Aerith, Lykaios, Tifa & Yuna (Chaos Compressed)

[Lykaios]

Character List
Tifa: Tifa | Zack | Cloud | Angeal | Seymour | Ynyr
Aerith: Aerith | Tseng | Hojo | Ashlynn
Tidus: Tidus | Sephiroth | Squall | Reno | Zidane | Basch | Ultimecia | Genesis
Yuna: Yuna | Balthier | Dr. Cid | Nevaeh

Remaining: Kuja | (Vincent, Yuffie, Rikku, Gippal?)

I think the cast is correct...any errors, let me know, and I'll fix immediately!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The conflict had been going for hours. This particular skirmish would be the decider, but the problem was; neither party was deciding it. On one hand, there were three: SeeD member Squall Leonhart, SeeD Irvine Kinneas and SeeD Zell Dincht. Three others absorbed by time; Anti-Galbadian activist Rinoa Heartilly, SeeD Instructor Quistis Trepe and SeeD Selphie Tilmitt.

Irvine cocked his Exeter shotgun, firing at his target without a single shell denting her magical shield of protection, Zell's Ehrgeiz fists never coming anywhere near their mark. Only Squall had managed to break through, and get close enough to strike at the evil Sorceress; Ultimecia.

Ultimecia was agile. So much so, Squall's Lionheart found it nigh on impossible to reach it's target. Each time he came towards pulsing through her chest, torso or skull; he found himself pressed back by her bodily-Protect spell. Never did he scrape her. And with a pulse weapon such as the Lionheart, one should be able to sear through the flesh in an instant.

This was not so. Her spellwork was heavy, seemingly unending in her collected spell-pool. Regularly, she cast Demi and Bio, leaving Irvine and Zell trying with all their might to keep Squall -their only hope- healthy.

But he was tiring quicker and quicker. Each stroke felt heavier and heavier to him, and sweat beaded his scalp, prickled his cheeks and stung his eyes. But he never did falter. He noticed fatigue in the Witch as well.

I'll get them all back! he thought, determined more than before.

And with a great heave, burst through her defensive spell, shattering her magicks around her, leaving her utterly defenseless. A small smoldering sizzle of a burn appeared on her neck, it was enough to motivate him some more.

He rushed in, blade shifting the ground terribly. Rough Divide; his first known Limit Break attack Finisher. She saw this and took action.

"And now I junction thee...GRIEVER!"

A violent eruption shook the Earth beneath his feet, rocking him and tossing him right over her head. He had been so close. So close, he could feel it!

After the tumult had subsided, and the dust dispersed, they could clearly see the witch, combined, body and soul with the strongest Guardian Force: Griever.

"Oh boy." Irvine shuddered, backing away.
"That's INSANE!" Zell's panicked awe.
"We're done for..." Squall's last second pessimism.

"You AKKURSED SeeD's! RUINED! I SHALL KLEAVE YOU IN TWADE!" her manic voice, clearly void of considerable structured thought. "Through her, I shall KOMPRESS TIME!"

Her; Ellone. She had been known to Squall as "Sis" when he lived in the orphanage. It was a fate he hoped to protect her from.

But now, he was finding himself unable to move. He, Zell and Irvine had been raised from the ground, binded by invisible shackles, that struck them in place. Irvine and Squall dropping their weapons in the struggle.

All GF's junctioned unto them were sucked away by Griever-Ultimecia, to add to her own power. She activated it. Time Compression, had begun.

The machine, mixed with Ellone's powers themselves and combined with the strongest Sorceress of all time, converged. The compression began well, until the machine developed by an Estharian scientist began to whir error codes and racketous buzzings, then all at once, the power was too much.

An instant later, the machine stopped, the explosion was small, but strong enough to affect everything near enough in proximity. Ellone was killed instantly, the blast impact right beside her. Ultimecia hurt minorly, whilst Squall and company received terrible injuries.

But now, rather than simply time compressing, the entirety of time and space flowed together, seamlessly compressing and slotting together, as though it was a jig-saw puzzle, finally being completed, chunks at a time.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Ultimecia raged, her clear disinterest in her physical damage minimal.

A blinding flash, and all was nothing...


-----------------------------------

Squall awoke, disoriented and confused. He was at the beach? He remembered last being in his dormitory. He had just returned from debriefing with Headmaster Cid, and his -currently unofficial- advancement into the SeeD ranks.

What? he thought, Is going on?

He expected some form of a prank from his room-mate, whom he was thankful he would no longer need to share with, due to recieving a single dorm from SeeD ranking.

Moments later, he felt a presence. Strangely evil...and curiously...familiar. He turned, ready to fight, hand on the hilt of his Revolver Gunblade.

"Who are you?" he asked sternly.
"Me?" the woman responded coldly, her expression darkening.
"No one a SeeD like you need worry about."

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack was training, and boy was it exhilarating. He loved being able to just cut loose and show what he had in the flashiest way possible. Lately Angeal had been drilling him on restraint and control, but today he'd been given permission to do as he wished. He ran along the train, the wind in his hair as his blade sliced through the Wutai insurgents with ease, he gave a whoop of joy as they fell, clattering, from the train. He tried not to imagine the sickening crunch of the train as it surged over their bodies and cleaved flesh and bone alike.
He was just approaching another group of soldiers when the world seemed to pulsate suddenly. He frowned, feeling the bearing of gravity suddenly shift. What was it? A malfunction in the simulator?
The world pulsed again and he tripped, falling onto his face. The programming seemed to freeze, fragments of data floating away as the program broke down, but Zack could feel the weight bearing down on him, as if he was being sucked into the ground.
"W-What is--" He began to say, but suddenly he was falling...
"Zack!" He heard a voice call, and for a split second he saw a hand reaching for him, before everything went black.

When everything began to refocus he was in the blaring sunlight, which was considerably different to the dark city he'd been in only moments before. Whatever he was lying in was soft and scratchy, and he was pushed himself to sit up, he realised it was sand. He was sitting in the middle of what seemed like endless beach.
"Angeal!?" He called, standing up and brushing himself off, "not funny man." He looked around, starting to walk down the expanse of sand. "Someone? Hello!" He called. Where the hell was he? This all seemed far to real to be a simulator glitch...

-----------------------------------------------

For Cloud everything seemed normal enough, he'd laid down to sleep on his bedroll in Aerith's church. When he'd woken he was still in her church, only now it seemed a lot newer... as if this was the church before meteorfall. He frowned... what had happened? This just didn't seem quite right.
Slowly he got to his feet, planning to have a look around.

[The Painted Lady]

Aerith paused on the steps of her church as she recovered from a strange head-spin, counting the money that sat in the bottom of her basket beside the last lily she had been unable to sell. She sighed softly as the pause allowed her mind to betray her, making her remember that she should have been pushing a cart on the upper plate with a certain raven-haired SOLDIER. She shook her head.
"Four years," she whispered, as if reminding herself.
"He's not coming back..."
She brushed the front of her pink dress, trying to ignore the reason why she wore it, and pushed her hair out of her eyes before carefully shouldering open the door. Immediately, she froze. Something seemed wrong, the feeling intensified by warning voices in her head. Her eyes skimmed past the pews to find a marble chest she had never remember seeing before, as well as other forms of settlement. She hadn't been gone long... two hours tops maybe.
'Still, enough time for an intruder to make themselves comfortable...' she said to herself.
She felt her heart start to race as she moved toward the wall, where her staff waited for her. Despite the harassment she encountered on the street from time to time, she had never had to deal with something like this. It unnerved her.
"Is someone there?..." she called out, trying to keep her voice strong as her pulse pounded in her ears.

[Yuna Braska]

With her legs dangling over the edge and her hands resting gently in her lap, the young ex-summoner stared out to the now peaceful ruins of Zanerkand. The Pyraflies were slowly rising from the crumbling city towards the dark navy blue sky, disappearing behind the stars. Yuna sat on the same ledge which he stood, staring at the same scene. The small cliff felt warm like someone had been sitting there only moments before and the breeze was full of harmonious whispers. They were singing, they were all praying together as they passed by her ear. Yuna leaned slightly over to peer down into the clear water below her. Her expression was not sad nor happy. It was still, her eyes seemed to appear duller and her lips were slightly dry. She tried to force a smile for her own sake but the expression did not move.
"Yuna?" a sweet soft voice called from behind her. She leaned back to stare at the ruins again, not turning to face her friend.
"We are leaving' Lulu spoke with worry in her voice.
"Okay" Yuna replied in her same calm tone. After a small pause she heard footsteps slowly move away from her towards the airship that was settled just a few hundred meters away. Moving from the cliff, Yuna took another look down at the water checking her expression before giving a sigh. She watched as a smile slowly grew on her face, her coloured eyes still slightly dull though. Then, her smile faded again when she noticed the water getting unsettled, the cliff that she was standing on was rumbling and her head began to spin. She felt like she had stepped to far over the edge to find herself hurdling towards the water. Though it was a longer fall than she thought.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Yuna uncovered her eyes after a while to view the same Zanerkand that she had viewed seconds before. It was quiet again with the same whispers flowing around in the breeze. Yuna turned around to see if the Celsius was alright but it was not there. It was an empty pathway.
They couldn't of left without me? she thought as she walked towards the large open path below the small headland. There was nothing in sight apart from the Pyraflies.

[Lykaios]

---------------------------------------------------+-Sephiroth-+------------------------------------------------------

He was in the field. A mission had been sprung on him as they always were, but at least he had company. Sephiroth was in fact being dragged on a mission by Reno and Rude. Apparently, the Turk's couldn't handle it alone, so that was enough to distract Sephiroth from the other task he had to perform: "Apprehend, or kill: Genesis and Angeal."

His two best friend's...enemies of the company they lived for, side by side for so long, that it felt like a lifetime. A lifetime of joy's and sorrow's together...and all the act's of LOVELESS, beaten into his head by Genesis, lecture after lecture on honour and family, from Angeal.

"Sephiroth, hey...what happened to Zack?"
"You know he's on vacation. And I know that Cissnei has been deployed on 'vacation' to keep an eye on him."
"Seriously? I didn't know, I swear!"
"Reno, just shut up and continue with the mission."
"You heard the SOLDIER."
"Not you too, Rude? Aw, man. You two are so boring!"
"No, you've just got enough energy for the three of us." Sephiroth finished the conversation abruptly, getting a slight smile out of his comrades.

They were headed to Junon, to help minimise the threat that had suddenly popped back into existence: the Genesis copies. They were back, in even greater numbers, with newer additions to their forces. From what Zack had said about the events of the Reactor 5 incident, Genesis' degradation had taken a drastic turn for the worse, and he had 'taken a dive' into the Mako Reactor itself. He was marked as K.I.A on the records, but off the records, he was still a M.I.A: Defacted: Apprehend or kill, on sight. As was Angeal.

He sighed, obviously down by this arrangement. They were still his same old friends, weren't they? But now he couldn't worry about that, for he had just noticed some turbulence, the other's had not been affected by, but just as he was going to say something, he was thrust from the helicopter, Masamune in hand suddenly, and then...nothing. The chopper was no longer in his sight, Junon was no longer beneath him, only...a beach. No beach he recognised, however. It was so...strange, to him. He landed on the ground, softly, blade still in his left hand, and he saw a person in front of him, clearly facing someone else.

"You, where are we?" he called to the two people, but as he watched, the woman slowly began to disappear, as though fading from existence. That was impossible. Wasn't it? He supposed then, that if Genesis and Angeal could expand wing's, and degrade, or become more than just human, perhaps a woman fading out of reality was also?

He walked closer, and stood beside the young man. He was barely a pup, not even out of his teens, by first glance, but a maturity in his eyes drew Sephiroth's attention. "Can you tell me where we are?" he asked again.

He was definitely not in Junon, however.

-----------------------------------------------------+-Tidus-+-------------------------------------------------------

His only escapes from reality were Blitzball, and flirting with whatever girl sank into his path. But he didn't feel like doing either of those at this time. He'd been sucked away from his home, thrown into turmoil-central Spira. And what for? He didn't know why. To suffer? What sicko would -- Oh wait...Auron. Just great. Because of him, I'm in this horrible place? This SUCKS! he roared inwardly, throwing his hands to the heaven's dramatically. He hadn't realised Wakka, Lulu and Yuna had been watching him, at that time. Being stuck on the S.S Liki, with frustration's like that, was not fun. There's only so much one can do to release that anger in a confined space.

But apparently, Yuna and Wakka found it hilarious...or at least Wakka did, and Yuna struggled to keep from giggling. Oh man...now Yuna's laughing at me... he cursed again. This just wasn't his day. The Cloister at Besaid and Kilika had been a snap, but now they were headed to Luca. Where perhaps - as Wakka hoped - someone he knew would find him.

But the ship lurched, and without realising, he'd been thrown over-board. Dunked under the waves, he looked up, and swam in that direction, only to burst out of the water onto...beach? Was he at Luca?

He looked around, and again; nothing was familiar. He sighed, walking ashore. Luckily for him, he found two people standing on the beach, looking inland. He walked up to them; drawn by curiousity. They both had pretty fancy duds on. He stepped in front.

"Hey, umm...are you...Al Bhed? Ahl...bheed? Al Bhed?" he blinked, obviously unsure of whether he was getting through to them. "I've fallen from my boat, and I'm lost. Is this Luca?" he asked, praying to whatever powers that be, could help him out.

But he didn't think their answers would be that great for him.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Cloud hadn't been looking around long when he heard a voice call out. His blood suddenly felt as though it were ice, the very pulse of his heart causing him agony.
No way... He breathed, turning on the spot from where he stared up through the hole in the roof to face the speaker. Sure enough it was her, just as he feared. She stood there watching him through frightened green eyes, her pink dress, jacket and ribbon the same as ever, though they all seemed considerably newer than when he had known her.
"A-Aerith.." He stuttered when their eyes met, the look of shock on his face would have been a sight to see, "B-But you're--" He stopped himself, backpeddling a few steps before he realised if he walked any further back he would crush the flowers.
Impossible Aerith is-... where am i?

-----------------------------------------

Zack had been wondering for a very long time, down a seemingly endless beach, and he had still not encountered anyone.
"Man what a drag..." He sighed, "Come on Angeal, what kinda sick joke is this?" He called to the sky, "What are we training for exactly?" He paused, as if waiting for a reply, or for the simulation to be cancelled. Even a scolding from his mentor beat this boring place.
When there came no reply, the young SOLDIER frowned, "Maaaaan.." He whined, turning to continue his walk. He was just coming around the corner of a sanddune when he spotted three people standing together not far away.
"H-Hey!" He yelled, waving and running towards them, "Don't spose you people know where i am?" As he joined them he observed them each as he'd been trained. One was of moderate build and musculature, blonde and young, couldn't have been more than 17 or so, he had the figure of a sportsman rather than a fighter. Another was tall, dark haired and bore a scar across the bridge of his nose. This particular individual seemed quite young too, but far more the combat professional. The third person was--
"Ah!" He exclaimed, snapping into a SOLDIER salute, there was no mistaking this guy... "S-S-Sephiroth, s-sir??"
No way man! THE Sephiroth? What's goin' on here?? MY brain hurts...

----------------------------------------

They were out riding, Tifa securely snuggled into the crook of his arms as he steered the bike along the green mountain trail. They could taste the sweet fresh air, hear the late-day birds singing before they settled down to sleep, the sun sinking on the horizon before them. It was a beautiful picture, and Tifa felt that everything in her world was finally perfect. She sighed happily, curling in closer against his warm chest, inhaling his musky scent, the smell of certainty and security. It had taken them a long time to get to this point... but finally, she and Cloud lived together happily, in a world free of suffering and pain.
She closed her eyes and let the security lull her asleep, slowly the sounds of his bike faded, the sound of his heart beating beneath her ear faded, and all was secure and perfect silence.
Then she thought she could hear the wind... and the steady 'drip drip' of water. She opened her eyes, and instantly everything seemed wrong. Cloud's arms were gone, and so was his bike. She was no longer in Cloud's arms, riding home on Fenrir, safe and secure. Now she was laying on cold stones, water dripping from the roof above her.
"Hello?" She breathed, climbing to her feet, "Where am I?" She followed her feet out of the dark room, emerging into the open air. She was in the middle of a set of ruins, half submerged in the water. She continued to walk, spotting a cliff not far away. "Helloooo!" She called.
Where was she...?

[The Painted Lady]

Aerith dropped her flower basket, which landed with a quiet 'chink' as the gil inside bounced off the ground, and quickly took her staff in tight hands, trying to keep it steady as she held it between the two of them.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
Those eyes though... they seemed so eerily familiar. But perhaps it was just because they reminded her of him...
"And why do you know my name?!"

[Yuna Braska]

Yuna turned suddenly when she hear a faint call from the ruins. Though she couldn't see much. Taking one more look towards were the airship use to be, Yuna placed her hands up to her mouth and gave a long whistle, having a feeling that she was imagining things.

-----------------Balthier--------------------

The sky pirate placed down a long brass stick as he closed up his gun, checking that it snapped locked properly and that every inch was in good condition. He looked up from where he was sitting to the sky that was displayed outside the window of his Airship, the Strahl. Tilting his head he gave a sigh before stretching his neck to look upon Fran who was just walking through the door into the bridge section. "They are not following us anymore, they seem to have turned back. Though they have giving damage to one of the rear engines" The tall, long eared woman spoke with her strong ancestral language.
"Right then, shall we pull down in Nalbina to take a closer look? I don't have enemies there... " Balthier said as he placed his weapon on his hip to take up the controls of the Strahl. Fran folded her arms and tilted her head towards him as she rolled her eyes.
"Yet..." Balthier finished.
"The base will be heavily guarded.. we will have to be careful" Fran replied her long rabbit like ears bending as she walked out of the central area and back through the door which she came.
Balthier began to wonder how much gil would be on his head, 2000.... 3000? He knew they bounty hunter from Archades would raise that price. Balthier's upper lip lifted into a sneaky smirk.
Finding his standing suddenly he felt his Airship rock heavily though they had not hit anything. Balthier adjusted his position and turned the ship. Soon enough the rumbling stopped and Balthier was rubbing his chin in confusion. "That's not right" The clouds parted as he drove though them to behold a city glowing below him. Lifting the ship he tried to get him away form the strange city and try and find a place to land.
"Uhh Fran.. would you come here?" Balthier called into a voice announcer near him but after several seconds of rusted signal there was no answer. "Fran..?" Balthier gave up and shook his head quickly landing his ship just outside of the city. He had never been to this part or Nalbina. Though it was evident that this was a town unlike any other he had seen. The place where he landed was quiet but with a few people running from his landing place. Balthier grumbled and walked out as the ship shut down. /
"Forget the engine Fran!" Balthier said but still there was no reply from anywhere in the ship.

----------------------------------------------
The streets were filled with many strange people, some were sick and most looked at the sky pirate strangly. Balthier ignored them and tried to find a place which might give him guidence. Most of the people have been less than helpful, either ignoring him since he had a gun beside his hand or giving a huff and see his stance as threatening.. trying to pick a fight. As he got away from the town he found a small run down church, the door slightly open. It looked silent and from personal knowledge.. a good place to find information.

[Lykaios]

-----------------------------------------------------+-Squall-+------------------------------------------------------
It wasn't long until the woman disappeared into nothingness, leaving him questioning who the hell she was to even begin with. But another voice came up beside him; a man with long silver hair, a katana so grossly over-sized it could be deemed as 'compensation', and leather to the teeth. Perhaps he wasn't as bad as Squall first thought. He studied his new companion briefly, until an energetic young man, roughly his own age came bouncing over, attempting to get their attention.

Both had asked the same question. Both seemed...dramatically out of place in Balamb. So, was he no longer in Balamb? He couldn't quite be sure.

But before he could respond, another joined the party, wearing purple and a very similar emblem on his belt to that of the leather-clad man to Squall's right. Apparently, he knew the leathered man.

"I don't know. Where we are." he answered, turning away, looking at the water, wondering whether or not he was right in assuming he wasn't in Balamb anymore.

-----------------------------------------------------+-Zidane-+------------------------------------------------------

The troupe was all acting their parts, perfectly. That was good news. It meant Zidane could play his role with a lot less disturbance. That helped him, indefinitely. So long as he didn't get caught in restricted locations, that is.

He was about to enter the Princess' room, when a guard spotted him.

"Hey, what are you doin' up here?! Wait, aren't you with that troupe that flew in this morning??"
"Uh...me? Yeah, I'm with the troupe, but I was looking for someone...and kinda got...uh...really lost." Zidane replied, rubbing his hand on the back of his head, smiling idiotically.
"Right...this way, then. I'll lead you out of the castle."
"Yeah, thanks."

Oh, damn! I was so close!! he thought, observing the guard's pattern's.

Perhaps he could sneak right past him? But, just as the thought crossed his mind, the room faded, and everything distorted. Locations seemed to zoom past him, people just out of reach, and fading just as fast. His mind buzzed from the activity and he stopped, fell to his knee's and retched.

He fell backwards, and his head spun with nausea. He looked around, and suddenly realised he was no longer in the Castle...but some kind of ruin.

"What the...heck?" he wondered, ignorant of the mess he'd made moment's before; he raised himself, and tried to look around. But there were some strange glowing lights floating around the area.

What happened to him?

[Tifa Lockhart]

Cloud's heart grew heavier as Aerith stared at him, filled with fear. How could she not know him, after everything? The least she could do was hate him, but forget?
"A-Aerith... how could you not... remember me?" He asked shakily, in complete disbelief, there was no way she could have forgotten him. "Cloud, you remember right? We travelled together..." He stopped speaking and looked around, why did the church look so new? And why didn't Aerith know who he was? It had to be the lifestream's doing.
"Is... Zack here too?" He asked hesitantly.

------------------------------------------

Tifa was just beginning to think she was all alone in this strange place when she heard a piercing whistle. Was it a signal of some form? She had no idea, but replying to the whistle might get her some help. So Tifa put her fingers to her lips and gave out a whistle of her own, hoping that whoever had whistled first might be able to find her and clarify whatever was going on.

[The Painted Lady]

Though a confusing bell rang in Aerith's mind as the blonde said his name, she was still certain she didn't know him and terror was still reflected back to him through her ocean-green eyes. What shocked her though wasn't his claim of travelling together, it was the mention of him; Zack...
Her fingers tightened around her staff until her knuckles went white, her other hand rising to her chest with a sharp, quiet breath.
"You know Zack?..."
A horrible flash of pain crossed her expression and for a split second, it seemed as if she might start crying. But then her expression hardened stubbornly again.
"I don't know who you are, but you shouldn't be here... I'm going to scream..."

[Yuna Braska]

Yuna was not imaging things. The sound was returned to her from towards the main gates to Zanerkand. She knew not who it was .. but she was hoping. She began to jog towards the sound, her run getting faster as she got closer. She saw a figure in the distance when she can around the path corner but her senses were deceiving her. It was not who she hoped... instead it was a dark woman with jet black hair and clothing. Yuna stopped at the path to look upon the woman, her expression disappointed. There was another figure nearby though a little further from her. It was an unusual person and to have what looked like a tail. Yuna was beginning to become a bit frightened though she didn't show it.

[Lykaios]

---------------------------------------------------+-Sephiroth-+-----------------------------------------------------
Zack? He looked...different. The way he looked when Angeal was still mentoring him. Something was really off about this place. And where was this 'Balamb'? He knew all the locations of the Planet, and nothing of a place called Balamb. Something was definitely going on.

"Zack; where's your 1st uniform?" he asked, turning his attentions to his comrade. It seemed to him, he'd changed back to what he once was; young, restless and impetulent.

Wait, on closer inspection; he was missing more than just his 1st uniform, he was missing the scar he received from Angeal. But not only that, he was also missing the fancier hair-style everyone knew him for as a 1st.

"Zack...what happened to you? You look like you did before they defected."

-----------------------------------------------------+-Zidane-+------------------------------------------------------

It wasn't long till he heard a whistle. No less, did the whistle sound oddly feminine, too. That upped his spirits a tad. He zoomed closer, wiping the muck from his face with a tissue and depositing it on the ground. The place was a mess to begin with, so what he did wasn't going to matter much, right?

He closed the gap, quickly and effectively, using his agility and reflexes to bound from object to object, much like a monkey, and soon encountered a woman with black hair. Hitting the ground, another brunette woman moved closer.

"HELLOOOOOOO!" Can either of you tell me where we are??" he called, coming closer, smiling brightly.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack blinked the moment Sephiroth began to talk to him. First off, the legendary SOLDIER hero was speaking with him as if they were long acquainted friends, rather than complete strangers. Secondly, he seemed to think he was a 1st Class.... and what was this about defection.
"Uh.... you, feeling OK Sir? I'm a Second Class..." He rubbed the back of his head, "And.... how do you know who i am?" Something seemed to click in his mind though, "Dammit! I bet Angeal told you didn't he! What did he say? He's always ridiculing me..." Zack put on an angry pout and folded his arms, completely forgetting his decorum for the time being.
He seemed to forget about the others there for now XD

---------------------------------------------------------

Tifa had just turned to face a woman as she entered when a strange looking boy approached from the other direction. She steeled herself just in case they weren't friendly.
"W-Where am I? Where's Cloud? What did you do to him!" Her eyes flicked between the two newcomers anxiously. She felt strangely insecure in this place.

---------------------------------------------------

Alarm crossed Cloud's face as Aerith threatened to scream. The last thing he wanted in this world was to scare Aerith.
"N-No please." He begged, his voice desperate as he took a few steps forward, holding a hand out in a 'stop' gesture, "I don't know how you got here... or I got here... whichever it is, but i'm not going to hurt you... and i'm sorry for scaring you." He let his hand fall. "I'll leave..." He then began to ease himself around the pink clad woman, keeping at a distance as to not startle her.
His chest ached with sadness as he made slowly for the doorway. First of all, a long dead friend had appeared before him, and now she didn't even know who he was...

[The Painted Lady]

Aerith lowered her staff slowly as he came closer, feeling her immediate fear start to fade. She frowned a little, confused by the sudden ease that washed over her. Surely she should have been more on edge as he came close.
"Wait..."
She found the word fall from her lips without much thought. She shook her head a little, then looked over to the bedroll and the chest full of materia. She reached up to touch the small white orb of her own that was nestled safely in her ribbon.
"You... you left your stuff..." she said quietly.
She brought her eyes back, but didn't lift them to meet his.
"What..." She hesitated, trying to figure out why she wasn't just sending this invader on his way.
"What did you say your name was again?..."