prince of the dark and the dead will walk / MEETING 11/11

[ROSEMARY]

[align=center]SHE LOST HER VOICE DOWN BY THE RIVER, SCREAMING FOR COURAGE

The witch stared at the angry lion, more surprised than anyone to see him lurch with the invisible blow of her own air slam. She hardly expected that to work, much less actually prevent the pharaoh’s strike. But the silver-haired male continued his egotistical rant; she saw him go for another blow, proclaiming himself a god. Rosemary’s eyes narrowed, her forked tail flicking behind her; she wanted to act with those fighting against his tyranny, but she couldn’t stand the thought of sending Eri to fight for her. And she knew, if she stepped forward, she would falter quickly.

Plainly, trying to stop him with air elementals failed. But Rosemary held a few other weapons up her sleeve. In the Typhoon, she tormented Caesar by subtly playing with his mind. She even tried to circumvent her mother’s insanity by using her mental manipulations to fix her mother’s mind – though that worked out poorly, that sour experience never stopped Rosemary from trying again.

Hurriedly, she tried to assemble a telepathic link between Sephiroth and herself – enough to allow her to view some of his emotions and him to tap into her surface feelings. If successful, he would be able to feel her uncertainty and desperation for peace. And her disgust at his current egotistical behavior, how he offered such a young sacrifice and thought bloodshed served the gods.

“Any man who must claim himself the leader is no true leader, can’t you see? You need their devotion, not their fear. You need their love.” Rosemary’s telepathic voice seemed distorted and warm, comprised more of emotion than words – and nearly unrecognizable from her true voice. “Why punish them for fearing your actions more than the Ardents? They loathe the sacrifices more than these weak gods - you're sacrificing people to gods weaker than yourself, for what end?” She tried to influence him through an angle that might take hold – while she clearly didn’t approve of his ego, she wasn’t going to try dismantling that now amidst all the chaos.