The Darkest Day

[General Beatrix]

"After all that I've done..." she whispered, still staring down at Agrias, her eye still wet with tears, a frown wrinkling her cheeks. "I will do all that I can to assist her in her hours of need, Lady Abigail, and trust that you will do right by us in the future."

She leaned down to Agrias' face, considering giving the woman a gentle kiss on the forehead and paused, inching back as if she were repulsed, moving her hand up before her lips and turning her head. Here she lost control of her tears and, as her body began shaking, she stood up, staggering, and backed up.

"I...don't deserve to be in her presence right now, Lady Abigail!" she cried, turning to leave. She stopped only momentarily, her hands balled into fists as she fought back the urge to break down screaming and wailing. "Princess Belle is...in the library, in a special machine devised for siphoning energy...you might wish to rescue her..." she reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a small pin, dropping it on the floor. "This seal will allow you control of the soldiers...they will listen to someone bearing that pin. Tell them my campaign is over and that we will be pulling away from this place as soon as reparations are finished..."

She began walking again and, as she passed the corner she collected her sword, sheathing it away and moving Agrias' blade and Abby's staff into view of the White Mage before disappearing down the corridors and into the depths castle to be alone.

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail looked to Beatrix as she attempted to leave, and frowned. Was she really the only one that knew how to act like an adult around here? She sighed, then took off after her, scooping up the pin as she ran. She caught up quickly, grabbing the woman's shoulder to stop her and turn her around gently. She looked right into the woman's eyes as she spoke.

"Beatrix... I know it's hard right now, but for the time being, you need to put your personal hurt aside. I have a lot of work to do, and I can't just leave Agrias alone." She sighed, then looked down to pick up her staff and Agrias' sword. She held her staff upright, but held the sword to Beatrix.

"She needs you right now more than you need to face yourself. And a good general knows when duty takes priority over personal problems..." she made sure Beatrix had the sword in her hands before she'd let go. She put a hand on Beatrix's back and gently guided her back the way she came.

"Now, as I said, I have work to do. You're needed in that room, Beatrix, even if you don't think you can do it." With that, Abigail slipped the pin into place and nodded to her. "I'll be back soon." she said, then turned toward the library.

She found it pretty easily. Thank COSMOS the soldiers hadn't activated the machine! "You there! Let the princess out and dismantle this monstrosity!" she demanded. The soldier was about to protest, but she held her pin up into view, and that settled that. They immediately set to work. While they did that, Abigail ran outside to the battlefield outside.

"Oh wow... you're in bad shape..." she said to Prince Adam, stopping him from moving and having him lay down. "Stay still..." she prompted, and set about healing him. She'd have to use up almost all her MP, but soon, he'd be at 100%. She sighed, then nodded to Vivi and Lexia and began walking off tiredly. She was exhausted, having completely depleted her MP twice over in the span of maybe 30 minutes. You would be too.

"Someone... tell the people in the ship that we're going to clean up this mess then be underway?" she asked a passing soldier, then sat down on the still-wet stairs, too tired to really get moving much more. "Whew... I need a warm bed and like a ga-jillion hours of sleep..."

[Lilith]

Lilith watched the white mage doing what she does best.
the vampire seem to appear next to Abigail on the stairs.

she put her arms on her knees and linked her fingers under her chin, Lilith stared off into the distance, the acid on her arms was losing the battle against her healing.
out of the silence the vampire remarked "thank you... you were... good"
Lilith stared up at the stars contented to be back under the veil of night once more.

[Agrias Oaks]

Agrias was too tired to even dream anything at this point. Her body was sore, her heart exhausted, and her mind conscious though body was inoperative a bit later. She felt the cold, wet ground beneath her, but she could do nothing about it, not even whimper. Her body was strained and refused to even shiver, or communicate; a type of paralysis brought by tiredness.

'...What... happened....?' echoed through the knight's mind.

She could hear distant voices, one of the General and that of The White Mage... her eyes still refused to open.

'Lady Abigail.... she is back? ...thank goodness... my... she sounds healthy..... Good...' she thought again, her mind pausing a little, ' Lady Beatrix is with her...? ... What is going on...?'

She could hear them speaking again, but the voices were too muffled to make out what they spoke about. She could feel their steps being carried by the stone floor beneath her, vibrating a little as they moved about.

'Can...anyone hear me...? ... is everything alright...? ... was it all just a horrible dream...? ...' echoed her thoughts before they silenced, '...no... twas naught a dream... I remember too clearly... the pain was too clear... twas real... all of it. Still, they speak as if the storm has passed... has it...?... Nay, I cannot move... my body is against me... yet... I am alive...'

Agrias continued to feel the soft vibrations of stone, and hear the muffled sounds around her. She also felt the dry wetness beneath her, and around her, since her dress was once white, now an iron red, every bit of it.

'... and for a moment... I saw them... my fallen comrades... The Lady Ovelia...' she paused, 'They seemed at peace... and they seemed happy to cast eyes upon me yet again... I finally felt I belonged, and yet... ... I am here... ... Was it truly not my time?'

A bit more muffling...

'...Lady Beatrix... sounds so sad... her hand I felt, I believe'

...

...

'...And again...! Now another.... ... Lady Abigail... all together.'

Her body remained unresponsive, refusing to work at this time.

'D-damn... move.... move... Lady Beatrix, halt!'

The knight felt she was being left alone, and she could do nothing. The small steps of Lady Abigail had left, possibly to tend to the others. To Nexus, whom she last saw fall... what if the others were injured as well? As for Beatrix, was she to leave to help as well...? The knight in a futile attempt tried to move, but it only seemed as if she was moving in her sleep, only rustling momentarily.

'D-don't..... please... Nay... nay, I wish naught to be left this way...! Nay...! Leave me naught alone... please...!'

[Acteur de la Noir]

Acteur de la Noir listened in silence, taking in the story that Sarah revealed to him. "Feeling" those slender arms wrapped so willingly around the lanky, artificial body that was hidden beneath his elegant clothing. Hearing those tearful words of acceptance, from someone who remained in the Light, however faintly. But, most important of all, realizing that this lonely musician--this talented, brilliant, and innocent woman--knew what he was. Knew...and didn't care. Even knowing that he was an inhuman creature--and that following him into the darkness would mean losing herself--Sarah Appleton was accepting him. Opening her heart to him. Seeing him as more than a mere monster.

To be accepted so by his fellow Heartless, like lord Atticus? T'was a given, certainly. But for someone from the world of Light to treat him so? To...was it possible...love him?? It was beyond anything that Acteur de la Noir had expected.

There was an endless moment of silence...silence in which, of their own accord, those thin, gloved fingers traced a path across Sarah's back and shoulders. Then, slowly, the enigmatic puppeteer gently separated himself from the hug, stepping backward so he could regard the lonely musician. And, while the crescent-wide smile on his mask remained unchanged, there was something else flickering in those eerie yellow orbs--the eyes which betrayed such intelligence, despite their inhuman nature. An emotion undefinable, yet quite potent. Then the puppeteer's hand rose to his mask, those bony fingers pressing against the pale white porcelain and pulling slightly His other hand rose to the brim of his hat, fingers grasping the brim and tipping it backward.

"How kind of you to say this, cherie," Acteur mused, every word carrying the undertone of one who was laughing at himself. "But do you know what I am, truly? Watch closely, cherie...and understand that this is not something I reveal lightly..."

With those words, Acteur de la Noir gave a sharp jerk of the wrist, plucking off his mask and hat at the same time. As he held the two accessories out to the sides, his mane of tangled silver-gray hair came spilling down around his head...and his visage was revealed for the first time. Or rather, where a normal person's visage ought to have been. Instead, there was a blank, wooden expanse--the face and head of a life-sized mannequin, with none of the features of a human being. Well, not completely--a creeping aura of blackness had spread across the wooden figure, coiling in the joints of the neck and surely vanishing beneath his fancy attire to embrace the rest of the body. They also coalesced around the face...particularly where the eyes ought to have been. In the depths of those shadows, those familiar ghostly yellow eyes glowed. And, if she hadn't noticed it before, Sarah might surely be able to see the resemblance, now--the resemblance between Acteur's eyes, and those of the creatures who attacked her home.

"This is what I am," the puppet-turned-puppeteer declared, his voice carrying a tone rather akin to melancholy. "A puppet given life by the shadows--an amalgamation of performance and imagination, with never a true life of its own before the darkness took hold. The very same darkness that set you on your journey.” A pause. “Yes…the Heartless. We who have no Hearts of our own, drawn by instinct to feed on the light which we lack. I, too, can be counted among their number...though thankfully, I am no slave to instinct, as the lesser of my brethren are.” Acteur paused again, his gleaming yellow eyes finding Sarah’s. “For which I am thankful…otherwise, I could not appreciate one as unique as you—you, who have not been frightened by the darkness as so many others have, simply because it is dark. You, who can see the beauty that lies beyond the fear and unknown of the night. You, whose heart has floated gracefully between Light and Dark, maintaining its true form despite those conflicting forces. Yours is one of the most exquisite and wondrous Hearts I’ve ever seen…a rare thing, which many Heartless would pursue.”

Acteur de la Noir stopped here, returning his mask to his face…and, when his hand lowered, the expression on those porcelain features reflected the emotion that was present in his voice and eyes—sincerity. “And yet, if you were to lose your Heart, it would mean losing a unique and wonderful person—a person born of the Light, who can appreciate the beauty hidden in the Darkness. One of the relative few among the Light who truly deserves the Heart they’ve been given.” The Heartless puppeteer paused, a soft chuckle escaping his mask’s mouth. “Oui, indeed…the Heart is a precious, valuable thing. And if you were to lose it, it would surely strip you of all that makes you wonderful. Your talent as a musician, your remarkable outlook on the dichotomy of Light and Dark, your innocence…all of it, forever lost.”

Acteur de la Noir held his hat to his breast, those eerie-yet-expressive yellow eyes holding Sarah Appleton’s pools with both theatricality and sincerity. “Think of me what you will, Cherie,” he stated, “But I would not take your Heart—you need not become one of us. To me, you are exquisite, entertaining, and wondrous…just as you are, now.”

[serpentoflore]

One might expect Sarah to freak out or become angry at the revelation of Acteur not only being a heartless puppet, but part of the force that had created her dilemma. Yet, his speech and actions had done something rather different. Rather than fearing him and becoming angry at this revelation, she found herself understanding something important. She wouldn't have even met Acteur if she had stayed on that Hawaiian beach. Her potential and ability to understand the darkness would never have happened.

One of Sarah's gloved hands lifted. She removed the black cloth, placing one hand to Acteur's mask. The familiar material was something she had never really understood. "I was never on the side of darkness or light." She spoke, smiling as she gently moved the bare hand over the curves of the mask. "I am always on your side and only yours. Even if you may be something that isn't supposed to exist with someone such as I." Her eyes became warm, smiling though part of her was still afraid of what would happen if she didn't choose the light or dark path.

"I understand that you feel that if I lose my heart that I will lose myself." She could feel tears still running down her cheeks. "If I don't choose I may lose you too. I just don't want to lose the one person I love. I don't care if they're not human or they're supposed to be my enemy." A sob let out, her mind still coherent despite the tremendous stress she had been under. "Why...is it that I have to choose between the two? I don't... I don't want to lose you, but I don't want to lose myself either..." Her bare hand dropped, the gloved one tightening on the black fabric.

Her face remained looking at his, her body looking as if it would shatter as if she were touched by anything but Acteur at the moment. The tears kept flowing as if the very thought she had to choose between the two was a punishment in itself. "I'll create my own path and see what awaits me. I just want you to be beside me for as long as you can be." Despite her vulnerable appearance, there was a confidence she had never really felt before surfacing. Her piccolo beginning to turn gray for a few moments. "All I really want is to be with you." A single thread seemed to be at stake. Sarah's words creating it and Acteur's sealing the deal.

[General Beatrix]

Beatrix did as Abigail had said and repositioned herself before Agrias, where she sat on her knees before the woman, praying her heart out for all the forgiveness in the world--though she knew by this point it was impossible--and thought of this place as...unfitting, for a broken knight.

Looking around she carefully, delicately scooped Agrias up into her arms and held her close, whispering affirmations that she would be all right in due time. As she carried the Holy Knight to her personal chambers, she thought about what would happen when Agrias was able to talk again. Would she tell Beatrix to leave? Would she seek revenge?

She lay the woman down gently on the rose-covered bed and dragged over a chair to her beloved's bedside, sat, and folded her hands together below her chin while she waited.

"...Pray Cosmos, set her free of my evil..."

[Agrias Oaks]

'... I smell... roses... the scent of her...' Thought the knight feeling a new sensation under her. Air. She was feeling a soft breeze, being moved. Agrias breathed in the aroma, trying to communicate that she could sense Beatrix.

'... Beatrix... are you there?' she tried to speak, only to fail once more. She now felt softness underneath, and the scent was everywhere. '... on the Red Rose again... Art'thou ....back again?'

The knight tried to move, and tried to struggle against her sore body, but was not able to move at all. She began to think that smaller actions needed to be done. With a tired state, she pried her eyes open with willpower, or the little willpower she had. Her pupils failing to transmit much light to her sensors allowed her to see only large blurs at first, until they sharpened a little.

Her eyes remained half closed as they looked upon the room tiredly, "..." her vocal cords were strained from all the screaming; no sound was able to come out, just breathing. It was then when her eyes set upon the chestnut blur, "..."

'Lady Beatrix... ar'thou freed?' If she could not communicate with her body, or tongue, she had to do the next best thing: Talking with eyes, and expressions. The first one she did was one of surprise, blinking a little.

'T'is the Red Rose...' she tried to communicate. 'Thine room...?'

Agrias could feel her dress still, the one covered in blood, and she gave a little look of worry, '...your sheets... they'll be ruined...' she wheezed a little.

[General Beatrix]

When Agrias' eyes opened, even just a smidge, Beatrix' widened fast and she sat up, leaning back somewhat in her chair, her hands now clutching the sides for support as she did; she looked upon Agrias with shock to see her awake, as well as in horror of what she might think, seeing the general sitting before her.

"A-Agrias!" she exclaimed, and moved back in close to the woman, pressing a hand gingerly to her forehead. "You're...awake..." she smiled, and sat back once more. "I am...glad."

She folded her hands dutifully and sat there a moment, her eye wandering about to look at anything other than the knight. "Is there...anything you require? As you can see I brought you aboard the Rose...I didn't think it would be okay keeping you in the castle...I've got matters to settle back there and...well...anyway...are you all right now?"

[Leckseeuh]

Sometime admidst all of this, Lexia had been wandering since the fight had ended. She walked past the pool of poison that had since dried up, killing the grass and plants that once grew there. She furrowedher eyebrows and walked past it, making a mental note to remember that one spell.

She kneeled in front of the Prince, stroking his hair and watching the state he was in. Don't worry, hun, I'm sure you'll be fine. Abby is the best at these things. She said, nodding to Abigail as she walked off. If you need anything, please tell me. She smiled, standing up and wiping off her knees of the dirt and grass from the ground. The girl looked at her weapon and nodded, whispering a small goodye as it disappeared on contact.

Alright, Shortie, what to do? She mumbled, poking Vivi's mage's hat and giggling. It's nice outside. She said, looking at the sky and the stars beginning to puncture the dark.

[Vivi]

A bit shaken, Vivi dropped his staff after some time of just staring simply at the beast transformed; he fell on his rump and convulsed, his hat trembling violently, his glowing yellow eyes moving together in rapid succession.

Bringing up his hands, they too shook and he stared at the dirty brown gloves, wondering at the fact his magic could very nearly have murdered an innocent prince.

"I..." he started, but could find no air to continue speaking. He sat there for another minute or so before tilting his head to Lexia, and all she would see would be the darkness and those mournful golden orbs peering, seemingly, into her very soul for answers. He found none, obviously, as he stood up silently, picked up his staff and walked away, the staff acting as a support as he shook his head, apparently muttering soundlessly to himself.

[The Alexandrian Army]

"What?"

"Yeah!" proclaimed one of the soldiers as they moved to return a stack of books from one table to their respective shelves. "The siege is over, and apparently everything is back to normal with the general!"

"How do you come to figure?" asked Nadia, who was hard at work unbuckling the fastening bars that held closed the siphoning chamber where inside Belle lay; as she opened the compartment she gasped, seeing an unconscious princess, and called some soldiers to aid in helping her over to the medical wing.

"Well, way I hear it..." started a younger soldier, propping herself on a pile of books nearby, folding her arms and examining her manicured fingers, "the general and Lady Agrias waged a brilliantly violent battle after tumbling down from the West Tower; Miss Agrias looked less than ready to fight, but darker..." She shrugged. "A soldier passing through the courtyards told me."

"Well I heard different," exclaimed a pair of twins, who were sitting at a table reading a book together.

"What did you hear?"

"I heard it was beast versus several..." said the first.

"Though you could say the same for the general's battle; who was woman, and who was beast? Miss Agrias was definitely worse for wear. Word has it she turned Heartless."

"No way!"

"Indeed."

"Enough!" Three soldiers burst through the double doors leading into the library, their leader being Captain Maria. "Our work here is done; commence withdrawal immediately. We must have the ship in working condition by tomorrow night, as I believe the general wishes for us to make an expeditious retreat."

Blinking, the other soldiers were slow to react, their shock at this new bit of news causing them to stagger. Soon, however, Maria had them moving a bit more quickly, her sword drawn a motivator.

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Upon the deck of the Red Rose Daphne oversaw the arrangements of re-stocking the ship with supplies the Alexandrians had unloaded upon their arrival. Every couple of minutes, or so, she would move over to the bow of the ship and lean out, staring with worried eyes at the castle what lay on the other side of the barred gates leading into the palace grounds.

"Oh, Sai..." she breathed, accepting a warm cup of tea from Ellis, who patted the girl kindly on the shoulder. "Thank you,"

[Agrias Oaks]

How difficult it was to speak with expressions since the one she wished to communicate with BARELY looked you in the eye. She tried to whimper, but only a breath would escape her. Her brown, broken eyes wanting to take the woman's attention.

"Is there...anything you require?" asked the General...

'Y-yes... thine... attention!' she tried to communicate with her eyes, her brows furrowing a little, ' Cast eyes upon mine, woman...!'

"...are you all right now?" asked the General, still looking away...

'...a...silly question, dear Beatrix...' she failed to respond with her mouth, trying with her eyes, but did it matter, since it would probably be overlooked?

She tried her hardest to move, but was only able to move her pinky and wedding finger, which twitched to get the woman's attention. She closed her eyes to concentrate on a word, any word to come out of her lips, but found herself in silence once more. Strange little cracks and wheezes would be heard, but no actual tone of chord.

"...!"

[General Beatrix]

Luckily for Agrias, Beatrix eye wandered right over her hand as she began twitching and she turned to stare directly into the judging, contempful gaze of her beloved.

"A-agrias...is there something, then?"

She reached to pat the woman's hand with her own, giving her another weak smile of reassurance before moving her chair a little closer.

[Agrias Oaks]

'Art'thou freed?' Agrias tried to communicate yet again, happy to see those sky blue hues starring back at her. She was normal, the knight could feel it. 'I am in need of hearing such wonderful words...'

"...!" her voice failed again.

'...Bullocks!' - whoops, this could probably be translated in her expression.

"...!" she tried again, but again, nothing.

'Your bed... it shall be ruined...' She tried to change the subject within her mind, 'My dress... 'tis too a mess...I...'

Agrias managed to curl both wedding, and pinky fingers around whatever fingers where in reach of them of the General's.

'Oh, Lady Beatrix... to answer from before...' she tried to communicate a joke to liven the mood, 'I believe these two fingers art' mine favorite... for they reach you first.'

"...!"

There was a pause, her eyes expressing relief, and a much soreness, '... Art thou... truly free, Lady Beatrix...?'