Welcome to my nightmare

[imjustaman]

The video feed switches on to a very handsome man with knee-length silver hair, black leather clothes, and the weight of the world in his green eyes. He looks and sounds devastated as he speaks.

"This is all my fault," he says, his voice deep and rich. "I wanted a power that would help me regain my sanity. I never expected anything like this to happen. When I found what I wanted and it activated, it had the side effect of tearing holes in the space-time continuum and bringing all of you here. I will do everything I can to fix this and send all of you home, but I don't know how long it will take. I am so sorry. Be as angry with me as you want. I deserve it."

He reaches to switch off the video.

Comments

[maternalheart]

[She still hasn't fully forgiven him for killing her father or hurting her but she's trying to be civil.] You should be aware that you might not be able to send them home. We've already tried everything possible, it's best not to make promises at the moment until you have a for sure solution.

[imjustaman]

[Sephiroth never will forgive himself. For anything.]

There must be some way to fix it. But you are correct, I may not be able to do it myself.

[maternalheart]

[She still gets scared when she sees his face, which is to be expected. She still also feels some underlining hatred. She doubts it'll stick around forever.]

I hope there is some way to fix it. But just because you had the orb, doesn't mean it can be you. I hear the other Sephiroth can open portals. So maybe he can fix it.

[imjustaman]

[He tries to stay away, not wanting to cause any more pain. He hasn't told anyone where he's staying. But he does wonder how Tifa handles the other one being around.]

Have you asked him?

[He feels it should be him, not the other him. He did this, so he should fix it. But if he just can't, well, that's to be expected, isn't it? He can never do anything right.]

[fairtide]

Even though you kinda went crazy not too long ago in my timeline, I'm not as mad at you as I should be.

Hi, Sephiroth, long time no talk.

[imjustaman]

[Sephiroth stares at Zack.]

Zack ... ?

[A Zack, but ... is it his Zack?]

... Your ... timeline? I brought you from the past? Or another dimension?

[fairtide]

Pretty sure I'm from your timeline. I came back to life when you opened the portals. So yes, you brought me from the past. [He laughs.]

[maternalheart]

[Tifa handles it just fine to be fair, she still gets icked every once in awhile when before she realizes he's not their Sephiroth.]

Not yet, but I will.

[imjustaman]

Zack ... it's so good to see you again. I thought I never would.

[At least he'd done something right amid all the chaos.]

... Is it because I inadvertently brought you back that you're not as angry with me?

[It's hard for him to picture it could be anything else.]

[imjustaman]

Hopefully he will have some answers.

... How is Cloud?

[maternalheart]

I hope he does too.

[She's surprised by this question.] ...He's doing well. I haven't seen him for a few days though.

[imjustaman]

[Sephiroth will likely never tell that caring about Cloud was a large part of why he went seeking that orb.]

He's trying to help people who ended up here?

[He hopes Cloud didn't leave brooding again.]

[fairtide]

I didn't think I'd ever see you again either, dude.

[He's just happy to be alive. He was almost gunned down.]

Possibly? Well, not exactly. It's because I knew something was seriously wrong with your brain back then. I was angry for a long time but I got over it.

[imjustaman]

Yes ... there was so much wrong with me. I ... wanted to finally fix it. I didn't mean to cause so much more chaos. But ... I'm glad not everything I caused was negative.

[Is Aerith alright now too, he has to wonder. He hopes so.]

[fairtide]

Yeah? I guess it hasn't been all bad then huh? [He's not aware of the extent, but Tifa filled him in that Sephiroth killed Aerith while under the 'influence'. He had been upset at first, but a shot of whiskey and some resolve pulled him through.]

Hey, maybe this was meant to happen. Who knows what was going on in their world, or if they would have been happy staying there.

[maternalheart]

To the best of his abilities. He'll be okay, I promise. [Tifa has good intuition, she can tell he cares for Cloud, but she doesn't understand to what extent.]

[imjustaman]

I know he will be. He does well with helping others. That seems to make him come alive the most.

[imjustaman]

It has been ... almost entirely bad until now.

[He gives a ghost of a smile at Zack trying to cheer him up.]

I doubt they wanted to be pulled into a new world they don't understand, especially if their loved ones didn't come with them.

[fairtide]

It doesn't have to be, Seph.

[Zack smiles back, wondering the full extent of the journey everyone's been through since his death.]

You make a valid point but man, think of the adventure. It's gotta be loads of fun being somewhere that's new and exciting, dude.

[halo]

I'm not judging you. So you don't have to worry about me. [She pauses, looking thoughtful, then continues.] How did you get all those wings? I'm pretty sure you're the one with six or seven wings.

[imjustaman]

I wouldn't blame you if you did.

[He raises an eyebrow at the question.]

Yes, I have seven wings in total. I was ... experimented on when I obtained the first one. The others ... it's complicated, but I created them later.

[imjustaman]

Perhaps it will be better now.

[At least in some ways.

He chuckles a bit.]

You still have that way of seeing the positive side of things.

[halo]

It's okay. I've been in much worse situation. Long as I'm not about to be shot into space for eternity, I'll live.

[She gives a lopsided smile.] How did you create them?

[fairtide]

Let's hope! No use getting stuck in the past, it's only up from here.

[He grins.] Yeah, can't help it even though I've been dead. Even as I lay dying, I remember being aware of my dying. I was positive then too.

[imjustaman]

[Sephiroth would like to believe that. Zack being here, alive and well, and actually still caring about him ... it seems almost unreal.

He hates to think of Zack dying.]

What could you possibly find positive about that?