Advent Children(Mature/private)

OOC: Whoops. I was debating between names. I’ll just call her Demetri

IC: Demetri’s hand withdrew, eyes remaining focused on Van. Even with a blade to her throat, her only reaction was a bell-like laugh, clearly amused. “Don’t be foolish,” she stated. “My gesture was of professional respect, not friendship.” When Van withdrew his blade, Demetri walked past him, eyeing her surroundings carefully. “We need to leave now. Someone’s watching.” They weren’t close by, but she knew. She always knew when someone was watching. It was a sixth sense of sort, something that never led her wrong.

Turning toward Van, her voice lowered. “Do you have a safe location nearby or shall we go to mine?” she asked, quirking a brow. It was clear Demetri kept to herself, remained calm and initiated, refusing to create unnecessary tension between teammates if possible. Yet, it was also clear that her and Van were two very different people…which raised the question of whether they’d be successful in working as a team or if they would become foes.

“Quickly now!” she hissed urgently. “Whoever is watching are coming closer… We must either find a safe point or seek them out, but considering we do not how many…” At this point, it may be impossible to avoid the potential enemy…but more importantly: who were they?

ooc: I know the feeling. I swear my internet enjoys playing with my emotions Btw, is her name Demetri or Inara? You listed two

ic: Van's dull blue eyes slowly shifted towards the girl approaching him. His face was covered with disgust for her tardiness. One would have thought that after being put through hellish experiments that being on time wouldn't be an issue. As she extended her hand, Van let out a deep sigh and grabbed his spear, Highwind. It was the same weapon which his grandfather had used and passed onto his mother. Unfortunately, this was the last physical reminder of his family that Van had. He found that the passing five years had clouded his mind and caused the memories of his lost love ones to fade. "You're late." he mumbled coldly and jabbed the butt of his spear dangerously close to Inara's feet. "Lets be clear..." he growled, his eyes shifting down towards her extended hand. What made her think he would shake it? This wasn't a pleasure cruise and Van had no intention on making friends. "I'm not your buddy. Command says that you're good enough to accompany me. From the looks of it..." he paused and gave her a slow once over. His face looked even more disgusted than before. "I think command made a mistake, but it doesn't matter. Our missing is to hunt down and kill Sephiroth. Get in my way..." Van paused, his eyes narrowing sharply as he grabbed his spear and pressed the tip of the curved blade against her neck. It would be her only warning...

Sighing deeply, Van pulled back and cracked his neck. They had a very long day ahead of them. As usual, Command had no clue where Sephiroth was. The Turks, Shinra's dogs, were suppose to be working on his location. To say the least, Van had low...very low expectations of them. "Lets move. If he wait on the Turks we'll die of old age before they find Sephiroth. I have a contact that may have some information for us. We'll go to the Pleasure Bay Pub to find him." Van stated...well more so ordered. He had an agenda and wasn't about to be slowed down by anyone. Despite the alluring name, the pub was located within one of the more hostile parts of the slums. It was a perfect hideout for cutthroats, thieves, and any other scum looking for a place to lay low. It would be the perfect place to begin their search
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I never asked for this life…for this curse they call a gift.

Among the children selected for Operation Black Box…only two survived: a boy so willing to give his life, and myself…forced and dejected to the commands of SOLDIER. I still remember the night my younger sister and I were brought in…taken from our homes, from our parents. I was sitting outside my room reading, my sister inside trying to get a picture she’d been working on just right to give to mother and then they came. They reached me first, hitting me hard against the jaw, knocking me to the ground as two masked men went in and took my sister. I fought for all I was worth, but still it wasn’t enough. I fell into darkness, carried away. I never even got to say goodbye to my parents, nor will I ever.

Went the experiments began, my little sister was the first to die. She was born with a heart defect, weakening her beyond what they had expected. I rebelled, trying desperately to escape, to reach my sister, but it was too late. They had already taken her limp body, along with several others, and disposed of them savagely. I told myself that if given a chance, would try to escape, that I would exact my revenge on those bastards who took my family away from me.

I could not allow their crimes to go unpunished.


She ran through the ally’s of Midgar, her breathing labored, eyes sharp to her surroundings. The time had come when she had been ordered to locate Van Highwind where she would join forces in their attempt to stop Sephiroth. She hadn’t met him before except for the few rare occasions they were together on training, but even then, she barely took notice. Her only focus back then was surviving the brutality she’d been faced with.

But now, as seventeen year old Demetri Sarif ran through Midgar, her mind raced a mile a minute. After much consideration, she finally stumbled upon the park, her eyes settled on Van. Slowly she approached and offered her hand. “I’m Inara Raslin,” she stated. “Have you been waiting long?”

OOC: I'll find a picture soon. Currently my internet is twithy.

Nibelheim...like any other small town in the mountains it's existence was practically unknown. That all changed though when a representative of Shrina came with the offer to build a mako factory. The villagers were told that the factory would more than double the normal amount of revenue the town normally got from mining and whatever else was done to make money. It wasn't hard to suck the people in, they were after all simple 'hick' folk. However, there were a few that were opposed to the ideal. The former village elder and a certain young woman...

The duo argued that the construction of a mako factory would do more harm than good. The elder argued that Shrina was killing the planet and that soon mankind would would have to suffer for its ignorantness and mistreatment of the planet. The woman who stood by his side...she could see the glances filled with contempt among the other villagers. Everyone completely brushed aside the Elder's warning. He was old, blind, and half dead...what did he know? Within a few years after the debate the mako factory was built. For the most part, life within the village remained the same. There were a few cases of Mako poisoning...but those cases were covered up so quickly most of the town people assumed that they had been nothing more than rumors. As promised, the mako factory did increase the town's revenue...not as much as was promised...but still it was something. All in all the new village elder and the people were happy. None of them could have guessed that within a few years the name Nibelheim would be associated with one of the bloodiest massacres known to the planet...

It was on that day...two strangers approached the village. One of them had spiked jet black hair and wielded what must have been a very heavy buster sword. The other...the other was a tall man, his cat like eyes constantly pulsed bright shades of a greenish...cyan color. The two men were from SOLDIER and were apart of Shrina's elite military. No one wanted to get in their way. There were penalties for obstructing official Shrina business so the men were allowed to do as they pleased. It was on that day that I left the village to go hunting for mother. Little did I know that when I would return, the night would be forever carved into my memory...

Streaks of flame tore through the village! They ran rampant like a pack of ravenous wolves and consumed everything in sight. Those who were scorched by the flames were considered to be the lucky ones. A waterfall of blood poured down the streets of Nibelheim. Those who had escaped the flames of the village were quickly cut down before they could reach the town's exit. The cry's of men, woman, and children bellowed throughout the night as their lungs filled with smoke, ash, and death. A boy by the name of Van Highwind had been hunting in the woods just north of the town. His blue eyes widened with fear as reached his home town. There was death everywhere he looked. He could hear the screams, he could hear the cries for mercy. He could smell the scent of burnt flesh all around him! For a moment his body become paralyzed. It wasn't until he heard the scream of a familiar voice that he snapped out of his trance and rushed to find what was left of his home.

Van had somehow manged to make his way through all the smoke and debris. There, laying in a pool of blood right in front of his now burning home was his mother, Victoria Highwind. Van quickly rushed to his mother's side and turned her over. IT wasn't long before her blood stained his clothes. He was just a young boy...what could he do? How could he save her? Van's eye's began to fill with tears. Suddenly, his mother let out a violent cough. She opened her crystal blue eyes and stared up at her son. She placed her bloody hand on his cheek as she attempted to speak her final words.

Suddenly, a great blast of flame erupted from a few buildings over! Van quickly covered his mother with his own body as pieces of wood, metal, and earth fell from the sky. As van looked up, his eyes came to rest on a dark figure standing within the center of the flames, within the center of all the death. That man...the one called Sephiroth. He stepped through the flames with his blade in hand. His cold cat like eyes shifted down to Van as the fire around him danced. It was almost as if he were some sort of...god...and the dancing flames were in a state of worship. Van's body began to shiver. He had never felt fear like this before. He knew that within a single second his life could end if this SOLDIER wished it. Suddenly, a dark malicious grin formed on his lips. "Follow..." he mumbled before turning his back to Van as if to further taunt him! Van's fear was quickly replaced by rage. He clutched the ground beneath him as he bit down hard on his lower lip. "V-Van..." came a soft whisper from his mother's lips. Van quickly looked down. Suddenly, the sky began to darken and rain began to pour as if to wash away the scent of death. "Y-Yes?" Van whispered as he held his mother tightly in his arms. It took a moment for him to realize that she had already passed. His entire body began to shake as droplets of rain poured over his already teary face. Just as Van was about to cling to his mother's lifeless body, it suddenly broke down into small partials of energy. The green particles circled Van before drifting up towards the Life Stream. Why had this happened? What had the towns people done to deserve such a death? What had his mother done to deserve being stabbed and left for dead?! His mother had always told him that if he loved the planet and took care of it, someday he would be able to enter [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Where was that promised land now?! Van found himself staring up at the dark rain filled sky. The brightness in his eyes had vanished leaving behind nothing but a dull void like gaze behind...

That was five years ago...
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Ever since the Nibelheim incident, Van had devoted himself to finding the SOLDIER who had destroyed his life. He learned that Sephiroth had gone insane and that Shrina was desperate to put an end to him...or so he was told. Shrina was now putting together a huge experiment called Operation "Black Box". Could the limits of the human body be pushed? Could it withstand higher doses of "Jenova" cells than what was originally thought? For the experiment 150 children were gathered. OF those 150 nearly half died within the first week of the experiment leaving only 75 children left. They were lucky ones. 35 more children had to go through the painful process of "Rejection". Their bodies were mutilated and transformed into violent monsters. 30 more children were able to beat the Rejection process only to have their bodies break down and decay. It seemed that the body bags grew in number after every other week. With just 10 children left they were given the statues of SOLDIER 2nd class. Shrina had no need for low level grunts however so the violent experiments continued. By the end of the month Shrina estimated that only one child would survive. To their surprise, two managed to live through the hellish tests, experiments, and missions. The project was a success! Who cared if the lives of 148 children had been sacrificed?

Now 16, Van Highwind had become an official member of SOLDIER. He had become a doll over the past 5 years. He cared nothing for his life or the lives of others for that matter. He had one objective which was to find and kill Sephiroth. He didn't give a damn who he had to cut down in order to complete his objective. Van closed his eyes and sighed softly. Today was day his mission was to start. He stood waiting in a park located under Midgar. The slums were a nasty place to live and Van absolutely hated walking through the area. Murder, rape, and thievery seemed to run unchecked. "Where the fuck is she?" Van mumbled as he leaned against a slide...which had been made out of trash and unused metal. Though Van had never actually spoken to the girl he was to meet, he had seen her during a few training exercises. The word from high command was that she was every bit as strong as Van and had orders to execute Van on the spot if he ever attempted to abandon his mission. Naturally, Van had been given the same order should his partner try to run. Their lives belonged to SOLDIER now. Only in death would they be free...

((Ok here we go. That post was...lengthy...lol. Sorry about that. My future post wont be anywhere near that long. I keep a paragraph or two. If you have any question feel free to ask. Also, be sure to click The Promised Land link I put in. The song goes nice with the mood of Victoria's death and matches the general mood of FF7 perfectly ))