Chapter 24: Building a flower wagon
After Zack and Laina returned back to Midgar from Junon via helicopter ride, the both of them went down the stairs and out of toward the Sector 5 train station which will take them to the church where Aeris is waiting. Once they arrived at the slums and halfway before the both of them entered the church, Laina suddenly got a nagging feeling that someone or something is watching/following them and gently yanked her hand away from Zack's grasp. Zack stopped his pace and gazed at her, confused.
"What's wrong, Laina?" he asked her.
"I get the feeling that there's someone or something been following us ever since we left and came to the slums, Zack." Laina answered him, a frown look on her face.
"Really?" Zack said to her as he crossed his arms and look over her shoulder to see if there's someone or something following them like she said and see nothing. "I don't see anyone, Laina. Maybe you just imagine it?"
"Really?" said Laina, the frown look still remained on her face. "But still… that feeling still persists inside me."
Zack sighed lightly before he clasped her hand with his. "Come on, Laina. Let's go see Aeris already."
"Very well, Zack." Laina said to him with a sigh and a shake of her head (and slight jealousy) as they both went into the church, not noticing two robots following them from far, which proves that Laina's nagging feeling a few seconds ago was indeed accurate.
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Once they are inside the church, Zack froze while Laina widened her eyes slightly in surprise when they saw a creature that look like a kind of wolf/lion hybrid with a pair of white wings on its back (one big and one small) stood between them and Aeris, who looked up at them when she heard them entering.
"Zack! Laina!" she called to them. Zack immediately gave Aeris a "stay back" look and grabbed the handle of his sword, ready to attack the wolf/lion creature as he take a few steps forward. Laina noticed Aeris gave Zack a shake of her head, realised what she mean by that and swiftly walk forward past Zack and blocked his path.
"Laina?" said Zack, giving her an incredulous/surprised look. "What're you doing?"
"What am I doing, you say?" replied Laina. "Not letting you attacking it, of course."
"But…" Zack began to protest when he saw the wolf/lion creature show him something which change his mind. It lifted its head to show him its throat, which had the face of Angeal on it.
Zack take a look at it and gasped. "An Angeal copy?" he said as he step past Laina (who turn around and saw it too) toward it and they heard the sound of the church door opening again. The three of them and the creature turned to look and saw two brownish-orange colour Shinra-gun bull head machines came into the church, both of them took a look at all four of them before they stop looking and prepared for attack. But before both gun-bull head machines can attack them, Zack pull his Buster Sword out and together with the dog/lion Angeal copy, they charge toward the machines, slashing and banging at them head-on while Laina sprint toward Aeris and shield her from the blast and debris of the machines as they exploded.
"Thank you." Zack said to the wolf/lion Angeal copy next to him after the both of them destroy the machines and the wolf/lion Angeal copy respond to his thanks by straightening itself and lifted its face up toward the church ceiling.
"Yeah, thanks for lending us a hand." Laina said to the creature as well before looking over her shoulder at Aeris. "It's alright now, Aeris. The danger has already passed by."
"Okay." said Aeris as she came out from behind Laina and suddenly the three of them saw the creature's body gone slack and it fell to the floor. Causing gasps to came out of their mouths and Zack immediately kneel down to the creature for a closer look.
"Looks like it's degrading, Laina, Aeris." Zack told the both of them sadly.
"Oh no." said Laina, giving the wolf/lion Angeal copy a pitying look.
"Poor thing." said Aeris as she too gave the copy a pitying look.
"Does this mean that Angeal is still out there, too?" said Zack to himself as he continue looking down at the degrading copy. The copy then struggle to get back up and Zack quickly stood up and backed away from it with Laina and Aeris behind him as it stood up, spreads its white wings and flew up toward one of the ceiling rafters of the church and landed there while gazing down at them like some sort of guardian lion/hound.
"It was so….. I don't know… sad." Aeris said to them.
Zack gave her a glance before he glance up at the copy. "So what did you… come here to do, Aeris?" he asked her.
"So, a flower wagon! Let's make one!" said Aeris as she turned to look at Zack then at Laina. "It was your idea, remember?"
"Well, yeah." replied Laina as she scratch her head. "But, are you sure that you want us to make the flower wagon right now, Aeris?"
"Yeah." said Aeris as she smiled at Laina. "And don't worry about it."
"Very well, then. Aeris." said Laina with a small sigh. "Let's do it."
"That's the spirit." thought Zack as he stared at Laina slightly happily before his gaze turn serious as he glance up at the copy. "Can you hear me? You better stay right where you are up there!" Zack said with his finger pointed up at the copy. "I'll… I mean, we'll take care of things." he added, referring to both himself and Laina.
While Zack was talking (or lecturing) at the copy with Laina watching him slightly amusedly, Aeris was walking toward the flower patch with her hands folded behind her back before she turned and glance at the both of them. "So, that flower wagon, let's do it!" she said to them with a smile on her face.
"Uh, yeah…" said Zack to Aeris once he's done talking/lecturing to the Angeal copy and he along with Laina next to him walk slowly toward her. "Hey, Aeris?"
"Yes, Zack?" said Aeris as she turned to look at him.
"When the wagon's done building and all, you're gonna go and sell the flowers here above the plate too, right?"
After he asked Aeris his question, she immediately lay her left arm across her stomach while lifted her right arm and placed her hand near her cheek in a pondering manner.
"Yeah…" she answered him but Laina could detect the fear/nervousness in her tone of voice. "But, I'm still a little scared, so…"
"You don't have to be afraid, Aeris." said Laina as she approach her and clasped both of Aeris hands with her own to give her a little courage/reassurance. "After all, Zack and I did promise you that we would sell these flowers together with you all over Midgar, isn't it?"
"Yeah, she's right, Aeris." said Zack. "So don't you worry about it."
Aeris glance up at them both and gave them a relieved smile. "Thank you, both of you." she said to them and they smiled back at her.
"All right then! Let's get started on that flower wagon!" Zack said to them with enthusiasm. "Laina, will you stay here with Aeris while I head out and looked for and gather the various items for the flower wagon?"
"Sure thing, Zack." replied Laina.
"Thanks, I'll be back soon!" said Zack as he gave Laina a brief hug before he turned and headed out of the church, leaving Laina, Aeris and the Angeal copy above them staring at him as he left.
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Zack step out of the church and saw before him four more of the Shinra-gun bull head machines approaching him, all of them locked and loaded for firing/attacking.
"Oh, there's more of you guys, huh?" said Zack as he glance at them and drew out his huge sword. "Well, don't just stand there, do something!"
And the gun-bull head machines did do something at him, they began shooting/blasting him with their guns but he managed to dodge-rolled each of their gun attacks and use the Vital Slash materia which he put and equip on one of the two holes on the Buster sword on them. A few seconds later, he defeated all four of them and the gun bull head machines now lay broken and sizzling with smoke and electricity on the ground. He then heard the sound of footsteps approaching him, turned his head and saw that it's Tseng.
"Hey there, Tseng." Zack greeted him after he put his sword behind him. "And can you tell me what the heck are this things?" he asked him.
"A new automated mobile weapon, Zack." Tseng said to him as he began explaining/telling. "They automatically detect and destroy monsters. The Arms Development Department designed and deployed these machines at each of the Sectors throughout Midgar as an anti-Genesis copy measure. Moreover, I heard that these new models were able to eliminate most of the copies within Midgar, apparently."
"Hmm…that's pretty impressive." said Zack as he stared at the machines in slight awed before his face turned outraged as he turned to stared at Tseng. "But then why the heck was I attacked by them, huh? Can't they tell the differences between SOLDIER operatives and monsters?"
Tseng turned from him, looking down at the machines with his arms crossed over his chest. "Currently, no."
Zack sighed and look down on the ground with a dark scowl on his face. "Well, that's annoying…"
"I'm sure that they'll fix it, eventually." Tseng told him, uncrossing his arms. Zack snorted in derision as he turned away from Tseng and crossed his arms.
"By the way, Tseng," he began saying to him. "I'm annoyed with you too. You were spying on Aeris again, weren't you?"
Tseng heard what Zack said and he decided to ignored him, turned and began to walked away but Zack's next question stopped him in his tracks.
"Are you giving me the silent treatment again?"
"If you want to go and play or flirt with Aeris despite you already have Laina as your girlfriend, you're more than welcome to do so." Tseng said to him without turning around. "I'm just fulfilling my duties as a Turk."
"Hey, I'm not playing or flirting with Aeris and also I'm not cheating on Laina either, Tseng!" Zack said to Tseng out loud, shocked and taken aback that Tseng would assumed the worse of him and said such untrue words at him. "Moreover, I was going to ask Laina a very important question later and like you, I'm also fulfilling my duties as SOLDIER to protect…"
(Can any of you guess what important question he might asked her later?)
But what he's about to continue to say to Tseng got cut off when the small boy who stole his wallet at the slum market two years ago came running past Tseng and stopped before him. Both Tseng and Zack turned their attention to the boy.
"Oh! Mister SOLDIER! I heard that you're going to make a flower wagon! I'll help you make it really nice and fancy so that you can surprise Aeris!" the boy said to him in an excited voice, not realizing that he put Zack in a very bad position in Tseng's opinion.
Once again, Zack was taken aback but this time it's from what the boy just accidently said out loud to the both of them. "No, no! This really isn't what you think!" Zack began saying hurriedly to Tseng, trying to get him to understand and to deny the words the boy just said. "This is really for her protec… H-hey, Tseng!"
Zack called out to Tseng when he saw him turned and walked away from them both but he didn't answer or turned back despite Zack's attempt to call him back to give him a valid explanation. Zack then hung his head and upper body down in depression/disappointment while the boy just look at him in a confused manner.
Soon after that, Zack slowly straighten up his body and he turned to looked at the boy, who began telling him steps on how to make a flower wagon and also told him on how to find and gather the items necessary for building one, items like tools, wood, tires and an instruction manual on how to build a flower wagon which happens to be scattered/strewn all over the slums and the upper plate of Midgar. Zack and the boy immediately set out and split up after the boy is finish with his talking to look for those items and after a while of looking, Zack managed to find them in 4 different places. First he found some abandoned woods lying in a corner near the same shop (where he bought the azure ribbon for Laina two years ago) which sells ribbons and other trinkets and was about to kneel down to get it but an angry male voice stopped him from getting it. Zack stood up and turned to looked at the man approaching him, who had an angry look on his face and he immediately began explaining to him on why he needed the woods. The man listen quietly to his explanation and agreed to give him some of his woods if Zack could come up with a name for a bar he's planning on building in Sector 7 and Zack did and told the man his answer, the man thank him for it and gave him some of his woods. Zack thank him back and went off to search for the three other items (which is Worn Tires from the guy near a vehicle outside of LOVELESS avenue in Sector 8, a set of tools lying on the ground outside of Aeris church and an instruction manual hidden inside a Shinra infantryman helmet, which is also on the ground outside of the church as well.) After he managed to find and gather all four of the necessary items, the boy who split up with him to look for them as well appear and came running toward him, an almost excited/proud look on his face as he saw the items Zack had in his arms.
"Wow, you got everything! Big guy!" said the boy cheerfully as he placed both of his hands behind his head while staring up at Zack. "Now that you got everything, why don't you head on over to the church now where Aeris and the other lady is waiting? As for me, I'm going home."
"What? You're not coming along?" Zack asked the boy, slightly surprised that he won't be helping them with the flower wagon despite him looking for those items too.
"Yeah, right! I know better than that! I'll leave the rest up to you, big guy! Hee hee hee." replied the boy with a chuckle as he began to turned and run away for 5 seconds before he turned back around to stare at Zack again. "Let's do this again! I'm sure that you'll find more neat stuffs if you look around all over Midgar! See ya!"
"I guess I should hurry and go see Laina and Aeris. I'll bet that they're waiting for me." Zack said to himself as he turned to stared at the church after he see the boy run off back to his home before he went toward the church door, opened it and went in.
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"I'm back, Laina, Aeris!" Zack's voice called out to the both of them and they stood up to see him approaching them with the items he's holding in his arms.
"Welcome back, Zack." said Laina, smiling at him while helping him to take some of the items from him.
"Looks like you got everything, Zack." said Aeris as she looked at the items he and Laina is holding. "Let's start making the flower wagon, then! All three of us!"
"Yeah! Let's do this!" Zack said to the both of them. They both nodded and got down to the business of builting a flower wagon. After a while of sawing the woods and hammering them together, putting the tires at the bottom of it before putting the flowers inside of it, it's finally done. Zack and Laina stepped back to survey their handiwork/craftsmanship and they were quite proud of it.
"Hmm. Not quite… what I expected." said Aeris with a frown on her face as she stared at the flower wagon which Zack and Laina just finish builting. Laina heard what she said and she gave Aeris an annoyed/irritated look.
"Really?" said Zack. "I think it looks fine enough."
"Yeah, like he said." said Laina as she crossed her arms, the annoyed/irritated look still on her face. "You should feel appreciate that we built one for you, Aeris."
"Laina." Zack thought with a sigh as he glanced at Laina's annoyed/irritated look to Aeris who hung her head down upon hearing what Laina just said to her. "Anyway, it's all about the flowers." he said to the both of them, trying to placate them both.
"Still… I want a nicer one." said Aeris as she looked up at Zack with a pout on her face.
"What?" thought Laina as she turned to give Aeris a glare which replaced her earlier annoyed/irritated mood. Aeris noticed it and looked away from her.
"Come now, Aeris. Don't be so picky." said Zack, slightly exasperated at her as he briefly raised and lowered his arms.
"A tiny little wish, that's all." said Aeris as she moved closer to Zack and turned away.
"Yeah, right." muttered Laina darkly under her breath.
"They're tiny, but you have lots of them, right?" Zack asked her.
"That's right. Wanna hear it?" replied Aeris as she turned back to looked at him. Laina (who's feeling slightly jealous now) was about to say something to her when Zack's phone start ringing and he pull it out to answer it.
"Hello?" Zack said to whoever it is on the other end of his phone.
"There are new developments, Zack." said Sephiroth's voice from the other end, loud enough for Laina to hear it and she moved closer to Zack's phone.
"Say what?"
"Stop saying any more words and hurry back to headquarters, now! You and Laina both!" Sephiroth snapped at Zack before he hung up. Zack stared at his silent phone and sighed deeply before he put it away.
"What's wrong, you two?" Aeris asked as she stared at the both of them. "More work stuff?"
"Yeah. Sadly." Laina answered her question while silently thanked Sephiroth for the interruption before she and Zack say goodbye to her (and also told her that they'll be back) before they leave the church and head back toward .
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"Legions of monsters have spawned near a regional mako reactor. The workers who worked there have all gone missing." Sephiroth began telling Zack and Laina the news the moment they're inside Director Lazard office, who's still missing. "Local SOLDIER operatives who have been dispatched to investigate the incident have also vanished. So, the company has decided to send additional operatives to investigate this matter. Which is me, you and Laina, that is."
"Roger that…" said Zack with an unhappy look on his face as he crossed his arms and began pacing to the right side of the room while Laina just watched him do his thing in silence.
"What's wrong?" Sephiroth asked Zack, noticing his unhappy mood.
"Well… you know." replied Zack as he stopped his pacing and uncrossed his arms to scratch the back of his head. "I thought that you found something out about… that other matter."
Sephiroth sighed lightly. "The SOLDIER operatives who went missing were the ones tracking Lazard. Also," he added, "Before they disappear, they had reported to the company of seeing a strange pod-like device in the area."
Zack heard what he said and looked up at Sephiroth, he then took a step forward. "Could it be… Hollander's…?"
"Probably the exact same device which was stolen in Modeoheim." answered Sephiroth with a nod of his head.
"Meaning…" said Zack, trying to piece the information together.
"Lazard, Hollander…" said Sephiroth in an almost quiet tone while giving Laina a side glance.
"… And Genesis, is it?" said Laina and Sephiroth gave her a nod before he turned to stared at the both of them.
"Looks like we'll have to go and see them."
"Uh-huh." replied Zack with a nod. "Let's go."
"Firstly, both of you need to go to the SOLDIER floor and equip yourselves up on items, materias and others." Sephiroth told them. "Then we'll depart as soon as you two, along with the rest of the men are ready to go."
"Understood!" Zack replied with a nod of his head before he turned around to leave.
"Yes, sir!" Laina replied as well before following after Zack.
"Our orders are just to investigate the reactor." said Sephiroth suddenly from behind them and the both of them halted in their tracks before slowly they turned back around to faced him. "They mention nothing of… seeing old friends."
"They didn't, huh?" thought Laina sadly to herself as she stared down at the floor and she almost didn't catch the rest of Sephiroth words.
"Depending on what happens, I may abandon and leave ." said Sephiroth and both Zack and Laina looked at him in surprise. "Heh. But until then, I'll remain loyal to SOLDIER." continued Sephiroth with a chuckle when he glance up and see both of their surprised looks.
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Soon after the both of them rode down the elevator and went into the place where the supply pods is outside of the briefing room on Level 49 soldier floor and done with equipping/preparing themselves, they began to leave when something or someone inside the briefing room caught Laina's attention and she told Zack to go on ahead first. He got confused but gave her a nod when she told him that she'll follow soon after. Once he's gone, Laina went into the briefing room and walk toward the 3rd class soldier whom she helped with 2 years ago.
"What's the matter now, Carter?" Laina asked him with her arms crossed when she noticed that he's looking depressed for some reason.
"In the end, I guess I'm not cut out to be a member of SOLDIER after all." said Carter with a deep sigh and a side-glance at Laina.
"Hey, come on now, Carter." said Laina as she gave his shoulder a pat. "Don't be like that. What happened to the guy who wanted to prove that he'll stand up on his own without my help anymore?"
"That's just it, Laina." he began saying to her. "You may have helped me with some of my missions and I do appreciate it and decided to stand up on my own after that. But I still end up screwing my missions and making my fellow soldiers mad at me despite what I said to you two years ago."
Laina, with a shake of her head, began to say something to reassured/console him when they both heard the door to the briefing room opened. Laina assumed that it's Zack and looked over her shoulder, only to see that it's the same 2nd class soldier who scolded Carter two years ago. He approach the both of them and began speaking to Carter.
"So, have you found out about what's most important in being a SOLDIER operative?"
"No, sir." replied Carter in a small voice. "But I do know about what it is that kept me going on for the past two years."
"And that is?" asked the 2nd class soldier as he still kept his glance on Carter. Carter then went on to tell him about the reason why he kept on staying in SOLDIER was because of Laina helping him up until when he told her that he wanted to prove himself that he can go on by himself until he wanted to quit being a soldier, which is now. Both the 2nd class soldier and Laina listen to him talk without interrupting.
"Hmm. Listening to your story kinda remind me of my mentor, somehow." said the 2nd class soldier.
"Your mentor?" said Carter as he (and Laina) glance at the 2nd class soldier.
"Back when he's still alive, my mentor would sometimes help me with my missions when it got too hard for me to keep on doing. Like how Laina Donovan here would helped you with yours." said the 2nd class soldier. "And after that, he would always tell me to "Embrace my dreams"."
"Wait a minute." said Laina to the 2nd class soldier as she began to realised who his "mentor" is. "Could that mentor of yours be…"
The 2nd class soldier cut off her speech by giving her a nod before he turned his back on them both. "The most important thing about being a SOLDIER operative…. is to embrace your dreams. That's what my mentor would always tell me." he said to Carter before he left the briefing room.
"…. To embrace my dream…" said Carter to himself, echoing the words the 2nd class soldier just said to him. He went silent for a while and when Laina thought that he'll kept on being quiet, he suddenly start doing squats which surprised her (and reminded her of Zack doing it too), slightly.
"Okay then!" he said in an excited voice. "I'll embrace my dreams! I'll continue to stay in SOLDIER and this time, try my best to become a strong soldier like you, Laina! Without any screw up this time either!"
"Really? Good for you, Carter!" said Laina, giving him an encouraging smile before she turned and began walking toward the briefing room entrance.
"Hey, Laina!" said Carter suddenly and Laina halted in her tracks and turn back around to faced him, who stop his squatting as he stood up slowly and glance at her. "When you're done with your mission and return here, do you want to hang out with me sometime?"
"Uh, sure. But why, Carter?" Laina asked him with a tilt of her head.
"Well…" said Carter as he scratch his chin. "Because I wanted to thanked you properly for helping me out with my past missions. If you don't mind, that is."
"Alright then, Carter." replied Laina, giving him a small smile (which make him flushed a little) before she turned and left the room to find Zack.
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Laina soon found Zack standing in front of the elevator all by himself, with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face as he leaned his back against the wall.
"Nobody seems to be coming here yet, Laina." Zack told her after he noticed her coming.
"Hmm. Maybe they're still preparing themselves before coming here, Zack." replied Laina with a shrug of her shoulder as she went to stand next to him.
"I wished that they would…" Zack began saying to her but got cut off by Kunsel, who began talking to the both of them when he step out of the elevator.
"Oh, hey there. Zack, Laina." greeted Kunsel.
"Hey back, Kunsel." Laina greeted him back.
"So, I just heard from the company that the two of you will be going on a new assignment with Sephiroth." said Kunsel.
"Yeah, that's right, Kunsel." replied Zack. "And what about you?"
"Me? I've received new orders from the company to go and inspect the mako reactor at Fort Condor. So I guess that means that we won't be seeing each other for a while."
Zack hung his head down after he heard what Kunsel just said to him. "Yeah, I guess this is goodbye."
"Oh, cheer up, Zack." said Laina as she clasped his hand with hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm sure that we'll all meet up again in no time."
Zack glance up at her and gave her a grateful smile while pulling her close so he could kiss her forehead. "Yeah, thanks. Laina."
Laina blushed and quickly turned her head the other way to avoid looking at Zack which make both men chuckled when they saw her reaction.
"Hey, you two lovebirds still have some spare time left, right?" Kunsel teased the both of them, Laina especially, which make her face even redder. "Why don't you two go do something before you two leave for your assignment? And don't worry about Sephiroth, Laina." added Kunsel when he see that Laina turned her head to him and was about to protest to him. "I'll explain things to Sephiroth while leaving out certain parts."
"Right. Thanks again, man." said Zack with a smile on his face before he and Laina quickly went into the elevator and left . Both of them remembering that they promised Aeris that they'll help her in selling her flowers.
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Watching her older sister and Zack as they try to help the girl named Aeris selling her flowers together inside the slums playground brought a smile to Phemie's face after her return from Junon. She along with Crisis and Tseng watched on without saying anything or interrupting them until they saw Aeris run toward a boy and both Zack and Laina noticed them and approach them. Zack went to talk to Tseng while Laina went to her and Crisis.
"Hey, Phemie." Laina greeted her with a smile on her face.
"Hey back, sister." answered Phemie, smiling as well.
"So how was Junon, Phemie? Were all the people there safe and sound?"
"Yes, they are, sister." said Phemie.
Laina nodded before taking a step closer to Phemie and place her hand on her cheek. "And what about you, Phemie? Did you get hurt or anything?"
"She's fine, Laina." said Crisis, deciding to cut in on Laina's question before Phemie could answer. Laina turned to look at him."She's a member of the turks now, remember? Plus she got me with her." he added the last part under his breath.
"Right, of course." replied Laina as she mentally berated herself for forgetting it before turning to Phemie again. "By the way, Phemie."
"Yes, sister?"
"Zack and I, we received an assignment to go and investigate a mako reactor with Sephiroth so I guess that we'll be gone from Midgar for a few days."
"Oh." said Phemie in a slightly dejected tone as she hung her head down.
"Oh, don't you go worry about it, Phemie." said Laina to her in a reassuring tone. "I'm sure that this assignment won't take too long."
"I hope so too, sister." Phemie told her in a small voice and Laina nodded before turning her gaze to Crisis. "Take care of her until I return, alright?"
"Of course, Laina." replied Crisis and Laina gave him another nod (and a pat on Phemie's head) before she noticed Zack finish his talk with Tseng, came for her and she followed him to go and tell Aeris that they'll be leaving for their assignment now.
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They went back to , rode the elevator up to the SOLDIER floor and see Kunsel waiting for them at the exact same spot when they left moments ago.
"Hey, welcome back. You two." Kunsel said to them. "Good news too, Sephiroth isn't here yet."
"Yeah, we can see that, Kunsel." Said Zack as he took a glance around, just in case.
"So, what are you two going to do now?" Kunsel asked them. "Are you two just going to wait here?"
"No, of course not, Kunsel." replied Laina with a tilt of her head.
"Yeah, like she said and thanks for everything." said Zack as he glance at Kunsel. "Let's all finish our respective assignments quickly and meet up again here in Midgar."
"Will do, Zack, Laina." replied Kunsel with a nod. "Until we meet again!"
Zack and Laina nodded then went past Kunsel, walked toward the seating area outside of the training room and saw two infantrymen without their helmets on standing there, waiting for them. Laina instantly recognized them as the two same infantrymen which they both met twice in Modeoheim and in Junon. Cloud Strife and Angelina Pierce.
"What's up, you two?" Zack asked the both of them.
"Nothing. Just that Angie and I are having a little trouble in rounding up the group…" replied Cloud as he and Angelina turned toward them.
"We're in a hurry here, so let's move it!" said Zack as he moved forward with Laina beside him.
"Sir! Ma'am!" said the both of them immediately while standing at attention.
"What? Cloud and Angelina?" Zack said while pointed a finger at them both in surprise once he's close enough to see their faces. Laina chuckled at his cute reaction. "Together once again, huh? All right!" said Zack again as he butted arms with Cloud.
"Are we really not that recognizable, Laina?" Angelina asked Laina with a light frown on her face.
"Only to him, Angelina." replied Laina with a shrug of her shoulder.
"Thanks, Zack." Said Cloud with a smile on his face. "Hold on, Angie and I will go and get everyone now."
Zack and Laina watched as both Cloud and Angelina run off to find and round up the remaining infantrymen for their assignment. A few minutes later, they found them are now they are all line up in a straight line before them. The 4 infantrymen immediately straighten when they heard and saw Sephiroth approach them. Laina noticed with an inner smile that both Cloud and Angelina were giving Sephiroth looks full of awed and admiration.
"By the way," Zack decided to asked Sephiroth once he's with them. "Where are we all going to?"
Sephiroth turned to him and gave him his answer. "To Nibelheim."
Laina heard two light gasp, turned and noticed Cloud and Angelina looking at Sephiroth again, this time with looks of shock on their faces. And for some unknown reason, a feeling of fear and dread began to build up within her heart and mind.
(I hoped that you all find this chapter to your liking and if you don't, then please don't get mad at me.)