A Single Thread

[Ellin Destroix]

Ellin gave Lilith a reassuring smile before walking off behind Abigail to the next room. She would pick up a clean, soft rag and head over to the remains, looking at them quietly. It was sad, but a passing in life that the dark knight had gotten used to. She sighed quietly, and knelt down in front of one of the dead blonds. She would stare at her deeply, wondering the justice in this, before cleaning her cold cheeks. She cleaned at the wounds, and fixed their hair so they would be properly sent to the next world. She tended to at least seven of them.

Every now and again, she would look over to Abby, wondering if she was alright, and taking it well. About ten minutes later, she mustered up the courage to ask...

"...are you...ok, Miss Abigail?"

[Lilith]

Lilith was still hesitant at first but she felt that calming aura that Abby seemed put out.
the lent back onto the bed and let the mage cover her.

the vampire slipped back into her mind, watching the swarms of people she had consumed walk around the inside of her head as if it were some kind of purgatory.
then Lilith was alone, Abby and Ellin had left.
How can I go through with this... i need them, to stay strong... i cant let that...
memories of the humans she had cared for over her lifetime flooded her mind... then the memories of them of them... departing.
i cant let that happen again.

[General Beatrix]

Satisfied with her finally sitting up and responding to someone else, the general handed the girl the glass, setting it aside when she turned to cover her face. She sighed, and stood up, nodding to Vivi before moving over to the navigation center nearby. For some reason a blot on-screen forced her to slap herself in the face.

Of course!

Removing the Seeing-iPod from her breast-side pocket the quickly turned it on and muttered "Agrias" into it, followed by a stern "find her".

A moment later she was engrossed with the scene appearing on the tiny screen before her. Where...WHAT was she wearing, and where had she gone?

Quickly handing off the item to Sylvia she slammed another fist on the table.

"Find some way to connect to this...it's showing us where Lady Agrias is! How could I be so foolish as to forget such a relic!" A determined look, the soldier seated beside her quickly went to work, confused with how the iPod would work.

[Vivi]

Vivi approached the quivering Sarah, looking upon her as if she were a newborn chocobo, like many he'd seen hatching back on his home world when he visited the Black Mage Village. He tilted his head and collected the glass the general had set down before growing irritated. He inched close to the piper and nodded, even if she couldn't see him do it.

"A-are you okay?" he repeated, and dropped to his knees, which was rather similar to if he hadn't done it at all. "Would you please drink this? The general says it'll make you feel a little better, at least. What's wrong?"

[Twilight Path]

"A-are you okay?"

Sarah's hands loosened a little on the purple witch hat on her head. She could tell that Vivi seemed worried, despite what she had seemed to do that seemed evil. "No." She spoke, her voice barely audible.

"Would you please drink this? The general says it'll make you feel a little better, at least. What's wrong?"

She let her gloved hands lower from the hat, her eyes and tears coming into view. Grasping the glass, she made sure to put it to her mouth, taking a sip. She didn't drink it all, knowing that drinking too much water would be counter productive. The half full glass remained in her hands.

"A-Acteur and I..." She tried to think of how to phrase her latest problem. "He sent me away from danger without following me. What if... What if he gets killed?" Her hands tightened slightly on the glass, one hand moving to wipe her face. The fear of Acteur being killed by Atticus was most prominent to her.

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail gave Ellin a sad smile as they worked, cleaning away the injuries and making sure the soldiers were presentible and ready for their final journey. "I'm fine, Ellin... I just..." she whispered, then shook her head softly.

"It's so pointless, isn't it? War? All these good people, all because of a little surplus darkness in the world... because of that monster, Atticus..." She sighed, then washed her hands once her work was done. Between the two of them, cleaning the soldiers was a pretty speedy process. What was left now were the prayers.

"When peace returns... I want to build a memorial for everyone who was lost... wouldn't that be nice?" she asked as she moved to the first soldier and began to pray...

[Ellin Destroix]

"Atticus..." The dark knight let out a soft sigh in response to Abigail's questions, wanting so much to answer the question of war, "Views are not equal...therefore there is war." she spoke after a moment of silence, "Everybody is only seeing what they have in contrast, rather than what is common, and therefore causes...this."

Ellin sat up after finishing the last few soldiers, resting their hands over their hearts to keep them protected, even after death. After a moment of thinking, she began to pray sofly, muttering the words of Cosmos, and watching Abigail with the corner of her eye.

"When peace returns... I want to build a memorial for everyone who was lost... wouldn't that be nice?" she heard the mage say, and this sent Ellin's heart to flutter again.

"So kind~" Ellin nearly sang in between prayer, before resuming normally. It was when she finished that she would contribute a bit more about her comment, "You never stop being amazing, Miss Abigail. Even when the darkness appears, and all seems lost and everyone is thinking about their own troubles.... you think above others first instead of yourself even those that have returned to the soil are on your mind... its admirable."

The dark knight finished her last prayer before standing up and fixing her gauntlets a little.


"...It... must be such a burden though..." She thought out loud, turning to look at her with a soft smile, "...to have everyone on your mind... so let us do this!" she walked over to Abigail and extended a hand to her, " I will..."

The dark knight blushed softly, giving her a confident grin, " I will take some of that burden, so you don't suffer alone!" she nodded, " and when this is all over-- we will both take care of the memorial and it will be nice, very nice!... we will do our best from here on out to see that memorial happen... ok?"

[Vivi]

Acteur?

The squat Black Mage couldn't recall the name, but he still tilted his head to the side and sighed heavily, picking up the glass and stepping back, giving the piper some room to breathe and collect her bearings.

"I'm sorry for your loss...it must be sad knowing someone's in trouble and you can't help...I've been in that situation before," he breathed, walking around back to the navigator, handing the glass of water to her and turning. "It's also very difficult."

[General Beatrix]

While navigation went to work, getting results rather quickly on the whereabouts of the Holy Knight, Beatrix' nerves calmed down somewhat, and when Sarah spoke to Vivi about Acteur and his daring rescue of the piper, she walked back over to the young lady.

"You said Acteur is in trouble?" she asked, shaking her head. "It is far beyond me to call you a liar, but is he not a powerful senior Heartless? I was not informed he would turn against his master so willingly..."

Folding her arms and giving a brief pause, she thought of their earlier conversation back at Jidoor.

"Or perhaps it is something else? Where were you? Where have your adventures taken you, and how can the Alexandrian Army be of assistance? We're hot on the trail of our comrades, but I'm sure an additional rescue mission would not hurt much."

[Twilight Path]

Sarah listened to Vivi's voice, her face a bit red from crying. Though she was uncertain of what side he'd be on, it was nice to know someone was in a sense 'willing' to understand her position. Beatrix talking brought her back to the reality that she was not as much with someone who'd understand. Or so she believed, since she'd last seen Beatrix at the Opera House.

"It is far beyond me to call you a liar, but is he not a powerful senior Heartless? I was not informed he would turn against his master so willingly..."

She slowly stood up, one hand pulling the hat off of her head. She held it close to her, since she had found the outfit with Acteur. It was a comfort to know that she had something from him, even if he wasn't there. The piccolo remained in her pocket for her safety. She could remember the scene of the strange woman she had met only twice. The one where Atticus was killing her. Then she had seen that strange place and made that road, a red path that was neither light or dark, yet both.

"Or perhaps it is something else? Where were you? Where have your adventures taken you, and how can the Alexandrian Army be of assistance? We're hot on the trail of our comrades, but I'm sure an additional rescue mission would not hurt much."

"Atticus... he killed that woman." Sarah spoke, as if the fear had been off of her mind for a moment. "Even though we were there to fight a teddy bear and coat racks, he killed that woman." It was rather cryptic, but there had been many events in a row. "I thought that if he killed Acteur that way..." The vision had started as soon as she had feared losing Acteur. She shook her head, trying to get her thoughts to be somewhat coherent.

"Acteur sent me away so I would be safe from the teddy bear. I don't know why, but I have the feeling he'll be alright. I'll find him when he's able to get away." She spoke, not feeling as exhausted as before, but still mentally tired from using the piccolo's power. "I think he should be fine. He'll be waiting for me somewhere eventually."

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail blushed lightly when Ellin called her amazing. She smiled despite the sad work they did, and walked over to set her book of Cosmos down lightly on a table. She listened to how Ellin worried that she was carrying a heavy burden, finding it somewhat cute that she didn't realize that this was no burden at all for her. Still, she couldn't help but feel... a connection to this woman.

Turning to face her, she nodded softly. "Cosmos bless you, Ellin... that you live in the light, yet hail from the dark. I think... I think we should all strive to be like you. Perfectly balanced and wonderful." She smiled now, then looked down a bit to her hands, blushing somewhat. She hadn't thought about it for some time... but Ellin really was special to her as of late. She... was finding it difficult to imagine this struggle against the darkness without her now.

So, when Ellin took a step forward and extended her hand, Abigail smiled, stepped closer as well, and slipped hers into it, interweaving the fingers together and resting her head on the knight's shoulder (though carefully to avoid injury on a metal spike). "That would be nice..." she said softly. "Thank you..."

[Ellin Destroix]

That smile... thought the knight, starring at Abigail's face as it brightened, ...I want to... keep seeing that smile...! she continued, her face and her ears turning a bright red to the thought (which was obvious against her pale complexion). She gasped softly when the white mage curled those soft fingertips against the cold metal of her gauntlets and etched closer to her, to rest her head against her shoulder (carefully).

Ellin took this moment to look around the quiet room to the soldiers. They all looked peaceful in their eternal slumber... all seemed to have found their way to the gates of Cosmos, when they, the living, where still here dealing with a horrible war that drove races apart. Her lavender eyes traveled until they landed to see Abigail's blue hues from her angle, "... Let us... bring everyone together someday, Miss Abigail... let us show the beauty of both worlds... and end this feud soon, but first..."

The dark knight moved a bit away from the girl, but continued to hold her hand as she led her to the room where the lost vampire was waiting, "... Let us... help Miss Lilith, yes?"

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail nodded a bit when Ellin stated that they would show the beauty of both worlds. She even sighed a little and smiled. Looking up, she could see the girl blushing, and giggled somewhat at this. But then... she was being lead away.

She blinked a little, at first confused and feeling as though maybe Ellin didn't feel the same way she was beginning to, but the thought dawned on her that this woman had spent her whole life among the heartless... Maybe she was just new to these things? Still, she couldn't help but smile at her innocent way of worrying for others, even others that she was literally red-in-the-eyes angry at earlier.

She giggled softly, and nodded. "Right..." she said, and as they walked, paused only a moment to touch a communications panel to contact Beatrix. "Bea? It's Abby... The soldiers are ready now, so if someone could start the process of preparing their final resting places, that'd be swell..." she said into the intercom, then walked along with Ellin...

[General Beatrix]

"Atticus... he killed that woman. Even though we were there to fight a teddy bear and coat racks, he killed that woman. I thought that if he killed Acteur that way..."

"Killed whom?" inquired the general, tilting her head, curious. "And you said 'teddy bear'?" Vivi twitched at this, as well as mention of the "coat racks". Beatrix dug deep into her mind to recall why a teddy bear, of all things, was significant at all.

"!!!" Startled by Abigail's voice suddenly booming through the intercom connected the chain of thought and she turned back, lightning fast, to the girl with the piccolo.

"The teacher--Shan-something, yes?"

"Master Shantotto!" cried the Black Mage, leaping and holding out his staff. "You were battling the master?"

"Master Vivi, you went to study with the teddy bear, as well?" asked the general, slowly moving over to the intercom to reply to the White Mage. "Why was I uninformed, and when was this?"

Clicking the button, she leaned in to the microphone. "Munitions, are the torpedo launchers ready yet?" She received an affirmative and switched channels back to where Abby and Ellin worked. "The accomodations have been made." Turning the channels again, she addressed this time the entire ship. "Attention Alexandrians," she spoke coldly, with a touch of sadness in her tone. "Please unite in the munition bay at once for a ceremonial sending for our allies...that is all."

Turning back to Sarah and Vivi, she nodded. "If you'll excuse me...or you could come along..." she shook her head and walked off without a response, pausing only to pat the girl's shoulder.

[Twilight Path]

Sarah didn't know what had happened on the ship recently. It seemed important, but she knew it would be best if she let those who knew of the situation be there. She did not want to bring up the strange woman who had spoken to her at that moment. She had brought it up once, but thankfully the conversation had turned into a conversation about the teddy bear and coat racks. Shantotto? A magic teacher?

Her eyes looked towards Vivi's location, not certain of what to say of how she had ended up there. Acteur and herself were sent there for some reason. What else could she possibly say? "You could say it was an order given to Acteur." She spoke softly to Vivi. "I know little about why were were even there."