Acma grabbed Elutia's wings from behind, tightening her grip to prevent Elutia from flying away.

"Come home with me, sis! Seifer, now!"

Seifer needed no further instruction. He threw the Hyperion at Hynespeed right at Elutia's chest. Elutia quickly conjured a shield, but it was immediately dispersed by Acma from behind. She had no other choice but to use her ice-imbued hands to hold off the blade. However, the blade's momentum continued pushing the sisters backward. Acma spun their bodies in the right direction, causing them to fall into the time portal as she wanted.

"No! No! No!" Elutia struggled to get loose from Acma. She created an Ice Strike and pierced through her sister's side, but Acma held on tight to the lasso around Elutia's waist and wings. Acma endured the pain caused by the Ice Strike as she had no intention of being alive without bringing Elutia out of the Sorceress' ring.

"Shrewdya! Help me!" Elutia shouted one last time, casting the last hope on her knight. However, Shrewdya was no longer her under control, glancing a nonchalant look at the cruel sorceress before dashing to the next opponent.

"Seifer, Shrewdya. Be careful!" Acma said the last word before being completely swallowed by the portal.

The sisters made their way back to the present the same way they had arrived at the future by freely falling for what felt like an eternity. Ellone's voice echoed during their fall, letting them know that their memories of the battle, especially the identities of those participating, would be erased to prevent tampering with the future.

Acma closed her eyes to alleviate the dizziness of the free-falling in the bright tunnel. Her sister's screams were loud and agonizing, but it brought Acma an odd satisfaction that her sister was by her side.

Sooner than expected, they fell out of the portal and began to free-fall on earth. Their bodies made contact with the ground in the present day with loud thuds, then rolling downhill. Based on the color of the soil, Acma was sure that Ellone had successfully brought them back to Esthar.

"Protect!"

Acma tried to cast magic, but oddly nothing came out. She heard Elutia's groan from a distance, seemingly irritated that they had left all their magic behind the time portal. Even with Hyne's core remaining as magic magnets in their bodies, it would take both of them quite a while to regain their magical abilities.

Covered in bruises and certainly more than one bone fracture than the broken right leg, Acma tried to sit up on her left. Being a SeeD who had gone on many adventures before this confrontation, Acma felt indifferent to the pain. Elutia, she thought, may not have experienced physical pain in quite a long time.

"Elutia..."

Acma called to her sister, who was lying only a hundred feet away. Elutia lay still, looking up at the sky. But when she saw Acma near her, she grabbed a rock and crawled towards Acma at a faster pace.

They met and started a cat fight with bare hands, fingernails, and rocks.

They cursed at each other for what they thought the other had taken from them.

"This is for Timeth! For Miss Trepe! Selphie! And Raddie!" Acma screamed with each blow.

"I hurt your friends. I killed many of them. Hurts, doesn't it? Now kill me and continue to live your fucking rainbow life!" Elutia cursed.

They continued fighting until they ran out of breath. Elutia had an idea of jumping on Acma's neck, in hopes of using her weight to strangle her. But Acma was properly trained and was no fool to let that childish move cause her harm.

"Stop! You can't kill me without magic. Admit it," Acma said. "Save your breath. It's getting dark, and we're in the middle of nowhere. There could be monsters."

Seemingly convinced by Acma's legitimate concern, Elutia stopped fighting, curled up, and rested.

"Sorceress Elutia. Almost wiped out Earth. Cause of death: Bite Bug. Quite an eulogy..." Acma said, then chuckled at her own words.

"You think that's funny?"

"I do."

They remained silent for a long time. Both were exhausted, but neither wanted to close their eyes. However, they both knew that without rest or food, they'd be in no shape to move anywhere.

"I have a way to save us. If you say sorry," Acma said.

"I'd rather die."

Acma recalled what life was like in the research camp. They had lived together for more than 10 years before parting, which accounted for more than half of their lives. Yet here they were, calling each other an enemy. Acma couldn't understand the reason.

"Since when did you start to hate me?" Acma asked.

"Can't remember."

"You hid it too well."

"You're stupid."

Acma was hurt by her words, although she found no surprise.

"Why?" Acma asked.

Elutia did not reply.

"After all I have done for you..." Acma began, but Elutia cut her off.

"For me? You've done what? G-day? You killed more than I can count!"

Acma didn't protest. Her sister wasn't wrong.

"Stupid, yet you always sound like you have a plan, that the future is going to be okay. I'm telling you, nothing's going to be fine. We live in a fucked-up camp. Your stupidity may have lulled us into believing in an unrealistic world until we were 5. But after that? Your indifference to our pain makes me cringe. Tomorrow is never getting better. I could have found peace with that. But no, you just have to create false hope for all of us. We'll die anyway, more discarded bodies than I can count. Do you know what they invented after the rat races? They cloned more, and selected only one out of twenty of each class. And yes, with GF junctioning, you could just forget about us all and move on. Six years… I heard you enjoyed petting Mesmerizes…"

Acma let Eluta rant about her suffering during moments that Acma couldn't witness. She blamed Acma for being the luckier one, leaving her behind while enjoying the path to become a goddamn respectable world-class mercenary. Both were trained to be killers, yet Elutia was the one being called a monster. Soon, the world would name Acma as one of its saviors.

"What makes us different? Why can't I have your life? I blame the random game of this life for a 50/50 chance I can be fluffy, bubbly, and happy, with friends and lovers readily willing to die for me. Your life. Your freaking perfect life is what makes me hate you more and more, and more, and more, AND MORE!"

BOOM!

As Elutia finished her rant, Acma shot up a signal flare that brightened up the Esthar's night sky.

Then Acma came up in front of Elutia, her hands flashing a dagger.

"Here. I'll grant you your wish. I'll take your life," Acma said.