They say the Devil's Water, it ain't so sweet - You don't have to drink right now.
Who: Elena, Sephiroth, Vega, Kira, & the Remnants
When:A day after Sephiroth trains with Vega
Location: Mines, North Corel
Rating: PG-13 (possibly worse with language?)
Summary: The people of Corel are ripe for the picking, so Sephiroth and his entourage intend to start collecting some additional recruits for their purpose. And what better way to ( Read more... )
When:A day after Sephiroth trains with Vega
Location: Mines, North Corel
Rating: PG-13 (possibly worse with language?)
Summary: The people of Corel are ripe for the picking, so Sephiroth and his entourage intend to start collecting some additional recruits for their purpose. And what better way to ( Read more... )
"Its simple really," Elena started, ambling a few steps in his direction, eyes never lifting from the encampment below as she motioned to it with her hand closest to the ledge. "Despite their various backgrounds, mindsets, wants and needs, there is one thing that has always united them. Hate. And their hate is focused to one single entity. ShinRa."
Stopping just at the edge of arm's distance, Elena placed her free hand lightly against her chest, fingers brushing against her right collarbone. "It may have been a few years since ShinRa's golden years, but there are those who remember the icons: Rufus and his white jacket, the blazing red logo, and the blue-turned-black suits," At this she rapped her fingers against her chest, feeling the tap of each finger through the layers of cloth.
Was this something he'd already thought of? His reaction - although probably justified - may indicate he had not. It was a clever and convenient red herring if one ignored the truth and validity of it. "Whatever your strategy may be, I suggest that I not be involved. My presence in Corel would cause initial backlash and would slow down your progress."
And here she finally turns her head in his direction, green specks flexing in honey. There's a look of knowing behind those eyes, daring him to question the logic. "Wouldn't you say?"
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Anger which could have been sparked fizzled away into a light smirk as Sephiroth nodded lightly in apparent agreement with his blonde consort. However to him she seemed to be chickening out of this fight. Why go as far as she had done only to step down now at the very edge of their glorious victory? Perhaps the suspected illness was affecting her judgement more than even she was letting on. Despite the somewhat twisted logic in her suggestion.
Sephiroth took half a step back and turned his whole frame more towards her, meeting her eyes and silently noting the green sparkle she seemed to have obtained.
"I would say that your presence here is as essential as mine is." Green eyes picked out what detail they could off of her stained face, had the marks gotten more pronounced since he'd last looked at them? In all honesty it's not like he'd given her more than the occasional glance within the last 48 hours or so. He knew it wasn't the 'stigma from a few years ago, but if she'd started to believe it was - "Mother brought us all to this point for a reason."
An idea started to form behind dimly glowing eyes and Sephiroth straightened up a little as this thought raced in the forefront of his mind. If they all think...then the black lifestream is constant...it can't be defeated. But I can go a step further...There hasn't ever really been a cure for the darkness of the heart.
"And you will provide the ample persuasion. A fine example that really, it doesn't matter whereabouts your origins.Or your job or alignment in this war, Mother knows no bounds. We can touch anyone we please, for punishment or redemption."
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Although her face remained stoic, her eyes flickered from eyes to mouth, to the muscles of cheeks and forehead, then back to his eyes. It was clear he assessing her current state, as if the black marks were new to him, that he hadn't witnessed the staining of her skin first-hand. Remaining silent, waiting for his next move, Elena let her eyes drift back over to the town, mind wandering dangerously. He...thinks my presence is essential...as much as his. I'm not...what did he mean by that?
The rolling of words over his tongue lulled her back from her thoughts. Her eyes narrowed as she listened, picking out words, fumbling them around before moving forward, pulling both intentional and unintentional messages from them. We... Not him, not Jenova. Us. Together we can - no, wait... This isn't...it doesn't feel right. I don't... I won't be used this way!
What felt like minutes was nothing more than a few seconds, body physically recoiling from the words and thoughts as if she'd been punched in the gut. In fact, anybody watching would have thought she was punched by an invisible attacker, her feet stumbling back a few steps before she righted herself, body turning fully to face him. Elena is nothing short of pissed off, and its clear in her posture, in her voice, and in her eyes.
"So that's my role for you then, is it? I'm just a tool for you to use however you see fit, damn everything else?" In a bold move, Elena's closing the distance with a few steps, a finger pointing haughtily at his chest. "You go ahead and 'touch' whoever the hell you want - I'm not going to Corel with you and I'm not going to help you. I'm not some puppet you can control with a flick of your wrist or a simple command."
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Sephiroth drew his arms up and folded them across his chest, not amused in the slightest by the way she pointed her finger at him. Maybe he should grab it and rip it off, that too would be well deserved. It seems the Turk still needed to learn her place in all of this and perhaps more importantly that she had to accept that she'd put herself here. Just who did she think she was trying to lecture him? Sephiroth was having none of it. Anger which was quieted was stoked back alight with every syllable that she uttered.
"So that's it then, you think you can just call it quits now?" He kept his voice low and controlled despite the burning urge to raise it, no doubt it would raise it's volume on it's own if this argument she started went in the direction she obviously wanted it to go. "I don't need to show you again how little your wants and needs are viable. It doesn't matter what you want, just like everyone else on this pitiful rock. And as for not coming to Corel with me, well look around. You're already here and I'd suggest that you start living with that fact before the rest of the World comes to slap you back to reality."
This woman is impossible. She's quite happily fascinated with all the occurrences so far whilst at the same time she fails still to see the obvious. How irritating.
"I could quite happily use you, break you and then discard you like any other old toy. Maybe I should have left you bleeding and broken in that basement." He baited her with his sharp tongue as the anger started to boil beneath the surface, he allowed the irritation to be more obvious in a similar way he would allow emotions to sometimes travel along his more metaphysical links with people. Elena was very much also part of that chain now, he wondered idly if it could have an effect on her illness.
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?...you think you can just call it quits now?" If there was one thing she hated most of all, it was when he was right pointed out the obvious. Like she wasn't perfectly aware that she was probably going to end up on the 'retired' list of Turks, that 'stigma was possibly different than what it had been before (lucky her!), and she had been the one to put herself in all those scenarios. It was a knowledge she was happy to put aside and blame him for every aspect of her situation - but, damn him, he had to keep reminding her of the facts and reality. It was enough to want to make her punch him.
And what made it all the worse was that she could hear just behind his controlled voice something close to...disappointment? No, that wasn't it. It was frustration and irritation. But then why was this feeling deep in her gut, a feeling of guilt for....something. That it was wrong to push his buttons, that it was wrong to question. The difficulty in holding her position was equally hard to understand. Deep in her cells a little voice begged, pleaded, to hear the words he was saying, to acknowledge them, admit that acknowledgment, and throw her arms around his neck and - What?!
"No you can't, I'm not like other..." The words escaped her lips before she knew she said them, earning a short pause from the petite blonde. Just where that little comment had come from was a mystery, pushing her anger further and further down away from the surface and replacing it with something close to fear. Despite near inaudible whispers - Mother? - Elena trembled visibly, remembering the dank cold of the Manor, of the fever she had to fight, of the blood and bone.
"You could, but you won't. Besides the fact that Mother would be very displeased, I still have my uses." Was this backpedaling? Maybe. But against every defiant fiber in her body, there were some battles that had to be chosen. This was one that was an unnecessary battle. Besides, it would be good to get away from the cramped, cold caves. "Had the past not happened, then we wouldn't be standing here, arguing about should've, would've, could've. Like you've said before, you have to accept what has already happened and move on."
Inky black marks seemed to pulsate, darkening and growing by millimeters, the green specks on her eyes stretching and contracting at the same beat as the marks. Breathing a slow, deep breath, Elena closed her eyes, one arm wrapping across her middle, the other hand pinching the bridge of her nose in a attempt to push back a wave of dizziness. Honey colored eyes opened, peering at him over the knuckles of her hand as she lowered it back to her side. "Give me two hours and I'll join you to Corel."
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Elena didn't silence though, she carried on with a torrent headed by two words. Mother. Displeased. That in itself was the entire reason he hadn't disposed of Elena when he'd first come to his senses in the caves. Elena's 'uses' had been Sephiroth's own cap on his anger at her, at his outrage that against all logic a Turk was selected to be one of his escorts. At Mother's persuasion she had shown perhaps what one of those uses could be, and though Sephiroth was keenly aware of how strange that evening had been he harbored no regret. She could deny it to herself and to him as much as she liked it didn't change the heightened moment of release they had- shared?
"Don't patronize me." Sephiroth's tone was lower and more dangerous than he had let come across before. He dropped his folded arms then and flicked one wrist down towards the ground. Shimmering, though cool blue fire was summoned as if out of Sephiroth's own anger and caressed it's way around the leather glove he wore. Sephiroth savored for a moment the energy he felt in this flame before he took a bold step towards Elena, in a flash gripping his whole hand around her upper arm.
He allowed the blue fire with no heat to flicker against Elena's jacket and a moment later Sephiroth willed this energy of his to bypass physical boundaries. Keeping eyes firmly on Elena's flickering amber/green gems, using his strength to pretty much hold her upright he willed this fire to rip through every infected cell Elena possessed. He would search every darkest memory or thought she had and drag it into the corporeal world, surely he had enough influence on her now. To make it REAL, like he'd made her knees buckle before him that day after.
"Corel is not ready yet." Sephiroth's eyes moved to the largest of Elena's inky black marks, across her cheek. Eyes focused on the near-weeping skin as it started to swell, he seemed to be enjoying this. Dragging out all the darkness within the blonde.
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