Serah covered her head with her hands, as if she was ducking for cover, when Aurora and Ava were starting to shoot down the line of questioning she'd started on. Of course Serah wasn't sympathetic to the Cruxi, hatred for them burned strong in her heart too. But just blind hatred wasn't enough for her. She wanted a reason [i]why[/i] they were being invaded, [i]why[/i] her parents had to die and [i]why[/i] her life had to be thrown completely off the rails. She's not the type of girl who can live off pure hatred like that. If every action the invaders took was pointless, some meaningless lust for conquest, then all that would leave in the aftermath is hollow.

So cue her tentatively pleasant surprise when Lorenzo didn't take the opportunity to exit stage right, and instead actually circled back to answer her question. Though she almost wished she hadn't asked, as the video he projected afterwards was downright haunting. Screams, gunfire, marching troops and the scared, shallow breathing of the unlucky civilian who was caught in this situation. The blaring, haunting message repeating over, and over. A shiver ran down her entire body as she hugged herself, her mind racing. She was all too familiar with screams like that, the day in her childhood where she was caught in the attack being fresh in her mind like it was just the day prior. And the person who recorded this... in a cramped space, alone, and scared out of their mind...

They were almost like...

[color=00aeef]"Thank you... sir..."[/color] she said with a shaky voice. Fear, anger, anxiety- it all bubbled up inside her as her face went pale. Serah felt like throwing up, the room spinning around her. She... she needed to be anywhere else than this classroom for a bit. As class had been dismissed earlier, she did not feel the need to ask for permission either. With a hurried [color=00aeef]"Excuse me..."[/color] she got up and swiftly made her exit before anyone could stop her. Before even Arrish got up, not listening to a word he said. She needed to be [i]gone[/i].

Serah stumbled through the hallway a bit, breathing heavily as she broke into a cold sweat. Its like the world ahead of her stretched on infinitely, the hallway elongating with every step she took. She couldn't think straight. The only thing on her mind right now was seeking comfort. 

Serah knew one place she could get that. The one place on this ship she felt the safest. She navigated the hallways, shaky as she was. Though she'd been on the ship for less than a week, the girl had a remarkably easy time navigating it, like she'd lived here for a year already. As for her destination, the place she wanted to get to, it was none other than the hangar. Bustling with engineers like usual, doing maintenance and checkups. She was keenly aware of them, their faces, their words of concern as the young girl passed them while hugging herself. She deliberately ignored every single one.

She just wanted to get to Atty.

She reached her frame and leaned against its leg, going limp as she slumped down against it. Its metal shell was cold to the touch, yet Serah always felt warm inside when she was near him. A familiar, familial warmth. An old friend who wouldn't leave her side. She couldn't hear his voice like this- he never really talked if she was upset. Despite that, Serah still took comfort in the presence of her frame. She knew he wanted to protect her. She felt as much the few times she got to ride him. They'd known each-other much longer than this, the young girl thought to herself. Else he wouldn't be so sweet to her.

[color=00aeef]"If I'm with you, Atty... maybe things won't be too bad."[/color] she said wistfully, a dull throbbing pain in her heart. Subconsciously she reached for her tattoo, fingers grazing her cheek. [color=00aeef]"Because I know... you wouldn't leave me alone. Even if I went mad."[/color]