Takes place shortly after the Little Queen fight in the Arcadian Garden, presumably with Sophie still shaken from everything.

Wicked

"We await you, Child of Fodra."- Little Queen

The Little Queens' words rang clearer than ever in Sophie's mind, even as the airship took them further and further away from the Arcadian Garden. But even the rhythmic thrum of the airship's engine failed to drown out their words, and the sterile environment inside did nothing to dispel the scent of flowers that still clung to her. Though their presence in her mind had all but disappeared, it was as if they were still around her, slipping through the cracks in her mind, grasping her so tightly that she couldn't wiggle free. And part of her... didn't want to.

She remembered how she had moved towards them, even knowing all the pain they wished to inflict on the people she loved. She remembered the strange stirring of relief that their promise gave her. Dark thoughts had tormented for so many months, and their words echoed, whispering into her mind, promising her the only thing she ever wanted.

"Eternity without sadness."

And then she remembered how Asbel had shielded her, had stopped her from going towards that sweet call. How, in the eyes of the Little Queens, their gentility turned into a cold, ruthless hatred; how they had attacked to kill.

And in that moment, the spell broke. But it was too late- all she could do was watch as she realized that her friends- everyone she feared she would lose, everyone she loved, whose existences had caused her so much pain- were about to die.

Until Lambda saved them.

She could remember the flickering web of purple light spreading from Asbel's outstretched hands. There was no mistaking the discordant song in the eleth that she hated so much- it was vast, far greater than she could recall. And as the shockwaves of the Little Queens' attack glanced off its shimmering light, a new emotion twisted at her heart; one that she couldn't place.

And it was but one amidst the many that had become a terrible burden to her.

When they returned to the airship, making straight for Telos Astue, she had waved off her companions' concerns. For the most part they let her be, but she could sense their worry even with her back turned. They had every right to be, given what she'd almost done, but that didn't stop a stray thought from drifting through her mind: were they concerned for her well-being, or theirs?

She wanted to bury her head in her hands, wanted to scream or cry or fight- didn't want to think, to remember violet eyes that were like her very own. Because despite everything, she couldn't bring herself to dismiss the Little Queens' words; just as she couldn't bring herself to forget that- if only for a moment- she would have abandoned her companions to their deaths.

"Sophie?"

She hadn't heard Asbel approach until he spoke, and at the sound of his voice, her fists clenched involuntarily. Of all her friends, he was the one she had been actively avoiding- and not only because she couldn't bear to see the worry and sadness in his eyes. But before she could say or do anything to stop the imminent conversation she had been dreading, she felt his hand clasp onto her shoulder- and then suddenly the world around her was brutally wrenched away.

This wasn't like the last time. There was no gray- this time the world had been ripped away from her and drenched red with his fury hammering in all of her senses. She whipped around, and where Asbel would have been, she could see the unmistakable, roiling mass of black and red that was her ancient nemesis, pinning her presence down with so much hate that all that was left was a strange, choking fear.

"Liar." It was a single word, but the furor that accompanied it slammed her consciousness with so much force that it knocked the breath out of her.

And in the midst of the swirling darkness, she could sense his murderous wrath- this was not the Lambda she spoke to but a few hours before; nor was he the one that mocked her attempts to protect those dearest to her in the Amarcian Enclave. The creature before her held the same rage as when he had possessed Richard and struck her down- when he wanted to kill her; wanted to make her hurt and pay.

"Let me go," she whispered into the darkness. Some instinct told her that she had to get away, that this was a battle she couldn't win.

"So that you may return to the Little Queens?" the dark creature snarled. "Do you take me for a fool?"

Her gaze shot up, staring into the depths of a chaotic, red vortex. She knew, somehow, that she had failed in some intrinsic way; that the consequences of that failure went far deeper than she understood.

"Do not dismiss this as ignorance!" the vortex berated her, his voice so near it resounded in her ears. "You made your choice, and would do so again if given the chance!"

She wanted to protest, but the words would not come. Despite her outward denials, she knew what Lambda meant, and she wanted nothing more than to run far away from his accusations. But she couldn't deny that she had walked away from her friends, to the Little Queens' outstretched hands; couldn't she pretend she wasn't torn. The Little Queens' call was too strong, and it tugged at the part of her that wanted the pain to end, and she couldn't fight it-

"Liar!" Lambda's voice plowed into her again. "Is that pitiable excuse all you have?"

"It's not-" Sophie began, when she could feel his fury tighten around her, drowning out her words.

"The Protos Heis I knew would not resort to such pathetic lies," Lambda raged. "The Protos Heis I knew treasured her humans far more than she did her life! She would not have been lured away from her goal by false promises of eternal bliss! If she sought to protect something, she would have fought with all her existence!"

This wasn't a conversation- did Lambda want to destroy her mind, leave her incapable of acting if given a chance? For a moment, she felt terrified- had his power grown so strong that Asbel couldn't sense what was going on? And more importantly, if he did attack her- if she fell like this, now- what would happen to everyone else around her?

Her thoughts only enraged Lambda further. "How dare you!" His cry was a terrifying thunderclap ringing in her ears. "You threw away any right for such concerns the moment you chose!"

Something within her snapped, and Sophie forced herself to shove aside the weight of his fury. She wasn't going to let Lambda destroy everything she was- everything she had to be; everything she never wanted to be. "I didn't choose!" she protested against the darkness that swirled all around her. "I never had a choice!"

"You wretched fool!" His voice slammed into her, and she lost her footing, sent tumbling into the darkness all around. Sophie crouched low, hands clasped over her ears as she tried to block out the words of her oldest enemy. "If you truly cared for the humans as much as they did for you, it would never have mattered!"

"Like you would know!" she yelled back. "You tried to destroy everything in this world!"

"And are you so different?" Lambda roared back. "You chose the destruction of your own family for your own happiness!"

"No!" she screamed; because she had to, because she didn't want to admit to herself that- that-

"Your family yet lives, yet you mourn them as if they were gone!" His presence pushed against her, a swirling monsoon of wrath that had consumed the entirety of the mindscape, and it took all her strength to hold him at bay. "The Little Queens were not the ones who traveled planets to save your life- nor were they the ones who raised you as one of their own, who fed you and fought alongside you! Yet you chose them over the people who stood by you in the face of their own deaths!"

She shook her head, squeezed her eyes shut. Guilt pounded at her heart, fear tore at her lungs, and the unyielding sadness gripped her, drowning her in the futility of her struggle.

But none of that mattered to Lambda. "Do you think you will find bliss with them?" he spat. "They, who cannot comprehend anything beyond their mere existence? Do you truly wish to be like them?"

If it meant not feeling the pain that plagued her, she thought, she would have done anything-

"Are you truly that weak, Protos Heis?!"

It was Lambda who threw those words at her- but in them, she felt something else other than his unrelenting rage. And it was then that she realized what it was that hurt her so.

Shame- shame for failing, for betraying everything that she was, for her own selfishness. Because she was no longer the girl she had been, no longer the person she thought she was. By falling to the Little Queens' calls, she had done something far worse to herself than anything Lambda could possibly do. And now, she had finally lost- not to the creature that attacked her now; but to her own, all-too-human heart.

Her knees shook, but even so, she found it within her to stand. "Isn't this what you wanted, Lambda?" she asked brokenly.

Despite herself, she lifted her gaze, and her violet eyes fixed onto the two red ones that bored into her. His humanoid form was a ghost in front of her, unfettered anger swirling around him. He was the same as she remembered- his face still, his red eyes emotionless- forever the monster she had dedicated her life to fight; not at all the person who had saved those dearest to her.

And in the darkness, she prepared herself to cross arms with the creature she knew so well- because at least when she fought him, she could regain some part of who she had been.

"You think you can dismiss your wrongs by destroying me?" Lambda snarled, the shadow flaring from his fingertips as he eyed her.

"No," she whispered softly. "But you wouldn't understand."

She saw his eyes widen at the words, felt his power tremble around her. And then before she could move, his anger focused, the power swirling around him tightened. With an anguished cry, he flung his hand out at her, the darkness about to swallow her whole. She closed her eyes, braced for impact-

"Of course I understand!"

His attack had slid past her, to the side, but neither one of them stirred. It was as if the world around them stilled, as if the air itself carried their collective shock- as if neither could believe exactly what Lambda had just said.

Because his declaration wasn't borne out of hate- there was still the fury, but beyond that there was something inherently un-Lambda. And in his words... in his words, she found only truth.

She lifted her gaze to see his trembling, outstretched hand, grasping the air lightly as if he couldn't quite believe what he had done. Slowly, her focus shifted to his face, and it felt as if she was staring at her own reflection. Lambda had lost Cornell, had shunned the world that caused him pain- had wanted to destroy it, to save himself from the sorrow that pressed in all around him, and in his despair, he had lost the person that he once was. Just like her.

Sophie found herself staring at the vortex that, just a moment ago, seemed as if it wanted to rip her apart. But now the swirling mass had slowed, and Lambda's face was twisted into a mix of shock and, as the words sank in, what she could only describe as sadness. He was breathing heavily, his body shaking- and he looked far more wretched than any man she had seen before. It was then that she realized that despite all he said, all he had threatened to do- Lambda wasn't about to hurt her. For whatever reason he spoke to her, whatever emotion that drove him to torment her in such a manner- it wasn't one that neither he nor she completely understood.

He broke the silence first. "All you sought to do was to blind yourself to your pain." His voice was soft, and if anything he sounded... unfocused. Breaking eye contact, he grimaced, pulling back and hiding within the fog that surrounded him- that had always hidden who he was.

"Lambda-" She hesitated, unsure of what to feel; what to say.

They stayed like a silent tableau, neither willing to break the sudden calm that had descended between them. Around her, the mindscape calmed, no longer consumed by the cruel heart of her foe.

And when Lambda spoke, it was more controlled- but his voice was no louder than a whisper.

"Do you not see the people around you, Protos Heis? You know that were it a choice between their lives and yours- there would be no hesitation in their hearts."

His words shattered any semblance of hostility that lingered. Because just a few hours before, Lambda had asked her what family was - and only now did it sink in of all she had almost lost.

Family was Asbel, watching over her by the campfire when they travelled alone. Family was Cheria, who cooked her favourite foods and bathed with her and brushed her hair. Family was safety, warmth, love; acceptance. Family were the people who had cared for her, whom the Little Queens wanted nothing more than destroy. Family protected her, kept her safe, wanted nothing more than her own happiness.

Family was with her all along.

"Tell me- are you truly as wicked as I?"

"Wicked?" She lifted her gaze to watch the shadow in front of her. The pulsating form before her revealed neither his form nor his face, but she could sense his confusion- and his sorrow- around her.

"You know of the choices I made."

Of course she did. Yet, despite everything he said, Sophie realized that if there was anyone who was wicked between the two of them now, it would be her.

Because he was the one who chose to act when the light struck. He had expended his life force to shield not only his host, but her, and everyone else she cared about. Because she had failed to protect them; had put them in danger.

And he had made the choice to save the people she had abandoned.

There was a lump in her throat. But before she could do anything, he faded, bringing the darkness with him as he went. Suddenly, she was back in the airship, back with Asbel about to pose her a question. Yet before he could speak, the redhead winced.

"Asbel?" Gone was the trepidation she felt at addressing her father. Now she stepped close to him, worried, her fingers prying at his hands.

"I felt something-" Asbel muttered, but within a moment, his gaze flicked back over to her- paternal, concerned, his eyes clouded with a soft rage as he realized what had occurred; what he had failed to prevent. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," she answered with a small shake of her head. And truthfully, Lambda hadn't- if anything, it was the reverse. Even though she still had no answer to the pain that throbbed in her heart, it no longer felt as all-consuming as it did but a moment before. And for once, she didn't want her nemesis to be blamed for something he didn't do. "Lambda- Lambda didn't want to harm me."

"I see," Asbel watched her carefully; disbelievingly. But when she said nothing more, he glanced away and sighed. "I was worried that the Little Queens-" He hesitated, then continued, "whether what they said got to him too."

Sophie frowned, barely concealing her surprise even as the realization clicked in her mind.

They had called to him too.

She bit her lip- all this time, he knew. His words, his warning, the way he could tell what the Little Queen meant to her- it only made sense if he heard the same things she did; felt the same pull she had. And despite his age-long hatred for humanity, despite who he was- he had protected them. She didn't know why, didn't know how he hadn't acquiesced to the Little Queens- but it only drove his words deeper into her heart.

He had every right to be furious, to have called her weak.

"Sophie?" Asbel was surprised as she buried her head into his torso, trying to stem the odd sensation that had replaced the ache in her heart. Awkwardly, he pat her head, but she took comfort in his presence- in the fact that he was still here, still alive.

"It's okay," she mumbled into his jacket, clutching at the fabric that she knew so well, the person- the father and friend- that she had almost cast aside.

She wasn't sure whether she could resist the Little Queens like Lambda had; wasn't sure whether she could protect her family like he had done. But Asbel and everyone else was still alive now.

And she was done mourning for those that had yet to die.

Sooo Author Note time.

This story is only like 5 chapters+epilogue tops, and this was the chapter that made me write the whole fic to begin with. As such, there was a lot of effort put in to (hopefully) induce plenty of drama in this chapter. Part of me wishes that I had more chapters to give dramatic buildup and tension and draw more parallels between Lambda and Sophie and add more character development, but well, it felt as though that would have bogged down the story rather than helped it- especially since this is supposed to take place alongside the game so eh.

Anyway, next chapter's conversation is going to be the actual one from the game, so it's definitely shorter than this and I hope that it transits seamlessly into one another without sounding like there's an abrupt break.