CHAPTER III (A): THE PAST TRAGEDY
Zack and Amber had been talking about each other for quite some time. Now, Zack knew more about her. Amber was less than a year younger than him and was born in Kalm Village, the small town southeast from Midgar. Her parents decided that they should move to Nibelheim, some years ago, because of the clearer fresh air.
"After all, Kalm Village is just a few miles away from the pollution-filled city, Midgar," Amber explained to Zack.
Now, Zack was about to ask the question that he had wanted to ask her since that morning.
"Amber, can I ask you, how were your parents like?" Zack asked, nervous not to make her cry like the other night.
Amber was surprised by the question. She looked away from Zack. Zack could see that she was upset. He wanted to say that she could answer his question some other time but Amber then looked back at him with the same warm, friendly smile that she had been showing since they started talking about each other.
"Both my parents, Clarence and Gina Rouge, were adventurers. They liked to venture into caves, abandoned mines, old ruins and any other places that they know of. I sometimes join them in their adventures. If it wasn't exploring, then it would be hiking. Since they often do this sought of things, they had been attacked by monsters a lot. Other than just being a couple of adventurers, my father was a skilled swordsman and my mother was an accurate shooter. My father's weapon was a sword passed down in his family for generations, while my mother's weapon was a small revolver."
"So, um, what happened? How did your parents. died?"
Amber's smile disappeared as she recalled what happened.
"It was just a week ago. They went to explore an abandoned mako reactor up on Mt. Nibel. I went with them this time. We explored inside the reactor for around half an hour.
~~~~~~~~~
FLASHBACK: INCIDENT AT THE REACTOR
Amber and her parents are looking everywhere inside the reactor.
"Gina! Amber! Come here!"
Gina and Amber arrive to where Clarence was standing. He shows a door.
"Shall we?"
"Sure!" Amber answered excitedly.
They enter through the door into the next room. The room had rows of capsule-like pods stacked together in a staircase manner from one side of the room to the other. A narrow stairway cut through the rows, leading to a vault-like door. Clarence, Gina and Amber take a look around the large room. A while later, as the family was looking at the different things in the room, suddenly, the vault-like door bursts wide open like as if a huge explosion has just occurred behind it. As smoke spreads everywhere, the pieces of the door were crashing everywhere in the room while Amber and her parents hid behind the pods. Luckily, none of them were harmed when that happened. They regroup.
"Is everyone alright?" Clarence asks in concern of his family.
"Yes, I'm alright, father," Amber assures her father.
"I'm alright, too. But, what was that?" asked Gina.
They look to where the door once was. As the smoke from the explosion slowly lifts, they could see a man-figure standing at the spot where the door was supposed to have been. As more of the smoke lifts, Amber could see the man clearly. He had long and silver hair and wore a black cape. He was holding a very long and mean-looking sword in his right-hand. When Amber looks at the man's face, she realizes that he had the most evil look that she had ever seen on anyone or even anything.
The man walks a little forward but stops when he realizes that there were other people in the reactor together with him. The man, with a dead serious look on his face, holds his sword in his battle position. Seeing this, Clarence and Gina took out their weapons.
"Amber, stay back, okay? I don't want you to get hurt, especially by that sword of his," Clarence ordered.
Amber stood aside, behind her parents.
"Prepare yourself, Gina," Clarence says to Gina, with an excited smile.
"You too, honey," replied Gina, holding her revolver close to her face.
"Humph," the man, suddenly, as he holds down his sword.
"What the?" Clarence is surprised.
The man then slowly walks down the stairway towards them.
"Are you looking down on us!? You're gonna regret that!" Clarence shouts as he charges at the man.
He tries to strike at the man, but with just a quick but simple swing of the man's sword, Clarence's attack was blocked.
"What the?" Clarence, surprised that the man did not even slow down.
"Let me try!" Gina shouted as she aims at the man, who was still walking forward, right towards her.
Gina pulls the trigger, sending a bullet directly towards the man's chest. But again, with a quick but simple swing of his sword, he blocked the bullet, sending it flying to the wall.
"What the?"
Gina is surprised by the man's ability to block her bullet away. As the man continues walking closer and closer towards Gina, his evil gaze seemed to have petrified her at the spot. As the man gets even closer, he raises his sword. Clarence is shocked
"Run, Gina!!"
But his cry did not seem to break the spell the man seemed to have put onto Gina. Then, to Clarence and Amber's shock, the man slashes down his sword at Gina, sending her crashing down the stairway, spilling her blood everywhere along the way.
"Gina!"
"Mother!"
Clarence rushes to Gina, who was laying on the floor as a puddle of blood formed under her motionless body. He holds up the upper part of her bloody body in his hands.
"Gina! Gina!"
Looking at her lifeless face, he knew that she was gone. He puts her down and closes her eyes with his blood-covered hand. Amber rushes over to her mother's body.
"No, it can't be." She looks at her father. Tears were rolling down his face, "No! MOTHER!!"
Amber shouts as she falls to her knees, covering her face as she starts to cry.
"Amber, stand aside. Now!"
As she did, he stood up, glaring at the man who had killed his wife and was still walking slowly and calmly down the stairway.
"You're gonna pay for this. You're gonna PAY for this!!" Clarence swore as he charges at the man once more.
He strikes at the man, but like before, his attack was blocked. However this time, Clarence quickly recovers and turns around to strike the man from behind. As he charges closer and closer, he gives out a war cry as he raises his sword to strike. But his war cry soon was silenced when the man's sword punctured through his body. The man had switch the direction of where the edge of his sword was facing from the front to his back, where it punctured perfectly through Clarence. The man stood still for a while before he pulled out his sword from Clarence's body, which caused a spray of blood from Clarence's body. Clarence drops onto the side of the stairway.
"FATHER!!!" Amber runs to her father's lifeless, blood-covered body, "Father!!!"
She starts crying even worst now. Then, an overwhelming feeling of anger starts to build up inside Amber. She turns to the man, who just passed the door that led Amber and her parents to that room. She rushes down the stairway to the floor and shouts at the man.
"Hey, stop!!" But the man ignored her and continued walking, "Hey, I said stop!"
Amber shouts as she picks up her mother's revolver and takes a shot at the man. She missed the first and second shot but her third went straight for the man's head. However, the man was able to dodge the shot quickly with just a quick movement of his head. Angered and out of bullets, Amber throws the revolver at the man. As the revolver flies towards the man, he, in a blink of an eye, turned around and slashed the revolver in two. That completely surprised Amber as the man turns around again and floats up to the higher platform and starts to walk towards the entrance door of the reactor. Recovering from her shock, Amber runs back to her father's body and takes his sword and runs after the man.
Outside the reactor, the man is slowly walking away from the reactor. Amber runs out from the reactor to the front of the man. From there, she charges at him, but the result of her attack was the same as her father's. Her attack was also blocked, only easier because she wasn't good with a sword. She charges at him again. She tries to strike him but the man was quick enough to turn around and hold her attack with his sword with only his right hand holding it.
"Your sword-handling ability is at its bottom. It would be a waste to show you my sword-handling abilities," the man said for the first time. He then raises his free hand at her, "Enjoy your sleep."
Amber gasped and was then sent flying through the air and to the floor by a powerful force. She felt the pain of her landing on the solid rock floor before she fainted. The man then continues to walk away, leaving behind Amber's motionless body.
~~~~~~~~~
. Luckily for me, three explorers from this town, two men and a woman, were exploring the caves on Mt. Nibel and happened to find their way to the mako reactor where they saw me laying on the floor. The woman rushed to check if I was all right. They knew that I was the daughter of Clarence and Gina and that I would only explore somewhere in the company of my parents. So, the two men went to check inside the reactor to find my parents. They were shocked when they found my parents' bodies. They brought me back to town and looked after me until I fully recovered. When I had finally recovered, they brought me to see my parents' graves behind this house. When I saw the graves, I couldn't help but burst into tears. The woman tried to comfort me. They never asked me what happened at the reactor. They knew that it would be painful for me to recall such a horrible event. I never got to thank them for what they did," Amber, telling her story.
She looks at Zack, "I think you should know who they are. One of the man and the woman just got married yesterday."
"Huh? Cloud and Tifa?"
"Yeah, it was them, and also Vincent. They were the ones that saved me up at the reactor."
"I see."
He walked over to the window. As he looked out the window, he saw the Highwind landing slowly at the open field in front of Nibelheim.
"So, they're back," he thought, "I was too busy listening to Amber's story to realize the Highwind's return."
Just then, he realized something else, "Amber!"
"Yes?"
"How would you like to thank them now?"
"That would be very nice, if I could,"
Zack turned around towards her, "Then, let's go!"
"Huh? Go where?"
He walked towards the door and stopped to face her.
"Let's go to meet them."
"Huh? But I don't know where they are now."
"But I do," he answered confidently, "So, come on. Lets go."
He left the room.
"What? Do you know them? Hey, wait!"
Amber quickly got up and chased after him.
==========
CHAPTER III (B): ZACK'S REVELATION
Zack and Amber are coming out from her house. He has explained to her how he met Cloud and Tifa. However, he lied when he told her that he met them when he was wandering around outside Nibelheim. As they walked towards the town entrance, Cloud and Tifa entered the town, hand-in-hand.
"Hi, Cloud. Hi, Tifa," Zack greeted while waving at them.
"Oh, hi, Zack," Tifa greeted back.
"Oh, Amber?" Cloud, surprised when he saw her with Zack, "So you two have just met?"
"Yeah," Amber answers. Her face turns red as she continues, "Last night."
"Anyway, Amber has something to say to you two," Zack explained, quickly changing the subject. He turns to Amber, "Go ahead, Amber."
"Well, um," Amber, turning red in shyness.
"Don't be shy, Amber. A girl should not be too shy," Tifa advises Amber as she gives Cloud a tight hug.
"Well, um," Amber once more, "Thank you. Thank you for taking care of me when I had nobody to turn to."
"It's okay. We like to help others that needs help," Cloud explained to her.
"Thanks."
"So, how was your honeymoon?" Zack asked Cloud and Tifa.
"It was very romantic. Cid really knew what he was doing, didn't he?" Tifa praised, looking at Cloud.
"Yeah, he sure did," Cloud replied to her, giving her a kiss on the lips.
"Hey, Amber. Why don't you come to our place, the mansion?" Tifa asked, looking at the shy girl.
"That would be nice."
"Then, let's go!" Zack said, also excited.
They were just about to walk to the mansion when suddenly they were surprised by a voice laughing evilly in their minds.
"What the?" Zack shouted, nervously looking around.
"That can't be," Tifa gasped, looking around also.
"That voice," Amber whispered to herself, shocked.
Then they look up to see a man in a black cape floating down from the sky, still laughing evilly.
Zack looked at the man, surprised, "What the? It-It's HIM!"
Amber gasped, "It-It's you! From the reactor!"
"Sephiroth!?" Cloud, surprised.
Sephiroth continues his laugh, "So you still remember me, Cloud! I thought so, even after these three long years."
"How can that be!? How can you still be alive!?" Cloud shouted, still surprised.
Barret, RedXIII, Cinna and Vincent then appeared out from the mansion.
"Cloud, what's going o. What the!? Sephiroth!?" Barret shouted when he saw Sephiroth floating in the air in front of Zack and the others.
"How are you still alive!?" RedXIII shouted.
"Is this what Lucrecia's warning was about?" Vincent asked himself.
"So she did come to see you. I knew she would be trouble, but that father of mine," Sephiroth said, shaking his head in disgust.
"Your father!?" Tifa exclaimed, thinking for a while who he was talking about. Then she realizes, "Hojo!"
"What!? He's alive, too!" Vincent, shocked.
"Well, you can say that we are a 'one big, ALIVE family'," Sephiroth said calmly. He stares at Amber, who was completely in fear, "Oh, so you survived. I had underestimated you."
Zack looks at her.
"So she was talking about Sephiroth!" he thought.
Sephiroth then turned his attention to Zack, "And who might this boy be?"
He suddenly teleported and appeared right in front of Zack, surprising everyone, especially Zack, who had falling back.
"Hm," Sephiroth, looking at Zack with his watchful eyes. Then he smiles, "Zack."
That surprised everybody once more.
"H-H-How did you know?" Zack gasped, really shocked.
"Well," Sephiroth floated back to the sky, "Let's just say that there's someone who is very interested in you."
"Who would be interested in me? I'm a just normal boy!"
"No, you're not!" Sephiroth cut in quickly and sharply, surprising Zack.
"I know who you are. You are Zack, the boy from the other world."
Zack gasped, as everyone was surprised to hear that.
"What? Zack? Another world?" Barret, shocked to hear that.
Zack stares at Sephiroth, shocked that someone knew and has now revealed his secret.
Looking at Cloud, Sephiroth exclaimed, "Well, I'll be seeing you, Cloud."
He turns his eyes on Zack, "And you, too, Zack."
He laughs evilly before a light of teleportation suddenly surrounded him. After Sephiroth had teleported away, everyone stared at Zack. Zack looked at each of them, Vincent, RedXIII, Cinna, Barret, Tifa, Cloud and then Amber.
Cloud asked Zack, "Is this true, Zack? Are you really from another world?"
Zack looks at Cloud; his face showed Zack that he did not want to believe it.
"Yes, it's true. I am from another world."
"But-But how did you end up at the plain outside of Nibelheim?" Tifa asked, shocked.
"I don't know. All that I can remember is that I was walking home during a light storm, when suddenly in a flash, I collapsed to the floor. When I woke up, I found myself on a giant rock in the middle of a wide plain where a monster suddenly attacked me. And then the rest, you already know."
"But you told us that you were from Cosmos Canyon?" Tifa exclaimed, disbelieving what she had just heard.
Tifa wanted to say some more when RedXIII suddenly cut in, "Cosmos Canyon?"
Everyone turned their attentions to RedXIII.
"I know everyone who lives in Cosmos Canyon, and I've never seen or heard of a boy name Zack Nurvana in Cosmos Canyon, ever."
"It must be true, then," Vincent said, looking back at Zack, "You are from another world."
"Yes, it's true," Zack, looking down again.
"I can't believe it," Amber suddenly muttered, facing down, her hair covering her eyes.
Surprised, Zack looks at her. Although he couldn't see much of her face, he could tell that she was completely in disbelief.
"I can't believe it," Amber muttered again.
She then looks up at Zack. He was shocked to see tears rolling down her face.
"I can't believe that you lied to me about how you were wandering outside of Nibelheim before you were attacked by the monster."
"Amber." Zack muttered, not knowing what to say.
"I can't believe that you didn't tell me about all this before," Amber continues, starting to sob.
"I told you, everything about me. I told you, my past. I told you about my father and mother. I opened my heart to you, Zack!"
Zack was shocked when he heard that.
"I trusted you, Zack. I trusted you, with all of my heart. I thought that I could trust you with everything, Zack," She faces down again, eyes close, "But I guess I was wrong,"
When she finished, she ran to her house, covering her face as she started to cry.
"Amber!" Zack uttered. He wanted to go after her but he forced himself not to. He looked down, his face covered with feelings of guilt, "I'm sorry, Amber."
Suddenly, Yuffie appears, running into town. When she saw everyone, she stopped to take a short breather.
"Guys, come to the Highwind! There's something that you've just gotta see!"
Everyone quickly left for the Highwind. Before he rushed to follow them, Zack looked back to Amber's house, still feeling guilty. As he rushed off, Amber was laying on her bed in her room, still crying as she covered her face with her arms.
*********
Everyone entered the bridge, including Zack. The decorations that were up for Cloud and Tifa's honeymoon were already taken down.
"I was wondering when you guys were going to get here," Cid exclaimed.
"What is it that was so urgent?" Cloud asked him, seriously.
"Wait and take a look for yourself," Cid said before he started the Highwind.
Zack could feel the Highwind getting higher and higher off the ground. As they got higher and higher, Zack could see the town of Nibelheim disappear to the bottom of the Highwind's view. After the Highwind burst through a thin layer of cloud, everyone was surprised by what they saw at the horizon, except for Cid, Yuffie and Cait Sith.
"What, in heaven's name, is that?" Barret exclaimed.
They were looking at a whirlwind-like vortex of blue light at the horizon.
Cid explained to everyone, "If it wasn't for Yuffie's clumsiness, we would not have seen this."
"What did she do?" Tifa asked.
Yuffie then answers her, "Let me answer this. After we were done taking down the decorations, I felt really tired and leaned against the main control system."
Cait Sith then helped her to continue, "Then she accidentally pushed some buttons, sending the Highwind floating up to the sky. Cid was about to scold Yuffie for her clumsiness when we saw this."
"That doesn't answer my question," Barret shouted as he continues to ask again, "What is THAT?"
"We don't know ourselves. The only clue we got about this vortex is where it's coming from," Cid explained.
"Then, let's hear it!" Barret shouted.
Cid's face gets really serious, "The crater."
That surprised everyone, except for Cid, Yuffie and Cait Sith again.
"The crater!" Cinna exclaimed, looking at Cloud, "Do you think this has something to do with Sephiroth?"
"Sephiroth!?" Yuffie, surprised.
"Yeah, we've just found out that Sephiroth is still alive," RedXIII explained to the three that were not there when Sephiroth appeared.
"Well, Cloud, do you think this has something to do with Sephiroth?" Vincent asked Cloud.
Everyone watched Cloud as he said seriously, "I think this has everything to do with Sephiroth."
"Should we go and check it out?" Tifa asked, looking at Cloud.
"No, I don't think we should go now. He might be expecting us to do that."
"Sephiroth? But what can he do?" Cinna asked.
"Who knows what he is capable of doing with the power that he possesses," Vincent said with serious look on his face.
"Then, what are we going to do?" Cait Sith asked.
"Cid, land the Highwind," Cloud ordered.
"Roger!" Cid, as he operates the machine to land the Highwind.
As he did, Cloud shouted to everyone, "Everyone, start preparing yourselves! We will head for the crater once we're ready!"
Everyone, except Zack, shouted in confirmation of the order.
"Cloud," Zack said softly.
Cloud turns to face Zack, "What is it?"
"Can I come with you? To the crater?"
"But it will be dangerous there, Zack, with all those monsters. Plus, Sephiroth is there, too," Tifa explains to Zack.
"I know, but I still want to go. I want to know what's going on. I want to know who was it that Sephiroth said was interested in me."
"We know how you must feel, kid, but it is still too dangerous at the crater," Barret said.
"I still want to go! I have to," Zack spoke out loud, but everyone was still unsure about that.
"If you won't let me come because I am unable to defend for myself, then teach me to use a weapon!"
After thinking for a while, Cloud agreed, "All right."
Zack looks at Cloud, who turns to face him.
"You will be taught to use a weapon."
"Really?"
"Under one condition. You must find a weapon of your own."
"What?"
"That's it. You have your own weapon, we'll teach you to use it and you can come."
"But, that's not fair! Where. How am I going to find a weapon?"
"That's the problem you have to solve on your own."
"Can't you just give me a weapon?"
"Sorry, Zack, but we have no other weapons with us other than the ones we are using already," Tifa answered.
Looking at everyone, Zack exclaimed, "Fine. I'll find a weapon of my own."
*********
In the distance, the Highwind can be seen going back down through the thin layer of cloud by Sephiroth. He was floating in the air above the layer of cloud, smiling evilly.
"Why did you hesitate, Cloud? Why didn't you just come to the crater?" he said with a menacing tone.
He laughs, softly but evilly, to himself.
"These three years have changed you, Cloud, but slightly. I'm sure your fighting abilities are still the same or, maybe, even better."
He laughs again, "However, I'm sure that you will come, just like you did last time. And I'm sure that boy will be coming, too."
He laughs evilly and loudly before he suddenly teleports himself away.
Zack and Amber had been talking about each other for quite some time. Now, Zack knew more about her. Amber was less than a year younger than him and was born in Kalm Village, the small town southeast from Midgar. Her parents decided that they should move to Nibelheim, some years ago, because of the clearer fresh air.
"After all, Kalm Village is just a few miles away from the pollution-filled city, Midgar," Amber explained to Zack.
Now, Zack was about to ask the question that he had wanted to ask her since that morning.
"Amber, can I ask you, how were your parents like?" Zack asked, nervous not to make her cry like the other night.
Amber was surprised by the question. She looked away from Zack. Zack could see that she was upset. He wanted to say that she could answer his question some other time but Amber then looked back at him with the same warm, friendly smile that she had been showing since they started talking about each other.
"Both my parents, Clarence and Gina Rouge, were adventurers. They liked to venture into caves, abandoned mines, old ruins and any other places that they know of. I sometimes join them in their adventures. If it wasn't exploring, then it would be hiking. Since they often do this sought of things, they had been attacked by monsters a lot. Other than just being a couple of adventurers, my father was a skilled swordsman and my mother was an accurate shooter. My father's weapon was a sword passed down in his family for generations, while my mother's weapon was a small revolver."
"So, um, what happened? How did your parents. died?"
Amber's smile disappeared as she recalled what happened.
"It was just a week ago. They went to explore an abandoned mako reactor up on Mt. Nibel. I went with them this time. We explored inside the reactor for around half an hour.
~~~~~~~~~
FLASHBACK: INCIDENT AT THE REACTOR
Amber and her parents are looking everywhere inside the reactor.
"Gina! Amber! Come here!"
Gina and Amber arrive to where Clarence was standing. He shows a door.
"Shall we?"
"Sure!" Amber answered excitedly.
They enter through the door into the next room. The room had rows of capsule-like pods stacked together in a staircase manner from one side of the room to the other. A narrow stairway cut through the rows, leading to a vault-like door. Clarence, Gina and Amber take a look around the large room. A while later, as the family was looking at the different things in the room, suddenly, the vault-like door bursts wide open like as if a huge explosion has just occurred behind it. As smoke spreads everywhere, the pieces of the door were crashing everywhere in the room while Amber and her parents hid behind the pods. Luckily, none of them were harmed when that happened. They regroup.
"Is everyone alright?" Clarence asks in concern of his family.
"Yes, I'm alright, father," Amber assures her father.
"I'm alright, too. But, what was that?" asked Gina.
They look to where the door once was. As the smoke from the explosion slowly lifts, they could see a man-figure standing at the spot where the door was supposed to have been. As more of the smoke lifts, Amber could see the man clearly. He had long and silver hair and wore a black cape. He was holding a very long and mean-looking sword in his right-hand. When Amber looks at the man's face, she realizes that he had the most evil look that she had ever seen on anyone or even anything.
The man walks a little forward but stops when he realizes that there were other people in the reactor together with him. The man, with a dead serious look on his face, holds his sword in his battle position. Seeing this, Clarence and Gina took out their weapons.
"Amber, stay back, okay? I don't want you to get hurt, especially by that sword of his," Clarence ordered.
Amber stood aside, behind her parents.
"Prepare yourself, Gina," Clarence says to Gina, with an excited smile.
"You too, honey," replied Gina, holding her revolver close to her face.
"Humph," the man, suddenly, as he holds down his sword.
"What the?" Clarence is surprised.
The man then slowly walks down the stairway towards them.
"Are you looking down on us!? You're gonna regret that!" Clarence shouts as he charges at the man.
He tries to strike at the man, but with just a quick but simple swing of the man's sword, Clarence's attack was blocked.
"What the?" Clarence, surprised that the man did not even slow down.
"Let me try!" Gina shouted as she aims at the man, who was still walking forward, right towards her.
Gina pulls the trigger, sending a bullet directly towards the man's chest. But again, with a quick but simple swing of his sword, he blocked the bullet, sending it flying to the wall.
"What the?"
Gina is surprised by the man's ability to block her bullet away. As the man continues walking closer and closer towards Gina, his evil gaze seemed to have petrified her at the spot. As the man gets even closer, he raises his sword. Clarence is shocked
"Run, Gina!!"
But his cry did not seem to break the spell the man seemed to have put onto Gina. Then, to Clarence and Amber's shock, the man slashes down his sword at Gina, sending her crashing down the stairway, spilling her blood everywhere along the way.
"Gina!"
"Mother!"
Clarence rushes to Gina, who was laying on the floor as a puddle of blood formed under her motionless body. He holds up the upper part of her bloody body in his hands.
"Gina! Gina!"
Looking at her lifeless face, he knew that she was gone. He puts her down and closes her eyes with his blood-covered hand. Amber rushes over to her mother's body.
"No, it can't be." She looks at her father. Tears were rolling down his face, "No! MOTHER!!"
Amber shouts as she falls to her knees, covering her face as she starts to cry.
"Amber, stand aside. Now!"
As she did, he stood up, glaring at the man who had killed his wife and was still walking slowly and calmly down the stairway.
"You're gonna pay for this. You're gonna PAY for this!!" Clarence swore as he charges at the man once more.
He strikes at the man, but like before, his attack was blocked. However this time, Clarence quickly recovers and turns around to strike the man from behind. As he charges closer and closer, he gives out a war cry as he raises his sword to strike. But his war cry soon was silenced when the man's sword punctured through his body. The man had switch the direction of where the edge of his sword was facing from the front to his back, where it punctured perfectly through Clarence. The man stood still for a while before he pulled out his sword from Clarence's body, which caused a spray of blood from Clarence's body. Clarence drops onto the side of the stairway.
"FATHER!!!" Amber runs to her father's lifeless, blood-covered body, "Father!!!"
She starts crying even worst now. Then, an overwhelming feeling of anger starts to build up inside Amber. She turns to the man, who just passed the door that led Amber and her parents to that room. She rushes down the stairway to the floor and shouts at the man.
"Hey, stop!!" But the man ignored her and continued walking, "Hey, I said stop!"
Amber shouts as she picks up her mother's revolver and takes a shot at the man. She missed the first and second shot but her third went straight for the man's head. However, the man was able to dodge the shot quickly with just a quick movement of his head. Angered and out of bullets, Amber throws the revolver at the man. As the revolver flies towards the man, he, in a blink of an eye, turned around and slashed the revolver in two. That completely surprised Amber as the man turns around again and floats up to the higher platform and starts to walk towards the entrance door of the reactor. Recovering from her shock, Amber runs back to her father's body and takes his sword and runs after the man.
Outside the reactor, the man is slowly walking away from the reactor. Amber runs out from the reactor to the front of the man. From there, she charges at him, but the result of her attack was the same as her father's. Her attack was also blocked, only easier because she wasn't good with a sword. She charges at him again. She tries to strike him but the man was quick enough to turn around and hold her attack with his sword with only his right hand holding it.
"Your sword-handling ability is at its bottom. It would be a waste to show you my sword-handling abilities," the man said for the first time. He then raises his free hand at her, "Enjoy your sleep."
Amber gasped and was then sent flying through the air and to the floor by a powerful force. She felt the pain of her landing on the solid rock floor before she fainted. The man then continues to walk away, leaving behind Amber's motionless body.
~~~~~~~~~
. Luckily for me, three explorers from this town, two men and a woman, were exploring the caves on Mt. Nibel and happened to find their way to the mako reactor where they saw me laying on the floor. The woman rushed to check if I was all right. They knew that I was the daughter of Clarence and Gina and that I would only explore somewhere in the company of my parents. So, the two men went to check inside the reactor to find my parents. They were shocked when they found my parents' bodies. They brought me back to town and looked after me until I fully recovered. When I had finally recovered, they brought me to see my parents' graves behind this house. When I saw the graves, I couldn't help but burst into tears. The woman tried to comfort me. They never asked me what happened at the reactor. They knew that it would be painful for me to recall such a horrible event. I never got to thank them for what they did," Amber, telling her story.
She looks at Zack, "I think you should know who they are. One of the man and the woman just got married yesterday."
"Huh? Cloud and Tifa?"
"Yeah, it was them, and also Vincent. They were the ones that saved me up at the reactor."
"I see."
He walked over to the window. As he looked out the window, he saw the Highwind landing slowly at the open field in front of Nibelheim.
"So, they're back," he thought, "I was too busy listening to Amber's story to realize the Highwind's return."
Just then, he realized something else, "Amber!"
"Yes?"
"How would you like to thank them now?"
"That would be very nice, if I could,"
Zack turned around towards her, "Then, let's go!"
"Huh? Go where?"
He walked towards the door and stopped to face her.
"Let's go to meet them."
"Huh? But I don't know where they are now."
"But I do," he answered confidently, "So, come on. Lets go."
He left the room.
"What? Do you know them? Hey, wait!"
Amber quickly got up and chased after him.
==========
CHAPTER III (B): ZACK'S REVELATION
Zack and Amber are coming out from her house. He has explained to her how he met Cloud and Tifa. However, he lied when he told her that he met them when he was wandering around outside Nibelheim. As they walked towards the town entrance, Cloud and Tifa entered the town, hand-in-hand.
"Hi, Cloud. Hi, Tifa," Zack greeted while waving at them.
"Oh, hi, Zack," Tifa greeted back.
"Oh, Amber?" Cloud, surprised when he saw her with Zack, "So you two have just met?"
"Yeah," Amber answers. Her face turns red as she continues, "Last night."
"Anyway, Amber has something to say to you two," Zack explained, quickly changing the subject. He turns to Amber, "Go ahead, Amber."
"Well, um," Amber, turning red in shyness.
"Don't be shy, Amber. A girl should not be too shy," Tifa advises Amber as she gives Cloud a tight hug.
"Well, um," Amber once more, "Thank you. Thank you for taking care of me when I had nobody to turn to."
"It's okay. We like to help others that needs help," Cloud explained to her.
"Thanks."
"So, how was your honeymoon?" Zack asked Cloud and Tifa.
"It was very romantic. Cid really knew what he was doing, didn't he?" Tifa praised, looking at Cloud.
"Yeah, he sure did," Cloud replied to her, giving her a kiss on the lips.
"Hey, Amber. Why don't you come to our place, the mansion?" Tifa asked, looking at the shy girl.
"That would be nice."
"Then, let's go!" Zack said, also excited.
They were just about to walk to the mansion when suddenly they were surprised by a voice laughing evilly in their minds.
"What the?" Zack shouted, nervously looking around.
"That can't be," Tifa gasped, looking around also.
"That voice," Amber whispered to herself, shocked.
Then they look up to see a man in a black cape floating down from the sky, still laughing evilly.
Zack looked at the man, surprised, "What the? It-It's HIM!"
Amber gasped, "It-It's you! From the reactor!"
"Sephiroth!?" Cloud, surprised.
Sephiroth continues his laugh, "So you still remember me, Cloud! I thought so, even after these three long years."
"How can that be!? How can you still be alive!?" Cloud shouted, still surprised.
Barret, RedXIII, Cinna and Vincent then appeared out from the mansion.
"Cloud, what's going o. What the!? Sephiroth!?" Barret shouted when he saw Sephiroth floating in the air in front of Zack and the others.
"How are you still alive!?" RedXIII shouted.
"Is this what Lucrecia's warning was about?" Vincent asked himself.
"So she did come to see you. I knew she would be trouble, but that father of mine," Sephiroth said, shaking his head in disgust.
"Your father!?" Tifa exclaimed, thinking for a while who he was talking about. Then she realizes, "Hojo!"
"What!? He's alive, too!" Vincent, shocked.
"Well, you can say that we are a 'one big, ALIVE family'," Sephiroth said calmly. He stares at Amber, who was completely in fear, "Oh, so you survived. I had underestimated you."
Zack looks at her.
"So she was talking about Sephiroth!" he thought.
Sephiroth then turned his attention to Zack, "And who might this boy be?"
He suddenly teleported and appeared right in front of Zack, surprising everyone, especially Zack, who had falling back.
"Hm," Sephiroth, looking at Zack with his watchful eyes. Then he smiles, "Zack."
That surprised everybody once more.
"H-H-How did you know?" Zack gasped, really shocked.
"Well," Sephiroth floated back to the sky, "Let's just say that there's someone who is very interested in you."
"Who would be interested in me? I'm a just normal boy!"
"No, you're not!" Sephiroth cut in quickly and sharply, surprising Zack.
"I know who you are. You are Zack, the boy from the other world."
Zack gasped, as everyone was surprised to hear that.
"What? Zack? Another world?" Barret, shocked to hear that.
Zack stares at Sephiroth, shocked that someone knew and has now revealed his secret.
Looking at Cloud, Sephiroth exclaimed, "Well, I'll be seeing you, Cloud."
He turns his eyes on Zack, "And you, too, Zack."
He laughs evilly before a light of teleportation suddenly surrounded him. After Sephiroth had teleported away, everyone stared at Zack. Zack looked at each of them, Vincent, RedXIII, Cinna, Barret, Tifa, Cloud and then Amber.
Cloud asked Zack, "Is this true, Zack? Are you really from another world?"
Zack looks at Cloud; his face showed Zack that he did not want to believe it.
"Yes, it's true. I am from another world."
"But-But how did you end up at the plain outside of Nibelheim?" Tifa asked, shocked.
"I don't know. All that I can remember is that I was walking home during a light storm, when suddenly in a flash, I collapsed to the floor. When I woke up, I found myself on a giant rock in the middle of a wide plain where a monster suddenly attacked me. And then the rest, you already know."
"But you told us that you were from Cosmos Canyon?" Tifa exclaimed, disbelieving what she had just heard.
Tifa wanted to say some more when RedXIII suddenly cut in, "Cosmos Canyon?"
Everyone turned their attentions to RedXIII.
"I know everyone who lives in Cosmos Canyon, and I've never seen or heard of a boy name Zack Nurvana in Cosmos Canyon, ever."
"It must be true, then," Vincent said, looking back at Zack, "You are from another world."
"Yes, it's true," Zack, looking down again.
"I can't believe it," Amber suddenly muttered, facing down, her hair covering her eyes.
Surprised, Zack looks at her. Although he couldn't see much of her face, he could tell that she was completely in disbelief.
"I can't believe it," Amber muttered again.
She then looks up at Zack. He was shocked to see tears rolling down her face.
"I can't believe that you lied to me about how you were wandering outside of Nibelheim before you were attacked by the monster."
"Amber." Zack muttered, not knowing what to say.
"I can't believe that you didn't tell me about all this before," Amber continues, starting to sob.
"I told you, everything about me. I told you, my past. I told you about my father and mother. I opened my heart to you, Zack!"
Zack was shocked when he heard that.
"I trusted you, Zack. I trusted you, with all of my heart. I thought that I could trust you with everything, Zack," She faces down again, eyes close, "But I guess I was wrong,"
When she finished, she ran to her house, covering her face as she started to cry.
"Amber!" Zack uttered. He wanted to go after her but he forced himself not to. He looked down, his face covered with feelings of guilt, "I'm sorry, Amber."
Suddenly, Yuffie appears, running into town. When she saw everyone, she stopped to take a short breather.
"Guys, come to the Highwind! There's something that you've just gotta see!"
Everyone quickly left for the Highwind. Before he rushed to follow them, Zack looked back to Amber's house, still feeling guilty. As he rushed off, Amber was laying on her bed in her room, still crying as she covered her face with her arms.
*********
Everyone entered the bridge, including Zack. The decorations that were up for Cloud and Tifa's honeymoon were already taken down.
"I was wondering when you guys were going to get here," Cid exclaimed.
"What is it that was so urgent?" Cloud asked him, seriously.
"Wait and take a look for yourself," Cid said before he started the Highwind.
Zack could feel the Highwind getting higher and higher off the ground. As they got higher and higher, Zack could see the town of Nibelheim disappear to the bottom of the Highwind's view. After the Highwind burst through a thin layer of cloud, everyone was surprised by what they saw at the horizon, except for Cid, Yuffie and Cait Sith.
"What, in heaven's name, is that?" Barret exclaimed.
They were looking at a whirlwind-like vortex of blue light at the horizon.
Cid explained to everyone, "If it wasn't for Yuffie's clumsiness, we would not have seen this."
"What did she do?" Tifa asked.
Yuffie then answers her, "Let me answer this. After we were done taking down the decorations, I felt really tired and leaned against the main control system."
Cait Sith then helped her to continue, "Then she accidentally pushed some buttons, sending the Highwind floating up to the sky. Cid was about to scold Yuffie for her clumsiness when we saw this."
"That doesn't answer my question," Barret shouted as he continues to ask again, "What is THAT?"
"We don't know ourselves. The only clue we got about this vortex is where it's coming from," Cid explained.
"Then, let's hear it!" Barret shouted.
Cid's face gets really serious, "The crater."
That surprised everyone, except for Cid, Yuffie and Cait Sith again.
"The crater!" Cinna exclaimed, looking at Cloud, "Do you think this has something to do with Sephiroth?"
"Sephiroth!?" Yuffie, surprised.
"Yeah, we've just found out that Sephiroth is still alive," RedXIII explained to the three that were not there when Sephiroth appeared.
"Well, Cloud, do you think this has something to do with Sephiroth?" Vincent asked Cloud.
Everyone watched Cloud as he said seriously, "I think this has everything to do with Sephiroth."
"Should we go and check it out?" Tifa asked, looking at Cloud.
"No, I don't think we should go now. He might be expecting us to do that."
"Sephiroth? But what can he do?" Cinna asked.
"Who knows what he is capable of doing with the power that he possesses," Vincent said with serious look on his face.
"Then, what are we going to do?" Cait Sith asked.
"Cid, land the Highwind," Cloud ordered.
"Roger!" Cid, as he operates the machine to land the Highwind.
As he did, Cloud shouted to everyone, "Everyone, start preparing yourselves! We will head for the crater once we're ready!"
Everyone, except Zack, shouted in confirmation of the order.
"Cloud," Zack said softly.
Cloud turns to face Zack, "What is it?"
"Can I come with you? To the crater?"
"But it will be dangerous there, Zack, with all those monsters. Plus, Sephiroth is there, too," Tifa explains to Zack.
"I know, but I still want to go. I want to know what's going on. I want to know who was it that Sephiroth said was interested in me."
"We know how you must feel, kid, but it is still too dangerous at the crater," Barret said.
"I still want to go! I have to," Zack spoke out loud, but everyone was still unsure about that.
"If you won't let me come because I am unable to defend for myself, then teach me to use a weapon!"
After thinking for a while, Cloud agreed, "All right."
Zack looks at Cloud, who turns to face him.
"You will be taught to use a weapon."
"Really?"
"Under one condition. You must find a weapon of your own."
"What?"
"That's it. You have your own weapon, we'll teach you to use it and you can come."
"But, that's not fair! Where. How am I going to find a weapon?"
"That's the problem you have to solve on your own."
"Can't you just give me a weapon?"
"Sorry, Zack, but we have no other weapons with us other than the ones we are using already," Tifa answered.
Looking at everyone, Zack exclaimed, "Fine. I'll find a weapon of my own."
*********
In the distance, the Highwind can be seen going back down through the thin layer of cloud by Sephiroth. He was floating in the air above the layer of cloud, smiling evilly.
"Why did you hesitate, Cloud? Why didn't you just come to the crater?" he said with a menacing tone.
He laughs, softly but evilly, to himself.
"These three years have changed you, Cloud, but slightly. I'm sure your fighting abilities are still the same or, maybe, even better."
He laughs again, "However, I'm sure that you will come, just like you did last time. And I'm sure that boy will be coming, too."
He laughs evilly and loudly before he suddenly teleports himself away.