revivalproject | [Open] Yet Another Underground Maze

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[Open] Yet Another Underground Maze

WHO: Gladiolus Amicitia, Sephiroth
WHERE: Warrens Maze
WHAT: A Maze Route
WHEN: Mid November
WARNINGS: N/A Yet

In a way all of this is so much like Gladio's personal history that it's scary. An apocalypse caused by a disease that happens to at the same time darken the skies? Check. People having to withdraw to a few beacons of metaphorical light in the darkness, check. Those beacons failing and people pulling back further? Check. Hell, even throwing oneself into an open and attested underground artificial structure to get through it to win an end to the darkness? Yeah, it all checks out.

Perhaps that's why Gladio approached who he did when all of this started. Not one of the kids he was training, not one of the adults that had their own plans, not even someone he's got a lot of experience with.

No, the moment the news comes over the semi-functional network that a new path has been opened and they have options, Gladio goes looking for someone he had seen pass him by a few times in the mines. Someone that came in with people and would head back out. Someone who had proven quite quickly to have a take charge kind of personality.

He looks for the silver haired man.

"Hey," he greets as he approaches Sephiroth. "I have a proposition for you."

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"Not many places seem to. So it's a comfort to know I'm not alone on that."

Which didn't help with none of them here.

Sephiroth nods. "It is comforting, to find a piece of home so far from it," he says. His universe is a curious mix of places. It's Earth, but broken in pieces. It also has things found in other universes, such as Potions.

He looks down the hall. "We should probably keep moving." Who knows what else they'll need to deal with.

"Alright," Gladio says with a sigh. He wished he could get to the potions Noctis had put away. But that's a concern for another day. For now they need to keep moving.

"Onward into the unknown once again," he says with a nod.

Sephiroth nods. Perhaps soon they will reach journey's end, but perhaps not. He doesn't like to think too hard about the possibility that they may have cleared all the trap rooms. It may not be true.

He glances back to the room, wondering if he dare try to retrieve his sword or if that will start the turrets up again.

"I think we should try and get that back," Gladio sighs. It wouldn't be wise to go unarmed. And he doesn't know if he can reliably recover his own sword if he uses the magic for it. "Willing to try?"

"Yes," Sephiroth says.

He's supposed to still be able to teleport to within line of sight, so he immediately tries that to appear where the sword is and hopes it will work.

Gladio watches as Sephiroth blinks sort of out of sight. Which was weird. There were just so many people around here that could do this, wasn't there?

"Could you not do that before?"

"Not when my abilities are blocked," Sephiroth replies. "And this is always blocked here to some extent. I could get everyone home if I were at full strength."

He takes the sword and teleports back.

"You wouldn't be the only one. I've heard one of the twins can do that too. Over long distances."

So it seems like no one wants them to leave.

"So I've heard," Sephiroth says with a nod. He is certainly irked about their powers being blocked, but it isn't a surprise in this place.

"Alright, since we're rearmed... let's head on."

Because what other choice do they have? Back doesn't seem very likely to him after all.

Sephiroth nods and starts off again, keeping alert for whatever the next problem may be. He has no intention of going back without accomplishing something. Hopefully accomplishment will be possible.

The good news is that from there it's mostly just turns and twists. It's honestly pretty lucky. At one point Gladio calls for a break to sit down, have more water, and yet more snacks. Better to keep fueled.

"Okay, next question. I'll try and keep it brief. What's your take on all of the stuff here? This corridor, what we faced, that we're trapped."

"It's obvious they're trying to keep people out," he says. "But the obstacle rooms having secret ways to get through them likely means whoever set this up wanted to get through themselves from time to time. There's something deeper in here that they didn't want just anyone stumbling across, something they wanted to still access."

And what would that be, exactly? He's not sure. Some kind of technology, he would assume.

"Seems fair enough," Gladio says with a sigh. But he doesn't really know why the things were set up this way.

"Weird to put themselves in such risk to get down here though."

"I wonder if it is a risk for them," Sephiroth muses. "It all depends on who they are and what their bodies are like. Perhaps also what kinds of defense systems they have or can bring with them."

And would they ever know the answers to such questions?

Good point. Too good of one in that it leaves Gladio quietly thoughtful.

"Back home there is a form of... I don't know that I'd call them entirely artificial, but produced soldiers. There was a stronghold we got into, and there were places they could go that people couldn't because they could pass through these energy gates without serious damage."

"Intriguing," Sephiroth muses. "Do you know how they were created?"

"I've heard only a little about it, but it wasn't pretty. Monsters, experimentation, and a lot of harm," Gladio says.

Prompto had been... traumatized by it.

"... It sounds like what I've heard a mad scientist was doing back home," Sephiroth remarks. "It might have been my fate had my birth mother not taken me away."

He doesn't yet know that the fire powers he was born with were because of the experiments, nor that he was also born with two of his wings likewise. But he is stable enough that it won't drive him mad when he learns of it.

"Yeah, he was definitely a mad scientist," Gladio hisses in anger.

Still, he watches the guy for a bit.

"Wish I could introduce you to my friend Prompto. I think you might get along."

Sephiroth wishes he could rid the world of all mad scientists. But he knows that is impossible.

"I would like to meet him," he says.

And if he ever sees Prompto, or even just a picture, he'll get quite a start since Prompto looks a lot like Cloud.

Where there is power, money, and authority to be gained from science, there would be people that would abuse it. That was just how it works, right?

"Me too these days," Gladio says with a sigh. But there's nothign to be done for that. So he just continues walking forward. That's really all he can do now.

It certainly seems so. His counterpart would most emphatically agree.

Sephiroth keeps walking too, staying alert for anything else that might happen. "Perhaps he will be brought here someday." It seems there is always such a chance.

Perhaps. But Gladio doubts it. This place... If they're lucky they won't have to deal with more people being brought in soon.

And there, another corner. When Gladio turns it... A door.

"Alright, time to see what they'll throw at us now?"

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