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.

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"But if it were not for the various studies in Planet Life, the denizens of the Planet wouldn't have been aware of the Lifestream's existence, either." Sephiroth stated matter-of-factly. "Much less how to extract the same and convert it into a viable energy source."

It seemed, to him, that there could be a correlation there as well - only those in Crystallis haven't built the foundations yet to be able to look for it. Magitek was the source of energy and it had something to do with the crystals here as well. A link between their Mako and the Materia that had recently started to become mass produced for the purpose of the military within Shinra.

"I doubt you would find anything suitable here on that topic." He'd looked before. There were only outlandish theories at best, at least as far as his own opinion were concerned.

Edited 2015-01-19 13:28 (UTC)

"The Cetra knew and spoke to it; ShinRa found this out and thus wished to find them," Genesis said, looking over at Sephiroth. It was in part that search that brought forth the idea of SOLDIER and then Sephiroth himself. A link they wanted, and instead they created something entirely different.

"LOVELESS was a Cetra poem, and there are pieces of it in the ruins of their civilization. Gast and his band of scientists were looking for Cetra because ShinRa wanted the Promised Lands where the Lifestream rose from. Could it be possible that there were hints of such a thing in this world but because there was no ShinRa here, no one thought to look deeper? Would it possible for us - people who have knowledge of such things - to see those hints?"

The idea had set inside of him early one, and it grew while he slept on. He pushed a heavy braid back off his shoulders, looking at the rows of books but not really seeing them.

"There are secrets in here somewhere. I wish to find them, and such have not stopped using this Job they decided to give me. If I can read further, I might be able to find a connection others have missed. Or do I sound like a child grasping at sweets?"

Of course. That's where he had heard the term before. How could he have forgotten when it was so heavily implied that LOVELESS were originally a Cetran tale. The tall silver-haired warrior couldn't help but to narrow his eyes at a random bookshelf as Genesis continued. To him, it did seem as if his now-elder comrade were taking the correlations perhaps a little too far.

Still, he did say that he knew more of their future on Gaia and Sephiroth wasn't in a position to argue. It was quite likely that Genesis had a wider spectrum to call out these similarities from. But the way that he worded it-

"I would be careful that your search does not turn into such an unhealthy obsession. Surround yourself with what you want to see and you might miss the obvious that is right in front of your nose."

Sephiroth flicked his gaze up to Genesis' face again, a hint of distaste across his features. He remembered well how LOVELESS had taken over Genesis' whole focus as the degradation had proceeded to get worse, and it seemed -at least on the surface- that he was evolving that obsession into a new, deeper one. Except since they weren't on Gaia, Sephiroth didn't know any more than Genesis even dared to theorize.

Genesis glanced at Sephiroth, eyebrows raised, and then he smiled, flicking his fingers against a book. He had to admit that he did get worked up over certain things; Angeal had often gone to extreme lengths to make sure that Genesis was not about to get lost in a new line of research when they were children. But really, to imply that he was going to miss things by focusing on what he wanted to see? Just what was Sephiroth trying to prove?

"Do you mean missing such things as your so-obvious study of Esdham? I may be focused on a certain idea, but I am far from blind."

It was a lower blow of a comment than Sephiroth usually cared to express for sure, but he could be brutally honest with his opinions sometimes. After all, Sephiroth too had that natural leaning towards delving into a subject he wished to know everything about and discovering Hollander's notes which had to have been purposefully placed for him to find in the makeshift lab below reactor 5 had only rekindled a thread of research that he'd otherwise exhausted his resources in. Shinra only had held so much in their archives, of that which he was authorized to read, that is.

It could be said that they were very much similar in that respect no matter how either of them might strive to disprove the theory.

"Tch-" Sephiroth clicked his tongue rather than catching his breath, but he was quick as ever to retort to Genesis' accusation.

"Esdham is a vitally strategic point with regards to the safety of the Aqures region. So it only begs to know more about the stronghold."

"Oh? Do I detect a hint of interest beyond Esdham's place in this world?"

If Sephiroth was to notice - and Genesis wasn't sure if he did - he would have realized that it was the same teasing tone once used when they sparred together. There was no malice and very little bitterness, just a slight dig at something that Sephiroth might have been trying to hide but Genesis thought he had figured it out.

"I suppose that it is nice to have old habits to fall back on, even if it may seem like running from unwanted thoughts."

He caught something of that tease, or at least he thought he caught something of it, but in truth it sounded a little off. Not quite the incendiary dig that might have sparked off his pride in the past, but then Sephiroth's mind was clearly bogged down with heavier things not least of the various subjects that Genesis had already brought up.

Genesis was right though, and only researching more into Esdham had served to set Sephiroth's intention further into stone. He didn't even give a flinch to the smallest crease of his face to indicate thus, though.

"Believe whichever you want, you will do anyway. Regardless, it's hard to deny the Heran Empire's position towards us as Heroes of Light."

"I would be a fool to deny it," he said.

Truth was that while he was the scholar of their group, Sephiroth was far better prepared to deal with tactics then him. Genesis knew politics from the stand point of a landowner, but nothing at the scope that Sephiroth had dealt with on a daily basis. He still had a good grasp of what was needed, and he also would not deny that his skills were not the kind that an army would need, at least on the front lines. Sephiroth was, so it made sense for him to join them.

"Do try not to get yourself killed over a simple act of bravery while you're there, mm?"

It wasn't even that, the way that the offered military service had appealed to Sephiroth. Despite how well matched he was Jobs-wise, how his expertise in tactics and not to mention the role he had filled in SOLDIER all put him as a more-than viable candidate for serving at Esdham, if truth be told it was indeed that sense of 'old habits' that Genesis coined a moment ago. All throughout his existence in Crystallis thus far, the adjustment to what others might label a 'normal' life often left Sephiroth feeling like he wasn't doing enough with himself, not being so used to the mundane routines involved in daily life had him feeling somewhat short-sold.

And then there was the glory to which Genesis teased; for sure Sephiroth would do his utmost to leave his undeniable stamp on the work he would come to do.

"What do you mean by that, exactly?" Was that a hint of nervousness? More like Sephiroth was still trying to gauge exactly what had changed in his once-friend.

"I only mean what I say. I know how you can be, and without the mako in our system, you may push yourself beyond what a normal body can face," he replied, shrugging. "So paranoid, are you old friend?"

In truth he felt that Sephiroth needed reminding that he was not the same as he was back home. The world did not have mako, it did not have materia, and while these Jobs had their uses, they were not the same as what they were use to. Sephiroth needed the reminder before he did something stupid and got himself killed yet again.

"Besides, I do not want to think of you falling before we had our talk."

Edited 2015-02-20 05:50 (UTC)

The narrowing of Sephiroth's eyes again replied to Genesis where his further comment wasn't needed. Yes, adjusting from an existence which had always been heightened in one way or another from mako-infusion was taking it's time to settle but Sephiroth had been already here for half a year - did Genesis think him so adverse to change?

Even if, like the ongoing problem with the repetitive strain in his left wrist, there were a handful of habits Sephiroth had simply had for too long for them to change so easily. Besides, as his expertise in his Jobs grew and he gained strength as a result - it wasn't as bad as it had been in previous months.

"Who said anything about falling?"

They all had habits that were part of them. The mako had let them take advantage of such and Genesis knew that habits were the hardest to break, especially when they were from stubborn men like them. Genesis still had to be reminded that such things like sleep and food was necessary when he was in his maniac mode of studying, so he was sure that there were some things that Sephiroth forgot to do.

"Who says that this kind of soldier play is anything like the ones back home?"

All reasons why it was both humbling and advantageous to have a man like Angeal around. Out of the three of them, it seemed that he had adjusted the easiest and always made sure that Sephiroth got his three-square meals a day. Even if he would argue that he was more than capable of looking after himself.

For Sephiroth himself, Genesis had hit it pretty much on the head; quite often he had some strained muscle or another from over exerting himself during exercise and hydration was something he was slowly getting better at.

"I'm under no illusion of that. I've hardly the resume applicable in this different World."

"Ah, I suppose I should wish you luck in any case. It would shame our training if you do not at least manage to show them a little of your old skills."

Because as much as he was teasing Sephiroth over joining the military here, Genesis did understand the need to at least look good. They were SOLDIERs. They were not some country bumpkins fresh off a chocobo farm somewhere, but people who had spent most of their lives learning how to fight. It should mean something in this world.

"Whether skills, techniques or even just experience, I'm very much of the opinion that there stands much to be learned much on either side of the fence."

Genesis couldn't be more correct. Much as he had for most of his life, Sephiroth was driven to prove himself in whatever capacity he put his mind towards. To do anything less would be to let not only his legacy down, but his pride as well. He took a deep breath and cast his eyes once more over the books they were surrounded with.

"It will be interesting, to at least take a wider stock of circumstances that might yet come to effect us more."

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

The library

The library

The library

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The library

The library

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The library

The library

The library

The library

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The library

The library

The library