LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7
Capítulo 4: Lydia's departure
“Are you guys sure about this?” Tifa asked Lydia and Percy, "From now on things will be more difficult.”
“Don't worry, Tifa, in fact, unless we face a zolom snake, things won't be as moving as they were in Midgar," Percy replied happily, his hands behind his neck.
The group descended down the cable and reached the outskirts of Midgar. Nanaki, lacking opposable thumbs, had to be helped by Percy, who turned into a cat, then extended his tail and wrapped it around Nanaki's torso, then flew with Nanaki and placed it on the ground.
“That was humiliating," they both said at the same time, once they had come down to the ground and suddenly looked at each other with fury.
“Percy, that's enough," said Lydia and her friend turned back into a cat boy.
“Where are we going now?” Wedge asked.
“We don't have any food or anything, let's get all the money we have and go to the town of Kalm, we'll buy something there," Barrett suggested.
“Wait a minute," Aerith cut him off, "I think it's time to choose a new leader.”
“WHAT!” Barrett shouted.
“I said that I think it's time to choose a new leader," the florist repeated calmly and Barrett was on the verge of reprimanding her, but he was interrupted by the other girls.
“Hey, I think it's an excellent idea," Tifa nodded excitedly.
“I believe so, I vote for our new leader to be Cloud.” jumped up excited, Jesse.
Barrett looked at women in disbelief.
“I think Barrett has done a good job as a leader so far," said Lydia, "I don't see why we should choose a new leader.”
"I see the reason, they're obsessed with Cloud," Percy thought and shook his head while smiling amusingly.
“I can't believe this! What do you guys think?” Barrett said.
“Hey, don't push them!” Jesse scolded him.
“That's it, let's vote on it” suggested Tifa with a seductive pose.
“What the hell! Well, let's vote then!” Barrett said.
“Neither you nor Cloud should vote," said Aerith.
“All right, all right! Vote at fucking once!” Barrett got impatient.
“I vote for Lydia! Lydia for president! Gothic girls to power!” Percy exclaimed happily, jumping out of the air.
“Percy, I'm not disputing Avalanche's leadership, you have to vote for Barrett or Cloud.”
“No, my vote will always be for you, Lydia, always!” Percy said to her, and Lydia blushed with a silver color that poked out of her cheeks.
After the girls finished laughing at how sweet Percy was, the voting began.
As expected, Tifa, Aerith and Jesse voted for Cloud. Biggs voted for Barrett the same as Lydia, while Percy continued to insist on voting for Lydia.
The surprise came with Wedge and Nanaki who voted for Cloud and so it was decided that Cloud would be the new leader.
“Cloud fought alone against Rufus and the bikers” justified his vote Nanaki.
Wedge was about to justify his vote by his admiration for Cloud, when he saw Lydia and Percy looking at him frowning.
"Not in front of Tifa, don't idolize Cloud in front of Tifa," Lydia and Percy thought nervously as they looked at Wedge.
“Emm, the same reasons as Nanaki," Wedge said, realizing that he almost screwed up and tried to look tough.
Barrett was furious and stepped away from the group to kick the ground and take away the frustration, while the three girls happily jumped up and surrounded Cloud with strange looks on their faces.
“I told you it was better to give Wedge a sharp style to his hair," Percy whispered to Lydia.
“This is ridiculous, the itchy hair would have nothing to do with who should be the leader," Lydia complained, looking down on Barrett and Wedge.
“This is going to be harder than I thought," Lydia whispered to Percy.
“You mean much harder, I don't see how Wedge can beat Cloud," Percy said worriedly, and Lydia shook her head.
“What is your first decision as our leader?” asked the girls, radiant and flirtatious.
“Emmm, I think we should go to Kalm with our money together and buy some groceries," said Cloud scratching his nape.
“Excellent idea, Cloud," Tifa congratulated him.
“I knew you'd do well as a leader," smiled Jesse.
“We will always follow you Cloud," concluded Aerith.
The group set off for the town of Kalm. Lydia, Percy and Wedge were the ones closing the march.
“Is something wrong with you, Wedge?” Lydia asked him.
“No, there's nothing matter with me," said her cousin, crestfallen.
“Of course something is wrong with you," said Lydia as she hugged and rested her head on her cousin's arm.
"You know, Tifa may be walking behind Cloud right now, but they're not next to each other. You can go to Tifa's side as many times as you want, you just need to look ahead and go to her.”
“I don't know, you saw how happy she was to support Cloud.”
“Maybe, but I'll tell you something, you must always look up and smile at the horizon, only then will it be you who Tifa congratulates with a smile.”
“Come on Wedge, it's just a few steps forward," Percy intervened this time.
“And what could I talk to her about?” Wedge asked nervously.
“Of simple things," Percy suggested, "you grew up in the city, while Tifa grew up in the countryside, talk about how exciting it will be to travel through the countryside to Kalm.”
“What a good idea Percy, that would be a good topic to start with," Lydia agreed.
“But don't force the conversation, or you'll end up talking about how your stomach hurt one day or another," Percy suggested.
“Percy is right, don't force the conversation," said Lydia, and Wedge went to Tifa's place and took a deep breath to calm his nerves and started a calm conversation.
The journey to the city of Kalm was a long one and Wedge finally suggested that they stop and look for firewood to light a fire before they were surprised by the night.
“Wedge is right," said Tiffa, "I've already forgotten how dark the field can get at night.”
Wedge looked at Lydia and Percy and thanked them for the suggestion with a nod.
“Tomorrow we will look for some water and food, we must get up very early because we will not be able to travel at night, it would be very dangerous," Wedge advised them, thanking them inside for the suggestions Lydia and Percy gave him.
“You know a lot about travelling in the country," said Tifa, "are you sure you grew up in the city?”
“Hey, I like watching documentaries," Wedge said, raising his shoulders as if it wasn't a big deal.
When the time came to do the guards, Percy and Wedge volunteered.
“Percy, why did you want us both to be the guards?”
“Easy Wedge, so you can get some exercise.”
“But what about the guard?”
“Don't worry about it, remember that my senses of hearing, sight and smell are super-developed. No predator will come near us without I detect them first.”
"Besides," Percy continued, "you can take the opportunity to take off your coat and put it on Tifa, imagine how grateful she will be when she wakes up. It'll make it easier for you to have a conversation with her.”
“How can I talk to her if I'm going to be dead of sleep?”
“Don't exaggerate Wedge, no one is dying not to sleep for a day, besides, if she asks you why you are so tired, just tell her that you were watching out for the predators, so that they wouldn't come near her and she would always be protected and her sleep would not be disturbed.”
“Wow, Percy, you're very...”
“I know, I am God," Percy laughed manically and covered his mouth the same way the evil females of the animes did, and the others looked at them somewhat intrigued.
.
.
Everyone went to bed to sleep and Percy covered Lydia with his coat.
“Have a sweet nightmare, Lydia," said Percy and kissed her, and the other girls giggled.
“Well, good night, girls," said Wedge and everyone went to sleep.
Percy, thanks to his super-developed senses, told Wedge when to take off his coat and tuck Tifa in with it.
“The perfect crime," said Percy with a chuckle.
Percy put himself on Wedge's feet so that he could do sit-ups, but Wedge had it difficult because of his overweight so the cat boy extended his tail and with it wrapped Wedge's torso and made it easier for him to do the exercises.
"It's like an exercise machine," Wedge thought, and he kept working out until dawn.
.
.
Lydia got up the next morning and thanked Percy for covering her with his coat. When Tifa got up, she saw with surprise that she too was covered with someone's coat.
“Good morning, Tifa," said Wedge, "I hope you slept warm.”
“Is this your coat, Wedge? Tifa asked.
“Of course, whose else could it be?” Wedge said, behaving as if what he did was the most natural thing in the world and taking his coat he put it on his shoulder and then turned around and walked away without turning back.
“Well done, Wedge," Percy said, "but you don't think you should have offered her your hand to get her up.”
“Ouch, I knew I forgot something.”
When looking for food, Percy volunteered and after half an hour he returned with about ten rabbits.
“I don't see any cut marks on the rabbits," said Tifa. “How did you do it?”
Percy only extended his arms with his fingers outstretched and smiled maliciously, causing all but Lydia to exchange nervous looks.
.
.
The group arrived in Kalm and with the money they collected they decided to first take a bath and rest.
“Cloud, don't you think it's time you told us what's wrong with you?” Tifa asked him and Cloud told his story.
Cloud related how he came to his hometown with Sephiroth and how Sephiroth went mad when he learned that he was not human but a Shinra experiment.
“I don't remember, I challenged Sephiroth and I survived. How did I do it?”
Tifa looked at Cloud with a frown and Lydia could see how the blond man's aura was a mess, she had never seen anything like that in her life.
Cloud told them that Sephiroth was looking for the promised land, which was brimming with Mako energy and if he or Shinra found it it would be the end of the world.
After washing and resting, the group went in search of supplies and continued their march through the countryside.
.
.
The routine of traveling, camping, guarding, and picking up food early in the morning continued for several days. The only thing that broke the monotony was the attacks of some monsters that wandered around the area, fortunately they did not represent a challenge for the group of ten adventurers, thanks to the tactics of Lydia and Percy.
Wedge underwent Percy's hard training every other day, and after a couple of days you could tell how many pounds he had lost. In the end, the group arrived at a chocobo farm but did not have the money to buy these mounts and cross the swamp that would take them to the other side of the continent.
“Damn mountain range," Biggs said, "the only way to cross it by land is if we cross the swamp and we can't do it because there live the zolom snakes.”
“We can't take an airship because all the accesses are guarded by Shinra," Barrett spat.
“Let's face the worm," Percy let them go.
“It's crazy, Percy," Lydia contradicted, "even with everyone around him and attacking him at the same time, it would be suicide.”
“Collective suicide," said Jesse.
“Too bad the monsters don't let go of money when we beat them," lamented Aerith.
“Why would they release money every time we defeated them?” Lydia was surprised.
“I don't know, but it would be great if they did," said Aerith.
Lydia suggested going to the small town where she lived, where she could take her money and buy some chocobos on the farm when they returned.
“Won't your parents say anything?” Tifa asked her, a little worried.
“They don't stay at home for long, my father is addicted to work and my stepmother, well, she's never home.”
Percy rubbed Lydia's back to comfort her and the whole group agreed to go to Winter River.
.
.
The small town was south east of the chocobo farm, nestled in a U-shaped mountain range.
“Is that your house, Lydia? Wow” Biggs whistled in awe as he saw the Victorian-style house on the top of a very uniform hill that dominated the view of the whole place.
Lydia set everyone up at her house and then said she would go and get all the money, so they wouldn't worry about her absence.
“Where are you going, Lydia?” Tifa asked him.
“I can withdraw some cash from my house, but maybe Shinra has already blocked my bank account," Lydia explained, "so I'll go to No World and withdraw money from my No Account there.”
Everyone looked at her without understanding, and Lydia explained the parallel world of No World, the world of the dead.
“Unbelievable," Barrett said, "and how long will you be there?”
“It will only be a moment in No World, but in our dimension a couple of months will pass, that's why I didn't travel to No World before, I didn't want everyone to wait for me out in the open, here instead, you can wait for me comfortably.”
“Won't we cause you any trouble with the neighbors?” Cloud asked.
“Don't worry, this is my house anyway, and I've already made a bad name for myself," Lydia reassured them without flinching and everyone looked at her strangely.
“It's because of the Gothic clothes that Lydia wears," Percy explained to them and then accompanied Lydia to perform the ritual.
“Take care of the others, don't let them get into trouble. And don't fight with Nanaki," Lydia said with a smile as she hugged Percy.
“You also take care of yourself, don't rush, take your time, and be careful crossing the streets," he advised her, and then they both kissed.
Percy went back to the living room and told everyone that Lydia had already left.
“I would have liked to say goodbye to Lydia," said Wedge.
“It wasn't necessary, remember, it will only be a moment for her," said Percy and then said goodbye to the friends to go to sleep.
Percy walked into Lydia's room, turned into a cat and then jumped on the bed.
“Lydia...” Percy whispered and curled up, lay down on the bed and cried.
CONTINUARÁ...
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