Welcome back everyone to chapter 19! Thank you everyone as always for your support! I wouldn't be where I am today without you!

Ch.19

Once the group had their coordinates, they set off to find this waterfall. The Regalia took the lead on the road while Cloud followed behind on Fenrir. Zack still clung tightly as they drove behind the car.

"You know we aren't going that fast right?" Cloud said to Zack.

"Dude just because you like to drive 500 miles per hour doesn't mean this isn't fast! This is really windy!" Zack replied with a hardy laugh. "Who knows, I could fly off at any second if I let go."

"You're not going to fly off," Cloud snorted.

"Yeah, that's cause I am holding on tight!" Zack laughed. "Plus hey, you know I am a big hugger. I am making up for lost hug time."

Cloud shook his head lightly, smiling warmly anyways. "Whatever you say Zack."

After they drove a little further, the Regalia pulled over into a spot just off from the road. Cloud pulled up and parked his motorcycle next to them before he and Zack got off. "Is it nearby?"

"That's what the map says, but we will have to go the rest by foot," Ignis replied. He pointed ahead to the ground below the elevated road. "There is a stairwell just alongside here that should take us down to the ground. From there we keep walking."

With a nod from the rest of the group they headed along the path, heading closer to the waterfall. When they finally got close, some rather large crab monsters were crawling their way. The four bros immediately summoned their weapons and Cloud and Zack followed shortly after.

"Looks like it's finally time to show what I got!" Zack cheerfully said.

"Don't lose your head," Cloud said with a smirk.

"Me? Never!" Zack laughed before he ran to join the other four in battle.

Cloud followed right behind and helped take down the large crabs in no time flat. With the now six of them working together, things really did go a lot faster against the larger beasts. Even if he was focused on trying to break the legs of the crabs, he couldn't help but pay attention to Zack as he fought.

He fought just as lively as Cloud remembered, with each slice of the sword filled with strength and passion. Even with that he still had his own grace as well, making him look like a true hero Cloud knew that was on another level far above him. While he did know people saw himself as a hero, and he believed it now, Zack was still something else. A one in a million unique hero who would always go above and beyond and Cloud was happy to call him a friend.

He even seemed to adjust to fighting alongside everyone much quicker than Cloud did. That was just probably a Zack thing he figured. Zack was an outgoing people person and that was one of the biggest traits he had. He could befriend someone within minutes and get along so easily. That was how it was for the two of them anyways.

With the happy thoughts aside, Cloud put his sword away once the crabs were cleared out and the path was good to keep on walking. He walked up to the group as they all marveled at the large waterfall before them.

"So this is the place?" Cloud asked.

"Yup! Looks like it. So the legend says to look behind the waterfall."

"And what does the waterfall say?" Ignis asked with a light chuckle.

"I think it says, 'Come in,'" Prompto snickered.

Zack laughed as well. "Alright Mr. Waterfall, let's see what secrets you are hiding!"

Prompto and Zack ran up ahead of the group, leaving the other four to walk at a slower pace. Cloud smiled at the two though, seeing how excited they were. "Guess befriending blonds could be a trait of his," Cloud mused to himself.

"Are you not going to follow after them?" Ignis asked.

"Huh? No, Zack has far more energy than I do. It's fine," Cloud said with a smile.

"Does he now? Can he match Prompto's? I think that's the real question," Gladio said.

"If he can, that'll be impressive," Noctis laughed. "Prompto has the most energy out of everyone I know."

"Guys!" Zack shouted from the top of the hill that led behind the waterfall. "There's an entrance back here!"

"Huh, well what do you know," Gladio said. "Looks like the legend checks out."

"Now we can see what lies behind."

The group started to make their way behind the waterfall, through the entrance to the cave. Right away the temperature dropped and Cloud could see his own breath when he exhaled out.

"Whoa," Zack said. "Now that's a crazy temperature change."

"Yeah it's giving me goosebumps… literally!" Prompto exclaimed. "Should we double back for our coats?"

"You mean you didn't put it in the armiger?" Noctis asked. He pulled out a black long sleeve jacket with a Behemoth on the back and slipped it on.

"I uh… totally forgot," Promtpo chuckled.

"Take my extra then," Noctis said, tossing a grey jacket in Prompto's direction.

"Dude! I don't want your smelly fishing jacket!"

"Rather freeze?"

Prompto pressed his lips together before sighing. "Fine, fine! I'll wear the smelly fish jacket."

"It's not smelly."

"Yes it is!"

Noctis rolled his eyes. Looking over at the others, Ignis already had on his extra jacket and Gladio had slipped on his tank top and put on his heavier jacket. Cloud and Zack still were wearing what they were from before though.

"Oh, are you guy's going to be okay? It's going to get pretty cold from the looks of it."

Cloud shook his head. "We're used to it. Not the first time we've been in the cold like this."

"Yeah! We're totally good for this! We got the SOLDIER enhancements, and well, Cloud's also from a mountain town. He was born for this weather!" Zack said as he wrapped his arm around Cloud.

"We're just two backwater boys, right Zack?" Cloud asked with a smirk.

That seemed to ignite an even brighter smile in his friend. "Oh you know it, buddy!"

Noctis tilted his head to the side. "Something we're missing?"

"Just an old joke from when we first met," Cloud answered.

"We'll tell it to you guys on the way," Zack said. "Come on, let's go."

"Whoa wait!" Prompto interjected. "What about the daemons? It's freezing here, but can it freeze daemons?"

"Only one way to find out," Gladio said as he started moving ahead.

"Well at least we will have stories to pass the time… if the daemons are all frozen that is," Prompto said.

"Yeah, I wanna hear this story of how the two of you met. Sounds interesting," Noctis said as they walked.

"It would be a good time to help us know you better," Ignis added. "There is still much we have to know."

"Well it started when we had a mission out to Modeoheim. I was the only SOLDIER on the mission and Cloud was one of the Infantrymen. He was the only one to keep up with me as I was walking through the heavy snow," Zack explained.

"We found out we were both from backwater towns after Zack announced the name of his town," Cloud said, snickering softly.

"Hey! You're still not laughing about that are you?"

Cloud smirked. "I might."

"What was the name of the town?" Gladio asked.

Before either one of them could give an answer, daemons spawned out from the darkness, crawling towards them. The weapons were summoned and quickly everyone jumped back into action, leaving the conversation on hold for the time being.

There were only a few daemons thankfully, but they were quick. Cloud kept his eyes locked on the small group near him and made sure to give as many large sweeps as he could to bunch the daemons closer together.

When the daemons were gone, Zack put his sword away and stretched. "Aw man this feels so great!"

"What's so great?" Noctis asked.

"Doing all this fighting again. It really has been a while for me. Not the time now, but just saying I haven't really been able to do all this. Anyways though! Where were we in the story?"

"Cloud laughed because of the name of the town?" Prompto asked as the group resumed walking.

Cloud laughed softly. "Well Zack? Go ahead and tell them. It won't just be me who laughs."

"Oh you!" Zack pouted. "There's nothing funny about the name Gongaga!"

There was a pause as Noctis, Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis before faint snickering could be heard. "Hey! Who's laughing?" Zack asked as he pointed his finger at them.

"Sorry," Prompto said.

"It's a little funny," Noctis added.

"Oh ha ha, you all laugh it off. But I am very proud to be from Gongaga!"

The rest of the group laughed softly much to Zack's overexaggerated annoyance. Though he quickly sighed and decided to move on, leaving the rest to catch up. For the rest of the way, the group kept their eyes open for any more daemons, which seemed to pop out from every corner without warning.

They did make it through the caves, with slips and slides all along the way, but then they did reach the tomb. Cloud could hear that Noctis and Prompto sighed with relief as they finally opened the doors once they cleared out the last wave of daemons.

Cloud watched as Noctis reached out and pulled the weapon just like the previous times. Just like the previous times it glowed and seemingly imploded him, but faded on impact. Noctis hummed softly to himself before he looked back at the group.

"That's it then."

"So now we gotta head all the way back?" Prompto sighed.

"Yup, so don't be a wuss about it," Gladio grunted.

"But dude! Were you even paying attention to where we were going? We're totally going to get lost… again!"

"Not to worry, Prompto. I made sure to map out the pathway that we took," Ignis replied.

"And I have an innate sense of direction! I can help us find the way back!"

"Zack, you got lost trying to find the bathrooms back at Shinra HQ… twice," Cloud deadpanned.

Zack huffed. "Hey! I was really tired those times and that building was really stupidly confusing!"

"Sure it was, Zack. Sure."

Walking towards the entrance, Zack placed his hands on his hips. "I'll show you I know where I'm going! Come on! Let's go!"

When Zack exited the throne room, the rest followed soon after. Prompto moved his way over to Cloud and nudged his arm. "So what's the chance he'll actually get lost?"

Cloud shrugged. "50/50 chance probably."

"I hear that!" Zack shouted from ahead.

"Okay, he isn't the worst. He once dragged me all the way from my hometown to his, and they were on opposite ends of the continent," Cloud explained.

"Wow, really? Some crazy vacation or mission?"

"Not exactly," Cloud sighed. "More like we were on the run and I was mostly out of commission. Zack would be able to tell you more than me. I... I really don't remember too much from that early on."

"Why not?" Prompto asked.

"Remember what I said about the Mako enhancements? How I got the in unconventional ways? At first… the results had left me in a coma-like state. If it wasn't for Zack, I wouldn't have been able to do anything. He was the one who took care of me while I recovered."

"He sounds like a really good friend," Noctis added.

Cloud started to smile. "He really is. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for him."

Even as he was whispering this to Prompto and Noctis, he knew Zack would be able to hear him from up ahead. He could hear the small chuckles of amusement coming from his best friend, and it made him start to smile a little more. He knew how much it meant to Zack that he was finding himself as his own hero while also keeping Zack's legacy alive through the stories being told.

Telling these stories to the guys really was becoming more enjoyable by the day, and with Zack there to help out, he knew he could tell even more.