8 - Troubles In Midgar

[Shadow Phoenix]

Through the night, Bax relived every moment of the crash a thousand times. It was sheer horror, pain, and terror. As he awoke in a sweat, he stifled his screams, not wishing to draw any more attention to himself. Bax rose and walked over to the crude dresser of the room, where he had almost absentmindedly laid his prize dictionary the night before. Immediately, he sat down in a chair and began studying a bit. He sought for key phrases that a regular Phoeniyan citizen might use on a normal basis, studied conjugations and tenses, soaking it all up like a sponge. If he was going to survive here, he would have to know how to speak a little bit.

Bax donned his red Gi and quickly tied the sash. He quickly checked for all of his possessions: the dictionary, his two swords, the picture frame...yes, it was all there. Striding over to the window, Bax opened the shudders and looked out at the street. Well, he was obviously not the only alien creature on this planet, just the only one of his kind. Bax had a bond to all creatures of the fire element, and he sensed no Phoeniyans anywhere for miles.

Satisfied with his current knowledge of the language, Bax left the inn with a quick 'thank you' and made his way to what he believed was a newspaper stand. The man there looked up at him and eyed him strangely.
"Nice hair, dude."
Bax's cheeks reddened and his eyes narrowed to slits. He deeply despised those who commented on his race's features in a sarcastic manner. Bax summoned his knowledge of the language and tried to speak as best as he could, despite his thick accent.
"Your sarcasm no appreciate."
The man raised his eyebrow and laughed, "Chill, dude."
Bax's hair began to whip around a bit. This was a bit out of his character, but he was extremely proud. This was just pissing him off.
"Just give paper."
Bax practically hurled a coin at the man's throat; he recoiled, coughing for a few moments.
"Lighten...up..."
Bax saw what he wanted and grabbed it, stalking off.

After a few minutes, he was feeling a lot better about the situation and brought himself to read the local paper. It was rather difficult to ascertain all that was included in the articles, but he found out that this was a city of violence. The death rate was growing dangerously high, and there were robberies constantly occurring. There was also already an article describing a falling star of sorts, later determined to be a ship. There were conspiracies running about that the ship was a secret project of a powerful group called the "Senate." There were also a few other stories that merited mention. A young man had stopped a robbery using a gigantic sword. There also seemed to be a number of drifters found brutally murdered in an alley.

Bax put the newspaper away and looked up to see where he was. Immediately, he realized that he had wandered into a dangerous part in town while reading the newspaper. A few rough-looking types eyed him while cradling their respective weapons.
"Well, what have we got here?" said one with a patch over his eye.
"Dunno-" responded another, "-but he sure don' b'long 'ere." The man lazily dragged a dirty rag over his gun, apparently cleaning it.
Bax cursed under his breath and looked around cautiously. There were about 7 drifters eyeing him, all at various heights in this wider-than-average alley. Smoke clogged the air, but visibility was still generally good.

Bax opened his mouth to speak, his lip curling up. "I no want fight."
The man with the patch laughed, "Oh, alien man, eh? What a joke!"
All of the drifters laughed and Bax could feel his blood boiling already. They were growing dangerously close to pissing him off, and they would not like him when he was provoked.
"Let me go and no hurt."
One man leapt down from his perch, swinging his crowbar about, "Well we can't let you go without hurting you a little it, you realize. This is our territory, fire-head."
Bax lost the concentration he needed to speak in their tongue and began cursing at them in Phoeniyan.
"Merlsav! Din keri chrylaroto!"

In an instant, Bax had drawn his Star Fighter and was rushing at the man, sword flailing and hair raging. The man got a terrified look in his eyes and threw up his crow bar. The sword sliced through it like a hot knife through butter and continued to bite into the man's shoulder. He cried out in pain and Bax pushed him to the side to avoid the brewing conflict. The other six hesitated, and then immediately leapt towards Bax, guns blazing and melee weapons swinging out in full form. Putting away his sword in a flourish, Bax swung around and his aura exploded into flames.

"Yarko..." Bax whispered menacingly as he flung balls of fire all over the alley. One by one his assaulters fell to the flames and all sat nursing their wounds.
"What the hell are you, demon?!"
Hearing the word 'demon' shocked Bax back into reality. "Alli kao tre jandelen..."

Bax's aura retreated and he dashed out of the alley and began searching for a place to go or someone who could help him. He was obviously doing something wrong…<br>
OoC: sorry, it’s weak…I’m slightly uninspired this morning…just sort of a transition post…<br>
Translations:
"Merlsav! Din keri chrylaroto!" – “Bastard! I will kill you!
“Yarko…” – “Die…”
"Din alli kao tre jandelen..." – “I am not a demon…”

[ZaCloud]

At one point, Bax pauses near a semi-abandoned building, confused and uncertain. The sound of his footfalls manages to rouse Zack from a light nap beneath Fjalar. He opens his eyes and partially sits up, blinking sleepily. "Hey... Who's there?"

Bax looks at the speaker. He can't help but notice the extremely large sword. Also impressive are the young blonde man's blue eyes as they finally fully open. In that first moment, they look far too weary and old for his youthful face. Then, they suddenly go hard and dark. "What do you want?" he asks defensively, as if he had been challenged and doesn't want to appear weak. He starts to sit up swiftly...

And promptly hits his head on the giant sword, hard enough to knock it on top of him! Somehow the youth's limbs manage to be quite entangled. Flailing and warbling in absolute goofiness, he battles his own weapon!

Finally, he succeeds in sitting up, the sword clunking to the pavement. The boy rubs his head, blushing mildly and chuckling with embarassment. His lopsided grin is bright and optimistic.

"Haha! Oh man, I'm SO sorry 'bout that! What a slip-up."

He stands and brushes himself off a bit, revealing an unimpressive height, but nominal physique. Surely he cannot lift the sword that fell on him...?

His bare arms, however, tell tales of extensive physical damage. But his attitude... or attitudes... are puzzling in light of that.

He leans a bit sideways with his hands folded behind him. "Wow!" he says, still appearing friendly and outgoing, "That's such cool hair! Guess you're not from around here. Well, my name's Zack Strife. What's your name?"

(ooc: If you want me to change anything, shadowphoenix, just say so in a reply thingie and it shall be edited. I dont wanna take away control of your character ^_^;; )

[Shadow Phoenix]

OoC: No worries...btw, just to clarify for everyone - Bax doesn't really have hair...its not red...its fire...so it is red, but its...never mind...its kind of complicated to explain, just think flame instead of hair...yeah...never mind...

IC:

Bax had been running nonstop, drawing more than a few stares, unable to find his way back to the restaurant where he had met Mike much less the hotel he had stayed at the previous night. Finally, he reached a semi-abandoned building and stopped where he was to catch his breath. It wasn't so much that he was tired or frightened for that matter, but confused instead. He wasn't sure what to do next. He felt like several pairs of eyes were watching him and that he was being followed. His head swiveled and the flame atop his head pulsated a bit. Slowly, he calmed down...until he heard something move.

Bax leapt a bit and turned to face the sound. His hand instinctively reached for his sword and he waited for the noise to reveal its intentions.
"Hey...who's there?"
The voice sounded young...mature, but young. Bax looked around for the origin of the voice and saw a young, blonde-spiked man with blue eyes resting underneath an abnormally large sword. Even the Phoeniyans knew enough not to make something that large, even for those warriors who reached extremely large sizes and were probably qualified to use such weapons. But it was certainly a pretty sword...slightly battle-worn to say the least. It appeared, though, that this young man had seen even more battle than it, however.

The young man's blue eyes turned very cold - a stare that was very familiar to Bax.
"What do you want?" The young man began sitting up and hit his head on the gigantic sword. As he fought with it, Bax looked on confused. Here was this boy, obviously with a lot of power behind those innocent blue, yet war-weary, eyes, yet goofily dueling with his own oversized blade.
"Haha! Oh man, I'm SO sorry 'bout that! What a slip-up."
Bax looked at the young man and cocked his head to the side, slightly confused. He couldn't find the words to say in this awkward situation, but the young man continued the currently one-sided conversation as he stood up.
"Wow! That's such cool hair! Guess you're not from around here. Well, my name's Zack Strife. What's your name?"
Bax looked on at this strange, enigmatic young man and rolled his tongue along the roof of his mouth, which was growing increasingly dry. The boy did seem very nice - unlike others who he had encountered so far, he seemed to honestly find Bax's features intriguing. That was always a plus in diplomacy issues: finding something about the other race that you could appreciate. Should he identify himself as Phoeniyan King Bax Firago as he would normally introduce himself or just allow his surname?
"It is pleasure to meet, Zack Strife. My name is Bax Firago, and no - I not from round here."
Bax silently cursed his still inaccurate hold of the language but smiled regardless. He supposed that he was taking to it rather quickly, but it was difficult to hold conversations with such broken English.

Bax pointed to Zack's sword and smiled, "I like sword. What called?"
Bax tried to break the thick ice of the language barrier between he and Zack as best as he could. Perhaps he was making his second long-term ally already...

[Sephiroth X]

*After leaving Mikes restaurant Sephiroth X returned to the streets searching for the man known as Bax. X kept to the desolate alleyways like he always did when he lived here, the isolated darkness felt like the night of the Desert of the Dead to him. It made him feel at home. As he lingered in the alleyways he was left to his thoughts.

A king huh? A fire being? Mike said he too uses a sword, not like the Masamune, but a sword none the less so he must have some kind of code of honor… X what have you gotten yourself into this time… But all I really want are answers right now, maybe in some way he holds a key to unlocking things within my own mind. Its stupid to think he might know anything though, Mike told me he was an offworlder who was stranded here in the crash… he wouldn’t know about my dreams… But then why was he in one…?

*X continued to turn around corners of dark alleys and stay unnoticed. A Midgar Military Police squad car flew by down the road with its sirens blaring, they never noticed X at all… they were in a hurry, another murder maybe? Sephiroth X pondered the notion of another murder, and wondered who the hell was slaughtering Midgar citizens by the dozens.

Suddenly X stopped in his tracks as he felt something, it was only for a split-second but he still felt it. It was a strong presence that darted across an intersecting alley, X felt a sense of fear and anxiety from the entity but still recognized its basic structure.

Sephiroth X – “Bax…”

*Sephiroth X darted towards the alley intersection and looked down the alley and saw a red clad man hauling ass down the alley running. X observed for a second, red clothes, red ‘fiery’ hair, and a sword at his side… it definitely was this Bax alright. X then darted down the alley after him with extreme determination.

Bax apparently never saw X follow him down the alleys of Midgar, Bax just kept on running and running with seemingly unlimited endurance. X wondered what the hell scared him so much that he’d be running like this. Sephiroth X then noticed that Bax was slightly faster then he was, Bax slowly was pulling away from X down the alleyway… X could have easily attempted to catch up to him if he wanted, X always held back a little bit of his full potential… he liked people not knowing his limits. X stayed far enough behind to be not noticed, but still keep an eye on Bax as he ran around the corner of a semi-abandoned building.

X ran up to the corner of the building moments after Bax had entered but suddenly stopped as his head burst into pain. He felt another presence suddenly with Bax… a young feeling, not as powerful as Bax from what he could tell, but still strong willed. Suddenly X’s mind felt pain from another direction, X grasped his head trying to control the pain. He felt the presence of many people suddenly, first was Bax and this other person, then some kind of person with swords and guns, and a horrible evil power loomed in the back of X’s mind… totally evil… more evil in one person that even X could believe… The pain resided and X finally had control of himself again.

Sephiroth X – “Damnit… what the hell is going on around here…?”<br>
*X realized that he almost forgot about Bax just around the corner of the building. Sephiroth X dashed again and turned the corner sharply and saw two figures standing.

The first was Bax, the red clad fighter Mike had told him about. Mike’s description was perfect right down to the threads of his clothing, physically Bax was a little bigger then Mike had told him. But X was impressed by the man he tracked. The next person was obviously smaller then Bax, but he had spiky blonde hair with amazingly vivid blue eyes and held an ungodly large sword. The blonde kid had something odd about him, something X found unusually familiar… Apparently X had just interrupted a conversation as he heard the blonde one finish his sentence.

Bax - "I like sword. What called?"

*Then following that line Bax and the blonde kid both turned and looked at X in a sense of wonder and shock as X dashed around the corner and stopped.

Sephiroth X – “And you must be Bax…”

[CursedDragoon]

*Dragoon hopped from building to building, looking for the people he had sensed earlier. He senses 3 different people in the same vicinity. He heads over toward them. He stops on top on one building, looking at a street. He sees a man walk out of what looks like a resturant.*

"There's one."

*Dragoon then jumps away, looking for the other two people. He eventually stops on one roof. He looks over the edge and sees a man with his head of fire, and one knocking over his large sword. He listens in on there conversation, until the man he saw on the street runs around a corner. Dragoon thinks to himself "Hmmm, I wonder how this is going to turn out. I guess I'll stick around and find out."*

[Shadow Phoenix]

As soon as Bax had gotten the interrogatory words out of his mouth, he was greeted by yet another figure.
"And you must be Bax..."
Bax's eyes widened slightly as he looked at this new character: black-clad with silver hair, a semi-muscular physique, and a gorgeous work of art in a sword. He was fairly intimidating at first sight, and Bax could feel a deep and fierce power ripping at the seams that held the man together. His deep green eyes said that if nothing more.
"So, I was followed," thought Bax, again moving his hand to his sword as a precautionary measure.
"Yes, I am Bax. Who are you and what you want?" Bax's hair flickered a bit, in a sort of involuntary intimidation ploy. Bax still wasn't sure who he could trust here, and he felt as though anyone could exploit him if he was not careful. It was not that he did not want to trust these people; just that he valued his safety and wanted to get out of here as soon as he could. And unfortunately, Bax's skills of getting inside another's head were severely lacking at this moment in time.

While Bax's focus was still most definitely on this new green-eyed man, he still kept an eye on the young blue-eyed young man with the gigantic sword. How interesting that all three in that area wielded swords...

[Sephiroth X]

Bax - "Yes, I am Bax. Who are you and what you want?" Bax's hair flickered a bit.

*Sephiroth X saw Bax cautiously reach for his sword, X made a mental note to stay on the ready and then X spoke.

Sephiroth X - "Don't worry Bax I'm not here to fight you... My name is 'Sephiroth X'. Im sorry if me following you here spooked you at all... its just that your power is hard to keep unnoticed."

*Sephiroth X looked at the blonde haired kid with the huge sword*

Sephiroth X - "You... Who are you?"

Zack Strife - "The names Zack, Zack Strife."

*X found the name oddly familiar... but he would ponder that on a later day.

Sephiroth X - "Bax... I saw your ship crash in the Desert of the Dead a few days ago..."

*And from that point on Sephiroth X explained to Bax and Zack the dream of the fire-man and the intense feeling of multiple people within Midgar*

[ZaCloud]

Zack blinked as he looked at the new arrival. Two very striking men visiting in a matter of minutes; most unusual. This one possessed a very strong presence… He then realized that the first one did too. Silly of him to miss that. Regardless, the one in black, with long silver hair, was an amazing sight, and obviously possessed grace as well as power.

He listened to the conversation without interrupting; he still didn’t know what to really make of the situation. He instinctively didn’t really trust people… He tried to be friendly because something in him felt very lonely. Yet, he couldn’t let his guard down. Not yet anyway. It was more instinct than actual memory, though he could recall some history of cold comrades and cruel acquaintances. Fjalar was still on the ground where it had fallen, but he made no move to pick it up since it may have been seen as threatening.

Then, the one called Sephiroth X looked directly at him, with intriguing green eyes and compelling directness.

Sephiroth X - "You... Who are you?"

Trying to seem as confident as possible so he wouldn’t seem a pushover, he answered right away, "The names Zack, Zack Strife." He crossed his arms and relaxed his legs to look less small; both of these men were very tall compared to him, and he disliked feeling any bit helpless.

Sephiroth X - "Bax... I saw your ship crash in the Desert of the Dead a few days ago..."

Ahh, an explanation. At least this would partially explain how Bax came to be on this planet. He looked at the fire-headed alien for a while, feeling sympathetic as the crash was mentioned. That couldn’t have been pleasant.

Then, as Sephiroth described the dream he had with Bax in it, as well as his sensing of several powerful people, he both felt a bit nervous, and a bit excited. This was all extremely interesting, and seemed to be the setting of a big adventure. Zack had always loved adventures… Hadn’t he? He felt like that must have been the case, anyway… But also, part of him had been hoping to settle into simple life, as if he had been craving that. But he felt too involved in these short moments to just let this go. Maybe some of those strong people were the ones committing the awful murders he kept hearing about. That was something he did not want to allow to keep happening.

“Well… man that’s weird!” he commented when the story was over, “I wonder what all that means. I mean, usually a dream’s just a dream. Maybe that’s just some weird coincidence?” He chuckled, but it was obviously forced at this point. Like he was trying to convince himself of something and only shallowly succeeding. He was clearly too smart to discount the dream so hastily… so the reason was something other than his opinion or logic.

The haunting of my sleep… It’s always just a dream… Nothing more…<br>
Then he grew serious. “But about sensing people… That’s pretty deep. I wonder if more of you guys will end up finding each other... And what will come of it.” He meant powerful people when he said ‘you guys’, as if not including himself in that category. He was certainly not a man of ego.

[Shadow Phoenix]

OoC: I'm revealing bits and pieces of Bax's past here. If his thought process seems confusing right now, don't worry - its supposed to be. I still have a lot deeper to go. You'll all understand sooner or later. Just you wait

IC:

Bax found it difficult to understand everything that Sephiroth X was telling him, simply because of his sparse knowledge of the language. That barrier was hindering him every step of the way. Even after he finished, Bax stood there with a very concentrated face, biting his lip and trying to take everything he had heard in. There were so many words that Sephiroth had used that Bax simply could not comprehend. Bax had never been in this situation before. All of his previous dealings, he had always had some sort of translator who could easily help him out in any situation, or there was common ground in the language. Most of the planets in Bax's system had become bilingual, speaking what they called the "hidekaru menuti," or common tongue. No one here seemed to know that...Bax had tried it before with the innkeeper and it had not worked.

Bax had never felt so helpless and lost before in his entire life. Granted he was still a very young king at only 28 years old, but he had definitely seen what he believed were some trying times. A civil war broke out in his second year of reigning over Auralis and he'd had to go out on the front lines to settle things between the two warring sides. He'd been wounded, and there had been a great deal of death. He'd lost his father at an extremely young age, and even his elder brother. So many times in his short life, Bax had felt the pain of loss and utter confusion, but he'd always been able to overcome it. He had a number of advisors and friends who he could always count on, and every time that he had ever needed their help, they were there. Help in diplomacy, translating, fighting wars, ruling the planet in illness - all of it, Bax had had help with.

But now all of those who could possibly help him were dead or trillions of miles away and not expecting him for a few more months. Bax had no idea what to do, instinctively believing that his advisors would come to his aid and get him out of this mess. Just descend in a ship and take him home...but no, they were all dead. Bax felt helpless and suddenly realized how reliant he was on all of those around him. He thought back through major events in his life, and even some minor ones, and realized he had not done a single thing without the aid of others. He was raised to believe that he was very capable and strong, able to do anything on his own. That was the philosophy that he'd always believed. But he had never done anything on his own - he had been pampered through everything that had ever happened. Everything was always handed to him on a fine silver platter.

Did that make him weak? Unfit to rule? Was all of his life one big lie told to allow the monarchy to persevere, even though he was the third king in 20 years and not meant to be in such a prestigious position?

Bax clutched his head tightly with one hand and shook it, a tear dredging down his cheek. Why was this freakish language barrier causing him this unreasonable pain? He didn't want it...he didn't want to be here, he didn't want to be having these problems, he wanted to be home with his wife...confident, willing, and possessing no problems. This just wasn't right...

"I...am sorry." Bax went slowly this time, not just mumbling words and incorrectly conjugating them. But it was so difficult.
"Sephiroth X...I...not...understand...everything...you say. Could you...repeat parts?"
Sweat beaded at Bax's forehead. He was trying extremely hard to get this right. It was just the first of many steps that he had to take...needed to take - wanted to take...to survive. To get home. To see Galandia.

Yes, this was the first step to prove that he was not helpless. Bax knew that he could be responsible for his own actions and prove that he did not need to lean on the people who had helped him with every little thing for so long. If he could only conquer this barrier, scale it and properly communicate, then he knew that he could do so much else. He would try his damn best to get to the point where he could understand these people and converse with them like one of their own kind. Once he could do that, he knew that he would be able to do so much else. Acquiring a ship and making it back to Auralis to properly govern was the primary goal as it had been all along.

"Baby steps," Bax told himself. "Baby steps until I can finally reach that level...of responsibility..."

Bax was not ready to succumb to his inner demons just yet. His quest had already started and as far as he could see, his agenda was crystal clear.
"Please, I want...understand." Bax removed his hand from his head and looked into Sephiroth X's eyes. The left side of his mouth curled up a bit, and his fiery eyes dimmed a bit: proof of his sincerity.

The stars have fallen
The fires are set
Light your torches
And do not fret
The quest has begun
We'll persevere
And never forget
Why we've come here...

[ZaCloud]

After his wondering, Zack had looked at Bax in time to see his frustration. It was then that he really realized how difficult Bax's situation must have been. He had not had much experience with others, so seeing another's frustration had him trapped for a moment like a deer in headlights.

But he did know what it was like to have a hard time understanding others. And he knew how it was to struggle to say what was meant. Not in the same way, yet sadly similar.

His expression and posture echoed his sympathy; he grew completely subdued and his eyes almost reflected as accurately as mirrors. He did not speak yet; what Bax obviously wanted was to understand what Sephiroth X had said. He would not interfere, hoping the alien would be able to meet his goal. However, if he saw a way he could help, he was willing to try his best to do so.

(OOC: Yeah, really short, but I just wanted to let ya know how Zack reacts to seeing others unhappy.)

[Sephiroth X]

*Bax clutched his head tightly with one hand and shook it, a tear dredging down his cheek. Why was this freakish language barrier causing him this unreasonable pain? He didn't want it...he didn't want to be here, he didn't want to be having these problems, he wanted to be home with his wife...confident, willing, and possessing no problems. This just wasn't right...

Bax - "I...am sorry." Bax went slowly this time, not just mumbling words and incorrectly conjugating them. But it was so difficult.
"Sephiroth X...I...not...understand...everything...you say. Could you...repeat parts?"

*Sweat beaded at Bax's forehead. He was trying extremely hard to get this right. It was just the first of many steps that he had to take...needed to take - wanted to take...to survive.

Bax - "Please, I want...understand." Bax removed his hand from his head and looked into Sephiroth X's eyes. The left side of his mouth curled up a bit, and his fiery eyes dimmed a bit: proof of his sincerity.

*After this Bax loosely grasped his head and went down to a knee in some form of concentration. Sephiroth X expected Bax to possibly react this way, the language barrier is a difficult thing to overcome. Before this worlds universal language was created it was difficult for different areas of the world to communicate. Sephiroth X looked down at Bax, he felt sorry for the poor alien. Stranded on a world where he could barely even say "hi" to someone walking down the street. X went down to one knee right in front of Bax. Bax looked at X in a moddest wonder, probably confused about what the silver-haired man was doing. X placed one finger over his mouth and made a quiet "shh" sound. Sephiroth X placed his right hand over Bax's left shoulder, Bax flinched quickly wondering what he was doing, but still felt calm around X for some reason.

Bax stared into Sephiroth X's bright green eyes, as X held his hand over Bax's shoulder X went into a deep concentration as he stared back into Bax's fiery eyes. The green glow of X's eyes brightened, seemingly creating its own light for a moment through X's own concentration. Then Sephiroth X closed his eyes and lowered his head a little. Zack Strife looked in wonder at what was going on, then suddenly Bax heard something...

Sephiroth X - "Do not be afraid Bax..."

*Bax looked around in sudden confusion, he could actually understand what X had said to him. Bax looked at X and X was still looking down with his eyes closed, no sign of talking.

Sephiroth X - "Please, do not try and respond Bax... I'm talking to you through my mind... if you can understand me, please nod your head."

*X opened his eyes for a moment and saw Bax quickly nod his head. Sephiroth X then returned into a deep kind of meditation.

Sephiroth X - "I can't keep up this level of concentration for long... so I must be quick with what I say..."

*Sephiroth X through his telepathy told a much quicker story of the crash and X's dream.

Sephiroth X - "...I know our language is difficult for you to learn, and that this is all extremely confusing to you probably. Though I wish I could, I cannot stay around you too long here... I have my own problems in this city, and being around you would only bring us both into trouble. Do not worry... this Zack Strife with us has a good aura around him, I only sense confusion in him not evil. Stick with him and he will help as a guide, I will stay around you too Bax but I must relagate myself to the shadows, consider me a "One Winged Angel". I seek answers, not fights from you Bax. Remember this."

*Though everything Sephiroth X said made crystal clear sense to Bax, he felt overwhelmed and had to say something to him. He tried to respond to the link X had made with his mind and tried to think something back to X.

*Whatever Bax tried to think, it wasn't clear to X. It was covered with drifting thoughts from Bax's own mind and was too much for X to take in at once. Voices and images painfully flashed through X's mind extremely quickly, X saw fire and fighting flash through his mind and it all ultimately ended with X seeing the image of a burning phoenix within the mind of Bax. A powerfull force seemed to slam into X's mind, and then into Sephiroth X physically as well. X instinctively tried to break the connection of minds and doing so the remaining things Bax tried to send to X's mind took a physical toll on X himself, it formed a massive force of invisible energy to slam into X's chest sending him airborne and slamming into the wall ten feet behind him. Zack was shocked to see this suddenly happen, from his point of view X just suddenly 'woke up' and flew fiercly into a brick wall. Bax stood up shocked and his face showed true sympathy, he didnt know what he did.

*After the initial slam X landed face down on the ground, he slowly got up to his knees and a slow trickle of blood ran down from the side of his mouth. Sephiroth X first dusted himself off and then whipped the blood away from his mouth. X assumed that Bax tried to reply through telepathy, but even he didnt expect this kind of result from it.

Sephiroth X didnt change the expression on his face at all as he slowly stood up, but one thing ran through his calm mind... The energy he felt through Bax at that precise moment was ungodly, that power was unbelievably intense. Whatever 'limit' X thought Bax had for a power, he was sure as hell wrong. X then noticed Bax's shocked face.

Sephiroth X slowly replied - "Its... okay...."

*Bax calmed a little bit, X then noticed Zack was edgy now.

Sephiroth X - "Dont ask how or why... it'll take too long..."

*X felt a twinge of pain in his mind again, he felt the presences of the others around again. This time they were a little bit more intense... a little bit closer... X looked at Bax one more time and spoke slowly.

Sephiroth X - "Bax... do you... understand?"

*Bax slowly nodded "yes".

[ZaCloud]

Zack was not, at the time, capable of complete conscious confusion since his mind had been set not to wonder too hard about anything. Such was the nature of his mental condition. Wondering about his past might make him remember. Wondering about his present might make him afraid. Wondering about his future might make him completely at a loss.

So while he was quite puzzled and surprised at what had occurred, the only true confusion was what lay in his subconscious, bound and gagged in his mind’s darkest closet.

Thus, he stood by with a slightly stooped posture and arms very slightly raised, like a servant eager to aid anyone who asked for help.

Looks like some kinda mind-talking maybe. Well that should help Bax here understand more…

Then, came the violent conclusion, with Sephiroth being thrown into the wall behind him. The situation was too strange for Zack to physically react much, though he did take a halting step forward in case either man was seriously hurt.

Whoah! Awful intense closing! As long as they’re both ok… I’m that worried about them? Well… I do have a feeling these two are good guys. I hope I’m right… I don’t remember meeting many good guys at all.

Some gentle voice, a bit different, echoed in his thoughts: Go for it. Believe them. You could use a friend or two.

Zack inwardly nodded. He was now committed to aiding these two. As long as he could keep his strange, nibbling sense of fear at bay…<br>
Sephiroth X then looked at him and said, “Dont ask how or why... it'll take too long...”<br>
Zack now nodded physically. Sephiroth must have thought he was mostly wondering what had occurred just then. To Zack, it didn’t make much difference because it was finished, so he didn’t bother worrying. His only worry was their safety, and they both seemed alright. And it really must have been a telepathic moment, for the man in black then asked Bax if he had understood, and the man of fire answered in an awed affirmative.

So that took care of that.

He still refrained from speaking, so as not to interrupt anymore possible conversation between the two men.

They’re awesome, he observed silently, Both of ‘em. Powerful and strong.

… I hope they never hate me.