❄ The new kid ❄ [open]

[pinnaculum]

Characters: [au2] Sephiroth and YOU
Setting: throughout the tower: dorms, cafeteria, library, floor 81, anywhere with monsters to fight.
Format: Starting in action, but will match prose
Summary: A new Sephiroth arrives in the Tower. He's a bit smaller than the other one, and looks a lot younger.
Warnings: Mentions of human experimentation.


The dormitories; room 1-18 and hallways:
[Waking up in a completely unfamiliar place isn't a novel experience for Sephiroth, but it isn't one he likes. He rises from the bed and quickly searches the room. He reads the letters he finds and changes out of the white jumpsuit as soon as possible, exchanging it for his own dark gray, utilitarian clothes. He has a pair of dark goggles that he rests on top of his head. He uses them at times to disguise his glowing eyes, but he doesn't pull them down now. The last time he woke in a strange place, it was cold and snowing. This is a warm room. It is preferable, but he still has much to learn about his current location. He ventures out into the hallway as soon as he's dressed.

He doesn't see Mr. Valentine. He's supposed to stay near him. Maybe he can find him somewhere nearby.]

Floor 1; the cafeteria:
[Who has absolutely no problem with eating his oatmeal? This kid. After all, soldiers in the field eat rations, and this is no different. He is eating the bland food at a steady pace with a remarkable lack of expression and quiet determination. Seldom has oatmeal been eaten more seriously.]

Floor 3; the library:
[Sephiroth doesn't see the need to ask for help, though he's frustrated that he still hasn't found Mr. Valentine. The network terminals aren't difficult to operate. With in no time, he's accessing them and looking through the old entries. He frowns slightly. A lot of these entries aren't very useful. He doesn't need to know about people feeling sick or playing pranks or insulting each other.

After spending some time at a terminal, Sephiroth makes his way through the shelves and locates a nice, extensive section of science books. In no time, he's amassing quite the collection of thick tomes on biology, genetics, and chemistry. He pulls down all the books that seem interesting. The ones on the upper shelves are harder for him to reach, so he leaps up several feet into the air and grabs those he's selected from the shelf. This acrobatic display seems effortless.]

Floor 81; the observatory lounge:
[Sephiroth has walked out onto the bulging glass windows, so that he almost seems to be suspended in midair. He isn't doing anything in particular. He stands silently looking upward, watching the stars.]

Any dangerous floor, near dusk:

[It's growing darker, and it's probably a good time for children to be heading back to safer floors, but Sephiroth, instead, is heading out. He has a sword with him, a rather long sword for someone of his height. Kids, swords, and monsters: always a good combination.]

Comments

[pinnaculum]

What was the item?

I would like to fight in a war. Has there been a war against the administrators?

[That seems like a viable solution. Or at least worth trying. It does make sense that, as Diarmuid says, they should fight against the administrators and not each other.

If Sephiroth picks up on the moment of anger, he doesn't mention it.] Why do you fight, if your fates are the same?

So you should be erased, but you are not erased here. Even if you are a copy, you can be alive. [That's good, isn't it?]

You're welcome. Materia use a natural power that is called magic, but maybe it is not the same as your magic.

I would like that, too. [Sephiroth is confident that he has a good chance of winning in a sparring match, but then, he's always confident.]

[oathshackledbird]

It is a relic called the Holy Grail. It is very powerful and has the ability to grant a wish to those who win it, both Servant and Master. We fight because we have our own wishes. However, most Servants don't know as much about our fates as I do. My Master...he told me some things and I have talked to other Servants here in the tower. I suppose if Servants knew that even if they won their wish, they would still be erased and forget winning it, they wouldn't want to fight. I guess that is why most aren't told.

[The boy doesn't need to know that the reason Kayneth had told Diarmuid so much was because he was purposely trying to demean and hurt him.]

I don't know if they have tried a full out war yet, but I know groups of people have tried rebelling. It has never ended will. Those involved usually die or are tortured horribly. The administrators have so much power over us here that they can stop a lot of plans before they even start just by having one or two people killed or taken away.

There are a great many different kinds of magic even in just one world. I have no doubt your magic is much different from that on my world. It's actually quite amazing to see how different it all is.

[pinnaculum]

The Holy Grail. [He ponders this.] How do you know it can grant a wish?

It does not seem like a war worth fighting if you are erased and forget you won. I wouldn't fight for that.

A plan would have to be very simple and very secret. [He thinks this over as well. Not that he has a plan at the moment, but he will keep the idea in mind.] If small rebellions didn't work, a war might. Do they often kill and torture people here? [Sephiroth asks the question with milder curiosity than a child his age might be expected to.]

I would like to learn more about the different kinds of magic. Is there any other kind of magic you can do? Some Materia can make fire and ice or cause earthquakes, but I was not allowed to have any of them. But I can make barriers and heal injuries. [Maybe not as cool as setting fires and causing earthquakes, but not bad, either.]

[oathshackledbird]

It is what my master told me and the information the Grail itself told me. I cannot say I have seen it grant a wish myself. I can only go by those things. Don't forget, though that most servants don't know the things I do. It is extremely possible they would refuse to fight if they knew they wouldn't remember their wish. Or maybe some would still do it. Every servant is different and heroes are not very predictable in the long run.

[Diarmuid shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath. He's not surprised by the questions. Even if he looks like a child, it is very obvious to Diarmuid this boy is anything but.]

They torture and kill people all the time here. There is at least one experiment a month and it is hard to say if it is better or worse to be chosen to participate in the experiment or to have to watch someone you care about being forced to participate and not be able to help them. At least one of the administrators has admitted several times that he does the horrible experiments he does because he is bored and wants to learn things. He doesn't care how much it hurts us because we are nothing to him.

[Diarmuid shakes his head and then changes the topic.]

I am sorry I can't help you learn anymore about magic. Aside from my spear and my curse, I have no magical talents. I grew up with magic all around me, but I have no skill of my own in it. My skills lay elsewhere.

However, in a place like this you will find that the Materia you do have will probably be more useful to you than the more offensive ones you speak of. You can fight very well. You have already mentioned that, but even the strongest fighter can fall if they have no way to heal themselves of injury or poison during a fight.

[pinnaculum]

It might not grant a wish at all. ["Granting wishes" seems like a suspect claim to Sephiroth. It's not very scientific. Materia are another thing. They are understood and have a specific purpose, even if science has not explained it, which is why it is called "magic".]

Heroes are not very predictable because they are all different. People are unpredictable. That is why the job of a leader is difficult. [And a leader is what he very much wants to be.] You would want to fight, knowing that?

In the lab, where I lived, there was always an experiment. It was the same experiment, but there were many different tests. No one was killed, except in the case of accidents. I do not like experiments. How many people die? [He seems, again, to treat the subject mildly, but he has been conditioned not to have an emotional reaction to death or injuries. He waits a beat, considering Diarmuid's words about the bored man who wants to learn things.] The professor was like that.

Maybe I can ask other people here about the magic in their worlds. My roommate is from world named Alternia. Mine is called Gaia. What is yours called? [Because he's pretty interested in all this "different worlds" business now, and as long as it's come up he might as well ask.

I have six Materia. They are all defensive, but they are not all Mastered. That is when a Materia is mature and its most powerful. When it is mastered, it will cause a new Materia to form and break off and cease growing. [Because clearly, Diarmuid needs to know all about Materia. Sephiroth might not be the biggest talker usually, but when started on a subject, he's happy to lecture away.] It is true, they will be useful in battle. [Even if earthquakes and firestorms are more impressive.]

[oathshackledbird]

Surely it must. So many wars have been fought over it. So much lost... Why continue sacrificing so much if it doesn't?

[For a moment, panic enters Diarmuid's eyes. The idea that so many had been used and died--innocent and not so--for nothing causes a cold dread to fill him. It's a feeling he takes several seconds to push away and even then his voice is not so steady.]

That can't be true, so we shouldn't waste time talking about it. You mention how hard it is to be a leader and that is true. I lead a group of men during my first life and they were all heroes in their own rights. The Fianna was made up of the strongest men in all of Ireland. It was a very rewarding position, if hard at times.

[Like when Oscar just wouldn't take no for an answer...]

Still, I would never give up those times or what I learned then. Our world's name is Earth, by the way. I hear that it is a common name for many of the people who are here. The names you list off are quite beautiful in their own rights, though. Still with a home world that has such a different name, perhaps that is why our magic is so different. I wish you well on your quest to learn more and master your own. It is a very interesting process of growth that you describe.

[pinnaculum]

Has it granted a wish in the other wars? [Sephiroth has something of a researcher's skepticism, having been raised by them. He's well versed in magical science, but "wishes" are something else altogether. But he doesn't press, though he remains unconvinced. He'll have to see proof one way or the other before he believes in the Grail. Just as he'll have to see proof before he believes their worlds are destroyed.]

You were a leader? [Now Sephiroth is even more impressed.] Is Ireland your nation? I am going to lead warriors someday, too. The Fianna sound like SOLDIER. They were the strongest warriors in the world. But they have been disbanded. [Unfortunately, as far as Sephiroth's concerned. Now he'll never be in SOLDIER.]

Earth. [He nods.] That is one of our words for soil. Yes, that must be why our magic is different. It might be different on every world. [And that's an interesting thought. Endless kinds of magic!] Maybe there are books about the different kinds in the library.

Thank you. Yes, Materia are made from Mako, which comes from the planet, and they grow naturally, even though most of them are man made. I wish I had Fire or Ice Materia, but Heal and Restore are useful, too. [He supposes.]

[oathshackledbird]

I don't know. I just don't know.

[Diarmuid shakes his head, pushing away the emotion thinking of such a thing stirs up in him. He would much rather think of other more pleasant things.

Like the Fianna and his home.]

Yes, Ireland is my country. As for the Fianna, I was the first among them. To be honest, our lord was our leader, but I trained and organized them. Later events would prove many of them more loyal to me than him...

[Diarmuid looks away for a moment, obviously remembering something unpleasant.]

We were all brothers. I was just another one of them. They should not have chosen me over him. I never wished to cause such a divide between them.

[Diarmuid suddenly waves a dismissive hand.]

You will be an excellent soldier and leader someday. If you think so much of that group, never forget them. Let your memories of them carry you forward. Just because they have been disbanded, doesn't mean they have to be gone.