I do not, nor do I claim to, own the rights to Namco's Soul Calibur.
His eyes penetrated farther than they were supposed to. They chilled her, electrified her bones. Still, she lifted Omega and Owl bravely as he drew is swords. She prayed quickly, for guidance. He just laughed.
Steadying herself, Sophitia brought her shield up and prepared for his blow. Cervantes charged forward and, bringing up one of his swords, struck. Sophitia reeled back with the effort of warding off his blow, but was thankfully unharmed. Taking a step back, she brought up her sword and aimed.
And Cervantes disappeared.
Sophitia wasted precious seconds looking for him, but she could not see were he was. The next thing she knew, she heard laughter fro behind. Above? Then she was on the ground, in an explosion of pain and color. She stumbled to her feet and blindly struck, but he was still behind her. Again and again he stabbed her, disabling her to turn around. Sophitia felt her heath draining fast, and she sank hard to her knees. Thinking fast despite her injuries, she rolled to the left and, surprising him, jumped up and struck one of his broad swords with enough sharp force to shatter it.
Enraged, Cervantes threw the shards at her face and stabbed her in the stomach with his remaining weapon. Sophitia knew she was done.
But at the end, as she witnessed Cervantes manically shrieking above her, Sophitia was able to relax. because above his head, the shape of a woman was silhouetted against the sky. Sophitia did not know who she was or why she was there, only that the strange woman was above Cervantes and about to land behind him. And so Sophitia was able to smile before she closed her eyes.
The first thing Sophitia felt was a warm cloth pressed on her stinging wounds. It was soothing, and she did not want to open her eyes at first. Lazily, her blue eyes fluttered open at the soft sensuality of the cool hands on her stomach.
"Shh..." a voice murmered somewhere above her. Sophitia's foggy vision blurred into focus and she saw the fierce yet kindly eyes of a dark-haired woman above her. Automatically, as Sophitia's brain began to function, her hands fluttered to her stomach and were met with another gloved pair. Looking up, Sophitia recognized the masked woman in red to be the very one that had rescued her from Cervantes.
Sophitia began to sit up, but the other woman placed a firm hand on her upper chest. Taken aback by the bold touch, Sophitia could do nothing but lay back down.
"Shhh." the woman repeated.
"Who are you?" Sophitia found her voice.
"There will be time for that later. You need to heal, Sophitia. Your ribs are cracked and you're still bleeding."
"I could have done without those details, thank you." Sophitia remarked thickly, watching the ceiling spin.
The woman smiled and rose, dishing out instructions as she walked.
"Try not to move, keep the cloths on. The best thing to do now is just sleep. I will be back in a few hours with your soup." The woman paused at the door, and Sophitia lifted her head.
"By the way...I am Taki." And with that, she turned and left.