Second Night [Voice, Action]

[cowledcrusader]

[...Too much time had passed.  Investigations had run their course.  Confident in his ability to discern the accuracy of all the accounts and evidence, it was time.  Four murders, all with the same modus operandi.  Two suspects, named, and clearly psychotic and careless.  Kadaj and Yazoo, the Remnants of Sephiroth… like wild dogs demanding attention, they took their frustrations out upon the villagers, killing four innocents.

 

The Dark Knight has decided that it’s time to put these dogs down.  Carefully drawing up the most powerful filters he can, he prepares to call for several meetings with various individuals of interest.  Both in the case of Yazoo and Kadaj, as well as others…]

 

[Filtered 100% to John Stewart and Clark Kent]

 

…It’s time we met.  House 46, three hours.  It’s important.  Do not be late.

 

[Filtered 100% to Winry Rockbell]

 

Miss Winry, I have a project I’d like you to work on.  If you have decided you are willing.

 

[Filtered 100% to Terra Branford]

 

Terra, we need to talk.  You, and you alone, have vital information needed to protect the village.  I have several questions that I would like you to answer.

 

[Filtered 100% from Kadaj, Yazoo, Kefka, Yuber, Aku, Nu, Dilandau, Sephiroth, Blackbeard, Jin Kisaragi, Mercury, and other known villains.]

 

To the individual who gave an associate of mine a note concerning a certain individual’s gifting habits?  I’d like to speak with you.   [That means you, Erim.]

Comments

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[cowledcrusader.livejournal.com]

A place of your choosing. Though someplace private.

...I don't like crowds.

[That's his idea of trying to ease the tension slightly. It's not a very good one.]

[Filtered]

[esper-flight.livejournal.com]

I don't, either.

[Hm, can't exactly bring him home....]

There's a clearing just north of the town's center. I often use it to train.

[Filtered]

[cowledcrusader.livejournal.com]

I'll meet you there. Come armed as a precaution.

[Filtered/Action]

[esper-flight.livejournal.com]

I always am.

[Telports there promptly and waits.]

[Action, sorry for the fail in tagging. D:]

[cowledcrusader.livejournal.com]

[And Batman will show up eventually. He'll show up unceremoniously out of the shadows, but come out enough into the open that Terra should be able to see him just fine.]

I'm sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances.

[Action, and no problem!]

[esper-flight.livejournal.com]

[Terra takes a moment to peer at him, but after a moment, decides that he doesn't seem any more or less intimidating than Shadow. She's used to allies that cover part of their faces.]

So am I, though I understand the need to know about Kefka. He's not my favorite subject, I'll gladly share information if it helps defeat him.

[She tilts her head.]

How much do you know? So I don't have to repeat what you do....

[Action]

[cowledcrusader.livejournal.com]

Quite a bit. Subtlety isn't one of his strong points. ...And he's not a very good liar for being someone who likes to manipulate people.

He's a magician with exceptional skill and power. Despite his attempts to appear otherwise, to say he was mentally unstable would be an understatement. He said he was artificially infused with the power of magic, a process which he developed and claimed left him pallor. I think it's a source of his insanity. Not the only one, however. He claims to have known you and taken care of you over the years. I find it unlikely, given his... previous actions, in Luceti.

He's made no attempts to hide his interest in you. I believe you may hold a key to his defeat.

...Otherwise, I know little of his true history back in your dimension. And I do not know how his magic works, its source, or how it can be stopped. You are the only one who can know all of these answers.

[Action]

[esper-flight.livejournal.com]

[There's obvious discomfort though not surprise as he mentions Kefka's interest in her. She fidgets, though nods.]

Let me clarify a few things. It's a long story, so I'll try to be as brief as I can. Kefka was a high-ranking member of the Gestahlian Empire, a rapidly expanding one that sought to conquer the world. To this end, they sought more sources of power and ended up discovering beings of magic, called Espers. The Espers had sealed themselves away in another realm after a cataclysmic war, but somehow, Emperor Gestahl breached it and stole away some of the Espers.

Thanks to his scientists, he found a way to drain their power and infuse it into a human. Kefka...he was the first experiment; he did not develop the process, that was the deed of Cid Del Norte Marquez. At first, it worked really well, giving him the power they sought, but the process was imperfect and it eroded his mind. He lost his position as General and was demoted to Court Mage--still important to the Emperor, though, and given an outlet for his increasingly inhuman behavior.

[She pauses to let that sink in, tension rising a little as she knows what she would have to explain next. Her previous words had a slight sense of detachment to them, since she hadn't borne witness to the facts told. However, this next part included her memories and it would be harder to speak impartially.]

As for my part in his past, he lied again. I was in his custody, but...I wouldn't call anything he did to be considered 'taking care of me'. The Emperor gave me to him for us as...a guinea pig, and a living weapon. When they wanted greater control over me, he built a device to control my mind. He controlled me completely with it for a time, using me to further his own bloodlost. Its power was such that upon removal, I had no memories at first. Even now, there's a lot I don't remember.

[Action]

[cowledcrusader.livejournal.com]

[...Good lord. This was worse than he feared. It's bad enough that he reminded him of the Joker, let alone the Mad Hatter on top of it. Terra might notice Batman's eyes widen at the story. ...And when he saw her turn into that purple creature shortly after his arrival? Was that a side effect of the infusion as well? He's not hiding the disgust in his voice though.]

...So the Gestahlian Empire used living, sentient beings as a method to gain magical power? And that's the source of his actual power?!

[He pauses for a moment, allowing emotion to slowly ebb from his face. Though the stoic facade is not quite back to what it once was.]

And I take it you were given that infusion when Kefka used you as a pawn?

[Action]

[esper-flight.livejournal.com]

[And then Terra realizes the corner she's painted herself into. It would be easy to lie, to say that was what happened. Then again, perhaps he might sense it or learn otherwise and refrain from trusting her word further. Omitting certain facts seemed to be the best way to protect herself, but if she starts fabricating the truth, then where does it stop? And how would she then get people to believe her over Kefka?

Her shoulders sag and she shakes her head.]

No. I had never been infused.

[And that right there probably says more than she realizes, not having known he had been watching her that one night.]

...I should continue. There's more to his deeds than brushes with magitek. In the more recent past, he destroyed an entire kingdom by poisoning their water supply. The Empire would have 'merely' lain siege to it, but the general in charge was called away, only to be replaced by Kefka and his inhumane tactics.

Somehow, Kefka had learned that the gaining spells from magicite, the crystallized remains of a dead Esper, was a far more efficient path than infusion. He collaborated with the Emperor in a ruse, making supposed overtures of peace to the Espers, only to lure them out of hiding and kill them, absorbing their powers. When General Leo protested, Kefka tricked him through use of his illusions and killed him.

[She tries to force away that pained expression, returning to that calmer demeanor. The memory of Leo's death will probably always hurt, but sharing more than the bare facts is too personal.]

And...that's not even the worst he's done.

[Action]

[cowledcrusader.livejournal.com]

[Never been infused. That meant her powers were natural and innate. ...Was she one of those Espers herself? The possibility danced in Batman's head, but that wasn't what was really important right now. And even that were the case, ultimately it meant very little in stopping Kefka.

But these stories... if they were true, they painted a picture as grim as he might've feared. This just kept getting worse. Poisoning a kingdom, then performing a military action like that?]

What was the worst?

[He had a bad feeling about it. But he had to know. To learn what he was capable of absolutely. Countering the magic is the next step.]

[Action]

[esper-flight.livejournal.com]

Kefka eventually turned against even the Emperor and killed him, during that time also moving the statues preserving the balance of our world out of alignment, destroying that balance and provoking a world-wide catastrophe. Thanks to this, the world's topography drastically changed and many lives were ended. He absorbed the statues' power, becoming akin to a god himself.

[She bites her lip and looks down.]

I don't know much about after that point, because I'm from a point in time when that just happened. My friends said we defeated him, but we must have had far more powerful magic at our disposal for that, magic that I don't personally know or can gain, here.