What felt like an agonizing amount of time despite only being two days in the hospital, Zack was finally given the green light to exit the facility with Ikutsuki, SOLDIER uniform strapped on once more.

Saying his goodbye to the doctors, Zack could have sworn that he saw an expression of relief on their faces watching him exit.

He wasn't sure if it was because he couldn't sit still and the doctors had to put in extra effort to watch over him, or it was due to him being in good standing to leave.

Or maybe it was a mixture of both, but either way, he was thankful for their help anyhow and the end result hurled him towards the same destination as Ikutsuki led him to his car.

In the car ride, Ikutsuki made Zack aware of the possibility that even if they covered things in their one-on-one discussion the other day, the students may have a few questions of their own they want to ask him.

Zack honestly didn't mind since he himself had some questions too, to which Ikutsuki acknowledged, claiming that they'll all have a fair chance to talk things over.

Arriving at the dorm, the lobby was empty, presumably due to S.E.E.S. waiting for the chairman's arrival with Zack.

As promised, Ikutsuki returned the Buster Sword to Zack, ensuring that it was kept in proper care the entire time as S.E.E.S. looked after it.

Though the thought of Junpei and Makoto struggling to pick it up to even place it on the dining counter just outside the kitchen humored the chairman, and yet, he remained awe struck and intrigued all the same watching Zack handle the sword, picking it up as if it were nothing but a paper weight.

June 11, 2009

After School

Iwotodai Dormitory

4th Floor

Outside the Command Room within the dormitory, waiting for Ikutsuki to call on him, Zack overheard familiar voices with everyone that he fought alongside with that night inside Tartarus, eventually coming to an understanding that Fuuka Yamagishi was also going to be joining the fold among S.E.E.S.' ranks.

"Guess that's that…" Zack nodded with a sigh, peering his head down as he heard the door open.

"Mr. Fair?" Ikutsuki peered out from the Command Room. "Sorry for the wait. You can come in now."

Walking into the room, there were varying amounts of energies emanating from each other.

For Makoto, Akihiko, and Mitsuru, they displayed a reserved curiosity.

For Junpei, he appeared ecstatic that Zack had finally come, and Yukari was looking somewhat relieved to see him again, though her face showed subtle signs of internal reservations she had about the SOLDIER.

And as for Fuuka, she was immediately worked up for Zack walking into the room, standing up and walking towards Zack hastily, bowing as the door closed.

"Thank you so much for saving me! I am forever indebted to you!" Fuuka squealed.

"Hey, no sweat!" Zack chirped. "I'm just glad you're okay! I didn't really do all that much, honestly. It was you and your abilities that were the true star of the show!"

"You're far too modest, Mr. Fair." Mitsuru remarked as Fuuka sat back down. "You climbed Tartarus alone with no effort or support, helped me find my team, and all the while helping us save Yamagishi. Not just anyone could have done that. Be proud."

"Yeah, dude! You're the freaking bomb!" Junpei exclaimed, Mitsuru rolling her eyes in response. "The way you cut 'em all down and punched through 'em like they were NOTHING. SO COOL!"

"Thanks…!" Zack smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "And I appreciate you keeping my sword safe while I was out."

"No problem at all!" Junpei cooed. "That thing was TOTALLY okay to lift on my own, me being super strong and all!"

"No, it wasn't." Makoto remarked.

"What?" Junpei gasped. "I was only kidding, of course! Oh, and he helped too."

"Ahem…!" Ikutsuki garnered the room's attention as he cleared his throat, allowing Zack to take a seat. "So, before we take any discussions further, have you made your decision yet, Mr. Fair?"

"Oh, consider me in, a hundred percent!" Zack answered. "Midgar or not, wherever or whenever I'm needed, I'm answering that call!" Zack proclaimed, but not before realizing everyone's puzzled faces around the room. "Ah right…Midgar. I never specified exactly what that is, did I?"

"I think I remember hearing you say something about that when we were in Tartarus." Akihiko recalled. "You said something about a 'Shinra' too and how it's 'the very entity at the center of Midgar' or something like that?"

"Okay, where to start…? Actually, before I start with Midgar & Shinra, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that none of you are familiar with what Mako is, are you?" Zack addressed.

"Mako…" Junpei cheekingly pointed at S.E.E.S.' leader. "-to?"

"Get serious, Iori!" Yukari grumbled.

"Oh yeah, kinda walked into that joke, didn't I?" Zack chuckled. "Good one!"

"I may have to write that down…" Ikutsuki quietly remarked.

"But back on track." Mitsuru spoke up. "What is Mako? What does it have to do with this 'Midgar' and 'Shinra'?"

"I'm not 100% versed on the full history of everything but back where I'm from, Mako is an energy source that pretty much helps Midgar keep the lights on." Zack explained. "And Midgar is a giant city, serving as the very heart of Shinra. Think of it like…one giant steel pizza, surrounded by eight Mako Reactors keeping the show running 24/7."

A crushing silence washed over the room. Based on the expedited reactions from everyone present, Zack could tell that they couldn't comprehend such a place ever existing in this world.

"And in case you're wondering what Mako looks like, I guess you can think of it as a…green liquid from the ground." Zack finished.

"And this Shinra is the very same electric power corporation that housed this 'SOLDIER' program that you mentioned the other day?" Ikutsuki inquired, breaking the silence.

"Sadly…yes." Zack confirmed. "Shinra does admittedly have its own army but the way that SOLDIERs like me stood out was we underwent special treatment that involved being infused with Mako, giving us 'special enhancements' that stands out from the average trooper."

"Wait…" Fuuka trembled, fixated on staring directly into Zack's eyes. "You said green right?"

"Yeah." Zack nodded, catching onto the source of Fuuka's bewilderment. "Ooooooooh, right. You're wondering about my eyes, aren't you? Well, I guess you can call this 'proof' of my time in SOLDIER. I guess you can say it's like our trademark."

"Can we back up to the part where you said an electric company has its own army?!" Yukari exclaimed. "I don't even think the Kirijo group has something like that…"

Zack peering around the room, noticed Mitsuru's stern look develop ever so slightly fouler, watching her readjust one of her legs as she continued to remain seated. Zack wondered in the moment if Yukari's comment had touched a nerve and Mitsuru was trying her best to conceal it. He himself wondered about the supposed 'Kirijo Group' she just mentioned but decided that the right course of action was to stay on track with his own story.

"Shinra being the biggest thing to exist back home, I wanted in on that too. I left home being thirteen at the time." Zack started. "And the reason I did it was being a SOLDIER was something I always wanted to do. So, I did what any kid crazy would do when they had an unattainable dream: Train as hard as I could and go out there and show 'em what I was made of, prove that I could be a hero too! Of course, joining up with Shinra, they didn't let me in SOLDIER right away. Had to start out as an infantryman like everyone else, but I was eventually convincing enough to squeeze my way into SOLDIER's ranks. Got me a new uniform, a sword, and some dang Materia! If you can imagine it, I was the happiest kid on the planet at the time…!"

"Pardon me, Mr. Fair but I don't recall any mention of this 'Materia' from yesterday's conversation." Ikutsuki commented.

"Oh…" Zack murmured. "My bad!"

"It's perfectly fine. We're working on filling the blanks here together so it's not too late." Ikutsuki affirmed.

"Actually, hang on a moment…" Zack reached over to the Buster Sword, pulled out one piece of green Materia from the slots, and held it up throughout the room for everyone to see, turning towards a vacant corner at the edge of the room. "What I have here is a piece of Fire & Ice Materia. Its name is exactly what it's labelled as: I can cast either Fire or Ice based spells when I want to."

"Fascinating…" Ikutsuki remarked, pushing up his glasses slightly, looking at the green orb with energy swirling inside. "Summoning a Persona to cast magic is not required for residents of your world?"

"Nope!" Zack cheerily confirmed. "Though we do have Summons as well!

"So how does it work?" Junpei asked.

"Huh?" Zack jumped.

"How does Materia let you cast spells exactly?" Junpei reworded his question.

Hearing that question brought Zack back to the moment that he was on Mt. Nibel, gazing in awe at the giant Mako Spring that housed a large gaping buildup of naturally formed Materia.

He remembered standing alongside Tifa, Cloud, and Sephiroth when he asked the same question, along with the cheeky question that he got back in return from his superior.

"How did you ever get to be a SOLDIER?"

Taking a deep breath, even if Sephiroth was no longer someone he'd consider an ally, mentor, or superior, he tried his best to paraphrase what he learned back then.

"Something wrong, Mr. Fair?" Ikutsuki asked concerningly.

"I'm good…I just realized that I left out another part of everything. Sorry everyone." Zack said, staring down at the Materia in his palm. "I'm not the best at storytelling…"

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Fuuka insisted. "I think you're going a great job!"

"Think so?" Zack wondered.

"I-I-I mean a lot of it almost hard to believe that there's something else more out there than our own planet." Fuuka quivered. "But it's so interesting to hear about, honestly! So please keep going!"

"Hearing that actually makes me kinda relieved honestly…" Zack huffed, staring back at the Materia. "The other night when I cast that Ice spell on that Shadow, it just means that home's still out there somewhere and I'm still connected to it one way or another. Having Materia around isn't possible without Mako or the planet."

"Woah…!" Junpei gasped. "So, Materia only comes from the ground?"

"We figured out how to make our own Materia eventually." Zack recalled. "But long before I came along, supposedly there were these group of people lost to history known as 'Ancients'. They too used Materia to cast spells. I guess you can say these orbs contain their knowledge on how to use them. That knowledge…allows someone like me to tap into its power. That's how we can use magic, or so I've been told…"

"You just blew my freaking mind, dude…" Junpei widened his eyes, watching Zack insert the Materia back into the Buster Sword.

"But to use it, I gotta make sure that it's slotted into my weapons and equipment. And I can only do so much at one time, but you find the mojo you're most comfortable with." Zack added. "Anything else you wanna know about? I'm all ears if you have any questions!"

"How much Materia do you currently have on hand?" Akihiko wondered.

"Hmm…" Zack thought. "I wish I had some to spare but right now I only have enough for myself. And I don't think I have the means of making my own so I gotta use what I got for now."

"That's fine." Mitsuru sang. "I may have researchers in the Kirijo Group that may eventually get curious about your casting methods, but I think we can figure out those details later on, should the opportunity present itself."

"Maybe." Zack shrugged.

"Thank you for recounting your stories to us, Mr. Fair." Ikutsuki nodded. "I'd say you gave enough context about yourself and your abilities to us all. We look forward to working with you!"

"Yeah...likewise!" Zack grinned.

"Now before we adjourn for today, you mentioned you had a few questions yourself?" Ikutsuki mentioned.

"Actually, yeah…" Zack sighed. "If it's not out of line, and I don't want to sound insensitive or anything, but I want to know about those Evokers. I know they're used for your summoning methods, but they seem a little…I dunno what the word is. Sorry, I just…"

"That's perfectly within your right to ask. I understand that they appear harmful but rest assured, they're light, easy to use, harmless to everyone in the room, and easy to maintain if they get damaged in any way." Ikutsuki phrased. "The Kirijo Group initially developed these Evokers as a way for Persona users to control their powers."

"I guess if they work, they work…" Zack sighed. "I just wish there was an easier way, that's all. That's gotta take a toll on you eventually."

"It does…" Yukari confirmed. "I'm not the biggest fan of it either but we have no other way to effectively summon our Personas immediately during the Dark Hour, so this gives us an edge when we go out there."

"If that's how you really feel…" Zack gulped.

"Your concern is touching and most appreciated, Mr. Fair. Thank you." Ikutsuki acknowledged. "Any more questions?"

"I can't exactly 'blend in' as a student, that much is obvious." Zack commented. "If I'm going to stay here with you guys, how should we go about doing so?"

"I am HAPPY you asked!" Ikutsuki roared. "I have an idea that even the school board cannot rebuke since I am within my own authority to 'massage' the truth enough to present to a group of people as 'true'."

"Oh yeah…?" Zack raised a brow.

"For starters, S.E.E.S. isn't exactly known for its TRUE activities. On the surface, the school is convinced that we're merely a school club. I had a hand in ensuring that was legitimized on paper as thoroughly as possible." Ikutsuki explained.

"Huh." Zack nodded. "I guess we can make this work. What'd you have in mind?"

"This dormitory has been doing fine as it is, but truth be told, I was always saddened when it's previous supervisors had gone away." Ikutsuki stated. "Would you be open to assuming the role of 'Dorm Parent'?"

"Say what now?" Zack responded, puzzled.

"Him a Dorm Parent?" Yukari interjected. "Are you sure that'll work?"

"This way is much easier, Takeba, so that Mr. Fair here can be instantaneously called upon when the call is made to make the trek through Tartarus again." Ikutsuki clarified. "But on paper, the school will accept his role because I can make the arrangements to do so."

"I guess…" Yukari gave in.

"So, if there's nothing further to discuss, once again to Ms. Yamagishi and to you, Mr. Fair, I say, welcome aboard!" Ikutsuki cheered.

"Hell yeah!" Junpei cheered. "This is gonna be awesome!"