Standing in front of a painting depicting a giant pear in a sea of strawberries, Raphael pushed it open to reveal a hidden stairway that spiraled down in to a deep, cold darkness that was occasionally penetrated by torches attached to their holders on the wall. With Amy beside him, they walked into their dark lair together. When they had finally reached the bottom, Amy looked at their old prisoners with disinterest. The dungeon was cold and dirty; a few torches lent their flickering light to the area while a few servants bowed low as their master and their lady pass by. Occasionally, she could see one of the servants bleeding a prisoner who was chained to the wall and collecting the precious red fluid in a bottle. The skinny man who was chained to the wall was used to this process by now and he did not struggle or make a fuss as the servants made a cut on his deeply scarred arms.

Hilde was also chained to the wall and as she watched the process, she showed no sign of fear. Only mild disgust and anger showed on her face. Her outer armor and weapons had been removed so the only thing she was wearing was her long red thick undershirt and long boots. Her red hair fell in a straight wave that was crusted with dirt and sweat but overall, she was unharmed. "So this is the so called princess of Wolfkrone," Amy thought dryly as she strolled over.

Seeing Amy and Raphael approaching, Hilde straightened up a little even though her hand and feet were chained tightly to the cold walls. "What do you want?"

Smirking, Raphael came a little closer to her. "Aren't you scared princess? Can you not feel the very essence of death around you?"

"I fear nothing. The only thing I regret is being unable to die with honor in battle," Hilde said flatly. "And I was unable to heal my father…" she thought to herself sadly.

Walking back to his daughter's side, he gave Hilde a cruel smile. "Well now, what do you think of your new pet Amy?"

"The great princess of Wolfkrone as my pet? Why father, you do spoil me very much." And Amy gave a small grin of mischievousness. But then her eyes flashed as she stepped up to Hilde. "I'll break you... for ruining such a fine night for me and my father. And it's because of you, that my friend contracted a high fever and nearly died." Amy showed her fangs as she said, "None of my pets have lasted very long. I'm interested in seeing how long you can last..."

Listening to her words, Hilde felt a surge of rage. "I am no one's pet. You may be a child but how dare you treat me with such disrespect."

Looking at Hilde, Amy and Raphael merely burst into laughter. "Where do you think you are?" Raphael asked as he gestured to the gloomy dungeon. "You are no different from any prisoners here, except for maybe the fact that you're rather pretty. But..." He roughly grabbed her chin and and said, "I want nothing more then to sink my fangs into your delicate neck and drain you dry for what you've done. Wolfkrone has no business being here and yet you decide to meddle with my domain. After I'm done eliminating Wallachia's army and yours, you can join them in the afterlife and let them know it was all your fault they died."

"Indeed. How pathetic princess," Amy added. "For now, you can enjoy your stay here in our dungeon since I don't feel like playing with you. For now."

Ignoring Hilde's curses, the two continued on deeper into the dungeon until they reach a barred metal door. Taking out a silver key from his pocket, Raphael unlocked it and they step inside. Inside, were many shelves and cases of wine bottles. However, instead of wine, there was blood inside. It was Raphael's storage of sustenance since there was no way he and his daughter would degrade themselves by going outside to bite commoners in the neck and drink their blood. This was more refine and elegant. It had also been some times since they've had this delicious drink; so pouring himself and his daughter a glass, they toasted each other. "For victory."

"For our happiness," she replied. With that, the two clinked their glasses together and drank deeply. Wiping their mouths, they smiled as they felt the familiar surge of power and their eyes shone with a crimson red light. May their enemies regret the day they step foot in Raphael's territory.

"Scrub harder! If the master finds so much as a small stain, we'll be whipped until our backs are blue!" said the head servant, a woman in her forties with a plain face and even plainer body. Dark brown hair was pulled into a tight bun and her brown eyes scrutinize every surface, looking for imperfections.

Grunting, Cassandra mopped the floor with more energy. The kitchen was still a total chaos and she could smell a lingering odor of…burnt stuff. "I've got to find a way to get out of here," she thought. Dampierre had already found an excuse to ditch and had already started his search on the east side of the castle. In frustration, she kicked the wooden counter and a big pot of flour sitting in an open cupboard tipped over and spilled its white content all over her. "Ahhh!" cried Cassandra shaking the stuff off her. A big white cloud quickly surrounded her, which made her quite noticeable to the headservant.

"You moron! Go to the servant's quarter and change out of that outfit immediately. I want you come to come back as soon as you're done and clean up this mess," snapped the head servant.

"Thanks, I'll be right back." And Cassandra quickly ran out of there, leaving a trail of flour powder behind her. Finally! Now was her chance to find Hilde and get out of this creepy place. Running to the west side, she began searching.

Walking along the beautifully decorated hallway that had elegant candle holders every few steps, Dampierre stealthily picked the locks on every door he saw and when he didn't see Hilde in them, he would lock them again. Continuing down another one, he saw two maids standing guard outside one of the door. Could Hilde be in there? Walking confidently up to the maid while keeping his face down, he cleared his throat and said in a convincing tone of voice, "Good evening ladies. The master wishes to speak to the two you about some kind of errand he wants you to take care of."

"But the master said we weren't allowed to leave," protested one of the maid. She peered at him suspiciously and stood a little closer to the door.

Pointing to himself, Dampierre gave them a charming smile while he quickly closed his eyes to hide their color. "That's why I'm here to take your place. You can leave knowing that someone's here to stand watch. Oh, and I heard that the master is in a rather foul mood... let's just say he's not going to be very happy if he has to wait for you two for too long."

The maids gave each other a hesitating look and whisper back and forth but they finally reached a conclusion, "Alright then, thank you for delivering the message. Make sure that you don't enter unless the lady inside calls for you. Oh and don't leave this door until someone else come to replace you." And Dampierre watched the two maids ran off to look for their master.

Quietly opening door, he stepped into the room and looked around. He tilted his head in curiosity when he saw a young Asian girl sleeping peacefully on the bed. Light green canopy flowed down and hid most of the bed and its occupant inside and the only thing he could really see clearly was her long black hair. He gave the room a thorough search and when he found nothing of interest he decided to leave. "I wonder who that girl is. Why were the maids guarding her? Wait, if she's important to Raphael, maybe I can…" His train of thought was interrupted by the rapid footsteps heading this way. Looking for a place to hide, Dampierre quickly scrambled over to the long green and white curtains and hid behind them. A crescent moon shone from outside the window and he shifted over a little to avoid having his shadow appear. Trying not to move or breathe too loudly, he stood there and hoped that he wouldn't be notice.

Walking down the hallway with quick steps, Raphael shouted at his maids. "Idiots! Who told you I called for you. The only job I gave you was to stand guard and you couldn't even do that right!"

"We're so sorry master, we- we didn't know that he was lying to us," stammered the frightened maids, following their master. "He sounded so convincing you would've thought that he was actually telling the truth."

Raphael bit his lips and thought about the situation carefully. Someone must have infiltrated his castle and they're probably looking for Hilde. Fools! They'll regret this. And if they even think of using Talim as a hostage… Bristling with anger, he slapped one of the maids and she fell backward, holding her hand to her cheek that was quickly turning purple. She held back her tears in case of angering her master any further. "You two, get out of my sight! How useless!" And he continued walking down the hallway to Talim's room.

Seeing the door ajar, he panicked and quickly rushed into the middle of the room. Standing on the viridian green rug, he cried "Talim! Are you alright?"

Waking up from her peaceful slumber, the priestess slowly stirred and opened her eyes to find a frantic looking Raphael in her room. "What's wrong Raphael?" asked Talim, slowly sitting up. He looked rather upset but she didn't see what the reason was.

Rushing over and pushing the green canopy aside, he grabbed her shoulders and examine her for any injuries and to see if she alright. Seeing that everything he was normal, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Did you see anyone come in here Talim? Did you hear anything?"

"I don't think so. I was tired so I fell asleep and I was quite sure no one came in." Shaking her head, she looked around her room and thought everything seemed fine. But then her eyes widened slightly when she felt an unknown wind. Her gaze flickered over to the window and she hesitated slightly before saying, "No, no one came in here Raphael. Did something happen?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," said Raphael." We may have some unwanted guests in my castle and I'm trying to track them down right now. So don't open the door for anyone unless it's me or Amy alright. I'll come back in a few hours with Amy and we can head down to dinner if you feel that you're up for it."

Talim smiled. "I'm fine. I've suffered worse before so don't worry."

Sitting on the bed, Raphael gave her a curious look. "What do you mean you've been through worse?"

Looking inward at her memories, she explained softly, "Years ago when the evil seed, which we now know is Soul Edge, rained down upon the world. The evil energy spread throughout much of the world. One day, while I was reading the wind, the energy surge through me carried by a contaminated wind and I was unconscious for many days. My father was the village shaman; he gathered up those who had spiritual healing abilities and they gathered around my body and prayed for many days. Eventually, their ritual succeeded and I lived. But it took me a whole year to fully recover."

"I know what you're talking about, Talim." And Raphael began explaining his own misfortune when Soul Edge appeared in the world. "A noble who has long supported my family was driven insane by those shards. In self-defense, I killed him. And you know the rest of story right?"

Talim nodded sorrowfully. "Ever since that sword came to this world, the fabric of nature has become greatly twisted..." Coughing, she tried to continue speaking but Raphael stopped her.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and made a disapproving sound. "Take it easy Talim. Remember, you need to rest to regain your strength. Anyway, I have to continue the search for those intruders but I promise we'll have dinner together alright?"

Laying back down, she said hesitantly, "Dinner sounds like a good plan. I'll wait for your return then Raphael." She gave his hand a small squeeze. "Do be careful, alright? And please, don't resort to combat if you can help it."

"You're still so naive Talim..." But Raphael nodded and left. A resounding click showed that he had lock the door from the inside so anyone from outside wouldn't be able to get in. Before shutting the door, he reminded her, "Remember, don't open the door for anyone besides me and Amy." She nodded and gave him a cheerful good-bye wave as the door close. As he made his way through the hall, a maid covered in flour rush past him. "What are you doing?"

Cassandra froze and turned around slowly. Why did it have to be this guy she had to run into. "Umm... I was just….getting clean up my lord." She thought to herself quietly, "Please don't let him recognize me. If he does, I'm gonna knock him out and run for it.

Peering at the maid, Raphael thought she looked rather familiar but he couldn't quite tell since she was covered in so much flour and the candles only offered so much light in the dark hallway. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"Yeah, the kitchen. I mean yes, you've seen me before in the kitchen. My lord," added Cassandra hastily.

Before Raphael could push the subject some more, Amy showed up. "Father, is Talim alright?"

Nodding, he added "We may have intruders in our castle Amy. Grab your Albion and gather up the servants to search for them. I shall get my Flambert and I'll take the east side of the castle. If I find them, you'll have more pets to play with, my beloved daughter."

Amy smiled. "If I find them, I'll probably break them before you can make them my pets."

Turning to Cassandra, he waved her off impatiently. "Go change and do your part in the search. I don't want to see anyone slacking off, got it?"

Cassandra grinded her teeth and gave him a curt bow before leaving. Turning right, she looked around for her sneaky companion. Where the hell was Dampierre in this ridiculously sized castle!

"You may come out now."

Dampierre stepped out and stroked his moustache. "You knew Le Bello was hiding behind there, so why didn't you say anything?"

Talim looked at him sadly. "Because Raphael would have killed you. I did not sense any ill intentions from you when I read the wind around you, so I decided to stay quiet. But..." Talim eyes narrowed slightly. "I recognize you as a man from the army that has invaded Raphael's land. Why are you here?"

"But we've never met."

Talim said in a matter of fact voice, "The wind sees everything. I am a wind priestess and therefore, I posses the ability to read the wind."

Dampierre shook his head and explained tiredly, "One of my friends has been kidnapped by Raphael. I need to find her and my other companion who's also here with me. I would like to ask for your cooperation. If you agree, we shall take our leave and I promise we'll avoid hurting anyone in this castle."

Talim closed her eyes and said, "I do not fully trust you. After all, you and your friends are responsible for many of Raphael's people's lives."

Dampiere wagged his finger at her. "Don't judge us so harshly little miss. We didn't know what we were involving ourselves in when we agreed to help Wallachia. I don't know if you'll understand but the army of Wallachia is merely trying to prevent this strange disease from spreading and they enlisted Wolfkrone's help without giving Hilde too many details." Stroking his moustache, he added slyly, "If there was some way to cure these people, Hilde would probably order her army to withdraw at once... and then no more people will have to die."

Talim blinked at him. "You're trying to bait me."

"But I can tell that you're against the idea of a war. Are you not, little miss?" Dampierre crossed his arms and leaned against her bedpost. "If you lie to Hilde that you can use some weird wind magic thing to heal these people, Le Bello is sure that she'll leave this place."

Talim said quietly, "I… am actually able to cure them by using the wind."

Dampierre choked on his own spit when he heard that. "WHAT!"

"Ssshhh!" Talim hastily shushed him. "I can, but Raphael will not let me. And with this many people, it'll take a rather long time and alot of my energy to accomplish. So I'm hoping that when I obtain the legendary sword, Soul Calibur, I can heal Raphael first and then proceed to heal everyone here." Talim fiddled with her bed-sheets and looked at him questioningly. "If I tell this Hilde that, would she agree to leave?"

The con man adjusted his hat thoughtfully. "Knowing Hilde, she didn't seem very happy about this war so Le Bello assumes that you'll have a very good chance of convincing her." Tapping his fingers on her bedside table, he sighed. "But we'll have to find her and Cassandra in this huge castle before that madman finds us first. I have a feeling this isn't going to be easy, even for a man such as myself."

Getting off the bed, Talim took her elbow blades, Syi Salika and Loka Luha, and strapped them on to her pink belt before motioning for Dampierre to follow her. "I can call on the wind to help guide us so it won't be too hard. Just tell me what they look like and I'll handle it from there." Remembering something, she turned to look Dampierre in the eye. "Oh and please don't call Raphael a madman or I'll have to shave that moustache of yours off."

As they walked out of the room, Talim began tying her hair into her trademark pigtails. Following the tiny girl, Dampierre gulped. "She's as scary as Cassandra, but not as scary as Hilde..."

Avoiding Raphael's servants who were on the hunt for Cassandra and Dampierre costed them some time, but Talim finally found one of the people they were looking for. "Cassandra! Over here!" Dampierre whispered loudly.

Hearing Dampierre's voice, the flour covered Cassandra rush over to the pillar they were hiding behind and shouted, "Where the hell were you! We said we'd meet in front of the ballroom at 10 pm. You're way late!"

Clamping his hand over her mouth, the group withdrew down a corridor with Dampierre dragging a very angry Greek woman behind him. "Shush! Do you want the whole castle to hear you?"

"Mrgh odfhor dgms!" grumbled Cassandra who was having a hard time speaking due to Dampierre's hand still clamped tightly over her mouth.

Talim suddenly stop and stood there trying to catch her breath. "I'm... sorry... I'm not feeling my... best right now." It was a bit of an understatement since it felt as if her lungs were on fire. "Just a little further guys… the wind is telling me… that we're very close." Talim dropped to her knees and panted as she held a hand to her running heart.

Shaking Dampierre's hands off her, Cassandra walked over to Talim and patted her on the back, "You don't look too well that's for sure. Why, I think you're even paler than me! And I'm covered in flour! Are you sure you'll be alright kiddo?"

Talim nodded and continued trying to slow down her heart rate and catch her breath."I'm fine... please don't worry about me."

Meanwhile Dampierre had disappeared and when Taim recovered, Dampierre he reappeared with some clean maid clothes for Cassandra. The two girls looked at him with disbelieving eyes. "What? She's making a trail everywhere we go!"

The three looked at the white trail of powder and thought, "Oops."

After Cassandra change into her new clothes inside one of the many rooms in the castle, they continued their search for Hilde.

Standing inside the ballroom, Raphael waited impatiently for his servants to search thoroughly for the intruders before they move on to the second floor. "My lord, there's no one in the ballroom," reported one of his maid.

"Fine, then let's get going." And Raphael turned to leave when suddenly, he heard the clock strike one. Dawn would arrive in about five hours and it was time for dinner. He had promised Talim that he and Amy would visit and eat with her. It would probably be alright if he left the servants to search for about an hour or so by themselves. Turning to one of the maid, he ordered her to fetch Amy and tell her that they would take a short break and have dinner with Talim.

"Yes my lord." And the maid obediently left to find Amy.

Walking down the hallway, Raphael asked, "Did you find anything Amy?"

"No, not yet father. But I'm sure we'll catch them sooner or later," said Amy reasurringly.

Nodding, Raphael tried to push away a strange sense of unease out of his mind. Standing in front of Talim's door, he knocked loudly on the mahogany door a few times. "Open the door Talim. It's Raphael, Amy's with me as well. We're here to fetch you for dinner."

The only answer he got was complete silence. Amy looked up at her father and said, "Maybe she's still sleeping?"

Knocking a couple more times, Raphael grasped the handle and turned it. To his surprise, it was unlocked. It couldn't be... he had locked it from the inside when he left. So why? Complete silence greeted him as he opened the door. He stepped in slowly and he felt his heart pound as he walked over to her bed and yanked aside the canopy. There was no one in there. "Talim!"

Darkwings13: The painting was mentioned previously in chap 10 if anyone remembers. Good news, I've finally defeated Algol on the last floor of the tower of souls using Talim, Raphael and Amy. Let's just say it took me forever. Anyway, thanks for reading. If I made any mistakes of if there's something I can improve then feel free to tell me.