[ He should probably just kill Sephiroth. It'd be the safest thing for everyone. Rufus is an idiot willing to risk the lives of everyone in this building, but that doesn't mean Cloud has to let him continue this insanity. It'd be easy with Sephiroth restrained and subdued like he is, but the idea of going in there and just executing Sephiroth... it's uncomfortable. He doesn't like the thought of doing it like that. Even if Sephiroth is practically asking him to. ]
Isn't it what you want to do? For all the pain I've caused. The lives I've taken. The fires of your hometown still burn within your heart. Your mother's cries still whisper in your ear. And you still see her face when you close your eyes. Your hate guides you to take action, does it not? It will be easy. For once you won't almost face the kiss of death yourself.
[Of course Cloud would hesitate because why do what Sephiroth wants him to do. If only he could reach into his mind and command him to unlock the restraints. And Sephiroth has been trying to feel their connection, but so far there's nothing for him to grasp onto. All he has left are words.]
[ Unfortunately perhaps for Sephiroth, Cloud is pretty immune to the man's provocations and taunts at this point. Sure, the pain of losing people he'd loved is still there, but it doesn't bring him to his knees the way it used to. It doesn't activate the guilt and self-loathing he'd used to feel. He's accepted the past, and that he can't change it. He's moved on as best as one could expect, though of course, Sephiroth makes that harder. ]
You'd deserve it. But... I'm not like you. I don't kill people who can't defend themselves.
[ Either way... he needs time to think. And a drink, or several. Talking to Tifa seems a good idea too. She tends to be the voice of reason in Cloud's life, after all. ]
[Sure, go on Cloud, be stubborn -- cling to some sort of higher moral ground. It's frustrating beyond measure. Sephiroth can do nothing but try and move against the restraints that won't give. Clearly Cloud is not going to be of any use right now.
Sephiroth will have to find another angle. Find someway to get out.]
You will regret this decision.
[That's half spoken as a warning, half as a threat.]
[ With that he turns on his heel to leave. Rufus and the Turks are still waiting outside when he leaves the lab. He informs them that he's not reached a decision on what to do, but that he'll be back.
He then leaves the WRO headquarters behind and heads for home. ]
[Sephiroth says nothing at Cloud's departure and goes back to mostly being silent with his captors. He owes them nothing so they get nothing. Just angry glares that set them on fire if possible. Anything else -- thoughts, plans, etc, he keeps to himself.
When Cloud didn't return the second day, Sephiroth started to consider that he might have made the decision to leave him to this fate. As the days went on, he almost became sure of it. Though he can't tell exactly how much time has passed. The drugs continually pumped into his system make everything merge together into some sort of hazy fog. And he feels weak. Very, very weak.
That's the part that infuriates him the most. Even focusing on his rage is difficult. He can endure pain. He can endure their needles, the prodding, their attempts at seeing what exactly can break his body. They even managed to forcefully manifest his wing, though it's hard to say what is left of that by now. He'll still give them nothing. Not give Rufus the satisfaction he's looking for.
That's all he really has control of now. His thoughts, dulled by the drugs, but it can't fully contain his rage. He's eternal after all. And when he's finally free he's going to burn the entire planet into nothing.]
[ Cloud hasn't left Sephiroth. He did say he would return, and he intends to keep that promise. However, taking time to think had taken longer than he'd anticipated. He'd talked to Tifa, who had been surprisingly sympathetic to Cloud's moral dilemma. She'd told him that she would accept whatever decision he reached, which was nice, but not helpful in the least. It would have been easier if she'd told him to straight up kill Sephiroth or something.
He'd accepted a couple of deliveries that would take him outside of Edge, hoping that time on the road would clear his head and give him the insight he was looking for. No such luck however. Once he comes back home, he still hasn't made up his mind.
He doesn't feel comfortable leaving Sephiroth in the hands of Rufus and the others for too long though. He's the only one who could stop Sephiroth should he get free somehow. It definitely feels better to be 100% sure where he is. Then again, if Sephiroth had gotten free, he's sure half the planet would be destroyed by now.
So he once again finds himself steering Fenrir towards the WRO headquarters. This time he's dropping by without prior notice, but no one seems particularly surprised to see him. Reno and Rude are still stationed outside of the lab, apparently having been assigned some sort of guard duty. They're not looking any happier about it than when Cloud saw them last. He doesn't feel much sympathy.
No one else is in the lab when he enters, and so he walks straight to Sephiroth's chamber. The sight that meets him... Cloud is quite appalled by it. His eyes are immediately drawn to the wing, broken and mangled, and he can't help but to wince. It seems that torture is Rufus' game here. ]
[Sephiroth's eyes remain shut when Cloud approaches. At first he thinks he might be experiencing some sort of drug-induced hallucination at the voice. Maybe it is. He feels so muddled it's hard to tell. Green eyes slowly blink open and cast a gaze towards Cloud. Hallucination or not ...]
... Did you expect any different? Are you even really here?
[He can't tell if the words came out sounding as disoriented as he currently feels. Everything is a mess. If Cloud did actually come back maybe he finally do something. Sephiroth is too worn down and drugged to attempt another manipulation tactic like he did before. If he lets his head clear a little maybe ...]
[ Are you even really here? Something about that makes something tighten in his chest. It has to be bad if Sephiroth's questioning reality. And once again, too familiar. ]
I'm here.
[ He can't let this keep going on. Sephiroth has done awful things, but even he doesn't deserve to be tortured. Sephiroth seems weak enough now that he'd likely not pose a great threat...
Cloud heads over to a computer that's near the chamber. Sephiroth's vitals are being monitored on them. Cloud gives it a cursory glance - he's not an expert, but he can at least tell that Sephiroth's blood pressure is unhealthily low. At least it would be for a normal person...
He looks around until he finds what appears to be a mechanism to unlock the chamber, and with little hesitation, he makes use of it. Taking a deep breath, he steps inside. ]
[Well, thankfully for Cloud it isn't any sort of trap because as Sephiroth doesn't suddenly burst free of the restraints to kill him. He does, however, keep eyes on him as he comes inside.
If he knew Cloud was feeling pity for him, he'd actually be annoyed. As much as he wants out of this situation, someone feeling sorry for him is offensive in some way. Probably his pride, though that is also rather wounded as well.
... Cloud seems to be real as far as he can tell at least.]
So you've finally decided then?
[Good. He fully expects Cloud to just kill him. Cast him back to the lifestream, where he can go back to formulating plans -- one that will probably have a minor detail of slowly killing Rufus next time around.]
I hope all your decision making doesn't take quite as long as this one.
[ Seeing Sephiroth like this... He still doesn't want to kill him, not like this anyway, even if it'd be kind of like putting a suffering animal out of its misery, but... he can't let this keep happening either.
He eyes the wing again. It looks incredibly painful. ]
I'm not going to kill you. Not while you can't fight back, anyway. If you promise not to try anything, I'll get you out of here.
[Cloud should know better. Though it's not like Sephiroth can do much of anything anyway as much as he wants to. And he should be happy Cloud is suggesting getting him out. Just like a good puppet should, but that probably goes back to his frustration over needing help in the first place. No matter how he tries to spin it in his head it goes back to how he can't get out of this on his own.
And that's very very annoying.]
If you fear for their lives, I will not promise I will not do anything later ... but at the moment their drugs are rather ... effective.
Killing you's never worked permanently. You'd go to the Lifestream, come back, and probably try to kill everyone in this building anyway. I'd feel better being the one keeping an eye on you.
[ With that he gets close enough to start undoing the straps keeping Sephiroth trapped to the examination table. Once they're out of the way he takes a step back. He's ready to give Sephiroth a helping hand, since it looks like he needs it, but he has a feeling the other man is going to be offended if Cloud offers it. ]
[ Cloud had expected this, but Sephiroth's a bit heavier than he'd thought he'd be. He still manages to wrap an arm around his middle and lend support to him. Damn, it's strange to see Sephiroth so weak. He's not going to comment on it, though, or Sephiroth might just try to use what little strength he has to murder him...
Instead he starts to lead the taller man out of the chamber. He realises then that he hasn't thought of a way to get them out without being spotted by everyone in the building. Shit. He turns to Sephiroth. ]
You wouldn't happen to know about some other way out of here, would you?
[This is fine. It's not really, but he's going to pretend as he leans almost all of his weight onto Cloud. He feels heavy himself. Even his wing feels heavy.
When the question comes, he can only give Cloud a look. He doesn't even remember being brought to this place, let alone its layout.]
For a hero, you're not very good at this sort of thing.
[ The response doesn't surprise him much, but he does roll his eyes. ]
Well, I wasn't expecting to mount a rescue mission when I got here.
[ He looks around until his gaze falls on a chair. He leads Sephiroth over to it and helps him sit down. ]
Wait here. I'll have a look around.
[ The lab is big, but it doesn't take too long for Cloud to notice an emergency exit. Jackpot. He returns to Sephiroth and wraps his arm around him again, helping him up. He nods in the direction of the exit. ]
[Cloud is lucky Sephiroth does not feel well at the moment, otherwise he might make more commentary about the lack of preparedness. Combined with what Cloud said ... it just makes him annoyed. He can't do much about it, which makes him doubly annoyed.]
They're going to consider you an enemy after this. You do realize that, yes?
[Partly why he doesn't understand why he's getting a 'rescue' ... If Cloud wanted to maintain his status he should have just killed him. This is going to cause Cloud problems, and Sephiroth cannot fully understand why -- other than him clinging to some misplaced pity. Which is another set of annoyances.
Still ... he can do nothing but lean heavily on the shorter man as they make their way towards the exit. What a strange course of events this has been.]
[ Cloud shrugs as he leads Sephiroth towards the exit. ]
I don't really care what Rufus and his minions think about me.
[ He's sure that Reeve and his other friends are going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they'll assume he's taking Sephiroth somewhere else to kill him. Hopefully they won't think that he's being controlled again. He'll have to make some phone calls later to reassure them.
He pushes the door open with his shoulder and enters into a stairwell. ]
[Cloud is helping the person who summoned meteor to seriously wound the planet. The one who later helped spread geostigma around the populous. Sephiroth doesn't believe Cloud's friends are going to be very happy with this, let alone people in general.
He practically huffs wishing he could somehow find the strength to walk on his own. He might actually try to do that -- pull away from Cloud and move on his own. Of course that doesn't go very well and he ends up having to use the blond for support (again).]
[ As for the rest of Gaia... He doubts Rufus is going to announce to the rest of the population that they had Sephiroth captive and then lost him. That's not exactly going to inspire confidence in the former Shinra president. So he's not particularly concerned about that.
He sighs when Sephiroth tries to pull away, only to fail, but he doesn't comment on it. He just steadies his hold on Sephiroth as he leads him down the stairs. Once they reach the exit, he helps Sephiroth sit down on the stairs. ]
Wait here. I'm gonna get my bike.
[ He doesn't feel great about leaving Sephiroth, even for just a moment, but he also doubts that Sephiroth is going to get far on his own should he decide to try. So he exits the building, glances around and once he's satisfied that no one seems to be around - he makes his way over to where he parked Fenrir. ]
[That might be sarcasm. Probably due to the drugs and why he hasn't made any really cryptic creepy commentary instead. He also hates being ordered around. At least they're at the exit.
Sephiroth really, really wishes he could move properly, because this would be the ideal time for him to leave. Go off to sulk as his body heals then come back and exact his revenge. All without Cloud there to stop him until it's too late.
But instead he's forced to sit here and wait because his body currently doesn't want to respond the way that it should. He hates it. He hates it so much. But at least by the time Cloud returns, he'll still be in the same spot. Luckily no one seems to have sounded an alarm or anything yet. Cloud would probably feel guilty fighting anyone while rescuing Gaia's greatest threat.]
[ It's definitely a relief to return and find that Sephiroth hasn't moved from his spot. Without a word he wraps an arm around him again and helps him up, leading him outside to where his bike is.
He helps Sephiroth onto it before getting on himself. Before starting the bike up he turns to Sephiroth. ]
Hold onto me.
[ It'd suck if Sephiroth went flying off of the bike after all... ]
[Do you really want to give him that kind of inch, Cloud? He slides arms around the smaller man's waist, leaning in close enough to pretty much breathe on his neck.
Just because, in this whole, entire, terrible moment if he can get one moment of satisfaction at all ... it will be annoying Cloud.]
Is this what you want?
[Cloud will probably want Sephiroth to fall off the bike after awhile.]
[ Cloud rolls his eyes. Sephiroth is going to have to try harder than this if he wants to really get under Cloud's skin. ]
Yeah.
[ He kicks the bike into gear. He makes sure to take a different route, one that won't take him through central Edge. There are plenty of backroads to take so he can hopefully make sure no one sees them. Sephiroth is, unfortunately, very recognizable with the impossibly long hair, the distinct armour and the wing... ]
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[ He should probably just kill Sephiroth. It'd be the safest thing for everyone. Rufus is an idiot willing to risk the lives of everyone in this building, but that doesn't mean Cloud has to let him continue this insanity. It'd be easy with Sephiroth restrained and subdued like he is, but the idea of going in there and just executing Sephiroth... it's uncomfortable. He doesn't like the thought of doing it like that. Even if Sephiroth is practically asking him to. ]
You want me to kill you?
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[Of course Cloud would hesitate because why do what Sephiroth wants him to do. If only he could reach into his mind and command him to unlock the restraints. And Sephiroth has been trying to feel their connection, but so far there's nothing for him to grasp onto. All he has left are words.]
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You'd deserve it. But... I'm not like you. I don't kill people who can't defend themselves.
[ Either way... he needs time to think. And a drink, or several. Talking to Tifa seems a good idea too. She tends to be the voice of reason in Cloud's life, after all. ]
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Sephiroth will have to find another angle. Find someway to get out.]
You will regret this decision.
[That's half spoken as a warning, half as a threat.]
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[ With that he turns on his heel to leave. Rufus and the Turks are still waiting outside when he leaves the lab. He informs them that he's not reached a decision on what to do, but that he'll be back.
He then leaves the WRO headquarters behind and heads for home. ]
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When Cloud didn't return the second day, Sephiroth started to consider that he might have made the decision to leave him to this fate. As the days went on, he almost became sure of it. Though he can't tell exactly how much time has passed. The drugs continually pumped into his system make everything merge together into some sort of hazy fog. And he feels weak. Very, very weak.
That's the part that infuriates him the most. Even focusing on his rage is difficult. He can endure pain. He can endure their needles, the prodding, their attempts at seeing what exactly can break his body. They even managed to forcefully manifest his wing, though it's hard to say what is left of that by now. He'll still give them nothing. Not give Rufus the satisfaction he's looking for.
That's all he really has control of now. His thoughts, dulled by the drugs, but it can't fully contain his rage. He's eternal after all. And when he's finally free he's going to burn the entire planet into nothing.]
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He'd accepted a couple of deliveries that would take him outside of Edge, hoping that time on the road would clear his head and give him the insight he was looking for. No such luck however. Once he comes back home, he still hasn't made up his mind.
He doesn't feel comfortable leaving Sephiroth in the hands of Rufus and the others for too long though. He's the only one who could stop Sephiroth should he get free somehow. It definitely feels better to be 100% sure where he is. Then again, if Sephiroth had gotten free, he's sure half the planet would be destroyed by now.
So he once again finds himself steering Fenrir towards the WRO headquarters. This time he's dropping by without prior notice, but no one seems particularly surprised to see him. Reno and Rude are still stationed outside of the lab, apparently having been assigned some sort of guard duty. They're not looking any happier about it than when Cloud saw them last. He doesn't feel much sympathy.
No one else is in the lab when he enters, and so he walks straight to Sephiroth's chamber. The sight that meets him... Cloud is quite appalled by it. His eyes are immediately drawn to the wing, broken and mangled, and he can't help but to wince. It seems that torture is Rufus' game here. ]
...You look like shit.
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... Did you expect any different? Are you even really here?
[He can't tell if the words came out sounding as disoriented as he currently feels. Everything is a mess. If Cloud did actually come back maybe he finally do something. Sephiroth is too worn down and drugged to attempt another manipulation tactic like he did before. If he lets his head clear a little maybe ...]
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[ Are you even really here? Something about that makes something tighten in his chest. It has to be bad if Sephiroth's questioning reality. And once again, too familiar. ]
I'm here.
[ He can't let this keep going on. Sephiroth has done awful things, but even he doesn't deserve to be tortured. Sephiroth seems weak enough now that he'd likely not pose a great threat...
Cloud heads over to a computer that's near the chamber. Sephiroth's vitals are being monitored on them. Cloud gives it a cursory glance - he's not an expert, but he can at least tell that Sephiroth's blood pressure is unhealthily low. At least it would be for a normal person...
He looks around until he finds what appears to be a mechanism to unlock the chamber, and with little hesitation, he makes use of it. Taking a deep breath, he steps inside. ]
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If he knew Cloud was feeling pity for him, he'd actually be annoyed. As much as he wants out of this situation, someone feeling sorry for him is offensive in some way. Probably his pride, though that is also rather wounded as well.
... Cloud seems to be real as far as he can tell at least.]
So you've finally decided then?
[Good. He fully expects Cloud to just kill him. Cast him back to the lifestream, where he can go back to formulating plans -- one that will probably have a minor detail of slowly killing Rufus next time around.]
I hope all your decision making doesn't take quite as long as this one.
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[ Seeing Sephiroth like this... He still doesn't want to kill him, not like this anyway, even if it'd be kind of like putting a suffering animal out of its misery, but... he can't let this keep happening either.
He eyes the wing again. It looks incredibly painful. ]
I'm not going to kill you. Not while you can't fight back, anyway. If you promise not to try anything, I'll get you out of here.
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[Cloud should know better. Though it's not like Sephiroth can do much of anything anyway as much as he wants to. And he should be happy Cloud is suggesting getting him out. Just like a good puppet should, but that probably goes back to his frustration over needing help in the first place. No matter how he tries to spin it in his head it goes back to how he can't get out of this on his own.
And that's very very annoying.]
If you fear for their lives, I will not promise I will not do anything later ... but at the moment their drugs are rather ... effective.
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Killing you's never worked permanently. You'd go to the Lifestream, come back, and probably try to kill everyone in this building anyway. I'd feel better being the one keeping an eye on you.
[ With that he gets close enough to start undoing the straps keeping Sephiroth trapped to the examination table. Once they're out of the way he takes a step back. He's ready to give Sephiroth a helping hand, since it looks like he needs it, but he has a feeling the other man is going to be offended if Cloud offers it. ]
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[An odd response, but whatever. Sephiroth huffs, but says nothing more. As soon as he's free to move he tries to get up. The keyword being tries.
He gets partway before he kind of just falls into Cloud. Which is probably very frustrating for the both of them.]
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Instead he starts to lead the taller man out of the chamber. He realises then that he hasn't thought of a way to get them out without being spotted by everyone in the building. Shit. He turns to Sephiroth. ]
You wouldn't happen to know about some other way out of here, would you?
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When the question comes, he can only give Cloud a look. He doesn't even remember being brought to this place, let alone its layout.]
For a hero, you're not very good at this sort of thing.
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Well, I wasn't expecting to mount a rescue mission when I got here.
[ He looks around until his gaze falls on a chair. He leads Sephiroth over to it and helps him sit down. ]
Wait here. I'll have a look around.
[ The lab is big, but it doesn't take too long for Cloud to notice an emergency exit. Jackpot. He returns to Sephiroth and wraps his arm around him again, helping him up. He nods in the direction of the exit. ]
Found our way out.
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They're going to consider you an enemy after this. You do realize that, yes?
[Partly why he doesn't understand why he's getting a 'rescue' ... If Cloud wanted to maintain his status he should have just killed him. This is going to cause Cloud problems, and Sephiroth cannot fully understand why -- other than him clinging to some misplaced pity. Which is another set of annoyances.
Still ... he can do nothing but lean heavily on the shorter man as they make their way towards the exit. What a strange course of events this has been.]
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I don't really care what Rufus and his minions think about me.
[ He's sure that Reeve and his other friends are going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they'll assume he's taking Sephiroth somewhere else to kill him. Hopefully they won't think that he's being controlled again. He'll have to make some phone calls later to reassure them.
He pushes the door open with his shoulder and enters into a stairwell. ]
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[Cloud is helping the person who summoned meteor to seriously wound the planet. The one who later helped spread geostigma around the populous. Sephiroth doesn't believe Cloud's friends are going to be very happy with this, let alone people in general.
He practically huffs wishing he could somehow find the strength to walk on his own. He might actually try to do that -- pull away from Cloud and move on his own. Of course that doesn't go very well and he ends up having to use the blond for support (again).]
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[ As for the rest of Gaia... He doubts Rufus is going to announce to the rest of the population that they had Sephiroth captive and then lost him. That's not exactly going to inspire confidence in the former Shinra president. So he's not particularly concerned about that.
He sighs when Sephiroth tries to pull away, only to fail, but he doesn't comment on it. He just steadies his hold on Sephiroth as he leads him down the stairs. Once they reach the exit, he helps Sephiroth sit down on the stairs. ]
Wait here. I'm gonna get my bike.
[ He doesn't feel great about leaving Sephiroth, even for just a moment, but he also doubts that Sephiroth is going to get far on his own should he decide to try. So he exits the building, glances around and once he's satisfied that no one seems to be around - he makes his way over to where he parked Fenrir. ]
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[That might be sarcasm. Probably due to the drugs and why he hasn't made any really cryptic creepy commentary instead. He also hates being ordered around. At least they're at the exit.
Sephiroth really, really wishes he could move properly, because this would be the ideal time for him to leave. Go off to sulk as his body heals then come back and exact his revenge. All without Cloud there to stop him until it's too late.
But instead he's forced to sit here and wait because his body currently doesn't want to respond the way that it should. He hates it. He hates it so much. But at least by the time Cloud returns, he'll still be in the same spot. Luckily no one seems to have sounded an alarm or anything yet. Cloud would probably feel guilty fighting anyone while rescuing Gaia's greatest threat.]
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He helps Sephiroth onto it before getting on himself. Before starting the bike up he turns to Sephiroth. ]
Hold onto me.
[ It'd suck if Sephiroth went flying off of the bike after all... ]
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Just because, in this whole, entire, terrible moment if he can get one moment of satisfaction at all ... it will be annoying Cloud.]
Is this what you want?
[Cloud will probably want Sephiroth to fall off the bike after awhile.]
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Yeah.
[ He kicks the bike into gear. He makes sure to take a different route, one that won't take him through central Edge. There are plenty of backroads to take so he can hopefully make sure no one sees them. Sephiroth is, unfortunately, very recognizable with the impossibly long hair, the distinct armour and the wing... ]
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