Rinoa and Eve stood from their chairs simultaneously, their eyes locked on each other, knowing the inevitable.
A fight was to ensue, and it would be long and difficult. One would die, and one would leave, not as victor, but as survivor.
Squall and the others stood and waited at the doorway of the chamber, their eyes darting between the two women, frantically. They didn't quite know what to expect. All they knew was that the moment Squall gave the order, they would all rush in against Rinoa's wishes, and would defend her to the death.
Not that Squall had commanded such a thing. It was an unspoken order, one they all knew had to be done without ever uttering a word. Rinoa was their dear friend.
Swallowing, Eve spoke once more.
"Are you ready?" she asked, quietly.
Rinoa nodded once, her eyes remaining on the girl before her.
Without further hesitation, Eve sent a bolt of lightning straight for her opponent, which was easily blocked by a simple raised hand from Rinoa.
Smirking slightly, Eve sent another from her free hand with twice the force, sending Rinoa back several feet, trying to block the heavy magic the best she could.
With a forceful push, Rinoa flung the magic back toward Eve, which was dodged with remarkable ease.
Back and forth it went, magic being thrown repeatedly from both sides, becoming more and more reckless each time, never once hitting its target.
Rinoa was becoming slightly alarmed at the amount of magic it required to ward off Eve's attacks, feeling her magical energy being depleted more rapidly than she had hoped.
The gaunlet was certainly a match for her power, strong as it was. She would need an alternative plan, or they would never get anywhere.
The magical battle went on like a tennis match, the magic becoming gradually stronger each time. Eve was becoming rather frustrated that she couldn't once land a blow on the sorceress, and resorted to her hardest magic.
She threw everything she could from holy, to meteor, and even ultima, but the girl was holding her own, throwing the attacks right back at her. She dodged them easily enough, but knew that this was pointless. She had to be tricky.
She scanned the room quickly, searching for anything that she could use to her advantage. When her eyes landed on Rinoa's entourage in the doorway, she smirked. She just needed to distract Rinoa for a moment.
Pulling together a strong spell, she threw it toward the door, then pulled it back, sweeping up Selphie and Zell with it.
"No!" Rinoa shouted, sternly. Then she did exactly what Eve hoped she would do. She used a moment to throw a protective spell around her friends.
With this one free second, Eve sent a massive meteor spell at Rinoa, sending the briefly unguarded girl to the ground.
Squall watched this, motionless, waiting for Rinoa to get back up.
Rinoa recovered after a moment and began to stand, only to be brought back down by an unseen force.
Eve held Rinoa there, using one hand, then used her free hand to produce another earth-shattering spell, and threw it at full force on Rinoa.
"Rinoa!" Squall shouted, trying to alert her to protect herself.
The effort was in vain, though, as the spell hit Rinoa at full force.
Rinoa winced, trying to ward off the pain the best she could. She knew, though, that Eve would send another spell her way before she could get up, and used her last resort.
"Quistis..." she breathed. "Now."
Hearing her cue over the earpiece, Quistis activated the anti-magic barrier that had been rigged on the Ragnarok from a remote system.
The barrier went up and spanned a fifty mile radius, easily covering the ruins.
Eve, having expected such a trick, lowered her hands and took a breath.
"Alright, we'll do this your way, if that's what you want," she said.
Rinoa stood and shook herself off.
"But I don't think you really know what you're dealing with," Eve continued.
"I don't care," Rinoa replied, calmly. "You will be stopped, one way or another, even if I have to die in the process."
Squall swallowed hard, hearing those words from Rinoa's mouth. Not if he had anything to say about it.
Eve sighed, walked to the back of the room, retrieved her katana and another sword, and returned to Rinoa.
Handing her the sword, she said, "Might as well have some fun while we're at it."
Taking the sword, Rinoa took her stance, as did Eve.
Quickly, Eve advanced on her, making a swift swing at Rinoa's head.
Rinoa drew up her sword, guarding herself from the attack as the steel clanked together.
Eve did this repeatedly, Rinoa scrambling to block every time. She wasn't fighting with skill at all. She was defending out of necessity. She hadn't been trained much with a sword, and was using nothing but instinct to protect herself.
Eve, however, was smooth and skilled, and was mercilessly taunting Rinoa. She knew her skill was unmatched in this instance, and was determined to make Rinoa fight for her life.
Rinoa tried hard to detect any sort of pattern in Eve's attacks, but it was proving difficult as she had to concentrate on not getting her head chopped off.
Using what senses the barrier allowed her, she finally detected the pattern, and waited for her opportunity to take advantage, while wildly fending off Eve's hard strikes.
There.
Seeing her opportunity, Rinoa made a swift slash downward, making a thin red streak appear from Eve's shoulder to her waist.
Grunting in pain, Eve backed off momentarily, glanced at the shallow cut, and advanced on Rinoa again, only angrier this time.
Rinoa fought harder to defend herself now, Eve's attacks more relentless than before. She was just barely making her blocks in time, and now had no time to attempt to strike. It was all defense from here.
Eve unexpectedly lunged foward even closer, and Rinoa faltered, leaving herself open too long.
The cut went cleanly across her abdomen, from side to side, the blood beginning to seep through Rinoa's clothes.
"Oh, god... Rin!" Squall screamed, moving to enter the room. He was held back by his friends, though, knowing he would just be a hinderance if he got involved now.
Gasping, Rinoa went wide-eyed. She glanced down, then back up to Eve. Now she was pissed.
Lunging forward, Rinoa swung and swung, involuntarily backing Eve into a wall.
Eve blocked every strike, but couldn't get a moment to give a strike of her own. She had to think of something else.
Before she could though, Rinoa managed to knock the katana from Eve's hands, sending the weapon sprawling across the floor.
Seeing another opportunity, while Rinoa was temporarily stunned by her own strength, Eve managed to yank the hilt of the sword from Rinoa, sending it following the path of the katana.
Eve then pushed Rinoa away from her, freeing herself from against the wall. Rinoa recovered quickly and looked at Eve.
They stood facing each other now, no weapons, no magic, just the two of them, ready to kill each other.
Taking their stances, Rinoa was the first to strike, throwing a hard straight jab at Eve's face.
Quickly, Eve blocked the punch with her forearms, and recovered quickly, sending a jab of her own right back.
Rinoa sidestepped it, and sent her shin into the back of Eve's knee, throwing her off balance.
Eve dropped, but rolled out and stood again, assuming her stance again.
Rinoa advanced, sending a series of punches and low kicks, Eve barely managing to block each one.
When she found a moment, Eve delivered a right uppercut into Rinoa's ribcage, sending the girl stumbling backward.
Rinoa tried to ignore the pain and attacked again, managing to land a punch to Eve's jaw.
Eve stumbled with the force of the strike, and retaliated, throwing her own series of punches toward Rinoa.
Rinoa dodged the attacks, carefully, and watched for another open spot in Eve's pattern.
When she finally spotted it, she gathered as much strength as she could, fueled by the pain that wracked her body, and delivered a mind-blowing mid-kick to Eve's side.
Eve was knocked to the ground with the force of it, and clutched her side as she tried to stand again.
Shakily getting to her feet, she let out a cough, a drop of blood trickling out of her mouth.
"You have broken ribs, Eve," Rinoa stated. "You should stop."
"Fuck you," Eve hissed.
She then lunged for Rinoa, and managed to grab an arm. Wasting no time, she sent the girl over her back in a hard throw, sending the girl to the ground with a loud "thud".
Without hesisation, Eve sent a hard kick to Rinoa's side.
Grunting, Rinoa managed to turn herself over and roll away, hoping to avoid another strike.
She stood again, and faced Eve, who was now about ten feet from her. Both women stood slightly hunched, the pain beginning to take its toll on their bodies.
Squall stood quietly watching, itching to run in and help, but he knew that he couldn't. If Rinoa was any more distracted that she was, she could get killed. He chose to watch, his mind and heart torn between running in and staying out. He was sure he could take Eve out while she had no magic to use, but knew that she kill Rinoa to distract him, if Rinoa was distracted by him trying to run in and save the day.
There was much at risk, either way, but he had told Rinoa that he would stay out of it.
If it got much worse, however, he wouldn't hesitate to storm in and tear the damn place apart.
Eve and Rinoa attacked each other once again, giving it everything they had, both determined to end this.
Neither managed to get a good hit on the other, and Eve was losing patience. She needed another plan.
She managed to turn the brawl, with Rinoa facing the wall and Eve facing the door.
Suddenly, Eve's eyes got wide and she screamed, "Squall, what are you doing?!"
Rinoa turned quickly around, alarmed at Eve's exclaimation.
Eve didn't hesitate to grab Rinoa in a bar choke, and squeeze mercilessly.
Squall ran in, knowing that Eve's choking techniques were perfect and in a matter of seconds Rinoa would be out cold.
Before he could reach them, however, Rinoa's eyes glazed over and she slumped to the ground.
"Rin!" Squall screamed, dropping to the ground beside her, determined to pull her away from Eve.
"Get away from her," Eve demanded, having grabbed her katana from off the floor. She held it to Squall's neck, her eyes unwavering from him.
Squall stood slowly, reaching for the hilt of his gunblade.
In seconds, their swords were clashing together, Squall easily avoiding Eve's attacks, as all of his energy was still unused.
Eve was beginning to wear thin, however. She mustered as much energy as she could, determined to take Squall out of this equation.
She had to use speed to her advantage. Squall's weapon was heavy, and therefore slower, while hers was lighter and slightly more mobile.
Acting as quickly as she could, she managed a strike, slicing through Squall's thigh, and throwing him off balance.
He faltered for a moment, but recovered, quicker that Eve had expected.
He saw his opportunity for a strike, and took it, returning the slash to her thigh.
Eve dropped to the ground, and looked up at Squall, knowing she had too little strength left in her.
Rinoa's eyes opened at that moment, and coughing from the effect of Eve's choke, she stood, and walked to where Squall was standing over Eve.
Squall backed off, giving Rinoa the opportunity to finish the task at hand.
Rinoa looked down at Eve for a long while, knowing she was too weak to fight anymore.
As she stared, something happened.
The glow in Eve's eyes began to fade as she stared back. They became a soft blue, seemingly without anger or malice.
"E-Eve?" Rinoa stuttered.
"Finish it... please," Eve said, plainly. "He won't stop."
"I-I don't understand, what's hap-..."
Then Rinoa understood. Eve had gained total control of herself for a brief moment, and asked, not pleaded, for the end of the tyranny she knew would happen if she was allowed to live.
She was running out of time before she lost control again, and was fearlessly willing to end her life, in order to spare the lives of others.
Rinoa swallowed hard.
"I guess you're not really a total sociopath, after all," she said quietly, trying hard to keep her emotion in check.
At that moment, tears began to spill from Eve's blue eyes. "No, I guess not. Just know I'm sorry."
Eve's watery eyes remained on Rinoa's, silently pleading with her.
Rinoa was still for a moment, then nodded sadly, understanding.
Eve stared at the ceiling, awaiting her death.
Rinoa closed her eyes and took a breath, hating the chore that awaited her.
Opening her eyes, she saw the glow was returning to Eve's eyes, giving Rinoa no more time to hesitate.
She grabbed Eve's katana from off of the floor, and plunged in cleanly into Eve's heart.
Rinoa watched as Eve's breath slowed, then stopped. Turning away she looked up to Squall, who stood watching, as well.
"I had to..." Rinoa said.
"I know, Rin. That's what we came to do," he replied, wrapping an arm around her and led her out of the room, careful not to upset her wounds.
Zell came in and retrieved the gaunlet from Eve's wrist, and left behind Squall and Rinoa.
No one looked back to the chamber.
A/N: I know it's been like 8 years since I updated, and for that I'm sorry. And yes, I know this chapter sucked ass, so just hold your criticism, 'cause I guarantee I'm criticizing myself enough for everyone.
No, it's not quite over yet... there will be another chapter after this, so just hold your horses.
To all the people who reviewed, if you remember me, THANK YOU!!!
I'll do personal thanks and responses next chapter. Love ya guys, hope you're still with me!