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vehementi) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
edgeofcreation2024-03-02 09:29 pm
vehementi) wrote in edgeofcreation2024-03-02 09:29 pm
( @nimbuster )
Cloud denied his hand at the Edge of Creation, it's true.
But Sephiroth is nothing if not persistent, and he'll do what he must to save Cloud from his own destruction. While Cloud's will is among his favorite traits, he bears an impeccable tendency towards flirting with death. For example... Now trapped in the steely coils of Midgardsormr's body, Cloud writhes and struggles, straining not to gasp water into his lungs. If the gargantuan beast doesn't crush him first, he'll surely drown. Or he would-- had Sephiroth not kept his watchful eye on him. A flurry of elegant strikes is all it takes for Masamune to carve the serpent into ribbons and relinquish its hold on Cloud.
As Cloud sinks lower into the swamp waters, there's something almost ethereal about the way he drifts, reaching his hand up.
Sephiroth smiles, and its not unlike the predatory curve of the Midgardsormr's mouth. It's beautiful, he thinks-- that this time, Cloud is the one asking for a hand.
Out of one serpent's jaws and into another.
But Sephiroth meets Cloud's outreached hand with his own, whisking him away from his gaggle of companions and into a more secluded place. He'll return him soon enough. There's still so much work to do, after all... But for now, what harm is there in savoring the moment? Perhaps Cloud will even be... receptive. Wishful thinking, perhaps. Before long, Cloud is deposited on the rotted wood floor of a ruined building, where Sephiroth will leave him to cough and spit water.
Watching. Waiting.
"Such carelessness, Cloud... I wonder: do you think you're ready?" he'll say, spreading his arms-- and he doesn't just mean for him, but for this journey in its entirety.
omg I just got to this scene the other day, I LOVE it!
But there was a part of Cloud that wanted to take it, and that's the scariest part of the whole damn thing. Even now, he wonders: if things had gone just a little differently, would he have done it? He really isn't sure. Not that he plans to ever mention that to the others, obviously.
He wishes he'd never mentioned Sephiroth back there in the swamp, either. The way Tifa looked at him...he can't stand it. But the so-called war hero was there, Cloud is certain. He felt it.
Now, though, he's fighting just to hold his breath and stay conscious as what light there is filtering down through the muddy water gets more and more distant the further he's dragged into the depths. And he calls himself a bodyguard...he's failed them. Just as he failed to save his village, his mother. Just as he failed Tifa, leaving others to save her life instead. Only this time, it looks like he won't survive to do it again later. Some dark part of him feels like laughing, at that - small blessings, right?
But just as he's on the cusp of passing out, he feels it again. Sephiroth. He forces his eyes open and stares as the unmistakable flawless blade of the Masamune slices through the giant serpent like it was butter. But why...?
And then he's there, floating above Cloud and smiling as if this was all perfectly normal with his long, silver hair drifting around him against the light like some kind of...angel. Cloud sinks, too weak and spent to swim, and there's no deliberate thought behind it when he reaches out to Sephiroth in a bizarre reversal. He's only barely conscious when he thinks he feels another hand grab his--
--and the next thing he knows, he's somewhere else. On his hands and knees on the floor, sputtering and choking up water as he desperately catches his breath. What...happened?
He freezes when he hears that voice that sends a chill down his spine. Half-drowned as he is, he still pushes himself up to a wary crouch as he looks daggers up at Sephiroth. His hand moves to grasp the hilt of his sword, but grasps only air. Shit, he must have dropped it underwater.
Whatever. Doesn't stop him from practically snarling. "...Sephiroth. Ready for what? Why did you come for me?"
it was definitely one of my faves, too! how are you enjoying the game?
Sephiroth's hands are also empty-- for what little that truly matters when he can so easily materialize Masamune out of nothing. Nevertheless, his palms are open and facing skyward. It's not a peace offering, but rather a demonstration that they are on equal ground. What joy is there in brandishing Masamune if Cloud is not able to meet him with his own blade?
A short, crisp laugh punctures the air. Why did you come for me? Cloud asks, and Sephiroth slowly cants his head to one side in a way that almost looks admonishing.
"Have you forgotten already? How disappointing."
Sephiroth pauses, almost studying Cloud for a moment, and then-- he straightens and reaches out a hand to the snarling wolf before him, palm still up. "I will not have you end," he says. But is he simply mirroring that moment at the Edge of Creation? Or is he offering Cloud his hand once more?
Perhaps it'll be up to Cloud himself.
it's sooooo good! I'm in Gongaga now~
...this time, as his eyes are drawn to that offered hand like a magnet, it's harder to shake off the thought that accepting Sephiroth's offer feels right. No, 'thought' is the wrong word; it's an instinct, an urge. Which is why he doesn't realize he's slowly reaching up to place his hand in Sephiroth's until it's already done.