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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 27, 2007 5:04:00 GMT
Jared fidgeted in his sleep... he'd been lying back there, comatose, since they arrived in Midgar... dreaming...
He and his mother, in her room at the Shinra Mansion, sitting on her bed, as they had the night before she died.
She gazed at him, at first looking shocked, then softening. "Oh, Fruxas... you're sick." He could have sworn she almost sounded afraid... She put her arms around him, holding him close, stroking his hair gently. "It's the toxin, isn't it?"
Jared leaned on her, almost wanting to cry. "Yes, Mother. How did--"
She turned his head gently, towards the mirror on the dresser... amber streaks were starting to appear on his face. He gasped in fear. "Mother..." Jared whispered.
"Shh..." She embraced him again. He began to sob, desperately, clinging to her. She rocked him gently, speaking softly. "There, there... you'll be all right, Fruxas. You'll be all right."
"But how?" Jard choked out. "Mother... I don't know the cure... Three to heal... what does that mean?"
She stayed silent, kissing the top of his head, trying to calm him. "Now, now, my son... don't your memories tell you?"
He shook his head. "No." He looked up into her eyes. "Mother... I'm not scared to die. If I die, I'll be with you. But Mother..." He paused to wipe his nose with his sleeve. "If the poison works... it'll take my memories away." He leaned against her again, too weak to sit up as he cried. "I don't want to forget you."
Xima was on the edge of crying herself... weeping for her lonely orphan... "Oh, Fruxas... what I would give to be there for you." She blinked the tears back. "Fruxas, where is my other? Her brothers?"
He shook his head. "They went to the Hidden Island... that's all I know."
Xima had never heard of this... "I hate to admit this... but you have to find them, sweetheart."
Fruxas blinked. "Why?"
Xima gazed down at her son with pity. "Because only they can heal you. Three to heal. One cure. The toxin can be dissipated between your three uncles. It won't affect them, diluted so much. But if it is inside you much longer... your sister will be alone."
Jared looked up at her, his look more fearful than ever. "Mother... that can't be the only way."
"I'm sorry. It is."
****
The baby suddenly became very vocal... she sensed a maternal presence... her mother was reaching to her brother somehow, speaking to him from within her stone prison... Jenova had never been able to reach to any of her children after she was sealed in stone...
But then, she had never loved them half as much as Xima had loved her son.
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Post by mistervillainman on Jan 27, 2007 5:08:49 GMT
Tseng looked at the baby and went over to her, brushing his hand through her hair softly, trying to sooth her.
"Hey hey, its okay. Dont worry about anything..." He said, wishing more than ever he could understand her. "Are you worried about your brother? Dont worry, we're going to help him."
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 27, 2007 5:16:50 GMT
Horus felt the wind being knocked out of him, and terrible pain spreading throughout his midsection... He had to come up with something to stop this before his opponent ruptured his intestines...
His free hand snatched a fistful of Sephiroth's hair, smashing their heads together with bone-shattering force. The shock knocked them apart, giving Horus a few seconds' purchase... He bashed the hydrant into Sephiroth's hand, knocking the Lotus loose, and dove for it, spinning around and up to his knees as he sliced towards Sephiroth's midsection... something inside him, though, hurt terribly, and he knew not all was well...
****
Cloud followed Isis relentlessly. The female Patran was desperately pressed to keep herself away from his slashing blade... She yanked one of the larger glass shards from the alley floor and swung it towards Cloud's ankle, cutting into her own hands as she fought doggedly against this obviously exceptional human... Were he anything remotely like the pathetic specimens I am used to encountering, HE would be the one broken and bleeding by now, Alpha Male or no.
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Post by organizedchaos on Jan 27, 2007 5:21:07 GMT
Tifa looked at Tseng
"how long has he been sick like this?"
as she thought Denzel never looked like that... i dont think its the same stigma if it is at all
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Post by mistervillainman on Jan 27, 2007 5:28:48 GMT
Sephiroth slashed downwards, knocking the blade off-course and harmlessly to his left, he then locked up swords with Horus and grabbed him by the collar-bone, squeezing his pressure point in his crushing grip.
"A bit under the weather are we? Well I can take your pain away for you..."
He spun out of the lock-up and his sword slashed right across Horus' chest, barely deep at all, just extremely painful...
--------------------
"He's been getting worse since a few days ago... I dont think it is Stigma, it doesnt look anything like what I saw of it... something related to memetic toxin though." Tseng said, worriedly looking from the baby to Jared.
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Post by organizedchaos on Jan 27, 2007 5:37:01 GMT
"i dont know if the water will get rid of it but it should help" she said trying to convince herself as well then she looked at the baby
"is she sick too" she said concerned that the baby was so young
then her mind flashed to Denzek and Marlene i hope their safe she shuttered at the thought of them in danger then she thought of cloud you can do it cloud i know you can she thought
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 27, 2007 5:40:13 GMT
Horus gritted his teeth against the shock and pain... the fact that shocked him even more than the injury itself was that despite all the armor his tunic was plated with, the sword had STILL managed to cut through it and into his flesh.
Horus' eyes flashed with a terrible amber fire as fury charged through his veins... his powerful black wing rose from beneath the tunic and pumped powerfully as he straightened his legs with a snap, sending both him and Sephiroth into middle space... he spun in midair and hurled his nemesis towards the pavement head-first, plummeting after him, prepared to pummel him mercilessly...
****
Cloud winced as the glass carved into his flesh, impaling his ankle, entering under the skin and coming out the other side... His sword was too large and clumsy for these close quarters... he pulled up the plasma cannon and began blasting... The gun had a kick like a temperamental moose, and it nearly knocked him off-balance...
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Post by mistervillainman on Jan 27, 2007 5:47:22 GMT
Tseng instinctively got between Tifa and the baby, shaking his head.
"No, shes fine, just worry about the boy."
---------------------
Sephiroth grinned as he plummeted towards the earth, then he raised his sword and his own wing spread from his back, flapping to stop his decent, then stuck his boot up above him, slamming it straight into Horus' chest, the sound of a crack rang out from somewhere in his body, Sephiroth's grin widened.
"You just made the biggest mistake in your life... Luckily you wont be around to make any more..." He said, then spun around and kicked him in the jaw with his other boot, sending him flying to the left. Sephiroth held his sword in a two-handed grip, flapping his wing to right himself and held the sword in front of him straight up and down. "Your strength is considerable but your intelligence is severely lacking. You thought you could match me in the air?"
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 27, 2007 5:47:57 GMT
Jared's eyes slitted open wearily... he caught sight of Tifa. "The church b***h..." he muttered to himself under his breath, too soft for anyone else to hear... that was how Loz's memory had always identified her. He reached back farther, into other generations of his family, trying to find her name... those memories were starting to unravel, but he caught it... "So you're Tifa," he said weakly. "It's a small world..." He went into another fit of hacking coughs.
The baby fussed and reached up to be held... she didn't like the sounds of this at all...
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Post by organizedchaos on Jan 27, 2007 5:55:51 GMT
"don't worry i wouldn't hurt a child...and yes i'm Tifa, i'm going to try to help you i'm not sure what all i can do but i'm going to try"she said looking from Tseng to Jared
shouldnt i be worring about who i can trust here she thought to herself
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 27, 2007 6:03:14 GMT
Horus' flying body plowed through the brick wall of the alley, and he snarled in anger, holding his abdomen... He turned and made a running leap from the building he had just punched a hole into, shooting towards his enemy like a wrecking ball, his wing pumping furiously... He finally spoke, silent until now, a deep voice rumbling out of his barrel-like chest. "How could a half-blood Jenovan alcub like you even think about matching a pure Patran Inferior?"
He sneered at Sephiroth, clashing the Lotus into the Masamune, sparks flying as they were propelled above the nearby structures... "I was there, whelp of Advent. I was there... to see your useless, diseased, lunatic mother tear our world apart. She did it to destroy me and everyone like me... but she FAILED. Just the way she ALWAYS failed at everything she ever turned her eyes to... the way her tribe ALWAYS will fail, no matter where they go or what they do. And you, her pathetic spawn... how can you summon the strength to withstand the shame of being her son... her HALF-BREED son?"
****
Isis was thrown back by the shock of the discharges exploding around her, but not one had precisely hit its mark... even so, she was severely singed...
She tumbled to a stop and saw her brother fighting the Alpha. Do what you will, brother... Let your foolishness bring an end to your miserable life. I will survive.
She took to her feet and began to run, her knee aching agonizingly as Cloud took up hot pursuit...
****
Jared felt her doubt and smiled faintly. "I don't think you have anything to be afraid of here... a dying five-year-old and an infant... not even Seraphs are a threat in this state." He opened his eyes wider, to reveal his cat-slit blue-green eyes to his family's longtime enemy... he coughed a few more times and closed his eyes again, letting his head drop. I want to go back to sleep... I want to be with my mother again...
He blinked. My mother.
He looked at Tseng, urgency coming into his voice. "My mother... she told me..." He paused for breath, wiping the sweat from his face... "She told me... the cure..."
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Post by mistervillainman on Jan 27, 2007 6:09:34 GMT
Sephiroth's smile disappeared, replaced by a look of pure contempt.
"Well Patran, now you have just written off your chances of dying quickly... Now you shall feel the utter agony that comes from having every inch of your skin ripped off and then FED TO YOU!" He shouted, slamming his blade against Horus' with all his might and knocked it right back into Horus' face, the blunt side striking him right between the eyes.
-----------
Tseng sighed. "Well I can understand that much..." He said, picking the child up and holding her to him, he then turned back to Jared as he spoke. "What? What is the cure Jared?" He asked, trying to get it out of him before he passed out.
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Post by organizedchaos on Jan 27, 2007 6:17:27 GMT
"it should take most of the pain away for a while enough so he can stand speek and move."
she looked at Jared
"then maybe you can find this cure" she said with a smile
she returned her attention to the baby "she really is a cute girl" she said to make some kind of lighthearted conversation
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Post by mistervillainman on Jan 27, 2007 6:20:24 GMT
Tseng almost laughed as Tifa said that. It was actually good to see someone who didnt see only what the girl really was... She just saw a cute little girl.
"Yes, so she would appear..."
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 27, 2007 6:32:38 GMT
Jared coughed again before looking up into his guardian's eyes... What did he see there? Why was it so familiar?
He knew. He knew what he saw.
Love. He loved him enough to be so afraid for him.
"The cure... is family."
His gaze dropped as he leaned against Tseng... "I'm so tired," he whispered. He sniffed, trying to burrow into his side.
He lowered his voice, almost enough to be imperceptible. "I love you, too, Tseng."
He slumped limply against him, his energy gone... the world faded...
The baby fidgeted and wailed. He wasn't dead... but he was dying. She could feel it... and she could feel something else... she and Tseng were the only reasons he was hanging on at all...
****
Horus saw stars as the sword smacked his forehead. Ow. That was not one of my better plans. In fact, it was one of the worst of all my very bad plans. He flew back several feet from the impact until he finally collided with a roof, sliding across it as friction finally slowed him to a stop. He rose, anger contorting his face, raising the Lotus again, waiting for Sephiroth to purse... what he would have given to have had his plasma cannon again. He didn't have his sister's finesse in handling a sword...
****
Isis smiled wickedly as she sank a dark gray materia into her arm, which looked like an amalgamation of slate and glass... A rumbling came from under Cloud's feet, and suddenly a bizarre creature shot out from beneath the ground, landing in front of him with a strange, trilling snarl...
Isis cackled wickedly. "Allow me to introduce you to a pet I brought from home... Ankh, murder him!"
The allion, an enormous feline-type creature covered in small armored plates with a deceptively metallic luster, sprang at him, its claws reaching for him... Cloud fired with the plasma blaster, but the discharges deflected off its armored hide as it roared shrilly at him...
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