Ch 17 – Bliss

The next morning Zell awoke slowly, with no worries on his mind.

The night before had been excellent. They had arrived home soaking wet and giggling, their clothes having been hastily thrown on after the boat patrol had passed by.

Ma had been waiting for them. "Where have you two been?!" she said, before seeing how wet they were, and what condition their clothes had been. Then her tone changed from 'nagging' mother to 'concerned' mother. "What happened to you two?!"

"Nothing, Ma." Zell said, his arm draped over the grinning Angel. "We've just been training a little, that's all. Got carried away, then had a swim."

"Hyne…all you do for a whole year is train, and you can't find time to have dinner with your mother?"

"Ma!"

"Ok, ok…you two go upstairs and freshen up, then come down and we'll cook up a feast, ok?"

"Thanks, Ma!" Angel said happily, with a big grin on her face, before pulling herself out from under Zell's arm and running for the stairs. "Race 'ya!!" she yelled.

"Oh no you wont!!" Zell yelled back, chasing after her with a laugh.

Ma had simply shook her head and grinned. "Kids…"

Now, he simply yawned and looked down at Angel, her brown hair undone and flowing all around her like a cloud of chocolate. She was snuggled close to him, her head to his chest. She was snoring every so quietly, her mouth slightly open. He could see her little pink tongue between her white teeth, like a little piece of gum between white mints.

He smiled, and kissed her ever so lightly on the lips.

She still tasted like strawberries.

He had pushed his bed just a few feet away from the wall so he didn't need to crawl over her to get to the floor. He took the covers off himself slowly, to not wake Angel, and lowered his feet to the floor. He looked over his shoulder to see if he awoken her, and when he saw that he hadn't, he stood and walked across the bedroom to grab some pants.

*          *            *

He moved down to the lower floor of the house with a spring in his step, as if someone had cast Float on him and he was walking on water.

He jumped the last five steps to the floor and air-walked into the kitchen, where his Ma was cooking breakfast. "Morning Ma." He said pleasantly, giving her a kiss before grabbing an apple and an orange from the fruit bowl.

Ma turned to him with a hand on her hip. "My, my, Zell Dincht. What are you in such a happy mood for?"

"Do I need to be have a reason?" He asked, his voice as light as the morning breeze. "I have a…wonderful life! I have a beautiful girlfriend, an excellent mother to look after me, and I live in paradise!! What more could a mercenary for hire ask for?!"

Ma Dincht shook her head with a laugh and turned back to the pancakes she was flipping.

Zell plonked himself into a chair and bit into the apple. It was crisp, juicy and sweet. Bliss…pure friggin bliss. He munched on the apple for a minute, before a revelation hit him like a gun-shot to the head. "Ma…I think I've died and gone to heaven."

Ma Dincht tried not to laugh and talked, not bothering to turn around. "And why do you say that, dear?"

"Because I see an Angel entering the room."

Angel walked down the steps, grinning, her hair let down, her face lit up like a Christmas tree. She wore a long, draping white shirt, his SeeD one…and not much else, by the looks of it.

"Well…she certainly doesn't look saintly." Ma said with a frown. "If she doesn't get some pants on soon, I'm pretty sure she'll have to go hungry for the day, hmmm?"

Angel tried not to grin and skedaddled up the stairs again.

Ma looked at Zell and turned back to the pancakes.

Zell munched the apple with a big goofy grin.

"I hope you treat her good, Mr. Dincht."

Zell choked on his apple. "Ma!? That's just gross!!"

"Make sure you do, Zell." She turned and gave him a look with daggers in her eyes. "Otherwise you'll have to answer to me. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am…"

She smiled and turned back to the pancakes for the final time. "But you've got a good thing going…I'm glad for you."

"Thanks Ma…that really great, coming from you."

Suddenly the phone rang. "I'll get it…" Zell shouted, chewing the rest of his apple and swallowing in one bite. Grabbing the back of the chair, he flipped up and over it, landing on the balls of his feet right behind the phone.

"Zell, I told you no acrobatics in the house…" Ma muttered, knowing that he had flipped up and over the kitchen counter and landed only centimetres behind her.

Zell slapped his hand on the edge of the receiver, making the phone jump into his hand. "I know, Ma, I know…" He said with a giggle, before placing the receiver to his ear. "Joes Taxidermy, you snuff 'em, we stuff 'em!"

The voice on the end of the receiver immediately killed his good mood with a point blank baseball bat whack to the face. It smashed into his brain like a semi-truck and made his spine feel like a sliver of ice. "Hello, Zell."

The Assassin had the same voice as before, warbled and disfigured by the voice scrambler. Zells voice sounded like rusty iron grating through chicken wire. "What do you want?"
"Oh, Zell. You unhappy to hear from me?" The Assassin taunted. "I just wanted to know where you've been for the past few days."

"How'd you get this number?"

"Oh, it's easier to do then you think. The question you should really be asking is; how'd you get this address?"

Zell's blood ran colder then Shiva's. He turned to Ma. "Get upstairs, get some clothes together, now!"

"Why? Zell…"

"Just do as I say!"

Ma blinked and dropped her spatula before running for the stairs.

Zell turned back to the front of the house. Apart from the window up in his bedroom, there weren't any other entrances to the house. Just the front door, and the windows in the bottom of the house. As long as the women were upstairs, they would be safe for the time being.

The Assassin read Zell's mind. "Good idea sending Ma away. It's best to keep the ones you hold dear…out of the life we lead. By the way, you're house is easily accessible…it's as easy as one, two…"

The door opened, the latch clicking up with the door swinging open under it's own accord.

Zell lowered his hand, the Fire spell licking around his fingers as he pointed his hand at the door. He didn't even realise that his hand had moved of his own accord, he simply aimed.

There was dead silence at the end of the phone, before distorted laughter came out from the phone. "Ha ha ha!! That's a little thing I picked up from Esthar…it's amazing what you can find if you look hard enough. I'd be careful, though! It's prone to go off if tampered."

"You bastard…"

"Oh, come on, Zell. No need to be harsh."

"You bastard…you come into my home…"

"And I a lovely home, at that. Lots of pictures…"

"…You threaten my family…"

"…And a loved one, don't forget…"

"…And you have the nerve to call me and threaten me!?"

There was a slight pause at the other end of the phone. "Yes. Yes I do." The Assassin snorted. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Zell's voice seemed to crack like glass, the shards dropped into the receiver and send to the other end. "I'm going to track you down…and I'm going to kill you…in the most painful way I can think of."

There was another snort. "What are you going to do? Slap me to death? Give me a 'Booya'?!" The Assassins voice changed, suddenly changing from taunting to aggravated. "You're nothing compared to me. You understand. You're NOTHING!!"

Zell smiled. "I don't think so. I think I've got you scared. I think I've got you on the run, little man."

"You have no idea what you're thinking, you sack of crap."

"Oh, yes I do. You're afraid of me…and you know it."

"I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!!" was the screamed reply, the killer's voice hurting Zell's ear. "You're a PEON compared to me!! A worthless, talentless sack of Bite Bug droppings!!"

"Oh yeah? Then why don't you have the guts to face me, huh? Why don't you have the balls to tell this to my face, huh? You're the one who's nothing! In our game, the brave survive and the cowardly get their comeuppance! And I've seen nothing but cowardice from you, my friend."

"Bad move, Zell…" The Assassin suddenly said, his warbled voice suddenly cold and calculated. "Now you're pissed me off." There was the sound of something being pressed in the background, and suddenly a small area, in the corner of the front doorframe, began to flash. "You're family has five minutes. Have a good day."

The line suddenly died, and Zell dropped it to the floor.

He took the stairs in twos, smashing down his door with little effort. Angel stood, trembling, throwing clothes into a travel bag. She jumped as he burst into the room violently, gripping a shirt in both hands, shrieking with fear as he ran in.

As soon as she recognised him, however, she ran to him with terror in her eyes. "Zell! What's going on?! Who was the person on the phone?!"

"No time for explanations, just keep packing the clothes and move!!"

She turned back to the bag, hurriedly stuffing more clothes in as he quickly pulled on a shirt.

He grabbed her and gave her a brief, passionate kiss. "You look great." He muttered, before running from the room to his Ma's.

She was finishing packing the rest of her things, and turned to Zell wither hands on her hips. "What's going on, Zell?! I heard you on the phone! Hell, most of the neighbours could have heard that!!"

"Ma, now's not the time, ok?" Zell aid forcibly, grabbing her suitcase and snapping it shut quickly. "You have three minutes to get out the door right now!!"

Ma stood where he was. "Zell, I'm not leaving this house! I was brought up in this house, and I'll not run form it in it's time of need…Zell Dincht, put you're mother down this instant!!" she suddenly shrieked as Zell effortlessly picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Ma, but just shut up for now, ok?" He yelled as he grabbed the suitcase and ran into the corridor, where Angel waited.

He shoved the suitcase into her arms and grabbed her shoulder, his mind ticking the time down as he bolted down the stairs.

One minute fifteen…one minute fourteen…one minute thirteen…

He managed to get to the door just as the device blew, blasting the house to smithereens and reducing everything inside to rubble.

The blast took him clean in the face, blowing him into the living room and as far away from the escape route as possible.

*          *            *

The explosion was spectacular, able to be seen from kilometres away. The ball of flame that went up rose a full five stories, and the debris shredded every wall within the blast radius. Luckily, there was no one on the streets at the time…but that changed completely.

People ran from all directions – the owners of the Balamb hotel, the neighbours, the car dealer, even the dude who sat on the bench just outside the weapons shop, they all ran to see the house go up in flames.

The car dealer ran up to the now demolished house, shielding his face from the intense heat from the blaze. "Hyne! Someone call the fire specialists, right now!!"

"Was there anybody in there?" someone cried.

"That was Zell Dincht's house! He was back in for leave!!"

"Hyne! He had his girlfriend in there with him too!"

"Wait…what's that?!"

From the flaming wreckage, something clattered to the ground, the area where it fell bursting into a small ball of flame…and then Zell burst through the fire, his Ma on one shoulder, Angel on the other, the flames licking around him as if to try and pull him back into the inferno.

He dropped to the ground with a thump, rolling to a stop, the women falling to the ground behind him. He lay there for a second, breathing heavily, his face and clothes black from the flames, the Shell spell around him flickering and dying, before picking himself up and crawling over to the two women. He checked them over, before nodding to himself.

"Hyne, Zell, what happened to you…?" The car dealer said, but Zell simply stood and walked back into the flames, the fire enveloping him as he moved through the house.

The spectators watched him go, knowing full well that they couldn't have stopped him even if they wanted to. They muttered between themselves, some running for the fire specialists, others looking over the two women.

Zell suddenly walked back out from the fire, carrying a bag and a suitcase, as well as a few things in his hands.

He dumped the items onto the floor and ran to Angel, the Shell spell dying once more as he knelt beside her. He cradled her head in his arms, brushing his hand over her face, concentrating hard as the Cure spell flowed through his body into hers

The green light faded, and he held his breath for what seemed like an eternity…before watching her cough. The look in his eyes went from a vicious determination to a sad happiness, and he hugged her close, rocking on his haunches as he pulled her close.

"Oh Hyne…oh God…" He muttered, tears beginning to cut trails through his soot – blackened face. "I thought I lost you there for a second…"

She seemed to come around and clung with him, gripping his burnt shirt as she wept into his shoulder, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed.

He patted her hair down as he watched Ma come around, shaking her head and looking at Zell as he hushed at Angel soothingly. "Shhh, shhh, it's ok now, it's over now baby, its over…" he whispered into her ear.

*          *            *

They waited next to the weapon shop, watching the house burn, as the fire specialists finally arrived, jumping out of the red car they travelled in and casting Water spells again and again, saturating the building with magical H2O.

Ma sat on the bench, head in hands, not wanting to see her house go up in flames. Angel sat beside her, her hand rubbing her back soothingly, whispering meaningless words not her ears as she watched the house collapse under it's own weight.

Zell stood to the side of the weapon shop, his back leant against the wall, his hands shoved into his pockets, his eyes firmly planted on the scene before him, watching the destruction as it continued, his face unreadable as he stared at the flames.

Congratulations. A dark voice said in his mind mockingly. You're one step closer to oblivion.

You'd better shut up, Diablo, otherwise I'll summon you to simply kick the crap out of you.

What are you going to do, mortal? Beat me? I'm a Guardian Force! I can't die! You can kill me, but I'll simply return twice as powerful, and angrier then ever.

I'm not joking, Diablo. I will summon you, and I will kill you.

Diablo chose not to answer.

Angel looked up at Zell. "What do we do now, Zell?"

Zell didn't look down at them. He simply spoke. "We'll go to Garden. Headmaster Cid will provide Ma with accommodation until this whole thing blows over. It'd be best if you stay there until I say otherwise as well, Angel."

"Why, Zell? Are we in danger?"

"Now? Yes."

Angel paused at the bluntness he delivered the message, cold and precise, like a shard of ice piercing the brain. "What about you? What are you going to do?"

Zell seemed to paused, before answering. "I don't think you want to know…"

Angel stopped him, standing and moving in front of him. "No! I think I have a right to…" Her protests stopped as she saw the look on his face.

"You'll go to Garden, now, and report to Headmaster Cid." He brushed past her, picking up the bag with his clothes in it. "I've got a train to catch."

Angel watched him walk in the direction of the train station, before running to him, stopping him and turning him around. "Zell! What's gotten into you?!"

He looked down at her, before brushing a lock of hair from her face. "Just do as I say, Angel. I swear I'll make it all better."

With those words, he turned, and left her all alone.

*          *            *

FH was infinitely quiet, the inhabitants only just waking as the sun sat well in the sky.

Grease Monkey staggered from bed, scratching his ass as he pressed the button on the coffee maker, before lugging his huge frame back into the bedroom.

"You want coffee, hon?"

Chloe simply grunted and rolled over, too exhausted from the night before to speak.

Grease Monkey grinned goofily, before remoulding his pounding walk into a swagger. "Oh, yeah…the Monkey's still got it!" he muttered to himself, twirling on the spot and doing a little jump.

Without warning the door blew off its hinges, flying across the room and smashing into the wall opposite the area where Monkey just stood. It stood upright against the wall for a second, before creaking over, falling with a loud bang.

Grease Monkey removed his head from his hands and looked up as Zell walked through the now-open doorway.

"You're lucky we FH people are good at fixing things, Zell, cause that door is going to cost you urrrrk!" Grease suddenly spluttered as Zell walked forward and grabbed him by his throat, lifting his huge frame off the floor with no effort at all.

"Are they ready?" Zell growled, the look in his eyes one of pure rage.

Monkey nodded intensely, and Zell dropped him. He tumbled to the floor like a sack of potatoes, and rubbed his throat painfully. "Hyne, Zell, what's gotten into you?" he groaned.

"My home was bombed today. My girlfriend and Ma were almost killed. So don't fuck around with me right now, Monkey!" Zell screamed. "Just give them to me!!"

The Monkey picked himself up and moved to the back of the shop, coming back with a small box. "H-here, man…new and improved, just like you requested."

Zell took the box quickly, knocking the top off.

Inside were his Ehrgiez gloves, the leather new, and the adamantine shiny, shiny enough to look into. Where there had been leather fingers there were now metal fingers. Zell frowned. "Hmmm…"

"Try em on, man."

Zell dropped the duffel he was carrying and ripped his Metal Knuckles he wore off, tossing them on top of the bag, and pulled the 'new and improved' Ehrgiez gloves on. He flexed his fingers in them, before smashing a fist into a palm. "They feel lighter…"

"Dude!! They're a work of art!! Here, try em out on this…" Monkey said, forgetting the imminent danger he was in for a second, his FH heritage kicking in. He picked up a piece of sheer adamantine leaning on a wall, and held it up for Zell. "Go on! Punch away!!"

Zell narrowed his eyes – before a dent suddenly appeared in the nigh-to-indestructible metal. Zell's eyes narrowed as several more dents appeared, before finally his hand punched straight through the unbreakable metal, stopping several centimetres from Monkey's face.

"Impressive…" Zell muttered, pulling his hand from the metal, and looking down a the gloves. "Not a mark…and I didn't feel a thing…"

"Yeah…I replaced the leather interior with an adamantine chain mail, giving extra protection where the leather probably wouldn't. Also, I lessened the adamantine plating on the knuckles."

"Why?"

"Well, the old plating was too thick. It was dead weight. This way you still have the strength of you're old gloves, plus it's lighter and stronger. Also, the finger armour will provide less breakage if you have to, say, punch a hole through sheer adamantine again."

"Excellent." Zell muttered, patting Monkey on the shoulder. "Thank you, Monkey. Here…" He said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a wad of Gil. "This is for the gloves and the door…" He handed the mechanic the money and picked up his duffel and other gauntlets before walking towards the door.

Monkey finished counting the money before calling out. "Hey! You gave me way too much, man…" but his yell fell on deaf ears as Zell walked out the door.

"Ok then…seeya around!!" Money turned and walked back into the bedroom. "Chloe! Wake up! We're going to have breakfast in Esthar today!!"

Chloe blinked sleepily, completely unaware of what had just happened. "But…Monkey, a train ticket to Esthar cost at least…five hundred Gil."

"Well then, it looked like we'll be going there for breakfast for at least a month!!"

*          *            *

Zell stood outside the Mayor's home as the Ragnarok flew into view, his face grim as it's reverse thrusters kicked in, blowing wind and loosen metal everywhere.

The loading ramp opened, and Squall stood on the edge of it as it lowered, the Ragnarok hovering just off the ground as Zell jumped up and into the giant red dragon.

Squall said nothing – just looked at Zell with his own blank stare, before the ramp shut, and the gigantic dragon flew up into the sky, boosting away in a flash of plasm.