Two lost girls, aSaint and all the shit in between

[genericvillain]

Abby smiled at Alessia.

"It's no trouble at all, child. I'm more than happy to help anyone who needs it. I remember when you first arrived, Nia," the woman said as she glanced over to Nia, who smiled sheepishly as she poked at her dinner on her plate.

"Y-y-yes. And you said to me, when Grant walked me inside, that I looked so lost..." Nia turned to her friends then, "M-Mama Abby is really good at figuring people out. That's why she's so sweet and known for it."

"I'm just experienced with many years of caring for others, that's all. Nothing special," Abby responded as she watched James shovel through his meal, "would you like me to bring more, my dear? You really need to eat well!"


She sat back with a cup of tea as she waited for the three of them to eat up, smiling and musing aloud as she stared at Nia.

"You've come a long way. Nia's lived here, trained here, for quite awhile. Up until the last few days she hasn't very much left this volcano. She did when she excitedly told me 'some friends of mine are getting married', and off she went, packed and all alone with no worries. Now she comes home with the two of you," she chuckled, "I don't suppose you both want to join our monastery, do you? I'm sure Nia would love for more friends to join us."

"Meditation is at sunrise every single morning," Nia randomly shared aloud to James and Alessia, "but you get used to it, and it becomes a way of life. You should think about it!"

And as absurd as it sounded, Nia at least tried to envision all of her Saints family hiding away on Duo up in this peaceful temple. they'd all be fire monks forever together!

[Alessia]

"Thank you for the offer, but..." Alessia began, glancing from the two former Saints than back at Abby, "But I'm afraid I can't stay long, there is something I must finish."

Truth was Alessia had no idea where she'd go, and perhaps some time to breath would be exactly what she needed. She tapped the table nervously before shrugging, "I mean... a little time here won't hurt. Just enough for me to get my thoughts straight."

[genericvillain]

Nia gave Alessia a sympathetic smile, finishing her dinner and pushing her plate away. Her hands folded in her lap and she looked over her troubled sister. She wanted to help Alessia but maybe this wasn't right. She had a family of her own to go home to. Hiding in the volcano might have worked for Nia but Alessia had too much to leave behind.

"I thought I would only stay for a couple of days..." she mumbled, looking around at everyone at the table and fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Think about it for the night, go have a good sleep you all and we'll talk more in the morning," Abby chimed in, making quick work of the dirty dishes and giving her guests a knowing smile, "go on, now. Relax. You're in warm company."

[Alessia]

"I shall certainly consider it..." Alessia nodded, it only seemed to dawn on her now how tired she had been. The eagerness to sleep in a proper bed had quickly came to Alessia, "Nia..." Alessia said leaning across the table towards her, "Is there somewhere I could sleep at?"

Alessia tried her best not to seem rude, but she feared assuming that she would be given everything from food to a bed was assuming too much.

[genericvillain]

"Of course," Nia smiled, having dinner cleared away and the area cleaned up she took both James and Alessia by the hands, one in each of hers and lead them back to the door. With a quick, "Good night, Mama Abby" she lead them away through the dimly lit hallways and towards another set of doors.

"Right through here," she opened one carefully and quietly as to not disturb anyone who'd been inside already. It was a very relaxing, large room with several floors to it separated by spiral set of stairs, cots set out along the outer walls and half-filled with people peacefully sleeping. Nia gave off a very relaxed air about her with the familiarity of this life of hers coming back to her she almost forgot she was even holding onto her friends.

Letting go of their hands she turned back to Alessia specifically, pulling her into a soft hug.

"You've been through...s-so much my friend. Anywhere you want you sleep. I promise I'll do what I can to make it better for you," she whispered, and then gestured for her to take her first choice of wherever she wanted to rest for the night.

[Alessia]

"Nia..." Alessia wanted to say something like 'stop worrying', but all she could do was smile and say, "Thank you, I really do appreciate it."

Alessia looked between the two cots, they both looked pretty similar so she just picked the one on the left. Lying down on it felt amazing for Alessia, it was almost as if she was flying!

Exaggerated as that was, she had been on the move for all this time that it felt like a bed with sheets made out of the softest cotton Allorum could offer.

She looked over at Nia and whispered over to her, "I'll see you at sunrise." She gave a strong smile, trying to show how appreciative of all this she was. But even now her mind lingered, and every sound that floated by reminded her of the children that she left behind.

She rolled away so Nia couldn't get a look at her face, Alessia pulled up the blankets and held them close to her. That night she fell asleep fighting back tears.

[genericvillain]

Nia watched as her friend curled up to sleep, making to lie down herself and stare up at the ceiling but she had no intention of sleeping herself. She lay awake, her mind slowly going over the events that lead them here and where they would go from now.

'I can't...leave. I left for Roxa and Alessia, and now that seems to have been a bad idea...

How? Why do you think of this so negatively, Nia? If Alessia didn't have you when she did, who knows where she would have been.

Duo is here. You know why he's here, Nia. It's only a matter of time before...before...

Don't tell yourself that! It will be fine, you told yourself you're here at home, safe in the monastery. They've helped you through so much, they always know what to do...'

Nia sat up finally, glancing over to see if Alessia was still asleep before she rose entirely from her cot and made her way towards the door. Even at night the torches still burned, enchanted they were, and lit the path towards the large meditation chambers, walls lined with more forever-burning pots of fire that lit the entire dark brown-stoned room. At the front sat a golden symbol, that of the Volkanon family that this monastery in particular held very high regard for, them and their teachings.

Nia sat before it, staring for a long time as she tried to settle her thoughts. Her friends were going to leave, and what of her?

"Nia, I thought you'd find yourself here eventually," the knowing voice of the old woman, Abby spoke from the doorway, echoing clearly in the young girl's ears, "you've had that look about you since you've come home. Something bothers you..."

"He's back," Nia whimpered, her eyes slowly turning to face that of the older woman cloaked in red. Abby sat on the floor across from her once she got closer.

"And so what are you going to do about it, child?"

Nia bit her lip, not sure how she was supposed to answer as she wasn't really expecting to have to deal with Duo again. And last time she did...she didn't want to remember it. And since then the whole family fell apart, if they didn't die then they disappeared. The Saints weren't really a thing anymore.

"I...I can't do anything, Mama. I brought Alessia to hide. I don't want her to leave," she answered shamefully, resting her hands in her lap. Abby cocked her head to the side and remained silent for a moment as she looked over the girl's features and listened to the way she shared her words.

"That girl has too much at stake to sit back and watch her world burn, doesn't she?" Abby spoke, forcing Nia to look up into her calm inquisitive eyes, "if you gave her the choice, I'd say she would rather go out trying than to give up. You've mentioned the events of before, Nia. You've told me of your desire to grow since then. What for, child? Do you not remember?"

Nia never planned on Duo returning, no, but she never had a plan of leaving the temple. She looked back down at her hands.

"I...I-I wanted to know who I am and what I can do. I wanted to do something different, I wanted to prove I could make that difference..."

"Then do it. What is hiding here going to do for you?" Abby smiled, "you've learned what we've taught you. Take it, apply it, and never forget it. I'm not telling you to leave, I'm telling you to tell yourself where your next lesson truly is...because it's not here, my dear."

Nia kept her head low, biting at her lip again and she shook her head.

"Duo will destroy everything...he'll take it all away again..." she answered quietly, "I guess if I don't try again myself, there will never be a difference. We'll just lose everything all over again."

"Be the difference you seek, Nia. And for the love of everything go to bed, your eyes are so dark," the old woman frowned, raising to her feet and Nia slowly followed. She began to head back to the bed chambers but even with her short exchange with her elder she had no intention of getting any rest.

[Alessia]

That night Alessia dreamed of many things, none of it was at all comforting. The few times Alessia had fallen to sleep on this journey she had the same repeating visions as she had on the day of her wedding, and tonight was no different.

The visions always started the same - Alessia was in a throne room, where she was standing between two people, Kain and Duo. In front of them was a crowd of people looking on at the three, she didn't know why but she had such a warm comfortable feeling between he two...

That would melt away, and she would find herself lying in a pool of blood. It always felt so real, the thick smell of iron and the warm liquid was all to familiar to her... the last manageable image she saw was where the blood came from, the suppliers of this pool was Roxa and her children. This horrible images always make her shriek, and that always led to more images.

The next images were always too fast for her to understand, but this time it was somewhat different... the images slowed and she could properly see what was going on. It looked like they were in a church, the old structure looked to be a couple centuries old. In it, were a crowd of people... all facing Duo.

While she couldn't understand what was going on, the one thing she could recognize was something hanging from the wall: The Republic of Unda flag. And as soon as Alessia saw that, she suddenly woke up...

Alessia pulled herself from the cot, sweat rolling down her face as she breathed in heavy breaths of air. She looked around, everyone seemed to be waking up for the sunrise and thankfully, none seemed to question why she sat up so suddenly.

Pulling herself up from the ground, she knew what had to be done. Those visions were a sign, and as much as she didn't like it she had a feeling she knew exactly where Duo was.

Now Alessia needed to find Nia and James.

[genericvillain]

Thankfully Nia wasn't too far away, she weaved in and around everyone in the sleeping quarters and was already in the middle of helping everyone tidy up to go do their morning practices.

Her eyes rested on Alessia as she worked, seeing the girl rise quickly enough but assuming it to be nothing more than her just remembering she was in a strange place yes, but surrounded by friends. Everyone was a friend here...

Nia's thoughts brought her to the night before, the conversation she had with Abby. It still rested uneasily inside her, the fact that she knew that she were damned if she stay here while Duo attempted to take over the world again, and damned even more if she dared to try to rise against him again. And yet seeing Alessia, her friend having nothing made her feel nothing but guilt.

"Alessia!" she called out to the girl, "it is early, I know, but we have a busy day...you'll see, you'll like it."

[Alessia]

Alessia rubbed her eyes of sleep as Nia's words made little impact to her groggy mind. It took a moment before she finally nodded to Nia.

"A busy day ahead, hm?" Alessia wanted to tell Nia what she had dreamed about, but the morning was no place for such news. She'd wait a little bit before telling Nia about her next destination.

[James Morte]

Last night was a blur...
I remember getting in a fight, drinking, climbing a...Volcano? Where the hell am I?
Wherever I was it was hotter then hell, darker, and noisier too, I suppose I could be in the market, or a pig pen, possibly even a ratty brothel, all I had to do was open my eyes to find out.
But, I didn't want to, I didn't want to know what goddamn godforsaken hole I was in, I wanted to go back to sleep and never wake up.

However, I heard a woman voice, a friendly voice, not the kind telling me to pay up and get the hell out, that alone told me I was some where new, I craned my dome to the sound, and opened my eyes. After my eyes adjusted I saw Nia and Alessia and everything that happened last night came flooding back.

I swung my legs onto the floor beneath, wishing I had more booze flowing in my veins, I groaned to give them a warning that I had risen.
"Mornin'" the words came from my parched, cracked lips.
Shoulda just gone back to sleep.

[genericvillain]

"It is early, we go to meditation for an hour and then we have our breakfast," Nia said warmly, watching the very groggy James, "and then we clean up and have more meditation time. We do some exercises, and we meditate. We read, we have a light lunch, we go on walking meditation. More exercises are to be had, and we meditate in the afternoon for a couple of hours, and then we have free time to do relaxing activities until dinner time. After that, we do more restorative exercises to help us rest for the night." Nia recited the entire day's activities automatically, a routine she'd clearly followed for seven days of the week every month of the year for what was probably closer to a year and several months by now.

She turned back to Alessia, and where her every intention was innocent it was almost on cue that she ask to both of them, "How was your sleep?"

[Alessia]

"Sounds like a busy day!" Alessia exclaimed while clapping her hands together. She decided she would need to tell them sooner in hopes of avoiding all that meditating!

"B-But listen, we need to talk soon," Alessia began, hesitantly looking between Nia and James, "I..." She gulped, the words that were in her head sounded crazy. So Alessia spoke them quickly and quietly, "I think I may know where Duo is!"

[genericvillain]

"You what?!" Nia blurted, noticing some odd stares headed their way and she put her head down, giving a weak wave at those around them as they walked by. She bit her lip, shuffling close to James and Alessia and her whole body started jittering about.

"W-w-w-what ma-ma-ma-ftt-phbtt-pfbbb--bother bother!" Nia's hands balled up tight her knuckles turned ghostly white and she swung them in front of her in partial rage towards herself for stammering like a fool. She sucked in a sharp breath and whispered, "w-what makes you say that?"

[James Morte]

She spoke so fast that I couldn't even understand her, but Nias stammering revealed what she said...
And sense at this moment I'm being so truthful and shit, I'll say it's not the greatest way to start my day, the last thing I want to hear about when I wake up is that you know where the man who could kill us all without breaking a sweat is.
And so what? so what you know where he is, what is an alcoholic and two women going to do against Duo, what chance did we have to defeat him? next to none, no-we have no chance, oh hell, I must have been really loaded to have agreed to such an idiotic plan.

"Where is he?" I put my brain to work, and put my fears to rest, "And how did you find this out?"