Hey guys! Sorry for not updating on time! I've was very busy last week and was just too stressed out and tired to write, but this week's been better so far, still really busy, so I cannot promise on updating by Sunday... Also I realized there were a few mistakes in the last chapter, AGAIN, so I went back and fixed them, AGAIN... I had been living off of three hours of sleep a night last week and I apologize for every mistake made...
But anyhow, a few of you had questions, so Q&A time!
Dark Lord Moridin: Sorry about the confusion last chapter, I didn't notice until you pointed those things out and went back and hopefully fixed them and this chapter should clear up the last bit of confusion! Also, I deleted the second Interlude which is no longer an Interlude thus has nothing to do with this story anymore. I only have one Interlude that took place between two of the chapters. Also thanks for pointing those spells out! I used them from FF XII since I haven't played FF VII in a while... And it was supposed to be Poisona instead of Bio... I just forgot to recheck the spells. Sorry! ^^;
Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros: *cowers meekly* I'm sorry! I needed a reason to bring Cloud and Seph... Er... I'm not gonna finish that... You'll see why Voldie's back later on! I promise it's for a good reason!
Alec McDowell: Zack didn't use magic! Plus... I fixed it so that it only took a half an hour instead... And giant spider... GIANT... SPIDER... *shudders* As for Zack freezing... Ever heard of PTSD? Seeing Cedric die, it brought a few memories up in Zack's mind that I didn't include in the last chapter, it made him freeze for a MOMENT because he'd seen Hogwarts, he'd seen Earth as a safe place. Sure, he knew that there were going to be injuries and probably a lot more bad stuff happening during the Tournament, but as far as Zack knew, the war was over. He - and his friends - weren't supposed to get hurt, that they weren't supposed to die. Seeing Cedric die, it made Zack remember seeing other SOLDIERs and friends die on the battlefield and it made him realize that Earth isn't a safe haven as he had thought before. Hope that clears things up for you.
Yoruko Rhapsodos: Ah... But... Who said it was going to have a good affect on him? Hm~?
Nekogami Bastet: No worries! Cloud will be in part two of the series! :)
Shade the Hero: I loved your comments and I wish I could reply to every one of them but I hope that as this story progresses it can answer the questions for you!
And that's the end of that~!
See you guys next chapter and I hope you enjoy this one!
~Snow.
I don't own anything but the plot.
Zack blinked as his blurry vision refocused to see the man in front of him and the first thing that Zack noticed was the man's red cat-like eyes that glowed brightly with the inner lit glow of Mako.
Ha! The more the Mako Voldie had, the more painful the whole thing would be.
"Wrong name." Zack slurred slightly, even with his body's quick healing, Zack still had a bit of a concussion. He watched as Voldie raised an eyebrow and take a step back.
"What?" The man hissed angrily, Mako-red eyes flashing as the man turned his gaze over to where the rat-like fat man was clutching his bleeding stump of an arm.
"'s Zack." Zack struggled to focus his whole attention on the man in front of him, able to take in the sight of the man now that his vision was clearing and thanks too the man taking a step back.
The man – he was just going to call him Voldie for now, (Since Zack didn't actually know the man's name) – was almost half a foot shorter than Zack himself was, with midnight black hair that was cut short, looking almost like Genesis' hairstyle, but shorter. Glowing Mako-red eyes glared at him, and Zack was able to distinguish – despite the darkness of the Graveyard, and the fact there was no moon that night – the man's pale skin – it was almost as pale as Sephiroth's – and that was pale.
"Zack?" Voldie hissed angrily again, Mako eyes flashing as he turned to face the other man who was whimpering as he bled out. "You useless fool! I wanted Harry Potter, not this man! Whomever he is!"
"Didn' l't me fin'sh." Zack resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Mako-red eyes focused back on him. "Ha'ry used ta be 'y name, it's Zack n'w. Bee' Zack sin'e I wa' 'bout two." Zack inwardly cursed his slur as his body continued to quickly heal itself – though not fast enough for Zack's liking – and he struggled against the bindings once more as he glared darkly at his self-proclaimed enemy whose disgust turned to delight and Voldie strolled over to where the other man lay.
"Master." The other man whimpered, tear filled eyes looking up at the 'Dark Lord', "Master…"
"Stick out your arm, Crouch." Voldie spoke in a high tone – Zack winced slightly at hearing just how high the man's voice was – and the other man, Crouch Jr.(?) almost cried in relief as he stuck out the bloody arm.
"Not that one." Voldie laughed, his tone still high and sounding very cruel and he paid no attention to Zack – who had loosened most of the ropes now, and was working on slipping out of them one by one – and Zack could tell that Crouch Jr was suppressing a whimper as he held his other arm up and long – probably cold too, Zack mused – pale fingers ripped the sleeve upwards, revealing the worst tattoo Zack had seen in his life – and he had seen a lot of tattoos, had one himself actually.
Who in the world – in their right mind too – would get a tattoo of a snake leaving the mouth of a skull? It didn't look cool, probably wouldn't in colors, even worse… It was in black.
Voldie hissed something that Zack didn't understand – was the other trying to impersonate a snake or something? – and without warning, the graveyard filled with sudden pops that reminded Zack of a House-Elf popping in and out of a room.
Except these weren't House-Elves, but people. Dressed in robes of pitch-black – seriously? Was that a thing or something for these villains? Zack knew that Seph wore black, but the silver-haired General could pull it off. These guys who wore things that looked like dresses? Not so much. – As well as blank white masks with only eyeholes which covered their faces.
"Master..?" One of the people – men, Zack assumed from the building of the bodies behind the robes, all of them were to masculine, or had too wide shoulders… A few though, looked like they could be a woman, especially the one closest to Zack's right – asked, and Voldie smirked.
"My Death Eaters…" – Death Eaters? What in Ifrit's name… Lame! – "My loyal Death Eaters… I have returned." – no shit Sherlock (A book series Hermione had introduced to him and Zack found very interesting) – "Back... From what many of you assumed was my death." Voldie sneered and Zack could tell that several of them paled – even though he couldn't see their faces.
"You all thought me dead, and none of you sought me out… Not you, Crabbe, or you, McNair…" Zack watched silently – except for the occasional slight sound coming from one of the ropes that fell or was working on its way towards his ankles – "Or you, Malfoy." Voldie turned quickly to face the person Zack had assumed as a woman – and now knew better, damn, his body reading was lacking… Tseng wouldn't be pleased – and 'Malfoy' – Probably Draco's Dad, Zack assumed – paled further and bowed lowly.
"My Lord." The man – not woman – gasped quietly, "My Lord… We were… We all assumed…" Malfoy struggled for words and Voldie sneered again.
"You all assumed that I died at the mere hands of a toddler who wasn't even two?" – Zack scowled slightly, but had to agree with Voldie's reasoning, how could a one and almost half year-old nearly kill him? – "And spent money to stay out of Azkaban, or lied and said you were under an Imperius… And this many dare to return… Those who haven't will not be spared and shall die." Voldie hissed, "Never bothering to seek me out… But live I did, and to this day… Nearly fourteen years I have spent, having to live off the lives of others, of snakes and humans and animals like." – Humans?! – "And here I am now… In front of you all… And in front of Mr. Potter."
'Damn.' Was Zack's only thought as everyone's focus turned to him as the final rope slipped to the ground and Zack grinned sheepishly.
"Uh… Hi?" He quickly dodged a spell thrown at him by one of the Death Eaters – still, who came up with that name? Death Eater… Stupid! – and had fished out his wand while Voldie screamed in a high pitch.
"He's mine! Mine alone! Don't kill him!"
All the Death Eaters there hesitated before stepping back while Zack's wand rested tightly in Zack's grip and Voldie stepped forward, a glint in his eyes as he shot a green-colored spell at Zack – the same one that had hit Cedric – and Zack easily dodged it.
"You're really going to attack a man with a concussion? Th'ts dishonorable!" Zack exclaimed, Mako-blue eyes widening slightly as he clutched his wand tightly – yet not tight enough to break it – in his hand and flailed his arms around for a moment before ducking behind a gravestone as another spell flew at him and hit the gravestone, exploding it and Zack threw himself away from the large pile of rubble, bouncing to his feet quickly.
"Bow to me, Potter!" Voldie hissed, Mako-red eyes glaring at Zack. Who simply cocked his head to the side, looking away as if he was thinking about it and slowly a smirk formed on the edges of Zack's lips.
"Nah. Don't think I will." Zack grinned wildly and stuck his tongue out at Voldie childishly and laughed brightly as he dodged several spells sent at him by the 'Dark Lord'.
"Come on? Is that all you got?" Zack taunted, bouncing away to grab the Buster-Like Sword before throwing a Thundraga at the Death Eaters, who scattered.
"Honestly, I've fought better Cadets than you guys! At least they nearly killed me!" And he had killed several of them, but he wasn't going to mention that, bad memories…
For the first time in a while – but not for the first time – Zack was happy for his clothing choices. Tight fitting – but not too tight – clothes made for better movement, and he couldn't trip over his robes as Malfoy Sr. did – Zack resisted the urge to laugh at the sight of the composed man tripping and the mask went flying as Malfoy landed on his bum, the hood falling off showing long platinum-blonde hair and startled grey-eyes – and easier to dodge attacks and spells shot at him.
Zack could tell that Voldie was getting more and more frustrated as he shot spell after spell after spell and none of them hit Zack. Zack though, was having the time of his life. He couldn't fight the others – Hermione, Luna, Cedric, Cho, Draco and the Twins – serious as he could here. Here it was life and death, here it was serious and adrenaline was pumping into Zack's veins as well as his Mako, causing Zack's eyes to glow brighter and he nearly laughed aloud.
It had been ages – well, since the dragon (but even then he didn't take that fight as serious as he did now – since he had had a good fight, since Sephiroth, he supposed… The fight with the Cadets hadn't really been a fight, too much… He could've overpowered them easily, he knew the Cadet's powers and how much they could handle. But Zack didn't know the sheer number that they had had… And he in the end had been overpowered.
But here… Here Zack didn't know his opponent's strengths or weaknesses, in this fight; he could go all out, if he wanted to.
Zack knew though, that he only had to wait until the other's blood pumped enough of the Mako through his veins that it would start its effect of burning and trying to enhance the other's senses, and if it affected Voldie's magic as it affected Zack's… Well, may Shiva help the poor snake-loving bastard.
"Stay still, Potter!" Voldie spat angrily and Zack laughed brightly, dodging another attack and shooting a weak-leveled Fira at the man.
"No thanks! And it's Fair now! Zack Fair! Get your names straight!" Zack called rather cheerfully, throwing another Thundraga at the man, almost whining in disappointment when the spell missed.
Well, that just meant more target practice for him in the near future.
To Zack's disappointment, the spells shot at him started coming slower and slower as Voldie's blood started to boil under his skin and the man was hissing in pain and Zack approached, easily dodging a weak spell that was sent at him.
"Burns like hell, doesn't it?" Zack grinned almost innocently as he watched Voldie gasping for breath, the other's arm clutched around his stomach as Voldie bit down the urge to throw up.
"Mako does that to you, it's great at times, but it burns like a bitch. There are reasons why most SOLDIERs have another person nurse them through their Mako shots… For me, it was 'Geal and Seph, on rare occasions Genny too." Zack mused, "He didn't like me much… I think it was jealousy…" The dark-haired Ex-SOLDIER shrugged and sighed quietly.
"Too bad I didn't get to spend more time with him… I would've loved to learn how to control Materia spells like he does… He would love it here." Zack admitted, looking up at the sky, ignoring the others around him. "Don't know what happened to Genny… He was out-cold when I left him for dead."
"But oh well," Zack sighed dramatically. "I won't find out for a while… Not until you're dead at least, and until I can find a spell to send me home."
"What are you talking about, Potter?" Voldie gasped, his whole body shuddering as the Mako continued to pump through his veins and burn his body from the inside out.
"You didn't know?" Zack asked in surprise, a dark eyebrow raising and Zack smiled childishly. "I may have been born on this Planet, but I was raised on another." Zack's childish smile turned into a grin as he gave Voldie a two-fingered salute. "SOLDIER First Class, Lieutenant Zackary Fair, the General's right hand man… And you know what I found out recently?" Zack's grin grew wider, "The General nearly destroyed the Planet we're from, with his bare hands… I'm on par with his strength." – Now that was a lie, and Zack knew it, but truthfully, Zack was close to being on par with the silver-haired General (Thanks to Hojo's experiments), just needed a few more years of training – "But, as I don't like the thought of destroying this Planet… I guess I'll just destroy you right here and now…"
With that, Zack raised an arm which glowed with the golden color of the Summon Materia he was using, and a moment later the power from the spell shot into the air, forming a Summoning Circle.
The Death Eaters screamed as a large thing started to form as thin wisps of the Life Stream molded together to form the -blue eyes laughed silently as the large dragon-like Summon landed behind Zack, the SOLDIER's expert hearing picking up on the quiet clanks of the Neo-Bauhumut's golden armor chinking against each other.
"Have fun!" Zack smiled childishly as the Summon roared and lightning burst out of its mouth instead of flames, and Zack turned away as the screams of the Death Eaters and Voldies'. Humming an old Gongagain tune, the dark-haired man almost skipped over to where Cedric lay, eyes closed and as Zack gently grabbed one of the dead body's arms, his eyes widened.
The other, wasn't dead. Asleep and probably had a few bruised ribs, maybe a broken one or two… But Cedric wasn't dead. Carefully pulling Cedric up and against his chest – the other's head resting just under his shoulder – Zack's heart soared in relief and happiness as he reached for the TriWizard Cup – which he assumed and prayed to the Goddess that it would get him home – and grabbed it, the last thing that he heard before he (and Cedric) was whirled away from the graveyard were the screams of the Death Eaters and pops that meant they were leaving.
The next moment he was almost slammed to the ground at the force of returning to ground and then there was Cedric's weight too.
Cheers broke out from around Zack as he blinked, trying to get a clear visual of the are around him and the cheers quieted when the students and others alike saw Cedric lying against Zack.
"He's dead!" One of the students screamed from Zack's left and another voice seemed to scoff.
"He's not dead you idiot! He's unconscious!" A girl's voice called, "See! He's breathing." The girl huffed in irritation, but it was too late.
"Dead! He's dead!"
"Cedric Diggory's dead!"
"Potter killed him!"
Panicked voices rang out in the stadiums and Zack watched in surprise as several female students started sobbing hysterically. If he hadn't just come out of a 'life and death' fight, he would've tried to calm the young women down, but right now with his adrenaline high, he was finding it rather amusing.
"Mr. Fair. You need to let him go." Zack turned his attention to his right, where the voice had originated from and saw Professor Dumbledore standing there with a sad smile on the old man's face.
"Not you too." Zack nearly groaned and rolled his eyes as he signaled for Madame Pomfrey – who had been waiting on the side lines (Obviously having been told to stay there by Dumbledore moments before) – to come over, and the MediWitch hurried over, raising her wand.
"Woops, wait a moment." Remembering the Reflect that he had cast on Cedric – which Zack assumed had been the spell that had saved his life (along with the other ones) – Zack quickly (and silently) cast Dispel and then shifted Cedric into his arms as the MediWitch started to cast spells on the unconscious teenager.
"He's alive." Madame Pomfrey said in surprise – "I just said that!" – as cries of 'That's my son!' was heard and Zack turned his head slightly to the side to see Mr. Diggory – and his wife, both looking rather pale – hurrying over as the Minister approached them rather quickly.
"They can't see the body, Dumbl-" Fudge started but Zack cut him off rather bluntly.
"He's alive. Unconscious, but alive, could've been worse, Voldie could've killed him, but somehow-" Zack was cut off by the sharp cries of 'What?!' from Fudge and Dumbledore.
"Ah, yeah… The Cup transported Cedric and I to some graveyard – I don't know where we were so don't ask – and I cast a few spells from my world on him." Zack ignored Fudge's surprised splutters and the Diggory's as they reached them. "Next thing I knew I was tied to a gravestone and Voldie was rising out of a cauldron…" Zack paused before frowning slightly, "I'm pretty sure he's dead, but I don't know for certain, left before Neo-Bahamunt killed him, them… Death Eaters were there too."
"Death Eaters?" Mr. Diggory – Amos, wasn't it? Zack wasn't sure… – paled and Fudge spluttered.
"You… He can't be back… Lies!"
"'s not lying…" Cedric muttered as dark eyes opened and Mr. and Mrs. Diggory nearly cried in relief. "I saw 'im too, heard him… High pitched, and hissed like a snake."
Zack blinked in surprise – hadn't Cedric been out? Maybe he had a few minutes before the spell had knocked him unconscious? Zack didn't know. – and helped Cedric stand up – though, Cedric was willing (and happy) to lean against his father for support – while Fudge's face turned an odd shade of purple.
"See here now, you're telling lies, the both of-" Fudge didn't finish his sentence as Mrs. Diggory whirled around to face Fudge.
"I believe in my son, and Mr. Fair." The woman spoke up, her eyes glinting almost dangerously. "My Cedric isn't a lair, and Mr. Fair is far from one as well." She snapped and Fudge flinched in surprise and twirled his bowler hat in his hands and searched for something else to say as Angeal, Aerith and Kunsel hurried over.
"Are you alright Zack?" Angeal asked, and Fudge's gaze turned towards the huge man and he paled further.
"I'm fine, I think…" Zack muttered, a frown playing on the corners of his mouth a few moments later as black spots appeared in his vision and he swayed slightly. Angeal moved faster than the rest of them, moving from behind Fudge to Zack's side before any of them could brink.
The larger man helped steady the dark-haired 'teenager' who graced him with a weak smile.
"'y head 'urts…" Zack grumbled, leaning against Angeal. "I got h't wit' a large hu'k of gravestone…" He smiled sheepishly as Angeal sighed heavily and Aerith looked at him worriedly, Kunsel's lips twitched slightly in amusement though.
"We better get you to Madame Pomfrey." Angeal spoke, glancing at the Minister before asking. "We are allowed to leave, correct?"
Fudge – who had still been spluttering and trying to make sense of what exactly had happened and what was going on – nodded slightly, eyeing Angeal wearily and the large Ex-SOLDIER smiled kindly at the smaller man before starting to lead a partly-unconscious Zack away from the Quidditch Pitch and up to the large castle, Aerith and Kunsel following them.
When Zack awoke, he found himself once again, inside of the Infirmary.
"If you're going to keep ending up in my Infirmary, Mr. Fair. I might as well put up a plaque with your name on it above the bed." A scolding tone spoke from the foot of Zack's bed and the Ex-SOLDIER smiled sheepishly as he slowly sat up, rubbing slightly at the bandages wrapped around his head.
"Sorry Madame Pomfrey." The dark-haired man rubbed the back of his neck, noticing the dark blue pajamas he was wearing. Recognizing it as one of his pairs of pajamas, he raised an eyebrow he looked at the clothing in surprise before looking at the MediWitch, who noticed his surprise.
"You fainted on your way up here. Mr. Hewley and Mr. Kunsel were kind enough to dress you in a set of pajamas that Ms. Gainsbourgh fetched for you."
"Ah…" Zack smiled slightly, fondly before looking around the Infirmary and took in the sight of the sleeping Cedric Diggory a few beds away. "How is he?" Zack asked, waving a hand slightly at the bed that Cedric occupied.
"Besides for a few broken ribs? Mr. Diggory is fine, I was able to heal them in a heartbeat, but I kept him overnight in case that he, like you, fell unconscious again." The MediWitch explained as she made her way over to Zack with a plateful of food.
"That's great." Zack sighed happily, eagerly taking the plate of food that she had set on the table next to him and started to dig in as the MediWitch continued to talk.
"I have to alert the Headmaster of your awakening. As well as your friends." The MediWitch smiled slightly as she looked over the young man. "You have great friends, Mr. Fair. They demanded – or in the young woman's' case asked politely – to know your condition as soon as you woke up."
Zack looked at the MediWitch in surprise before he slowly sat down his fork and looked at his plate, a wide smile gracing his features. "I sure do." He agreed quietly, almost too lowly for the MediWitch's ears and a moment later he was eating again.
"The Minister wishes to see you as well, Mr. Fair. After the Headmaster, but before your friends." Rolling her eyes at the disappointed exclamation from the young man, the MediWitch made her way back to her office, sending a Patronus to alert the Headmaster that her young charge was awake.
A slight smile made its way onto the usually stern MediWitch's face as she glanced back at the slightly-whining man. Even if he didn't know it, Zack did act quite a bit like his father.
Though, Zack had his mother's heart, through and through. Which was the best quality of the young man.
His loving; caring; kind; forgiving heart.
I'm not too happy with the way that this chapter ended, but it's alright... Wish I could've given you a better one, but I didn't know how to end it and stuff so... Hope you liked it?
Hope you all liked the chapter! Only ONE more to go and then the Epilogue and this half of the story is finished! :D
AND GUYS, I REALLY NEED TO KNOW. Should I split this story into two, so that there's Year Four and Year Five in two different stories, or should I just keep them together under the title "I'm a What?" and on this story and not a new one?
See you guys next week with the last chapter, then it's the Epilogue and then a three-week break for me to work on my other stories and then Part two!
See ya later! Hope you enjoyed!
And don't forget to Read, Follow, Favorite and Review! Reviews feed muses and muses help write! Don't forget to tell me if I should split it or keep it together either!
~Snow.
PS: Don't forget to stop by my Facebook Page Snow's Fanfictions where I update you guys on what's coming up and going on! :)