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melodiesoflife2016-09-06 09:19 pm
shinrasfinest) wrote in melodiesoflife2016-09-06 09:19 pm
Entry tags:
#17 | The last straw...
Characters: Sephiroth [Mostly Open; Refer to the top-level Prompts]
Where: Aqures Ixen
When: 7 - 9th September
Summary: Crystal Terra fallout. He tried to get on, he really did. Having spent just over a week back at his duties in Esdham, the return to Aqures Ixen proves too much to ignore what's missing. More tl;dr in the Prologue.
Warning: Not so much moping as a heavy emotional/mental blow to someone who doesn't know how to handle it.
Also tl;dr, Terra had been obsessed-with on a just-shy-of-Jenova level, just to put in context.
Prologue
Despite their long and harrowing ordeal throughout the last month, in traveling from one world to the next chasing Palitutu, rest was certainly something that the Heroes of Light could barely afford. The Calamity had still expanded in their absence and there still seemed to be no clear method for how it might be defeated. Quite rightly, first thing first was the required use of the golden Crystal that Palitutu had relinquished; as time was now something in limited supply.
Dutiful as ever, promptly after their return to Aqures, Sephiroth accompanied Jade to the Mysidian Tower to see the job done and fell back in with the military forces stationed there that would see him back at Esdham by the close of that first week. But not before the news had reached him.
Terra.
He didn’t even recall if she’d been at the battle with Ultima Weapon, but then not everyone had been. Not that she was a burden, nor less considered as a weakness anymore, but he’d have been bound to protect her when focus had been needed to bring that monster down.
Afterwards though, when they’d all been pulled through into the Rift and began to chase Palitutu through worlds, that absence had been sorely felt. The longer that the month stretched on, it pulled at him not unlike the way that the continued use of his Custom Job, without sufficient rest, slowly chipped away at his overall health.
So many had fallen into the Crystal Stasis; Sephiroth was no stranger to this fact of existence in Crystallis. It could be even argued that it was in some ways inevitable that it overcame everyone at some point, such as the years they’d all spent under Aqures Tosf. Genesis and Angeal both remained among that number, too, at the Hospital in Aqures Ixen. Stasis was this Planet’s way of saving itself from the Calamity within each of them, so ultimately though company was lost there was no real reason to grieve; it only underlined the reality of the threat they all faced.
He didn’t need to go and see her, for what purpose would there be? Other to verify what her moogle, Tempest, had come forward sullenly to say. Only to test himself, to tempt that weakness, that notion that he had repeatedly attempted to banish deeply inside himself over the time that he and Terra had spent growing to know each other.Falling in love? Who was even to say...
She’d always been there...
No. He had to carry on. There was so much to be caught up on, after his involuntary month of absence from the military, not least the rising apparent threat of Downapolis. It was imperative to apply himself now, until there came a time where he was needed as a Hero of Light again and even in his time dedicated as an officer in the military, he needed to be able to perform with a clear head. Terra would have wanted for him to remain strong…
1) 7th - 8th September; Hospital [Open]
2) Nighttime 8th September [Closed B-09; Lucrecia]
3) 9th September: Hospital [Semi-Open, pls refer to the ooc note]
Where: Aqures Ixen
When: 7 - 9th September
Summary: Crystal Terra fallout. He tried to get on, he really did. Having spent just over a week back at his duties in Esdham, the return to Aqures Ixen proves too much to ignore what's missing. More tl;dr in the Prologue.
Warning: Not so much moping as a heavy emotional/mental blow to someone who doesn't know how to handle it.
Also tl;dr, Terra had been obsessed-with on a just-shy-of-Jenova level, just to put in context.
Prologue
Despite their long and harrowing ordeal throughout the last month, in traveling from one world to the next chasing Palitutu, rest was certainly something that the Heroes of Light could barely afford. The Calamity had still expanded in their absence and there still seemed to be no clear method for how it might be defeated. Quite rightly, first thing first was the required use of the golden Crystal that Palitutu had relinquished; as time was now something in limited supply.
Dutiful as ever, promptly after their return to Aqures, Sephiroth accompanied Jade to the Mysidian Tower to see the job done and fell back in with the military forces stationed there that would see him back at Esdham by the close of that first week. But not before the news had reached him.
Terra.
He didn’t even recall if she’d been at the battle with Ultima Weapon, but then not everyone had been. Not that she was a burden, nor less considered as a weakness anymore, but he’d have been bound to protect her when focus had been needed to bring that monster down.
Afterwards though, when they’d all been pulled through into the Rift and began to chase Palitutu through worlds, that absence had been sorely felt. The longer that the month stretched on, it pulled at him not unlike the way that the continued use of his Custom Job, without sufficient rest, slowly chipped away at his overall health.
So many had fallen into the Crystal Stasis; Sephiroth was no stranger to this fact of existence in Crystallis. It could be even argued that it was in some ways inevitable that it overcame everyone at some point, such as the years they’d all spent under Aqures Tosf. Genesis and Angeal both remained among that number, too, at the Hospital in Aqures Ixen. Stasis was this Planet’s way of saving itself from the Calamity within each of them, so ultimately though company was lost there was no real reason to grieve; it only underlined the reality of the threat they all faced.
He didn’t need to go and see her, for what purpose would there be? Other to verify what her moogle, Tempest, had come forward sullenly to say. Only to test himself, to tempt that weakness, that notion that he had repeatedly attempted to banish deeply inside himself over the time that he and Terra had spent growing to know each other.
She’d always been there...
No. He had to carry on. There was so much to be caught up on, after his involuntary month of absence from the military, not least the rising apparent threat of Downapolis. It was imperative to apply himself now, until there came a time where he was needed as a Hero of Light again and even in his time dedicated as an officer in the military, he needed to be able to perform with a clear head. Terra would have wanted for him to remain strong…
1) 7th - 8th September; Hospital [Open]
2) Nighttime 8th September [Closed B-09; Lucrecia]
3) 9th September: Hospital [Semi-Open, pls refer to the ooc note]
#1) 7th - 8th September; Hospital
[For anyone who frequents the particular wing of the Hospital that houses those Heroes of Light who have slipped into Crystal stasis across these two days, it will be hard to avoid the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a half hour in the day where Sephiroth isn't stood before one in particular. Where the veteran Hero-come-soldier would seldom visit his two friends, on occasion, as something of a refocus this is immediately something else entirely; it’s almost as if the whole room smells different.
The crystallized form of Terra Branford stands before him, so much shorter than him, just as she had been when she’d been active. It's important not to think of her as gone, but crystal eyes do not see, and just like the color that has drained away, statues do not feel, either.
For the most part, it seems as though he stands sentry in silence, slipping back into the role as her protector foremost, just as it had been in the beginning. Before out of her abundantly big heart something had reached out and stirred his own. From time to time, Sephiroth can be found sat before her, cross-legged and cradling his shins, always gazing up into that crystal face almost as if engaged in a mesmerizing silent conversation. They had not often needed to talk much, between the two of them. Words are occasionally whispered, carefully almost as if they might shatter the fragile state she’s succumbed to. It happens to the best of them. How everything will be alright. How he’s going to continue to fight and be strong for her. How he’ll figure it out. How he'll wait for her until the end of all of this.]
I can still be...your Hero.
[During the second day, however, the mood gradually darkens, almost like someone turning the lighting down in the room. No matter how it might be pinned down to Sephiroth’s exhausted state, the tension grows as he’s sat there for hours upon end. He’s brought a trinket; her slave crown, with him to grip at while he's contemplating this time. Light whispers of positive futures turn to heavy questions which later turn sharply inward-]
What do I do now- ?
[-and later-]
-should've known.
8th September; Hospital
[ Tear was something of a frequent visitor to this wing of the hospital, for the sheer number of Heroes she knew in stasis at this point. Though she hadn't intended to visit Terra today, for in all honesty she was barely getting to know the other girl, for whatever reason she had found herself drawn in Sephiroth's direction, even more so when she overheard a few of his whispers.
Sighing softly to herself, she gazed into the half-esper's crystallised face with a carefully neutral expression before turning her attention back to her superior, considering him for a few moments. ]
You don't give up on her... [ She couldn't say she knew exactly how the relationship between the two was, able to rely only on memories of a future that hadn't happened. ]
I know it's asking a lot, but you can't.
8th September; Hospital
girlfriendcompanion, that would be considered outside of conversation range socially. Not that they were, or could they even be, socially engaged at all. No matter the delusions he'd fooled himself into thinking yesterday; that she could still hear him somehow, that she's just stuck in there and unable to respond.A creak of leather sounds as Sephiroth grips the plain metal band in his hand tighter. He's considered putting it on the crystal's head a fair few times, but knowing the greater implications of what that would have meant to Terra, and how it might react somehow, he's decided against it every time. It doesn't stop the desire to bend, break or just throw it across the room though, but his resolve is holding for the time being.
He's not sure who it is that entered the room until Tear spoke up. But the words at least invite a angle of his head in her direction, briefly, before he answers.]
There isn't anything to give up on. It's always been a possible-
[He's trying to hard to keep face, and with his exhaustion creeping behind every fiber of his facial expression, words lose their point as Sephiroth inhales deeply through his nose. He seems to be trying to use it to keep his posture up straight.]
-I should never have given anything that could be lost. In the first place.
8th September; Hospital
With Sephiroth's acknowledgement she came even closer, so that she now stood beside him rather than behind. But she made no effort to make eye contact, or even turn to him as the practiced control of a soldier took hold.
The only movement, it seemed, was reserved for the hands folded over one another in front of her, briefly squeezing together as the words were registered and interpreted. Though there was no change otherwise, her voice was even softer when she spoke again. A silent reflection of the disbelief incited by such phrasing. ]
Are you suggesting... that it wasn't worth it?
[ The girl exhaled, trying to understand. ]
Why would you say that, then follow with saying you never should have given anything?
8th September; Hospital
He'd gone immediately back to work, via a trip to the Mysidian Tower with Jade, and hadn't been back to Aqures until a few days ago when his duties had brought him here. Curiosity had gotten the best of him; he just -had- to see it for himself. It's all that more real now that he's stood before her-]
... [Like Tear, he doesn't adjust his posture, nor even glimpse in her direction. But there is a certain bristle in the air around him as by reaction he takes offense at her suggestion. Logic follows too quickly behind it though, delivering bitter words into the front of his mind.]
...is any of this, really worth it?
[Talk about blowing a relatively small issue up into the all-encompassing. But it's all that he can come up with to defend how his thoughts are beginning to slide.]
...when all this place seems to do is tear away all that we might hold close.
8th September; Hospital
[ But even now, she knew how close she was to being hypocritical in her words. ]
I won't be the first to say I knew her well. What I can say is that I'm sure she thought you were worth it. [ That was what she earnestly believed, what she wanted to continue believing given she still held memories of that future that hadn't happened, and in the few times she had spoken to the girl. ]
... Don't let go of the faith she had in you.
8th September; Hospital
Tear's perspective makes him pause though, and then he does take a moment to turn his head and look at her. Trying to read her beyond the words she spoke at him, by her body language and his own -albeit emotionally compromised- intuition. The girl that also works in the military with him doesn't really know him at all, hence she can't have any comprehension with regards to how all of this is quickly becoming too much for him to handle himself. At work he appears everything of the officer that he's worked hard to become.]
I don't even know what that was...much less where it came from...[Sephiroth goes back to almost whispering, encouraging this to be a confidential discussion.]
...somewhere along the way, this weakness became a burden.