Reaching the Tower at Last(OPEN)

[A.B.A.]

From the surging seas a lone boat pierced the flat horizon, it's course leading straight to a single mass of land anointed by the Tower of Salvation. The boat was small and only a single grizzled sea captain was aboard on the helm, his cloths soaked from the rain and blood stained on the wheel. Reaching land at last he leapt with urgency and speed beyond that of a man his age and rushed to the base. Looking hesitantly at the bits of debris that littered the shore, he none the less rushed up to the entrance.

As the door swung open a young girl stepped inside, locks of brown hair flowing out from her hood. Her hands moved with a graceful sweep and a globe of scrying appeared. Only a pure emptiness was held inside, and her eyes widened in disbelief. Her hands fell to her side and the orb vanished as she ran to the top as fast as she could.

At the final floor, A.B.A. fell to her knees and wept at the sight of the empty room. The blood stained walls hinted that the conflict had indeed happened here. It was fresh, and the absence of many bodies told that there had been survivors that gave burials to the slain. She wanted to believe the plan had worked, but no one was waiting for her, and she knew it meant only one thing. "He's dead. We lost..." She choked out between sobs. She didn't care, there was no one to be appear strong to here.

[Van]

A tiny puff a smoke, and Van appeared out of nowhere outside the tower. Before he helped the cat-eared creature, he had to mark the graves of his siblings. He walked up to the doorway. The door wouldn't work, but maybe the side of the doorway would work. Van started scratching the names of the ones he had heard had died.

He was almost done with Kain's name when he finally heard sobbing coming from the tower. Cautiously, Van stepped through the doorway and walked up the stairs. The spirits had disappeared, and he could now enter. He got to the last room, took a deep breath, and stepped inside. What he saw made him take a step back. "... A.B.A.?"

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. sprang to her feet and turned around, her belief suspended till she saw his face. She couldn't believe he'd survived, that any of them had. Drying the tears as quickly as she could she moved over to him and held him close. "Van..." She had so many questions she didn't even know what to ask first. She looked up at him for a moment, as if unsure he was really in her arms. "So much has gone wrong, and I was only gone for two days. I had thought you were dead. I had thought you were all dead."

As it sank in that one of the Saints had indeed survived, she knew what she needed to know first. "The others? What of the rest of the Saints?" The urgency in her voice came through desperately, and as she looked into his eyes with her still wet and red he could tell she needed to know the truth.

[Van]

"I... " Van had been dreaming of this day for roughly 700 years, now he didn't know what to say. "... I think some of our family died." Would she believe that he had lived on Earth for a long time? "Bartholomew, Everto, Grey, James... I think, Gramps, and Kain was sealed because a demon possessed him." He closed his eyes. "From what I heard, they had died honorably." He looked at his right hand, moving the five fingers on it. Then again, if she did believe him, he could tell her some amazing stories. "I... I wasn't here to witness it though, I was young and naive."

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. looked stunned. Tried as she might, she couldn't fathom what had happened in this tower. With so many still alive, why had they not fought on? Had they all given up with the elimination of Kain, or had the plan gotten so bad that the only choice was to retreat? A.B.A. grasped his left hand, lacing her fingers with his and finding some comfort in it. "We need to find the others Van. I have to know what happened, if the rest are okay. If I could not have been there for them then, then I want to know if they are okay. I...I owe them that much."

As much as she claimed selflessness, inside it pained her to know that she might have missed the one chance at redemption. She had hoped to prove herself in combat to Kain and to herself. With learning that the final battle had come and gone, she secretly hoped that the remaining Saints might still have need of her skill.