Paine VS Sephiroth, A sign of the Apocalypse

[Paine]

The Thunder Plataeu is a vast area where a perpetual storm carries on in the skies. Though the lightning towers scattered throughout its expanse were fixed and functional, stray lightning bolts have still been known to hit the ground without warning. Between this threat and the perpetual rain, most people opt to take other routes to get to their destinations.

---

Paine leaned against one of the pillars holding up a canopy against one of the rock walls, eyes scanning the darkened sky. Lightning bolts were striking the ground more than usual. She looked down at her sword, adjusting her grip on its hilt.

I guess I'll have to factor that into my strategy, she mused as she waited expectantly for her opponent to arrive.

[Sephiroth]

Sephiroth walked across the unfamiliar plain. This could be difficult, he mused as he looked at the sky. He could see why "Thunder" was included in the name of the place. Waving a long bit of steel around might not be wisest thing he could do here, but unfortunately Masamune was the only weapon he had thought to bring.

He slowed as he saw the woman near one of the towers, which he understood functioned as lightning rods of sorts. He took Masamune off his back, but left it in the sheath for now.

"So ..." he said when he got close enough to be heard. "You're the one who wishes to fight." He looked her over. She looked like a non-nonsense type.

[Paine]

Paine looked up at the voice, eyebrows raised as she looked him over. She noticed that he used a sword as well, though a completely different kind. Though it wasn't drawn, she could see the length of the blade. It looked really cumbersome, but at the same time, who would use a weapon that they couldn't master?

"Are you accepting my challenge?" She questioned as she straightened her posture. She could tell he towered over her even from the short distance between them.

[Sephiroth]

"... Yes." There was not too much else to be said. Sephiroth set his left hand on the sheath, slowly drawing Masamune out. Although, I wonder ...

"Why do you fight?" Lightning struck the tower about them, and a second later a bolt hit the ground some distance behind Sephiroth, so that for a minute he was just a black silhouette.

[Paine]

Paine moved her sword so the blunt side of the blade rested on her shoulder. Her free hand was settled on her hip.

Why do I fight? This guy didn't really strike me as the type who would carry out philosophical discussions before a fight...

"For the same reason that any Spiran would fight. To maintain order and peace in the world," she answered simply.

"Why do you fight?"

[Sephiroth]

"... You issued the challenge." Sephiroth took the hilt in both hands. He lifted the blade as the materia in his wristband flashed, casting Wall on himself. "However, if you are curious ... there is nothing left to me. Even my humanity was taken from me ... I was created to fight. So I fight."

And someday create my own world ... but she needn't know that.

[Paine]

Paine nodded at his answer. It was matter-of-fact, and for some reason, she believed him when he said he was created for the sole purpose of fighting. Something about him struck her as unnatural.

She noticed the brief flash of some sort of magical item from Sephiroth. It was probably along the same lines as how she obtained abilities from her garment grid.

He seems to be ready for a fight. No reason to disappoint him, she thought as a slight gust swirled around her, the energy from it transferring to her sword.

Her first order of business would be breaking his Wall spell, since she had no other means of getting rid of it.

"Then, let's begin."

Her Excalibur ability flared and surged around her sword, the energy forming into an almost solid white glow against the blade of her sword as she charged him, side-stepping to clear his weapon's immediate path and slashing upward so her blade would hopefully meet his side.

[Sephiroth]

Seeing her about to attack, he lifted Masamune so that it stretched out in front of him, pointing straight at Paine. When she sidesteppe, he turned, bringing Masamune around to deflect her blow. However, it did not go as planned. The power of the Excalibur attack shocked through the blade and into his arms, effectively nullifying the counter. Without Wall, it might have have knocked Masamune from his hands.

Sephiroth stepped back to maintain his balance, still on the defensive.

[Paine]

"Hmm," she voiced as she felt the slight shock in her arms from the clash of swords. Her Excalibur attack was her most powerful, but also was the most uncomfortable.

She briefly let her blade slide against the Masamune's before she pivoted and used the momentum from her turn to propel her sword at her opponent once again, this time aiming for his back.

[Sephiroth]

((Noting that "Wall" isn't like Azul's Barrier in DoC; you don't "break" it. It's just there until it wears off.))

"Not bad."

Sephiroth pivoted as she did. However, rather than trying to block or parry her attack he leapt backward, out of the range of her shorter weapon. At the same time he switched to a one-handed grip, slahing Masamune from left to right at the level of her neck.

Now the tower was behind him. That was good; as long as he was under the canopy, he would not be afraid of lightning.