She opened her eyes, she looked down at the countryside below, she sat mounted on a white Pegasus, a gift to her by Hephaestus, she pulled the reigns and the winged horse dived. The castle, Ostrheinsburg lay strewn about, once a great city, now a fallen and decimated place of crumbling structures. A thick fog blanketed the entire area where the castles lay, causing it to be difficult to see. Giant catapults still sat outside the city, never having been removed, their only purpose, to lay waist to the entire castle. It looked as if none now occupied it, after Sir Stefan, the original lord of the castle, and his forces had been ousted from it, a small battalion from the Grandal Empire had taken it as an outpost, but they had all been killed when Nightmare had come and taken it as his stronghold, along with his vast legion of lizardmen. Then a couple of years ago, they too had been driven away, she knew not who could have caused it but she knew they had supposedly defeated Nightmare and his top commanders.
She came in slowly, surveying the area, it looked deserted. "Land, Xymox!" She said and the Pegasus obeyed, landing on the outside of the third defensive wall. They walked along the inside of the wall, bones of many things littered its interior, even human bones, the stench of the lizardmen was still present. She came to the main road that led through each wall from the front gates, it came to an end at the castle front. She followed it to the front steps, the doors hung open, the inside was dark, Xymox snorted, obviously disturbed at being here, but Sophitia had to search out SoulEdge, and inside the castle seemed the first place to start, she spoke softly," Come, we must enter." Xymox shook his head and walked up the steps.
They walked into the castle and came into the a wide room, she could see nobody. There were no windows on the inside, the only light coming on from the front door, they walked in slowly, the sound of Xymox's hooves clattering on the stone floor seemed deafening in her ears. "What have we here?" a child's voice suddenly echoed through the hall, startling both of them. Sophitia immediately looked around, searching for the voices owner, though it sounded like a young girls, she knew that there were things on the earth that could mimic such noises easily.
She drew her sword, Omega, she was ready for anything. She heard soft footsteps coming closer, a figure came out from the darkness, it was indeed a young girl, clad in green clothing, she walked slowly, casually twirling a large strange looking metal ring in her arms. Xymox stomped and snorted, Sophitia grabbed for her shield. "Looking for SoulEdge? Its not here, but, if I may?" The girl asked softly, her voice was undoubtedly English, she came close, petting Xymox's head. She seemed nice and nonthreatening so Sophitia sheathed her sword and dismounted. "His name is Xymox, he was a gift." The girl continued to pet him," A gift? Such a beautiful animal, I do not think I have ever encountered such a horse, with the wings and all." The girl spoke cheerfully. Sophitia turned toward her and asked," Who are you? What are you doing here?"
The girl began to caress the horses hair, "Wouldn't it seem more fitting to change the wording in your question? Like, 'What are you? Who are you doing here?'" the girl laughed, Sophitia looked at her strangely. "Enough I know, but my presence here should not be the one in question, it is you who I should be asking. But if you are just dying to know, my name is Tira and this is my home." Sophitia looked at her again, could this girl have been a survivor of the first siege on this castle? Could she have been living here all this time? "Do you mean you have been here all this time? Have you lived here you entire life?" The girl stopped petting Xymox and lowered her head.
"What do you think...Sophitia?" Sophitia instantly looked at her with distrust, how did she know her. "How do you know my name?" The girl turned away, and began to walk toward the dark hall. "Well, that is a good question, isn't it?" She turned around, lifting her head, looking at the wall, Tira's voice changed. "I've been so lonely, nobody to see, nobody to play with." Tira's voice seemed on the verge of tears. "To grow up without friends, I want friends, no more enemies." Then Tira's voice turned mean, almost sinister, she looked into Sophitia's eyes, smiling. "You've children, don't you? What fun playmates they would be, don't you think?" Sophitia felt something boil up in her stomach, how dare this beast speak of her family! She reached for her weapons, "Stay away from my children!" Though Sophitia was not one to get angry much, when the girl spoke of her children with an evil smile, she felt overwhelming anger, wanting nothing more than to kill the girl, something she would never normally even consider.
Tira lowered her voice, "Yes, you Greek slag, I want your children, I want to show them things, wonderful, terrible things." Sophitia instantly charged at Tira, but she darted into the darkness of the hall. Her voice came echoing back," Do not worry, you children will be safe." Sophitia quickly remounted Xymox., "Lets go, now!" She said and Xymox turned, galloping out of the castle then took to the sky. She must return immediately, what if the girl had found where she lived, she couldn't bare to think of what might lay at home, she must make sure her family was safe.