Hello everybody. Well I guess I'm kind of new to the 'Tales of Graces' universe here, this is my first shot at a tales of Graces story however I Will strive my hardest to ensure the characters and universe are as close as I can get them.

My summary is awful as always, but bear with me, read the story and let me know what you think as we progress. I'm starting off at one of my favourite points of the game at the story line is going to almost run parallel for a while with mild differences and then of course take its own course.

The characters and world of 'Tales of Graces' do not belong to me they belong to their rightful creators and I just borrow them for your enjoyment and my writing addiction.

Enjoy.

Sophie's hand reached forward carefully for Richards shoulder, even though the purple-haired girl never really showed the emotions she was feeling with a smile, her voice was wrought with happiness.

"Richard, lets make a friendship pact"

Asbel smiled to himself, it was just what he had told Sophie to say and the young girl was really trying to reach out to the little emotion Richard had left. Even through the seriousness of the situation, Asbel found a surge of pride in his heart for her.

"Oh Sophie" Richard sighed his reply at the girl, his eyes showing a momentary compassion for her. Sophie's heart leapt, memories of when they were children filling her mind. If she could only keep talking to Richard, to break through his defenses and make him realise they were friends, not enemies. Its all she wanted. The thought of how things used to be filled her with a strange sensation of warmth.

Until the realisation of what was happening snapped her from her daydream.

The tip of Richard's sword raised from his side, even though he was still kneeling, his head buried in the ground, it held steady. Sophie's eyes widened but she had no chance to retreat, Richards eyes had turned a horrible shade of white and red once more.

"Die."

What happened next happened too fast for Sophie to recollect, Richard looked up at her with a distinctly evil expression, before her world was filled by a bright flash of red light and his sword descended upon her.

"Sophie, look ou-" even Cheria had no time to finish her sentence.

In the flash of a moment, the whole party was thrown backwards to the floor, light and dust filling their eyes and a distinct smell of burning filling their nostrils. Dazed and confused, the ground underneath them was hard and dry.

Asbel coughed, dirt and debris filling his lungs. Reaching out a hand, he carefully reached for Cheria, also pulling herself up off the ground.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked desperately, his eyes scanning around for Malik, Pascal and Hubert. His allies all coughed and started raising to their feet, breathing a sigh of relief his eyes darted to the now destroyed battleground, quickly searching for Sophie.

"Sophie?" he whispered, his eyes falling upon a horrendous sight. Cheria's hands flew to her mouth in disbelief.

The all powerful girl that they knew, lay motionless twenty-yards from where she started, run through by Richard's blade.

"SOPHIE!" this time Asbel shouted her name, his feet willing him towards her quickly. He was slightly aware of Cheria following him and of Richards presence floating somewhere above his head. For some reason, none of that phased him. Getting to Sophie was all he could think of.

His feet skidded to a halt on the dusty floor before her, his hands flying to her shoulders. Richards manic laugh was all he could hear, it filled him with an instant feeling of resentment.

"Sophie! Sophie wake up!" he pleaded, giving the girl before him a shake. She was an awful shade of white and her eyes remained fixed shut. Cheria also called her name to no avail, the lifeless girl not even stirring.

"Sophie, no!" Asbel whispered, "please open your eyes."

"-now there is nothing standing in my way!" Richard's manic rambling finished with a threatening sentence, his whole body being consumed by some sort of aura. When the ground beneath their feet began to tremble, Asbel knew is would be best to depart.

"Asbel, we need to move!" Cheria voiced his feelings, parts of the building around them falling to the trembling floor. He looked down at Sophie, a river of crimson blood flowing to the floor from her chest.

"Sophie, I'm sorry." he grimaced, pulling her up as quickly but carefully as he possibly could, draping her bleeding body around his shoulders and back. Cheria steadied her with a healing hand, wasting no time.

A soft mumble at the harsh movement almost tore both their hearts in two, it was clear that Sophie was suffering. It just filled Asbel's heart with more resentment for the man hovering above them. How could he have done this? It was all happening again, he was losing her again after he vowed never to.

"We have to get out of here!" Hubert shouted to them, dodging debris with Malik. Pascal had already started to run.

"Damn it..." Asbel growled. This was going to get rough on Sophie but they had to make it back to the ship.

As His feet carried them both forward, Cheria still by his side, some sort of strange cocoon had begun to unravel from Richard. Still laughing in insanity, he held his arms out wide, determined to prevent the entire party from leaving. Sophie should have ended things when she had the chance, yet Asbel had told her to try and make things right again, now she was on the brink of death and it was all his fault...

"Faster Asbel!." Malik encouraged, the whole party behind him and encouraging him away from the giant cocoon chasing them. He stumbled, his breath catching, he could not fall, it would damage Sophie even more. His breath was coming in gasps, she was heavier than she looked. He had to push a horrible thought to the back of his mind as he realised just how sticky his back had become, her blood seeping through the seams of his shirt. Her body was cold and all he heard was a distinct mumble here and then as he tripped or missed a stride.

"We are almost there Sophie, just hold on!" Cheria encouraged, their feet finally traveling across the boarding plank to the ship.

"Quickly get us out of here," Asbel barked at his companions, the ship setting sail almost instantly. Even though it was not slow, they all found themselves gritting their teeth as the cocoon changed direction, hurling skyward and blocking out their view of the island completely. They all breathed a sigh of relief as it came to a halt metres from the back of the ship and finished shaping itself. The world fell horribly silent, just enough for Sophie's laboured breathing to become a concern.

"Cheria, Quickly." Asbel pleaded, trying to lower the young purple-haired girl from his back as gently as he could. Hubert and Malik helped her down, Cheria's hands dancing to light with healing artes. Her body was still pale, the blood from her wound making it look more so. There was so much blood it made Cheria queasy. She had healed plenty of mortal wounds and seen plenty of blood before, but this was different, this was Sophie's blood. That chilled her through. Even the light that usually flowed through Sophie's body was gone and for once, she did not look like the all powerful girl they knew. She looked just like the child she was, defenseless and broken.

Cheria's hands quivered as she focused all of her power through them, Hubert leaning in to help her. The wound had gone clean through Sophie's chest and through to her back, she had been completely impaled on Richard's sword.

"Just hold on Sophie." Cheria whispered, the healing process was taking much longer than it should be and she had only succeeded so far In slightly slowing the bleeding. Asbel was clinging to her hand, almost praying to himself.

"Asbel, this is barely working." Cheria said through gritted teeth, she wiped the sweat away from her brow, the healing magic making her entire body tremble.

"Keep going Cheria, we have to help her." Asbel encouraged, wishing he could do more to help, himself, Pascal and Malik could do nothing but watch their efforts with Sophie, all of them waiting on bated breath.

Cheria looked down at the wound, the edges starting to migrate inward, it was working, finally working. She pushed harder, ignoring her blood stained hands and clothes. Sophie murmured, her body twitching with a little bit of life.

"Come on Sophie, you can do it!" Cheria encouraged, her heart lightening. At least Sophie was trying!

Cheria wasn't quite sure when the party's emotions had grown so strong for the little child warrior before her, perhaps it was just her innocent, unknowing charm towards everyone. All Cheria knew is that seeing her hurt and bleeding broke her heart.

"Sophie!" she exclaimed, the purple-haired girls eyes were fighting to flutter open. "You can do it honey, come on."

"A- Asbel?" Sophie croaked, her voice distant and faint.

"I'm right here Sophie," he whispered, letting go of her hand to squeeze her shoulder lightly. "We are all right here."

"C- Cheria? What happened to me?" Sophie attempted to move, but was quickly held down by both Cheria and Hubert.

"You need to stay still Sophie." Cheria whispered, worried at how Sophie's eyes were drifting in and out of focus.

"Richard attacked us, don't you remember?" Asbel asked, his concern apparent. Sophie shook her head lightly, closing her eyes because of the pain.

"What happened to him?"

"He was enveloped by some kind of strange cocoon," Asbel answered, "we aren't really sure what became of him."

Cheria's hands ceased their glow as the wound finished closing, only the freshly leaked blood remained on Sophie's clothes. Sophie leaned her head to the floor and closed her eyes, scrunching them together.

A white hot pain burned behind them, shooting from her head through her body until it got to her feet. She writhed on the ground, willing for the strange pain to stop and could not help the involuntary movements as it continued to assault her body. She called out, willing the torture to stop, Cheria instantly resumed her healing arte, calming her back down.

"Sophie, Sophie what's happening?" she asked, worried. "The wound is healed, I don't understand!" she looked at Asbel with concern.

"Where are you? Where is everyone? Everything is so blurry, I- I can't see you." Sophie said, fear evident In Her voice.

Cheria grasped the hand she was flailing about tightly.

"We are right here Sophie, just hold on." she could feel tears stinging the back of her eyes, this was beyond unbearable.

Sophie's eyes fluttered closed once more and she held on even tighter, watching the young girls gasps for breath. A strange glow had surrounded her like an aura.

"We have to do something, quickly lets get her inside, laying no the ground Will not help!" Cheria barked. Asbel and the others nodded. They all knew there was something more serious, something Richard had done. If they did not act now Sophie could permanently lose her sight.

Asbel made his hand angrily into a fist, he was not going to let that happen, yet he felt so helpless to one of the people he cared for the most in this world. He carefully bent down to pick Sophie up, Her skin cold against his arms and the same awful thought of losing her again in his head.

"Please just stay with us Sophie..."