melodiesoflife | #7 | Return from the Brink

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#7 | Return from the Brink

Characters: Sephiroth & OPEN (except 8th Feb: CLOSED to Jade Curtiss)
Where/When: 8th Feb - Republic of Esdham: A makeshift clinic, 9th Feb Onwards - Aqures Ixen: Hospital
Summary: Sephiroth's ordeal out towards the Desert of Roalie has left him battered, most notably with a leg which is now broken in two places. Even with potions and white magic available, the resources at Esdham are strained in the wake of the recovering effort after the attack by the Herans. Sephiroth is later transferred to Aqures Ixen Hospital where help befitting a Hero of Light is more readily available. Still, it's going to take time for him to get back on his feet.
Warnings: Cuts, bruises, broken limbs; as expected considering. Also he's lost a good few inches from the length of his hair but probably best not to talk about that.

EDIT: Added a #3) Here

#1) 8th Feb - Republic of Esdham: A makeshift clinic [Closed: Jade Curtiss]
Late on the 7th Feb, a rush of activity had ripped through one of the makeshift clinics set up to deal with the aftermath of the attack by the Heran Empire. Someone had been found, much further out than anticipated, by one of the preliminary patrols sent out towards the oasis, and even though the medical staff on hand had tried to keep their tones hushed on account of the late hour, the clinic was already over-capacity and so the urgent healing required by a Hero of Light couldn't be kept a secret.

The unmistakable sound of rain hitting the roof of the tent, or rather the absence of it's wetness hitting his face was what greeted Sephiroth as he came around. The afterglow of a Cure-spell receding it's color as the white-mage Tarutaru currently on shift lowered her hands and offered a kind smile in his direction before leaving just as he squinted eyes first and then chanced to open them. There was no more open-sky above him; so he hadn't dreamed that patrol after all. It had been difficult to tell, given the hallucinations -that dream a few nights ago, for example- that had to have signaled that his body were finally giving up on him.

As if it were waiting specifically for him to regain more consciousness first, the pain then all came crashing back. Sephiroth had gotten an elbow under his one side -the other were in a sling tight up against his chest- but the reeling nausea, centered in particular around that deep agony of bone moving like it shouldn't put him back down prone instantly. With stars across his vision no less. He blinked, registering details as he looked down over himself. There was a plaster cast up to his thigh, and also a supportive brace around his left leg and it were elevated just slightly by way of a few pillows beneath his ankle. He couldn't feel his toes as they poked out of the bottom. He swallowed a rising sick feeling that was stirred and -for the time being- drew his focus into the roof of the tent.

#2) 9th Feb Onwards - Aqures Ixen: Hospital [Open]
If there was something to say of the Aqurean government, they cared for their Heroes a lot. As soon as Sephiroth were out of the immediate hypothermic danger he'd been found in, arrangements had been made for his transportation to a better facility. A small airship had been arranged -no small feat considering the devastation to the airport that had been inflicted- and he'd been away.

Still, not much that Sephiroth could do with one arm still strapped in close to his chest and his leg throbbing away in it's heavy plaster cast and brace which was more often than not elevated into a position from which he couldn't miss it even if he wanted to. Talk about it being staged directly in his face. Hindsight really was 20/20, that leap had been a risk; but what was the alternative? To be killed anyway? Captured? Spencer had already informed him that some of the other Heroes had been taken. Sephiroth scowled heavily every time his thoughts were inevitably drawn that way; another failure to chip away at his pride.

His silver hair had been braided and was set down across one mostly-unblemished shoulder; it was noticeably shorter though. Having had to have had the singed ends cut away. Overall, Sephiroth sat mostly with the backrest up, alone in the ward they'd given him, in silence while the lesser injuries he had sustained; various cuts, bruises and burns, were gradually treated by potion, lotion or Cure-spells. Most often he could be found reading a book, slowly sipping at a glass of water, or reviewing some of the notes that he'd had Spencer bring him from his study area back at the house.

He hadn't the heart to have Spencer send a message to let significant others know he'd been recovered safely, as such exchanges would only lead to what he considered to be unnecessary concern; even as it became obvious that he wouldn't be getting back on his feet nearly as quickly as he would have had he been mako-infused, or so 'special' as he had been before. That and he wasn't sure he could take the pity.

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It was a different feeling entirely, listening to one of his fans stand there and recount how much he meant to them personally, than it was having read it in a report supplied by a third party. The Company used him moreso than the other two when it came to propaganda, both during the war and in the time afterward, he knew, but to illicit this sort of personal response...

Sephiroth had clearly underestimated the propaganda machine of ShinRa, and with it the value attached to him by boys like Cloud who would look up at the starry sky at night and dream of being a Hero. Like he had told Tifa, he was under no illusion of the responsibility that he had to bear as a direct result but-

It wasn't as if he'd saved the World. He'd followed orders, won battles, claimed a reputation as a warrior with a perfectionist streak but to Sephiroth he hadn't done those things at all for the glory that was tacked onto it; even if he had come to relish the status it awarded.

As for friendship, Sephiroth held Cloud's gaze carefully as he mentioned it and -although it might not work so well- tried not to seem intimidating in the face of the fan-gasm. He shifted a little where he was sat on the bed, flexed the tied-in fingers of his left hand where they had started to numb a little and internally chewed for a few moments on how to put this delicately.

"We have all been brought here as comrades-in-arms, no matter which way you look at it." He stated plainly, Tifa's words resonating in the back of his head as he recalled how she had warned him about leading the young lad astray. Not that Sephiroth would lie to anyone about the level of any acquaintance as he saw it but suddenly the answer seemed to feel heavier than it should; being wary of friendships, in general.

"Perhaps not that far, but I would be more likely to request a task of you, and know that it would get done than most of our number." Sephiroth set his jaw, leaned back a little against the pillows and looked away from Cloud for a moment with a shake of his head. That probably hadn't come out right, either. "If that makes any sense?"

Cloud was as much a product of his home and circumstances as Sephiroth was in all of this. It wasn't merely the propaganda that was written, but also the fact that Cloud was among the target audience. Young boys and men who grew up in backwaters and were desperate for a way out. A life as a soldier certainly appealed over the fate of a miner or a farmer or a reactor grunt. How many like him threw themselves into the gears of the war machine just because they thought that peace was boring?

If it wasn't for Zack and his positive influence, then Cloud might have become just another face in the masses. Another casualty on a post combat report. But with his best friend in crystal form, Cloud was looking to his original hero for validation.

Cloud couldn't help but sulk a little as his hope of friendship was rebuffed, but he was prepared for it. His interaction with Sephiroth in this world was many times longer than anything he had hoped and prayed for back home. Even so, he never really felt like he was in a special position to make demands, just lucky enough for fate and coincidence to be nice to him.

His sadness was doubly short lived as Sephiroth brought up that task and the young man snapped to attention with almost comical speed. "Yes sir! Whatever I can do to help!"

That...went well?

Sephiroth had thought that denying the kinship that Cloud wanted to procure with him might have proved a lot harder for his fan to take. Especially considering the circumstances in which there weren't all that many Gaians left that hadn't fallen into Crystal Stasis, one might easily come to wonder why or even how Sephiroth could stand to retain his position as a lone wolf. There were a lot of reasons and all of them would remain unspoken of; it was Sephiroth's business and he didn't want to fall into a position of vulnerability as a result. Especially considering his current bill of health.

The speed at which Cloud snapped back to attention just as a dutiful trooper should went a long way in dispelling Sephiroth's unease. He blinked, almost as if startled, and then canted his head in a sideways nod.

"There are some effects of mine, which I can only assume were taken away in Esdham once I was recovered. While the armor I wore might not, for the most part, be salvageable now but I would like to have it back within my possession regardless." His brow furrowed as he came to the next thought.

"And then there is Masamune. I wonder if you might assist to track these down for me?"

It was really a complicated situation. There was a difference between hoping to be seen as this man's friend and the reality of it. Trying to break through the Great Sephiroth's cool shell was not something he ever expected to be easy. But he had to try, right? And unlike Sephiroth, Cloud had been doing a better job of reaching out and meeting the other people who had been brought here. He missed Zack and Angeal, but he didn't feel lonely at all.

Cloud's eyes went wide at the news of Sephiroth's legendary sword. The Masamune had been taken? Lost? "O-of course! I'll do whatever I can! Do you think the Imperials took it?" Even saying that made his skin crawl with nerves and bristle with anger all at once.

Cloud was likable enough and it was easy to see how he'd struck up something of a friendship with Zack, but then again Zack did seem to collect friendships like pins of honor. Sephiroth was never the one to reach out, being as he'd simply never needed to- it might beg all sorts of questions as to how Angeal and Genesis had even managed to get past that near-impenetrable shell that he kept around himself.

"I wouldn't send anyone off to find it if they had." He spoke matter of factly, if a little bitter at the notion that he might have been careless enough to lose his weapon in a fight. "It survived the fall, I know. It was there just before-"

He stopped, chewing back the fact that he had blacked out at all from Cloud. That certainly wouldn't have sounded so legendary now, would it?

"-it wasn't there when I woke up in the field clinic. I imagine they're storing it somewhere."

Time and similar circumstances. Isn't that what most friendships rose out of? Cloud and Zack had a laugh about being backwater boys. The SOLDIER trio had their own experiences together as well. It really wasn't so strange objectively. The human heart just never bothers to explain itself.

"So the Esdham military might still have it. I can ask Mako to send them some letters to check up on it. Or did you have Spencer already do that?" Cloud was more than willing to go track it down himself if he had to, but he didn't want to flail around uselessly. He wanted to actually help. "Is there any chance it came back here to Aqures Ixen with you?"

Given that he'd ended up betrayed by those two same people that he'd never even realized he'd opened up so much to, Sephiroth was often left wondering if it had been worth all of the indescribable feelings they'd left behind them. He'd continued still to try and keep a part of their former friendship close to his heart, refusing any mission that would pit them against each other, knowing that his involvement wouldn't fix it. While at the same time he worked behind the scenes to try and find the answers he'd convinced himself had to be there. There had to be a way to fix all of it? Right?

With one of them in crystal stasis now, that wasn't working out too well.

"Spencer would take some heavy convincing to leave my side right now." Sephiroth dropped Cloud's eye contact for a moment, dragging his attention all down and over to his broken leg again. It was hard not to stare at it, considering it was positioned pretty much in his face.

"And possibly. I would have thought so, given what I know of military protocol when it comes to personal effects."

This new world was more of a chance than Gaia was going to give them. That was for certain. The problem at hand was more the interesting way that time was now playing in all their relationships. Cloud was at a critical point and had no idea of it at all. Who could say how things would change if it was to shift in some way.

Here and now though, Cloud was playing the part of the dutiful infantryman. "I'll go and check the airport and the local military office and see what they know. If I find a clue I'll send Mako back to get proof that you sent me." At least he hoped they'd be less tight fisted than requisitions was back with ShinRa. "Is there anything else you need, Sir?"

Although Sephiroth were from slightly earlier on than Cloud, it were only a matter of months before he'd find himself sharing a long truck ride with the younger trooper and then crossing a threshold into a town that there would be no turning back from. Despite all the clues, here in Crystallis, and whatever would be imparted to him later; none of them would know for sure until it came around. On one hand there was little point to worry, on another-

Sephiroth would never forget the hatred that Tifa had spat out at him that day in the square.

"That'll do." He commented shortly, though that was all there was really left to say on the matter. "You know where to come and find me, if you run into difficulties."

Though Sephiroth did hope that they would be only the administrative type of difficulties, not the type that might require him to have to step up and fight any time soon. He shook his head abruptly, steeling himself against a twinge that had decided to come in that moment. For all the healing wonders they had in Crystallis, there wasn't very much they could do for the associated pain- of which Sephiroth had never experienced anything quite like it. It felt gut-retching.

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#7 | Return from the Brink

/quietly retcons that Tifa's thread is before this one, if that's OK?

Sure

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