Showtime

[serpentoflore]

"If it is Beatrix who was dark at the time, then do not judge me by merely the actions I have taken." She spoke, one gloved hand turning into a fist. "I went because it was requested, I have taken no lives nor created them with my piccolo." She moved forward, slapping Agrias across the face as hard as she could. "How dare you name me to have no soul when you can't even accept that Beatrix had planned to use my talents to trick you?!" Her mind felt an anger inside her, as if she were being accused only because of one piece of her life.

Her light had accused her of forgetting people and going against things that were important. Her dark side called out to tell her to choose one side. The path she chose was so hard, so hard to follow without feeling the pain of both sides. Why did Agrias not only have to accuse her, but put it as if it were her fault people had died or gotten injured?!

"Call me all the names you want. Tell me I'm the person who destroyed your hopes and dreams if you want." Her body remained tall, hand stinging from the force of her slap. "Think before you go and accuse someone you barely know. Is it better to think of me as evil only because of what you've seen? I can't help but be reminded of those who hunt Witches." She glared at Agrias still, her piccolo remaining silver despite her outburst. "At least I know where I'm going with my life." She could feel tears wanting to come out, a deep well of pain stinging at her mind.

[Agrias Oaks]

Cosmos, why did she have to cry...? What had the knight done? A novice move. Agrias sheathed her sword, and stayed quiet for quite a while, trying to make sense of her emotions. She lowered her head and reached up to rub at her temples before calming. She then touched the cheek that was slapped and sighed, ".... I ... deserved that." she whispered quietly.

She turned to see the woman, and she bowed low enough to almost kneel, and she stayed that way, until instructed otherwise. "... I... apologize, Miss... Appleton, was it...?" she continued to speak softly, almost in a whisper, "It was... out of place...and... out of rights to say something... most foul."

The novice stood straight now, but her sights remained lowered to look at the strangely patterned carpets bellow.

"I am such a novice..." her eyes dulled here, "...forgive me, if you can."

[serpentoflore]

Sarah could feel herself slowly losing the momentum that had built up inside her. "I understand that I am also a bit rash with my actions." She let her stinging hand go down to offer Agrias a hand up. "I also wasn't listening as much as I could have been. Please...take a seat Miss Oaks." She guided Agrias towards a chair again, sitting down only when Agrias would sit. "Do you know any instruments that might be good for a play about dark and light?" She spoke to change the subject gently.

[Agrias Oaks]

Agrias followed the woman, and sat next to her, keeping her head lowered. When she was asked about instruments, she shrugged her shoulders a little, "I do not know... if I can still play the lute or not." she mumbled, looking at her sheathed sword, " I cannot wield the sword, much less use it properly..."

The knight was obviously dispirited, bringing her hands together to rest them at her knees, sighing, "Who's to say such skills have not left me as well...?"

[serpentoflore]

"If you can't use a skill you had so easily mastered, you train until you master it again." Sarah spoke, her hands coming together on her lap. "You should practice with your sword until your body is sore. Let your body get used to the feel of the sword once again. Only then will that skill return to you in any form." She looked towards Agrias with a smile. "If it is a lute, then you merely need to practice the various parts and technical points of the lute until you are sick of it." She put her hands together on her lap.

"Anyone can forget a skill, even breathing. However, that also means they can relearn it even if it's hard to do."

[Acteur de la Noir]

With Sarah and Agrias:

As the two individuals continued their conversation, they would be interrupted by the swirling manifestation of shadow that signified a Corridor of Darkness--a black vortex tinged with purple. A rather uncommon appearance, oddly enough; this theatre had seen more than its share of activity of such things as of late.

From this darkness, the figure of Acteur de la Noir would emerge--that Heartless puppeteer in Victorian garb, as jaunty and eccentric as ever as he stepped forth from the portal and set foot upon the carpeted floor. A snap of his fingers caused the Corridor of Darkness to close, swirling and shrinking until it vanished into oblivion. This accomplished, the puppet-master looked around, taking in his surroundings...and, in a matter of seconds, those eerie yellow eyes found their way to Sarah, their glow pulsing brightly as they found the musician's amethyst pools.

As though expressing delight on the part of their owner.

"Ah, cherie!" he greeted, sweeping off his hat and taking a bow. "I hope I'm not interrupting you?"

[Oeilvert]

When at last this humble party met the eyes of the Impresario Masheck Octavian was somewhat impressed that the old man was capable of running the the maintenance and all the chaos of large establishment such as this; looking around for Wall-E to show it everything he found fascinating, he spotted the golem heading into the theatre room, a familiar figure lurking in the shadows of the audience. Ultimecia.

"Excuse me, Sai," said the Prince, brushing by the man's shoulder, Locke in tow as he made his way to collect his companion. "I must go an retrieve Wall-E, for I'm unsure the circumstance the creature puts itself in when dealing with someone like her."

Pointing a finger enveloped in a feathered cuff into the darkened performing arts center he motioned to the Witch of Time as he walked. Arriving at the treads of his desired associate he knelt down and patted it on its shoulder.

"Hello, Wall-E...is everything all right?"

[nexus]

"Stay safe" was all Airinose had to say as she watched Nexus walk down and out of the cargo hold. She herself decided to stay were she was, it was comfortable and quite in the cargo hold, she had ample enough time to sit back, relax , and let her wing heal up. She would have a peaceful time in here except for the occasional "Wark" from the other side.

Nexus walked out of the cargo hold and down onto the red carpet, looking at his surroundings. The large and ornate building kinda caught him off guard due to the fact it was kinda the only thing out here. He had his sword attached at his back, instead of his side due to his left arm still being in a sling, he could pull it easier this way. Beatrix was talking around and he broke his looking of wonder in time to hear her tell him to follow her. with a slight nod he agreed figuring that she would know more about places like this then he did, but at the same time he didn't know what to think of her. He watched his surroundings and Beatrix closely , worried a little about both.

[ultimecia]

[glow=purple,2,800]It was amazing how well she could blend in with her surroundings after hiding in plain sight. She had walked along several others whom looked to the atmosphere with awe to the arts. She was next to them when they did so, agreeing every now and then. Her feathers would compact around her form, so they would not bump against anyone and gain some startled attention. It was then, when a small, familiar bot made its way to her, waving to the witch of time.

This... caused the witch to smile, standing in place and allowing the construct to approach her. Something that could last forever if maintained every once in a while... unlike a human. She reached down and and lightly wrapped her delicate fingertips upon the flap-like hand, and shook slowly, in recognition.

Ultimecia straightened in time to see the green mage head over and kneel next to Wall-E. Her expression dulled at the sight of a living organism, a reminded of death.

"I see you chose to wait for your demons."She spoke in that sultry way of hers, glancing over to the stage-- her mood patient. She would say nothing else to the Green Mage. She turned to see the small construct again, and gave the little thing a small smile, before somehow disappearing into the crowd again.[/glow]

[Agrias Oaks]

"Pray tell..." Agrias spoke softly in British tongue, looking to Sarah for answers, "... why are we- why did Beatrix come here? You said... Jidoor Opera House?" The holy knight was rather confused at this, reaching up to hold at her head, sighing, "Has something happened? Has the war stopped? Do you know?"

The blond woman reached up to rest a hand over her heart, "Job Change... Bard" she called out softly, and before Sarah, a bright light surrounded her. Her Squire garbs where changed to that of a musician. Her hair was let down to flow freely, straight at first, but wavy as it reached the ends. Her blue vest was replaced by a green-cotton, long sleeve shirt, and her brown pants lost their royal symbol-- more like ordinary traveler's pants now.

Her sword was also transformed-- taking the shape of a lute, which still carried the royal symbol of Ivalice. She took hold of the musical instrument, and rested the base of it on her thigh. The new bard stroked at the stings, allowing a soft melody to form as she did so. She placed her other hand at the neck of the lute, for pitch control. She then tried to have hope. Did she remember anything?

Agrias pecked at a few strings, and her fingertips began to move automatically over the threads. She began to play "Angel Song," a melody of her world. She closed her eyes, feeling the music flow out of her, and onto the lute. At least she had this much, yes?

Sarah could feel a bit energetic while this song was played. Whilst in the midsts of continuing, she had a strange feeling which caused her to stop. She looked up to find that a Heartless had come, and out of instinct, stood up, and stood between him and the musician. Her memory raced, knowing this figure from before, too, as the one who had kidnapped Beatrix.

Ugh, so much was happening. She backed away from the two in confusion. She was getting tired of traps, and of heartless, and deceivers. Her hands remained within the lutes grasp of strings, and she stayed with a hand over them, in case she needed to play up a quick escape.

[General Beatrix]

"A-ah," Beatrix breathed, tilting her head back to Nexus a moment, pointing into the performing arts center. "It appears that the Impresario wishes for us all to take our place atop the stage; were you given an invitation? No matter, you will come stand with me; I've got some things to discuss with you after we are through with whatever needs to be done here, anyway."

She pressed on again, passing by MeadowSong and Atticus, as well as Miss Go and Shego with naught but a slight shudder and turning of the head to ignore them, her hand gripping tightly to the sheathed hilt of Save the Queen, ready to draw her out should the Heartless pose any type of threat.

"Come along, Nexus. Best not to dawdle amongst the scum of the worlds," she hissed, notioning back to the aformentioned party just passed. When she reached the stage she stood tall and awaited further instructions. Moments later she and Nexus would be joined by MeadowSong, Kefka, Oeilvert and the collected robot Wall-E. The general paid these people no mind and instead kept herself focused. Perhaps later she'd discuss with Agrias the presence of such foul creatures here...

[nexus]

Nexus followed Beatrix as she lead her way through the building , seeing the other people and Beatrix's reaction , he figured they could be trouble as well." Out of the pot and into the fire huh?" he thought to himself as he went on stage standing a little behind and to the side of Beatrix. At this point he kinda wished he had the ability to use his other arm, but still he stood tall and unwavering.

[serpentoflore]

Sarah listened to Agrias play, feeling that it was safe to keep her Piccolo within her pocket again. "There is to be a play." She spoke, eyes looking towards the strings of the lute. Could she play it eventually? She hoped that she could learn many more instruments. "That is all that I know of. Whatever this war is... I am unaware." The presence of a dark corridor took her from her current train of thought. Who would be coming in through the study?

Her face visibly relaxed when she saw it was Acteur. However, this didn't seem to help her company. Agrias immediately seemed to become defensive. Perhaps it was just a natural reaction. "I did say that I am Acteur De La Noir's apprentice Miss Oaks." She seemed confused, not sure how to speak without making the situation worse.

She looked towards Acteur a moment, smiling naturally, as if Acteur were just like every other human she had encountered. In reality, she might as well have looked crazy. "Welcome back Acteur." She spoke in a gentle tone. "We were just talking about the music. A lute player might be quite invaluable for the music." She hoped that the conversation would calm Agrias again, but it may have not.

[Agrias Oaks]

Agrias continued to hold idly at the strings, looking to the two with a broken stare. She just wanted to leave... she wanted no more of what was happening. Hoping to let them do as she pleased, she walked over quietly toward the door, her lute being held up to play something fierce if she had to. She was not the type to cast deafen on musicians no less, but... she was growing hostile. She didn't know what was happening...

"Hn..." She slowly made her way to the door, opened it, and dashed out of it, heading back to the ship. This was unlike her... to run, but what choice did she have? A Heartless apprentice... Heartless. The world had gone mad...!

She screeched to a halt when in front of her, walked the entire group out of the red rose. She backed away momentarily, growing concerned. Had the war truly been over? Or was this another play?

Agrias pressed her back against the wall, somewhat behind a pillar in thought. She held tightly at the lute, wondering what she should do... what could she do?

The novice was growing paranoid.

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]The thief-like shadow didn't seem to care that the clown had addressed her. Much less the general whom had called her a ... scum of the world? Ms. Go seemed to develop a bit of mind when around Atticus, and she would wrap an arm lovingly around his, and chuckle darkly, "Who calls the kettle black...?"

Like a snap, that dark vibe in her was gone, and she was all smiles again, "Oh, Attikins~ I have so much to tell you when he have a chance to chat... in~ pri~va~to~" she sang the last verse softly. She giggled cutely now, every now end then, her eyes would gaze over at the Harlequin Heartless. Feeling a little uneasy whenever he was around. [/glow]