"That's right."
"I just happen to be the number one guide in this town."
(The next morning. The group is outside, near the Shinra Mansion. Cloud speaks to Sephiroth.)
Sephiroth
"Once the guide gets
here, we're heading out."
(Tifa enters, wearing a kawaii cowboy hat. Tifa's father steps forward.)
Tifa's father
"Listen to me, Sephiroth.
In case something happens..."
Sephiroth
"...Trust me."
Tifa
"I'll be all right,
Dad!"
"I have two men from
SOLDIER with me."
(She turns to Sephiroth.)
Tifa
"I'm Tifa. Nice to
meet you!"
Cloud
"Tifa! You're the
guide?"
(He runs forward.)
Tifa
"That's right."
"I just happen to
be the number one guide in this town."
Cloud
"It's too dangerous!
I can't involve you in something like this!"
(Sephiroth takes a step toward the town exit, then turns to Cloud.)
Sephiroth
"Then there's no problem
if you respect her."
"....Let's go."
(He walks to the exit. The photographer from before steps forward.)
"Ummm....."
(Sephiroth turns.)
"Mr. Sephiroth! Please
let me take one picture for a memento!"
"Tifa, can you ask
him for me too......?"
(Cloud stands by the wall of the Shinra Mansion. Tifa stands next to him. Sephiroth, slowly, comes over and stands by Tifa.)
"Cheeeeese!"
(The photographer takes the picture. Sephiroth immediately walks toward the exit again.)
"Great, thank you!"
"I'll give each of
you a copy once I get it developed!"
(FMV sequence of a flyby of the dark, foreboding Nibel Mountains.)
There was a Mako Reactor
built in Mt. Nibel.
The cold air of the
mountains of Nibel. It was no different...
(We see the party walking along a mountain path, then Cloud at a rickety rope bridge. He begins walking across and meets Tifa standing in the middle. She continues a bit. The two guards catch up.)
Tifa
"It gets harder from
here! Follow me!"
(She runs the rest of the way across. Cloud follows. He meets Tifa and Sephiroth near the opposite side, when the screen starts to shake...)
Tifa
"Uh... the bridge!!"
(The bridge breaks in the middle. FMV sequence of the collapsing bridge. Cloud grabs Tifa's hand, holding her up, then Cloud falls, then everyone. The camera follows the broken, empty bridge as it swings, colliding with the side of the canyon. The scene changes again. We see the party, sans one guard, land at the foot of the canyon...)
Sephiroth
"Everyone seems to
be all right. Can we get back to where we were?"
Tifa
"These caves are intertwined,
just like an ant farm..."
"Oh, and Sephiroth....
There seems to be one person missing..."
Sephiroth
"It may sound cold,
but we've got no time to search for him. We can't go back now, so we must
go on. We'll travel together from here."
(Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth, and the one remaining guard travel along the path, reaching a cave, dimly lit but with brightly colored, sparkling walls.)
Cloud
"What's this?"
Tifa
"A mysteriously colored
cave..."
Sephiroth
"It must be the Mako
energy. This mountain is especially abundant in it. That's why the Mako
Reactor was built here."
(They continue through the cave, reaching a beautiful, glittering fountain.)
Cloud
"...And what's this?"
Sephiroth
"A Mako fountain.
It's a miracle of nature."
Tifa
"It's so beautiful..."
(She walks to the fountain.)
Tifa
"If the Mako Reactor
countinues to suck up the energy, this fountain will dry up too..."
(Sephiroth comes to the fountain.)
Sephiroth
"Materia. When you
condense Mako energy, materia is produced."
"It's very rare to
be able to see materia in its natural state."
(Cloud walks to the fountain.)
Cloud
"By the way... Why
is it that when you use materia you can also use magic too?"
Sephiroth
"You were in SOLDIER
and didn't even know that?"
"...the knowledge
and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia."
"Anyone with this
knowledge can freely use the powers of the Land and the Planet. That knowledge
interacts between ourselves and the planet calling up magic..... or so
they say."
Cloud
"Magic...... a mysterious
power."
(Tifa looks around, then bends down.)
Sephiroth
"Ha, ha, ha!"
Cloud
"Did I say somethin'
funny?"
Sephiroth
"A man once told me
never to use an unscientific term such as mysterious power! It shouldn't
even be called magic!"
"I still remember
how angry he was."
Cloud
"Who was that?"
Sephiroth
"Hojo of Shinra, Inc.
... An inexperienced man assigned to take over the work of a great scientist."
"He was a walking
mass of complexes."
(Tifa looks up.)
Tifa
"A Mako fountain...
So this is where the knowledge of the Ancients is."
phoenixgenesis@game-developer.com
Continue to Part 4 Scene 41