Iced Reunion pt. 3

[Sonorc Optimus]

Today was Sonorc's last day to meet with his children, and he only knew where one of them were. He walked into the Braena woods, and just wondered about looking for A.B.A. After a while he sat down and started to think where she could be, then he then saw something that looked like A.B.A. "A.B.A.! Is that you?" He shouted as he started to walk to the person in question.

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. trudged tirelessly through the thick brush of the Braena woods that afternoon. She looked herself, not bothering with a disguise under the notion she was alone this deep in the woods. Her time in Guasto had been upsetting and all in all the opposite of what she'd hoped for. With Nia seemingly a traitor, she wondered if the remaining Saints that lived had taken a similar path.

The familiar voice snapped her from her funk, and with wide unbelieving eyes she turned to face Sonorc. "Sonorc? What are you... how did you find me?" Her hand gripped the chain attached to Paracelsus nervously. The thoughts of traitorous Saints had not left her mind entirely, and with the power Sonorc had held, she wondered what she'd do if he had come to do anything more than talk.

[Sonorc Optimus]

Before Sonorc said anything, he hugged A.B.A. "It has been too long since I seen you." he said as he then stepped back. "I had a little help with this." He showed her the Guasto medallion, and the mirror inside. "Yep, it helps me to find any of my children that I wanted to talk to before I-" He then remembered that A.B.A. wasn't shocked on the fact that he died, but the fact that he found her. "So, what have you been up to?"

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. stiffened as Sonorc wrapped his arms around her, paralyzed in an uncomfortably unsure state of how she should react to it. As he spoke her eyes were drawn to the strange artifact he held. Impulsively she reached out with one hand and pulled it in for a closer look. "You mean you can find any of the still living Saints with this medallion?" The joy she felt knowing how much easier it could make her quest nearly made her overlook that a Saint stood right in front of her. Even more so, one that was close to Kain, and had answers as to what had happened during her departure.

"I've been looking for you, or rather any of the Saints that still lived since Kain died. I have to know what happened that day. Van knew nothing, and Nia has become a filthy traitor, cavorting with our enemy right out in the open. Please Sonorc, tell me what has become of our group?" Her gaze pleaded with him as she looked up into his eyes.

[Sonorc Optimus]

"Kain, Everto, Grey, Bart, and James died at the tower. You know about Nia and Van, Aliessa and Roxa are in Alberisato, and the rest vanished. How I missed my children..." He said as he through the time before they were sealed away. "So, how have you been? What happened to you when you got separated from us?"

[A.B.A.]

"It's not important what happened to me!" A.B.A. cried out. "How did this happen? Why does Nia's actions not bother you? Five of us died, and you speak as if they were nobodies!" She paces back and forth, shirking away from any attempt Sonorc might make to try and console her.

"I was gone for only a few days after you collected the girl. Everything was going according to plan. Those random brats were unable to stop us, much less beat us. What the hell happened in that tower?" She stared at Sonorc with a bubbling menace in her eyes. She had waited too long for answers, and she didn't intend to say anything more until she got them.

[Sonorc Optimus]

"Nia's actions did bother me, but I was more worried about you. I knew what happened to her, but not you. So, I think I do want to know what happened." Sonorc said, then he sighed, "I don't know, I think maybe that the heroes were divided but when were going to complete our goal, they finally got united. I don't know, it could have been their lucky day, stuff like this happens."

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. quieted her rage as she heard Sonorc's words. It had not occurred to her that the other Saints could very well be doing that she was. "I'm, I'm sorry Sonorc. I was worried for you too. I'm so glad to see you alive."

"After the battle in the fields I narrowly escaped Grey's explosion. A girl with divine powers nursed me back to health and it was through her I gained the power to try and find you all." A.B.A. shifted into Velestia's form. "I had to know what happened to you all. Then I found the tower..." She trailed off as her hand played absentmindedly through her hair.

"Please Sonorc, I have to know. Did anyone else betray Kain? Nia was so loyal before I vanished. Someone must have pushed her to do it. I don't want it to be so, but I need to know the truth." She looked down at a locket of her hair interlaced in her fingers, afraid to see Sonorc's expression.

[Sonorc Optimus]

"And is this the girl?" He asked as he looked at her face, "She had a pretty face, though yours is prettier." He then sighed, and thought about something. "Before I tell you, you have to promise me that this person will not get hurt." Sonorc finally said, "I just don't want to see more of my family dead, and get killed by their own family." He tightened the grip on the cane, anxiously await for A.B.A.'s reply.

[Van]

Van had been walking around Guasto, figuring since part of his family had died he would at least honor them in some way when he heard voices. He ducked down and crawled behind a boulder.

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. curled her lips in disapproval. "You know I can't do that Sonorc. A disloyal member is a member no more, or did you forget about Nathan so easily? Kain hated him for what he did, just as I hate those that killed our allies." She held out a finger towards up at Sonorc in an irritated fashion. "And allies is all they were. I don't know what you felt from them but they were no family of mine. Kain was my commander. You were my comrade, and the second any of them abandoned that relationship is the second I abandon my loyalty to them."

"So let me ask you again. May I call you comrade as you tell me who betrayed us, or should I call you traitor as you defend them?"

[Sonorc Optimus]

"You are going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?" He asked her, "Very well, but I will hope that you will make the right decision in the end. Roxa."

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A.'s grip on her blade loosened as the tension flowing through her dissipated. "Thank you Sonorc. As I had hoped, you are still my ally." To her it had made perfect sense. Roxa had protested Kain's actions from the start, yet she had never thought the boy would go so far as to defy him outright.

"Do not worry for me though. My choice shall be the same then as it is now; the right one. Nia and Roxa shall fall, as shall those that ruined our plans from the beginning. This I must do." A.B.A. switched back to her normal form, her expression of seething anger looking much more natural than on the lovely youthful face of Velestia.

[Van]

"No, A.B.A." Van stood from behind the boulder. He was slightly shocked by the expression on her face, but he put it out of his mind. "You should leave them alone." Van slowly walked out to the both of them. "Please A.B.A., leave them alone. All they did was because they didn't want to kill anymore. You can search for Kain, but I beg you to leave them alone." Van was keeping his voice calm, trying not to sound mean.

[A.B.A.]

"Van?" A.B.A. turned in a dramatic whirl to face him. Speechless at first, her expressions changed from joy, to sudden embarrassment and anger. "You're just as bad as Nia. I trusted you too Van, more than any other of the Saints! You were there. Both of you were. Did those meddlers put a spell on you to weaken your resolve? Why don't either of you see that this is the only thing I can do for Kain now?"

A.B.A. felt claustrophobic as Van's inclusion had left her feeling outnumbered and overwhelmed. Am I really in the wrong here? Why am I the only one who feels this way? Her arms tightened around her. It was the closest thing she had to reassurance at the moment.