rushed into the vast room. As I gaped at them
in shock, I could faintly hear Tifa groaning, "....Here they are, right on
schedule.....Drunkard, party of five million...."
*****
"Hey dere, sweetie!!" one dizzy
man garbled drunkenly, seizing me around the waist and whipping me around next
to him. "You wanna come home wi’ me tanight? Haha!!"
"Ewwww!!!" I squealed in
disgust, shoving him away from me and staggering several steps backwards.
"Stay away from me, you nasty jerk!!"
At least two hours had passed--at least,
that’s what it felt like--and all the men that were being catered to
had turned reasonably intoxicated, so much so that ten brawls must have broken
out and several had fainted to the floor. I hadn’t seen much of Tifa, Cloud,
or Vincent at all since the men had arrived--as a matter of fact, I myself had
gotten lost in the vast forest of them, avoiding the punches and alcohol that
seemed to be splashing everywhere.
"Here ya go, Jack, five hundred gil
on numba 17!!" I heard one man say from behind me, and I picked up the
sound of numerous coins clinking to the table. I slowly turned about to gaze
towards the cluster of conversing alcoholics to my left, then slowly turned and
casually began to approach them.
"Here ya go, baby!!" one dunkard
belched from a table towards Tifa. "Hows about a little tip for such
a--" He stopped, feeling around in his pocket, then angrily got to his
feet. "Hey, what da hell!! My money’s all gone!!"
"Eh?" Another man, this one
stationed at the betting table, searched through his coat as well. "Dammit,
you’re right--mine is too!!"
"Huh??" Tifa blinked several
times, gazing over at the numerous men that continued searching for their
wallets. "What in the world....." She suddenly turned and spotted a
dark form casually walking out the entranceway, back into the main section of
the park. "Hold it right there, you!!" she shouted angrily,
placing down the tray she was holding and dashing straight towards the
silhouette. "You’re not escaping me twice, you little scumbag!!"
Immediately I whirled around, clutching
the several small pouches of money against me, then spun back around on my heel
and made a mad sprint out through the large door. Several coins fell from my
grasp, clinking to the floor. I leapt down past a staircase onto a lower floor
and ran to my right, deeper into the park, and ducked into the protective
covering of a vast group of amused people.
Tifa stood at the railing above, panting
and attempting to locate my position in the crowd. "...Rrrrrr, Vincent!!"
she yelled furiously. "That little bitch doesn’t seem to learn very
quickly!! Now you come out here and help me look for her!!"
*****
"Whew!!" I gasped
breathlessly, gazing back out into the square I had managed to run to.
"I...I guess I lost her!"
I had no idea where I had ended up; all I
know is that I had managed to escape Tifa’s field of vision and duck into a
rather small multicolored tent, where I hid in the darkness and surveyed the
passersby outside. "Heehee..." I giggled triumphantly, gazing down at
the wallets I had succeeding in swiping. "Payload!! Maybe it wasn’t such
a bad idea to come here after all!"
"...But they will find you, will they
not...?"
I emitted a startled gasp and dropped
several pouches to the floor, then whirled about to face the inside of the tent.
All of a sudden two dim candles lit simultaneously, revealing the murky form of
a woman sitting atop a pillow towards the back of the recess. She sat amongst a
great deal of small treasure boxes and dream catchers, along with other unusual
items I had never seen before. She waved her hands over the crystal ball before
her, then gazed up at me through her dark glasses. "........Do you want me
to read your fortune?"
I stared back her for several seconds,
then cautiously placed the pouches of money to the floor and approached her.
".....Umm...I...I guess so..." I replied softly, ducking to avoid a
hanging windchime.
"Excellent." She gestured
towards a second pillow situated on the other side of the crystal ball across
from her. "Then sit down."
I gradually sank down into a kneeling
position and eyed her uncomfortably. "Umm...I--"
"Shhhhh!!" she hissed loudly,
lifting her hands to the side of her face. "The spirits--they speak!! They
can sense a great deal of mystical energy coming from you, my dear."
Oh God, this is such a waste of my
time.... "You know what, I think I changed my mind, " I told her,
getting to my feet. "I guess I’ll just be--"
"They tell me you do not
believe," she interrupted, pointing a finger over towards me. "I
suggest you do not make conclusions until you hear what I have to say,
Allie."
I froze, gaping down at her.
"..............How.......how did you--"
"Why don’t you have a seat, my
dear, and let me read your fortune?" She watched me as got back down on my
knees, then extended her hand towards me. "Let me see your palm."
I slowly held my hand out towards her, and
she took it in hers and began to study it. "......I can sense
something..." she whispered, closing her eyes as she ran her fingers over
my palm. "I...I sense....another power.....as if there’s someone else
here with you...."
"Umm..not that I--"
"Silence!! She speaks!!" She
lifted her head. "I cannot hear you, my dear....Speak up..."
"But I didn’t--"
"Hush!!" she hissed angrily.
"Who are you, my dear? Why do you reside within this girl..?" She
closed her eyes and lowered her face to the floor. "Louder, my dear, I
still can’t hear..... ‘Help’..... ‘I need help....’....?"
"Ok, lady, I think that I’m going
to--"
"This woman within you.....you have
heard her name, have you not?" She gazed over towards me, seemingly
awakened from her trance. "A man you have become rather close to....He
seems to despise this name, doesn’t he...?"
"What are you--" I stopped
suddenly, gaping over at her in silence. ".................You.......you
mean ‘Lucrecia...’?"
"....Yes....yes, I can sense
her..." The fortune teller raised her face to the ceiling again.
"She...she says she needs help..."
".....Who...who is she...?" I
asked softly, gazing over towards her.
"Aha!!" I whirled about
as Tifa suddenly burst into the tent, followed by Cloud and Vincent.
"Thought you could escape me, huh?? We-hell, my dear girl, you’re going
to march right back up there and give all those men--"
"Silence!!" the woman screamed,
thrusting her hand out towards them. "The spirits do not wish to be
interrupted!!"
"Spirits?? Ha!!" Tifa scoffed
sarcastically. "Ok, lady, you can do all the hocus pocus you want to,
but--"
"I am in the middle of
contact!!" the woman snapped. "Interrupting again might drive them all
into a rage!!"
"Keep talking," I told her
softly. "I...I want to know what she wants...."
"Eh...?" Cloud blinked.
"Who’re talking to?"
The woman released her hold on my palm,
then turned and opened a small treasure chest to her right. "It is not
important..." She pulled out a deck of Tarot cards, then spread them all
face-down before me. "I have lost contact with her. Now I must work myself
to find what relation she has to you, my dear girl...."
She reached forward and seized a random
card, then held it up for me to see. It depicted a large hooded figure,
enveloped in darkness. ".... ‘Shadow’...." she said softly, gazing
at the picture. "That suggests a stranger of some sort, does it
not...?"
I gasped quietly. "...Y...Yes!! Yes
it does!! Who is he??"
"This card had been resting atop this
one..." She held up a second card, revealing the image of a mirror.
" ‘Reflection’.......was the
stranger familiar to you at all, Allie? Did you recognize him from
anywhere?"
"Huh??" I blinked several times.
"...No, not that I--"
"But then you did, didn’t you,
Vincent?" she interrupted, turning towards his silhouette at the
entranceway. I turned towards him, my hands clasped over my heart.
His statement remained unmoving.
".........Yes."
"Heheh..." She pulled out a
final card, revealing a large skeleton holding a scythe. "........
‘Death’.......... My dear girl, I think you’re being warned to stay away
from this man...." She gazed back over at Vincent, who still hadn’t
moved. "And it also suggests that you have quite a task on your hands, Mr.
Valentine...."
He remained silent.
"....Now," the woman continued,
running her hands over the cards before her. "Let’s see about this other
woman, shall we....?" She closed her eyes, as if listening to some
inaudible voice, then took hold of one card and lifted it up to her face.
Several seconds of silence elapsed, and suddenly she let out a soft, eerie
laugh. ".........I see..." she chuckled quietly. "I understand
now...is that what you’ve been trying to tell me...?"
"What??" I lifted myself up in
an attempt to see the card. "Which one is it?? What does it mean??"
She didn’t budge for a second, then
slowly turned the card to face me. " ‘Time’..." she said softly,
removing one of her hands to reveal the picture of an enormous clock. "The
time card always symbolizes rebirth..."
"Huh??" I blinked.
"...I...I don’t understand..."
"....No, I suppose you
wouldn’t," she replied, lowering the card. "After all, you don’t
seem much like the religious type..."
"Well??" Tifa questioned
impatiently from the doorway. "What’s it mean??"