The situation didn't look good. The only thing keeping Dragon Shadow from attacking was Sephiroth's life. And the only thing that kept Cloud from killing Sephiroth was Dragon Shadow. Zack knew that Sephiroth could get away, but not without becoming the one thing he hated. But if Sephiroth were to die, there was no way to tell what would happen to Dragon Shadow. A deep growl began in her thought. She was thinking the same thing. Then, her scales began to glow.

Zack didn't like the looks of things one bit. There was no way to tell what spell Dragon Shadow could, or would cast. And if the story she had told him earlier were true, she had little reason to love Cloud. "Calm down. You start throwing spells around, and you'll end up killing someone. Remember what Sephiroth told you."

"I know. But you don't know the situation like I do."


CENTER* * * * */CENTER


Cloud was watching the two. There was something going on between them and Sephiroth. And something had summoned Knights of the Round. By the looks of it, it could have been the dragon. Then Red came running up to Cloud. "Don't kill him. He's not the one you're thinking of."

Cloud shook his head. "I know. But he's still Sephiroth." The sword move a little closer. Dragon Shadow's growling became louder, and the glow brighter. Zack was become very worried.

Then, a second shadow flew over the group. And a roar broke out overhead. Dragon Shadow looked up. Then she answered the call. But she made no attempt to take to the air. Before long, a third shadow flew over. Again the challenge was issued, but again Dragon Shadow made no attempts to fly. Zack turned to her. "What's going on?"

Dragon Shadow answered, but kept her eyes on Red and Cloud. "I don't know. And I don't like it."

Suddenly, one of the shadows flew overhead again. But instead of passing over, it started to dive down towards Cloud. Cloud was so busy watching the new attacker, that he never even saw Dragon Shadow move. Dragon Shadow suddenly launched herself. But she did so close to the ground. Before Cloud could react, he, and Red were knocked over. Dragon Shadow grabbed Sephiroth in her claws, then flew up…strait towards the new comer. Her scales were glowing a very bright green now. Suddenly, lightning struck out, and hit the other dragon, which proceeded to scream in pain. But then, the other dragon returned. Dragon Shadow didn't know what to do. If she had not been carrying Sephiroth, she may have been able to take them. Suddenly, a new figure immerged next to her. It was Chaos. He streaked off towards the dragon who had been injured by lighting. Which left Dragon Shadow some maneuvering room. Then Sephiroth spoke to her through their link.

I"You must put me down."

"If I do that, he'll try to kill you again."

"And if you don't, these dragons will kill us. There's no choice."

"I suppose not…"
/I
Dragon Shadow rose up above the second dragon, as it dove past her. Then, she shot herself down, back towards the woods. She placed Sephiroth as close to the forest as she could. Zack came over, and as soon as he did, she rose back up. The second dragon had the advantage over Dragon Shadow. Dragon Shadow had been already weakened from the first fight. This new dragon appeared fresh. But again, the lightning struck the beast, but this time it was not only the one. The lighting ended up hitting the second dragon, and Chaos as well. Neither new comer was willing to fight the lighting. The first one turned, and began to retreat. The second one turned as well, which was fine for Dragon Shadow. She dove down, in an attempt to catch Chaos before he hit the ground.

Which was just the move the second dragon had been waiting for. It dove after Dragon Shadow, and managed to slash one of her wing membranes, at the same instant as she caught Chaos. But the second dragon had forgotten the archers on the roof, who opened fire on it. Dragon Shadow desperately attempted to land, but failed. While trying to glide down for a landing, she flipped over in mid air. The last thing she knew, before she hit ground, was that no one was under her, and Chaos was on top of her. Then she hit ground…


CENTER* * * * */CENTER


Cloud watched in amazement as the dragon that had been ready to do something a minute ago, rose up, in an attempt to drive off the attacking dragons. He was even more shocked when, somehow, Bolt 3 attacked the beasts. He had attempted to get fire 3 from a mastered fire materia, but all that he got was fire 1. Somehow the dragon was controlling the materia, or casting spells. It made no sense. The Vincent walked up beside him. "She cannot take them alone."

He turned to Vincent. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

But Vincent didn't answer. He transformed into Chaos, and took off to challenge the beasts. Cloud was even more surprised when the dragon landed, put Sephiroth down, then rose back up to the challenge. Everything seemed fine, until another Bolt 3 spell when out of control, attack everything but the dragon. He watched in amazement, as the dragon, which he'd been ready to kill, caught Vincent, even at a risk to it's self. He was even more surprised when he saw the beast flip over in mid air to, or so he though, avoid landing on Vincent. As it crashed, Vincent was thrown loose. The damage he'd receive would be nothing compared to what would have happened had he fallen from the high he was at. In fact, Vincent managed to get up, and walk away from the crash. The dragon did not. It just laid there. Cloud approached it carefully. But the creature had landed in such a way that it had knocked it's self out.

Chrono walked up to Cloud. "Do you think we should kill it?"

Cloud shook his head. "It risked it's life to save Vincent. I can't kill it for that."

He was started by another voice coming over. "You'd better not kill her. Especially after what she's been though."

Cloud looked over. Zack was walking over to the two, "What are you talking about."

Zack shook his head. "I forgot you wouldn't recognize her. You saw her once before, or maybe more then once. I'm not quite sure on that. All I know is that…" Suddenly Dragon Shadow began to glow again. "Now what?"

Zack turned, and ran back towards Sephiroth. Cloud and Chrono were left standing there trying to figure out what was going on.


CENTER* * * * */CENTER


Sephiroth saw Zack run back. Or he would have if he were paying attention to anything. Zack was left standing there, while Sephiroth was out. Sleeping, unconscious, or whatever, he wasn't paying attention to Zack. And Zack didn't know what to do about it. Suddenly, there was a green flash from behind him, and Sephiroth's eyes flew open. "I never realized I could do that…" And he stood up.

Zack shook his head, in amazement, and confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"It seems I can use the link to activate the materia she has. I knew of nothing else to do, and I was concerned over what Cloud and the others may have done to us…"

Zack nodded. He understood well. Unfortunately, Dragon Shadow didn't know what was going on with the two men standing over her. Both of whom had their weapons drawn. And she reacted as such. She rolled away from the two men, and stood up on her feet. Cloud and Chrono were both taken by surprise at the move. They were ready to fight, and Dragon Shadow was ready to fight. But Sephiroth came up from behind Dragon Shadow, and leaped on her back. His actions kept her from attacking. Unfortunately, it did nothing to reassure Cloud, Chrono, or the others.

Sephiroth began to have a discussion with Dragon Shadow. A discussion that only the two could hear.
I
"You must not attack them. They may be able to help you…"

"I don't believe that! I woke up, and those two were standing over me, swords drawn. What else were they gonna do besides kill me? After all, the guy with the funny hair, and one of his friends have already tried it once."

"We've gone through this before. It was my brother who tried to kill you. Not Cloud…"

"I don't trust him. Or his friend. Or anyone with him for that matter."
/I
Sephiroth was getting irritated by this argument. They kept on going over the same points. He gestured down to Zack. The only one who may be able to speak with the others without causing a full fledged war. A war that neither side could afford. Dragon Shadow just watched at Zack moved forwards. Zack had left his weapon behind, in an attempt to get Cloud and Chrono to relax. He knew as well as Sephiroth did just how delicate the situation was. Both sides were exhausted from the previous battle, and if another fight started now, not only was there no way to tell who would win, but there was no way to tell the losses that the victor would suffer. And with Sephiroth and Jenova after something that could potentially double or triple their current strength, neither side could afford any losses.

Zack moved to within 10 feet of Cloud. Then stood there, hands apart to show he was unarmed. Cloud and Chrono both looked at him, then turned back to the dragon. They knew that was where the trouble would come from…if it came. While Chrono watched the dragon, Cloud turned back to Zack. "What do you want?"

Zack looked at him. "To talk. You can tell your friends to relax. Dragon Shadow and Sephiroth will not do anything, unless you do."

Cloud looked like he didn't know what to believe. "How do I know you're who you clam to be? You could be Jenova."

Zack shook his head. He'd been afraid of this. "How can I prove it? Anything I say could have been told to me. But here's a question for you. Why would Dragon Shadow save your friend, if we were on opposite sides? Why wouldn't they attack now? Why would I be here speaking to you?"

Cloud looked surprised at those questions. Zack kept his eyes on Cloud and Chrono, and hoped that Dragon Shadow and Sephiroth were keeping their eyes on the others. The last thing they needed right now was a battle. And with Dragon Shadow's distrust of the group he was now speaking to, one wrong move from any of them would lead to an all out battle. And after seeing a lack of magic in the previous battle, or at least any that could be connected to any materia Zack had ever seen. Which meant the only one who had any real magic from his world, Cloud's world, was Dragon Shadow. And given what he'd just seen her do, she had very good control over the magic indeed.

Cloud looked over his shoulder to see what the others were doing. None of them had moved. The dragon had them worried, but there was something wrong with the situation. Red turned to look at Cloud, then began to move over to him. "I think this is the same one who's saved your life…Twice."

Cloud looked at Dragon Shadow. Sephiroth wasn't visible, but he was there. Cloud knew it. "Twice…? What do you mean?"

Red shook his head. "You don't remember…?" The shook his head again. "No, you wouldn't either. At the time you were under Sephiroth's influence…err, one Sephiroth's influence."

Zack was still standing there. But he was worried. Things hadn't started to sort themselves out, and neither Cloud, nor Chrono seemed comfortable having a dragon that close. Zack couldn't see the others, but he was willing to bet several of Cloud's friends felt the same way.

Chrono really wasn't happy about this. "I don't like the idea of having a dragon this close to the castle. If it decided to attack…"

Zack knew what he meant. "As long as no one attacked her, things will be fine. But she's very uncomfertable being around Cloud. Or maybe not so much uncomfertale, as wishing she could kill him."

Red noticed that neither Cloud nor Chrono was going to ask the logical questions. "Tell me, why are you three here."

Zack looked over at Red. "Finally. Someone asks an intelligent question. The reason we're her is this. Jenova and Sephiroth are looking for something. What, I don't know. But if they find it, they could, foreseeable, double or triple their power. If that happens, the three of us alone will not be able to stop them. And you will not be able to stop them on your own either."

Red nodded. "In other words, we need each other."

Zack was glad he'd finally found someone who knew what was important. "Yes. But the three of us are a disadvantage. We need you, more then you need us. So if you turn us down…"

Red nodded. "You three will have trouble finding anyone else to help you."
HR
Author's notes: Ok, so it was long. Either it turned into a really long chapter, or a pair of really short ones. I'm trying to keep the length down, but it isn't always easy when there are several things that need to be done in order for this chapter to make sense.