Faithless Memories

Settling In

Chapter 14

Kris quickly got herself together and looked to her brother. He was staring in awe with his mouth open. She understood the feeling, but she also knew they couldn't keep standing there. She pinched the underside of his arm to get his attention. He yelped before he glared at her, but he still leaned toward her when she motioned him to. "Keep a close eye on your packs. We have the most important stuff on us, but it's better not to take chances."

He was still rubbing his arm where she pinched him as he gave her a nod. That was all she needed before she took the lead. She knew their gil should be mostly safe as she had insisted they split it between them and store it on different parts of their bodies. If they were accosted by pickpockets, there was not too much in any one place.

They ended up going to three different inns before they found one that both had an opening and a stable for the chocobos. At least from what Kris could tell, they were all about the same as far as quality went. It didn't take them long to strip their mounts down and clean them before they headed up to their room. They had to share one, but at least it had two beds. It wasn't like they weren't used to it anyway. It didn't take them long to rig a sheet up to divide the room. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than nothing.

By that time, they were both ready to call it a night. The innkeeper had been kind enough to agree to send their food up to their room, so they were able to share a meal in relative silence before they sat to figure out their next moves. As much as Kris wanted to get started looking for a place as soon as possible, Zack convinced her to go with him the following day to see if he could sign up. Even though there was still a lot to discuss, once that decision was made, they both decided to turn in and get an early start the next day.

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The next morning, Kris took the precaution of dividing their gill again before she allowed them to leave the room. She felt strange leaving the rest of their things but knew they couldn't take everything with them through the city. At breakfast, they met the specialist they had been told about. The woman was the first person they had seen in the city that seemed to genuinely want to help them. Her smile was contagious, and the siblings quickly found themselves caught up in the woman's enthusiasm.

Once they briefly went over their plans for the day, the woman told them where they could get train passes to take them to the city center, as well as advised them that they would probably want to make a stop at one of the banks before they continued. It wasn't that gil would not be accepted, but it would be easier to guard a card than a bunch of cash. Both siblings thanked the woman as they left and headed toward the building she had pointed to first.

There was only one bank in Midgar, but it had many branches strewn across the metropolis. That was a fact that Kris was grateful for. It took them nearly an hour to be seen at that branch, but opening an account went smoother than she had anticipated. Both she and Zack were given a card to carry that would be accepted anywhere in the city. The woman they were working with paused at that point and frowned slightly before she gave them a final warning. "If you do end up below the plate for some reason, those won't do you any good. Take my advice and stay away from there if you can."

They both gave her a nod. It wasn't as if they hadn't heard it before. Even in Gongaga, the rumors of the slums were not pretty. Kris was sure it was exaggerated, but she had no desire to find out first hand.

Before they even left the building, Kris made sure Zack had his card stashed where it couldn't be reached easily by someone else before they took off for the closest train station. By the time they reached the city center, it was already lunchtime, and it took Kris some effort to convince Zack to let them eat before they tackled the Shinra headquarters. It was only the fact that she told Zack that he would need all the energy he could muster if they did take him for an evaluation that allowed her to convince him to take a break first.