neverbeamemory: (Default)
neverbeamemory ([personal profile] neverbeamemory) wrote in [community profile] towerofanimus2013-01-19 09:16 pm

013 | So clearly lightning resistance needs work....

Characters: Sephiroth & YOU
Passive/optional tag: Cloud, Hojo, Rufus - Side Effect: Forceful Jenova cell 'pull'.
Setting: Following evening after This - towards the end of the event. Locations below.
Format: Usual wordy prose but will switch to match
Summary: Aftermath: Sephiroth's 1st death in the Tower, at the hands of future!Hei. 1st reaction: WTF-with-the-not-moving. Later restless wandering around.
Warnings: It's late at night and it's dangerous in the Tower. Careful how you approach; edgier than usual Sephiroth 

Part 1: Next Evening - Dorm 03-02
Suddenly Sephiroth felt again. He felt the familiar give of the mattress enough to know it was his bed in the Dormitory and he breathed slowly in the precursor to waking up. So he'd died; in all it's painful glory. It wasn't as if Sephiroth wasn't used to what death felt like, but now he couldn't move. Even his eyes won't open yet even though he feels like they are ready to. A heartbeat skipped, then Sephiroth remembers that he had experienced this once before; that day when he'd first woken up here. So this was the consequence of death in the Tower - a relapse to the paralysis. Great, he'd hated that enough the first time.

Though it hadn't been this long before. Or at least not as far as he could remember. He can't even tell how long it has been, and this waiting quickly gets old. There had to be something he could do about it. Sephiroth took a long inhale and settling his focus back inside himself he concentrated on wrapping his willpower around the already panicking jenova cells inside and PULLED.

Nothing. He still couldn't move.

Again and again he PULLED. Trying to will the great Jenova-web work to give him his motor functions back quicker; each time more desperate but all in vain. He couldn't let them get away with leaving him paralyzed like this - especially since there were others in the Tower with the cells that could be made to help him. Perfect opportunity to stretch and test his influence so to speak.

For the longest ten minutes these attempts went on. Sephiroth was trying so hard, that when suddenly the paralysis let go his eyes shot open with such speed that it made him dizzy. Whatever influence he'd held over the web snapped with the shock and Sephiroth lent up somewhat heavily on his elbows while his mind adjusted to being awake, peering around the Dormitory. So it was the next evening?

Part 2: Nighttime wandering: Hallways > Elevator > Floor 12 and back again
Once settled Sephiroth felt quite proud. Sure he hadn't been able to force himself to overcome the paralysis but stretching and feeling out what connections were available to him, through Mother's gifts, was something he really should have discovered sooner. He blamed it on having to settle into his new environment, and having to deal with the blinding questions that tended to circle around in his mind too fast for him to focus on one thing.

Apparently then, the meditation was helping to re-focus him, if nothing else. Maybe it was a case of that he couldn't see the wood for the trees; maybe if he stopped looking for answers he might learn something. Something to consider.

Having been 'dead' during the daytime - followed by the panic at not being able to move, it's not like Sephiroth could just lie back down and go to sleep. So instead he got up and equipped himself for a night time wander. Though he'd certainly watch his back a lot more in case that crazy lightning guy wasn't finished with his rampage. That had certainly been a very personal attack; if only Sephiroth knew what it was he'd done, it must have been heavy to have earned that response. Well there was a bit of strangeness going on after all, Sephiroth would wait for his time to exact revenge for that insult.

Sephiroth made his way down the lift from the Dormitories and then up stairwells. He'd avoid what monsters he could, though inevitably some monsters won't be avoided especially considering how dangerous the Tower is during night time. At least his first death here hasn't blunted his sword any, and his strength is as it was as well. Finally Sephiroth would linger for a while on the 12th floor, watching the projection from start to finish a few times before the frequency of shadow-based monsters appearing was ruining his chance to get the escape he'd come here for and then he'd return back in the direction he came.
grimgrimoire: (Default)

Hallways

[personal profile] grimgrimoire 2013-01-19 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
As anyone who had been here for more than twenty-four hours could tell you, the Tower was not a happy place to be at night. The monsters never came up the stairs to the dormitories, Ienzo found, which was certainly welcome; an innocent being preyed on and killed in their sleep just struck him as wrong. However, even though there was significantly less anger up here, Ienzo had found that there was significantly less traffic in the dormitory hallways when the late hours rolled around.

He himself had a reason to be up at these times; as a sort of side project, designed to keep him busy so he wouldn't go insane, Ienzo had started drafting a Tower bestiary, and included with that bestiary was the frequency with which a monster 'appeared'. Since he had escaped from several nighttime run-ins with monsters he'd never seen during the day, Ienzo had decided that there had to be some creatures who were nocturnal, and tonight was his first night actually staying up to go hunting for them. And of all the strange things he expected to see, another person was not one of them. At the very least the man was protected, if that enormous sword was anything to go by.

"Good evening," he said, Book of Retribution under his arm as a stand-in notebook (his other ones had filled up). Ienzo quietly thought it rather odd that anyone else would be up at this hour; perhaps, because this silver-haired man was, he would be of use to him somehow.
denigrator: (Down the stairs)

Daddy is here for you, Sephiroth.

[personal profile] denigrator 2013-01-20 06:49 am (UTC)(link)
He felt it at once. The pull. It was unlike any other sensation, wrenching at him, not an external force, but internal. A shudder that ran through the very cells of his body. He could feel it stirring inside him, more insistent with each moment that passed. It wasn't something that could be denied or disobeyed. It was a reminder that he wasn't a single lifeform anymore. He had altered himself on the genetic level. He was part of something larger, inhuman. That larger force moved him, and he went with it. He put down the equipment he was working with and made his way to the nearest elevator.

When he reached Sephiroth's room, he stood in the doorway, his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. He disliked it, this submission he was forced into. The fact that Sephiroth, who he had made, had this power over him. Of course, it was his own doing. He had willingly injected himself with the cells. Not for the first time, he doubted his scientific brilliance, and that doubt made him scowl. No, he had to believe in his superiority. Just look at what he had accomplished. There had been setbacks, that was all. Too many people had interfered in his work.

"Well, what is it?"
denigrator: (Makes you wriggle and writhe)

[personal profile] denigrator 2013-01-20 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's not as if I'm surprised," said Hojo, with a trace of bitterness. "This was all part of my design." He had to maintain some control here. He had expected to become part of the new creation Sephiroth would make through Jenova, but this was another matter, to be called here like a servant, with his energy pulled at and used. "And yes, I was working." He wasn't sure if it was necessarily important work, except in that all his work was important, as the Tower had been frustrating his efforts of late, but there was no need to mention that.

"Is there some particular reason I'm here?"
denigrator: (I'll be waiting 'round the corner)

[personal profile] denigrator 2013-01-20 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
He decided not to mention the transformation that the Jenova cells were able to affect in him, which the Tower seemed to usually prevent. The change had taken place in the tower once before, during his previous visit, and he had no desire to metamorphose again. It was inconvenient, to say the least. "I'm pleased you're so satisfied," he said, with no small amount of sarcasm.

"I don't need to think into it. I understand it completely," Hojo snapped. No one understood the phenomenon better than he did, as he was the world's primary expert on Jenova.

The connection between them wasn't completely one way. Hojo had sensed the urgency in the pull. With the cells linking them, he was technically part of Sephiroth, as galling as that was in their current forms. He didn't like to think of himself as some puppet whose strings could be pulled, like the Sephiroth clones he'd created. Although he was another matter, having injected himself outright with a large number of the cells. "I assume you were undergoing some extreme stress, and here you are in bed. It's certainly suggestive." Hojo having died a few times in the Tower, he was no stranger to the process.
denigrator: (It's a game)

[personal profile] denigrator 2013-01-20 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
He didn't care for that smirk. He had to reassert himself somehow. Knowing as much as he did about Jenova, he understood that it was Sephiroth who wielded the greater share of her power, and not himelf. Not that he had to like that fact. "So, you've died. I've died several times and saw no need to react with such vehemence." He shrugged. "My physical body is dead on Gaia, so it hardly matters to me. Death is no setback for the great scientist." Asserting that, his attitude following being pulled around by Sephiroth's will improved slightly. Sephiroth didn't know everything. In fact, there was much he didn't remember, and the Jenova Project wasn't Hojo's only project.

"However, you should be more resilient. You've been designed to withstand a great deal of damage without fatal consequences." Again, he alluded to the fact that he was responsible for Sephiroth's existence. "Emotion is an impediment. You shouldn't allow yourself to react so strongly."
grimgrimoire: (Default)

Hallways

[personal profile] grimgrimoire 2013-01-21 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
A very good mentality to have, all things considered. Ienzo hadn't even come close to seeing the full extent of the dangers posed by this Tower, and yet he still felt the need to carry around his grimoire at all times, even though he could summon it at any. Ienzo took a moment to allow the other man to look him over while he did the same, and after that time had more or less expired, finally spoke.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" he asked, quite innocently. "You must know that on the lower floors, the monsters become much more dangerous at night."
grimgrimoire: (kingdom hearts)

Hallways

[personal profile] grimgrimoire 2013-01-22 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
“Monster killing is therapeutic for you?” That... was not the answer Ienzo expected, even if this was a man with shoulder armor and an unreasonably long sword he was talking about. Still, he kept any surprise or other feelings out of his voice; for some people, causing harm to others was quite calming, and it was better that he take out his impulses on monsters than other people. At least that way, it could serve as a form of population control.

In response to the question, Ienzo shook his head. “No, actually; I was just heading down. It seems we’ve had the same idea.” He gave an odd little smile. If this man was going monster hunting... “Actually, what I came to work on was a Tower bestiary, and I understand the power and frequency of some monsters’ appearances changes at night. Do you think I might be able to join you in your search?” He flipped the book open with a practiced movement. “I can hold my own in battle, I assure you.”
grimgrimoire: (Default)

Hallways

[personal profile] grimgrimoire 2013-01-23 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
"Thank you very much." Ienzo smiled as well, though his looked considerably less sinister than Sephiroth's, and followed behind him at a respectable pace. He didn't miss the inspection that had been conducted in those few seconds (he never did), and though he could understand why the man would want to look him over a bit before trusting him with both of their well-being, it still amused him somewhat. There was something in the man's scrutiny that seemed familiar... and the long hair didn't hurt either.

"Now then, if you don't mind, I would like your name? Mine is Ienzo." Just for ease of conversation, you'll understand.
grimgrimoire: (don't think)

Hallways > Floor ?

[personal profile] grimgrimoire 2013-01-24 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
It would take an idiot to want to trail too close behind Sephiroth, to be perfectly honest. Even if Ienzo wanted to be within the radius of that sword for any conceivable reason, his particular brand of battling was better put to use in the back row. Raining down spells from above was a tricky business, and aftershocks could easily damage people and things that the caster didn’t want to damage — in this case, Sephiroth. He really didn’t care about the surroundings. They had lasted this long, a bit of swordplay and magic in the halls wouldn’t hurt anything too badly.

While they walked, Ienzo kept the Book of Retribution at the ready, flipping through it to find the spells. It had quite a wealth of information in it, this tome, much more than should have fit in the pages; as a result, the ink tended to move around on its own to form different words, mostly consisting of whatever Ienzo happened to need at the time... mostly. Sometimes it still refused to operate, eschewing the pages Ienzo knew he needed for cryptic messages scrawled in a hand that might or might not have been his own. It had really been too far back to remember by this point, assuming the Darkness hadn’t spotted out his memory.

“I don’t think that would be a very prudent idea,” he noted at the elevators. “Monsters don’t generally come down there, and if we get into a fight, then there may be some serious damage that can’t be fixed in time for tomorrow morning. Perhaps we should go somewhere less vital to the tower, such as the forest?” It was only a few floors up from the cafeteria, after all.
provenworth: (Upset | You guys worried me)

Floor 13 | Cathedral + Hallways

[personal profile] provenworth 2013-01-24 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Planning a wedding was hard work. Especially when the groom was not that keen in getting involved, the Tower did not offer much in supplies and support, your President was on-site and made aware of it and yet had not said much about it, and lets not forget that within the Tower were people who wanted you dead. A lovely little deathly cocktail with the little olive of hopeful joy bouncing in the black liquid.

Joy that, oddly enough, at the thought still earned a bit of a chill down her back. She could still remember the Northern crater, those few moments where she had been able to give Rude Jenova's head while he stood in the helicopter. It was one of the few times she'd actually seen concern - perhaps even worry - on the silent Turk's face. She'd safely shut the door and gave Reno the lift-off order before bullets flew, threatening the safety of the helicopter. The way he'd shouted her name as the chopper retreated, a response to her unintentional noise of pain from being shot - that had haunted her for the first several hours in the Northern Crater.

Sitting in one of the pews, she folded the small notebook she'd acquired shut, notes on both Tower and wedding spanning several pages. She'd come for quiet and solace, a little voice dangerously questioning if it was even a good idea. Reno's sanity was perched precariously on a fence and was on the verge of tipping. Maybe it was foolish of her to think that she could save him, protect him even. But if she reneged now - in fear that if something happened to her and he was left alone - would that too cause him to tip in the way of insanity? Thinking back on it, with a clear head, the question on whether she should have even said yes settled heavily on her conscious.

"Pff. Thinking too much this time, Elena. That's a first," she quipped, her voice quickly dying in the silence around her.

Giving an audible sigh, shoulders slumping frustration, Elena rose from her seat, knowing that sleep would continue to evade her for the next several hours but it would at least be wise to try and get some rest. Tucking the notebook under her arm, feet took her back towards the entryway, eyes glazed over with thoughts keeping her mind elsewhere than paying attention to where she was going. Not that it ought to matter, given the time of night. Who would really be out wandering the tower at this time of night?
Edited 2013-01-24 21:11 (UTC)
provenworth: (Fuck | We are so fucked)

Oh yes - to the library! Becuse I am the most horrible to Elena.

[personal profile] provenworth 2013-01-25 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Turks move fast. Yes they do. That's how they were able to appear in Junon one day, then Wutai the next. In the Tower, its still somewhat the same. Where Elena had been exiting the Cathedral floor ten minutes ago, now she was exiting the cafeteria with a cup of hot tea in hand. Surely a cup of tea and a good book would help bring on a good night's sleep.

Sipping on the hot drink, Elena's steps were carefully balanced to prevent the liquid from spilling and burning her hand, taking each step of the stairs with a dancer's grace. It was beneficial the library wasn't too far up, the single styrofoam cup warming fingers to uncomfortable levels. Feet padded across the carpet silently, eyes focused more on the sloshing liquid than where she was going. At the sight of the first table creeping into her peripheral vision, Elena's course verged to meet it, placing the cup down hastily.

"...Gaia, that's hot!"

Grumbling as she blew on her fingers, she placed the notebook she'd been carrying in her other hand next to the cup, turning to look at the mass of shelves. In her haste to place down the burning beverage, she had disregarded the line of terminals that lined the wall nearby, her back blocking her view of the dead monsters and the monster himself.

It was only after a few seconds of listening to the humming silence of the lights that she felt it. A burning in the center of her chest - where she had been stabbed straight through - and a pull at the back of her head. The sensation of another presence nearby. Turning her head ever so slightly, she peered out of the corner of her eye at the terminals on the adjacent end of the wall. At the sight of silver and leather she dropped to the floor, knees pressing tightly against her chest.

Oh for fuck's sake! What is this luck of mine?!

Out. She had to get out before he noticed her and decided to finish what he had started with her before being interrupted by the Dark Angel Hei. Fingers reached up over her head, moving over the slick surface of the tabletop to find her notebook. Finding it, she slipped it over the edge and into her lap, remaining still while slowing her breathing. Only after she'd slowed her breathing and had a plan in place would she move, also after checking that he had not picked up on her accidental presence.
grimgrimoire: (chatterbox)

Elevator -> Floor 6

[personal profile] grimgrimoire 2013-01-25 11:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Unlike Sephiroth, Ienzo actually had some degree of respect and concern for the Tower and the populace within it, enough to care if he was responsible for ruining such a prominent area. Think of all the food supplies that could have been lost, Sephiroth! But from the tone with which he responded, Ienzo got the distinct feeling that the other silver-haired man really didn’t give a damn either way, so he left that subject alone. He’d already spoken his piece, and if Sephiroth didn’t agree with that piece, then it really wasn’t any of Ienzo’s business anyway. So instead he stepped into the elevator and immediately moved to the corner; even if he didn’t make a habit of doing that anyway, Masamune’s suddenly limited range of motion meant he didn’t want to be anywhere near where the blade could fit.

“Sixth floor, yes, for a given definition of ‘floor’.” Ienzo had a list of levels in one of his notebooks somewhere that he kept meaning to copy over into the Book of Retribution, but he’d memorized the first twenty or so. “As it is the place is extremely dangerous, but do let me know if you don’t think there isn’t enough light to see. I can fix that very easily, though you would be counting on the moon as well if you wanted to keep it up for any extended amount of time. At least they had the decency to create an artificial moon, or else I wouldn’t tread anywhere near the place.”

Did we mention Ienzo talks a lot, Sephiroth? Because he does.
grimgrimoire: (Default)

Floor 1 -> Floor 6

[personal profile] grimgrimoire 2013-01-26 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
He probably was being a little overly cautious, but you’ll have to forgive him. It’s not often that one discovers a weapon as... striking as that. He can see that Sephiroth handles the weapon with care, but still, it seems cumbersome in a way that would put anyone ill at ease — especially in a tight, confined space like this one.

“An experience,” he repeated, watching the numbers tick closer to one. “Well, virtually everything in this tower could easily be called an experience. But we’ll certainly see how Floor Six ranks on the list, won’t we.” Right then, the door opened again to the stench of chemicals that Ienzo didn’t particularly want to know the name of (a rare occurrence in and of itself); the cafeteria hadn’t changed much at all from day to night, since the only light was provided by fluorescent strips either way.

“Empty,” he muttered to himself, fishing through his remarkably oversized pockets for a pen. “Even now.” There was no need to write that down, but anything could happen after dark.

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