The Darkest Day

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail blinked lightly, realizing that Lilith had taken her speaking to mean for her. She giggled somewhat, feeling a tad silly but quickly making up something on the spot. "It's a good thing you have that ability!" she said, tapping Lilith's arm lightly. "Super-handy."

She was just about to continue when Vivi showed up. She gasped and stood up quickly to help the little black mage up. Cute, this image, a white mage assisting a black mage. She smiled encouragingly to Vivi and helped brush him off. "You need to be more careful, sweetheart..." she said softly, in a non-judgemental tone. "Don't want you getting hurt..."

That's when she noticed that Vivi had a piece of Magicite in his hands. She smiled happily, and pointed at it. "Oooh, the miss showed up for you? Congratulations, Vivi!" she said happily, still not aware of Shantoto's name! "Are you going to accept her invitation?" she asked softly, squatting down so they were eye-to-eye.

[Lilith]

Lilith glanced back to the mage and then to her arms again.
"yeah..."
then the mage tapped ever so lightly on her arm, for anyone else it would be nothing, but to the vampire it feel like so much more.
Lilith cheeks would change colour ever so slightly and a slight shiver wandered up her spine... eventually she would come back to reality.

"Super-handy."
"y- yeah... but it feels more like a curse at times..."

the vampire stared at Abigail as she helped Vivi up...

and unintentionally tried to conceal her smile.

[Vivi]

"The...miss?" said Vivi as the White Mage helped him up; he gazed into the magicite shard once more with a suspicious curiosity. "You know her? I don't know whether or not I am going to accept, but I'm sure I'd like to..."

He glanced over to Lilith. "Hi, Lilith. How are you feeling?"

[nexus]

Nexus had walked back to Airinose after Abigail had healed to prince, still feeling tired himself, he lowered himself into Airinose's folded arms, like someone plopping into their favorite chair.

Nexus settled himself comfortably before looking up at Airinose's face. "So....... we can talk to each other now huh?.......and exactly how is this happening" he asked with a sleepily smile on his face.

Airinose looked down on him getting comfy and shifted herself a bit to allow for some rest between the two of them. She sighed and chuckled as well, looking over her broken wing, and down to his broken arm. thinking that the two of them being together most be Fate. "I've always been speaking to you Nexus, but for some reason now, you can hear me. I'm not sure why you can now, but i think it may have something to do with you going into a rage back then." She replied without speaking.

Nexus gave a big yawn before laying his head against her chest "Rage what rage i .... don't ... remember no ......raaaaaaa......" With every word his voice got lower and lower till he slipped away to a much needed sleep.

Airinose just shook her head slightly back and forth before settling herself to just sit back and watch her surroundings.

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail nodded when Vivi asked if she knew her. "Yes, indeed! She's the one that taught me all my new spells. She gave me this!" she reached over and pulled out her new spellbook, which was quite heavy when out of her magic bag of holding. She flipped through to show Vivi the large amoung of spells. "See?" she asked happily.

Vivi would then immediately ask Lilith how she was. A giggle escaped the white mage as she slipped her book back into its place, then walked over to collect her new Apollo Staff. She sighed a little, watching the two with a little smile as she brushed off her jeans and pulled her little hoodie tighter. It was getting late, and things were getting colder. She looked over to check on the Prince, but he'd already moved on. She then checked Nexus, who seemed to be comfortable with his dragon.

Abigail sighed softly, shaking her head. "Anyway... we all need to get ready. I don't think we're going to be here much longer..."

[Lilith]

Lilith looked at vivi.
"I'm okay I guess, just a little tired."
Lilith picked her ruined gloved off the floor, she turned to look at Abigail once again, her new clothes suited her perfectly, Lilith's cheeks went a deeper shade off gray.

she swayed up to the mage and sniffed the air.
"your clothes... suit you..."
she wanted to say something more but nothing could escape her lips, this was a completely foreign feeling to the vampire.
"uh... shall we make our way back to the rose?"

[Vivi]

Vivi looked over to the spell book and peeked in close to examine as Abby flipped through the pages. He made sure not to touch it, due to the taboo of doing so with others' magical writings.

"That's very interesting," he said. "I hope to learn to control...my power, so I won't hurt friends again and...well, I was made this way; I didn't ask for it...Cosmos sure overlooked Kuja and Garland when she created the worlds...bringing Soulcage into existence was a bad idea..."

[Secondary Characters]

After Abigail came to heal him, the Prince looked... well, fit as a fiddle! He was shocked, feeling his body filled with newfound strength. Looking to Abigail, he bowed graciously, then turned to the castle with newfound fury in his eyes. This wasn't the blind rage of the Beast, but righteous anger of a royal whose home had been seiged! He marched forward into the castle, his clothes in tatters but his aura more authoritative than ever!

He marched upstairs to where Belle had been kept, finding she had already been moved. Good. If she had not been taken care of, he didn't care if they were "following orders", he'd have Alexandrian heads on platters. He made his way to where everyone was being patched up by the medics in Beatrix's army. Belle was being tended to, yes, but it made him angrier still that he had been healed just like that while she should be made to suffer.

He would not suffer this insult any longer! Marching into the hall, he threw off his tattered shirt and grabbed a sword from one of the many suits of armor, looking very much like Fabio after a shot of testosterone. He found where Beatrix was pretty easily, but mostly on a fluke. He had intended to check his staff first, but lucky for him there she was.

"LADY BEATRIX!!" he demanded, pulling the sword up to point at her. "I demand an explanation. NOW!"

[General Beatrix]

"LADY BEATRIX!! I demand an explanation. NOW!"

Beatrix lifted her head from Mrs. Potts' tear-soaked arms and turned her head to face the angered prince. Glancing back to the old woman she ran a gentle hand down her face before standing up and whispering that she was sorry one more time.

And then she spun around once more to face the prince and took only two steps before unsheathing her blade. She looked valiant as ever, yet disheveled and sad. She raised her blade up vertically and looked it up and down before ultimately dropping to her knees and setting her blade on the floor before her, nodding her head in complete shame.

"Your Royal Highness," she whispered. "I can not speak lies and say that none of this was my true intentions, as while I took solace within the darkness, this place became my bastion. It was a grand scheme designed for Agrias Oaks...and, well, that has all but failed and I've been registered back, thrown from the darkness into the forces of Light once more.

"I can not ask for forgiveness, and I will not...I do not deserve it. Punish me at your own accord, but please let my friends and my soldiers leave in peace. They merely followed orders..."

She glanced upward at the man, peering into his rage-filled eyes. "I am sorry for my troublesome nature."

[Secondary Characters]

Prince Adam stepped forward, gripping the sword in his hand tightly. "Is that all? You're going to sit there and tell me 'yes, I meant to do this, so sorry'?" he demanded, now standing within blade's reach of the woman. He reached down with it, tilting the woman's chin up by the tip of the sword. "Is that really all you have to say for yourself? For putting that curse on me and my people, for hurting Belle??" he said angrily.

She went on to ask him to take his fury out on her, not the others. By rights, he should slaughter all of them for their roles in things. Just because you were told to do something, you didn't necessarily have to go along with it! He wanted nothing more than to stab this woman right through that stupid eye patch and end her right here and now!

The Prince even lifted the sword as though ready to strike. But just then, he glanced up to see Miss Potts with her disapproving look, and other servants looking nervous. Obviously, they believed in redemption... as right they should. Was he not an example of such transformations? And what of his role in all this? Yes, he was blinded, yes he was taken by animal instinct... but was he not the better man? He sighed, grumbling angrily.

And what would Belle say? He already knew. Adam sighed, then lowered his arm. Throwing the blade down to the side, he turned his back on Beatrix, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. "Get out of my castle..." he said in a grim tone to the woman behind him. "Do not come here unless summoned. Ever."

With that, he would walk forward. A good friendship they had in the past now teetered in the present. He was hurt by her actions... he was mad and didn't know whether or not she deserved the second chance he would offer. But then again, that was his nature. He brooded, he kept to himself. In time, maybe he'd come to forgive her, but right now he was too injured, physically, mentally, and emotionally. He'd walk all the way to the makeshift hospital where Belle was... and sat by her side.

Maybe when his better half awakened... he'd think clearer?

[General Beatrix]

The deep breath Beatrix had been holding while the prince made his verdict suddenly collapsed the moment he walked off. She had flinched at his movements against her, and even allowed a stray tear to fall when he tipped her chin to face him. She had grown soft, weak. She was no longer fit for the life she had thrown away.

Standing up and retrieving her blade she turned, looking like a rugged doll in the direction of the sympathetic, frightened staff. She said nothing to them and simply walked off, a look of cold detachment in her face as she made her way out of the castle, her body shaking with fear, her, shivering and considering her next moves carefully.

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail blinked a bit when Lilith complimented her, then giggled somewhat. She may be more mature now, but she was still the same person, after all! She turned around once to let Lilith take it all in, happy that she noticed. "You like it? I actually find it quite comfortable too!" she said, then nodded firmly. "I could get used to this style! And yes, we probably should get going. Do you have anything in the castle?" she asked, tilting her head a bit.

Looking down, she smiled a bit at Vivi and nodded somewhat. "I'm sure you'll learn! That's a very noble thing to wish for, too!" She held a hand down to the small mage, offering to hold his while he walked, mostly to prevent him tripping once more. She would sigh a bit when he mentioned Cosmos overlooking certain... people.

"Now, now! That's not entirely true!" she said softly, smiling. "Cosmos is but one of two balancing forces in the universe, her and Chaos. And while all beings are created of the light, sometimes they can be lead astray by Chaos and his dark intentions. Cosmos and Chaos have always been at odds, being two forces that cannot exist with each other, nor without..." she thought a moment on this, smiling. "Harmony exists when both set aside their petty differences and occupy the same universe..."

She looked to Lilith here, smiling. "Kind of like you, actually..." she said, giggling. "A creature of the night, yet you stand by the light... Harmony." She looked up here, seeing the Rose tall before them. "Let's get onboard..."

[Vivi]

Vivi took Abby's hand as they walked, listening to her correct him on his earlier Cosmos statement. He shook his head and sighed heavily. "I guess you're right. I just don't know why She would allow such monstrosities to live on..."

He truly spoke of himself, and not Kuja or Garland. Those Genomes from Terra were truly good on the inside, as he assumed was Soulcage, as well...but the Black Mage Army Kuja had created for Queen Brahne...they were created out of pure evil.

When the Red Rose came into view they boarded through the unloading dock. "Is the ship even ready yet?"

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail thought a little to herself about what Vivi said, taking his questions as she would for anyone who was beginning to have troubles of faith. Nodding, she stepped into the loading dock with him and Lilith. "I don't know if the ship's ready yet, but that's what I'm here to find out. And as for your questions, Vivi..." she said softly.

Knealing down to be on eye-level with the black mage, she smiled sweetly and placed her hands on his shoulders reassuringly. "Understand this... Cosmos works in ways we can only begin to guess at, but when it comes to why she allows bad people to continue on, it's very simple..." She reached down and placed her palm on Vivi's heart lightly, smiling. "It's because she understands better than any of us... that even in the deepest darkness, there is always a glimmer of light still burning..."

Offering a little hug, she looked into Vivi's eyes once more. "No one is completely beyond redemption, not even those whom we fear because they chose to step into the night. That's why Cosmos loves us all, even the ones who left her behind..."

She stood up here with a nod. "Never forget that there's always a light to guide us through the darkness, okay?" she said, tilting her head to see the expression in those eyes around that hat of his.

[Agrias Oaks]

They were finally getting to him, the poor chocobo that was being held up upside down by his legs, unable to bend upward to peck at his ropes due to his mass. He would wark sadly, literally hanging about and getting headaches.

"waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaark." it would cry, feeling dizzy and nauseous. He would peck a little mistrusting of the knights who were helping him down, not knowing what they were to do next. "waaaaaaaark" it would cry again, a certain, 'whoe is me?' feeling.

When he was finally down, he stayed a little rested there, his legs tired from holding his weight wrong for so long, he refused to move at first. His head would be resting on a trusted soldier's lap as he regained his balance. He churred weakly, still feeling a little sick as he began to stand, regaining his balance.