Event || In Your Worst Memory

[0301120113092025]

Characters: All Heroes of Light. Only those who signed-up can start a memory.
Where: Interdimensional Rift
When: May 27th - May 30th
Summary: The Heroes of Light relive some of their worst memories, with a twist. All characters participating in this will be physically missing from Crystallis for the duration of the event.
Warning: It depends on the memory.

Where you were or what you were doing— It does not really matter. Not any more. Everything around you freezes, nearly as if time itself stopped, as if the world was frozen in time. And before you have a chance to understand what is happening, you can hear a voice right behind you.

"Kali Shashidhwaja."

Should you turn around, you may see a child who seems to be the only one aside from you unaffected by what is happening. And as she stares right at you, it makes no doubt these strange words are aimed at you. But before you can reply to her, the world around you collapses. Reality twists and shatters... Or maybe you are the one who is collapsing and shattering away from reality as you know it. No matter what the answer is, it will only take a few seconds for you to find yourself sinking into a void, Crystallis vanishing into the distance. There is nothing but darkness as far as the eye can see.

And once again you feel different: all the powers from your Jobs are fading. Not only that, but you might find that your Crystal is gone and your clothes back to what they were before you woke up in Crystallis. It is silent, cold and before long it feels as though life itself is slipping out of you... And yet, slowly the world reforms around you. The darkness fades away and a new world appears, yet at the same time this is not a world.

This is a memory. The question is, is it yours or that of someone else?

Comments

[headfons]

It actually reminded him of... Van.

That overwhelming intelligence and quick wit - the way he seemed to be able to calculate every detail of everything around him, to the point where it seemed he'd be able to plan ten steps ahead of just about anyone. It... actually unnerved him just a little, if only because being reminded so very much of Van wasn't something even a little comforting. But... he wouldn't hold it against the other man. Instead, he'd try to be a little less insulting (since being compared to Van was...very unfair).

Luke nodded to the question.

"People would plan years ahead just based on what they learned the Score said. I was... destined to be killed in Akzeriuth. My family kept me locked away... and I wasn't supposed to leave home, until it was time to go there," he said with just a hint of numbness in his voice; it was a story he'd already told.

The redhead held a blink, a quiet exhale being given in that same moment. Was it easier to tell those stories each time? Not entirely. There were lingering feelings of resentment, even if they were small. He'd forgiven them... yet... he doubted he'd ever forget. Maybe that was why he was able to... not hate Asch - the original Luke - so much. It was difficult to hate another, when one couldn't help but wonder one thing:

Would he have turned out the same way, given a reversal of roles...?

In that moment, things were shifting; suddenly, they were entering Yulia City. As the next scene started to play out, Luke didn't... even bother to watch. Instead, he continued talking to the other man.

"...When I first met the one who shared my face, I never expected to learn that was the reason he looked like me. The thought that I wasn't entirely human... was almost too much to bear, on top of having just killed so many people against my will. And then... later, I learned that I was only created to ensure that he could live... Yet, I...wound up doing so much more than that."

He managed a weak smile.

[shinrasfinest]

Luke would hardly be the first to be unnerved, not only by Sephiroth's mannerisms, but by how sharp and keen his intellect was. Too often, physical excellence conformed to stereotypes with regards to lesser intelligence; people like Sephiroth obliterated said misconceptions to dust. That Luke were drawing comparisons between him and Van, therefore, wouldn't be taken as an insult even if the red-haired man were keeping a good hold on remaining polite. Still, good manners were always appreciated.

"Hm." Sephiroth listened, though relaxed his expression in the face of Luke's dull tones; clearly he'd had to explain all of this before and repeating himself wasn't something he liked to do much, either, so he sympathized on that level and let Luke continue. He couldn't help the intensity that exuded from his continued watching of the other though, it might feel as if he were peeling back skin to look inside, or as if his mako-lit eyes were burning the barriers around Luke's soul in order to get a better look at what was going on.

Eye contact was broken though as the scene shifted to the events of Yulia City and Sephiroth peered around momentarily to take in the new surroundings. He would have to keep some attention on what would happen next, as well as the conversation he had involved himself in - it was bound to be relevant. It wasn't as if he were all of a sudden ignoring Luke, but at least the judging way that Sephiroth had looked at the other man was toned back as a result.

He waited until the fight had begun before blinking and glancing back to Luke again. The edges of Sephiroth's mouth softened a little as his thought process landed on a comparable set of circumstances from within his own history. He wondered, perhaps, if there might have been some other motive for Genesis to agree to spawn Hollander an army of copies - other than to attempt to destroy the company which had caused them both such apparent-injustice. Had producing copies had some other beneficial effect on Genesis; had it helped to slow the degradation? It was an angle Sephiroth hadn't rested on for any great length of time before.

"I can only imagine how frustrating that must have been for you. Though surely if an original is human then so is the replica - it must follow some scientific cloning process, right?"

He wasn't any great expert on cloning, but logically he surmised, regardless.

[headfons]

It really did feel as though the other man were able to see directly into his soul -- it made Luke uncomfortable, prompting him to turn away just enough to keep his face out of view. The only people he'd never minded looking at him so closely were his friends and Gaara (and even they had made him feel awkward, at times).

Luke gave a half-hearted shrug of one shoulder, face turning back to a position where it was visible. He looked too deep in thought to pay attention to whether or not his emotions were easy to see. Without saying anything, he briefly scrubbed a hand through his hair. It wasn't until he heard the other person speaking again, that he slowly looked over to him. His brow furrowed a little in thought, and then he gave a faintly wry smile - if it could really be called that, considering how small it was.

"Not everyone on Auldrant would have agreed with you around this time," he said while gesturing to the scene playing out, for the sake of clarifying on the words 'this time', "Someone who knew me for years looked at me almost as though I was some...creature out of their nightmare, after they found out the truth about me. And people killed replicas just for being replicas. But... human or replica, I'm me. I don't need to know which being I am to keep going. I have my weaknesses, but that isn't one of them."

His smile that time was a lot stronger and confident, making it clear he meant those words with everything in him.

[shinrasfinest]

'This time.'

Sephiroth resolved that meant that later on in Luke's timeline things would change. People would come to see replicas as human as their original; and he hazard a quick guess that it might not be in any small part down to what Luke would go on from the scene before them and achieve.

There was never a more satisfying feeling than an injustice being corrected, a prejudice being dashed to the wayside; Sephiroth 'hm'-d audibly at Luke to bid him continue and every so often nodded to communicate that despite the fight still going on for all to see, he was still very much attentive to their conversation.

"That's a very positive outlook to maintain for yourself. Otherwise existence itself loses all point." He could be the pot calling the kettle black right here but Luke didn't know that which still plagued Sephiroth's concerns about himself and that which he would inevitably turn into. It was kind of the opposite of Luke's journey, it seemed. In it's polarity, he found a comforting strength he could draw from that. He too could take his life, as it was here and now, and go whichever direction he wanted with it. He too, might feel proud in the result then.

"I'm to presume that you went from this point and further proved your strength as your own person?"

[headfons]

What he didn't mention was the real reason replicas stopped being targeted for abuse and treated like less-than-human; sacrificing themselves to cleanse the world of the miasma had been a good way of ending that. After ten-thousand of them had died, it had...gotten a little better. Maybe. Unfortunately, they'd never been seen as human -- unless, of course, it was a case such as the one with Luke or...even Florian.

In any case, he considered the sacrifices to be a remarkable thing. For a world that refused to accept them, they gave their lives. It had taken him a very long time to fully understand how they were able to do that.

"...I did. But, it wasn't until the very end that I really believe I managed to do it. Even after finding out what was going to happen to me, I... couldn't stop trying."

Realizing that the man might start to feel curious at the 'what was going to happen to me' bit, he quickly attempted to think up a distraction. But, it was also in that moment, he was given a strange look. Blinking a couple of times, he looked up to the silver-haired man, his voice just a tiny bit unsteady, "...What?"

It sounded like he'd just...said something, but he never saw the other man's lips moving; was he just...imagining that?

[shinrasfinest]

It must have been in Luke's head as Sephiroth hadn't spoken a word in the interim. Sure, he'd expected a further explanation after the leading answer he had been given; he was curious to know what Luke meant by that, but he hadn't yet asked.

Luke were perceptive enough, it seemed, to identify that he waned to know more without Sephiroth having to directly ask. Good to know, and hardly a negative trait considering Sephiroth himself weren't a man of many words.

Though now he was called out, he had to reply. It was only polite.

"There is more to this story, isn't there? I was waiting for you to finish."

[headfons]

If only that were the reason Luke was speaking up...

Something felt so incredibly off. For a good reason, too, seeing as the words out of Sephiroth's mouth... didn't match the words Luke heard. It sounded like the other young man was oh-so-casually pointing out a certain something -- that the replica was responsible for more deaths in the future.

"Wh-... I was only trying to help! What are you... what are you saying...?"

A somewhat defensive look entered his eyes, suddenly. While gritting his teeth, he shook his head. He was sounding way too much like the him they just watched in that memory... With a steadying breath, he spoke much more calmly, "I know... that people are in danger right now, but... we're going to stop it. Right...?"

[shinrasfinest]

Huh?

Sephiroth's expression startled a little and immediately his eyes narrowed and his brow came down while he looked over Luke. Why so defensive all of a sudden? He knew that sometimes he might come across as over-strict but, only thinking once again over what he had said, it was obvious to him at least that he'd asked in the most plain way possible --lacking any accusatory tone that Luke otherwise seemed to have heard.

Just as if Sephiroth's thoughts were contagious in some way, the defensive look followed in Luke and just like that the tension in Sephiroth's body language threatened to spike. He stood up taller, minutely pulled his shoulders back as the words from Luke just kept falling out.

"What are you talking about? I'm not accusing you."

[headfons]

It was the shifting in Sephiroth's stance that possibly added to the... illusion(?) that Luke was seeing; he couldn't be certain what was going on, honestly. What he was hearing didn't quite fit the conversation earlier. It didn't make any sense that there was a sudden change, but...well...

...That was how it had felt with Van, right?

Luke's expression only managed to tense more. The way he was looking at the silver-haired man might imply that he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't, though. Why was that guy being so adamant in his suggesting that Luke was to blame -- he wasn't the only one who'd gone, to top it off. It wasn't like with Akzeriuth, where he could look back and acknowledge that he had the biggest hand in that.

Besides, shouldn't they be focusing on the Calamity, rather than pointing fingers, anyway?! Why was... he saying all those things? Luke was gradually losing his ability to keep calm. His next words came out with quite a bit of anger.

"Where the hell is all this coming from...? What's your problem, huh?! First you're acting all nice, and then you're pointing fingers at me! Are you trying to mess with my head??"

[shinrasfinest]

What was going on? This wasn't right.

The edges of Sephiroth's pointed nose flared up noticeably when the space between his eyes couldn't be drawn down anymore, as Luke continued to react to the words that he'd simply not said. There had to be something that Sephiroth were doing that was causing it, triggering some sort of delusion in Luke's perception, perhaps.

A few of the other memories he'd been in so far had strange effects where onlookers became part of the scenes literally...not so much in other examples. Was this the 'quirk' with Luke's memory? If so, Sephiroth needed to change tack, and quickly...

Anger spikes Sephiroth's quick-temper and there is an obvious flare-up to his mako-d eyes in reaction, but no sooner did it happen than the silver SOLDIER fought to push the creeping rush of annoyance from spilling over into outright contempt. He smoothly, slowly unfolded his arms and raised his hands, palms forward in a small gesture of surrender.

"Calm down." It was difficult to force his tone to remain neutral in the face of Luke's own rising temper, but it wasn't all that hard to detach himself as he carried on. Looking at Luke's face but no longer looking as if he might see right through the young man into the core of being. "I'm not your enemy here."