The Red... (Shelke, closed)

[darkphoenix]

Like fire, it felt, a burning sensation in the legs and arms. Like molten lava burning through the skin. Hot lead poured down the throat to infect the body. It was pain, and pain that was pushed down so hard, it hurt. The amount that was ignored would cause any normal human to go into shock, but he was no normal human. He had been 'modified' to be above human, he was a being who had no comparison, and he made d**n sure it staid that way.

Many would look at him, and they would see strength, see passion, see something that should be feared. Many followed for these reason, and many bowed because he was the strongest of them. He was able to take on two of his most powerful generals single-handedly. He was the closet thing to a god to them, he was their Emperor. But he was imperfect, and he knew it, he never showed it, but he knew it. But this fed him, made him strong, he knew he could always improve himself. If that fool Hojo had not taken over his body, he would be... No matter, not now anyways, it was done and over with.

He was balanced, carefully, on a rock. One hand holding the rest of his body up. His legs stood straight up, and his other arm was holding Heaven, he was performing complicated maneuvers with it, spinning it around his body, betweens his legs, and around his head, whirling it in his hands as you would do a rag doll. This was easy for him, something to pass the time, to allow him to plan.

He had heard of those foolish Remnant children running off, to other worlds, and that Cloud, a former wanna-be SOLDIER had helped save the Universe, or so many claimed. Helped a young boy do it, though it mattered not. What was important was that right now, was that he felt useless. He felt like he had done nothing to help his people. But not any longer, he would do what any loyal SOLDIER would do, he would claim the worlds, at least this one. He would not allow any more Heartless or Nobodies infest this world, and that would mean killing everyone. It seemed logical enough. With no one alive, then no one could become those useless disgrace of life.

He knew people would object, it was obvious. No one wanted to die, but it would be for their own good. They could join the Lifestream as he saw, they could live on that way. Though from what he understood, the Lifestream had opened. That concerned him, as he saw it, they could bring them back, or perhaps spawn more of the un living. He sneered at such a thought, but it could easily be true. What was one to do? But there was another goal with that all, there was Kingdom Heart that must be opened, that would be opened, it was just a matter of time. The worry was who was the one pulling the strings, he needed it to be him. But their were people in his way, Vincent and his friends, and the Organization XIII, he had heard of them too. However, he would soon gain the rest of his followers. Russo, Azul, and his brother, Nero.

He heard a sound, he jerked his head around. "Oh, come out." He commanded, expected to be obeyed. He was Emperor after all, that must count for something, however, some may take that as only a title.

[shelke]

Shelke had been a short distance away, a short distance but far enough to be out of sight and mind of her leader. She stood with her arms folded as she witnessed the control that he had over both himself and his weapon, it was a terrifiying sight to think that this same man had almost destroyed Chaos. It lead Shelke to wonder what may have happened if he had succeeded, would he have gone forwards to carry out Hojo's plan? Or would Wiess do what he wanted to do? The last one sent a shiver down her spine, the thought of Wiess in control of Midgar and the world, she had no doubt that there would be statues and tyranny, but if it was his wish it was Shelke's job to make sure that it happened.

She had turned to leave when she knocked over something, Shelke didn't look to see what it was, only meerly turned and started to approach Wiess.

"Oh, come out."

Within distance so there was no need for raised voices Shelke stopped, not willing to venture within striking distance out of concern that her Boss would still be a little sore after her betrayal of the Tsviets to join the WRO, "Sorry sir I was just coming to see you...I had an encounter with Valentine and I failed to get the Protomateria..." Shelke said hanging her head in dissapointment with herself, not so much for having to fight Vincent but more to do with that she had failed, a process that she wasn't too happy with and one she didn't wish to repeat.

[darkphoenix]

Weiss sighed when he saw Shelke step out, the woman inside a girls body. It seemed almost ironic, and it sound like a book he had once read, though that was vampires... "Sorry sir I was just coming to see you...I had an encounter with Valentine and I failed to get the Protomateria..." Her soft, monotone voice echoed back to him. She had failed, but then again, he was not surprised. Sending her was merely just a way to test her loyalty, not her strength. It was clear the darkness controlled her, which was good, but he needed better strings to tie her to him. He was already working on that,

Pushing himself up with the hand holding him erect, he shoved himself into the air. He seemed to pause for a second before flipping, almost as though gravity held no bonds on him. Rules were never broken, but sometimes they were bent. He landed on his feet, and had managed to sheath the katana before landing. The corners of his mouth tilted up as he regarded the girl a few feet away from where he was. It seemed she was fearing repercussions, and perhaps rightfully so.

Weiss shook his head. "I should have expected as much. I had hoped Vincent would play to the fact that you were... well you, but either he saw through it..." He looked at her. "Or you were erratic." Of course his phone call during it may not have helped, but that would have only hurt, not have destroyed it. He tapped his chin, what would could force Vincent to surrender it. Of course he could met the man and take it that way. That seemed the most optimal, however, maybe he still could manipulate Vincent.

He sat down on the same stone that he had been training on and brought his in a sweeping motion for the girl to stand in front of himself. His sharp blue eyes were watching everything, and nothing, his smile showing amusement and yet, it was almost mocking. "So then, if Vincent now knows you work for me, this leaves us with a more complex way to get the Proto, yes? So it appears the demon and myself will have to come to blows. But then again, do you know why he didn't kill you? Or take you with him? He seems to have a soft spot for young women in peril." Now his smile really was mocking, young women indeed.

[shelke]

Unflinching as Wiess repositioned himself to standing in a pretty extravigant manor Shelke looked him the the eyes, he didn't look all that angry infact he looked rather pleased with something, he was smiling that mirthless smile of his which never signalled anything good. But yet there was a way in which he stood that showed that he was pleased...Shelke couldn't completey tell what it was.

"I should have expected as much. I had hoped Vincent would play to the fact that you were... well you, but either he saw through it..." He looked at her. "Or you were erratic."

Shelke knew that she would get a great deal of blame for her failiure, there was no escaping that fact that she was to blame, but when Wiess had mentioned that he 'should have expected as much' it made her think; did he expect this outcome? He was of course in control of everything. Did he want to see if Shelke would actually attack Vincent and therefore put herself in a position of distrust with him? Whatever it was she had done it now and there was no going back on it.

"So then, if Vincent now knows you work for me, this leaves us with a more complex way to get the Proto, yes? So it appears the demon and myself will have to come to blows. But then again, do you know why he didn't kill you? Or take you with him? He seems to have a soft spot for young women in peril."

Shelke nodded but that had raised a question; why didn't he kill her? Or take her away? Maybe she wasn't as lost to Vincent as she had previously thought, maybe Wiess was banking on it to use in the future, "It means that we can't get that close to him without a confrontation yes...I-I don't know why he left me, perhaps it wasn't for me but for Lucrecia, he sees me as a close link to her since I have her memories now," Shelke said, trying to find an excuse or answer.

[darkphoenix]

The woman who looked like a child seemed almost caught off guard, which brought a playful, evil, smile to his face. "It means that we can't get that close to him without a confrontation yes...I-I don't know why he left me, perhaps it wasn't for me but for Lucrecia, he sees me as a close link to her since I have her memories now," That was logical, though more likely he thought he could save her still. Though at the moment, Weiss was unsure how he would. She was filled with Darkness, which was applying it's loyalty to him, plus he was really the only one who could supply her with Mako. If one didn't work, blackmail always did.

However, even though he could understand why Vincent did it, the other reason why he left her alive did not say why he did not take her with him. Though of course the man would not think her a lost cause, why would he leave her in Weiss' hands. Perhaps the all powerful Vincent ran into trouble with the same creatures that were pestering him, the Heartless. Damnable creatures. Of course, they were easily manipulated, they were like bugs that kept spawning. Weiss shook his head, though, he needed to focus on the task at hand.

"So then..." He started, his blue eyes looking at Shelke, his sneer gone, replaced by thought and intelligence that suited him. "I must now devise a way to draw him out. I need to control Chaos, and to do that, I need the Protomateria. It seems he will do his best not to kill, because of either who you are, or because of someone elses memory. Hard to say." His arms crossed over his chest, the girl standing no more than to his navel. She really was small and petit, and weak looking. Yet she was deadly with those sabers of hers, which was why she was a Tsviet instead of just normal Deepground. At least, deadly enough that she was still alive after fighting Vincent, or at least escaping with minor wounds.

But there was something else, in that fight, there must be. Like where they had been fighting. "Why was Vincent at the Mansion anyways? Was he hunting Heartless, and was he surprised by your being there? Or did he only seemed surprised?" There was more to this mystery, how he had over looked that was strange, though why had Vincent been there. Would she even know? It seemed unlikely. "And did he mention anyone while you two talked?"

[shelke]

Shelke felt small. Not just in the physical state like normally but in the metaphorical state, Wiess had this skill, this power to make even the best of people feel just so...inadiquete. She stood still wishing that she could be more grown up, maybe then Wiess would have some more respect, maybe everyone would. It was never enough to be a Tsviet, you had to be something more. Nero had darkness, Rosso was feared, Azul was a giant and Wiess was...Immaculate.

Shaking her head to the last part that Wiess mentioned, about weather or not he spoke of anyone else while she was there, "He mentioned some people; Yuffie, Tifa and so on but only to ask if I'd seen them to which I said no," Shelke said strongly, there was one thing that she did well and that was to remember, in fact it was one of her many uses. That was all Shelke was she discovered during the Deepground-WRO war. Useful. She was still worried that her usefulness would run out again and that Wiess would have her killed.

Walking past Wiess and sitting on the object he had been meditating on she looked at him with emotionless eyes. She had been thinking much lately about what she would do after all of this, after Wiess got what he wanted. Would he let her go? Let her go and live with Shaula? No. He wouldn't be so compassionate and merciful.

[darkphoenix]

Weiss nodded at her response. Yuffie, Tifa... Those had been part of the group that had hunted Sephiroth, that is what he had learned. They were part of his 'possie', them, Cloud, Cid, Barret, and Reeve. They had formed that pathetic group WRO, they had disrupted his plan. Maybe he was looking at this all wrong, perhaps he needed leverage. That might mean taking a hostage or two. That Yuffie girl, she had been the weak link if he remembered correctly. Had turned traitor on him, if the Turks Report had been correct. Perhaps that is who Shelke should go after, though... he doubted Yuffie would not have any problems killing her, not that she could of course.

As he studied his thoughts, Shelke moved past him, sitting on the stone he had vacated. She seemed more withdrawn than usual, she looked almost as though thoughts that would end up in betrayel if not handled correctly. But what? Ah, yes. What would annoy in her position think. It was the thing anyone would think of who had been in her position. Usefulness.

He hated speeches, and trying to lift people up. But he couldn't afford to lose anyone. He sat beside her, planting his his arms behind him, he looked up. He was still a head taller than her, and she was a child beside a parent. "I know what you are thinking... Shelke. And it won't happen. That was not me who ordered your death, that was another man, someone who thought of Deepground as a tool." He spit, Deepground was his family. And Hojo and used and treated them like crap. Scum. He hated Hojo for that. "He even had me attempt to kill my own brother, Nero..." Where was he? That was not sadness in his eyes, yet it still seemed like longing. "And forget what Azul said, he is a soldier, a strong soldier, but not a general. He doesn't value information, doesn't know how to treat brains." He gave her a wink.

He sat errect, and patted her leg. "Don't worry about Valentine either, he doesn't know how to get you better. Even if he did, I doubt he would except it. Only with Kingdom Heart can we truly be righted." He nodded, he needed that to be true. For him it meant greater power, but for his generals? For his men? It would mean something else. He would become the Savior, and the Destroyer. Deepground was deeply wounded, on an emotional level, and he would not have that. He was not trying to be kind to the woman, but he was being truthful.

[shelke]

Kingdom Heart. Yes the new facination around these days. Shelke had researched the thing, it was a big gathering of Hearts, using unlocked light and darkness to create a source of unimaginable power, just thinking about it made the darkness inside grow a little more.

"Azul was doing as he was told," Shelke said, speaking lowly of the Tsveit almost, "That is all he does, as he is told to do. Rosso acted too rashly and without calculation, resulting in Chaos and mayhem," Standing up Shelke thought what Azul had done to Shalua, the woman who was her sister, someone who hadn't done anything wrong, "Rosso I can forgive; insantity is a good reason. Azul I won't forgive, his job was to kill me, instead he crippled an already crippled person," Shelke began to clench her fists, feeling angry, her darkness growing as her eyes glowed a deep orange, boardering on red, her voice distorted to one that sounded as her own yet older, "That is something that cannot be forgotten, even if Hojo manipulated you to get him to act. Nero acted on your order as well, at least he had more precision with his target..." Calming down greatly to a docile and normal state Shelke sighed, "How are we to be righted?"

[darkphoenix]

Weiss smiled at the girl standing before him, woman in truth. He believed that body gave her an advantage she was unaware of, people that her mind was as small as her body. It was not the case. "You catch on quick, leave it to you to ask the question everyone else missed. It is perhaps why you are good at diving." His smile spoke of something else, something missed. "But if someone was assisting a target you aimed at, what would you do? Your sister threw you out, and Azul was enraged. What would you expect of a beast? A hungry wolf? Besides, I don't ask you forgive him, your own hates have little bearing to me. As long as you don't kill each other or my men, I have little care. Just make sure to obey me when I command it is all."

Did her question deserve an answer? Possibly. Did he have one, he was unsure. Words spoken could not be taken back. But if he could convince her to simply stay with the need for Darkness, then he would have on less worry. Why she cared so much about her sister, someone she had only known for a few hours, he was unsure. It was not like him and Nero, who had known each other from birth. No, this was different. Perhaps a rare bond. What if she showed up again? Would that bring out the light in her heart? Would it matter? Could she supply mako, or would she find some way around it? "We stand on the edge of a knife." His voice was low, meant for his thoughts, but escaped from his mouth.

He shook his head. "We were taken to Deepground, away from those we loved. Many of us brought there without us excepting, though maybe through ignorance. ShinRa turned us into what we are now." He paused, looking at the woman standing who was still no higher than him sitting. "Do I hate what I am? No, I am proud of what I have become. But, we are outcasts. We are the moles and worms, because we desire more than to simply be experiments. The world calls us down because of it, as such, we will bring them down because of their folly." He clenched his jaw. "If they want to hate and fear us, let them. We will give them something to hate, we will give them something to fear. They may look on us as freaks, like Nero, as psychos, like Rosso, as beasts, like Azul, as weak, like you. We will show them, however, that it is they who are the freaks, they who are insane, them who are the wolves, it is them," He spred his arms to indicate the world. "It is the world who is truly weak, for they cannot except us. "We will turn what was wrong, right. The world will be righted, with us standing on top." He brought his hands into fists, before gently settling them on his knees. "If we sign on with Vincent and his ilk, then we let the world tread on us. That, I will not except."

[shelke]

"I understand." Shelke said simply, leaning back onto the palms of her hands and looking up, things that flowed with such infinate complexity were always around, but with consistancy it was the sky. It was a definate certain that it would light up and turn dark. Then would Shelke too have a daytime to her dark night? Probably, hopefully she would be able to shake off the shackles of darkness and of the Tsveits.

"I suppose Azul has his merits, as do the others, apart we are misfits, it's poetic that together we are feared," Shelke muttered to herself. She reached into her belt and flickered her eyes up to Wiess, making sure he couldn't see then palmed a picture. Well it was two pictures really; one of the WRO of Cid, Yuffie, Vincent and Shalua, the other half had a woman, kind faced and happy, Doctor Crescent. The person inside her head, Shelke smiled then shook her head, closing her hand and folding up the pictures, eyes back to Wiess, "So what would you have us do? What are your orders?"

((OOC: That was the best speach I've read ever Wiess, awsome!))

[darkphoenix]

((Thank you, one of the spur of the moment things.))

"My orders? What they have always been, locate Vincent and thus chaos. Engage him if you wish of course, but don't expect to win, no offense, he just a far better warrior than most in Deepground." Weiss shrugged. "But what I have for the others is none of your concern." He had noted her do something, just what she did he was unsure. It mattered little, he supposed. As long as it did not ensure her turning against him. He didn't want to have to kill her, she was a Tsviet, no matter how confused she was.

He smiled, though with him it looked like a wolf. "Let go of the past, of Vincent and the others. Like you said, Vincent only cares about you because of the memories of Lucrecia. To him you are nothing more than a photo album, and your sister never took you for who you had become, but who you were. She lived in the past. They both wanted you to be someone else, and both tried to change you. And unlike Azul and Nero, they were not following someone elses orders." He tapped the rock.

She was smart, and in no way stupid or slow. However, Weiss was a razor, his mind was the best there was. Of course, if Hojo had not been a part of Deepground, Weiss would never have had his mind taken over by the lunatic. He wasn't even a useful lunatic, like Rosso, he almost caused the destruction of Deepground, and perhaps had. "Maybe soon, though, it will be time to strike against those who look down on us and ours." He looked towards Edge. "Perhaps..."

Of course it was more to it than that, there always was. Vincent seemed more likely to engage him there, as it was his home and home to his friends. He even had his own soldiers watching the bar were Tifa was said to work and own, Cloud as well, but he was always off. There was always something that needed doing, and this was one of those something, though when to act was always a problem, and who to attack was always something to think about. To strike when not expected, and to move faster than the wind. It was hard, but Deepground was harder.

[shelke]

"Well then I hope that the time comes sooner rather than later, when we strike back against the other people however I ask that you savoir the person of Vincent, he might be a harbinger of a demonic monster with power to take down Omega but...Crescent wouldn't let him go and if you died...I mean..." Shelke was looking for reasons to let Vincent live, she didn't want him to die, she knew that Wiess had tricked her, but she wasn't about to disclose this to him, not yet, "...Some people don't need to be killed, I suppose that many could be used. Valentine for example hasn't aged, surely we could use him to find out how to make you stronger. And Shalua is a scientist, a great one at that as well, there are people we can use, convert to your cause even sir."

Shelke panicked for a second and lost all composure, elements of Lucrecia were taking over in her head, as she shut her eyes and silently began to count upwards to ten, her new method for dealing with situations where the young girl lost all sense of manor and direction in her words and deeds. Opening her eyes slowly she took a deep breath, "My orders are clear enough but I must say sir that I'm still confused at which the manner you want me to approach this..."

[darkphoenix]

Weiss smiled at the woman, it appeared she was confused about something. Perhaps the Darkness needed to be embraced in her better. He needed some way to betray herself, it seemed. Simple words would not turn her, and brainwashing seemed the only way. Something to think about, as he most certainly could not allow her to run around free, or even join Vincent.

But as to Vincent? "I have no plans to kill Vincent." The Protomateria is a controller, of that he was sure. It is that which allows Vincent to remain Chaos, and allow him to use Chaos. As such, with out the Protomateria, Chaos will take over, and Vincent will be the vessel. Weiss was sure there will be a little piece of Vincent there somewhere, just as there is Chaos now, but who knows. At least, those are my theoriums. Whether it is true or not is another story of course. He smiled at her, the thoughts in his head, no need to explain everything to her, she was too much of a lose cannon. She might reveal to much to the beast when she saw him again.

But as to her sister, he tapped his chin. She might have to die, and if possible, by Shelke's hands. It added more wires to him and her, the more he could control her, the better. At the very least, try to show Shelke that her sister was trying to change her into something else. Though she might see through that, or even like it. It created another level or problems, something he was not to keen of, he did not particularly like problems, but they always seemed to pop up.

He shook his head though, how did he want Deepground to deal with it, much less her. There was to many possible outcomes, to many holes he didn't quite see. Every well laid plan had a problem unforseen. How many was he missing? "Carefully, Vincent won't kill you, of that I am sure. But he may try to take you back, as such, I think I need to find another use for you. I need you to find us allies, those who also seek to make Kingdom Heart." He tapped his chin. "From what I have heard from outside Gaia there was one such group, though what they are doing now... I am unsure. Dig up what you can of them, track them, find them. And any others, bring me information I can use." He nodded his head. "And for the moment, stay away from Vincent and your sister if you see them. No need to make matters worse. Instead, if you find Vincent, call me."

[shelke]

Stay away? Stay away? Shelke had no idea her sister could ever get up and move a go anywhere, the most she knew was that she was still strapped down to a machine at the WRO. Shalua had saved Shelke from Azul, something that made her owe her more than she owed Wiess, however until the time came when she had to choose a side Shelke would keep with her boss, her leader. He hadn't judged her at any point and had actually excepted her for being her, Wiess had it harder than most, all of his power was flowing inside him yet he couldn't get what he wanted; the Proto. All because there was someone out there who was more powerful than he was.

Besides Wiess was ment to be a host for Hojo, the only reason he wasn't was because his brother 'contaminated' his spirit. Not an easy break for someone who had been forced to kill his brother moments earlier.

"Yes..." Shelke said simply, there was nothing more to say about her mission, she had all the information that she needed and so further investigation. The ball was in Wiess's court now, Shelke had entered his space and had invaded his privacey, now it was his turn to act.

[darkphoenix]

Weiss noted the twitch in her eye when he mentioned her sister, so clearly she did not think that she might have been healed or even alive. With Weiss himself walking around, he would have thought she would have thought it. He smirked at that train of thinking. But it didn't matter to much he supposed, he had to be moving himself, he had his own objectives that needed to be achieved, such as finding the rest of his Tsviets. Rosso, Nero, and Azul.

In this new world, no galaxy, anything was possible. And even though Vincent had defeated them all, and killed them, they would still be alive, his life on it. It was just a matter of finding them before they went too rogue. Of course, with Nero, the man would hunt him down as well, he supposed, so it was just Rosso and Azul he had to worry about. Both would destroy worlds just for the fun of it, and Weiss would be quite pleased, but he still needed to keep tabs on them, so that he could call on them when needed.

"Very well, Shelke, I think it is time for you to be off. I myself have much to do. Take a mako bath, and then start tracking that information. They must have some sort of way to distrabute the stuff. I think I heard something like that on a world not far from here, I think Cloud moved there." He nodded his head, it seemed the most likely of places.

Weiss stood, planting a hand on her shoulder. He looked down at the little red head. Who knows how she would have come to look if she had been allowed to grow older. Would she have come out as a beauty or a wretch? It didn't matter, he supposed, what did matter was that she served him, at least for now. He had to deal with the rest of the strings later he supposed. He took his hand off her and continued on walking. His naked back to her, his duel katanas swing back and forth on the back of his hips.

"It is time that the whole universe to know our name, Shelke. Don't be left behind." He called back over his shoulder. They would to, and they will learn to fear and tremble when it was said. Deepground, Tsviet, Weiss... They would take it all. As Weiss walked away, he laughed, throwing his hands in the air.

~Left Thread~