♘ 3: Video

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

[For him, the door opens. He'd actually been on his way outside, headed for gods knew where, but the second his gloved hand touches the knob, a soft chime sounds and instead of the bright outdoors, the scene shifts to a place he thought he'd forgotten.

The video tilts wildly as the skyphone slips from nerveless fingers and clatters on the concrete floor, a quirk of fate setting it on its side, able to view the room at large. Leather swishes as Sephiroth ignores it and steps further within, gazing about as if in a trance. Standing near the desk, he tilts his head and reaches down to pick up a ball of black fur, a very worn, very old stuffed toy.

A light chuckle wafts through the sterile place, followed by a melancholy sigh.]

...hn...I'd almost forgotten.




{ooc: backdated to 1/23 if necessary; welcome to the place where Sephiroth grew up, in the bowels of Hojo's madhouse.}

Comments

[video]

[aquareina.livejournal.com]

[Gazing at the footage with a look of wonder, a pink-haired girl calls to him.]

Is this a memory of yours? It seems so plain, so...empty.

[wanderlusting.livejournal.com]

It's been a while, I take it?

[video]

[chaos-vessel.livejournal.com]

... where are you?

[It's not anywhere Vincent recognizes.]

[video]

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

[He didn't realize the phone was still on. Sephiroth picks it up and sits down on the small bed, it creaking beneath his weight.]

I grew up in this room. It seems so very long ago, now.

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

Years, it seems.

[And he can still see himself, sitting there at the desk staring out of the small window, seeing only the starkness of the ShinRa Tower on the other side.]

[video]

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

[Home. No, wait. This was never home. It was simply the place he'd lived.]

These are my quarters...from childhood and youth. I grew up here.

[video]

[chaos-vessel.livejournal.com]

[Vincent examines it. It wouldn't be unusual for Shinra quarters, but to have grown up there...]

In Shinra?

[video]

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

Yes. Old storage rooms just off the Science Department.

[Under heavy lock, guard and key, doncha know.]

[wanderlusting.livejournal.com]

It can't be a childhood home?

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

...it was never home. Simply a place I was kept.

[video]

[chaos-vessel.livejournal.com]

[Of course they would be close to the Science Department.]

And you lived there for years.

[video]

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

Until I was sixteen and was moved into the SOLDIER quarters.

[video]

[chaos-vessel.livejournal.com]

And I suppose Hojo was nearby even then.

[video]

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

[Of course he was. He wasn't about to let Hollander in on this miracle.]

I suppose so. I only ever encountered him in the laboratory.

[wanderlusting.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear it, then.

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

It's of little consequence.

[wanderlusting.livejournal.com]

If you insist.

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

[A light chuckle.]

No, I don't. But believe me when I say I'm merely surprised to find such an old memory here, of all places.

[Voice] (will backtag this when I get home, but I couldn't resist <3)

[thishealingwind.livejournal.com]

[It takes Aerith a long time to decide whether to speak to him. As it stands, she's heard that his sane, and her morbid curiosity is simply overwhelming. And she doesn't want those she loves to be his victims if they turn out to be wrong. She has to know for herself. And, based on his words and the video, it's very likely that he's very close. She's in the ShinRa building, after all. Thus, she uses the voice function only, so that he can't see her face. Just in case.]

No matter how much we wish to forget some things, they never entirely go away.

[She knows that feeling well. It only then occurs to her that wherever he is, it's likely near where she and her mother were held as well. The irony is not lost on her, either.]

Re: [Voice] (Awww, poor kids! ShinRa put 'em through so much hell. <33)

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

[The voice is unfamiliar, as are most here in this strange new world. But nevertheless, Sephiroth vents a light chuckle, one tinged with a bit of irony and a heavy dose of self-amusement.]

No, they don't. [A pause, then a gentle - almost forlorn - sigh.] I suppose they serve a purpose in the end, making us who we are. [Or some other such propaganda drivel.]

[Voice] (I know, right? ;_; I swear, no one has a happy ending in these games. XD)

[thishealingwind.livejournal.com]

[That's what she was counting on. Likely her face wouldn't be familiar, either, but she's not taking any chances.]

[Yet, anyway.]

You were kept there? [It's not entirely phrased as a question.] How long?

[wanderlusting.livejournal.com]

I'd wager you aren't the only one, of late.

[video]

[aquareina.livejournal.com]

Really?

[She inspects the room again briefly. It seems too empty to be a child's room in her opinion, but that bed is certainly small enough to belong to a child. With so many questions to ask, Lenna decides to at least introduce herself first.]

Sir, my name's Lenna and I've seen other events like this one appear as of lately across the network. Is this the first time your memories manifested in such a way?

Many claim this is the second time such a feat has happened, but I'm unsure what to believe.

[video]

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

[Even with his previous attitude, Cissnei still felt sorry for him. No person should have to put up with such conditions.]

You're in Midgar as well, sir?

[She remembers to address him in a more formal manner. She really, really didn't want someone like Sephiroth on her ass for forgetting her place in the chain of command, even if it was nonexistent here.]

[video]

[furorimperator.livejournal.com]

Until I turned sixteen, or thereabouts.

[He can return the favor, somewhat.]

Sephiroth, of Midgar. And yes, it is. [And he's not exactly thrilled with the prospect, either.]