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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 21, 2006 4:51:12 GMT
Kadaj slumped and rubbed his eyes. "Well, first we have to find someone who'll be a parent for him. I doubt either of us could do it..." He smiled ironically. "My brothers and I aren't exactly father of the year material, and it wouldn't be fair for you or Reno to start out your marriage already with a child... Yes, I heard. It was in Ami's mind." One of the biggest things on her mind, surprisingly. "For now, the best thing I can think of is to find a better name than Fruxas for the poor boy. His mother called him that out of Heartless tradition. Xima was always, at best and worst, a traditionalist." She was also a genocidal reprobate. But I'll be the last to tell the child that.
He sat up. "As far as the long term is concerned... we'll all have to have our hands in raising him. He's still very impressionable. If we raised him to be as good as his parents were evil... and he later took control of his birthright... just think of the possibilities, of all the wrong this child could erase someday." He looked at the boy. "That's the future you have sleeping in your lap, Nikky. Everything depends on how we raise him."
****
Jared discovered the place he had entered was some sort of office. A large window was open towards the setting sun... the first window he'd seen in this oppressive place. Whose it had been, and where that person was now... there was no telling.
A crumbling desk, a rotting swivel chair... that was all that was left. He opened the drawers and found nothing but papers, the writing on which was obliterated by mold. He slid it shut again with a sigh. "What am I doing here?" Jared asked himself aloud.
He was about to leave... until he realized one of the floorboards was loose.
He leaned down and gave it a closer look.
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 21, 2006 4:58:46 GMT
nikky nodded as she stroked the boys hair still. she felt the sudden urge to keep him. it must be the motherly instincts... ew. she looked up at kadaj and nodded slowly. ''you know....'' a faint smile crossed her face as she watched the boy. ''we could make him gay....'' she grinned up at kadaj playfully. ''because then... we wouldn't have to worry about anymore kids...'' she stiffled a laugh at her own bad joke. ''sorry...'' she murmured. ''i had to say it out loud....'' she looked back down as the smile softened. ''it must be hard for him... to loose his mother at such a young age....''
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 21, 2006 5:59:28 GMT
Kadaj had to suppress a wince at the "gay" comment... More than once, people had been inclined to tell him he had... effeminate features.
He stood up and watched the boy sleep. "It is hard. Very hard." He scoffed at himself. "What was I, three? Four?" He waved off the thought dismissively. "If you've known Ami for long, she already told you about the fire. I won't bore you by repeating the story." He sat again and hunched forward, tenting his fingers. "There were two scientists. They were, both biologically and emotionally speaking, the closest I ever actually had to parents. I never got close to Stephen or Nora. And as for Jenova..." He couldn't keep back the dry chuckle. "Don't make me laugh. If you can call brainwashed fanatacism devotion, then I was the most devoted son of a b***h that ever lived." He kept his eye on the child pensively. "The boy really is lucky. Thank G** he'll never have to find out just how lucky." At least, if I have anything to say about it.
****
Jared concentrated on the pine board. He usually avoided using his powers now, except onstage... but who was around to watch him now, besides Joey? And she wasn't even in the room. Besides, she already knew he was a freak. After all, wasn't she the one who made him use his mind to get her Frisbees out of trees when they got stuck up there? Aunt A had been quick to tell her off about it, but still. What was the use of being a freak when there was no way to have fun with the fact?
The pine paneling flew away from the area it had been obscuring. It left dust on his jacket... he took it off and shook it out, letting his black wing stretch out a bit as he did so. He folded it up again and replaced the jacket.
Nothing was hidden where the panel had been, at least nothing he had expected... except... his eyes widened.
Growing in through the foundation, through cracks in the cement, were little seedlings... flowers.
He stood an looked around. I don't believe it. Flowers... in the guts of the old mako reactor. They said it would be centuries before the poisons cycled out...
He laughed. Just goes to show what "they" know.
He tilted his head. New life from the bowels of evil. A nice analogy... especially for MY birthday.
He thought of replacing the board, and called it to his hand... but in the end, simply flung it away and let its overwaxed surface shatter against a wall. He remembered the dream he'd had as a very small child, asleep on Nikky's knee... and he wondered. Does this mean something is about to happen to me?
"Jared!" He head Joey call him from the large room he assumed used to be a lobby. "Jared, you coming? We're gonna be late!"
Jared called back. "Yeah... I'm coming!"
He picked his way out of the ruins. So this is what I was looking for. Hope.
He rejoined Joey, and they made their way back to New Midgar, once called Edge... then again called Midgar, and finally New Midgar to differentiate it from the ruins.
"Blue and Annie gonna FRY us, yo," Joey whined.
Jared shook his head with a grin. "Blue is a stiff from whose butt I couldn't pull a needle with a tractor, and Annie spends so much time worrying about her costume that she won't remember to even tell us off this time, I bet you."
Joey laughed. "Astute observations all, Mr. Tseng."
Jared grinned. Jared Tseng. That's my name... it's gonna be my name until I die... or at least, until I turn 22. He shoved off the thought. 22... the age when all h**l is gonna break loose.
The girl with the pink wig, still hidden in the shadows of the ruined hulks, smirked to herself. H**l is coming a lot faster than you think... my brother.
She slipped off to parts unknown.
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 21, 2006 14:34:19 GMT
nikky nodded and watched more of kadaj then the boy. she couldn't help but feel bad.... but not too bad because he didn't turn out all that rotten. she smiled faintly at him and looked bak down, still holding the boy close. she sighed slightly, having nothing really to say....
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Post by matt on Nov 21, 2006 16:13:21 GMT
Akira entered the inn and looked around. The demon inside of me has gone, so why did I still have my spikes and wings. What was happening? Why did the demon leave me?
A sudden pain shot through him causing him to stagger towards the wall. What was happening to me?...
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 21, 2006 16:16:23 GMT
Kadaj was on his feet before he even knew why... he stopped and realized he'd heard something. "Stay here" was the only explanation he offered as he went downstairs to check out the disturbance.
He stopped as he spotted Akira. "Excuse me."
He pulled his sword-- not the Souba but a decent imitation. "State your business."
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Post by matt on Nov 21, 2006 16:18:49 GMT
Who was this guy? Akira was in no condition to fight with the pain surging through him. "I'm no threat to you.", he answered quickly, as the pain doubled and he slouched down to the ground.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 21, 2006 16:27:16 GMT
I think... that was the no brainer of the year. Kadaj looked down on the demon, unsure of whether or not to think this was a trick... but he could feel some massive pain waves coming through the room.
"OK... I'll buy that for now. What do you want?" He wasn't a bleeding heart like his sister, who would have tried to help him.
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Post by matt on Nov 21, 2006 16:30:05 GMT
"... ... ... " The pain was too unbearable for him to speak. Akira dropped down to his knees and held his head. Massive spikes grew from his back and his head , as well as a tail. Everything began to go black as Akira dropped to the ground, muttering "Whats happening to me...."
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 21, 2006 19:21:09 GMT
Kadaj tensed. What in... But the creature was unconscious before he had a chance to say or do anything further.
He watched him uncertainly. OK...
When nothing else happened, he decided he wanted to keep it that way. He decided he'd better lock up this apparition in the cellar until he knew for sure what it wanted.
He didn't think the flimsy lock would hold him long, but it would at least be a warning if he chose to go ape-s**t on them.
He went back up the stairs with a few confused backward glances. He shook his head... I'll leave this one to the mystics.
He sat in the lobby again, trying to make some kind of sense out of the jumbled mass his life had suddenly become.
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 22, 2006 0:47:10 GMT
nikky sighed, alone aside from the sleeping boy in her arms. se stroked his hair and held him slightly before looking around. she hummed faintly to ride herself of the silence, she hummed her favorite tune. the same tune that she had sung many times to the little boy wiz she used to car for.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 22, 2006 3:16:52 GMT
The boy stirred and turned in Nikky's lap, nestling into her. In his dreams, his mother was laying him down to sleep, far away in the forests of Wutai, where she had trained him...
"Now, precious one, I have told you how our kind came to this world, and the sort of world that it is. Do you understand this world, and what your place is in it?"
"Yes, Mother. But... why could we not keep the others, the human people? Could we not use them to help us?"
"That idea may not be so novel as you think. It's called slavery... but with slavery always comes uprise. No, child. This world must be ours and ours alone."
He let that sink in. "Won't we be... lonely at all?"
Xima at first had been incensed at the question, but managed to restrain herself. "There is much you have yet to learn and see, my son. We are already alone in this world." She sighed. "No. We won't be lonely." She lay down beside him. "Because we will have one another."
Fruxas nodded. "Mother... am I allowed to love you?"
Xima had seemed slightly stunned by that question... at the time, she had still maintained the illusion that she herself could not feel, so dealing in shades of emotion and attachment was a foreign realm to her. She gave it a moment's thought. "Yes, child. You're allowed." She stroked his cheek gently. "Good night, my son."
"Good night, Mother."
The wakening, and remembering she was gone, was all the more painful for having dreamed this. But he had reached a point beyond crying... a dull, unceasing sort of oppressive grief too painful to bear, but not painful enough to allow a point of release. He lay motionless in Nikky's lap, realizing her humming had woken him.
He spoke flatly, almost mumbling. "What will happen to me now?" He doubted she knew... but it was the only question that made immediate sense.
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 22, 2006 3:27:30 GMT
nikky stopped and looked down at him. she frowned slightly and pushed his hair around lightly and gently. she pulled her own hair behind her ears. ''well.... from what i'm told, we are going to take care of you....'' she sensed something weird about her answer and sighed. she knew she could never come close to being like his mother... but she had to try. she opened her mouth to speak again but the words fell short and she closed it again. she sighed.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 22, 2006 3:37:51 GMT
Fruxas shook his head slowly. "Oh, no you're not."
He sat up. "You're nice... but you're friends with the people who... killed my mother." He swallowed hard. "I can take care of myself. And if you try to make me stay, I'll just get away and you'll never see me again." He didn't feel like hurting her. "I'm sorry. But that's the truth." He stared into his lap. "I still have to find my sister. I promised I'd..." His throat constricted. Oh, no, not again.
He looked up at her. "Why?" He shook his head. "Don't lie to me, because I can tell when people lie. I just wanna know... why did you all have to kill her? All she wanted was to go home. Why is that bad?" He looked away, at the window. "Who would want to stay here?"
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 22, 2006 3:47:38 GMT
nikky took a deep breath, his words did not hurt, just stopped her for a few minutes. speechless, she took a minute to figure words. she looked over at him sadly. ''i really.... don't know.'' she sighed. ''i thought there could have been another way... but i wasn't told all of the story. i'm sorry.... truely i am. if i could, i would have found another way to deal with this....'' she looked at him and slowly smiled. ''i'm sure your mother, behind what i saw...'' she remember xima killing axel and stabbing her. ''that she wasn't that bad.... as for stayin here?'' she laughed slightly and dryly. ''i don't blame her for wanting to leave... or whatever. i don't like it here. i would rather live with forests all around me....'' she sighed and smiled. ''but that is just wistful thinking.... '' her lack of knowledge made it hard for her to answer his questions... she really knew nothing of xima or her plans....
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