After parting with the harem survivors, Junior had
made his way to Kohlingen. At first, he did not want to believe Cait
Sith's story. He had never trusted that cat. He could tell that
there was a lot that Sith was hiding about his past. But Sith's story,
combined with the state of those bodies led Junior to the conclusion that his
father really was still alive.
When Junior had first left the harem party, he
wasn't sure how to find out where his father was, how he had been
ressurected, and why he was working for Golbez. The whole concept of Mog
returning made Junior afriad. If Golbez succeeded in getting the Crystals
and becoming even more powerful, Junior was sure that Mog would find to
double-cross his boss and steal his power. After all, Mog had planned to
double-cross the Dark Alliance in the second Moogle War. While thinking of
this, Junior got an idea. If there's anyone who would be likely to know
what was going on currently with Mog, it was his old ally, Azala.
Though Azala had not been heard from since the
third Moogle War, Junior was sure that he was still alive. And if he was,
Junior knew exactly where he would be: Sornos, the land of Reptiles and the home
of Godzilla, or so the legends said.
Since few outsiders had ever been to the continant
of Sornos and lived to tell about it, the place was shrouded in mystery.
It was said that after Godzilla retook his place is principal diety of this
world, he created the nation of Sornos as a home for all the various Reptite
races. Junior imagined that if Azala was indeed still alive, he probably
had connections with the near-omnipotent Godzilla, and would probably be
in-the-know about all the important things going on in the world.
Junior was a little uneasy about going to
Sornos, though. He had also heard tales of things such things as human
slavery going on there, but because they were only rumors he could not be sure
how much was fact and how much was speculation. Because of Sornos's
horrific reputation as a place of brutality, few dared to go there. The
only people Junior had ever heard of who had gone to Sornos and came back alive
were a few hardened merchants, and even they had never gone any farther into the
continant than the port.
It was known that the way these merchants had
of getting to Sornos was by way of a ferry from the port city of Kohlingen, the
only city that actually had a ferry that went to Sornos. This is where
Junior decided to go.
Upon reaching the city, Junior asked a man at the
dock when the next ferry to Sornos would come.
"It just left," the man said, "there should be
another one in a few days."
"Okay, thank you," said Junior.
"Hold it!" said the man, "Why would you wanna go
there, anyway? They'll rip you apart!"
"I have business with someone there. I
appreciate your concern, though."
"Um, okay," said the man, "But I just don't get it,
why all you weirdos going there all of the sudden?"
"Hmm?" said Junior, "What other 'weirdos' have been
going there?"
"Some wizard guy, a girl with wings, and three
different types of cat guys..."
"Ah, thank you," said Junior, and walked
away.
"Wait, you didn't answer my question!" said the
man, but Junior was too absorbed in thought to notice. Why are they going
to Sornos also, Junior wondered. What business did they have there, and
how did they expect to survive? Though he knew it was a dangerous place,
Junior was not very worried about his own safety though. He had lived this
long, and he doubted that anything in Sornos would be any more of a threat to
his well-being than anything that he had already faced in his
life.
Days later, the ferry arrived. Junior boarded it along with a few
very rough looking fellows. They all were very large and muscular, had
rough demeanors, and had many scars and tattoos. Over the duration of the
trip, Junior did not talk at all with his fellow passengers, because they seemed
to regard him with contempt.
As the ship neared Sornos, Junior looked upon it in awe. It was not
unlike what he had pictured. The sky over the continent was dark, even
though it was daytime. Junior could make out the outlines of several tall
buildings which towered opressively over the land. Some of these buildings
had giant spikes jutting out of them. Others appeared to have faces,
complete with glowing eyes, and others appeared to be contructed completely out
of bone.
After the ship docked, and it's passengers got off, Junior watched as the
merchants did business with their Reptite contact. They exchanged their
goods for some gold coins, and got back on the ship. As they got back on,
they looked curiously at Junior, wondering what he was going to do. The
few Reptites that were around also kept their eyes on Junior, who just did his
best to ignore them, and walked past them.
Junior travelled through the slum-like area for a while, not sure which way
he should be going. Then he realized that he was being followed.
After he realized this, he was quickly surrounded by some very large, ugly
Reptites. He recognized a few of them from back at the dock.
"What are you doing here?" one of them demanded.
"I am here to see Azala," Junior answered calmly.
"Haha," said the Reptite, "Yeah right! You won't be seeing much of
anything once Ghroalor is through with you!"
"Who's Ghroalor?" asked Junior, still keeping his cool.
"He's the one who's about to cut up your halfbreed ass!" said the Reptite,
pointing at the largest Reptite of the group. "Ghroalor doesn't like your
kind snooping around in these parts. It makes him mad. Do you know
what happens to fools who make Ghroalor mad?"
"No, what?" said Junior.
To answer, Ghroalor pointed to his belt, which was made from the skin of
Reptites, humans, and moogles. Then he drew two jagged-edged knives and
moved towards Junior grinning.
Junior sighed. He was not in the mood for a battle, but he should
have expected one, given this place's reputation. Ghroalor took a swing at
Junior, which he dodged. Then he took another one, which connected, but
did not do much damage to Junior's thick, Jenova-enhanced skin. This
surprised Ghroalor. Junior took advantage of this surprise and threw a
punch at Ghroalor's midsection, which knocked him down. Now furious,
Ghroalor got up and roared, and before Junior knew it, the whole gang was upon
him. He managed to incapacitate some of them without killing, but the more
of them he defeated, the more showed up. He decided there was only one way
to end this. Using all of his strength and speed, he wrestled Ghroalor's
knives away from him, restrained him, and held a knife at his throat. The
rest of the gang wasn't sure what to do. They hadn't expected such a
frail-looking creature to overpower their boss.
"This will end now!" said Junior in his best tough-guy voice, "You will do
what I say, or your boss gets it."
Ghroalor emitted a low snarl which seemed to indicate surrender.
"Okay, what do you want," said Ghroalor's right-hand man. "I want
you to tell me where Azala is, and then I want you to leave me alone for the
rest of my journey." Then he got an idea, "Oh yeah, and I also want
this." He looked down at Ghroalor's belt. The gang members
gasped. Ghroalor snarled, but he knew he had no choice. The
right-hand man reluctantly removed the belt from his boss and gave it to
Junior. Seeing their boss hand over the symbol of his power, the
whole gang seemed to loose their morale. Junior put it on, and said, "So,
where is Azala?"
"In Torrenos, the capital city. His castle is the one made of
bone."
"Thank you" said Junior, before taking his leave. Even though he
resented his father and everything he stood for, Junior was greatful at times
like this for the genetic enhancements his father had given him. Without
them, he would not have the physical capabilities necessary to survive
situations like that. He hoped that when others saw his belt, they would
know he defeated Ghroalor, and they would not mess with him. He hated
fighting.
"The things we touch have no permanence...there is
nothing we can hold onto in this world. Only by letting go can we truly possess
what is real."
-Li Mu Bai, Crouching Tiger Hidden
Dragon