The Plight of the Fallen
mutilusalae:
So she didn’t have a clear reason for following him. She was just doing it because something compelled her to do so. ‘Guided her to a lost soul? Strange girl.’ He didn’t know what force compelled her, but that was how a person got themselves killed. ‘Not that I’m not looking for my own Compelling force.’ He felt like a hypocrite, but that does not mean he wasn’t right.
“Then you are both stupid and Foolish. Following a stranger into a deserted alley on a mere whim? Do you not realize what misfortune could’ve happened to you?” He said as he crossed his arms. This girl was asking to get herself killed. “Any number of horrors. Beaten, stabbed, mugged, all three, or worse… Rape.” He intoned gravely. “Count yourself lucky today, little one. For indeed you are very lucky.” Her last question made him pause. She waned to know his name. A name had power. Held much meaning. Defined a person. His name was something he actively hid. If people knew that Sephiroth, he who had nearly annihilated the planet was back, there would be pandemonium. Currently only one person knew. Tifa Lockhart. And it should stay that way. He opened his mouth to tell her his alias when he paused. Something about this girl… He could feel it now. He would later wonder what madness possessed him that compelled him to do what he did, but it was too late… The words slipped passed his lips, unbidden. “Sephiroth. …My name is Sephiroth.” If he only knew what he had just allowed to happen, what he allowed her to feel… His pain, his misery, his guilt, his suffering… And his memories…
A shiver went up her spine at his mention of the misfortunes that could have befallen her in her recklessness, particularly the last. She had seen the slums of Midgar, had felt some places teeming with negative energy as she had roamed the area. She had felt many gazes following her every move at times, even when she thought she was alone, and the dangers of the night held no sympathies for even an angel like herself. The man had reason to call her foolish.
Yet her eyebrows furrowed in indignance, regardless. She was cautious. She could escape if the need arose. She had to believe that for now.
You need not worry. Nothing of the sort will happen to me.
And I told you my name. You don’t have to call me little one.
....Sephiroth.
Unusual though it was, the angel never got tired of feeling a lock being broken in the back of her head, of what felt like links in a chain slowly coming together to meld as one and connect her mind to the name revealed to her. It felt familiar, as serene as the glow that surrounded the chocolate eyes gazing at this man called Sephiroth. Their owner smiled, her lips parting in an attempt to speak, to explain.
.....But then a huge weight seemed to hit her square in the chest, and suddenly, her smile faltered, glowing eyes flickering like shutters, her attempt all but forgotten as a silent cry caught in her throat.
She had been correct in thinking that she would choke if she were to be near him. Indeed, the searing pain that forced her to her knees, that threatened to split her head in two, made her wish for death rather than endure it.
Because it wasn’t just pain.
It was guilt, the sheer weight of sorrow, of regret, of everything. Longing for death, whether as a reprieve or as eternal punishment for sins that would never be forgiven. The loneliness and solitude of a life forever scarred by fear and torment. And there was so much. So, so many lives lost, who was I, who am I, why must I still live, what more must I endure--
The angel’s wings thrashed violently against the confines of her cloak as she reached a hand forward, streaks of light streaming from her fingertips, as if struggling to reach Sephiroth, struggling in a desperate attempt to heal. Without even thinking, a light and breathy voice passed through their link. Mitsukai’s voice.
‘S.... Sephiroth....!’
Right as another voice, one that would be very familiar to the man, rang in both their heads, as loud as the rain that poured over them.
“.....There is still something you must do.”
