Vacation's Where I Am

[Shark a' Pult]

"Please, don't worry."

"Right, right. If we can just..."

Taking Joe's hand, Solaine made for the closest side exit with him, staying fast and low to remain as little noticed as possible. Thankfully they were seated near the back of the hall, quite far away from the stairs up to the podium. Had they been seated closer, then they wouldn't have been able to get away with this. Or maybe they wouldn't even as they were.

As they approached the big red set of curtains that marked one of the side exits, a fellow with what appeared to be pieces of a broken stockade about his neck, stepped out to stop them.

"Not so fast, guests aren't pe-RCHGTH!"

Without missing a beat, Solaine grabbed his face with her free hand, abruptly cutting him off as several cracks and breaking sounds could be heard.

"If we can just..."

Rather than letting him go though, she kept her grip and brought him with them, pressing through the curtains and out the exit to the side corridors. All in all it took only a moment, and she hoped no one had seen them.

"...get back to the room."

---

"Going somewhere, my Lord?"

Before Morrison could entirely exit the upper hallway, a voice called out with the intent to stop him, though nothing physically keeping him. The culprit was assumedly a girl, seated a little ways down a smaller hallway branching off of the main. It seemed she had been waiting, as she called out just as the cat happened to pass by the short space where they met.

"Need a guide? I could take you anywhere you'd need to go. You are our guest here, after all, and it's kind of my job."

It was hard to tell her identity though, since she had on a confinement mask in addition to a straightjacket. Despite having some difficulty getting to her feet though, she didn't seem all that perturbed by it. Pacing towards Morrison, she sought to be of use to the cat, and provide help if he needed it.

Of course, he was completely free to continue on, and she wouldn't be all that annoyed by it. She'd stalk him one way or another though, it was her job to keep an eye on him, while trying to remain noticed as little as possible.

---

Solaine left the incapacitated guard on a balcony outside, having a little difficulty getting over how high up they actually were in this towering building. Joe might have noticed the fellow seemed off, and even a cursory glance would reveal something of a cracked exterior and exposed metal and gears, where Solaine had crushed his face. After that though, they managed to reach their room with only the minor difficulty of correctly navigating the building while remaining as out of sight as possible. It seemed the guard presence had been increased, but they reached the room no less.

"We have to leave, right now. I know who that man giving the speech was, from a long time ago. I had no idea..."

Feverishly she tried to make sense of things in her mind, all the while she haphazardly paced about the room trying to pack things for their departure. It was all so much and so sudden though, that she wasn't doing a good job of either, and was making more a mess of things than she was cleaning up. This was uncharacteristic for her, Joe would probably be able to tell, since she was normally great at multitasking and almost never lost her cool. Even the attack that hospitalized her, didn't put her in such a frenzied state.

"...no idea, otherwise I'd never have come. Would never have brought you! Yes, at the very least, we have to get you out of here. I don't know what he has planned, it might be nothing..."

She found herself standing in the closet for no reason in particular, and grumbling, resumed her descent into disorder. With her hands on her head, it was a small hope that maybe she could wrack her brain to concentrate well enough to figure out the best course of action. Either way, the biggest concern and her cause for worry, was Joe.

"...but if he recognizes me, I don't think it will end well for us. In fact, he might know we're here already, if he cared to check over the invites or someone informed him... what do we do? Guards all over the place, what do we do?!"

[CJ]

Joe looked up as they were confronted by a very odd guard. He was brushed aside by Solaine, who grabbed the guard's face. He heard a very odd noise, one that he hadn't heard before. Did Solaine just...?

---

"I don't know who that man is or how you know him, but I'm sure we'll be able to resolve this situation if we don't panic."

Despite his calm exterior, Joe felt sick. He wasn't sure if the guard Solaine subdued was alive. He didn't want to know, but he kept thinking about it. He held his stomach and stood by the door. He tried to think of the situation logically. If they were going to escape this place, one of them needed to think rationally and it clearly wouldn't be face smashing Solaine.

"First things, first," he said with a gulp. "We need to move. If they know we're here, they'll be sure to search the room. We'll have to move at a steady pace. No running, nothing to draw attention to ourselves. I'm sorry, but I would leave your things behind. It's best to only take what we need."

But before they could leave, he had to settle one thing. It was apparent Solaine was willing to risk her life for Joe, something he knew wasn't necessary. For her sake, he had to tell her the truth. He felt ill, thinking about it, but telling her would be like taking off a bandage. The slower he went, the more drawn out the pain would be.

"Solaine, I'm sorry I kept this secret from you, but my brother and I share a power that allows me to warp to his location. It's extremely painful for Nathan, so I would hate to use it, but if things got bad, I could get out of here. Unfortunately, I can't take you with me and I can't come back, which is why we need to get out of here together."

His voice wavered. It wouldn't be hard to tell he was lying or at least partly holding the truth from her. He chickened out, afraid to tell her everything. He hoped she would believe him with only this information.

"Shall we get going?"

[Kyubey]

As the straightjacket-wearing woman called out to Morrison, the cat tensed up and spun around to face the person talking. It was true that he had been off guard, and wasn't using his Observation Haki at the time, but still she must have been rather sneaky indeed, to go without catching his notice like that. Although he felt at home in this country, or as at home as he could possibly feel, it was still no reason for him to be caught unawares like that. It was perplexing, and more than a little disappointing. Still, her appearance wasn't a bad thing. In fact, she might have saved him minutes of slinking around, searching for the people he was after.

I'm seeking out an individual, he wrote. If you could direct me to whoever is the air marshall of this land, I would be most entirely grateful.

He decided to not ask about the princess, for the time being. The first person recommended to him seemed most accessible, and if asking to see the princess was somehow taboo, he didn't want to ruin his favor with the inhabitants of Vengeance before at least speaking to one of the two.

[Shark a' Pult]

"We need to move. If they know we're here, they'll be sure to search the room. We'll have to move at a steady pace. No running, nothing to draw attention to ourselves. I'm sorry, but I would leave your things behind. It's best to only take what we need."

"Right, right. Good thinking. If we can... if we can make it out of this tower, I can't believe they'd be able to find us in the city. Not with all the celebrations going on."

While she cursed herself for putting him in danger, Solaine was truly glad to have Joe along. His was a steady mind, and he was able to make much better and much faster sense of the situation than she was. Just another way in which she was impressed by him, and with him, she figured they had a good chance of escaping if things went their way. A better chance at least, than if she were on her own, and she'd probably have been caught still in her room. Stupid, stupid, of course she didn't need to bring her belongings. They were mostly clothes, but none were necessary to their escape or worth being caught over.

"Solaine, I'm sorry I kept this secret from you, but my brother and I share a power that allows me to warp to his location. It's extremely painful for Nathan, so I would hate to use it, but if things got bad, I could get out of here. Unfortunately, I can't take you with me and I can't come back, which is why we need to get out of here together."

"Oh, Joe, that's perfect!"

This was the best news she'd heard all night, and she couldn't help drawing Joe in for a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, as happy as she was. She was practically beaming, now that a huge weight was off her mind.

"Do it then, do it now! Forget about this place, forget about me; if you can get to safety then do it. It's not worth the risk of trying to escape if you can leave right now, leave me to try and figure a way out on my own."

Holding him at arms length now, she looked him over with a mix of anticipation and anxiety, as if waiting for this power he had to work. A small part of her wondered if there was some way to tell about this link the twins had, and if she'd have been able to figure it out on her own at some point.

"Is there anything I can do to help, anything you need me to do so you can go?"

She stared at him with wide eyes, an uneasy smile and bated breath, waiting for any sort of request he might give so that she could oblige. His safety first, that was what mattered most to her right now.

---

"You know you don't need to write my Lord, I can understand you just fine."

The straightjacketed guide leaned over to read the paper anyway, not nearly as patient as Roderick was. It was true though that she was wholly capable of understanding the cat to some extent, through whatever vocalization he could manage, even if it was only meowing. Exactly how she did it wasn't clear, but assumedly it was one of the main reasons she was tasked with shadowing the warlord. Seeing the paper regardless, she responded as if they had spoken.

"Oh you mean Perry? Sure thing, I'm not sure where he spends his time these nights, but I'm sure we can find him no problem."

She wasn't sure if leading the way was necessary, but she went ahead anyway, assuming the cat to follow her. True to her word, she would be able to find a way to the Air Marshal one way or another, even if she had to ask other people how. Perry wasn't really in with the others of Vengeance despite being in a high position of command, and the nation being a place of unity and tolerance. Probably the biggest factor was his involvement in the revolution on the enemy side, for which many could not forgive him, even if they kept such beliefs secret. At best he was usually regarded with a bitter tolerance, a necessary holdover from the old days. Because of this, while amity towards him was low, as a result he was afforded a higher degree of freedom than most. In fact, he was pretty much free to do as he pleased or go where he wanted, so long as he didn't endanger the nation.

As such it would probably be a chore for the cat and the guide to locate him, but if anyone could do it, it was her. And so she led the way.

"It's probably for the best we get out of here anyway my Lord, things are going to start getting pretty hairy down there, what with all the guests."

[CJ]

It was only a kiss on the cheek, but for that moment, Joe was lost in his own world.

Anger, rage, sorrow, horror. He expected all sorts of disappointing reactions from Solaine, but never this. If it meant a kiss, he would have told her the truth a long time ago. Maybe if he told her everything, it could lead to something more.

But then she started prodding, begging him to leave.

"No. I can't go."

He couldn't tell her the truth of the teleportation, that there wasn't really any teleportation. The reality was that if he were to "die," come into contact with sea stone or fall into the ocean, his essence would return to Nathan. There was any sea stone or open body of water nearby, so destruction was the only option. Thinking back to the guard before, he imagined Solaine grasping his face and crushing every bone in his head. It wouldn't be painless. It wouldn't be quick.

"You don't understand," he said, holding his head. "Nathan would suffer horribly if I were to go back like that. The last time it happened, he was bed ridden for weeks. It's not something he can handle well, Solaine. More importantly, I can't leave you. So don't worry about me. If things get bad, you'll know when I've gone. Until then, let's get out of this place. Together."

No, leave. Leave. No. Leave leave leave. Now.

Joe grasped his ear, hearing something, bouncing around in his brain. It sounded like Nathan. But how? He was miles away.

Solaine is fine. I'm fine. Leave now. Leave her now.

"I'm not leaving her, Nathan," he muttered. "I'm not going back."

Suddenly, he felt a flood of pain envelope his frontal lope and eye. The more he fought it, the more he would return to it he supposed. He knew what he was. He was a part of another person, a fleeting dream, a piece of someone's imagination. It was only a matter of time before he lost himself again.

But before that happened, he would do everything he could to save the girl he cared about most, from those who had power too great to fathom.

"Take my hand," he said with a nervous smile. "No matter what happens, know that I'm here for you, Solaine."

His one eye was partially covered in odd film that seemed to leak from his top eyelid. It was a reflective substance, bouncing back Solaine's image if she was to look directly at it. She might not have had a chance though. Joe darted out of the hotel room and down the hall, praying they wouldn't be noticed. He cursed himself, thinking he should have had Solaine put her hair up or wear a hat to avoid being noticed.

"We should avoid elevators at all costs," he said, holding his free hand to his warped eye. "If they know we're in one, we'll be sitting crocoducks. Let's see if we can find an escape route or map."

[Kyubey]

Morrison peered skeptically at the woman, wondering about her ability to understand him. It was not the first time he could communicate openly with someone who could match his intelligence, but she would be the first human. That is, if she was a human. He didn't sense anything special about her, but one could never tell. It was not his place to find out, anyway. He was a visitor.

"Very well," he mewed. "Let's go on, then."

---

It would not take long for them to find Perry, for the Air Marshal was at one of his most common spots, by the airplane hangers kept by the Vengance military. A small light flickered near one of the hangars, which was closed off for the night, and under the light was the Marshal himself, sitting in a chair, alone, with a flask full of some unknown drink in his hand. Morrison stopped as the Marshal came into view, guessing he had found the man he was looking for.

"Wait here please," he said to his guide. "I would like to speak to him privately." He paused, flicked his tail, then looked up to face the woman directly. "Come any closer than this, and I will be aware of it."

The Warlord walked directly, silently, over to Perry. At first, the solitary man seemed not to notice the cat, but as Morrison emerged from the darkness, he peered over and noticed that he was no longer alone. From the first glance Perry didn't seem to care about Morrison, thinking him to be just another ordinary cat, but as the warlord continued to walk straight ahead, and more details became clear, it dawned on the pilot just who was now standing before him, pen and paper already before him.

"Well," Perry said, after he was done taking a swig from his flask. "Seems to me like I've been graced with the presence of one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea." His tone was not particularly reverent, and in general he seemed most unimpressed with the cat. Morrison did not really expect otherwise, not many people gave appropriate reactions upon first meeting him. Perry held out the flask, exposing part of his prosthetic hand in the process. "Want some whiskey? Not sure if it's okay for cats, but you came all this way, so..."

Morrison shook his head, as he put the final touches on his initial letter, that he slid over for Perry to read. The pilot simply looked at the paper, not picking it up or even looking at its contents, before finally raising the note to a level that he would be able to read.

Exactly what do you know about Samantha Faro?

Perry made an audible grunting noise as he dropped the paper to the ground. It had been a long time since he heard that name, but in the past it seemed as though he could never get away from those words. "So it's true what they say, you can understand human talk." He considered the question before replying to it. "Now, there's a subject I wasn't expecting. She's a rather popular lady in this nation. Or was, anyways. But what I'm wondering is, what's a Warlord like you wanting to know about her? ...ah, right, you were one of her merry band way back when, weren't you? I remember reading 'bout that in the paper when you first got your title. So, you came here to learn about the last days of your dear shipmate, eh? How fucking sweet." He took a long swig from his flask, breathed in deeply, and resumed. "It was ol' Roddy that sent you to me, wasn't it? Not sure why he got the bright idea to do that, but since you asked, might as well. Never can figure out what that chained-up nutcase is thinking anyways. Officially, there's not a whole lot I can tell you that Roddy or anybody else could say better than me. Sam came to us as an outsider, and died a hero. She fought valiantly for Vengeance, brought freedom to the land and death to the terrible rulers that oppressed us for ages. All that crap. Beyond that, not much I can add. I was just a flyboy for the other team, that's all I ever was."

You were her enemy, then.

"Heh, calling me that would be putting way too much importance on myself. Seeing as you're a Warlord, I'm guessing you fought your fair share of enemy pirate crews in your time, right? Do you think every deckhand in every crew you ever fought is your enemy? I don't think so. Takes too much effort. Nah, Sam and I were only ever enemies for as long as the revolution was going on. It never got personal. Hell, I never even met the gal, and I'm sure she ain't never heard my name once during that war. I fought for reasons I thought were right at the time, whether they were or not isn't really that important, and there's nothing we can do to take any of it back. So, I put it all behind me. I've got some beef still with whatever dumb bastards shot up my plane and killed my brother, but... it wasn't her. War's war, and she had her reasons. Life's too short to get hung up on much beyond that." He glanced down at the floor and smiled, almost self-deprecatingly. "Besides, it'd be hypocritical of me to make enemies of the revolutionaries now. Regardless of what my side used to be, today I'm just a good little soldier for the free nation of Vengeance. Just like every other man, woman and child of this country. And I do what I'm told, too. I sold out everything and everyone I fought for, all to get a seat in that plane back there." He chuckled drily. "I'm not even worth calling loyalist scum, how d'you like that."

Morrison considered the words for a while, and then wrote below his previous messages, Then is that all you can tell me about the war?

Perry took a long breath through his teeth. "Don't tell Roddy I said this, and maybe it's just my failing memory talking, but I don't quite remember things going the way everyone said they did. I mean, I was only a loyalist at the time, so what would I know, but what I remember, and what the records say, don't quite match up... I'm sure your friend had her own mission, a perfectly noble one as they tell me, and there's the excuses and speeches that keep getting repeated, but... in the thick of that battle, all I ever saw was good people killing each other for the stupidest reasons. It wasn't a good time, and it's not anything I would dream of taking pride in, is all I know."

Can you elaborate?

"Nah. Not worth it. I'm not the guy to ask, to begin with. This ain't a story I'm too good at telling, y'see. I won't tell you where to go, but you're smart enough to hear what I'm saying, so I'll bet you can figure that out yourself."

I see. Thank you for cooperating.

"I'm at your service, 'my lord.' If you don't mind me bein' at all forward, ya mind if I ask ya something?"

Morrison squinted his eyes at Perry and then shook his head, signaling the pilot to continue.

"We all know that Sam died in the War of the Best. I always wanted to know, not a burning question or anything, just a little curious, where were you lot? She cared about her old crew, that's common knowledge, and you obviously gave a shit enough to come asking about her, so what were you doing, as she was dying?"

Morrison stopped, tail down, still for a long time. He remained motionless for so long, Perry thought about just getting up and leaving, but before he could entertain the thought for longer than a moment, however, Morrison furiously scribbled words onto the bottom of the page, and then forcefully pushed it to Perry. Without even looking to see if the man read the reply, the cat began to walk off.

I had taken my leave of that crew long before it split apart. I left Sam in the care of traitors and liars, and paid a price for it. Goodbye.

"You and this country both, kitty," Perry said as he shoved the letter into his pocket. "Take care now."

Assuming the guide was still where Morrison left her, the cat went up to her, and would have walked right past if she didn't follow him.

"That was a waste of my time. Now, take me to the one that Roderick named as the Princess."

[Shark a' Pult]

"As you wish, my Lord."

Patiently waiting where she had been told, once the cat returned, his guide jumped to her feet. If the Princess was where he wanted to, then the Princess was where she would take him. Unlike Perry however, she would be much easier to find, since she had been in the same place ever since the revolution occurred. Roderick was keeping her on ice so to speak, in case there was ever a need for the old royalty, and they might need her. Until then though, she was under arrest so to speak, and was being kept locked up.

"Not sure why you'd want to speak with her, but hopefully she's still awake. Tends to sleep a lot, since there's little else to do..."

---

"We should avoid elevators at all costs, if they know we're in one, we'll be sitting crocoducks. Let's see if we can find an escape route or map."

"Oh, right. No elevators..."

After leaving their room and coming down the corridor, they came to something of a junction; a large hall to which many branching corridors connected, and across which the two longest walls were a line of elevators each. At the far end was a great glass window to the world far below, and at their end was an extensive staircase which they had originally used to reach the ceremony in the first place.

Joe's advice stopped Solaine, though she had already pressed a button to call an elevator. Simple enough, they just wouldn't take it.

"Hey, Joe..." After giving up on the elevator idea and trying to think of what kind of alternate escape route they could take or map they could locate, something caught her eye. It was clear to see the pieces falling together in her mind, and slowly she called out to Joe without actually taking her eyes off what caught her attention to begin with. The great window.

"...come here. I've got an idea."

---

"Here we are, just a moment."

It had taken a long while, simply the walk back towards the upper area of the main tower, where Morrison had the previous conversation with Roderick. The guide actually led him through a similar area, but higher still. At varying points if he cared to look, the cat would probably be met with a similar view that Solaine and Joe were afforded. Eventually the pair reached what appeared to be more a living quarters level though, rather than corridors of guest rooms and meeting/ballrooms. The suites perhaps, but she led him to one in particular. It was a nice enough room, expansive and well furnished, but it didn't seem anyone lived there. The guide lead the cat past all that though, to a door which opened into a small corridor eerily different from anything he'd have seen thus far in Vengeance; rough stone, almost like something out of a medieval castle or dungeon. With a bump of her shoulder she was able to throw a switch which lit a few dim bulbs running the walls, enough so that she could somewhat see where they were going. Not ten seconds of walking and they reached a heavy, barred metal door. Banging her helmeted head against said door, she called out seemingly to no one in particular.

"Your Highness? Visitor. Don't worry, it's not Jack."

There was the muffled sound of rustling in side, a shuffle of clothes or sheets perhaps, and a strained response.

"I am... ready. Please show them in."

Nodding in affirmation, the guide went through the arduous process of opening the door with her foot. Once she at least managed to get the bolts undone though, it wasn't so hard to open the door itself with her shoulder and a long metal creak.

"I'll wait outside then my Lord, until you are ready. Word of advice though, don't stare at her too much, she gets... finicky, uncomfortable."

---

Solaine had run from one side of the hall to the other and back again, going along the two walls and calling for every elevator there was. Marveling at her work for a second with a chuckle, she then returned to the window. She regretted running towards it however, and as she neared, she got a strong case of vertigo looking out and nearly fell over. Although they were not particularly large in terms of ground space, Vengeance was home to the tallest buildings she had ever seen. Like pine trees they towered above the streets, narrow but well touching the sky, and starting out from the coast moving inwards they steadily grew in height.

She knew the building they were in was tall when they approached it from the street (though a ways up and any further view had been obscured by smoke from the celebrations), but standing up here not even at the top floor, even the tops of the next tallest skyscrapers lay far, far below. All she could see, was a cloud carpet, and the tops of said skyscrapers just poking through. Beyond that it was hard to tell. The farther out area outside the city was visible with the help of the moon (and shed ambient light from the city itself), as was the ocean from whence they had arrived. But the rest of the city itself, all she could guess of it was the faint glow that seemed to emanate through the cloud layer below. The occasional bursts of color from what must have been the fireworks.

"Whoah..."

Taking a step back, she covered her eyes with an arm until she regained her balance. Blinking, she took one more look out, before busing herself with tearing apart a portion of one of the curtains hanging aside the window. Ripping it into lengths and generally a more manageable amount, she seemed to be trying to make something.

"Here, let me tie your hands together... actually, probably your arms. You're going to need it."

Expectantly she stood, hanging between her outstretched hands a makeshift tied length of the torn curtains fashioned into a crude rope and ready to use.

---

"F-Forgive me, I was not expecting a Superion to visit..."

The only source of light in the stone cell was a candle and the ambient glow of the city below and the moon above trickling through a high barred window, but Morrison probably wouldn't have trouble. The conditions were meager at best, just a rickety table and chair (upon which sat some scraps of moldy, unfinished food and dirty clothes, respectively), a run-down toilet and sink, and a ratty bed with threadbare covers in which the occupant sat. Strewn about the floor were various rags and scraps of paper, but there were a couple of books laid on the floor at the foot of the bed, explaining why the prisoner had a book in her one hand and the candle in the other.

"What sort of test are you here to perform? Is there... something you n-need me to do?"

The occupant herself looked rather small and frail, and it was probably easy to mistake her as younger than she really was. Dressed in rags that did a poor job of covering her and using the worn covers to make up for it, her voice was weak and her breathing strained. Shaking from the cold, she tried to make Morrison out in the dim light her candle shed. As she weakly raised it up to see more though, the cat might be able to notice not only how pale she was, but the physical injuries she bore. Bruised, bloody or scabbed in places, and a fair share of scars to boot, she looked to be on the receiving end of some serious and prolonged abuse. At least, enough that she seemed to be having a hard enough time living in this state.

Still though, through it all she seemed at least intent to see or hear what it was the visitor was here to do. Her body might look like it was halfway to a broken skeleton, but her eyes still shone with some inner clarity, though heavily burdened with suffering.

Altogether the scene might be a bit disconcerting at first, given the stark contrast between the destitution of the cell, and the veritable lap of luxury in the room not twenty feet away down the corridor.

[CJ]

"Solaine, don't worry about dropping me. It's OK. I can handle this."

Joe couldn't handle it. He was shaking terribly, realizing how high they really were. He winced and kept looking away from the open window. He was fine before, but now with the terror of actually having to deal with that height made him extremely nauseated. Thinking back on what he said, he was starting to regret telling Solaine not to take the elevators.

"I can teleport if I fall," he said with a twitching smile. "Definitely. Don't worry. Just make sure you don't fall, OK?”

It was an awful lie. If anything, Joe could only hope that if Solaine dropped him, the clouds would obscure his gory death by impact.

He held his arms out for Solaine to bind them. At this point, the metal-like substance encompassed his eye and part of his forehead. Curiously enough, Solaine would be able to see herself reflected on his face. It was a flawless mirror.

[Kyubey]

The Warlord was not put off at all by the sudden change in scenery, or it did not seem that way. Truth was, he was rather comfortable in this new sort of environment, as he took comfort in darkened places. He still recognized that the space here would mean something very different to the humans that occupied it, however. Whatever conditions this princess was being kept in, he was sure it wasn't all that good.

Morrison nodded to his guide in acknowledgement. He hadn't planned on having an escort, but now that she was there, he found her rather useful. While he would still have rather done without her, he still would not have found the Princess as quickly as he would have if she was not there, and her respect for his private conversations was not unnoticed.

"Thank you. That will be all."

Without another word to her, he walked inside the room where the Princess was being held. As he entered, he wondered why it was even a princess that Roderick led him to. He imagined that the rest of the old royalty, the king and queen and any possible heirs to the former throne, were killed. So what was the purpose of keeping the princess alive to begin with?

Then, once he had actually stepped inside, he realized that "alive" may not have been the best word. Morrison very rarely felt empathy, and when he did, it was usually for personal reasons. Still, even he could tell that the conditions that this Princess was being kept in were inexcusable. As the guide had suggested, after first looking at the Princess the cat averted his eyes, looking down at the ground. Not that it did much good. His senses still picked up every slight movement the girl made. Her location, actions, even her appearance and emotions, he could pick up as easily as if he was staring straight at her.

His primary thoughts during the first moments of this interaction were very troubled. The Princess was in this place, in that condition, because of the revolution that Sam had allowed to happen. But when he looked at this girl, helpless, beaten, and frail, he could not imagine that this was of Sam's doing. Sam was too kind, too thoughtful, to allow this to happen to anyone, much less someone as apparently harmless as this. Regardless of how the royalty may or may not have acted, there was no reason, besides pure cruelty, to treat a person this way. Morrison never pretended to be a particularly moral creature, not in the past couple of years, anyways, but he refused to think that Sam would have let this happen. Did she know about it? Regardless, it was a sign to Morrison that Sam's memory, while celebrated in name, was not respected in the actions of the people. Otherwise, they wouldn't have done this. It simply wasn't right.

The Princess would have had to wait to get her response. When Morrison stepped through the door, he thought he knew what questions he would ask. Now, his pen wavered above the page. The right words couldn't come out. He was torn between what he wanted to say, what he should have said, and the questions that would get him the information he wanted. He took his time in composing his answer, and then finally pushed it to the Princess, meowing for her to pick it up. If she did not look at it initially, he would sporadically call out and paw at the page, to draw her attention to the paper. This was the trouble of being forced to write everything. It really was up the other person to choose to read.

Who

Why would

What ha

Does anyon

I'm s

At the top of the page were the beginnings of many questions, all of them hastily marked out, and a couple weren't legible at all. Below the failed starts, separated by a few spaces, was the proper beginning, the final draft of the Warlord's introduction, still, by no means, perfect.

Hello Princess. My name is Morrison. I promise, I am not here to harm you. I have come to ask a few questions about my friend, Sam. I've just come from speaking with Perry, the air marshal of the island, but I'm certain there's more I can learn from your perspective. Please, tell me everything you can about the revolution.

There was an ink blot by the last period, signifying a moment of hesitation in his writing.

I want to know the truth.

[Shark a' Pult]

"Definitely. Don't worry. Just make sure you don't fall, OK?”

"I won't drop you, if that's what you mean."

Once his arms were tied, Solaine examined her handiwork with scrutiny. Testing the job, she pulled at Joe's arms and acted rather roughly towards him, making sure the knotted fabric wouldn't come undone. Once she was satisfied, she patted him on the arms with an uneasy smile of confidence, which was quickly washed away when she saw the changes overcoming him. She didn't understand entirely his physiology, but she figured at the very least, if he needed help they would have a better time of it away from here.

With that settled in her mind, she rather unceremoniously picked him up and put his arms over her shoulders and around her neck, not unlike giving him a piggyback ride.

"Alright then, hold your breath, and... well, hang on I guess."

With that she stood by the window, hand against the glass, and looked back behind her to the rows of elevators on either wall. Watching, waiting, for that first one to arrive.

Almost like a signal bell, when the first one did arrive, Solaine drew her hand back from the great window in a fist. Before even whatever occupants were inside the lift could exit, she'd broken the glass and been pulled out. The sudden difference in pressure due to their altitude was great enough that she couldn't remain standing on the edge and was drawn out with much of the air inside the great hall, but this was exactly what she wanted. The pair plummeted down a ways, but she managed to catch a hold of the side of the building. Digging her hands through the metal and glass of the exterior of the structure, she didn't manage to stop their descent, but they weren't in freefall. Close to it perhaps though, as she tore down the side of the building with Joe on her back, leaving a swathe ripped through the facade as she went.

As great and difficult a feat as it was however, she didn't seem terribly perturbed by it, and simply tried to maintain focus. It was one hell of a gamble, but it seemed at least initially her plan had paid off. Assuming that the different elevators had been in different levels throughout the tower, her plan to summon all of them to the top at once meant they would be move closer to the top where she started but they would still be staggered apart enough so that she could maintain the process of slowing her fall the way down the tower. Even if only some of the elevators were full of occupants, that would be enough for her to make it down, since the elevators themselves were near enough to the exterior face she chose to "slide" down.

---

It seemed at some point during his contemplating and writing, the princess had fallen asleep, likely from simple lack of energy. The cat's meowing though managed to bring her to, and though she seemed frighted to be woken up at first, she managed to gain some degree of clarity before long.

"O-Oh my... I've not seen a Superion that c-could write. Jack is making some impressive creations these d-days."

The princess had trouble making out the cat at first, or rather what exactly it was he was doing. To help, she attempted to lean forward to get a better look. Something of a mistake though, as she tried to support herself with her arm, which gave out under what little weight she had. Falling to her side, she struggled but eventually managed to crawl to the edge of the bed and to look down. A look of surprise was clear visible across her face, and Morrison might notice she was missing some teeth when she managed to stammer a response.

Whereupon she finally managed to read over what had been written, a slight look of amusement played across her face. After her initial response though, she needed to catch her breath and muster her strength for another.

"There's a n-name I haven't heard in some time... well that w-was a very good trick Morrison, is this another test of Jack's making? Asking m-me to talk about Sam, I've learned my lesson. Does h-he want to make sure, is that why you're here? Well don't w-worry, I understand what happens to people who talk about Sam, so I'll just f-forget her like everyone else."

It sounded painfully rehearsed, but there was true honesty in her eyes. It might not be clear what it was she meant or was talking about, but at any rate it seemed she cared enough about self-preservation to not go blabbing to what she perceived to be one of Jack's creations about Sam.

"I won't say an-nything."

With a soft smile she stared at the cat, hoping she had passed the test.

---

It seemed like an age later, but the rough process of ripping their way down the side of the tower seemed to be paying off. They had made it through the cloud carpet, and the ground as well as the rest of the city was nearing below. Thankfully Joe's bonds hadn't come undone sending him to an untimely splattering teleport, but they had bigger problems. Even breaking through the clouds it was at least a good few minutes or tens of minutes to the ground, but Solaine knew her plan wouldn't get them that far. She had been dragging all this way at a manageable pace, but even the elevators below the ground floor had plenty of time to head for the top as she summoned them all. She could feel her strength waning as the last elevator passed, but they were still a good thirty stories from the ground at least. Mustering all she had left, she tried to slow their descent to a standstill, but knew she couldn't hold it before she ran out of strength entirely.

In the end she managed to get it to about ten stories up before she actually ran out of wall to cling onto rather than strength, and so in one final effort she drew what little strength she had left and letting go with one hand aimed to hoist Joe off her back and sling him through the window she had just broken through. Using the strength to do this however, and letting go with one hand, meant that was all she could manage. Hopefully Joe would make it, but Solaine lost her grip of the edge, and fell the rest of the way to the ground. The sound of the celebrations were close and enough now to cover the sound of her impact, but a glance out the window would allow one to see where she landed. While she did not explode like a blood sausage upon hitting the ground, she was not moving, and it was impossible to tell of her wellbeing from as high up as she had aimed to leave Joe.

At the very least though, assuming her efforts had paid off, he would have been safely (relatively) deposited in the building rather than falling with her. The interior of the building where she aimed to throw him resembled the great hall where they began their descent, both walls lined with elevators. This made sense since they had simply made as straight a line as possible down the side of the building, so each subsequent floor or so on the side they descended by, resembled the last. The key difference being this one was more like a corridor rather than a great hall with high ceilings, windows and motifs.



(OOC: Forgive me for this turn of events CJ, I kind of wrote myself into a corner and needed a way for the two to quickly get towards the bottom of the tower lol. If any of it reads wrong or any part doesn't make sense, I'll try to clear up an confusion as I can.)

[CJ]

Joe always wanted to be close to Solaine, but never like this.

The whole experience was dizzying. He had a hard enough time comprehending they were falling hundreds of feet in the air, let alone that the only thing stopping them was Solaine's bare hands, tearing through the building.

Nathan, are you seeing this? Joe asked in his mind. It was a pointless question. He would "witness" what was going on sooner or later. With the way things were going tonight, he would probably know of it very soon.

As they made their way down, he closed his eyes and focused on the feel of Solaine's hair against his face. He tried to picture them somewhere else, perhaps walking together on a windy day. Her hair, undone, would gently brush his face and he'd laugh it off. It was the sort of memory he could only imagine having with her. Then again, could he have ever imagined the events of this evening happening?

Suddenly, he felt his body whip through the air and roll on carpet. He opened his eyes only to see Solaine's hands lose their grip and disappear.

"Ah!" he gasped. "Solaine!"

It was a struggle to get up with his hands still tied, but he managed to pull himself to see Solaine's motionless body in the street below.

Why? Why would she save him? He made a horrible mistake. If she had known he could never really die, she could have used him as a shield for her fall. To him, she died for nothing, all because Joe was too afraid to tell her the truth.

After struggling to his feet, he walked forward, not noticing anyone who might have been around him. At his point, he still didn't know about his altered face, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. The dread of losing Solaine blocked all other fears.

"She's fine," he assured himself with a twitching smile. "She has to be OK. There's no way she's dead. I'll just go down the elevators and check."

In his panic, he made his way over to the elevators. It was clear he completely forgot about his previous plan and began to call an elevator down. He pressed his binded hand over and over into the button, as though it would somehow make the process faster.

"Oh, Solaine. She's... No. She's OK. She's OK."

[Kyubey]

It was foolish of Morrison to think he would get the truth right away, he realized that much from the moment the Princess started talking. It was clear that Roderick was hiding the truth about something. What was being kept from him, he obviously could not figure out. Even Perry seemed to have been withholding certain things. His straightforward series of questions would not work anymore.

Lies were all around, and before he could get to the truth, he had to figure out who was lying about what. Roderick, or Jack, as some seemed to call him, was the first and strongest figure to consider. That he found it necessary to hide behind two separate personae was questionable by itself, and he had already shown some deceit, in the way the Princess had been treated. From the way the Princess had interpreted Morrison's letter, and the little she had said about Sam, the clearest conclusion would have been that Roderick/Jack was a tyrant in disguise, a scheming manipulator with a clear agenda and a streak of cruelty. Both the conversations with the Princess and Perry seemed to support this. But even still, it was a hard notion for the cat to accept so readily. It was Roderick, after all, who had brought Morrison to Vengeance. It was Roderick who had explained Sam's involvement in vivid detail. And it was Roderick who had suggested that Morrison talk to the Princess. If he was truly such a villain, he certainly wasn't very good at it. It would have been far too easy for Roderick to have deflected any questions about Sam, or lead Morrison away from the country entirely, not to mention the Princess, who the Warlord didn't even know about until he had already arrived. It was as if the shackled man was concealing the truth, but still wanted the cat to find it.

Then there was the Princess. It may have been difficult for a human to doubt the intentions of such a broken, innocent-looking girl, but Morrison did not have this problem. Already, he had seen her as Sam's enemy, if not in the present, then definitely in the past. It was not out of the question that this girl before him was lying, trying to throw the cat off the right trail. It was even possible that she wasn't ever really the Princess at all, but a fake put in place by Roderick. But there were problems with this hypothesis as well, and there was no evidence to support any of these possibilities. For the moment, he would act as though she was telling the truth.

Morrison decided against pushing his question forward, or insisting his honesty. That method hadn't gotten him anywhere, and it would have been wasteful to continue. It was clear that the Princess thought that he was sent by Jack, and she probably wouldn't believe him if he said otherwise again. And of course, if it was at all possible he wasn't about to give the girl further trauma by pushing her further than she was comfortable. She thought him to be a Superion. Very well. He would play along.

That is good. I'm sure Jack is pleased by your loyalty. You were right to not talk about Sam. However, this next question will not be a test, this is an honest study for my own purposes, nobody else knows about it. Jack will not hear your answer, if you do not want him too. If it would make it easier for you to answer, I will allow you to write down your response, and I will tear it up before anyone can see it besides myself. Like I said, this is merely a study, and there will be no repercussions for you answering honestly. In fact, it is encouraged. In your own words, describe the revolution that took place, and the time immediately following. How did it all happen, from your own perspective? That is all I need to know, you do not have to mention any specific individuals you do not want to name.

He figured he would ask about what a Superion was some other time, for it was not a pressing issue for him. He didn't expect too much from the Princess, but hopefully this question would shed a small amount of light on Morrison's confusion.

[Shark a' Pult]

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Howdy, headed down?"

The elevator Joe called happened to be going down, so conveniently stopped at his floor. It was already occupied though it seemed, by a number of persons dressed similar to the fellow whose face was crushed by Solaine not long ago. Assumedly these were a security or police force of some kind, but beyond an initial greeting to be polite, they paid no mind to Joe. It seemed simply, they didn't recognize him. The way down they conversed as they probably had been the rest of way down from higher up the tower.

"Oh, Solaine. She's... No. She's OK. She's OK."

"Hey buddy, y'alright? You look sick"

"Looking for someone? We can help you to the info desk once we hit the atrium, they'll find her in no time."

Altogether they seemed overly helpful and friendly, but unaware of what was bothering the young man. All that was apparent was that there was something wrong with his skin, and could be ill. Once the elevator reached the ground floor, most of the persons filed out and headed about whatever business they had, but two stayed behind. One to run to an information desk towards the center of the vast atrium while another, a woman with brown hair in a ponytail, remained by Joe's side. She didn't restrict his movement, but her grip was firm as she attempted to help him wherever he was going. The other fellow was already busy conversing with those behind the desk by the time Joe made it a ways across the entrance hall.

"Hey Mark, think we've got a defective one, get a medical team up here soon as possible."

Whereupon he made his way to the the array of glass doors leading into the place, Solaine would be visible outside lying motionless amidst the cracked pavement. Since she was busy trying to examine him however, the woman with him hadn't noticed yet.

"Don't worry guy, we'll get you help here in no time. We all know how rough it can be at first, but Jack will take care of you."

---

In the time it took Morrison to write all he had to say, the princess fell asleep again, but was eventually startled awake as before. What she saw though, seemed to ease some of her discomfort, though she pushed away the paper offered since she was open to speaking.

"The rev-volution? Well, Jack wouldn't m-mind if I talked about that..."

Struggling to move back to how she was, she tried rolling but didn't have the strength to sit up, so instead simply laid back with her head to the pillow as one normally would. Taking a moment to think, she stared at the ceiling as she spoke, almost like Morrison was her psychiatrist.

"It started when J-Jack and his friends came to our country. They caused a fair amount of tr-trouble, trying to start a rebellion. They weren't very good at it though, and we locked them up. It w-was Sam though, that turned everything around. Before it was just Jack and his fr-friends against us, but when she rose up, the whole country joined her. I only met her once, but... when we l-lost control, even my father said things wouldn't be so bad if we t-turned control over to her. But then, j-just like that... she left."

The further she got along through her account, the more uncomfortable she became. The topic itself was not much an issue for her, but clearly she was dreading something that she would have to speak of eventually, and wanted to put it off for as long as she could. Unfortunately, it was coming to that point now.

"I hear she d-died in a war, but once Sam was gone, the rev-volution was left for Jack to take over. With him and his fr-friends back in charge there was much s-suffering, and when they won they... b-butchered us loyalists. My f-family, the people I knew, they d-did horrible things to them. I only s-survived because Jack himself found me and st-stopped them from doing the s-same to me... sometimes I wish, m-maybe it would have been better if th-they had."

It seemed she had trouble continuing, and with some difficulty she brought her arm over her eyes. If Morrison was familiar enough with humans, he'd be able to tell she was crying.

"P-Please... no more... if you w-want to know what happened after the revolution, go t-talk to Jack himself."

Beyond that, she said no more, and didn't seem to want to.

---

"Oh... oh god, is she dead?"

Once Joe made it outside, the woman with him caught sight of Solaine, and was completely caught off guard. As shocked as she was, she let go of Joe and brought her hands to her mouth in horror. Rushing back inside, she began to scream for help, though exactly what she was saying was muted by the glass doors.

As Joe approached however, he would notice movement. Very slight, but Solaine stirred somewhat. Although she had fallen rather far, there wasn't even that much blood, but she certainly looked near-death if not having been there already. Her eyes were hazy, too much trauma from the fall to make anything out properly, but she heard a voice.

"...Joe? Please... run... you must..."

The closer Joe got and the longer he spent near her, Solaine seemed ever so slightly more... well, alive. Her coherency, ability to move, it seemed to come trickling back, but she was still very obviously in critical condition. Still though, Joe's presence had quite the effect on her.

"I can't believe it, she's still alive? This is spectacu- wait, did she fall?"

Assumedly after calling for help, the young woman from before came running out to join Joe, but amidst her amazement something caught her eye. Drawing her line of sight from Solaine's crumpled body in the pavement upwards, her eyes followed the tower up and up, noticing some of the smashed windows and exterior details ruined by the descent from above. Bringing her attention back to Solaine once more, she slowly brought her hands around Joe's arm again. This time she wasn't acting in support however, and with her surprisingly strong grip, intended to keep him here.

"Hold on, that suit. She's... you're, you're both guests aren't you? What are you doing down here?!"

"Joe, run."

Struggling like it was the hardest thing in the world to do, Solaine shakily reached her hand and grabbed onto Joe's ankle, pleading with him as she had before. The stranger on the other hand, shifted her attention back to the building where several more of her comrades were approaching from.

"Over here, I think I've got some guests!"

All the while the outer gate of the main walls surrounding the tower was dead ahead, and through it a ways down the road, the throngs of people and city beyond still celebrating and unawares of what was going on.

[CJ]

His interactions with hotel staff went by like a blur. The men were kind, which made Joe feel as sick as they thought him to be. All he could think of was the guard, just like them, with his face in Solaine's hand. He heard something from a nice woman about a man named Jack that would take care of him. For a moment, he felt relieved, like he was going to be safe, but then remembered the horrible reality of what had happened mere moments before.

Before he knew it, he was outside with her, staring down at what he assumed to be Solaine's corpse. For a moment, he remembered her, bloodied and broken on the floor of the restaurant. He thought she was dead then too.

But then, she began to speak. His lips quivered, as he began to shake. He never noticed the woman take his wrist.

"Where am I supposed to go looking like this, Solaine?" he asked with a sad smile. "Who can I ask for help? Without Nathan, I'm going to only look more and more like myself."

Joe simply brought his arm up and it slipped out of the woman's grip. It was as though his hand didn't exist anymore. On closer inspection, it could be seen that his hand was warping and shifting shape, taking on the same mirror texture that most of the left side of his face encompassed.

He knelt down on the ground near Solaine, aiming to hold onto the same hand that gripped his ankle. She might have felt his one hand was back to a normal shape, but it had a hard and cold texture. It was smooth as glass.

"I've kept the truth from you too long. I wish I would have told you before this so you would have never risked your life to save mine. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

Tears began to stream down from his normal eye. He wiped them and tried to keep from sobbing.

"I'm not a person, Solaine. My life has no value because I'm not alive. I'm a fantasy, conjured up by whoever consumes me to be whatever they want me to be. I only love you because Nathan wished it for me. I know it's selfish and cruel to keep teasing you like this, but I don't want to run. I want to be here with you now."

The mirror coating leaked down his neck, transforming more of his skin as it went. He kept his eyes locked on hers, too afraid to think about how broken she was. Any normal person would have died from the injuries she sustained. In his mind, it was only a matter of time before she did.

"I only wanted you to like me. If I would have known that my lie would hurt you like this, I would have never tried to be your friend. I'm sorry, Solaine. I'm so sorry."

[Kyubey]

With the Princess looking up at the ceiling, Morrison let his own gaze wander around the space as he heard her account of what had happened. The story, though unpleasant, seemed to make sense, and while he could not argue that everyone had, to some extent, hid parts of the truth, all their versions of the events matched up to their own extent. Perry's account, while centered around his own involvement, conflicted with nothing, and seemed to be a fairly honest retelling as he saw it. Roderick's story was the most rose-colored, but gave Morrison a good foundation for what the revolution was all about. But the third story, that of the Princess, was the most telling. Everything changed with this. It was Sam's revolution. She was there, she made it happen. The country Vengeance was part of Sam's legacy. But Jack corrupted it, made it into something Sam wouldn't have wanted. Morrison still wasn't sure if the Princess was being entirely truthful. But if it was, Jack had committed as punishable a crime as Kusu had. Vengeance, as long as Jack was controlling it, was an insult to Sam's efforts. The Princess alone was enough to prove that. In due time, after he completed his other task, it was something he would most assuredly fix.

Morrison may have wanted to press the Princess further, find out even more truths, understand every facet of the war and Jack's uprising from the beginning to the end, but she asked for no more, and he would respect this. She had suffered enough already. The cat had essentially no support, as it was. He wasn't interested in making friends, but he wouldn't push away a potential ally.

"That's more than enough. Already, you've done much to help me. There is not much I can do to help you in return right now, but by my honor as a Warlord, I will do this land justice. For Sam's sake.

He placed the note beside the Princess, and left it with her as he walked out. The excellent thing about writing notes to communicate, he thought as he left the room, was that he could say as much as he wanted, and didn't have to worry for others listening in.

---

"I am finished here," he said to the guide, "But as part of my obligations to the World Government, I must remain on the island. I assume your friend Jack must be busy now, but when he's available, I would like to speak to him again, if at all possible."

The guide may have detected a slight condescending sneer in his voice, and a certain icy element to his stare, that hadn't been there before he spoke to the princess.