So here I am writing more Lambda-Sophie stuff again (this surprises nobody) although it's just harmless friendship this time. Basically it takes place in-game during the F arc and is supposed to explore the evolution of their relationship through conversations. Because the game doesn't give us enough Lambda-Sophie interactions. So welp.

Just as a refresher for people who haven't played the game recently and have no idea where the timeline of these is taking place, this first part takes place in the Amarcian Enclave shortly after Asbel adopts Sophie before they fly off to Fodra to deal with the Little Queen/Fodra problem.

Hard

"... what is Lambda doing to Asbel?"- Sophie

She shouldn't have been here.

The inn rooms in the Amarcian Enclave were old and did little to shut out the cold, and her companions, exhausted from their battle with the strange monsters at the Fendel Glacier Ruins, had fallen asleep quickly. Of course, this meant that nobody noticed when she snuck out of her own room and entered another, and nobody had tried to stop her.

So now Asbel lay in front of her, slumbering peacefully as a faint light pooled in from the window, illuminating his features against the darkness of the room. Nearby, Sophie could make out the forms of her travelling companions- Hubert, his back turned to the light and his glasses placed meticulously on the nightstand next to his cot; Malik, snoring loudly with his covers discarded on the floor beside him, seemingly unperturbed by the cold; and in the furthest corner of the room, she could make out Richard's face, his bright hair distinctively separating his form from the shadows that seemed to engulf him.

There was a familiar pang of pain at the thought. It wasn't too long ago that he had been swallowed by a darkness she wasn't sure he could escape, and it had taken all the courage and faith she had to believe that her friend would recover from the torment he had been subjected to. Watching him sleep now, his features smoothed in peaceful slumber, she was reminded all the more of the reason why she was here at this late hour, instead of in her own room nearby.

That darkness that once threatened all she loved still lingered, taunting her with its presence, sealed away in the body of the man in front of her. The man who had, just a few hours ago, claimed her as his daughter; who had tried to assuage the all-encompassing loneliness that had recently plagued her by trying to give her a place of her own.

He had said he was fine; that nothing was amiss- that Lambda was different now.

But when she watched as Asbel sliced the monsters that attacked them in the Fendel Glacier Ruins, she had been seized by a cold dread that, till now, had yet to subside. In fact, it had only grown worse when the swordsman called her his own, when she was reminded all the more of everything that she would lose should her worst fears come to pass.

Asbel had told her that Lambda hadn't harmed him in any way, but in light of recent events, it was hard enough for her to sleep- not while pondering upon the mysterious woman's words; not while feeling loneliness pressing in all around her; and certainly not while being reminded that her ancient enemy yet lived and was fully capable of recreating the terror he had enacted just six months prior. Forget losing her family to natural causes, or to whatever threat they were about to face on Fodra- Lambda was something she understood, and even if she couldn't stop everything else going wrong around her, he was something that she could at least do something about.

It was a good thing Asbel was a deep sleeper. She knelt down by his bedside, resting her hands lightly on his forehead. Her father would never take action against Lambda without proof, and she couldn't just trust that the creature would feel any reason to continue not-harming everyone she cared about.

And so, she took a deep breath, concentrated her eleth, and looked-

And then suddenly she felt something lock onto her thoughts, her mind drawn into something beyond her vision- a presence so overwhelming that it drowned the rest of the world away.

A deep, savage voice- one that she could recall speaking through Richard's mouth even as his body arced in agony; one that had come from the creature she had hunted and fought for so long; that she could never mistake- spoke.

"What do you want?" Lambda snarled.

The viciousness caught her off-guard, and she gasped, pulling away. She had known the creature was awake, but she didn't think he was capable of speaking to her. Yet, her surprise was soon replaced by a hard feeling in the pit of her stomach, and without hesitation, she touched Asbel's skin once more.

"You choose to speak with me?" Lambda asked then, his voice incredulous and yet, dripping with such acidity that it made her skin crawl.

"It wasn't my intention," she assured him sharply.

"You wished to ensure that this foolish host body remains untouched." It didn't surprise her that her nemesis knew that much- just as much as she knew what he wanted to do to the world he so hated, he knew exactly what lengths she would go to protect the people she loved. "You came to threaten me."

"I came to warn you, Lambda." Sophie spoke softly, but she knew he could feel the weight behind her words. "If you ever harm Asbel-"

"What will you do then? Kill me?" Derisively, he waved her off. "You realize that would require your own destruction."

"I'll do whatever it takes," she spat back.

"Even harm your own father?"

She couldn't suppress her surprise fast enough, and with a dull chuckle, Lambda said, "Do not forget that I dwell in your friend- no, your father's mind. I know what you said to him as well as he does."

Sophie forced herself not to flinch. Drawing on all the anger she held towards this creature that toyed with all their lives; that had laughed as he tried to kill her, she snarled, "If you think that's going to stop me from destroying you-"

"Of course not. In fact, I count on it. You yet believe that if I were destroyed, everyone you love will be safe, even at the cost of your own life." Lambda seemed to be enjoying himself. She imagined his presence flitted around her, like a particularly sadistic cat taunting its prey. "How noble. Or perhaps you simply seek to run away from the loneliness of watching all you love slip through your fingers, unable to grasp them because of what you are- neither human, nor machine." He pondered for a moment.

"How fitting then, that these humans you so care for would be harmed the most with your death at my hands. Perhaps- even one of theirs."

"I won't let you-" she began, rising up to face the old foe she had been created to destroy.

"Let me?" Lambda's voice was low and controlled, and she felt herself tense. "You cannot stop me from taking over this man's mind. Nor can you stop me from doing what I wish to do, should I wish it- I can make you watch your friends turn against you, watch as your beloved father becomes nothing more than an empty host- just as Richard almost became-"

The mention of the blond king, sleeping nearby, sparked a fury that Sophie didn't know she could feel. They had just settled their differences, and they were friends again, and to have Lambda throw that in her face so carelessly- surely there was nothing so evil as someone who seemed completely unrepentant of his past, so completely ungrateful of the second chance that he had been given. "Don't you care about them at all?" she yelled. "Asbel saved you, Richard cared for you-"

"You seek human emotion from me, Protos Heis?" he snarled in return.

"No," she replied lowly as she faced the darkness she so hated. She had wanted to hope that things would be different this time, that Asbel was right- but now, she knew she shouldn't have bothered. "If you ever harm them, I will make you pay," she promised.

"To hurt me, you would have to hurt Asbel Lhant", Lambda sneered in reply. "Could you, really?"

Sophie tried not to flinch. Yet before she could reply, someone else spoke up, a voice slicing through their shared consciousness like a blade.

"That's enough, both of you!"

It was disorienting, to suddenly find herself pulled out of the emptiness where their minds met, with a stern Asbel glowering down upon her. He had grabbed hold of her wrist and didn't seem intent on letting go, his eyes staring straight into her own. For a moment, as she watched the glow of his left eye, Sophie was reminded all the more of Lambda's words and his influence over her father; of how easily this grip that held her so tightly could be that of her mortal nemesis rather than the man who sheltered her with his own life.

"Asbel-" she began, only to be cut off when the redhead let out a hiss of pain. He let go of her and pressed the palm of his hand onto his left temple.

Sophie frowned. "He's hurting you," she said reproachfully, even as he waved her off.

"He has... a few choice words regarding you," Asbel replied with a humorless smile. Sensing her distress, he shook his head. "Really, I'm fine. Lambda hasn't tried anything-"

"Yet."

"Sophie." When he looked at her, she could still see his disapproval, as well as a strange sadness that seemed out of place on his face. "Don't talk to him. It's clear that I won't get any peace of mind as long as you two continue antagonizing each other like this."

"How can you trust him?" She struggled to keep her voice low so that she wouldn't wake the room's other occupants, but there was no way she could disguise the fear in her voice. "You heard what he said!"

Asbel's eyes softened. With a soft sigh, he pulled her close, his warm, big hands resting lightly on her shoulders. Comforting, solid. Not gone, not dead- either by Lambda, or natural causes, or whatever it was that was causing the monsters to spring up stronger than ever. She closed her eyes.

"It's hard for people to change," Asbel told her. "Lambda included."

"Then why?"

He shrugged. "Because he has."

"He didn't sound like it," she murmured. After a pause, she added, "He hates me."

"You hate him too," Asbel chided.

"I don't want you to hate me." She peered up at him then; the man who had just adopted her, who watched out for her, who cared for her so much that he'd risk his life for her.

Mismatched eyes looked away first. "I won't," Asbel promised. Gently, he pulled her away. "Please, trust me on this."

She frowned in reply. It was the best that her father would get.

With a sigh, he shook his head. "Go back to sleep, Sophie. It'll be a long day tomorrow."

It was a firm command, but she couldn't help but feel the need to linger. Yet, Asbel was as stubborn as she was, and with a final huff, he gestured the way out through the room's door. He hardly looked like her father- hardly threatening at all, a man at the cusp of adulthood and wearing only his sleeping clothes- but after a while, reluctantly, she bowed her head and left.

But even as she did, she could feel Lambda's glowing red eye watching her, and the words of their unfinished conversation pressed against her heart.

If it was hard for people to change- she vowed that as long as Lambda never did; neither would she.