I should probably mention beforehand that if you've had any preconceived notions about some kind of romance story, you're not going to find one here. So if you're reading this for a pairing, go away. If you're not, and are genuinely interested in this crazy thing, then keep on reading.
So, anyway, a tiny introduction: I was sitting around one day, playing Star Ocean as so very many of us do, when I beat the Ethereal Queen! "Hoorah!" I say, doing my dance of joy. After Lenneth, she seemed like nothing. Anyway, I was ecstatic and wondered what this strange Angel Orb she dropped could be. I looked at it and went, "The noble dragon? Well, dearest self, which dragon is more noble than the mighty Crosell?" Why none, of course! Save for Norbert. Anyway, continuing on, I proceeded to Norbert's lair… I mean Crosell's lair… and watched the mini scene. "Perhaps you shouldn't do that," Nel says. Uh-oh. A warning. So, I go back to my party and change Mirage, Cliff, and Albel (who were levels fifty-three, thirty-one, and thirty-three, respectively I was leveling them up) out for my level two hundred twenty characters, Fayt, Maria, and Sophia.
I set the orb down.
I die.
So, after the humiliating defeat, I decide that I should do something with my time. Well, after completing Sphere 211, I had a handy new stack of costumes to try out. So, I make my way through Peterny, swearing never to tell Sasquatch about my horrible defeat, and into the Craftsman's guild to talk to Welch. Yes, I would like to play with Paracelsus' table, no I wouldn't like to Super Size that, you can keep the penny.
Now, even in games like Mortal Kombat, when the whole point of the game is hack, slash, expose viscera and bite someone's head off, one can get bored quickly. So, after a round each of Sophia versus Cliff (Sophia wins), Mirage versus Peppita (Mirage wins) and Adray versus Roger (Adray loses… Oh. My. God. He is the suckiest thing to ever cross gaming history. Save for Seymour. Seymour, you back-stabbing necrophiliac, you… I love you! But not Adray. 'Cause he sucks), I find myself making up stories for each of the battles, like I'm prone to do.
So… based off of the results of the battles, here is the story that I came up with while playing Versus Mode in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (oh, yeah, I don't own that, by the way. Disclaimers suck… but not as much as Adray.) Bear in mind that there are a lot of differences from the game. Basically, all that is the same are the names of people and the places, which don't even exist in the same area as in the game. So… now that you understand everything about this story… let us continue onto the actual reading. I've wasted enough of your time. Adray sucks.
Versus
Chapter One: The Devastating Loss
Sophia had just closed her newest book on Symbology, which Master Adray had told her would someday reveal to her the means of casting Meteor Swarm ("This is the Profound Scroll," he said seriously, taking it off of a high shelf and handing it to her, "a very old piece of work, but powerful." Despite the fact that the scroll was indeed a book, Sophia had elatedly taken it and begun to study it immediately), when her best friend, Fayt Leingod, poked his head around the corner of her classroom door and exclaimed, very excitedly, "Sophia! The Battle Simulator's just been repaired! C'mon, before everyone else finds out!"
Sophia frowned inwardly, throwing on a mask of glee for Fayt's sake. Why she put up with this kind of manner from him she would never know. "Oh, really? C'mon! There's this new symbol I've been wanting to try…"
Fayt waited patiently in the door as Sophia jammed the book-scroll into her bag and pressed the keypad outside of the door to her empty classroom. The Moonbase, though full of its own security measures, still ordered that even the most miniscule precautions be taken lest someone take it upon himself or herself to destroy something important. One of Fayt's former classmates, Albel (Albel the Wicked, he liked to be called), had recently broken into the kitchens and had been subsequently expelled.
"Sophia! Hurry up; let's go!" Fayt moaned, practically dancing in spot. His tweed trousers and jacket made him look rather silly, like a rabid British man. At least the girls' uniforms weren't quite so disgusting, blue plaid with a darker over-jacket.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" barked Sophia in response, startling him slightly. Good, she thought to herself, maybe that'll teach him something. "All right, c'mon."
Fayt grabbed her wrist and pulled her quickly down a hallway and across a bridge (both which were surprisingly lacking in people), stopping at a small, circular platform. The moment they had both set foot on the floor, they were teleported below.
Fayt was practically skipping with glee towards the instrument panel. Sophia shook her head minutely as she watched him. He was a good fighter; there was no doubt about it; he had only ever lost to Albel before. She knew she didn't stand a chance against him, but appeasing her friend was worth losing horribly.
"Ready?" Fayt called. Sophia answered affirmatively, setting her bag on the outskirts of the mini-arena. "Okay!" Then with the eager press of a button, their world changed.
As it was only an educational Battle Simulator, they weren't allowed different scenes, but this never stopped Fayt from letting loose a battle oath, "I won't hold back!" he yelled as the neon-green, nonexistent weapons appeared in each of their hands.
"This'll be easy!" Sophia taunted, wiggling her fingers at him and clutching her staff tightly. Fayt gripped his sword and grinned. He raised his eyebrows, Sophia nodded, and they began.
"Thunder Flare!" Sophia cried immediately, taking a few steps backwards. Fayt was caught in a torrent of small electric shocks. With a grunt, Sophia forced the last major burst of lightning and stood still, catching her breath as Fayt charged forward. He raised his sword, swinging it down with all of his might, but at the last minute Sophia scooted out of the way. Behind him, she swung her staff quickly into his back, the artificial armor protecting him from the blunt of her blow.
"Ow!" he yelled, glaring at her. That was probably the first time that the Symbologist had ever successfully got in a hit. Sophia smirked and began to turn and run, but Fayt moved his sword in an uppercut, knocking her off of her feet. He leapt to the side and swung it again, knocking her forward in the opposite way, only to dart forward once more and jam the hilt of the blade into her stomach, knocking her down. "Take that!"
Sophia scrambled to her feet as Fayt recuperated from his burst of activity, running about five yards away. She braced herself; aiming her palm towards the blue-haired boy and yelling, "Burn!"
Two large firebolts shot from her hand, flying towards him at high speed. At the last moment, he darted forward and raised his own hand to cast his own symbol, when the two balls of flame turned around and struck him in the back.
He fell forward, cursing under his breath. By the time he had managed to stand to his feet again, Sophia had cried, "Thunder Flare!" a second time and enveloped him in electricity once more.
He had barely recovered from this attack when two more firebolts and another bout of lightning caused the computer to say, "Warning: Player One's health is low. Warning: Player One's health is low."
Fayt growled and breathed heavily. As he prepared to run, Sophia began an Earth Glaive symbol, but he suddenly burst on a burst of speed, charging forward and knocking her down. She quickly clambered to her feet, only to have Fayt cry, "I call this my Sword of Fury!" Three quick slashes and a hearty thrust of the sword threw Sophia several feet backwards. But once again, Fayt was out of breath.
She ran forward and with a small, "Hyah!" swung her staff upwards. Fayt managed to block it and swung his sword again, but Sophia parried it, running far away. She couldn't get him from this far away with her long-range attack, but if he came a little closer…
It was then, as she watched Fayt run with inhuman speed towards her, that she realized: She was winning. Fayt Leingod was practically the school's champion of the Battle Arena, but it was she who was winning… She, a mere Symbologist…
He was in range. Sophia swung her staff at the air, generating a large ball of purple light. This was her personal attack, and one of the most useful as it barely drained any of her own energy but had been known to somehow incapacitate several simulated enemies without knocking them unconscious.
The ball of light shot forward at high speed, but Fayt was unable to dodge it. It connected, and all of the simulated items, armor, weapons and room, immediately disappeared. Sophia stared at Fayt as he picked himself up from the ground, unable to hear her ears: "Player One loses, Player Two wins. Player One loses, Player Two wins. Would you like to play again?"
In an unnaturally demonic voice, Fayt looked up at the ceiling and screamed, "NO!" before tearing out of the room, kicking Sophia's bag aside as he headed towards the teleporter.
"No, Fayt, wait! I'm sorry!" she cried in vain as he disappeared in a swirl of blue lights. The look in his eye was murder.
Angry with herself for getting carried away and disallowing her friend his greatest joy, Sophia snatched up her bag and went up the teleporter as well, in time to see Fayt's blue hair whip through a shutting door.
She walked slowly back up towards her classroom, where she would read some more while waiting to discuss further symbological matters with Master Adray. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have done that to him? Fighting was his favorite thing! How would she feel if someone other than Master Adray challenged her to a duel of symbols and wiped the floor with her?
"Probably still nowhere as angry as Fayt," she muttered to herself.
Sophia finally reached the door to the classroom and was in the process of putting in the code to unlock the door when a voice over her shoulder said her name. Turning around, she saw Ms. Koas, the physical education teacher and, most importantly, Battle Master.
"Oh, hello, Ms. Koas," Sophia mumbled, eyes cast downward.
"Sophia, is something wrong with Fayt? He just kicked Peppita Rosetti and stormed out. What happened?"
"The Battle Simulator's open again," she answered simply. The classroom door opened and she entered, Ms. Koas following slightly behind.
"I don't understand," she said, frowning, "that's Fayt's favorite thing, wouldn't he have been excited?"
Sophia, sadly, glanced into her eyes.
"You mean… oh, no… You didn't beat him, did you?"
Slowly, Sophia nodded. "I didn't think I was getting so powerful with Symbology. I didn't mean to."
Ms. Koas smiled consolingly, putting a hand on Sophia's shoulder. "Don't you feel at all sorry, Sophia, not one bit. It's about time that Fayt learned the other side of fighting. I'll talk with him after the weekend, okay? In the meantime… you should be studying, shouldn't you? The fact that you beat Fayt with symbols is wonderful. He should be proud of you, too."
And with that, Ms. Koas turned and walked out of the room, her blond braid waving as if in goodbye.
"Sophia? Sophia? Are you there? Are you sleeping? Wake up!"
This sentence and others like it suddenly began filling Sophia's dreams of mastering Meteor Swarm until she realized that the loud buzzing was not meteors bursting through the atmosphere but her Compact Communicator attempting to get her attention.
She sat upright in bed, rubbing her eyes, as another vehement exclamation sounded, causing her to angrily grab the communicator from her bedside table and flip it open. "What? Who is this? It's three-thirty in the morning!"
"Sophia? It's Fayt. You can't tell what I sound like by now?"
Sophia suddenly became very awake, effortlessly recalling the previous day's happenings. "Yeah? What's the matter? Are you okay?"
He laughed. "Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I want you to come to the church. Into the Ethereal Queen room."
"What?"
"Yeah. And bring your practice staff. Hurry!"
With that, he turned off his communicator. Sophia sat there stunned for a few moments, reeling. He was crazy. There was no way she'd be allowed to go so late at night.
Then you'll just have to sneak out, won't you? Come on, Sophia, which are you more worried about: your angelic record or your best friend?
Grumbling, Sophia changed out of her pajamas into a pink shirt and denim capris. After grabbing her Moon Rod from beside her bed and shoving her communicator into her pocket, she snuck out of her bedroom window down into the streets of Aquios, past the guards at the gate of the city. A simple Gremlin-summoning symbol was enough to distract them. She ran forty yards to the old church ruins, and there she found Fayt, swinging his sword in practice.
"Fayt?" she called tentatively, stepping forward.
He jumped and aimed his sword at her from across the room. Not that it would have done much, but he was quite skilled with the Lightning Blast symbol, which she wasn't sure would reach her or not. However, he didn't use it, so she didn't worry.
As she saw the glint in his eye as he approached her, the weight of her staff seemed to increase and she suddenly realized why she had been called here.
"Sophia? That you?"
"Yeah, it's me, Fayt. Tell me why I'm here." Please don't be because you want to fight, please…
"I was thinking that we should redo our match. For real this time."
Sophia swore to herself. This wouldn't be an easy one to get out of. "Fayt… that's not funny. One of us could wind up getting seriously hurt. Besides, we don't have any armor or protection or –''
He dismissed her rambling with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about that. We'll stop if one of us gets too hurt."
"No, Fayt, I'm serious."
"So am I." He raised his sword. "Are you ready?"
"Fayt, I-''
But he didn't listen, and she found herself thrown backwards onto the marble floor of the giant Ethereal Queen room. Her thud on the floor echoed throughout the large void of the space.
"Fayt, no! Stop!"
But he didn't listen. Roaring, he charged forward again and swung his blade down, real metal hitting the floor as Sophia rolled out of the way. She got to her feet quickly and shoved him away, but he turned quickly and swung. His aim was shoddy, and rather than being decapitated, the wide part of the blade hit Sophia's throat, causing her to spin and drop her staff.
She wheezed, staring at Fayt with tears streaming down her face. "Stop it, Fayt!" she cried hoarsely, but he was raising his hand. "Lightning Blast!"
The attack hit Sophia like an angry bull, and for a moment she was floating in midair as the electricity pounded her from all sides. Then it was over, and her slightly smoking body fell to the ground, her clothing singed, nose bleeding.
"C'mon, Sophia! Get up and fight! You think you're so wonderful! Let's go!"
He darted forward with his sword raised, but Sophia fortunately managed to grab her staff from the floor in front of her and held it up to block his blow. His balance was thrown askew, giving Sophia enough time to get clumsily to her feet. As she raised her staff and stared him in the eye, she asked herself, Am I really going to do this? Am I really going to fight for my life with my best friend?
When the words "Thunder Flare!" issued from her mouth, Sophia realized that she indeed was. Fayt was not going to back down. Talking was not going to help him. The matter was between her and his mute blade.
"Lightning Bla – ''
"Fire Bolt!"
Sophia's symbol worked first, executing a split second before Fayt had a chance to perform his own. His was blasted off of his feet and sliding across the floor as the two large firebolts struck him in the chest. Sophia noticed with disdain that a small trail of blood followed him as he slid. When he got to his feet, he nonchalantly examined his elbow, which had torn open in the heavy slide.
"That hurt!" he muttered, grinning maliciously.
Sophia breathed quickly and began to cast another symbol when Fayt suddenly leapt forward, right leg outstretched. His side kick caught her in the gut and she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach and moaning. Fayt reared his blade and brought it swishing down, but in that time Sophia put into effect a technique that Ms. Koas had been teaching them: She gathered her thoughts and expelled them outward, hardening the air around her body and initiated her Anti-Attack Aura, causing Fayt's blade to bounce back and hit him in the face. A gash was left in his right cheek where the blade sunk it.
He wiped furiously at the blood streaming down his cheek, swearing loudly. Sophia managed to clamber to her feet as Fayt stomped his foot in pain and readied her hand. "Cold, steely blades!"
A swarm of icicles burst from her hand and ripped past Fayt, several catching him in the legs, one fully embedding itself into his arm. With a cry of pain, Fayt wrenched the icicle from his arm and revealed the wound, a small, deep hole from which blood began to flow more heavily than the wound on his face. He glared at Sophia, who was still clutching her stomach, unable to fully stand up. His face was pale due to loss of blood, and his eyes were wide and furious. Was she here, now, in the real world, still besting him in battle? Sophia could read that thought in every ounce of his being.
"Earth Gl –''
But before she could finish the symbol, Fayt took three steps forward, slashing down once, twice, three times in the motion she remembered him calling Sword of Fury. In the split second before it happened, Sophia remembered the last phase of the attack: the twice-forward thrust.
She braced herself against it, but there was nothing she could really do: She felt the end of his blade penetrate her abdomen to the hilt, withdraw quickly, and then reenter two inches to the right before the final extraction.
Sophia wavered in spot for a moment, clutching at the wound, unable to stop the blood from flowing between her fingers. She noticed her blood on Fayt's hands and sword, and that seemed to be what broke her.
She fell to the floor, gasping for air, unable to speak due to the pain. She felt blood gurgling in the back of her throat. She knew that her time was nigh. Fayt… her best friend… it would be he who would end her life? Over something as stupid as a Battle Simulation loss?
Struggling, she choked three words: "Fayt… I'm… sorry…"
Her head fell back and her eyes closed as darkness finally overtook her.
A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry… This was terribly written, I'm sorry! But it's late and I don't feel like editing it at the moment, since it's not unbearably awful. Anyway… as most people ask, please read and review, since reviews make me feel better. Here! As an incentive, I'll give you a small preview of what's to come. Well, not a preview, exactly, but hints:
1.) What happens when Adray discovers what has happened?
2.) What will Fayt do now that he has committed this heinous act?
3.) An exciting battle between Ms. Koas (better known as Mirage) and Albel!
So, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, and a thousand times more, review. Writers love to hear about what other people think of their stories. Well, at least, most of the time. I do. Sometimes. So remember two things:
a.) Review, and
b.) Adray sucks
Thank you and goodnight!