A/N: Alright guys, Here's another chapter ummm yeah. I apologize if any info bout the 10 Wise Men is wrong, I never played SO2. Umm also I didn't now Sophia's mom's name and I'm too lazy to find out so bear with me. And I forgot if the characters ever met Ryoko so once again, bear with me. So I hope I'm not asking too much as a writer and I hop you're all still with me. We're about a little more than halfway through the story so let's go.

Disclaimer: See the prev. chapters


Chapter 9: Hero

The Madam President stepped out of the shower. She was oblivious to the ordeal currently happening and proceeded to do all her womanly routines. She was pacing her room when a huge blast rocked the underground base.

"What the?" she said, but heard gruff voices outside her room. She quickly looked for the gun she hid, and found the spot.

"Yeah, I think she's in here, alright, enter in 1…2…3…now!" the voice exclaimed. The President was already running to the place where she had put her gun. It was a automatic shotgun with a larger barrel. Amazing what that Leingod woman could create. When the men broke in she pointed the gun right at the perpetrators.

"Woah! Big gun! Don't shoot, we're here to escort you to the hangar," the man said. It was Kian.

"KIAN! We gotta go get her now, they are down the hall!!" a woman's voice yelled. Ryoko Leingod popped her head into the room, her face concealed by the familiar blue helmet.

"Madam, I'm sorry but we have to go!"

"I understand, let's go!" They all clambered out of the room. As they were going to continue to walk down the hall, Peppita came dashing down the opposite side.

"They're coming!! Let's gooo!!" she yelled as she kept dashing down the hall. They all shrugged and followed her down the hall. A wall blew up as they were pacing down the hall.

"Damn! Find cover!!" Kian bellowed. There wasn't an ounce of cover to be found. They were in a perfectly straight hall. There weren't any crates or even debris to hide behind. The soldiers began pouring from out of the hole in the wall. Too many.

"Oh man, can't go left, can't go right,"-Ryoko muttered. She checked her map then grunted.-"Gotta go down then."

"WHAT! You're joking right? We won't survive the fall!!" the President exclaimed.

"M'am you're going to have to trust me."

"I suggest you shut up, m'am," Kian smirked.

"What how dare you?" she yelled. As the soldiers were closing in from either side, Ryoko smiled.

"See you in hell boys!" she yelled. She pointed her gun at the ground. A high intensity laser shot out, and she shot a circle around them. When she finished, she saluted them. She threw a bomb at the group on the left and then kicked the floor down. As they fell the explosion clouded the view and nothing could be seen

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" the President yelled. Everyone else pretty much remained calm. They freefalled for about a minute, then they stopped. Their bodies floated around the room for a second and everyone gasped.

"Shouldn't we have died?" Kian asked stupidly.

"Theoretically, Ryoko where are we?" Peppita asked.

"The Zero Gravity room, that's the reason I knew we'd be safe. Lemme get us down. Computer, increase gravity gradually, to cushion our descent."

"Increasing," the mechanical voice said. The group slowly got lowered to the ground. "Stopping, normal gravity has been attained."

"Alright follow me, the hangar should be close now," Ryoko said. She led them to a small door on the side. They exited into another silver hall which led to a big open area. They simply walked across and walked to big heavy steel doors. Ryoko punched a code into the keypad on the left door.

It slowly slid open to reveal three medium sized combat explorers. Each one was being prepped by a team of pilots and engineers. On the opposite end there were 10 small fighter ships, also being prepped for launch. On the opposite side of the hangar there was another opening , soldiers limping through it.

"Marine, what's the status up there?" Kian asked. He fast-walked over to the man.

"Bad sir, we lost three troops up there, we barely reached it down here," he replied. Kian thanked him and the Marines walked onto a Combat Explorer.

Ryoko spotted the Esteeds and walked over to Clive. "I'm glad your two are safe," she said, and hugged them both.

"Likewise, I'm glad you guys got the President too."

"Clive what is the status on the base?"

"Bad, I already transferred all the data to the safehouse and deleted everything here. They have every level above us, the hangar being the lowest."

"Damn. Are all personnel loaded up?"

"Yeah, there are a couple lads protecting the entrance though-," he stopped because a group of men ran through the entrance.

"Dr. Esteed!! They're coming they've broken the defensive line we set up!"

"Damn it, we need more time!"

"Clive…let's give them some time, we can take the Dragoon," Ryoko said. As she pointed to a secluded section of the hangar. Where there was indeed a ship.

"Hmm…alright, Kian round up some men to help, we'll use the Dragoon, I'll prep it up with Olivia," he said. He nodded to his wife and they went towards the ship. "Good luck guys."

"Yeah, we'll be waiting for your signal," she said and dashed down the hall-"Don't keep us waiting!"

Clive only nodded and gestured for his wife to follow. The group trekked down the hall slowly. They neared the end of the hall and saw a few crates, and dead soldiers. It could be a trap…what if the Nedians were baiting them?

"What do we do Ryoko?" Peppita asked.

"We spring the trap," she replied. She snapped a bomb off her belt and chucked it past the crates. The bomb exploded and there were screams of pain. As they turned and looked they saw dead bodies appearing. There were two men on top of the crates.

"Cloaking?" Kian asked Ryoko.

"Yes, damn it they've already snagged some of my tech. Doesn't matter now, alright get ready they probably already heard the blast," Ryoko replied. She reloaded her gun, everyone did the same.

"But what if more of them have cloaking?" Peppita asked.

"Ughh, that's highly possible…alright Peppita grab this," she said. She handed Peppita some sort of scanner.

"Err…what do I do with this?"

"It is supposed to detect traces of a special ore I used to create the cloaking shielding on the armor. You're going to have to tell us when it picks up one."

"Umm ok- wait there's a trace right now!!" she yelled. As she did multiple shots rang out from in front of them. The shots caught most of the Marines, but the armor Ryoko gave them saved them. Although, the armor did take a lot of damage.

"Where!!" Ryoko yelled. Everyone began firing wildly in front of them. They heard several grunts and three bodies became uncloaked. "Oh, there they are."

"Not too smart giving away their position like that," Kian said arrogantly.

"Wait there are more!" Peppita yelled. But it was too late, everyone felt a gun pressed to their backs.

"We're not stupid you know. Those others were decoys so we could slip around," a gruff voice said.

"Damn, we got caught," Ryoko swore.

"Ah yes, Miss Leingod, thank you for the cloaking suits, they're quite delightful," the voice said again.

"Show yourself you big bully! You're a coward if you can't show your own face!" Peppita yelled.

"Why you little-," he was interrupted by Peppita.

"Gotcha!" she said. She tracked his movements with the scanner. She leapt at the man, it seemed she was kicking air, but a loud satisfying 'thud' resounded. The man was thrown backwards. Peppita quickly brought out her rifle and shot where the man should have been.

The others used the moment to elbow their captors to escape. "Let's head to the ship now!!" Ryoko yelled.

"What if it isn't ready?" Peppita yelled.

"It doesn't matter, it's not going to be any better here!!" she yelled back. The group ran down the hall. But bursts of energy picked off the men in the back. Specifically, Kian's Marines. They always seem to be the first to die.

"Holy Jehovah boys haul some ass!!" he yelled to his men. They quickened their pace and the group found themselves in the hangar again. They ran to the Dragoon and dashed up the entrance ramp. The other combat explorers had already left, which left the Dragoon alone in the hangar.

"Clive!! Close the entrance ramp!!" Ryoko yelled as she burst into the cockpit.

"W-What are you doing here? The prep isn't ready yet!!"

"Just do it!! And turn on the weapons system and the heat sensor I installed."

"Alright, you heard her Olivia," he said grumpily. His wife nodded and did what she was told. Olivia began punching numbers in methodical precision.

"Ryoko, what do you want us to do?" Kian asked.

"I want half of your men to guard the entrance ramp, just in case. The rest of you follow me to the gunner pods."

Everyone nodded and followed her. The Dragoon was shaped like a oval, with 4 engines in the back. On either side of the ship were 4 gun pods on the top and 4 on the bottom. Amounting to a total of 16 guns, 8 guns on either side. It had 4 missile and torpedo ports on the front below the cockpit. The cockpit was at the head of the craft. The Dragoon wasn't large but neither was it small. It could hold about 20 people, 25 stretching it.

The gun pods were manually gunned. Their turning radii were limited so that the guns could not shoot at each other. However it was desgined such that sum of the gun's angles were 360. Which meant no enemy was safe.

"Alright so the men should be displayed on your targeting computers. Also be careful and don't overheat the laser batteries. Alright I got one on my scope right now," she said as she pulled the trigger. Bright green laser bolts struck a spot and 2 soldiers went flying.

The troops began flooding into the room, invisible and visible. The group was hard pressed to contain them.

"Almost done," Clive's voice rang on the loudspeaker.

"Clive better hurry!! An Oso is moving in, you have about 4 minutes, considering the charge time," Ryoko replied.

"Crap…ok 3 minutes."

"Guys focus your fire on the Oso!!" Ryoko yelled. But as she said it a blast from the Oso came speeding toward them.

"Well, it's been nice knowin you guys," Kian said tragically. Everyone sighed but knew he was right. 5…4…3…2…1…'boom'. Wait why didn't they blow up?

"I did it!! The shields are on line we are ready to gooo!!" Clive yelled, uncharacteristically. They heard the engines whir to life and the ship hovered off the ground. They felt blasts from the soldiers on the ground but the shields took them with ease. The engines roared to life, and blasted them upwards to the surface.

"Alright ETA to rendezvous, 2 hours," Clive's voice rang on the loudspeaker. Everyone relaxed in their seats and took off their headsets. "Uhh Ryoko, you're kidding me right?" his voice rang again. Everyone was puzzled at what he could mean.

"Nope, I'll trust in your glorious piloting skills."

"Thanks Ryoko, you're a real pal."

The rest of the crew just sat where they were, undoubtedly lost in the dark.

"The hell you talking 'bout?" Kian asked.

"The Rendezvous is set for Expel," she said smiling.

"Wait that's like another planet," Kian stated.

"Yes Kian, Expel is another planet," she said, amusedly. Clearly she was having fun with them.

"But that means we have to get off the planet…past the Nedian blockade…" Kiam said.

"Yup," Ryoko simply stated.

"Shiiiiiiiitttt," Kian said. What on Earth was she thinking? Ryoko just reclined her chair and sat back.

"Alright guys prepare the gunpods, we're gonna see some action." Everyone was dumbstruck at her. Peppita thought, "Well I've lived a good life? Haven't I?" Ryoko only chuckled again.


"Fayt come here," Maria said to him. Fayt shyly smiled and walked over but then the scene changed. Instead of being in a field of flowers, they were in a prison cell. Maria was chained up, and bruised. Blood trickled down her neck. "F-Fayt…please save me."

"M-Maria, what have they done to you?" he asked.

"S-Save me, they're h-hurting me!!" she moaned.

Fayt opened his mouth but only woke up. Beads up sweat lined his forehead, and his whole body was throbbing in pain. He was laying on his bed in the Embassy. "Maria…" he whispered.

"Hey there, you're awake," Cliff said softly. He came through the door with a tray of food on it.

"Cliff! We gotta go! We have to rescue Maria!" Fayt yelled. He threw the blankets and sheets off himself. As he attempted to get out of bed he fell face-first onto the floor.

"Kid…" Cliff whispered softly. He watched as Fayt struggled to get his boots on. Cliff walked over and picked him up. He placed him back on his bed. Fayt was flailing around wildly again with a boot on one foot, and the other without.

"I…I couldn't save her. I couldn't stop them!!" he yelled. "You…you told me that if I didn't do anything…then shit wouldn't happen!! Well guess what? It happened!" he yelled bitterly.

"Fayt, Calm the hell down," Cliff said sternly. Fayt shut up due to the sharpness of his tone. "Stop acting like a baby and chill, some things are just meant to happen."

"But why this? I refuse to believe that there is a god out there anymore. We killed our god. He wasn't a savior, or someone to turn to, he was a demon!" Fayt yelled.

"Fayt, shut up, keep your head on straight. Look I know how you feel, she's like a little sister to me. I…I let them take her too. But we have to stay calm, and think rationally so we can save her. Do you understand?"

Fayt was silent and merely nodded. Cliff opened the balcony door and moved the blinds. The bright morning sun leaked in and Fayt let the warm sun bask his face.

"Here I got you some food," Cliff said. He turned around and gently lifted the tray onto his lap. The soup was nice and hot and the bread was soft and crunchy on the outside. Cliff brought him some French Onion and a French baguette.

Fayt tore a piece of the bread off and dipped it into the soup. "This tastes so good right now!" Fayt let out and laughed.

Cliff smiled, "That's the spirit, don't worry we'll get Maria back, and then some." Fayt nodded and smiled. He continued to eat his meal as birds chirped in the background. Cliff's side began to ring. Cliff looked at his communicator and answered it.

"Hey Mirage what's up?" Cliff asked cheerfully. Fayt put down his soup for a second and looked over.

"Cliff are you alright? How is Fayt and everyone there?" Mirage asked. Her voice was grave and boded ill. It couldn't be good.

"We're good, we just weathered a storm, did you hear about-," he got cut off.

"Yeah…I did…in fact that's why I'm calling…you know what let's just talk about it when we get here." Once again her response was terse and grave.

"That didn't sound good," Fayt said unemotionally. He kept his eyes trained on the tree outside.

"Yeah, don't dwell on it now. We'll deal later. So do you feel up for travel?"

"Gimme a sec," he replied. He slurped the rest of his soup, and slowly stood up. He used the small table to stabilize himself. Once he had rose to full height he jumped up and down. "I'm good."

"Alright let's go and see Nel and Albel before we head back to Aquaria."

"Right."


Nel lay on her bed. Her whole body was in shock. She had never taken a direct blast from a rifle before. If it had been anyone lesser, they'd probably be dead right now. But Nel was made of tough stuff. She ruffled her hair and sat propped herself straight up on the bed. She buried her head in her hands. She felt like she had drunk too much the night before. It had only happened once, but she would never forget it.

She looked up as the door opened. Albel came slouching in. He looked at her for a second through his long hair. He propped himself against the wall. It was silent for a second and the silence was maddening.

"Nox?" Nel asked.

"H-How are you feeling magg- I mean Nel," he said, with obvious difficulty. At least he was looking at her though.

"I've been better," she said, attempting to smile. Her throat was dry, and her voice was hoarse. Another awkward silence. It was broken when Fayt and Cliff walked in. Albel merely nodded in response to Fayt and Cliff's greeting.

"Hey, how you guys feeling? Especially you Nel, you got pretty banged up," Fayt asked.

"I'm good, how about yourself, I heard you kicked some serious ass," Nel said smiling.

Fayt smiled weakly in return, "Haha, I took some names."

"So where is Maria? I have to thank her for keeping me safe through that ordeal," Nel asked innocently. Everyone's faces darkened. "D-Did I say something wrong?" she asked embarrassed.

"She…she was taken by the men that attacked," Cliff said gravely. Fayt just stared out the window. Obviously a wave of emotions flowing through him.

"W-What? T-That's impossible…" she trailed off. She looked around and knew that they were serious. She lowered her head in disbelief. Nel could feel the tears burning the inside of her eyelids. Her long bangs hid her face as she sobbed slowly.

"We came to tell you guys that…we're leaving, we gotta go after her, before we lose the trail, and what not. So we came to say goodbye," Fayt said.

"Goodbye? We're coming with you fool," Albel said suddenly. He has his usual cocky grin on his face.

"W-What? It's too dangerous, you maybe, but Nel? She's in no shape to travel!" Fayt exclaimed.

"I think he's right Nel, Albel can come but…you're in no shape to travel," Cliff said. He looked at her, head still hung in grief.

"Shut up, I'm coming with you. If Fayt can travel then I should be able to too!" she exclaimed. Nel craned her neck to look at him, and she looked at him fiercely. She immediately jumped up and walked around. "See, I'm fine."

"Alright, Alright, hell hath no fury right Cliff?" Fayt asked, smiling.

"Yeah, definitely," Cliff replied. They said no more and Cliff and Fayt returned to their room to pack up all their gear. They stayed another night and then met up with Nel and Albel the next morning. Fayt and Cliff, carried the one bag that Cliff brought down.

"Hey Cliff what happened to my swords?" Fayt asked. He could not find them last night and Cliff was already snoozing. They walked past the statues Cliff had broken, that were steadily being repaired.

"Well you sorta fried them after juicing them up with all that power," he said slowly.

"Oh…that's great…err so what am I gonna use? I feel…defenseless without anything to protect myself," Fayt said, embarrassed.

"Oh, don't worry there is a laser weapon in the Eagle II," he said simply.

"Yeah, but we still have to travel to Aquaria," he said.

"Oh don't worry I have a hunch we'll see the Eagle really soon," Cliff said arrogantly. He left Fayt gawking at the back of his head. Cliff simply smiled, and Fayt followed. They immediately spotted Nel and Albel outside the embassy. Nel was leaning against a tree, Albel against the embassy wall. There was a dead silence between the two. Despite the sounds of chatter on the street, people repairing homes, and others just going about their normal lives, there was tension in the air. Then again there is always tension between them. Fayt looked at the people, and envied them.

"Sometimes I wish that I still lived normally," Fayt muttered under his breath. He remembered life before all this. Living as an innocent and carefree teen, Fayt sorely missed it. He missed eating burgers and fries, watching movies, chilling with friends. He even remembered the time his friends suckered him to go to a college party. He woke up with a terrible hangover, naked next to some very attractive girl. Who was equally nude as him.

He really did miss it…but, duty calls and somebody has to deal with it. Unfortunately he had to play hero. Hero…he remembered constantly wishing his life was an action movie. Fayt always longed to be the hero…have amazing powers, and get the girl.

So far his life had turned into that roller coaster, he hated it. He did have amazing powers…more of a curse really. And he almost had the girl, but his own stupidity cost it.

And the possibility of never seeing her again, hurt, he felt a tightening in his chest and banished the thoughts away. I have to live in the now, and I can't dwell in the past, he thought.

"YO! Elicoor to Fayt!" Cliff yelled. Fayt turned around and looked at him.

"What! I'm having a moment here!" he yelled back.

"We're leaving let's goo!!" Cliff yelled. Albel, Nel, and Cliff were already leaning against the entrance gate. Fayt sighed and strode across the courtyard. He stopped as he spotted something in the sky. At first it looked like nothing more than a falcon. But no, it got bigger, and bigger. It was a ship, specifically the Eagle.

"Hey…Cliff isn't that the Eagle?" he asked. People began to notice the strange object and dropped what they were working on.

Cliff looked up, then he looked bemusedly at the people.. "As a matter of fact, it is. I wonder who would be flying it though?"

"Get ready guys, they could be hostile. Looks like your hunch was right Cliff," Fayt said. His hand went to his side, as if to grab his sword. Then he realized, and remembered that there was no scabbard. And he remembered that his swords broke.

"Ha, I guess I am right, let's just hope it's good news." The Eagle hovered off the ground for a bit, it blew a bit of dust off the ground. Everyone shielded their eyes and stood ready. As the engines powered off, the hatch opened up.

"Haha, I come in peace!" A gruff but cheerful voice said, from inside the ship. A large, shirtless man stepped out. The man was huge, and probably even stronger than Cliff.

"Big Muscly Maggot! How the hell did you manage to fly that piece of shit?" Albel asked. Adray gawked at him.

"Nice to see you too Albel, oh and you still owe me a duel," Adray replied. Cliff walked over to the big man and offered him his hand. Adray took it, and the two kept tightening each other's grip. They smiled at each other, then each loosened each other's grip.

"Looks like you're as strong as ever Adray," Cliff said beaming. "So how did you fly that thing here?"

"Nice to see you too Cliff, you still owe me a pushup contest. And honestly, I just played with the controls until I could keep it in the air. Cept, I did blow up a few buildings in Aquios," Adray smiled mischeviously.

"Well regardless, you are here. And you're timing couldn't be any better, we were just about to return. We need to get off the planet to save the world again," Cliff said casually. He smiled at him, "No biggie right?"

Adray laughed heartily then turned to Fayt. "Whaddaya say Fayt? Are we gonna save the world again?"

"Uh yeah sure…your help would be, er great," Fayt said, he ended with a smile. He was afraid of saying 'no' to Adray Lasbard.

"Alright let's go!!" Adray yelled, and he dashed back into the ship. Everyone sighed and followed him in. Nel and Albel each propped each other in a seat, they placed their baggage down on the floor beside them. Adray was enthusiastically jabbing at the controls. Fayt sat in a chair behind Adray. The ship whirred to life.

"Soooooooooo, where we going?" Everyone sighed and Cliff told Adray to give the navigation chair to Fayt. Adray protested, but quickly shut up. Fayt laughed and got in the chair. He pulled up the space map on the screen.

"Cliff where we headed?" Fayt asked. He punched a few more buttons and the ship hovered off the ground and blasted upwards towards space. The people on the ground gazed in wonder at the technological wonder.

"We are heading to Expel."

"Ok…Expel…coordinates Mark 15 Course 234 Point Q."

"Sounds about right," Cliff said as he listened to Fayt. He reclined in the captain's chair. The small bridge of the Eagle II was quiet for a while.

"So why Expel Cliff?" Fayt asked. He continued to input the final set of data and double checked it.

"That's where the Diplo is orbiting right now, Expel is a neutral sector so it is an ideal place to hide. And Mirage knows some people within the Expellian government, who owe her stuff."

"Oh." Fayt finished checking the info, and pressed 'confirm'.

"Destination confirmed, time to destination, 12 hours," the cool mechanical voice said.

"Ughh 12 hours on this hunk of junk?" Albel yelled.

"Hey get used to it, and my ship isn't junk, it is actually one sophisticated piece of metal," Cliff replied angrily.

"Maggot…" Albel muttered. He shifted around in his seat and went to sleep. Nel and Adray looked in wonder out the porthole at space.

"So Cliff what's new with the Eagle?" Fayt asked. He eased back in his chair and yawned loudly.

"Ermm… hmmm. Let's see it is considerably bigger. It has two showers now, with one full bath. And there is a small two bed room at the end through that door. Umm the engine is faster than the old one. Err stronger shields and weapon capabilities…oh and a gourmet food replicator!! It has all this stuff like one thing called Bouillabaisse!!" he said excitedly.

"What the hell is that?" Fayt replied.

"I have no clue, but it kicks ass! You want some?"

"Sure." Fayt shrugged. Cliff got up but Fayt stopped him. "Err Cliff, you might wanna hold out on that kick ass Bouillabaisse. We got company."

"What is it?"

"I dunno it might be hostile, I'm going to run the comp's defensive maneuvers. There are three combat explorers and 1 heavy cruiser."

"Alright, open a line, I wanna talk to them. We're no match for them in a firefight though." Fayt nodded and did so.

The ship sped towards the convoy and began running it's evasive run.


"Ryoko, I can't believe we survived that!" Clive sighed with relief.

"I told you not to worry! I had complete trust in my new Warp Drive, besides we perfected the symbol required for the tech!!" Ryoko replied. Everyone was still reeling from their escape.

They had just left the atmosphere and were about to get decimated by the Nedian armada when they warped. Ryoko's warp drive enabled you to transport from one spot to another, instantaneously. Almost like a transporter, but on a much larger scale. The only downside was…

"Ryoko! I'm picking up a small cruiser flying on our same trajectory towards Expel. It's weapons are primed!" Clive yelled stiffly. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, since it was two Combat Explores and a Cruiser against a light cruiser. Just bigger than a fighter. Except the warp drive left them totally defenseless, No shields or weapons. Which was the same for the Combat Explorers.

"Ryoko, they've opened a comm. Line with us," Clive said as he prepared to open it.

"Bring em' on screen," Ryoko replied tersely. A muscular blond man appeared on screen.

The blond man coughed than looked on to the screen. "Hello, this is Captain Cliff Fittir of the Eagle, we're not looking for any-hey wait! Fayt isn't that you mom?" Ryoko stood puzzled for a second at the blond man's reaction.

"What the hell are you talking about?" a blue haired youth said as he looked up from his console.

"Fayt!!" Ryoko screamed.

"M-Mom? Wh-What the? How the? What is going on?" Fayt asked.

"Y-You're ok!!" Ryoko yelled tearfully.

"Y-Yeah, but I thought you were on Earth…say where are you guys headed?"

Ryoko looked puzzled at her son's random question. "Expel, why?"

"We're headed their too…woah what are the odds…Anyways, let's just get caught up when we get there. You guys should just hang back in our wake. The Eagle is a speed demon," Fayt smiled.

"It's good to know you're safe son," Ryoko replied.

"You too mom, I'll see you when we land," Fayt smiled. Clive cut the line and remained on course. He set back in the Eagle's slipstream. Although, it didn't matter since there wasn't any air in space.


Maria slowly stirred in her sleep. She awoke to find herself in a cell. However it wasn't an old type cell. It was modern, instead of bars there was an energy barrier. She was laying on a bed. There was a very dim light, and it took a while for her eyes to adjust.

She examined her surroundings. There was a toilet against the wall, and another bed. There was a person on it. Maria tried to get up but her body ached too much. She lay back down and wondered how she was captured twice in a span of one week? She propped herself on her side and looked at the person on the bed.

She seemed strangely familiar to her. The person was female, she had long light brown hair, big eyes…Sophia!! "Sophia…" Maria whispered.

Sophia muttered something in her sleep, and she moaned and turned on her bed.

"Sophia!" Maria blurted. Sophia shot up, and looked around alarmed.

"Who that?" Sophia asked stupidly. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, she looked at Maria.

"It's me Maria," she whispered back.

"Maria?"-she took a better look at her-"Maria! On no! They got you too?"

"Yeah I guess, they were after Fayt too, but they couldn't he used his powers I guess." Maria looked at Sophia and smiled. She returned her smile and there was an awkward silence that followed. They both obviously remembered their last encounter and each one felt embarrassed.

Sophia caved first and broke into sobbing. She walked over to Maria's bed, and hugged her. The act surprised Maria at first and her body went rigid at first. But then she relaxed and tightened the embrace and hugged her back.

"I'm s-s-so s-sorry," Sophia moaned through her cries.

"I-It's ok," Maria replied. She began fighting back tears too. She was confused and didn't know why she felt like that but forgot about it. They separated and began talking about their current situation. Sophia telling Maria what had transpired to her, and Maria did the same.


A/N: Ok guys, like I said stay with me and the questions will be answered, hopefully.\