Kismet [Jericho]

[Aerith]

If I don't find a challenge soon, I'm going to flounder in boredom.
--------
[For reference: Kismet]

After a few days of riding around the Sea of Stars with no one but Lulu for company, Ethan was ready for some different interaction. During that time, however, he had managed to discover her fascination with the color red, especially when she refused to leave several important buttons on the control panel alone until he had found a few scraps of red cloth to entertain her.

He had landed on Radiant Garden and left the ship to wander the streets. Lulu, he had allowed to wander off on her own, and luckily, she had been quickly distracted by all the sights and smells of the town. There were considerably more people here than on Destiny Islands, so she should be entertained for a while. He didn't relax his gait into a more casual stroll until he was sure he had given her the slip.

Radiant Garden was the polar opposite of places like Traverse Town and Port Royal. Even with the amount of destruction present, it still had generally cheerful and upbeat vibes.

Ethan had heard rumors about what had happened to this place. Something about a single man showing up and laying waste to the marketplace. Whether it was true or not, it was always good to keep something like that in mind.

As usual, he had several ideas running through his mind on how to start a little chaos. And he might eventually act on one of two of those. He had been idle for far too long.

For now, he found himself in the Bailey, looking out at the view. The isolation was nice, the air much more breathable up here, away from all the humanity below. Moments like these made him feel simultaneously ecstatic and lonely. Ecstatic, because he didn't have to associate with fools. Lonely, because the one he wanted to share these moments with was gone.

He leaned his shoulder against the wall next to the large hole that opened onto the view and sighed.

So many ants. Just mere ants. Burning them with a magnifying glass is nothing but child's play. Although, their screams make it worth the little bit of effort required in the end.

[Slash]

Might as well explore.

[/center]

Nadia was still recovering. Jericho really did want to be there more, but he was growing increasingly restless. He was a nomad at heart, constantly drifting from one world to another, and being stuck so long on this one made it feel more and more like a prison. Predis was looking after her, anyway.

The Bailey, was this? It was quite isolated from the rest of the town. Jericho meant to go past it and explore the stone labyrinth outside of the town limits, but the presence of a man stopped him.

There was something different about this guy, and it wasn't just that his closest connection was to a dead girl. No, there was something else to him. Something unnaturally comforting. Besides, Jericho could see his emotions. Hatred was a fire that disfigured his face.

"Enjoying the sights?" he asked warily, slightly interested.

[Aerith]

Hm? Company? Well, all right... for now.
--------

Ethan had heard the approaching footsteps well before the body attached to the sound came into view. People here? Mmf. Maybe whoever it was would just pass through.

Oh? Just one person--a very tall one at that, even taller than Ethan himself--showed up. Other than the abnormal height, he looked as ordinary as any other person Ethan had ever seen. There was something about him, though. Ethan was no mind reader, but body language could tell a lot about a person. And this one was confident. Perhaps he was self-aware, like Ethan was.

The man had stopped and spoken to him. Well, he had been looking for some interaction aside from the crazy woman.

"Yes. Though, I'm mostly here for the isolation. Not many people bother to come up here." He resisted the urge to give the man a look that said to get the hell out.

No, he would talk for a while. No harm in doing that. "My name is Ethan Hargrave. I'm only passing through. You live here?"

[Slash]

Interesting.

[/center]

He-Ethan- was an interesting man. Jericho decided to take a chance and be up front for once. If his guess was right, then it would lead to a nice conversation. If not, then they could fight and Jericho could go off and talk to Sephiroth again.

"Live here?" He laughed. "No. I don't live anywhere. Why would I bother confining myself to living with the rest of the scum?"

It was a rhetorical question, and he shrugged. "Not that I'm much better, of course, but that doesn't mean I like dealing with the rest of them. And you?"

Jericho watched Ethan with an appraising eye.

[Aerith]

An actual conversation? Uncensored? How intriguing.
--------

The man failed to give his name. Oh, but what he said instead instantly earned him Ethan's forgiveness. It was almost too good to be true. Further talk was necessary before he would start making large assumptions, though.

Even after the man had finished, Ethan remained silent and shifted his eyes back out to the view. Slowly, a smile spread across his face. "Ah. I see. You know not to waste your time with the rabble. They're only useful as tools, only vermin running themselves ragged in cages they think will bring them happiness."

He returned his gaze to the man and smiled a little wider. "How very wrong they are, yes?"

He noted that the man did not claim to be better than everyone else. That was good. Had he done so, Ethan would have dismissed the rest of the conversation as pointless.

"Happiness is such a fleeting thing, and more often than not, they end up tearing it away from each other out of envy. Like emotional cannibals." For once, he felt he didn't have to be careful about disguising the disgust in his voice.

[Slash]

I was right.

[/center]

So Ethan was of a similar mindset. That was quite good to know. He recited small parts of Jericho's own beliefs, albeit in a slightly more archaic language.

"True," he said, before adding, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ethan. My name is Jericho."

He smiled. "Well, they're not only tools. They can be quite amusing when used in a certain way. But that depends on a certain preference- whether one would rather kill them or break them first. I am of the latter mindset."

[Aerith]

I don't believe I have been this overjoyed in a long time.
--------

At last. A name. "The pleasure is mutual, Jericho. I was beginning to think there were none who did not live in ignorance."

This was a fortuitous meeting, indeed. Ethan could hardly contain his delight, but contain it, he did. Even in the presence of such like-minded company, he would maintain a semblance of decorum.

"Of course. Breaking is the more satisfying venture. The slower, the better. I always try to enlighten people as to what they really are before ending their miserable lives. Otherwise, they might never stumble out of the fog of their delusions and continue believing that they're mostly good and decent people who would never harm another. Secretly, they kill just as much as we do. Perhaps not in quite the same ways, but it is murder, nonetheless."

[Slash]

Sephiroth, Nadia, Predis, and now Ethan...I'm making a lot of friends lately.

[/center]

"It's quite pathetic, really. And the way they deal with it when they actually do realize what they are...I guess that's what seperates us from them. The way we take that knowledge. I mean, I can handle it. You seem to be doing all right with it. But most people just crack."

It was nice, talking to someone who had reached the same conclusions he had of his own accord. He still slightly preferred the advancing corruption he could acutely sense in Nadia's conversation, but this ran a close second. Had he gone through something similar? Something, probably the connection to the dead girl, told him that Ethan had.

Ah, Nadia. Perhaps Ethan would like to hear about her? It would be nice for the two to meet.

"Occasionally, to break up the monotony further I try an experiment or two. I'm in the middle of a big one now. Her name is Nadia, and when I met her she was your usual optimist- hopelessly naive and firmly suited in the belief that all people are essentially decent. She's recovering from a serious injury right now, one she got while killing her family." Jericho looked at the horizon, smiling. "Hard to believe I've only had her for a bit more than a week. Now I just need to show her how to break someone. It's the most fun I've had in a while."

[Aerith]

Is this the beginning of what you might call friendship?
--------

"They crack because they deceive themselves into thinking they are pure, when in reality, they hide such sick and twisted things beneath a veneer of politeness and pleasantries. They push aside any notions that they could be as terrible as the worst criminals, and when they are at last forced to look at themselves in the mirror, they are unable to accept what they find. The mind then destroys itself, finding oblivion a better option than admitting to deeply-entrenched unrighteousness."

Ethan was thoroughly enjoying himself. It was so liberating to voice his thoughts without first considering what he was going to say. He did not need to fear Jericho's revulsion or indignation. He would not have to kill him or leave this world before he himself was killed.

As Jericho began to relate his latest activities, Ethan listened with rapt attention. He had never considered the possibility of corrupting someone and keeping that person around. Usually, he broke people, allowed them enough time to wallow in despair, and then killed them in whatever way satisfied him at the time.

One particular detail caught his interest, and he looked at Jericho with genuine surprise. "You mean to tell me that you convinced her to kill her family within a week of first meeting her? I must say, I am very impressed."

To have the acquaintance of someone so skilled in manipulation could mean nothing but good things for Ethan. Strangely enough, though, this was the first time he had come across someone and had not immediately thought of him or her as a mere piece in the game.

Could I have finally found an equal? How marvelous.

[Slash]

I have a few talents that helped me along, of course...

[/center]

Jericho shrugged modestly. "They had exiled her. Poor thing hoped that they would take her back someday, but a quick trip to them proved otherwise. Besides, I have a few skills that helped."

He paused for a bit. Maybe it would be possible to teach...? That would be interesting. Ethan would certainly make good use of the skills, and even if he didn't quite grasp it he'd still learn something else.

If Nadia had been a blank canvas, Ethan was a masterpiece by a seperate artist that just needed a few details to make it perfect.

"I can read emotions and amplify one already there to the point where it consumes the person's brain, nullify it to nothing, or anything in between. By just looking at a person, I can tell who they are most connected to. And the one thing I can't do- create emotion where there is none- is still a problem. But I've been working on that. I think I'm close to figuring it out."

He had been thinking about it recently. While it would take too much strength to create emotion with no basis to go off of, he had been considering the possibility of using the template of his mind...

"I could try to show you how, but it's tough. I've been at it for around 14 years and I've still only cracked the surface."

[Aerith]

Let us trade secrets.
--------

"I see. Still, even with all the best circumstances, it takes someone skilled to successfully accomplish such a turn. I simply must tip my hat to someone of that caliber." And he literally did tip his hat.

More interesting facts followed. It seemed that Jericho was in possession of several helpful abilities that could get him to such an end. They were, in a way, in the same vein as Ethan's own little trick to get people to trust him.

And here Jericho was, offering to teach him something. Ethan certainly had no objections to learning new things, especially if said things could make breaking people all the easier.

"You would pass along a little of your technique? Actually, it sounds a little similar to something I can do. Although, your abilities sound more active than mine. Essentially, I've developed an aura which will make anyone within its area of effect trust me. Or at least, they will relax around me. It is quite useful."

[Slash]

You have a few tricks, too?

[/center]

Jericho's eyes widened a bit. So that's what it had been. He knew that there had been something off about this man's presence. It had developed of its own accord, perhaps?

"Interesting, interesting. But before I try to pass on anything, there's...it's just, I have to get this right, it's been bothering me for a while now...hm. Give me a second. I'm going to try something, don't be alarmed, it's nothing serious. It's jsut really bothering me."

That whole 'creating emotions' business was now on the forefront of his mind, and he had just developed a wonderful idea.

But first...

Jericho delved deep into old memories, Carter memories, and dug up the more depressing ones. There was the family, of course, but that one was a little distant. Oh, his brother. That was more recent. He'd use that one.

He worried away at it until beginning to feel the first inklings of a detached sadness. It was quite a little amount, but it would do. He hooked onto this and tried to broadcast it out in the same way he did with Amplification, reaching out to Ethan's mind.

"Do you feel anything?"

[Jericho used Empathy]

[Aerith]

That seems very useful.
--------

He did indeed feel a little something. Sadness. Though, that emotion was no stranger to him, and what he was feeling now was a tiny fraction of the usual degree he experienced. Part of him wondered if this was simply the residue of his own emotions from earlier. That was always likely.

However, he didn't think that was true, in this case.

"Why, yes. I do feel something, in fact. Just the barest hint of sadness, but I'm fairly certain it doesn't belong to me."

[Slash]

Good!

[/center]

"It worked?" Jericho brightened up immediately. "It worked! Good, very good. Although it's still a little rough, and I need to...I knew that was a good idea..."

He remembered where he was and calmed down. "Sorry about that. I wanted to see if I could get around my inability to create emotions in others by using my mind as a template. Although I don't think I could amplify the emotions while doing that, since it's hard to just concentrate on that on its own..."

Such a good discovery. He'd have to work on that one.

"I'd teach you how to do that, but you'd need to know the basics of how it operates before getting the specifics."

[Aerith]

Sign me up.
--------

Ethan laughed at Jericho's excitement. It was refreshing, to say the least. Too many people out there had lost that spark, which did nothing to improve them in Ethan's eyes.

"Glad I was able to help in this discovery. The idea of learning such a trick does interest me greatly. How would you teach me, though?"

From the sound of it, the process might be very extensive and require considerable concentration. The Bailey might not be the best place for such training. A place where there would be no chance of being disturbed by people would be ideal.

It would be ideal if Lulu wasn't there, as well.