The Abbey

[Shinzon]

Maria placed her arms around Grace as to support her weight, as she knew that she would very rapidly lose her strength and be unconscious. She felt a pang of guilt welling inside of her, but she steeled her heart and shook her head.
"I saved you, sister", she answered with a hint of sadness. "No matter the price, it is my duty - our duty. We save people."
The former priestess pressed her forehead against Grace's, closing her eyes. "Rest."

[Outisakanobody]

"You..." Grace drifted off, losing whatever thought she had been grasping at. She fumbled with more words as she slumped into Maria. "I'm sorry...I've done a badthing...again...I'm sorry..." Grace says, voice whispy as she lost consciousness.

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/

A pause, again, as he thought on that first inquiry; it wasn't hard to figure out who, rather, whether he should say so to Tilly. Albeit, even then, it was a simple answer; he'd sworn himself to honesty with her, and so, as he bowed his head and smiled, leaning into her sidelong and frightfully familiar peck on the cheek, he spake.
"Florence Novel..."

Part of him wanted to retreat and analyze her from a distance, though he kept the closeness and presumed to speak his piece while he had the chance.

"... She's been there for me since the beginning, and patched me up when I'd thought myself to perish. I-in more ways than just the flesh." He elaborated, somberly glancing to his leftmost shoulder, where his first mark from the Hamlet was made.

"There's something... reassuring, in her simplicity; where you don't have to fret over hidden meanings or the like. An honesty, like we've got..." A momentary slip, that he seemed to realize and regret, as a brief flush to his cheeks reddened his typically golden skin.
"... Th-though, nothing so intimate, of course." He assured, hastily, though it was a pause late as he chewed on his lip, he knew it too.

Lekalis busied his hands by slipping out of the bind that Tilly held them in, as quick as she'd made it, and pulled her shoulder to his chest,

There was an undeniable difference between Tilly and Florence, though they held a frightfully same spot in his heart. He couldn't bring himself to choose which he trusted more, which he was more comfortable with... Which he wanted to be with.
In truth, given time, he may have chosen Florence... In truth; he knew he had. Choosing one or the other was never something Lekalis knew; if his bastard's royalty hadn't gotten him both, he was hardly opposed to stealing the other. It was a bitter and vile realization.

Though, he found reassurance in knowing, or at least convincing himself, that he could Love both as wholly as the other, for their differences. Indeed, Tilly bore his child now and was at the fore of his thoughts and loves. But he knew, as sure as crows feast on corpses, that his mind would drift back to that corvine doctor.
For a time, at least, he would dedicate himself to Tilly... It was what he wanted, in truth; though he knew this heavenly delirium of such true Love was always fleeting. It was in the stories and realities of Life. It was something he had to hold on, lest it be burned up in astral fire, like a beautiful comet.

Yet, with Florence... Her touch and healing nature upon him would never leave him, never be replaced. The Moon, where Tilly was his Star.

It was enough to sooth him, for now, as he coddled her to his breast; kissing the sellion of her oblong nose,
"Worry yourself not on Grace; whether she comes around or not, we will always have eachother..."

//

[Shinzon]

"We all make mistakes", whispered the young woman softly.
She remained this way for a moment, Grace lying in her arms, unconscious, the vestal gazing down at the holy woman, pensive. Saving people came at a price. What happened to Grace, she did not know; but she knew that she had to help her. And so she gently hoisted her up in her arms, going down the steps quietly, thankful for her respectable muscle mass; lifting a warhammer and swinging it required strength and endurance in equal measure, although her innocent face and her robes often hid her warrior aspect.

She was careless for everyone else in the Abbey, and went straightly to Grace's room, setting the woman down on her bed after opening the door. Placing a hand onto her cheek, she smiled weakly. It would require efforts, but she wasn't going to let her go.
Shaking her head, she left the room, knowing the sedative would act for a while longer; still she went searching for one of the orphans under her care, still praying with the rest of the few priests there. Telling the child to go and watch over Grace for her during the time she'd take to retrive a few things, she also took the occasion to giver her a small poutch, containing half of her dirty earnings. The white-haired maiden of war felt her spirits lifted at the glimmer in the young girl's eyes at what this represented; proper living, and for a respectable amount of time at that.

With that, she left to Nicholas's room, kicking down the door when she found it to be locked, groaning as she massaged her shoulder afterwards. Perhaps it was time to stop running away from her responsibilities; there would be others like Grace. And so she picked up her armor and weapons, carefully stashed by her former friend under his bed.
From the plundered room came out a different person; wearing her armor, battered after so many years of use, and feeling her warhammer in her hands, a certain aura of confidence emanated from her. Her doubts were not gone; but she would face them head-on and stop avoiding them, at least for a time, as she felt this familiar burden on her shoulders.
Responsibilities. Guilt. And, most importantly, her own Heresy.

[Vanitypirate]

It was an answer that was not entirely becoming, but simultaneously very expected.

It hadn't changed; that Crowgazer had been his shadow from thick and thin, for better or worse. It was not until recently that she had seen him part from his shadow, and she suspected it was for Tilly's own sake. She had been rather selfish in the assumption that his friendship with his pet doctor had ended with Roderick's bloody expiration.

The alleged intimacy between Blood and his Pet Doctor did not exactly make her feel particularly warm and fuzzy, however.

"Grace was like that, too."

Tilly was gloomy for all the ten-seconds before she was pulled into that soothsome hug, and she had not found herself complaining. It was all fairly disorienting, though, to be on the cusp of so many emotions at once. It was not as though recent events were relenting at all; Tilly wondered, herself, if these rapid-fire events were something she ought to prepare herself for, one hurdle after the other, and again, and again...

In truth, she did not know for certain if she could ready herself for any more drastic hurdles.

"I already told you how I wouldn't be alive or as sound-minded if it weren't for her..." She gave a small sigh, although she rid reach an arm about his shoulder, both to steady herself up from drooping awkwardly over the bench, but also to steady herself in Lekalis' welcoming embrace.

She gave a small glance over her shoulder, where she noted her hat had fallen off.

There were frightening parallels, she had found, despite the volatility of one and the rather chilling lack there in the other. Both, she had found, were strictly loyal to one person only, pledging themselves to the health of a single companion, and she owed her own mental and physical wellbeing to Grace in much the same manner as Lekalis owed his bitty Crowgazer.
Both, too, had slain a lover of someone else for admittedly dubious reasons.

Tilly looked to him, then back to the hat, and then continued a touch somberly as she reached for it, gripping his shoulder for balance,

"It'll be quite a... dull wedding, I do believe, if the only person attending is your Crowgazer."

[Kidney]

A little knock on the outside of Grace's door, and the defeated huff after waiting for a minute or two. She pouted, if only Mother Maia was around, she was tall enough to open these darn doors. That's when the sound of a metal tab sliding in it's rails sounded out, and a small yelp of both excitement and terror came out of little Mercy. She looked up, to see the green eyes of a boy just past five, she knew those eyes. It was Borace, another child, "What do you want?" His voice was gruff, he wasn't normally so, and Mercy was a little scared. "I-I want Mother Grace."
She could see his little eyes waver, and she heard him sniff deeply. "What's the secret word?"
Her face flushed with anger, and she scowled at him, "Let me see Mother Grace!" His eyes receded slightly, and then he deflated. She could see him close the tab, and now the door opened a crack. Borace's pudgy body stood in this, and after a look at her, he opened the door enough for her to slip into the room. She shrunk a bit at Borace, he was so tall, and so wide... She moved quietly towards the bed, where Mother Grace slept peacefully beneath many blankets. She came to the side of the bed, "M-mother Grace?" 
She reached for the sheet, tugging on it lightly.

[Outisakanobody]

Grace stirred, unaware of how much time had passed since she had been knocked out. She groaned as she was disturbed, shifting restlessly in her bed and refusing to open her eyes at the moment.

[twostepsback]

"I haven't been here very long either, but I have heard that the Ruins have been taken over by Necromancers and their minions..." Charis relates as she fiddles with the strap of her shoulder bag.

[Unter]

Francois' eyes shines at the mention of Necromancers and their minions. A grin appears on his face, and he appears suddenly confident. "Ah ! A place devoid of God's light, filled to the top by Darkness' spawn awaiting for someone to make it right. This is why I came here !" He touch the pommel of his sword, and whispers a prayer "If God wills it, Victory will finally be ours.
Hear that Milo? We should be beginning our training. This is the first step to salvation !" He then laugh, seemingly full of joy.

"Thank you Sister, may you walk forever in His light. But please, we have something private to finish. Maybe we can talk after we finish ?"

[Kidney]

What? Nononono, Grace needed to wake up, right. Now.
A cry sounded, a high pitched whine followed by grunts of effort as Mercy ascended up a hanging blanket and found her way to the summit of the blankets. She crawled upon this like a war hero, finally finding her way onto Grace's waist area. Which Mercy threw herself limp upon, "Gwaaaace...Wake uuuuup."
Borace spoke up now, "Mercy, Mother Maria told me to watch 'er." He now moved towards the bed, slightly tall enough to wager a reach for the girl. He of course, was kicked in the wrist. He moved back now, the chubby boy now walking back as Mercy did a flail on Grace's waist.

[rumsztyk]

Unsure what to say about the situation, Milo shyly addresses Francois, though Charis can most definitely hear him.

"Umm... what is a Necromancer?"

[Outisakanobody]

Grace was more inclined to wake up when she realized not only was someone calling her name (or something approaching her name) but was also flailing about on top of her. So she cranked her eyes open and propped herself up on her elbows. Her head felt like it was full of air and her mouth full of cotton, so she took more than a few moments to take in her surroundings. She was rather grateful to at least be in her own quarters, even if she obviously couldn't count on getting privacy here.

Finally she seemed to hone in on the main source of the disturbance: a small girl. Children, remarkably, were one of the few things that didn't trigger Grace's medly of negative emotions. She felt no anger or sadness or disgust for the creature. For the moment she was simply confused why this tramp was in her room calling for her. She mumbled something garbled that was barely language, then took a few more tries at it before finally getting out an intelligible sentence.

"What are you doing here, child?" Grace asks softly, not wanting to be upsetting to the girl.

[Shinzon]

Heading toward Grace's room once more, Maria knocked on the door, then opened it lightly, peeking her head inside. She was surprised to see Grace awake, with a little girl on top of her. Frowning in confusion, she tugged at her hood in order to cover more of her face, embarassed. She had no idea of how the vestal would react to her drastic solution to stop her from ending herself.

"I have returned", she said quietly. "May I enter?"

[Outisakanobody]

"...M- Maria? What...what happened...we were talking...we were on some stairs..." Grace asks, her thoughts still cloudy.

[Shinzon]

"I jabbed a syringe inside of you to stop you from getting to the top and jumping", spoke the young woman softly. She entered the room and closed the door behind her, walking to the bed, and placing her warhammer down against the wall. "I'm sorry. But I had to."