Samantha frowned as she watched Garden approach Kikon. So they had figured out where she was, but she doubted that they had the Lunastar. She turned to Sophia, who was standing right next to her and smirking.
"You're
dead," she said. Samantha laughed.
"No,
that would be you," she said. The smirk disappeared from Sophia's face.
Samantha grinned.
"Die!"
Samantha
sent a beam of energy flying straight at Sophia. But when the beam got within
two feet of her, Sophia raised her hands and allowed the beam to destroy the
bonds that held her. She dived out of the way and sent a Flare spell at Samantha
and ran towards the building where she knew her gunblade and shuriken were being
kept. She froze the door with a Blizzaga spell and ran straight through it. She
spotted her weapons and grabbed them, a smile appearing on her face.
"Payback
time, bitch," she
thought. She made sure that her gunblade was loaded and ran outside to meet
Samantha. The Sorceress was running straight toward her. Sophia ran and met her
in the middle of the town square. Samantha had a bladed quarterstaff in her
hands, and swung it down to meet the Hyperion in a shower of sparks. Sophia
called on her SeeD training and pushed the Sorceress back before casting Shell,
Protect and any other support magic that she could think of on herself. She
raised her gunblade and held it sideways, the way her father had when he had
used it. She smiled at Samantha.
"You
want to finish this now before the other SeeDs get here, or shall we wait until
they arrive and kick your sorry ass from here to next week?" she said.
Samantha scowled.
"I'll
teach you the meaning of respect, child!" she said, rushing at Sophia again.
They began to duel, neither fighter gaining an advantage, and neither of them
using magic, yet. Sophia parried Samantha's quarterstaff easily, her SeeD
training making her the superior physical fighter. She suddenly moved to the
side, brought her gunblade down hard, and cut the staff into two pieces.
Cursing, Samantha dropped it and stared at Sophia.
"Enough
of this folly," she said. Samantha called upon her full Sorceress power,
causing raven-black wings to appear on her back and her eyes to glow yellow.
"Die!"
she said. Samantha cast Ultima on Sophia. Sophia was knocked down, but quickly
got up. She was greeted by a Tripled Meteor spell. That last spell knocked her
down, and she couldn't get up. She heard Samantha laugh.
Samantha's
staff repaired itself and came back into her hands. She raised it into the air.
"DIE!"
"I
don't think so!"
Davis
appeared out of nowhere and knocked the staff from the Sorceress' hands with
the Lionheart. He was beyond pissed off, and the Sorceress knew it, but
she hid it well underneath her arrogance.
"Do
you think that you can defeat me?" she said. "That girl has the potential to
be a Sorceress, and she could not defeat me!"
Davis
looked down at Sophia, and seeing her in pain only made him angrier. He looked
at the Sorceress, an angry look in his eyes. Samantha felt fear for the first
time in her life as she looked into those eyes. Davis raised his gunblade.
"Prepare
to die, you bitch," he said. Yellow fire appeared around Davis as he launched
himself at Samantha, swinging his gunblade downwards and cutting her open from
her throat down to her torso. She collapsed into a lifeless heap, but not before
a brilliant flash of purple light erupted from her body and went into Sophia.
Sophia opened her eyes slowly. When she saw Davis, she jumped up and hugged him.
She looked into his face.
"What?"
she asked.
"You
received her powers. You're a Sorceress now."
Sophia
went pale for a second as she realised what he meant: they were going to have to
fight. Even before she said anything, Davis had his gunblade raised in a
battle-ready position. She nodded her head in understanding; they were both
SeeDs, and SeeD was created to fight the Sorceress. She raised her gunblade, and
the battle began. The two gunblades met amongst a shower of sparks and locked.
The two fighters circled, their weapons still locked together. Sophia pushed
Davis back and raised her palm, casting Thundaga on her beloved. Oh, how it hurt
to have to fight the one she loved, and she was certain that he was hurting
inside too. She forced those thoughts out of her mind as she moved to the side
to avoid Davis' blade. Seeing her chance, she swung downwards, cutting
Davis' shoulder and triggering the gunblade at the same time. Davis gritted
his teeth and cast Regen on himself. The wound started to heal itself. He raised
his palm and hit Sophia with a Firaga spell.
"I
hate having to do this," he
thought. "Dammit! I love this girl! Why am I fighting her?"
Davis pushed his thoughts away, stepped around Sophia and brought his elbow down onto her back, hard. She stumbled forward, regained her composure, and turned. She was visibly angry, and she had no choice but to allow her Sorceress Powers to claim her. Blue-grey wings appeared on Sophia's back, and her eyes glowed yellow.
"I'm
sorry, Davis," she said. She raised her palm…
--------------------
Squall
and Rinoa came within visual range just as Sophia called upon her Sorceress
powers. They saw the blue-grey wings appear on her back, and they saw her raise
her palm to cast an unknown spell on Davis. What they saw was the convergence of
light over Davis' head. Ultima. But what happened next was terrifying: the
light exploded, but instead of engulfing him in a green sphere and disappearing,
the spell continued and cast Meteor and Flare at the same time. Davis was sent
flying through a nearby building, and stayed down.
"NO!"
Squall screamed. His scream caught Sophia's attention.
---------------------
Sophia's eyes filled with tears as she cast Judgement Day on Davis. She heard somebody scream "NO!" behind her, and turned to see Squall and Rinoa standing in the distance. She shook her head sadly as Squall charged at her, his gunblade in his hand. She raised her palm and sent a beam of energy at him. The attack hit him full on in the chest, and he went down.
"What
am I doing?" Sophia
thought. "Defending myself? Yes, defending myself."
She saw Rinoa running toward her, white Angel Wings spread wide. Sophia could actually feel the anger inside of her.
"She has more experience than me
when it comes to Sorcery," she thought. She
closed her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Rinoa."
A light began to glow around
Sophia's body as she called upon her full power. "Everybody, I'm so, so
sorry."
"End of Fate."
The entire town was engulfed in a bright light. For a moment, nothing happened, but then, the entire town was blown into non-existence, leaving only a smoking crater. Within that crater, were four people: Rinoa, Squall, Sophia and Davis. Sophia was the only one standing. She was kneeling down next to Davis. He was still alive, but unconscious.
"I'm so sorry that it had to end this way, my beloved. I wanted to settle down with you and start a family, but I know that that is impossible. I am a Sorceress, and you are a SeeD. We will forever be enemies. Farewell."
Sophia stood up and walked into the desert, turning her back on Garden, SeeD and Davis, forever.