Blades of Destiny

A Final Fantasy Crossover Fanfic by Brenton Braswell

Disclaimer:  I do not own any of the characters or the series of the Final Fantasy series.  They all belong to Squaresoft and are being used without permission.  All original characters are copyrighted by the author and are not to be used by anybody without my permission.  If somebody has a problem with that, all I could say is, tough luck.

I would really like to thank Ginger Ninja for supplying me with places I could put Diaz's castle.  You should check out her fics as well. 

Also if you want to use any of my characters, please ask me first.  My email address is bbraswell54@hotmail.com

Character thoughts are in parentheses ( )  

In the last chapter, Diaz's warriors showed Avalanche and SeeD their powers and skills, but that was not the full extent of their power.  Being able to put up a good fight, the battle seemed to go our heroes' way for a little while, but they were immediately overwhelmed by the power unleashed against them.  Things were going really bad until a mysterious young woman named Lensey shown up in an unexpected and dramatic fashion.  She has some sort of connection with Diaz and his Warriors, but nobody really knows what it is but they're going to find out soon.  In a sort of dazzling display of martial arts, Lensey made Maximus and Oriana look like fools in front of Diaz, and fought Krelnar to a stalemate.  (Author's Note: that will be the only battle to go like that for her.)  Not liking surprises like that, Diaz's group disappeared.  He left with these words toward Lensey, "You may help them, but you will never defeat me."  Being left with those words, there were many confused onlookers and many questions to be answered, and more will be raised.  You'll find out who Diaz is and his warriors, along with the mysterious woman, Lensey, in this chapter of "Blades of Destiny".  I truly watched too much Dragon Ball Z for my own good.  You can tell because of how I sum up things from last time.  In the next chapter, I'll try not to do something like this again.

Chapter 4: Questions Answered, Identities Revealed

         Being left on the battlefield without any answers to your questions is very frustrating.  Sixteen individuals were left with that feeling of confusion and some with anger.  Only one person knew what was really going on, but she wanted to go to a more secure area before she divulges any information.  With everybody being cured, one person decided to voice his displeasure.

         "Can somebody tell me what the *@$% just happened here!"  Yelled Cid.  "Also, what the @#$% did you get us into Cloud!"

         Cloud shrugged.  Even he didn't know what he gotten into.  If he knew what he was getting into, he probably would have had second thoughts or not. 

         Everybody looked at Lensey expecting an answer.  (Well, they're going to get and answer, and it will be one they won't like.)  She looked at everybody in both groups but her eyes rested on Squall.  "I'll be glad to answer any questions you have and tell you about Diaz and his warriors," she said a little coldly.  "I would like to do it somewhere other than here, it seems as though monsters are attracted to my power and attack me." 

         "You shouldn't have to worry about that now because Squall has Diablos's encounter none on," added Quistis. 

         "Is this everybody that needs to hear it, because I hate repeating myself," Lensey said.  "Also, I would like to be as faraway from this forest, and as soon as possible.  I do not want to encounter three big dinosaurs or more any time soon."

         "Wait did you say three t-rexuars?" Zell asked.  Lensey nodded.  "You've got to be kidding me, one is hard enough, two, that's enough, but three?!!!"

         "Zell, you can talk about this later, and about going somewhere else, we'll try to give all of you temporary clearance into the garden.  We still don't know if we can trust you, or what you're doing here," Squall stated. 

         "I guess that is fair enough," said Lensey.  "By the way, my name is Lensey Kusanagi."  She said this without attempting a handshake or anything else. 

          "Nice to meet you," said Squall.  "I wonder who are all of you?"  She said this while motioning to Cloud and the rest of Avalanche.

         Cloud stepped forward and said, "I'm Cloud Strife, and I'm the leader of this group."  With that said, Cloud put his hand out to shake Squall's hand.

         Squall was a little hesitant at first but shook Cloud's hand.  He knew that he really have changed.  Right before the second sorceress war, he knew he would not be this talkative and open and would have turned down the handshake without a second thought.  Meeting Rinoa and his friends have really changed him for the better.  Squall and everybody else really got a good look at Cloud and his group.  He noticed his hairstyle right away, and saw that he wore a dark shirt and pants with a shoulder piece of armor on his left arm.  What really stuck out the most were the way his eyes glowed and the huge blade that was strapped to his back.

         He motioned to a beautiful dark brown-haired woman.  He noted her appearance.  She wore a white tank top with a short leather skirt and fighting gloves on her arms, and the steel-toe boots.  "This is Tifa Lockheart."

         Next, Cloud motioned to the big burly dark-skinned man with a gun on his right arm.  "This is Barret Wallace."

         "Yuffie Kisaragi," said Cloud while he motion to a real skinny teenaged girl with black short hair.  She wore a green tank top with light brown shorts, and a strange looking piece of armor on her arm.  It looked like an arm guard.  She also had yellow gloves and sneakers on.  She had a strange star looking weapon. 

         "Next to her is Vincent Valentine," said Cloud.  He motioned to a man in a red cape with long black hair, a black shirt and pants with boots.  Now the thing that stuck out on him the most was probably the claw on his left hand and his red eyes.   

         "The one in the goggles with the cigarette in his mouth is Cid Highwind," Cloud said while frowning at Cid's habit.  Squall noted that he was an older man with blonde hair, flight goggles on his head, with a scarf around his neck, in a blue jacket with black pants and brown boots.  He held a spear in one hand while using the other to take a puff of the cigarette.  Now it was one thing that Squall knew, then it would have to be the no smoking in garden, and Squall immediately knew sooner or later he would have to tell him that before they went in. 

         "Last but not least, is Red XIII or Nanaki," said Cloud while motioning to a lion like creature.  Squall noticed it was red and had one eye, but had a headdress on and tattoos on its body.  Its body was like a cat, but looked like a dog.  Squall wondered if it was a hybrid of the torama or something. 

         "You can just call me Red or Nanaki if you like," said Red.  He just then noticed the surprised looks he received from the group of teenagers. 

         Now things were really getting weird, the lion like beast talked.

         "Now I really wish I would stop getting this reaction when people first see me talk," said Red being very annoyed. 

         "Oh wow!  That is so cool!"  Added Selphie.  "Is it a torama or something?"

         "No, I'm just what you see," Red answered. 

         "Well that's everybody from our group and we're called Avalanche," Cloud added just to clue them in.  "Now who are all of you?"

"We're SeeD's," said Squall expecting realization from Avalanche but receiving blank looks.  "We're part of Balamb Garden's special mercenary force.  "I'm commander Squall Leonhart."  Squall said this accepting the fact that Cid wasn't going to change his mind and make somebody else the commander.  Cloud finally getting a closer look at all of the Squall's group, he noticed they were all teenagers about to go into adulthood.  Cloud also took notice of Squall's attire.  He wore a black leather jacket with a white ruffle collar, black leather pants, white shirt, black gloves and boots.  He had brown hair with bluish gray eyes.  The thing that was the most distinguishing on Squall was the Scar on his forehead.  He also took note of his weapon that was sheathed at his side on a belt.  He really wanted to know what it was but it would have to wait for later.

He then motioned to the beautiful dark haired girl who helped Cloud earlier.  "This is Rinoa Heartilly," Squall said.  She wore a blue frock over a black tank top with a blue skirt and biker shorts under it.  She also had on black shoes and had a strange weapon on her arm that sort of looked like wings of some kind.

"To her right is Irvine Kinneas," while motioning to a young man in a brown trench coat with a vest and light brown pants on with a black hat.  When he heard his named called he just nodded and tipped his hat toward Avalanche.  He had reddish brown hair in a ponytail.  If Cloud didn't know any better, he would say that Irvine was a cowboy.  He remembered briefly that he pulled out a shotgun looking weapon when all the fighting started. 

"The girl next to Irvine is Selphie Tilmett," Squall said while motioning to a girl with emerald green eyes, brown hair that curled up a little on the sides and the back.  She had on a real short yellow stripped sundress and wore brown boots.  He remembered briefly that she pulled out some big nunchuka weapons.  She just gave a little smile and waved.

"The one with the tattoo on his face is Zell Dincht," said Squall.  Cloud then noticed the tattoo on his face and the hairdo that stuck up.  He had on a red and black jacket with blue pants that stopped just down past his knees and red sneakers.  He also had on red fighting gloves. 

He then motioned to a young woman in a peach colored dress and black boots, black gloves, "This is Quistis Trepe."  Cloud noticed her hair was blonde in a high ponytail in the back of her head and two long bangs that came down to a little past her shoulders.  He also noticed the orange golden whip she had coiled up on a belt.

"This right here is Xu," said Squall while motioning to the short brunette that had an oriental look.  He also noticed the uniform she wore, and mentally commented that it was very stylish.  "You've already met Dan and Lisa."

"It seems as though our battle with Diaz had drawn quite an audience," said Lensey while motioning to Balamb city in the distance and the entrance to Balamb Garden.  "Well, if all of the introductions are finished, lets be on our way, because I truly don't want to face another t-rexuar anytime soon."

Everybody else noticed Lensey's nervousness by the forest and started to walk toward Balamb Garden.

         After a few minutes of walking, the group of fighters reached the front gate of the garden.  All of the Avalanche members noticed the ground they walked on.  It was like there was a crater here prior to their arrival in this world.  Everybody also noticed the large group of cadets, SeeD members, and junior classmen by the gate. 

         As soon as Squall was close enough, they all saluted him.  Cloud looked at Squall and saw the annoyed look on his face.  "At ease everybody.  We're off full alert for now, but be ready at a moment's notice."  With that said, the big crowd dispersed, but there were a few that stayed behind and wanted to know what was going on and who were all of these people that fought with them.  Without getting immediate answers from Squall and the rest, the stragglers went back to what they were doing before that big commotion. 

         "Wait out here, I just need to get clearance from the headmaster," said Squall while walking over to the booth were the gatekeeper was.  "Let me use the phone, I need to speak to the headmaster right quick."  Without so much as a protest, the gatekeeper handed Squall the phone.

         While Squall talked on the phone, all of Avalanche looked in awe as they looked inside the garden and at all the different designs.  They decided it was Q and A time for the remaining SeeDs.

         "What's this place anyway?"  Asked Tifa.  "It looks like a military academy of some sort."

         Quistis decided to step forward and answer their questions.  "I guess you can put it that way.  This is Balamb garden, one of three gardens in the world."

         "Wait a second, you're saying there's more like this one around this world?" Piped Cid.

         "Yes there is, originally the purpose of all of the gardens is to train SeeDs to fight against evil sorceresses and any kind of evil that threatens the world."  Quistis continued.  "That is our original purpose, but in the meantime, were mercenaries hired mostly to government organizations or anybody with enough money to hire us, but we won't take on just any kind of mission."

         "Everyone looks so young here, I wonder what's the age that most enter garden at?"  Red interrupted. 

         "Some enter real young like the age of seven or eight, usually most of the people that enter garden are orphans," Quistis answered.  She turned around and saw that Squall was finished on the phone and was coming back.  "We'll finish this talk later if you want." 

 "Headmaster Cid has given the green light.  It seems as though he saw the fight from the bridge of garden and was real interested to meet all of you.  Well, follow me to the elevator to the third floor."  Having said that, everyone followed Squall to the elevator.  Everyone from Avalanche took in the beauty and awe inspiring sight of Balamb garden.  Upon arrival at the elevator, everyone had to go into small groups as not to be all cramped into the elevator. 

         Once everyone was at the top, they went through the doors that took them to the headmaster's office and the bridge.  When Cloud was in, he noticed a middle-aged man with brown hair in a red pull over sweater with a dress shirt, pants and shoes and little spectacles on the bridge of his nose.  In Cloud's own opinion, he considered being old when you started having wrinkles on your face.  He also noticed a woman with long dark black hair in a black and dark grey dress. 

Quistis, Squall and the other SeeDs saluted him and held the position.  "At ease," the headmaster said and the SeeDs put their hands down and relaxed.  He then turned his attention toward the Avalanche members and Lensey and spoke.  "I'm Headmaster Cid Kramer and this is my wife and the Headmistress, Edea Kramer, welcome to garden," he said while motioning to Edea.  He put both hands behind his back and asked, "Who might all of you be?"

         Cloud stepped forward and answered because he was leader, "I'm Cloud Strife, and I'm the leader of this bunch."  He motioned to everybody while saying his or her names.  "This is Tifa Lockheart, Barret Wallace, Vincent Valentine, Yuffie Kisaragi, Cid Highwind and Red XIII."  Cid shook their hands while he walked around the room.  "You can just call us Avalanche.  Also I guess you can say that we're not from this world."  Upon saying this he got confused looks from everybody who wasn't an Avalanche member, but Lensey didn't look confused a little bit.  Headmaster Cid noticed Cloud didn't introduce one young woman. 

         "And who might this young lady be?"  He said while motioning to Lensey.

         "My name is Lensey Kusanagi," she said while bowing her head slightly.

         "Okay Lensey, this should be everybody who needs to know what you was going to tell us before," said Irvine.  "Well, you might as well go ahead on with your story."

         She was about to start talking when she came up with an idea.  "I'm about to cast some magic on all of you so you can see visions of what I tell you."  Without seeing any looks of protest, she started casting magic and her whole body took on a reddish glow.  When she finished, everyone started to see his or her visions distort and go black.  This got many surprised outbursts and was annoying to her.  Each time she did this, she would get a similar reaction if not worst.  "Calm down everybody, your not going blind, I'm just changing what you look at so outside factors won't interfere."  In a moment, everyone's vision came back and they noticed they were surrounded by black and a light was above them to shine down on them. 

         "The hell did you do?"  Zell said while bouncing in his fighting stance.

         "Don't worry, you're still in garden and this will not have a negative effect on you.  I just placed us under a slight trance and everybody is still standing in the room we were in before, but were not moving," Lensey said.  "Please calm down Zell so I can continue."

         Getting out of his fighting stance and just standing there, Zell as well as everyone else calmed down.  "Are you a sorceress?"  Asked Selphie. 

         "In one-way, yes, and in another way, no," Lensey answered.  "The yes part being that I can cast magic like a sorceress, but I can do far more.  The no part being that I don't focus mainly on magic, and fight drawing upon a hidden power within all humans and mostly other beings."

         "Does that answer your question Selphie?" She asked.  Selphie nodded.  "Well, if there aren't any other question's let me get on with my story and explanation of things."  After saying that, she closed her eyes and brought her right hand toward her chest and put it vertical like she was praying.  "I suggest everyone close their eyes for a moment and don't open them until I say so."  Everyone reluctantly did this and the void they were in suddenly became a bright white and everyone felt a light breeze.  When it stopped Lensey instructed everyone to open his or her eyes.  (Author's Note:  I'm not going to go into that much detail because it would really be unnecessary, so you'll just have to use you imaginations.) 

         Everyone noticed they were in an entirely different location.  They were in a grassy field at night with the moon shining down on them.  "I might as well start my story from this point."  In the distance everyone noticed a few men and women walking toward them but wasn't aware of their presence.  They stopped about twenty feet from the group and conversed amongst themselves.  At this time Lensey talked.  "Over fifteen hundred years, a group of people on a distant world discovered the power hidden inside of them and magic that was very strong."

She stopped talking as the scene changed to a room where that looked like a big auditorium that conferences where held.  The men and women from the from the field were there talking about something, but they were talking so silently like they didn't want to be over heard.  Lensey continued, "They discovered powers and magic that were long forgotten in history.  They also discovered they could travel to other worlds and look at events from the past in those worlds as well as current events that happened not to long ago."

         The scene changed once again and shown these men and women fighting what looked like a powerful foe.  "Instead of using the power for their own good, they used it for the good of worlds that had no defense against evil."  She looked at everybody and said, "Most of us just stayed back and watched as events transpired.  If they really got out of hand, we would intervene."

         "Out of all of the magic they discovered, they discovered a resurrection spell," said Lensey.  "The spell lets us bring back an individual only if the person died of an unnatural cause and it had to be in one year's time."  As Lensey spoke, the scene changed once again to one where a man was casting magic and bringing life back to a woman.  "The only thing about this technique is it can only be used once on a person."

         "Over time they got stronger and decided to develop an secret organization that saved worlds from evil, that if gone unchecked could cause considerable damage to worlds and other dimensions," said Lensey as she projected the images.  "They called themselves, the warriors of destiny."

         The scene changed once again every half minute to show many battles and the outcomes of them.  "They recruited some people from different worlds and shown them the power.  This organization survived for many years, and had only a few instances where some of the people recruited abused their power and tried to take over," she said while narrowing her eyes.

         "I was just with this group for two years when something happened that would change my life forever," she said while looking down. 

         "Diaz Marquis, he was one of the more senior members and was as powerful as they come," she said while the scene changed to one where Diaz is fighting a monster with ease.  "Unknown to everybody in the organization, he was gathering a big army and training a few individuals for his own reasons."

         What was shown was Diaz talking with a few people.  Most of them looked unknown but one of the women was Naomi.  "He was planning to destroy the organization so his power could go unrivaled and unchecked," Lensey explained while looking up with a look of sadness.  "He started to find recruits in our ranks and killed those who didn't join him."  They were shown Naomi and Diaz killing those other men and women that didn't join them in a fierce battle. 

         "When he felt that everything was in place, he attacked the organization without warning and it was utterly destroyed," Lensey explained.  The image changed to one of Diaz and five of the six people that fought out in the Alucuid plains a half hour earlier.  The fight was fierce battle and Diaz's army annihilated everyone that stood against them.  At this time, mostly everyone was shocked and it clearly shown it on his or her faces. 

         Lensey paused for a few minutes while wiping away tears that fell from her eyes.  When she calmed down a bit, she continued.  "Only myself and another person was able to come out of the battle alive, but the organization was destroyed.  That happened over seven years ago."

         The scene once again changed to one where Lensey and an unknown man in a blue ninja outfit without the hood fighting Diaz and his warriors.  "On two different occasions, Hayato and myself tried to get rid of Diaz, but we failed both times."  It switched once again to one where Hayato and Lensey were shown walking in two different directions away from each other.  "After the second defeat, Hayato gave up and decided to go to a world the Diaz didn't know about and live out the rest of his life in peace.  I didn't stop, and trained myself and gotten much stronger, but it's still not enough to defeat Diaz.  Now Diaz goes to different worlds and dimensions seeking a challenge and conquering the worlds."

         "I'll show his elite six and tell you their names," she said while casting her magic once again to show them one by one.  First was Krelnar.  "This is Krelnar, he was a defeated general on one of the worlds that Diaz previously saved.  He brought him back to life and made him the general of his army because his knowledge in battle strategy."

         It then showed Maximus.  "This is Maximus, a skilled martial artist.  I don't know much about him, but I can tell you he's the one who beat me the first time," Lensey said. 

         The image then changed to Darius and Kenoshi.  Lensey began once again, "These two are Darius Wolfe and Kenoshi Miyamoto.  They were two mercenaries that worked together, and decided to work for Diaz when their world was being taking over."

         The image then switched to Oriana.  "This is Oriana, and she must have just joined recently in the past three years.  I don't know too much about her either."

         The last one to be shown was Naomi.  "This is Naomi Kusanagi…"

         She was about to continue when Barret interrupted her.  "Wait a second, didn't you say your last name was Kusanagi?"  The answer to that question was Lensey nodding.

         "Yes, she's my sister," Lensey said with a pain expression on her face.  After a few seconds, the pain that showed on her face went back to the focused look that she had.  "Now Diaz, has chosen your world to conquer and he probably sees this as probably his greatest challenge."  Lensey then cast her magic once more and everybody saw that they were still standing in the office.  "Diaz is immortal in the sense that he can never age, but he can still be killed."

         "I guess he was attracted by the shockwave of time compression once it spread out in the universe and different dimensions," Lensey explained.  "Also, I guess a wrinkle in time compression made a portal that allowed him to go back in time and resurrect Sephiroth and come back and get Ultimecia.  If he isn't stopped here, he will continue his reign of destruction."   

         Now at hearing of this news everyone including Edea was shocked.  "Wait a minute, you're saying this is the future and we're from their past?"  Asked Yuffie.  Lensey nodded.

         Now Vincent, being a man of few words said, "This is very surprising, I guess it was fate or probably destiny that we all meet one and other."

         "I guess you could put it that way," added Lensey.  "Avalanche, you're about six thousand years in your future."  Now this news really shocked all of the Avalanche members. 

         "Now this is very interesting," said headmaster Cid.  "I'll give you all clearance to stay in garden, and all the facilities are at your disposal.  I would warn you about the training center.  Live monsters roam about it and I wouldn't want any of you to get killed before we put an end to all of this.  I would suggest you go in with a SeeD member."  

         "Question, Are there any t-rexuars in there?"  Asked Lensey.  Cid nodded.  "You know what, I'm not going in there any time soon." 

         "I'm sorry if this is overwhelming for you, and I'm sorry that you saw me cry," Lensey said. 

         "Don't worry about it my dear," Edea replied.  "I don't think anybody see you as weak for doing that.  Given your past, I could see why you would cry."  At this, Lensey smiled.

         Squall then added a question, "You said that you showed people their hidden power, is there anyway you can show us ours?"

         "Yes, but I've never done unlocked the power of this many people at one time.  Once I do it, I'll be very weak and will have to rest for the rest of the day.  I can only unlock the hidden powers of very strong people and all of you are real strong," Lensey answered.  "It will feel weird at first and given your battle experience, you'll all get use to it in no time."

         "Excuse me Headmaster Cid, Headmistress Edea, could you step back a couple of feet?"  Lensey asked them.  They nodded and did as they were told.  "Okay, I will start now."  With that said, Lensey brought her hands together like she was praying and closed her eyes.  Her face went into a mask of concentration and after a few seconds she started to sweat.  A yellow glow could be seen around her hands, and in a minute a glow surrounded all of Avalanche and SeeD members in the room.  They all felt the power and it felt weird.  In a few moments, Lensey was finished and was slowly dropping to the ground.

         Vincent decided to rush over her and catch her before she hit the floor.  Now Lensey looked real exhausted and was breathing and sweating hard.  Vincent took her arm over his shoulder and supported her in standing.  "Tomorrow, we'll have to go to some remote place and train there, I don't want garden ruined or anywhere around Balamb more ruined than it should be."

         "Well, if that's all well and done, why don't someone show our guest to some empty dorms and give them a tour around the garden," said headmaster Cid. 

         With that said everyone descended from the third floor in the elevator in groups.  When they got down Dan and Lisa went to the infirmary to see Doctor Kadowaki to make sure nothing was broken from the fight with Darius Wolfe.  Meanwhile, all of the Avalanche member were escorted to the dorm section of garden and shown to some empty dorms. 

         When they got to dorm Lensey was going to occupy, Vincent laid her down on the bed and she looked like she was about to go to sleep fast.  "Will somebody wake me up for dinner?" 

         "I'll do it, better yet I'll deliver it to your dorm personally," Selphie answered.

         "Thanks," said Lensey while drifting off to sleep. 

         Once she was asleep everybody left her room and stood out in the hallway.  "Well, who's going to be the lucky one to give our guests a tour of the garden?"  Asked Irvine.

         "I'll do it!"  Rinoa instantly added.  She knew after being made a SeeD by Headmaster Cid, she would have to do this someday. "If you let Squall do it, they'll be all bored out of their minds."  Saying this got a raised eyebrow from Squall.  "It was just a joke Squall, don't take it seriously."  They were given their tour of garden and went off to explore garden. 

         It was an hour later when headmaster Cid gave an official announcement on the situation.  The PA chimed and he spoke.  "The is headmaster Cid here.  I'd like to inform you all that a new evil has entered this world and we must be prepared to battle it when it emerges once again.  The battle that took place early this afternoon was just a small showing of their power.  In the next few days, we'll be thrust once more into action to defend this world and all who live in it.  I expect nothing but the best from each one of you.  We may have to make garden mobile once more so you will have to cancel all trips to Balamb unless it is official business.  We have some guests and they will help in the upcoming battle for this world.  You are to treat them with utmost respect, as they will do you.  That is all."  Now this really was surprising news to everybody, and it was nearly all the cadets and SeeDs talked about for the rest day.  Also, cadets and SeeDs, from time to time asked the Avalanche members questions.  This was really turning out to be one hell of a day.  All of SeeD and Avalanche was unaware of what dangers they would face in the future.  They could only stand together against it. 

         After being transported away from the battle by Balamb garden, Sephiroth took in his new surroundings.  It looked like he was on an island in the middle of nowhere, and as he looked around he saw similar small islands.  He then looked over at Diaz to see he was casting some sort of magic.  When he was finished, a barrier looked like it was lifted and a huge and magnificent looking castle appeared in front of them.  He noticed that Ultimecia immediately cured Maximus and Oriana. 

         Sephiroth then looked at Diaz's face and could tell he was really annoyed.  "Let's get in the castle, this day didn't turn out as I expected," said Diaz.  When all of them were close enough, two huge doors were swung open.  Two guards greeted them by the gate that had their swords in a vertical position as to salute Diaz and everybody with him.  He took notice of the uniforms that they wore. They wore a silver helmet that covered the sides and top of their heads, but shows the face.  They looked like they wore a breastplate with a dragon design on it, armor on their forearms, waist, and legs and had metal boots.  These two had swords for weapons in sheaths on the belts they wore.

Once they were all inside, Diaz cast the same magic once again and was walking through another set of doors.  The place they just entered was a huge courtyard, and there were many soldiers practicing with a sword or spear, or just lounging around talking.  When one of the soldiers saw Diaz he went to attention and yelled loudly, "Platoon, Attention!"  At this point everyone stopped what he or she were doing and stood attention toward Diaz and saluted him.

         The one that called everyone to attention spoke again, "Welcome back sir, I hope your journey into this world went as planned."  Sephiroth saw how nervous the soldier was, and he instantly knew that Diaz demanded respect and discipline. 

         "As you were," Diaz said while still looking annoyed.  All of the soldiers went back to what they were doing and cleared a path for the nine people that just arrived at the castle.  The nine strode through the courtyard and went through another set of doors that lead them to a hallway that went in three directions.  Diaz stopped and turned toward the eight that followed him.  "You six can go off and relax for the time being, but be on standby," Diaz said.  "You two, follow me to the throne room." 

         With that said, Darius, Kenoshi and Maximus went to the left corridor, while Naomi, Oriana, and Krelnar went thru the right corridor.  Diaz, Sephiroth, and Ultimecia walked forward thru the middle corridor.  As they went down the corridor, Sephiroth noted how well disciplined and trained the soldiers along the wall were as they saluted them as they passed by.  (Very impressive, with soldiers like these, this world should fall in no time.)  Sephiroth thought.  Sephiroth also took note of all of the interconnecting passageways and winding halls.

         They climbed a stairway that took them to another corridor that broke off in three directions.  They went straight again and Sephiroth took note that the soldiers' uniforms looked more intricate looking and they wore less armor.  It was probably good for their agility that they didn't have too much armor on.  When they walked quiet a distance, they were at a set of intricately designed double doors.  Two guards opened the doors and Diaz, Sephiroth, and Ultimecia walked in.

         Once they were in the bright light of the room was the first thing you noticed.  Upon further inspection, the throne room was real spacious and probably the most well designed room in the castle.  They walked on a royal blue carpet that was wide and had guards on both sides that saluted as they walked by.  Also, in the room, the floor was checkered with black and white tiles.  When they got to the steps that led up to the throne, there were two huge men in full body armor.  The two knights wore red armor.  They let Diaz pass but stopped Sephiroth and Ultimecia.  They moved aside when the two new people got the message.  

         Diaz walked up the stairs and sat down on his royal blue padded intricate looking throne.  He closed his eyes for a few seconds and seemed relaxed.  When he opened them, he didn't look annoyed anymore.  "So how do you like my castle?"  Asked Diaz.

         "It's very impressive and your soldiers look more disciplined then first-class SOLDIERS," commented Sephiroth.  Ultimecia chose to remain silent.

         "I'm glad that you're impressed.  Tomorrow, I will announce you to all of my army that you will be their new general," Diaz said.  Normally, this would be news that would cause whispers among the soldiers, but these soldiers were real disciplined and didn't react to the news. 

         "Diaz, who was that young woman that fought Maximus, Krelnar, and Oriana before we left?"  Sephiroth asked.

         "That was Lensey Kusanagi, a real thorn in my side," answered Diaz. 

         "Kusanagi?  Isn't that Naomi's last name?"  Ultimecia asked. 

         "Yes, it is.  She's Naomi's sister," Diaz said.  Sephiroth's question was answered.  "She was one of two survivors from the destruction of that organization I told you about.  I didn't mention her before because I thought she had given up her foolish quest to defeat me.  I guess I was wrong."  Diaz then looked up for a few seconds and returned his eyes to Sephiroth and Ultimecia.  "Things really look like they're going to get interesting in the next few days."  He then motioned over to a guard who left the room and came back with five beautiful women that was physically attractive in more ways then one.  They also looked scared.  "Pick one, and she is yours for the night."

         Sephiroth looked over at them and marveled at their beauty, but he wasn't interested.  "No thanks," He answered. 

         "Very well," Diaz said.  He then pointed at one of them and said, "I want her cleaned up and taken to my quarters."  The soldier nodded, and ushered the women out while another soldier escorted the one woman to Diaz's room. 

         "Escort Sephiroth and Ultimecia to their rooms," Diaz instructed one soldier by them.  The two were escorted to their room thru the humongous castle. 

         Sephiroth noted that his room was not to far from Ultimecia's room.  He entered his room and was impressed by the size and design of his room.  He walked around and sat on his bed.  (I guess being a general for Diaz's army won't be as bad as I thought.)  Sephiroth thought.  He sat on his bed for a few minutes and thought about many things before deciding to go explore the castle more and look at how the soldiers training went. 

         Once he was out of his room, he was walking by Ultimecia's room when she came out and accidently bumped into him.  He took in her appearance immediately.  She had somehow removed all of the markings on her face and body and changed into a more decent red dress.  He still saw her black wings behind her.  She also put her hair in a braided ponytail that went down to the small of her back.  Now she looked really beautiful and Sephiroth didn't know this feeling that was welling up inside of him.  "You look beautiful as ever Ultimecia," Sephiroth commented. 

         "As you look as handsome as ever," Ultimecia replied.

         They were both attracted to each other and they were unusually close.  Sephiroth and Ultimecia's faces were slowly inching toward one and other like some unknown force was controlling them.  Before either of them knew it, they were locked in a very passionate kiss with their eyes closed.  When they separated, both were caught up in the moment but were brought out of it when they heard someone walking toward them.  It was just a soldier walking by. 

         In an instant, both turned in opposite directions and walked off swiftly feeling a little bit disturbed.  Neither knew what had come over them and wondered what would have happened if they weren't interrupted.  Sephiroth had never felt that feeling before because of how he was raised and how he lived his life.  Ultimecia wondered could she ever feel that feeling again after such a long time.  They both thought about this as they explored the castle on their own. 

(Tomorrow will be when I start putting my plan into action.  The appearance of Lensey Kusanagi will not change what I have planned.)  This thought comforted Diaz as he sat on his throne before deciding to retire to his room. 

Author's Notes:  Well that's chapter 4 for you.  Everybody from both sides knows what is going on know, all of the things are in place for Diaz to start his plans on world domination.  Also, Lensey unlocked the hidden power of the Avalanche and SeeD members.  Things really are going to get interesting from this point on.  I really hope I didn't lose any readers from this chapter.  I also wondered did I shock any people with this chapter.  There wasn't any action in this chapter, but there will be in the next chapter.  Another thing that I noticed about Ultimecia is that I didn't include her german accent.  I don't know if that is important, and I really don't know anyone with that kind of accent, so I wouldn't know how to write her talking in one.  In chapter 5, Lensey will train our heroes in how to use and control their powers and there will be a surprise for them.  As soon as I post this chapter, I will immediately begin work on the chapter 5.  Any suggestions and comments would be good.  Also, I'd like a few people tell me should if I include Seifer, Fujin, and Raijin in this story.  I think I know how to include them, but I want the readers' opinion on whether I should include them or not. 

Well don't forget to review before you click your back button and go to another story.  I'd really like to hear what people think about this.  Just email me and tell me what you think since this isn't fanfiction.net.  My email address is bbraswell54@hotmail.com.