[Action/Voice]

[thenightmarebegins]

[Vincent arrives on the beach and immediately draws his gun. His mind is still in fighting-mode and it takes a while to shake that. Eventually, he puts the weapon away, as memories flood back of what happened. Right... It didn't end well. He's not out there anymore. But where IS here...? He glances around and notices the familiar sight of mountains.]

[For now he'll rest here and watch the water despite the coldness. He's curious about it, but once he opens his journal he ends up asking another question that's bothering him.]

Did anyone on the draft... defeat the General?

Comments

[herotypical]

Why? Were you one of the ones who fought him -- this time?

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

[The explanation is a little more complicated because it started out being Chaos' fight, but... let's stick with that.]

I fought him... toward the end of the third day.

[herotypical]

I don't think anyone took him down this time, but...[she trails off.]

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

.....

[Catches the hint implied there.]

How many did we lose to him?

[herotypical]

I've heard about three. But -- God, there could be more. Probably is.

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

Unsurprising, considering. He was a formidable opponent... far stronger than I anticipated.

[herotypical]

Yeah. It surprised me, too.

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

[He's at least aware enough that she's the one who once killed the General...]

How... did you manage to defeat him?

[herotypical]

One hell of a long gritty battle before...God, getting lucky? It was the wings. I went all axe-happy on his wings.

[A huff.] I'm pretty sure he's buffed up since then, though.

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

[He wouldn't doubt that such a enemy would have worked to get sronger after that.]

We had no chance... [Sighs.] ...I... had no chance, to strike the wings. He was incredibly fast, and powerful. Not even my strongest attack was enough.

[herotypical]

I...[wish I had been out there.] I wish I knew how he did it.

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

We all do. If there had only been time to form a plan of attack...

[Sighs heavily. He wouldn't have even attempted such an insane thing if it weren't for Chaos.]

[herotypical]

True -- the unkillable might have been reduced against a group.

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

[Sighs lightly.]

We won't know for certain now... not until the next opportunity to face him.

[herotypical]

Hopefully with less deathtastic fun involved. [ dry. sarcastic. ]

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

[A dry sound that's sort of a dark chuckle.]

If we could only be so fortunate, in this place.

We'll remain locked in this futile cycle of life and death, no matter the outcome of the next confrontation. If he always returns...

[herotypical]

Then he'll always be able to do this to us. [ she finishes the sentence with a sigh. ] They seem to think there's a way to make death stick, though. Him and his army.

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

If it could be turned against them, all the better for us, but the risk of it being used on ours...

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

Vincent...! You've been quiet.

No... I don't know. I didn't hear anything like that.

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

Then the victory was his this time... unless anyone mentions otherwise.

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

Did you fight him? How bad was it? [He's been silent a really long time...which doesn't seem that weird for Vincent, but knowing this now...]

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

[Burdening anyone won't help anything...]

He was... more difficult than I expected.

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

...And how are you now? Be honest, Vincent.

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

Better than I was

[A pause.]

It's nothing that sleep cannot cure.

[Except something does feel off, but he won't know until more time goes by.]

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

Hmm. That better be the truth! Honestly... not just experiments, but a draft? The Malnosso are so selfish.

[She softens her tone.] Take care of yourself, okay Vincent? And tell me if you need help. I know my abilities aren't the same here, but I've been talking to Nala and learning.

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

[Well... giving it a few days normally works for him to be healed up... but... he has to wait and see.]

Aerith...

I'll keep that in mind.

[Voice]

[unseenspy.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard of anyone defeating the General this time. Only that there were several others who fought him and died.

You were killed, weren't you?

[Voice]

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

Several...? No one managed to beat him?

[He goes quiet a moment, considering that. As for what happened... it's put him in a broody frame of mind but death is actually far from the most traumatic experience he's been through.]

...That's right. I died fighting him. What became of the draft overall?

[Voice]

[unseenspy.livejournal.com]

Overall, the draft was a success, although the Third Party soldiers that attacked on the third day were significantly stronger than the ones we'd fought before.

[Voice]

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

I came across some of those fighters.

[Or rather, Chaos did.]

They saved their strongest fighters for the end... assuming that was the final day of fighting?

[Voice]

[unseenspy.livejournal.com]

Yes, the draft was only three days, shorter than the previous ones. They were certainly getting serious with this attack. We need to show some seriousness of our own next time. We need to become stronger.

[Voice]

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

We have no choice but to prepare more thoroughly next time. The General... was incredibly powerful. He withstood my strongest attack.

[Voice]

[unseenspy.livejournal.com]

The General...what all do you know about him?

[Voice]

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

I know that he isn't invulnerable, despite this last conflict... but that he can always revive from death the same as us...

[Trails off a moment to reflect on that. To continually fight an enemy who can always return... it seems very futile. Yet what choice do they have?]

[Voice]

[unseenspy.livejournal.com]

Of course, all of them have the same obvious weakness. But you said the General survived your strongest attack...? What other weakness would he have if he could survive that?

[Voice]

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

The wings are as weak for him as for any of us... the one who defeated him before said it was essentially luck that he beat him then. He's apparently only grown stronger since.

[Voice]

[unseenspy.livejournal.com]

Yes, I would expect that from any opponent who survives a battle. They would learn from their mistakes, train to grow stronger. They would make certain not to lose again.

[Voice]

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

Even though... she killed him? I don't know if penalties apply to them as well... but it seems what happened to him didn't adversely affect him.

We will have no choice but to become stronger as well.

[Voice]

[unseenspy.livejournal.com]

There are various death penalties, are there not? They don't seem to get in the way of living, from what I can see. As for whether the Third Party suffers these penalties after death, it would certainly be worth looking into.

[Voice]

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

[True, if he was penalized, the General probably just got away with something he'd hardly miss...]

That's possible... at any rate, we'll have to be more prepared for the next battle. Everyone who faced him this time did so alone, as far as I know...

[Voice]

[unseenspy.livejournal.com]

Facing him alone was certainly not a smart idea.

At the very least, I am glad that we have the Battle Dome to train with now. We can better stimulate real battles, which would be much more effective in our training.

[Voice]

[chaotic-dirge.livejournal.com]

It was... but what's done is done.

The Battle Dome will be useful for preparing ourselves.