Disclaimer: I don’t own Star Ocean or its characters.

Notes: I am trying! I really hope to have Star Ocean: The Untold Story updated next. Nope, I haven’t forgotten about that one either. I really shouldn’t start so many stories…

Flashbacks in italics

Dreams will be in –italics with dashes-

Indirect speech (telepathy of sorts) –in dashes-

Burnt Flowers

Part Eight

Despite the protest issued by most of the group, Aqua led the way through the twisting tunnels. Her small legs pumped hard to cover as much ground as possible without running. Each time the path branched, she took only seconds to choose a destination.

Halfway down the fifth hall, she paused.

"Aqua? What's wrong?" Elena asked in a whisper.

The girl lifted her hand and pointed to the next junction. The hall ended and the path followed a sharp right and a sharp left turn. In the silence a series of shuffling noises could be clearly heard.

"On the right. The key and the gatekeeper are there; but they aren't alone. Two more are there and they are under his control."

Fayt pushed his way to the front. "Then we help them. If Sophia's alive...we have to help her."

He didn't wait for a response. Drawing his sword, he sprinted ahead and around the corner. Awaiting him were the two Aqua had spoke of. Each man moved slowly away; keeping their backs to him. Glyphian uniforms, tattered and filthy, identified them as former soldiers. Neither turned to investigate his noisy entrance. Their attention was set on something Fayt could not see.

Fayt felt the air beside him shift and instinctively knew that Cliff had joined him at the front line. In a routine they had perfected not long ago, they positioned themselves for battle in unison. Set to pounce, they were stopped when one soldier issued a blood curdling scream.

The back of the uniform belonging to the screaming soldier jetted out. Something glistened in the low lighting before retreating. The soldier dropped like a rock.

Fayt faltered. His muscles tensed as he saw the last thing he had ever expected to see. Standing just a few paces from the fallen soldier was Sophia. She was breathing heavily. The front of her dress was covered in blood he knew was her own. Her eyes were vacant again, but there was a hint of recognition. She was hunched slightly, using all her physical energy to hold the weapon up.

Behind her was Albel, sprawled on the floor. He was fighting to move. Though all of this was a shock, the most surprising thing was the weapon Sophia held. In both hands she had a tight grip on the Crimson Scourge.

Fayt took a step forward. He was unsure if the other soldier was the only threat. As much as he was relieved to see Sophia alive, the blankness of her eyes frightened him. As he stared into them he sensed a difference. It was obvious, but still as equally frightening, that the girl in front of him was under some form of power unlike the one she had been earlier.

She exhaled and turned sharply. Fayt reacted by preparing to block her blow; but she had never aimed at him. Instead of clashing steal with Fayt, her thrust found the remaining soldier. It was as if the sword had moved her instead of her wielding the weapon.

After the soldier was down, Sophia dropped the sword. She trembled throughout her whole being as she dropped to her knees.

"Oh, Kelino. I'm so sorry," she whispered coarsely.

Fayt rushed to kneel in front of her. The katana blade marked a line between them.

"Sophia? Who are you talking to?"

She turned her eyes up to meet his. His reflection peered out at him from a hazy green plane. The girl before him appeared to be Sophia with the exception of her outfit and the dullness in her stare. The girl he remembered was always so full of life. The one he looked at gave him chills. He could read death in her eyes. Death, with a subtle hint of hope.

“Casten dum syl senyor. Sid du maka”

She blinked and her eyes began to focus more. She leaned slightly to one side before straightening up. Her head nodded toward the sword resting on the ground and back up to Fayt.

"Fayt?" she asked as if it were the first time she had noticed him there.

"I'm here. Sophia, are you okay?"

"I have to get to the spring... Kelino said to get to the spring..."

"Who's Kelino? You mentioned him before."

She didn't answer him as she attempted to stand. Her efforts propelled her half the way before she sank back down to the ground. She groaned. Fayt extended his hand, but she swatted it away. Her eyes glazed over again.

“Du maka!”

"Sophia..." Fayt struggled to fight off his confusion as Sophia spoke gibberish.

She scooted back on her hands and knees. When she had almost escaped his range, she made a quick grab for the sword that rested between them.

"He can't stay here. Not alone."

Fayt tilted forward. "Who? Who can't stay here alone?"

Her darkened eyes pinned him. "My master. He's alone. All he has is me."

Fayt heard the rustle behind him. He knew everyone was watching over his shoulders at the scene unfolding. Sophia inched back further until her toes found Albel's hip.

"Who's your master?" Nel asked sternly.

"Romero!" she wailed as if the name itself burned her throat. She hugged the sword to her chest, cutting her palms in the process. She shook, almost uncontrollably.

Fayt started to stand slowly, eyeing her cautiously. What ever Romero had done to her, the effects were both potent and unstable. Then he noticed she was not the one shaking. It was the sword. Somehow the sword was vibrating.

Adray had noticed it also. "She's holding the Crimson Scourge. It has caused her to go insane."

"No," Albel said with a strong voice. Everyone had been so focused on Sophia that no one had seen him stand. He loomed over Sophia as he looked down at the girl. She hadn't noticed him nor had she made any motions to indicate that anything had her full attention.

"The girl is not insane. She is fighting the curse."

-It can't be undone- Kelino responded. Only Albel and Sophia could hear him.

Sophia winced as emerald green set normalcy in her stare. "It can't be undone? Kelino...are you sure?" The haze in her eyes swarmed in a full circle before retaking her. Her mouth, once posed in a desperate protest, went slack.

Albel released a small, yet noticeable, growl. Bending, he lifted Sophia off the ground by both shoulders. "Come on, girl.”

Like dead weight, Sophia didn’t protest. Nor did she help. In a trance she allowed Albel to guide her further into the room. Fayt knew that nothing should be able to shock him, not after everything that had unfolded, but he was surprised none the less to see how gently Albel handled Sophia. He allowed her to walk at her own pace as they approached a small spring in the back of the room.

He had been so dazed by Albel’s actions that it was Cliff who got his attention and not the rocks that rained from the cave’s ceiling. Cliff landed a steady hand on Fayt’s shoulders to keep him out of the way of any falling debris. Forming a wall between the group and the couple headed for the spring, rubble blocked the way. By the time things quieted, Fayt could no longer see Sophia or Albel.

“They belong to me. I can not allow any of you to interfere.”

All eyes raced across the rubble to spy Romero perched against the new wall. Violet eyes full of malicious scanned the group without concern. He smiled, allowing both fangs to protrude forward in show.

Cliff inched forward; Adray not far behind him. Both were posed for battle.

Romero simply grinned at the approaching duo. His head shook slightly from one side to the other; fine white hairs brushing his cheeks like gentle fingers. “I think your energy would be better spent on saving your own lives and not on fighting me.”

“No!” the tender, yet forceful, voice of Aqua yelled. “You offer only false hope and a broken dream. I am of the prophet’s line and therefore a cousin to the Dranclan. Directly linked, though not of blood, I can easily see through you and to the truth.”

Romero laughed. “To bring such a tender and delicate child into the den of a monster! Surely mankind has only evolved into a creature of limited intelligence.” Romero pushed himself off the wall and glared at the small girl. “With your blood I shall draw that line of power from you. The powers the Chief bestowed upon your line will be mine. But not now, for I have more pressing issues to deal with.”

Before another sound was uttered, Romero vanished.

--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------

Sophia drifted in and out of consciousness. In one second she was aware of Albel guiding her. In another second, her mind was unfocused. She watched the spring creep closer as if the room were influenced by a strobe light. Her head was throbbing slightly and her torso burned.

Albel didn’t stop to adjust his hold on her as he reached the spring. In her grasp, she held fast to the sword. It was her anchor to the world of the living as her mind wandered dangerously close to the world of the dead.

The cool water lapped her ankles and Albel pushed her on. Before she regained control, she was buried up to her neck in the clear healing waters. Her vision was blocked by the tattered shirt worn by her companion. She blinked furiously, trying to rid her eyes of the blankness that wanted to take them over.

“Albel… When this is over, I’m going to die.”

The fingers on his flesh hand tightened around her arm. “No, you will not.”

She swallowed as the burn in her torso subsided. A welcomed cooling had spread through her and she felt almost as rested as a full night’s sleep would have provided. “I’ve been tainted. His poison is in my blood and there is no way to get rid of it. If I stay as I am, I will constantly have to fight the urge to consume b-b-blood.” She sobbed and nearly chocked on her last word.

“Humph. And so far you have already proven stronger than the curse. So you live with it. Death is only a coward’s option.”

“I might hurt someone. I almost killed Fayt.”

Albel released a dry chuckle. “No loss there,” he whispered under his breath.

Sophia heard him but didn’t respond. She wasn’t sure if he was speaking his mind or attempting to be humorous. She tried her best to swallow her tears as she ventured a look into his face. His red eyes met hers with emotions she had never seen before. Worry clouded his face.

She recalled the way her chest had tightened when she thought he was dead. Now, it tightened again but in anticipation for the death she was sure she would surrender to. She had been altered and had lived with it. Those alterations were for the hopes of survival and life. Her new altercations were for nothing more than death and power.

She felt dirty and violated. She shivered despite the warmth she felt.

Albel swayed slightly as the healing waters worked to refresh his tired muscles. He cleared his throat. “First, we take care of this. After Romero is nothing more than a lost memory we will worry about the curse.”

Sophia nodded, allowing her head to tilt forward until it rested on Albel’s chest. Her chin was now soaking in the water around them.

“I’m ready. I will do what I need to in order to repair the damage I have done.”

“You are too hard on yourself,” Albel responded in a tone she had never heard before. She could clearly pick up on his attempts to both give her encouragement and the will to continue. “Romero is a monster of his own. You bare no responsibility to that.”

Sophia nestled her face closer to him. “No, I did not make Romero, but thanks to the knowledge I have now under this curse I am aware that it was me that reopened the door. Because of my genes, Romero was allowed to escape. I might not have known it, but it was my fault.”

“Yes it was, girl,” the dark voice of the intruder spoke from the shadows. “You were the light that led me from the darkness. You are mine.”

Sophia snapped her head up to face Romero. Instantly her heart both jumped and recoiled. She fought herself as part of her wanted nothing more than to embrace the demon. When Albel tightened his grip on her arm, she was rudely brought back to a place where she wanted nothing to do with Romero.

She wanted to be free of the curse.

“I belong to no one!” she shouted.

Romero strolled along the edge of the water at a safe distance. “Oh? The blood in your veins calls to me. You want me and you will not be able to fight it for long. Should you try, you will go mad.”

Sophia bit her lip. The very edges of her mind confirmed his statement. The side of her that lived in that darkness relished it. It wanted to be free to do as it wanted. It wanted fresh blood, screams from innocent deaths and chaos.

Her eyes dulled over; but only for an instance. As the darkness fused through her, the healing waters countered.

Romero laughed. “You can not stay there forever. I shall have you and the last Dranclan will fall.”

Sophia backed away from Albel; who was more focused on the movements made by the dark prince than of her. His grip dropped from her shoulders.

Feeling the absence of her, but not registering it, Albel turned to face the demon head on. He growled in contempt. “I will end you.”

Violet eyes clashed with red as the two men locked in a stare down. Albel’s gaze fixed up at the man standing by the water’s edge. A battle for dominancy had overwhelmed them; leaving room for nothing else.

Both men were snapped from their trance when Romero yelled in agony. He staggered back, but not far. He wasn’t allowed much room as he futilely attempted to retreat. He gasped as his vision left the swordsman and drifted to the protrusion that had intruded on his silent battle.

A blade punctured him between his blackened hearts. As the tip rested halfway through him, the hilt was occupied by the girl. She hissed at him, baring the fangs he had bestowed upon her. Her face twisted in agony.

--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------

(A/N) At this point, I have no idea where this story is headed. The dark tone to it is in tact, making me also wonder as to what kind of ending a story such as this can have.