Final Fantasy VII : The Final Pledge

Chapter 18

"We can't go further," Tseng announced, "We will go down as much as possible, then you can go out." I nodded and went to Fenrir, Kyra following me. When low enough, Reno opened the parachuting door for me to slide down it with Fenrir. The moment we landed on the ground, they flew away.

Where we had landed was just by the Sleeping Forest. On the other side, the Forgotten City was laid. The sun was shining high in the sky and it was dead silence broken with the engine of my motorcycle.

We rode among the trees in silence. My head was filled with so many questions that I was afraid of asking them. I wanted to know about the wishes, about her battle with Jenova and the promised land. I wanted to know what she knew about Kadaj. But we were running out of time. Once we found Sephiroth, it was the end. That made my heart ache with pain.

We finally arrived in the ancient capital city. "We are early," she said when I stopped and she was getting off. We were in front of the spiral building. After what I had seen, this building now had a new meaning for me. I had never been inside it myself, but now I could imagine that it was the centre of the control of the city.

Kyra walked towards the building. "Sephiroth is not out of his cocoon yet," she explained, "we have to wait. Follow me." I followed her obediently. Inside the building, there was just a set of stairs going up and a couple of small rooms around. The big room I had seen was not there. I was confused. I was sure that the upper floor with a half-ruined wall was smaller than the ground floor so that room could not be there.

Kyra went to one of the rooms and on the wall of it, she pushed a stone. With a little attention that stone was standing out; if you knew what you were looking for. The wall opened to a new set of stairs going down. "The main rooms are down there. It was cooler in summer and we prefered humans not to see it," she explained and climbed down into the darkness. As she entered, the torches on the walls lit by themselves. Down the stairs, we reached a big hall which was the entrance to the throne room and the council room. On the right side, there was a narrow wooden door which seemed that it did not belong there. I looked at it curiously.

Kyra went to the throne room and I followed her to see all the swords and weapons on one wall and paintings on the other. The throne was at the top of the room, a chair obviously made from the trees in the sleeping forest; shining white wood. It was the only seat there.

On the wall of the weapons, there were so many of them that I had never seen in my life. Not only swords but hammers and beautifully carved bows ad well. The weapons' location on the wall had a rule, I thought. It started from up near the high roof to down and as it got down to the other corner, it narrowed. By the other corner close to the ground, Zola was placed; the sword belonged to Princess Kyra. The weapons were all covered in dust and none of them was shining. But I could imagine the days there were being cleaned and taken care of every single day.

Kyra went straight to Zola and grabbed it. Her face was as if she was meeting with an old friend. She smiled at the sword and her eyes were shining. "I shall wield you today, Zola," she whispered and tied the leather of the sheath around her waist. Now we were ready for our final battle. 

She then went across the room to the paintings. There I saw a painting of her with her father and a lady who looked liked her and I assumed it should be her mother. The painting was old and dusty but the faces were still visible. "They painted it after my mother died," she said and touched the painting's frame lost in her thoughts as if reliving a memory. She then looked at me, her face lively again. "You asked about Jamie," she said and left the room to the narrow door.

The door opened to round stairs going down again. It was too narrow for two people to walk next to one another which gave me chills. From downstairs a cold breeze was touching my skin. As we went down, I smelt blood and dampness; an awful combination. When we reached down, I saw a glass room covered in bloodstains, stinking with sweat and a man standing in the middle of the room and pointing a knife to his heart.