001 || First Dream

[sixthsefira]

[It begins with a simple gray metallic room. The place where most of the fun the man had managed to have with the two people whom actually cared about him as a person and not as a weapon nor as a science specimen, had taken place. Also the place where everything had begun to go downhill actually. That last spar, the wound Genesis received during it

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[waterfell]

[Her world does not despise her. There, she is respected as Lady Mercury, one of the powerful beings who protected it from devastation - by the moon princess, by Metalia and Beryl, by the Death Busters, by Princess Snow Kaguya, and by the Dead Moon.

Humanity knows about the last two, and it's enough for them.

Her world does not despise her, but the worlds she steps into so often do. At best, she is less than nothing to them; at worst, a hated monster to be chased away. In a mind that so often finds the negative, she tends to suspect their view may be the truth.

So perhaps that, and perhaps the simple sameness of trying to piece together a normal life, a doctor's life, or perhaps simply the water, brings her here. The academic and literary-minded soldier still does not quote the next part of the poem; words that hold hope are more foreign to her than another language, and harder to learn.

Mercury stands on the canon behind Sephiroth, and looks across the water rather than at the silver-haired man.]This isn't the first time I've

[sixthsefira]

[The new presence is far from expected but he merely lifts his gaze from the water to turn his head and look back at the interesting woman now standing on the canon with him. While curious at the fact someone that he doesn't know has invaded his dream, he doesn't remark on it. Instead he focuses on the statement delivered.]

Oh? You know someone else who favors it?

[waterfell]

Genesis.

[She speaks the name as she turns her head to observe Sephiroth's reaction to it. She's learned the worlds Sephiroth and his comrades represent can be very different, both by nature and by their separate timelines.]

[sixthsefira]

Ah. [There's something akin to amusement in that one word as well as in those cat-like eyes. Trust the redhead to inflict the poem on other unsuspecting people.]

You've met him somewhere then?

[no_hometown]

[It's the cannon again. Or the illusory version of it from the Training Room program. He saw it in the other Genesis' dream, and now he's here again, regarding--himself, it appears, and also Genesis, still reciting that poem, as if there's an endless loop of it playing in the man's head. It's curious, to look at himself, to see that he's aged, but that isn't so odd. Everyone ages.

It seems he can't escape from LOVELESS. Or himself.]

One would almost think there were no other poems in the world.

[sixthsefira]

[A soft sound of humor escapes him as he hears his own voice respond to the verse, despite not coming from his own throat.

Turning to face this new arrival, its as if someone has decided to show him what had been before he'd thrown everything away in his confusion and arrogance. A man, revered as a hero, instead of feared and despised as a killer. Still, he's curious to know why this figment of his past has shown up. Was there a reason behind it or was it merely whimsy?]

Indeed.

[A short pause as he considers the man anew.] Are you a figment of my sleeping mind, as Genesis back there is, or are you... someone else?

[no_hometown]

I could ask the same of you, but as you've asked first, I will answer. I am no figment.

I am myself. [He approaches the older version of himself. Why shouldn't he? He frowns at the redheaded man standing nearby. His last waking encounter with Genesis was far from pleasant.]

I saw another Genesis, not long ago. I wonder how many of them there are, and all with the same borrowed words on their lips. [He's gotten a little more used to these shared dreams, and the people he meets in them, sometimes familiar but sometimes not.]

[sixthsefira]

I would answer the same. [His eyes track the other man as he approaches, but that is the extent of movement, beyond the wind toying with his hair.]

I wouldn't know. Though not all of his words are borrowed, or at least not the words of the man I know currently. Perhaps all that was needed was time to move beyond the need for those borrowed words.

[rhapsody_onfire]

[She's actually sitting within the barrel of the cannon, her small body curving perfectly with it. She's not entirely sure how she ended up there, but she caught the silver hair of Sephiroth above her and decided not to move, not yet anyway.

Her last conversation with him hadn't gone entirely well and she wasn't sure if it was the same one. But then she heard another male voice reciting LOVELESS. It was the hint of an accent that tipped her off on who it was.]

Hm. So that's what I sound like as a man.

[sixthsefira]

[He hears the voice, but a quick look behind him shows him nothing. Thus there's only one place for its owner to be and still be as close to him as it had sounded. For now however he remains where he is at the canon's edge. Looking over the vast expanse of water before him. Even if the second voice was off, the words made it obvious just whom the speaker was intended to be.]

Genesis?

[rhapsody_onfire]

[Her hand popped out in a wave.]

Hello.

[sixthsefira]

[He notes the hand's confirmation of the redhead's location and his next words hold something of a dry humor to them as he speaks.]

Will you come up where I can see you while we talk, or must I come down to where you are and bring you up here myself?

[hisdreamsmyfate]

[Zack sits at the very end of the cannon, back turned to the former General in a distant gaze that almost seems unshakable. He stares, out into the open sea, the balmy sea air bristling through his black spikes, and gently nudging loose clothing in his crouched position.

He doesn't look at Sephiroth, or acknowledge the man's presence just yet. The SOLDIER is still as a stone, just... thinking.]

[sixthsefira]

[He's not certain just when the man appeared on the canon before him. Really out of the people that could have appeared out of his memory to join him. The one before him hurt the most. The things that they'd been through, the words which had been said, the actions taken

[hisdreamsmyfate]

[For a moment, accusing blue eyes glance behind him, at the form he should have recognized as a friend. One of his *best* friends, even, that had caused so much pain for the both of them. The man who'd thrown them into this situation in the first place, with an end not in sight. He wants to be able to forgive his friend, if he truly was sane, and he know he at least tried to in a previous dream.

But it was still Sephiroth's fault, that he kept dreaming. That they had such a bleak future.

He finally stands, grabbing up the Buster Sword laid out in front of it, giving the weapon a few twirls, then setting it back on its holster. Things couldn't go exactly back to the way they were. He knew that.

...but.

He could still try, for an old friend.]

You remember this, right Sephiroth?

[His tone was quiet, serious.]

Just like we promised. We met up again.

[sixthsefira]

[He stands still as stone as Zack stands, watching silently as the sword is lifted, moved and then finally put up behind the man's back. A small relief that, he had no desire to fight with him. The mirroring of that one memory would have likely snapped what small control he currently held over the current setting around them, plunging them into an entirely unwelcome one.

The lack of verbal or physical hostility was promising. Even with the momentary accusation given by those blue eyes. The man had every right to give him such looks. He wouldn't deny that.

He nodded quietly at the question.]

Yes. We have, Zack.

[There's so much that should perhaps be said, more that he would like to say. But would any apology given be accepted, even as lacking as it would be... or would it be scorned?

Mere words and emotions couldn't change what had happened, he knew that only too well by now.

Still... as some might say, it was the thought which seemed to count most in some cases.]

I... Zack... I'm sorry.