Cid Kramer shifted closer to his wife. He wrapped an arm around her, traced the shell of her ear with his breath. It was a stormy night; rain spat
furiously in long dribbles against the stain-glass windows. Edea whimpered uncomfortably; the heel of her hand brushed his fingers off her hips like dust. Indeed the SeeD leader Squall had restored world peace, and everyone was beginning to remember what it was like to sleep.
But she couldn't, not like this.
Something had changed during the fight; was it the beat of her heart? It no longer throbbed for her endearing husband. She felt somewhat awkward,
as if she were cheating every time they engaged intimately. Her fingers bunched against the pillow. It wasn't her ex-knight Seifer Almasy, either. When Ultimecia had left her body, the dark sorceress had left a trace of her shadow in the outer ring of Edea's irises. The scars that stretched across her temples
had yet to heal perfectly, however Edea knew that they would be permanent. They were markings of a spiritual possession; she'd learned that not long
after first assuming her status as Sorceress. Being a young girl at the time and not short of 15 years of age, the scars had stayed with her up until now,
even when there was no present spirit in control.
Her eyebrow twitched in the dark space. Behind her, Cid grunted in surrender. She heard him shift as she rolled away from her. Minutes later, he was snoring soundly. It wasn't the first, but it might have to be the last; for the presence she longed for most had long silver hair, eyes that were equally
metallic in their own charisma. The former sorceress scrambled effortlessly to a sitting position, and looked past the glass of the window. The storm had
calmed significantly, the rain falling so slowly that she could see through each drop perfectly. Beyond them was a sight she had hoped to see.
She left the room quietly and undetected, almost floating over the floor like an apparition. The silk of her nightgown whipped coolly at her ankles as she
left the house and entered the cool wind. It was ineffective, save the pink that scattered like frost along her smooth cheeks and darkened the scars on
either side of her face. She looked like Sorceress Edea again; not Matron.
She did not wince, let alone feel the icy sting against her bare feet as she stepped onto the largely broad wet chain, chin dipping upwards to greet the sight once more at a closer angle. Ultimecia was already waiting at the top of the cliff. Behind her, the towering silhouette of her precious castle loomed over them
both. Still, it looked warm enough to thaw her breath.
Edea had been here many times, but in wake it was her first, and it certainly wasn't the last. In the dark mist, Ultimecia's smirk seemed to compensate for the dying lightning around them. She held out a hand; the obsidien claws beckoned her closer.
Edea moved without hesitation against the splattering air.
"I've been expecting you, Edea. And I see that you've brought your lovely husband with you. You are evil, my dear. Come into my home."