Kiriko
…RETURNING to the events of two hours later at the Torah Church; Lovel hissed at the truth Spinoza had shared with them. “So that man was Grinzam…!”
Kiriko pieced together all the information she had gathered, matching her conclusion with Lovel’s. “I fear it is so… The dormitory custodian was Grinzam all along, just with a different face!”
“I can’t believe it…!” Lovel’s expression turned grim, and she fell deep into thought. Cliff peered at her, worried.
Though Lovel was still but a young woman, Kiriko realized she had a beautiful face when she looked closer. Kiriko had no doubt she resembled her gorgeous mother—the only woman the strongest Rabbi in history had fallen in love with.
“She has the right…” Kiriko muttered under her breath, and Ouka nodded.
Lovel had the right to be brought face to face with Sephiroth—whether she was actually capable of controlling him or not. True to her word from the start, Lovel was only trying to activate Sephiroth to protect the Church and the archipelago.
Kiriko had misjudged her. And Spinoza, the man she had thought her friend, turned out to be Grinzam’s puppet. The man she knew as the strongest Golem Tamer alive worked for the enemy.
Regret won’t fix what’s done, but…I will make sure to take responsibility for it, Kiriko thought, scanning her surroundings. She still didn’t know where Spinoza was shooting at them from. Four people and Dram remained in the building’s shadow, unable to escape.
“…He hasn’t made a move,” she whispered after taking everything in. Spinoza didn’t show himself, and he was no longer droning on about the past.
“Did he run away…?” Ouka asked, dubious.
“Wouldn’t that be strange? Where would he go?”
“If Grinzam’s alive, hasn’t he gone to meet up with him?” Cliff suggested.
“Meet up? Where?” The second the question left her mouth, Kiriko suddenly figured it out. She understood why he would leave them there, and where he had gone. “Oh no! Torah Lord Spinoza plans to beat us to it!”
Shock and comprehension flashed across Ouka’s face. “We’re leaving, kids!” he beckoned to Cliff and Lovel, who looked at him confused. “I’ll take ya to where Sephiroth is!”
“You will?!”
Ouka hopped onto Dram’s back.
Kiriko turned to the perplexed children and told them, “Please wait for me real quick! I’ll bring a Golem along with us too!” She headed toward the Church as she spoke. She retraced her steps back to the Prime Body Storage Room.
Only one Prime Body was unscathed in the wrecked room full of scattered, broken bits of Golems riddled with bullet holes. Kiriko named the giant wooden body.
“My name is Kiriko Strife! With truth as my witness, I give thee the name No. 11! Live as one with me and return to dust with me! I order thee to,” Kiriko drew close to the Prime Body and whispered in its ear, “…please protect us.”
The Wooden Golem named No. 11 came alive.
Kiriko left the Prime Body Storage Room with No. 11 and found Ouka and the children waiting for her. She led them all out of the complex to a corner of the Church grounds.
“Please wait, Miss Kiriko. Where are we going?” Cliff asked on the way.
Kiriko left his question unanswered and ran down the staircase leading underground at the corner of the front garden. It was the entrance to the underground Torah Church Station. The group descended the stairs and stood on the platform. No one was around.
“They went on ahead of us…!” Kiriko breathed. She began operating the switchboard at the edge of the platform.
“Explain what’s going on, Kiriko,” Lovel demanded. “How are you taking us to where Sephiroth is? Is he inside this station?”
“Yes. To be precise, he’s beyond this station.” Kiriko finished working the switchboard and directed her eyes to the railway tracks. The tracks leading north abruptly cut off at a wall. Staring at the wall, she explained, “This underground railway connects Chest Island’s mine to the Church. Hence why everyone believes this station is the last stop to the north, and that there is nothing beyond it… But the truth is that the tracks go beyond this stop.”
The wall obstructing the track began to open, emitting the mechanical sound of churning gears. Another platform with a set of tracks appeared on the other side of the wall.
“This is the hidden track that lies beyond the last railway stop, the path that leads to the Church’s underground research facility,” Kiriko clarified. Cliff and Lovel’s jaws dropped.
“Then, is he—”
“Yes, Sephiroth is there. An automatic train connects this station to the research facility.”
It didn’t take long before they heard the rattle of an accelerating train come from the darkness farther down the railway track. A large two-car train slid into the platform. It was an automatic electric train designed to only run on this track.
“Let’s head off to where that monster lies,” Kiriko said, boarding the back railcar with her Golem. Ouka and the children climbed in behind her, and the doors closed. Now that they were all on board, the train took off.
“We will arrive in five minutes. Before that, we should—” Kiriko had turned around to face Cliff and the others when gunfire cut her off.