Edge Of The Worlds

Chapter 11

"Yvette..." you repeat after a moment, trying out the name. "You... Yvette...? B-but I thought you died?!"

"No, I didn't. I'm still here."

This last is said with an eerie laughter.

"But how...?"

Yvette tells you that Riddler found her among the flames after you had fallen unconscious. She pretended to be a nurse in order to help you, and that Cid was just joking when he said that she died.

"I know this is all very strange, but it's the truth. I'm real, and I'm here to help you."

 "What about Jane and Hazel? Are there alive too?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything about them. But we can figure out what to do concerning them after we get you better."

 "What we need is revenge... That airship group that attacked us... We need to stop them."

"Well, we'll try our best. But you need to get well first."

As she turns to leave, you call out to her.

"Hey, wait..."

Yvette turns around to face you.

"What is it?"

You explain how you feel helpless, and tell her that she should take a break from your work. She listens to your ideas with a smile, before squeezing your hand reassuringly.

"Don't worry. We'll get you well again," she says. "I promise."

You have no reason to not trust her. She seems to have no malicious intents, and is your only hope for salvation.

You feel a wave of exhaustion hit you, but fight it off. You have to stay awake, for Yvette's sake. The thought makes you smile.

Yvette smiles as well as she heads out the door.

When she's gone, you slip back into unconsciousness.

You sleep for quite some time. When you wake up, it is already the next day. Cid is sitting in a chair over by the bed. He smiles when he sees you sitting up.

"There you are, sleepyhead. How are you feeling?"

"Better, thank you. I think."

"Mmm, sure you are. I brought you some water, and there's a newspaper I found for you. Figured you might want to know what's going on in the world."

He lays the newspaper on the nightstand, and you snatch it up, opening it to sitate your eyes to see what new horrors the world has seen today.

You read about the airship group that had caused this mess in the first place had attacked the city of Edge, built on the ruins of Midgar. It says that the cause of the attack is unknown, but that the military are taking steps to counter potential threats.

You sigh. At least there's that out of the way. You lay the newspaper down.

"So, that's what happened," you say. "Anything else I should know about?"

Cid shakes his head.

"Nope. Just Edge getting attacked. Nothing we should be concerned about."

You're not convinced.

"Cid, right now there's an airship with over a hundred soldiers aboard hovering outside the city. If I were you, I'd start worrying."

"Don't worry. As soon as you're well enough, I'm sure you'd feel up to it, you're gonna have to defend the city from that airship group."

You shake your head.

"I'm not sure if I'll be well enough to do that. The last thing I remember was them attacking us, and then..." you trail off, not wanting to upset Cid more than you already have.

He just smiles and shrugs.

"If you're not, then it's no skin off my back."

He turns and goes back to the chair he was sitting in before.

You lay the newspaper next to you in bed, and examine it. Then, you slip it under your pillow for later.

In a little while, Cid leaves the room to go check on something. You're not sure what's going to happen, but you're prepared for the worst.

In the meantime, you just lie in bed and daydream.

What would it be like to not have to worry about the future? To not have to fight for survival every day? What would you do if you didn't have to fight or flight?

You ponder these things as you watch the dim light of the sun slowly shift into that of moon. Before long, the night sky is full dark with far away stars beginning to shine.