CHAPTER IX (A): PASSION ON THE FIELD
At the deck, in the second floor of the garden, Squall and the others are getting ready to get off to the ground. Headmaster Cid, Matron and the female SeeD, Xu, were there to see them off. Zack and Amber were there, too. Irvine has just dropped a rope ladder from the side of the deck.
"I guess it's time for us to say 'buh-bye'," Irvine joked, looking towards the headmaster.
"I wish you all good luck in your journey. And I pray that you would return," Cid said.
"Don't even get started with your praying," Zell said, looking at the headmaster, "Cause we'll be coming back. And you can bet your money on that."
Cid laughed when he heard him, "Yes, I guess I was just being a little pessimistic."
"We shall be leaving now, sir," Squall said to the headmaster while saluting the SeeD's salute.
After the headmaster nodded his head, Squall and the others went for the rope ladder. Zell was the first to climb down the ladder, although he had a hard time trying to carry Angelo along with him as he did. Then, it was Selphie, followed by Irvine.
As Quistis climbed down the ladder, Xu suddenly shouted to Squall, "Oh, wait a minute!"
As Squall turned to look at Xu, she was running towards him. Standing in front of him, she held out to him something that looked like a mobile phone.
"Take this with you."
Squall took it in his hand as Rinoa walked to his side, a little curious.
Looking at the thing, Rinoa asked, "What is this?"
"That's the garden's new Field Mission Communicator or FMC. It is something that we've just came up to make communication easier between the garden and SeeD's on the field," Xu explained, "So now, SeeD's on the field can report their mission status at anytime. They may also ask for the garden to come and pick them up."
"I see," Squall muttered. As he put the FMC into his pocket, he looked at Xu, "Thanks."
"Just making things better for the garden," Xu said while saluting the SeeD's salute.
Squall saluted back. Then, Squall and Rinoa turned for the ladder. After they had climbed down the ladder, Xu pulled up the ladder as Headmaster Cid and Matron went back inside. After pulling up the ladder, Xu left it beside the door, which led to the second floor corridor, and followed the two. While all of this were happening, Zack and Amber had been watching quietly at them. After Xu had disappeared through the door, Zack dashed for the ladder.
Curious, Amber asked him, "What are you doing?"
Zack answered her while carefully carrying the rope ladder, "We're going to Deling City."
"What?"
"We've got to hurry, they're going to start the garden's mobile system soon," he said while struggling to carry the ladder to the side of the deck.
Throwing the ladder off the side of the deck, he looks at Amber, "Come on, let's go!"
Upon hearing that, Amber ran for the ladder and started to climb down. After she reached halfway down the ladder, Zack followed her down the ladder. As the garden started to float off the ground, Zack dropped to the ground. He got back up quickly and rushed over to Amber who was standing a short distance away from him. She was looking at the garden, amazed.
"The garden's floating!"
Standing beside her, Zack looked back at the garden. It was slowly floating away. The ladder that they've just climbed down from was dangling helplessly at the side of the deck.
Amber then continued, "Wow, I never knew that it was floating all this time."
Zack continued to watch the garden as it slowly floated away. Although he heard her, he did not want to say anything. He didn't want to lie to her anymore than he already did.
Looking at her, Zack exclaimed, "Let's go. They shouldn't be far from us."
After she nodded, they quickly rushed after Squall and the others.
*********
A few minutes has passed. Zack and Amber were still running after Squall and the others. After running for a short while, Zack was starting to feel fatigued as he started to slow down. When she realized that, Amber stopped and looked at Zack. She noticed that he was feeling tired and ran back to him.
"Are you tired, Zack?"
Hearing that, Zack answered quickly while shaking his head, "No, no, I'm fine."
Still running, he continued, "We've gotta hurry before they leave us even further behind."
Running beside him, she said, "It's all right, Zack. We can walk from here. At least, that way, you can get some of your energy back."
Looking at her, Zack did not know what to say and did what she said and started walking, "Thanks, Amber."
Amber smiled happily, "You're welcome, Zack."
After walking for a while, Zack told Amber, "Well, I'm feeling better. Let's get going!"
They were just about to run when suddenly something swooped over their heads. Surprised by that, Zack and Amber looked for the thing. They saw it hovering in the air, shrieking sharply.
"What's that?" Amber shouted, feeling afraid.
It was a blue flying monster with two pairs of wings, instead of the usual one and its head looked like a crash helmet. Zack recognized it to be one of the monsters found around Deling City in the game, but could not recall what was its name, except that it started with a 'T'. After staring at it for a while, Zack suddenly notices another creature appearing near the monster. This one was dark purple and had no legs, except for its two pincers. Zack remembered it to be another monster found around Deling City in the game.
"Geezard!"
The monster named Geezard squirmed around under the flying monster.
"What should we do, Zack?" Amber, starting to feel scared.
Zack thought for a moment. He remembered the Geezard to be a weak monster that had a short life while the other one was a little stronger and had more life.
"You take care of the small one!" Zack ordered. Drawing out his sword, he continued, "I'll take care of the flying one."
"What? But how are you going to attack it?" Amber asked.
"Don't worry, Amber. I'll be all right. Now, go!" Zack shouted before he ran for the flying monster, leaving Amber behind to watch him in concern.
Looking at the flying monster, Zack thought to himself, "I may have forgotten your name, but at least I know how weak you are."
He then jumps to attack the monster. However, as he did, he realized that his jump was not going to be high enough for him to attack the monster directly. So, out of desperation, Zack quickly raised his sword as high as he could and pulled it back down when he was close to the monster. It was a hit! The monster shrieked in pain as it flew clumsily in the air but it wasn't long before it recovered from the attack.
Although it was starting to bleed terribly, it was still able to swoop down towards Zack and bit him hard on his right shoulder before he could prepare himself for another attack. Zack cried in pain as he fell to the ground, sending his sword flying from his hand and onto the ground a few feet away from him. He was still not used to experiencing such pain.
Looking up at the monster, Zack muttered softly, "Damn."
The monster shrieked in triumph and swooped down to attack him once more. Suddenly there was the sound of a gunshot and a bullet went right through the monster's cranium. The monster shrieked loudly before it crashed to the ground and disappeared into dust. Surprised, Zack looked towards where the bullet had come from and saw Amber, pointing her gun towards where the monster was before crashing to the ground. Smoke was coming out from the tip of her gun. She smiled happily when she realized that she had just killed the monster. Zack smiled back.
"That's great! Your aiming's gotten better!"
She continued to smile happily. However, she was not happy that her aiming had gotten better. Instead, she was happy that she was able to save Zack before the monster did anymore harm on him, but her happiness was short- lived when suddenly something bounced hard off her back, forcefully pushing her to the ground. She had not defeated the Geezard yet and it had taken the opportunity for a back attack. As she landed on the ground, she lost grip of her gun and it flew a few feet away from her.
"Amber!"
She pulled herself back up slowly. She was still shaken up by the attack. However, the Geezard bounced off her back once again, pushing her back to the ground mercilessly. She shouted in pain when it did.
"Amber!" Zack shouted once more, feeling uncontrollably worried and also, at the same time, angry.
Despite the pain in his right shoulder, he got up quickly to his feet and ran towards where Amber was. As he ran, he picked up his sword. As he got closer to where Amber was, he quickly got ready to attack the Geezard. As he got even closer, the Geezard raised its body to attack Zack. However as it did, Zack gave out a loud warcry and slashed the monster. It flew far to the back. When it landed on the ground, it wiggled its terribly injured body before disappearing into dust. Zack then squatted beside Amber, who was still laying on the ground, while laying down his sword beside her.
"Are you alright, Amber?"
He pulls her up into a sitting position. When he did, he felt the pain in his shoulder again.
Noticing that, Amber said weakly, "Oh, Zack. You're bleeding."
Hearing that, Zack stared at her. Seeing that she was alright, he smiled, feeling relieved.
"You're alright!"
"Yes, I'm fine, but you're already bleeding," Amber said, looking at his bleeding shoulder.
When the flying monster earlier bit Zack, it had torn off a part of his shirt, exposing the wound left by it on his right shoulder.
"I'll be alright. It isn't bleeding that badly anyway. The only thing that I'm worried about is you."
Amber smiled, "Well, I'm alright. Just shaken."
She then got up slowly. She reached into her pocket and took out a folded piece of tissue. She then gently placed the tissue on Zack's wound.
"This should help with the bleeding," she said as she gently placed the tissue on his bleeding wound.
"Uh." Zack, feeling a little pain when she did.
She was surprised, "Did I hurt you?"
"No," Zack answered. He smiles at her, "It's okay."
A little relieved, she smiled and continued to gently wipe his wound. As she was doing so, Zack tried to hold back his pain. Amber noticed that and stopped. She leaned back a little with her face looking down to the ground.
"I'm sorry if it hurt."
Although her hair was covering her face, Zack could tell that she was feeling sadden.
"No, it's all right."
When he said that, she looked up at him. At that point, then Zack noticed, in her eyes, tears were welling up a little.
"It's okay, really," Zack, assuring her, "It was my fault that I got hurt. So, it's all right."
Amber smiled a little and faced back down. Just then, Zack noticed tears had started rolling down her face. He then leaned closer to her, a little alarmed.
"Don't cry, Amber. Really, it's all right."
"I'm not crying because of that, Zack!" Amber, surprising Zack.
She looks up at him. Tears were still rolling down her face. Looking at her face, Zack raises his right hand to her face. He wanted to wipe the tears off her face, but hesitated a little, before he put his hand on her face. This was the first time that he had ever touched a girl's face. As he wiped her tears, he felt her smooth skin. Suddenly, Amber closed her eyes as she held his hand and rubbed it on her face, surprising Zack. She opened her eyes again and stared into his eyes. Looking back into her eyes, Zack saw something that he had never seen before. Her teary eyes were sparkling beautifully like the ocean during a bright sunshine. He was surprised a little when she suddenly repeated, "I'm not crying because of that, Zack."
Zack was a little confused, "Then, what is it?"
Amber looks back down to the ground, "I'm crying because."
There was a brief pause before she continued, "Because I'm so glad!"
Zack was surprised when he heard that.
"I'm so glad that you're alright!"
What happened next completely surprised Zack. After finishing her sentence, Amber suddenly hugged him and started to cry.
"I'm so glad that you're alright, Zack!"
Zack was surprised when she did, but when he realized that she was crying, he pushed her away gently and looked at her face. He slowly wiped away the tears that had started to roll down her face again. After he did, he looked into her eyes, her beautiful, sparkling eyes. She was still sobbing as she looked back into his eyes. After a while of staring into each other's eyes, their face started to get close to each other. Eyes closed, their lips were about to meet when suddenly they heard. However, their moment was immediately broken when they heard loud barking from behind. After the barking, the two heard a voice.
"Hey, it's you two!"
Surprised, they turned around to see some people standing a few distances away from them. Looking carefully at them, they realized that it was Squall and everybody else.
"No wonder Angelo came running here," Irvine said, adjusting his hat a little.
Zack and Amber looked at each other. Squall and the others had found them. Zack looked at Squall. He did not look that thrilled to see them, in fact, he looked a little angry.
==========
CHAPTER IX (B): SEPHIROTH AND THE SORCERESS
Zack and Amber are sitting beside each other on one of the three beds in a small bedroom of the mansion. They were now in Deling City where Squall had brought them. Squall did not say anything along their way to the city. The mansion was Rinoa's home. That was where everyone's going to stay in for the time being.
"What do you think is Squall going to do about us?" asked Amber, breaking the silence.
Zack thought for a moment, "I don't know. But I think that he'll let us stay with him til we're done around here. That's what I think."
Amber looked at him for a while. Then, she looked around the room. There was a long pause when suddenly, the bedroom door suddenly opened. Zack and Amber stood up when it did. At the door were Irvine and Zell.
"Squall wants to see you two," Zell shouted.
Zack and Amber looked at each other.
Taking a big breath and then letting it out, Zack said calmly, "Let's go."
They then exited the room, together with Irvine and Zell.
*********
In the sitting room, Squall was looking out the window. Rinoa, Selphie and Quistis were sitting on a couch together while Angelo laid in front of Rinoa. Roger, Jacky and Cindy were sitting on another couch in the room. When Zack, Amber, Irvine and Zell entered the room, everyone turned to look at them. Looking at Squall, Zack couldn't help but noticed the serious look on his face. Zell shut the door and stood, together with Irvine, behind Zack and Amber. Squall continued to stare at them for a while before walking a few feet towards them.
Breathing out a breathe of disappointment, Squall finally spoke, "Why did you two try to follow us? I told you that we don't want to risk any other lives in this mission."
"But we have to, Squall. We've got something to do with Sephiroth," Zack protested.
"Sephiroth? Who's that?" Roger asked, curious.
Turning to him, Zack explained, "Sephiroth is the man in the black cape that is involved in your mission."
"Is that so?" Cindy said.
"And who might you two be?" Jacky asked.
"I'm Amber and this is Zack."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Cindy."
"And I'm Jacky."
"Yeah, we know that already," Zack told them, surprising them when he did.
When she noticed that, Amber explained, "We were there when you three introduced yourselves to Squall and the others."
"Enough already!" Squall yelled to Zack and Amber, surprising them. When he had their attentions, he continued, "Just because you are now here in Deling City, doesn't mean that I can't send you back to the garden."
"What?" Zack, surprised.
"Please don't do that to us, Squall," begged Amber.
Then, Rinoa cut in the conversation, "Squall, I think you're being mean to them."
That surprised Squall as she stood up, "Don't you think that this might be important to them, that they left the garden secretly to get here?"
Squall looked at her for a while, thinking. He then turns to Zack and Amber.
When he did, Zack said to him, "Please, Squall. Let us come with you to face Sephiroth and that sorceress!"
Squall continued to stare at them before he sighed loudly, "Fine, you may come."
"Thanks, Squall!" Zack exclaimed, feeling really happy.
Quistis then stood up, "Okay, since this problem is finally taken care of. What are we going to do next, Squall?"
Squall turned to look at Zack, "Anything we need to know about Sephiroth?"
Zack thought to himself for a moment.
"Come on, let us hear it!" Irvine said.
"All right. Sephiroth is a powerful person, who is especially good with sword handling. Not only that, he's also good with casting magic," Zack stopped as he looked at Amber, remembering the event that happened to her at the abandon reactor on Mt. Nibel. He then continued, "We need to defeat him. He's somebody that won't hesitate to kill anyone that gets in his way!"
*********
Next morning, Squall and Rinoa are coming out of the mansion, Angelo running beside Rinoa. Everyone else was already waiting outside. They walked over to join the group.
"What now, chief?" Irvine asked Squall.
Standing in front of the group, Squall answered, "We'll search for Sephiroth and the sorceress and at the same time, gather as much information about what they've done lately."
"Easy job!" Zell shouted.
"Then, let's get started already!" Selphie cheered, feeling a little impatient.
"We'll split into three groups. Zell, Jacky and Cindy go with Quistis," Squall ordered. He then turns towards Irvine and Roger, "You two go with Selphie."
"Got it!" Irvine answered.
"Rinoa, Zack, Amber," he called, looking at them, "You're be coming with me."
He then looked sharply at Zack and Amber. They were a little surprised at that.
"I'm going to make sure that you don't cause any trouble."
Zack was a little offended with that, "Fine, but I'm telling you. You've just misjudged us."
"Whatever," was all Squall said before he shouted to everyone, "We'll regroup back here at noon. Before then, gather as much as you can about Sephiroth and the sorceress. If any of you see them, immediately contact the others."
After confirming Squall's command, everyone went, in their groups, to different directions. Angelo, of course, went together with Rinoa, that is with Squall's group.
A few hours passed and noon arrived. Quistis's group was the first to arrive back at the gate of the mansion. Then, it was Squall's group.
As his group reached the gate, Squall asked Quistis, "Found anything?"
"Yes, but most of it are the same," she answered.
Just then, Selphie's group arrived. When they reached the gate, Squall asked them the same question. However, their answer was also the same.
"Why don't we get back inside and discuss what we've found?" Rinoa suggested.
Squall agreed with her and they all went inside the mansion.
*********
Inside the mansion, in the sitting room, everyone has told Squall what they have found out about what Sephiroth and the sorceress had done lately. It would seem that the man in the black cape, Sephiroth, had indeed caused some trouble in the city and even killed some pedestrians right on the streets. The sorceress was always seen in his company and seemed to have killed some people on the streets herself. Some families were still grieving over losing their loved ones to the horrible duo.
"We've got to stop those two before they kill any more people!" Selphie shouted to Squall.
"We still don't know who the sorceress is, Selphie. And we also don't know how powerful they may be," Irvine said to her.
"We may not know how powerful the sorceress is," Zell cut in, "But at least, Zack and Amber know how powerful is that fellow, Sephiroth."
Zack and Amber, who sat beside one another, were a little surprised when he said that.
"Yes, that is true. There shouldn't be much trouble for us to face them," Quistis, getting in the discussion, "After all, we've been through dangers as dangerous as this."
Rinoa then looks at Squall, "What do you think, Squall?"
Squall had been looking out the window, deep in thought. There was a short pause.
"I don't think it's gonna be that easy, Quistis," Squall finally answered.
Surprising Quistis a little, Squall turned around to face everyone, "I've got a feeling that there is something else behind all of this. But I just don't know what it is."
Looking at each other, Amber whispered to Zack, "Do you think we should tell them?"
"Yes, I think we better should," Zack answered her before standing up from the couch, "Squall."
Squall then looked at him. So did everyone else.
"There's something that Amber and I have to tell you now before there's any misunderstanding between us."
Everyone, including Squall, was a little surprised at that. Then, Amber stood up.
"Zack and I came from another world."
At the deck, in the second floor of the garden, Squall and the others are getting ready to get off to the ground. Headmaster Cid, Matron and the female SeeD, Xu, were there to see them off. Zack and Amber were there, too. Irvine has just dropped a rope ladder from the side of the deck.
"I guess it's time for us to say 'buh-bye'," Irvine joked, looking towards the headmaster.
"I wish you all good luck in your journey. And I pray that you would return," Cid said.
"Don't even get started with your praying," Zell said, looking at the headmaster, "Cause we'll be coming back. And you can bet your money on that."
Cid laughed when he heard him, "Yes, I guess I was just being a little pessimistic."
"We shall be leaving now, sir," Squall said to the headmaster while saluting the SeeD's salute.
After the headmaster nodded his head, Squall and the others went for the rope ladder. Zell was the first to climb down the ladder, although he had a hard time trying to carry Angelo along with him as he did. Then, it was Selphie, followed by Irvine.
As Quistis climbed down the ladder, Xu suddenly shouted to Squall, "Oh, wait a minute!"
As Squall turned to look at Xu, she was running towards him. Standing in front of him, she held out to him something that looked like a mobile phone.
"Take this with you."
Squall took it in his hand as Rinoa walked to his side, a little curious.
Looking at the thing, Rinoa asked, "What is this?"
"That's the garden's new Field Mission Communicator or FMC. It is something that we've just came up to make communication easier between the garden and SeeD's on the field," Xu explained, "So now, SeeD's on the field can report their mission status at anytime. They may also ask for the garden to come and pick them up."
"I see," Squall muttered. As he put the FMC into his pocket, he looked at Xu, "Thanks."
"Just making things better for the garden," Xu said while saluting the SeeD's salute.
Squall saluted back. Then, Squall and Rinoa turned for the ladder. After they had climbed down the ladder, Xu pulled up the ladder as Headmaster Cid and Matron went back inside. After pulling up the ladder, Xu left it beside the door, which led to the second floor corridor, and followed the two. While all of this were happening, Zack and Amber had been watching quietly at them. After Xu had disappeared through the door, Zack dashed for the ladder.
Curious, Amber asked him, "What are you doing?"
Zack answered her while carefully carrying the rope ladder, "We're going to Deling City."
"What?"
"We've got to hurry, they're going to start the garden's mobile system soon," he said while struggling to carry the ladder to the side of the deck.
Throwing the ladder off the side of the deck, he looks at Amber, "Come on, let's go!"
Upon hearing that, Amber ran for the ladder and started to climb down. After she reached halfway down the ladder, Zack followed her down the ladder. As the garden started to float off the ground, Zack dropped to the ground. He got back up quickly and rushed over to Amber who was standing a short distance away from him. She was looking at the garden, amazed.
"The garden's floating!"
Standing beside her, Zack looked back at the garden. It was slowly floating away. The ladder that they've just climbed down from was dangling helplessly at the side of the deck.
Amber then continued, "Wow, I never knew that it was floating all this time."
Zack continued to watch the garden as it slowly floated away. Although he heard her, he did not want to say anything. He didn't want to lie to her anymore than he already did.
Looking at her, Zack exclaimed, "Let's go. They shouldn't be far from us."
After she nodded, they quickly rushed after Squall and the others.
*********
A few minutes has passed. Zack and Amber were still running after Squall and the others. After running for a short while, Zack was starting to feel fatigued as he started to slow down. When she realized that, Amber stopped and looked at Zack. She noticed that he was feeling tired and ran back to him.
"Are you tired, Zack?"
Hearing that, Zack answered quickly while shaking his head, "No, no, I'm fine."
Still running, he continued, "We've gotta hurry before they leave us even further behind."
Running beside him, she said, "It's all right, Zack. We can walk from here. At least, that way, you can get some of your energy back."
Looking at her, Zack did not know what to say and did what she said and started walking, "Thanks, Amber."
Amber smiled happily, "You're welcome, Zack."
After walking for a while, Zack told Amber, "Well, I'm feeling better. Let's get going!"
They were just about to run when suddenly something swooped over their heads. Surprised by that, Zack and Amber looked for the thing. They saw it hovering in the air, shrieking sharply.
"What's that?" Amber shouted, feeling afraid.
It was a blue flying monster with two pairs of wings, instead of the usual one and its head looked like a crash helmet. Zack recognized it to be one of the monsters found around Deling City in the game, but could not recall what was its name, except that it started with a 'T'. After staring at it for a while, Zack suddenly notices another creature appearing near the monster. This one was dark purple and had no legs, except for its two pincers. Zack remembered it to be another monster found around Deling City in the game.
"Geezard!"
The monster named Geezard squirmed around under the flying monster.
"What should we do, Zack?" Amber, starting to feel scared.
Zack thought for a moment. He remembered the Geezard to be a weak monster that had a short life while the other one was a little stronger and had more life.
"You take care of the small one!" Zack ordered. Drawing out his sword, he continued, "I'll take care of the flying one."
"What? But how are you going to attack it?" Amber asked.
"Don't worry, Amber. I'll be all right. Now, go!" Zack shouted before he ran for the flying monster, leaving Amber behind to watch him in concern.
Looking at the flying monster, Zack thought to himself, "I may have forgotten your name, but at least I know how weak you are."
He then jumps to attack the monster. However, as he did, he realized that his jump was not going to be high enough for him to attack the monster directly. So, out of desperation, Zack quickly raised his sword as high as he could and pulled it back down when he was close to the monster. It was a hit! The monster shrieked in pain as it flew clumsily in the air but it wasn't long before it recovered from the attack.
Although it was starting to bleed terribly, it was still able to swoop down towards Zack and bit him hard on his right shoulder before he could prepare himself for another attack. Zack cried in pain as he fell to the ground, sending his sword flying from his hand and onto the ground a few feet away from him. He was still not used to experiencing such pain.
Looking up at the monster, Zack muttered softly, "Damn."
The monster shrieked in triumph and swooped down to attack him once more. Suddenly there was the sound of a gunshot and a bullet went right through the monster's cranium. The monster shrieked loudly before it crashed to the ground and disappeared into dust. Surprised, Zack looked towards where the bullet had come from and saw Amber, pointing her gun towards where the monster was before crashing to the ground. Smoke was coming out from the tip of her gun. She smiled happily when she realized that she had just killed the monster. Zack smiled back.
"That's great! Your aiming's gotten better!"
She continued to smile happily. However, she was not happy that her aiming had gotten better. Instead, she was happy that she was able to save Zack before the monster did anymore harm on him, but her happiness was short- lived when suddenly something bounced hard off her back, forcefully pushing her to the ground. She had not defeated the Geezard yet and it had taken the opportunity for a back attack. As she landed on the ground, she lost grip of her gun and it flew a few feet away from her.
"Amber!"
She pulled herself back up slowly. She was still shaken up by the attack. However, the Geezard bounced off her back once again, pushing her back to the ground mercilessly. She shouted in pain when it did.
"Amber!" Zack shouted once more, feeling uncontrollably worried and also, at the same time, angry.
Despite the pain in his right shoulder, he got up quickly to his feet and ran towards where Amber was. As he ran, he picked up his sword. As he got closer to where Amber was, he quickly got ready to attack the Geezard. As he got even closer, the Geezard raised its body to attack Zack. However as it did, Zack gave out a loud warcry and slashed the monster. It flew far to the back. When it landed on the ground, it wiggled its terribly injured body before disappearing into dust. Zack then squatted beside Amber, who was still laying on the ground, while laying down his sword beside her.
"Are you alright, Amber?"
He pulls her up into a sitting position. When he did, he felt the pain in his shoulder again.
Noticing that, Amber said weakly, "Oh, Zack. You're bleeding."
Hearing that, Zack stared at her. Seeing that she was alright, he smiled, feeling relieved.
"You're alright!"
"Yes, I'm fine, but you're already bleeding," Amber said, looking at his bleeding shoulder.
When the flying monster earlier bit Zack, it had torn off a part of his shirt, exposing the wound left by it on his right shoulder.
"I'll be alright. It isn't bleeding that badly anyway. The only thing that I'm worried about is you."
Amber smiled, "Well, I'm alright. Just shaken."
She then got up slowly. She reached into her pocket and took out a folded piece of tissue. She then gently placed the tissue on Zack's wound.
"This should help with the bleeding," she said as she gently placed the tissue on his bleeding wound.
"Uh." Zack, feeling a little pain when she did.
She was surprised, "Did I hurt you?"
"No," Zack answered. He smiles at her, "It's okay."
A little relieved, she smiled and continued to gently wipe his wound. As she was doing so, Zack tried to hold back his pain. Amber noticed that and stopped. She leaned back a little with her face looking down to the ground.
"I'm sorry if it hurt."
Although her hair was covering her face, Zack could tell that she was feeling sadden.
"No, it's all right."
When he said that, she looked up at him. At that point, then Zack noticed, in her eyes, tears were welling up a little.
"It's okay, really," Zack, assuring her, "It was my fault that I got hurt. So, it's all right."
Amber smiled a little and faced back down. Just then, Zack noticed tears had started rolling down her face. He then leaned closer to her, a little alarmed.
"Don't cry, Amber. Really, it's all right."
"I'm not crying because of that, Zack!" Amber, surprising Zack.
She looks up at him. Tears were still rolling down her face. Looking at her face, Zack raises his right hand to her face. He wanted to wipe the tears off her face, but hesitated a little, before he put his hand on her face. This was the first time that he had ever touched a girl's face. As he wiped her tears, he felt her smooth skin. Suddenly, Amber closed her eyes as she held his hand and rubbed it on her face, surprising Zack. She opened her eyes again and stared into his eyes. Looking back into her eyes, Zack saw something that he had never seen before. Her teary eyes were sparkling beautifully like the ocean during a bright sunshine. He was surprised a little when she suddenly repeated, "I'm not crying because of that, Zack."
Zack was a little confused, "Then, what is it?"
Amber looks back down to the ground, "I'm crying because."
There was a brief pause before she continued, "Because I'm so glad!"
Zack was surprised when he heard that.
"I'm so glad that you're alright!"
What happened next completely surprised Zack. After finishing her sentence, Amber suddenly hugged him and started to cry.
"I'm so glad that you're alright, Zack!"
Zack was surprised when she did, but when he realized that she was crying, he pushed her away gently and looked at her face. He slowly wiped away the tears that had started to roll down her face again. After he did, he looked into her eyes, her beautiful, sparkling eyes. She was still sobbing as she looked back into his eyes. After a while of staring into each other's eyes, their face started to get close to each other. Eyes closed, their lips were about to meet when suddenly they heard. However, their moment was immediately broken when they heard loud barking from behind. After the barking, the two heard a voice.
"Hey, it's you two!"
Surprised, they turned around to see some people standing a few distances away from them. Looking carefully at them, they realized that it was Squall and everybody else.
"No wonder Angelo came running here," Irvine said, adjusting his hat a little.
Zack and Amber looked at each other. Squall and the others had found them. Zack looked at Squall. He did not look that thrilled to see them, in fact, he looked a little angry.
==========
CHAPTER IX (B): SEPHIROTH AND THE SORCERESS
Zack and Amber are sitting beside each other on one of the three beds in a small bedroom of the mansion. They were now in Deling City where Squall had brought them. Squall did not say anything along their way to the city. The mansion was Rinoa's home. That was where everyone's going to stay in for the time being.
"What do you think is Squall going to do about us?" asked Amber, breaking the silence.
Zack thought for a moment, "I don't know. But I think that he'll let us stay with him til we're done around here. That's what I think."
Amber looked at him for a while. Then, she looked around the room. There was a long pause when suddenly, the bedroom door suddenly opened. Zack and Amber stood up when it did. At the door were Irvine and Zell.
"Squall wants to see you two," Zell shouted.
Zack and Amber looked at each other.
Taking a big breath and then letting it out, Zack said calmly, "Let's go."
They then exited the room, together with Irvine and Zell.
*********
In the sitting room, Squall was looking out the window. Rinoa, Selphie and Quistis were sitting on a couch together while Angelo laid in front of Rinoa. Roger, Jacky and Cindy were sitting on another couch in the room. When Zack, Amber, Irvine and Zell entered the room, everyone turned to look at them. Looking at Squall, Zack couldn't help but noticed the serious look on his face. Zell shut the door and stood, together with Irvine, behind Zack and Amber. Squall continued to stare at them for a while before walking a few feet towards them.
Breathing out a breathe of disappointment, Squall finally spoke, "Why did you two try to follow us? I told you that we don't want to risk any other lives in this mission."
"But we have to, Squall. We've got something to do with Sephiroth," Zack protested.
"Sephiroth? Who's that?" Roger asked, curious.
Turning to him, Zack explained, "Sephiroth is the man in the black cape that is involved in your mission."
"Is that so?" Cindy said.
"And who might you two be?" Jacky asked.
"I'm Amber and this is Zack."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Cindy."
"And I'm Jacky."
"Yeah, we know that already," Zack told them, surprising them when he did.
When she noticed that, Amber explained, "We were there when you three introduced yourselves to Squall and the others."
"Enough already!" Squall yelled to Zack and Amber, surprising them. When he had their attentions, he continued, "Just because you are now here in Deling City, doesn't mean that I can't send you back to the garden."
"What?" Zack, surprised.
"Please don't do that to us, Squall," begged Amber.
Then, Rinoa cut in the conversation, "Squall, I think you're being mean to them."
That surprised Squall as she stood up, "Don't you think that this might be important to them, that they left the garden secretly to get here?"
Squall looked at her for a while, thinking. He then turns to Zack and Amber.
When he did, Zack said to him, "Please, Squall. Let us come with you to face Sephiroth and that sorceress!"
Squall continued to stare at them before he sighed loudly, "Fine, you may come."
"Thanks, Squall!" Zack exclaimed, feeling really happy.
Quistis then stood up, "Okay, since this problem is finally taken care of. What are we going to do next, Squall?"
Squall turned to look at Zack, "Anything we need to know about Sephiroth?"
Zack thought to himself for a moment.
"Come on, let us hear it!" Irvine said.
"All right. Sephiroth is a powerful person, who is especially good with sword handling. Not only that, he's also good with casting magic," Zack stopped as he looked at Amber, remembering the event that happened to her at the abandon reactor on Mt. Nibel. He then continued, "We need to defeat him. He's somebody that won't hesitate to kill anyone that gets in his way!"
*********
Next morning, Squall and Rinoa are coming out of the mansion, Angelo running beside Rinoa. Everyone else was already waiting outside. They walked over to join the group.
"What now, chief?" Irvine asked Squall.
Standing in front of the group, Squall answered, "We'll search for Sephiroth and the sorceress and at the same time, gather as much information about what they've done lately."
"Easy job!" Zell shouted.
"Then, let's get started already!" Selphie cheered, feeling a little impatient.
"We'll split into three groups. Zell, Jacky and Cindy go with Quistis," Squall ordered. He then turns towards Irvine and Roger, "You two go with Selphie."
"Got it!" Irvine answered.
"Rinoa, Zack, Amber," he called, looking at them, "You're be coming with me."
He then looked sharply at Zack and Amber. They were a little surprised at that.
"I'm going to make sure that you don't cause any trouble."
Zack was a little offended with that, "Fine, but I'm telling you. You've just misjudged us."
"Whatever," was all Squall said before he shouted to everyone, "We'll regroup back here at noon. Before then, gather as much as you can about Sephiroth and the sorceress. If any of you see them, immediately contact the others."
After confirming Squall's command, everyone went, in their groups, to different directions. Angelo, of course, went together with Rinoa, that is with Squall's group.
A few hours passed and noon arrived. Quistis's group was the first to arrive back at the gate of the mansion. Then, it was Squall's group.
As his group reached the gate, Squall asked Quistis, "Found anything?"
"Yes, but most of it are the same," she answered.
Just then, Selphie's group arrived. When they reached the gate, Squall asked them the same question. However, their answer was also the same.
"Why don't we get back inside and discuss what we've found?" Rinoa suggested.
Squall agreed with her and they all went inside the mansion.
*********
Inside the mansion, in the sitting room, everyone has told Squall what they have found out about what Sephiroth and the sorceress had done lately. It would seem that the man in the black cape, Sephiroth, had indeed caused some trouble in the city and even killed some pedestrians right on the streets. The sorceress was always seen in his company and seemed to have killed some people on the streets herself. Some families were still grieving over losing their loved ones to the horrible duo.
"We've got to stop those two before they kill any more people!" Selphie shouted to Squall.
"We still don't know who the sorceress is, Selphie. And we also don't know how powerful they may be," Irvine said to her.
"We may not know how powerful the sorceress is," Zell cut in, "But at least, Zack and Amber know how powerful is that fellow, Sephiroth."
Zack and Amber, who sat beside one another, were a little surprised when he said that.
"Yes, that is true. There shouldn't be much trouble for us to face them," Quistis, getting in the discussion, "After all, we've been through dangers as dangerous as this."
Rinoa then looks at Squall, "What do you think, Squall?"
Squall had been looking out the window, deep in thought. There was a short pause.
"I don't think it's gonna be that easy, Quistis," Squall finally answered.
Surprising Quistis a little, Squall turned around to face everyone, "I've got a feeling that there is something else behind all of this. But I just don't know what it is."
Looking at each other, Amber whispered to Zack, "Do you think we should tell them?"
"Yes, I think we better should," Zack answered her before standing up from the couch, "Squall."
Squall then looked at him. So did everyone else.
"There's something that Amber and I have to tell you now before there's any misunderstanding between us."
Everyone, including Squall, was a little surprised at that. Then, Amber stood up.
"Zack and I came from another world."