Girls' Night In [Abalia, Makoto, Elyss]

It was one thing to receive such a response from Elyss. Hot-headed and implusive, a reaction so blunt and physical was ultimately not terribly surprising for Abalia. She might even have briefly thought to offer some sort of rebuttal, were it not for Makoto's interjection having been just as firm. It was so unlike her, to speak so flatly. Perhaps that was exactly why it had been so piercing.

"I wished to be a good wife to him. To love him despite myself. I ought not have tried so much to convince myself that it was still love."

Abalia took a sip of her own drink now, looking between the two with full understanding of their anger in the situation. Most women would have felt the same. She, in all truth, should have felt the same. If she had committed to her decision, had chosen to seek out that part of her that was missing, it was necessary that she face such a thing.

"I must confess that I never considered her family. Her children were never my children. He assured me as much, but I know he held them as dear. I really ought to have accepted the truth rather than hold for some miracle, hm?"

Normally she might take a great deal of offence to seeing someone dare to knock on her captain's head but Makoto wasn't really thinking on logic right now or what she thinks is right or wrong. She just wanted blood. Lots and lots of blood, she wouldn't get it though and after a few breathes and listening to Abalia. She regained herself, wouldn't be any good to have a fit of anger here of all places.

"Why would you wait? Just delay it? You let him just have kids with anoth- No.. He just thought it was okay to do that."

Her jaw felt tight, she didn't want to blame Abalia when she knew the nuances of her condition. If anything that meant her hatred went all the way to her husband rather than her. The way she heard Abalia talk about waiting for a miracle just made her fingers dig more painfully into her palms.

She hated it so much.

Even if Abalia felt nothing about the situation other than a dull acceptance of it, she could see quite plainly that her two friends were far more affected by it. Should she not have been, as well? It almost felt as though she was simply mocking them, to care so little about something that they clearly cared so much about. It was in the nature of friendship to worry after the well-being of others--

Mm. Well, even if she could not worry about herself, at the very least she could worry about the two of them.

"I apologize, for having turned the conversation to such a topic. I would like it very much if you would be there to discuss it with me once more after this search is ended. I do not know how I will feel on the matter then. I suppose, hopefully, I will need a bit of support."

Offering them both a small bow of thanks, Abalia considered the situation. What could she feasibly say, beyond that?

"I do not pretend that I understand what it means to love, whether my marriage was right or wrong. I understand you are both displeased with what I have told you. I am very sorry to have put this upon you, but I thank you both for speaking honestly with me on this matter. It is a personal one, and one I think few would be willing to discuss. I am fortunate to have friends such as you both."

She could say more, she wanted to say more even. It made her feel sick like her gut was wrapping around itself and twisting into knots. Abalia's words were at least calming in the way she diffused the heated discussion however, it did nothing to ease the feelings that spurred on from her own experiences nor how she felt about Abalia's own. It'd been a while since she had been so angry and filled with hatred, specifically the kind that came from an emotional spot. It felt entirely different than reacting in a fight where she got sadistic.

"It's fine.. Abalia."

Makoto wanted to hide somewhere and cry, sob out her frustrations since she couldn't work herself to exhaustion or maim something to vent like she normally would but she couldn't while she was here and she refused to cry in front of them like some kind of mess.

"Can we get back to discussing this search?"

Getting off from her seat as she said it, she started to try and assist in cleaning up the mess she had made from her reaction. She didn't like it when other people cleaned up after her, she was mad at herself that she dropped the glass in the first place really.

"Of course. My apologies."

Abalia looked through the documentation she'd been given by Gamu, handing out copies of it to Elyss and Makoto. She wasn't especially certain if either of them had the requisite knowledge to grasp the full scope of the notes, but she had made sure to have Julian apply footnotes and the like to make the whole thing more palatable.

"Given this is still a fragment of my own soul, there will at least be some degree of ease in locating it, seeing as it will share the same energy signature as my own soul. The most pressing difficulty, as I have said, will be in finding this wayward energy."

Another couple of documents were procured from her files, and handed out to Makoto and Elyss. Unlike the last two, these were maps of the Earth, featuring rather extensive markups.

"Seeing as I am involved in diplomatic meetings on Earth with some regularity, there are signficant false positives to be worked around. However, there are several locations where I have not ever been, and so I believe they would be appropriate locations to begin."

Pulling out a pen, Abalia laid her own copy of the map onto the table between the three of them, and circled two locations; the first was Iceland, and the second, Florida, in the United States.

"These two signatures, in particular, stand out. I believe they may prove most useful in this search, though I do not know what would be found in either location."

When she was handed the paper she had shaken herself out of her miserable state, at least enough to remember the important matter at hand. Work was always a bit like that, it had a calming aspect for her to know she was so focused on something important right now. She assessed the papers thoroughly while getting the briefing of them.

"I see. Those are two very different spots on the planet, not exactly close to one another. Does the fact the energy is appearing in multiple spots suggest that the piece is your soul might be sentient? Perhaps attached to something?"

Makoto was spitballing here, she thought the second might seem more valid. If there was some rogue part of her soul just stuck to something that was moving like gum on a shoe. Not that she'd ever think to use that analogy to Abalia's face, she might not care but Makoto still had her pride here and describing her friend's soul as gum on a boot was not how she was going to handle it.

"What do you think, Elyss?"

Hopefully she had some ideas.