A Rose and its Clippers

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]Beatrix awoke from her short sleep and shot up quickly, brushing off the roses covering her and walked back over to her desk, ignoring the eye patch laying on her bed.

She sat down and looked over the name on the next packet. "Lilith Andres?" she called. "You may come in now."

Like with Sai she leaned back in her chair and folded her hands together and waited, her desk facing the door. "I invite you in."[/glow]

[Lilith]

she stepped through the threshold and stood on opposite the general.
"thank you... may I sit?"
she sniffed the air, the smell of roses was strong, they were perfectly grown and the smell was wonderful.
"your roses... they're..."
she searched for the right word but none came to mind.
she muttered a distant "nice... nice" repeating it in contemplation.
she shook her head "so... I suppose we should get started?"

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]Beatrix gave the woman a slight nod as she entered the room and smiled.

"Your kind only need be invited inside, Miss Andres. You may sit of your own volition. But yes, please. I'd like you to sit right here, across from me, if you will. I need your report and history. Tell me all about you, how you can be of use to us, and the likes."[/glow]

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail sighed as she got Agrias to bed, tucking her in tightly to make sure she was comfortable. When the woman told her to care for herself first, that she was fine, Abigail could only smile and shake her head a little. "It's in my nature to think of others first, sweetheart..." she said tiredly, exhausted from a terribly long day doing things she was not prepared for. She hadn't had much sleep since they picked her up in Gaia, and that was... gods, how long ago?

She leaned down and kissed the woman's forehead, wishing her pleasant dreams. She fell asleep quickly, which was a godsend. Abigail had no idea it was from a spell being placed on her, rather than pure exhaustion. "Sweet dreams, honey..." she whispered, then brushed a strand of hair out of her face, admiring her features even while she slept before walking over to a nearby chair.

She sat and sighed, looking over to Maara quickly before smiling. "It's okay. I've got an eye on her now. If you need anything, please let me know..." That was her dismissal, and when all was finally quiet, she relaxed in that chair. With a sigh, she closed her eyes, unable to stay awake.

She was asleep even as the petals fell...

[Lilith]

she sat on the nearby chair and crossed her legs.
"yes... my kind..." she thought for a moment
"okay... where do I start..."
she moved a hand to her chin scratched once and brought it back down, she took a deep breath.
"as you know, I am a vampire, I can run faster than you could imagine and I'm stronger than almost any human without the hindrance of increased weight, I'm an expert marksman with all firearms, but my preference are my pistols..."
she removed her pistols and set them on the desk in front of her.
"my senses are perfect, I can hear the slightest sounds from miles away in the right conditions, in the dark i can see every detail and in the light my sight is perfect if a bit... off at times, my sense of smell is better than any animal, except for werewolves, I can smell peoples emotions and moods, among other things, also if i drink a humans blood i obtain their memories and knowledge and lastly I can regenerate from most wounds fairly quickly, wounds caused by holy objects and light take a little longer."
she held up her hand, where she touched Agrias' armour, by now it looked like a minor burn.
"well.. that's the good stuff... and here's the inevitable, i cant go out in light and the hungrier i get the worse my abilities become, after that i go into a state of sheer blood lust, luckily I've worked out a system with Sai and as a moderately old vampire I have good control over myself."
she smiled at the general.
"that's about everything... i think"

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]"Uh-huh," said Beatrix, unfolding her hands and taking the pistols to examine them. She had always been rather interested in firearms since she first saw them, and was rather excited to have a master aboard. When she was satisfied she set them back down and glanced over to the vampire.

"So your abilities are born from your sickness, then? Much similar to a Heartless, though instead of bloodlust they seek the heart. Rather interesting, really. BlackHearted beings also posess these traits, though moderately less than a true Heartless." She sighed, and cracked her knuckles.

"I do hope, Miss Lilith, that your thirst will not be a problem aboard my ship, hm? A death in any of my crew by your hand will result in a three-on-one Holy crusade, is that understood? But anyways, I think this is satisfactory. You are free to roam about the ship once more. And lastly, do you think some time you could set aside an afternoon--or evening--to teach me to wield weapons such as yours?" She grinned, and stood up, a polite gesture.

"And do please call in Ximar if you see him. He's next on my list."[/glow]

[Lilith]

the pistols would feel unbelievably heavy and the length would make it feel awkward to use, no mere human could wield such a weapon.

her eyes squinted as she was compared to the lesser beings, but she paid no heed beyond that.
"I assure you that if I will not lose control, and if you wish to learn these wouldn't be the best starting weapon, I think I may have a few spare in my bike, I'm sure I can find that would suit you, so we could get started now... because Ximar wont be available... he died in battle..."
she turned her head and stood.
"thank you very much for your time, if you wish to learn to shoot we'll need a range..."

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]She chuckled, and shook her head. "I don't think tonight would be very good for training, as I have many things to do still before I sleep. And I will have a 'gun range' or whatever ready for...tomorrow night? Sound good?" She took Ximar's packet and folded it in half.

"Please, then, send in Lexia."[/glow]

[The Alexandrian Army]

Maara gave the white mage a small salute before turning to leave, until she noticed Abigail had fallen asleep on the chair. The soldier smiled, and walked over a moment to the cabinets to retrieve an extra set of sheets which she draped around the mage's body. While that happened, she caught a whiff of Roses, the General's preferred flower and she turned to see where it was coming from, until she saw falling petals over the Holy Knight's form.

The soldier sighed quietly, thinking it was cute. She shook her head, and turned to leave-- many duties have yet to be done... and she needed to tell the others what she witnessed!

Would the other Alexandrian soldiers have the same thoughts as her? Were Beatrix and Agrias finally.......? It was best to ask that question later...

[Sai]

Sai shook his head lightly at Daphne's concerns. Sitting upright, he pulled a first aid kit from one of his pockets and began to wrap his arm up as best he could (but doing it with only one hand is difficult). "A flesh wound at best..." he said calmly, somewhat thankful for the fact he didn't have a heart to get panicked and pump the blood so fast he couldn't preserve enough.

"The average humanoid form holds 10 pints of blood, but can operate on only 5. Judging from my dizziness, I'd assume I'd lost three at most. At four, nausia would set in, and I'd become too tired to move much..." he said in such a clinical way. He looked up slowly to Daphne, his eye dull... though from bloodloss or emotionlessness who knows.

"I have more information from the General..." he stated, then nodded to the book on the desk. "I gained three more notes, but I need to run a full-spectrum analysis on them. One is false, and it will obviously be the one that does not match the other two."

He tried to stand up, but wobbled lightly and sat back down a second later. "Alright... perhaps four."

[Agrias Oaks]

Why was it that, as of late, she found herself drifting into a dark abyss? Falling in a bottomless pool of blackness, with flashes of unwanted and hurting memories? Voices of her fallen comrades would echo her mistakes in the last battle against Ultima, the High Seraph, and the ones of this world. Ghostly whispers would prod and tease at her mind…

‘ Why were we so unfortunate?’

‘ Thoust should repent.’

‘ Ovelia is dead, Ovelia is dead.’

‘Long live king Delita… The fall of Ivalice is near…’

‘It is all your fault’ would be the last, and she would tense, drifting in place, as If in dark waters. The knight would find herself alone, and she would call out, only to have no voice, and no reply. She would float for what seemed hours, and the loneliness of it all began to consume her. Agrias would begin to cry, holding at her head, and pleading for forgiveness but there was none to give, none earned. The water around her, the zero gravity which she felt was gone, and she fell on her knees on a solid black marble surface. She grunted in pain, but stayed there, confused… she reached up to look at her hands to find them drenched in blood… she gasped, her eyes shrinking and her whole body shivering.

Footsteps were heard at her front, and she looked up to find the outlines of her comrades… and there, between her and them, was Her Majesty’s shadow.

“Queen Ovelia…” whispered the knight, looking up a her with a horrified look. The queen did not respond, “P-Pray tell, what is this…this blood…?” she would begin to cry again. No response, “Please answer me…!” and again, there would be no respond.

‘The Queen is Dead…’ spoke Meliadoul’s outline from behind the Queen.

‘ The Queen is Dead...’ Spoke Ramza next, standing at the Queen’s right.

“S-Stop it!!” Agrias shouted at them, lowering her head and holding at her stomach, feeling nauseous.

‘… We are all…dead…here.’ Spoke the Queen after a few moments, and this caused Agrias’ head to jolt up to see her again, ‘ All of us…’ light suddenly began to brighten the room, and where the outlines of her allies, along with Her Queen, stood would be replaced by bloody diseased bodies standing. Some of her comrades missing eyes, or jaws or arms and legs, and Ovelia, a skeleton with falling hair in a blood-stained dress, ‘… are dead, Agrias!!!’

Suddenly, all of the corpses roared in pain, and threw themselves over Agrias, their blood and melting flesh falling upon her own- she couldn’t breath, she tried to push them off, ‘’TIS ALL YOUR FAULT, MY TRUSTED KNIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!’ the princess voice was demonic as she spoke, before…

Agrias’ eyes snapped wide open, and she flinched a little. She didn’t scream or anything, she only gasped loudly, sitting again in an upright position in a cold sweat. She first inspected her hands, to see no blood on them, next she examined her surroundings, finding someone in the darkness...sleeping?

The knight shook her head, looking down to find herself covered in rose petals, which in the darkness…looked like… blood. The knight shivered, backing away from the beautiful petals before catching their aroma, trying to manually control herself, whispering that they were petals, her eyes unable to comprehend. Her heart beating faster and faster within that cavity in her chest.

The knight backed against the head of the bed, and kept her back against it, holding at her chest while she tried to calm down. She had gone paler as of late, and her eyes were a brown color, no longer her natural amber… she was missing her armor, a source that protected her from the darkness…and these were very much dark times for her. She relaxed a little there, or as much as she could, holding at her knees, and starring down at the petals before her... entranced.

[Abigail Crescentlight]

The white mage from Gaia gasped as she sat up. She had been having a dreamless sleep, but a horrible feeling of dread was creeping over her. Something was happening, something terrible... something tragic. She gripped at her own heart a moment before remembering where she was. The room... Agrias! She looked over to check on the woman, seeing that she was now wide awake, holding her legs and pressed against the head of the bed.

"Agrias?" she asked softly, standing up out of her chair and turning a nearby table lamp on. She walked closer and sat on the edge of the bed, reaching up to brush a little hair out of the woman's eyes. "Agrias, sweetheart, everything's okay. I'm here, alright? You were just having a nightmare..." She smiled softly, then looked at the bed. "Hm?"

She reached down and picked up a few rose petals. She held them lightly, confused. "When did these get here?" she asked herself, but soon sighed sadly. Oh right... Roses are her favorite... she thought, instantly knowing the whom and the why, but not the when. Looking to where she was just sitting, she noticed some bedsheets and assumed it had to have been around the same time they had arrived. She set the petals down, and forced herself to seem cheerful for Agrias' sake, though that feeling of loneliness was slowly growing overwhelming. For some reason, it was stronger now... but she couldn't understand why.

"Shhh..." she said to Agrias, placing a hand on the woman's own. "Don't worry... They're just dreams, and Cosmos teaches us that dreams can't hurt us... only teach us." She smiled softly, hoping that this bit of advice did some good... Cosmos usually brought peace where her name was mentioned, and Cosmos knows they could all use a little of that...

[Agrias Oaks]

"Don't worry... They're just dreams, and Cosmos teaches us that dreams can't hurt us... only teach us."

Agrias continued to be entranced by the blood red color of the rose petals, her eyes growing moist with tears as they streamed from them and down her cheeks. Her eyes slowly rolled over to meet with Abigail's blue hues, her own lost, and seeming in contempt.

"Teaches us of our terrible mistakes, then I've made plenty..." she whispered, her voice quivering under her breath, "...'Tis there a way... to ask forgiveness...? Can your Goddess grant forgiveness to this lowly knight?" She glanced down at the flowers, a blank, lost expression as she continued to speak,

"For her sins, and incompetency... for letting down her kingdom? Her country? Her Queen... can She, whom you speak of, forgive this undeserving Knight...?" her expression grew cold, and her grip upon her knees grew tightly, "Because I cannot fathom the idea of anyone being so merciful... not even my own God... I am simply a bottom feeder! A leech! A worthless Relic! An idiot to ever think I was a good tactician, when in the end the very weapon I bestowed to my Queen ended her life!"

"I know naught... of how to repent for this horrible sin..." Her grip loosened, " ... I am a lost lamb in need of guidance... Pray tell, Lady Abigail," she whispered, looking to the white priestess with a weak, defeated look, " Is thy Goddess so merciful, as to give this broken sword a path to follow...?"

[The Alexandrian Army]

"Here," said Daphne, eagerly moving closer to the Nobody to take over. "please let me help you. Tch, you can always trust a man to listen naught to a natural caretaker when they offer assistance." She smiled into his eyes, and helped him to her chair, where she continued his healing.

"You know, I've come up with some theories, as well, regarding HeartSteele. When the incident occurred, and we rushed from here to there, and went to the Lady Agrias' site of accident--the General's Cabin--I noticed the armor as Lady Abigail removed it. I think--not too sure--but I am thinking it might also be HeartSteele craft. Ah, there. All done!"

She patted Sai on the shoulder and opened the file she'd saved and had her companion look this over. "Some compiled notes, and oh yes! You said Miss Beatrix showed you her Keyblade Notes? And a fake among their lot! How fascinating! We should get to work straight away!"

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Sylvia took a while to reach Beatrix' suite; she'd stopped at the kitchens and grabbed a bite to eat, but also ended up falling asleep. She beat herself up for it afterward, and hastily pressed on with her mission. When she arrived at the door she knocked, but opened the door and walked in without response.

Saluting, she called out: "General Beatrix, Commander Ellis requests that Your Excellency takes over the helm for fear we crash due to her incompe--" and then she noticed Beatrix had company. "Er--forgive me, General; I did not know you were seeing the new crew members so soon. I had been warned of your...injury some time ago, but heard you might still be able to pilot for us..."

She bowed low, and nodded respectfully to Lilith. "Forgive me, ma'am. General. I, um...should, uh..." she noticed the look in Beatrix' eye and jumped. "That's right! I shall inform Ellis you will be there as soon as possible then! Ha..."

The young lady ran off, fearing retribution for the intrusion later on.

[Sai]

Sai watched as the woman bound his arm, his eye betraying no feeling one way or the other regarding her actions, though he did offer a polite "Thank you..." when she was done. He flexed his hand twice to make sure it would be functional, and when satisfied, looked to Daphne again.

"I doubt very highly that the armor is HeartSteele in origin. You see, the properties of HeartSteele include that it is reactive to the person who owns it, much in the way that Miss Agrias and Miss Beatrix's swords respond to their hearts' desires. Often, they'll be reactive to one another, if they share a common point of origin. Miss Agrias' armor, however, does not react in a way that indicates such sophistication. I believe it is simply a mythril contruct that has been blessed, hence the presence of runes along the edges. I didn't get a very good look at it when I was in the office, so I can't pinpoint the origins of the runes, but I did notice them. That explains its inability to be removed by any other than Miss Abigail, who possesses a connection to the Church. Finally, the armor is adorned with the royal seal, a protective charm that's survived the ages. Even the most recent Keyblade Master wears a small charm around his neck bearing its likeness..."

Sai stopped a moment, then turned to the desk. He opened the book and spread out the notes he just gathered, and added to them the notes he had. Quickly, he wrote down what he remembered of Notes 4. In total, he had 5 keyblade notes, one of which was false and another of which was a copy. He sat back, crossing his arms a moment as he considered this. "That leaves eight..." he noted, then looked to Daphne. "Where do you keep your equipment for spectral analysis? Certain wavelengths of light should indicate which of these notes has the freshest ink. That one will be our forgery."