poly_chromatic | 009 ☄ [action/video] somewhere over the (bleak) rainbow

Somewhere...

They must be somewhere nearby. Why don't they answer?

[The ordinarily collected Sephiroth looks different today. His hair hasn't been brushed. Now and then, as he walks, he staggers slightly, clearly disoriented. His bright eyes don't focus on anything around him, fixed on some far off point.

He gazes up at the sky. The "rainbow" he sees there is shining, in a sense, but its colors are faded to pale, barely differentiated, and with an almost sickly greenish tinge. As if tainted with Mako. That same green is shining in his eyes. It appears to him more like a beacon light than a rainbow, showing him the way, so he follows it. That must be where they are. They flew there, on wings... He doesn't have wings, but he wants to be with them.

Around him, the landscape has changed, at least to his eyes, yet what he sees doesn't remain constant. One moment, it's a tall, industrially modern city of steel, rising around him. In the next moment, those tall, gray buildings disappear, replaced with smaller structures: the houses and warehouses of an abandoned mining town, a ghost town. Steel and snow, both cold, neither comforting.

The tall city lies swathed in smog, and the tiny town lies blanketed in ice, but both are empty. In both of them, he is alone. And where is Angeal? Where is Genesis? His friends. They've gone away. If he can only find them. It will be all right. They can leave Shinra together. They can support each other.

He does use the network, and only once, but his transmission is terse, grave:]

Angeal, Genesis, please respond. This is Sephiroth. I am not here to bring you in. I am not here to fight.

I repeat, please respond. Where are you?

This is Sephiroth.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Perhaps you should start a fire?

They'll notice you then.

[Not cursed. Just an asshole.]

Fire? [He doesn't understand the purpose of this suggestion. That's not a correct use of Fire Materia.] It would not be productive to start a fire.

[But more importantly...]

Identify yourself. Why are you on this line?

But then how will your friends find you?

[There's an unmistakeable smirk in his voice.]

Me? I'm merely a concerned bystander.

They are in my command.

[He'd said nothing about friends, and in spite of the tone of concern that had been in his voice, he won't admit it now.]

We're not in the practice of lighting signal fires in this day and age. [Honestly, what is he talking about? Sephiroth has no idea.] I will find them.

That is not an identification.

'In your command'? Then where have they vanished?

Tsk. Poor you. I fear you've been abandoned.

Voice;

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Sephiroth. Your soldiers are not here.

Genesis. Angeal. Report.

[He is continuing his transmission, then frowns at the sound of Delacroix's voice. He recognizes it, but it doesn't seem right somehow, that she should be speaking to him now, here.]

They are not here, correct. That is why I must find them.

Zhis is Delacroix.

{She corrects him clearly and primly.]

Your soldiers did not accompany you to zhe City.

Delacroix, acknowledged.

[A pause. He's so certain. How can he be mistaken?]

I know they're here. I'm sure of it. That light, like the light of a reactor... It must mean something. They may not be with me now, but they are near.

I will find them.

What are you talking about? What light?

voice;

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Sephiroth-san, who is it you're looking for? Maybe I can help.

They are men in my command, both SOLDIERs, First Class. Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos.

[He doesn't really seem to be looking at the screen or focusing on Ken as he speaks.]

[Ken notices the lack of eye-contact and is rather disturbed by it. Regardless, Sephiroth's usually looked him in the eyes when speaking.]

You seem distracted by something?

But I will look for them.

The light. There's a light in the sky. A line of light rising over the city. Like the light of a reactor. I believe it has something to do with them. When I saw it, I thought they must be at the other end.

[He's decidedly less coherent than usual.]

A light? [Ken looks up to the sky now.]

I don't see anything. Are you sure? [Way less coherent than usual. Ken's really worried.]

video;

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Friends of yours?

Yes, they are--

[They are his friends, but he breaks off, amends his statement.]

They're men in my command. I can't get a response from them.

The signals of the devices usually aren't so bad.

They may not want to respond. Or the devices may have been taken from them.

[He pauses, confused, not sure how to explain, because his thoughts are unclear even to him.]

Once I've found them, I'll know why there's no reply. [It can't be because they were eliminated, can it? No, he won't believe that. He won't let that happen]

I don't understand why the streets are so empty. Where has everyone gone?

[They aren't, but while he sees the streets of a city around him, he sees none of the people walking them.]

Please respond. [He says it as if he wants anyone to respond. The world seems to be empty but for him and the voice on the other end.]

Why would someone contact you then seek not to respond?

[ Pause. ]

Which street?

audio;

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...long night, General?

...long night? [He seems to be too disoriented to understand what Rosiel means by that.]

I must complete my mission.

Edited 2012-03-18 20:22 (UTC)

You've my congratulations: it's already gone done.

It is not. I haven't found them yet. [An irritated note creeps into his voice as he continues on his way.] I must bring him back. Bring them back.

[[ooc: also, I meant to ask, is this video or action?]]

Edited 2012-03-19 01:26 (UTC)

Ah, that. You won't. You're doomed to failure. If it's any consolation, so are they.

[ ooc: I was going with general network, but video works! / adjusts the header >>! ]

[ video ]

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