Short blurb
Sep. 21st, 2007 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Based on some RP stuff about one of my alter sets of Seph, Cloud, and Zack.
But first, Lisa made an adorable Crisis Core Seph colorbar. X3 **has been meaning to mention it.** I got it up on my profile page several days ago.
This is written about an alternate Cloud, Seph, and Zack, whom the main ones visit in their unwilling travels. There was originally going to be a part showing them and their reactions, but I left it out.
This is the crew on the world that Seph took over in his insanity, when Zack stayed with him to try to bring him back to himself. Seph is sane now, after an incident when he fought Cloud and accidentally impaled Zack, who tried to stop the fight. It wasn't fatal, but Zack hovered between life and death for days, forcing Seph to re-evaluate everything he had been doing in his madness. Seph has been trying to restore order to the world in the months since then, and he's succeeded in a large part, but there are still angry rebels about. Some of them stormed the building and fought with Seph-tachi, and one of them managed to seriously injure Seph. This is what follows several days later.
Zack's eyes were sad, as well as serious. It made Cloud instantly tense.
"He's asking for you, Cloud," Zack said, his voice quiet. "You can't keep avoiding him, like you've been doing."
Cloud frowned. "He can't be like you were worrying about," he retorted. "That wouldn't happen. . . ." But studying Zack's expression, he could see what his friend was not saying. If you don't come now, it'll be too late.
"He's dying, Cloud. This fever's killing him, even if the wound and the blood loss aren't." Zack could barely keep the quavering tones out of his voice. That was his other best friend who was laying in bed, the rest of his life draining away. It was hard enough to know that his existence was ending, without trying to convince Cloud of that fact and to get him to stop being stubborn.
As it was, Cloud clenched a fist, shaking his head emphatically. "He'll get better," he said in denial.
"Just come with me," Zack answered, deciding it was hopeless to continue that train of thought.
Cloud sighed, making a show of looking put-out as he followed Zack down the hall. He had been avoiding the other because he could not stand to see the man as he currently was. And Zack must be exaggerating now. That was all that it could be.
He stopped short as Zack pushed open the door to the room and held it there for him to go through. Beyond it, Sephiroth was laying in bed, his eyes hardly open as he stared through the wall. His skin was flushed and sickly, his breathing methodical and pained. It was so wrong. Too wrong. He did not even seem to realize that the door had been opened.
"I can't go in there," Cloud protested.
But Zack just looked at him. And now Sephiroth had finally processed that he was not still alone. He was looking over as well.
"Cloud . . . ?" His voice was almost nonexistent.
Cloud swallowed hard. Well, now he would have to go in. But he would make it brief. Sephiroth needed his rest, so that he could get better. All Zack's talk of him dying was crazy. Sephiroth would not die. He could not die. Cloud did not even stop to wonder why it meant so much to him that Sephiroth stayed alive.
"Yeah," he replied, his voice gruff as he walked inside and over to the bed. "Zack said you wanted to see me."
A weak nod. "You've . . . been avoiding me, Cloud. Why?"
Cloud frowned. "I haven't been avoiding you," he snapped, even though he knew it was true.
"You've hardly been to see me. Are you . . . still angry at me?" The fever had zapped most all of Sephiroth's strength, yet he still managed to look upset and even downright agonized. The stupid fever had several effects on Sephiroth, all negative.
"Angry for what?" Cloud grumbled, even though he knew very well what his former enemy meant.
"For all the abominations I committed." Sephiroth's anguish was coming through very clearly now, and his glassy eyes showed that his reasoning had fled before he even spoke again. "Please . . . please forgive me!" He reached out in desperation, catching Cloud's arm with a shaking hand.
Cloud stiffened. Sephiroth would never beg for forgiveness, if he was in his right mind. He abhorred such things, believing that he did not deserve any such forgiveness anyway. And Cloud did not want to play along with things now.
"Go back to sleep," he said. "You need to rest so Zack won't worry about you."
A grim smirk of self-depreciation replaced the agony, though there was still an element of hurt in the green eyes. "I knew you would never forgive me, Cloud," he said, a bit of the old Sephiroth returning---the Sephiroth who had not often been seen since coming down ill. "I . . . I don't know what came over me."
"Well, I do!" Cloud shot back, unable to control himself any longer. "It's this stupid fever. You don't need to ask this stuff now. You had the answers a long time ago."
"Yes . . . I suppose I did." Sephiroth leaned further into the pillows, his expression not changing.
All the more worried now, Zack made his way into the room and over to the bed. "Seph . . ." His voice cracked as he reached down, taking up a clammy hand within his own. He wanted to tell Seph to hang on, to never give up, to fight tooth and nail for his life . . . but he knew that Seph was already struggling his very hardest. And when they had spoken in private before Zack had gone to find Cloud, Seph had confessed that he did not think he would make it. Zack was terrified that he was losing one of his two best friends.
Seph looked over at him, his eyes missing the strength they had always borne. Now they were weak and tired. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Zack clutched tighter at the hand, feeling it going slack. He had to stop it, somehow. Seph could not die. He could not! "No," he choked out, his voice strangled.
And Cloud's defenses seemed to suddenly crumble. "I did forgive you!" he screamed. "Don't you remember? I did! I have!" He gripped the cold shoulder, feeling it tense under his grasp.
Sephiroth's eyes flickered. "You have . . ." Understanding and remembrance flooded his features, restoring what the illness and delirium had tried to block.
In the next moment, however, his expression had dimmed again, the light fading altogether from his eyes. He was gone.
Zack stared at the lifeless form, his heart racing, his mind swirling. The tears that had been pricking his eyes came forth now, and he sank to his knees, trembling as he held the limp hand between his own, against his forehead.
Somewhere above him he could hear Cloud screaming for Seph to wake up. And though his pleas were in vain, he yelled it once more anyway, shaking the still shoulder.
While Zack was struggling to come to terms with the fact that his friend was dead, Cloud was still trying to grasp that Sephiroth had been his friend in the first place. And he was realizing it too late.
But first, Lisa made an adorable Crisis Core Seph colorbar. X3 **has been meaning to mention it.** I got it up on my profile page several days ago.
This is written about an alternate Cloud, Seph, and Zack, whom the main ones visit in their unwilling travels. There was originally going to be a part showing them and their reactions, but I left it out.
This is the crew on the world that Seph took over in his insanity, when Zack stayed with him to try to bring him back to himself. Seph is sane now, after an incident when he fought Cloud and accidentally impaled Zack, who tried to stop the fight. It wasn't fatal, but Zack hovered between life and death for days, forcing Seph to re-evaluate everything he had been doing in his madness. Seph has been trying to restore order to the world in the months since then, and he's succeeded in a large part, but there are still angry rebels about. Some of them stormed the building and fought with Seph-tachi, and one of them managed to seriously injure Seph. This is what follows several days later.
Zack's eyes were sad, as well as serious. It made Cloud instantly tense.
"He's asking for you, Cloud," Zack said, his voice quiet. "You can't keep avoiding him, like you've been doing."
Cloud frowned. "He can't be like you were worrying about," he retorted. "That wouldn't happen. . . ." But studying Zack's expression, he could see what his friend was not saying. If you don't come now, it'll be too late.
"He's dying, Cloud. This fever's killing him, even if the wound and the blood loss aren't." Zack could barely keep the quavering tones out of his voice. That was his other best friend who was laying in bed, the rest of his life draining away. It was hard enough to know that his existence was ending, without trying to convince Cloud of that fact and to get him to stop being stubborn.
As it was, Cloud clenched a fist, shaking his head emphatically. "He'll get better," he said in denial.
"Just come with me," Zack answered, deciding it was hopeless to continue that train of thought.
Cloud sighed, making a show of looking put-out as he followed Zack down the hall. He had been avoiding the other because he could not stand to see the man as he currently was. And Zack must be exaggerating now. That was all that it could be.
He stopped short as Zack pushed open the door to the room and held it there for him to go through. Beyond it, Sephiroth was laying in bed, his eyes hardly open as he stared through the wall. His skin was flushed and sickly, his breathing methodical and pained. It was so wrong. Too wrong. He did not even seem to realize that the door had been opened.
"I can't go in there," Cloud protested.
But Zack just looked at him. And now Sephiroth had finally processed that he was not still alone. He was looking over as well.
"Cloud . . . ?" His voice was almost nonexistent.
Cloud swallowed hard. Well, now he would have to go in. But he would make it brief. Sephiroth needed his rest, so that he could get better. All Zack's talk of him dying was crazy. Sephiroth would not die. He could not die. Cloud did not even stop to wonder why it meant so much to him that Sephiroth stayed alive.
"Yeah," he replied, his voice gruff as he walked inside and over to the bed. "Zack said you wanted to see me."
A weak nod. "You've . . . been avoiding me, Cloud. Why?"
Cloud frowned. "I haven't been avoiding you," he snapped, even though he knew it was true.
"You've hardly been to see me. Are you . . . still angry at me?" The fever had zapped most all of Sephiroth's strength, yet he still managed to look upset and even downright agonized. The stupid fever had several effects on Sephiroth, all negative.
"Angry for what?" Cloud grumbled, even though he knew very well what his former enemy meant.
"For all the abominations I committed." Sephiroth's anguish was coming through very clearly now, and his glassy eyes showed that his reasoning had fled before he even spoke again. "Please . . . please forgive me!" He reached out in desperation, catching Cloud's arm with a shaking hand.
Cloud stiffened. Sephiroth would never beg for forgiveness, if he was in his right mind. He abhorred such things, believing that he did not deserve any such forgiveness anyway. And Cloud did not want to play along with things now.
"Go back to sleep," he said. "You need to rest so Zack won't worry about you."
A grim smirk of self-depreciation replaced the agony, though there was still an element of hurt in the green eyes. "I knew you would never forgive me, Cloud," he said, a bit of the old Sephiroth returning---the Sephiroth who had not often been seen since coming down ill. "I . . . I don't know what came over me."
"Well, I do!" Cloud shot back, unable to control himself any longer. "It's this stupid fever. You don't need to ask this stuff now. You had the answers a long time ago."
"Yes . . . I suppose I did." Sephiroth leaned further into the pillows, his expression not changing.
All the more worried now, Zack made his way into the room and over to the bed. "Seph . . ." His voice cracked as he reached down, taking up a clammy hand within his own. He wanted to tell Seph to hang on, to never give up, to fight tooth and nail for his life . . . but he knew that Seph was already struggling his very hardest. And when they had spoken in private before Zack had gone to find Cloud, Seph had confessed that he did not think he would make it. Zack was terrified that he was losing one of his two best friends.
Seph looked over at him, his eyes missing the strength they had always borne. Now they were weak and tired. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Zack clutched tighter at the hand, feeling it going slack. He had to stop it, somehow. Seph could not die. He could not! "No," he choked out, his voice strangled.
And Cloud's defenses seemed to suddenly crumble. "I did forgive you!" he screamed. "Don't you remember? I did! I have!" He gripped the cold shoulder, feeling it tense under his grasp.
Sephiroth's eyes flickered. "You have . . ." Understanding and remembrance flooded his features, restoring what the illness and delirium had tried to block.
In the next moment, however, his expression had dimmed again, the light fading altogether from his eyes. He was gone.
Zack stared at the lifeless form, his heart racing, his mind swirling. The tears that had been pricking his eyes came forth now, and he sank to his knees, trembling as he held the limp hand between his own, against his forehead.
Somewhere above him he could hear Cloud screaming for Seph to wake up. And though his pleas were in vain, he yelled it once more anyway, shaking the still shoulder.
While Zack was struggling to come to terms with the fact that his friend was dead, Cloud was still trying to grasp that Sephiroth had been his friend in the first place. And he was realizing it too late.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 02:31 am (UTC)And poor Cloud! I think I actually feel more sorry for him, because he's only just realized that Seph had been his friend. And now it's too late to say or do anything. That's got to be the most horrible feeling.
Are any of the other events that you mentioned on this world posted here? **still has a lot to read through XD**
no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 02:48 am (UTC)Of course Seph will be revived/revive by himself, but I wanted that in a separate blurb.They aren't, though I may have mentioned those other events in an entry. I've always meant to write a blurb about them, especially after Zack is impaled and they're waiting to know if he'll live. The mob is screaming outside and Cloud thinks Seph should go out to them, and Seph figures he'll be killed if he does, but decides to anyway, after what he did to Zack and the way Cloud keeps telling him to go. Then Cloud fully realizes what he's done and panics, going after Seph.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 03:01 am (UTC)Ah, poor Zack! That's awful, being impaled by your best friend. It's horrible that it had to take something like that to bring Seph out of his madness.
I'll bet that at that point Seph believes he deserves being torn apart by the mob. He probably can't stand to live with himself. Poor Seph!
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Date: 2007-09-22 03:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 03:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 03:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 04:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 04:18 am (UTC)I had briefly considered leaving it open to be the main ones, but when I proofread it today, I decided I still wanted it to be the alter ones.
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Date: 2007-09-22 12:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 02:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 02:31 pm (UTC)