Ch. 24 A Short Time Together

Yoshimitsu appeared in the middle of the road, analyzing the tracks of Strife's warriors. "They are not close, but I must hurry before I am too late."

*****

Strife's men continued to move towards Athens when the city came in view.

"Remember what the king said." The captain spoke. "Kill the woman's family and if anyone gets in the way, kill them too."

*****

A man with a beard and dressed in smith's clothes worked on the forge.

"Daddy, when is Mommy going to come home?" A small boy asked his father as he walked down the stairs.

"Patroklos, what have I told you about coming down here while the furnace is going?" The man lectured. "And what are you doing out of bed? The doctor said you're not allowed up."

"Sorry." The boy apologized.

The smith heard a bang on the door and began to walk up the stairs, followed by his son.

"Who could need something at this hour?"

Before the man could open the door, the door was kicked open by men dressed in armor and holding weapons.

*****

"So, you actually managed to survive." Strife snarled towards Siegfried.

"Correct, and I intend on making you pay for your crimes, Strife." Siegfried growled. "Tell me, why are you doing this? Have you gone under the evil blade's influence like so many?"

"Of course not!" Strife laughed. "I was like this before. All I care about is power and ruling the world, and that is all I have ever cared about. It took murdering my entirely family to do this, but it was worth it. And now that I have the perfect bride…"

"Sophitia is not going with you." Siegfried informed, keeping his tone dangerously low.

"Oh, and I suppose you're going to be her knight in silver armor, Siegfried? The great hero Siegfried has fallen for a damsel in distress, is that it?"

"I am no hero." Siegfried spoke, "And I have no intent on discussing this further with you."

"Then so be it." Strife growled, drawing his evil blade.

Siegfried drew Soul Calibur and prepared to battle the evil king. Even though the shards of Soul Edge undoubtedly made Strife much stronger than he really was, he didn't come close to owning the majority of Soul Edge. Because of this, Siegfried didn't plan on activating Soul Calibur's armor form.

*****

"Sheik, Sensei, what are you two doing here?" Kilik asked.

"Saving your butt, as usual." Edge Master informed. "So tell me, Sheik. About how many are there?"

"A hundred or so." Sheik counted.

"Shouldn't be much of a problem for the five of us."

"Attack!" One of the guards yelled.

Even though Sheik, Kilik, Edge Master, Xianghua, and Maxi were greatly out numbered, they were actually winning. Edge Master drew two blades, and with single strikes, took out numerous guards while blocking other's blows. Sheik jumped into the air and made several needles appear around him by magic, then launched them towards the guards using his mental powers. He killed about half a dozen and then landed and slashed at them with a whip that seemed to be made of pure energy. Xianghua and Kilik fought back to back, taking down any guard near them. Maxi drew a second nunchaku from his belt and took down one guard after another with his ninjitsu skills.

*****

Strife ran towards Siegfried and attacked the knight with his cursed blade, but Siegfried blocked the attack with his own blade. The two warriors stood in a dead lock, trying to push the other back. Lightening bolts shot out of the blades when the powers of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur collided. The ground underneath the two warriors began to crack as the walls crumbled. Siegfried looked at Sophitia, who was lying unconscious against a wall.

"Our blades are equally matched, Siegfried. You can't win."

"Please." Siegfried snorted. "I'm not even using my full power."

Strife swung his blade a few more times at Siegfried, who blocked the attacks with his own blade and retaliated, sending Strife flying backwards from a blow.

"Give up, now." Siegfried demanded.

"Give up? Fool! I will kill anyone who opposes me!" Strife roared.

Strife's eyes suddenly went blank as a blade was shoved through his back and then through his chest.

"I would have aimed for your heart, but I don't think you have one." Sophitia spoke from behind Strife. She had gained consciousness and was more than just a little pissed. The Athenian woman withdrew her blade from the evil king's heart as he fell to the floor.

Sophitia was still gripping her chest in pain from all the shards, but seemed to be handling the pain the best she could.

"Sophitia, are you O.K.?" Siegfried asked.

"I'm fine, Siegfried. It's just this many shards…it feels like someone's trying to kill me from the inside."

"Then you two don't mind if I take the shards?" Shadow spoke from behind Sophitia and Siegfried.

Sophitia and Siegfried quickly turned to see Shadow. Before the two warriors could react, the black-cloaked figure zoomed across the floor and grabbed Strife's blade.

"If plan on using that blade to revive Strife, then I warn you, we will attempt to stop you." Siegfried warned.

"What? Why would I use this blade to revive that fool? He was merely a tool who believed he was in charge, a man with foolish ambitions to rule the world. It's a good thing you stopped him, Siegfried, otherwise he may have become the perfect body for Soul Edge, and my Master really did not want that to happen."

"Master? I thought Strife was your master?" Sophitia spoke.

"Him? My master? Ha! I merely pretended to be his servant, gaining his trust while it was really me pulling the strings. Funny how such a manipulative man was a puppet to my Master."

"Then who is this master of yours?" Siegfried questioned.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait to find that out. He doesn't want you to know quite yet. Anyway, good day to you."

Before Siegfried had a chance to stop the mysterious man, he vanished into mist.

Siegfried walked to Strife's blade and slashed it with his own, destroying it. Soul Calibur's power seemed to activate automatically as it destroyed the shards of Soul Edge.

"We should return to the others and make sure they're not dead." Siegfried spoke.

"Agreed."

*****

Xianghua, Kilik, Maxi, Sheik, and Edge Master had taken care of their opponents, with the exception of a select few who had pinned themselves to the wall, shaking in fear of the warriors they had just fought.

"Surrender now and we'll spare you." Xianghua informed.

The guards looked at each other and raised their spears towards the warriors.

"Sorry, but we'd rather die than be punished by His Highness for surrendering."

"You don't have to worry about that anymore." Siegfried spoke, walking into the room with Sophitia right next to him. "Strife is dead. Sophitia and I killed him."

"What?" One of the guards gasped. "Is it true that madman is finally gone?"

"Hurray!" The remaining guards began to cheer.

As the guards celebrated, they heard a war horn.

"What was that?" Xianghua asked.

"It was a war horn, but by who?" Siegfried spoke as he ran out to see what was going on.

A group of knights dressed in armor emblazoned with wolf head shaped carvings charged towards the city.

"That's Princess Hilde's army." Siegfried spoke. "I recognize their armor."

Siegfried ran out to the men, waving his arms, trying to convince them to stop their charge. "Wait!" Siegfried called out to them. "Strife is dead. This attack isn't needed!"

However, the men had no interest in Siegfried's words as they all charged towards him.

"Halt!" A female voice ordered.

Everyone stopped and saluted a single warrior in armor. The warrior appeared to be female, although her armor made it hard to tell. She was dressed from top to toe in silver armor with wolf head shaped carvings decorating the helmet, shoulders, gloves, knees, chest, and belt. In one hand, she carried a short sword, while in the other hand she carried a spear with a flag.

"Princess Hilde." Siegfried addressed formally.

"Siegfried." The princess spoke warmly. "Haven't seen you in awhile."

"I'm sorry if I worried you, but I told you, I prefer not to have any help. What are you doing here?" Siegfried asked.

"Yeah, but he got stuck with us anyway." Maxi commented, walking out of the palace, followed by the rest of the group.

Hilde looked up towards the group and there was a tint of anger in her eyes. "Oh, so I see you would rather travel with a group of mercenaries then my army."

"Technically, I'm a pirate." Maxi corrected. "And Kilik over there is a monk."

"I found Siegfried alone and convinced him to come with me in exchange for secret information about Soul Edge." Sheik spoke, half lying. "The people you see before you are all warriors who have fought Soul Edge in the past, which is why I gathered them. I decided if we wanted to defeat Soul Edge, those who have battled it in the past would have the best chance."

"I see. So you didn't find me as helpful then." Hilde replied.

For this mission, unfortunately not." Siegfried informed.

"So be it." Hilde shrugged, trying to act as this didn't bother her. "By the way, which one of you is Sophitia?"

"I am." The Athenian woman replied.

"I have urgent news for you. Strife sent a group of men to kill your family." Hilde informed.

"What? No!" Sophitia began to cry. "Rothion, Pyrrha, Patroklos…"

"Please let me finish." Hilde interrupted gently. "You don't need to worry. Yoshimitsu went to protect them, and he can destroy a whole quadrant himself."

"That's good to hear, but I should return. If my family is in danger because of me, I must make sure they are O.K." The Athenian warrior said. "Sheik, you wouldn't happen to know if I can find my sister nearby, would you? You seem to have some sort of power to find things."

"The wind says to go to Athens." Edge Master spoke for Sheik. "You will be needed there in the future."

"Very well. Thank you, Elder." Sophitia bowed to the old man. "I shall pack my horse and leave immediately. I hope my children are safe."

As Sophitia turned to leave, Siegfried stopped her.

"Sophitia, you know that if anything happens, you can come to us for help, right?" Siegfried asked.

"Yes, of course I do. And thank your for the assistance you have provided. I will always remember you, Siegfried."

As Sophitia prepared to leave, Hilde continued speaking with Siegfried and the rest.

"So, what are your plans now, Siegfried?" Hilde asked.

"We are going to train in those mountains." Edge Master spoke, pointing the mountains in the distance.

"We're what?" Maxi asked, surprised, but the old man seemed to be able to silence the pirate with just a glare.

"Very well. I will continue my campaign against the evil of Soul Edge." Hilde informed. "I will have one of my captains stay in this city to rule until the people can get back on their feet. I wish you luck on your journeys, Sir Siegfried. Do you still not wish to come with us?"

"I am sorry, but I would rather stay on the path I am already on." Siegfried smiled.

"So be it." Hilde sighed, walked away from the group. "Let me know if you change your mind."

Once Hilde and her men were out of earshot, Maxi spoke to Edge Master.

"We're not really going to train, are we?"

"Of course we are." Edge Master informed.

"But we don't need training." Maxi argued. "We're already tough enough."

"If you were tough enough, you would have been able to handle those past fights without Sheik's and my help. If you were tough enough, you would be able to defeat those men on your own. Besides, I would have expected you to desire to become stronger so you can destroy Astaroth. He is still on the loose, and do you not want revenge against him?" Edge Master smiled. The old man could be wickedly cunning and used Maxi's desires to his own advantage.

"Well, when you put it that way…" Maxi sighed. "Lead the way."

As the group traveled out of the city, Sheik whispered into Edge Master's ear. "I wish you wouldn't have encouraged him."

"That young man will have to learn eventually." Edge Master informed. "But right now, revenge is his only motivation, so we'll unfortunately have to use that to our advantage."

*****

Hilde prepared to leave as she tightened her horse's saddle.

"Stupid knight, acting like that with a married woman." Hilde grumbled under her breath. "You know if anything happens, you can come to us, right?" The princess mocked Siegfried.

"I sense jealousy in your voice." The princess's second in command and good friend informed.

"That's none of your business. Are the men ready?"

"Yes, your highness."

"Good, let our search continue."

*****

The bodies of the warriors littered the floor as Yoshimitsu stood in the house sheathing his blade after the battle. The smith was holding a hammer with his son hiding behind his back.

"I am sorry your boy had to see that." Yoshimitsu apologized. "These men were out to slaughter you and anyone who stood in their way. I suggest you get a stronger door and make sure to lock it."

The masked samurai spun around and vanished without a trace.

Sorry for the short chapter. The next one will be longer. I would like to thank everyone for the nice reviews I've received so far. If it weren't for them, I probably wouldn't be inspired to finish this story.