The Red Rose

[General Beatrix]

By the time the Red Rose left the gravitational pull from Adam's world Beatrix had left her seat to roam about her ship. As she silently traversed the tattered, darkened halls and corridors, passing the mixture of happy, concerned, miserable and annoyed faces of her army, she only slunk deeper into the despair she'd let herself fall into.

There was one she had to see, if not for him, then for the pain she had the soldiers inflict on him due to his ties to Agrias. She unlatched the iron lock leading into the cargo hold and attempted to light her way with some holy energy. Unfortunately the light was frail and weak, so it took her some time.

And when at last she had come face-to-face with Boco the Chocobo Beatrix almost turned around. but after hearing his sad "Waark" and seeing his composure she couldn't leave his side. She cautiously moved in, assuring the gentle beast she meant him no harm.

"Boco..?" she whispered, reaching out a hand for the bird, hoping that he might sniff and recognize her in the dim lighting. "Boco, it's me...Bea..." One of the first times she referred to herself by Agrias and Abigail's nickname. "Listen...I know you understand me...but is there anything I cold ever do to make you...forgive me or my soldiers..?"

A lone tear drop tumbled down her cheek as she peered into the glistening, mournful eyes of her forlorn friend.

[Agrias Oaks]

Boco, at the signs of a familiar presence, ruffled a little, freaking out slightly, and flapping its wings around violently, before he heard a familiar voice.

"Boco..." said the general, "Boco, it's me...Bea..."

"Wark?" would blink the Chocobo, sitting on its rump with a loud thump, "wark..." it would complain on its headache. Feeling the smooth hands of the General over his soft yellow feathers. When stated he could understand, before she asked for his forgiveness, the tired and weak little thing shuffled in place, trying to contemplate on something.

He would nudge her hand softly with his head, telling her where exactly it was hurting, hoping for her to rub it a little for him. If she did so, he would point over with his beak at a few greens that rested a bit aways. If she gave him even one, he would kwhee happily, feeling a little better. Boco would then proceed on pecking at her hair a little, a sign that it was all ok with him.

A simple glimmer in his eye, and his head feathers would lower a little, worried now for Agrias, and wondering if she was fine. He remembered her screams being echoed around the dungeons...

"Warr-kwhee...." it would sound off, shuffling in place again, eager to hear of his master's well being.

[General Beatrix]

After indulging Boco by massaging his head gently, she leaned over to grab the handful of gysahls he craned his neck to reach. feeding him one by one, she decided to be rather liberal about his intake, seeing as she had much to atone for.

Soon the chocobo would peck lightly at her head, cooing, somewhat. Beatrix chuckled, and moved in to hug the creature. "Let me go find Agrias and see if she is up to visiting right now, all right?" She kissed her hand and touched it to the bird's beak as she stood up to leave, telling Boco that they would come back soon.

-------------------------------

Her room was empty by the time Beatrix arrived, and the only evidence of where she could be were her blood-cakes clothes lying on the floor, and the soldier cleaning off the bed and putting on a new spread.

Giving the maid a hand with cleanup, the general gave her a reassuring nod before heading back out to find Agrias again, the evidence indicating she was at the bathing pool below deck.

When she arrived, she waited several minutes outside the doors, wondering what she would say if Agrias was, indeed, behind that door. Did she wish ill upon Beatrix? Did she wish for revenge? Pulling out her blade the general was ready to hand over Save the Queen if that was the case. She would die for her light.

Pushing through the doors she entered the steamy, heated room.

"Agrias..?"

[Agrias Oaks]

The knight was still exhausted, to a point that she tilted her head back to rest against the wooden edge of the warm pool, and closed her eyes. She would allow the hot waters to melt away her pain, if only a little would be a mercy. She breathed in, feeling her lungs expand with little worry now, in gratitude of the lavender and vanilla extracts.

The water around her felt really good, feeling her tense muscles relax, and the pain dulling. Agrias straightened her neck and opened her eyes to look at her hair, which had turned a strange orange with the mix of her crimson liquid. She wanted to wash this thought away, this whole event, all of it... and yet it was so difficult to forget that evil filled, amber eye starring back at her. A nightmare... it was such a nightma-- no.

The knight shook her head a little, convincing herself that what she saw was not Beatrix, but strayed darkness.

'Wash it away... wash it away!' she convinced herself, and fully dunk herself under the water, allowing her hair to flow and dance with the light currents and ripples in the warm waters, again, turning that corn yellow color again.

It was at this time that Beatrix entered the bathing rooms, but submerged, the knight did not hear her. Unaware of the General there, and knowing she could trust Abigail as a Sister of Light, she emerged from the waters, her creamy-complexion glistening as trails of fragrant waters trailed down her skin and glowing yellow hair. She faced away, breathing softly and feeling a bit better.

Her brown eyes traveled down to meet her shaking hands, and clenched them into fists in disappointment. Right now, she was not certain she could even wield a sword, much less use it. Her holy abilities were hard to feel as is...

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail smiled to Agrias when she spoke of seeing her friends on the other side, and as Agrias began to let the waters soak, she would take a different view on it from Agrias' worrying. "That's amazing..." she said softly, reaching over to grab some shampoo and begin soaping up the woman's hair. "Cosmos has granted you a glimpse into the other side... A rare opportunity to gleen wisdom of your purpose..." she said softly.

She carefully worked the woman's form, washing away the dried blood, and deftly wiping away any traces of the injuries that were healed. There was nothing that could be done about her scars, but each one told a story of sacrifice and honor that Abigail would not take away for all the healing powers in the world. She gently ran her fingers over one or two, smiling softly. "A purpose... that your friends still feel very confident that you can still do... for they sent you back to us with their blessing..."

Here, Abigail eased Agrias into the waters to help her rinse the remaining suds off. A quick glance over had her seeing Beatrix come into the room, and with a soft smile, she nodded to her. She would help lift Agrias as she stood, and draped the robe over her shoulders. She turned once more to Beatrix and bowed slightly, politely.

"I'll just leave you two alone then..." she said softly, then made to leave. However, on her way she would stop next to Beatrix, lifting a hand to tap at her heart lightly. "Don't forget... Love truly does conquer all..." she whispered, then swept out of the room.

She stepped into the halls and sighed softly, fiddling with the strap on her bag. Part of her still wanted so badly to be with Agrias, but she just knew that was not her future. With a sigh, she let the woman go and made her way down the halls toward the cargo bay. She wanted to spend time with Boco.

Once there, she'd find he'd already recovered from his... ordeal, and that Airnose had made herself comfortable here as well! She smiled, looking to the dragon. "Hello there..." she said, and attempted to pet the large creature's nose (whether successful or not, she still tried) before going over to comb Boco for a while.

What she didn't know... was that Lilith was down here, too. She hadn't noticed, so that gave the vampire the upper hand.

[Lilith]

a low giggle rumbled out of the shadows.
the vampire was on top of a stack of crates off in the distance, she stared at the mage as she went about grooming the large bird.

"okay... method of attack..." she whispered to herself "running tackle? no... hmm... okay I got it"
Lilith leapt off the crates landing without a sound.
she slinked through the shadows as she had done so many times before.
she had neared her target, the vampire crept closer and closer to the mage until she was standing right behind her, mere inches away.

out of the silence came the oh so familiar voice.
"good evening lady Abigail"

[nexus]

Airinose snored a bit, shifting and opening her eyes slightly when she heard the white mage entered the cargo hold. She pulled her head back when the mage came toward her. She put her head forward when Abigail held out her hand to let her touch her head. When Abigail walked away and toward the chicken, Airinose settled herself back down, only to watch as the little dark one sneaked her way to Abigail.

Nexus sat up with a start. he couldn't sleep anymore, or didn't want to, either one felt right to him. He leaped out of bed only to end up grabbing his arm, forgetting that it was still broke "OOooowww" he said as he fixed the sling that it was in. Nexus looked around the room, but felt a little confined, so without another notion he picked up his sword, slinging it ovr his shoulder onto his back and left the room, wondering "So where did they put Airinose?"

[General Beatrix]

Beatrix jumped slightly at the rising form of Abby and shuddered when the White Mage tapped her frail heart and made that solemn declaration. Beatrix would have hugged the young lady, but she had other things to do, as did the general, so she let her go. With a faint glow and wave of her hand, Beatrix attempted to use her power--what little she had--to dismiss some of this steamy fog and saw a blurry image in the waters, which she assumed would be Agrias Oaks.

So through the gloom she marched, making her way over by the pool-side and held her sword down, just so the Knight wouldn't see this as a declaration of hostilities, as it wasn't. She looked down with her good eye into the bathing waters to take in the sights, and turned on a sudden blush. The Holy Knight was bare!

"Oh, um...ahem! Excuse me," she exclaimed, clearing her throat. "Forgive me, Agrias; I was unaware you'd still be soaking in the waters. If you have a minute, I'd like to speak with you?"

[Vivi]

Vivi sat once more staring into the hell Brahne and her army had invited into their bosom years ago; salutations from Kuja's immortal game, and the remnants of what games he'd played. The Black Mage was still disheveled by this time, holding firmly to his staff and thinking back to the destruction his people had caused on the home world, and then the violent nature he showed back in Adam's Castle.

I am a monster, he though, retrieving the Magicite shard from his pocket; the magical essence of whatever Esper had died to create it swirled in the confines of the stone and the forlorn mage thought about the plus side of taking tutelage from "The Miss".

I should probably speak to Miss Abigail and the others...and Lexia, too. She's been my best friend while on these travels...

Standing up Vivi turned to exit the room when a sudden crash was heard. Turning, he noticed one of the cylindrical creation/storage tubes had crumbled over. He simply dropped his head and shook it, and made his way from this sad facility to roam the halls in silence.

[The Alexandrian Army]

"Well did she say where we were going?" asked Daphne, handing over the tea tray she'd brought up to the bridge to a nearby soldier, who set it down on one of Brahne's seat's end tables. She poured a cup for both scientist and first mate, and handed them over, bowed and took her leave.

"Not really," said Ellis, sipping her hot tea and wincing. "The general's instructions were just to simply roll out of Adam's world and meander through Hyperspace for a while. Personally I think we should seek out a gummi garage. The ship's in really bad shape and it'll crumble in this stuff if we don't land and make repairs soon."

"I see...and so the rumors were true, then? The general--the real general--is back?" Ellis nodded. "That is...good. I'd heard some pretty bad things before Sai left me again, and...I was concerned. The battle could be seen from the Rose, you know. I was terribly frigh--oh, that reminds me. Have you seen Sai? Did he return yet?"

Ellis scratched her head. "You know I don't think he did. Where was he off to, last time you checked?"

"Well he said he was checking up on a lead from something we'd been working on, but...he's going to return and find that we've set sail...oh now I'm terribly worried. He's going to think I abandoned him, isn't he?"

"..."

"I have to go..." she said and set down her cup before bolting off the bridge to find her assistants.

[Agrias Oaks]

The knight did not flinch away in embarrassment or anything when The General was suddenly there. She was too in shock to DO anything at this point, and her body ached too much to just flail about and hide within the water vapors. Thankfully, Lady Abigail, the gentle white mage wrapped a robe around her form, and helped her get out of the warm baths.

Agrias blushed a little, somewhat standing in place in front of Beatrix, her brown eyes showing confusion and... relief to see that cobalt blue eye. She glanced a little toward Abigail, who seemed to talk to Beatrix about something beyond her hearing abilities at this point. She gulped, and reached up to rest a hand over her heart, clutching at the soft robe there.

Then, it was quiet... and the knight found herself starring at the woman with chestnut colored hair again.

"Ye'... wished to speak with me?" she'd ask quietly, her voice a bit raspy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the sounds of doors opening the Chocobo fluttered its wings, a little disturbed, and of course traumatized. He would "wark" uncontrollably until Abigail made herself known. He immediately silenced, his head tilting this way and that, KNOWING he knew her from somewhere. It looked like a new face to him at first.

He wobbled up to his feet, and stomped a little over to the white mage, looking her up and down.

"waark?" he twitched here and there, reaching down to peck a little at the woman's hair, until suddenly, his eyes widened and sparkled a lovely sky blue, "WARK-KWHEE!!" it made a little dance, flapping its wings a bit with energy.

"KWHEE WARK KWHEE??" it cried happily, reaching to peck again at the mage's hair, finally realizing it was Abigail. He seemed to apologize, unable to recognize her at first. When she headed for his brush, it made a goofy face and the chocobo sat on his rump with a "thump."

Yes, he knew when he was going to be groomed, he rather enjoyed it and was a good boy at standing still for it. He couldn't help but nuzzle its over-sized head against her chest happily, giving her a chocobo hug! [/i]

[General Beatrix]

Beatrix turned around finally to see that Agrias was, indeed, robed and out of the water. She sighed heavily before nodding her head and biting her lip to collect all of her thoughts. When she did the general moved close, raising Save the Queen with both hands, so that the blade faced downwards. She moved it forward, as if offering the sword to Agrias.

"I...here, take this," she said. "Um...I just thought...I'm very confused right now and am having so much trouble coming to grips with the reality of what I've caused and...well, do you think that, that...you..." she could have smacked herself. Weakness!? General Beatrix? Weak? Never! Who on Gaia AM I!?

"Just get it over with, Agrias. Please. Take this blade and do your duty. Vanquish this tattered soul, for...without my light I am simply a blackened creature. I am doomed to fall on my blade twice, Agrias...by your hands. It is fate, and more than anyone I'd rather have you do it, anyway..."

[Agrias Oaks]

At the sight of having Beatrix stammer, and act so nervous of her feelings, along with wanting to end her life, Agrias sighed, somewhat exhausted before advancing slowly upon the General. Her eyes looked tired, not breaking contact from that blue hue as she etched her way closer. Beatrix continued to speak, and before she could continue, Agrias interrupted:

"Oh, shut up, Bea..!"

Agrias reached out, and she grabbed at the woman's arm, and with the bit of strength she had, pulled the General into a tight embrace. She held her there, gasping in sweet relief, ignoring the sword being offered. The woman held her tightly, reaching up a little to brush at that chestnut hair, letting her fingertips trail weakly through the soft, curly locks.

She stood there quietly, holding at her for a few moments, wishing this would last forever, until she opened her brown eyes, starring at the eye patch, since she was resting her head on her right shoulder, "....'tis...truly you... General...?"

[General Beatrix]

"Wha--ooonf!" She was rather unprepared for this sudden movement and, when Agrias took her prisoner in her warm, loving embrace, the general was a bit at a loss, standing there and seemingly melting in the woman's arms.

"Wha...what are you doing? Don't you seek revenge? Why won't you just cease these mind games...yes, I have returned." She pulled herself away and dropped the sword, resting her arms on the Knight's shoulders. "Though I am not welcome to the gates of redemption, Agrias, and so must find peace another way. Why not give me that?"

She shook her head. "It's not what I want, but what I deserve. Look at you. Look at what I've done. Miss Abigail says that the Great Cosmos is a forgiving creature, but I see no...there is none for this monster you called friend."

[Agrias Oaks]

"Doth you not see?" Agrias rasped, resting her hands upon the others shoulders. Beatrix would find her hands quivering, not of fear, but of exhaustion and shot nerves. She looked at her in a serious manner, "If naught accept the forgiveness of Cosmos, then at least accept MY forgiveness, and blessings, Lady Beatrix!"

She grew tired, and had to rest her hands at her sides, she looked down a little, "T'was thee not whom inflicted this upon me, but the darkness... t'was cruel to us both..."

The knight looked up, giving her a weak smile, "... I remember... hearing thine voice for it all to stop, t'was then I knew ye had awaken again... from this nonsense..." she slowly reached up to clutch at her chest again, just over her heart were a new scar rested, "I do not remember much afterwards... except when I had awakened again, and-- most is a blur honestly, but... t'was your voice... that kept me holding to mine heart, Lady Beatrix."

The thin thread that connected her body with the heartless...?

Agrias finally looked at the woman's eye, starring into that cobalt hue before speaking again, "I made a vow, Lady Beatrix... as I remember, did ye naught make the same...?" she smiled, looking down at her shivering hands, "... tch. We must... move forward... 'Tis all I know. I have been blessed by my comrads... I have no reason... to stare at the past."