toxicwillpower (
toxicwillpower) wrote in
onepassingnight2012-04-01 04:00 pm
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The Remnant of Midgar (Pied Piper of Hamelin)
((OOC: This is totally not my writing style. But I wanted to follow Grimm's style, so that is what I did here. :3 I hope you like it/it is acceptable))
Once upon a time...
On north of side of Gaia was a town called Midgar. The citizens of Midgar were honest folk who lived contentedly in their urban houses. The years went by, and the town grew very rich.
Then one day, an extraordinary thing happened to disturb the peace.Midgar was struck with an illness known as Geostigma. A black plague swarmed over the whole town. The terrified citizens flocked to plead with ShinRa to free them from the plague of Geostigma—which the ShinRa company had been responsible for. But Rufus ShinRa had, for a long time, been sitting in the Presidential room, trying to think of a plan.
"What we need is an army of SOLIDERS!"
But all the SOLDIERS were dead.
"We'll atone for our mistakes then . . ."
But most of the damage was already done and even attempting to please the Planet did not stop the Geostigma.
"It just can't be done without help!" said the president sadly.
Just then, while the citizens milled around outside, there was a loud knock at the door. "Who can that be?" the Turks, ShinRa’s henchmen, wondered uneasily. Mindful of the angry crowds, they gingerly opened the door. And to their surprise, there stood a teenage boy, dressed in dark leather, with silver hair that obscured half his face, and waving a double bladed katana at them.
“I can cure your little problem,” the stranger announced, “All I want in return is Jenova!”
"Jenova!" exclaimed the president. "We'll give you Jenova and all her remains!"
And so the deal was set.
The sun was still below the horizon when the sound of zealous gospel wafted through the streets of Midgar. The little remnant slowly made his way through the houses and behind him flocked the diseased. Out they crawled, the ill of every size, all after the remnant. And as he preached, the stranger marched straight down to a black river, right up to his middle. Behind him swarmed those who were plagued and every one was taken over by the remnant’s will and told to remain out of the city to be used for a later purpose.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, there was not a diseased person in the town. There was even greater delight at the town hall, until the remnant tried to claim his payment.
"You want Jenova?" exclaimed the Turks, "Never..."
"You promised you’d give me Mother!" cried the little remnant angrily. But the President broke in. "Geostigma is dead now and it can never come back. . ."
His eyes flashing with rage, the little remnant pointed a threatening finger at the President and told him he’d regret his actions.
A shiver of fear ran through the Turks, but the President shrugged and said excitedly: "We've saved the Planet!"
That night, freed from the nightmare of the Geostigma, the citizens of Midgar slept more soundly than ever. And when the remnant returned to the streets at dawn, only the children were interested this time. Drawn as by magic, they hurried out of their homes. The long procession soon left the town and made its way through the woods and across a glowing forest till it reached the foot of a huge crater. Beyond lay the Northern Cave. All the children had followed the remnant into the cave, to which he held them captive by pure Willpower alone.
Only one little girl escaped this fate. It was her, named Marlene, who told the anxious citizens, searching for their children, what had happened. No matter what people did, the Northern Cave never gave up its victims, for you see, they had become the remnant’s new brothers and sisters! A brand new army of children to fight for Mother! And it was here, that the remnant known as Kadaj would keep the children until ShinRa upheld their deal—and returned Jenova to her rightful family.
Once upon a time...
On north of side of Gaia was a town called Midgar. The citizens of Midgar were honest folk who lived contentedly in their urban houses. The years went by, and the town grew very rich.
Then one day, an extraordinary thing happened to disturb the peace.Midgar was struck with an illness known as Geostigma. A black plague swarmed over the whole town. The terrified citizens flocked to plead with ShinRa to free them from the plague of Geostigma—which the ShinRa company had been responsible for. But Rufus ShinRa had, for a long time, been sitting in the Presidential room, trying to think of a plan.
"What we need is an army of SOLIDERS!"
But all the SOLDIERS were dead.
"We'll atone for our mistakes then . . ."
But most of the damage was already done and even attempting to please the Planet did not stop the Geostigma.
"It just can't be done without help!" said the president sadly.
Just then, while the citizens milled around outside, there was a loud knock at the door. "Who can that be?" the Turks, ShinRa’s henchmen, wondered uneasily. Mindful of the angry crowds, they gingerly opened the door. And to their surprise, there stood a teenage boy, dressed in dark leather, with silver hair that obscured half his face, and waving a double bladed katana at them.
“I can cure your little problem,” the stranger announced, “All I want in return is Jenova!”
"Jenova!" exclaimed the president. "We'll give you Jenova and all her remains!"
And so the deal was set.
The sun was still below the horizon when the sound of zealous gospel wafted through the streets of Midgar. The little remnant slowly made his way through the houses and behind him flocked the diseased. Out they crawled, the ill of every size, all after the remnant. And as he preached, the stranger marched straight down to a black river, right up to his middle. Behind him swarmed those who were plagued and every one was taken over by the remnant’s will and told to remain out of the city to be used for a later purpose.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, there was not a diseased person in the town. There was even greater delight at the town hall, until the remnant tried to claim his payment.
"You want Jenova?" exclaimed the Turks, "Never..."
"You promised you’d give me Mother!" cried the little remnant angrily. But the President broke in. "Geostigma is dead now and it can never come back. . ."
His eyes flashing with rage, the little remnant pointed a threatening finger at the President and told him he’d regret his actions.
A shiver of fear ran through the Turks, but the President shrugged and said excitedly: "We've saved the Planet!"
That night, freed from the nightmare of the Geostigma, the citizens of Midgar slept more soundly than ever. And when the remnant returned to the streets at dawn, only the children were interested this time. Drawn as by magic, they hurried out of their homes. The long procession soon left the town and made its way through the woods and across a glowing forest till it reached the foot of a huge crater. Beyond lay the Northern Cave. All the children had followed the remnant into the cave, to which he held them captive by pure Willpower alone.
Only one little girl escaped this fate. It was her, named Marlene, who told the anxious citizens, searching for their children, what had happened. No matter what people did, the Northern Cave never gave up its victims, for you see, they had become the remnant’s new brothers and sisters! A brand new army of children to fight for Mother! And it was here, that the remnant known as Kadaj would keep the children until ShinRa upheld their deal—and returned Jenova to her rightful family.
Have a little sister, Kadaj. You know you always wanted one. >D
She doesn't need to be sure. She just needs to follow the thing pulling her away from home and family and towards the darkness of a blank and black future. Certainty at its finest.
Her feet crunch down the grass along the way, until she finally comes to the cave; yes, this feels right. This is now, she supposes, her new living place. She eyes it with an interest that nothing else seems to have stirred in her since she walked out the front door of that apartment.
no subject
As he surveyed all his new brothers and sisters with an excited grin, one girl caught his eye. He strode over to her and stared with a judging glare. There was one thing this girl lacked: fear. It was amusing, to say the least. Every child he had met in the past was stricken with utter terror. Why was this one different? The remnant crouched down to her level to get a better look at her. The corner of his lip curled mischievously. “Hello, little sister.”
Toys. That’s all they really were. Or tools, as big brother Yazoo often referred to them. “My name is Kadaj.” He introduced himself, letting her know that right now, she had his full attention. “Welcome to the family.”
no subject
Ami looks back at Kadaj, and a smile breaks over her face at his words. Something feels a bit wrong not to have Mama nearby in a 'family', but the part of her that wants to badly to be included, and to have such a large family instead of being alone as an only child, smooths the bump over easily.
"Thank you, Brother." That's right. He's her brother. It's her turn to eye the sheer number of children gathered here, and almost wiggle in a sudden fit of satisfaction. She'll soon show herself to be the best of them.
threadjack! because you know he has to ;)
Sephiroth had never cared about children. Apparently fragments of him had other ideas.
So here was Cloud, in front of a familiar cave thanks to Marlene's instructions. He's here for the kids. But he's also here for one of them in specific. In his dream, Denzel's safe. This time it's someone else precious to him that the Remnant's taken.
His little sister. He's here to get her back.
"Time to let the kids go, Kadaj." It doesn't matter if the entrance looks sealed. Cloud can crack it if he needs to. He knows the Remnant will hear him though and the last time he saw the other he'd almost -
he'd almost felt sorry for him.
<33
“Brother!” The remnant called out towards the darkness. He took several confident steps forward, arms spread wide. “You’ve decided to join your family.” Kadaj chuckled and whirled on the back of his heels toward Ami. “Mother will be so proud!”
Cloud was a threat, of course, but nothing he couldn’t handle. The remnant had bested big brother once before. There was no reason he couldn’t beat him again.
Kadaj remained casually calm despite his senses blaring red flags. “You see,” he addressed the little girl, “not everyone is happy to have a family. Isn’t that just sad? Don’t you think it’s time to let big brother know just how lucky he is?”
no subject
"Yes!" she agreed, now that Kadaj addressed her. "Maybe he just doesn't understand yet." Foolish, really, even she, younger, knew that. Cloud should be as eager to be here and a part of this as she was!
The grin spread, and she finally turned to eye Cloud, making it clear the next words were a threat entirely for him. "So we'll make him!"
Cloud had no sister here. But Kadaj did.
no subject
At the moment it looked like just Kadaj and the kids though.
How was he going to work around the kids?
He knew Ami was under Kadaj's control. But there was still something disturbing about the glee she took in threatening him. Littler than usual or not, he knew she was dangerous when she wanted to be. Blue eyes that glowed in the dim light locked with hers.
"You're stronger than letting someone else control you, Ami. I can't believe you haven't kicked his ass yet for even trying." His eyes went back to the silver haired youth in the midst of the kids and they narrowed down into sharp fire. "And your 'mother' is gone. I wiped out the last piece of her worthless, powerless existence when I killed the man she thought was a better fighter against me than you."
no subject
“Mother still lives on! She still exists in the Lifestream.” In a quick swipe Souba was withdrawn. It remained by Kadaj’s side for now but he was ready and eager to use it. He stood tensely still as he addressed the black sheep. “You still carry her cells, brother. Don’t downplay her gift to you.” Not everyone could be so lucky.
Kadaj knew Mother was still there even if he didn’t sense her. Like the sun on a cloudy day—you might not be able to see it, but you knew with absolute certainty that the sun was there. The same principle applied to the remnants and Jenova.
Cloud was stomping on thin, cracking ice. The blonde was brave, Kadaj would give him that much. Brave but foolish. It must have been the handicap of that natural human instinct that made him act this way.
“Now apologize to your real family.” Kadaj made a sweeping gesture towards the children. “Can’t you see you’ve upset them with your blasphemous talk of Mother?” They all stared, blank faced, with the exception of Ami and a few choice others.
no subject
"Don't talk about our mother that way!" She might have lunged at him, but there was no order from Kadaj yet, no command letting her let loose on the hindrance in front of them. She itched for it at the moment. How dare he degrade their mother, of all people? Something of her feelings towards her true mother outside the spell only heightened her aversion to the insult.
"As if she was a filthy human." Jenova was - they were - so far above that petty, powerless existence. Look at them! Look at what they could do with her cells, her energy, those few people blessed with them!
She'd love to show him just how it could tear a human apart. She glanced at Kadaj. Now?
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"Your mother's being picked apart in the Lifestream to power a tree. At least she'll finally be useful for something."
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He growled, loudly, and dug the heel of his boot into the ground. He sprung forward at full speed. Souba was lifted at just the right angle. Kadaj wanted to completely gut him for what he had said! Nothing, absolutely nothing would satisfy the remnant’s anger until the blonde’s blood was spilled. He deserved every slash, every cut, and every stab that he would soon suffer.
no subject
Besides that, she'd have her opening soon enough - very soon, if their focus on each other meant Cloud left himself open to her attacks... when she got around to feeling like stepping in.
no subject
He was very aware of his little sister, not trusting her to stay out of the way of flashing blades. Kadaj got a blue look over the silver of Cloud's blade and a snort.
"Not Sephiroth."
Sorry for the delay T_T
he remnant’s posture straightened. He appeared much more relaxed now. “Hn,” his eyes grinned at Cloud. “Sephiroth’s time has come and gone and he failed Mother. Mother has no room for failures.” That should have been obvious, right?
He swirled Souba in a display of showmanship. “What Mother needs,” Kadaj insisted, “is someone who is loyal to Her cause. . .” He glanced upwards to the dark sky, as if addressing Mother himself.
“You’ll get what you deserve soon, Mother! Don’t worry.” Kadaj focused back on Cloud. “He won’t be a problem.”
“Little Sister, you have your first assignment. Show our big brother what it means to betray family!”
no worries <3 happy to continue >D
She raised her sword, and instead of Kadaj, it was Ami running for Cloud with a weapon she knew how to use. It wasn't hard to tell she wasn't holding back. She was taking pleasure in the thought of the clash of their blades, of drawing blood, of harming the person she'd been so close to such a short while before.
Cloud should have noticed it the moment he arrived and saw her at Kadaj's side.
same here :)
She was a child, in a child's body. No matter what her heart and her training said, there was no way she was going to physically match what he somehow instinctively knew she was used to. The how of that blurred in his head, no adult imagine to transpose to explain it but his fighting mind told him just the same. Her magic might not be hampered by her size though. And more importantly, he refused to hurt her. He'd never been good about hitting one of his team to snap them out of a Confuse spell and he thought it was going to take more than a hit to bring Ami back. He needed to find a way to immobilize her. He just wasn't sure how yet.
He leaped back again at her charge, vaulting up into the thick lower branches of one of the trees.
"You're right, Kadaj. You're not challenge. I already beat you twice. Maybe a little girl can do better than you can."
<3
“Ami is a good girl.” A rare moment of praise for someone else. “You see, she’ll fight like she’s told. She knows what a true family is! She’ll die before she experiences failure. Are you prepared to do that, Cloud? Are you going to kill this little girl just to get back at me?” Kadaj laughed. He already knew the answer. “Of course not,” he spat. “You’re weak. But you still belong to me, to Mother. Until you realize your true purpose, you’ll have to contend with killing an innocent child.”
Re: <3
It was true: the years she'd had to hone her training were missing now, but with Cloud holding back, she was still dangerous. She didn't seem to appreciate his reluctance, either. "If you hold back," she warned him as she struck at him "you'll be hurt even more quickly!"
And for as long as he was holding back, he wasn't taking her seriously; that rankled her pride, somehow, but she'd make him pay for the mistake. She'd show him what she could accomplish. Taking advantage of his hesitancy, Ami had the chance to figure out how to get him down from that tree.
Her first attempt was, typically, blunt. A swipe of the sword against the air, and an arc of energy powerful enough to shatter it headed straight for the trunk.
crap! I keep losing this. Sorry.
"Funny, I remember you dying last time we fought."
He's done talking though and his focus shifts to take in Ami as well as she approaches. He's never actually fought against her before but he's fought next to her. It's a bit of an advantage. His eyes narrow at the arc of power and, because it's blunt and straight forward, it's easy to dodge, swinging himself clear of the tree before the blow lands and into the branches of another of the trees. One that's farther away.
Come and get him, little sister...
I'm still here>> derp.
“You cannot hide!” Kadaj shouted out to the forest. “Give up, before you fall, Cloud. Mother won’t be too happy if I kill you.” He jumped past Ami to the frozen monuments. He delivered a kick to the tree Cloud had taken cover in. Cracks in the ice raced upward, creaking, snaking, breaking.
The tree exploded into billions of tiny fragments. Ice shards hung momentarily in midair before drizzling down on them.
Kadaj imagined if he were a Cetra right now, he would be able to hear the overgrown plants’ pained cries. The thought elicited a smile.
no subject
After all, ice was always hers. With no more than a glance, glittering stalagmites of pure ice sprang up from the ground, one after another, the entire formation rushing towards Cloud as if it were a single, living thing, armor covering a winding spine. To be caught by them would mean impalement, a fact which only seemed to goad their creator further.
Her eyes strayed towards Kadaj, still caught in seeking approval.
no subject
Once again, the Remnants have run off with kids, and they actually are insane enough to think they're doing the right thing.
"You can come out now," she says, adding, "Assholes," under her breath.
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“Where is she?” Kadaj demanded. Whether the Turk could see it or not, the remnant was surrounded by his new family. If she tried anything stupid the children would protect him without a second thought.
Not that he needed protection! But the humans held such high regard and love for their own species that it’d likely stop an attack its tracks. Especially the females; they seemed to hold a particularly strong bond for children---even the weak and pathetic ones.
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"Yeah, we've got your mom." Don't make a 'your mom' joke, Reno, she told herself firmly, although the temptation was there. "We're gonna need you to give back the kids first, though. Cause we don't trust you."
She looked at those kids. She could tell that they were slaves or brainwashed or whatever the Remnants had done to them. Great. It was true that she was much less likely to kill a kid than an adult, but she'd done so in the past. Following orders. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made. But if it came down to it, she'd rather avoid it if she could.
no subject
Loose gravel crunched beneath his boots as he neared the Turk. Finally, he was full in view, and he was not a happy camper. “Give me Mother.” He stared her down, letting his frustrations boil deep within the pit of his stomach. Still, he remained temporarily unhurried. He wanted to have fun with this one. It would be her who would end up suffering for her boss’ mistakes.
so sorry for the slow!
It wasn't that she didn't feel afraid--she'd be stupid not to be, monsters that the Remnants were--but she was damned if she was going to show it. She kept her grip on her EMR and her gaze steady.
"Like we have any reason to trust you. If we hand her over right off, you'll keep her and the kids. Don't think I don't know it. She ain't here, and guess what? If I don't come back in one piece--there's not going to be one piece of your mom left."
No worries. <3
“You wouldn’t dare threaten Mother.” The tone of his voice, surprisingly, lacked a trace of anger. Instead, he sounded quite sure of himself. Confident. Proud. Secure. “Foolish turk. If you take Mother away from me then you have nothing left to bargain with!”
Small swivels of black mist curled around Kadaj’s hand. He held his hand up to face level, contorting the dark mist at will, lacing it between in fingers, in and out. He laughed, amused. “What’s stopping me then from just ruining the entire planet? It’s what Mother would have wanted. . .” Kadaj clenched his fist shut and the smoke vanished.
“I won’t ask again,” he held out a demanding hand. “Give me Mother.”
I couldn't resist including Tinyroth
He doesn't feel frightened, but then, he rarely does, and he hardly feels the cold. He regards Kadaj with a faintly curious expression, the soft glow of his eyes evident in the dark.
eeee! Babyroth!
He approached the child and got down to his level. Kadaj, interested, tilted his head in equal curiosity. Their eyes matched, as did their hair. “Hn,” he smiled and set a reassuring hand on top of the young one’s head. Kadaj inquired in a knowing tone, “You’re already one of us, aren’t you?”
♥
"Am I?" he asked, looking into the other's eyes. "You look like me. Are you from the lab also?" After a brief, thoughtful pause, he asked what struck him as the next logical question. "Who are you?"
no subject
“You mean, ShinRa?” He asked, back turned. “No.” Fingers curled into fists. “You don’t belong with them. You belong with us.” Kadaj glanced over his shoulder, eyeing what could have very well been a miniature of himself. “You belong with family. You belong here. Got it?”
no subject
"ShinRa Science Research Division," he said, agreeing.
"Family?" he asked. Was that what this was? He knew the word, but it had no emotional impact on him. He had no real sense of what a family might mean to others, the importance of it outside of genetics and social structuring. "I was in the custody of Professor Hojo," he said, though he didn't seem to be anymore...
"Why do I belong here?"
no subject
“Mother wants to rid of all the useless filth that plagues the cosmos! It is Her job to eliminate any creature or planet She deems unworthy. When She is finished she will find a suitable planet to make into the Promised Land.” He held his head proudly. “It’s our job to give Mother what was rightfully stolen from Her.”
Kadaj’s gaze fell to the side. The curve of his lips quirked into an unsettling smile. It was only because of that strange connection to the boy that he bothered to explain at all.