[THNMY, locked to jenova_nexus]

[irametdolorem]

((continued from hereThe thrum of the great engines, the smell of the mako - these things do not escape Sephiroth's notice. But they are, perhaps, of less importance now as he crosses the few remaining steps that separate him from the tube that holds Jenova

Comments

[irametdolorem]

Another nod at that. Of course to get the floor properly iced he'd have to get a least somewhat close to Jenova, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

And with that, he began to head back inside to where Jenova had been so unceremoniously pinned to the ground.

[jenova_nexus]

Woot, good idea. Teré and Cloud go ahead of him, Cloud to retrieve his sword and Teré just to avoid being stuck behind. She'll move to the side. 'I could cast, if you want,' she tells Sephiroth. He's got enough of a strain on his mind already - plus, she's just good with materia.

Jenova registers their approach, and it's Cloud she reaches to first, making him scowl and come close cautiously, skin around his eyes tightening. 'Shut up,' he growls at her.

[irametdolorem]

"It would probably be of some help." And he'll just reach up to Masamune's hilt and remove the materia in question, before handing it wordlessly to Teré.

At Cloud's snarl, Sephiroth turns to glare at Jenova - a wordless pulse of hate and anger twined with a desire to protect Cloud passing along that connection between them. He was a friend after all, and he would protect him.

[not_greens]

She takes it, rolling it to settle in her palm, and reading it to focus herself.

...Mastered materia are just so cool.

She looks over with Sephiroth, to see a tense Cloud with darkened expression carefully working his sword free of Jenova. 'Let's hurry up,' he grits out, a faint tremor in his breath.

Teré's already heading over, gathering power.

[irametdolorem]

Actually, those feelings sneaking across the link from Cloud are helping Sephiroth - even if he could have faced down Jenova alone, having someone else there helps quite a bit.

And scootpokescoot Jenova towards that thar door. It shouldn't be too much longer, now...

[not_greens]

&hearts

Teré looks up as they approach the threshold; there's now a patch of ice outside, to the head of the staircase. 'You want I should ice the stairs, or are you just gonna heave her over?' She might be joking, but she doesn't look like she'd object to that latter.

Neither would Cloud, frankly, though he doesn't really want to touch Jenova. But, y'know, for a good cause....

[irametdolorem]

"It would probably be safer to ice the stairs as well."

Because even with the (slight) advantage of Jenova he'd rather not find test out what would happen to the possible-fragile connection if the two of them were in almost-direct physical contact with her.

[not_greens]

'Okay,' she said, and considered them. 'Hey, Cloud, got any Ethers?'

He dug in a pocket for a moment and came up with one, tossing it to her underhand.

'Thanks,' she said, and headed down the stairs, uncapping it. 'Hang out there for a minute, kay?'

Cloud can do that~. He'll just poke at Jenova slightly with a sticksword. How about Sephiroth?

[jenova_nexus]

There's a flash of surprise and they might get a jumbled impression of a dizzying tumble down the stairs -- Cloud, with a flicker of strong relief, reaches out mentally for Sephiroth, it wasn't real, couldn't be, Sephiroth wouldn't do that, he knew--

--but even as she goes, sliding and twisting, helpless as a corpse, she tosses the thought at both of them like a dagger: it hadn't been her who'd decided Nibelheim should burn.

Revenge wasn't part of her; it was something that came from a human mind. Or something close to it, anyway.

[irametdolorem]

He knows that it was/is/would have been his decision to burn Nibleheim, but that is hardly the point. The point is no longer who burned Nibleheim and why but that he would not burn Nibleheim and would not tolerate her using those memories and what-ifs against him.

[jenova_nexus]

Cloud is listening to Sephiroth, trying to block Jenova, and he's getting angry himself. The stairs are iced, but he can drop from the walkway to the ground with no injury, so he does.

Jenova reaches for Sephiroth, to trigger something else, the sound of derisive laughter - Hojo's. Nibelheim might not burn, but what about whatever else he hated?

Whomever?

[irametdolorem]

After Cloud is safely out of the way, Sephiroth will likewise take the convenient way around the iced-over stairs.

The memory of Hojo's laughter doesn't trigger as much of a reaction as Jenova might have expected. After all, he'd grown used to Hojo's laugh over the years.

[irametdolorem]

Another flare of anger at the implication that he was like his father before her voice suddenly cut off.

"It seems so?" There's a note of confusion in his voice as he too notes the seconds as they pass by - fully expecting the next attack to be on either him or Cloud.

The unexpected attack on Teré comes as a surprise, shock quickly moving to pure blind fury as his hand moved up to Masamune's hilt almost on instinct.

[jenova_nexus]

Cloud already had his weapon in hand, and his eyes are blazing-bright as he turns his attention to Jenova.

They may notice that there doesn't appear to be any attempt at communication here - they may sense Jenova's presence, not seeking weaknesses, not speaking, just a single steady pressure that seems to be leaving Teré without breath to scream, seems to be slowly driving her down.

Jenova is not trying to hide what she is doing now, if they think to look: she is not trying to corrupt, she is trying to crush.

And whether or not they do, as soon as she senses an opening, she'll switch targets, driving that blade of thought and power into Sephiroth.

[irametdolorem]

And the opening is there for her take in that moment of confusion and blinding fury. And as soon as that blade of thought and power is directed at Sephiroth she'll find little there past a desire to kill - pure instinctual fury tempered only enough by human thought to remember how to fight.

In short, someone was going to die tonight.

[jenova_nexus]

And Cloud feels the same even without the link; with it there's rage and following his commander and the target in front of them, and he is already moving forward.

And Jenova - Jenova still knows how to spur emotions, how to madden those already coming to kill, and that is what she will do, the connection between them nothing but rage and hate and the enveloping, driving desire to tear apart the enemy.

Cloud is caught up in it, and raising his sword as he sweeps down on her, and Sephiroth...?

[a_quiet_key]

Fluffy. Seph wing. That's so cute (and so awesome, seeing it still out) that Teré forgets her headache for the moment and the "aww" is probably plainly visible. The next time she swallows, though, she tastes copper, and promises herself just this last one spell for the night. She'll just concentrate on building it like the last two, still smiling a little to herself.

Cloud feels about the same about the wing, but opts to hide it. He does tilt his head, trying to see if any of that strange link is still there....

[irametdolorem]

If the 'aww' is visible, Sephiroth certainly doesn't comment on it. But neither does he go back to hiding his wing, instead settling for simply folding so that it rests neatly behind his back, blending in with his coat in color, if not texture.

It's not completely closed off just yet at least, although it's not as open as it had been earlier.

[a_quiet_key]

Oh, it'd be visible. She likes his wing, and that he still has it out. Plus it was fluffy.

Cloud figures that out shortly, and quietly internally "acks" over thoughts about being happy Sephiroth still has his wing out. Or that The General does, except it doesn't quite feel right to think of him that way even when he's being all awe-inspiring and completely The General--

--he's not sure how much of that was "audible", but he thinks he should quit while he's maybe ahead.

Meanwhile, Teré casts and shivers at the cold, winces at the paindiscomfort which is definitely outweighing the "whee" portion of casting now, swallows copper again, and when she lifts the side of her hand to her nose it comes away with a tiny streak of red.

...Yeah, definitely enough magic for the night.

[irametdolorem]

Mostly it comes through as a sort of low-level muddle of confusion, he's mostly not 'listening' to anything that comes in through that link at this point, and will probably be shutting it off fairly soon.

For now though, he'll just slide Masamune back into its resting place again, fingers idly tracing over the materia slots as he does. And he'd have to remember to get Teré to give him back that materia before too long.