Quick author's note here. This story is rated M for a very good reason. (Not lemons or anything. Sickos.) Just lots and lots of gory violence. Yay! (Author is not responsible for any mental trauma caused by reading this story)

She had always been perfect. Flawless in every regard.

Ever since Lord Nergal had created her, birthed her from the same quintessence she was charged with collecting, she had known it. She was his most trusted servant, and had never given him reason to suspect otherwise. Even that worthless puppet Limstella couldn't come close to her power.

And Ephidel…where was that lout's power now? Destroyed with the collapse of the Dragon's Gate.

"Sonia, are you coming?"

Sonia gritted her teeth. "Just a moment, Brendan, my beloved." How he sickened her. Weak and pathetic, just like that disgusting Nino. He didn't even hold the Black Fang in the tyrant's grasp it needed.

"Meet me at the throne," she said. She needed some time alone. To think, and plan.

She warped herself to the hall in the center of the Water Temple, ignoring his protests.

The throne stood in front of her, a magnificent work that suited a being of her status. Sonia sank into it with a luxuriant sigh, savouring the few minutes she would have before her husband arrived.

She idly checked the ensorcelled dagger concealed in her blouse, making sure the runes on the surface were unbroken. It was a personal acquisition, taken off a traveling mage who had refused to share his fire. Sonia had been on a mission to assassinate an important figure…who's name currently escaped her. Torturing the mage had provided a few hours of entertainment, and rewarded her with this blade.

She glanced up at a noise, sheathing it. What she saw made her face twist into a grimace.

"Sonia."

"Limstella."

"I have just met with Lord Nerglal."

"Have you now?" Sonia sneered, folding her arms. "I'm surprised he decided to grace you with his prescence."

The morph ignored the insult, as she always did. "I have been told your task is not yet complete."

Sonia glared at the morph. "I would have killed him long ago if it weren't for the Black Fang's incompetence. Do not think for a second that I underestimated him."

"Nergal grows impatient."

"Do not question me, puppet! The men I sent to kill him failed because of their own ineptitude."

"Lord Nergal did not seem to think that."

"Silence, wretch!" Sonia screeched. "I know perfectly well what Lord Nergal thinks! Eliwood and his friends will die, by my hand if necessary!"

The answer seemed to satisfy the puppet. "Where is your husband?"

Sonia shuddered. "Don't call him that. He's my tool. I control the Black Fang through him. I am not married to that man."

Limstella shrugged. "As you say."

Sonia's eyes narrowed. "If I didn't know better, I would say that is impudence I detect in your words. Watch your tongue when in the presence of a higher being, puppet."

"I meant no insult," Limstella said in that same flat tone. "You make a very convincing show of it. Now, about Eliwood-"

"Sonia?"

Both morphs froze. Brendan Reed appeared at the entrance to the hall, panting slightly. It seemed he'd jogged all the way. "Sonia, who are you talking-"

He cast a suspicious look at Limstella. "Who is this?"

Sonia's face twisted in anger. "I told you to stay behind."

Brendan glowered at her. "I think I have a right to know what my wife is doing every now and then."

"Your wife," Sonia snorted. "Ha! Don't make me laugh."

It took a moment for the message to sink in. Then Brendan recoiled in shock. "You…"

"I only got close to you to take control of the Black Fang," Sonia sneered. "Every caress…every word I whispered in your ear…it was loathsome!"

The warrior seemed frozen with shock. "I thought…you…"

"You thought what?" Sonia spat. "I never loved you. It was a tactical move, which worked to my advantage."

She swept her arm in an all-encompassing gesture. "On your way here, did you happen to notice any familiar faces? No? I've been replacing them, one by one. Their loyalty lies with me."

The aged warrior seemed to sag in defeat. "So," he said quietly. "You've betrayed me."

"Of course I have!" Sonia shrieked. "Did you honestly think I would ever love you? It was all for Lord Nergal."

Brendan met her gaze, rage burning in his eyes. "You monster."

Sonia laughed. "Monster, am I? Says the man who stood by and let his son die, while he stayed in the bedroom with his monstrous wife!"

Brendan unslung his axe and charged at her with a roar. Sonia easily sidestepped the attack, unsheathing her dagger. "Die for me now, will you?"

She easily ducked under his next swing and slammed the knife into his ribcage. "Die for your beloved wife!"

Brendan staggered backwards, blood pouring down his front. "Lloyd…Linus…" he gasped. "Forgive your…foolish…father…"

He sank to the floor, the carpet underneath him turning black with his blood. Sonia watched him with a cruel smile twisting her lips. She bent down in front of him until their faces were an inch apart. "Do you feel it?" she asked, staring into his glazing eyes. "The hopelessness? The utter agony that comes with losing everything you loved?"

Brendan made a strangled sound, yanked the knife from his chest and rammed it into Sonia's abdomen. Sonia grunted, staggering back, as his hate-filled eyes tracked off her and onto the floor. An instant later, the light in them faded.

Sonia pulled the knife from her stomach, grunting in pain. "You couldn't just die, could you?" she spat. "The leader of the Black Fang to the very end."

Limstella knelt beside Brendan's corpse. "What magnificent essence," the puppet said. "I will deliver it to Lord Nergal at once."

"Be sure to tell him it was I who killed Brendan!" Sonia said. "I won't have you taking credit."

She closed her eyes and wavered slightly. The sorcery in the blade was already taking effect. She needed tomes…counter spells…

She opened her eyes. Limstella had said something.

"I'm sorry?"

"You have been injured," Limstella repeated. "Shall I take over for you?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Sonia sneered. "You think I would let a creature like you take the glory that is rightfully mine? I am a perfect being! You are a worthless abomination."

Limstella said nothing, and vanished.

Sonia snorted. Disgusting. She quickly muttered a healing spell, and the gash in her abdomen closed. The sorcery would have to wait until later. She could withstand its effects for a while.

She glanced up, frowning. Someone had just dashed off to the entrance of the temple. And the spell she placed at the entrance had just been tripped. Someone – no, it prickled again. Two someone's had just entered.

Sonia scowled, and mouthed the spell to take her to the entrance.

"Nino, you must leave! Sonia is-"

"What were you going to say about me?" Sonia said icily. It was that coward Jan.

"S-Sonia…" he stuttered. He threw his axe down and ran.

"Wretch!" she called. "I'll smoke you out later."

She turned and surveyed the two intruders.

Nino stepped forward. "Mother…" she started.

"Nino," Sonia snapped. "You have failed, and tarnished my reputation."

"But Mother…"

"Shut up!" Sonia snapped. Her gaze flicked to Jaffar. "And Jaffar. I expected better of you. Why didn't you finish the job?"

"Or," she continued, taking a step toward them, "Complete the mission I gave you?"

Jaffar stared back at her, saying nothing.

"I wanted her dead!" Sonia said. "You are the Angel of Death! You killed without pause, but now your hand is stayed by a useless brat?"

"Mother…" Nino whimpered, tears welling in her eyes.

"Silence!" Sonia screeched. "I'm not your mother. Only an imbecile like you would believe that!"

"I'm…not your daughter?"

"Of course not!" Sonia spat. "Your true parents died by my hand. I would have killed you as well, if Lord Nergal didn't think you'd be useful. How wrong he was."

Nino shrank back, trembling. "You lied to me," she said quietly. She jerked her head up and turned her tear-streaked and rage-filled eyes to Sonia. "You lied to me!"

"How sad," Sonia cooed. "The penny finally drops. I had the same hopes as Nergal. But you were stupid and useless beyond all reason!"

"No wonder you wanted her dead," Jaffar said. "You are not human."

Sonia recoiled as if stung. "I am human," she hissed. "I am perfect! I had hoped to find my equal in you, but you display the same weakness that so disgusts me."

"Nino has changed me," the assassin replied. "It is not weakness, but kindness. What I have been absent of for far too long."

"Kindness," Sonia spat. "What a worthless concept. You think you are being kind? If you had done as I said, she would have died painlessly. But now I will ensure you both die in agony!"

"I don't think so," Jaffar said, drawing his hooked knives. "For Nino's sake, you must die."

Sonia grinned wryly. "Still the Angel of Death, I see. A shame this angel had to fall."

"I have not fallen," Jaffar said. "I have ascended."

Sonia laughed. "How droll! Ascended! Jaffar, you always were the melodramatic one."

Her mirth vanished. "Now prepare to die."

"I won't allow that."

Sonia's eyes widened as her spell pinged once…twice…then more times than she could count. A small army was gathering behind the two traitors, that hated Eliwood at their head.

"Nino!" a Sacae plainswoman called. "We're companions now. Don't go running off on us."

"Do you know how much trouble you could've caused?" an Ostian lord asked. He glared at Sonia. "Although it's nothing compared to what I'll do to you."

Sonia met his gaze, grinning cruelly. "Lord Hector, is it? I trust you enjoyed the present I left you. Your little spy."

"You monster!" Hector roared, unlimbering his axe. "I'll make you pay!"

"Hector! Hold!"

A robed figure strode forward. "She wants you to attack. Don't take the bait."

Sonia regarded the figure with feigned disinterest. "So this is the tactician I've heard so much about," she mused. "You've been a thorn in my side ever since you met the prince."

"I try," the tactician replied, brushing imaginary dust off his sleeve.

Sonia scowled. "Very well. You wish to join your fates with theirs."

She vanished in a swirl of robes. "Come to me," she said, her voice amplified by magic. "Come and die."