001: a different path ☄

[no-hometown.livejournal.com]

[Professor Gast didn't leave him behind. Why would he? They understood each other; there was a kinship between them. He wouldn't have left a child with that madman. It isn't easy, living on the run from Shinra, but Sephiroth is strong, stronger than any other, and swifter. He can protect them both. He can hear the enemy coming from a long way off, the hum of engines or the tramp of feet. The Planet is large, and they'll always be safe, if he can help it. Shinra lost their war with Wutai (there was no Silver SOLDIER). There are places left to hide.

They don't stay anywhere too long, but they bring their research with them. They conceal themselves in small towns. Refugees aren't so unusual, and few people would guess at what they are, though Sephiroth's bearing and his long sword makes some things clear, such as the fact that they can handle themselves.

Their current residence may be cramped, but it is clean. Sephiroth is dressed simply, in a white shirt and black pants, leaning over the table, lost in the study of figures. He and the Professor discuss the problem they're working on in low voices, in terms that might make little sense to a layman. The Professor breaks to make tea, and Sephiroth drinks it black.

When Gast goes to bed (Father, maybe he can think of him that way), Sephiroth remains awake, remains watchful. He needs less sleep, because he's different, a person apart. He's just beginning to understand why that is. He knows he must be careful. What Shinra did to him, to other children: they shouldn't be allowed to continue. He and the Professor mean to stop them. Sephiroth gazes out the window at the night sky spotted with bright stars, and though he has no wealth, no influence, no power save his own strength, the sudden realization sweeps over him that he is fiercely, deeply, undeniably happy.

There shouldn't be anyone else in the cottage, and when he senses an unfamiliar presence, Sephiroth turns, tensing, the calm slipping from him in an instant.]

What do you want?

[He won't let anyone take this from him.]

[[OOC: Starting out with a flip of the chessboard. In his dream, Sephiroth's guardian is Professor Gast rather than Professor Hojo, and they left Shinra together. Sephiroth has no idea of what actually happened to Professor Gast.]]

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[no-hometown.livejournal.com]

[Somehow, in the back of the cottage, there's a door. But it's not a wooden door, the kind that should be in the cottage. It is metal, smooth and clean in the midst of the decay. There is a number on it: 67. No, that can't be here.

Outside, it's soundless, as if there's nothing outside, no attackers, no battle, no world whatsoever. From beyond the incongruous door, there's a low humming noise, as of machinery running.]

It's not possible. [He should go back, he knows. He wants to, but he stretches out a hand, pressing it against the cool surface of the door. It feels real enough.]

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

{Dreams are frightening, not for what they can contain, but what they can trap a person within. She's been lost in her own mind too long not to feel the pounding thought, the old familiar thought:

She's been left to fight alone after all. Her powers and abilities were used simply for Sephiroth to make his escape. She doesn't know what truly kept him, just like she's never known the real reason why the senshi didn't come to save her that time.

Right now, it doesn't even matter. She will cut then her enemies, then demand answers. But with the jumbled-up thoughts of this time and that time, the familiar feeling, her efforts start to flag as she begins to fight too emotionally.]

[no-hometown.livejournal.com]

[He moves to open the door. No, but it needs a keycard. He doesn't have one, does he? And where's the Professor gone? He couldn't have gone through there. He left that place long ago. He wouldn't go back, not to where those things were done.

Sephiroth turns away, but he can still see the door in his mind's eye as he moves.] Professor? [If something's been done to the man--if he sees as so much as a drop of blood, he--he doesn't know what he'll do, but he'll be angry. Professor Gast is one of the only people he's ever respected.

He has to find him (or a keycard, part of his brain whispers). Maybe he escaped somehow. With this in mind, Sephiroth exits the cottage again. Somehow, the fighting is still going on. Gunfire and shouts and blasts of ice. He views the conflict with surprise at first, as if he'd partly forgotten about it. Then he approaches the battle again, his heart pounding in his chest. They did this. Somehow, they're to blame.]

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[It's ridiculous the way the new thought stuns her: He came back.

That's all it takes for her to be ready to fight for Sephiroth, and the soldiers who'd almost managed to hold her at bay are thrust away from her by a blast of pure energy from her hands. There is no more hesitation or doubt of herself now.

Once the enemies are gone, she can help him find the keycard (or duplicate one with her computer). For now, she maneuvers herself into position to cut their opponents off between them.]

They're easy, but even easier is better, right?

[no-hometown.livejournal.com]

[Watching the scene before them, he remembers something about combat, about honor. A SOLDIER won't leave another behind. But where did that thought come from; he isn't a SOLDIER, is he? Nonetheless, he won't leave her.

He nods his agreement.] Yes. We'll finish them off.

[He's angry now. He doesn't hold back. He was created to do this. To kill, destroy. It's not what he wanted, but it's what he is. He'll kill all of them. He swings his sword and a pale blue bolt energy shoots from it, slicing through the troops before him, cutting them neatly in half.]

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[Her sword is readied, translucent and made of ice. She cuts the air with it and a burst of energy buzzes to life, slamming into her foes, a mirror of Sephiroth's own technique. The ones it hits quiver in pain as she strikes them down.]