2 PM, New Mideel, Town Square...
The airship landed had outside the small town, dropping off its passengers. Thankfully it wasn't a very windy day to the trip was an easy one.
Zack and Vincent made their way to the mayor's home after dropping off their things at the local inn. The Ex-SOLDIER was in awe of the view around him. The hot springs, the friendly locals, the greenery, Aerith would love this place. He even thought that they would move to the quiet village after his girlfriend was healed.
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of their contact, the mayor of New Mideel. He was an active guy for an old man Zack noted, must have been because of the hot springs in the area.
"Vincent Valentine, it's good to see you again. How long has it been?" The modestly old man greeted the familiar face, then his eyes wandered to Zack. "Friend of yours?"
"Cloud's, other than helping with the mutants, he's here for personal reasons."
Zack awkwardly waved at the old man. Trying not to look intimidating since many people have told him so. The mayor, however, smiled back at him to his luck.
"I can see the relation. In any case, about the monsters... They have been pretty invasive lately, so please do something about it."
"We will head over to the Mako lake immediately." Vincent turned away, heading to the Village's gates. Zack promptly went after him.
"H-Hey, don't we need to ask where the lake is?"
"I've been there before."
"Oh, right. what about more info on the mutant monsters?"
"They would be mutated from the local variety so there shouldn't any new types."
Zack didn't know what was scarier, the mutants or how prepared Vincent was. Either way, they carefully treaded the densely forested area. Head Hunters, Crysales are only some of the local wildlife that seems very spooked by the mutated ones, and that's not a very good sign sadly.
Though soon enough, they reached the old village location which now was a big hole with old wooden homes submerged into the glowing liquid mako filling the lake. Nests of many mutated creatures were housed all around the lake, with said creatures roaming around it menacingly.
"Well, this looks like the place. So how do we do this?" Zack questioned as they hid in the shrubbery out of the monsters' sight. His hand resting on his sword's halt just in case of an ambush.
Vincent pulled out a sniper rifle from his crimson cloak and started arming it. "I'll station myself in the trees and pick the small ones up one by one. As for the big ones, I'll let you handle them since bullets, enhanced ones too, won't make a dent in them."
Zack nodded, his eyes reading his targets carefully. The large sized monsters were a mutation of Head Hunters, Crysales and even Hippogriffs and Sea Worms. In short, they looked terrifying with their circular teeth, beaks, and razor sharp scorpion-like tail.
"One more thing Zack."
"Try not to fall in the lake, you'll get mako poisoning."
"Noted." Zack, now with his sword out and ready. He eyed a monster that was farthest from the pack. He counted down, while his gloomy friend jumped up to his perch. When the count reached zero, he rushed out to the first mutant.
Zack slashed the tail, cutting it clear off, removed the first threat. That only angered the beast making it try to bite him, thankfully Zack was nimble enough to evade it. He then slid under the creature and jabbed his giant sword through its soft underbelly, instantly killing it.
"That's one down!" pulling out his weapon, he then turned his sights to the now remaining group of mutants. "And a lot more to go."
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3 PM, 7th Heaven Bar, bar level...
Cloud pulled out his notebook, finalizing his delivery route for the day, thankfully it was only a very few and were close by. One package from the Chocobo Ranch to its outlet in Kalm. And Two Letters from Cosmos Canyan to Junon. He loved days like these because he can simply come home early and enjoy the rest of the evening at home with his family. Though as he got into the garage, Aerith called out to him.
"Hi Cloud, can I ask you for a favor?" She sweetie asked, in her hand was a regular sized envelop.
"Sure, you want me to deliver that to?"
The previous flower girl lifted the envelope, turns out that they were two envelops. Reading the addresses, he realized they were both Elmyra's home in Kalm and Zack's parent's home in Gongaga. There goes his short time.
"Um, Aerith... wouldn't it be better if you just called them?"
"They won't believe me without proof. besides, I don't have their numbers." She innocently answered.
He should have known better than to argue with her. He resigned to just do as she wanted, besides, delivering some envelopes won't be too hard. Placing them in his messenger bag, he mounted the Fenrir and left the garage with Aerith seeing him off safely.
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9 PM, 7th Heaven Bar, Rooftop Garden...
Tifa and Aerith had a peaceful afternoon at the bar. The customers were well behaved, no new faces had graced them, and the closed up without any problem. And when the kids got home after school, they did all their homework without any fuss. That wasn't the case when it came to their bedtime though, so the ladies decided that Tifa would indulge the rowdy kids, as for herself, Aerith chose to spend her time looking after the garden. With Tifa's help, the disabled women was safely on the roof.
Aerith was on the roof of the bar looking up at the starry sky. Staring up at the night sky and all its glittering stars made her feel calm and happy. It was funny how she first thought of it as scary and that it was going to swallow her whole, but meeting Zack made her realized how silly it was. In fact, she changed so much thanks to his optimism. She was suddenly startled from the vibration of her phone on her lap. Her gaze shifted down to the device as she picked it up in her hands. She just received a text message from Zack, giggling at the coincidence.
"Hi, Aerith, doing ok? We reached the new Mideel village and just finished our mission, buuuuttt… the clinic was closed by the time we were done. We'll have to spend the night; hopefully we'll be back in good old Edge tomorrow. So don't wait up for me."
Another giggle escaped her as she read over the text with a smile. She was relieved to hear that everything thing was ok on her boyfriend's end, but was also a bit sad that he wasn't going to be with her tonight. She was mostly worried about him experiencing his nightmares. For her secret chants were the reason, he wasn't suffering from them as much.
She thought for a moment, then lets her fingers glide over the buttons, typing her reply carefully as to avoid typos and saying too much.
"I'm fine, a bit lonely now that everyone's asleep. In fact, I'm stuck on the roof with no way down, but at least my flowers are keeping me company. So I have no option but to wait for you to get back, Zack."
"Wait, what?! They just left you on the roof at this hour? What was Cloud thinking? D8"
"Cloud's out on a delivery run, it's not his choice."
"What about Tifa? Don't tell me she left you there on purpose!"
She couldn't keep her laughing under wraps any longer at his replies to her little white lies. If she wasn't careful, Zack might force Cid to fly him back to Edge, which he would definitely do since he's such a determined kind of guy.
"Take it easy Zack, she just left to put the kids to bed for school tomorrow. She'll come up to help me down afterward, so don't worry so much about me."
"You almost gave me a heart attack Aerith X( and I was halfway to Cid's cabin too."
She unmistakably called it, he was so predictable most of the time, but she loves him anyway.
"Sorry, but I couldn't help it X3."
"Aha, just promise me to take it easy will you."
"I will… 'Dad' XP"
"Aerith 8 ("
"Sorry again XD don't worry so much Zack, I'll be fine. Good night and call me tomorrow, I want to know what happens K?"
"It's a date! Good night Angel 3."
Same old Zack indeed, and she wouldn't want him to be any different. She placed the phone back on her lap and rolled her wheelchair over to the flowerbed. They had just begun to sprout, and soon her tiny garden may end up better than the ones back in Midgar. This was indeed the only thing at the moment that made her feel 'normal.'
She didn't need someone to carry her nor reach out for something far out her grasp. She only required herself to tend to this fruit barring task. Her train of thoughts was soon interrupted though by the whispers of the planet warning her of approaching danger. She lifted her gaze from the tiny garden and looked around the roof, but nothing seemed off to her. That thought was soon dismissed after a large black feather gently fell into her view and rested on the soil of the garden.
"Oh my… what brings a fair young maiden such as yourself out and about on such a dark and close to the frightful hour I might add?"
That voice, it belonged to that strange man that came to the bar in the early morning on the previous day. It was followed by the light sound of heavy boots making contact with the roof's floor behind her, along with a gentle gust of wind on her back.
At that moment she felt conflicted, his sudden appearance could only mean that he is up to no good, but his aura said otherwise. Should she call for help? Or should she fight back with her foldable rod? She couldn't make a clear decision at this point but the more she read off his aura, the more she believed that there was no need for her to take unnecessary actions towards the man. After taking a deep breath, she turned her chair around to face him with a strong front.
"Can I help you with something… Mister Genesis?"
