LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7
Capítulo 9: Lydia's cry
The boat was getting farther and farther away from Junon and everyone started to get nervous.
“Cloud hasn't shown up yet!” Tifa shouted once everyone gathered in the cellar.
“Take it easy, Tifa," said Percy calmly. “Cloud is here on the boat.”
“Whaaat!” shouted several members of the group.
“My senses don't smell anything from our leader," said Nanaki.
“Remember that I am not a cat, but a cat boy, my senses are more developed than yours. Besides, I'm better looking than you!” Percy said with a pose between arrogant and flirtatious.
“Concentrate Percy, concentrate” Lydia asked him.
“Emmm... Yes, I'm better looking because I'm a feline and...”
“No, the other thing, Percy.” Lydia insisted, a little impatient.
“Oh yes!... Cloud is on this ship... and as for that about our leader, Nanaki, I have something interesting to tell you," Percy said with a malicious gesture.
“What's going on?” Aerith asked him.
“Well, that the heartbeat of our beloved and overly drooling leader," Percy let them go, looking intently at Tifa, Jesse and Aerith, "indicates that he entered the ship no matter what our bitter and cruel fate was.”
“What do you mean?” Jesse asked him frowningly.
“To be the only one with a technical degree, you are the dumbest.”
“Percy!” Lydia yelled at him.
“I mean, Cloud doesn't know we're on this boat.... Nooo, he's only interested in finding Sephiroth alone, and to the hell with us, that's what I mean," Percy said with a smug expression.
“That can't be true," Tifa cut him off.
“Suuure," Percy continued in a mocking face and voice, "you can ask Cloud when you see him, he'll put his angel face on and tell you it's not true. You can be good at lying, but you know, heartbeats never lie!”
“You must be the one who's lying," said Aerith frowning.
“I could lie to you, but I would never lie to Lydia. Well, Lydia, ask me.”
“Is it true what you said about Cloud? He went on the boat alone without knowing we were here?”
“Yes, he entered the boat without knowing that we were here," Percy replied, staring at Lydia.
“We have to find Cloud," said Tifa.
“Wait a minute! Don't you remember what I told you about not being all together in one place," Wedge shouted. “If Cloud's on the boat, he'll talk to us one by one, so don't ruin it.”
“Wedge is right," said Biggs, "it's best to ask him separately.”
When Cloud found them one by one, they all let go of the sermon and Cloud had to lower his head every time.
“I couldn't hurry to you, I had to attend the parade.” He excused himself every time.
“But you could have come down and opened the door for us later, couldn't you?” They always answered him.
“And the worst part is that I can't hit you, because it would attract attention," Barrett scold him when the ship's alarms sounded.
“What are we going to do now?”
“Wedge told us not to go to the other soldiers, but to meet at the back of the cellar in case of an emergency.”
The group met at the site assigned by Wedge and wondered what was going on.
“I hear fighting noises and gunshots," Yuffie reported.
“What are we going to do, Cloud?” Tifa said.
“I think we should...”
“You shut up!” Percy sent him, “Tell me, Wedge. What do we do?”
“If we go in now, all we're going to do is get shot by the soldiers and whoever's attacking them," Wedge reasoned, "let's wait for the fight to stop. Tell me, did anyone enter the cellar at the bottom?”
“Yes, I did it," said Yuffie.
“Describe the place to us," Wedge asked.
“I see,” said Wedge, after hearing Yuffie's report. “Well, when we enter for sure we will meet a monster since no soldier left the cellar, so half of the group will go to face him and the other half will go up the ramps of the cellar, so we will attack him not only from below, but also from above. Lydia, Aerith, you guys as always take care of the healings.”
“Wedge, you're the best!” Percy shouted happily. “Well, I think it's time to elect a new leader... I vote for Wedge!”
“It's not the time for that," Jesse said grimly.
“On the contrary," Percy contradicted her with a flirtatious pose and denied with his index finger, "we will soon face a battle and it will be disastrous not to appoint a leader after the failure of Cloud, or do you want Cloud and Wedge to give contrary orders at the same time?”
“Cloud is not a failure," said Tifa.
“Yes, he is, we almost died of boredom like a horse in a fairground waiting for the oxygenated one in Junon," Yuffie replied, and she and Percy clashed palms together.
“Enough," Barrett cut them off in a serious tone, "what do you think, Lydia?”
“You're very reliable, Lydia," said Biggs, "it's up to you.”
“Miss Lydia, I agree with Biggs' positive assessment," said Nanaki.
“Well, I'm sorry there's a vote right now, but Percy is right, it would be disastrous to have two leaders, let's vote.”
“What!” Tifa said frowning.
“No, no voting!” Jesse followed him.
“This is unfair!” said Aerith.
“UNFAIR!” Percy hissed and stood in front of the three women with a ferocious gesture. “Was it fair to make Cloud a leader when Barrett didn't make a single mistake? Was it fair to have chosen Cloud just because he was good-looking?”
Percy was furious, his hair began to stand up, as did his tail which looked thick and as if it was made of thousands of black needles.
“Percy, I'm not interested in being the leader, I think Cloud should continue...”
“You shut up too!” Percy cut him off. “Voting!”
The girls except for Lydia and Yuffie voted for Cloud, but everyone else voted for Wedge, except Percy, who continued to insist on voting for Lydia even though she did not run for leadership.
“Well, I think it's time.” Wedge said and all went into the cellar.
The group cautiously entered the cellar and saw the bodies of Shinra's soldiers, all of them in the center. Then a shadow approached, and it took tangible form... It was Sephiroth.
Wedge did not expect this, but knowing that he was the leader he thought calmly and with a wave of his hand ordered everyone to assume positions.
“Insects... insects that come to disturb me," Sephiroth said in a bored tone. “I have to find the promised land...”
Sephiroth looked up at the ceiling and began to levitate toward it, when he disappeared into it.
“Where did he go!” shouted Cloud.
“I think we have other problems to attend to now," said Biggs with his eyes open like plates and looking straight ahead. The monster Genova was in front of them.
The monster was powerful, but he did not face only four enemies at a time, but a whole mini army attacked him at once and without waiting for any turn, that, and the tactic of being surrounded both from below and above resulted in his defeat.
“I hear footsteps! There are more soldiers coming here," Percy shouted.
“Hurry up, let's hide in the back cellar!” Wedge ordered.
The group hid with just the right amount of time as several soldiers entered where the battle had previously taken place. The soldiers decided to search the whole place but the alarm on the boat told them that they were approaching the Costa del Sol and decided to go on deck.
“Let's wait for the boat to dock and sneak out.” Wedge instructed them and they all nodded.
.
.
When the ship docked, the group snuck out and took off Shinra's uniforms. Rufus, Shinra's president, reprimanded Heidegger for his ineptitude and then left by helicopter.
“Oof, the room temperature is too hot, my muzzle is getting dehydrated," barked Nanaki, who started panting as he stuck out his tongue.
“Let's search the place for clues about Sephiroth, meet me here in three hours," Wedge said, "go in pairs.”
“I'm going with Lydia!” Percy jumped happily. “You Wedge go with Tifa and you Cloud with Aerith, the rest of you settle in as you please.”
Aerith neither cut nor lazy took Cloud's arm and took him by the hand, the rest of the group toured the Costa del Sol looking for clues.
After three hours all the members of the group returned to the pier.
“Can't we take a vacation in this city of golden sands?” Yuffie asked.
“We didn't come on a pleasure trip, Yuffie," said Biggs, who was arriving with Jesse at the time.
“Did you find anything?” Barrett asked.
“Nothing, maybe Aerith and Cloud have news," nodded Biggs.
“Here they come," said Lydia.
“Those two are the last two to arrive, I asked what they would be doing," Yuffie said with a strange laugh.
“I'm sure they were doing that, or maybe some other thing, or maybe that," Percy said as he stared at the sky and had a strange look on his face.
“Cloud is a gentleman, he would never do perverted things like that.” Jesse criticized them.
“Sure, Jesse, sure," said Biggs in a jaded tone.
“I don't understand what you're criticizing us about, but what do you think we were talking about?” Yuffie said maliciously.
“It's true, it's true, the only one with a dirty mind here is you, Jesse," said Percy.
“No... Stop bothering me! Biggs tell them something," complained Jesse.
“Ask your Cloud to defend you," Biggs cut her off and left the place. “I can't believe it, the whole walk, Cloud this, Cloud that...”
“Don't listen to them, Jesse, you just encourage them," said Lydia.
“Did you find anything?” Barrett asked.
“We heard from someone who looks like Sephiroth, who is heading for Gold Saucer," Aerith replied.
“We also found Hojo," Cloud told them and Aerith rolled her eyes.
“Whaaat!” shouted the crowd, including Nanaki, who grunted threateningly.
“Where did you find him? Did you talk to him?” Lydia questioned them.
“We found him on the beach, but in the end we couldn't get any information out of him," Cloud told them.
“He didn't want to tell you anything?” Tifa asked.
“No, he only rambled when he answered us, in the end it was a waste of time," Cloud explained.
“And where is he now?” Tifa asked again.
“I asked Cloud to let him go," replied Aerith ahead of the blond man.
“Why did you do that!” Barrett shouted, but Aerith only looked sadly to the side.
“That's enough, Aerith's decision was the right one," Wedge told them.
“It's true," Lydia continued, "remember we're going after Sephiroth in a race against time, we can't afford to lose it to arrest Hojo and then see him pay for his crimes before a jury.”
“Let's go," Yuffie said, "the map says that to get to Gold Saucer we must first pass through a place called Corel.”
Barrett was so tense when he heard the name of the city that everyone noticed it.
“Barret?” Tifa asked him.
“Well, you heard Yuffie, if we want to get to Gold Saucer we have to go through Corel first, so let's go!” Barrett shouted at them with a look that made it clear he didn't want to be asked any questions.
The group made their way to the northwestern mountains and arrived at a railway line which they followed.
“Look, there's an old coal locomotive over there," Lydia told them.
“It's got a couple of wagons, do you think we can get it started?” Percy asked.
“These old machines are easy to operate," Barrett said, "the problem is the brakes, maybe they're already worn.”
“What do we do Wedge?” Biggs asked.
“Lydia is right, we're in a race against time, but I don't think we should take the train, so we'll go on foot," Wedge decided.
“Why not? It would take us forever to walk," Yuffie asked.
“Look at the map," Wedge told them, "Corel is just finishing the tracks, if something bad happens we will put the people who live there in danger. Remember, our goal is to protect people.”
Everyone in the group agreed and marched along the train tracks, after a while they heard some chicks chirping.
“They look like chicks," said Cloud.
“Where I come from they are called food," said Percy.
“How can you say that, poor chicks! Aerith reproached him.
“Aerith," Lydia calmly reassured her, "remembers Percy talking about his time when he was nothing more and nothing less than a domestic cat.
“It's true! do not judge me by human patterns, for in nature there are no wicked, it is all about survival. Unlike you humans who eat each other to satisfy your wickedness, do you not remember what Shinra did with Sector 7 in Midgar?” Percy criticized her, making Aerith shut up.
“Easy... calm down.” Was trying to soothe the mood Lydia.
“I want to see the chicks," said Tifa and stepped forward to the source of the sound.
“How cute!” Tifa said as she climbed up a slope and discovered the nest with the chicks.
“Listen to the tweet!” said happy Aerith.
“Delicious," said Percy, and the same thing happened as with the strong condor.
“Hey, this time you hit me hard! Percy reproached Jesse.
“Take it easy Percy, when we get to Gold Saucer, I'll buy you chicken wings," promised Lydia and Percy was happy.
“With a lot of spice Lydia, I want to drool at ease with the spice, I want my tongue to turn into laaava," said the cat boy.
“Look, underneath the nest there are Materia!” Yuffie shouted excitedly. “Let's take the Materias!”
“NOOO!” shouted the other four girls.
“It's true, we can't do such a thing or we would destroy the physical integrity of the nest," said Nanaki, but his eyes and muzzle betrayed him as he looked at the chicks with eyes open like plates and drooled a lot.
“Let's go, Nanaki," Percy said, taking him away from the place, but then the dog began to move nervously and cry because he didn't taste the chicks.
“I understand you, Nanaki, believe me," reassured Percy, who had tears in his eyes and wet his lips with his tongue.
“I don't understand why women are interested in this kind of corny stuff!” Yuffie complained angrily about not taking the Materia.
The men in the group agreed with Yuffie, but Wedge looked at the nest and then stroked the chicks.
“Let's go, I'm going to fight not only for the people, but also for all the living creatures on the planet, that's why I joined Avalanche at first," Wedge said and started marching along the train tracks looking great.
“A man among men, eh, Lydia?” Percy purred proudly of his friend.
.
.
The group arrived at Corel, which seemed more like a camp full of dirty, hungry people than a village.
The children ran to the group for alms, but when they saw Cloud's Mako eyes and clothing, they ran back in fear. Several men cut them off and seemed to be on their way to Cloud to scold him for coming in in that Shinra outfit, but instead they went to Barrett's place and reprimanded him for his presence there.
Barrett asked the group not to intervene and decided to take the criticism, they even spat on him and punched him in the face.
“Barrett...” Wedge told him, but it seems that Barrett did not want to talk and they continued their march towards Gold Saucer, which was just a stone's throw from Corel, or at least the cable car to the floating city.
Tifa insisted again and at the end Barrett told them his sad, or rather horrible, story of how Shinra murdered most of the members of his village, men who made their living from coal. Shinra thought it best to end the mako energy competition and in the end they invented a story in which Barrett was to blame for the disaster.
All those present looked at the giant with a serious gesture or had tears in their eyes or even turned their faces.
“Why didn't you tell the people of Corel what you told us?” Wedge asked him with a dry mouth.
“Because in a way it is my fault, I convinced my best friend, the leader of the people to allow Shinra to enter the village, they offered us prosperity and we were always poor... Because of me I lost my wife, my friend, but Marlene, his daughter... at least I was able to rescue her and take her with me to Midgar.”
Lydia wept, unable to believe how evil men could be, and it was she who was insulted for being Gothic, when real demons traveled the world in masks of respectable men.
“Lydia...” Percy told her and then hugged her to take the pain away from her heart or at least mitigate it.
The group entered the cable car and silently climbed up to Gold Saucer.
.
.
Gold Saucer, the floating city, was a huge, no, giant field of attractions, where there were countless events to entertain visitors with the necessary resources to pay for them. Luxury and glamour were omnipresent everywhere.
In both Midgar and Junon, there were stark contrasts between the lower city where the poor lived and the upper city where the wealthier people lived, but here at Gold Saucer the difference was much more abysmal. Down at Corel the situation was so bad that it made the lower cities of Midgar and Junon look like residential areas, and here at Gold Saucer, everything seemed so glamorous.
Lydia couldn't understand such a difference, it seemed so unreal, so abstract, so cruel.
“What are we doing?” Lydia muttered. “Are we fighting to save the planet? Are we fighting to save this?”
“Lydia...” Wedge approached her. “I know that the world is full of blood and pain, but there are also good people like Marlene, Priscilla and the others, we fight to protect them, we may not like the world they will grow up in, but it is the only world they and the others have to live in, that is why I am willing to give my life to protect the planet.”
“You're right Wedge, sorry, it turns out I haven't felt so vulnerable since I agreed to marry Beetlejuice to save my parents... but then they, when the ghost came back, didn't doubt that I would marry overnight to make money... Oh Percy!” Lydia bent down and held her head as she cried and Percy was quick to embrace her.
“That's all over now, Lydia! You don't have to worry anymore! I will always be by your side to support and love you!” Percy said tenderly and then kissed her, giving her all his love.
Lydia opened her eyes wide with the kiss and then closed them correspondingly.
“I'm sorry, I'm a fool," said Percy after the kiss was over.
“No, you are not, only a fool would not worry about the person he loves, only a fool would not suffer if the person he loves was suffering, only a fool would not kiss the person he loves to comfort her.” Lydia thanked him with such a beautiful smile, that she cleared up the doubts of the group if they had any, to protect the planet.
CONTINUARÁ...
ns 15.158.61.20da2
