Redux in Time (Open)

[fatalisangelus]

Since she had awoken she had heard the rumors of portals to other worlds opening, and people and entities being able to drift between. She never thought she'd want to leave her world, but a lot had changed since she first arrived. For one, a lot of faces she knew seemed to be missing, along with perhaps the most important one of all. If scouring her own world wasn't enough perhaps it was best to branch off into other after all. Besides that she was becoming bored, and an adventure into the unknown was always entertaining.

It happened one late night when she wandered down a dark ally. A strange blue light morphed at the end of it and she knew she had her chance. She took a deep breath and stepped inside. It felt like walking through water, only she didn't get wet. Instead she emerged safely on the other side, in a rather large town that surrounded a distant castle.

She had been around only a few days but it was long enough for her to find out that it's name was Hollow Bastion. She didn't have much gil but as long as the restaurant and Inn employees were meal she often swayed her way into getting a free room or meal. She could be strangely convincing to say the least.

The sun was on its way down into the abyss once again as she sat atop a building, her shimmering blue eyes staring off towards the mysterious castle in the distance. Her legs were bent so that she could wrap her arms around her knees. She wore a tight fitting black corset with ribbons tying along the front. She had on a black flowing skirt that trailed to just below her knee, the other side was slit up to her upper thigh so that one leg was exposed. Knee high vinyl boots adorned her legs, the rest wound with thick black ribbon.

Her silky white hair drifted over her shoulder, trailing around her chest and touched her waist as it waved in its loose curls over her body, glimmering in the rising light of the moon. It was easy to see why men could so easily give in to her, but perhaps there was more going on then just her looks alone.

Exposed on the back of her right shoulder and side were the black markings that twisted like dark vines over her skin, touching the base of her neck..only on that side of her body though. The rest was hidden beneath the corset so it was hard to tell where the stopped.

After a while of staring at the castle she finally drew herself to her feet, turning around to look down into the town, seeing if anyone new happened to be passing by or not. She curls her hands around the edge of the building and fans her feathery black wings before jumping down and easing her fall to the ground so that she landed softly before tucking them back in again. She now stood in the center of the market, cocking her head gently to the side as she scanned the sparse evening crowd.

[Cloud Strife]

A somewhat fitting theme for the haunting chills Cloud experiences through this post

A deep rumble echoed through the Hollow Bastion as Cloud slowed to a stop in his usual hiding spot for Fenrir. He backed the motorcycle into the cave, and extracted the Fusion Swords from the compartments, assembling them to where they were two separate blades. He kicked the kickstand, left his goggles, and walked towards the town where the Restorative Committee held base.

He let a hand rest on one of the handles of the Fusion Swords, deciding first, he'd seek out Leon, then secondly, seek out Cid to repair Fenrir. "Another swell day..." he muttered, still sore from the previous fight with Sephiroth. Why Sephiroth left him alive, he would never know, but he did know that something was different about the Ex-SOLDIER First Class... and it concerned Cloud greatly. He looked up towards the buildings and felt a familiar tingle down his spine as he gazed along the skyline of the houses that made up the town. His first thought was Sephiroth, but it couldn't have been. He knew for a fact that Sephiroth wasn't here, due to the tingle not coming with that all too familiar voice, begging Cloud to unsheathe his sword and murder someone.

The chill stuck with him as he walked through the buildings, this all to familiar feeling haunting him to the point where he just wanted to turn, walk out of town, get on Fenrir, and get the hell out of here. Yet, he continued down the street, wondering if the one causing this assault on his very being was feeling the same way. In what seemed like a fitting sense of irony, dark clouds seemed to emerge and flow over the town, the tease of thunder in the distance as bright flashes lit up the horizon.

[fatalisangelus]

Isrieal pauses in her steps and straitens her head as if listening for something. A familiar tingle ran through her, as if she could sense someone nearby. It was those cells. She only knew of a few others that had them. Perhaps it was him. Her eyes widened a bit. She looks up at the sky, hearing the rumble of thunder in the near distance. She continued on once more, moving nearer to the source.

Her sharp heels clicked against the stone of the ground with each echoing step that she took. She slows down her strides as she notices the outline of a person not too far off down the road. She stops and laces her fingers together before her in some sort of anticipation. A large bolt of lightening flashed, momentarily illuminating the entire area just long enough for her to make out that it wasn't the Professor. It was someone else that looked quite familiar. She closes her eyes, thinking back to the files that she had seen. "Cloud." She whispers to herself.

That brief flash also illuminated her. That brief picture of perfect beauty flashed before his eyes before she left standing in the shadows once more. It was just a glimpse of her snow white hair and brilliant eyes and flawless skin. She drops her arms to her side, taking one step closer while tilting her head curiously to the side as she looks him over.

"Excuse me." Her voice trills across to him. A melodic tone. "Do you....know where we are?" She felt it was best to feel him out first, see how he would react.

[Cloud Strife]

The lightning flash had indeed confirmed Cloud's suspicions of being watched, but he left his arms dangling at his side. Who exactly was this woman? She had stepped forward and asked him where they were.

"Hollow Bastion." he answered. "I'm Cloud. Are you lost?" He figured, whoever she was, her world had been consumed and she ended up here by sheer luck. Somewhat like he did in Olympus. He held his ground, not advancing or backing up, and hooked his left thumb in one of his scabbard straps, casually nodding ahead of him. "Restoration Committee is that way." he glanced over his shoulder. "And there's an Inn with a Cafe that way, if you need a place to stay, or food." He then crossed his arms as she had stepped into the light, looking into her eyes and realizing that they were Mako eyes...

"..." his brows furrowed slightly as he realized this foreboding feeling, this feeling is familiarity was coming from her. She was from the Planet. He knew this now. And not only that, she was like him... infused with Mako, and (possibly, though, he prayed not) Jenova cells. He could sense her like he could Sephiroth... But, she didn't seem hostile. He keps his arms to his sides and awaited her response, curious as to who she was.

[fatalisangelus]

"I'm not lost, no." She glances aside then looks back at him, studying him. She could care less about the restoration committee or food right now. She didn't need help and it was almost insulting for him to assume that she did need it. Her world wasn't gone, she was just visiting others. "I just..didn't know what this interesting place was called." She takes a few paces closer, knowing that he was sensing something from him. If he didn't think she was hostile he was mistaken. She probably wouldn't attack now, maybe never, maybe someday. Hostility came in many forms. Of course with her appearance she wouldn't seem like it but everything about her was calculated, cunning. She had a purpose for everyone that decided to seek out or stick around.

"I was also searching for people from my world as I have heard they are usually around here. Including Aeris....interesting no?" She raises a brow. "That means...people can be brought back..." She muses. A thought starting forming within her mind. She had spoken to Sephiroth and learned that Hojo was no longer around, but he also agreed to help her resurrect him. Though he added he would kill him again, but she wasn't going to let that happen.

Was there a way to use Cloud to some advantage? She studies him for a long moment and touches a finger to her chin, narrowing her eyes slightly. She would need to feel him out first.
How do you feel about a certain Professor being brought back? Her voice echoed within his mind. She was playing with him, by speaking into his mind and by asking such a question. The corners of her lips lift very slightly into a grin.

[Cloud Strife]

Again, Cloud was surprised, but not shocked. When he heard her voice in his head, he briefly closed his eyes, and then opened them, a slightly incredulous look on his face.

Bring Hojo back? For what exactly? he thought back. He kept his walls up to keep her from pulling a Sephiroth and taking control/reading his mind. That was the last thing he needed right now. He looked around to his sides, and past her in the darkening alleys, hoping that LeonSquall would pop out of an alley, or even Cid or Yuffie.

"It had to have been him that did this to you... The one who experimented with you." Cloud said quietly, but loud enough for her to hear. "And you want to bring him back? You realize if we were to do that, I'd just kill him again, right?" That's if he isn't alive already... Cloud thought bitterly to himself. It was true. Aerith was back. Sephiroth was back. Which meant that anybody and anything could be alive right now, and above all else, that frightened Cloud.

[fatalisangelus]

So he would kill him too? Internally she sighed, but kept that same stoic look upon her face as she gazed at him. It looks like there will be a lot of blood on her hands if they did indeed try to kill him.

"It had to have been him that did this to you... The one who experimented with you.

She slowly raises a brow as she listens to him go on.

"And you want to bring him back?"

She starts laughing aloud to herself. "Of course!" Her voice trills. "Why wouldn't I? You think it is a bad thing? Look at me." She grins. "The perfection, the powers...you think I'd rather have nothing? Be like a simple human?" She laughs again. "You should appreciate what he has given to you." She points. "For without him you would be nothing." She widens her eyes a bit.

"Think of what more he could do." She tilts her head to the side slowly, watching him with her glittering eyes. She was clearly talking like some psychotic fanatic. "Now tell me...why exactly you want to kill the one that gave you life? That gave you more then you could ever have without?" She takes a small step closer, her boot echoing as it clicked against the ground. The small noise was soon followed by a cracking roar of thunder that split through the sky.

Or perhaps you truly are foolish.. Her voice resounds within his mind once more. A flash of lightning lit her up once more, showing the eerie smirk upon her lips. She could feel his tension. Was he afraid? She grins even wider.