queenofheartsrp | s vs. z | 010 [action/video]

[Sephiroth has few fears. She had fewer before arriving in the Gardens. Back home, everything is so certain. She keeps the peace, protects the populace. She is a hero. Here, she saw the look of fear and hatred in Tifa's eyes. She is mindful of the strange blankness in Reeve's expression whenever she mentions SOLDIER. Reeve has told her certain things, and the things Reeve does not say speak almost as clearly.

I will disappear. My friends will disappear. How similar is her own world to the worlds of those others? That is a question she cannot answer. The fear in Tifa's eyes and the knowledge in Reeve's trouble her.

Yet she did not truly know Tifa, and Reeve does not fear her. She wonders: what if she someday finds herself face to face with someone she knows, who also fears her? That, perhaps, is why she stands facing a young woman with black hair and blue eyes that hold a faint glow not unlike the glow in her own eyes. The woman's sword is drawn, and the expression on her face is nearly the one Tifa wore. There is more loathing than fear in those shining eyes.]

I have no desire to fight you, Zack.

[Sephiroth's sword is not drawn, because she does not wish to hurt Zack. This is most likely one of the illusions, but there is a slim chance it could be a real Zack, from another world. She does not know Zack well, back home. There, he is a young man: Angeal's protégé. He is bright, excitable. Tifa had spoken of him here, had said he had died. Sephiroth had wondered if Tifa meant to suggest that that might have had something to do with her, but she cannot say for certain.]

Please, sheathe your sword.

[The young woman does not listen to her, strikes with a quickness only a SOLDIER could manage. She's older. She is a SOLDIER. Sephiroth does not react in time, because she does not want to engage in this fight. She feels a sting, and when she looks down, her neck and chest are bright with blood. She takes a step back. The wound is superficial. She could heal it in an instant, but she does not. Blood trickles down over the black leather of her clothing. She's never been wounded in battle before, but this isn't a battle, is it? Zack has leapt back as quickly as she attacked, as if fearing a counter-attack. She is breathing hard, eyes wide. At last she speaks, echoing words Tifa had said.]

You're supposed to be dead.

[It is not the thought that she might die that troubles her, but the thought that her death could be seen as preferable to the alternative.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Reeve smiles, a little wry.]
Possibly. Of course, not all of us require that sort of motivation.

But no, I don't think things will work out in the way she's planned-- human response to negative stimuli is variable. It can result in an urge for isolation just as often as it can an urge for companionship. But I'm sure you're aware of all this-- and I'm glad you enjoyed your fight, I suppose. [She chuckles, though she's plainly feeling drained.]
You might just be the only person to get at least a little something you actually wanted out of this ghastly experiment.

[She found it troubling, but it was illusory.] It was not ideal, but others may also gain something. As you said, human reactions are variable.

[They walk away from the border together, and Sephiroth is quiet for a short time before asking:] Zack is a man in my world, as well. Do you know him?

[Tired and rattled as she is, Reeve isn't entirely surprised by the question. Zack Fair.]
In a manner of speaking. I knew him in passing, yes. He was-- a very well respected SOLDIER.

[Normally, she might take a stab at dissembling, but at the moment she feels in need of a little firm reality. The truth as she knows it isn't really very shocking anyhow.]
He went Missing In Action around the same time the General did, actually. I've heard nothing sense. Are you close? In your universe?

[Sadness flickers in her eyes for a moment.] I see.

I don't know him well, though perhaps I will know him better, in time. He is Angeal's protégé.

I imagine Zack appeared because such a change, in him, would be most jarring. Angeal calls him "the Puppy", because he is very like one. [She pauses.] Tifa spoke of him, also.

[Dryly spoken.] Did she.

[Reeve's smile is a little tired.] Yes, I can see that-- and I imagine it must have been a much more drastic change for you than it was for me. I'm sorry-- if that's appropriate. I know it was meant to, but sometimes, this place... [Reeve sighs, squaring her shoulders.]

well, never mind. No point in complaining about something I can't change.

Are you sure you won't stay-- rather than go in search of more trouble?

s vs. z | 010 [action/video]

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