melodiesoflife | #4 | Fallout from the last and entering new horizons?

Entry tags:

#4 | Fallout from the last and entering new horizons?

Who: Sephiroth [Open]
When/Where: Various, as prompts below - Locations in bold
Summary: #1 - Fallout from 13 Moogles, General log post-Event, #2 - Esdham during the Event
Warnings: Not really? Melancholy-Sephiroth?

#1 10-14th November: Around Aqures Ixen
There was one thing undeniable about life in Aqures Ixen, the cold snap which had started around the start of the Night of the Thirteen Moogles celebrations didn't seem to be letting up any time soon. It seemed that this part of Crystallis were quickly advancing now into it's winter season but whatever comfort Sephiroth might take from that mundane detail, that sense of 'normality'; not being used to feeling the cold so acutely, the same was incredibly short lived. He had hurt people, he had killed someone. Moreover, he had failed. Failed himself, failed others, failed the title of 'Hero' that Spencer still insisted on bestowing on him.

Perhaps that was the real reason why he insisted on giving up his room when Hibiki had joined them in A-02, and instead taking up residence in the common living area; the couch wasn't the best nights sleep given his size but it was just another uncomfort Sephiroth figured it was best to simply get used to. The mako-given rush to his limitations had receded when he'd come back around after the fight, leaving him only with the weakness he thought had been gone for good. In the end, without much in the way of words to either girl, he'd slipped out of the house and not returned, deciding quietly to move in with an old friend to B-04; an easy enough transition considering they were neighbors anyway, and besides it's not as if he had much in the way of possessions or even much of a desire to leave his new room most of the time. There was plenty to read, and much more to ponder upon despite Spencer's continued encouragement for him to find something to take his mind off his troubles; when he did leave his new 'home', Sephiroth would not return for most of the day.

For the most part his routine-of-sorts hadn't changed; early morning circuits around the Districts to get his blood going then a return to the house for clean up and a light lunch. Most afternoons were spent between combating monsters not so far out of the City limits, sparring in one of the small arenas available in the 8th or 10th Districts, or lingering around in some Library aisle or another before retreating back with a book to read for the evening. More often recently, thoughts were drawn to the conflict going on against the Empire which seemed to be the source of all their troubles; perhaps he might write that letter to Biggs after all. It was high time he stopped simply existing and stepped up to the plate.

#2 Event: Cat and Mouse - Republic of Esdham/Coliseum 20-25th November: Smash Tournament
Maybe he had been sitting on the reply for a little too long, that official looking letter stating that he was to travel to Esdham via the military airship to undertake the necessary physical and mental tests required for his entry into their military. Sephiroth assured himself quite often that it was simply a formality and he should make the cut with no problems, yet, there was always the fact that he was undoubtedly weaker than he could be and his mental state -ha- well that was best not to think too heavily on either. Best to concentrate on his fitness and training so that he could be the best possible within his too human limitations.

But there was that message from Wedge a few days ago as well. The Moogle with the Black Mage Hat was still out there - somewhere. Sephiroth had no doubt that other Heroes would have taken the call out, they might be spread across the entire accessible surface of Crystallis by now in their hunt for the one who was behind all of their manipulations thus far. Yet there was still a dark thought that festered in the back of his mind; were they really all on the right side? He needed to put that to rest, a fact if he were ever to get his mind back where it should be; that is - back to the Hero he was supposed to be. What better way than to retreat into an environment more familiar than the mundane day-by-day monotony of living in Aqures Ixen and having no direction?

And when he got there? In Esdham, aside from his entry tests to undergo -which he had felt quietly confident in- there seemed to be something of a sporting event going on at the Coliseum. What a spectacle to dedicate his attention towards! There were a vast array of weapons, tactics and competitors to observe and study. Who knows some of the tactics might even be used by the Empire themselves, against the Army of Esdham; if not, then for sure some of them needed to be! Not to mention there were plenty of others who served in the army also present in the seething audience where Sephiroth might learn more about the life that would be waiting for him pending his acceptance.

It wasn't as if there weren't other locales to check out in the Republic as well, even if some of them he didn't yet have the clearance to enter. The military headquarters, with their impressive training grounds (if not so hi-tech as Sephiroth remembered from Shinra), the barracks that might become his home should the tests have gone as well as he thought. The airport was so much more expansive and advanced than anything they boasted in Aqures Ixen, the airships mirroring more of the prototypes that Shinra Inc might have designed. Idly he wondered if there were anything in that comparison as he watched them in near awe. Homesick? Perhaps just a little.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sephiroth followed her gesture with his whole head, taking an opportunity to threat-assess all around them again. It would only take the slightest slip of a fist or foot from anyone and the possibility of it turning into a riot was high; or at least that was the vibe he was picking up on. He hmm'd a beat, then looked back down to Yeul again. There was no way she was going to be seeing anything, given her height. Reasons why he had instructed Spencer to check in with the Mognet office in the meantime.

He found it odd that Yeul would be into spectating such a brutal form of sport at all, but he kept that to himself. As Hibiscus tried to relieve Yeul of her backpack the crowd surged around them again and Sephiroth found himself grabbing for Yeul's arm again to keep her steady. Already he had turned his posture so that the young girl might be shielded some by his strong shoulders; she would be swept along easily, he on the other hand would not.

"So much for that plan, hm."

Yeul hadn't thought that being a young girl in a big city would be problematic even though she had the uncanny talent of attracting trouble. She had been dead set on finding out more information on the mysterious moogle and doing it on her own. Caius didn't even know that she had left the safety of Aqures Ixen.

Hibi was pushed once more by the surge of people and decided it was best to hold onto Yeul's backpack praying that she wouldn't be knocked aside. Neither of them had the strength or body mass to move through the crowd so when Sephiroth moved to block some of the crowds pull, Yeul couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief. She took a step closer to Sephiroth grateful for the steadying hand.

"I also hoped to find a clue to the moogle in the black mage hat." It still bothered her that she had seen only a single vision since waking here and she knew that the moogle was the key to why that happened.

Sephiroth would commend her for her courage, if she weren't so painfully naive. Like Ib, some of the younger heroes really should have an older mentor with them at all times. Hero of Light seemed to be much too big a title for them just yet. Sephiroth wouldn't volunteer, not being the type for small children as a rule, but his logic was flawless. He'd pointedly not been thinking about Ib since the ritual, it only scraped nails along the raw flesh of his guilt.

He didn't move though when Yeul stepped in closer to him, at least she wouldn't get so knocked around if she were there and so he let go of her arm then - aware of how his grip might be a little too rough. He might be human, but Sephiroth was still a man who had never had a mind, nor any reason to temper his strength.

"I've been keeping my ears open as well. Even if I am here on other business."

Yeul had a older mentor but she had wanted to also be able to stand on her own. It was harder than the young seeress thought but she wasn't going to stop trying. She needed to find answers to what had happened to her and know if it was true. For once she could do something about the future and not just sit and watch.

She was glad when he let her go of her arms. After being grabbed and pulled her arm had slowly started to ache, not that she let it show. Once he blocked most of the crowd Hibiscus sighed and flew around to talk to them two heroes properly. "This is crazy, kupo! Do you know how many times someone tried to grab at me?" Hibiscus had faith in her hero but she was starting not to like large crowds.

Yeul's eyes shifted form her moogle up to Sephiroth. "So you haven't found anything yet?" She wasn't going to ask about his other business. It wasn't any concern of hers.

Sephiroth could only imagine Hibicus' annoyance, the Coliseum was hardly a place for moogles at all. He lightly smiled at Hibicus, content enough to let the moogle use him as a wall between them and the crowd.

Smoothly he turned that smile towards Yeul again as she asked the next question. He hadn't been in Esdham that long at all, indeed his entry tests were only earlier in that day and as yet he hadn't really mingled with the locals at all. Not that Sephiroth had it in him to mingle very well socially but anything he might be able to overhear- who knows.

"Your moogle here is the first I've seen in the time I've been here." Not to mention how moogle companions drew strange glances from the populace anyway. It was probably a good thing Spencer weren't there, what with his habit of jabbering on about Heroes of Light quite often.

"I'm fairly sure he would be talked about, had they seen him and I've not heard anything so far no."

Hibiscus had insisted on coming with Yeul even though the young seeress was determined to go alone. She didn't want to tell anyone, especially Caius, where she had been planning to go. She hoped to be strong enough to take that step outside of her house, alone and face the world that has freed her of her curse.

Even without her moogle, Yeul stuck out as a young girl, walking through an unfamiliar city alone.

"Oh." There was only a subtle change to her expression to show her displeasure. She didn't know what she would do without any sort of answer to her questions. She looked up at Sephiroth's smile curiously. He must want answers too.

Yeul took a moment to look around, not seeing much from her short height. "Do you thinking finding him will help?"

Edited 2014-11-22 02:02 (UTC)

The surging of the crowd swung into something of a lull for the time being, so much so that Sephiroth could relax a fraction yet he still kept his keen sense of self awareness outwards from him - he'd need to identify the next press of bodies before it would get to them. He wasn't meaning to be rude to Yeul or to Hibi but he did very much need to keep his eyes around.

He glanced down into Yeul's eyes, meeting them as she tried to look around.

"The black mage moogle? Well, Biggs and Wedge seem to think so. Everyone deserves answers, at the very least." He couldn't make himself sound any more impersonal if he tried.

Yeul gave Sephiroth a short nod. She didn't know what to do if she didn't get answers. Which was why she kept looking, even if the hope was small she needed to know what happened that day. This was her chance to be able to change things. She didn't just have to watch as the future went by.

Sephiroth's tone didn't seem to bother her as she tried to unravel her own thoughts. "Are you looking for answers?" She knew he had been afflicted as well but she didn't know the weight of his actions.

The keys to the future were indeed hidden in the past. However that might apply to Sephiroth he was yet oblivious to. Whereas Yeul had been released from her paradoxical destiny, Sephiroth had yet to tread on the first blocks on what he would come to see as his greater purpose and it troubled him greatly that the events of that night didn't feel as alien to him as they probably should - hence the distance he was maintaining between what had happened then and how he felt now.

Perhaps he was thinking too much though, it were entirely possible and he was hardly one to take anything at simply it's face value.

Was he looking answers; not really. Sephiroth needed the time to reassert himself over his own insecurities that were stirred and -the more he thought about it- the more he found himself fearful of what might be uncovered. Fear had not ever held it's dominion over him though and that was another reason why he was trying to keep an arms length out of all it.

"I think that we should all be careful. Answers are not always what we seek for them to be."

"That is true." Yeul knew that very well but she didn't want that to stop her. She thought that even if the answers she sought weren't the ones she was looking for she could handle it. After all she should be dead right now but she wasn't. She had a chance to finally do something and even if it was hard she was determined to see it through.

Her eyes landed on Hibiscus who was close to just latching onto Sephiroths chest. The crowd was too much for her, even in its lulled state, and she just wished they were back at the room that they were staying at.

Yeul shifted trying to think of what else to say but she was at a loss. She wasn't used to speaking unless something needed to be said and for the moment she had nothing pressing to bring up. Her eyes moved to the stadium, noting the next two combatants.

Talk about a conversation killer. While Sephiroth had no reason to think that Yeul didn't understand what he was getting at, given her obvious curiosity perhaps he did expect for her to say something more. Then again, like Yeul, Sephiroth only ever did speak when there were something of note that needed to be said and never for the sake of small talk. He'd made his point and so the silence prevailed.

He looked down as Hibi pretty much snuggled closer into his chest but other than a light flinch at the sensation didn't stop her. For sure the moogle could grab on to the fabric of his sweater underneath, the straps to his harness or even the edges of his leather jacket if need be, Sephiroth wouldn't mind so much as long as he wasn't pulling moogle fur out of his sweater for the next week and it was very crowded in the Coliseum.

"Here." Sephiroth found the buckle that held his coat closed and unhooked it, providing something of a safe haven for the small creature inside there if she wanted one.

In the meantime, the next round of combat was declared by a sharp bell of a sound and Sephiroth looked once more to Yeul before turning his head up and over the people directly in front of them. She was a small girl, really and he wondered if he might be able to lift her up if she wanted to see. The crowd would also stop surging in seemingly random directions now that they all had something to watch.

"Did you come for the sport, Yeul? Or the answers?"

Hibiscus took the chance to cling to Sephiroth's sweater and suddenly felt safer now that she was out of the way of anyone who might reach out and grab her. She always had to be on alert when Yeul was out of the house because her little hero had the talent of attracting trouble. With another strong hero around she took the moment to take a breath but even still she kept her eyes on Yeul.

"Thank you, kupo."

Yeul's head turned at sound of the cheers as she lifted lightly on her toes to get a better look. She had been looking for information about the moogle but more than that she came to see the fights, to learn something that she had some base of knowledge. She had seen Caius fighting and she wondered what strength this world held.

"Both."

He flashed a quick smile down at Hibi as she finally latched onto his sweater. He hadn't honestly noticed before if moogles did molt or not, Spencer was rather short-furred after all. Oh well, he was about to find out now. It could be worse, he wasn't allergic or anything - or at least as far as he knew.

Sephiroth turned his head back up over to the fight that was starting in earnest, glancing at Yeul momentarily when she spoke . Turned out there weren't only two in the arena, but a fierce group of four men each with different arrangements of armor and weaponry - a cheer went up as the axe-man swiftly drew first blood and a body fell back into the sand. He stood in silence, watching stances between all of them, each swing of their respective weapons and how they were blocked or countered. There was a lot to learn from watching others fight that one simply couldn't just read about.

"Do they have such fighting contests where you are from?" He asked but didn't look down to Yeul with the question.

Hibiscus would be described as cute among moogles and her hair was a little longer than most. Though she hasn't been know to shed white hairs anywhere in the past.

"No but I have watch Caius fight. I wanted to see how they fought here." She lifted herself up slightly so that she was balancing on her tippy toes. There was a small window of sight between the shoulders of two men cheering at the brutality of the fight. Yeul wasn't bothered with blood or gruesome sights, it was something the young seeress was used to seeing.

All said the moogle was small enough to fit on the inside of his jacket without too much of a discomfort. Sephiroth wasn't really sure why he seemed to have developed such an affinity for the little creatures, but they were really helpful, all said and done. For himself, Spencer often played somewhere between the devils' advocate and the sound board for theories that he wasn't yet sure enough about to bring to the attention of other Heroes. It was a working relationship, even if the spectacle-wearing mog did thickly layer the praise on a little too much at times.

Sephiroth canted his head downwards a little so that he could see Yeul and still keep half an eye on her as the tournament continued. She really were an odd little girl.

"You know, there might be a good handful of people who might think you're too young for all this violence." His tone didn't make it very clear whether he was included in that school of thought or not; after all, if she were from a world where there was a lot of fighting, it wouldn't be a question of morality or what was 'right' for youngsters to see.

She was happy that he adjusted him position so that she could see. Hibiscus hadn't wanted her to come here at all and she was sure it was because of the violence. However, she knew that her age wouldn't shield her from the realities of this world.

"I know but," Yeul paused. "I want to see things as they are. I want to see the truth of this world."

She was very open minded, after the things she has seen and lived through. She didn't want to close her eyes and pretend that something wasn't happening. She looked up at Sephiroth with a slight smile spread across her lips.

"I think that is better."

Yeul was mature beyond her years to have such an honest way of thinking about that, however that didn't make it right. As far as he was concerned, being a child and preserving what you could of innocence for as long as possible was nothing less than what the world owed to children. Never mind that Sephiroth didn't have a foot to stand on much either in trying to argue the point, or perhaps he thought that because of his own experience; it could be either or.

She struck him very much as having a similar attitude to it as he had had when he was younger. Through no fault of his own, ultimately, Sephiroth had wanted to grow up as fast as possible. To know as much as possible, to be able to do all that he tirelessly had trained himself up to be. To be the best. Not once had he stopped to wonder if he'd been going too fast, nor had he been given the opportunity. He had never looked back, until just recently before he had come to Crystallis.

"That depends very much on your point of view. Sometimes, too much truth ages a person." The last part he dropped his tone significantly as his philosophical comment brought with it a tidal wave of churning thoughts about his own circumstances. Sephiroth even looked down, away from the arena for a few moments. Talk about being a hypocrite.

He really should say something more to Yeul but as another cheer wracked the crowd Sephiroth remained silent.

Yeul smiled sadly to herself as her eyes remained on the match. "I was never able to grow old but even when I was young I had to grow up. I never was able to run or hide from the truth." She spoke frankly and there wasn't any sadness to her voice. It was just the truth of how she lived.

Being here, in this city, it was the first time she would be able to truly live her life and she wasn't sure how to do that. She never had a childhood or those times where she could just be a kid and she was finding that she didn't know how. Just how did you have fun? How could you just blindly see the world behind a vale of innocents? Yeul didn't know and she was still searching for answers.

She wasn't sure why she answered him. It wasn't as if he asked a question but she hoped that maybe he would understand. Someone who could just help her learn a little bit more.

Yeul's comment, despite all the many other voices around, came through clear to Sephiroth. It perked at his interest after a moment of swilling her words around in his mind. What did she mean by that? Never able to grow old- it sounded as if she...but a person couldn't have multiple lives as far as he knew. But then logically different Worlds might have vastly different mechanisms to how the Lifestream worked on Gaia.

Still, being curious about Yeul was a vast improvement from wallowing in his own conscience.

"I'm not sure that I follow you." Being the only polite way he could possibly encourage her to explain, that didn't sound abrupt or as if she were talking riddles at him. He turned his head again in her direction as he spoke.

"You were stuck as a child forever?"

Yeul nodded slightly her eyes still on the spectacle in front of them. She didn't mind talking about it, she always prefered to face the truth.

"I am the seeress. I would see the future at each moment as it is changed. These visions are my curse. My life is sacrificed in exchange for this power." She didn't think she needed to say more, even though she knew she was being cryptic. She should be dead but for some reason while she's here she was left to live a life that she wouldn't otherwise have. "Then the seeress is reborn."

Her gaze shifted to Sephiroth for a moment as she continued.

"When our powers had returned. I saw the path we are currently taking and then I died. When I woke up I was in that clearing." Where the moogle in the black mage hat began his tricks.

As Yeul recounted what she had been before she was brought to Crystallis, the fight going on the arena might as well have not been going on for all the attention Sephiroth were giving to it. He had heard there were some interesting people brought here to be Heroes of Light, but Yeul was a prime example of just how different they all were.

He had to force the light frown away as she finally shifted her gaze to him, it wouldn't be polite at all for her to see how much it might have unnerved him. He looked down and away and then over to the fight in the middle of the crowd again.

"Hm." He understood, at the very least, the gravity of last month. Less so what it meant for other people, he'd had enough of questions about his own existence brought up as a result. But he couldn't leave it-

"What did you see?"

"Darkness and not just for this world but for all of them." Her eyes reflected the nightmares truth that she saw and it was why she convinced herself that what the moogle had been doing was right. She didn't regret it. Yeul would do anything to stop that future from coming to pass if only she knew what to do. She wasn't used to feeling so blind in the face of her future.

She looked back at the match trying to drown her own thoughts in the mindless fighting. They were talented and had some skill but Caius would easily have defeated them if he was at full power. Her thoughts remained on Caius, wondering what her protector might think if he saw her here. Was she really being too reckless in her actions? How else could she find the truth?

Then she wonders what Sephiroth might hope for, maybe his thoughts were as tangled as her own.

Darkness, if the Calamity willed it to be.

His own responsive thought was instantaneously off the mark. Followed with a deepening frown that Sephiroth knew he'd turned his head away from Yeul to prevent her from seeing. Just which way was the right way now? Didn't the Calamity, which for some reason he associated with a 'she', have a right to do with the World as it wished? If annihilation was called for on this and any other World - who were they to stand in it's way?

It didn't feel right though, it burned something fierce in the bottom of his heart. If he thought on it too heavily it might well make him feel sick. No. The Moogle had used them all to it's greater end. The Calamity was no entitled being and Sephiroth quickly reassured himself of that. He had taken to, in order to preserve his own strength of mind.

Such an entanglement of thoughts which still brought sleepless nights. Sephiroth wondered when he would start to get over those events - he needed to do something about them, that's for sure. Eventually, once his expression was steeled professionally back into it's neutral, Sephiroth looked over Yeul once more.

"Without darkness there can be no light. And vice versa....I suppose"

Call it an attempt to try to make the conversation lighter - allbeit not a very good one.

Yeul was sure she saw him frown as he turned away but she wasn't really sure why. There was so much to think of and though her words might have been startling she knew that he was there too. The things that they felt when the awoke. They were suppose to be helping and whatever the outcome it would be worth it. It would be an end but she was so unsure now.

Her expression didn't falter as he turned back to her and try to lighten the mood. She has seen opposing sides created to fight each other so it only made sense for his words to be true.

"Would you be the light then?"

Yeul didn't think that she could fulfill that role. She wasn't meant to be a hero. Though she was sure that he was meant to be one.

For Sephiroth in that moment when they had awoken in the clearing had been pointedly different from -as far as he knew- everyone else's experience. He had believed, so firmly it almost jarred him, that he was on-par somehow with the Calamity and moreover that he would enjoy destroying everything since she wasn't present at all to do it herself. It was almost as if the whole World of Crystallis had stirred his wrath to a point that Sephiroth hadn't experienced thus far in his life.

And he could never, ever allow any of the other Heroes of Light to learn that. Sephiroth had embraced the call for a Hero much the same as he always had stepped up to the plate and it was sickening in it's contradiction that his conviction had so easily been turned.

"Humph, I suppose we're all to fill that role. In some respect or another."

Sephiroth was talking down and to the side of himself again at her as the brawl in the arena continued and particularly skilled maneuver had caught the corner of his attention.

#4 | Fallout from the last and entering new horizons?

At the Coliseum

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We can end this here