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Post by Aerith Gainsborough on Nov 12, 2007 1:53:12 GMT -5
((nono, this is fine. I was tempted to pass out, so the manhandling is entirely appropriate. I'm going to pretend that someone, perhaps a nun, had the presence of mind to grab that bundle of clothes Aerith so desperately needs. I think her costume is about to fall apart.)) Squall. But you died. I felt the barrier collapse when the door shut. And you were on the other side. The entire chaotic mess slowed to a crawl around her. The very air turned to syrup. The raging inferno sounded like a television turned down low - like the news covering the Reactor bombings downstairs - and the crunch of metal on brittle exoskeleton like leaves underfoot. Nothing made sense, not these "sinspawn", not the staff in hand, and certainly not the man standing in front of her. She heard a shouting, but the words were muffled. More fighting, more words exchanged, then a firm grasp on her wrist. That brought Aerith around. She blinked the haze from her eyes, and the horrible carnage regained full focus. What a fool she'd been. Not once did she feel Squall's spirit enter the lifestream, her's or otherwise. They'd spent too much time together for her to not notice. What a fool. They ran through the streets; Aerith's bare feet slapped on the cobblestones with the sinspawn's gore oozing between her toes. The soles of her feet were being slashed by the sharp exoskeleton shards. She stumbled once and kept running. Then again. The temple. There it was. The domed building hardly showed through all the mist. They rushed down the narrow stairs, shoving sinspawn off the railing the whole way. The only reason Aerith didn't plummet straight down, either down the stairs or over the rail, was because of Squall's firm grip on her wrist. The three of them barreled into the doorway and crashed onto the landing's sharp ninety degree corner. Turning to the door, Aerith brought up her staff and touched a materia. These men had protected her this far, and so now it was her duty to protect them. She reached deep through the glowing green orb and flung the Wall over the opening. The sinspawn crashed against the spell with a misty chartreuse shimmer before falling over the edge. The woman stood gasping for breath. Blood and gore soaked the stone floor beneath her feet; an increasing amount was her own. The first thing she noticed in that quiet moment was that one of the straps on her costume had snapped and threatened to fall entirely off her body. She wrapped the tattered remains of a once fine cape around her shoulders. The second thing she noticed was the ghostly irridescent lights shimmering in the mist. The air was filled with their rainbow glow. Ignoring the constant pounding of creature on barrier, she approached the doorway to watch. Pretty. They were like fireflies in the daylight. She wanted to go outside and chase them for a while. Maybe they'd land in her hair and she'd be clothed in the pale colored lights. They reminded her of something, but before she could think of what, she was on the ground. There were red footprints all over the golden mosaic and she wondered just where they came from. Then it was dark. ((WOO HOO! Gotta love youtube for doing such a wonderful job with providing me with the Bevelle temple scene. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVoZNS23u6M for reference))
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Post by Xenos on Nov 12, 2007 11:49:14 GMT -5
((Squall, the fact that you wanted to do the same thing as Xenos makes it so much yummier. The manhandling is good, but now we have to find a way to heal her when neither of us have the means to.... SeeD first aid?)) Xenos had just managed to send his heel into the last sinspawn when the Wall slammed down. The ground shuddered and Xenos quickly sheathed Chirijiraden. His contrasting eyes turned first to Squall with an approving nod, but then the Sorceress was on the ground. Aerith's breathing was shallow, steady, but Xenos eyed the irridecent shells piercing the girls bloodied feet and cursed. He pulled off his silk robe quickly, tearing the silken sleeves into strips. "This won't hold very long. We need to stop her bleeding...." He couldn't bandage anything until the scales had been removed. His quick focus pulled attention to the one thing that he had never really paid attention to. He'd never needed to be a healer; there was always someone there do everything first. Just fight. Always fight. His nimble fingers plucked out the pieces, now slick with blood. The smell. The blood smell. It was sharp, coppery.... it was a smell he'd used to grow ill at, but SeeD had become his life and his battles were the only thing that he had. There was no home. There was no SeeD to go back to. He'd lost Her and that had been everything. He'd lost Her and she had killed everyone.... everything.... all because of his stupid single decision. He scrubbed at the wounds with the silk, trying to clean them off the best he could. The red was seeling into his robes, covering his hands. He took one of the long scraps and wrapped the Sorceress's feet to cover the bleeding part and tighten over the ankles so that the flow would slow down enough for the wounds to clot. He bent over the woman, listening to her breathing. She was alive.... but would she be strong enough to see the Fayth? He looked at the barrier between them and the beasts, then back down to the unconscious woman, curiously. There was something about her.... something about her defiant spirit.... but.... this woman.... Xenos reached out a hand to brush the strands of hair from her face and left a long red smudge in his wake. He flinched and pulled back. Aerith was not Her; She was long dead. "Squall," Xenos asked coldly, "You don't have anything to help her do you?" He felt empty, cold all along his bare skin. The Kompression scars rippled with his movement and followed the natural shadows of his body. He turned mismatched eyes to the SeeD, hopeful but doubting.
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Post by andheavenburns on Nov 12, 2007 13:57:25 GMT -5
((I have no idea what to write, so I went with this. =P ))
He was aware of the cobblestones underfoot, the intermittent crunch of Sinspawn scales when his boots crushed them. He ran slightly low, a firm grip on the woman’s wrist – Aerith, that ever present voice in his mind urged- other hand braced out, Gunblade ready. It was not Squall’s forte, running and fighting. He was better at facing an enemy head on, but the blade on his revolver model was still sharp and though he did not pull the trigger- too much of a vibration could throw him off his pace- Sinspawn still fell when he slashed out.
It was not ideal. But Squall could still kill efficiently.
When the woman stumbled, he paused, but only long enough to make sure he would not drag her down in his haste. They had no time to wait, to waste. They were outnumbered, essentially surrounded, if the temple offered some kind of sanctuary, then getting there was vital.
Aerith wasn’t wearing any shoes. Squall only caught this on the second stumble; the flash of bare bloody foot caught his eye for an instant, the first stumble he had blamed on her dress. He cursed the fact internally. No doubt her feet being scored on the body parts and exoskeleton that littered the streets. He almost offered to carry her. But chalked it off as wasted pathos because it would mean his mobility would be compromised and Squall could not allow that. She could still run. She would just have to run a bit longer.
Squall barely took note of the temple and probably would have missed were it not for Aerith. He only fully realised that their destination had been reached when they hit the balcony and stairs. He glanced down. Down it was then. Tightening his grip on that wrist he barrelled down those stairs, Aerith in tow, Xenos somewhere in the back of his awareness, never quite not there. He only stopped when it appeared they could go no further. Eying up his surroundings in thinly veiled suspicion- this was a bad place for a fight but it seemed they were in for one- Squall released Aerith, ready to tell her to take cover… somewhere-
And turned at the crash of Sinspawn against the magical barrier, Gunblade out- and entirely unnecessary apparently. He blinked grey eyes and straightened somewhat cautiously. Offensive and defensive magic user apparently.
Secure then. For the moment.
Squall lowered his Gunblade, but an instant later was moving again, setting it to the ground and dropping to a crouch beside the unconscious magic user. He automatically cast the Wall a quick glance, to ensure it still held, but when that much was obvious, he reached out to check the woman’s’ pulse instead.
Erratic. But there. Gently he turned her over, Xenos already at his side and tearing strips of silk from that robe.
Squall took a quick covert moment to look the other man over as he did so. Not injured, from what Squall could see.
Good.
He didn’t comment on the obviousness of Xenos’ statement. He moved down to one of those feet however and eyed it up clinically. Nothing too critical. Some blood loss. It would be painful. And the scales were awkward- they would need to be fished out- it was probably better she was unconscious then, for now. Squall pulled back to allow Xenos to do this, and after a moment of slight hesitation, lifted his revolver and cut a strip from Aerith’s dress, and then another, long and even. From what he could see she had a spare bundle of clothes anyway…
”Silk has poor absorbency,” was all he said upon watching Xenos’ wrap the wounds. He set the makeshift strips next to the other man. “You might want to use this over it.”
If Xenos did not, then Squall would himself.
Had he a potion this would be easier, Hyne, even a small med kit would do. Forceps, disinfectant, thread, a curved needle… the basics. Squall quashed down on the irritable surge that came with being unprepared. He refused to wonder on why he was so unprepared, eyed the bloody streak on Aerith’s face- the name was coming easier to him now, and then glanced at Xenos critically.
It was hardly reassuring that he was not the only one that had been caught unawares. Squall raised an eyebrow at Xenos’ question and then after a moment shook his head. No. Nothing noteworthy anyway.
“Her wounds aren’t critical,” he said coolly. “Just compromising.”
-if they became infected however- were Sinspawn poisonous?
He gave the unconscious woman a considering glance, gritting his teeth. She looked pallid and tired. Injured. Young. She looked like she did not belong there. Squall fought a reflexive scowl. This was a mess. Careless on both their parts. It was Xenos’ fault for getting them into this. It was Squall’s fault for not being better prepared, for not seeing some way out of it.
“I don’t have any potions,” he murmured, a bit quieter. “Or even a med kit. Unless you have a cure spell… I think the person most qualified to deal with her injuries, is her.”
He brought steely grey eyes up to Xenos and gave him a rather meaningful stare. No castigation in it, just pure dispassion.
“And assuming you want her here for a reason, it’s probably necessary she be conscious anyway,” he noted.
Xenos did not tell Squall anything in regards to this Aerith, but given what had happened, Squall imagined that if Aerith could do offensive fire magic, and pull off protection spells, then she could probably heal as well. And Xenos had steered them towards the temple… so he had a plan. A plan that involved this Aerith? Most likely.
Pushing the aggravation aside- it was becoming annoyingly familiar, Squall reached over to tap the woman’s face lightly, though he doubted this would wake her…
“Aerith…”
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Post by Xenos on Nov 12, 2007 15:32:46 GMT -5
((I love this scene so much. Let's backlog it so that we don't lose this shit. ))
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Post by Aerith Gainsborough on Nov 16, 2007 11:07:28 GMT -5
Aerith felt like she was in a pit. It was that dark and had the impression of being very deep. Very deep. She could feel the pressure of gravity with the darkness. It was like the heart of a gravity spell. She couldn't move, and, though it should scare her, she was content to just lay there at the bottom of the dry well. The air didn't move. She opened her eyes as wide as they'd go, but they kept slipping shut over the immense blackness.
Tired. That was why she couldn't move. If she tried to move, her entire body would scream out in protest. So she didn't move. She just focused on keeping her eyes open. But were they? They felt like they were shut, but she remembered opening them, but she didn't, not really.
There was a light. One of those little iridescent, incandescent lights floated nearby. She was tempted to reach out and touch the little glowing ball. Touch. Something brushed her face. Suddenly, the pit didn't seem quite so deep. In fact, the oppressive weight had lifted. That little ball of light played just out of reach; its rainbow tail drew designs against the matte black background. There was another touch, just as light, but purposeful. The weight lifted again, but at the same time she herself felt heavier. It was like being pulled out of deep water. She could feel again, but still couldn't move. She knew she was dreaming, though, so when she heard the familiar voice, the one that couldn't exist, her eyes fluttered open.
It took a moment for her eyes to focus. Aerith was on the floor, Squall kneeling nearby and Xenos leaning over a little further away. Those green eyes found Squall's slate grey. "How? I..." she looked at her hands, the calluses on her palms and her tapered fingers. These were the hands of a mage. "I let the barrier go. We heard the water crash in." She searched out Squall once again. "But you're alive." She smiled and felt a great weight lift from her heart. "Rinoa would be so happy if she knew."
Aerith made to stand but stopped when she felt the silk bandages on her feet. Then she noticed that Xenos was standing there without his robes. It was the body of a warrior, lightly scarred by past battles and heavily scarred by that darkness. She wasn't staring, but watched, hypnotized, as the man's every breath made the scars shift and move almost like it was alive. She shook her head and turned away. The remains of her once fine costume were wrapped around her feet on top of the silks. The bleeding had stopped. There were shards of exoskeleton all around on the floor; the shards had once been in her feet. "Thank you," she whispered. She almost felt bad for bringing out the healing materia, like it would make their efforts seem worthless. But then again, she couldn't walk in this condition. It wasn't a bad injury, but frustrating. She lightly reached through the materia - it wouldn't take much - and applied the Cure to her cuts. "Alright. That should be good." She turned to the two men and reached through the orb once again, a little deeper, and cast Cura to them. It took a little longer without an All materia, but it wasn't long before the three were healed. She stood, stumbled from exhaustion, but righted herself on her staff. The Wall was holding still, but it didn't have too much longer. "Let's hurry before they beat down the door."
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Post by Xenos on Nov 16, 2007 11:48:24 GMT -5
Xenos nodded and collected the clothing from the nun with a nod to her. "Let's get you inside the cloister. We'll need to keep moving, but at least you'll be safe from the Sinspawn."
The nun nodded and hurried forward, unfastening the great door to the temple. Xenos followed, worry creasing his brows. She wanted to know about Squall. He'd hoped the topic could wait, but it seemed the more time he took to explain, the worse the situation seemed to become. "Lady Aerith," he called, placing a light hand on her shoulder as they passed in the door-- it slammed shit behind, tightly blocking out anyone without clearance, "When the reactor fell in, Tiamat and I managed to pull him out...." He lowered his eyes slightly-- why was this guilt bothering him? He'd done nothing wrong! "His memory has been...." He looked at the mage directly. Xenos felt the warmth of those green eyes-- not like Her warmth, the low Autumn sun, but the light in the early spring... the light that melts the snow-- staring through him. "He can't remember much of anything."
((short post is short. I'm sorry!))
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Post by andheavenburns on Nov 16, 2007 13:52:21 GMT -5
Squall pulled back the moment Aerith stirred. He watched her climb into consciousness, aware that she was waking even before her eyes opened. By the time those green eyes found his own- slightly hazy from either pain or unconsciousness, Squall did not know- he was leaning back in an easy crouch.
She seemed a little puzzled. Perhaps she had hit her head in the fall. Her words had him blink once and cast Xenos the briefest of glances. How? Squall had no idea. Water- He- There was familiarity there. And the smile- It was a warm smile. Squall could not help but watch the curve of those lips with something akin to detached interest.
He did not have many warm smiles to his memory. He had the vague thought that he would be adding this one that small mental inventory.
Then of course, she said that name. That name that was a face and a host of things Squall had been trying pointedly not to think about but-
So, she knows me. He tasted the thought, trying to determine how he felt about that. Surprise was predominant though the most outward reaction from Squall was the slight narrowing of his eyes. Hot on the heels of that surprise was suspicion. It was an easy thing to say, I know you. But all Squall had to go by was that niggling sense of recognition he had felt before. It was still with him, yes but other than that…
Other than that he had nothing. This Aerith could be lying. Squall was too much of a pragmatist to discount the notion.
And Rinoa…
He was not going to think about Rinoa. Not the name. Nor the face. Nor the woman Aerith who he was sure he knew and who apparently knew him… He threw Xenos another glance and got to his feet, stepping back to allow Aerith room to heal herself and eying up the wavering Wall as he did this. It would not hold much longer. They needed to move and- If Aerith knew him, then did Xenos know that? And if so-
If so-
No. No not now.
Squall bent to retrieve his Gunblade and shook his head slightly. It would be careless to waste mental resources poking at a problem when it was obvious the solution was complicated enough to divide his attention from the present - the still-dangerous-present - which Squall would be wise to focus on. That way he would still be alive to figure out the truth later.
He nodded his thanks as Aerith cast Cure on him. He did not think he had any injuries beyond bruises and a few small cuts but it was a welcome relief all the same.
Passing through the entranceway beyond it Squall could not help but over hear Xenos’ words, interest raised as the man called on Aerith. Squall only paused slightly at them.
Much of anything. He turned slowly; making sure no extraneous body movement might escape the tight prison of his motions. Grey eyes took in the pair with a hooded expression.
No. Not much of anything. Generally he had only what Xenos would deem to tell him.
Squall kept the stab of anger carefully under control; turning away to check the closed exit over instead, too aware he was wearing a frown. It would not do. Anger. It was not conductive to anything right then. But Squall could not deny that it was there as he ran his hands over the frame and gave the heavy door a decided tug, just to check that it was secure.
Yes. Surprisingly, he was angry. Chances were, he was being lied to. It was not something he had overlooked. But it seemed he had been hoping somewhere in-between all of that too.
And what a fool anyone would be to have hope.
Unclenching his fingers, which had tightened rather irrationally, Squall considered and then allowed the small smirk to pass his lips. Unseen it was safe to do so. He withdrew from the door.
No. Hope was a foolish thing.
With that in mind he let the smirk fade, turned, bracing his Gunblade by the flat across one shoulder.
“As Xenos said, I don’t remember much of anything. You included,” he murmured and offered up a half shrug. “But I hardly see how that’s relevant to here and now.”
He canted his head at Xenos and without any prelude whatsoever. “Why are we here?”
He kept his eyes on the scarred man, cold steely grey, measuring the other carefully.
… because if Xenos had wanted to escape, Squall knew he could have called on Tiamat and pulled them all out, Aerith included. Instead… instead they were here. In this temple. In the face of the many unanswered questions in his head, Squall decided he would settle on one of the few for which he could get a direct reply…
((… Squallie’s a bit miffed. Yessum. And paranoid. But we all knew that anyway. XD ))
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Post by Aerith Gainsborough on Nov 19, 2007 1:01:58 GMT -5
((So my friend made this VIII amv to Chemicals Between Us...))
Amnesia. So that's what was wrong with Squall. It explained that suspicious gleam to his eye. It reminded her of ShinRa HQ, only she was the one armed with the glare and he was the unimpressed youth. That felt so long ago; so many things had happened since that time. Their fight in the Caves with Sphinxaga, flying in the Falcon... Xenos crashing the Falcon. Xenos and Tiamat attacking them. Xenos sending the whole of Junon after them. Xenos, Xenos, Xenos. It all returned to the man clad in white, the masked man. Unmasked, now. She felt a strange mixture of pity and anger towards the villain. Her warm gaze grew shielded and cold. No, too much pity could be dangerous. Cloud, his own memory a tangled knot, made that painfully clear. She didn't touch her cheek. Instead, she turned those now wary eyes toward Xenos. "'Doesn't remember much', hmm? Convenient," she murmured.
Then Squall spoke. That he didn't remember her shouldn't have affected her as much as it did. She'd forgotten just how cold he could be. She was struck silent. Again, her mind went to since they'd met in Midgar. Aerith had found herself alone again in a world that didn't know what was going on. They'd stuck together across the world, and though she was used to being forgotten, it was the callous way he brushed it off. Her eyes filled with tears, but she turned her head so that her hair would veil them from Squall. She wasn't hiding, exactly. He wouldn't care one way or the other, and it was that indifference she feared. She bit her lip until she could taste copper through the thin skin.
"Seymour knew." Aerith was relieved to hear that her voice was steady. "We were supposed to come to the temple, and that's as far as we got. We were seperated when those... sinspawn attacked. I don't know what to do now."
((oh, lawd. It only took me an hour to write that atrocity...))
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Post by Xenos on Nov 19, 2007 11:42:03 GMT -5
Xenos exhaled slowly. The cold neon lights filled the room with a surreal glow, much like that of Esthar in his youth.... He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Everything had turned upside-down since he'd come to Bevelle. All of his plans, all of his carefully planned strategies-- the only hope he had to return the world to normal-- had fallen apart and dissolved into the air. It seemed this was fate. His plan to force Squall to suffer, his need to have Aerith as a sorceress..... It had all turned against him and now Xenos had no choice but to go with the flow.
"We have to get to the temple. There's a summon there. If you can manage to summon the direct power of the fayth, then you will better learn to control your own abilities...." he sighed, "I don't know what Seymour had planned, but if you're willing to help me, I'd like to turn everything back to normal. I know you don't trust me and you have full right with the things I've done, but there are.... certain circumstances that have caused me to behave the way I have." Xenos gave a ghost of a smile and ran his fingers through his bangs. "Part of it is guilt, part of it.... who knows? But now I can tell you that this world is falling apart. The fayth are trying to hold it together like their Dreams, but they don't have the power to maintain it."
This was much more information than he had planned to give, but he couldn't stop now. there was too much at risk. There were too many people dying just outside the temple walls. How many of them were clamboring to get in, hoping --praying!-- that some Summoner or their Maester would save them. "These worlds are all so different and they're forced together by something called Time Compression." He eyed Squall carefully. "Squall should remember.... Time Compression was caused by a powerful sorceress in our world. Her name was Ultimecia. She was driven mad and unleashed her fury on the world in an effort to change the past and reclaim something that she had lost-- some love who had abandoned her when she most needed him." Xenos grit his teeth; his whole body felt cold. "She was killed before she could accomplish anything but the initiation of the Time Compression. The worlds became unstable and fell apart. They fused together like patchwork, and now even this world will die if some Sorceress can't rise up and fix the wrongs Ultimecia didn't have the chance to right."
Xenos shook his head. "But the Mist.... I didn't expect the mist. Who knows what else this World might throw at us to protect itself.... Summoning is just the first step, if you're willing to help me." His eyes rested on Aerith, pleading and human-- more human than he'd felt in ages, but they soon drifted to Squall and his stomach turned to a cold-burning flame. If he had not.... but that was irrelevant now. "Squall, these are the things that I've been keeping from you. You became legendary for your defeat of the Sorceress and you shaped the very thing that a SeeD should strive to be.... but there was a vital mistake in killing Ultimecia and now it's our responsibility to fix it. You're the image of the SeeDs of your time and I was of mine. We lived trying to complete the same goal.... and now it's our responsibility to take it a step further.
"I was trapped in Time Compression for too long of a time and I assumed that you all had been in the way of me competing my Mission.... These scars," Xenos began, eyeing the shadows that shifted as the ligaments of his hand moved, "are from the time I spent.... I was never meant to be a sorcerer, so Ultimecia's power corrupted my body, but I spent all those years watching this world form and that knowledge can be used to our advantage, even if--" He stopped. There was a series of screeches managing to get through the door.
"We need to make a decision now or else the Sinspawn might make it through." His firm eyes found their way back to Aerith. "What will we do? I've told you all I can for now, so this is your decision."
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Post by andheavenburns on Nov 19, 2007 15:15:59 GMT -5
Squall side-stepped the strange feeling prompted by the fleeting look of hurt on Aerith’s face before she ducked her head to hide it. Slightly discomfited by it, he pretended that he had not seen it. It was irrelevant anyway.
He refused to consider why what he said should matter. He did not know her beyond a vague sense of déjà vu.
Apparently Aerith was as lost as he was, something which did not necessarily surprise Squall, but it made him dismiss the faint suspicion that she was an ally to Xenos. He had been considering this factor but was forced to discard it.
As for Xenos’ words… there was a lot to them. A lot to absorb. Squall listened impassively and filtered away what he could. Mostly, for Squall it led to more questions. But he set those aside, along with much of what Xenos said and instead concentrated on addressing the key points to his mind. What was important at present…
SeeD. Ultimecia. Time Compression. Xenos. The Fayth. Aerith. A World that was unwilling to be undone?
“Ultimecia came to our world- to my world- and tried to destroy it,” Squall said a little slowly, considering. Edea. First Edea and then... then- Rinoa- Slate grey eyes narrowed sharply. Her motives. Squall did not care about her motives. Motive did not justify mass destruction, manipulation, tyranny and-
“We didn’t make a mistake in killing her. We made the mistake in not killing her soon enough.”
She had used people, wantonly, with no regard for their lives; Squall had been there, listening to Edea’s speech, and through her, Ultimecia-
“She wanted to deny existence itself. She- …”
Almost had. Or had she managed it after all? Was that what this was? Existence denied? His existence denied? This was the result of Time Compression. Things were going to fall apart.
“Ultimecia wouldn’t have tried to right this wrong, even if she were alive.”
Squall was sure on that. He could distinctly recall her insanity in her last moments, her final form a twisted personification of her power corrupted, the true visage of what had been Ultimecia hanging inverted from the tattered remnants of her dress. Squall could remember recoiling at it. Only once, and the horror had been quickly banished by simple self preservation. They had an obligation to survive. Ultimecia had to die for them to do this. For the world to do this. Squall had never shirked that. Squall did not regret that. It had made everything less complicated knowing that.
But the tormented woman, dangling from her hatful power given form…
Time had not dimmed that memory.
“You want to fix the world,” he murmured to Xenos. “Not asking for much, are you?” The words were soft but harsh, thrown like a gauntlet.
Squall did not say ‘I’m with you’ to Xenos. Xenos didn’t ask for it anyway he reasoned and was obviously not seeking an affirmation but simply certain that Squall would do his duty by the world as a SeeD. And Squall would do his duty… to protect those in it. To-
Grimly, realistically, Squall thought the chances of fixing this mess were unlikely. If it were Time Compression that did this then it would make sense that Time Compression could be the way to undo it. Logically at least. And only a Sorceress as strong as Ultimecia had been, claiming to be last of her kind, had the sheer power to perform such an act.
His eyes drifted to Aerith. Then he flicked his gaze onto Xenos, considering. Sorceresses were not necessarily female. Adel had been a prime example of this. Xenos could be lying on that fact. Xenos could be one for all Squall knew. But possibly he saw Aerith as a sorceress as well in asking for her aid…
Xenos had not asked his assent. Squall would not give it to someone he did not trust. But he could work toward a mutual goal.
And if they could fix this, if Squall could get his world back, his home… His memories of what came after and the loss of them would not matter.
He did not agree with anything as routine as a nod. He pulled his Gunblade from his shoulder and moved toward the door in a guard stance instead. He thought Xenos might at least understand acquiesce when he saw it. But…
“I don’t trust him,” Squall said to Aerith, though he did not look at her. Stormy grey eyes fixed resolutely on the door. Squall tightened his grip on his Gunblade. How long more would it hold? It was strong, but more than likely it was not strong enough.
“But… what he says about Ultimecia is true. And Time Compression. It makes sense that this could happen. She tried to negate existence, she didn’t quite succeed but… she warped it… It would explain a lot of things.”
We failed, he realised faintly. I failed.
Squall flinched internally. Concentrating on the now instead, he shoved the feelings away with a brutal sort of efficiency. They were not needed here. Self-directed anger could come later. This was neither the time nor place.
“I want to fix this world. Even if I don’t think that’s possible-”
There it was. That hope again. Faint and small, it flickered like a dying ember.
”Xenos says that watching the world form gives us an advantage,” A half glance in the man’s direction. Squall shrugged. “I don’t know about that, but more information can’t hurt. I’ll take what I can get if it’ll help…”
Squall left the rest unsaid. For now it seemed he was going to go with Xenos, whether or not Aerith decided to as well…
((Aerith~! You got a link for the VIII FMV? ;.; If it’s online…. I’d love to see it! ))
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Post by Aerith Gainsborough on Nov 21, 2007 2:56:07 GMT -5
((Buah... she never posted it online. It wasn't particularily good... the timing was alright, the song's good, but ...well... she doesn't understand the story. She just likes the eyecandy. Haha, the second clip is totally from IX.))
Aerith had never felt more out of the loop. Ultimecia? Time Compression? They were apparently from the same world, and spoke like it. It didn't make sense. And Xenos was relying on her to make a decision on such a vague collection of information.
But she'd already reached that decision. She felt the remainder of her Wall come crashing down. It wouldn't be long before those sinspawn broke down this door, too. Sinspawn? Were these from the creature Seymour had been mentioning? It seemed so obvious. This is what she was supposed to be fighting. To save the people. To save the Planet.
"I agreed to become Bevelle's summoner hardly knowing what that meant, but the people are desperate. This is your problem from your world," Aerith said with a measuring glance to the two men. What was their connection? And what's a SeeD? She realized that though they'd crossed the world together, she really knew nothing about Squall. It was a lonely feeling. "Are there no sorceresses left in your world? What about Rinoa?" She'd seen the way Squall's eyes would unfocus each time she said the name, and this time she used it like a weapon. "She was the only mage I've ever heard of to use Holy without the White Materia. Surely she's strong enough." Aerith didn't know when she'd gone from depressed to pissed, but it happened. "First, Seymour wants me to save - or was it destroy - his world, and now you're wanting me to save it all because this Ultimecia wanted to erase all life..."
It sounded familiar. A woman from a time long past desiring nothing more than to destroy everything. For a moment, Aerith was simply a human crying about something she shouldn't have to fix. But she wasn't. From her birth, she was destined to protect the Planet. Her blood coursed with the power and legacy of the Cetra. She lived for the Planet.
The singing had gotten louder, that slow haunting voice sounded sad. It was a boy's voice, she noticed for the first time. He'd been singing since they were in the temple, and it was also the loudest voice she'd heard outside. 'Be resolute,' it seemed to say.
"Let's find this summon first." Really, she didn't have time to be pissed.
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Post by Xenos on Nov 21, 2007 11:33:17 GMT -5
Xenos had wanted to speak more than anything. She wasn't trying to destroy all life. She hadn't ever wanted to destroy anything except for maybe the source of Her pains in society.... She wasn't evil, She wasn't what SeeD had turned her into.... She was desperate.... like Rinoa. Desperate and so alone.... If Leonheart-- Squall just....
The white SeeD have a firm nod to the sorceress. "I'll explain more later, but you're right. We need to go. Are you alright to run?" He asked as he stepped out onto the glass-paneled floor. It seemed that the Sinspawn attack had damaged the supply source for the lifts. At least this had gone right.... They could run straight across. Xenos started off without a backwards glance, sure to keep his speed down until he knew that the others were following. He followed the maze with dificulty, the turns throwing him into dead-ends every now and then, but his eyes caught the shifting symbols of the steep ramp up to the deepenst end of the temple-- the chamber of the Fayth and he slowed to a walk.
This was it. He didn't know anything beyond this point. All he knew was that there would be a fayth inside-- the most powerful fayth before the Final summoning and all he could do was hope that it would have the power to help them. A Summon couldn't deny a summoner if they were competent, could they? Xenos had never known a GF to be fickle, but he couldn't be so sure with the raw soul of the Summons.
"This is it," he whispered, "Beyond here and it's all up to you.... We have to wait in the antechamber in case anything happens to you." He didn't know what could happen or what would happen.... but that was what tradition stated. "If you're not comfortable," he continued, "I'm sure the Maester wouldn't mind us following you." He cartainly wasn't one to conform.... was he?
((I kind of feel like I'm making Xenos know a little too much.... >.> Sorry!))
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Post by andheavenburns on Nov 21, 2007 17:05:11 GMT -5
Squall automatically raised his Gunblade as the sounds beyond the door suddenly increased, the slight muffler effect by the Wall, shattered. Or lessened… Was it holding? Was it still there? Had it been compromised? He had no idea. They needed to get moving- He cast Aerith a quick glance, intent on asking the woman just that, but was met with an expression combining confusion and growing anger-
They did not have time for this now, he thought vaguely as she opened her mouth to speak, both that fact and his question on the tip of his tongue. Both were lost in the growing maelstrom of his thoughts however once she did speak.
Protests were the first to hit him. Not his world. Sinspawn were not something Squall had ever encountered. Not something he had ever heard of, or read about. Nor that mist. Ultimecia? Yes, technically. From his future. But not his present and as far as Squall was concerned she was as well removed from his world as the creatures crawling from the mist outside were. He frowned at Aerith, unable to quell the reaction and opened his mouth to say just that.
Then she said that name. Squall stopped. Not because Aerith had intoned Rinoa’s name. But because of the manner in which she had said it.
And storm grey eyes narrowed. And Squall tensed, mouth closing. And silently, he revaluated Aerith. Comrade. Improbable. Friend. Implausible. Ally. … Ally he surmised, settling on that, they had been allies and just that. Squall’s comrades, his friends were… somewhere else. Zell, Quistis, even Rinoa now-
This Aerith was not one of them.
Surely she’s strong enough.
Squall’s jaw hardened in lieu of a flinch. The ever-present ice to blue-grey eyes plummeted to sub-artic in temperature. The young man gave Aerith a brief, measured glance. Then he nodded slowly. Both in a subtle acknowledgement and a dry- if silent- answer.
Yeah. Our world. Our problem. But you’re here. Now. Makes it your problem too.
Xenos thought she could help. Squall’s doubts were doubling on that expectation. But that did not matter. He did not owe this Aerith any explanations and at present, Squall realised he had no inclinations – and no time- to answer any of her questions. He owed Xenos his life however. He could repay that debt.
At Xenos’ suggestion to resume moving deeper in, Squall felt the cold of battle-calm washing over him once more, muting even his anger and outrage; the odds of fixing this were small and the odds of another fight, were rising. Squall could not say he minded much. They broke into a run and Squall instinctively took up the rear letting the mechanical movements and the sense of wary anticipation push aside the memories and confusion that was leaving an acrid taste in his mouth, flicking through his mind like an old film reel, fading from red to black; the monochrome of a blood soaked existence.
He was a SeeD. This was what he did. Lived for. Move. Fight or flight. First things first though.
“I don’t want you to do anything,” he murmured, moving closer to Aerith briefly, but keeping his eyes on Xenos. He voice had all the emotion of a dial-tone. “Stay here if you like. Go back out and dance with the dying if you like. Xenos wants you here. I don’t care eitherway. I’m going to try to help people. You… You can do what you want.”
And pulling back, he let the full sense of their situation drag him in, re-evaluating it in his mind once more, along with the likelihood of them getting out in one piece. Squall did not care about the Summon. If it was beneficial, then it was important. If it did not work, they would find another way; his mind was already seeking alternative options- though he would be the first to admit, given this world, he did not have many options to choose from. … Xenos was still his best bet.
Unfortunately.
Squall paused once Xenos slowed to a walk, and took the opportunity to look behind him and back the way they had come. The temple had too many turns for Squall to see very far, though he had composed an internal map in his head of their meandering journey. But there was no way to tell right now if they had pursuers. Realistically, it was a probability.
He also took the opportunity to take in his surroundings more, Gunblade still by his side and not anything like relaxed. Squall did not like this place, he realised. More than the tactical disadvantage being here was, it felt… stifling. This was an irrelevant feeling of course, but not one Squall could crush completely.
He turned away at Xenos’ whispered words, the temptation to snort crossing his mind. He was pretty sure that Xenos did not care what the Maester thought, eitherway. But Squall would give him points for creative improvisation in pretending to. Xenos had more patience than Squall for diplomacy. To Squall that particular art had always gone too much hand in hand with artifice. He had dealt with it too much. Xenos however…
Well. It gave Squall one more reason to be wary.
“It’s probably better we go in,” he said to them both, still eying the way they came. “Or one of us at least.”
One of them could watch their ‘Sorceress’, and the other, could watch their backs…
((Xenos~ He doesn’t know too much. I mean, not for a guy who’s been around as long as he has! XD And warg. Pity. ;.; There aren’t a lot of good VIII FMV’s out there. ; And ... I feel like Squall is being mean- but he's not! He's being ... Squall! ... >.> So are we moving this thing into the Temple thread? Or… are we waiting a bit more for Auron? ))
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Post by Aerith Gainsborough on Nov 23, 2007 23:25:36 GMT -5
"...I’m going to try to help people. You… You can do what you want.”
Aerith had never felt guiltier in her life. She was torn between three different destinies. She'd been prepared for the first: praying for guidance to summon Holy. But she'd woken from that trance back in Midgar, faced with uncertainty and the unknown. Now she wasn't so sure her death on an altar would be what was necessary.
Forget the past. Aerith hadn't seen any sign of Sephiroth, Jenova, or otherwise. In fact, even the two people she'd known, she didn't really know at all. Could she safely say that while she hadn't given up on her destiny, it had abandoned her? No, then she'd be a failure. Destiny had... changed. Now she was called upon to rescue another world, one of fancy rituals and religion. Moments after agreeing to help them, Xenos wants her to rectify another world's follies. Maybe her destiny hadn't changed as much as she'd thought. Who's to say that she wouldn't kneel at another altar, praying to summon Holy?
The singing had grown louder still as they stood at the doorway to the inner sanctum. What would be on the other side? Who was the summon they'd spoken of? This was the source of the singing, she was sure. At least the boy's gentle soprano sang in here. She reached out her hand, hesitated, then pressed it against the door. It opened with a sliding hiss and glass fans folded up to permit her passage.
Aerith was hardly through the door when she paused. "Please," she said, though she did not turn. She wasn't a coward, but she had this horrible deja vu creeping up from her stomach. "Please come with me."
((To the Temple))
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Post by seymour on Nov 24, 2007 2:14:31 GMT -5
This was getting out of hand.
After being knocked close to the state of unconsciousness by falling rubble in the chaos that had ensued, Seymour's body ached a bit as he stood up shakily. Sinspawn surrounded him, and he was shocked to find that they'd managed to practically take over the city. Everywhere he turned, another stinking pile of scales that smelled of death faced him. They seemed to be accompanied by some strange haze in the air, a sort of intangible essence that was sending everyone in the city into a state of terror (though it could have simply been the inevitability of Sin's arrival that had brought about their madness).
Worst of all, Aerith - HIS Aerith - was out of sight. She must have escaped during the invasion of the Sinspawn. His ticket into the brain of Sin - the heart of the Spiral of Death, the one thing he'd wanted all his life to achieve...she was ignoring his pleas of help.
Whatever diplomatic serenity that had appeared on Seymour's face up until that moment immediately dissipated. Now that he was deprived of his one opportunity to bring peace and balance to his homeland, Seymour was truly enraged. Letting out a menacing cry, the Maester of Yevon lived up to his title as a former summoner, and with one hand uplifted above his head, shards of ice suddenly encased several Sinspawn in his immediate vicinity. The accompanying blizzard managed to scatter some more Sinspawn - enough to give Seymour a path to the temple entrance, anyway, which was all he was concerned about.
Somehow, something in him - maybe his connection to this city - made him believe that Aerith must have entered the temple. Whether she'd gone for a final request to the Aeons for power, or she'd gone with the mysterious men that had appeared so suddenly, or simply to escape the Sinspawn...Seymour would soon find out.
A rather large Sinspawn blocked Seymour's path into the temple - a tentacle had managed to spring up. Refusing to waste anymore time, he called forth the very summon that this temple guarded; the legendary dragon, Bahamut. Perhaps Aerith would get the message that he was coming through the fluctuation of Fayth energy....as a Guado, Seymour was well-versed in these matters, but he couldn't be sure how Aerith would react. This uncertainty only fueled his rage, and moments later, Bahamut had blasted the tentacle (and a large part of the door) away.
Ignoring cries for help around him, Seymour ran into the temple, driving past the Sinspawn that had breached Temple security with a few quick Firaga spells. With the temple crumbling all around him, Seymour tried to sort through his thoughts. That man with the mask...what was his name? He must have convinced Aerith to join him, though it was clear that his intentions couldn't be terribly noble. This loss of Aerith to another only fueled Seymour's rage, and in a fit of jealousy, he ran into the Cloister of Trials.
By this point, the machinery found in the Cloister was malfunctioning and falling apart. It was no matter - Seymour had been in this temple so many times before, in his roles as both summoner and Maester, that he could run through this blindfolded and with both hands tied behind his back. Still more Sinspawn rummaged through the rubble, and still Seymour blasted away (this time with Thundaga - it was entertaining, at least, to vary his spells), relentless in his pursuit of the summoner girl.
He knew he had to save some magic for Xenos, so as he reached the end of the Cloister, he gave himself a quick minute to meditate, and engaged a Sinspawn quickly to Osmose some magic from it. Seymour may have been enraged, but past encounters (particularly what had just happened) had taught him to be prepared. The battle that was sure to come would be integral in his takeover of Sin.
This time, he WOULD take Spira...even if it meant killing all of it first.
((I'M SO SORRY YOU GUYS...I've been busy, which I know is a horrible excuse. I promise from now on I'll try and post every week - if I'm not posting, please feel free to IM me and kick me into posting! I lose track sometimes, guys...SORRY SORRY SORRY ;__;
P.S. Seymour is NOT in the Antechamber yet - he's just at the end of the Cloister. I wanted to give you all a post each to get Aerith kind of out of the praying a little, or at least to figure where to go from here. Yay postage! <3))
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