Cliff
THE sun set on Heartbreak Hill, dyeing the massive mineshaft in the colors of dusk. Cliff, Lovel, and Gandolf loitered in front of the nearby Golem Factory OUKA-AN.
They had dropped by in hopes of gaining some useful information on Sephiroth, but the factory owner appeared to be away at the moment. Cliff polished Gandolf’s body to kill time.
“Hmm…from the look of things, that Ouka guy isn’t coming back anytime soon,” he muttered.
“I’m sick of waiting. We’ve been here for little over an hour,” Lovel complained. Tired of standing, she opted to lean against a lion statue sitting in the shadow of the factory.
A quick scan of the mine’s activities indicated that the business hours were coming to a close for the day. Golems finished with their work pushed railcars filled with ore back to their fixed starting locations. Miners returned in groups to the apartment complexes crowding their surroundings. Yet, for all the activity, the owner of the factory hadn’t shown up.
“What do you want to do, Lovel? Come back tomorrow?”
“But if we stay, we might actually get a solid lead this time, you know? Let’s wait it out a little longer.”
“Lovel!” a voice called abruptly from the distance. Lovel hopped to her feet, turning her head toward the voice, and Cliff whirled around.
They saw a girl and boy running toward them. The girl skidded to a stop in front of Lovel and desperately spoke through gasps for air. “I-I finally found you…! I knew it was you, Lovel!” A smile of relief blossomed on her face. Cliff didn’t recognize the beautiful girl wearing St. Rollins Academy’s uniform.
“Wh-Who are you? Lovel’s friend?” he asked.
The girl nodded. “Ah, yes, I am! I’m Erie Reyer. This here is Heath Coleman. We’re Lovel’s underclassmen at the Academy.”
The boy she introduced as Heath dipped his head in a small bow. Confusion spread across Lovel’s face.
“E-Erie? Um, err, oh yeah, I kinda remember you…! I forget, were we close?”
“No, I wouldn’t say we’re especially close… I just know who you are because you are very popular among the students, Lovel.”
“I-I see… Sorry for the rude question.”
“Don’t be. I’m sure it’s difficult to remember the faces of every underclassman at school…” Erie trailed off, her face giving way to a lonely smile. But, remembering what she came to do, she brushed her feelings aside and cut to the chase. “Anyway, Lovel, I heard you’ve been missing since the day before yesterday. What are you doing here?”
“It’s a long story, but the short version is that I’m searching for something. I’m currently waiting for this factory’s owner to come back.” Lovel pointed a thumb to the factory behind her.
Erie looked at the sign and gasped. “Golem Factory OUKA-AN…?! By Ouka, does it mean THAT Ouka?!”
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re in trouble, Lovel! The owner of this factory is after you!”
Cliff and Lovel exchanged questioning looks.
“Are you sayin’ that while we’ve been searching for this Ouka guy, he’s been trying to find us too?” Cliff asked.
“I wonder why. It couldn’t be a request from the Church, could it?” Lovel tilted her head.
“A request from the Church…!” Erie exclaimed. “Why didn’t I think of that?! There’s a high chance that’s the case!”
Ouka used to be a Rabbi four years ago according to Miles. Was he still connected to the Church after his retirement, resulting in him taking on a special mission to apprehend Cliff and Lovel?
“I don’t know what situation you’re in, Lovel, but I really think you should run away,” Erie quietly urged. Cliff and Lovel contemplated the news she brought. “He’s an Amber Golem Tamer and is quite skilled too,” she added.
“Th-That sounds like big trouble,” Lovel agreed. “Trying to ask him questions seems like the last thing we should be doing now—” Something completely unexpected occurred as she spoke. The lion statue sitting in the shadow of the factory moved behind her.
“…?!”
Cliff stared at it, stupefied, but Erie shouted, “Lovel!”
The moving lion lunged at Lovel. She was knocked down faster than she could finish turning around.
“Ouch! What? What? What’s going on?!”
With Lovel face-up on the ground, the lion pinned her limbs. Face to face with the lion, Lovel noticed the letters “emeth” glowing on its forehead.
“A lion-shaped Golem?! This is—”
“Ouka’s Golem!” Erie warned.
Cliff frantically surveyed their surroundings and immediately spotted an unshaven man strolling toward them from the direction of Head Island.
“What luck, tracking the little lady led me to find you two with her. This is like killin’ two birds with one stone—or should I say three?” The man stopped about ten meters away and looked them over. He was undoubtedly that Ouka.
Underneath the lion, Lovel yelled, “So you’re Ouka! You’re such a coward for springing a surprise attack on us! You’re not worthy of being a former Rabbi!”
Ouka smirked. “Call me a strategic man. Rumors say you’re a ferocious one, so I went straight to my book of tricks.”
Erie glowered at him. Heath’s hand shot to the scabbard at his waist, but Ouka held out his hand to stop him.
“Don’t be so hasty, little lady and her accompanying boyfriend. I let down my guard last night, but I’m serious today. I won’t stand for Dram’s legs getting chopped off again,” Ouka hissed. Animosity gleamed in his eyes. Overwhelmed, Erie fell silent.
Eyeing Ouka carefully, Cliff spoke up, asking, “Looks like the stories about Amber Golem Tamers being skilled are true… But why are you after us? Did the Church put you up to this?”
“That’s very perceptive of you, boy. But you’re missing half the reason why I’m doin’ this.”
“What’s the other half?”
“The other half is personal. I just can’t overlook those cubes being in circulation.”
Cliff frowned. He had to be talking about Lovel’s red cube. But why was Ouka hunting down Erie too? Cliff found the whole thing suspicious.