paradisalogs | I'm tired of being me and I don't like what I see;

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I'm tired of being me and I don't like what I see;

Who: Angeal Penance and whoever comes across him.
What: Angeal's arrival as a giant injured chimera-monster has him roaming the grounds, eventually collapsing in one of the castle's gardens.
When: Sunday morning
Where: One of the gardens
Rating: PGish

Monster.

Each step sets the word further into his brain, as clawed feet dig into the ground, unsteady steps taken one at a time. One after the other, he had to figure this out, figure out why he was here when the release of death had been so close, something he had so wanted. Angeal can still feel the lingering pain in the monster's body, amplified and mixed in with the creatures he had absorbed to become what he was now. Angeal Penance was starting to show the wear of a long battle, of all the damage it had taken. His wings drooped low and tails hung limply instead of lashing out, and each step became harder to take, heavier to make until he has to drop the trident from his hand, and his front legs give out and buckle underneath him.

This place is quiet, serene... It wasn't the abandoned baths of Modeoheim, dark and industrial, but something the human mind in the monster recognized as a garden, and one well cared for. But it was so quiet, no animal life, no voices, anything.

Perhaps this is his little bit of Lifestream- what he gets before breaking down and becoming one with the planet. Maybe he was dead already. That thought is more calming than any of the others, and the beast heaves a great sigh and lets itself fall to the ground below. Conciousness is not lost, not yet; But at the same time, he had accepted the fact that this would be his final resting place.

Angeal just hopes his student knows that in defeating him, his pride, his honor was his to of passed on, given to the one person he had trusted and forced to rid the world of him.

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None of the collective monsters the man had amassed to create this form had expected an attack like this; It was not even an attack, it was a spell of healing, something not quite materia but a cure all the same. Then there was Zack, who makes such a boldly physical move without the use of a weapon, to go for the very core of the being who refused to participate, turned a blind eye to the things he had done.

It was the combination of both, of being healed and being forced to open his eyes to the one before him that make Angeal wake, that make the dark eyes turn blue again and the man exhale and actually look at the other, the fight going out of Angeal Penance as he sees that familiar face, as the healing works on him and it sinks to the ground again in the middle of the circle, arms coming uncrossed and reaching toward the familiar.

Martel sees that, and assumes it worked in some way to help him. She gets a bit closer, charging for another spell. With the amount of wounds he had, one wasn't going to do it, though it seemed to bring him back to himself. She's still wary and on guard, though, because she's not even sure what exactly happened to him, even though Zack seems to know.

Zack is glad that Martel's spell is working, however it's happening. Being pounded with that tail had hurt, and he knows he's going to have bruises to show for it. But that doesn't matter, none of it matters, because the fight seems to be going out of the creature. Maybe this time things don't have to end with a death; maybe Martel is all the difference, the factor that will let them save Angeal.

Zack looks over his shoulder at Martel, silent communication before moving to those outstretched arms, hands grasping wrists tentatively. It's dangerous he knows, and he wants her to know that he's aware of the risk, of the possibility that it could be a trap. Aware of it, and planning for it; he'll throw the beast if he has to, but he's hoping he doesn't.

"He's fused himself with other creatures." Zack's speaking to Martel, and then turning to meet Angeal's finally open eyes. He's not going to get choked up, he's not! "Death can... death can separate them, but..." But he's hoping that maybe healing can help too, can give the man enough fight to shake off the transformation. Of course, they might have the constituent creatures to deal with afterwards, but Zack's not afraid to fight them off to keep both Martel and Angeal safe -- and Martel, he knows, is no stranger to a battlefield either.

After finding out what he truly was, after chasing Genesis down and then losing the other- Dead by his student's had, at least supposedly- and Hollander's insistence at something Angeal refuses to believe is true helping all the more over that final edge.

But now he sees, Angeal himself forced to engage in the situation. Sees Zack there in front of him, different, sees another nearby, likely the one who has cast the spell.

They are trying to save him, a monster of all things. What makes him so worthy of it, after everything that had been done?

The beast sighs, outstretched wing lowering as the fight goes out of him, unwilling to continue, now that Angeal had been woken inside the beast. It pulls Zack closer, but far from with the intent to hurt... No, instead to hold, because Angeal wonders if any of this is actually real.

Martel watches them, and she understands Zack completely. It may be a trap, but it may not be. And she won't force Zack to kill him. To know that death can separate them...he might have already killed him once. She won't give up, not if that's the ending that's already happened. This place is something of a second chance, and she refuses to see anything but. Not if there is a chance, not if this man that Zack so obviously cares for is still in there.

So she puts her all into this one spell, hoping that it helps, hoping she might be able to do something impossible. But then again, she's fought against impossible odds before. And truly, is anything impossible in this castle? "Revitalize!"

The spell circle appears again, casting a green light on everything. If Zack's injured from being caught by the tail, it's probably healing him too, as well as hopefully healing the other man.

There's a tugging on his arms and it takes Zack a moment to realize he's being pulled into a hug, an embrace rather than an attack. He goes, letting his own hold relax into something less defensive and more brotherly. He's trying to fight down his own feelings, because seeing Angeal again -- especially like this -- is hard and awakens so much in him.

But he's trying his hardest not to think about that. Now is not the time to be selfish.

When all is said and done, Zack is going to find some way to repay Martel for all her generosity and her help. First when he'd arrived and now adding today, he owes her so much (even if he suspects she'll deny any form of recompense he tries to present to her). He can feel bruises starting to heal just from proximity to her spell, the glow of her magic surrounding him and Angeal. It makes him want to close his eyes and he does for a minute, wishing and hoping for the man in front of him to shrink back into himself, for the foreign bits to fall away and his mentor to return to him.

He is awake, more aware than he has felt in months... which makes him all the more aware of what he has done, of what he and Genesis have done. But he does not want to end it all because of such... Not right now, when Zack is clinging to him, keeping him there to stay.

The haze he has been seems to clear with the healing spell cast on him, and not just that, pulling the monsters away from the man, part the castle's work as well, now that he was healed. It happens slowly, until the man himself was standing there- both wings on his right side revealed as well. The monsters, four of them, seem stunned and do not move for a very long moment, about as long as it takes for Angeal to raise turn his head to look at Zack, breath escaping him before he turns to Martel as well, taking a moment to see if he can place the woman before he realize they have never met before.

"Where...?" But more importantly, why?

Martel inwardly cheers when she realizes that it worked, or at least a combination of her and Zack worked. And Zack didn't have to attempt to kill him again. But then she realized that there were four monsters, currently stunned, that were probably going to have to be killed. Preferably before they got loose in the gardens and the grounds. Her staff went into a more defensive position as she edged towards the two men, keeping an eye on the monsters for when they did try to attack.

"We'll explain later, I promise. Just...Zack?" She's hoping for a bit of back-up here, as she could probably defend herself, but killing them alone? Martel wasn't sure if she could actually manage it.

"Later."

It's a quick agreement because Martel is right, there's a situation to be dealt with. Zack pulls away from his mentor, bringing his sword up to bear and side-stepping a little bit, trying to place himself closest to the creatures and between them and his companions, if possible. Really, it makes sense; at the moment, he's the most capable fighter out of all of them.

But four-to-one makes for tricky odds at the best of times, and Zack has two others to think about. He casts a glance over his shoulder, briefly.

"Angeal, protect Martel."

Though it might end up being the opposite, or some combination of both. Zack doesn't give a second thought to ordering around the man he once took orders from, instead taking charge of the situation -- much as he'd had to do in Angeal's absence back in Midgar. No, right now he's only thinking of his companions and how he can protect them as the first creature gets ready to attack.

The Buster Sword-his own- Is lifted as Zack steps away and gives that order, half defensive and half to keep the blade precious to him off of the ground. He understands, knows what he has to do and Angeal is aware he was the cause of all of this in the first place. Once again, Zack is cleaning up the mess made by his bad decisions, a situation no mentor wishes to be in.

A soft noise of acknowledgement, and Angeal steps a little closer to where Martel is, the two wings on his back stretching before folding back in along his back. The healing had done much for him, though the man still needed time to recover... But he was a SOLDIER, and these were the people who helped him. He would fight as much as he could for them.

Martel watches Zack for a moment, hoping that he could manage to handle this on his own. And if he can't, well, she has a few spells up her sleeve. In fact, she's just going to start slowly gathering mana to her.

Then she looks sideways at Angeal, who is obviously trying to protect her, which was nice of him, but really, he should be resting. "Don't listen to him. I can protect myself perfectly fine. You, on the other hand, shouldn't be doing anything. I just healed you." The unspoken part of that is that she wouldn't like to do it again.

Zack can handle this on his own, because he's done it before, fought these creatures before -- singly, and when joined to the man behind him. He's done it before and he's doing it again, determined to protect two people he cares for. And perhaps it's telling that Martel has so easily fallen into that category, someone Zack would not hesitate to put himself at risk for.

But there's little enough time to think about that, time better spent in handling the four creatures coming quickly to their senses. The Ahriman falls quickly, and the Hound and Sahagin are smart enough to rush him together. And he can handle that too, but the Griffin is the strongest of the four, and he can't reach it in time--

Bzzzt! The flash of the Materia Zack keeps in his sword's slots, and a bolt leaps out for and strike at his three foes. He's got another slash before the spell even fizzles, never one to trust entirely in casting to fell his foes.

Telling him to relax? There's a grimace of a smile that catches on his face at that, and he turns a little more toward Martel in response.

"Tell you what... I'll play backup." The man's words are a little winded, healed but exhaustion of near-death and the ache of healed wounds still not gone, something that took time to it even with the help he had received.

But they don't need to help much, with Zack defending them so. The the Griffin does get thrown by the attack coming toward them, still alive, but Angeal is able to step forward and raise his sword, to glance the monster off the broad side of his blade for Martel to finish off with her magic.

Martel raises an eyebrow at that, but she still gives him a small smile. A stubborn man, exactly what she needed. It's not like she didn't have enough of those already. "Just humor me for a while before you keel over, yeah?"

She was expecting the griffin to come after them, so she's ready for it. A spell circle appears below her feet and she skips the incantation entirely-it didn't honestly have to be that powerful of a spell. "Holy Lance!" She watches as blades of pure light impale the griffin, and then burst into dissipating light particles. There's not much left of the monster after that.

Zack turns in time to see Martel's spell finish off the Griffin once and for all. And it's such a relief to see it go, to know that the last of the physical threat is gone. It means they can concentrate on more important things, like the man who should be resting.

"Thank you, both of you." Zack approaches them again, eyes roaming up and down each of them in the habitual check for injuries. He's hoping that their luck has held because it's already asked so much of Martel to heal Angeal's horrid injuries. Zack would hate to tire her further, not when she's done so much for them. "Are you both okay?"

He nods, though it was more than obvious that he wasn't- more mental exhaustion after his injuries were healed, had been taken care of by the woman who was obviously Zack's friend. After a moment he reaches back and holsters the Buster Sword, the weapon unneeded for now.

And then, of course, the million Gil question. "Where are we?"

It isn't the Lifestream, for certain, if Zack was here, even older as he looks.

"Oh, don't worry about me, Zack. I'm fine." Martel waves him off. She really was. But, she casts an eye at the man that she saved, checking just in case.

At his question she gives him a wry smile. "Welcome to Paradisa. Short version is... It's a sentient, magical castle that's kidnapped you to a different world and you can't escape." She pauses. "Oh, and the kitchen's on the first floor, since everybody seems to think that's important to tell new people."

"You'd say that even if you weren't. That was some really neat casting though." It's probably obvious to Angeal that Zack considers Martel a friend; if not, the exchange of such banter should give it away. His own sword is shouldered as well, and he casts a look of concern over Angeal. His former mentor doesn't appear to have any more physical wounds, but the exhaustion is pretty obvious.

Still, Zack's nodding as Martel gives the short version of the explanation. "And we've all got our own rooms, courtesy of the castle. There should be a book around here with your name on it too."

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I'm tired of being me and I don't like what I see;

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