onepassingnight | 004 || all you need is a guardian angel

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004 || all you need is a guardian angel

Desolation. Death. Destruction.

It spans as far as the eye can see, possibly even further. To the outreaches of the Planet and beyond, only growing in its ravenous hunger and taking anything it can with it. It's a horrible, bloody sight... not one would expect to find bright, white wings shimmering in the too-bright sun. Even less so, the bundle in his dirtied arms, sound asleep.

The wings flutter once, dropping a few, floating white feathers to the remains of the torched building they were perched upon. The tips of the feathers are also burned, almost even rotting as they lay there, guided by a gentle breeze in the silent environment. And as the man shifts, the faint glow of a halo can be seen reflecting off of a broken window, the beaten body sagging against the brittle, splintered wood. He's tired of the fighting, the chaos and the panic caused by those soldiers. They weren't anything like he remembered, and... this was the result. Insanity finally caught up to him, and in a sense, he was glad to have passed before it'd gotten hold of him, too.

The infant in his arms stirs, a few soft, fussy groans jumping out of it.

In response, he gently rocked the baby in his arms, whispering in a low tone, trying to get his adopted bundle to calm down. Though still dirty, he'd long-since been able to heal it. It'd just... taken a toll on whatever spirit energy he had left, tethering him to this bleak world.

"Just a little while longer, kiddo."

[ooc: So... kind of an odd dream for him to be having, but pretty much? While Zack himself is still canon, he's dreaming of a universe that *did* fall to ShinRa. Certain things have been changed around, and I'll explain more in detail to whomever responds~]

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The dream has granted her the wings of an eternal senshi form, soft and feathery and black, but there is no halo on the girl who fell away so long ago. She looks Zack up and down. Her eyes rest on the baby before she looks at the man again.

Without speaking, she gestures to Zack to come nearer.

Perhaps she just doesn't like the sight of that battered form.

A fellow angel, or another one of the beasts of ShinRa?

Defensively, he holds the baby tighter to his chest, draping a burned wing over the weak, vulnerable form. But it's only when the new form nears that he finally relaxes, recognizing her immediately and dropping his guard.

...mostly.

Pushing himself off the withered home, the winged man drops to the ground, nearly tumbling forward on legs that were still bleeding from a previous battle. One even looked to be infected, but it was still too soon to tell. And the former SOLDIER gives a quiet laugh, shaking his head a little.

"...finally got 'im to calm down."

She's not good at this. She's good at asking dispassionate questions in her office, getting the answers, and making the decision about possible surgery. She's not good at being confronted with the raw pain, at being torn between the practical coolness she's meant to exude and the sneaking sympathy that still crops up.

So she sticks to the first. At least, without waiting, she starts to tend them. She takes out a small flask (a snow globe, to a sharp eye; a gift from Yuuko in Econtra).

"This will stop the infection." Her eyes drift there. "It will also start the healing, and stop the pain." She opens it.

"I don't have much time left here, anyway." He answers quietly, still smirking a bit.

Bright blue eyes trail to the sleeping form in his arms, however, pulling back his wing to reveal a baby - probably not even three months of age, and sound asleep in spite of it all. "I managed to heal what I could, but he's still a bit shaky."

The sole survivor of a ruthless attack. The kid was lucky, and definately deserved to live more than he needed.

Using one hand to support the child, the former-SOLDIER holds out a gloved hand. "Give it to me. I'll take care of it."

It isn't his to take, and she doesn't offer it. The offer of help had been hard enough to give, conflicted and strange still.

"Even if I had any intention of letting it out of my hands, you can't do it while you're holding the baby." She's not even sure whether its power would respond to him.

And she can leave as easily as she came. She feels too tense here as it is.

She waits.

Edited 2011-10-19 00:33 (UTC)

He pauses, then nods once, with his free arm moving back to support the sleeping infant. Lowering himself onto his knees to serve as a better cradle, he gives enough room for her to be able to administer the medicine, though still keeping a watchful eye for the elixir having any... untoward reactions.

"Just... try an' be careful."

If it came to that, he could probably fix it. Right now, he's putting his trust in someone who he's believing to be a friend.

The word 'friend' is an impossible one for her.

'Doctor' or 'patient' are much easier. She works methodically, gathering some of the water into a small ball in the air. This, she manipulates to swirl around the injured areas, soothing coolness working to lift away the pain and cleanse the wounds.

Edited 2011-10-19 00:58 (UTC)

A shock of surprise runs through him, the feeling of infection lifting from his borrowed body. Bright blue eyes blink in confusion, then relief when the baby's remaining injuries are also patched up. Gloved fingers run through the hair just barely peeking out of the soft scalp, smiling down at the bundle he'd become so fond of.

"...thanks." He whispers, closing his eyes with a sigh. The halo, at least, strengthens its glow for now, the energy being restored into their body. With so much desolation, death and pain around them, it still drains on his spiritual energy... this needed to be fixed, if he was ever going to rest peacefully.

"He'll need a new place to grow up, when we finish this war. I just... don't know where yet."

She has nowhere to offer. Her world is strongly protected, but it has been greatly damaged by their enemies, too. Besides, here, she is only a dream.

"Are there areas that weren't ruined?" Barring that, the baby had better grow up strong enough to fend off the effects of what's been done here.

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Sephiroth doesn't understand the destruction he sees, neither its direct cause nor the reasons behind it. This world seems familiar, yet not. He looks down at himself, and for some reason, he's out of his battle armor, dressed in plain clothes, without his sword. That doesn't mean he's defenseless, by any means, but it's odd for him to find himself in such a state, in a place like this.

He walks through the wreckage without any real aim in mind until he catches a glimpse of white wings and heads toward them. He's reminded of Angeal, but as he draws closer, he can see that this isn't Angeal. "Zack?"

Wings tucked behind his back, the former-SOLDIER starts moving away from the wreckage, looking still very much worn, but at least a little more lively than the last time they'd spoken. This time, even, Sephiroth's voice immediately garters his attention, and the angel-like man gives a visible sigh of relief.

"Seph..."

Sephiroth. Sane Sephiroth.

Wherever he was going wasn't important anymore. Because now he's turning back, shuffling over to the man with the most relieved grin on his tired face.

"Seems pretty stupid to ask but... how's the situation?"

The situation? He's not sure what's meant by that, but he returns Zack's smile readily, glad to see him. Zack is perhaps the only friend he has left, and he's pleased to see him, even though he doesn't know what's happening here. "Hello, Zack."

The wings are concerning. Why does Zack have wings? Wings like that don't mean anything good, in his experience, yet he remains friendly, if cautious.

"You'll have to be more specific in your query, I'm afraid."

...specific? What was more specific than the entire world coming to an end? Sephiroth of all people had been the one to find the fallen SOLDIER in the first place, had led the resistance for quite a few years now.

So why couldn't he remember?

"Uh." He started, stepping forward a little more. "SOLDIER, ShinRa? Crazy superpowered humans trying to take over the Planet? Ringin' any bells there, Seph? You were heading off to Mideel just a little while ago."

He blinks, honestly confused. "...you feelin' alright, man?"

Zack's words do strike a chord, but there had been no destruction, not to this extent, in the world he remembers. Has he experienced memory loss?

"No." He frowns. "I don't seem to remember where I've been recently, what I've been doing. I remember wanting to leave ShinRa, and Genesis' clones, but after that..." He trails off, looking down at himself, his empty hands. No weapons, no armor. Surely that isn't right. "I'm not sure what's wrong."

So, they did erase Sephiroth's memory.

The pit-feeling in his stomach is obvious by the slackening of the SOLDIER's posture. The one person who had been guiding him through this whole mess was now effected, and he felt very alone in that instant.

"They hurt you." His voice is quiet. "They must've taken you in, made you forget. And that's why..."

He shifts uncomfortably, trying his damndest to make light of the situation but was there any real way to? No matter where he looked, the bodies just kept piling up.

"I can take you back to our base, sir. Maybe someone knows how to help you?"

He dislikes the idea that he may have been taken and altered in some way. There are few things that disturb him more than the thought of being experimented on or changed, especially without his knowledge. As unsettling as Zack's explanation is, he does have no memory of any of this. What other reason could there be? "You may be right. I can think of no other explanation." He concentrates, tries to access more memory, but no matter how he strains, there is simply nothing there. He doesn't remember what happened to Zack, or why he has wings.

Yet he trusts Zack. Zack is perhaps the only person he still trusts. He nods. "Thank you, Zack. It's possible there's something that can be done. You must tell me what's happened, on the way. The last thing I remember is being in Modeoheim."

"A lot happened since then, so maybe I should just fast-forward to the bigger parts of it."

He started, leading the taller man away from the wreckage. One of their older bases, and a place that had been so teeming with life so long ago. It was too depressing here, and there wasn't much they could do to escape it.

"You went missing, and me an' Cloud... we were trapped down in Hojo's labs for a few years. I tried bustin' out getting Cloud out of there, but I just remember bein' ambushed by a batallion of lower troops and gunned down." Starting in a hover, the SOLDIER led the safest route possible. "I watched everything happen from the Lifestream. ShinRa took over, the remaining SOLDIERs went nuts, and... everything just burned. It wasn't until a few years ago that I popped back here in the state you see now, but with the way the Planet's hurtin' like this..."

There's a long silence before he says the next part, unable to meet Sephiroth's gaze.

"...there's a good chance I won't even exist as a spirit anymore."

Precisely! ♡

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I will keep these fancy hearts forever! B[ 9

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He picks his way over the broken rubble and somehow the dream only seems natural. The world's gone to hell and it's probably his fault. He's just gotten so tired of fighting. What's new is the form ahead of him.

With... wings?

His hand finds the hilt of the sword at his back in instinctive response to those wings but then it relaxes. Let's go. No. No, that's Zack. Zack's good. Zack's not going to start lighting things on fire. Zack's -

got a baby?

Okay. That's new.

So Cloud will stop in the ruined doorway.

"Zack?"

The child is a survivor, of a horrible string of events that should have never happened but did anyway. Without someone to look after it, care for it, and with both of its parents laying dead in a mass of smoldering brick and wood somewhere... what else could he do? Leave the poor kid there?

He holds the sleeping form tightly in his weakened grasp, wanting all of this to just end.

The ground crinkles and bright blue eyes snap up quickly at the arriving form, adjusting his grip to reach for his own Buster Sword. If it was a SOLDIER, he would fight. He'd protect the baby, what was left of this village, stop them all and--

...

It's Cloud. Cloud's here, Cloud's alive and hopefully sane and...

A small, faint smile spreads on his bloodied face, the relief evident in the slackening of his shoulders.

"Cloud..."

He sits up, pulling himself more out of the rubble.

"I thought I'd lost you."

"Zack..."

He's getting more used to seeing his friend when he closes his eyes but the blow never softens against his heart.

I thought I'd lost you

That's his line.

His arm gives a throb and his eyes narrow at it. Not now. Not here. But he stays in the doorway instead of stepping forward. He probably shouldn't be here.

It doesn't mean he can turn his back on that look on Zack's face.

"I'm here."

Cloud stays in the doorway and Zack doesn't leave his perch just yet, watching his old friend with saddened eyes. Of course Cloud wouldn't want to come forward. Not to someone who couldn't prevent all of this. Couple it with the fact that he'd already died long ago in keeping the other man out of danger. No doubt this was awkward.

His wings tucked behind his back, relaxing back into the mass of broken wood and debris. Cloud just being here, not having run off by the Sky Blue Eyes that was such a horrible sight nowadays... there was still trust there. He was grateful for that.

"ShinRa did this." His voice is quiet, grieving. "The remaining SOLDIERs, they... all became monsters. I don't know where's still safe."

He drew a breath, closing his own exhausted eyes and trying to hide the dimmness of his own halo.

"You became one of them, Cloud."

[ooc: Also! Zack's death hasn't happened yet, but it's based off of what he was told.]

Edited 2011-10-24 17:00 (UTC)

He stands silent, still in the doorway. He doesn't belong here. It's more apparent than ever when Zack starts to talk. Zack needs someone useful, someone to stand side by side with him and not fail him. And Cloud's the last man for that job considering his track record. His head aches or maybe that's his chest. It doesn't matter. What matters is that it's obvious Zack needs help - and he's fucked because all he's got is Cloud instead.

His head does come up though at Zack's last words, eyes going wide. And there's fear in that blue but - there's something else too. Almost as if he expected that somehow. His hand goes self-consciously to his sleeved arm and his heavy boots shuffle in the rubble. Backing up.

Monster. Puppet on a string.

Innocent girl's blood on his knuckles.

Zack's better off without him. Always was.

It still makes him feel like a coward though, leaving his friend that way. So he stops in the shadows, on his way out but unable to go and his feet shuffled in the rubble again as his eyes go anywhere but at his friend.

"Sorry."

ooc: someone told Zack? oooo, Cloud would not take that well. >:[

He isn't sure what to say. What can he say to the man he'd completely failed to save in life? It was never Cloud's fault to begin with, wasn't anyone's but Hojo and the rest of ShinRa and their stupidity. And now...

"I don't wanna hear that."

The SOLDIER's tone is quiet. Serious.

"What matters now is that you've got your own mind back, right?" This much is enough to have him look up, to offer a gentle smile to the man he could once again call 'friend'. "And now that that's outta the way, we can put an end to this nightmare. Sephiroth's sane again, too. We're all coming back together..."

And Zack himself would hold out as long as possible, even if the Planet's spirit energy - or lack thereof - threatened to have him vanish from existance entirely. He would keep fighting, just as it always was, to get things back to normal.

"...c'mere, Cloud."

[his chin dips even lower when Zack rejects the apology. It's not as if he doesn't have every right to do that. 'Sorry' is a pretty sad excuse anyway. It doesn't change anything. Cloud's head does come up in surprise at the next part though, blue eyes widening and when Zack calls him over, he comes simply because it doesn't occur to him not to. He pulls to a stop when he's still about halfway to Zack though and his hand hasn't left his covered arm.

"I thought I killed Sephiroth."

"Cloud. Come here."

His tone strengthens when the other stops, and those quiet words don't pass his enhanced hearing. He... knew what Cloud meant, about Sephiroth being here. About the two of them together and Sephiroth being the root of this problem. But the man was alive again, trying to reverse the process, and he'd kept Zack himself from fading again on more than one occasion.

He just had to get Cloud to see that, now.

"Things are different now. An' after bein' here for a little while, you'll start to understand that. What's important is if you trust me."