Sorry this one took so long, I've been working on a second fic that's a humor/drama that I'll pin up eventually. There's a lot of talk in this one but a lot happens, at least I think Do not own SC or Warcraft characters.
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Chapter 9: A Day Fit for Vows and Creations
'Who knew Taki could be so stubborn in this kind of situation?' Sophitia thought to herself as she tried to convince Taki to take her top of her body suit off just enough so that her wound could be clearly seen.
"Can't you just do it with it on?" Taki continued with a raised eyebrow but nervousness in her eyes. The both of them were kneeling down in the lush grass in front of two wide waterfalls that were surrounded with trees. Taki remembered this place; she had come here before, she just didn't know why she came in the first place, yet for some odd reason, it felt like it was one that was meant to stay as a fond memory.
"Then it would be a little more difficult cleaning your wound, now wouldn't it?" Sophitia replied with a confident smirk on her face. As much as she tried to hide it, all this was really eating Sophitia up inside; the little things, the little pleasures that Taki used to allow her to do were now gone, and Taki seemed to not even trust her. She thought that cleaning Taki's wound and nonchalantly touching her skin here and there was the closest to Taki she was able to get.
Taki peered over her shoulder to Sophitia, who kneeled behind her and faced her back with a gentle look on her face as if she looked like she would be willing to help anyone. Taki's eyes slowly widened as Sophitia's fingers slowly came closer to her shoulder guards to unclamp them and unpin the two silver pins, one on her chest and the other on the upper center of her abs, both holding the edge of the top of her body suit tightly upon the other edge. Taki tensed as she let Sophitia's fingers continue to take off what was needed to be taken off.
"How do you know how my body suit comes off?" Taki suddenly asked suspiciously with a raised eyebrow. Sophitia's eyes snapped wide-open as her eyes darted from side to side; that kind of a question she wasn't expecting. She couldn't very well say that she herself had shown her on one occasion. She tried to hold back her grin at the memory.
"Ah-well-erm…" Sophitia stuttered. "Just a lucky guess." She smiled nervously.
Taki, still being a little suspicious, mentally shrugged as she turned back around to the waterfalls in front of her. Sophitia let her lay face-down on the ground with her back exposed as she cleaned off the slightly mended opening that had a small and slow trail of blood.
Taki laid her head upon her folded arms on the lush grass and slowly closed her eyes. The feeling of Sophitia's gentle finger movements was surprisingly relaxing. "You're good at this." Taki's words were rather muddled as she seemed to sigh slightly as she spoke.
"Thank you." Sophitia smiled uncontrollably even though Taki's eyes were still closed. She didn't want to mention the fact that she was straddling herself over Taki's backside. "So what do you think they're going to do with Sylvanas?" Sophitia asked, trying to make sure that Taki wouldn't notice the Greek of she slightly leaned over her.
Taki raised an eyebrow as she tried to think of the possibilities. What happened in Sylvanas' prison cell the Blood elves provided until their departure was a rather interesting event.
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Sylvanas was chained at the wrists and ankles to the wood-planked wall of the cell. The iron bars surrounded her as well as the people who had captured her and stood inside of her cell but a fair distance away from her. She hardly moved anyway, the darkness of the night and its moonlight that shined through the single window of her cell was the only thing that outlined her still profile.
Her head hung down, making the hood of her cloak cover all of her dark, emotionless features. She let her arms hang to her shoulders as they were being held by the chains. One would think Jaina's magic still dulled her senses, but she still stood straight apart from her head.
"Speak!" Thrall boomed as he stood on one side of the cells iron door with grit teeth as he clutched his hammer tightly and pointed at Sylvanas with it. "I know it was you who sent those hordes of undead against my brethren in the Barrens! You had that necromancer send them just to kill off my people in my homelands!"
"Among other things, yes." Sylvanas answered as if it was simple, her dark and mystically sounding voice echoing slightly through the small rows of vacant cells in front of her. Her head lifted only to the point where some of her burning red eyes could be passed her hood. She stared with unwavering eyes at Taki, who stood at the other side of the doorway. A small grin spread across her face although it looked menacing and insane as if she wanted so badly to cut Taki into pieces since she was the cause for her failure. "However, those 'other things' weren't accomplished like I had planned." She paused. "My task has been delayed because of you, so in return more blood will be spilt when you least expect it."
"Ha!" Maiev laughed at Sylvanas' statement as she stood next to the wall adjacent to where Sylvanas was held. Sylvanas' narrowed eyes snapped to her green ones. "I'd like to see that; you hold no offense without your weapons or your leader behind you." She grinned deviously. Sylvanas suddenly lunged herself toward Maiev as far as she could go, knowing that she was chained to a wall.
"I don't need that filthy bastard to continue to walk this earth. It may be because of him that I can't die, but I can do fine on my own without him slowing me down." She smirked. "It's not like you can hurt me enough to kill me anyway."
"We'll see about that." Taki stated as she walked towards Sylvanas and unsheathed her Mekki-Maru. Sylvanas' smirk faded as she backed up against the wall the closer that Taki came. Taki smirked at this. "What's the matter? An undead person like you scared of little ol' me?"
Sylvanas' eyes narrowed as she stared back into Taki's rather excited eyes. "No. I'm just going to make things more… interesting for you. You just wait and see."
"Whatever you say." With that, Taki pulled back and forcefully rammed her medium blade through the pale woman's stomach. She heard the cloaked figure grunt loudly in pain as she pushed her dagger deeper into the woman's depths. Taki slowly pulled back, leaving her Mekki-Maru lodged into Sylvanas' stomach and the stone wall. She pulled up her hand noting that there wasn't much blood on it.
Taki looked up to Sylvanas' gaze as she seemed to wince and cringe slightly as she bent over the sword and her legs bent slightly from the pain. Then, much to Taki's surprise, she slowly brought herself back up with a small grin upon her face, her sword still jammed within her.
"Humph, not a bad arm you have." She stated, her voice wavered slightly but it was hardly noticeable. Taki watched as blood slowly poured down from her stomach, it was black and the stream was quite small. "My heart doesn't beat so blood cannot flow through me fast enough for a larger steam of blood to come out." She informed as if she read Taki's mind. "Not that I really need to breathe, but I'm sure you want your dagger back."
Taki slowly came forward and pulled the dagger out of the stone and Sylvanas' body and looked at the dark hole just above Sylvanas' naval and sneered. Sylvanas had a wide grin on her face as if she was both amused and excited, which made the rage inside Taki begin to swell. "Don't rely too much on your no longer beating heart to save your life."
"Heh, big talk from someone who's used to claiming victory in her demon killing." Sylvanas smirked, then suddenly brought out her torso in front of Taki. "Want to try again?" She grinned excitedly although in an insane way, as if she was looking forward to Taki's second attempt.
Taki backed away with a disgusted look on her face, she knew that a second attempt would be futile. "Just wait, any creature that walks the earth always has a weak point." Taki stated with a confident look on her face, but she knew that that wouldn't faze Sylvanas.
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"I don't know; it's not like we can just toss her over a cliff since she'll surely come back." Taki stated, her eyes still remaining closed. Sophitia blinked then closed her eyes as she nonchalantly let her fingertips gingerly run across Taki's soft white skin on her back as she asked another question that was in a low voice.
"What was it like? When the necromancer came and… did what he did to you?" Sophitia was quite curious as to how Taki felt about all of this. Taki could feel the change in gesture in Sophitia's fingertips and hoped that it was some kind of soothing gesture that was working rather well on her. Her eyes, however, snapped open at the question as if the memory just flashed right before her.
"It… It felt like… an ice cold hand with its long nails… scrapping and clawing at my brain. It even felt as though I could feel the blood coming from it inside my head." Taki's voice seemed to become lower and lower as she spoke, but Sophitia heard every word and wished that she could wrap her arms around her to show that she wasn't alone.
'I'll avenge your misery Taki, as well as my own. You may be the best at hiding your feelings behind your back, but I know more about how you can be than your memory may believe.' Sophitia absentmindedly eased herself down to lightly sit herself upon Taki's lower back. 'And that would make us even, wouldn't it?' She inwardly chuckled but her smile came through as she lightly but affectionately let the two fingers of her right hand outline Taki's shoulder blade. 'You saved me from nearly being completely enveloped into the darkness of Soul Edge. Now, it's my turn to help you recover from the darkness' magic, somehow…'
Taki's thoughts were painlessly brought back to reality as Sophitia's rather curious demeanor seemed to change into a sorter and even loving one. This brought Taki to become confused and nervous at the same time as she peered ever so slightly towards Sophitia through the corner of her eye. The younger woman on top of her seemed to be lost within her own thoughts.
"You have a strange persona." Taki openly noted in a simple-sounding tone, making Sophitia physically stammer out of her thoughts as her eyes snapped to the Asian woman. "You're secretive yet quite persistent at the same time, it's like you're infatuated or something or other." She continued as if she answered her own elementary question, although Sophitia was surprised that Taki didn't seem to realize the connection between her own answer and herself.
"Ahem."
Sophitia whipped around to look behind her for the source of the timid-like sound, feeling the woman below her try to do the same but ultimately laid herself back onto the ground. This was due to the facts that the top half of her body suit was still half off and bending her back made her wound sting slightly.
Sophitia lowered her eyebrows with curiosity as Jaina stood a fair distance away next to a tree. Jaina smiled rather timidly at Sophitia as she raised a hand and bent her fingers in a slight wave as a 'Hi'.
"Sorry for disturbing you, Sophitia." Jaina stood herself straight and placed both hands on her straight yet distortedly wooden staff, having its head lean at the side of her own. "If my memory is correct, you know the most about this 'Nightmare', do you not?" She cocked her head to the side and leaned forward slightly, as if she was afraid that she might be wrong.
Sophitia blinked then lowered her head slightly but keeping her eyes upon Jaina's. "Y-yes. Some things." She answered as if she was both nervous and slightly suspicious of what Jaina had planned.
"Good." Jaina straightened herself again with a smile as if she was pleased. She spoke again before Sophitia could ask why. "I'll need you to tell me more about this 'Soul Edge' demon so that I can begin to work on a Soul Gem strong enough to hold it inside and hopefully purify it.'
Sophitia paused while her eyes darted from side to side; she was confused as to how someone like Jaina, someone who seemed to be so dedicated to being on the force of the light instead of the darkness would know how to create something that would be used for horrible purposes. However she remembered the fact that Jaina was a well-known, powerful sorceress to these alien lands, so with that in mind she waved her second thoughts about Jaina out of her mind.
"So, if you could please follow me. Taki you can come as well if you wish." Jaina suddenly spoke, abruptly breaking Sophitia from her thoughts. "I would like to start making it as soon as possible because it's kind of a long process." She leaned against the tree next to her as she waited for Sophitia to finish and put Taki's torso cover back on, which didn't take long.
Before Sophitia could turn around and ask where they were going when she had finished with Taki, both Taki and herself felt a single hand on both of their shoulders. Suddenly yet slowly they could feel themselves being pulled in several directions at once yet they didn't feel their bodies physically move much, as if it was only their insides. They watched in silence and awe as the scenery of the waterfall and meadow-like surroundings seemed to slowly dissolve before them within blinding blue lights that encircled them.
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Nightmare had been bored for days, but at least since his meet with Arthas he has been able to steal more souls without them even running off like they usually did when he was outside of this 'Azeroth'. The numbers that he had killed became quite visible on his blade; maybe another fifty pounds of flesh coated his living sword.
He had grown suspicious when Arthas' second in command, Kel'Thuzad, had the idea of making some sort of clone of Soul Edge. Nightmare had no idea how he would do such a thing even with his dark magics. Sure, he thought it was a clever idea at first because then more souls would be taken and the knights of these lands that dedicated themselves to the light would become less of a nuisance since the clone could act as a body guard. The problem was that, knowing himself, his own recreation of himself will want power just like himself and would even become an enemy.
He sat himself upon a dark wooden arm chair within Arthas' meeting hall, which contained a long rectangular and darkly wooden table, two chairs on each side of the table that were closest to the four windows adjacent to the door and a single chair that was more pre-eminent than the others at the head of the table. He sat in a discarded chair next to a window.
The dark clouds within the skies rolled passed as the ghouls collected resources below the necropolis. The smell of the rotting flesh tickled his nose slightly; he looked down to see a row of meat wagons below him, smirking as he brought his head back into the granite-colored room.
'Heh, I must give Arthas credit: at least he makes good use of the bodies. Darkness knows their souls are worthless to them so the bodies can be at least of some use.' He thought as his gaze swept across the dead forest lands that surrounded Arthas' main base.
'Don't speak of what you don't know!'
Nightmare cringed as his weaker half's conscience broke through into his head. "Go back into you hiding place, you damn fool!" He spoke in a forced but harsh whisper as his hard sharply turned to the inside of the room, focusing on nothing but his intruder.
'You may have control over my body and even my sanity, but you don't have control over MY mind and MY soul of what I believe, you soulless, bloodless creature!'
Nightmare pulled back in a blink, surprised at his hostage's retort. He smirked beneath his dark helmet. 'Heh. My, my. When did you gain a little backbone, my gullible boy?" He mocked.
'You played with my head back then, you took the advantage that I was young and willing to do anything to bring my father back from the grave. You know nothing about me now, filthy demon! You don't know how looking into the sightless eyes of the slain with their blood stained upon my own hands has increased my hatred against you.'
Nightmare rolled his magma-colored eyes at the mortal's words as they dripped with hatred. His gaze landed upon the large, oval-shaped mirror with silver bones of a man's vertebrate as its rim just across from him near the head of the table. The emotionless eyes of his reflection stared back at him.
"Oh really?" Nightmare only focused on his weaker half and not his surroundings as he carelessly spoke aloud in a mocking tone to his own reflection. "Well the tell me." He leaned towards the mirror as if he was really interested in his hostage's coming reply. "If you hold so much hatred against me; the very brick wall that keeps you alive and yet you're so bent on claiming vengeance over the polluting of your sanity and soul, why don't you just break out of your cage that is Soul Edge?" He raised his eyebrow mockingly as he waited for a reply.
All was silent apart from the strong eerie wind that brushed against the dark walls of the necropolis and the endless movement coming from the ghouls on the ground below.
Nightmare lifted a corner of his lips in a half-smile and narrowed his eyes. He gave the corrupt knight's conscience ten more seconds to reply, eager to know what it might be. As the given time became spent and unused, he leaned back into his chair, satisfied.
He chuckled slowly at the boy's incompetence. "Face it; you'll be trapped in this dark cage until deat- Argh!" He grabbed his demonically deformed arm with his armored hand in pain as it began to feel like the blood within it was running through it at a faster pace. His chest felt like it was shaking as he breathed and pressure started to build within it. The claws of his deformed hand, although still in pain, attached themselves in a reflex to his broad chest plate in attempts of calming the frantically moving flesh beneath it.
'I WILL break OUT!'
Nightmare growled at the young knight's stubbornness. "You're more of a fool than I expected! Even if you do break out do you think you'll escape an undead base alive! You'd think they'd easily notice the physical differences between you and me!" Nightmare roared at his own reflection.
He waited as the pressure within his arms and chest dimmed. He sneered at his reflection for a moment then turned to look back towards the dead lands, leaning against the stone window sill. He was still until he heard the door open with a 'creak'.
Arthas stood within the door's frame, his long spider web-like hair covering half of his face, although Nightmare could see that his face was as hard of stone. "Nightmare." Arthas addressed in a low tone as the dark knight by the window turned his head towards him in a rather careless and lazy fashion. "The creature that we found in your world is close to being completely ours and part of the Scourge, it's just up to you to make the final adjustments with the power of Soul Edge." Arthas informed plainly, not moving from where he stood in the door frame.
Nightmare paused as a thought suddenly crossed his mind. "What of that Sylvanas woman? Did she possibly fail and is too scared to return?" He turned to the silent Death Knight. "She seemed promising to our cause." He added simply as he pressed the tip of Soul Edge onto the stone ground and leaned upon it.
Arthas rolled his eyes at Nightmare's comment as he stepped forward. "She's as trusting and faithful as sending a living corpse with a single foot through a raging battle field of humans in a reliable sense." He answered truthfully but in a dull tone with a hint of sarcasm in it. "She's indeed promising as an assassin and certainly as an archer, I'll give her that. But as a follower of the Scourge and even as a possible leader of an undead base she's absolutely worthless, the little wench." Arthas sneered at his memories of when he always somehow forced Sylvanas to do what she was told.
Nightmare lowered his eyebrows in confusion as Arthas continued to mock and criticize the undead elf. "Why waste your time with her then? If she's so worthless kill her and be done with it instead of complaining about her." He advised as if Arthas' reluctance to kill someone who wasn't reliable and even possibly traitorous was pointless and even suicidal.
"I'm not that considerate." Arthas answered in a rather self-confident yet dark tone. "She deserves the fate that I gave her for her stubbornly reluctant attitude when she wouldn't let me passed her elven gate when she still had a soul." Arthas looked toward the side at the ground, arms folded across his skull-like chest plate. "She's slowing us down dramatically. If she takes any longer to complete such an easy task, I'll give her the retribution of being the guinea pig opponent for our new beast of a creature when she returns." Arthas smirked darkly. "If it fails to defeat her, then we'll continuously make it better until it does." Arthas' smirk turned into a grin at the thought. "I'll throw her into every fight even if she's bruised, cut and even maimed from the previous." He let out a menacingly excited but deep laugh at the idea.
Nightmare grinned at Arthas' evil innovations. "Well then," He started as he strode passed the Death Knight. "Let's not keep our monster of a golem waiting; darkness knows it will become ecstatic when it hears about your… generous offer of a guinea pig." Arthas grinned as he followed at the heels of the azure knight in front of him before he firmly shut the door behind them.
Once silence enveloped the room, a pale figure with long streaming hair and dressed in a gray cloak over a green dress peered through the window from the outside. She drifted through the air until she was halfway through the window while her long thin fingers clutched onto the window sill for better support and guidance. Her fiery red eyes that were really no where close to rivaling Sylvanas' looked toward the closed door then worriedly darted her eyes from side to side in thought.
"I must find and tell my queen." The pale woman concluded in her usual, deep and troubled whisper. She turned and flew out of the room with haste. "I must warn her of her dreadful fate if she should ever return to these desolate lands." With that she used all of her strength to make her soar through the skies at a faster speed.
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"I'd thank you to never do that again." Taki heaved with Sophitia's nod in agreement as backup when they found themselves in front of a dome-shaped building with metal planets whirling around at its roof. Jaina had just teleported them to a Sanctuary for the elves who practice magic and the effect of teleporting gave Taki and Sophitia a horrible jolt in their stomachs.
Jaina laughed slightly at their condition as though it was amusing. "Don't worry; once you've done it enough you'll get used to it." She exclaimed as she opened the round wooden door.
The inside made Sophitia's eyes go wide with surprise as the inside looked seven times bigger than the outside. "It looks like some sort of classroom." Sophitia noted aloud as she followed Jaina passed the rows of long wooden tables in the half-lit room. Some of the benches were occupied by one or two Blood elves, all having thick books with brown leather covers in front of them and trying a spell described in it.
"This is normally used for elves who are just beginning to learn magic for their own purposes and for battle. So if you see any elf in here who's still learning from the books, their mostly still beginners." Jaina explained as she got to the only vacant table in the room which was at the very front of it, however ignoring the protests of quite a few of the elves who had overheard her saying that they were beginners.
"Then why do you choose to come here?" Taki asked as she raised an eyebrow and sat herself down upon the wooden bench stool, Sophitia right next to her.
"I just find it a little easier to concentrate when I have to concoct the kind of spells that I'm going to be doing now." She stated simply as she placed a gem the size of a man's fist on the table in front of them. "Now, tell me what he looks like and what he's capable of."
Jaina's sudden requirement caught Sophitia off guard as she began to think. "Uh-er well, he's… a knight, head to toe in dark and thick armor, he has a deformed arm and his blade is covered with human flesh and a living eye." Sophitia spoke, keeping her eyes on the red to purple colored gem.
"I'm sure the human flesh on his blade is formed by the number of people he's killed?" Jaina raised her eyebrows beneath her hood.
"Yes." Sophitia sighed as she lowered her head at the horrible fact.
"And you've stood up to him?" Jaina seemed both intrigued and impressed as she leaned towards Sophitia.
"T'weren't easy." Sophitia shook her head as she watched Jaina smirk.
Jaina turned to Taki with raised eyebrows. "Did you know her by then?" Taki just blinked in her silence and looked to the side. Much to Sophitia and Jaina's surprise, Taki continued to stay silent; they thought she'd say 'no' right away.
"I… I'm not so sure anymore." Taki couldn't help thinking about the constant nightmares she'd been having lately. She was starting to hate them; it felt like they were trying to change her emotions of how she thought she had always felt toward love. Taki shook her head as she tried to get the thought out of her mind. "I don't… no, I don't think so." She stated as she continued to not make eye contact with either of them.
Jaina sighed as she felt sorry for Sophitia, who looked away as if she was going back into her depressed state.
"Is there anything else that you need from me?" Sophitia suddenly changed the subject but her voice was very distant and deep, making Jaina cock her head to one side slightly with sympathy in her eyes but did as Sophitia wanted.
"Well, to make things easier, you could just take the gem in your hand while I take a hold of it as well. Except while you're holding it, think of how Nightmare looks and all the terrible things he might do, and what you wish you could do to stop him." Jaina explained as she took the jewel within her hand and extended her arm out to Sophitia so that the many faces of the gem reflected her face. "Take it within your palm." She instructed.
Sophitia hesitantly did as she was told; she took it, shut her eyes and thought about all the things that Nightmare could possibly do to this world, both inside and out, if his power became too great and what she was willing to do to prevent it.
'I won't let him… I won't let Soul Edge take this world within his palm and crush it.' Sophitia thought to herself as she thought of buildings within villages going up in flames and black smoke filling the air. An image of Nightmare came before her and she sighed at the memory of him.
'I'm willing to try again; I'm willing to try and save Siegfried from his horrible fate of which he doesn't deserve.' Sophitia became so lost within her thoughts that she didn't even notice that the gem between Jaina's and her own palms began to glow a color lighter than its own.
Jaina kept herself focused as she felt the power within the gem begin to increase the more that Sophitia thought. Her job was to make sure that the gem was willing to absorb Sophitia's emotions and feelings. Her task was also to make sure that the power growing within it would stay inside and eventually harden within the gem so that it was durable enough to hold a powerful soul inside.
'Evil does not deserve to reign over any world. I will stop this, we will stop this. All of the races of this world will help us and thus evil itself stands no chance to the likes of us. The elves and humans of this world, Mina, Kilik, myself and Taki, who I will make sure is always by my side even if she doesn't remember the love we used to share, we will stop this with the evil forces at their knees!'
Sophitia's overwhelming confidence began to show itself through her thoughts and through the gem as the glow around it increased dramatically. So much more did the glow and even the vibration within the gem rise that Jaina was having difficulty holding the gem between their palms. She eventually had to support her trembling arm with her free hand.
Taki's eyes went wide with each passing second. She eventually had to back herself away on the bench as the power within the jewel became more intense, even she who wasn't even close to touching the jewel could feel the power within it rising. She could also feel and incredible aura around Sophitia; she raised an eyebrow at her.
'Who is this woman?' Taki thought to herself as she watched Sophitia's facial expressions become more serious and fierce. 'What could this Greek woman hold that would make her send such incredible waves?' She watched as Sophitia's face turned into one of rage, which made her slightly nervous. "Don't you think you should stop this?" She turned to Jaina in slight alarm.
"The more power the better the chances of capturing the demon!" Jaina stated in a shout, since the power was becoming harder to control, as she kept her eyes focused on the gem, the power continuing to grow within it.
'The terror, the pain, the killing and burning, it'll all end and it'll never resurface, Taki and I'll see to that for the good of life itself with the help of this little gem!' Sophitia's last vow made her eyes snap open with a fierce look in her eyes as her gaze snapped to the gem. This made the power complete as it came in a hard wave that crashed against Jaina's palm. The force was so great that Jaina ended up nearly falling backwards off the bench but still held the gem within her palm.
Sophitia looked up at the heaving sorceress across from her with her normal expression upon her face as if she had just been broken from a daydream. "Is that enough?" She asked in a soft voice.
Jaina took a couple breaths before she answered. "Yes, that should be plenty." She took the gem into both of her own hands as she spoke. "All I have to do it seal the power within it, so that I don't need you for." She stated in a soft tone.
"All we need to do is find Nightmare." A deep but feminine voice spoke behind them. They all snapped their eyes upon the Night elf priestess, Tyrande standing at the edge of the table. "You put on quite a show." She stated with a smirk as she gestured around the room.
The three around the table looked at her with confusion, but when they looked around the room they noticed that every elf who was originally practicing their own magic were staring at them in a wide-eyed awe.
"What're you gawking at? Never seen magic before?" Taki spoke up cockily with a raised eyebrow, making all the male elves clear their throat while some of the female elves just rolled their eyes before they continued with their magic practicing.
"Sylvanas had spoken of him; Nightmare." Sophitia suddenly noted in a somewhat distant tone as she looked at the ground, as if she completely missed what Taki just did. However, Sophitia's statement made everyone around her table turn to her in surprise.
"You're not thinking of going over by yourself to Sylvanas' cell are you? Do you know how foolish that is?" Taki spoke up after a few brief seconds of silence.
"As foolish as it may sound to you, she will bring us a step closer to him." Sophitia spoke, looking down at the table.
"And just what makes you think she'll give you information willingly?" Taki raised an eyebrow as she leaned forward. Sophitia looked up at her softly but confidently.
"She didn't sound too fond of this 'Arthas', and since Nightmare sided with him, perhaps she may be of some help." Sophitia stood up as she finished and turned to Tyrande, who gave her a soft look. "Where is Sylvanas' cell?" She asked in a hard, serious tone.
Tyrande was silent for a few seconds, as if she was questioning herself whether she should put her into the harm of telling her. She sighed slightly. "It's not far from here. However, you being her original prey and as the elf of highest rank in Ashenvale I won't permit you to approach someone as dangerous as Sylvanas, not just yet anyway." Tyrande advised strongly.
Sophitia sighed; she didn't think that even Tyrande would turn her down. She turned to Jaina. "How long will that take to be complete?" She asked her the same tone that she had with Tyrande, she pointed at the ruby-like gem.
Jaina hesitated before she spoke. "A day, perhaps." She replied simply. Sophitia nodded slightly as she turned to walk through the Sanctuary and to the rounded door.
"Where the hell are you going off to now?" Taki asked, still seated but leaning toward Sophitia's direction. Sophitia didn't turn to look at her as she placed her hand on the golden handle of the door.
"Don't worry, I won't be going far, nor will I be long." She answered in a dull tone as she opened the door and stepped out to be greeted by the twilight sky and soft fresh breeze.
Taki looked up to Tyrande as the door shut behind her. Much to Tyrande's slight surprise, she could see worry in Taki's eyes even though it was well hidden within her almond orbs. She looked down to her 'battle companion' behind her, who was enjoying its time as it cleaned its white face with its paw.
"Starstrider!" Tyrande called in a soft tone. The tiger's glowing eyes snapped to hers, awaiting its new job. "Follow her. Defend her the best that you can if she gets into trouble." She pointed to where Sophitia had left. With a twitch of the ears Starstrider went off, pushing the door open and stealthily going about her task.
Taki turned to Tyrande with a raised eyebrow and Tyrande turned to exit while replying with a single nod as if to say 'not to worry'.
"Why are you so worried about Sophitia's well being?" Jaina suddenly asked with a knowing smirk. Taki sharply turned to her with lowered eyebrows, then looked away.
"It's just that she can be so stubborn at times and I don't want her to run headlong into trouble." Taki stated as her gaze swept to the gem in Jaina's hands. "Can I have a look at that?" Taki brought out her palm. Jaina hesitated, then slowly leaned forward to place it in her palm.
"Just don't drop it; the gem can be quite fragile when it's filled with raw power." Jaina explained as she gently placed it into Taki's palm.
Taki jumped; when the red mist-like filled gem made contact with her flesh she felt a strange jolt that ran through her body and something like a dream flashed into her head:
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Taki held what looked like a pale and weak young blonde haired woman in her arms, surrounded by maple trees and a river, the moonlight was their only guide through the darkness of the night. The girl's eyes were glossy and distant, almost as if she was dead if it hadn't been for the slow rising and falling of her chest.
The girl was the only person lying down while Taki leaned against a tree, keeping the girl's head to rest upon her upper chest. The girl suddenly rubbed her cheek against Taki's upper chest and it looked like it took her some effort to do so. Taki gasped at the feeling and looked down at her and, wanting to see her face, lifted the girl's head by placing her finger underneath her chin.
The girl's amazonite however distant eyes seemed filled with emotion that needed a response. Taki, out of sympathy and something else that drifted about her heart for this girl, couldn't help but let her hand travel to the woman's nape while her thumb rested on her cheek as she eased her head down and gently capture her lips with her own unmasked ones. She loved the feel of this woman's soft lips upon her own.
She felt and heard the golden haired girl whimper in response as she closed her eyes, feeling the girl respond the best that she could despite how paralyzed she felt. After a few brief moments Taki reluctantly broke away and looked deeply into her aventurine eyes that were filled with even more emotions even though they had trouble focusing; her eyes were still a bit glossy.
"Try to rest now, I'll watch over you." Taki assured in a soothing voice and a smile. The girl obliged by slowly closing her heavy eyes as Taki rested her head back on her upper chest. Taki continued to sooth the blonde to sleep by running her fingers softly through her hair as she prayed that this girl would be alright.
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Taki jumped, making the gem nearly fly out of her hands. Jaina looked at her strangely. Taki looked up at her, slightly out of breath.
'What the hell just happened!' Taki looked down at the tabletop, lost in thought and confusion.
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Sophitia walked out into the woods, knowing that she'd find her way back to the base in the capital, Ashenvale. She stopped before a calm lake with tree-covered mountains in the distance. To her, she was surprised by how much evil can spread through lands as tranquil as these, but then again, darkness can come in all forms and can absorb anything, besides the light itself, within it.
The twilight sky, bright moon and stars that somewhat shone themselves reflected upon the surface of the still water. She sat herself upon a bolder near the waters edge.
"The way she looked at me, it looked as if she was scolding me." Sophitia spoke aloud, not caring about anything else around her as she enjoyed the silence. "But that just shows that she's beginning to care about me more." She smiled faintly then after a few second crossed her arms and leaned them onto her knees. "Although my missing the feel of her strong and warm arms around me has become unbearable. The gentleness of her touch, her soft eyes that were always filled with love when they landed upon me, the utter sweetness and warmth of her kiss…" Sophitia's eyes began to cloud up with tears and they fell as her gaze landed upon the ring Taki gave her, making Taki's promise echo in her head. She closed her eyes tightly in response. "I'll live up to my vow of helping Taki, I'll bring her memory back!" She choked out a sob as she formed a tight fist.
"Ugh…You humans are so pathetic, do you know that?"
Sophitia jumped as she looked up to a high tree limb where the noise seemed to come from. She gasped as she stepped back a few steps, nearly tripping in the process as she had already recognized the mysterious voice.
Up on a limb with one leg dangling off the side while the other went along the branch sat her former predator; Sylvanas. The undead elf looked at her strangely, as if she no longer cared about Sophitia being her prey. At the Greek's gasp, Sylvanas stood up, hopped upon the lower branch and opened her weaponless cloak.
"You need not fear me now; I've been stripped of my weapons even though I did escape seeing as to how I still knew how to get out of elven locks." She explained as though she was disgraced that they took her weapons. Sophitia looked at her in confusion.
"W…why didn't you run away while you had a chance?" Sophitia asked, still not willing to approach the archer. Sylvanas looked to the side towards the lake.
"I would have, but then I figured what was the point? I'd only be under the command of that bastard again." She explained as her blood-red eyes were emotionless. Sophitia's eyes darted for a few seconds.
"I need information from you." She stated in a nervous tone, but kept her guard.
"Ah ha…" Sylvanas seemed to chuckle as she turned to the human. "Really? You need help from an undead person?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I need you to tell me where Nightmare is." She continued, not paying attention to Sylvanas' words.
"Oh, I see; going to divide and conquer, eh?" Sylvanas laughed within her throat.
"Something like that, yes." Sophitia replied more confidently.
"Well, wish I could, but can't tell you." Sylvanas replied stubbornly. Sophitia lowered her eyebrows at the woman who jumped off of the branch and walked into the water, causing it to be disturbed by ripples.
"I know you're not fond of Arthas, so what's the point of fighting against us instead of helping us defeat him? Perhaps if we to that, you can finally be at peace." Sophitia spoke as she took a step towards the lone figure in front of her.
Sylvanas paused. "I'll never be at peace thanks to him!" She yelled harshly but didn't turn around to face her. The was another few seconds of silence. "You don't know… you don't know what he did to me! He destroyed my soul! He turned me into this monstrosity!" She harshly kicked the water, shattering her reflection for a few seconds before mending back together. She kneeled down into the water, Sophitia could hear her choke in her sobs that threatened to come out. Sylvanas gripped the wet sand at her feet. "I'll kill him… I'LL KILL HIM!"
Sophitia began to feel sorry for this lost creature; someone who has no soul, it must be the worst to go through. There would be no reason to live and no reason to die. She slowly walked over to Sylvanas, standing right behind her. She carefully tried to place one hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." She spoke in a soft tone, but her hand was harshly knocked away by Sylvanas' hand, it almost felt as though Sylvanas had nearly broke Sophitia's wrist when she whacked her hand away.
"STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME HUMAN! I DON'T NEED YOUR SYMPATHY!" Sylvanas shouted in blind rage, but Sophitia could see the tears in her eyes when she turned around. Sylvanas turned back to look at the waters of the lake.
Sophitia paused. "What if I tried to reclaim a soul? If I tried to mend the pieces it back together?" Sophitia asked in a soft tone, trying to sound reassuring.
"It would be a lost cause-"
"It would be worth a try." Sophitia interrupted with a sincere look in her face. Sylvanas turned to her with narrowed eyes.
"And why are you so willing to help me? One who tried to kill you? How should I know whether you're just going to leave me in the dust or not when this is over?" She asked suspiciously.
Sophitia looked at her pale blue face and red eyes for a moment. "I am the sentinel of a god where I come from. When I vow to do something I intend to keep it." She stated in a soft tone.
Sylvanas slowly looked down. "For Arthas' head… and my soul… I will help you." Here eyes snapped to Sophitia's as she glared at her. "But, for me being the only undead person here, this doesn't mean that I truly trust or like you and that goes to the others as well." Her voice was in a warning tone.
Sophitia sighed. "I figured as much. Now can you tell me where Nightmare is?" She leaned forward slightly.
Sylvanas looked down to the waters again. "…I'll bring him here." She turned to the tree that she had sat upon. "You may reveal yourself my sister."
Sophitia's eyes widened when she heard her say 'sister' as she whipped her head around to the tree to find a ghostly figure floating behind it. "W-what is that?" She asked hesitantly as the pale womanly figure came forward.
"…My banshee; I'm their queen." Sylvanas answered simply as she turned to her banshee. "Go and bring Nightmare here. Do not rush yourself; we'll need to be prepared for his assault." She ordered.
"And if he refuses?" Sophitia heard her speak as it was in a slight echo and her voice was in torment and despair. The more she would see of these forsaken undead the more she felt sorry for them to be trapped into soulless bodies.
"Use my name." Sophitia suddenly spoke up, making both pairs of red eyes snap to hers. "He'll remember me, I know he will. Just urge him into coming and finding me." Sylvanas' eyebrows rose in intrigue; she was a brave one.
The banshee left at Sylvanas' slow nod, taking one last look at Sophitia as she left. Sophitia noticed that Sylvanas was looking down into her reflection. The longer Sylvanas stared the harder it became to control her tears as she looked down at her hideous face and body. Her hand tightened into a fist as she tried to control it; she was going to have more than just Arthas' head for this. She stopped as she felt a gentle warm hand on her clammy skinned shoulder. Sylvanas closed her eyes and chuckled.
"You are so damn stubborn." She stated in a low voice.
"So I've been told." Sophitia replied with a smirk, letting her fingers move on Sylvanas' shoulder in a slow soothing fashion. She looked down to the ripping waters holding thenight sky's and Sylvanas' lostreflection.
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Sorry this one took so long, I'm jumping between fics, the new one will be coming out eventually. Starstrider will show up in the next chap. And the visions will be explained. More of how Sylvanas is will come out in the next one as well. How the whole scene went when the banshee told Sylvanas about Arthas' plan will be told in the next one also.
