011 ♃ there was a friend of mine on murder and the judge's gavel fell

[seekinganswers]

Characters: Sheba (seekinganswers) and Sephiroth (neverbeamemory)
Setting: Floor 43, backdated to very late at night on the 19th (because I fail at life and didn't have this up sooner)
Format: Action brackets!
Summary: After having seen him earlier that day, Sheba pays a return visit to Sephiroth in his jail cell. By which I mean she gets chased onto the floor by monsters...
Warnings: Some violence near the beginning of the thread? Possible strong language? Nothing too graphic!

[There is a sharp cry from the floor above - followed by a crash of lightning, and then frantic footsteps. Or at least, they sound frantic. When Sheba comes into view, she looks like she's being chased. She's moving quickly, doing her best to outrun a group of Neoshadows (the exact number is hard to tell, with the way they're shifting and skulking after her, but there's at least thirteen of them now and more trailing down the stairs behind the group), but there's none of the sheer panic that typically comes with a pursuit. Almost a year in the Tower will do that to a person... maybe.]

Sephiroth!

[Though she doesn't look panicked, she sounds panicked enough. Whether that's genuine or for the benefit of any guards that might still be around this time of night - if there are any - is anyone's guess.]

You're still in there, right?

Comments

[seekinganswers]

["I don't know." That doesn't sound good, but Sheba doesn't have many options here. The swarm of Neoshadows isn't something she's prepared to handle completely on her own, and they just keep coming. She could lock herself into one of the cells for safety, but then she'd be trapped there and would die slowly, rather than quickly.

There's only one thing to do. She nods, and narrows her eyes, and grips her staff tightly, shifts her stance so that she can move at a moment's notice. If Sephiroth needs a window of opportunity, she'll certainly give it to him.

That means clearing off the Neoshadows that are encroaching on the space between herself, the cell, and Sephiroth. She takes a deep breath and raises her staff. She'd used two of her Djinn in her earlier fight with them, as she'd struggled to make it to a floor where she knew someone would be waiting. That means there's enough dormant elemental energy in her for a summoning sequence, which while it won't beat off all of them, should clear off the closet of the Neoshadows.]

Atalanta! I need you!

[There's a rush of wind around her, and a ghostly figure of a huntress in flowing robes emerges in a burst of light. She hovers somewhere above Sheba and draws back her bow - a flurry of arrows rains down on the nearest Neoshadows -

While Atalanta is taking care of the monsters, Sheba lunges for the button to Sephiroth's cell. Her hand slams down on it just as the last arrow strikes and Atalanta vanishes. The immediate area is clear, but more and more Neoshadows are coming down the stairs...] If you need more time, I'll cover you!

[neverbeamemory]

[Still he lightly squats in the doorway of the cell, shaking off one leg and then the other. Sephiroth's world tilts wildly from one side to the next to start with, and even as Atalanta is summoned he has to use the wall to steady himself. Sephiroth isn't watching that much of the light show going on outside the cell; he cannot afford to.

Deep, ragged breaths are forced in and out. They rip deeply even into Sephiroth's lungs it seems but he needs to focus; to distance himself from the severe exposure his physical body is weakening him with. To reach as far as he can inwardly just in time for-

-the force field is dropped suddenly and Sephiroth pushes himself against the wall for the momentum to get into the hallway. He stumbles there, falls sharply to one knee. At the same time he grips all of his will around that core where he power should be. Sephiroth can hear his pulse sounding wildly, distinctly in his ears; drowning out all sound even as he observes the advancing swarm of shadows towards him. This must work, or those Neoshadow are going to make very short work of him.

His limbs are like lead though and his gaze is unfocused on the multiple enemies. Sephiroth forces his head down, away from them, his attention needed inwardly. With an agonized grunt he squeezes at what power has regenerated in those few seconds. But the swarm are moving in and he's still not-

-whoosh. Just as the first of the pack take the last lunge for him, it all connects. In something similar to the rush of wind Sheba exhibited it's like a rushing, cooling wave released from the depth of Sephiroth's core. It overrides everything, and suddenly there is power there. The swarm meet with an invisible wall as he issues his will outwards and away from him down the hallway. The first few Neoshadow are flung back against the others before his telekinesis stops them completely; if only for the split second it takes for him to now get back to his feet. The sound of a blade singing through the air precedes it's physical manifestation as Sephiroth wills Masamune into being with only one well timed slash across as many of the Neoshadow that he can connect with.

The entire front row crumple down, but already he can feel his will failing in holding the rest back. A late wave of nausea grips him as Sephiroth turns and retreats back quickly towards Sheba, bringing one hand away from his sword and using the wall for balance on a couple of occasions.]

Go!

[They will have to retreat and try to double back around the other side to get to the stairwell. Already that forced power surge is leaving a stinging all along every fiber of Sephiroth's being, but he knows that now he's free his form will gear towards the most lethal threat; namely the encroaching swarm, should he need to strike at them again. Meanwhile, there was much regeneration to be done to his dried out cells.]