Agito

“Of all people’ i know , you don’t deserve to be stuck here. Ain’t enough books here fer’ you to read.” The teen didn’t know any other way to put it his concerns since he never liked to show his emotions ( though he often failed ).However the tone in his voice gestured otherwise,a hand reaching up to scratch his scalp. “Just work your ass off, yo! Then you won’t gain what you eat, i mean i could always give ya’ a work out lesson.”

Yeah. His only skill was microwavable foods, nothing on the stove would make it alive unless he took the time to learn.But why would he want that?School sucks okay.“Eh? The hell is that suppose to mean,Queen.” He didn’t understand what she said which only further proved her point.”Is this a bribe or something, yo?”

"Is that I was brought here to make sure you did not lose your temper. Someone has to keep a dog on it's leash." She knew Nine well enough to understand that he was doing his best to hide his concern. If she was at least able to tease him and make him feel as if she was alright, then perhaps he would calm down. Or so Queen hoped. Violet eyes slid from his face to their surrounding area. "Nine, I am going to imagine that you are not making comments about my figure. I am able to keep myself at my current size. Rather, junk food will actually make me sick to my stomach."

As he took the bags from her, Queen snapped her gaze back to him once more. "There's no bribe. I simply know you. The Nine that I know does not even have the patience to wait for water to boil. I would not be surprised if I found out that you had been eating raw pasta instead of cooking it." With that, she walked past him a few paces before turning and looking at him again.

          How could he explain something like this to her if she didn’t remember it? Should he even explain to her what had all happened to her…to everyone?  

          No.

          He couldn’t bear to see her or anyone else’s reaction to realizing that they had went through such hardship and misfortune, to know that they had persevered until the end only to be met with the cold hands of death, yet they had all been at each other’s side as they faded away. He pulls back from her now, but his hands are still firmly placed on her shoulders. ❝ Queen, ❞ and he says her name again, trying to find the rights words to say, something that wouldn’t give him away. ❝ Everything’s…fine! I..I was just..in a bit of shock at having been torn away from home and from Mother. I’m so happy to see you, I..I thought that you were dead, haha. ❞ A poor save, but it’s the best he could manage right now before leaning his head onto her shoulder. It’s not like him to act like this, he knows, he knows that she’s not buying it, but how is he supposed to keep it together whilst keeping her calm?

Mother wouldn't abandon them like that.

Queen's throat tightened in panic as her thoughts grew darker and darker. She'd seen her fair share of war - they all had. She'd seen her classmates die a few times only to be brought back, yes. But if something were to happen to them, it would be Queen who would feel as if she failed. Luckily for both of them, Ace managed to grab her attention and pull her mind from her analysis. At least, partially. She listened to his words in silence, taking note of the way he stumbled over them.

Of course she didn't buy the lie. Of course she was aware that he was covering up something. Queen knew that she wasn't getting the whole story.

For now, though, she didn't care.

"It must have seemed as if I disappeared." Pausing, Queen lifted a hand to adjust her glasses as she gazed at him. "I'm sorry that I caused you undue worry. Though to be fair, I have no idea how I arrived here. If you are here as well, though, it must mean that we either completed our mission or we have not finished yet." Start a new life? Live peacefully? Queen felt as if someone had taken hold of her heart and was squeezing painfully. This was a conversation most of her classmates avoided having. There was no room for dreaming in war.

But for Ace, she would play along.

     He makes sure to catch up with before she’s too far away, placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to halt her movements. ❝ Queen! Boy, am I glad to see you here! ❞ He’s certain about that, at least.  ❝ This place is pretty big, isn’t it? Have you seen the others yet? I’ve met.. ❞ He begins to count on his fingers.  ❝ Well, you, Eight, Sice, and Cater. What about you? ❞

Trouble only seemed to linger when the sun begun to fade and the neon lights lighting up the paths with numerous logos for business. Nine had his hands tucked away in the pockets of his uniform pants, slightly hunched as he walked carelessly down the sidewalk.

"I'm here because I was brought here. Like I'm assuming you were." Her gaze slid down to the bags dangling from her wrist as he acknowledged them. With a deep breath, Queen glanced back up at Nine and offered him a deadpan look as she spoke in a flat voice. "I have all of this 'shit', Nine, because I have to eat. If I only eat junk food, I'll make myself sick. So I would rather cook and eat healthily."

          When he had closed his eyes in those last moments with the ones he treasured more than anyone in the world, he’d been ready to peacefully let himself ascend to whatever higher place there was. For a few moments, there was darkness and after the darkness, there came a blinding light and when his eyes opened, he’d found himself in an apartment to which no one was home (thank goodness). He blinks once, twice, three times as he stares at the unfamiliar walls and he sits up slowly, having his feet hang over the bed for just a moment before he gets up, hand moving to grip the dresser at his bedside just so he wouldn’t lose his footing.

          He was alive.

          Alive and breathing, not a single injury visible on his body and though this was all fine and dandy, only one thing bothered him. Where was everyone else? Why had they all been seperated after all they had went through together? They’d been prepared to fade away together, forgotten by everyone, they had no one but each other to rely on…and yet they’d been seperated now by some cruel notion of fate. After gathering himself, he moves to the window and much to his surprise, the view in front of him is vast and it’s that of a city, something he hadn’t been expecting in the slightest. For a moment, he stands there unmoving as he processes the fact that he’s somewhere unfamiliar, trapped assumingly. It’d be best i he could find the others and quickly while he was at it.

          A hand now moves to retrieve his cards from his coat pocket only to see that they’d been replaced with regular playing cards and try as he may, he wasn’t able to summon any of his special attacks aside from shadow step, how odd. that’d be another mystery to solve later. Without a second thought as to what could happen, he hurries out of the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him. It doesn’t take him long to rush down the stairs and onto the busy street, people moving about as they usually would on a normal day. No one bothered to give him a second look, the only thing that greeted him was the fresh smell of all the greenery that seemed to inhabit the sector. Upon taking a short walk around he’d found his way to a rather large park and it was much to his dismay that he hadn’t run into anyone on the way there.

          What to do in a city as large as this with not a single clue as to finding his friend’s whereabouts, this would pose to be quite the ordeal if he couldn’t figure something out. Sighing, he seats himself on a bench as he holds his head in his hands. If he could find anybody, he’d like it to be Queen. After all, she was the most logical out of all of them..perhaps she’d already made sense of this entire situation.  And as if some higher being had willed it, a familiar voice soon reached his ears and up went his head as he tried to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. There, near the fountain he saw her, speaking with some old woman, probably posing questions to gather information. That’d be like her. 

          Without hesitation, he rises and before he knows it, he’s running in her direction, eyes just about brimming with tears as he nears her and one hand reaches out to grip her shoulder as he finally makes it to her. It’s as if he’s making sure that’s she indeed real and not some figment of his imagination. 

          ❝ …Queen, ❞ breathless at this point and she should be able to tell, with his free hand he moves to wipe away the tears that threatened to fall, she was indeed here. ❝ You’re..alive too. ❞ and he smiles, bringing her in for an embrace now. ❝ I’m really..glad. ❞

From the moment she'd stepped foot into Hive City, Queen was acutely aware of how much she missed that calm presence. She'd already seen a few members of Class Zero in the city and with each interaction with them, Queen held back the questions she'd wanted to ask most. Where was Ace? Do you think everyone is okay? Is it alright for us to be here? She would never burden the others with that course of thought. They seemed so happy. But if Queen was honest with herself, she needed them answered. She needed to ferret out that information and lock it away for later, for when she really needed it. Yet the only person she was truly willing to ask was Ace himself.

So it was each day that the teen took time out of her schedule to visit a fountain courtyard where people gathered throughout the day. There was always an old woman there - one Queen sought on a regular basis as she usually stayed from early morning until late afternoon. It was through this woman that Queen knew of her fellow classmates in the city. Today was just like the others. She'd set out to the fountain with a small care package in hand for the elderly woman. Even if she had yet to see all of her classmates, the woman had been such a gigantic help to her. In fact, she'd just finished seeing off the woman (who had a mysterious smile on her lips) when she felt a touch on her shoulder.

She knew it before he spoke. She knew who it was. It had only been a few days but it felt like hundreds of years. Relief flooded her entire being.

Ace.

A long but gentle stare. The quietness of the forest made the scene more dramatic than it ought to be, than it should be. A reunion or some sort? Almost enough to make him allow a bitter chuckle to escape his lips. He idly stands up from the tree stump, both hands dusting the dirt that clung to his gloves while he was on his search of his Tonberry whom he hoped to be just wandering around somewhere.

Ah yes. He'd want information first and foremost. And, of course, Queen was exactly the right person to get information from. Her violet eyes fixed him with a calm gaze as she combed her mind for what he wished to know. "Nine is here. Ace as well. I've also heard that Sice, Jack, Rem, Cater and Eight as somewhere in the city. I have yet to confirm that, though." It was nice to slip back into her formal manner of speech. Easy and in a way nostalgic. Queen paused at his next question before smiling slightly and nodding. "I'm fine, commander. However..."