The girl navigated the hallways of the abandoned temple. The walls were black with soot and the air was damp. The marks of countless demons were etched onto the walls in blood, now congealed and scorched in place. The girl was oblivious to all this. The horrible aesthetics of the building weren't going to stop her.
She was 17 and had pale, almost white, skin and hazy purple eyes. Her medium-length hair was a deep purple colour and was as smooth as a helmet, held back by a dark blue headband. She wore a dark purple haori and violet samurai pants tied with a dark pink obi. Her black boots made no sound as she moved swiftly through the corridors.
She turned one last corner and found what she had been seeking; a small ninjatō. It seemed to pulse with some kind of sinister energy. It rested on a strange altar, marked with purification symbols. Someone had obviously tried to hide this weapon by disguising it's aura with the aura of purification. The girl eyed the mysterious weapon carefully.
A strange figure dropped from the roof. The girl closed her right hand over her weapon, a silver tantō in a dark blue sheath hanging off her belt. The man drew a nodachi, surging with the same evil power as the ninjatō and pointed it at the girl.
"How nice to see you again, Miss Terugawa." He said, sneering at her.
"You haven't changed a bit, Hikage. I should have killed you when I had the chance." Her voice was cold and filled with spiteful undertones. A draft of wind rose around them, gently stirring the sinister atmosphere. There was a bright flash of light and the two people had changed positions, their blades now drawn. After about 10 seconds, Hikage fell to the floor, black fluid flowing from a single wound. The girl twirled her sword in her hand and returned it to its sheath. Hikage slowly got to his knees, laughing silently.
"You go to such lengths for your redemption, Uyuki."
"This has nothing to do with it."
"Is that so? So you have no remorse from what you did?" There was another bright flash and Hikage collapsed, a cloud of red smoke being released from his second wound.
"It haunts me everyday…"
She sheathed her blade again and examined the two evil blades closely. She was sure that they had essence of Soul Edge in them. She couldn't let these blades claim new victims. She held her left hand in front of her face, two fingers extended. A circle of white light surrounded her palm, gently pulsing and oscillating. She slammed her hand onto the blade of the nodachi. It emitted a black light and shattered apart, the evil atmosphere lifting slightly.
"Never again" She said.
She couldn't forgive herself for the mistake she made in the past. It played over and over in her mind; a strange continuous flashback, haunting her soul.
A man and a woman stood in the centre of a large purification circle. Their daughter, then still an infant, was floating in front of them. Her eyes were a bright red colour and the air around her seemed to glow with a malicious red light. In her hand was a metal fragment, also glowing with the sinister aura. The elders of their village had managed to capture the girl in the circle and were now working on keeping it contained. Multiple battles were taking place at that moment alone. The evil aura of the metal shard and the power of the purification circle. The parent's love for the child against the hatred for the demon inside her. The will of the girl against the mind of the Soul Edge. Clearly, Soul Edge was winning all three battles, the elders tiring from their efforts and the man and woman unable to bring themselves to hurt their child.
It was the next moment that hurt the most. The elders had all exhausted themselves and the circle fell to pieces. The girl had regained her mind, but was standing over the bodies of her parents, mortally wounded. She fell to the floor and held them. She heard her father's final words whispered into her ear.
"My daughter... Do not…blame yourself…for this. We…will…always love you…Corundum…my dearest treasure…" She heard no other words from him ever again. The girl remained there, the blood of her parents on her hands. The metal shard was in the hand of an old man. He closed his fist and the object exploded in a flare of white light. Within the next moment, the girl and the man had disappeared.
Corundum's mind returned to the present moment. She turned her attention to the ninjatō. She clapped her hands together, and then pulled them apart slightly producing a larger circle of light. She drew on all of her power to destroy this weapon, and reduce Soul Edge's overall power. But just as she was about to release a purifying light at the weapon, a woman leaped over her and snatched away the blade. Corundum narrowly avoided releasing a full potency purging blast against her, instead using it on the corpse of Hikage. It completely vaporised, particles of white and red light gently floating around the area. For a while, there was silence, the two females eyeing each other. The woman who had taken the blade was wearing a red bodysuit and arm and shin guards. She had black hair drawn in a ponytail.
"The blade is clearly evil. How can you allow it to exist?" She asked. Her words were doused with fury.
"I still have a need for this blade. You should never have found it" She replied, tucking it away in a holder behind her back. In a moment of sheer rage, Corundum attacked her. It was a mistake, with her easily being beaten by the other woman.
"You take Soul Edge so personally. But you are useless if you let your emotions run wild" she remarked.
"I do not listen to the words of a hypocrite. You wish to destroy Soul Edge, but you draw power from it as well."
Now it was the woman's turn to attack in anger. The calm mind of Corundum prevailed as she leaped over a wild low slash and struck the woman in the back of the head with her heel. Now the two of them had sustained a considerable amount of damage, although Corundum seemed to be slightly worse off.
"Very well. Once Soul Edge is destroyed, I will allow you to purge Mekki Maru. But for now I still have to use it." And with that she disappeared into the shadows.
Corundum looked at her right hand; the same hand that had taken the lives of her parents and many others while Soul Edge had taken over her body. She hated Soul Edge more than anything in the world and wished for it to be completely destroyed forever. That woman had essence of the evil sword in that blade, but according to their battle, she seemed to be able to control its influence. Her skill was clearly greater than hers and her experience with Soul Edge was evident. She couldn't impede another warrior seeking the end to the blade, so in the end she decided to leave her be.
Corundum left the temple, plans for travelling to Europe forming in her mind.
