damned_institute | Dayshift 22: Sun Room (Evening Shift)

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Dayshift 22: Sun Room (Evening Shift)

It was probably a good thing Penelo listened to that weird silver haired man (she never really did get his name, did she?), because her short investigation of the Bulletin Board revealed that she wasn't alone after all. Larsa and Gabranth were here too, for whatever reason.

Penelo still couldn't quite wrap her mind around the concept that Gabranth was alive, when she had heard his dying words and had later attended his funeral back at Archades. Basch had taken his place since then, and it just boggled her. How could Gabranth have returned to life? There was no force in Ivalice that could do that.

Then again, it looked like she wasn't in Ivalice anymore.

Penelo sighed, seating herself at a table near the bulletin board as she waited for Larsa and Gabranth to arrive. Hopefully, Larsa would have some answers; she never doubted his ability to dig up information, no matter what the situation. Even so, what did they get themselves into?

"At least Vaan isn't here," Penelo reminded herself. She had gone from frantically searching for Vaan to praising the Gods that he hadn't been captured in this prison.

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Tifa wandered into the Sun Room, picking a nice couch to sit on as she waited to her friends to arrive. She'd just seen Aerith and Yuffie five minutes ago, but there was a lot they need to get through. There were a lot of questions from everyone that needed to be answered, and she wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page.

What worried her most, though, was Vincent. Had he heard something about Cloud? It really had seemed like he had just up and vanished, from everything that she'd heard. Maybe he'd been spotted again? Or maybe he needed her help.

...Yes, she needed her friends to come soon, before she ran down each worst case scenario in her head.

And it would appear that Tifa's worst case scenario had come true.

Moving into the room as silently as he could, Sephiroth stood for a moment behind the couch, merely watching the back of her head. How simple it would be to drive his fist through it! How easy it would be to wrap his fingers around her throat and twist his hand just so to put an end to her life.

But that wouldn't be playing by the rules, would it? Whatever test this was that had been designed, he would pass it.

Leaning down to rest his elbows against the couch near her head, his direct and alien seeming gaze locked on the side of her face.

"Imagine seeing you here," he drawled.

And suddenly he froze.

For a split second Vincent knew real terror, the terror of someone that could rip him limb from limb and erase his existence with an expert twist of the wrist---

And then his gaze hardened as he remembered Landel's and what it was.

"Get away from her," he growled.

Tifa knew the sound of that voice. Before she even turned to look at him, she got that same familiar shudder down the back of her spine. But she refused to show any fear - she'd faced him head on as merely a teenager, and again not a few years ago. Tifa Lockhart was not going to cower in fear.

She turned to him, eyes practically burning with hatred. She took note that he was in the same uniform - meaning no matter what powers he had, the people running this place had somehow incapacitated him as well.

"I could say the same," she said, almost spitting the words at him. "Seems they brought you here just as easily." She barely resisted the urge to demand where Cloud was, already half convinced by Sephiroth's mere presence that he had something to do with the disappearance of her friend.

She heard Vincent then, but as grateful as she was for his arrival, she didn't turn to him just yet - there was no way she was taking her eyes off of Sephiroth.

Sephiroth's gaze rose to pin on Vincent Valentine, no sign of any emotion there. Standing up slowly, he left his hands resting on the back of the couch, inches from Tifa's head. Again he was struck by how easy it would be to end it all here and now.

"And if I do not?" he asked calmly.

The woman's anger was ignored the same as most everything else was that he considered beneath his notice. Humans. They were always so transparent and easy to move from one thing to the next. Turning his attention onto Tifa, a brow slowly rose.

"Is that what you believe?" he asked blandly.

Reflexes were deadened here, weapons gone and abilities completely muted. Most of all, Tifa wasn't dead. The playing field was levelled, and Sephiroth had no more control or power here than anyone else.

This slow realization was all that allowed him to silently storm forward and with his metal hand shove viciously at him.

It felt almost relieving, but the bottom still dropped from his stomach.

Tifa was only too aware of how close Sephiroth's hands were, but she didn't shrink away. She hoped he would just get bored and leave already, but a part of her was curious. He must have had some reason for coming over to bother her, right? ~~Maybe he knew something about Cloud?~~ Besides, it didn't matter what she "believed" - he was here, in that same ridiculous uniform. He was just as much of a prisoner as she was.

She jumped up as Vincent shoved Sephiroth, immediately pushing herself over the couch and placing herself at his side with one hand coming to rest on his shoulder. She was still glaring at Sephiroth, ready to help her friend in case he got any ideas. Vincent was injured, and she wasn't about to let Sephiroth touch him - not once.

Already standing fully, Sephiroth had only to raise his arms to meet the attack head on. Even in the place, he was not one to run from a battle. The difference was that he didn't allow anger to rule him, at least not in a matter as small as this. True, he was robbed of most of his power and abilities, but his own natural cunning was still in place. No one could take that from him.

His hands moved to try to grasp Vincent's own metal one within them and attempt to give it a vicious twist. Whether or not he was successful in this depended on Vincent himself. Sephiroth's mind coldly took in Tifa's movement as she rose and came over the back of the couch. Striking a female wasn't beneath him, especially not a human one. If she moved into his path, she would meet the same fate. A scuffle hadn't been in his plans for the day, but so was life.

And to think shortly before he had been lecturing Kadaj on holding one's temper. Pity someone hadn't given this man the same.

Maybe it was something in the water. Maybe it was the excitement of the nice Head Doctor making his little speech. Maybe it was just time for a field trip. Whatever it was, the patients were getting into more fights today than ever before.

Already, another scuffle was starting. A large, muscular female nurse bustled over immediately, before things got too out of hand.

"And just what's going on here?" she demanded, her face stern and none-too-happy.

Antagonizing the people that could throw him out of commission even further was the last thing Vincent wanted to do.

He turned coldly to the nurse, gripping Sephiroth's arm back before he could twist his own further.

"This man needs to leave," Vincent growled. "He's causing a disturbance."

Tifa was almost thankful when the nurse arrived. Her hand still on Vincent, she turned to the nurse, nodding. "You can see he's upsetting us. If you'll ask him to leave, I'm sure there won't be any problem."

She no longer cared why Sephiroth had come over or what he had to say. Even if he had any information, there was no way he'd tell her.

Sephiroth's grip tightened slightly, meeting Vincent's increase although he did stop attempting to twist it. There was a certain amount of amusement and curiosity in the idea if he could merely twist it off, but now did not appear to be the time to test that theory. While he cared nothing for these nurses and their demands, he did care about passing whatever test he was being put through.

Losing was not an option.

His fingers uncurled from Vincent's metallic arm, putting himself in an odd position of letting the enemy keep his grip for the time being. Sephiroth wasn't anywhere near his usual strength, but he was slightly above that of a human man. Whatever twisted logic that ran Landel's might have thought that would keep him alive a little longer with his legion of enemies. One on one, he stood a fair chance of winning. Against a group might be another story.

"I found out what I needed to," Sephiroth said, that unblinking gaze on Vincent's own eyes. "If he will release me, I will be happy to move on."

"Alright, Mr. Rogers. Come along now, I'd hate to have you mark you down as a trouble maker." The nurse's lips were set in a firm line as she gently took Mr. Rogers's arm and began to steer him away from the other two patients.

"And I'm sure Mr. Shepard will let go of you now."

It was clear from the nurse's tone that it wasn't a suggestion or a request.

Sephiroth had found out absolutely nothing that would help him here, and he wasn't the type to ask. Vincent hoped the nurses would rip him apart.

Practically throwing the man's arm aside, he nodded sharply to the nurse and didn't take his eyes off their retreating forms until they were safely away. Powers limited or not, he would not turn his back to Sephiroth.

Tifa waited until the nurse and Sephiroth were far enough out of range to turn back to her friend. "You should be careful..." she said slowly, looking down at his injuries. "Thanks, though."

She certainly didn't want to seem ungrateful for his help, as much as she was worried. Then her thoughts turned back to what he'd written on the bulletin. "You said you needed to talk to me?"

For the briefest of moments, Sephiroth's natural distaste at being touched by a lowly human flared and he was hard put not to strike out. That would be a failure though, and that was not allowed. Let Kadaj be the one to shout at the storm and be held up to ridicule. He would not. It was bad enough that part of himself was doing that.

For that reason alone he didn't try to dislodge the woman. He went easily enough, shutting the woman out of his sphere of consciousness until she would release him. Ignoring outside distractions was something he was very good at.

Meanwhile, his mind ran through what he had discovered, turning that information over as a man would a gemstone, searching for flaws or better facets.

Finally, as he left earshot, Vincent turned back to Tifa. The anger on his face had completely vanished, replaced by weariness and anguish as he readied himself for what had to be said.

"You might want to sit down," he said almost absently, not waiting for her to bother. Vincent looked her straight in the eye. "Four nights ago I killed Cloud."

There was a ringing in her ears. No. She could not have heard that right. There was a mistake, that was all. Vincent was their ally, their friend. He wouldn't kill Cloud. No.

Her knees suddenly felt weak, but she stubbornly refused to sit. Tifa almost felt the urge to ask him if he was sure, but there was no way Vincent would tell her that if he wasn't.

"W- why?" was all that managed to escape her lips. She was searching for something, anything. There had to be a reason.

This time he did look away. She was devastated, and it was his fault. "I think they were controlling me. It's called Special Counselling, they bring in patients and---"

It didn't matter. Regardless, he was dead. He had come back, if that hadn't just been his imagination or some other trick in this stupid place, but now he was gone again.

Vincent half-shrugged, not knowing what else to say. "I transformed with the chainsaw."

It was probably ridiculous, but now Tifa was starting to feel bad that Vincent was feeling bad. She took his advice and sat down on the couch, listening to his explanation, but her eyes were somewhere on the floor.

Controlling him?

Then that was it - it wasn't Vincent's fault. She knew there was a reason! Her eyes flickered back up to him, wanting him to elaborate. "Special Counseling?"

She tried to push back the thought of what Vincent probably did to Cloud with the chainsaw. She'd seen that transformation before and...

She swallowed, waiting for him to go on.

Vincent sat with her, his leg beginning to throb painfully from the bites. Talking about this wasn't something he'd planned on doing after Cid's reaction, but she needed to know not only about Cloud but what this place did to people.

"A few other people had it happen to them as well. It's why Barret is in that wheelchair." Torn to shreds by a little girl. "Every few nights a few patients are under this place's control, and I don't think it's preventeable..."

He drew one leg up on the couch, resting his head broodily in his arms. "But everyone else was ordered not to kill."

Her heart tightened as she thought of Barret. Another patient was forced to do that? What if she was next? Tifa's eyes drew to the floor again. Would she attack her friends without hesitation?

Her eyes turned back to him, full of sympathy as he made his last statement. Her hands were on the edge of the couch, tightening a bit as she debated whether or not to give him a reassuring touch.

"Vincent...but even still, it wasn't your fault. Please don't blame yourself."

I don't blame you.

She hoped he'd understand.

Vincent just shrugged halfheartedly. "I don't blame myself," he sort-of lied, "but I'm not innocent of it."

He caught the underlying message though, and at the very least the guilt of making her so upset faded. "He came back, I think," he said after a moment, wanting to ease away from the discussion of his own faults. "A few other people saw him, but he's disappeared. I know this place can bring back the dead, but..."

There was really no way to verbalize anything he was thinking right now.

Tifa didn't entirely believe that he didn't blame himself, but left it at that for the moment.

The idea of Cloud coming back gave her some hope, even if he had disappeared. Then again, maybe he was back home? She certainly didn't want him stuck in a place like this, but there was no guarantee wherever he was right now was any better.

Like Vincent, she had trouble putting these thoughts into words.

"Let's just do our best. We'll find a way out of here. If Cloud comes back again we'll take him with us. If not...then, I'll keep looking for him."

Tifa knew she couldn't just drop everything to look for him the way things stood now, but after this was over she resolved to. If the others wanted to come along, that was fine with her too. Family should stick together, after all.

Vincent sighed tiredly, leaning back against the corner of the sofa. He was taking tonight off. He was no help to anyone with his hand, and a full week of sleepless nights (despite the inexplicable rest he knew was somehow getting) was taking its toll.

"I don't know if escaping the grounds will get us out of here," he said moodily. This place seemed completely isolated, out of their-space time given what little he'd managed to catch over the week. Cid tried to explain it that second night, but they'd been distracted. "If you want to try, though, I think I have a key."

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