Final Fantasy Main Story RP ARC VI

Cloud eyed the cure. Within a second, Cloud had grabbed it and already inject himself. There was a slight twitch from the more-than-expected pain. He could feel the mako burn inside him. He pulled the needle out and placed it on the counter. 

This was the part he was supposed to be the hero and be super cool and save Denzel, but who was he kidding? Somber eyes looked over to his arm. He wasn't a hero. He wasn't anything that could save the boy. He couldn't do anything. A sigh left his lips as he looked up at Rufus. Apparently Sephiroth had business with the president. He did too. But what was the point? He sighed once more and turned towards the door. He stepped out and into the hallway. He looked out the glass window in the surroundings. 

He could fight, but that's all he could do. 

Zack was looking at Rufus and he shook his head. He knew what Rufus was implying.
"No." He grabbed Rufus by the collar. "I don't mind you tricking my ass into it but he does not need that."
Rufus just smiled and Zack felt the hand on his and it was peeled away.
Zack knew he wasn't gripping Rufus to hard, but it was hard enough that a normal human couldn't break.
So when Rufus removed his hand and pushed him back. Zack was generally stunned.
Especially as he hit the wall harder than he thought he would have.

"Judging by you look General. I think you know know what I'm asking."
Rufus motioned to the cure. "For this cure you merely need to let me reinstate you."
He looked over his shoulder to where Zack was. "We do need someone to watch him."
He smiled. "I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it."

Zack was looking to the cure then to Sephiroth his fist balled up at his side and that was it.
It struck Rufus... hard. The president had shown signs of strength unnatural strength.
So the hit wouldn't have damaged him much just brought him down off his ego trip.
"You're a manipulative bastard." Zack blinked and he shook his hand.
That had actually hurt. It was like hitting a brick wall.
And Rufus just stood up like it was nothing.
"What the--"


[Rufus' next post will signify the end of the meeting so if you need to get something done... do it]

"I guess we should have known it would pretty much kick you in the balls, Seph," Reno said with a faint smile at the General. He took no delight in seeing the man in clear pain, though a part of him perhaps saw it as retribution for what he had done to the company, the planet... the man he was trying to ignore.

He rolled his shoulders with a sigh. "Not meaning to be rude, impertinent, all those big words - but if everyone's done I'd really like to be going to bed now. It's been a long few days and I feel like I'm going to drop dead."

He slid out of his chair, ruffling Cissnei's hair lightly with a teasing smirk and leant down to pet Dark Nation... who immediately recoiled.

Reno crouched down with a frown. "Aww, come on, I thought you and I were friends again, ol' boy," he sighed, reaching out to him again, his hand recoiling as the hound snarled and snapped at his fingers. He paused for a moment before standing, his face the picture of calm as he felt the familiar buddings of pain in his shoulders.

"The cure is only temporary..." He managed to say before turning and quickly walking out of the room, looking for a secluded place as the pain increased.

>Okay, so. I have decided to move on with Jenova since the triplets are otherwise indisposed. I apologize for the rough nature of this post but I ended up being WAY behind and my muse is totally shot. I did try to make sure I didn't forget anything. If I did, please let me know.<

A diffused emerald glow caresses her soft features as she gazes deeply into the completed well, silently contemplating events of late with pursed lips. Her clear smooth forehead slowly twitches into a visible furrow as the emotional stress upon her system peaks and dark circles reveal themselves beneath her dull eyes.

---
Her fingers probe Yazoo's torn shirt and her lavender eyes alight as she ponders how to mend his outfit; particularly as to which style such should be executed. She withdraws for a moment, elegantly withdrawing her right arm across her chest to grasp her left elbow as her left hand rises to cusp her chin in contemplation. She crosses her left foot behind her right ankle and shifts her silhouette to-and-fro as she considers her options.

"Oh," she quietly stutters as though a long ago to-do suddenly stepped into the light of her conscious.

She leisurely drops her pensive pose and promptly impales the sad child and the angry child through their chests, the suddenly erratic beating of their hearts warming her soft hands as she softly squeezes the meaty tissue.

As per the previous performance, she channels residual lifestream energy collected during her drilling expedition from her living mako reactor and filters it through their bodies as it condenses into a crystalline form within their beings. For Kadaj the process is relatively quick as his porous personality lends much to work with and she casually retches the crystal from the grasp of his rib cage; however, the construction of Loz's crystal takes several moments longer given his relatively impenetrable nature before his chest cavity sounds a resounding crunch and his fragment glows within her grasp.

"I suppose I should tell you what these are my dears," she cheerfully exclaims while beaming the softest of smiles as though presenting a freshly baked pie to her sons. "This is condensed lifesteam energy that has been "infused" with your own personal flavor. The denizens of this planet refer to such as materia; however, we will be a little less scientific and called it a soul fragment. Namely so as it possesses just the slightest bit of the planet's life force and a fairly overwhelming amount of your own. Suffice it to say, make certain you are cautious with your crystals, mkay?"

She places the respective fragments into each son's grasp.

"I am certain you are aware of that much in the least," she begins a bit more solemnly. "Now, given the particularly unique nature of these fragments they do not necessarily summon the magiks of this realm. On their own, assuming you can muster enough energy, they will awaken and your avatars will be unleashed. Needless to say this comes with risk and may not be utilized willy-nilly."

"Though," she continues almost absentmindedly as she fidgets between the two sons and their garb, "should the three of you each manage to awaken yourselves to your potential, the fragments will fuse and something particularly amusing will happen."
She steps backward as she concludes her remarks and resumes her thoughtful stance for several long moments before her lavender eyes alight and a smile warms her expression. A deep purple mist fills the room, swaddling the triplets in the visage of long yards of material as each is awarded custom attire and an upgrade to the weapons of their previous incarnations and she simply sinks into the floor with a proud smile upon her face.

It is several hours later that the pains begin.

Initially, it was a mere sense of numbness hidden away in the darker recesses of her mind, almost negligible where it not for the sudden reveal of two more numb sites in her subconscious. Typically, should one of her children perish, the link between herself and said heir was merely severed; no lingering sentiments honored their connection. This is different. She can no longer see into their minds, can no longer speak to her children; however, the connection still exists. And it is perplexing.

She lounges upon her throne in a futile attempt to discourage the foreboding that dwells within, her foot agitating over the arm of her seat. Suddenly her chest swells and convulses, her breathing ragged as her right hand grasps her bosom and she falls to the floor. Her heart aches greatly as the revelation seems to stab her time and time again. So many of her bright lights flickering to a dim glow in her mind; one by one they seem to grow dull as though moving away from her and panic grasps her system as the backlash sets in.

"ZACKARY," she screams in horror to any ear that will hear as she struggles to breathe, her crumpled form convulsing in pain upon the cold polished marble of the hall floor.

Suddenly, a dark tendril flashes across her consciousness and the realization of betrayal is practically framed and mounted upon the walls of her mind. Her eyes open in shock, her countless years lending a particularly bitter bite to the taste of being bested. She calms her breath and recomposes herself as she tiredly staggers to her feet, her hair disheveled and her dress in wrinkles before she seemingly drips through the floor.

A diffused emerald glow caresses her soft features as she gazes deeply into the completed well, silently contemplating events of late with pursed lips. Her clear smooth forehead slowly twitches into a visible furrow as the emotional stress upon her system peaks and dark circles reveal themselves beneath her dull eyes.

"I tire of these ungrateful youths," she says coldly to no one in particular.

Kneeling down she flattens her left palm against the glassy membrane that separates her from her once prison in the lifestream. The glass is warm, comfortable. A feeling that she honestly does not expect to be offered to her willingly by any and thus she relishes the sensation against her skin. The glass shatters violently, her lithe frame sinking into the energy stream as though her body was falling into the oceans seemingly endless depths.

"The conscious life stream is no longer here," she internally monologues, "nor is the negative life stream which now resides in Nero. Therefore, all that is left is the amalgamation of this planet's souls as one cohesive being."

She sinks deeper into the endless expanse of light.

"Perhaps," she continues to ponder, "with the conscious life stream about the surface this little happening will not slay the planet as it has so many others."

The iridescent green of the life stream slowly churns, the hue of its infinite tendrils shifting to a beautiful lavender before being pulled toward Jenova and into her being. She gasps in overwhelming pain as the energy burns its way throughout her body, the will of Minerva not wholly acquiescing the removal from its host within the husk of the planet.

"I shall not fault in my purpose," she mantras, "feeble spirits shall become a potent soul. This planet is weak."

The tendrils continue their barrage into her being.

"As such," she stammers out as she laughs in the severity of her suffering, "I shall be its reaper."

Her lavender eyes glow with ethereal light as the green of the life stream is rapidly overcome and a wave of lavender spread outward into its expanses as she continues to absorb what remains of the life stream.
---

Throughout the WRO building several plants are alerted to the change in circumstance, syncing with the main body they shed the guise of their previous selves and give themselves over to Jenova's visage as their past realities seemly melt away like wet paint in the rain.

---

The door to the room suddenly buckles inward before launching from its hinges, embedding itself within the adjacent wall as her majestic figure leans against the frame.

"Hello," she states simply, "Zackary. We seem to have issues to contend."

Stepping into the room, she looks about with an severely agitated air and inhales.

"Something is happening to my children," she says simply before stopping dead in her tracks as her gaze falls upon Denzel.

---

The ceiling bows under great pressure, the metal seeming of fabric as it bowls down before rupturing in a heated mass and melting onto the floor as the foot of the bed. Her heels heavily stab at the metal of the floor as she débuts before Sephiroth.

She steals an exceptionally cold and betrayed look before slowly making her way to his side. Slowly, she lowers to a seated position upon the bed beside him and lowers her ear to his chest as though listening for something.

"I see," she begins in a cold tone. "You have forsaken me Sephiroth. I must say, from you of all people this tears at my heart. From the time I awoke it has been you and I. Me and my little boy. That seems like a lifetime ago, if you pardon the poor irony of that statement."

Light tears flow over her sculpted cheekbones.

"How embarrassed and betrayed I am," she quietly sobs. "I am afraid I have no choice but to make an example of you my dear. If you desire your 'power' back, you are required to cultivate and embrace what remains of our bond within yourself."

With such an elegant gesture she draws her hand across his stomach and mutters 'neath her breath, commanding what remains of her will within the silver haired general to withdraw its aid. SNAP. Something within his body gives way as what remains of her cells congregate and become the sole material of his heart.

"The impinge of your decision," she leans down and whispers into his ear with cool breath, "for the moment, may be lost upon you; however, I imagine you shall discern the price of your betrayal soon enough."

She sits upright and looks over the weakened man before her with a cold gaze.
---

Jenova looses a horrific scream, the likes of which would send a chilled tinge through the spine of even the most hardened as the vast expanse of energy continues to burn its way into her body. Fortuitously, as the soul lacks its mind the process is accelerated; however, the quickened process hurts a great deal more than she remembers.