Log 019 | Rebellion: Aftermath

[neverbeamemory]

Characters: Sephiroth & OPEN
Setting: 21st - 23rd April
Format: wordy!Prose & Action: I'll follow.
Summary: Sephiroth deals with the Aftermath of being controlled. Slight break in the bathroom, then a 3-day binge!monster hunt for venting.
Warnings: Approach at your own risk. He's PISSED but won't take it out on anyone unless they push the button. He might well just ignore you completely but be prepared for short/snappy comments. Also, there is almost always a retrieval unit nearby.

>A) April 21st. Male Bathroom: Dormitory Floor 3
SMASH Might be heard from the corridor passing one of the male bathrooms.

He can't bear to even look at himself right now. Sephiroth was half-dressed, leaning over the sink and staring into the empty space on the wall where there had been a mirror - though the outraged telekinetic wave had shattered every mirror along the wall and cracked a few tiles as well. THIS Bathroom. It could be or it could be one of the others they all look the same. Where he'd been so humiliatingly unable to even scrub a wall with a brush. He'd caught a glimpse of himself in the mirrors then; those somewhat dulled green eyes, his stained hair. Those wings which had replaced arms in an all-too-personal jest at his heritage, rendering him pretty much useless in the process.

Even though he'd been returned to normal, Sephiroth couldn't now look in the mirror and call what he sees his own again. Despite spending most of the day under a scalding hot shower, scrubbing layer upon layer of skin away. He has a body. But it cannot now, not be ever considered completely his own. Not while this collar remains around his neck. He's not tried so hard before, in a long time, to wrench it from around his neck, the skin around the unbreakable thing was stinging slightly from the effort. As if it wasn't bad enough, thanks to the network, Sephiroth now questioned even his own willpower. Ganon, if it had been the troll, had called one of those traitors weak-minded. How it always was the same people, who either subconsciously asked for it or couldn't resist being controlled-

He'd been involved in something nearly every month since he's been here.
The epidemic, Ruana's games, now this.
Why was he even susceptible? He was stronger than this.
Because he had already given up so much of himself before...
NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.
They hadn't claimed his mind. He couldn't let them have his will like that. EVER.

A moment of clarity pauses his thoughts and Sephiroth looks around. They'd be sending workers this way shortly, he didn't want to be here when they arrived. Slipping his leather jacket back on and crunching broken glass under boot Sephiroth headed back into the corridor.

Good luck to anyone who tried to stop to speak to him in the corridor on the way back to his Dormitory. He might even push past you if you're in the way, he doesn't care for manners right now. If you're paying enough attention you might spot the retrieval unit that is never too far away; lingering at the end of corridors he's walking down or standing near doorways he's about to pass through. Sephiroth himself is either oblivious to his silent followers or is already aware that there isn't anything to be done about it. 

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>B) April 21st. Dorm 03-02 then Dorm Corridors: Evening

Later that evening, Sephiroth lay on top of his bed staring at the ceiling. How could he even allow himself to sleep now. There was probably a retrieval unit stood right outside the door that could grab him at any moment, and he'd get no warning. Clearly he was being followed around but hey, let them be scared of him, let them have their illusion that they might be able to stop him when the time came.

Because that time would come.

He'd give them a showcase alright, and why did he really need sleep anyway. He'd endured too much sleep paralysis already in the last week on account of that experiment, due to having been so squeezed into such an incompatible role, one that he can't allow himself to get over! All this anger, all this burning hatred for the administration had only multiplied by the hour since he'd been released; it got worse the more he thought about it and Sephiroth doesn't shut off. It was clouding his judgement and he needs to focus now, more than ever before.

Better to get to that then. Sephiroth got dressed again without any consideration for the hour or disturbing his own room mates. Without even a glance at anyone else there, he headed out into the corridors with his blade out already and his new Materia equipped. 

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>C)Evening Apr 21st - 23rd: 3 day Monster-hunt
Various Floors (pick a prompt or pick one!)

[Sephiroth is spending the next three days straight combing the Tower from top to bottom, looking in on any floor in which he can find a monster at first sight or those floors on which he will linger, knowing monsters are common, such as Floor 75 which harbors a whole dark Tower of it's own which he can fight through and then pause for the view on the top before heading down again. The longer and harder the fight the better, failing that the quantity of lesser creatures to drop will do. Anything that draws his thoughts away from the trauma of the last week. More often than not he'll leave the bodies burning, little fires set off with his new Materia leaving a trail where he's been recently.

It's refreshing to be able to use Materia again, even though only a starting level Materia - it's all about how you use it and Sephiroth is skilled enough, it's like riding a bike. This shows in the accuracy with which he can launch small fireballs at his targets. Some monsters he wants to just feel his blade cut through though, but having both disciplines now available to him is starting to make him feel powerful again. Materia is very much a means of magic which requires spiritual power to use to any level of mastery. It's therapeutic sometimes to gaze into the flames left behind and remember.

Of course, most hunting in this fashion is done during the nighttime when the monsters are more common in general and more challenging as well. During the daytime on 22nd and 23rd, Sephiroth is to be found peering out of the Tower on any of the Lounge floors (Floor 81, Floor 38, Floor 4)collecting his thoughts and reflecting with a stern face on. Also in the Library (Floor 3) infrequently, reading and watching over the network as it swarmed with other people's despair. One time he nearly offered a comment, but why should he. Turns out he'd been right as well, those that had thought to share information and try to organize any attempt to overthrow their Hosts with it had been proved foolish. A glance at the retrieval unit nearby turned his thoughts towards why; Ryoji's trail would have to be picked up again soon.

Once he can be found on Floor 12, watching the projection over and over again, burning it into his subconscious. Also on Floor 5, as if to remind himself that Gaia has really gone.

Keeping moving seems to enable him sometimes to lose the constant watch of a retrieval unit - easier to spot at nighttime with it's red collar. However whenever he lingers, or stops for a certain amount of time in one place and most certainly during the day he's being shadowed, though not from such a close distance that would get in his way.]

Comments

B - Dorm corridors

[stop_calling_me_zelda]

Sleepy-eyed and with tear stains down her face, like most every night, Tetra was wandering towards Zelda's room to hear her 'aunt' sing her a lullaby. At the moment, she looks more like a sad kid than the fearsome pirate she tried to be after a year in the tower. And then she sees Sephiroth and quickly tries to wipe her eyes since, usually, she doesn't run into people this late at night.

"'hoy, mister. Ya okay?"

Oh... That's a big sword.

B - Dorm corridors

[neverbeamemory]

Sorry Tetra, he's minus any patience at all for little kids right now. Especially crying little kids wandering the Dormitory corridors at this time of night.

Sephiroth sweeps Masamune into his off-hand as he passes the girl so that there is room for them to pass each other but that's all. He doesn't know her, doesn't care much either.

"Hmph." Is the only huffed acknowledgment she gets as he continues down the corridor.

[stop_calling_me_zelda]

The tower wore on everybody. That it had taken a little over a year for her to really start dealing with nightmares had to said something for her. She thought that it did. And she acted more or less like herself each day.

"That's pretty rude, yanno!" She turned and ran up behind him. "I was just askin' if yer okay. Ain't like I was askin' for yer life story or nothin' jeez."

[neverbeamemory]

He didn't need to be hearing that voice coming back up behind him. What is it with minors and not leaving him ALONE!

More to the point, how can anything be OK?!

Sephiroth spun as his anger flared, just as Tetra got within a few feet of him. He glared down at the girl for a second before expanding his power to lift her off the floor. Ah. It felt so good to be able to use that again, he hadn't had chance to open up in that way since he'd been released. It felt more empowering as well, but that was probably because of the time he'd spent without it.

He held Tetra at face height, though didn't close the distance any further. Whilst he was trying to hold a blank expression, Sephiroth was not about hiding his displeasure tonight. His eyes burnt dangerously into Tetra's.

"Care to repeat that? To my face this time."

[stop_calling_me_zelda]

OH SWEET GOLDEN GODDESSES, THIS IS NOT NORMAL.

Then again, when is anything normal in this tower of nightmares? She was just trying to be nice, to behave so that the heroes and Zelda wouldn't worry about her so much. That wasn't wrong, was it? It could be. Being nice to people wasn't exactly her forte, being raised among a crew of pirates on the Great Sea had that kind of effect on a person.

"Which... which part?" Tetra questioned, not trying to be smart-mouthed but it was really hard not to be when she was panicking, blue eyes wide and no longer tear filled.

C: Floor 75

[pinnaculum]

[He isn't the only one who had the idea to fight monsters as a distraction. It's good to have something to focus on after what happened, and there are few things Sephiroth enjoys more than fighting. Much like the older Sephiroth, he seeks out battle. He both cuts through monsters and sets them on fire.

They think alike in some ways, so maybe it isn't so surprising that eventually, they wind up on the same floor. Sephiroth sees the other fires left burning in the dark tower, and he follows, curious.

Another monster near Sephiroth suddenly bursts into flames, and it's not Sephiroth's own doing. Or rather, it is Sephiroth's doing, but a different Sephiroth. He's standing on the other side of the burning carcass, watching his older self curiously.]

Hello.

C: Floor 75

[neverbeamemory]

[The Materia equipped to Masamune glints green with the afterglow of the Fire spell as Sephiroth lowers his opposite hand from the outstretched position from which he delivered that fireball. The firelight catches the red sheen as the blood runs smoothly off Masamune's keen edge, it flicks odd movements of shadows over black leather and within silver hair

Peering up over the flames as they flick over the carcass Sephiroth meets eyes with his younger-looking self. Of all the people to have followed him up here, it had to be the young boy that he can't hate - yet can't fully comprehend either. He'd settled on the theory that they were from different instances of the same dimension but preferred not to think about it too much even before all of the events of the last week.]

Hello. [Is mirrored across the flames at the boy, though with the more deeper tones of his adult self]

[pinnaculum]

You have a fire Materia, too.

[Sephiroth's own sword is smaller, but not dissimilar in shape to Masamune, and his clothes are just as dark, if not leather, so in a way, they are like mirror images.

The burning and carnage don't faze him at all. They feel natural to him, and he stands calmly watching the other.

He's interested in his other self. He can believe that they're from different worlds, but they must be alike, also. Why wouldn't he be intrigued?]

Did they give you one?

[neverbeamemory]

[He'll never get used to being faced with a younger version of himself.]

Yes. Sometimes they see it fitting to give us things, I'm not sure why but it can only be to try and break us more.

[His tone is still very bitter, but a lot more emotion-less than it had been earlier on in his hunt.

At least this time the Materia he was given actually works! Rather than the Black might-as-well-be-a-paperweight one he was given before.

He looks away from the burning creature and the boy, surveying the immediate surroundings. Allowing himself to be distracted, would be a very dumb thing to do at this time of night.]

B- Dorm Corridors

[notayoungkitten]

Not too far off from Sephiroth, Ocelot left her own dorm. She doesn't sleep well on a normal day, and after having spent several days as a drone, and now being tailed by one, she can't find a secure place to sleep. She had been avoiding any place with mirrors too, still too horrified to look at what until recently had been showing her her mother's reflection.

She noticed the man, her expression severe, enough to match his own. She needs to talk to him, but now is not the time. Maybe in a few days, maybe in a week. She couldn't be too sure given how humiliated she felt right now and she knew that the feeling is more than mutual just from a glance.

Ocelot didn't speak when they crossed paths, but she did give a sharp, acknowledging nod.

B- Dorm Corridors

[neverbeamemory]

Sephiroth's returning nod was much slower than Ocelot's sharp one, his gaze lingering on her as they passed each other in the corridor. There was no point at all in hiding his utter outrage from his expression, he didn't want to be disturbed and needed to vent this on his own. Before looking up and seeing yet another retrieval unit at the end of the row.

It seems, Ruana has told-tale on us. He thought, not that it shouldn't have been expected. They had both died when infiltrating the lower levels on behalf of Ganondorf, because they had been caught doing so. Now they both had an unwanted shadow. Paranoid Jason. Sephiroth almost smirked at the thought.

This was going to make meeting in confidence very difficult from now on. But now was not the time to figure it out.

[notayoungkitten]

She wasn't surprised to see his rage. She hid hers better, something that came from sheer experience and patience, but that didn't mean that she thought less of him because of his anger. Though not a mind-reader, she had an inkling what was on his mind. They both had drones following her, and they both had been involved in the infiltration plot that may have gone well in Ganon's mind, but it had still caused a bruise on the egos of more than one member of the team. She needed people that she could trust more than Ganon.

They didn't need to fully trust her and she wouldn't fully trust them, but she wasn't about to bow down to the man in the event that he was successful. She couldn't tell him about her plan, not now. They would need to figure out how to communicate and she knew that even the slightest bit of dissent was bound to get back to Jason.

[neverbeamemory]

Sephiroth sees no need to hide his rage. Or rather, he's been doing such an excellent job of hiding his utter displeasure about this Tower, keeping his feelings all close and under wraps for so many months that in light of recent events the floodgates had been broken open. Was it weakness? Not having a care who knew anymore? Playing right into their Hosts' desires.

Well there wasn't any hiding now, even when he was alone, had a room or floor to himself that red-collar wasn't far away. Why not let them see what he was about? What would be coming for them? Sephiroth of course, will not hide his intentions unless it benefited him to do so. Clearly it doesn't benefit him, otherwise this wouldn't have happened.

Sephiroth continued down the corridor and turned out of Ocelot's sight, his knuckles white around the hilt of Masamune under leather gloves.

C - Floor 12

[seekinganswers]

[Truth be told, Sheba hasn't really been paying much attention to where she's going. She'll wake up in her room, she'll go down to the cafeteria and force herself to eat, and she'll sort of just wander aimlessly until it's time to go back up to the dorms again. That's been her routine since finding herself back to normal - or as close to normal as is possible in this place.

The only reason she really stops on this floor, as she's climbing up the stairs, is because she recognizes him. Not just as someone she's seen around the Tower - but as someone she wronged while she was under the Administrators' influences.

She owes him an apology, she knows.]

...excuse me.

[She's keeping her distance. After what happened before, well - if she were Sephiroth, she wouldn't want anyone near her, either.]

C - Floor 12

[neverbeamemory]

[He's easy enough to spot from the stairwell after all; all that silver amidst all the perpetual blackness of this floor. Only illuminated by the projection repeating and repeating itself.

From somewhere deep within the recesses of his mind he thinks he hears someone. Though in comparison to how easy it had been before, if Sheba tries to read his thoughts now she'd find the equivalent of an impenetrable wall; Sephiroth's psychic defenses are not only natural, they are well maintained.

No wonder he'd been so outraged.]

...yes?

[He hasn't even looked to see who it is and his voice is very small. He's less ill-mannered than he was earlier on, though he's very unsure he wants to talk to anyone right now.]

[seekinganswers]

[Sheba doesn't want to read his mind. Right now, she feels like if she had the choice she would never read anyone's mind ever again.

She doesn't move from her spot by the stairs. Sephiroth hasn't looked her way yet, and she doesn't want to startle him by suddenly being right there, especially when she's not entirely certain of how he'll respond to seeing her at all after what had happened up on the dormitory levels.

Staying silent won't do anything, though. So she speaks up.]

I came to apologize to you... for what I did to you not too long ago.

[neverbeamemory]

[There is absolute silence from Sephiroth for a beat too long before he turns so that he can see Sheba. This time is needed to reign in his unquenchable outrage and try to set his thoughts in some order.

Why would any of them seek to apologize to him? Sephiroth has developed the opinion that all the experimentation they undergo has some relevance to each person. Is targeted specifically to each person and whomever they then targeted in turn. For example, the way they'd grafted wings to him, exactly as if he might have mutated that way from Mother's cells. Which of course he knows is impossible.

The way they had dared to reduce him to not only a lowly worker, but it hadn't stopped there. He had to be a failure. Sephiroth doesn't allow himself to accept failure - hence his complete disgust. As such, he figures those that had killed him, on some unknown subconscious level could target him like that regardless of if they were controlled or not. Of course though, he wouldn't have allowed it if he'd had access to all of his power.]

What's this? Until next time? [His voice is low. Half-warning, half-something else. That something else might be anger, though anger is one of the only ways for Sephiroth to deal. He hurts in a way he's not dealt with before.

Because by his logic, it would happen again.]

dorms!

[culbutiri]

Nesir couldn't sleep either but fighting monsters hadn't calmed her down any. She didn't know what she wanted to do, and so she wandered, still angry, still confused. Still trying to remind herself she was human, no matter what they did to her.

When she spotted Sephiroth she froze, she didn't really want to talk to him, or see him right now. She didn't want to see anyone who had witnessed her like that, even if he had been affected as well.

[neverbeamemory]

Well that's just fine because Sephiroth doesn't want to see Nesir either. It wasn't just the misery that she'd inflicted on him, when she'd encountered him in the Infirmary as a drone - it's the downright careless way she'd hacked at his wings. Even if he had hated them on so many levels, due to how they disabled him; he can at a thought manifest for himself a wing just like them.

It's one of the gifts Mother had granted him and for anyone, in their right mind or not, to strip feathers away so disrespectfully is just unacceptable behavior. The whole affair had been so...well it didn't take much stretching of the imagination to picture Nesir doing that. Besides, he's no idea to what extent she was brainwashed.

He looked up half way down the corridor and froze as well, just glaring with burning eyes at her. Wondering how long it would take before either one of them either spoke, or walked the other way.

[culbutiri]

She glared back, a knee jerk reaction, though he had done nothing to her, except glare at her.

Half of her welcomed it, because she was angry and raring to fight, so if he wanted to start anything she was ready. She would rather he be angry at her, as if it had all been her. Her choices, her actions.

But then half of her hated for being blamed for what she had no choice in. Because that was stupid.

Still her face softened a little, "So you do be hating me now then?"

[neverbeamemory]

Sephiroth see's no point at all even rising to the tempting urge to teach her a lesson. Not yet, at least. Not now. Perhaps later he'd not even see the need to exact the vengeance that was coiling itself around inside of him just by being near her. She had humiliated him. Even Cloud, through his victories, had never crossed this particular line - he felt disgusting.

He'd already seen on the network, accounts of those who had had their wills so completely pulled under the whim of the admins. Apologizing to their apparent friends, admitting that they weren't strong enough to resist betrayal. Is it possible then, that Nesir had it worse than him? He doesn't think so. Knowing and not being able to do anything, is much worse than simple ignorance. At least she'd been capable.

Though, she was human. They are easy to control by even the most subtle powers of suggestion. What chance could she have had, when even his own superior form had been wrenched from his own control. That doesn't mean he'll drop that glare though, and his face doesn't soften a millimeter.

"That depends greatly on you."

b) Dorm Hallways

[bigbridgebattler]

Gilgamesh is still finding his footing in this tower, and the recent chaos didn't do much to help him meet people. He roams the halls at all hours, exploring and running into people, and finally fate, whether cruel or helpful, has landed him in the path of Sephiroth. Finally, a face that is familiar from his journeys from world to world.

"Bohoho! I knew this place was filled with great warriors!"

Gilgamesh clenches his fist in glee, his expression reading that he's ready to fight, but he hasn't drawn a sword yet.

[neverbeamemory]

In whatever other world Gilgamesh may have seen Sephiroth before, Sephiroth had never laid eyes upon this creature before. It resembles a man well enough but it's obvious that it's not a human. This is an intriguing change from the standard fare that the Tower draws in.

That was reason enough for Sephiroth to not just react as he would to any monster he may encounter at this hour that might be so obviously looking for a fight. It didn't take him long though, to observe that this indeed was another resident. His grip around Masamune tightened, the new Fire Materia glinting slightly where it's equipped to the hilt of the weapon. But Sephiroth is not yet sinking into a battle-ready stance.

"Explain yourself. Now." Sephiroth wasn't in the mood for such games, either this man would explain himself or Sephiroth would cut him down without any second thought.

[bigbridgebattler]

[Gilgamesh took a step back. His pride told him not to, that he could take Sephiroth in a fight, and that was quite possibly true, but sometimes it's better not to poke the devil in the eye if you can avoid it.

He raises his hands, waving them, trying to ward off hostility.]

Woah! Woah! I just arrived here in this tower. I've been traveling from world to world and wound up here.

[He scratches his forehead a bit.]

I guess you don't remember me. No one in that world seemed to when I wound up there anyway.

[neverbeamemory]

[Good. At least this one is intelligent enough to BACK OFF - Sephiroth wouldn't hesitate to start a fight with much less of a trigger than he would usually. His grip on his almighty sword relaxes just a touch.

Logic wasn't one of the things at the forefront of his mind right now.]

In another world?

[Eyes are narrowed but it's more needing-to-know than outright hostility now. He's not taking anything for granted mind, even if he does know already there might well be several versions of his same 'world'. After all, the other Sephiroth has been pulled here as well.]