Disclaimer: I love gram crackers! And I don't own Soul Calibur! Get ready for the longest chapter in the story so far! Yay! Party favors for everyone! TALIM'S ADVENTURE OF DOOM AND UNLUCKINESS! IS CURRENTLY ON HOLD! I had to do something to make you guys see this, just so you don't wait.
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Chapter Twenty-One: The Alias and Talim's Hot Date
BAM! The door to the main room crashed to the floor as two figures emerged from the dust. Clearly Xianghua did a horrible job in the past chapters cleaning...
"(cough) Drat! (cough) I'm allergic to dust! (cough cough)" One man gasped.
"Ergh..." The other man said.
The main guys stood ready to fight but lowered their weapons. Who were these people?
Yoshimitsu stepped out of the dust, holding his hands up in case one of them tried to attack him. Mostly he was worried about that crazy girl with the laugh. He walked up to Talim and took her hand, then he placed his hand on hers. "I'm in."
"As am I," Rock sighed. He put his hand on Yoshi's.
"Wait, I thought you were evil!" Yunsung pointed at Yoshimitsu.
"I thought you were dead!" Mina pointed at Rock.
"And you killed him!" Maxi pointed at Yoshimitsu.
"I was, he was, and I did." Yoshimitsu took out a bubble pipe and sat down in one of the chairs, motioning for all of them to gather around him. " It all started that day I had stabbed Rock when he wouldn't let us through the gates, he died, and we went on. Once you all escaped, and blah blah blah, we were about to eat the Greek girl we were roasting when I realized that what I was doing was wrong. So I let her go free, and as I left the city, Rock was just standing up. Rock you can explain now."
Rock sighed, "Well, as you know; I died, but then some guy with spiky blonde hair ran up to me, threw something at me and yelled, 'Phoenix Down!' and ran off. When I stood up, Yoshimitsu was standing there and he said he was sorry for killing me and now we're the best of friends!"
"So..." Talim looked from one man to the other.
"We're on your side, we heard the little speech you gave and I was moved." Yoshimitsu nodded. He inhaled and started choking on the bubbles he had breathed in. He forgot that he wasn't really smoking.
"And we think there's another person who can help us!" Rock turned to Talim.
"Who?"
"Setsuka. She may be on the evil side, but she hates Soul Edge and might join us if she hears about our plan."
"Or tell Nightmare and we're all dead," Siegfried stood up and crossed his arms. "We'll have to be sneaky if we're going to talk to her. She might not want to join us. If that's the case then---"
"We'll just throw some rocks at her and she'll pass out right away!" Mina laughed.
Everyone shivered in fear. What was that laugh? It sounded more demonic that ever.
"Anywho, that's a good idea. Do you guys know where she is?" Siegfried looked at Rock and Yoshimitsu who had just stopped choking.
"We think she's in France with Mitsurugi," Yoshimitsu explained. "They were headed there to talk with that Sorel man."
"Send her a letter then, but only ask for her help!" Talim ordered. "Since she knows Taki best, Taki should write it like she's inviting her to something."
Taki took out a piece of paper, "Dear Setsuka, Yo girlfriend! You should come over to the Lost Cathedral for a party! See ya then, Taki. How's that?"
"Good, now all we have to do is wait for the replies from everyone..."
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The week following the sending of the letters was boring as heck. So they entertained themselves with board games, reading and frolicking in the flowers. Only Kilik frolicked through some Poison Oak and was out for a while.
The first reply was from Sophitia, explaining how she got out of Tira's grasp:
Dear friends,
HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME WITH TIRA! I can't believe I'm helping you, but you did help me, so... Blah. I hate being nice. All I did to get away from Tira was pinch, slap and bite my way to victory. I'm back in Greece now, and I'm on my way!
Love,
Sophitia
"Why is she on her way? We told them all to wait!" Talim glanced at Taki, the one who wrote the letters.
"What? I thought we already knew where we were going so I put in 'Meet at Siegfried's place and we'll travel to the Lost Cathedral.'" Taki shrugged and went back to playing Chutes and Ladders with Yunsung.
They all shrugged in a wise shrugging manner and read the next letter that was hidden under Sophitia's. It was from Cassandra. DUN DUN DUN! Yunsung screamed and hid under the couch.
Dear Talim,
Sure thing! I'll help! But sis doesn't sound too happy about it all, neither am I, but meh. At least I got out of that place. Tell Yunsung that I'm still gonna kill him and if you ever see Yoshimitsu, tell him he'll join Yunsung shortly after.
Till then,
Cassandra
"O... kay then..." Talim stared at the letters. "Looks like we'll need to open up the rest of the bedrooms."
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Dear all of you,
Be glad to help kill Nightmare! As long as I get his head so I can put it up on my wall and spit on it in the mornings. And why did you have to stay at Ostrheinsburg? I hate that place...
Cheerio darlings,
Ivy
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Dear Comrades,
If it means a challenge, then count me in! This should be good practice for me. It's been a while since I've fought anyone. Can't wait to see you pipsqueaks!
Olcadan
"Hey!" Talim pouted. "I'm not that small..."
"Yeah, you are." Xianghua giggled.
Talim gave her a good beating for that.
"Goodness, you've been spending too much time with Mina..." Yunsung muttered.
Mina gave him a good beating for that.
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Dear Taki,
Meh. I've got nothing better to do, and I'd be nice to go against Nightmare for once. I'll stay with Mitsurugi for a while and get some more info on Nightmare's plans. I'll write back when I can.
Toodles,
Setsuka
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They had all helped to open up all the rooms on the 2nd floor for their friends. Even Siegfried, who had tried to run away again, but was caught climbing out the window.
"That should do it!" Talim yawned and walked out of the last bedroom. "How's the sign making going?" She looked down at Xianghua and Rock who were in charge of making pretty signs to put on the bedroom doors to tell which room belonged to who.
"Almost done!" They said at the same time.
"We just need to finish Ivy's," Rock scribbled something down on a clipboard. "Xianghua's doing that. I'm making a chart showing where everyone's room is." He had done a good job on it too. He even made sure to separate Cassandra and Yunsung from each other so Cass wouldn't strangle Yunsung at night.
"And I just finished putting complimentary chocolates on everyone's pillows!" Yunsung was running back up to them carrying the rest of the left-over candy.
"Oooh! I want some!" Talim pounced on the chocolate, but Yunsung bounced out of the way.
"No, no, no! You have to do something for me first!" He smirked at her.
"What? I'll do anything for sugar! Whee!" Talim started spinning around.
"I've never seen her like this, what did you do to her Mina?" Siegfried looked at Seung Mina.
"Oh, I just introduced her to my friend, Mr. Coffee and Mrs. Cake... Hey! What made you think it was me?" An offended Mina pouted.
"Who else would have done it?"
"Good point."
Yunsung held the candy above him. "Let me take you out on a date tonight."
Everyone stopped what they were doing, Talim stopped spinning and looked at Yunsung. What did he just say?
"Um... I, uh... Sure! Yeah, that-that'd be nice..." Talim blushed and looked down at her feet. Why was she so bashful all of a sudden? It was Yunsung for Heaven's sake! He was one of her best friends...
But you like him.
What? Who said that?
Me.
Who's 'me?'
You.
Huh?
Argh. Okay, listen: I'm you. I'm just talking to you to make you feel crazy.
Oh... It's working.
Good. That's what they pay me for--- Anywho! You like Yunsung, he likes you, and now all your feelings for him are gonna get in the way of everything and make you feel like there are butterflies in your stomach. Also, you'll start daydreaming about your wedding, kids, and what color the kitchen will be when you move into your new house. There may be some jumbled feeling about your other guy friends (Mostly Siegfried and Maxi, and a little bit of Kilik) but forget about them and go for Yunsung! He's a keeper!
And how would you know?
Shush! Do you want me to get fired? Now go back to reality and answer Yunsung's question.
"What?" Talim looked back up at the fiery haired boy. Future husband, maybe? AHH! I was right!
"Is 8 PM good?" Yunsung repeated.
"Yeah... That's fine! Great! Amazing! Fantastic!" She continued yelling words until Mina and the other girls dragged her off to talk to her.
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"Omigosh! Talim! You have a date!" Xianghua squealed, jumping up and down.
"Wonderful! Spectacular! Splendiferous! Groov---" Taki slapped Talim making her stop.
"Taki! You just slapped Talim!" Xianghua gasped.
"So?" the she-ninja shrugged. Talim rubbed her face.
"Never mind that! We need to get Talim ready for the most important night of her life. Other than her wedding of course, but whatever!" Mina flipped her hair (only because she seems like a hair flipper at the moment) and walked up to Talim. "... This might take a while, so let's start!"
"Hey..." Talim sniffled.
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By 7 the girls had managed to make Talim look like a hooker. So they started over and by ten till, she was more presentable. She had a pretty pale blue dress on that ended at her knees and had a string bow in the back, with matching ribbons in her hair. On her feet were plain slip on shoes that resembled Xianghua's P1 outfit in Soul Calibur 2.
The girls surrounded Talim and lead her out to the main hall where Yunsung was waiting with the men. When they had made it down the stairs with no injuries, they moved aside to show Talim.
"Wow... You look amazing." Yunsung smiled and tried not to blush but it must have shown because the other guys were snickering.
"Thanks, you too." Talim blushed and was relived that she didn't start shouting 'Splendiferous!' again. She took the hand that he offered and they walked out the door.
"Aw... Now that is romantic." Siegfried took out a brand new hanky and blew his nose.
"Xianghua..." Kilik suddenly blurted.
"Yes?" She looked hopeful. Xianghua had started to love Kilik again and was hoping he was about to ask her out on a date too.
"Why aren't you wearing shoes?"
"Oh... That... Um... LOOK! There's another Elvis impersonator behind you!" Xianghua ran for it with the other girls right behind her while the boys looked behind Kilik.
"It's just Maxi..." Kilik looked back to not see Xianghua.
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It was a romantic night in a cute way. Both were shy and rarely talked, not wanting to say something and preventing the other from saying something as well.
They walked along a path for a while until they reached the mote. At the dock was one of the platforms with a table and two chairs with a dinner by candle light was waiting. Yunsung grabbed Talim's hand and pulled her along.
"Took me forever to get it right," He laughed. "I forgot you were a vegetarian and had to redo everything."
"Oh, Yunsung... You shouldn't have!" Talim stopped and bit her lip.
"But I wanted to!"
"Yeah, but you really shouldn't have..."
"Why?"
"Because I ate before we got here."
"Oh."
"I'm so sorry! I'll eat this too!"
"No, it's okay! We'll just sit and talk for a while." He continued to the platform and helped Talim board. "Ready?" Talim nodded and sat down. "Okay, hold on for a sec!" He took out White Storm and slashed at the ropes that tied the platform to the dock. It was a bit shakey at first, but it soon evened out and Yunsung joined Talim at the table.
"So..." Talim started.
"Yeah..." Yunsung scratched his head.
"You went out with Cassandra?"
"Um, yeah. It was only for a few months, but she was cool. Also---"
SCREEEEEACH! Rule #1 of dating: Never EVER talk about your Ex. It only makes things bad. UN-SCREEEEEACH!
"Oh." Talim looked out at the water.
"You having a good time since we started this adventure type thing?"
"Yes. It's had its ups and downs, but it's been good. You?"
"If you hadn't have been here, it wouldn't have been as much fun." Yunsung reached over and held her hand in his. That was sooooo sweet.
"Yunsung... I---" Talim was interrupted by Yunsung raising a finger to her lips. He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips.
They were quiet the rest of the ride back to the dock. Talim had gone into shock and was staring at her hands and freaking out in her mind. It was her first kiss! Yunsung was freaking out because Talim was so quiet and thought he was going too fast.
When they reached the dock, Yunsung tied the platform back up and helped Talim back off. She stood staring away from Yunsung then turned around and looked up at him. His brown eyes shined in the moonlight. I love you... She thought. But she couldn't bring herself to talk. Instead, she got up on her tip toes and kissed Yunsung.
The kiss lasted until it was broken by a bunch of people yelling, "HOW ROMAAAAAAANTIC!" Mina, Xianghua, Taki, Siegfried, Maxi, Kilik, Yoshimitsu and Rock were all standing a little while away in some bushes.
"Get a room you two!" Maxi laughed.
"Ah, shut it!" Yunsung snapped back. He looked down at Talim who looked back up at him.
"I... I love you." She whispered.
"I love you too."
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Aw! I love this chapter! After much thought I finally decided to put Yunsung and Talim together. I hope no one stabs me for making another Talim x Yunsung fic... But the couple is so cute, I had to! Also, there will be many more pairings later on! And if you think that Kilik and Xianghua will get back together... You may be right. I'm not sure if I want them together anymore, but we'll see.