InsaneJournal

Kadaj Arrives Out of the Light into the Storm
Who: Kadaj, Anakin and Ayla
When: Day Nine, evening?
Where: Begins in the Lifestream, then by the welcome tablet, then inside...
Why: Kadaj arrives (Worship Him, haha)
Rating: G (I guess)
Status: Complete



Surrounded by the one apparent constant of the Lifestream, the seemingly unbreachable white light that was at once everything and nothing, Kadaj recreated yet again his first visit to Healin Lodge, his first confrontation with Shinra...

Kadaj paced. In both the room from the past and paralleling his duplicate in the pristine atmosphere of the Lifestream.

The room he had been in seemed pleasant, with sunlight filtering in and cooled air making the environment as comfortable as possible for President Rufus Shinra of the Shinra Power Company.

But the two Turks on the floor, writhing in pain as they attempted to get up unsuccessfully, found no comfort at all. Did they harbour mental anguish at their defeat by Kadaj, or was it all physical torment for the time being?

Kadaj paced, moving from stream of light to shadow and back into the light.

Rufus didn't see him move. A blanket softly contouring his body in the wheel chair formed a hood over his head, partially shielding his eyes. He knew Kadaj paced because of the alternating breakage in the light stream hitting him. The blanket gave him something of the look of a monk but he was definitely not a holy man. Though his suit was hi-style and clean creme-coloured, the black stain of the disease, Geostigma, made a blotch on the back of his otherwise pale hand.

The scene continued to play out, uninterrupted by the pacing real Kadaj, until the point where Rufus had commented there would be no more lies. Out in the white light, Kadaj merely had to think to freeze his own private view into his past. He moved into the recreation of the lodge, along the way pushing one of the Turk's heads out of his way none-too-gently with his black-booted foot. The head separated from the body sans blood, and rolled across the floor but Kadaj paid it no heed. Both Turks vanished from the recreation, save for the red-haired head, which opened its eyes and blinked.

Kadaj stared at himself and Rufus, one standing and the other with bowed head beneath the blanket, looking something like a ghost now. How had Shinra convinced him so easily with the lie about no lies? Kadaj had studied both Rufus and himself in stasis many times by now, without gleaning any definitive answer from the entire interrogation. Well, he needed to try something different. He sent his own form away to pace so that he cast alternating light and shadow on himself while he performed what had happened next. Kadaj knelt down in front of the president, seemingly prostrating himself like a penitent before the wheelchair. He knew his pupils formed into Jenova slits. He knew Sephiroth had flashed over him in a quick transformation, having seen the face of rage and hate several times.

A cold realisation overcame him, something that said this had been Sephiroth's will and not his own all along--

Kadaj leapt to his feet more swiftly than a cat but he stopped abruptly.

"What the..."

Never before had the Lifestream changed his virtual location without his commanding it. Maybe he had turned into the duplicate Kadaj and the other one had done this, placing him into some strange place he had never seen until now. An intoxicatingly dangerous place because the wind howled and cold, raw rain pelted him hard. He raised his face into the storm, as if sniffing, and found nothing holy or magical about the lightning, nothing to indicate it might be created by Sephiroth.

Who made this storm then?

He turned to see a plaque only a couple of steps away and moved in front of it rather than rushing inside. The wind ruffled through his silver hair furiously yet it somehow seemed like a rough cuff from a brother who play-battled him. It almost gave him a feeling of being at home, whatever home might be.

There were words to read:

"Welcome to Mirage.
This is your new home.
Your every need will be fulfilled.
You will have a place to live.
You will have food and clothing.
You will have entertainment.
You will have company.
You will not be able to leave.
You will not kill. Ever.
If you have questions, ask my assistants.
Love,
The Planet"

Promises like a bribe, he thought with a mental sneer as he stepped to the nearby door and went inside. He moved confidently, shaking his head to rid it of the rain like a drenched puppy. His leather clothes were slick with the storm and dripped on the floor. One hand poised on the hilt of his sword, Kadaj stopped to size up the first person he saw. He stared at them in a calm, unblinking manner.

"You there, are you an assistant?" he demanded.