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I-I can try. [She rubs her wrist where he grabbed her and gulping in attempt to gather her bearings.]

My power isn't potent as it should be either, but if I concentrate really hard... Yes, that should get us somewhere.

[Ai hones her focus and forces her mind to push against the automatons. Their spider-like limbs flail around as the wave is pushed aside giving the duo enough space to make their getaway.]

There! Let's go.

[And running!]

Edited 2019-12-15 07:41 (UTC)

[He doesn’t need to be told a second time. The moment that invisible force pushes the dolls back, Sephiroth is turning on a boot heel and making long, running strides towards the corridor behind them. His longcoat and hair whips him as he presses forward.

The way is clear... mostly. A few more dolls crawl out of the shadows, but Sephiroth meets them with Masamune as they pass, and they crumble to the ground with a clatter moments later.

He’s fast. His pace overtakes Ai’s with ease, and he affords her only a passing glance.]

Faster!

Edited 2019-12-15 07:50 (UTC)

[Ai grunts as she skips over a doll corpse and runs after Sephiroth. There's no use expending their energy fighting the remaining dolls, especially when it's only proven that it feeds into the madness that is bound to set in.

After her foot almost trips her when stepping on the sleeve of a kimono, Ai lets out another noise of frustration and then just chooses to glide. She hovers a few inches above the mat and smoothly sails past Sephiroth.]

Turn the corner!

[She flies towards a gate that indicates the end of the room and one can tell because each side is decorated with two gaudy flowery lanterns that stand out against the rest of what they've been seeing. Even more noticeable, the dolls seem to stop just short of that exit.]

[All of a sudden, she’s there in his periphery again, flying—? Floating? Surprise tries to overtake Sephiroth, but he shuts it away with ease, the situation taking priority instead; she had already told him of this ability, so he sets his jaw and keeps his eyes forward. The next turn is a sharp one.

(Right. Like they had decided on before.)

Ahead, two lanterns are points of light heralding the approach of another room. And behind them, the dolls slow, but Sephiroth keeps moving with Ai in tow. They reach they exit, and only then does he turn on his heel to check on the state of the horde behind them, Masamune at ready.]

[The door opens thanks to Ai's telekinesis and she doesn't even spare a glance towards the courtesan dolls seeing as how Sephiroth has her back. The ones he's facing continue to twitch unnaturally, but they dare not move closer.]

"They've made it."

"They've passed."

"We shall meet again."

"Soon."

"Soon!"

"Soon."

The army of dolls begins to recede until they're out of sight. Ai's voice cuts through the leftover silence.]

Alright! We've made it. Let's close the doors behind us just in case.

[Sephiroth is silent, cold, still, as he watches the dolls disperse into shadow. Only when signs of movement have gone completely still does he take two steps back, reaching out with his free hand to shut the double doors with a defiant clack.

He turns to face Ai, but unlike the her, his features still eke with dissatisfaction.]

Who's to say we won’t see them again? They even just promised us as much.

[In other words, keep your guard up. He’s not the type to fall into relief or comfort just because they’ve fled an array of disturbing dolls, who might be crawling above their heads right now, merely choosing not to overcome them.]

What were they, and what do they want? We’re left with more unanswered questions. How irritating.

Edited 2019-12-15 08:28 (UTC)

True... Considering how many there were, it's definitely not the last of them...

[And has to quietly chastise herself about letting her guard down. She casts her gaze down at her open palm, reassessing her energy levels.]

You said back there that your magic wasn't working correctly, didn't you? Same for me... Well, not my magic, but you know. I should have been able to just clear a whole wave easily if I didn't panic back there.

Oh, but enough about me. Are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere?

[Ai moves a little closer to Sephiroth, inspecting him with curious blue eyes, trying to find any blemish or bruise to take care of. It's strangely fussy of her.[

Edited 2019-12-15 08:34 (UTC)

I was just about to ask the same of you.

[He waves her away in a single motion, not harsh, but certainly not allowing too much space between them.]

...Don't worry about me. I'm unharmed. [He considers her, though, in much the same manner, minus the fussiness. His is a more careful, detached sweep of a gaze.]

Has this ever happened to you before? Your abilities gutted so completely?

[It sounds like she once had a strong command of her powers.]

Well, not exactly? I've been up against opponents who could nullify my powers to an extent. I'd just have to problem solve from there.

[She also cut off another crucial ability that she never plans to unlock in the near or far future.]

If you hadn't told me your own powers were hindered, I wouldn't have known. You're quite the swordsman already.

[Ai, you don't know the half of it...]

[He would cross his arms if one hand was not hindered by holding onto Masamune. The problem with such a long blade is that it doesn't have a sheath to stow it away.]

My swordsmanship is not a power. It's a result of physiology and training. Though...

[He trails off into silence, turning his own words over in his head.]

I take it back. Yours might be physiological for all I know, too. You were born with your abilities?

It's very good swordsmanship, nonetheless! And I'm impressed. It must have been challenging especially with that type of blade.

[When he asks her about her abilities, Ai seems to pause with some hesitation. And then she smiles and while it's not strained, there's a sense of it being apologetic.]

Mm hm. [She nods to confirm.]

I've gone through my own training to make sure I had control over them. It's kind of wasted on me, but... Oh, never mind. Forget I said that.

[She tries to brush her self-deprecation off and goes to take another portable lantern to light the way for them.]

[The praise comes and goes, rolls right off of him like gathered condensation. He’s heard it time and again, and it does not affect him, not really. Though perhaps there is some novelty in hearing it from someone untouched by Shinra’s constant, glorifying campaigns. If nothing else, he cannot say that Ai’s complements are not earnest or sincere.

Still, his gaze follows her back as she moves to steal another lantern.]

Why do you say it’s wasted on you? You handled yourself well enough, and with handicapped powers to boot. And you just told me that pushing aside a wave of enemies isn’t normally an issue.

[Training, too. So some kind of program exists for her and hers, as well.]

Edited 2019-12-15 14:03 (UTC)

[There's so much she could say about herself regarding her feelings about her powers and about her very existence regarding them. It doesn't seem like the time or place to spill her guts though, even if they survived an army of dolls together.]

It's just...

[Ai walks ahead, forgetting to stay behind him. Her shoulders slacken as her cheerfulness diminishes.]

I have a lot to work with, but I've had... Well, I still have trouble thinking about whether it's worth it in the end. It sounds selfish doesn't it?

[She’s wandering off, her focus thinning now that they’re out discernible danger. Sephiroth starts walking, then, catching up with long strides so that she cannot remain far ahead. Soon, his pace will overtake hers.]

It isn’t selfish to wonder if something suits you.

[And there’s much he could add to that, too. Much to say regarding his own role in Shinra, and the festering questions of how much longer he would remain, if SOLDIER is all what it once was — but these are thoughts he has shared with only one other, and not easily wrested from the cage of his mind.

So he doesn’t offer it. Instead-]

Duty is obligation. It’s either unwanted, or something to take pride in. There is no middle ground. It sounds like you’re trying to figure out on which side you stand.

You think so?

[She hasn't had anyone to clarify it that way for her before. There were sides and she hadn't chosen yet. It seems so easy, but it's still so complex and troubling.]

... Sephiroth? If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?

Twenty-one.

[He doesn’t mind answering. Oddly, not many people ask him that question.]

Why?

Oh! [Ai looks up at him in awe.]

That's younger than I thought!

[That came out more insensitive than she intended so she backtracks somewhat.]

Er, what I mean to say is that... Um. Hm. I guess you seem more mature than me. I think.

[If he was more prideful man — at least, prideful in that way — he might take offense. But he doesn’t, and a scoffing sound actually escapes his lips.]

I grew up in the military. Maybe that’s why it seems that way to you.

[And that’s not even accounting for his personality.]

I see, I see...

[Ai trails off bringing her hand to rest her chin on and nodding to herself like she's just had some grand revelation.]

I always thought that if I got older I'd gain more perspective. But even if that's true even my sister says that no matter how old you get, sometimes you don't learn anything at all. I don't know about you Sephiroth, but I think at the very least I don't want to be that kind of person when I get older.

Edited 2019-12-15 19:17 (UTC)

[It’s hard to give advice on that. Hard to know if he’s qualified; he doesn’t know her situation, and his own experiences are tapered to focus on very specific categories in conjunction with his role. Warfare, travel where each mission might take him, knowledge of magic and its most efficient application, what information he’s picked up here and there from books, from Shinra’s own files.]

...A fair goal to have. So what do you plan on doing to accomplish it?

I've actually thought about that!

[Ai brightens up and smiles at Sephiroth.]

I'm going to be brave and make more friends!

[At that, he can’t help it. He chuckles at the simplicity of her reply, a low thing that brews in his chest.]

I see. If you think that’ll clear you of your ignorance, then make it a goal.

[It must be nice to think in such plain terms. To fix one’s perception of the world by expanding one’s circle of friends. Sephiroth is a little more world weary, a little more cynical. But even he’s not so tactless to cut down a statement said with that kind of sincerity.]

[Ai is heartened by his reply and she looks ahead instead of down at her feet.]

It's something I look forward too. With how I grew up, I'm so used to people's preconceptions and following disappointments with me.

[For all she was, she isn't enough. But she couldn't let that bind her.]

But there are people who won't see me like that even after they get to know me. I have to believe that much.

What about you? Is there anyone like that for you Sephiroth?

[The answer is no, so resoundingly simple that it would reveal much about himself, about the kind of life fashioned for him. But he’s fine with it, in a way — made to adapt, made to always be separate from the rest. Special, different.

And yet a weighted pause still settles between her question and his reply.]

...My situation is different than most. I was raised by a company, not a family. Even fellow comrades on the battlefield, they—

[They cannot relate to him. Not his childhood years, the laboratory days and nights, not what he can do now. He’s lauded as a hero, as untouchable, and perhaps that manifests itself as true with enough repetition.

...What is he saying? Too much. He parses it down.]

How they see me is how I am meant to be seen. In the end, it’s one and the same.

... Hm.

[They were beginning to sound very similar in some aspects. Although Ai would refer to some people in her commune as family members (her "sister" and "Grandmother"), it wasn't a family, blood relations aside.

She wants to ask, "Does that have to be true? Is that what you want?" The esper refrains from doing so, preferring to see where this journey through the thankless labyrinth takes them.]

Well, if it means anything, so far I think you're more approachable than I initially thought. It might just be because of... [She makes a hand gesture aimed at their surroundings.]

... All this. But! I trust myself with you. You helped me back there after all even if you're rather stoic. That's probably one of your good points!

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supersoldier - 2019-12-15 20:47 (UTC) - Expand