Until We Meet Again

[Arcadia Freefall]

It had been a few months since Arcadia had escaped the Limitless headquarters. She had taken little time in trying to escape back to the only place she knew as 'home' - a place where she had been as a child, before everything else that had happened to her. Arcadia had traveled quite a distance since she had escaped and made it as far as Deling City, a large Parisian style place that served as a cosmopolitan center to the north of the Galbadian continent. It was a place not far from where Arcadia had lived in her early 20s, but far enough away for it still to be quite a journey to get to.

Arcadia was tired and weary. It had taken her months to get here and she had suffered enough hardship in the last 6 years to take much more of the running away. She walked down the busy streets of Deling, her hood up, covering her bright white hair. She had lost all the colour from her hair thanks to the Limitless experiments on her body and the infusion of her new magical abilities. She was hiding, because she did not want to be noticed in the busy street by anybody that might just be a Limitless spy or informant. Having killed a unit of soldiers in their base of operations, she figured that they were most definitely after her. She was not hiding because she was unable to cope, however, Arcadia just did not want the hassle right now. She just wanted to find a tavern and let her hair down for the night and that would just be ruined if some Limitless goons found her and started a fight. That would mean she would need to flee Deling and go somewhere else, and she'd already spent all day traveling.

As she walked, she got confused looks from passers by. They could see that she had a hood and white hair which was usually synonymous with old women, but she looked youthful and not at all elderly. This annoyed Arcadia as she knew that that's what they were thinking. Someday she would show everybody how truly youthful she was. As she kept walking she sighed. There weren't any taverns, she'd been looking for hours. Deling was much too fancy. Over the street, there was a hotel and Arcadia decided that that would be better than nothing. She approached the hotel but was stopped by the security guards outside.

"Uh, this is an upmarket hotel lady, not an old folks home. Move along" said the security man.

This enraged Arcadia.

"EXCUSE ME?!" she said, flipping her hood back in a fit of anger, revealing her white hair in all it's glory but her also rather pretty tanned face with it's feline features, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING OLD?! DO YOU SEE ANY WRINKLES HERE?!" she said pointing at her face, "JUST LET ME IN WILL YOU?!"

She bared her cat-like fangs at the man, staring at him so intensely that if looks could kill, his brains would be all over the floor-length glass window behind him.

[Estrella Divina]

Flashback

A scorching blaze marked that their had been a violent battle within the village. Within the surrounding wall of flames, there lay a battered woman alongside a man who had also been beaten badly. The time seemed to go by slowly as the flames blew viciously. These flames symbolized terror. As the two lay there, the man was the first to rise to his feet. He had blood dripping down from his trademark scar. His green eyes pierced with rage at what had happened with his gun blade firmly in his grasp. He trotted left to right as if he were searching for someone. He called out to someone, yet there was no answer. When he took a glance behind him, he saw that his female companion was about to come to as well. His teeth gritted at the shape she was left in. The flames that surrounded the village intensified at this sight.

Estrella's body and lips quivered at the beating she had received. Her eyes blinked open. At first, she heard a man's voice call out to someone.

"Arcadia!" She heard from the familiar man. A name she had grown to respect and love. Her blurred vision, which was made worse by the flames, caught sight of the tall man that looked down at her. Then she heard her name as he crouched to her. The man seemed to be worried. When she looked at him, she saw how beaten he was. Despite how beaten he was, he looked more concerned for her. Why? She looked at herself covered in bruises, cuts, and dirt. She was a mess. The man's voice, though soothing, had taken her a little while to recognize who it was. Eventually, she was fully conscious. Her hand touched the back of her head to ease the pulsating pain she had.

The man who had looked down at her she had come to recognize.

"S-seifer! What happened?" She rose to her feet. Her eyes studied Seifer's glaring expression, bloodied scar, clothes, and pacing manner. He looked angry. Did he know something she didn't? Since the area around her was like scorching hell, her mind was fogged and anything he said to her was lost in the flames as well as her memories.

"I'm going to kill those fuckers."

She heard what was said and gasped. What fuckers? The flames seemed to rise from the rage that filled his soul. Slowly, her memories had come to her. They were attacked. They were viciously ambushed by a gang of thugs. However, she had no idea why they attacked them or where they were at the moment. All she remembered was darkness, the screams from Arcadia, and the pain. The pain in her body was proof enough that it was not a nightmare. Her eyes scanned the area just as Seifer's had. It was then she realized that their close companion was gone. The more she looked around the more desperate she had become.

"Arcadia..." She whimpered.

"Where is she?" The strong-willed Estrella was about to break down emotionally. There was no reply of comfort her way as to let her know where her closest friend had gone. Being drained, she had no willpower to fight over the nervous breakdown she was about to have. She clutched her chest where her heart was because the pain was more than she could bare. Since she was a loner most of her life, it was a sensation she was unaccustomed to feeling. It was horrid. She couldn't handle it. Soon enough, she exploded with an emotional outrage.

"Where did those bastards take her!?" The tears that followed her outburst flowed effortlessly.

"Arcadia!" She screamed out for her companion again. There was no answer. Instead, the flames that surrounded the village, they stood in, had risen. They seemed to mock her painful cry by blowing higher. Rather then stay glaring at the fire like Seifer had, she sprinted in its direction. Her mind yearned to ease the pain in her heart. To do this, she had to know that Arcadia was alright. She was too emotional to be rational, therefore, she was well prepared to dive into the fire. She didn't care if she was burned alive. Before she could reach the fire, she was grabbed by Seifer and pulled in before she had done anything too crazy.

"Let me go..ARCADIA!" She called out to again. A spark of lightning sliced through the blackened clouds of the sky. It was her rage that caused it to happen. When she was grabbed by Seifer, she fell onto her knees with little struggle. She had no fight left in her to struggle with after the beating she had received. There was no reply from her friend that she had called out. There was no trace of her.

"She is gone." Seifer replied with coldness. When he answered with a unfeeling tone, light rain had begun to pour onto them. He looked like he warrior who had seen the most brutal of battles with his jacket torn. His concern had fallen on her.

"Seifer she can't be gone..she can't be gone...we have to find her. We have to get those bastards.." Her voice croaked pleadingly. She choked over her words when she heard what Seifer had said and how he said it. He too had been beaten badly which further broke her spirits down to a place they couldn't recover from quickly. While they were in the flames, she could no longer handle the pain that cursed through her veins. What made the situation worse was the light rain that dripped upon them. With her body shivering from her wet clothing and terribly beaten, she eventually fell into a deep unconsciousness. She had passed out.

The flashback ended with Seifer carrying her past the flames that were a part of his element. He had a tint of hatred within his eyes. Throughout the next couple of days, with little to no abilities in tracking or technology, they were unsuccessful in finding Arcadia. They had assumed the worst.

All hope was lost...and Estrella's heart would forever be tainted from that night.

End Flashback

Her eyes widened from inside the backseat of a black limo.

"Ugh, what a terrible nightmare." Her forehead was bandaged from the fight she had endured in Final Order. As soon as she had woken up, she sat up straight and then scanned the area to see if she were back to reality. Fortunately, she had been. It was a nightmare she thought she wouldn't have again, but she figured her head injury had something to do with i. For some reason, it had returned to her. Though she thought it was from her head injury, it was more-so due to the fact that she was traveling back to her home region. It was a region where she had endured heart ache and pain. Despite this, she understood the business aspect of what Limitless expected. It was a mission just like any other that she could not refuse to take.

[Arcadia Freefall]

The door man merely put his hands out to keep Arcadia an arms length away from him.

"Look lady, you keep that up and your ass will be on the curb faster than you can say 'hair dye'" he said, sniggering and glancing over to the other security guard as if he was trying to show off.


"WHAT?!" she growled, her cat-like yellow eyes fixed on the man in front of her with savage intent, "Do you think that I'm gonna take that from you, cue-ball?! Mr I-Polish-My-Head-In-The-Morning-With-Turtle-Wax?!" Arcadia stood on her tip-toes and knocked gently on the bald security guard's head as if she was knocking on a door, "HELLOOO~~? ANYBODY HOME?!" she shouted in his ear before returning to her normal stance and frowning at the man.

"That's it, I'll give you 5 seconds to scram or we take care of you ourselves!" growled the security guard, leaning forwards menacingly with his colleague moving over to back him up.

"Try me knucklehead!" she shouted at him before pulling a fist backwards, charged with magical lightning energy that glowed an eerie purple, much the same colour that Arcadia's hair used to be. She punched the bald security man in the stomach and he flew back a little way and fell to his knees. His work mate then ran forward but Arcadia managed to hook her arm around his outstretched one, duck down and throw him over herself so that he crashed into the floor as if it were a wrestling mat. Unfortunately for the security guard, it wasn't a wrestling mat and was ornate brickwork and he felt his ribs bruising as he collided with the floor.

"Now are you gonna let a pretty girl stay at your hotel or not, jackass?!" she yelled at the bald security guard who was winded but getting to his feet.

"Give me one good reason you little bi--"

Before the guard could finish his insult, somebody else appeared from the revolving doorway.

"What on earth is going on here?!" shrieked a small middle-aged woman who wore small round glasses and formal attire, presumably one of the senior hotel managers.

"Well see, your security guards would not let me in..." 

"Because you looked suspicious! You're wearing a hood! We have standards here you stupid cow!-- Ow!! Hey!"

The guard was yet again unable to finish his sentence due to being smacked around the back of the head by the female hotel employee.

"First of all, Jared, you do not under any circumstances speak to a lady in that manner!" she said, slapping the back of his head again for good measure, "And second of all, whilst this... young lady may look a little worn and weary, that is precisely what our hotel is for. Rest and relaxation!"

It was quite obvious that the woman was trying to somewhat atone for her security guard's bad attitude by trying to advertise staying at the hotel to Arcadia, but the way in which she did so, and the way she was eying Arcadia did affirm that she was not the sort of person that they actually wanted visiting their fancy-pants hotel to start with, but considering her security guard had started a confrontation with her instead of politely refusing entry, Arcadia assumed that she was trying to prevent Arcadia from a) causing damage to her staff members or hotel, or b) trying to prevent some sort of lawsuit. Either way, Arcadia was ticked off and she was too tired to put up with jerks; she was going to guilt trip these guys into letting her stay the night in absolute luxury.

"Sure, whatever, but just so you know, if you want my custom now you better provide me with the presidential suite, unless of course you want some more trouble..." said Arcadia, a couple of purple sparks shooting from a clenched fist that was down by her side.

"Uh, absolutely miss, no problem at all! We don't want any more trouble, isn't that right Jared?" said the woman, nervously laughing.

"No mom... no trouble..."

Arcadia laughed, almost a cackle really. "You're his mother?! Wow, I feel sorry for you..."

The woman squinted her eyes at this comment but she soon started glaring at Jared the bald security guard again as it was his lack of professionalism that had revealed that they were related, and it was also his lack of professionalism that was going to see some roughty-toughty vagabond sleeping in their most expensive room for the night on a cut-down price.

Arcadia ignored both of them and the second security guard who was knocked out on the floor and head inside the hotel. Tonight was going to be a good night after all it seemed.

[Estrella Divina]

Attire: i34.photobucket.com/albums/d133/AngelicsenPadme/Final%20Fantasy/leather.jpg


A song in the limo had begun to play that she casually paid attention too. Her yellow-green eyes gazed what appeared to be out of boredom, but she was in deep thought. Auguro may have took notice to her awkward change of mood. For a long time, she had not had a nightmare like the one she had encountered moments earlier. She must have fallen asleep in the vehicle especially since it had been a long ride. As she stared in a trance at the illuminated, passing buildings that highlighted the city, she exhaled to herself. Why had she had a vision she thought she had erased from her memory? The buildings that passed seemed to have triggered a buried memory she wished no to remember.

Once she thought she was better, she reached over for a folder that she had snatched from her husband's office. He was usually out training, practicing disciplinary measures on bad members, or working on his Knight skills. Of course, he would never admit to his ROMANTIC dream out to just anyone, but she knew all too well how he was.

"Seifer..." She thought to herself with affection. While she found that she missed him because he was out often, it played to her advantage too because she found it easy to sneak into his office and grab missions that were left incomplete. This was to her discretion though. He was not keen on allowing her to get into dangerous objectives such as the one she held in her hand, however, she had nothing better to do.

After grabbing the folder, she placed it on her lap. She opened it to take a look at the contents inside. It was basically her refreshing over the information she already knew. There was a woman who had apparently escaped the Limitless testing facilities. In the folder, the name was not clear as to who it was because they had renamed the subject to a bar-code number. The only thing she had to go by was the description of the individual. It was a test subject deemed highly powerful and dangerous. She smirked at the thought of fighting who it was exactly that had escaped the organization's clutches. Unlike other organizations, Limitless was very good at what they did. The fact that the test subject was capable of escaping high security fascinated her. She must have been good..really good.

The song that played in the limo brought back memories she was not prepared for. Therefore, once she finished reading the contents of the folder, she tossed it onto the seat just in case anyone else wanted to look at it.

"Driver, change the song please. This song is giving me a headache." She ordered the driver who answered right away. He knew better than to keep her waiting.

"Yes Ma'am" He touched a button. Once he touched a button, another song had begun to play.

The song that was playing before:



Song playing now:

"Seems like tonight is going to be a fun night.." She said out loud to herself once she caught sight of where she was staying. Soon enough, the limo would pull in front of a nice hotel.

[Arcadia Freefall]

Arcadia strutted inside the hotel, looking around the reception with a furrowed brow, waiting for the ramshackle bunch of idiots that were apparently in charge of the place to follow her inside. She assumed that the security guard's mother was actually the woman that was in charge of the entire place, hence why she was the oldest employee there. Most of the receptionists were young girls in comparison and there were a few room-service waiters milling around having performed all their duties for the time being. It was indeed a very fancy hotel, but Arcadia's impression of the place was distorted thanks to her encounter outside. She felt as if the place was beneath her if she was going to be treated like the scum of the earth, but thanks to the altercation she figured she'd use the hotel to it's full capabilities until she was satisfied with their attempt at compensation.

"So, where do I go to my presidential suite, huh?" she asked, tapping her high-heeled thigh high boot on the nicely polished tile flooring in front of the reception desk.

"Oh please allow me to just process that for you. Excuse me Jessica, out of my way thank you..." came the voice of the middle aged woman as she shoved a younger receptionist out of the way and stood in front of the desk, "Now before I hand you the key to your room I need you to sign this..."

The woman pushed a form in front of Arcadia. She read the form and shoved the form back without signing it.

"Uh, no way, your security guard insulted me and threatened to attack me, presidential suite or nothing. You aren't getting out of this by just giving me a honeymoon suite!" she snarled at the woman behind the desk.

"But the presidential suite has been reserved for a special guest tonight, we can't just let you have it on a whim!"

"PRESIDENTIAL SUITE OR I START SOMETHING" shouted Arcadia, snapping her fingers with more purple sparks sparkling from her hand as she did this.

"Alright... aaallllright.... but I don't think our reservation is going to be happy about being thrown out of their room..." said the woman in some degree of pain. Arcadia supposed she was weighing up whether getting money from a rich patron was worth losing over the possibility that Arcadia could potentially cause a lot of damage to her hotel, and so she gave in to the feline woman's threat and allowed her to take the presidential suite.

Once she had been shown to her room, Arcadia wandered inside and shut the door firmly behind her. She was glad to be away from the hotel staff, they had caused her more stress than she would have liked. Her hotel room though was just what she wanted; the best room they had. It was large and had a number of impressive features that many normal houses, let alone single rooms lacked. There was a huge 4 poster king sized bed in the middle of the room with a large bathroom off to the back and in one corner there was actually a private jacuzzi.

"Now this is the sort of service I should be getting!" smiled Arcadia, happy with her wrangling for this evening. She decided that her first order of business was to sit and relax in the jacuzzi to rest her joints. She had had a very long day. In reality she felt like she had had an exceptionally long 6 years and this was the most comfort she would have had perhaps in her life so far, let alone in the last few years. Removing her clothes, Arcadia stepped into the warm jacuzzi water and sat down, resting her head on the side as the steam and bubbles rose from the surface of the water.

"Ahhh~ This is the life..." she purred.

[Auguro Hazaek]

The black limo was sleek and shining under the pleasant artificial lights in Deling City. The place seemed much cleaner in comparison to Final Order. Not that Auguro, the second passenger, was too familiar with cities like this. He hailed from a world that was far more preserved, despite the fact it had minor industrial facilities. He would find this new area very fascinating and appealing, however that was not what his body language seemed to suggest. The tengu was sitting like a statue, his legs folded inward and his hands clasped together, all of which was covered by his robes. The only part of him that was visible was his beak and ears, the rest of his head and face obscured by a hood. Why was he sitting so still? Was he meditating?

The driver eyed the bird through the mirror, confused. "Somethin' wrong with ya, Mr. Melder?"
When Auguro heard the question, he sighed and gave an honest answer. It's not like it mattered to them anyway, and he didn't want to be bugged about it. "I'm afraid of cars." He replied simply. It still seemed unusual that it was the reason he was frozen in his seat, but perhaps it was so he could calm himself. You couldn't blame him, he did not derive from a world that had cars or very many vehicles. The first time he was forced into a car for a mission he became a frantic wild animal and went into shock. But if it was for his job, he would have to cope. This old bird was determined.

His ruby-red eyes glanced to Estrella who sat far off in the seat next to him. He couldn't understand how she was capable of falling asleep, or being so relaxed in such a dangerous machine. The music also made him nervous. All Auguro wanted at this point was silence, and for his feet to be on still ground again. He peered out the window again and began to feel a bit more relaxed. Deling City was actually quite soothing to look at.

When the limo turned towards the hotel building, he bursted out of his balled-up state and grabbed the door handle, preparing to flee from the vehicle as soon as it parked. What a strange little bird-man.

[Estrella Divina]

The hotel was a glorious one, in which, her eyes caught its beauty. She had become accustomed to staying at places as high classed at this one. For this reason, she was not as surprised as most would be. Once the limo had stopped, she yawned out of boredom while most would have jumped out of their seat in excitement. She was finally at her destination where business would become the priority. She was about to reach for the door handle when Auguro had beaten her too it. It seemed as if he were desperate to get out of the vehicle.

"Watch it bird brain!" She said out of frustration. He was indeed a little, strange bird man. She had become used to it though. Within the couple of days she had known him, she understood he was a bit out there. However, according to Limitless, he was an essential part of the organization. She had no idea why, therefore, she kept herself from punching the small creature in the beak for his ridiculous outburst. Not wanting to get in his way, she allowed him to leave the vehicle. Then, soon after, she walked out of it herself.

"Auguro, stay close to me. Don't touch anything either." It was funny because Auguro was older than she was, yet she talked to him like he were a child. After she had instructed Auguro what he was to do, she walked into the hotel where she fully expected to get the same treatment she always received at all the other locations. She had a reputation of being treated like a princess especially with the rank her husband had in Limitless. She expected no less for good reason which was due to the life she had endured as a teenager. While she had gained merit on her own, her husband was the individual most had grown to respect and be fearful of. Despite how high ranked he was in Limitless, there were many who had no idea what connection she had to him. It was mostly due to the fact she kept it a secret.

Putting thoughts aside, she guided Auguro into the hotel.

The door man opened the way for her. He gulped when he noticed she looked familiar. He had seen her there several times with somene else. Even with her bandage forehead, he had seen her face before.

"Mrs. E..estrella you're here" He sounded nervous. Taking a glance at he creature she was with, he decided it was best not to ask questions. He also knew that they would likely be in trouble for giving her room to someone else. He just hoped he wasn't the one to drop dead.


"Hello to you too. Idiot" She muttered after she had politely said hello. She had no idea what was in store for her once she had reached the front desk.

The manner in which she walked with confidence commanded attention. It was as if she were saying "move out of the way" because of the "celebrity" status she had earned. After she had made her way through the door to the front entrance, where a middle aged woman stood behind the front desk, she pressed her hands upon the table and demanded assistance. Her lime green eyes focused on the middle aged woman who appeared to be shaken from her visit.

"Uh..h-hello Estrella." The middle aged woman said nervously. She had completely forgotten that Estrella had been in town today. Glancing down at the bird creature, she put on a shaky smile that indicated that something was wrong.

"H-hello to your friend too." She nodded at the bird creature. The attempt to take Estrella's attention off the presidential suite failed miserably because it was the next comment to follow.

Estrella studied the woman's features. Why was she so nervous?

"You know who I am. I don't have to say it twice. Where is my key?" She placed her hand out for the key. When the woman hesitated, she narrowed her eyes at the woman. What exactly was going on? For a moment, she looked down at Auguro as if she were blaming him for what had happened. Conversely, the grumpy bird was not the culprit behind the woman's hesitation.

"Uh...uhm....." The middle aged woman scrambled around to respond.

"Uh..uhm" Estrella mocked the woman's stuttering. She was not in a pleasant mood now.

"Where is my key?" She asked again with fierceness.

Behind her, the woman's son shook with terror at the thought of what may happen if they failed to give her a good reason as to why her room was occupied by someone else.

Finally, the woman decided that honesty was the best policy. There was no other way around it. She spat out her reasoning as if it were the only way to save her life.

"W....we were f-forced to give it to somebody e...else"

Estrella was taken back by this. How on Earth were they that incompetent? Who on Earth would dare take her room? Like a spoiled brat, she slammed her fist against the table aggressively for not getting what had belonged to her.

"How could you be so stupid? I don't get what you were thinking." She blurted loudly out of frustration. Her lime-green eyes glared over at the woman's son who coward at the thought of getting hurt. He may have smart mouthed the woman before her, but he was not dumb enough to do it to a Limitless member.

"I am only here for one night and you give my room to someone else!? I should have this place closed down for this type of horrible treatment!" Her voice continued to get higher with each comment. The middle aged woman shivered at the thought of being fired or even homeless. During the entire onslaught, Estrella's eyes pierced into the woman's eyes. Her threat was no threat. If the middle aged woman failed to get Estrella's room back, there was hell to pay.

"I WANT my room, and I want it now. You understand me!? Whoever is in there, you kick the FUCK out or else I'LL DO IT!" She shouted again. After her violent outburst, her eyes watched as the middle aged woman rushed out from behind the desk and grabbed her incompetent son. The both of them seemed to be desperate to please her which was better for THEIR sake. Once they left the scene, to go get the mysterious person out of the presidential suite, she was left alone with Auguro.

"Can you believe that Auguro? Ugh!" She leaned against the front desk. Her cheeks puffed a bit to show that she was in an irritated mood. While she rested her arms against the front desk, her thoughts were on who exactly it was that dared take her room that night. The individual was in for trouble for this crime. She wouldn't let the individual hear the end of it.

[Arcadia Freefall]

Arcadia was still sat in the jacuzzi enjoying the warm water and the massaging jets of bubbles that shot into the liquid surrounding her body. She had been so eager to start relaxing she hadn't bothered finding a swimsuit or anything to wear, she had just stripped down and stepped right on in. As she sat there with her head resting against the side of the hot tub, she finally had time to think about things - her past and what she should focus on doing next. Having spent a combined six years as a slave and a science experiment, there were only 2 memories she could remember; a girl by a lake and two people named Seifer and Estrella - that was it. She had barely managed to escape Limitless with her mind still in tact, at least she still knew who she was, that was at least something. She had been working the last few months in distancing herself from Limitless HQ geographically and in her time to herself, recovering from the torment she had been put through there. Everything else was the same old traveling and fighting she had done before she was taken from Estrella, but it was nothing she could really remember outside of a phantom feeling which felt like deja vu.

As she sat there she tried to recall things but felt unable to. It was frustrating. She hated what Limitless had done to her.

After a few moments, Arcadia's ears began to hear something faint over the sound of the jacuzzi bubbles. The faint sound started to get louder and louder until she heard two familiar voices outside of her hotel room door.

"I knew this would be a terrible idea... when I knock on the door, if she tries to hit me, you need to deal with her okay?"

"Yes mom... I'll try."

"Will you stop doing that? You're at work you stupid boy, act more professional!"

The talking stopped for a moment and then there came a knock at the door. Arcadia stopped the jacuzzi and stepped out of it, approaching the door forgetting that she was not yet wearing any clothing. Her temper was flared right now, why were these idiots back trying to disturb her evening of relaxation?

The door swung open.

"What the heck do you two want now?!" yelled Arcadia, dripping with bubbles and warm water and not really much else.

The middle-aged woman and her bald security guard son took a step away from the door and their pupils shrunk with some surprise at the nude person standing in front of them.

"Uh..."

"Cut the crap and just tell me what the fuck it is you want!" barked Arcadia, pointing a finger and glaring at the two of them, taking a step forward to intimidate them more.

The security guard stepped in front of his mother to protect her and spoke up.

"N-nothing Miss, mom was just going to ask you if we could get you anything... a robe perhaps?"

Before the middle-aged woman could tell her son not to be so stupid and unprofessional again, Arcadia looked down, realized she was naked and decided to retort.

"Why? Don't you like what you see? I doubt either of you have seen a body that looks this hot in your lives before so drink it in while you can before I fry your brains!" she yelled, causing the now familiar purple electricity to form around her hand, "Now unless you're going to bring me some food and drink, don't even think about showing your face up here again tonight, understand?!"

"Yeah yeah we'll... get right on that... I guess" shrugged the security guard who began to turn his mother, who was still taken aback by the naked woman yelling at them both away, from the room and back downstairs. Arcadia turned and headed back inside to find a towel and continue her night, not realizing who was downstairs in the lobby. As she closed the door behind her, she could hear the two hotel staff members squabbling again.

"What were you thinking?! You realize who is downstairs don't you?! She'll kill us! We can't go down there without her room!"

"It's either die downstairs or die up here mom! At least if we waste some time getting this bitch food we might think of something to say to Ms Divina!"

"Ugh, fine. Let's head to the kitchen and get Emma on the desk to tell Ms Divina that her room isn't ready yet..."

The voices then faded as they headed back downstairs. Arcadia could hear faintly what they had been saying as their panic had caused them to speak louder than they perhaps intended. Divina? Arcadia thought she recognized that name from somewhere, but considering her ability to recall anything since her time as a test subject at Limitless HQ she shrugged it off as she dried herself with her towel. At least it seemed like the hotel staff were going to give her the food and drink she'd been looking forward to most since she arrived in Deling City.

[Auguro Hazaek]

After arriving at the hotel, the limo parked and the desperate Auguro immediately tugged the car door handle, but it wouldn't budge. When the valet got out to open the door for them, the door was then unlocked and Auguro unintentionally smacked the valet in the crotch with the edge of the door. As the poor servant grunted and fell over in agony, Auguro paid no heed to what he did and proceeded to march into the hotel.

Soon, Estrella departed from the limo as well, but Auguro didn't see. He only heard what was behind him, for he refused to look back at the monsterous vehicle. When Estrella demanded that Auguro should stay close and to not touch anything, he snorted in response, "I wouldn't touch anything, it might kill me." The tengu lacked trust in the world around him. Escalators, elevators, even modern toilets scared him. He folded his arm beneath his cowl, his other hand lugging his staff over his shoulder as he walked beside Estrella. Despite his defiant personality, he did listen to Estrella's orders because he was actually quite scared. He did feel like a child in this frightening, brand new world.

As he walked towards the hotel, he looked up at the sheer height of the peculiar architecture. Street lights and tropical foliage draped the surroundings of the building, making it look exotic and appealing for a great vacation spot. The tengu didn't realize the appeal however, it simply looked alien to him, though he didn't find it ugly at least. He stuck close to Estrella as he had to enter via the peculiar rotating doorway. The interior of the building looked even nicer. It had iridescent and marble tiles which, in his avian eyesight, looked even more colorful to him than it would to humans. There was a chandelier with iridescent diamonds to match, that peppered the room with colored rays of light. His ruby-red eyes scanned the room to take all of this in including the decorations and furniture; it was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

When they arrived at the front desk, Auguro was surprised when he saw how Estrella treated the desk attendees. And she thought he was rotten. "Yeesh..." Auguro muttered under his breath, his head turned away but with his eyes locked on them. As time passed, the tengu put a pipe in his mouth despite the no-smoking sign. However, he did not puff smoke, it was more like steam. As the people behind the desk stuttered and fumbled about, Auguro was trying to relax and waiting patiently. But suddenly, Estrella bursted out threats to the managers, and Auguro, in shock, toppled over and the pipe fell out of his mouth.

As Estrella turned to Auguro to express to him her frustration after the managers left, the bird was flat on his back grasping his chest. Eventually he would get back up, using his staff as a prop. He could handle this, he wasn't that old. His species lived to be at least over 130. After he got up, he brushed his crest feathers over his head with his talons and pulled his hood back up. His tall sensitive ears were more of a weakness than a benefit, it was apparent.

He hoped that there wouldn't be anymore trouble, he was stressed enough as it was. Picking his pipe back up and shining it with his robe, he placed it back into his beak.

[Estrella Divina]

The phone at the receptionist desk rang. Emma, who had filled in, picked up the phone. She was notified of what was happening between her boss and her boss’ son. They were troubled by the mess they were placed in. While her boss informed her of what was to be done, she nervously looked up at Estrella to keep an eye on her. The last thing they wanted was more scandals inside the hotel. There were other guests who could easily be frightened by the situation which meant they could lose business.

“Okay, I will let her know.” Emma said respectfully. Once she was done talking on the phone, she hung it up and turned to Estrella.

“Ms. Divina I am sorry for the mess. It will take a couple of minutes. You should take a seat while this gets straighten out.” The woman tried to sound as cheerful and as pleasant as possible. Noticing how violent Estrella was, she did not want to make the violent woman angrier especially after her boss’ orders to keep the Limitless lady calm.

Estrella, who was in a foul mood, leaned over the receptionist desk to relieve some of the stress she felt. She barely took notice to Auguro who seemed to be wary of everything around him. He had fallen over with his hand upon his chest. These turn of events were likely making the grumpy creature’s visit to sector 8’s city a nightmare. Her hands tapped against the table impatiently. What the blazes was going on? While the woman spoke on the phone, she envisioned the many ways she would kill the individual who had taken her room. She had never killed someone in her life and it was not something she would admit for reputation’s sake, yet tonight might be the first time she would be driven over the edge. Who would dare take her room? Did they not know who she was? Since her joining Limitless, no one had dared to disrespect her in any manner. What made today so different?

There were a number of thoughts that went through her mind at what the receptionist said.

“I hope for their sake they fix it or I’ll make sure to get their asses fired.” She warned, but she said nothing more to keep her bird partner from losing his feathers. She let the woman go back to work while she once again waited. There was nothing else she could do until she understood the full situation as to who it was that took her room. Her spoiled mind was unable to wrap around the fact that someone had taken the room that rightfully belonged to her. Being as patient as possible, she kept herself leaned over the table and waited. Her hands started to drum a beat against the desk to keep occupied in the meantime.

As she tapped her ringed finger on the table, the security guard, who a woman had beaten earlier, walked into the hotel. He held his head from the pulsating pain he felt. The woman, who had given him a good knock, definitely left her mark on him. He decided he needed some more training after the beating he received. He was about to be in for the fright of his life though especially because he’d discover something that many others had not known.

While she tapped her hands against the table, her ring glimmered from the lights of the elegant chandelier that dangled above the receptionist desk. She had no idea that someone had walked and now stared at her ring. If she had seen it, she would have knocked the stranger out because it was a personal matter she kept to herself for good reason. There were plenty of people who’d make a big deal about it. She wanted them to be fearful of her rather than…who she was married too.

When it had sparkled, the dizzied security guard caught sight of it. His eyes focused on what it looked like. The ring was a red cross and one he had seen before.

Red Cross' Appearance

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}

Where had he seen it before? As he stood there observing Estrella’s ring from the side, he gasped in terror when he realized where he had seen it before. He almost fell over at the thought of who it was. Could it be? Remembering his time at Balamb Garden before he flunked out, he was scared shitless because there was one individual who made everyone’s life there hell including his.

It was then his thoughts trailed back to years ago when he had first worked at the hotel. He remembered seeing her with the man that haunted his dreams because of his days at Balamb Garden and the infamous “list.” The man was none other than Seifer Almasy. He was the scarred, tall, blond, arrogant, and gun blade wielding freak. Was it possible ?

“What the fuck are you staring at Chicken Wuss?”

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}

He shrieked like a little girl when he thought he heard Seifer’s voice that was soon followed by Seifer’s menacing laughter. However, it was simply the guard’s imagination that had run wild from fear. Before long, he realized that he had brought the attention to himself. His eyes searched the area to see if that crazed, psychotic individual was anywhere nearby. To his relief, the only one nearby him was…his wife. Why was she here? From the looks of it, she looked angered. This meant bad news for him too. The last thing he wanted was a blade slashed across his chest. Unlike before at Balamb Garden where he would have likely had his face stuffed in a toilet or his body slammed into a locker, he thought the worst of what the scarred, psychotic would do if he had known that the guard worked at the hotel and had upset his wife. Who the hell would marry a guy like that?

Estrella heard a shriek and turned her attention towards the guard who had snuck into the hotel. His face was as blue as the sky. What was wrong with him? Though she was frightening, it was not like she had taken out her anger on him….well not yet anyway. She had a feeling that if someone did not give her the room soon she may snap on someone. The innocent guard, who was already terrified of her for no reason, might be the first of her punching bags for that night. She had not caught on to the fact that the guard knew who she was. Regardless, she let her displeasure be known.

“What the hell is wrong with this hotel? You guys have psychos running around here. I am definitely not coming back after this.” She said with disbelief. This had been the worst treatment she had received in years. After commenting, she stood up straight and turned her back to the receptionist table. Her back leaned against the desk and then her arms folded across her chest. It took all her willpower to keep as patient as she was.

The guard straightened up after what he heard Estrella’s comment. Within moments, he rushed to her side like a loyal puppy. He wanted desperately to please her so that he wasn't on the “list” again.

“May I help you with anything Ma’am? Can I carry your bags? Maybe give you a tour? I’ll walk your bird pet. I’ve always been a fan of yours. You’re very beautiful probably the most beautiful woman I have seen in years. I love pets. I am a big fan of pets. Can I do anything for you?” He blabbered quickly and made no sense whatsoever. He just wanted his best to not be in pain.

Estrella was somewhat disturbed by the guard’s sudden need to suck up to her especially when he complimented her on her appearance. What was his deal?

“This bird is not my pet you dumbass. He is a lot smarter than you anyway. Now get away from me sicko.” She demanded bluntly.

“Auguro, remind me to report this to the Limitless higher ups. I am sure they will just love how I was treated here today.” She had not specified who it was that she talked about. However, telling by the guard’s reaction, it appeared to have scared him enough. Did he know something she wasn’t aware of?

The security guard’s face turned blue with fright again. He thought his life was over. Oh, it definitely was if he caught sight of the man he never wanted to see again. Immediately, he rushed out of the room to where a janitor mopped the floor while dancing to his jams. He bumped into the janitor and the janitor spun around to greet him. The janitor, who was a long time friend, seemed to be in a good mood and for good reason. He got a raise that morning.

“Hey there! How’s it going Nick?” The janitor said with a cheery tone to his long time friend.

Nick, the security guard, looked over at the janitor and pulled him aside. He didn’t seem as pleased as the janitor had.

“Yo, what’s wrong Nick. You look like you just saw a ghost.” The janitor asked because he was concerned for his co-worker and long time friend.

Nick shushed the janitor so he could speak.

“Shh…there is a girl out there with this smart, talking bird thing. “ Panting in fear, he could barely get the words out to finish his sentences so the janitor was forced to fill in the blanks.

“Man, is she that hot? She must be if she is making you sweat like that! You should have complimented her pet more dude. Man, I got to see who it is. Let me take a look.” The curious janitor peaked through the door. At first, he caught sight of the bird creature that Nick was talking about. The creature had some beautiful feathers. However, it was not what he searched for. Then, moving his eyes around, he saw the woman that had Nick sweating. His eyes studied her features. Like wildly coyote, he whistled with envy.

“Wowzar! She is a beaut man!” He pulled back and smiled at Nick. No wonder the man was sweating. He would too if he got that close to a woman like her. Unfortunately, her attractiveness had nothing to do with Nick’s nervousness.

“Are you stupid?” Nick said angrily. He slapped the man in the back of the head. As soon as he did, the janitor grabbed the back of his own head as a reflex to the pain he just received.

“What the hell is your problem?” The janitor exclaimed out of frustration from the pain. He had not understood what was up Nick’s ass. He didn’t like it either.

Nick had no time to apologize.

“Do you know who that is?” Nick said urgently as if it was the information was the difference between life and death.

“Uhm, a hot girl?” The janitor said rather stupidly and naively.

“No! You stupid idiot. It’s Seifer’s wife!” He said in despair as if the janitor was at fault for everything that could happen, but that was not the case. He was just a janitor who minded his business.

It was then that janitor’s face turned blue too. He was also a part of Balamb Garden in the past and had flunked out shortly after Nick had. Unable to believe it, he tossed his broom to the side like there was no point in him mopping anymore. He was forced to ask the obvious question.

“Are you shitting me? Tell me you are.” He had no idea that Seifer was married. Who the hell would marry a psychotic bastard like that?

“Is it the same Seifer with the scar on his face ? The arrogant guy who was on that disciplinary committee with those 2 other goons. You know the eccentric asshole at Balamb who got kicked out after hurting a lot of people and joining that evil sorceress?” Of course, he had an idea of who Nick spoke about, yet he had trouble believing it.

“Yes, who else you dumbass? He is the only Seifer we know around here. I’m not kidding dude! I remember seeing the both of them come in together years ago when we first started here. It was years later after that sorceress thing. I saw the ring on her finger just now. It had that red cross he always had as a symbol. If they were together back then, there is no doubt in my mind they are an item. What’s worse is that she looks pissed! Our stupid staff must have made her mad which can only mean one thing. We are all fired or…dead. I blame that stupid wench who came into the hotel like she owned the place. “ He rubbed the bridge of his nose because it was too much for him to bare. Whatever was happening in the hotel could all be blamed on the woman who had beaten him up earlier. It was because of her that all of them were probably doomed to be on the streets or worse.

The janitor was left speechless. He too was given his share of disciplinary actions by Seifer that included violence. Rather than continue to mop the floor, he leaned against the hallway wall with Nick.

Meanwhile, after waiting several minutes, she straightened herself out and brushed her leather outfit off. She could no longer wait for the incompetent hotel workers to get what was rightfully hers. With that thought in mind, she exhaled out her frustration and prepared herself for a confrontation. Whoever took her room, was about to get hell. The receptionist lady looked behind her to see that her boss and her son arrived just in time.

“I am going to get my room back Auguro. You are welcome to come with me if you want or you can take that man’s offer and get taken for a walk by him. It’s your call.” She had given Auguro a choice to come with her or not. He was probably nervous about the entire situation. She figured he was not the city type. As she was about to storm out of the room, the two knuckleheads returned and stopped in front of her just in time. The middle aged woman was the first to speak to her with the son who coward behind her.

“Well?” Estrella expected that the answer would be the right one.

“I didn’t get your room back Ms. Divina, but I got something better for you.” The middle aged woman hoped that Estrella would buy it.

Estrella’s fists clenched because she was prepared to knock out the lady. The room was hers. What was so hard about kicking the fucker out who had taken it? If she had to, she would do it. However, being moody and restless because of her lack of sleep, she decided to ask what exactly the two idiots had in mind. She was tired and had a long mission to get to work on.

“What exactly is better than my room?” There was more to that room than it just being rightfully hers. It had plenty of memories. They were memories sacred to her heart. However, no one had to know about that.

“We decided to give you the entire upper floor for yourself. There is a room up there that is just as good as the presidential suite. I hope it will be good enough for tonight. I will make sure to give you the room you desire. Just give me some time to work it out Ms. Divina. I don’t want one of our loyal customers to suffer because of some brat.” The middle aged woman said about Arcadia who Estrella had not yet known was in the hotel.

Estrella glared at the middle aged woman and then looked over at Auguro who was likely tired from all the stress. She had not felt sorry for the old bird, but she was exhausted and had no more reason to fight. The entire floor would do nicely for now. In the morning, she’d make sure to give the brat a piece of her mind. She now knew that the person who occupied her room was a woman.

“I guess that could work for now. I want you to tell that brat in MY room to come apologize to me at my floor as soon as possible. I fully expect her to get on her knees too and beg for forgiveness. Will you at least relay that message for me or will I have to do that too?” Her eyes narrowed at the middle aged woman and her son. Once she had given an order, she strolled forward to get to the floor she was given. She fully expected that Auguro would follow her.

“Mom…about going back to school…” The son said to his mother once Estrella left the scene. He decided, in that moment, the hotel business was not his thing.

[Arcadia Freefall]

Arcadia had finished drying herself off with a nice fluffy white towel. Her skin felt great after a nice warm soak in the jacuzzi. As she finished drying the ends of her arms, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her hair was as fluffy and white as the towel she was using to dry herself. She grumbled under breath and started fiddling with the ends of her hair. She was certainly going to need to get a hair cut if she was going to feel any better about herself. She'd spent such a long time running away she had forgotten about small things like buying clothes, getting haircuts and even just buying groceries that wasn't bread. Arcadia was a huge lover of seafood, fish especially, and she loved to drink a glass of cold milk - both things that did not exactly help her image as a cat-woman but she didn't care, she knew both things tasted great.

That reminded her; where was her food?

"Those ass holes said they'd bring me some food, wonder what happened there" she said realizing she was quite hungry now. First things first though she needed to actually get some clothes on. Fully aware she'd stormed out of her room to confront the hotel staff butt-naked before, it had not especially bothered her. This was either because she was an attention seeker or she had just lost all sense of dignity after being experimented on by Limitless. She'd pretty much been prodded and poked and all manner of other things without her clothes on in the labs there so it hadn't really occurred to her that going out there without clothes wasn't acceptable. Clearly there were patchy parts of her memories and behaviour.

She went to a closet and started looking around it for clothes. Of course, there was nothing there and so she grabbed the fluffy white robe from inside it and slipped into that. It was soft but again, slightly annoyed her because of the similarities to her hair. Once she had done that, she could hear people moving outside again. Soon enough there was a knock on the door which Arcadia went to answer.

"What do you want now? Hm? Where is my food?" said Arcadia loudly as she swung open the door.

The middle-aged woman was back and she cowered at the volume of Arcadia's voice.

"Uhm, sorry to disturb you again Miss, but I have been told to give you a message..." she mumbled.

"Oh, and what is that exactly?" Arcadia said, unimpressed.

"Well, Ms Divina in the lobby would... like you to come down there and apologise to her for taking her presidential suite" she said, intentionally missing out the part about begging for forgiveness as she knew it would just piss Arcadia off.

"Ahahaha, listen here..." said Arcadia, leaning over to finally read the name-tag on the woman's blazer, "Suzanna. If this Divina woman wants to come take this room, she can come up here and ask me nicely if she can have it. Otherwise you can expect trouble. Remember it was your halfwit son that insulted me and threatened me to start with, you can't go back on your compensation now can you? It'd make your hotel have a terrible reputation."

The woman bit her lip, worried. She didn't want to be a messenger, she didn't want any trouble but she just knew something bad was about to happen. Her life was now her main concern, but of course the less damage caused the better. She sighed, shrugged and headed back downstairs.

Arcadia mockingly called after her as the manager left, "Hey! And I expect there to be some food and drink up here the next time I see your face Suzie-su~!"

[Auguro Hazaek]

The wait was getting long, and the old bird was growing a bitter. Rather than complain, however, he decided to pass the time somehow. He walked up to the desk after Emma had spoken, but he was too short to look over it. And so he hopped up, resting his arms over the desk, casually puffing steam circles out of his pipe. The tengu eyed Emma with a rather creepy and odd stare, his tongue moving the pipe to the other side of his beak. "Well hello there, young lady." As he spoke, he took the pipe out of his beak and smirked, leering at her. "You seem nervous... Don't be afraid, sweetheart. I won't let anyone hurt a darling like you. Not even my own spoiled brat of a partner." His head tilted and gestured towards Estrella for a moment, then winked at Emma.

His inappropriate habit of flirting with women was not to pick up a date. It was just something he did when he was a young and famous performer/impresario to sell more tickets to his shows. Now he just did it for fun, which was a pretty bad idea considering how old he was. Of course, nowadays no one found him impressive or cute because nobody in these parts knows who he is, and even if they did, he was sure his reputation had been tainted.

He puffed his pipe and joined in Estrella on the desk tapping, his claws for hands making quite a different sound than hers. As he continued to wait, he saw that a man had been staring at Estrella. He had no idea why anyone would dare lay eyes on her for fear of being pummeled to a pulp. He studied the man's reaction, and he concluded that he was in a state of recognition. Estrella must have had some form of reputation that, judging by the fear in his eyes, was rather unpleasant.

After the security guard's blubbering to Estrella, the bird man became intrigued. At least it was something to take his mind off of his anxiousness for now. He decided to leave Emma alone and hobbled over to Estrella. When Estrella left for her room and gave him the two options, he responded, "I will be there momentarily. I want to explore the rest of the hotel." Lifting his staff, he strolled off towards the hallway that the security guard had retreated to.

The hall had been previously mopped, and so Auguro slipped and fell on his stomach. "Oof!" He trembled as he strained to pick himself back up. When he proceeded to continue walking, he tripped over a wet floor sign, which was the first one he had ever seen. Auguro groaned as he got back up again, placing his hand on his lower back as he heard it crackle. What a clutz. He must have been too distracted by looking at the paintings on the walls. Figures.

There was one painting that he stopped to stare at for quite some time. He stroked his whiskers as if he were deep in thought. It gave him very faded recollections of someone he once knew.

Her name was Esther. This beautiful woman with curled red hair used to be a friend of his, until something happened. Whatever had transpired it had confused him for the rest of his life. The reason he thought of it so much was because it changed his life, never to return to his show business again.
Auguro had memories of when they were friends back when he was youthful. For artistic inspiration, they would go on walks and to see the sunset. He had to admit, it was rather nice. But Esther enjoyed being with him alone during sunset a little too much... He knew the concept of romance, but he thought it was an act. Why would a human be interested in a tengu like him? There was no way it was real.

This ball of feathers never had another chance to discover what love was.

After snooping around for awhile, he eventually found the security guard and the janitor.

[Estrella Divina]

Code for myself to remember:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}19e6e6

Emma, the receptionist, watched as the scene seemed to calm itself. The whole time she was nervous that something may happen to her. There was some reassurance though. As Ms. Divina let her authority be known, she spotted the wise-looking bird creature lean over the counter with a pipe in his hand. At first, she was intrigued by his action until she noticed he puffed away in a no smoking area.

"Uh, sir this is a no smoking area." She was only doing her job. A smile framed her face though because the bird behaved more sane than the two women she had seen that one. When she meant women, she meant Arcadia and Ms. Divina. They were both a bit ridiculous with their attitudes. Being a part time staff worker, she was used to seeing eccentric individuals, however, the feathery being was a peaceful one. He was exactly the type of customers they needed more in the hotel

She was relieved that she was not attacked that night and more-so that the bizarre bird was there. He had given her a sense of comfort despite being a little on the perverse side. What made it better is that he most likely saved her from death. She had some business to take care of that night which consisted of going to the popular clubs of Deling City.


"Finally, some peace and quiet." Estrella tossed her bags aside and dove onto the bed. She stretched her body out as if she had not seen a bed in years. It was only last night that she had slept in one though. While Auguro explored the hotel, she was left alone to rest upon the bed. She had never seen a creature quite like the one she had spent time with. Some of his antics were scrooge like and at times annoying, but she had to admit he was quite humorous. Even in her fit of rage about her room being taken by someone else, the tranquil bird had bewildered her with his pipe. He was so casual and mysterious. Perhaps one day she would know more about him. As for now, she was uninterested in most of the details in his life. This was more-so due to the mission they were supposed to be on.

After she recollected her thoughts on Auguro, she focused on the room she was forced to take in place of her own. It was not the room she expected or wanted, but at least the entire floor was for her. It was the least the hotel owner could do after she had foolishly given her room to someone else. Who that person was had been beyond her. For now, she concentrated on the relaxation part of her trip. It had not even been one day back in Deling City, and she already felt stressed probably more-so than Auguro. There were other lingering thoughts that bothered her that would soon come to her mind again. It was inevitable. Nevertheless, the tensed state she was in was no way be for a mission, yet she could not control her memories.

Her eyes settled over to the balcony. A light breeze blew through the window. Since she was alone in her room, she decided to take a peak at the grand view of the city. After all, she needed the fresh air and something to distract her mind. The moment she reached the balcony, that oversaw parts of the entire city, her lime- green eyes peered up at the moon. This scene was all too familiar to her because it reminded her of her honeymoon night. While she had not been in the room that the most sacred of things had happened, she could remember those moments like they were yesterday. There were very few people who got to see her in a serene and calm-like fashion which she intended to keep that way. As the breeze blew at her long, black hair, her memories of her honey moon night were revisited.

The Janitor and Nick decided to check if their hunches were right about Estrella. Luckily, for them, there were security tapes kept over the years. Nick had access to the security room, therefore, he was able to grab the necessary equipment. They had no concept that anybody overheard what they were talking about. Once they entered into a private room, which they foolishly left the door open, Nick put in a tape that had been titled "watch and you die." It was obviously the tape that was likely requested to be put on the shelf by the soon-to-be-discovered couple.

Nick pressed play on the t.v and the entire footage of the day started to play. He forwarded passed the parts that had nothing to do with Estrella or Seifer.

"Where is it Nick?" The janitor said anxiously. He was a bit nervous that they may get caught. Not to mention, there were thousands of tapes to go through, and they didn't have the time for it. He was just a janitor who only had a thirty minute lunch break. How could the one they pick possibly be the one? He shook his legs in anticipation at what they may or may not find.

Nick kept his eyes fixed on the tape to inspect it for anything that may be what they desperately searched for. Eventually, out of shock, he caught sight of what he wanted. There they were. His hunch had been right. He paused it right on the scene where Estrella and Seifer walked into the hotel together through the front entrance.

"Sh-sh-shit it's him! It's them!" Both Nick and the Janitor slid back on their seats when the caught Seifer staring up into the camera, but he wasn't exactly looking at them per say. It was as if he knew they were watching, yet that was not the case because it was just the camera he stared at. It was quite frightening though due to how psychotic he could be at times. Despite their fears, they continued looking on since he was no where in the vicinity.

After watching several uninteresting scenes and skipping over other people who were in the tape, they got to the part where Seifer and Estrella stood in front of their hotel room. Both Nick and the Janitor leaned over to see if they could catch anything that resembled affection. Unfortunately, the video camera went fuzzy for a moment which meant they caught no sight of what happened before Seifer and Estrella walked into the hotel room. There was not a single ounce of evidence that anything occurred or that they were an item.

"Is that it man? They could have just been hanging out that one night. It doesn't mean a damn thing." The Janitor said due to the fact that there was nothing that proved their hunch.

"The stupid piece of junk camera skipped. I could have sworn something happened before they entered into their room though...I know they are together dude." He was determined to be right. He had to be right for the sake of their jobs and lives.

"Oh I REMEMBER NOW! There are security cameras on the streets. We could probably catch them in their room. Good thing I have access to those."

The Janitor didn't like the idea, yet he had not argued against it either.

Nick put in another tape that was titled "watch and you will die a terrible death" and pressed play again. The tape and Estrella's thoughts merged into one because it was that scene she was thinking about on the balcony. If Auguro had been watching, he was looking into her very thoughts at the moment without her knowing it. He was about to get a glimpse of a side people rarely saw in her.

What is on the video tape and in Estrella's thoughts at the moment

Estrella rested her arms upon the balcony as she did in the current time. However, the main difference was that she was in the presidential suite and wore a more elegant, white dress. Her eyes peered up at the moon much like the present time. She gazed into the sky as if she were trying to find a long, lost friend with the moon's help. Once again, her mind probed for an answer that she had sought after for years. There had been no trace of her friend since that eventful night. While she rested over the balcony, Seifer approached her. He had two, fine glasses of champagne in his hands. Noticing that she looked troubled, he placed them to the side and joined her.

He kept quiet while he watched her. In her thoughts, she mainly focused on what she remembered from her point of view, therefore, he had not spoken a word.

"Do you think we'll ever see Arcadia again?" She whispered in sadness. It was unfair how she got to live such a glamorous life now while her long-lost friend was likely suffering or even dead. Since that night, she was never the same and neither was Seifer. The main difference was that he was much better at hiding it or brushing it to the side so that it did not affect him. Why couldn't she do the same? There was a reason for it. Unlike Seifer, Estrella had known Arcadia for a much longer time. Seifer had cared, but in Estrella's case, it was more than that. Arcadia was the first person she trusted in a world she hated.

Without realizing it, she was lightly grabbed by the wrist and pulled into Seifer who appeared to have other thoughts on his mind. She understood him because he had waited a long time for this moment. Her concerns for Arcadia at that moment were eased by his embrace, but never truly forgotten after that night. In his strong embrace, he shared a kiss with her on the balcony and under the starry, moonlight.  The scene was perfect like straight out of a fairy tale. During their passionate kiss, a harmonious song played in the background that had originated from legendary, yet forgotten musician. The younger, aspiring accordion player used it as his way to show off his talents. Not once, had he questioned who it was from.

Despite it not being his song or him having played it as perfectly as the originator, it was beyond romantic. The song was a masterpiece.

The instant she pictured Seifer carrying her into the room, within his arms, was where she stopped her memory trip.

She blinked once and those memories faded. Her thoughts returned to the present world where her new companion was Auguro. Seeing that she had momentarily visited the past, she shook her head at the lingering memories that haunted her to this day.

"I don't know why I keep thinking about Arcadia. She is gone...I need to move on..I just don't know how too. Ugh, good thing that bird-brain isn't here. He'd probably say something lame. I still have to get him back for that comment he made at the front desk." She removed herself from the balcony and walked over to the bed where she wasted no time in jumping onto it again. Those memories she revisited were essential to her soul and ones she wouldn't share with anyone. Though they were private, others had caught glimpses of what was in her mind.

Meanwhile, the two who watched the film clenched their fists with victory. They had gotten the necessary information they needed. Once it was finished, they celebrated. There was no reason to celebrate though.

"She is married to that BASTARD! I can't believe it! She is married to Seifer Almasy. This is just great stuff right here. You can't make this crap up.......but oh wait...." They sweat dropped at the thought. Why were they celebrating? It didn't change the fact that the woman was married to a dangerous man.

"We are still screwed!" The both of them covered their faces in defeat.

"What are you two lazy bums doing in here?"  Suzanna barged in to see that her two co-workers were dilly dallying.   If Auguro was in the area, she would not have seen him.  Her two co-workers were apparently looking through some tapes.  While she had suspicions, she was not about to ask. She was not in a good mood either because of the information she would have to relay to a dangerous woman.

"I want you to go get that poor excuse for a lady some food.  I blame her for all our troubles tonight.  This is why I hate dealing with the poor.  I hope this never happens again."  She pointed at the janitor because the order was for him to follow.   Tonight they were understaffed and so she had to make do with what she had. 

"As for you, I want you to go check up on Ms. Divina and tell her what is going on.  I'm going out for a smoke."  Being stressed, she had decided to take out her cigarettes.  She hadn't smoked in years, but the terrible night drove her to return to the nasty habit.  After giving them orders, she left her staff to go outside for a smoke break.


{Why do I have to go deal with Mrs. Almasy?  What if I get killed?  Hell I don't even think my boss knows this.}  The security guard and the janitor parted ways.  Nick, the security guard, groaned at the thought of having to confront the woman of the most hated man in Balamb Garden's history.  He just hoped nothing of what he had seen slipped up.  He didn't want to be killed before he got to have any children.

[Arcadia Freefall]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}cc9efb

The janitor went to sort out Arcadia's food. He had no experience with food and so he hoped that one of the chefs was still in the kitchen before going upstairs to give who was seemingly another nightmarish patient a meal. He visited the kitchen and fortunately there was actually a member of the kitchen staff still there; unfortunately it happened to be the new guy - a guy who was already gaining a reputation amongst the hotel staff for being nervous and rather incompetent due to his inexperience.

"Man, why did it have to be this guy?..." he muttered under his breath, "Hey kid, Jimmy, was it? We gotta take some food up to the presidential suite, apparently there's some real bitch in there and she's causing a fuss. Also there's a Limitless woman here, she's married to Seifer Almasy of all people! So we better get this food cooked just in case something happens around here!"

Being a bit dim and naive, Jimmy the junior chef didn't really know who Seifer Almasy was and being young didn't really care either.

"Uh sure, what exactly did this lady order anyway?" he asked, standing up having been being lazy and reading a newspaper for lack of anything else to do.

"Never said. Just rustle up today's special. Don't think too much about it" replied the janitor, just thankful he found someone who apparently seemed to know what they're doing.

"Alllrighty then..." said Jimmy, starting to set about working on something. The first thing he did was move to the cupboard and dropped a bunch of pans. Yep, this was going to go great.

A while later, after Jimmy had burnt various attempts at the day's special, cut his own hands a couple of times and even started a small fire, he managed to rustle up something. It wasn't the day's special at all, not really, he'd already burned the last of the proper ingredients accidentally. What was left was some sort of chicken curry with rice and having managed to drop the last piece of naan bread on the kitchen floor, a random side of garlic bread.

"Here, I guess this is ready to go now" he said, handing it to the janitor.

"Uh, sure..." said the Janitor, looking at the plate with some distaste after seeing how much food had been wasted in it's construction for not very much gain. He reckoned even he could have done better, but he'd been waiting around long enough and supposed this was as close as he was going to get to edible.

The janitor then left and went to deliver the food to Arcadia in the presidential suite. He knocked on the door and it swung open to reveal Arcadia wearing the fluffy white bathrobe.

"The food has arrived? FINALLY-- wait... who the heck are you? The Janitor or something?" she said, sounding incredibly unimpressed, "They really do treat the patrons like crap in this place. Give that here and be on your way."

Arcadia snatched the food and slammed the door. The janitor stood there in shock for a moment, he hadn't realized there were two hot ladies with attitude staying in the hotel tonight. "Dayum..."

Inside the room, Arcadia wondered what the heck was going on with this Divina woman, she hadn't really heard anything since the hotel manager last came upstairs and it had taken a while for the food to be prepared. She sat down to eat it and sniffed at it, squinting, her feline sense of smell telling her that this food wasn't exactly well prepared.

"Takes this long for food and when it gets here it looks..." she took a mouthful of chicken and rice and then immediately spat it out, "and tastes like crap... ugh..."

It tasted rather lemony, too lemony and the flavour of the lemon did not compliment the curry in any way. The chicken she also thought was undercooked. The food she spat out flew across the room and hit the wall just above a waste paper basket by the desk and dropped into the basket as if she had just shot a 3-pointer.

"Looks like I won't be saying here again" she said, yawning and laying back down on the bed after placing the plate of grotesque curry on the bedside table.

[Auguro Hazaek]

After leaving the painting which hung on the hallway wall that he adored so much, he sneakily trailed behind the security guard and janitor. They seemed to be hush-hush and creating a fuss over something. He peeked into the room, and found that they were watching a tape. While this was about his partner, Estrella, he realized they seemed to be focused on the man called Seifer. The first tape was a bit boring and he found it a bit creepy that there was security cameras everywhere, it wasn't something he was used to, but he saw how it was necessary. However, when they popped in the second tape which had view of their balcony, he found it rather intrusive. They were really snooping into their business... something must be very significant about this Seifer man.

When he saw Seifer and Estrella interact, it was then he realized they were a couple. It took him awhile to figure out that the employees were more intimidated by the fact she was married to the fearsome "Seifer" character. However, this was all he could learn at the moment; it was that Seifer was a feared man, and that Estrella was married to him. He continued to watch the tape, and noticed how different Estrella behaved. She actually seemed like quite a caring person, worrying over her friend like that.

Near the end of the tape, he began to hear a tune that was recorded by the camera off in the distance. His tall ears perked up and his pupils shrunk. This song was not just "familiar" to him, it was ingrained into his soul, for he had composed it himself. He gasped, holding his chest and pressing his back against the wall beside the door so the two didn't notice him. It brought back so many memories... it was too much to bear. Although it was an instrumental song at first, his friend Esther had written lyrics for it. He heard her voice in his head, singing along to the melody. After seeing Estrella and Seifer's scene of romance, it made him wonder... Did Esther really love him? It was not something he could comprehend yet.

His thoughts would have to wait for awhile, since he was too busy being a flattened pancake between the wall and the door that the two goons opened. After shaking it off, he decided to follow behind Nick to find Estrella's room, it wasn't like he remembered the number or anything. He decided to keep quiet, though it was impossible since the talons on his feet clacked on the floor. Oh well.

When they arrived at the door, Auguro raised his feathery eyebrow at the man and tilted his head before opening the door, entering the room, and closing it on the security guard's face. He marched past Estrella who was asleep, and went straight outside to the balcony. At this moment, he could no longer focus on his objectives, or anything else around him. With a softened expression, he unstrapped his vihuela and began tuning it, sighing.

Gazing in the distance over the balcony, he began to play the song.

It did not occur to him that he would start singing. It just sort of happened. The lyrics were altered a bit to suit him a bit more, but other than that, it was words from his dear friend Esther. His voice was aged, high-pitched and raspy, but it was gentle and well trained.

"Eyes that gaze into mine,

A smile that is lost on her lips,

This is the unretouched portrait

of the sweetheart to whom I belong..."

His voice cracked a bit, as he started to sing again. Could he be crying?

"When she takes me in her arms,

She whispers softly to me,

I see the world in rosy hues."

After that verse, he could no longer sing anymore. He simply continued to play the vihuela as his eyes watered, blurring his vision of the view of the brightly lit city. When he sung those words himself, he felt the sincerity behind them, what Esther could have felt. The sky was turning a deep blue as it was the very early hours of the morning, the sunrise beginning to become visible.

When he was finished playing, he sat his instrument down and burried his face in his cowl. How could he be so dense? So inconsiderate and self-absorbed? How could he be such a careless friend? Oh how he missed her company. He wished that he could have made things right.

LEVEL UP!