the seven devils [sephiroth]

[bunny]

THAT WAS FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR GARDEN. I'M JUST WONDERING BUT WHEN THE CRACKS BEGAN TO SHOW. LOOK CLOSELY AND THEN YOU'LL KNOW - THEN YOU'LL KNOW. I FOUGHT THIS WAY TWICE AND NOW ALL WE CAME TO REASON.

I AM A MOSAIC

It was the same thing they'd said a few days ago, the same thing they'd said the days before that, and-- Aerith was sure-- the same thing they'd be saying as the weeks wore on. Aerith and Marlene-- she'd learned soon enough-- were not the only ones to come to Gran Pulse.

And Gaia was not the only place they came from.

People garbed in brilliant colors, glowing fabrics and materials she'd been certain only existed in dreams would walk down the streets, brows furrowed in confusion and shoulders hunched in anticipation. There came races that looked partially animal with tall, rabbit-like ears and nails like claws. Some raved of Spira, others Ivalice and a careful few spoke of a Gaia that sounded much stranger than her own. Suspicion of newcomers pervaded the local mindset, and Aerith couldn't particularly blame them. The bad came with the good, and even the sweetest of people could drown in too many questions.

"We understand that many of you are confused," the man said, making eye contact with one person, then another, his voice strong and even though some scoffed. "We understand there are many questions about what is happening."

There were some that moved closer, ears literally perked, shoulders hunched expectantly for answers that eluded everyone in New Bodhum. Aerith shifted back to allow room, and as more pushed their way closer, she continued to retreat until her presence hovered on the edge of the crowd.

"Rest assured that the Academy is doing everything we can to get everyone back home."

"How?" It was a question that sparked a flurry of mutters and mumbles and half-enunciated echos to the same effect. It was a question that chipped at the dam holding back a deluge of consternation and worries and half-formed fears of a future where this problem is only exacerbated.

Garbed in blues and greens and purples, Aerith felt less Aerith than she had wandering the Lifestream. These were clothes she would never have picked out herself if the slums of Midgar were rising up on either side of her. She wouldn't be listening to a young man call out to a motley crowd of people from different worlds and different mindsets, some of whom would join the Academy and others that would search for other ways. Ways that sounded concrete or promising and less like a parent placating a child with simple lies and partial truths while they scrambled to find out the real reason and fix it.

Unsure if she'd like to hear this rehearsed spiel again, she shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her skirt and pivoted, turning toward the gap between two buildings.

BY RYAN/ACRYLIK!

[xo]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] Boredom. Had this man been any better at stringing together tired lines, he'd surely take a place in Sephiroth's pocket for safekeeping. Cloaked in his usual black, he stuck out among the diverse races that shuffled quickly among the streets of this strange land through a varying assortment of features, his height making up the most prominent trait. It was hard to tell whether he believed anything the man said based on his expression, but nonetheless, Sephiroth was uninterested in standing amongst those that he knew only as lesser beings. Maybe it was time to rally the masses. To stir this melting pot of individuals that had flocked together like roaches under the promise of scraps. He hummed his disapproval, his lips carrying a recurring tremble through vibration that formed a " mmm, " he paused, turning his back to the crowd and stepping away from it. His next exhale escaped his peach flesh in the same fashion, slowly, he took in the scenery. Surely there was something to busy himself with that didn't involve allying himself with those not fit enough to take the place of the very ground they huddled atop. " I should have guessed that this world would be as uninteresting as the likenesses they took on. This is no land of mine. " Sephiroth stated with a disappointed sigh at the events that had unfolded since his being here. He was here for a reason, he was sure of it, but the more he took in, the less he thought of those that buzzed around him. His eyes flickered to another. A vibrant attire that marched towards a space between two buildings had caught his attention. Sephiroth raised his right hand to his countenance, brushing strands from his visage to clear his vision a bit more evenly; the cat-like appearance of his eyes leaving no room to question whether or not his hair provided the slits that they pooled around. Once clear, the leather clad pads slid from hair to chin, curling around its point and securing his feature between a bent index, and a straight thumb. He took a moment to consider the woman's appearance. She stuck out, surely, to those that were observant enough to consider the beginnings of a coup a possibility with a rally taking place. Maybe it was to fit in. To hide within plain sight. A puppet that gave its song and dance before striking at the rising chests of those who guffawed. Sephiroth decided to slip further from the group, starting towards her and keeping his pace slow. Maybe there was some fun to be had. He could almost feel the heat of battle overwhelming his senses, but it wasn't made apparent. Not yet. Instead, he strolled with his usual gait. His long strides carrying him to the entrance of the alley before he stopped to turn his head left, and then right, scanning the square for any others that might have been looking to approach, and finally entering the black provided by buildings that blotted out the surrounding light and offered shelter to the onyx fabric that hugged his frame. A smirk beginning to take his lips, parting to speak. " You've got an army to join, little girl. " notes Ohey count 000 tags Aerith

template by john of ote

[bunny]

THAT WAS FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR GARDEN. I'M JUST WONDERING BUT WHEN THE CRACKS BEGAN TO SHOW. LOOK CLOSELY AND THEN YOU'LL KNOW - THEN YOU'LL KNOW. I FOUGHT THIS WAY TWICE AND NOW ALL WE CAME TO REASON.

I AM A MOSAIC

"You've got an army to join, little girl."

It couldn't be. It couldn't be. No amount of ponderings and considerings and musings on who else from her world would appear on the sandy beaches of New Bodhum-- and no amount of briefly speculating on any of them being silver haired figures-- could properly prepare Aerith for the fact that only a few paces behind her stood Sephiroth.

Her mouth was dry, her teeth set, lips twisted into a frown. As his lips formed the tailing, patronizing "little girl" remark, Aerith came to a halt. He had been a spector-- a whispered name that brought shadows-- in her life. And un-life. Sephiroth was always a shadow, a flash of silver, a threat that hovered just beyond her reach and just out of sight. Cloud had crossed blades with him. AVALANCHE had thrown themselves again and again into harm's way to interfere with his plans, but Aerith... Aerith had never come face-to-face with him.

If one counted their fatal encounter, she would have to correct that, even then, her back had been to him and no words exchanged.

It wasn't to say that she was a stranger to him. Her death had been the end of a reprieve and the beginning of constant battle against the pollution he spread through the Lifestream. She hadn't spoken to him, but she did pull at the strings in his plans. Every moment was a moment spent thwarting his efforts, and she suddenly worried if, perhaps, he knew that. There were no whispers of the dead and the planet offering her aid. There was no Cloud with his experience and strength. In this new world, if Sephiroth exacted revenge, she didn't even know where her soul would go.

Well, if this was the end of her new chance at life, Aerith at least wanted to see the blade coming at her. Pivoting and pulling her hands from both pockets, she offered a slight shrug in response to his statement. "I'm a lover, not a fighter."

BY RYAN/ACRYLIK!

[xo]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] Sephiroth took a single step, sizing the girl up, one quick roll ending at her visage, and another down. His arms rose to cross along his chest, leather finding leather, and a familiar grind filling space where silence had previously reigned. His emerald eyes remained locked on those straight ahead, unwilling to let the woman escape his glare. He merely scoffed at the prospect of someone being a lover rather than a fighter, even bringing his index up to wave away the notion, dismissing it completely. " That's a cute lie you people tell yourselves. " Sephiroth quickly chimed. He took another step, his arms making the descent back to his sides as his pace continued without rest. He was set on either following any retreat, or halting once Aerith had stood firmly in front of him. His head had taken on a slight tilt to account for the difference in height, bangs beginning to cloak his already shrouded features; the darkness that clung to his skin dancing playfully between visibility levels due to the lack of light provided within the deeper depths of the alley. " How did that work out for you, hm? I assume you got everything you wanted out of being a lover. " Sephiroth's speech was broken by a turn of the head, looking left and then right once more; he returned his eyes to the frame before him and merely snickered, content with his findings. " Have you noticed it yet? " He began again, leather-clad arms extended outward, his fingertips brushing the sides of either building to block the point of entrance from escape, but more importantly, to fill space, making an example out of the emptiness of the area they had taken cover in. It was as if he were becoming more goal oriented as the action came to a close; he simply shook his head, answering for her instead. " There's no one here besides us. What has love brought you, then? Memories that'll fade into obscurity the moment one loses touch for too long? " his hands fell, clapping together to free of any mess that might have been picked up while against the foreign surface. " Those that have fought are remembered, and rewarded, for their courage. Whether they win or lose, they die for something. So, what of this one little girl who loved? A painful memory. " notes Ohey count 000 tags Aerith

template by john of ote

[bunny]

THAT WAS FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR GARDEN. I'M JUST WONDERING BUT WHEN THE CRACKS BEGAN TO SHOW. LOOK CLOSELY AND THEN YOU'LL KNOW - THEN YOU'LL KNOW. I FOUGHT THIS WAY TWICE AND NOW ALL WE CAME TO REASON.

I AM A MOSAIC

"That's a cute lie you people tell yourselves." The statement was punctured by a scrape of sole against gravel, the audible sign of Aerith's retreat. Sephiroth took a single step; Aerith took two. He took another, and she hesitated, boot suspended in indecision as the bubblings of pride drowned the fear gripping her tongue and her legs and the invisible outline of her line of escape. It was such a visible show of weakness to continue. The smirk flickering along his visage might widen. The predatory aura of his presence might increase with a sign of a stumbling fawn.

Aerith was no coward, and she wouldn't allow Sephiroth to think that a simple twitch of his lips would be enough to send her scurrying for cover. The heel of her boot returned to its spot against the stones of the street, both digging to hold her ground. Shoulders squaring, chin rising, Aerith met his gaze with only the faintest of shudders, her eyes narrowing in a more visible display of defiance. When Sephiroth moved his head, she turned as well, her eyes followed the path of his, looking to either side of them, noting the rough texture of the walls enclosing the alley. "Have you noticed it yet?"

His speech resumed, and she acknowledged it only to prove that she could. The syllables ticked on, and though she found her voice again, Aerith bit her tongue. She didn't flinch as his hands extended, though the narrow of her eyes increased with the increasingly patronizing tone of his words, the insulting meaning behind each phrase. For the briefest of moments, she considered snapping back that they were not the only two to appear from their world. She didn't have only him to fall back on as a familiar face that knew who she was and where she came from. If Marlene could appear-- someone untouched by death the way she and Sephiroth dabbled in it-- then it stood to reason that Tifa would come.

Cloud, Zack, Yuffie, they could all fall in line as comforting figures from her past that could discard the red ribbons they wore on their arms for something more solid and alive.

She had been a memory for as long as they all played their parts on Gaia, but this... This was a new world. Her heart beat. How dare he drag so much doubt and unease into a place where she could find her second chance. Swallowing hard, Aerith rolled her gaze away from the silver haired phantom and took a purposeful step back, frame angling to turn away. It had been a mistake to stand still as long as she did, Aerith knew that now. It would have been better to continue walking as if he didn't exist. Though it was a belated show of bravado, she was going to walk away, lips pressed closed and shoulders still level.

BY RYAN/ACRYLIK!