The Witch Hunt
Early afternoon at Fu-ma no Sato,
Ryuusei stood at the windows, watching the blooming sakura tree. He still wore his silken veil; though not oversee any meeting of the clan. Not for long, the shoji slided and a black-garbed ninja knelt. He reported,
"Kage, our informants had reported the ship, which brought the gaijin warriors and nuke-nin was spotted at Ayyuthaya. From our estimations, they would reach Nihon in three weeks. Our spies on the open seas also reported three more ships at the same direction. It seems they didn't go together…" Ryuusei said,
"Arigato for the reports…you can return to your place. Did you bring Kamikirimusi here?" Before the ninja spoke, the red-haired female oni shouted,
"I am here! What do you want?" The kage didn't answer; instead he gestured the ninja to depart.
"Have a sit, Kamikirimusi -san…" The female oni entered the room with a heavy steps and she also brought her tetsubo. When she sat, the room almost shaken. Yet, Ryuusei felt undisturbed with that. He explained,
"I called you, because I have a mission for you…" Kamikirimusi asked,
"What is it?" The Fu-ma Master turned his body and said,
"I want you to bring Taki here…" The oni grinned, when heard the order,
"Alive or…"
"When it is possible…there is something else! If you see her with…her intimate friends, you have my permission to crush them. I believe it is clear for you," Kami commented,
"Sounds cruel, but I will do as you ordered. By the way, the wakou was ready. Our men had been infiltrated into those cutthroats and convinced them that the gaijin ship had plenty of treasures…what I don't understand is why we working with them." Ryuusei replied,
"I simply use the wakous to achieve two objectives. Shogun Tokugawa had ordered their eradication, though not enforced. With this, we can kill two birds with a stone," The female oni laughed,
"I knew it! You're so manipulative…anyway, I will depart to carry your orders…" With a heavy stomp, she left the Master alone. Ryuusei went to the tatami and sat, before he took a pen and began to write a poem…
At sunset,
Ivy's black ship still sailed the South China Sea. Starkiller was on the deck, practicing his stance. With one flick, his light saber came with humming sound. The Dark Jedi felt the practice was mundane in this planet. He had no practice bot around, however his sparring partner was PROXY. Nevertheless, he couldn't let his skill rust here. He slashed in the mid-air, fighting against his shadow. The saber's humming grew louder when meet with the air. At the steering wheel, the captain was pretending not see anything.
Inside her room, Ivy was sat upon the ritual circle, alighted by the black candles. Ashlotte was inert, while Angol Fear slept. The Englishwoman ignored them, but she couldn't ignore the loud humming sound outside. She tried to ignore it, yet it was hard. The sound was breaking her concentration. She was unable to contact someone from beyond. Gritting her teeth, she took Valentine and swipes it. Its slash immediately put off the candles around her. With that, she walked outside.
The Dark Jedi was so consummated with his training; he leaped to the air and performed four single slashes in the mid-air. When landed, he slings his light saber like a boomerang. The weapon followed a parabola pattern. As it closed by, Starkiller fetched it by suspending himself on the air and slowly floated to the ground. Then the applause came. The youth turned around and saw Ivy not far from him.
"How long you have been watching me?" he asked gruffly. The Countess smiled,
"Long enough…your maneuvers is fascinating! I knew several martial art disciplines, but I am unfamiliar with yours. Would you care to tell me what it is?" The Apprentice was silent. Yet, Ivy didn't give up,
"No? Anyway, your weapon is…incredible! Can I see that…" Starkiller answered flatly,
"No!" Instead offended, Ivy said,
"You are unique, Sir Starkiller…you are not a gentlemen by my standard, but somehow you aren't come from our world. To this, I am curious…are you come this far just for the soul blades?" The Dark Jedi distanced himself, before answered,
"I simply do my mission to uncover the mysterious disturbances…that's all!" The Englishwoman went closer,
"As I said before, I am not familiar with your weapon…what do you call it? Please, can you tell me once?"
A single word came from Starkiller, "Light saber…"
"Yes, your light saber…but I recognize the principle behind it. Your weapon must be used a crystal or a gem for its source, am I right?" The youth didn't deny nor confirm her answer. Ivy smiled,
"So, it was right then…I have something for you," Ivy groped her pocket and produced a black gem. She said,
"Why don't you try this, Sir Starkiller? I found this strange gem when I was a child; since then I always bring it as a lucky charm." She tossed the gem to him, "Perhaps, it might bring the good luck for you! Goodnight…" When she left, Vader's Apprentice watched the black crystal curiously. He pondered,
She isn't an ordinary woman…only seeing me once, she already know the principle of lightsaber. Not only that, this strange crystal is similar with what I use for powering my light saber. I wonder what its use for me…
With that, he concluded his training was over and went to his cabin.
Meanwhile, at Dampierre's ship,
While everyone else slept, Talim and Cassandra were restless…like they had a nightmare.
Inside their dreams,
Cassandra and Talim watched Amy's dead body. The French girl's eyes looked empty. The Greek girl closed her eyes respectfully. The Filipino cried,
"Patay si Rock…ngayon Binibining Amy rin…Hindi ko nakita Kuya Yun-Seong, Ate Taki, Ate Mi-na…"
"Shh…" Cassandra calmed, "Let's move on to another deck…perhaps we'll meet them," They walked over to the sides of the ship, but stopped as they saw the huge crack on the wall. The crack somehow went inside the cabins. Both of them moved slowly into the crash…and saw another grisly scene. At the middle of the cabin, two bodies crumpled…they were Seong Mi-na and Taki. Instantly, Cassandra's face turned pale. Talim was unable to restrain her emotion,
"ATE TAKI!" She ran toward them and hugged the dead kunoichi. She shook hysterically,
"Ate Taki, gising na! Gising!" Yet, there was no answer. While the priestess cried, the Greek girl watched the cold body of Seoung Han Myoung's daughter. Her tears begun to well.
"Mi-na, I am very sorry for this…you don't deserve this…I am sorry!" Wiping her tears, Cassandra took a blanket and covered those bodies. She called,
"Talim, let's go! There's nothing we can do here…" Still sobbing, Talim said,
"Kailangan nakita si Kuya Yun-seong…"
"Yes, we must move on…" Both girls sorrowfully left the room,
At the Tower of Remembrance,
Kratos and Algol arrived on the huge open arena; its surrounding was adorned by the ring of pillars. Both warriors stood in the center of the arena. The Spartan asked,
"What is it?" The Amorite instead asked back,
"Do you not recognize this, Kratos?" The huge warrior snarled,
"Don't play with me! I agree to come with you, not for make fool! Tell me what it is!"
The Hero King explained, "This is the Challenge of the God…I simply create this out of your memories,"
"From my memory?" Kratos turned sullen, "I have none…they were gone…taken by the gods!"
"I can help you to restore them…" Algol offered,
"No, thanks!" The Spartan warrior stared defiantly, "Tell me what your plan is…"
"My plan?" Algol smiled; his eyes begun to glow again, "This will be your arena for the warriors…as for now, I want to practice a little bit!" Kratos pulled his blades and said gleefully,
"Finally, the second round! I think this can warm me up before the real challenge comes!"
"Don't get yourself cocky, Kratos! Be ready now!" Then those warriors began to charge each other…
Back to Dampierre's ship,
Siegfried perspired heavily; he never thought to train so hard. He stood head down, standing with only an arm. At the same time, the heavy cabinet slightly floated on the air.
It is so hard…I wonder why Master Joda trained me so hard… Suddenly, his concentration was abruptly broken. The cabinet thudded on the floor. The German was losing his balance, yet he somersaulted and landed on his feet. Then…someone hit him,
"Ouch!" He turned and saw the Jedi Master beside him.
"Tired you are so? Progressing you are not…" Upon his reprimands, Siegfried said,
"We have trained for almost four hours…and you don't let me rest…"
Yoda sighed, "Younglings…excuse have they are. Fine, rest you can take," Breathing in relief, the knight took a towel and wiped it on her well-toned body. He rubbed his pained head,
"You are harder than any drill instructor I've encounter…" The green impish master replied,
"Harder I must to train, control the emotions first before you control the Force. Fear still I senses in you,"
Siegfried didn't deny, "I still haunted with my past sins…I afraid I might…"
"Afraid you must not! Fear leads to anger…anger leads to the Dark Side. Once you are inside the Dark side,"
"I have tasted it and I don't wish to return again…tell me more about the Force, Master Joda,"
"As I said…existing around the living things the Force is. Your planet is rich with it as far as I concerned. Progresses further you can here. Defend the living things the Light side is…yet craving and bring death the Dark side is,"
"Predicting the opponent's moves and lifting objects are the only things the Force can do?" As a result, the knight received another whack on his head from the Jedi Master,
"Ouch! Why are you hit me again?"
"Not listening you is…can do anything within its limit the Force. Foresight it has…"
"Foresight? You mean looking into future…can I learn it?" Before Yoda whacked him again, Siegfried caught the stick first. Yoda merely smiled,
"You are learning I see…must return to concentration first to do Foresight…but warn you I am. Hard to predict the future events are." The German nodded and began to take meditating position, though awkward.
On the same time,
Cassandra and Talim were still inside their nightmares. They continued to walk the ship's corridor and eventually encountered…Mitsurugi's mangled body. To this, the Greek girl was unable to hold herself; she vomited.
Talim cried, "Ate Cassie, hindi ko kaya ito…maraming tao ng kilala patay…hindi ko kaya ito!" Then Cassandra grabbed her clothes and barked,
"Look, Talim! I don't like this either, but we have no choice here! We must go out and find someone else…" She wiped the Priestess' teary eyes,
"Shh, please don't cry. Yun-Seong would be worried to see you like this…" The Filipino girl replied,
"Tama ka, Ate! Hindi ko iiyak…tuloy natin…"
"Yes, we shall continue…" Leaving Mitsurugi, those girls walked up to the deck.
Inside Siegfried's room,
The German knight still tried to focus, while the Jedi Master supervised him. Not for long, he said,
"I see something…I see myself inside this ship,"
"Ah, the future you see now. Continue as you walk…" Siegfried nodded,
"I was inside the corridor…it filled with…blood…"
"Go on…"
"Mein Gott," the blond knight exclaimed as he closed his eyes, "I saw…Herr Rock and Fraulein Amy! They are…dead…"
"Feel not…future event they are…must not follow them you. Trust in the Force…"
"You are right, Master Joda…I shall continue to the deck…"
While in their dreams,
Cassandra and Talim finally managed to reach the deck. There, the grisly scene greeted them. Dampierre's crews sprawled dead around the deck. Yet, they could see the signs of fighting around. Not for long, they heard the clashing noise and someone thrown in front of them. Talim shocked to see the person,
"Kuya Yun-Seong!" The red-haired youth turned,
"Talim! Cassie! You shouldn't be here! This place is too dangerous…" Before he finished, someone cut him,
"Dangerous for you, perhaps!" Now it was Cassandra's turn to be shocked. Sophitia Alexandra in her battle armor stood menacingly before them. Yun-Seong was ready to attack her again, before she called,
"Sophie, what are you doing? Why are you attacking Yun-Seong?"
The older woman replied, "Sis, it seems you are doing well in my absence. I just doing what Nightmare told me,"
"You? Doing Nightmare's order? It is not you, Sophie!"
The Greek woman said impatiently, "Sis, move over or I have to destroy you along with them!" Gritting her teeth, Cassandra pulled her Omega Sword and Digamma Shield,
"If you insist, Sis! Then I will be your opponent!" As the younger girl stormed her sister, the Priestess caught another figure at the bow of the ship…his eyes glowed red and blue…
The figure spoke, "Find the Hero King and seek his counsel…" With that, everything went into nothingness.
Back to the Challenge of the Gods,
The fight between the Amorite and the Spartan halted abruptly, as Algol glanced to another direction. Kratos didn't give the hell of that; he leaped to the air and ready to cut vertically. To his chagrin, his opponent dissipated into nothingness,
And materialized at the opposite side.
"What is it? Have you afraid?" The Hero King answered,
"Some of them have reached me through the visions, including the bearer of Soul Calibur…"
On the sea,
The fleet of wakou sailed silently upon the open sea; their objective was one: the large Galleon ship. With 400-strong, able bodied men, the pirate expected that would be the easy prey. Amongst them, the Fu-ma ninja had bidden their time. Geki stood at the astern of the ship, when Kamikirimusi came.
"Anxious?" the ninja asked the female oni, "You should be…the oni never used to be at the sea!"
"Thanks for your concern!" Kamikirimusi spat, "You and I have a mission!"
"I know! I deal with the gaijins, while you deal with Taki." Geki grinned, "Yet, one thing I not understood is why kage send you to this?" The red-haired oni growled,
"Another question, you will answer to my tetsubo!" Then someone called,
"The ship! We have spotted the ship!" Instantly, the pirate scrambled to the deck and ready to charge the ship. Disinterested, Geki said,
"We will continue our discussion in some other time! Now we must do our mission…" With that, he disappeared among the crowd. Kamikirimusi glanced to Dampierre's ship, which now getting closer to them. She smiled with anticipation.
In other hand,
Siegfried disturbed with what he foresaw; the death of Taki, Seong Mi-na, Mitsurugi and Yoshimitsu. Yet, he was unable to do anything. Yoda continued to remind him that what happened in the future was uncertain. He must not act upon it. Then…he saw something that troubled him,
"Master Joda…I see…Hilde…she was screaming for help…"
The Jedi Grandmaster said, "Continue with your focus you must…ignore it…" To this, the knight replied,
"To this, I can't…I must help her!"
"Then put in danger she by you. Uncertain the future is…" Suddenly, the knight rose,
"I'm sorry, Master Joda! I have given my oath to protect her…and I won't let that happen!" As he left, Yoda sighed,
"Still reckless he is…still long way to learn…"
At the same time,
Cassandra and Talim awoke at the same time, and they heard the commotion outside. Without waiting, they took their weapons and went outside. Outside, they saw…the wakou had attacked the ship and the crews were trying to repel them. The pirate turned their attention to the girls…
Taki and Seong Mi-na still deep in sleep, not noticing what happened outside. From the other side of the ship, the Japanese pirate threw their hooks and begun to climb. Kamikirimusi climbed the ship with monkey-like agility.
Siegfried Schtauffen had worn his armor and took the battered zweihander. As he opened the door, two black-garbed ninja attacked him…
Miles away,
Maxi had seen the coastline; it meant they had arrived. Then Nightmare came to the deck. Tira and Raphael accompanied him, though Sophitia joined them later. The Ryukyu pirate was uneasy to have the Azure Knight on his deck, but he wouldn't protest him. Then the creature spoke,
"Finally, we are arrive at the land…am I right, Sir Maxi?"
"Yes, we have arrived," Maxi answered monotonously, "Then what shall you do?"
"Find the portal and challenge Algol…that's all!" Sophitia added,
"After that, I can save Pyrrha…" Hearing that, Maxi had determined that he would join Nightmare's band with one mission: to stop Sophitia's descent to darkness.
At the Adrian,
Kilik was cradled the comatose Xianghua, when Cervantes came,
"What do you want?" he asked irritably. The Immortal Pirate said,
"Just want to inform you, that we have landed…"
"Any news about Sophitia Alexandra?"
"Not yet, but when you are on the land you can ask about it…" The former monk glanced to the Chinese girl,
"For a moment, dear…I shall avenge you,"
Author's Note: Gong Xi Fat Choi! Sorry for the lateness. Before reaching Japan, the warriors were attacked by the Japanese pirates or wakou¸ along with Fu-ma ninja. Starkiller have received his first souvenir from the Earth. While Cassandra and Talim dealt with their nightmares, Siegfried had to deal with the consequences of learning the Force. Would the future that he foresaw become reality? What is Ryuusei's true plan? Find the answer in the next chapter, "Captivated Hearts".
Glossary:
Filipino:
hindi ko kaya ito… = I can't stand it
maraming tao ng kilala patay = many people that we know died