Zion Strife
Determined Individual
FFT Veteran
Posts: 188
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Post by Zion Strife on Feb 21, 2008 0:54:45 GMT -5
((Sorry for taking so long. Been working my butt off for that past little bit with university))
Nothing happens right away. Just as Zion moves forward to see if there's a button he has to push, the machine springs to life. It hums faintly as Zion moves back towards it again. He reaches out towards the glass with one hand to move it and it slides open on it's own. He puts the crystal inside the the small area and closes the glass door. As soon as he moves his hand away, the machine begins to work. A green laser grid begins moving from the top of the scanning area to the bottom. Zion watches as it works. Just as the grid begins to pass over the crystal, it begins to glow furiously. A split second later, Zion grabs his head as a piercing noise sounds in his head. This intense, unwavering tone continues to sound out in his head despite his attempts to silence it. The room begins to spin and blur out. Zion becomes conscious of the fact he's on his knees a second before he blacks out and collapses. The crystal's glow fades as the scanner stops. The output of the scan is completely useless. Lucia would see a very garbled reading, as if something was blocking the scan.
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Lucia Valentine
Experienced Novice
Rest... awakening... life's cycle refuses to cooperate with me lately.
Posts: 100
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Post by Lucia Valentine on Feb 21, 2008 1:53:44 GMT -5
:: Lucia sighs disappointedly. ::
"Nothing. At least, nothing I can make sense of."
:: All is silent for a moment. Lucia frowns, twisting around to look in Zion's direction. ::
"Zion?"
:: She slowly gets to her feet, walking towards where Zion went. As soon as she sees him on the floor, she rushes to his side. ::
"Zion!"
:: She instinctively checks for a pulse, despite her senses telling her that he's probably alive. It still helps that she's able to tangibly confirm it, and she relaxes somewhat. ::
I really should know you don't die that easily. Can't help but worry, though...
:: She looks up at the crystal, still in the scanner. Her eyes show the rage that the rest of her expression attempts to hide. They even seem to be glowing faintly. ::
What the hell do you think you're doing to my Zion?!
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Zion Strife
Determined Individual
FFT Veteran
Posts: 188
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Post by Zion Strife on Feb 21, 2008 16:18:23 GMT -5
Zion is, indeed, alive. Within his mind, he can faintly hear Lucia but another voice dominates his conscious; a voice he's heard before.
Bold of you, Strife. Very Bold. Be careful of what you try. Always remember, I call the shots in this body now. Interfering with that might end badly for you ... or your friend.
The crystal, itself, stays dormant in the scanner. It shows no outward signs of activity. Zion begins to come to on the ground. He feels weakened but feels his strength returning at a fairly fast rate. He makes a quiet but audible noise as he attempt to roll himself over.
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Lucia Valentine
Experienced Novice
Rest... awakening... life's cycle refuses to cooperate with me lately.
Posts: 100
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Post by Lucia Valentine on Mar 2, 2008 15:58:40 GMT -5
:: Lucia turns her full attention to Zion again, offering to help him up. Her smile holds a hint of relief to it. ::
"You almost had me worried. That's not easy to do these days..."
:: Her eyes shift in the direction of the crystal. ::
"I didn't get anything useful from the scan, but its reaction hints at some kind of will. Do you remember what happened to you?"
:: She gives Zion a moment, in case he needs to take some time to fully register what she's saying. ::
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Zion Strife
Determined Individual
FFT Veteran
Posts: 188
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Post by Zion Strife on Mar 14, 2008 9:58:52 GMT -5
After a few attempts, Zion manages to roll himself over and sit up. The effects of whatever the crystal did to him were wearing off for the most part. It still took him a few seconds to register what Lucia had said and form a response.
"It... it was a piercing noise. It seemed to be outside the normal boundaries of sound. It seemed to overwhelm my mind briefly, like..."
Zion stops; suddenly remembering from long ago something he once asked his father. Remembering, also, the response, he continues.
"... like what my father said the noise he heard when he saw Jenova in the ShinRa building back in midgar was like."
He stared over at the device containing the crystal. He could feel like it was a warning against something. Though he could not remember the words spoken to him while he was unconscious, he felt uneasy about the whole thing. He stood up slowly, his strength restored and regained a measure of his previous composure.
"I think we can work under the assumption that it has some sort of will of it's own from this. The question, now, becomes..."
He looked from the crystal back to Lucia.
"... how do we work against it without it interfering."
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Lucia Valentine
Experienced Novice
Rest... awakening... life's cycle refuses to cooperate with me lately.
Posts: 100
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Post by Lucia Valentine on Mar 18, 2008 14:53:26 GMT -5
:: Lucia frowns, hesitating a bit. Science wasn't what she was most experienced at, despite her curiosity in the field. ::
"I... I'd need more information. But if it's going to keep doing this every time we try..."
:: Suddenly, what Zion had said about his father registers. The possible connection with Jenova, especially. ::
"Wait, what did you say about the noise?"
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Zion Strife
Determined Individual
FFT Veteran
Posts: 188
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Post by Zion Strife on Mar 28, 2008 9:03:40 GMT -5
((once again, sorry for the long wait. I am still around, just bogged down in work and life stuff))
Zion had considered the connection himself. The pieces did fall into place rather nicely. Maybe it was.... Remembering that Lucia had asked a question drew him from his musings.
"It sounded like what Cloud told me Jenova sounded like in Midgar. I can't be sure, i've never actually heard it before but the description matches."
Zion stared at the necklace absently while he thought about the recent events. He tried to focus but he was too tired. It had been a long journey and a long day. He figured sleep might bring some answers. At the very least, it would give him a fresh head to work with.
"Perhaps the morning will bring answers. It has been a long trip and a long day. I think rest would be a good course, for me at least. I'm sure you've rested enough for two lifetimes."
He smiled with the last sentence, attempting to bring some levity to this situation. Staring at the crystal, he thought of something else.
"It would also be a good test. I'll leave the crystal here and see if it tries to rejoin with me while i rest."
He stared at the thing for a second longer then shifted his gaze to Lucia.
"Do you have a room here i could use? I believe i would get funny questions at the Inn i'd like to avoid."
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Lucia Valentine
Experienced Novice
Rest... awakening... life's cycle refuses to cooperate with me lately.
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Post by Lucia Valentine on Mar 28, 2008 16:23:58 GMT -5
((Yeah, lots of things going on in my life, too. My quick replies are pure coincidence, trust me.))
"Two lifetimes... at least."
:: Lucia isn't only talking about her long rest, either. Hearing Zion say it that way, she can't help but think about her various deaths and... changes. She tries not to think about it too much, though she does sound a bit distracted as she responds to Zion's suggestion. ::
"It does make sense to test its method of return..."
:: Her full attention is only brought back to the moment once Zion asks about a room. She can't help but smile at her first thought. ::
"Well, you know where I sleep. None of the bedrooms here are occupied."
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Zion Strife
Determined Individual
FFT Veteran
Posts: 188
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Post by Zion Strife on Apr 7, 2008 20:34:07 GMT -5
Zion smiled as well. It would be nice to have a bed for the first time in a long time. He liked the outdoors and living in the wild but he had never forgot the comforts of civilization.
"I think I will head in for the night, then."
He put his hand on her shoulder as he moved past her.
"Thank you for helping me after I disappeared for so long. I meant to come back sooner."
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Lucia Valentine
Experienced Novice
Rest... awakening... life's cycle refuses to cooperate with me lately.
Posts: 100
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Post by Lucia Valentine on Apr 8, 2008 13:53:48 GMT -5
:: Lucia tries to keep her smile, even as she remembers how lonely her existence had become since losing not just Zion, but almost all of her friends. Of course, they had lost her first. ::
"Yeah..."
:: As he moves further away, Lucia's voice drops to a low whisper. ::
"... so did I."
:: Trying not to dwell on the past quite so much, Lucia turns her attention to her mother's lab equipment. Zion's rest would give her time to figure some more of it out, while she observed the crystal he had left behind. ::
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Zion Strife
Determined Individual
FFT Veteran
Posts: 188
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Post by Zion Strife on Jun 11, 2008 20:05:22 GMT -5
As Zion made his way up to the main area of the mansion and the bedrooms, he thought about the warning he had been given. Part of him didn't want to involve Lucia but he knew there was no other way. Entering the first bedroom he found, Zion removed his weapons and fell back on the bed. His last thought was of seeing Lucia again. He fell into sleep with a smile on his face.
Back in the lab, the crystal faintly hummed and a dull glow came over it.
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Lucia Valentine
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Rest... awakening... life's cycle refuses to cooperate with me lately.
Posts: 100
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Post by Lucia Valentine on Jun 12, 2008 9:35:05 GMT -5
((OOC: Dirge of Cerberus references galore! Yes, I quoted it from memory. Shut up. )) :: Lucia continues to work on the computer system, trying to figure more of it out. Eventually, she stumbles across a file citing a familiar name. :: Soul wrought of terra corrupt... quelling impurity, purging the stream... to beckon forth an ultimate fate. Behold mightly Chaos, Omega's squire to the lofty heavens."... Chaos?" :: She continues reading Dr. Lucrecia Crescent's thesis for some time, eventually coming to a surprising conclusion. :: "Chaos and Omega... both sentient xenoforms residing within the Lifestream. Vincent Valentine... Father... died years ago. Mother used Chaos..." :: None of it makes sense to Lucia. She technically does not come from this reality. Vincent was only aware of her because of his unique perspective, and Lucrecia because she had returned to the planet for some time. In her old life... so long ago... she never could have been a host for Chaos. And she never inherited it from her father. :: ' But I wasn't the host for Chaos... not until...' :: Lucia suddenly realizes how it happened. She died. When she came back, she was free of Jenova's cells... but what if Jenova-infested Lifestream was a different phenomenon? If enough of it concentrated into her resurrected body... according to her mother's thesis... :: ' Is that... why Father had to go? Is he...?' :: Lucia's thoughts are interrupted when she catches a glimpse of the glowing crystal out of the corner of her eye. Moving quickly, she attempts to find something that would be able to determine what kind of activity is within the crystal without interfering enough to cause a similar reaction to the last time. Erring on the side of caution, she settles for a low-sensitivity probe, set a few feet away from the crystal. The computer should be able to detect the kind of energy it is giving off, with time. ::
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Zion Strife
Determined Individual
FFT Veteran
Posts: 188
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Post by Zion Strife on Jun 12, 2008 13:08:13 GMT -5
(( I remember that line. I actually tried playing DoC recently. The controls were alot more clunky than i remember)) The Crystal continues to hum quietly, apparently unaware of Lucia's movements. As the reading becomes more complete, the crystal ramps up it's activity. When the computer completes it's analysis, the crystal emits a quick flash of light and falls silent. The reading shows that the energy from the crystal is similar to that of energy from the planet, such as Lifestream energy. Something to that effect would be the readout from the scan.
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Lucia Valentine
Experienced Novice
Rest... awakening... life's cycle refuses to cooperate with me lately.
Posts: 100
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Post by Lucia Valentine on Jun 19, 2008 11:34:09 GMT -5
:: Lucia watches both the crystal and computer readouts carefully. Not knowing the true nature of the crystal's connection to Zion, she wants to be able to intervene if anything goes wrong. The only reaction it seems to have to the probe, though, is a quick flash of light. Then, nothing. ::
:: Lucia turns her attention to the computer. ::
"Well, that's something. It's reading is similar to the energy of the Lifestream. But if that's true..."
:: The reading is both good and bad news. On one side, planetary energy was one of Dr. Crescent's primary fields of research. But on the other, the crystal could have forged a connection to Zion's own energy. Which would probably not be easy to break. ::
'Still, I can't give up yet. Zion wouldn't give up if it was me.'
:: Hoping to learn more about the crystal, indirectly, Lucia begins searching for more of her mother's research files on the nature of the Lifestream. ::
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Zion Strife
Determined Individual
FFT Veteran
Posts: 188
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Post by Zion Strife on Jun 19, 2008 23:44:50 GMT -5
The crystal stays silent and dim while Lucia works, all previous activity ceased.
Meanwhile, Zion tosses and turns in his sleep. At about the same the crystal flashed, his eyes snap open. They are not the same as Zion's normal eyes, though. They are completely filled with a shade of dark red. He jumps up and grabs his weapons as he slowly makes his way out the door. Slowly and purposefully he makes his way down the stairs to the lab. As he approaches the door, his steps slow to move more quietly. He opens the door and slowly begins to creep toward Lucia, sword drawn.
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Lucia Valentine
Experienced Novice
Rest... awakening... life's cycle refuses to cooperate with me lately.
Posts: 100
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Post by Lucia Valentine on Jun 25, 2008 14:37:41 GMT -5
:: While Lucia continues working, she senses Zion's presence behind her. ::
"I thought you were resting...?"
:: When she turns, the first thing she sees is his sword. Reacting instinctively, Lucia leaps out of the chair and hovers backwards a few yards, drawing her own sword in the process. ::
"Zion?"
:: She stands ready for him to attack, all the while hoping he'll snap out of whatever is happening to him. ::
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Zion Strife
Determined Individual
FFT Veteran
Posts: 188
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Post by Zion Strife on Jun 25, 2008 21:41:06 GMT -5
Zion's only reply comes in the form of a lunging swipe of his sword after closing the distance between him and Lucia using his shadows. Wielding his two handed sword in one hand as easily as a short sword, he reverses the direction and swipes across again. He reverses and swipes back again, this time the pommel leads a strike aiming for Lucia's head. As the sword swings back around comes to rest at his right side, shadows gather in his left head and solidify. They form into a smaller slender blade which Zion thrusts forward at Lucia. After he retracts his finished thrust, he steps back and crosses his blades in front of him. He allows shadow energy to gather at the point where they cross. Once the energy reaches a point that suits him, Zion releases it in the form of a beam of shadow energy at Lucia. After this attack flurry, he stays pulled back from Lucia a bit and keeps both his blades ready.
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Lucia Valentine
Experienced Novice
Rest... awakening... life's cycle refuses to cooperate with me lately.
Posts: 100
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Post by Lucia Valentine on Jun 26, 2008 17:07:21 GMT -5
:: Lucia takes a step back, barely dodging the first attack. ::
'Is the crystal doing this?!'
"Zion!"
:: He doesn't seem to respond, so Lucia concentrates on avoiding damage. Drawing her sword, she deflects the second sword strike and ducks under the third. Zion's shadow energy, however, catches her by surprise. Though she takes the hit, it doesn't damage anything vital. Sensing the coming buildup of shadow energy, Lucia frantically raises her sword and transforms it into Lightbringer form. The fierce holy energy of the sword protects her from the bulk of Zion's shadow-energy attack, allowing Lucia the freedom of movement to draw her gun and fire. ::
:: The shot intentionally misses, but hopefully distracts whatever is controlling Zion enough for her to disable him with a holy-charged slash at his legs. ::
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Zion Strife
Determined Individual
FFT Veteran
Posts: 188
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Post by Zion Strife on Jun 28, 2008 21:56:43 GMT -5
The shot does nothing to diminish the possessor's focus but seeing Lucia take one of the hits strikes a chord in Zion's conscious. The sight allows him to redouble his willpower and rest control back for a split second. The small hesitation in Zion's movement allows the holy strike to clip him. Zion lands awkwardly forcing him to return to a defensive crouch for the time being. Zion, trying to wrest control back, noticed something in that second. He could move the leg that was hit. He lost control quickly but experience showed him something. He, then, focused his willpower. With a surge of will, Zion took back control.
"Lu..ci...a..."
His body twitched as the possessor fought for control.
"Holy... is.. t..he.. key! Dis... dis... able... the...crystal!!"
He struggled through most of the line but forced the last word out in a moment of clarity. At that moment, the possessor overpowered Zion and his body lunged at Lucia with a swiping strike.
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Lucia Valentine
Experienced Novice
Rest... awakening... life's cycle refuses to cooperate with me lately.
Posts: 100
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Post by Lucia Valentine on Jul 14, 2008 9:17:14 GMT -5
:: Zion's sudden lunge is fortunately somewhat clumsy. Lucia manages to dodge all but a slight graze, which only tore a small hole in her skirt. Her grip tightens on the hilt of her sword, and the blade glows even fiercer than before. ::
'I hope this works, Zion.'
:: Trying to move faster than Zion can reach her, Lucia aims a strike for the crystal. ::
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