12-02-2009, 03:40 AM
Her eyes opened to find that the dream had faded.
Sophia yawned and sat up, rubbing sleep from her still drooping eyes. Her reality sank in—she had hopped from an indescribably good dream to the nightmare, a horror that stood before her like stalker waiting in the night. She sighed gently, a smile creeping upon her lips as she recalled her dream. She dreamed of butterflies, she dreamed of fields of flowers, she dreamed of the warm fairy tales that her father related to her so many years ago. Everything that she wanted to remember, to cherish, had been there, and they had been so suddenly whisked away by reality.
Swinging her legs off the bed, she stood up and straightened her clothing. How long had she been asleep? Things seemed to be unchanged, from every nook down to the very last cranny, though she supposed that she wasn’t conscious enough to even make note of everything. The healer sighed and shrugged her shoulders—it hardly mattered anyway. People were there, nobody was there; in the end, nothing was about to change. She was still on an island, forced to pick perfectly harmless people off one-by-one. Things were like that, and nothing her logic could provide offered her any comfort that they would ever change.
What was her motivation for even being there? She was perfectly fine in the afterlife. King Kai took care of her. She was learning new things. Bubbles was annoying. Everything in her life after death seemed right, as everything was in its proper place. She would have completed her training, sure, but she would have moved onto something else that wasn’t at all like Dante’s Abyss, and she would have been better off for it. It made no sense to her, when she thought about it, that she was fighting so hard to remain in such a miserable existence.
Her conclusion was that she needed to see Kaden. He was the only thing keeping her going. If she could just see him again, even one more time, things would make sense again. She smiled at the thought—the courier had a funny way of putting things in perspective, even when he wasn’t trying. Somehow, she was satisfied with her answer as every brain cell joined in union, bellowing a single thought: find Kaden, nothing else matters.
Exhaling, Sophia moved her feet towards the next room, the main room, where any competitor that passed through would be likely to reside. Pushing the door open, she peaked her head into the next room. Ashe was the first person that Sophia saw, standing awkwardly in the center of the room, next to a large table. The healer tilted her head slightly, following the girl’s fixated line of sight until her eyes rested upon another familiar figure. Tamsin stood, sighing deeply as she looked around. Whatever she had experienced during her last combat day was needed badly, it seemed.
“Hello to you guys, too,” Sophia smirked as she approached the center table. Both ladies glanced in her direction.
“Oh, it’s you,” Ashe spoke. “I was wondering if you’d ever wake up.”
“You were watching me sleep?” the healer chided.
“Heh, no,” the teenager shook her head with a smile. “I’m sure the whole city knew you were sleeping with the way you were snoring.”
The pair shared a laugh, though with Tamsin’s gloomy countenance, it was short lived. The silver-haired girl turned to Sophia. “Have…have you seen my master?”
Master? What had the girl gotten herself into? It didn’t make sense to her until she made note of the maid get-up. She shrugged. “It depends on who your master is.”
“Maleficus Nova,” she answered. “A Namekian.”
Sophia had absolutely no idea what a Namekian was, but she was sure that a name like “Maleficus” would easily return to her memory if called upon. After a moment of thought, the healer shook her head apologetically.
Tamsin sighed. “Oh…”
Sophia glanced at Ashe, whose faced practically shouted “don’t even ask.” She hadn’t planned on it, but she didn’t get the opportunity to even if she had. Suddenly, all of their collars beeped in unison, piercing and echoing through the hollow chambers. All eyes went to their respective devices, fear flashing within the hazed orbs as each pondered their own situation. The healer looked up and glanced between the two girls present—she didn’t want to fight either of them, but if they were the only ones there…
“Shit,” Ashe managed to breathe right before the devices performed their function.
Sophia blinked, and she was teleported to another part of the city. She wished that she had been able to keep her eyes open to see how smooth the transition was, but that was the least of her worries as her frantic eyes darted around, trying to find her opponent. Dim street lights shined on cracked, black concrete, casting eerie shadows upon the ground. The place was as deserted as ever, devoid of any civilization whatsoever save the healer and her new opponent, who had just appeared from thin air.
“Oh no…” Sophia groaned. She glared at her collar, like it could possibly be afraid. “Why is it always somebody I don’t want to fight?”
“FML,” Ashe rolled her eyes. “Uh, hey, Sophia.”
“Hey.”
Sophia had little else to say. What could she say, given the circumstances? “Sorry, Ashe, we might be friendly outside of this island, but you’ll have to excuse me if I try to beat the living daylights out of you.” Somehow, though the sarcasm certainly would not have been lost on the teenager, the healer thought that comment would not fly. Nothing would.
“…let’s just get this over with,” Sophia said, locking eyes with Ashe.
“Sophia?” the pink haired girl seemed uncertain.
Her facial expression pasted itself into her eyes, even when she closed them. “Listen, I…I don’t want to do this.”
“Neither do I, but…”
“…we have to,” the girls spoke in unison.
Sophia nodded. “He’s going to get his fight either way, and I can’t exactly lose…” she touched her halo, an unconscious action.
“What if we just…don’t? What if we refuse?” Ashe managed to maintain some sense of optimism.
“Tested it already. You’ll get a shock,” Sophia tapped her collar. “Or what happened with you and Kaden? I’m not willing to believe that Kaden pounded on you willingly.”
“I…I guess,” she lowered her head. “Maybe they have a way to control us.”
Sophia’s conscious pelted her. Hard. Omission versus commission, she thought, was not much of a choice at all. “But at least…” she continued her thought process aloud. “…we’ll be able to control our own fates.”
“I…I can’t believe…” Ashe held out her hands and looked at them. “I…I don’t even know how to fight.” She laughed nervously.
“I…I can…” tears sparkled within her sockets, on the verge of bleeding out. She had offered the same thing to Tamsin; to end it quickly. ‘It won’t hurt a bit’, she would offer. ‘It’d be over before you knew it.’ Was that the kind of person she had become? An assassin under the guise of a saint? “I can…’t. I can’t do it.”
Like a good dream, the prospect of ever seeing Kaden again seemed to fade away with each word that left her mouth.
Sophia yawned and sat up, rubbing sleep from her still drooping eyes. Her reality sank in—she had hopped from an indescribably good dream to the nightmare, a horror that stood before her like stalker waiting in the night. She sighed gently, a smile creeping upon her lips as she recalled her dream. She dreamed of butterflies, she dreamed of fields of flowers, she dreamed of the warm fairy tales that her father related to her so many years ago. Everything that she wanted to remember, to cherish, had been there, and they had been so suddenly whisked away by reality.
Swinging her legs off the bed, she stood up and straightened her clothing. How long had she been asleep? Things seemed to be unchanged, from every nook down to the very last cranny, though she supposed that she wasn’t conscious enough to even make note of everything. The healer sighed and shrugged her shoulders—it hardly mattered anyway. People were there, nobody was there; in the end, nothing was about to change. She was still on an island, forced to pick perfectly harmless people off one-by-one. Things were like that, and nothing her logic could provide offered her any comfort that they would ever change.
What was her motivation for even being there? She was perfectly fine in the afterlife. King Kai took care of her. She was learning new things. Bubbles was annoying. Everything in her life after death seemed right, as everything was in its proper place. She would have completed her training, sure, but she would have moved onto something else that wasn’t at all like Dante’s Abyss, and she would have been better off for it. It made no sense to her, when she thought about it, that she was fighting so hard to remain in such a miserable existence.
Her conclusion was that she needed to see Kaden. He was the only thing keeping her going. If she could just see him again, even one more time, things would make sense again. She smiled at the thought—the courier had a funny way of putting things in perspective, even when he wasn’t trying. Somehow, she was satisfied with her answer as every brain cell joined in union, bellowing a single thought: find Kaden, nothing else matters.
Exhaling, Sophia moved her feet towards the next room, the main room, where any competitor that passed through would be likely to reside. Pushing the door open, she peaked her head into the next room. Ashe was the first person that Sophia saw, standing awkwardly in the center of the room, next to a large table. The healer tilted her head slightly, following the girl’s fixated line of sight until her eyes rested upon another familiar figure. Tamsin stood, sighing deeply as she looked around. Whatever she had experienced during her last combat day was needed badly, it seemed.
“Hello to you guys, too,” Sophia smirked as she approached the center table. Both ladies glanced in her direction.
“Oh, it’s you,” Ashe spoke. “I was wondering if you’d ever wake up.”
“You were watching me sleep?” the healer chided.
“Heh, no,” the teenager shook her head with a smile. “I’m sure the whole city knew you were sleeping with the way you were snoring.”
The pair shared a laugh, though with Tamsin’s gloomy countenance, it was short lived. The silver-haired girl turned to Sophia. “Have…have you seen my master?”
Master? What had the girl gotten herself into? It didn’t make sense to her until she made note of the maid get-up. She shrugged. “It depends on who your master is.”
“Maleficus Nova,” she answered. “A Namekian.”
Sophia had absolutely no idea what a Namekian was, but she was sure that a name like “Maleficus” would easily return to her memory if called upon. After a moment of thought, the healer shook her head apologetically.
Tamsin sighed. “Oh…”
Sophia glanced at Ashe, whose faced practically shouted “don’t even ask.” She hadn’t planned on it, but she didn’t get the opportunity to even if she had. Suddenly, all of their collars beeped in unison, piercing and echoing through the hollow chambers. All eyes went to their respective devices, fear flashing within the hazed orbs as each pondered their own situation. The healer looked up and glanced between the two girls present—she didn’t want to fight either of them, but if they were the only ones there…
“Shit,” Ashe managed to breathe right before the devices performed their function.
Sophia blinked, and she was teleported to another part of the city. She wished that she had been able to keep her eyes open to see how smooth the transition was, but that was the least of her worries as her frantic eyes darted around, trying to find her opponent. Dim street lights shined on cracked, black concrete, casting eerie shadows upon the ground. The place was as deserted as ever, devoid of any civilization whatsoever save the healer and her new opponent, who had just appeared from thin air.
“Oh no…” Sophia groaned. She glared at her collar, like it could possibly be afraid. “Why is it always somebody I don’t want to fight?”
“FML,” Ashe rolled her eyes. “Uh, hey, Sophia.”
“Hey.”
Sophia had little else to say. What could she say, given the circumstances? “Sorry, Ashe, we might be friendly outside of this island, but you’ll have to excuse me if I try to beat the living daylights out of you.” Somehow, though the sarcasm certainly would not have been lost on the teenager, the healer thought that comment would not fly. Nothing would.
“…let’s just get this over with,” Sophia said, locking eyes with Ashe.
“Sophia?” the pink haired girl seemed uncertain.
Her facial expression pasted itself into her eyes, even when she closed them. “Listen, I…I don’t want to do this.”
“Neither do I, but…”
“…we have to,” the girls spoke in unison.
Sophia nodded. “He’s going to get his fight either way, and I can’t exactly lose…” she touched her halo, an unconscious action.
“What if we just…don’t? What if we refuse?” Ashe managed to maintain some sense of optimism.
“Tested it already. You’ll get a shock,” Sophia tapped her collar. “Or what happened with you and Kaden? I’m not willing to believe that Kaden pounded on you willingly.”
“I…I guess,” she lowered her head. “Maybe they have a way to control us.”
Sophia’s conscious pelted her. Hard. Omission versus commission, she thought, was not much of a choice at all. “But at least…” she continued her thought process aloud. “…we’ll be able to control our own fates.”
“I…I can’t believe…” Ashe held out her hands and looked at them. “I…I don’t even know how to fight.” She laughed nervously.
“I…I can…” tears sparkled within her sockets, on the verge of bleeding out. She had offered the same thing to Tamsin; to end it quickly. ‘It won’t hurt a bit’, she would offer. ‘It’d be over before you knew it.’ Was that the kind of person she had become? An assassin under the guise of a saint? “I can…’t. I can’t do it.”
Like a good dream, the prospect of ever seeing Kaden again seemed to fade away with each word that left her mouth.