In Slumber- a One to One between Sep and Berry! :]

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Sepdemonium

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'...Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep..'
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He had killed many, he would kill many more. He finally snapped and it felt so good! Gone was he who cared, gone was he who loved, gone was the weakling! In his place now stands a man, a man in heart if not in looks. He is splashed with crimson and soaked in red, the sounds of the dying have faded away and now only the sound of dripping can be heard. He licks his lips in pleasure as the droplets sound like the ticking of a clock, a clock that ticks life away. Death's watch.


It felt so good to make them squirm, to make them suffer as he once had.. even if it was for but a moment, it felt wonderful.. delightful! Such a feeling of pleasure had in cased his soul, he felt so alive! Even though.. he killed the people he once cared about, well some of them. He doesn't feel sad, he doesn't feel guilty. He feels joy and that is all. He raises his bloodstained hands above his head and sways his thin, scarred body to a rythem only he can hear. A beat that only he can taste.


He elegantly skips over his father's body, his bare slender feet hitting the floor with a soft and wet 'thud'. He continues to dance, feeling the blood drop from his hands and stain his body. He hums faintly, dancing faster to a sound only he can hear. Spinning and standing on perfect point, the blood soaked ballerina sways to death. He extends his arms and bows slowly to a non existent audience, hearing their cheers. “Sepiroth, Sepiroth, Sepiroth!” that's his name, isn't it? For a moment he had forgotten, so caught up in silencing all life everything else had come to a standstill. His smile widened until he was beaming in unmasked joy, tears entered his could eyes and slowly ran down his cheeks. Pure tears became tainted with the blood on innocents as they rolled down his face and hit the floor.


“..I am.. loved..” he whispers, his voice loud in the dead silence. “I am.. adored..” no movement can be deteticed from the bodies that surround him, their cold eyes are like glass. “..I..am..”


suddenly his vision bursts into stars and he collapses. Standing behind him with a frying pan is Arakan, the Demon king. Arakan looks around with his dead eyes before they settle upon his life less son. “what have you done..?” the old demon whispers before picking Sepiroth's frail body up and tossing him over his shoulder. “I have no choice..” Arakan whispers before walking away.. to the void.


The void, where the great magician lives. The void, a place of nothingness yet infinate opportunities. Like the number zero, it's possibilities are few and yet many. The void, the darkness that houses the abode of the man he seeks.


Arakan walks into the man's home and looks around, taking a deep breath. “Chaos!” he calls, as Sepiroth twitches a little. “no doubt you have seen everything, so I have no need to explain what has happened!” the demon king takes a deep breath. “I need.. your help, I need to contain him.. I need to stop him from ever awakening, lest he kills us all! Well.. all of us killable life forms anyway.” the demon king adds with a hint of jealousy and resentment in his tone. “but I cannot do this alone! I need your help.. please..”


from the shadows Aqualeer- the self proclaimed king of the nightmares- watches. His shadowy lips form into a smile as he awaits to see what his friend will say, he awaits to see.. if a new game can be played.
 
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Chaos steps into the room, head held in one hand as he doesn't even bother to look up at his uninvited guests. "I don't know why you think, little demon, that you may simply walk into my home whenever you please without consequence, regardless of the circumstances..." He says slowly, his voice laced with irritation as he finally raises his head. He chooses to rest his gaze on Sepiroth's unconscious form, however, rather than the man addressing him. "You're right, I know what he's done...but I don't know why you even think I should help you. He's happy, isn't he? Or he was until you bashed him over the head...you've been whipping a dog it's whole life and now you're surprised it's biting back at you?" He chuckles softly, eyes flicking to Arakan. "Say I help you for a little while, just until I get bored...what on earth am I going to gain from it in return? Do you even have a way to 'contain' him? Or is that my responsibility as well as preventing your worthless hide from being murdered by your grandson...?"
 
Arakan narrows his dead eyes for some moments, offended on a various number of levels. “I.. have nothing I could give you in return and you know that..” Arakan shudders a little when Aqualeer steps out. “but I do! Oh, I do..” the Nightmare chuckles. “a game.. a fun game between old friends..” he looks at Chaos before smiling. “ a test of wit, a test of skill.. no doubt you are familier with sleeping beauty, my friend? Our game will be something like that.. only, you will have to make sure sleeping beauty doesn't wake up..” Aqualeer gestures to Sepiroth. “while the mutt sleeps, all will be well.. you will reside in a village of my creation.” the nightmare waves his hands and an image of a village appears. The village is peaceful and nice looking, and on the edge is a castle. “can you guess where the mutt will be? Now, I know what you're thinking. 'but Aqualeer, all I have to do is watch a sleeping creature! Where's the challenge?' Aqualeer waves his hand again and a small shadow appears on the floor, it solidifies and changes into Sepiroth at the age of seven. “this one also sleeps, but not for long... you, my dear friend, must look after his younger self.. and make sure that he doesn't realise all this is a dream..” Aqualeer chuckles. “also, you must make sure the two Sepiroth's never meet.. the consequences would be.. dire..” Arakan doesn't look happy when Aqualeer finishes, but he knows better then to interrupt. Aqualeer's gaze never moves from Chaos as he opens the portal into the realm. “what say you, old friend.. would you like to play this little game? You may use any means at your disposable to win, because I will be using all of mine..”
 
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Chaos folds his arms as yet another unwanted person arrives, although at least he could accept Aqualeer's unexpected visits. It wasn't as though he didn't do the same to him, after all. He waits for his not-quite friend to finish speaking before sighing, shaking his head. "You've already decided on this, haven't you? I wonder...is this a spur of the moment thing or did you have it planned all along and incited Sepiroth's rage so you would have an excuse to carry it out. But very well, I'll bite..." He sighs, stepping forward and carefully scooping the sleeping child Sepiroth up into his arms, cradling him gently and silently daring either of the men in front of him to challenge him about it with a scowl. "But you need to make a few more things clear...am I allowed to expand on the dreamscape? Children are curious beings and I don't know how long one village could hold his interest...or is that cheating? And how long is this challenge supposed to continue? If we just continue until he finally meets himself there's no point, I'm doomed to fail. Still, if you simply set a time limit and leave 'any means at your disposal' as it is I believe it will be an easy win..." He smiles coldly, silently adding and perhaps a nap could return Sepiroth to normal after a while in his head.
 
Aqualeer smirks. “this may have being planned, but can you blame me? When you also play games to numb the crushing boredom, can you even blame me?” nether men comment when Chaos gently picks little Sephy up, but there is amusement in their eyes. As little Sephy's cradled, he yawns quietly and snuggles against Chaos.. still fast asleep with an innocent smile on his lips, unlike his knocked out counterpart who's face is twisted in fear and hate in his own slumber. Aqualeer looks thoughtful. “you may expand it, but you may only do so three times in the course of our game.. so pick well and wisely.. as for time, how old is the boy now?” Aqualeer gazes at Arakan who bows his head in begrudging submission. “..twenty three, my lord.” the demon mutters. Aqualeer smirks a little. “the time limit will be until he reaches the age of twenty three from his current age, if the the survives up till then and doesn't meet his other self.. then you have won the game.. but you are right, of course.. the game must be balanced.. here is my proposal, if you have three times to expand this world.. I also have three times to expand it in my own special way..” he looks thoughtful. “you may also choose someone to help keep Sepiroth away from himself so you can have a little break now and then.. I likewise will choose someone who will tempt him into the castle to meet himself, and I myself will not become directly involved in the game.. except to change something if I wish.. fair enough? Now, is there anything else you'd like to add..? after all, as great as I am.. it's not fair that I make all the rules.”
 
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"I suppose not...this is the sort of thing I expect from you. So you really did make Sepiroth go berserk?" Chaos asks, not bothering to hide his distaste. As the child Sepiroth stirs he glances down fondly; with the way Aqualeer is going to be watching him to oversee the 'game' for possibly the next sixteen years there was no point trying to hide treating the child gently from him. The pained look on the adult Sepiroth's face, however, caused him to grind his teeth in frustration. He didn't particularly enjoy using pawns like this above a certain level of sentience unless they had been created particularly for the purpose and not ripped away from their lives. "I agree to your rules, but please allow me to bring him a companion at a later date...it's been a while since I've known him like this. I don't quite recall what would suit him best...I would request that you don't bring yours until I bring mine though. And if there is something that I think of at a later date I shall contact you. For now though, that is all..." He pauses, casting a glance at the adult Sepiroth again. "...what will he be dreaming during his long sleep? The interactions between his child self and me? Or dreams of his current life? It would be too cruel to let him dream nothing, even I dream on occasion..."
 
Aqualeer smiles. “you give me to much credit, the cur was destined to snap.. his.. father mearly helped him along, I had nothing to do with it.” Aqualeer notices the fond glance that Chaos gives the child Sepiroth, the nightmare smiles faintly. “..why? How can you be fond of something so flawed, so breakable.. so imperfect?” he asks. “that is something I have never understood, because I cannot comprehend it.” Aqualeer puts his hand on Arakan's shoulder, and even the mighty Demon king flinches at his touch. “..they are nothing but failed experiments, Chaos-” Aqualeer continues. “-lesser life forms, they'll be dead in such a short time.. why offer yourself up to the pain of heartbreak? Why demean yourself by entering a state akin to theirs..?” Aqualeer pauses and nods. “very well, I agree to your companion terms.. after all, even I must think about my choice.. I cannot pick just anyone, can I?” he smiles cunningly. “who knows what or even if he'll dream?” after avoiding the question, Aqualeer starts to slowly fade into the shadows. “..I wish you the best of luck, my friend.. and when I win- oh, I'm sorry I mean if- I would like you to answer the question I have posed to you.. for I belief that is our most..dividing quality..” with that, Aqualeer fades into the darkness. Arakan shivers a little. “..sometimes, I hate my life.” the Demon king sighs.
 
"Directly or indirectly you were still responsible and it seems so unnecessary," Chaos sighs. "Even if you wanted to play this game you didn't have to cause such uproar to do it. And I imagine Arakan would have preferred it if you hadn't allowed one of his sons to be slaughtered in the process but I suppose it merely proves how weak he was." As Aqualeer continues Chaos pays little attention, not caring enough to offer an explanation as it didn't appear Aqualeer would be satisfied with any he could give. Once the shadowy being vanishes Chaos sighs once more, feeling irritated rather than anything else. At least he didn't have much to lose on this challenge; sixteen years was little time to him, and an answer he would have readily given had his friend stuck around long enough to hear it. Pride was the only thing he really stood to lose but even then it was of little matter in such a trivial challenge. "Arakan…" Chaos says when he finally speaks again. "I don't care. Now get out of my home, and if more of your kind continue to show up uninvited then I shall have to take means to keep you out. Such as killing you all on discovery," He says flatly before glancing down at the adult Sepiroth on the floor once more. He crouches beside him and gently lays a hand on his head, carefully repositioning the child in his arms as he does so. "Damn shadowy old coot…doesn't he realise people go mad if they don't dream? Goodness knows what would happen in this case. He can dream so he will, of the village, perhaps, or the more peaceful moments of his life, lovers, friends…maybe some rest will calm him down," Chaos mutters, finishing the enchantment before standing again. Presuming Aqualeer will remove Sepiroth to the castle once he has left, Chaos casts a lingering glance around his home before stepping through the portal into the village. "Now…first things first, we'd better find somewhere to stay, hmm?" He murmurs softly to little Sephy. "It's going to be home for quite a while…"
 
Arakan watches them step through the portal and narrows his dead eyes when it closes behind them. “hmm.” he muses flatly as Aqualeer appears and picks Sepiroth up easily, glancing at Arakan. “go back to your kingdom, Arakan.. your kind still need their king.” Arakan bows but his eyes never leave Aqualeer once. “my lord..” the demon king murders. “are you sure this is wise? Games like this do not have happy endings, everyone get's hurt in the end.” Aqualeer tuts and a portal opens up leading directly to the room in the castle where Sepiroth will slumber, and one day awake. “do not question me, Arakan.. and anyway, if I know the risks of this game.. so does he.” Aqualeer smiles as he steps through the portal, leaving a troubled Arakn to do nothing more then bow his head and take his own leave.


As soon as Chaos steps through the portal, little Sephy seems to stir. The child moves around a little and let's out a small yawn. “hnnnnnnn...” his eyes flutter open, revealing eyes that are not flat or cold.. but full of emotion, curiosity, nervousness, all the emotions that Sepiroth would deny himself in later years are openly shown in the younger one's eyes. His cat like pupils widen a little and then return to normal, like a relaxing cat's. He tilts his head a little at Chaos and his long white hair falls over his face, the little boy looks around thoughtfully.. still snuggled against Chaos like a frightened lamb, eventually the child relaxes and turns his gaze back to Chaos. “home..?” the little boy asks quietly, hearing the word before but not understanding it's meaning. “'what's 'home?'” he asks curiously, starting to smile shyly up at Chaos as he realises who it is. Unlike the adult Sepiroth, who rarely smiled and when he did it was short and sweet- little Sephy's smiles are like sunbeams. Small and uncertain at first, quick to vanish.. but slowly grow brighter until the little boy practically beams. And beaming is what he's doing now. “Chaos!” the little boy squeals happily and throws his little and thin arms around the man that's holding him.
 
Chaos glances down as the child appears to be stirring, adjusting his grip slightly so as not to drop him, although he can't look for long. It's almost painful to see, how bright the child is compared to the one he left on the other side of the portal. Knowing that he could have done something like this with the real Sepiroth easily when he was still a child, still possessed this innocence...it's difficult for even Chaos not to feel guilty but the next few years will be impossible unless he can move past it. Forcing a smile he rubs the boy's thin back as he hugs him. "Nice to see you too, kid...and 'home' is what people call the place they live, when they feel they belong there. From now on your home is gonna be this village with me, if that's all right with you..." He says softly.
 
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The child doesn't sense Chaos's guilt, and may never know the cause of it. “I knew you'd save me from papa!” the child says happily before pausing and putting his hands to his mouth as though he's said something bad. “I mean master..” he says quietly, looking thoughtful for some moments. “won't he be mad that you've rescued me?” he asks, looking a little afraid. The little boy smiles happily as his back's rubbed, his wing quivers a little and flexes itself. He listens as Chaos explains what home is, little Sephy's eyes widen. “oooh.. home sounds nice..” he says happily, face lighting up once more as Chaos says about staying with him. “YAY!” the little boy giggles happily. “are you my new daddy now?” he asks hopefully.
 
"He's not your master any more so you're free to call him whatever you like," Chaos says, gently brushing back Sepiroth's hair. "He won't be hurting you again…and I doubt you'll even see him outside of a bad dream." The reason for this being, obviously, that Gladius was dead but with Aqualeer in charge of this world and trying to sabotage Chaos's attempts there was no way to be certain the man wouldn't make another appearance. "So it doesn't matter even if he gets mad…and of course home sounds nice, it's supposed to be. And warm, and safe…" He trails off, blinking as Sepiroth asks if he's going to be his father from now on, looking rather embarrassed. "Well…I'm not exactly father material, kid…don't get me wrong, I suppose I'll be doing the sort of things that fathers do, but…you don't have to call me anything different. Please just stick with Chaos…"
 
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Little Sephy blinks as Chaos says that Gladius isn't his master any more. “he's not? Ohhh..” the little boy nods his head thoughtfully, not noticing his hair being gently brushed back. The little boy looks contemplative. “I will miss him because he is my father, and it is my duty to miss him.. but I'm reeaaally glad that he can't be mean and scary anymore!” The little boy says softly, feeling reassured by Chaos. Sephy makes mental notes of the word home before tilting his head a little. “oh.. so home is where you hang your enemy’s head and eat their heart?” he asks in vague understanding. Little Sephy looks around at the houses. “which one's our home?” he asks before gazing back at Chaos with a shy smile. “okay, Chaos.. can I call you big brother instead?” he asks hopefully. “or uncle?”
 
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Chaos nods, wondering if Sepiroth is simply saying that because it's some sort of trained response that Gladius drilled into the child's head in case they were ever parted. "Don't worry about it, kid. No one like him's gonna get near you again, I'll make sure of that..." He says softly. It would be a fairly easy promise to keep if they couldn't go further than this village, and even if whoever Aqualeer chose proved to be another sadist it shouldn't be too hard to keep him away from the boy. That was unlikely though; choosing someone who simply had the brute force to carry Sepiroth into the castle so he could see himself would be a rather crass way of handling things, something Chaos would expect if he was up against an actual demon and not Aqualeer. It wasn't sophisticated enough, given how much the man had put into this challenge. "Now...you think you can walk by yourself? Or you want me to keep carrying you?" He asks, smiling slightly at Sephy's idea of 'home'. "Not quite, but...I suppose it'll do. Perhaps it's a demon thing...and which one would you like to be our home?" He pauses in thought for a moment before shrugging. "I suppose if you must call me something then out of all the options 'uncle' is probably the best..."
 
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little Sephy nods, totally believing and trusting Chaos. It's always being the child's view that if an adult tells him something then it must be true, because they're more intelligant then he is. The little boy srunches his face in thought at Chaos's question for a few moments. Little Sephy knows that it would be better to walk, and more grown up. But it's rare he's carried around like this, and he does like being carried by Chaos. “umm..” the little boy muses, his cat like eyes clearing from the cloud of thought once he's made his choise. “I can walk, thank you..” he says shyly. Sephy looks around at all the houses thoughtfully, now and then nodding at some and puffing his cheeks out with others. “hmm..mmm..” he mumbles thoughtfully as he gazes around. After a while his face lights up when he sees one he likes. “that one's pretty..” he says quietly as he points at the house that looks like the black sheep of the village. In it's hey day the house might have being nice, grand even. But now it looks like a haunted three story house that Alfred Hitchcock would have thought of. The garden it's self looks like an untamable beast. As a few roof shingles fall from it, Sephy pauses and bites his left finger thoughtfully. “..or maybe not..” the child says thoughtfully. “it could fall down..” Sephy's face lights up and he grins. “then I'm gonna call you uncle from now on!”
 
Chaos smiles slightly, amused by how simply deciding whether to walk or be carried seemed like the biggest thing in the world to Sepiroth. He supposed that was just how most things were for children but he couldn't remember ever experiencing such a thing himself although he supposed he must have at one point. He carefully puts the boy down before tilting his head, watching him search for houses. "...that one?" He asks, wondering if the child is oblivious to the state of disrepair it's in. As Sepiroth appears to change his mind, however, Chaos smiles. "We can fix it. You want that one, right? So we'll live there. We can make it look pretty again and stay upright."
 
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The little boy smiles shyly as he's placed down, he gazes down at his feet thoughtfully and wiggles his toes. “the ground feels nice!” he says happily, clasping his little hands together. He nods slowly as Chaos asks him if that's the one, though even the little boy understands that old run down houses really aren't the best choice. However when Chaos smiles and says that they can live there and fix it, the little boy beams and starts to jiggle around excitedly. “we can?! Really, really?!” his eyes go big. “it'll look nice when it's all preeeety..” he coos, looking hopeful. “can we have a rose garden, and cute duckies? Oh, oh.. can we get a door thinger?” he waves his hands. “the things that you move and they go 'knock!'” he adds.
 
"Is that so? You'll need shoes though...well, you'll need a lot of things but shoes and proper clothing might need to be prioritised at this stage. Little boys can hurt themselves or get sick if they run around with bare feet all the time," Chaos said, neglecting to mention that he almost constantly went barefoot, it was simply hidden by the hem of his long robes. The circumstances between him and the boy were slightly different though. "Of course we can fix it," He smiles, watching Sepiroth's face light up. "We can have a rose garden, and a pond for ducks, and you can have your own room...and of course we can get a door knocker. Is there anything else you want?"
 
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little Sephy tilts his head. “shoo-ss?” he asks, slowly testing the word. “are they those strange monsters that eat people's feet?” he asks in awe. He pauses and gazes once again at his feet. “mother once told me that there were worms that burrowed their way into your feet and then ate all the stuff in your tummy- including your breakfast- before they had babies inside you that ate you from the inside out! She said they were..circle worms..” he adds as an after thought. “do you mean stuff like that?” he doesn't look scared or grossed out by the thought, rather he looks very interested in the idea of being eaten inside out by a parasitic life form. He claps his hands happily as Chaos says that can have all the things that little Sephy has only dreamed and heard about, his eyes widen. “my very own room?” he asks in an awed whisper. For a moment it doesn't look like the little boy's heard Chaos's question, until he shakes his head. “no, thank you.. I've already asked for way to much!” he hugs Chaos happily. “..thank you, Chaos!”
 
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