Okay everybody, here's chapter two of my story. So I've noticed a couple of you were caught off guard by the age gap between Sonia and Geo. I want to point out, that it was entirely intentional and that it connects to the story to some degree. Anyways, here we get to dig a little into the past, and also we see how Sonia first encountered Geo. To Nintendo fans reading this, you might be able to figure out who this character might be through the flashback. If not, then you'll know at the end of the Chap. 3.
If nothing else, let's get on with the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or any of their characters; just OCs that may appear along the way.
-X-
Chapter 2: Where it all started
-X-
"So, tomorrow's the big day?"
Late night out in Echo Ridge, on the second floor of the Hoshikawa residence; was none other than Geo Hoshikawa. The young adolescent was currently leaning hunched over against a railing of his room's mini balcony. Geo was staring out at the stars, his arm propped up against the balcony, resting his head on his hands, deep in thought about tomorrows events. Hard to believe two days had passed, two days since he had asked his childhood friend out on a date.
"Heh, Date… Ehehehehehe, date…"
No matter how many times he said it to himself, it just felt so surreal to Geo. Who knew that he would have the courage to just go out and ask Sonia for a date; to which, if he had to be perfectly honest with himself, he felt pretty proud of doing. To anyone who's known Geo when he was younger; it was no secret that the kid liked Sonia, and boy, did he have it bad for her. Even if he would try to deny it and claim that she's nothing more than close friend. Anyone with half a brain would be able to see the obvious signs that he liked her.
"What are you still doing up?"
Geo turned to see a woman who was sitting Indian style on his bed, looking at him from behind the window door that led out to his mini balcony. The woman seemed to be in her late 20s-early 30s, she had the same chocolate brown hair as Geo, and deep blue eyes. She was currently wearing a simple spaghetti strap lavender nightgown that stopped at the middle of her thighs. The woman beckoned for the young boy to come inside the room, to which Geo complied. Once inside, the 10 year found himself sitting Indian style just like the older woman.
Smiling, the woman ruffled the boy's head "Soo, tell me young man. Just what are you still doing up on that balcony?"
"No reason…" The boy mumbled, stopping her mother's hand with his own "I'm just thinking about tomorrow."
Hope Akane Hoshikawa couldn't help but let out an amused smirked as she watched her son's face turn a lovely shade of pink when he responded to her. It was two days ago when her son had came home and told her that he was going on his first date this upcoming Saturday. To say that her son was floating on cloud 9 would've been considered a major understatement. If one were to see just how red and bashful her son got from the interrogation Hope put him through. You would think he was a girl in a boy's body. Though to be fair; she MAY have induced some teasing to bring about those reactions. But regardless of what reaction she may invoke; any lively reaction that brings out Geo's emotion was preferred rather than the quiet reclusive boy that he normally is.
Hope smiled faded into a somewhat rueful expression as her mind had thought back to a certain point in time. The time of the Peace and AMAKEN incident; point in time where she considered that to be the darkest year of her life. The Peace incident; where her husband along with a group of scientist left on an expedition to spaces in hopes of discovering extraterrestrial life forms. Such a thought of possible life-forms in space would normally be laughed at; but to Kelvin and his fellow scientists. Their beliefs: The World is vast. Anything is possible. Friends, families, and loved ones all gathered to see the scientist team off on their journey; hoping to await their inevitable successful return back to earth. If only they knew what was fated for the scientists aboard Peace.
Not even a full month had passed when Hope and the other friends and families had learned of the tragedy that befell the astronauts that were aboard Peace. An explosion had occurred aboard the station. The cause of it was unknown, just that it resulted in the deaths of dozens of people aboard that space station. Out of all the people that Hope knew that had been devastated by the incident; her son Geo had took it the worst. Geo had always been close to his father, just as any young child could get with their parents. So suffice to say, when Hope had told the 6 year old Geo what had happened to his dad in space. The mother's fears were realized as she practically saw the life inside her sweet baby boy's eyes just get absolutely destroyed. Ever since that day, to say that her Geo was a shadow of her former self would have been a severe understatement. Whenever Hope would look into her son's eyes, she would always find a deep hollowed look. It was as if, when her husband died, her son died along with him. Seeing him like this, Hope was worried that her son would never be able to go back to being the child she knew a loved dearly. And that could've been the case, if it wasn't for a saving grace.
A saving grace in the form of Sonia Strumm.
Hope's smile returned as she remembered the first time she and Geo had met the young Strumm. It was a random encounter between the two children that instantly sparked one of the kids immediately taking a liking to the other. Hope couldn't help but watch with an amused look as the young lively 8 year old dragged her stunned 5 year old boy all across the playground. Her grin only widened as she saw the older girl encourage her son to play with her with surprisingly little effort. One thing to note about her Geo; he was an extremely shy boy. Often choosing to stick either his mother or father whenever possible. And never really taking the initiative to playing with other kids, not unless Hope had any hands on the matter. So to see her son actually playing with another kid of his own accord. You could say that it warmed the mother's heart a bit. And like clockwork, ever since that day. The two children had practically become inseparable.
From playing together in the park playground, to going to each other's house. There was not one moment where the two wasn't in the other's presence. One could say they were like brother and sister. And just like how the kids were able to find friendship within each other; Hope managed to find a friend herself within the young girl's mother. The ever radiant Sophia Strumm; a woman who despite the problems she had, she would be able to embrace a new day with a smile on her face. There was no question as to where Sonia got her lively personality from. The two widowed mothers were able to find solace in each other, and that instantly sparked a friendship. Together, when they weren't talking about the little misadventures that happened within their families on a daily basis. They would come together and comment (Tease) about how their children obvious affections for the other. Hope could honestly say that when it came to Sophia; she was like the little sister she never had and always wanted. Unfortunately, a cruel hand called Fate had to play its ugly head.
Remember back as to how it was stated that Sophia had 'problems'. Well, the only problem that Sophia had was her illness. Around the time when Sonia was turning 9, Sophia had been diagnosed with a serious sickness that made her severely weak and had rendered her bedridden. That's what the kids were told when they found out.
But what the mothers never told them; was that Sophia's illness was terminal.
The doctors couldn't give a precise date as to when Sophia would die. They could only speculate that her death could only be prolonged for as long as her body would continue to fight it. And even then, they wouldn't know how long she would last. Honestly speaking, it all came down to her willpower. Learning all this, Hope couldn't help but feel that the world was playing some kind of sick joke on her. Here, she had finally found someone who shared in her pain of losing a beloved like she did. And just as she made friends with her, reality just felt like taking the woman away her. It was as if God was telling Hope that she would never have someone close to her. But despite everything; Sophia took everything in stride. As if the thought of death wasn't even a trivial matter to her. Hope was amazed at how Sophie could take her inevitable fate so well. But it was what she said to her that truly resonated inside her.
Even if my time has been decided by the Wheel of Fate. Even though I know full well that I'll eventually lose my battle to this sickness. I won't let any of this bring me down. If possible, I'll fight for as long as I need to if it means I get to see my little girl grow up just for a little while longer. I'm not sad about my death Hope; if anything, I'm happy. Because out of all the things in my life, there's one true highlight to it all. And it was that I got to be blessed with Sonia. And for me, that's the best thing I could've ever asked for.
Hope hadn't known how long she had cried after hearing that. Just that Sophie's words hit her a lot harder than she thought. After her speech, Sophia and Hope had made an agreement to not tell the kids about her illness being terminal. They would figure it out on their own in the future. No sense in scaring them at a young age. It was also at that time; Hope learned just how much of a fighter, Sophia truly was. 2 years; for 2 years, Sophia had managed to fight her illness as best as she could. Even though it took a toll on her body, she continued on with her battle. But in the end, the battle came to a close; with the inevitable victor standing tall. Sophia's death wasn't painful; if one were to be honest, it was anything but. The mother had gone peacefully in her sleep, a look of content etched on her face. As if she was sleeping like any other day. Hope had been mentally preparing herself for when the day would come. But it was still a difficult thing to go through; though if anyone had truly taken the loss hard, it was Sonia.
Sonia, who was 11 at the time, had been a complete and utter mess of emotions that day. The usually out-going, happy-go-lucky girl had been reduced to nothing but tears on the night her mother had passed away. Hope's heart clenched at the sight of the broken girl on the floor, and just as she was about to console her; someone surprising beat her to the punch. Young 8 year old Geo was already next to Sonia when the girl had started sobbing. He made no attempt to talk, but merely sat on her lap and leaned against her as she held him closely, quietly sobbing into him. Nothing else could be said about that night. Just that the bond between the two children grew even stronger that day.
Since that day, Hope made sure to upkeep the silent vow she made to Sophia. That she would watch over Sonia and made sure to keep her safe at all times. And to this day she was able to keep that promise. Sophie would've been proud of the girl that was here today.
'If only she was here to see grown up you guys are. If only…'
"Mom…? What's wrong, why are you crying?"
"Huh?" Touching her cheek, Hope learned that she was indeed crying. She smiled before ruffling Geo's head again "Sorry Geo, I'm just… having a trip down memory lane. Remembering back to when you and Sonia first met."
Geo remained quiet as his mom continued
"Honestly, where did the years go?" The mother asked wistfully "I mean it seemed only yesterday that I found myself meeting a lively 8 year old girl who had taken a liking to my shy baby boy."
Geo found himself blushing embarrassingly at the statement, meekly poking his fingers all the while.
"And now…" Hope brought her son closer to her "You two are about to go on your first date with each other."
Hope let out an amused grin as Geo squirmed a bit at the mention of the word 'Date'. Seems someone still hasn't come to terms that they're about to go out with their not so secret crush.
"Just promise me that when you guys are out on your date tomorrow. You'll be on your best behavior; after all, girls hate guys who are absolute jerks."
Geo nodded "No worries, I will be." His smiled faded a bit "Though I'm just a bit nervous about tomorrow. I wonder how Sonia's dealing with all this."
"Well, if I know Sonia as well as I do; and I pretty much do. No doubt she's probably thrilled about tomorrow. I bet she's in bed restless, too excited to sleep."
-X-
"OH DEAR GODS, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!"
Screaming from within a walk-in closet. Sending clothes flying out at probably 50 mph was none other than Sonia Strumm. And right now, the pop singer looked dangerously close to screaming, crying, having a nervous breaking, or d) all of the above. Right after Sonia had finished her conversation with her mother. The pop star felt like turning in early for the night; obviously excited for the events that would take place tomorrow. Though, just as the teen was about to head off to sleep. The girl snapped up wide awake and came to a horrifying realization…
She had absolutely nothing to wear for tomorrow!
So here she was, tearing through her closet in hopes of finding something decent. Which was proving to be surprisingly more difficult than it should have been; guess it's true about what they say, when you wanna impress someone. Even the most simplest tasks can seem like a challenge.
Letting out one last sigh of frustration, Sonia plopped down on her bed. Seemingly docile for a second before letting loose a haymaker of punches and kicks against the mattress and bed sheets.
"I've composed and written songs at literally last minute bases. I've stared stage fright right in the face when performing for hundreds and thousands of audience fans. But I can't even pick a simple outfit to wear tomorrow?!"
After calming down from her self-induced tantrum, Sonia's eyes wandered around her room before landing on a certain picture frame. Opening her mouth slightly, Sonia reached for the photo and looked to see a picture of her and Geo from when they were younger. Geo was sitting Indian style on the ground eyes closed as he let out a small meek-like smile and giving a peace sign. Sonia was the complete opposite of Geo as she leaned against his smaller body from behind, eyes wide as she gave a huge megawatt grin while sporting a peace sign herself. Sonia smiled at the photo in front of her, her previous crisis completely forgotten.
"Mou… has is really been 7 years already? Time sure flies, doesn't it?"
Sonia put the picture to the side as she got up from bed and walked towards her window. She stared up at the starry night sky as a wistful expression appeared on her face.
The first time I saw Geo was about 7 years ago. In a world that was completely different from this one.
-X-
Floating up in the middle of a clear sky above a mountainous region was a teenage girl with short blonde hair and purple eyes. She was dressed in a white one shoulder strap midriff top, a white skirt, and golden sandals to accompany. She stared down into the region impassively, almost in a bored like manner actually.
"ATTACK!"
Slowly moving her eyes to her right, she noticed a hail of arrows flying towards her. She let out an inaudible sigh as she dropped straight down letting the arrows miss their intended target. Turning her whole body, the teenage girl found herself faced in front of an army of soldiers. All of whom had their weapons poised and aimed at her. One of the larger soldiers, seemingly the leader, pointed his sword towards the girl.
"Advance, we finally have the monster that's responsible for the death of all our comrades!" His voiced boomed out towards all the men in the vicinity "Don't let her get away!"
With a final war cry, all the soldiers started charging to the floating teen. Who at that point, had been leaning back and had her legs folded as if she was sitting in an imaginary chair. Seeing the army coming straight at her. The girl let out a curt 'Tch' as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Man, you guys are annoying." She simply stated
Suddenly, both her hands started being coated in light blue lightning electricity. She pointed one hand in front of the advancing troops before an orb of lightning formed.
"Nothing personal…" The girl said barely above a whisper "I'm just following orders."
With those words said, she fired the orb towards the army before it grew and engulfed everyone in a huge explosion. The last thing the girl heard were the screams of the leader and his men before the explosion dissipated along with the men and their weapons, leaving only charred remains. Apparently done with her mission as well as being mildly disappointed at the anti-climatic results. The girl stretched her arms to relieve the stiffness in them, and then looked up towards the sky.
"Hey Mistress V, can you hear me? I've completed my mission."
"Nice work" Replied a surprisingly young girl voice "Now come on back for a little R&R, you deserve it."
That the last thing the voice said before the blonde found herself before lifted up suddenly by a veil of golden light.
I was just a simple divine being with extraordinary abilities, back then. Though, due to the cold hands of fate, I was destined to live a life of solitude, with no apparent purpose or value to my life. Because of my powers, I was hated by society. I was never truly given a chance to be accepted, to be love; condemned to be alone forever. But that all changed when I met her.
A Goddess who despite her small appearance; held a large aura of power and authority over her. She offered me a chance; a chance at a new life, to get back at the humans who had wronged me in the past.
Now despite my upbringing, the thought of revenge against humanity never crossed my mind. Nor did I have any intention to. While I detested humanity, I didn't downright hate them. If anything, I had a masked of indifferent towards them; I didn't hate them, but at the same time, I wouldn't say I cared for them either. You would think having this type of attitude was odd considering how the people ostracized me for what I was. But I was funny like that. No sense in baring pure unadulterated hatred if it wasn't gonna amount to anything more or less.
Regardless, I accepted her offer. If not to have revenge, then as an opportunity to have a new life. One that was a lot better than what I was living now.
And from then on, this would become my new life. I would serve under my new mistress alongside with her other commanders. Doing whatever jobs and missions she commanded of me, wasn't all bad though. I finally had people who accepted me and my abilities. And that's how I thought it would always be.
Until one day…
(A/N: At this point, I'm calling the girl Sonia. Since we already know who she is now. Plus it'll be easier for me this way. P.S: Figured out who she was in the past yet?)
Walking down a long corridor within a nature influenced sanctuary. Sonia let out a bored yawn as she folded her arms behind her head. It had been one of those rare occurrences today where the girl had found herself all alone in the palace sanctuary. Her Mistress had stepped out for the day to run a few errands and personal jobs. Sonia had to let out a snort at the thought. She knew what those jobs were; it usually had to do with her genocidal bombing a heavily human populated area. She always knew that her mistress had a severe contempt for humans. But it wasn't until she joined under her, that the teen fully saw just how much her Goddess despised the mortal race.
So because of this, Sonia was left all alone in the palace sanctuary. Her… 'Friends' I guess that's what she could call them now, weren't present in the palace neither; each of them having their own missions and task to complete as well. Just as she was about to head back to her room for a nap. A certain something managed to catch her attention, more specifically, a certain room. Turning towards the front entrance and peeking her head inside. She could see that the whole room is shrouded in darkness, it's only source of dim lighting, coming from the middle of the room.
It didn't even take me a second to realize where I was. I was currently peeking inside the only room where my mistress had forbidden any one, not even her own second in command, from entering. This was my Mistress V's Private Viewing Fountain.
In case you're wondering what that is, from what my Mistress told me. It's a divine reflecting pool that would allow anyone to see whatever they wanted. While she never stated a solid reason as to why, Mistress V had all but enforced that this room was off limits to anyone that wasn't the Goddess herself. Breaking this rule would earn you her large scale wrath, up close and personal. Normally I wasn't the type to go against my Goddess' rules. In fact, no one was. But I couldn't help but think; what could that viewing fountain show us that my mistress doesn't want us seeing. I was about to turn to leave when something stopped me.
My eyes lit up as a plainly stupid but equally tempting thought occurred in my head. The Mistress was out today. No one was in the sanctuary but me. And the normally locked room to my Mistress Viewing Fountain was open. You probably know where I'm going with this by now. So you're probably wondering…
Did I go into the room, knowing full well the possible punishment I could get if I got caught?
Or…
Close the door and walked away before I had the chance to do something stupid?
Which one seemed like the safer choice?
.
.
.
Now which one do you think I actually chose?
Against her better judgment, Sonia slowly made her way into the forbidden room. She crept slowly to the center, taking note of light from the pool of water glow brighter as she got closer; as if to say it detected her presence within the room. Still tense at the whole thing, she looked over into the pool. And instantly, the water flashed to a scene. The scene revealed to Sonia was the sight of a huge pink explosion; following it, the sound of a young girl's voice filling the air.
"He he, I gotta say. There's no better stress reliever than bombing an entire population of humans." The girl voice scoffed "Such a waste of space, why they were even created is beyond me. GOOD RIDDANCE, HUMAN SCUM, THE WORLD'S BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU!"
If someone were to tell me that my Goddess had a bit of an issue with Global Genocide. I'd frankly have to agree with them. Sometimes I felt that my Goddess went a little too far with her little 'extermination' as she little liked to call it. There was a fine line between having a contempt hatred for human and being downright obsessed by it. Sometimes I wonder just how thin that line of hers is.
I shook my head of that thought as I decided to test the mirror to see what it can do. And to say I was surprised would've been underwhelming in the least. I'll spare you the details of what I spent my whole time doing, as I'm pretty sure you don't feel like hearing. Anyway, I could tell time had really passed since I came in here. Not wanting to take my chances with being in here any longer. I turned to leave, when the pool flashed again. This time showing a new, different scenery, in a place I've never seen before in all my life.
The scene was a grassy field, but out in the distance were tall buildings that just looked so advanced to what I've ever seen. But none of that was what caught my attention. It was who that was at the center that I had my eye on.
It was a boy. A regular HUMAN boy; at first glance, he didn't look like much. Nothing really stood for him. To anyone else, he was just your average everyday boy who couldn't have been no more than a year or two younger than I was. But for some reason, I couldn't stop looking at him.
He had been sitting on the grassy fields reading a book. When he suddenly looked up, I felt a little taken by surprise by the action; because it was if he was staring right at me. He continued staring with purely innocent look on his face, before that look broke into a deep smile. If I was caught off guard by him looking at me, this felt a lot a worse in a sense.
Out of nowhere, I heard large doors slamming open and close. I paled realizing that my mistress had just returned, which meant I had to book it, NOW!
But… even after I turned to run; something was holding me back. I stared back at the pool, towards the boy who was oblivious to me watching him. I…I didn't want to leave, not without at least knowing who he was. At the very least…
"His name…" Sonia whispered "Give me his name."
As if the fountain heard her wishes, a woman with brown and a lot older than boy appeared and placed a hand on the child's shoulder.
"Geo… come on, it's time to go home." The woman said
"Okay"
'So that's his name, Geo…' The teen thought
I didn't have much time to think on it as my Mistress had started to call for me. And if I wasn't mistaken, her voice sounded like it was getting close to this room. So I knew I had to scram; but even as I left the room, one thought came into my mind.
"Geo, huh? Hm…"
And that was how I first saw him.
-X-
Sonia smiled as she recalled that memory. Even though it was brief, the events that soon occurred afterwards would be the best thing that would ever happen to her. Sitting up on the bed, the teen singer seemed to have a little epiphany happen within her, before she got up and went inside her closet once again. Shifting through her clothes, she managed to pull out an outfit that she felt would be great for tomorrow.
"Hmph, seems my little memory trip to the past helped me with my present day problem." Sonia stated holding her clothes tightly against her "Tomorrow's gonna be a good day."
She looked out the window "I just know it."
-X-
Watching Sonia from a darkened room in an undisclosed location. A pair of forest green eyes belonging to a young blonde haired girl narrowed as her teeth gritted in unadulterated anger. Before it could escalate any further, the girl took a deep breath to calm herself, and let it out in a heavily wavered sigh. She turned away from the sight and made her way to leave the room. She only had one thing to say as she exited the room
"You… You have GOT to be kidding me."
End of Chapter
Finally another chapter down. Took a while, what with writer's block making me stumbling around here and there. But I gotta say; it was fun writing this chapter. I don't know about you guys, but I got real emotional writing Sonia's mother Sophia's back story. Even though it wasn't my previous intentions; I figured let me do it since I'm covering everyone's past to some extent. Hope you enjoyed it, like I said in my previous chapter. I'm making this up writing it as I go.
Well then, that's all I have to say; for the next chapter. Geo and Sonia's Date
As usual I hope you enjoyed the chapter. And be sure to kindly leave a review & fave, and check out my other works.
See you next time ^_^
