15 - Downward Spiral

[Shadow Phoenix]

After about two hours of normal flight across the Desert of the Dead, Bax stirred to consciousness and clutched tightly to Keldira’s back.
“You’re awake,” she cooed.
Bax groaned as the searing pain in his leg reminded him of all that had happened in the past several hours.
“Awake…and kind of wishing I was dead.”
Bax heard something that sounded like a bird’s idea of laughter echo inside the walls of his mind. It sounded like a sort of twittering and clicking, soft and sweet.
“So, Bax—it’s been a while since I last saw you. How did you end up in that small valley town?”
Bax opened his eyes and looked down. The desert sands were dozens of shades of blue and purple, shadowed under the eerie light of a full harvest moon riding high in the sky. Dunes rose and fell below them, the sands cascading like the waves of the sea. Bax usually didn’t get this kind of a view when flying through the sky on Auralis—he was usually in a ship, far from the windows and doing some kind of business. This view was exhilarating and terrifying—but beautiful. They were so far away from Nibelheim now—in fact, Bax could just now see Midgar as a speck on the horizon, visible only because of the bright lights that characterized the city. He had come quite a distance in the past several days—more than halfway across the desert, in fact.

“I was helping, Lynx…he was knocked unconscious during a fight and I was carrying him. We stumbled into a Nibelheim patrol party and were brought into the city for so-called safety reasons. But that only made things worse—between my fight with Lynx, which I still do not understand, and the Senate’s invasion, Nibelheim was practically destroyed. I doubt I shall be able to show my face there again. It’s…all my fault. All those people died because of me.”

“Bax,” Keldira snapped quickly, “Stop that now. You cannot blame yourself for every ill that befalls this planet. I’ve been here long enough to realize that malice controls these humans a great deal. It is a great pitfall of their kind to be vengeful and to be so incapable of keeping such feelings in check. Phoeniyans and Kisenians at least do not succumb so easily to their anger.”

Bax sighed. But that wasn’t all true…not all humans were horrible creatures. Not all Phoeniyans and Kisenians (the only other races Keldira was properly aware of, Bax supposed) were masters of their malice. “They’re not all bad, Keldira.”
“I didn’t say they were. But you can’t blame yourself for their downfalls.”
“I can at least try to help.”
“Bax, you have enough burdens on your shoulders. I thought that getting back to Auralis was your top priority. Am I wrong?”
Bax closed his eyes and lay back down completely as he reminisced about Auralis and its beauty. How he did miss his planet, his people, and most of all, his family.

But Keldira was wrong. “No, Keldira,” he breathed reluctantly. “My obligation is to this planet as to my people. I am here to deal with Necrostiana. It is not my fate—it is my choice. And I must stop her—I must stop Valtiel.”
“Still not a believer in fate or destiny, I see,” Keldira cooed with resignation. “I suppose you would not…but just don’t be a fool, Bax. If you die, then much of what has happened over the past few months…the past few years…will all be in vain. Whether you like it or not, you cannot deny that so much has happened to bring you to this place at this time. Call it coincidence, luck, fate, or whatever you may, but you are here for a reason. Don’t try to find more to complicate your life.”

Bax had been finding more lately that too much was happening beyond his control that kept seeming to place him in the right place at the right time—or the wrong place at the wrong time. He hated thinking for even a moment that he was not in control of his own life. It was hard enough not being in control of his own mind sometimes. Destiny did not rule Bax Firago…

Bax opened his eyes and looked over at Black Spider lying prostrate on Keldira’s right side. She had gracefully nestled him in between her feathers so that he did not slip off and so that she could still fly well enough. He looked like a mess as well…he had tried to protect Bax—and it seemed that he had managed to do so for quite a while before the three powerful priests had taken care of him. He was a good friend…hell, it still felt strange calling him that, though.
“Do you know Black Spider?” Bax whispered to Keldira.
“Black Spider…Fashalt, correct? Yes, I know him.”
Fashalt—ah, yes, Black Spider’s given name before he took on the mantle of his current call sign. Bax had almost forgotten that name…
“How do you know him?”

Midgar grew closer. Bax could make out individual structures instead of seeing a simple mass.

“Like it or not, Bax, beings like Fashalt and I are all connected.”
“What do you mean ‘beings like you’? What connection to do you have to Fashalt?”
“We are all spawn of the Apocalypse. We have been touched by an ancient evil and have a piece of it in ourselves. Even though I was separated from my sister, I still have a connection to her and I feel the soul of Apocalypse’s burnt impression on my very soul, though the original mark is over two millennia old. Though I have no part of the Apocalypse residing within me like his spawn, I still feel them. Fashalt is one of those spawn.”

Bax looked over at his sleeping friend. Black Spider had often mentioned wanting revenge on several beings. One of them was this enigma, Apocalypse. But he had never quite explained that one. He had explained his qualm with his brother, a man who called himself Ragnarok and spoke similar talk of the Apocalypse. But that was years ago, and Bax and his allies had dealt with that scourge. What was this about spawns?

“I don’t understand, Keldira,” Bax admitted. “What are you talking about?”

There was a moment of silence, then Keldira craned her head back for a moment and seemed to shake her head.

“My memory is fragmented. I spent too long asleep and forgot so much of my past, but I have been awake now and my dreams are no longer of darkness. Things happened 2000 years ago which I should not recall, but I see things in my dreams which can only be of my life eons ago when I was a Kisenian woman. I remember things about a man who came to Auralis calling himself ‘Apocalypse’ and offering peace. I remember him turning the Kisenians against each other. I remember rising up against him and grappling with him, fighting with everything I had. And I remember defeating him and sealing his essence within me. I died and was reborn as a phoenix centuries later—Xalotrev, I called myself: Xalotrev, the Seal. I did not remember my former life. But Apocalypse and I dwelt together, a fused consciousness. It was only in a brief moment of deception that Apocalypse was able to convince the priests of the Auralisian temple to split us into two. And I became what I am today—and Necrostiana what she is. Necrostiana is truly Apocalypse…and therefore, so is Valtiel.”

Bax sat in silence for a while, wishing Keldira would continue, but also hoping she would not. This was too much to take in all at once. Who the hell was Apocalypse?

Necrostiana had an answer for that one. “The best I can tell is that Apocalypse was some sort of super-being…a demigod if you will…who was seeking to use our planet for his own means, whether as sick fun or something more constructive and deadly. I don’t know…but it didn’t stop there.

“I believe that Necrostiana’s crystal-seal chipped during the flight and that a piece of her essence flew off elsewhere—a spawn as it were. I slept for most of the journey through the trillions of miles of space, only somewhat aware of the crystal. My only goal was to guard it and make sure we got far away from Auralis. She landed on Earth, pulled in by its gravity, and I followed her onto the planet and made sure that she landed in an abandoned place far away from the civilizations Earth had at that time. Then I sealed myself away, succumbing to sleep for hundreds of years. I forgot almost everything, then…I didn’t waken again until the war, where the Senator used me as his personal steed. Bastard…”

Bax remembered Keldira telling him that months ago, right after his first interaction with Valtiel, back at the hospital. It still gave him the chills. Keldira remembered so much more now…

“But that is another matter. Fashalt is a powerful telepath—he reached to me during my extended slumber following the war. I am now remembering the details of our conversation—being close to him allows me to recant my memories, even though they are fragmented. He explained to me the history of what he knew. He possesses the memory of Apocalypse’s spawn, who called itself Ragnarok, up until the time it left him for another host, and he knows more of the story after that as well.”

Ragnarok…by the Ancients, it was true then…it was all related. Bax began to breathe heavily.
“I dealt with Ragnarok, Keldira…years ago, it invaded Auralis under the guise of a rogue Primatan soldier. You’re telling me that was the spawn of the scourge which now possesses Valtiel?”
“Calm down, Bax. Yes, that is correct. You will have to ask Fashalt for more details. But as far as he knew, there were at least four Ragnarok spawn, including himself. According to him, two of them were killed, including Ragnarok. Is that correct?”
Bax nodded, “If my eyes see what is true, then yes. We killed Ragnarok a few years ago…my allies and I in the Jerredis system.”
“Then there are two left. Fashalt and another, residing somewhere else in the galaxy. As far as I can tell, Fashalt has come here to deal with Apocalypse. He wants revenge, and he’ll go to any lengths to get it.”

And so the cast grew larger and the web grew thicker…

“Why are you just remembering all of this now?”
Keldira huffed, spewing a small flame. “Hey, you try having a consciousness that has been around for 2500 years. Do you think you could remember everything either, especially when you’ve been inside three bodies and been asleep or dead for hundreds of years at a time?”
Bax shut up. She had a point.

“Either way…to get to Valtiel, to Necrostiana, and ultimately to Apocalypse, you’re going to have to deal with a number of parties. Fashalt wants the same thing you do, and his vengeance may get in the way. The Senate and the Order both want you since they can’t have Valtiel. And then there is the problem with the Element of Prosperity. I felt something recently…it has been found.”

Bax nearly fell off of Keldira’s back. “It what?! Who found it?”
“That I don’t know. But the planet’s tides shifted—I felt it deep within me. The same thing happened the last time the Element was found and it woke me clear out a very deep sleep. Trust me—I know this feeling.”

That was it—Bax had to get moving. He had to find Zack and figure out what was going on. Get to other continent like they had been planning. This was getting bigger by the minute. There was not another moment to spare.

And as luck had it, Bax looked ahead of him and saw Midgar looming large before them. Bax waded through the minds and auras, searching for Zack’s. He found his essence, somewhere in one of the abandoned parts of the city.
“Keldira—do you feel Zack? Take me there, please.”

Keldira spread her wings and flapped mightily, narrowing her body and surging through the buildings, racing closer and closer towards Zack. A massive trail of flames swung behind her, visible to everyone out at this time of night (mostly criminals and their victims). Bax held on for dear life and awaited his time to reunite with Zack. They were in a different place than they had been when he left—Bax hoped everything was all right…

Keldira suddenly flung her wings back and stopped violently in mid-flight, her wings spreading a brilliant corona over the area and brightening the night sky into near-daylight. Keldira set down gently and bent slightly to allow Bax to get off. Fashalt rolled off onto the ground next to him.
“Thank you, Keldira…stay close—I may need your help again soon.”
Keldira nodded and bowed gracefully before sweeping high into the night sky, passing through a halo of flames and arching away, singing her sweet song.

As soon as Bax stood up, he realized how much Keldira’s fiery warmth had made him forget about his pain. Bax bit his lip and gritted his teeth as his nerves reminded him that his right leg had been practically snapped in half. Bax cursed and pitched to the ground.

No, he had to stand…

Bax summoned his strength and grabbed Black Spider’s limp body, awkward though his wings were. He slowly stood up and hobbled into the building—a volunteer fire department. How appropriate…

Bax appeared inside the door and staggered a few steps before pitching over once again, collapsing on his broken leg into a pile on the floor. Fashalt rolled a few feet away.

“Zack…” Bax murmured, his agony taking him again. He shouldn’t have tried to walk…

“Help me, Zack…”

[ZaCloud]

(OOC: Co-written by myself and SP, so fun! ^_^ And no we didn't forget about you, Sqiky; we halted at a time where your character can wake up and be like "wtf" as needed, though if actual post order is a problem we can shuffle 'em around as needed and have yours before this one. I look forward to moar! )

---

Zack's eyes flew open at the sound, instinctively moving toward the source without further motion. In a room he had expected to be dark, there was instead light. And two forms on the floor, both familiar, one more pleasantly so than the other. But both in rather dire straits. Quickly shedding his desert-born care of waking up, he scrambled his limbs, eyes widened now, arching his back against the wall to push away from it and land on hands-and-knees beside Bax.

In barely over a whisper, instinctive once more due to the roommate further into the building, he blurted out, "Bax?! Man it's you! I was getting all worried again, but jeez you're hurt! What happened?! Why's there another gargoyle here? He looks bad too, who needs help more? What's worst on you?"

Bax lifted his head and looked in those worried, battle-worn blue eyes. Ancients it was good to see Zack again, even though he felt like practically ripping his leg off.
"It is a long story, Zack," Bax offered, wincing and reaching down to his leg, ripping the material away. "My leg is broken. I can barely feel anything.."

Bax pointed his finger at the gargoyle lying next to him and grunted, biting his tongue to stifle the pain. "This is my friend, Black Spider...I don't know how badly he is injured...I tried not to move him too much..." Bax's leg twitched and he groaned in agony. "I missed you in the desert, Zack..."

Zack looked between the stranger and his friend with worry as the situation was explained, then his tensions dropped momentarily at Bax's most recent words. He smiled a bit, though his eyes were still reflecting the grim situation. "I missed you too, Bax... I knew you'd come back, somehow... But jeez, not in this kinda shape. Even with your healing abilities... You must be exhausted. I..." He thought for a moment, looking around.

Then, he scrambled up and jogged quietly to a cabinet over the sink. He found a whole roll of paper towels, fortunately only slightly plundered by mice looking for nesting material. There was certainly enough for what was needed. Pulling off a few pieces and tucking them under an elbow against his side, he jogged back to Bax and knelt by his injured leg.

Bax looked at Zack's scrambling activities with wonder despite his pain. What was he trying to do?

"Looks like you'll pretty much help yourself, Bax. Lifting your leg a little." He punched the paper towel roll meanwhile, flattening it as much as possible. He carefully used both hands to raise Bax's leg, and used a knee to shove the roll underneath. On the way, it dragged in Bax's blood, and more fell from the leg onto the paper. The desired effect came in moments as the roll caught on fire.

Bax chuckled a little (before realizing that any unnecessary movement was a bad idea) and closed his eyes.
"You are smart, Zack. Good idea." Bax breathed in sharply and winced again. "I was also shot a few times." Bax tore away what remained of his shirt--most of it had already been burned or torn away.

As the fire curled around Bax's leg and began slowly working (despite the poison and the massive severity of the wound), the Phoeniyan pointed gingerly to the four bullet wounds on his chest, along with the one in his left hip and the wrenched out part of his lower left arm.

"A few times," he repeated.

Zack's eyes widened again, and he choked on a cry of shock. He looked helpless for a moment, his breath quickening and his hands raising back through his hair as he muttered, "Jeez, Bax, jeez..." The paper towels he'd had pinned under his left arm fluttered to the floor, and he scrambled to catch them, trying to focus again. He muttered, "Not enough... Bax, how deep? Anything internally bad do you think? Your breathing ok? I..." He snapped a look toward the gargoyle on the other side of his friend. "I think the other guy's dead, I can't feel anything from him... But you... I can't... what can I do? More fire?"

Bax's eyes shot wide open at Zack's pronouncement of death on Black Spider. That couldn't possibly be right. Beads of sweat began running down his face and he shook his head.

"No, he can't be dead...he was alive when I brought him in here, just sleeping."
Bax brought his right hand up and ran it through his hair nervously. He began cursing in his mind--that couldn't be right.

Zack saw Bax's unrest, and felt horribly guilty as he said, "Please hang on, I'm sorry Bax, I'm gonna check on him. You brought him with you so..." He quickly stepped around his friend, every movement away from Bax a battle against Zack's loyalty. He felt more life from Bax than he did from the stranger, and that was what drove his decision. As he neared, however, he did feel something. The gargoyle was alive, but barely emanating anything to Zack's unnamed sense. It was almost as if the being were transparent in the spiritual sense.

He began a thorough examination, wiping blood away with the paper towels he had clung to. He muttered his findings. "Real beat up... broken bones... bruised, smashed... But... I don't think..." He looked toward Bax, puzzled. "I don't know if I can tell right or not... he's hurt but I can't find anything as serious as it should be... I can barely feel his energy like he's... tiny. But... I don't think I can do anything more for him right now."

The gargoyle on the ground shifted and groaned suddenly beneath Zack's ministrations, his voice gurgling unintelligibly. After a few moments of moaning and groaning, his jaw opened and went slack.

"Aww fuuggg," he slurred, cursing, "Mah jaaw ih burkn." His head flopped to the side and he tried to right himself again wtihout success. "N' mah nik. Nush, urbs, urms....sssshhhhhit."

Bax breathed an uneasy sigh of relief--he couldn't help but laugh a little. The tone in Black Spider's voice was agonized but betrayed more annoyance and frustration than pain. He was almost sarcastic. Not to mention that Bax could barely understand him.

Zack meanwhile fell back onto his behind, staring in disbelief. He blinked several times, eyelids covering an amazing distance with how widened his eyes were. "Uhh... g-glad you're... alright? Umm... Your energy just felt like you're not... I'm real sorry but I have to take care of Bax, I think he's hurt worst after all, no offense sir, I'll get right back to you."

As Zack walked away, Black Spider began muttering angrily after him. "Ungh, mah bohsir burkn! 'Il muhfugr, I ora k...ungh..."

Bax shook his head and winced again. He responded to Zack's questions as calmly as he could.

"They are deep, but I have removed the bullets. I was poisoned...the same stuff the Senate used on me a few months back, I think...but more deadly."

Bax's left arm twitched a little and he held his wrist with his other hand. "I do not think my...what is the word...breathing...organ...is collapsed. I breathe fine for now...more fire may help...Dina treated them, and so did the doctors..."

Zack nodded to acknowledge Bax's words as he looked around the surrounding office area more, striking gold as he found a bunch of paperwork in a desk drawer. Carrying it all in a large ragged pile, he brought it over and just plain spread the papers over Bax, while murmuring, "Bastards... Hopefully more good ol' fire will help. Anything else that might help, let me know." He lit the edge of one of the papers on the already existing fire working on Bax's leg, and he used it to help ignite the rest. He watched the flames spread with some natural apprehension at the prospect of setting his friend on fire, some grim satisfaction at assisting, and a whole lot of worry for Bax's condition.

"Thank you, Zack..." Bax sighed as he felt the fire washing over him. He did not have the strength to work the fires himself, so it was nice to have this fuel to help him get his strength back...it was working...slowly, but it was working. It was doubtful that he would be completely healed with just this, but he would at least be able to function.

Bax looked over at Black Spider and blinked as the shape shifter kept shifting around, lifting his arms a little before dropping them. He grunted and tried to work himself into some workable position.

"How are ya doin over there?"

Black Spider began ranting and cursing such that Bax could scarcely understand him.
"Aw, buh i fiiiingh," he ended with a sarcastic tone.

"I think he said he's fine."

"Duuurmaaahsssssss...." Black Spider groaned.

Bax shook his head and laid back down. "This is...what is the word...absurd..."

The blonde teen slowly managed a tiny smirk at the situation. These two certainly knew each other, more than just a recent run-in obviously, with how they currently interacted. He found that realization to be encouraging; he had worried that Bax had too few friends on this alien world. It was good to know that there were others besides the ones he was familiar with.

He felt content to watch the fire glow and the two banter, feeling drained as the adrenaline rush of worry had subsided. However, there was still much work to be done, and he picked up his water bottle where he'd left it, near the wall he had been sleeping against, approaching the gargoyle. "Sorry, um, I might have a hard time with your different build, but I'll do my best... Fixing broken jaws is really hard, that really has to hurt... You ready?" He was already reaching for the edge of his already highly torn cape for material.

Black Spider tried desparately to shake his head with his broken neck.

"Unh ungh! Mah juhr gulohndee..."

A loud pop resounded throughout the room, followed by what sounded distinctly like the grinding of bones against each other beneath the skin. Black Spider's left arm begin twitching as something moved visibly beneath the skin. He groaned in pain, cursing with his still broken jaw.

After a few moments, however, the shape shifter's hand twitched one last time and he began mobilizing his fingers, flipping them back and forth and snapping his fingers. He clicked his talons and moved his left hand slowly up to his neck and jaw, moving his head up to face the ceiling. He cursed again and winced as he set his jaw.

Off to the side, Bax nearly felt like puking. The mere sound was enough to make him sick, but the sight sent tremors through his stomach. He turned his face away and steeled himself, trying to block out the noise.

Black Spider held his jaw tightly and the process started all over again. Popping, grinding, unsightly movement beneath the face.

Zack once more fell on his rear-end. He stared in fascination and horror, holding a hand over his mouth as he tasted foodless acid in the back of his throat.

At one point, a jagged bone ruptured from the side of the shape shifter's. He winced and clicked his tongue, vocalizing something that sounded like "whoops." The bone went back in through the skin and one last bone-crunching click sounded as the jaw popped back into place.

Black Spider's face fell back down the other way and he relinquished his left hand, just letting himself fall loose like a ragdoll. He groaned and sighed.
"Agh! Damn that hurts!!! Broken bones are a bitch...but that's better. All I can do right now, though...you have no idea how hard that is..."

Bax shuddered. He almost wished that he could do what Black Spider had just done, but there was no way he could handle doing that to his own body. His stomach trembled again and he shivered.

Zack was still frozen in place. Even though his "adapted" mind accepted what had happened, his stomach still churned and writhed within his belly. Finally, he stammered, "Uhh... Wow... that's handy but... damn, can't imagine doing that." He then shakily reached up for his traditional head-scratch, managing an unsteady lopsided grin. "Umm, my name is..." He hesitated. "Zack. Zack Strife. Friend of Bax."

Black Spider lifted his head with his left hand again so that he could face Zack despite his still broken neck. "Strife?"
Black Spider's face showed interest and some apprehension.
"Fascinating...you look like a Strife. I should have figured."
He smiled, flashing sharp teeth. His eyes glinted as he nodded, "A friend of Bax's is good with me, Zack Strife."

Zack tensed for a moment, then relaxed as he saw that the being was not holding his lineage against him like most others. And his statement confirmed that the being introduced as Black Spider was indeed on quite good terms with Bax. The teen smiled more genuinely at last.

Then, he glanced further into the building before facing Bax again. "Oh um, I was quiet cuz there's another guy in here. His name's Jack Golizze. He's a..." Zack's mind tripped on terms a bit; Jack was a friend of his, simple and true. But he had told Bax before that the Phoeniyan was the first friend he'd ever made. How could that be true then? He would never have lied to Bax or any of his friends. And he felt sure that it was no lie. But how could they both be true? He rubbed his forehead a few times with his left hand, his brow creased.

Finally, he shut down the train of thought and perked back up, continuing. "I know him from a long time ago. Real good guy. I've told him about you, Bax, he respects you a lot already. He's got an awesome suit that lets him do all kinds of badass stuff like punch through walls and see auras. If he's not been awake he probably will be soon." He chuckled with an apologetic look on his face.

My reputation precedes me," Bax mused. "I look forward to meeting him--hopefully in better shape than I am in now."
Bax sighed and closed his eyes. "So I guess you are probably confused about what is going on. Feel free to ask away, Zack..."
Bax closed his eyes for a moment and basked in the flames. They were still bruning brightly and he would likely be able to sustain them.

Zack dropped the grin and cocked his head. "Well, of course from the beginning might work, like where'd you disappear off to? Who's your friend here? And most importantly..." His eyes changed in a blink, darker now, narrowed and nearly spewing rage. "...Who did this to you?"

[SqiKy kLeen]

Jack’s eyes slowly peeled open, rousing him from his sleep. He must have been out for nearly a day, as it was too dark to be morning. Not even the moon was out to cast its light. Claude must have let him sleep the whole time.

Jack motioned to get up from his rest, but something was wrong. He could not move. His hands and feet were completely bound, as if bolted to the floor! Quickly snapping to full consciousness, Jack struggled frantically to test every weakness of his restraints, expending tons of energy and making no headway towards freedom. “HEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!!!!!”, Jack screamed out into the abyss, the suffocating darkness absorbing all sound, offering no echo in response.

The darkness was so intense, it was blinding. No sound or light came from any direction. All that remained of Jack’s connection to reality were the cold, metal restraints.

Then, a bright white light clicked on just above Jack’s. As his eyes adjusted to it, his surroundings came into clearer view. He was in what appeared to be a small operating room, adorned with an array of medical devices, many of which appeared to be either too simple to be humane, or too advanced to be human. Looking more closely at the details, Jack confirmed that this was a Senate operation.

Just then, another light clicked on in what was a still darkened corner of the room. It illuminated the metallic lines of another operating table, revealing another figure held similarly to Jack in its steel confines. His heart almost stopped when he realized who it was.

Jack- “Celica! Hey wake up, are you alright?”

Celica quickly turned to face Jack, bearing an extremely serious stare, possibly one of anger or hate. But, it was almost as if she was staring through him instead of at him. He grew uneasy as Celica refused to respond.

Jack- “…Celica?”

Celica- “…Jack…”

Jack- “You’re alright! Hey we gotta get out of here, do you still…”

Celica- “I’LL NEVER OBEY YOU!!”

Jack froze. “Celica… what are you saying…”

“AHHHHHH! Get away from me!” Celica screamed, as she threw herself into a panicked frenzy, struggling to break the bonds of the operating table.

Jack didn’t know what to think, yet his mind was over-run. …was I… too late? I’m so sorry… have I.. failed you?…

Suddenly, a gigantic robotic arm descended from the ceiling, it’s components rapidly unfolding as it lowered, finishing its procedure by revealing a giant syringe. Its direction focused towards Celica’s neck and proceeded to dive towards her as she let out a blood curdling scream.

“NOOOO!” Jack cried out as he felt the sharp sting of another gigantic syringe plunge deeply into the tissue of his throat.



*GASP*

Jack awoke violently from his sleep, sitting up from the cold firehouse floor. His heart was pounding and his face covered in beads of sweat. Quickly, he checked his neck for blood or any needles, letting out a small sigh of relief. …sigh… a dream.

But his relief was only temporary. Having the dream fresh in his mind he began to reflect on it, focusing intently on it. Celica, I will find you. I won’t run any longer… and I will not fail you. Not again. I am coming, hold on Celica!

Suddenly, Jacks phone rang, snapping him from his thoughts. He didn’t realize that he was gripping his fist so tightly that it was shaking. He let go for the moment and answered his phone.

Jack- “Hello?”

Shiki- “Jack! Where are you?”

“…I WAS sleeping.” Jack snapped sarcastically, not succeeding at being funny.

“Well, get up, it’s time for the morning news” Shiki trailed off again as he typed rapidly in the background. “Late last night I recovered a back-up laptop Ereki had left running in a remote location. It copied everything he had ever installed or viewed on his main computer in real-time, and even copied blank files after he dies.”

“Wow”, Jack said, impressed at how Ereki could come in handy even after he had died. “Go on.”

“But he didn’t leave a noob like me hanging. He dumbed down a bunch of his programs and even left a readme file called ‘what_to_do_in_case_i_die.doc’ So I’ve been clicking around the Senate mainframe all morning.” Shiki took another pause to browse through his windows. “…and it’s a good thing I did, I’ve finally got a lead on Celica’s location.”

Jack- “YOU FOUND CELICA!? Where is she?”

Shiki- “Well I found her under the cargo category. That’s like the Senate not to label their prisoners as passengers. She’s being shipped off to Beta to some sort of small abandoned military facility. I could only get the number code, but not a location.”

Jack paused as he absorbed this information. “Shiki, you understand that I have to take my chances and go. You can do what you want over here, but I’ll take my chances.”

Shiki- “Actually, we’re already one step ahead of you, Jack. Me and Nix are taking the next boat over to Beta.”

Jack- “Ok… …what made you change your mind?”

“Something else I found”, he paused again to click through his files. “These messages I intercepted mentioned some pretty cryptic things. Lots of religious mumbo-jumbo and talk about powerful men in black cloaks and trench coats with swords. These were completely off main communication lines. If I’m reading this right, we could be waking up tomorrow morning in a pile of dust where Midgar used to be…”

“wow..” Jack could only say as he absorbed the extent of the information, remembering in particular his brief visit with Sephiroth. “Maybe it’s a coincidence. Celica will be safe…”

“You’re really hung up on this aren’t you?” An awkward pause hung on the phone line. “…I guess I don’t blame you. So what’s your next step?”

Jack-“ I’m going to keep going with Claude. He knows some powerful friends, and if I play my cards right, I might have a shot of having them help me rescue Celica”

Shiki- “I see.”

Jack- “But what about you and Nix? How will he get around?”

Shiki- “Don’t worry, everything is taken care of. We found another prototype toy of an advanced wheelchair for the rich with life support and enhanced mobility. We are also packing up only what we need here and jumping ship.” Shiki could be heard packing some stuff as he was speaking. “You know, we were drawing a lot of attention here anyway.”

Jack- “True. Well listen, I’m heading out. Best of luck to you.”

Shiki- “You too, take care.”

Jack lowered the phone away from his head and proceeded to stuff it into his pocket. “Oh and Jack, whatever you do, do NOT use the Earth Breaker suit, you understand? …Jack?” *click*

[SqiKy kLeen]

(OOC: The epic power of the Triforce; Zacloud, Shadow Pheonix and Sqiky Kleen combine for a truly epic post!)



Jack stumbled slowly toward the door in a half-awake state. Every beam of light still blinded him. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep for hours, but now he couldn’t sleep. He wouldn’t allow it until Celica was safe. He now had all the info he needed, and stood a fighting chance at a direct rescue attempt, especially if Claude's friends could be of any assistance. His focus and determination then fully awoke him, and he headed with quickening pace to plan the meeting of Claude and his allies.

When he walked through the door though, he had found that one of his friends had already arrived. My god. Not only was he surprised to actually see Bax for the first time, but apparently he had just going through the inner circles of hell and back. He was covered with blood, bullet holes...

...a sight that's all too familiar... Jack let go of the memory for the moment not wanting to stray from saving who he still could. "Uhh.... good... morning.."

Zack blinked, then realized Jack was there. And of all things, had opened with a surprisingly mundane comment. He grinned and answered in kind, "Good morning, even though it's still awful dark I guess it counts. Sorry if we woke you up... But Bax here and Black Spider really needed a place to crash. Guys, this is Jack Golizze."

"Good morning," Bax said, raising his hand through the flames and leaning his head to the side. In an oblivious delirium, he spoke out, "It is nice to meet you, Jack. How are you?"

Jack was al a little loss for words. He had the rare opportunity of speaking to a being not of this world. He head heard of sightings and "sand circles" from all around the world, yet never imagined he'd actually make 'contact'. He tried to be friendly without being stupid about it. "Uh.. hi, and I’m doing well... but I wouldn't be worrying about how I'm doing."

Bax nodded and shrugged as best he could. "You have a good friend here in Zack, you know?" he said in a quick subject change.

Wow, he had really been hit hard... Jack thought. After a few bullet holes I wouldn’t be thinking straight either. He had known Claude for long enough to know his name right? "You better try not to move too much..." He turned to Zack in a slight panic. "That’s not good at all. If he's got loss of memory he's going fast..."

Maybe he came out of a seizure or something. It must be possible since he's humanoid...I'll try to reintroduce him to his environment here...sometimes remembering things can heal a person... "Bax, this is Claude, I've known him since he was just a little punk." Jack shot him a quick smile. "But it's funny you should mention Zack, he did have an older brother named Zack who I rolled with back in the day..."

Bax's brow suddenly went crooked and he lurched up onto his elbow, looking directly at Jack. He stared at him incredulously for a moment, his face rife with confusion and a nearly ballistic incapacity for what he had just heard.

"Uh, forgive me, Jack, but one of us is certainly confused. I have spent most of the past several months in the company of Zack. This is Zack, not Claude. Why would he call himself by a name which is not his own. That is crazy talk."

"Nothing crazy about it.” Jack said rather smugly. ”I’ve known this guy years and years, I just didn’t know he was still around! I found him the other day running from some demon. But I’ve known him ever since I’ve known the resistance. I owe him one, that’s for sure.”

Zack... Claude... The blonde boy had been sitting in silence, looking between the two as they spoke with a complete lack of expression, his eyes distant. His heartbeat had been increasing in pace and intensity, his pupils dilating. His pulse had actually become visible in his neck, causing the skin of his throat to twitch along with several rapid swallows. He was slowly beginning to shake. He sat in silence for several moments, looking at Bax, partially opening his mouth but no voice coming out. And yet, there was clearly no attempt at him trying to think of a lie or a defense. He looked just as confused as they were. Perhaps, even more-so.

From the other side of the room, Black Spider shifted his neck over with a quick palm to his own face and he remarked loudly, "Well this is awkward."

Finally, he slowly stammered, "I.... I don't.... I don't know........." He slowly lowered his head, the shaking increasing.

Then, it abruptly stopped and he gave both confused men a pitiful grin. "You can call me whatever you want to! Zack, Claude, King of Cheese, who cares!"

Jack sat a little stunned at Claude’s odd display. What disturbed him most was not the strange comments, but that strange look in his eyes. Jack had wondered how he had made it this far, and at that moment, Claude opened the mirror of his soul, his eyes. Referred to as such, because Jack knew the things that could be said about a person just by their eyes. He didn’t know what had happened to this poor kid, but it was obvious it was deeply traumatizing. Jack quickly came up with a solution.

"Hahaha, that’s a good one Zack Claude..." Claude shot Jack a slightly puzzled look. "...well that is your full name isn’t it? Zack Claude?"

"It is?" Bax shot out questioningly. "I didn't know that..."

"Yeah," Jack looked over at Bax and winked at him, hoping he would pick it up. "Zack Claude. I’m sure of it."

'Zack Claude' looked between the two, then quickly grabbed onto the lifeline, nodding vigorously. "Yup, that's me. Either works fine cuz’ I'm Zack Claude Strife. Sorry for all the confusion! Hahaha!" He laughed, scratching the back of his head. A familiar gesture to both of them, though to Jack, normally against a different hair color...

A middle name of sorts? Not that it was crucially important, but it was still news to Bax. He caught the wink from Jack and didn't quite understand what he was trying to get at. Zack...Claude...Strife was still Bax's good friend. Nothing would change that.

"Very well, then. That is interesting, Zack. I did not know you had another name."

Bax smiled, an off expression among his myriad wounds.

Jack decided to put off the name thing for now, he would speak with Bax about it later. Strange, never though Id be sitting down for serious discussion with an ET..." So what on Earth happened to you? Are you going to make it?"

Bax leaned back down and sighed. "Yes, I'll make it, though it is painful. Haha, I have been in worse shape before. That is what happens when you lead the kind of life I do. This is bad, but not something I can't handle."

Black Spider called out once again, "It's true, he's resilient. He'll be better before you know it." Another resounding crack from Black Spider alerted the wise that he had just popped another bone back into place, an act which was once again accompanied by decent cursing.

Bax laughed lightly, "Like he said, I should be fine soon...but partially frozen broken legs don't heal very easily, even for my race--even for my genetics."

Bax turned to Zack and Jack and shook his head, "By the Ancients, so much has happened in the past few days. It has been ridiculous...I left this city peaceful and complacent in my training and come back in this shape..."

Jack looked over for a moment at Black Spider, but by now he wasn’t the least be surprised to see any strange looking life forms. "I'm sorry, Hi, I’m Jack Gollize."

Black Spider, pleased. Now forgive me, I'm trying to reset my bones here. I'll join you in a couple hou, AH SHIT!"

Zack cringed a bit, then looked at Bax, once more serious. "What happened to you, Bax? Who's ass do I have to kick?"

Jack, too, felt the crunch from across the room. He left him to what he was doing. "Yeah, continue..."

Bax launched into a frenzied retelling of his tale, barely coming up for air. "Well, I set out with Lynx because he was on some sort of quest and needed my help. He passed out in a coma from one of the spells while we were fighting a Tarasque and I killed it. And then this soldier group from Nibelheim found us and took us prisoner and back to their city. By the Ancients, Lynx woke up the next day so different and just started attacking everyone and I had to stop him. Ancients… there was something wrong with him. They tried to punish me, but the Senate attacked the city, along with some members of the Holy Order, which was when I found Black Spider, and...did any of that make sense?"

Zack blinked, then looked at Jack. "Uhhh, I might be able to explain a bit more of that later... But... yeah. If it really was that crazy... Yet another reason to hate the Senate AND that damned Holy Order of Magi..."

"…crazy stuff…It’s hard to even imagine it all. Of course I’ve seen a lot the past few days…", Jack said trying to absorb as much detail as possible. Jack figured he could figure this out later on.

Bax took a breath. "All right, it is a great deal more complicated than that. But like I think I said--I have been through hell. I don't know exactly what to tell you. But the Order is moving and they're still after me. Oh, and Nibelheim. That is important. There is a city about halfway from here to Zion in the mountains called Nibelheim. It is made up of ex-Senate soldiers who were experimented on years ago. Their society is interesting..."

Experimentation, Nibelheim...I wonder if that could be where the trucks were headed...Could the Earth Breaker...?

Zack paused in his seething to look at Jack, then blink. "Oh yeah! Bax, I know you need time to relax, but we gotta get off this continent! There's SO much that's happened! Valtiel is planning something BIG! And Sephiroth said we best get off out of here as quick as possible. And... Bax... The Element... .........It was found."

Bax was floored, dumbfounded. He lay catatonic at the news of the Element, news which almost overshadowed everything else. He looked imploringly at them to finish their stories while he thought over everything in his mind.

"Sephiroth... And Dark Crono... They reached it and it divided itself. Sephiroth might... might be dying from it. But he decided he's going to fight. Maybe things will be alright if he can defeat Crono. We'll see.... But... I think we can really trust what he said. That we gotta get our butts to Beta as soon as we can."

"There’s more to it than that." Jack interjected. "I just got word from Shiki that there’s been a lot of buzz at the top levels of the Senate using highly encrypted messages on secure networks. Communication like this has never been seen before. If we're reading this right, we could be waking up in a pile of dust where Midgar used to be." He took a moment to adjust his clothes and gear. "We have to get to the Beta continent."

Jack shuffled around and collected his gear from the other room. "Shiki and Nix are making their own arrangements, but we have to find transport over there, and soon."

Zack blinked hard, eyes wide. "Jeez, even MORE going wrong here?! That does it! Soon as we're all fit to travel, we're gone as a found puddle after five days no-drink!" He looked at Bax. "Keldira can fit us, right?"

[Shadow Phoenix]

OoC: I know this has been a long time coming, but I've been really busy lately. I've been trying to write my papers before getting to this and have ended up not getting any sleep any way. Sorry for the long wait.

IC:

They had to leave. As soon as possible. Bax took a resigned breath, knowing full well that Keldira would only do him so many favors before she started complaining. But he could think of no better way to move somewhere fast than with the aid of a practical super phoenix.

“We need transport? Give me a minute.” Bax sat up a little too quickly and felt a sharp pain stab at his temples as the blood swirled around his body and reminded him of his major wounds. He still wasn’t fully healed yet, even though all of his superficial wounds had long since been mended. He could still feel every place where the ice-weapons had scarred him. And even though his bones were mostly reset, the breaks had not been cemented just yet. He would have to take it easy for a while longer.

Zack noticed this and caught him quickly, putting his hands on his shoulders. “You okay there?” he said, his blue eyes registering concern.
Bax nodded and patted Zack on the shoulder. “I’ll be all right. Thanks…”

“Keldira,” Bax thought, projecting his thoughts out over the close radius. He received feedback almost immediately…but it wasn’t the feedback he was expecting.

Bax was suddenly drug up into the air by an unseen force, his head thrown off kilter and to the side as the rest of his body twitched. His eyes rolled back into his head and his limbs fell limp at his side even though he sent every impulse to kick and break free from this. He was shaking, twitching, unable to move his body on his own. He felt his stomach rumbling and rising in his throat. He felt like throwing up. And the throbbing in his head increased tenfold, threatening to explode. Still, he couldn’t move…

“Shadow Phoenix…I was beginning to think that you had been killed off.”
Bax tried to break the connection as fast as possible. His mind raced, trying to cut itself off from the rest of the world, do undo his activities of the past few seconds. But he was stuck…
“I should have known better. You’ve vowed to stay alive until you get rid of me, right?”
Bax tried to shield his thoughts, but there was nothing that he could do. This beast, Necrostiana, had captured his mind and wasn’t letting go. Her spirit had become so powerful after all this time going between other physical bodies that any invitation to come into the mind, no matter how small, was deadly. And Bax had just alerted her to his presence. Even though she was a part of Valtiel, that was all she needed to latch onto him.

“Come on, Bax. You don’t want to chat?”
Bax’s mouth fell slack as he tried to murmur a response. His throat gurgled and he twitched even more. He could only imagine that Jack and Zack were freaking out from down below…if they were trying to help him, he couldn’t feel them. All he felt was a wind whipping around him, tearing at his clothes and paralyzing him.
“Oh, I’m disappointed. I figured Vahira’s…Keldira’s…little pet would be able to put up some kind of fight. Hmm, I should just tear you apart right now. Do you know how easy that would be? To rip every molecule of you apart?”
Bax’s fingers twitched and he clenched his hand into a fist. “You…have no business…with me…” he screamed in his mind.

A screech pulse ripped through his mind and his hand unfurled again, stretching out. All of Bax’s limbs were suddenly wrenched as far apart as possible without breaking them. Bax’s mouth wrenched out in a scream of anguish.
“On the contrary, king, you are a significant part of my business. Do you have a hard time dealing with that? I want you…I want to taste your spirit, every part of you. So I’m going to break you, break everything important to you, until there is nothing left but a shell for me to take. You want to leave the city? All right…go. But just remember—you’re mine, and when you return, my pet and I will descend upon you with all of the legions of hell.”

Bax screamed once again and slammed into the ground, his limbs flopping this way and that. The wind continued whipping around and Bax rolled onto his back to see where Jack, Fashalt, and Zack were. His eyes widened in horror as he saw them each plastered to the wall, unable to move. All at once, the wind stopped and they fell to the ground. Bax tried to get up, but only collapsed from exhaustion. His body and mind gave way to the exhaustion and he passed out.

A warm, soothing voice roused him from his sleep. Keldira’s coo reached to his mind.
“Get up, Bax…I heard you…you need to go, don’t you?”
Bax opened his eyes and sat up, feeling a calm wrap around him, caressing his spirit. “Yes…we need to go. To the other side of the world…”
“I will take you there. Who am I carrying this time?”
“Zack and his friend Jack…I do not know of Fashalt’s intentions. I want to leave him here to finish healing.”
“Wise. I will be there soon, King of the Crimson Flame.”

Bax stood up and picked his way through the wind-tossed room, first to Zack. His friend was just rousing from his sleep. Bax knelt down and scooped him up in his arms, carrying him gingerly to the center of the room, where he laid him carefully. He then went to retrieve Jack, who was already awake, albeit groggy.
“What happened?” he said in his half-conscious state.
Bax pushed a desk out of the way and knelt down by Jack. “I’m going to pick you up and take you over there. Is that all right?”
“The Earth Breaker,” he murmured, pointing to a high-tech looking backpack lying next to him and reaching for it.
Bax nodded and began to grab Jack. Jack shook his head and put his hands up to stop Bax,
"I can handle myself, thanks. Really."
Jack picked himself up and grabbed the "Earth Breaker," then took a few steps out. He saw Zack and rushed over to him, dropping to his knees and grabbing Zack’s shoulders. He began to shake him lightly. “Claude! Claude!”

Bax quickly turned from the old comrades and went to go find the shape shifter. He was tossing a large desk out of the way when he heard a cry coming from a pile of rubble.
“SONOFABITCH! I just fixed that bone!”
Bax smirked. Yeah, Black Spider was all right. Moments later, the rubble crumbled away and Black Spider stood up. “Touch me and I’ll kill you. I’m pissed off.”
Bax laughed. Black Spider never was happy when he was trying to heal himself or when he had just been thrashed without his permission. Most of the rest of the time, he could be pretty even. But he definitely had a temper.

Black Spider grasped his shoulder and began stalking his way past Bax as he set the bone back into place and grunted as he forced it back together.

Bax turned around and went to rejoin Zack and Jack. “I’ve got a ride for us…she should be here momentarily.”
“What happened, Bax?” Jack demanded suddenly.
Bax tensed up. “What are you talking about?”
Jack remained cool and calm, but he was stern and pointed in his speech. He definitely wasn’t the kind to take any crap. “The last thing I remember is you shooting up into the air and being blown into the wall. Then you were standing above me. What happened?”
Bax shook his head, “I don’t know.”
Jack looked like he was going to object, but he let it slide for now. “I want to know…later…”
Bax cringed…he knew that he was bad at lying. He had never really liked doing it, so he had never gotten much experience. He was an honest king. It was good in most situations, but it could screw him over.

Bax felt Keldira’s presence outside the building and he smiled. “She’s here,” he said.
“Who is?” Jack asked.
Zack smiled, “Is that Keldira?”
Bax nodded and he ran out to go see the phoenix. He had had a fascination with her from the get-go.
“Keldira?” Jack asked.
“You’ll see. Get whatever you think you will need. Pack light, but don’t be afraid to bring necessities—she can carry a lot.”

Bax flashed a devious smile and tried to figure out if he would need anything. He had his swords and the picture of his family with him still. His motorcycle and the trenchcoat were back at the old place. He didn’t need them right now. He would not need to conceal his identity in this new place, at least he hoped he would not. He had everything he needed.

He picked through the rubble of the room and retrieved the three objects he needed, sliding the picture into a pocket in the tattered black jeans he was wearing. He strapped the swords to his back and went out to go meet with Keldira. He passed Zack on the way out.
“I’m just gonna go grab my stuff. I’ll be out soon. We get to ride Keldira again!” Zack squealed in anticipation and ran inside. Bax smiled. Zack was still Zack.

“Keldira,” Bax breathed, his voice filtering out into the early morning air.
The phoenix cooed and raised her wings, ruffling them and sending a flurry of flames flying up through the sky directly above her.
“Good morning, king. Rough night?”
Bax laughed, “I need to get out of here. I can’t deal with the madness of the Order or Necrostiana right now. I need a vacation…”
“That doesn’t sound like you.”
“I told you what I’ve been through…I can’t do this right now…”
“I understand…

Bax walked over and leaned against Keldira, rubbing her softly but firmly and ruffling the gorgeous crimson and gold plumage around her neck. She cooed and closed her eyes.

“Holy sh—”
Bax looked up and saw Jack standing just outside the building with his mouth agape, clutching his backpack to his back and a few other small things in a light bag.
“Is that a ph…a phoenix?”
“In the fiery flesh.”
“And we’re supposed to ride it?”
“Her. And yes. She won’t burn you unless you don’t trust her and unless she wants to. So don’t piss her off and everything will be all right. Does she understand us?”
“She’s a little rusty with English, but yes, she can communicate with us.”
Jack shook his head. “We’re riding to Beta on a phoenix…wow…”
Zack shot out of the building with all his affects and clambered right up to Keldira’s back. “Come on, Jack. You’ll like it.”
Bax moved back and invited Jack on. Jack was apprehensive but he walked closer to Keldira. Before he got on, he stopped and closed his eyes. The backpack suddenly burst to life and unfurled around him rapidly, overtaking him and encasing him in a suit of some sort, similar to the MACD technology back home—but smaller, more compact. Interesting…

Bax traipsed inside to check on Black Spider. “We’re headed out. Will you take care of things around here?”
The shape shifter nodded and swiveled his whole head around, cracking joints and popping everything back into place. “Go have fun on Beta. I might join you…but I get the feeling I’ll be needed here. I’ll make sure things don’t go haywire here. I can’t have Valtiel take over the city while you’re gone.”
Bax smiled. “You’re a good friend. Take care.”

Bax walked outside to join up with Jack, Zack, and Keldira. Jack was clutching tightly to Keldira and Zack was giggling giddily.
“You all ready to go?” Bax asked.
“On to Beta!” Zack shouted.
Jack was silent. He looked like he was turning green. He would enjoy it after a little while…
Bax grinned and hopped onto Keldira, taking the center.
“All right, Keldira. I trust you know the way.”
Keldira breathed a small flame and let loose her unique “laugh,” flapping her wings gloriously and lifting up into the sky. “Of course I know the way.”
Bax smiled all the more. “Then farewell Midgar. Next stop: Super City.”

With another fiery flap of her wings, Keldira carried them to the top of Midgar.
“Hold on tight, boys. We won’t be wasting any time.”
Bax and Zack looked at each other and grinned. Jack looked a little bewildered to be hearing voices inside his head and almost didn’t hold on tight enough before Bax grabbed him and pushed him down to hold onto Keldira. He got the message.

And in a glorious burst of feathers and flames, the phoenix reared back and shot through the sky, tracing an arch of red and gold, orange and white, brilliant all throughout, scorching through the early morning sunrise. They were on their way to a new place. They would be there by the end of the day…

Bax felt the rush of the wind kissing his cheeks and whipping his hair about. He was excited—not only to get away from this place, but to move to a place where he could forget about his troubles for a little while. He knew he would have to return to all of his problems, but…for now, everything was going to be all right. He ignored the ominous, sick feeling building in his stomach and just tried to enjoy himself.

They would be there soon…

[ZaCloud]

(Note: This was another shared post; I wrote most of the first half and Sqiky wrote the second. Enjoooooy!)

The Journey

---

The flight was completely exhilarating to Zack. The air rushed into his lungs so strongly that it took no effort to breathe in, yet the heat coming from Keldira’s back kept it from being too cold despite their advanced speed. At the point of take-off and any deviations from a normal flight pattern, Zack did little to reign in his thrilled whoops and excited laughter.

He utterly loved the freedom of speed and flight; even a slow car ride would have been exciting to him after a life only spent walking with little exception until recently. This heightened degree of locomotion was scary in a fun way, like a secure roller coaster where you know you will not fall out, but feel the fear of the height and speed nonetheless. Zack utterly trusted Keldira, as he did the Phoeniyan who had summoned her, but the unaccustomed speed and altitude, over which he had no control, got his heart to pounding and his voice to screaming. And he loved every moment of it!

The smell and feel of the air changed as they approached the coastline. Scent, the closest sense tied to memory, activated a deluge of happy emotions within Zack. Even though his mind only summarized the details, with bits of fog hiding the peripherals, he could remember playing in the waves several times as a youngster. Collecting crabs and shellfish, watching the contents cook and playing with the cleaned carapaces and shells. Attempting to fish, with mishaps which at the time were painful but now could be laughed at. Munching preserved seaweed long after the sounds of the waves were gone. The ocean’s sounds and smells had heralded plentiful food, consistent cleanliness, and plenty of water when the proper boiling methods were available.

Zack wondered why he had ever left the ocean; it was so bountiful. Why had he not spent the rest of his life upon the beach and among the breakers? His mind would not let him find the answer. But he chose not to lament that or wonder further, as the glorious ocean was now in view. White foam illustrated the kinetic power of the sea as it rumbled over the shallows and crashed among the rocks. At the very edge, only visible for seconds before it was passed, it slid gracefully over the sandy beach, gently caressing the edge of the land they were about to leave behind.

“It’s the ocean! I love the ocean!” he exclaimed to his friends behind him. “Isn’t it beautiful? It’s so strong! Lotsa good food in there.”

He then blinked and looked directly at Bax. The Phoeniyan, though definitely trusting Keldira with all his heart, was staring at the ocean fixedly. Bax had flown over oceans in ships many times, but there was instinctive tension in being suspended directly above so much unbroken water with nothing but air and a bird in-between.

Zack felt sympathy for him. He already knew many people feared water, and even he had nearly drowned a few times in his life. But at least humans could be submerged at all. For a Phoeniyan, swimming itself could be deadly. It was definitely against all of Bax’s instincts to be surrounded by water with no land in sight aside from very occasional islands, which may not even appear on their flight path.

The blonde cast a reassuring smile back at Bax. Even though Keldira was already almost certainly sending supportive thoughts to the king, Zack still said, “We’ll be alright. If anything at all should happen, I can probably freeze us a landing zone. But nothing’s gonna happen. We can count on Keldira.”

Bax tentatively smiled in return. From all sides, he felt reassured. The nervousness would still take a while to quell, but he was far from panicked. After all he had come through, one more nearness to a deadly force could be handled in exchange for the safety which lay on the other side. It was only one more battle, which he did not have to physically fight this time.

Jack, on the other hand was not enjoying the trip in nearly the same dimension as Zack had been. He was certianly in awe of of the magnificance of the ocean in its vastness, but it also had him clinging to Keldira for dear life, despite Zacks safety precautions. Jack only had a loose understanding of the suits functionality, so he did not want to attempt to swim with it. He also had no idea how bouyant the suit was, or if it was even water-proof. And right now it was the only thing that kept him attatched to the soaring Pheonix.

Soon, they were surrounded by blue. In some areas, it was rippled in a pattern. In others, it was smooth as glass. In still others, waves continued to travel in curls and shifting towers. This was a completely new view of the world to Zack. He gasped and pointed at nearly every new nuance he encountered. “Lookit that! It looks like ice, it’s so calm! Oh look! Those waves are all over the place! OH MY GOSH LOOK AT THOSE BIG FISH!!!”

“Those are dolphins,” Bax corrected with a small grin as he looked down at the creatures. When he had been thumbing through his dictionary, the picture of the graceful animal had caught his attention enough for him to remember the word, as well as tripping over the ‘ph’ rule of spelling and pronunciation. He and Zack were able to continue looking down at them, as they were swimming along under Keldira, even slightly ahead, riding the vortex she created in the waves below, diving in and out of the water, their squeaking and clicking managing to reach their ears.

Zack laughed and squeaked back to them. “They’re so cute and playful! They like us!”

"Indeed," Jack added, trying to add to the conversation, despide being on somewhat of a bumpy ride. "Their communication is far more advanced than ours, as well as their intelligence. Theyre really incredible creatures... but its sickening whats happening to them now. Theyre being slaughtered for tuna, since its easier than fishing for it." He let out a somewhat disgusted scowl. "Yet we could learn so much from them..."

The teen gazed down at them with a new sense of respect. "Thats really low... they just swim around and do their dolphin thing... they leave people alone, and even help them... Why can’t more people be like that?”

“That’s a good question,” Jack answered just loudly enough to be heard, looking resigned. "People should catch their own damn tuna."

They spent a bit more time watching the dolphins before they veered off to take a break from the play, and Keldira rose to a higher altitude for safety.

After several more “wow” moments, Zack finally settled down; the trip would be long, and the novelty of the view had worn off, although its beauty and wonder would not be completely extinguished to him. He leaned forward and contentedly stroked Keldira’s plumage. “We really appreciate this,” he said quietly to her, “You’re really cool to do all this for us.”

It is just fine. I like Bax, I like you, and… I like Jack. You are all good people.[/color]

Zack grinned with a small happy-hum, feeling very grateful. Then he wondered, still quietly, “Jack’s suit-thingie doesn’t hurt you, does it?”

No, my feathers pad it just fine. Thank you for your concern though.[/color]

The teen felt at ease and sat quietly for a good long while. While his mind usually focused on perception rather than thought, there was not much else to do on such a long trip, than think. He couldn’t help but think about how hard things had been on his friends. Bax was certainly still healing from his wounds, and Zack had no idea what had really happened to him. It definitely felt troubling, as if there was a lot more to the story than Bax had revealed. It had no doubt been a terrible experience for Bax.

But with how much Zack withheld his own troubles, his mind tended to do puzzled loops while debating on how to help his friends deal with such hardships. His reprogramming to protect himself from painful thoughts was at odds with his sympathetic personality. This had kept him from bringing it up further before, and now with the loud wind, he was in no position to bring it up again, even if he would have wanted to.

The same dilemma applied to the tragedies Jack had endured, with one terrible uncertainty still in progress. Indeed, the losses were Zack’s as well, as he knew them, though he could not remember much about them on his own. Verbal prompts about events were recognizable, at least. Still, thinking about their deaths was painful. Jack, Celica, and all the others had represented something very precious throughout Zack’s life. They had not been together for long as kids, really. To Zack, they had been transient, a temporary bright glimmer in otherwise dark water, which had made them that much more important. He had thought he would never see them again. Now, in the case of several of them, he never would.

But Jack was here now, Shiki and Nix were alive, and they would find Celica. Once more, while Zack’s mind was more confused over this set of friends than anything, the one certainty was that he cared for them, and was not about to lose them again. Zack had wanted to talk to Jack more about the ones who had fallen, about his still missing sister; surely his saying so little about it would cause the pressure to rise until his friend burst. But Jack was just so tough, and it was hard to know whether that would make things worse or not. That uncertainty, combined with his train of thought constantly derailing when he tried to think about the tragedy, kept Zack to continue silence about the subject.

Zack’s thoughts then wandered to his mentor, Sephiroth X. It had been utterly shocking to see him in such a fallen state, at an utter emotional low, with all hope seemingly lost. But the man’s resolve to keep going after only a brief lapse, made him all the more admirable to Zack. Would him fighting Dark Crono even work? Would it save him, or kill him? Whether Sephiroth won or lost, would he survive? Zack found himself once more unable to focus too hard on any other possibility. He believed in Sephiroth. The world depended on him, after all; if Crono were the victor, then judging by his already incomprehensible strength and twisted lack of compassion (according to X’s accounts), the world would be doomed. He could not imagine standing up against such a dark force if X himself had been unable to surpass him up to this point. But he was prepared to try, if that were to be the case.

But both his heart, and his mind, refused to believe it would come to that. He simply could not fathom Sephiroth X losing. There was too much left to learn from him. Zack wanted to spar with him, perhaps test his strength against the master. And Sephiroth himself had had so much of his own life taken away from him, so swallowed in tragedy, yet never allowed time to truly mourn or reflect. Zack wanted him to gain this time he deserved, and gain time to just plain live. Sephiroth X deserved a real life. A life that Zack, and the others, could be part of.

The blonde youth yawned. His sleep had been interrupted early, his wounds still ached, and things had been beyond eventful. The warmth of Keldira, the rhythmic beating of her wings, and the now steady field of blue view, all contributed to his drowsiness.

He kept his arms and legs gripping the bird as he lay his face among her feathers, sighing contentedly at the comforting softness they provided. He closed his bright blue eyes and drifted off into a light yet peaceful slumber.

Meanwhile, Jack had been drifting in an out of many different thoughts, the culmination of the days past spinning Jack mind in countless directions. Combined with the warmth radiating off Keldira and the expansive ocean view, it lulled Jack into a trance-like state. So much so, that he almost fell into the ocean! He quickly scrambled to regain grip, tugging rather hard on Keldiras glowing feathers. Ohhh, sorry... didnt mean to hurt you there..., Jack thought as he recovered.

Do not worry about that, I'm fine.[/color]

Jack nearly fell once again as Keldiras voice echoed throughout his consciousness. Oh yeah, I forgot about the telepathic communication thing.., he stated rather humbly, wishing he would have apologized out loud. So, can you hear me thinking these words right now?

Yes, I can hear you[/color], Keldira promptly replied. You seem to be having some trouble holding on, are you alright?[/color]

Yeah, its just this suit. Its controlled by thought, but I'm not really used to it yet.

Interesting, I sensed some unusual patterns coming from you earlier. I can help you with those. [/color]

Keldira went silent for only a few moments. There we go[/color], her voice rung out again, only this time it sounded slightly different to Jack, but he couldn't pinpoint just how.

I am now communicating with you on the same wavelegnths as those you use to control your suit. These facets of your mind have weakened from lack of use, however this conversation will function as a form of intense exersize for these areas. You may find it easier to use your suit after a while. Wouldn't want you falling into the ocean, now. [/color]

.....wow, thank you!, Jack thought rather humbly, impressed and at a loss of words that this magnificent bird of legend was helping him in such a way.

Although I do have one question for you, [/color] Keldira inquired rather suspiciously. Where did you get that suit? [/color]

Jack really didnt want to go into that discussion, as his mind had been drifting in and out of those thoughts the entire flight. Why do you ask? he responded hesitantly.

I cannot ignore the stench... It smells of blood. It smells of darkness and evil. It smells of the Senate. [/color]

Your smell is just as legendary, Jack noted in an attempt to lighten the mood. This is Senate property here, but I assure you I am in no way affiliated with them.

I know. [/color] Keldira reassured Jack. It merely struck me as odd that someone like you would have something like that. [/color]

Odd cant even begin to describe what Ive been through the last few days, Jack began to derail. I mean, here I am talking to and riding on a Pheonix. I probably never even woke up this morning...

Keldira took a moment to respond to Jacks strange thoughts. I sense you have many questions... allow me to teach you something... [/color]

=========================


Jack and Keldira had been engaged in a mental exchange for what seemed like a couple hours. He had reiterated in a good amount of gory detail the happenings of the past few days, where as she had helped to enlighten Jack to many of the strange happenings going on throughout the planet and how they related to his recent experiences. She reassured him that he was not dreaming, and that in fact he was on the winning side, though current times may prove to be somewhat of a struggle. Needless to say all this discussion helped to ease Jacks mind and give him a new perspective on this whirlwind of events taking place. Some of Keldira's words would need to sink in yet, but in the meantime his mind had been relaxed once again.

Also a new refresher, Jack found, was a newfound ability to use his suit. He could almost 'feel' the suit as more of an extension of him, rather than just a suit of armor. Without realizing it, he had been holding onto Keldira quite effortlessly for the past couple hours. Jack used his new skill to relax even further and enjoy the last stretches of his trip, taking a moment to slide the Visor down over his face.

What was revealed to him was an absolutely incredible view. Looking out into the ocean, Jack could see the auras of thousands of different fish and other types of sea life, some clusters of light reaching down to incredible depths, with no end to the number of auras. He figured these were the deepest trenches in the blackest depths of the ocean. Who knows what kind of creatures are down there yet to be discovered?; Jack wondered. Some of them looked absolutely huge, even from his heightened aerial view.

Looking back up to eye level, Jack took a closer look at Bax's fiery aura. His silouette shone numerous shades of intensely bright red, orange, and yellow light, with some spots of blue focused around certain hotter parts of his hair. He turned around to check out the strange headgear, and Jack was then able to see a rough outline of a face, the only noticable feature being the eyes, which shone an intense golden color. From his point of view through the goggles, Bax (and presumably others) appeared to be a glowing orange ghost, with fiery hair, glowing eyes, and an outline slightly darker in color than the center of the 'aura'. "Good to see you doing better.", Bax noted. He could tell Jack was handling the ride better than before.

"Thanks. I'm alright.", Jack replied with a smile. Meanwhile, Zack had noticed Jack using the visor and wanted to have a look. "Ooohh, can I see?" he chimed out from the back, still contently enjoying the trip.

Jack turned around to face what was a surprisingly bright aura emanating from Zack. In much the same way as Bax's aura, his started intensely bright in the middle, shining a blank, yet brilliant shade of white, and tapering off on the edges into a darker shade of blue. As Zack leaned in to further inspect the visor, he noticed more details of the aura. His eyes were tinted a lighter sky-blue, and it appeared that there was another light, golden in color, radiating from the direct center of Zacks head, just below where the brain would be. This light differentiated itself, as it was not just another bright primary color, but an actual glittering gold colored light.

Jack had to look away for the moment, as it was getting to be too bright and overwhelming. He shook his head and blinked inside his visor a few times. "Are you alright?", Zack chimed out. "Yeah... you've got quite the aura there..." he noted, as his eyes drifted to yet another amazing sight. He had been overlooking the most magnificent of all auras he had yet seen, that of Keldira. The phoenix's gigantic body and wingspan was alive and teeming with powerful energies, radiating all different shades of red, yellow and orange. The coagulation of energy mixed together slowly, but potently like a vast pit of lava throughout her being. Near the outer edges of her wings emitted an intense golden light, like what he has seen inside Zack, making the atmosphere around them literally sparkle. Looking back, Jack could see endless ribbons of heated energy, streaming from Keldira’s wings as she soared through the sky.

Now Jack was beginning to become overwhelmed by all the energy. He had to take a break or he feared his head would explode (figuratively). He motioned to finally remove the visor when another object caught his eye. He toughed it out and peered into the horizon. Off in the distance he noticed another massive cluster of dim white lights. Their arrangement made up distinct geometrical shapes. He could make out what appeared to be massive skyscrapers and other large buildings. The Super City.