Aqua thrust out her hand, sending out a speeding comet of twisting strands of blue energy at Scarlet.
In that same moment, Natsumi and Vivian acted too: Natsumi slashed her blade down in front of her, sending a burning line of fire at Scarlet; Vivian took a darting step forward - then vanished in a flash of blue, reappearing behind Scarlet and thrusting out a hand of ice magic.
Aqua's attack reached Scarlet first; the small blue orb of light flashed in front of Scarlet, enveloping her in a crystal blue barrier dome. Natsumi and Vivian's attacks struck the barrier, cracking it and burning it...but not breaking it.
Both women looked at Aqua, questioning.
"It's Scarlet!" she said to Natsumi. She looked to Vivian, adding, "She's an old friend - I want to subdue her, not kill her!"
Natsumi gave a nod, swishing her blade and shoving it back into its sheath. Then her body burst into flames, and her large, true kitsune form materialized atop the train. Her great size and powerful paws probably should have dented in the roof a little, or something like that - but it didn't. She was looking as light as a feather...or a ghost.
Vivian did a double take, her bangs fluttering out of her face to reveal both of her eyes, wide with surprise. But not outright shock. Then she turned to Aqua and bowed her head swiftly. "As you command, Princess Aqua!"
Aqua tried not to wince at the shouted out title.
Scarlet was standing inside the barrier dome, looking around at it. She reached out a hand to touch it; the magic crystal rippled with rainbows of light. She dropped her head, and her hand.
Aqua strode forward, standing before her. Gazing in at her. "Scarlet - why?"
That was the only question that needed to be asked.
Scarlet didn't respond. She sank down into a crouching position, her head still bowed. Her prosthetic arm reached down, her index finger touching and tracing at the train's exterior...
"You were the only friend I ever had - the first friend I ever made in my life!" Aqua tried again, loudly over the winds. "WHY? What did I do to you - what did I EVER do to deserve this now?"
Scarlet finally glanced up at her. Sharp and sudden. "It's not what you did - it's what you didn't do." Her voice was tight and quivering, brimming with fury. With hate. Like her eyes... "But you're going to make up for it now finally...as my handsomest bounty. The biggest payout anyone could hope for."
Bounty...? Then, Scarlet was a bounty hunter now...and Aqua was her target. Her prey. Her hunt.
Natsumi must have been right about a lot of people knowing and seeing them across these past few weeks. Especially since the airstrip. Enough to not only get Zitol searching, but anyone else who wanted to find her - and use her for selfish, greedy gains.
Like Scarlet...
Because Aqua definitely doubted that the woman really cared about whatever money she was going to get, and more so about the personal satisfaction and revenge for...whatever it was that Aqua had done to her. Or hadn't done. Clearly, Scarlet had strong feelings about whatever had happened in her life since the night Aqua had disappeared, though...
That was the root of this. The cause of it all. Not just for Scarlet, but for the entire nation. One little girl's disappearance was all it took...to ripple out and cause so many unintended side effects, for so many years to come. All Aqua had been thinking about at the time was her own freedom - an escape from it all. Selfishness and pettiness. Self-centered, emotional, greedy. Forgetting all about-
Scarlet shrouded her metal fist in flames and suddenly slammed it down into the roof. Magic fires exploded beneath her, washing up around her in the barrier dome, obscuring her! By the time Aqua dropped the barrier and the smoke cleared away, Scarlet was gone. There was a large hole in the roof where she'd last been standing.
Aqua immediately started toward the hole that Natsumi had made, intending to hop down into the train again. But suddenly Scarlet came flipping up behind her, landing with a thud of boots and flying fists shrouded in yellow magicks - she must have climbed out through the window to sneak up on her like that!
Aqua closed her fist, her mind calling up a powerful but rarely used spell in her mind in an instant of subconscious focus and, yes, panic: Teleport. In a flicker of air and a pink light, she vanished as Scarlet flew at her, and reappeared right behind her. Aqua immediately struck out, punching Scarlet rapidly in the back with fists of glowing pink magic, then she dropped down and spun low to sweep the woman's legs out from under her as she was off-balance.
Scarlet fell. But as she fell, she twisted in the air, coming down on Aqua face-to-face. Her hands seized Aqua's wrists as she landed atop her, her eyes burning into Aqua's. Then, Scarlet drew her head back, and slammed it down onto Aqua's face.
Aqua cried out in shock as much as pain! That wasn't how you did combat!
In the next moment, a hard fist struck her in the gut, causing her to gasp and go rigid. Then, she realized it was more than just the shock and pain of the strike: Scarlet had hit her with a blast of Paralysis magic! The yellow motes of light floated around Aqua, binding her in place awkwardly.
Vivian raised a hand of purple, flickering light, stepping forward with a look of fear and concern on her face. A look and a reaction Aqua didn't think could be faked, not on the fly, not so strongly...
Scarlet leapt to her feet again, hauling Aqua up with her swiftly. She held Aqua in front of her like a living shield, pressed against her from behind, an arm going around her neck - that steely metal hand finding her throat again.
"Nobody move - unless you want to help me give her some pain," Scarlet called out. "I don't care what condition she's in when I turn her over for my reward...just that she's not going to die any time soon."
Vivian froze in the act of moving to attack.
Natsumi gazed down on Scarlet with narrowed, ruby eyes. Her great muzzle drew back in a loud, rumbling growl, showing off rows of sharp, deadly teeth.
Scarlet took a step backwards, dragging Aqua helplessly along with her!
Natsumi leapt forward with a sudden roar and burning flames!
Scarlet threw herself backwards, over the edge of the train, and kicked her foot off the curved side as she fell. Magic burst beneath her, sending her and Aqua flying out into the air.
As Natsumi came for them in the air, the flames flashed around her, and suddenly she was in her human form again. She twisted and flew past Scarlet's shoulder, her sword flashing with an orange glow.
Scarlet let out a gasp of pain, and her grip on Aqua was broken.
Leaving Aqua to hit the dirt, bounce on it hard, and come to a rolling, violent stop against a collection of shrubs - and a short little tree with a handful of orange leaves.
She sucked in air and did her best to look around with only her eyes. She saw Natsumi land in the dirt - facing Scarlet, who was just rising to her feet in a flipping of long hair and dust.
Aqua gasped at the sight of the woman's glowing, cleanly cut metal stump, inches down from her shoulder. That was what Natsumi had done - what she'd targeted in that unconventional transforming strike of hers. The severed metal limb itself was laying in the dirt, a few feet away from Scarlet herself.
Scarlet looked at Natsumi with eyes of undisguised panic, and fear. Then her gaze found Aqua...and narrowed.
Natsumi lunged for Scarlet with a great roar.
Scarlet twisted out of the way and dodged to the left-
Only for Natsumi's other paw to come swinging down on her. Natsumi's great limb slammed Scarlet down flat on the ground, pinning her there with a heavy thud. Scarlet stared up at her, thrashing and raising a hand of flames...but she let it go when Natsumi's gaping jaws snapped and snarled inches from her face.
"Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods!" Vivian's wailing tones came, as she thudded into the dirt in a flash of blue light. She came racing over to Aqua, her face the picture of distress. She raised a hand to Aqua, and Aqua suddenly was able to move again. Vivian immediately turned away, did an actual hop, and raised her hands to grab her own head on either side. "My first real assignment since entering the Roses and I'm the girl who found the lost princess - but I'm also the girl who totally proceeded to screw it all up by letting the lost princess get snatched by some crazy merc while I was sitting right next to her; could anyone have ever messed it up any less?! I was practically useless - you did all the work, Princess! I'll be demoted first thing we get back, or just kicked out of the Roses completely, or maybethey'lljustexecuteme...and that's a fact!" she finished, breathless and wild.
"It's okay - I don't think anyone could have expected something like that to happen!" Aqua said loudly, rising to her feet and walking over to the woman. "If anyone does have some kind of problem with you for this, I'll make sure it gets resolved, okay?"
Vivian froze in the middle of violently, repeatedly stomping a boot into the dirt, punctuated by swears. She turned slowly, shoulders cringed, and peered at Aqua through a single eye. "Wait, really...?"
"Yes!" Aqua said firmly, giving her a smile. "Why wouldn't I? You didn't do anything wrong. It was just...a situation no one could have predicted. But it wasn't anyone's fault."
The woman's eye shimmered as she turned to more fully face Aqua. Her lips opened, glistening... Then she suddenly hurled herself down at Aqua's feet, prostrating herself before her with outstretched arms and loud crying sounds. "O-oh m-my goooods! We are totally, completely not w-worthy of y-you, my P-Princess! Whyyyy, why, why, WHY were we deprived of such a generous and kind ruler for all these years?!"
Aqua stepped back, incredibly taken aback. "T-thank you, thank you - but I think you need to compose yourself! We need to figure out what to do with Scarlet - and the train that's about to pass us by and leave us stranded out here...again."
Vivian shot upright with a gasp, looking horror-struck. She sucked in a long breath, wiped at her eyes, and leapt to her feet again. "Right, right, right! Her Highness's wisdom knows no bounds! So let's turn things around!" She cleared her throat and moved swiftly for Scarlet and Natsumi. She raised a hand half-way, dropped it, then raised it up again. She flashed her palm out to Scarlet, and in a flash of light, the other woman fell away into sleep, her eyes closing slowly. "Okay, well that's that deal with! Now what to do about the train...? Could your kitsune friend get us back up there in a- a- jiff?"
Aqua looked at Natsumi - who was already nodding her great big head in response.
"Oh, great!" Vivian exclaimed, beaming. "Hop on and we won't be late!"
Aqua strode forward quickly, while Vivian raised her hand to Scarlet again; a glow surrounded Scarlet, and her unconscious form rose up and lay itself across Natsumi's backside. Aqua jumped up onto Natsumi, followed by Vivian.
Natsumi immediately turned and exploded into speed and motion, running alongside the train! It was incredible, really, to have a comparison now with her; she was running so fast that the train quickly looked like it was standing still...and then she even started to overtake it, the sounds of her feet on the ground getting faster and faster! After a few seconds of this, Natsumi turned her head and jumped up into the air. She sailed up well above the train, coming back down to land on its rooftop with the lightest clang.
"Okay, I totally see why you like her - DER!" Vivian's high, joyous tones shouted out.
Binding Scarlet up in their room probably wasn't the smartest choice - but it was the only one they had.
Aqua didn't think the woman would be doing much of anything with only one arm...
She sighed heavily as she knelt down in front of the woman, staring into her sleeping face. She reached out and adjusted the one-handed, metal binds Vivian had placed on Scarlet (courtesy of the train guards). Vivian had also put an enchantment on them - a spell that would give Scarlet a terrible shock if she tried reaching for any magic, casting any spells of her own.
Vivian had said it was "Usually really effective - but some people learn to power through it...buuuut let's just hope that's not the kind of trouble she'll be able to give!"
Aqua watched Scarlet for a long time, not moving.
Natsumi came and went, once or twice - while Vivian stayed near the door the whole time.
Aqua just ignored her.
She only had eyes for Scarlet.
After what must have been an hour or more, Scarlet finally stirred. She woke up.
Her head jerked upright - her eyes fluttered - her body tensed...and then it drained away, as her gaze met Aqua's.
The tension in Scarlet's body, anyways - not the seething, burning anger and hatred in her eyes.
"What didn't I do, Scarlet?" Aqua said quietly, immediate. "I don't understand how you can hold me responsible for whatever's happened to you while I was gone. If it was something I could have personally done something about, though...I want you to know I would have. And I am sorry, for whatever...has happened in your life. But I don't think all of this hate, and anger towards me is justified."
Scarlet sagged where she sat, her head falling to the side - her chin, down to touch the shoulder of her missing arm, where the burned, metal base piece was still there, attached. The woman's eyes closed, and a short breath was let free. "You were just like everyone else. You still are."
"What do you mean?" Aqua asked, trying to be calm, fair, patient - understanding. She wanted to understand her oldest, and first friend...she really did...
"I get it now," Scarlet said, with a soft laugh. "I see it now. I never saw it before, but...can you blame a girl?"
"What do you get, now, Scarlet?"
"You were screwing with me - you set me up."
"What?" Aqua was more offended than anything else.
"It was all a big trick from the start. Find the lost, homeless kid, give her all those little trinkets and coins, straight from the palace - then vanish, and let her get caught with it all. Let her take the fall for the disappearing act."
"Scarlet, that's- not what happened at all," Aqua said tightly, swallowing. She'd almost laughed, too, almost just flat out called the woman ridiculous. But she couldn't do that to her... "I really wanted to help you! I wanted to be your friend! Whatever happened after I disappeared, I am sorry, but I had nothing to do with it! If I had known...if I'd come back sooner...I would have been there for you. For all of this!"
Scarlet's eyes opened, and her head came up again. Those eyes gazed at her, lips twisting. "That's a real comfort to the nine year old girl that your soldiers snatched up and threw into a dark hole for years."
"W-what?! Why- how could they do something like that?" Aqua exclaimed, horror going through her. Squeezing at her Heart (along with the shock, the guilt...).
"They said it was all those trinkets and coins of yours," Scarlet spoke, in low tones. Low, bitter, hateful tones. "That night you did your vanishing act, they showed up and took me, locked me up in some dark dungeon of yours. Said they knew I had something to do with it. That I knew where you were. Who those people were who'd attacked the castle. Where some armored warrior of a guy was, who'd been the last one seen with you." The woman laughed again, and her eyes shut as she drew in a shaking breath. "I kept telling them I didn't know anything, I kept telling them, but it took them a while to finally listen to me. But even after they believed me, they kept me in there - in chains, in a little, stone cell. For a long time..."
"How long...?" Aqua whispered, gazing at the woman's face.
"Six years. I know that because they let me out a few days after my fifteenth birthday."
"Why would they keep you in there for so long if you were innocent? If you never- and you were a child, you-!"
"I guess they forgot," Scarlet's voice came, pained, but somehow casual. She shrugged her shoulders, keeping her eyes closed still. Her head fell back, resting against the wall. "I was easy to miss - a little girl in a dark little space - and they had a lot more important things to deal with, like the attack on the castle, and their missing, precious princess. But eventually someone must have remembered me, and thought I shouldn't be there. I thought it might have been you - finally. I hoped it was you. But you weren't there, were you?" The woman's eyes opened at last, gazing up at Aqua. There was that hate, yes, but...the pain, too. Pain, and pleading. "You never came to clear things up, order my release, or just to visit...to mock me, to gloat, at how stupid the dirty peasant was to fall for your whole game. I would have liked that. But you never even did that. I just didn't exist to you. You didn't even care enough to hate me, to taunt me! Where were you?!"
Aqua bowed her head, closing her own eyes. She let out a trembling breath. She raised a hand, curling it into a fist...and then she dropped it.
Where had she been?
Running. Hiding. Focusing on herself.
On some desire to be a good little hero, a warrior of light...
A Keyblade Wielder, and then a Master.
But for all the worlds and people she'd helped...she had ignored the one that mattered the most.
The one...where all the difference in the World could have been made.
If she had just...left when she was first going to, when she was ten years old - with what she'd learned, with her Keyblade called to her, even at the time, she could have come back and changed everything. She could have cut Scarlet's horrific, sickening ordeal short at "just" two years. She could have explained, she could have reached her, she could have...
But now, after twenty years...was it all too late?
Too late for Scarlet, and too late for this kingdom?
"I see you still keep them with you," Scarlet's voice came again, breaking through Aqua's raging storm of thoughts and emotions.
"Keep...who?" Aqua said, confused.
Scarlet looked past Aqua, nodding her head.
Aqua turned, looking to Vivian. A very shocked, pale-faced looking Vivian; she'd been listening to it all, of course. "What do you mean, keep them with-"
"They were the ones who grabbed me - and the ones who tortured me, for all those weeks after they got me," Scarlet's stated, in a harsh voice. "Serene Roses...I guess they lived up to the name, because they all looked pretty serene about it. Not one of them ever stopped, or refused to do it."
"That's just insane!" Vivian exclaimed suddenly, in a high voice. "We never would have done something like-"
"You did," Scarlet cut her off, flat and clear. "You all did."
"Who was it...?" Aqua said, in a quavering voice, as she reached out to gently touch Scarlet's shoulder. The shoulder of her absent arm. "Could you describe them to me? Faces - maybe names? If you can tell me, I'll make sure they pay for it. I promise-"
"Even if I believed you, I couldn't," Scarlet replied. "They were all cowards - they covered their faces. I only saw their eyes."
"She's lying! She has to b-be!" Vivian spoke again, insistent. Shaking. "The Roses wouldn't do that; the second they realized she didn't have anything to do with that night, they would have set her free. Why would they keep a k-kid for all that-"
Aqua stood in a flicker of air and a flash of pink - she reappeared in front of Vivian, staring down on her.
The woman flinched, stepping backwards. Falling silent.
Scarlet wasn't lying. You couldn't just fake that kind of emotion, that pain and loneliness. Memories of trauma, isolation. Aqua knew that personally, herself...Scarlet wasn't lying about this.
...But neither was Vivian.
Not that Scarlet would ever accept that, or believe it. Not that Aqua would ever blame her for that. But could she still get Scarlet to believe her? Could she start to fix this, to make amends, now? Or was it really just...too late for that?
Well, even if not for Scarlet, Aqua was going to make someone pay.
So that, at least, nothing like this could ever happen again.