Author's Note: I know that this fic has seemed cheesy and like a soap opera in the previous, but it will all make sense in due time. I'd also like to apologize for taking forever to update this. But I haven't forgotten this, just needed to get around to it. Thanks for understanding.

~Irenicus

"Cervantes."

The pirate chuckled. "Aye, Schtauffen. Ye have a knack for statin' the obvious." Siegfried glared down at the man and opened his mouth to speak.

"I killed you years ago. There is no way you could've survived that," he said darkly. Cervantes smiled, and his eyes began to glow in a hellish light.

"Ah, but 'oo says I'm quite alive. You know why I've come. Tell me where the Blade is, and I might see fight to call off me little...raid 'ere," he said.

"I relinquished the ownership of that thrice bedamned object. Just as I know release you permanently from this mortal coil," Siegfried said through gritted teeth. Raising Zweihander high, he attacked.

Charging down the bowsprit of the Lensanqia, Siegfried whirled Zweihander high over his head in a helicopter motion. He was closing the distance to the pirate.

Ten feet...five feet...one foot. Siegfried swung, using the flat of the blade like a cudgel. Just as the blade would have connected with the pirate, however, it hit only air. Cervantes had disappeared. Siegfried whirled around, looking for the pirate, but he was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging, he bounded off to look for another fight, when suddenly the pirate crashed down on the knight. Locked in a melee fist fight, the two combatants rolled in a tangle of fists and fury.

***

Sophitia deflected the blow of a raider with her shield and then bashed it into his face. He crumpled like a rock. Wasting no time, she rushed over to another foe. This one wielded a crude scimitar in one hand and an odd looking dagger in the other. He snarled at her, revealing many yellow teeth, and attacked.

His first swing she parried easily, bringing Omega sword up to deflect the blow. She swung her shield around to block the dagger. The raider, his arms spread out, had no chance of blocking her next move. She swiftly brought up her iron-covered knee and slammed it into his groin.

He crumpled unconscious after a crunch was heard.

Satisfied with her work, she ran off looking for another fight…

…only to trip over a grappling Siegfried and another short man. Both were grunting and yelling at each other. Siegfried finally landed on top and started to slam his iron knuckled fist into the pirate's mouth. Blood soon began to flow. The pirate started to gag and choke on his own blood. Eventually the noises stopped. Still Siegfried pounded and pounded. Sophitia couldn't take it anymore.

"Siegfried! Stop!!!" she cried and pulled the large man off of the smaller one. Siegfried gasped for breath as though he'd been held underwater for a long while. He stared at his surroundings, as though seeing them for the first time. Then he looked at his bloodied hands.

"What the hell happened?" he stuttered.

***

A few hours later, the affects of the raid had been cleaned up. All but one of the pirates had been accounted for, and Siegfried had a good guess as to what had happened to it. Soon, the Lensanqia was underway again.

Night soon fell. The stars began to peek out slowly as the sun began to set in a brilliant display of colors and shades. It was here that she stood, staring out over the empty sea. A breeze swept by, making her hair flow slowly, but freely.

"What are you thinking about?" a voice asked from behind her. She turned her head, to find that it was only Kilik.

"Oh, nothing," she answered, turning back to the waves. Kilik walked up next to her, leaning against the rail.

"You are thinking about nothing, or nothing you'd like to share?" he asked, though it was more like a statement to Sophitia's ears.

"Well, a little of both, actually," she said with a small laugh, "but I suppose it would be better if I explained it to you." She turned to face him, her blue eyes watery, but not on the verge of tears.

"About six years ago I became betrothed to a man named Rothion. I could not marry him at the time, because I was called by Hephastus to search for the Sword of Salvation."

Kilik laughed at this.

"I still have the scar," he said, remembering the brief brawl he'd shared with this woman, when both of them thought the other knew more of the Sword. Sophitia chuckled as well, but softly. Soon she continued.

"The Sword was destroyed, as you know, and I returned home to my beloved and we shared three years together," she said. She paused for a minute, as a lump was beginning to form in her throat.

"Not less than two months ago, the town that I lived in fell under attack from a horde of Lizardmen. My husband was killed, as well as….my only son. I…" tears streamed down her face, and she could not risk talking for fear of losing control of her emotions. She regained control after a moment and continued speaking.

"I was saved by a Lizardman whos name was…is Aeon Calcos. By some miracle of God, he was transformed back into a human. Though my first impressions were dampened one night as he went berserk and tried to kill me. We were able to subdue him, but he couldn't live with his grief and he left us," she said, quickly wanting to change the subject. Kilik, however, was persistent and pressed the issue.

"I sense that there is more here than you tell," he said. Sophitia turned to face him once more.

"And what if there is?" she snapped. " 'Tis nothing for you to worry about. What happened between Aeon Calcos and I is my affair, and something that you should not be nosing around in." Kilik stepped back, quite surprised at her sudden outburst.

"Very well. I shall leave you to your thoughts. But keeping your suffering to yourself will only make it more painful. Good night, Sophitia."

He walked off to the aft section of the ship, where the crew quarters were located. Shophitia continued staring off into the sea and the sun.

***

The room was a simple design. It was some twenty by twenty feet, in the shape of a square. She had all unnecessary furnishings removed by the crewman. At first, they had argued that she needed comfort, but a cold glance and a stern warning from the woman made them consent.

Such was life and Taki lived that life to the fullest, despite the hardships and trials. Her breath was paced with her movements never pausing or hesitating as she moved from stance to stance, the basic ten. She shifted from the last stance and moved across the training floor to the first dummy, slashing it from the side to the front cutting a clean blow through the wood and leather.

Still moving backwards she slashed to the left to take the head off the next dummy, letting it bounce away across the floor. She stopped facing ahead as crewmen came to replace the ruined dummies with fresh ones.

She moved forward again, dipping her twin Ninjatou to her left, parallel to the floor, and fanned out around to the right, striking the dummies with the same blow and spun around to face their backs.

Taki never rushed her moves or tensed, this was training, the time to perfect her fighting skills with her beloved weapons. She has these swords for many years, using them in times of great need and many, many, battles. Fighting was a source of comfort for the woman, a way to relax after a great many pains and hardships of her usual day.

Soon, all natural light had fled the room. The sun had set some time ago, and the only things keeping the room lighted were the ten or so lit torches, casting long shadows over the room.

Taki was beginning to become exhausted from her long training hours. She'd forgotten about her vow to take it slow. The crewmen replacing her dummies had long since gone to bed, and sweat was profusely running down her face. Her clothes clung to her, and soon she was resting up against a practice dummy in order to catch her breath.

The door to her room swung open, and she heard armored feet approaching her. The breeze felt cool against her skin, and she closed her eyes as Siegfried approached. Or so she thought it was Siegfried.

She barely rolled away in time as a giant blade came crashing down and shattered the dummy she had previously been resting on. She rolled to the left as the blade came crashing down again. She leapt up and faced her attacker. She immediately fell to the floor again as a loud scream escaped her lips.

Standing before her was a giant of a man, clad in a full suit of azure plate mail. A giant spike protruded out of his helmet, and in his grotesque and malformed right hand he wielded The Sword.

Soul Edge.

She sat there staring at it, its one eye staring back at her. It blinked once, and that was all she needed to be free of its spell.

Leaping to the side, she pulled out Mekki-maru from its resting place on the back of her hip. There was a brief flash of flame as the sword left it's sheath, sensing it's other half somewhere. Taki still had control over the sword, however, and she dived at Nightmare, Mekki-maru outstretched.

The demon swung his left arm up to meet her, and he sent her sprawling backwards into an array of fighting dummies. Taki snarled and wiped blood from her mouth. Nightmare turned his crimson eyes in her direction and began to slowly advance, dragging Soul Edge behind him. Taki breathed deeply and sprung up. She dove in, Rekki-maru going in low and Mekki-maru higher. As Nightmare tried to parry the first, she swung her hips, bringing her legs airborne and kicking him in the face.

He didn't even flinch.

In a lighting-fast motion, he dropped Soul Edge and grabbed her left leg in his demonic right arm. He dug his fingers in deep, drawing blood, and started swinging the light woman in circles as though she was a rag doll. She screamed in pain and cried out.

"Schtauffen!"

Nightmare ignored this and threw Taki head first into a wall. The wood gave way a bit, and Taki was now bleeding from more than just splinters. Weakly, she struggled to her feet and staggered towards him. Nightmare stood silently, Soul Edge tucked under his arm. In a last ditch attempt, she charged him blindly, stabbing and slashing with her two weapons. She didn't even get her first blow in before Nightmare grabbed her wrist with his right arm and bent it back at an impossible angle. There was a very audible snap, followed by an even more audible scream of pain.

Nightmare never faltered. He brought his gauntleted hand low and smacked her in the gut. She doubled over, having lost all sense of survival. Nightmare slammed his fist into the small of her back, making her fall down flat. Then, with an inhuman strength, he leapt several feet into the air and landed loudly on the back of her legs.

"Siegfried!" she screamed with a mixture of agony, fear and desperation. For the first time in their encounter, Nightmare made a noise.

He chuckled.

It was a horrible sound, dissonant and evil beyond reason. It almost made Taki forget the pain that was coursing throughout her entire body. Almost…

Nightmare lifted Soul Edge high overhead, poised for the killing blow, until suddenly a black form tackled the giant, and there was a clash of steel on steel. She weakly turned her head to see her mysterious savior fighting the monstrosity that had no intent but to kill everything that crossed it's path. The two combatants fought with a ferocity like none she had ever seen. The newcomer seemed to know everything Nightmare was going to do. He turned his head briefly to assure Taki that she would be safe. Then, in a whirlwind of flowing blonde hair, he went back to his opponent. But eventually, he was beaten back. Not by skill, but by power. There was a sound of clattering metal. Zweihander was shattered near the hilt. Nightmare bashed Siegfried in the face, and he began to fall. He put his arms out behind him in order to avoid hurting Taki even more. He tossed aside his ruined Zweihander and grabbed the nearest weapon to him.

Mekki-maru.

In a streak of blackness, Siegfried had the Ninjatou in the side of Nightmare's neck. The demonic being stumbled a bit, then fell over. His body faded entirely after a few minutes. Siegfried walked over to Taki's crumpled form and gingerly lifter her into his arms.

"He was…here…" she wheezed out. Siegfried put his finger to her lips.

"Shhh…I know. I know. Don't speak, you'll only make it worse," he said softly. Taki tried to laugh, but it came it in a cough.

"Doesn't matter…to me…anymore. You came," she said, her eyes beginning to cloud over with unconsciousness. "Siegfried, don't let me die. Not like…this…"

She slumped in his arms, her head drooping and her arms hanging down at her sides. Siegfried quickly started to check for a pulse, but then stopped. Her chest rose and fell with a steady breath, and it was obvious she would survive. She'd been through worse, apparently. Carefully, Siegfried set her down and began to do what he could to ease her pain. He took off the white shirt he wore under his armor and began to bandage her broken limbs. He finished in after a few minutes. The air began to grow cold, but it did not bother him. Soon, they both were asleep, side by side and waiting for the morning to come…