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Torn Apart yet Stuck to You
Chapter Four: Ivy
"Ahh!" Echoed a scream through the empty halls of a rather large manor.
The interior of a lovely mansion was quite a site to behold. Its whitewashed walls and its marble floors only indicated grace and beauty. Upon the walls were several portraits of the previous owners of the manor. One portrait, in particular, was a picture of a lean looking man, a gentle yet graceful woman, and a young child with snowy white hair. A stream of blood covered the portrait now as a figure was suddenly slammed into the wall.
The figure fell down to the ground and landed on the marble floor. Her once snowy white hair had stains of blood that had fell from her brow and down to her face. Her cold eyes were losing its lust as she felt her body become weak. She placed a gloved hand on her side to stop the blood that was coming out from her gash. The once white suit was now a pink color.
She looked up as a shadow soon overcame her. A dark man wearing white clothing smirked down at her. He rose his sleek looking scythe as he pointed its tip on her cheek. Anger rose up inside of the young woman as she spit at the man's direction. Some blood came her from lips as she growled at him. The man looked unfazed at her.
"Bastard!" The woman growled.
"You have quite a warrior's spirit, cursed woman," the dark man said, "but not enough strength to defeat me. I will not ask you again, so answer me correctly: where is the book of the sword of salvation? I know from the information I had that this was the hidden library which carries such fruitful knowledge. I do not wish to kill you. Tell me where the book is."
"What do you want with the book?"
"That I can not tell you, but what I can say is that I'm protecting you."
"Protecting me?" The woman looked up at the man with curious eyes.
"If I recall correctly, there was a man known as the Azure Knight who once wield Soul Edge and that you used to be a servant of the cursed one."
"Azure Knight…?"
The woman remembered that she used to be a servant of the Azure Knight. Her memory recalled a part where she had stood by him in Ostrheinburg. She remembered the dark figure that would always stand by the window. His entire façade had always been covered by the dark armor he wore. The smell of blood and brimstone would always have been his scent and he wore that scent proudly, as if it was his own perfume.
"Ivy…" he snarled as he kept his eyes on the window.
"Yes, sir?" Ivy replied.
"I need…more souls. I need to keep this power flowing."
"I…understand sir. Tira, Astaroth, and Aeon have gone off to find more shards of Soul Edge and feed them souls for you."
"Very well. I hope you keep the good work up. I don't want you to make me uneasy, like Tira has done recently."
"I live only to serve you, Milord."
Him, Ivy thought, yes, I remember him. During that night, the both of us were alone. I thought I could have learned more about him, but he was always an enigma. I remembered it was the time where he finally took off his helmet and revealed to me what he looked liked. His long blond hair, his bright yellow eyes, and that scar…I didn't think someone that handsome would be capable of doing such chaos. For once, he actually looked human that night.
"You remember him, don't you?" The dark man asked.
"Yes, but what do you care about?" Ivy spat at him.
"Your former master is coming this way. He wants that book from you so he can destroy it. He wants to reawaken Soul Edge and return it to its full glory. He knows about your library. I came here to protect that book from him. I will return it to you once you've killed him."
"K-killed him?" Ivy's blood rushed cold through her body. "I'm not so sure if I'm strong enough…"
"Believe me…he has weakened. I'm sure you've sensed that Soul Edge's power has been suppressed, but not destroyed. Only you can stop him."
"Very well…I don't trust you completely as either way if I don't comply you're going to take the book away from me against my will."
"Good girl…"
"Who are you…?"
"I am no one you should know…I have long forgotten my true name. People refer me as Zasalamel."
Elsewhere and across from the English Strait, the sounds of mischievous giggling echoed through a small forest. Running through the evergreen surroundings, Lara ran through the forest. On her hands were heavy, metallic gauntlets. Behind her was Siegfried. The German warrior was rather aggravated as he tried to get his gauntlets and arm guards back. Cassandra followed behind him. She tried to hold back the giggles that were coming from the back of her throat.
"Give me back my armor!" Siegfried shouted as he was catching up with the young girl.
"You have to try to catch me!" Lara giggled.
"Will you two stop running so much?" Cassandra asked.
Lara quickly had an idea. She stopped running then using some strength she had, she jumped from the ground and started to climb up the tree in front of her. Siegfried stopped and looked up at the girl as she quickly perched herself on an empty branch. Lara giggled in victory as she stuck her tongue out at Siegfried and swung her legs.
"You're too slow, Sieggie," Lara cooed.
"Get down from there!" Siegfried shouted as he pointed his finger down on the ground.
"No way! This is so much fun!"
Lara leaned back on the branch as she swung like a monkey. She wrapped her legs around the branch and swung upside down. She teased Siegfried by sticking out her tongue. Siegfried made a grab for her. Lara tried to pull herself up, but the gauntlets that were on her arms prevented her from pulling herself up. The thief was now stuck on the tree.
Lara squirmed a bit as she tried to get herself up. Siegfried stopped for a moment and noticed her predicament. A sly smirk appeared upon his lips as he walked over to the girl. Lara noticed his smirk and began to swing her arms around.
"Well, well," Siegfried said, "it seems like you're stuck."
"Shut up!" Lara shouted as she squirmed. "Help me get down!"
"You want down?"
"Yes! Get me down!"
"All right, if you insist!"
Siegfried walked over to the trunk of the tree. In one swift movement, the German warrior kicked the trunk of the tree with all his might. The trees gave off a shake which made Lara unwrap her legs. The girl fell down and hit her head on the forest ground. Lara slowly sat up as she rubbed her head. Siegfried took a hold of her arms and took back his gauntlets.
"You're so mean!" Lara whined as she felt some tears sting her eyes.
"Well, let's consider this a bit of a warning," Siegfried said as he looked at the girl, "don't ever do that again."
"You're no fun, either."
"Yeah, yeah."
"All right you two," Cassandra said as she walked over to them. "We need to figure out what we're going to do now."
"I know exactly where we're going," Siegfried said.
"Really?"
"Yeah. If the library in Old Toledo didn't have the information I was looking for, then the secret library would."
"Secret library?" Cassandra cocked her head a bit.
"Yes," Siegfried replied as he placed the gauntlets on his arms. "I collected information from a previous place that there was a secret library hidden in England. If that was true, then perhaps that's the place I should go. The library should be hidden in a rather large estate. Not so sure whose home it is but the manor is supposedly called Valentine Manor. Not so sure why, but the name sounds familiar."
"So…we're going to England." Lara said as she felt a slight shiver. "How are we gonna get there?"
"We're going to go to the port." Siegfried replied. "There is a one close by to Old Toledo. If we go now we might catch the next boat."
"Do we have to go to England?"
"Yes! Now, you either come with us or you're staying. Your choice."
"You better not leave me in England! I know you're capable of doing that!"
Siegfried just let out a somewhat smile, if you could call it a smile, before he got up and began to walk. Cassandra followed the warrior thereafter, leaving Lara still on the ground. Lara quickly got up and began to run after them. It took them a few hours, but the group managed to arrive at the port. The port was a rather small place. Old, rickety houses decorated the town along with the dirt road, broken down business, and the smell of fish.
Lara squinted her eyes as the smell of fish got to her. She moved her scarf to cover her face. The smell lessened but it still smelled horrible. Siegfried just rolled his eyes as he continued to walk. Both girls followed the warrior down to the pier. Just as they got there, a boat barely left the harbor. Siegfried growled as he saw the boat leave.
"Oh…was that the last boat?" Lara asked. "Oh, too bad! I guess we go back now!" Lara began to walk away, but Siegfried took a hold of her scarf.
"We're not going anywhere but on a boat," Siegfried stated flatly.
"Damn…"
"Yeah, but how are we going to get on that boat now?" Cassandra asked.
"I don't know…I need to figure out how we can. So, let's all think."
Siegfried closed his eyes and crossed his arms. Cassandra and Lara did the same thing that he did. As Siegfried cocked his head, both girls did the same thing. Siegfried opened his eyes then placed his left hand on his chin. He stopped for a moment as he slowly saw both girls doing the same thing that he was doing.
"Why are both of you copying me?" Siegfried shouted.
"It was her fault!" Lara shouted as she pointed at Cassandra.
"Lara, you're in trouble!" Siegfried pointed at her.
"Why do you always blame me?"
"Because you're always the cause of trouble!"
"Jerk!"
As both Siegfried and Lara continued to fight, someone had been eaves dropping on the group. An old man that was balding, got up from the rickety chair he had been sitting on and walked over to where the group was. He let out a smile to reveal that he had many of his teeth either rot off or have been pulled off. His dirty tunic was covered in bits of dirty and mud.
"Hey there!" He spoke as he waved to the trio.
"What do you want?" Siegfried asked.
"Nothing but a bit of your time, son. I heard that the three of you are having trouble trying to find a ship to get over to yonder England. Is that true?"
"Have you been eavesdropping on us?"
"No…well…yes, a little."
"Well, can you help us?" Cassandra asked.
"Yes I can! I have a boat myself and it will leave soon. I'm just looking to see if I can have at least twenty people to get on there. If you can get that amount to go to England then your voyage will be free."
"Sounds good!" Lara exclaimed. "Twenty people, huh?"
"Yes," the old man replied, "but it better before sunset. I don't like to sail at night."
So the trio walked away from the old man and headed off in search of finding twenty people to go on the boat. It took them about three full hours to find enough people, even if they weren't willing to. The old man let out a rather huge smile as he let everyone aboard the ship. Once the trio went inside of the ship's hold, they couldn't believe how it was.
A strange, putrid smell came from a couple of the cabins. Lara didn't want to find out what it was. The interior of the hold didn't look like it was stable as some of the doors' hinges were broken. Cassandra took a hold of one of the doorknobs and tried to pry it open with no use. Being more assertive, Cassandra managed to pull the knob out from the door.
The blonde woman couldn't believe it. She quickly picked up the doorknob and tried to put it back into the door. Nothing Cassandra could do could keep place the knob back. The door was now stuck. Siegfried pushed Cassandra a bit back, before he picked up his leg and kicked the door open. The impact of the kick was so great that it managed to break the top hinge of the door.
"Great job on this, Siegfried," Lara said sarcastically.
"Shut up," Siegfried replied.
"Enough you two!" Cassandra replied. She placed a hand on her forehead. "I swear, you two act like an old married couple."
"We're not a couple!" Siegfried shouted. "Why would I want to be with a brat like her?"
When Lara heard that, she felt herself fume up with anger.
"Oh!" She shouted. "I'm not good enough for you! Fine then! Go ahead and sleep in your smelly room! I'm going outside away from you!"
"Good! I'll need my rest!"
And with that last comment, Siegfried entered the room and tried to close the door. Of course since the hinges were busted, he could only somewhat close it. Lara just scoffed as she stormed out from the hallway and headed off towards the deck of the ship. Cassandra didn't know where to go from here. She looked over at Siegfried who had plopped himself on the bed. Better not disturb him, she thought as she headed off towards the deck to find Lara.
Outside, Lara walked over to the rail of the ship. She looked over at the water as it moved towards their destination. Lara let out a sigh as she felt frustrated. Stupid bastard, Siegfried! She thought. Why is he always so mean to me? Am I not adorable? Or maybe it's the fact that I'm a girl…who happens to want to be a boy and that I look like one? Ugh! I'm just confusing myself! This so blows! He better not leave me behind or else I'll haunt him until the end of time!
"Hey, Lara," Cassandra said as he walked over to Lara.
"Hey," she replied.
"Something wrong?"
"No! Everything is perfectly fine!"
"It doesn't seem so!"
Lara gave off a bit cheesy grin at Cassandra.
"See?" Lara said through clenched teeth. "I'm happy!"
"Heh, you are so strange."
"Fine!" Lara scoffed as she released her fake smile. "It's Siegfried…he pisses me off at times. Did you see that he blames me for things?"
"That may be true…but think about it…you're probably the only friend he has for now. I barely know him, but I know I want to be friends with him too. Perhaps he needs to take the time to get to know us a bit better."
Lara stopped and looked up at Cassandra. Cassandra gave off a sweet smile to the thief. Lara slowly formed a smile on her lips.
"You're right!" Lara said. "Sieggie only needs to get to know us better! We'll be his best friends!"
"That's better!" Cassandra replied.
"Hey…I was wondering…can you tell me something about yourself?"
"Something…about myself?" Cassandra looked at Lara with a confused look.
"You know…about what you think and such. I don't know much about you so I would want to get to know you."
"It's a long story, but I'm sure I can manage saying it all," Cassandra said as she looked out towards the sea. "It all started about twenty-three years ago. I was born in a small town in Greece and…"
Rain fell down from the darken sky as Siegfried ran. His bloodied tunic was turn and burned from the previous battle. The images of his father's head on his hands still lingered in his mind. He panted as he kept on running through the fields. He entered a dark looking forest. Branches and thorns began to scratch Siegfried's face. A low branch managed to make Siegfried trip. The German warrior fell on the ground.
Blood and mud covered his face as well as his once golden hair. Tears brimmed down from his face from his sorrow as well as the mud and blood that stung his eyes. He slowly tried to get up, but his knees were injured from the fall. Siegfried looked up at the sky through the trees opening. Water drops fell into his eyes.
"Father…" Siegfried whimpered as blood fell from his lips. "Father…I…I'm sorry. I didn't want all this to happen…"
Siegfried looked down to the ground. His golden locks stuck down to his dirty face.
"No…" he growled. "I didn't kill him…it was someone else. It was a dark shadow that came out of nowhere! Father was brutally murdered!"
Siegfried quickly looked up at the sky once more. He closed his right eye from the mud that stung his eye.
"I will avenge you, Father!" Siegfried shouted. "I will avenge you, no matter what!"
Siegfried took a hold of the Faust and began to swing the sword around like a crazed man. He hit one of the trees and left a rather large cut on its bark. He swung upwards, cutting off some branches from some of the trees. The twigs and things fell on Siegfried's face, but he didn't mind. He was filled with insanity at this point. He took one last swing and managed to cut down one tree. His hands soon were bloody from overusing his sword. He looked at his hands before he let out a crazed laugh that echoed through the forest.
Some time later…
"So…your name is Siegfried Schtauffen, correct?" asked a rugged looking man.
"Yeah," Siegfried replied.
"Good then, follow me."
The rugged looking man took Siegfried towards the inside of a castle. It was surrounded by a beautiful moat in which it kept intruders out. Once they were inside of the amazing walls, Siegfried stood in awe of the many knights and knights in training. Some were around his age and others were older. He let out a faint smile as his sapphire eyes scanned the area.
His eyes locked over to the figure of a rather adorable looking woman. She appeared to be no older than what he was. Her soft blonde hair glittered a lot from the sun's ray of light. She smiled softly at Siegfried as he kept looking at her. She gave off a friendly wink which made the German warrior blush furiously. Not looking at to where he was looking at, he suddenly tripped. Some of the knights began to laugh at the clumsiness of Siegfried. He quickly looked up at the girl who was covering her mouth from giggling.
Siegfried quickly got up from the ground. He dusted himself off before he dashed a bit to keep up with the rugged man. Once he caught up, he let out a somewhat bashful smile. The rugged man just shook his head as he walked over to a dresser. He looked stern at Siegfried.
"Tell me," he said, "why do you want to serve under Sir Stefan? Why do you desire to become a knight?"
"Sir," Siegfried said, "reason being…I want to avenge my father. My father was Frederick Schtauffen and he was murdered not long ago."
"I remembered hearing something like that," the old man looked down at the table before him as he leaned on it. "I'm sorry to hear that you lost your father. He was a great hero to our race: the Germans. As you know, the Holy Roman Empire has been suppressing our race for a long time now. We have been revolting against them for a long time now and thanks to those Italian Wars we have been able to get some freedom out of it, but it's not enough. Your father…led us to those rebellions."
"I know…" Siegfried replied as he looked away from the rugged man.
The rugged, old man slowly rose up. He placed his hands inside of his pockets and pulled out a pipe and a small bag of tobacco. He slowly lit the pipe and took puffs of smoke.
"It is a noble cause for you to avenge Frederick," he said. "He deserves to have his murderer impaled or decapitated for such a despicable act."
"I know," Siegfried replied as he tried to hide his tears, "that's why I have to avenge him! Please! Let me serve under Lord Stefan! I promise I'll become the best knight ever! Once I find that man who killed Father…"
"You have quite a lot of hate for this man…I don't blame you." The old man took another puff of smoke. "Any idea of who he is?"
"No…I don't. I hardly remembered what he looks like, but what I do know is that he has a black heart! I will kill this man!"
"You must be more than just wanting to avenge your father if you want to be a man. You have to swear your life into servitude of Sir Stefan. Do you, Siegfried Schtauffen, son of Frederick Schtauffen, swear your name, your life, and your blade to Sir Stefan? Kneel down if you are sincere."
Siegfried kneeled down on one knee. He lowered his head.
"I, Siegfried Schtauffen, swear my life to Lord Stefan until I die," Siegfried said.
"Good then," the rugged man said as he took another puff of smoke. "Arise, apprentice. You have much work to be done before you can be a knight. Your training begins now…"
Siegfried slowly opened his eyes. Have I been sleeping? He asked himself as he slowly rose up from the bed. Again I had another dream about my past. Why do these memories keep coming back to me all of a sudden? Siegfried placed a hand on his brow as he tried to move his feet from his bed and down to the wooden ground. Now that I think about it…I wonder where those two girls are. They haven't disrupted me for the longest time.
Curiosity got to Siegfried as he slowly got out of his bed and began to walk out from his room. He made his way through the rickety hallway and towards the deck of the ship. A nice breeze blew from the north. The cool air kissed Siegfried's rough skin as his golden strands danced in the wind. He looked over the western sky. His eyes were glued to the lovely orange sunset. The palette of orange, blue, pink, yellow, and purple danced around in the sky.
He didn't know why, but he felt like a sense of security come around him. He felt at ease when he looked at the sunset. His eyes slowly shifted towards two figures that were leaning on the edge of the boat. He forgot about the sunset for now and walked over to the two girls. Both girls turned around to face Siegfried.
"Siegfried," Cassandra said, "you're up."
"Yeah," Siegfried replied. "I had a somewhat okay nap. Then I came here to see how you two were doing. I didn't want either of you to do something stupid."
Lara just glared at Siegfried before she turned around. "I'm still not talking to you," she said.
"Well…you just did," Siegfried replied.
"That's not fair!" Lara shouted as she turned around to face Siegfried. "You started that before I even announced that!"
"You're still talking to me," Siegfried replied as he smirked at her.
"Wha? Oh! You bastard!" Lara pouted as she crossed her arms.
Siegfried chuckled at the girl's anger, which made her even more peeved. Cassandra just shook her head. Her attention then went over to the sunset.
"When you guys stop bickering with one another," she said, "you should look at the sunset."
Lara and Siegfried stopped yelling at each other as they both looked over at the sunset. Both had soon lost their will to fight as they looked over at the sunset. The wind blew softly against their bodies. Their hair continued their dance with the wind. Lara closed her eyes as she enjoyed the wind. Cassandra let out a serene smile as Siegfried kept a soft face on.
"It's so beautiful," Cassandra said.
"It is," Siegfried replied.
"I never had a chance to enjoy the sunset that often like I used to do back in Greece. A lot of terrible things happened back home and since I've been on this journey, I can't really enjoy anything right now."
"I can't remember the last time I enjoyed something…" Siegfried replied.
Lara opened her eyes. She looked over at Siegfried and cocked her head a bit. Cassandra looked at Siegfried as well. Both girls grew a bit concern with what the German warrior had said. Lara's face changed into a sadden look. I wonder if it's because he had been Nightmare. She thought. If that's the case, then it must have been hard on him. Suddenly an idea popped into her head.
"Illy willy, silly nilly," Lara said.
"What?" Both Cassandra and Siegfried asked.
"Illy willy, silly nilly. It was an old saying back home. I invented it with my parents. It's suppose to be a reminder of not to worry about the present, but to look at the good times that raise your spirit. That way you can be a bit happier. That's why…whenever you should feel stressed or anything, just say those words and remember this sunset and the feeling it gives off."
"That…" Siegfried said, "Is probably the silliest idea I ever heard. It sounds stupid."
Lara frowned at Siegfried.
"But…I'll try it, just for you," Siegfried responded as he looked away.
"Yay!" Lara squealed as she jumped up at Siegfried and hugged him.
"I'm not going to do it often! And get off of me!"
Cassandra just rolled her eyes as she began to giggle at the scene. Some people on the boat thought they were a bit queer, but probably in good spirits. The boat kept on sailing throughout the rest of the day. The sun had finally set as the sky soon turned into a dark purple color. The stars began to shine up in the sky. The trio soon grew tired and headed off to sleep. Of course since the room hasn't that big, Siegfried volunteered to sleep on the deck while the girls slept inside of the tiny room.
Siegfried took a hold of the covered Soul Edge fused with Soul Calibur sword and walked over to find a good spot on the deck. He leaned close to the door of the ship's hold. He looked up at the night sky and viewed the stars. He felt a bit relaxed now. He clung on to the sword as he let out a rather loud yawn.
"Illy willy, silly nilly," Siegfried whispered softly as he began to fall asleep.
The next day, the ship harbored in England. The trio got out of the boat and started to look around the city they were in, in search of any clues of this Valentine Manor. They asked around the locals for any answers. Some locals pretended not to hear them, some claimed that they didn't know, and others just yelled at them. All seemed to be lost when they managed to stop right in front of a rather large mansion.
Having no other choice, the trio opened the gate to the mansion and headed off towards the front door. They all looked at the door with a confused look on their faces. Siegfried placed a hand on the door and knocked. No answer came from the inside. Siegfried tried again to knock on the door, but this time, a little louder. Once he finished knocking on the door, it opened. Apparently the front door was unlocked and left slightly opened.
Lara peered inside and saw something she liked. She quickly scattered inside, like a rat into the building. Siegfried was about to take a hold of Lara, but she managed to slip out of his reach. He quickly followed her as did Cassandra. Once they were inside, they looked at the interior of the mansion. They couldn't believe how beautiful it was.
Lara looked at a rather expensive looking vase. She slowly began to reach for it. Once she placed her hands on the vase, a strong tug pulled her back. Siegfried took a hold of her yellow scarf strong enough to almost choke the girl. Lara fell back to Siegfried while trying to hold onto the scarf so she wouldn't suffocate.
"Don't touch anything!" Siegfried hissed.
"That…hurt!" Lara coughed.
"Then don't ever do it again!"
"Where are we?" Cassandra asked.
"I don't know…but we should ask the owner of this home."
"Oh…you don't need to worry about that," a female voice echoed through the hall.
The trio looked all over the place to find the source of the voice. Lara looked up at the stairs which appear to lead to a small library. Standing by the edge of the stairs was a woman with short, snowy white hair. Her clothing was something that didn't seem womanly to wear. In her hands appear to be some sort of a sword.
"Siegfried Schtauffen…" she said in a cold tone, "or should I call you 'Master Nightmare?' Prepare to die!"
And so ends the chapter. I hope this chapter was quite a shock for you guys. Enjoy it, for next up will be even more battles, especially ones that involve Miss Ivy.