Fight Against Angeal (ch33)

AKA FEELSY CHAPTER NUMBER TWO IN A ROW

Link to chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/33/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to tumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch33/chrono

I wrote this chapter while simultaneously watching the scenes of Zack's fight(s) with Angeal repeatedly.  I'd already passed that point in the game about a week prior and basically just called on those feels, plus the feels of me WATCHING THE PLAYTHROUGH OVER AND OVER AGAIN.  Rar probably thought I was crazy.  When I wasn't watching the videos, I was blaring the Crisis Core soundtrack.  It was one of the scenes that literally requires I use headphones lest I drive everyone else bonkers with the constant sound-switching.

Clearly, this chapter is feels inducing.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.  I find the scene in Crisis Core to be so full of feels (granted, a lot of Crisis Core is more like Crisis Cries, as rar puts it).  All the same, this was definitely one of the more emotional scenes.  We've broken through Zack's core and it just makes you tear up a little.

by blazing-eyes on dA

Yes, I modified it a little bit.  I'd already sped up Angeal's degradation with the serum, which basically meant that Angeal's degrading cells tried to meld with the Heartless, which meant that Angeal lost hope, thinking he truly was a monster. The only foreseeable way out of it as far as he was concerned was death and death by Zack was more honorable.

Meanwhile, poor Zack is still convinced that Angeal is not a monster, even when Angeal's half-Heartless.  Yes, Zack does lose faith in Angeal's honor, but that becomes a moot point by the end of the battle.  The Angeal that Zack will remember will be quite an honorable man indeed, despite everything that happened.

Naturally, the battle leaves Zack more emotionally damaged than physically damaged, though Aerith will have quite the healing job to do.  But before I get too much into that, since that's next chapter, I'll just move on.  Spoilers and such.

So, KKBeckett, to respond more to your review a couple of chapters ago, Zack had everything he needed in his stock up until this battle.  He ran out of magic and had no ethers.  He had a crapton of remedies equipped (mostly because that's all I was using at the time and I based his stock sort of off of my stock, and I was using remedies because I kept getting poisoned) and thus no ethers.  Granted, he still won the battle, but is it really winning when you lose a friend in the process? We'll get to Zack's injuries more next chapter.

But yeah, Aerith at the end is mostly just like "I'll heal you now and we'll get to the talking later", because that's what Aerith does.  Heal now, questions later.  Though, I think there's a part of her who knows what happened.  Zack showing up with Angeal's sword, Angeal not around? All that stuff. Yeah, she knows Angeal's dead.  What she doesn't know is how.  And that's a good portion of the gut-wrenching feels.

And then there's the fact that Zack realizes his sword is still in Olympus and more feels!

So, yes, very feels-inducing chapter.  I'm surprised I'm not a puddle of feels at the moment.

Review Responses:
KKBeckett:  I'm... uh... sorry? About the feels? I suppose? Maybe... I can't help that rar's giving you feels, either.  Based on the fact that you've got Zerith feels, I have an idea of what chapter she just sent you.  I'm sorry, heh...

archsage: Yeah, when Phil's at a loss, there's a problem.  In my head, Phil is very much doing the thing when Meg died in the movie.  Except, unlike Hercules, who's a god and can go get her soul from the Underworld, Zack has no such ability.  Nor, do I think, would he want to go get Angeal, because Angeal wanted to go out.  Bringing Angeal back would devalue his death.  Meg's death was not supposed to happen and Hercules righted it.  Anyway! Enough of that philosophy.
Huh, Terra and Riku, though? I don't particularly imagine that happening in my story.  I want Terra to live! But it is an interesting image, I will give you that.
And no, nope.  Nothing's going to quiet down for a few chapters yet.  We're on quite the ride right now!

Um, so yeah, this video is appropriate: