I do not own SoulBlade or have anything to do with it. I do not own its characters, weapons, etc. They are the property of Namco. However, if you nice guys at Namco would like to give me rights to SoulBlade.no? Awww, fine then! Hmph!

Okay, now this is my first SoulBlade fic, so please be nice!



He remembered it so well. In his head, he could hear his daughter, laughing, singing joyfully, and he could almost see her smiling at him, her large brown eyes lighting up with joy. However, he would never see her for two reasons; one, he would never see the light of day again, for he could not see, and two, his daughter's life had been taken from him, as she lay down her own life to save him. So now he stood here, in the place he knew as home, the vault of his master.

Voldo shook his head, trying to clear his mind of these painfully memories, but they continually haunted his mind, taking over his thoughts like a parasite. He sat down on the cold stony floor, and let the memories flood back to him, giving in to the overwhelming power of nostalgia that forced his mind back to all those years ago.



"Okay, this is the place."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, now let's grab the loot before Vercci and his cronies get here." In the dark ship, a Japanese couple crept through the cabin, the woman holding a small bundle in her arms. Vercci and his crew were resting at an inn near the harbour, so it had been no trouble for the couple to break in and try to claim Vercci's treasure. The man squinted, trying to see any sign of treasure in the gloomy cabin, until his eyes caught a glimpse of something glistening underneath the bed.

"Naora, come over here!" He whispered, and Naora walked slowly to where he was standing.

"Shinji, I don't see anything!" She exclaimed, then suddenly held her breath as she too saw something silver, glistening from the moonlight pouring through the small window. Shinji crouched down, and reached under the bed, grinning in triumph. Suddenly, he let out a yelp, and drew back his hand. Blood dripped off it, almost black in the darkened room. He drew a sword from his belt, and took a step back.

"Come out where I can see you!" He waited, but got no response, so he tried again.

"Only a coward hides from a challenge!" Still hearing nothing, he assumed it was just his imagination, and he and Naora began to rummage through an old chest of drawers. After a while, Naora stopped, and peered around hesitantly.

"I just heard something." She started to look around, then felt something cold and hard slip against her neck. She froze, as a silky, dangerous voice spoke.

"Leave my master's treasure or I shall take your head." Although it spoke Japanese, it had an Italian accent, and she knew instantly who it was; one of Vercci's crew. Shinji spun around, sword grasped in hand.

"Let go of my wife," he hissed, staring down the tall, muscular man that stood before him. He was bald, and had icy blue eyes, and tanned, olive skin. He clutched two 3-bladed weapons in his hands, and one was now pressed against Naora's neck. Naora gulped, her eyes wide with fear.

"Give him the treasure."

"No."

"Give it to him!"

"We've come this far already, I'm not going to give up now."

"Shinji, he'll kill me!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Shinji raised his sword high above his head, and the Italian threw Naora to the floor, and she had to stop herself from dropping the bundle in her arms. Shinji swung at the man, who slashed his weapon at the blade, slicing it in two and knocking Shinji back. The couple cowered on the floor before the Italian, who spoke again, his fluent Japanese hinted with an Italian accent.

"You refused to leave this place. Now I, Voldo, will enjoy the task of killing you!" He towered over them, poised ready to strike, when Naora knelt before him.

"Please don't kill us," she whimpered, and held out the bundle in front of her. "Take this in place of us, we have no use for it. It is worthless to us." Voldo dropped his weapons, and took the bundle from Naora's hands. Unwrapping the cloth covering it, he saw a small baby, its face lighting up in a smile. It laughed, and batted his cloak with its tiny hands. Frowning, he held the baby in one arm, and moved back. The couple relaxed, until he flashed one of his weapons in front of their faces.

"You wanted me to kill a helpless baby instead of you. That is a crime that goes unforgiven, and now I have no choice to but to kill you." Before they could protest, he slashed their throats open, killing them instantly. He threw the bodies overboard, just as his shipmates returned. Vercci stared down at the bodies, then at the child, a puzzled expression sweeping over his face. He looked up at Voldo.

"Uh, now it's Voldo the child-napper?" He asked, grinning with amusement. Voldo glared at him.

"Those two people down there were trying to steal your treasure. I threatened to kill them, but they wanted me to kill their child instead. No decent man would ever kill a child, so I took her from them." Vercci nodded in agreement, and strode over to examine the child. She laughed again, and gurgled softly. Vercci smiled at her.

"She certainly is a beautiful baby," he said, looking back up at Voldo. "What is her name?" Voldo paused for a moment, frowning thoughtfully.

"They never gave her a name, but since she's Japanese, I'd better make it a Japanese one." He racked his brain for an idea, when it suddenly came to him. Four months ago, they had been invaded by Japanese pirates. One of the Japanese women had switched sides and given Vercci's crew valuable information; her name was Taki. "I'll call her Taki," he said simply, and Vercci nodded again, before ordering the crew to set off again. Voldo walked back to the cabin, cradling Taki in his arms. He watched her fall asleep, sucking her tiny thumb as she yawned softly. He beamed down at her, knowing that he would love her forever. Whatever came to pass now, she was his daughter, and that was all that mattered.