[closed] it took all the man in me

[anbu]

Who: Itachi Uchiha and various.
When: Aereuer 13th.
Where: Looking-Glass House.
What: Memory sharing event.
Warnings: Mass death/genocide, war themes, gore, violence, trauma, child soldiers, very sad but cute brothers. I'll update if/as other things come up.





[To the vast majority of the Mirrorbound who cross its path, Itachi's mirror is plain and unassuming, its silver surface set into a black wooden frame. They will notice complicated carvings, some strange cross between Japanese calligraphy and other, indecipherable symbols unlike language. There are only two distinct images: the first is located on the upper left corner of the mirror and features an avian animal with beady, jewel-like red eyes; the second is located on the bottom right corner and features a pinwheel design. If further investigated, it'll become obvious the mirror also carries a burnt scent, as if the wood has recently been charred by fire.

Sasuke will see a much more detailed and familiar frame. The faces of their parents; the face of Uchiha Shisui; the Mangekyou Sharingan set within the shape of an actual eyeball; Akatsuki clouds; and the Uchiha fan directly beside the leaf's symbol of Konoha. It takes no guesswork to understand who this mirror is meant to represent.]

—

[OOC: Due to this event being exposition-heavy, scene specific, and intense (as well as a desire not to get too overloaded), I will not be writing any general open prompts! This also helps me keep each thread interesting and unique. That said, I'm open to plotting something. Feel free to reference my plotting comment here so we can hash something out. I have a list of memories here, but it isn't exhaustive. I can find something else if none of these are appealing.

Starters will be posted below as I write them!]

Comments

[supersoldier]

Is chakra different than what you consider magic?

[Maybe that sounds like a rather simplistic question, but Sephiroth has no frame of reference. Energy inherent in the body, sometimes passed down through bloodlines, isn't so different from the tales of magic he's heard from other worlds, in a way.

The Looking-Glass house seems laughably mundane compared to the memories they're traversing, too-still when contrasted against the action and movement within a person's recollection. The mirrors themselves almost appear as quiet sentinels, overlooking their return.]

On Gaia, no one can wield magic without the use of items called materia. To be born with that kind of innate power... It's unusual for someone that hails from my planet. You can imagine how jarring the entire conceit of this world was when I arrived.

[anbu]

[Gaia is name he tabs in his mind, if only for future explanatory reference.]

Yes, I can imagine. Chakra is somewhat different from Geardagas' magic, if only because not everyone here is capable of wielding it, given the existence of monsters. As for other realms of magic... I couldn't say. The rules seem to apply differently elsewhere, but we do not need items like your 'materia'.

Chakra is foremost energy, or the life force intrinsic to our bodies. Without it, one would die. [Which supports the theory it's only being blocked in his system at present; anything else wouldn't be possible.

Itachi leads a path through the mirror once more, and he recognizes its immediate context: they are standing on a steep cliff in the heart of vast wilderness, wind scything across the territory and shaking the deep green canopy of a forest to the south. Rain blows down in torrents, whipping wet across visible skin as soon as they emerge. He shields his eyes against the onslaught of the storm.

Ahead are two figures, one of them Itachi himself, standing at the mountain's edge. He is dressed differently in this memory—a black cloak conceals most of his body emblazoned with red stylized clouds with a high collar. At Itachi's side is a towering man in a matching cloak, an impossibly large sword hoisted in hand, its blade wrapped in thick bandage. Draped over this weapon is an unconscious body.

The two appear to be having a conversation.

"Easy for you to say, since you don't know him," the taller man answers Itachi. "Well, I guess I was the one who insisted on going alone. Shall I take care of your objective for you as well?"

"Settle down, Kisame."

The two men turn, headed for the fringes of the treeline. The current Mirrorbound Itachi faces his companion and says dispassionately:] These memories seem to follow no real timeline. This one takes place several years after the last... I wonder if there's some way to manipulate that choice. Have you experienced anything else in other mirrors?

[supersoldier]

[A lifeforce. Different than materia, created by the lifeblood of his Planet, if what he was told is true. He wonders, vaguely, if circumstances would be different on Gaia — if Shinra might seek other entrepreneurial opportunities than slotting hungry reactors into the ground — if magic, if life essence, were to come from within rather than from the beating heart of the world.

A quiet thought for another time.

For now, this memory hits him like a literal storm. The wind yanks hard at his hair, whipping behind him, pulling at his scalp, until the rain soaks it through. Then it becomes heavy, pressing flat against the glossy-wet of his leather uniform, his bangs sticking to his face. A hand comes up to smooth wayward strands away, and Sephiroth, too, shields his eyes from the sheets of rain in the process.

Below are two figures, and through the rain's haze, it's only Sephiroth's harpy-eyes that reveal one as Itachi. He is dressed differently, but similarly to his much taller companion. And more interestingly, there's an unconscious body draped over an overlarge sword.

Itachi's question catches in his ears, and he glances at him with raindrops sluicing down the curve of his cheekbones.]

…I have. Training from my childhood to my adult years. The mundanity of [a hitch in his words, hiding a scoff] office work. Or the recollection of a mission amid a war. There's no rhyme or reason.

[The figures below head to the treeline, and it's hard to not glance back at them, to be curious. There is no harm in asking, and if Itachi wants to deflect it, he'll accede.]

Who is that man? The unconscious one.

[anbu]

[The answer makes it clear to him that puzzling for some meaning or direction is futile. He frowns, eyes turning away from Sephiroth, both of them now drenched — something he should perhaps apologize for if only he had some control over which memory they happened to walk into.]

... That man was a target of the organization I was allied with, at the time. [He doesn't mind surrendering this information as he turns and leads them back out.] His body stored the power of a creature called a tailed beast, living forms of chakra. It was meant to be harvested from him.

[Yet ignorant of Sephiroth's world, he can draw no comparisons or distinctions, but he speaks impassively on the fact of his own criminality. It isn't something he should hide. If it changes Sephiroth's perception of him, then it's deserved.

When they reenter, the scene is calmer, a warm sunny day on a narrow stone path. Itachi combs wet hair out of his face and passes his eye over the scene. Ahead is a gate, symbols of the Uchiha crest emblazoned across it. There is no one around, although the nearby sounds of a bustling village are audible.]

I believe, from here, I should go alone. Is that acceptable?