Ch. 33 Suspicions Begin
It didn't matter what town was lived in, they all had their slums. The slums in this particular town were a dangerous place to live. Guards were hardly present, unless they were trying to hunt someone down. Even when the guards were around, they would rarely waste their time to protect the poor. Athens was no exception to this, and these slums were even more dangerous once night fell. People took cover in what little homes they had or tried their best to hide and avoid trouble. Today was particularly eerie. The moon was nearly full, but clouds partially covered it, preventing its glow from reaching the earth. Only daemons and other creatures of the night would dare venture alone in such a place, at such a time. However, it wasn't the daemons that people worried about.
A young woman ran down the streets frantically. Behind her was a girl holding her hand, the child was practically dragged as the two ran. Behind the two females were three burley men. The woman took a sharp turn down an alley, hoping to lose her pursuers. However, the alley ended in a dead end, with a brick wall in front of her.
"Where are you going sweetheart?" One of the men asked. They entered the alley. "Come on, we're just here to keep you company. You know, this place isn't safe for a woman to be alone."
The woman was trapped now between the brick wall and the three men. She gripped the girl tightly in her arms to do what she could to protect her.
"Please, do as you wish to me." The woman begged. "Just don't harm my daughter."
"Oh, I don't know if we can promise that." Another one of the men approached, looking at the younger girl. She had to have been around the age of thirteen while her mom was around thirty.
"Your daughter looks like a little cutie. She'd be worth quite a bit if we were planning to sell her to the slave traders."
The man reached out to grab the girl when a black gloved hand grabbed his arm and pulled it back.
"Haven't you ever heard of keeping your hands to yourself?" A deep and menacing voice asked.
The man turned and peered into the glowing green eyes of a black and white masked creature. The creature was perched on the side of the building, somehow defying gravity. It dressed in a black and white outfit with a large red cape and chains hanging down.
The man was petrified as he stared into the eyes of the daemon. All he could do was tremble as the bones in his arm were grinded to dust from the daemon's grip. Without warning, the man released a piercing scream as his arm was torn from its shoulder. The daemon grabbed the man by the shirt and smashed him into the brick wall with such might that the wall crumbled. The daemon released what was left of the dead man's deformed body and turned his attentions to the other two men.
"What in the world is that thing?" One of the men gasped.
"I don't know." The other cried. "Kill it!"
Both of the men drew their swords to attack, but they were too slow. The green-eyed demon jumped towards the two men. With a single slap, he sent one of them crashing into a wall. The daemon then turned to punch the last man. The man raised his blade towards the daemon, but with a single blow, the green-eyed monster shattered the blade and punched through the man's chest, killing him instantly. The green-eyed daemon pulled his fist out of the man's body and threw the body to the side.
"I suggest that if you don't want the same to happen to you, you'll get the hell out of here." The daemon informed the woman.
The woman quickly grabbed her daughter and ran through the large hole in the brick wall the monster had made by killing the first man.
"Well, that was rather entertaining to watch." Raphael commented as he walked out of the shadows. "I haven't seen a daemon fight like that before. Don't tell me you have a soft spot for maidens in distress."
"What do you want?" Spawn asked.
"Well apparently our 'leader' has called us forth." Raphael informed. "He would like to meet with us."
"Typical." Spawn snorted.
The Hell spawn was about to leave the alley when he heard the moaning of a man. Apparently, one hadn't died when he struck the wall. Spawn walked over to the man and picked him up by his skull.
"Please, have mercy." The man whimpered. "I don't want to die. I'm afraid to die. Please, I…"
"Burn in Hell!" Spawn roared as the man's body was engulfed in green flames. The man released a petrifying scream before his body was reduced to ashes.
"Coming?" Spawn asked the nobleman, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Raphael twisted his face in disgust as he followed Spawn into the portal.
The white-hooded figure entered his secret base, known as the Money Pit. A portal opened behind the white-cloaked figure as Raphael and Spawn walked out.
"Tell me, do you sense that?" The white-hooded figure asked.
"The shards of Soul Edge you collected are gone." Spawn reported, sensing the lack of dark energy that usually filled the place.
The white-hooded figure quickly looked towards a statue and noticed it was removed from the wall, indicating that someone had gone into his secret room.
"But the only one who was here was Voldo, and that assassin kills anyone who even gets close to this island." Raphael informed.
"I see we have a traitor then." The white-hooded figure informed. "He must have figured out I was only pretending to be his dead master's spirit talking."
"Should I go after him?" Spawn offered. "I can kill him in a second if you desire."
"All in good time. We have more important matters at hand then to worry about him." The white-hooded figure responded. "Raphael, you offered to eliminate the Hero of Time for me if I would assist you in world domination and protecting your daughter. Our contract is about up, so I suggest you keep your end of the bargain."
"I thought Shadow was going to do that. After all, he was so confident in himself." Spawn spoke up.
"Raphael, now the deed falls upon you. Eliminate the Hero of Time, and our bargain will be complete."
"I see." Raphael smirked as he walked out of the Money Pit and used a portal the white-hooded figure created. He arrived just outside of Athens.
The white-hooded figure knew nothing of Raphael's plans. It was he who had secretly helped Voldo discover the truth about his so-called 'Master,' and had run off with the shards of Soul Edge. However no one, not even the assassin, realized that Raphael had manipulated everything from the dark to get those results. Raphael knew the white-hooded figure saw him as a simple pawn and would betray him as soon as he was no use. However, Raphael had his own plan and was prepared for the white-hooded figure to make his move.
Raphael sensed a presence and turned around to see Ivy sneaking through the portal Raphael had just exited.
"Looks like things just got interesting." Raphael chuckled.
Ivy snuck through the portal before it closed and she found herself in the Money Pit. She wasn't quite sure where she was, but she guessed she was somewhere in the rumored Money Pit that was said to exist in the Mediterranean Sea. Ivy heard voices and she quickly hid in the shadows. The two voices were discussing their plans about what to do with Link and Raphael, and what they had in store for the world.
"Are you sure we can trust him?" One of the voices asked.
"About as much as I would trust you if I wasn't the one giving you your powers. As soon as he's played his part, we'll get rid of him. Make sure he does his job right. After that, take care of Voldo."
"Very well, master."
The green-eyed daemon with the red cape walked by Ivy's hiding spot. He stopped for a second and glanced to where she was hiding in the shadows. Ivy took several silent steps back, trying to better hide herself from the daemon's sight. However, her blade was ready in case of attack.
The daemon muttered to himself, "Bastard." as he turned and walked away.
Once the daemon was gone, Ivy crept towards the white-hooded man. The white-haired woman poised her whip, ready to kill the man in a second.
"So witch, you were able to reach this base. How clever of you." The white-hooded figure commented dryly. He didn't turn to face the woman.
Without warning, the white-cloaked man threw a ball of red lightning at Ivy, but the white-haired woman was able to dodge the attack.
The ball of lightning struck the wall, causing it to crumble. The white-hooded man scowled underneath his cloak.
"I would hate to destroy my base, so let's continue this fight somewhere else."
A dark portal appeared above Ivy. Ivy suddenly felt her body being levitated and restrained by an invisible force. She noticed that the white-hooded figure had his fist clenched and was raising her into the air. The white-hooded figure then flung his hand as if he was throwing a ball and Ivy was thrown into the portal. The white-hooded figure jumped through the portal as well.
Ivy found herself in a rocky area when the white-hooded figure appeared in front of her.
"You wish to finish this?" The white-hooded figure requested.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." Ivy growled. Her sword transformed into its whip form and she flung it towards the white-hooded figure in a stabbing like motion.
The white-hooded figure raised his hand as if indicating for it to stop and the whip stopped an inch away from his hand. Red lightning surrounded Ivy's Snake Sword, causing the links of the blade to fall apart.
"Sorry, did I break your weapon?" The white-hooded figure chuckled.
With a flick of her wrist, all the links on her blade flew into the air and surrounded the white-hooded figure.
"Now finish him." Ivy ordered her blade as the sharp links of metal flew towards the white-hooded figure simultaneously. The white-hooded figure teleported in the air and avoided the links.
With another flick of Ivy's wrist, the links flew upward towards the white-hooded figure. A sword made of red energy appeared in the white-hooded figure's hand. He blocked the links with it and then hovered back to the ground.
"I'm not done yet." Ivy informed as the links rejoined to form her snake blade again. "Even when my blade separates, I can easily put it back together with a mere thought."
"I see, so you truly are a witch." The white-hooded figure commented. "Witch or not, you cannot beat a god."
"Humph, you're no god." Ivy hissed, slashed her whip-like blade at the white-hooded figure.
The white-hooded figure raised a red barrier around his body, protecting him from the attacks. He then released a force blast towards Ivy, who was able to dodge the attack as the attack sent a large rock several feet through the air. Ivy then felt her body being levitated, but this time she couldn't move or breathe.
Ivy was flung into the side of the mountain several times by the psychic force and then thrown to the ground roughly. The white-hooded figure clenched his fist one last time, causing a rock slide to fall down on top of the white-haired woman. At the very last moment, Ivy grabbed her snake sword as she was buried underneath the rubble.
"Well, that takes care of that." The white-hooded figure spoke, opening a portal and walking through it.
Once the white-hooded figure was gone, Ivy's whip shot through the rocks and Ivy pulled herself out of the rubble. At the very last moment, she was able to surround herself with her whip, forming a sort of metal cocoon around her body to protect her from being crushed.
"I've got to warn that elf about what he's dealing with!" Ivy grunted as she pulled herself up. She was able to stand and walk, but was too badly bruised from her battle against the white-cloaked man and had trouble supporting herself. He hadn't even used a weapon or shards of Soul Edge against her, but he still disposed of her as if she was nothing. If that man ever got a hold of Soul Edge or even shards of the cursed blade, he would be unstoppable.
Talim and Xianghua were fighting over who got to change Link's bandages and apply the ointment.
"But Xianghua, you changed his bandages last time! It's my turn." Talim whined.
"No way! I'm going to be the one who takes care of Link, not you. After all, I'm an experienced warrior and you're too young to even think some of the thoughts that go through your head."
"I am not too young. And I'm the one who took care of Link when he first arrived."
"Oh brother." Kilik growled. He stood up and left the house. "I'm sick of listening to this."
"Yes, he's finally getting jealous." Xianghua giggled.
"What?" Talim asked, suddenly confused.
"Thanks for playing along, Talim. I mean I realize Link's cute, strong, sweet, and perfect in almost every way, but there's only one man I have my eyes on. Even Link knows I'm only pretending."
Talim suddenly let out a sigh of relief when she learned Xianghua wasn't interested in Link. Cassandra was hard enough to compete with and even Taki hinted she was interested in Link. However, Xianghua would have been impossible to compete with. She was so beautiful and such a great warrior.
"Wait! How did you know I liked Link?" Talim suddenly chirped.
"Oh come on! Like that isn't obvious!" Xianghua giggled. "Well, at least to a girl's perspective, it's obvious. Men, on the other hand, can be completely clueless about these kinds of things. You give them hint after hint and they still don't get it."
Xianghua gave Talim the bandages she had taken from the girl. "Here you go; taking care of Link is up to you. You probably know more about it than I do. So was Link this beat up when you first met him? How many times does that guy get injured?"
"Well, he gets injured a lot because he's always willing to sacrifice his own well being for others. I first found Link unconscious and badly wounded on the side of the road. I nursed him back to health and was shocked by how quickly he could move around. Most people would have needed a couple days' rest before getting up and moving around, but Link was able to move around after only one night's sleep. He truly is an amazing person."
"Well, anyway, I'll see ya later, kiddo. Good luck with Link." Xianghua walked out the door to most likely chase after Kilik.
Talim looked at the bandages and suddenly felt guilty. When she first met Link she took care of him not because she had a crush on him but because it was the right thing to do. Now she was easily jealous and wanted to help him for her own selfish reasons. Talim walked up and handed the bandages to Raphael, who was reading a book.
"What are these for?" Raphael asked.
"I think it would be better if a male would bandage Link and apply his medicines to his wounds." Talim informed shyly.
"Well, if you say so. I'll do my best." Raphael reluctantly agreed.
Raphael went into the room where Link rested. Amy sat right next to him. As soon as Amy heard what happened to Link and Cassandra, she ran into the room and never left their sides. Cassandra was fine, but Link remained. However, Amy refused to leave the room even when Talim, Sophitia, or Cassandra tried to get her to go outside and play.
"How's he doing?" Raphael asked.
"Good." Amy commented. "His wounds are healing very quickly. He may be back on his feet after another day's rest."
"Well, I would say that is quick healing." Raphael commented. "Amy, would you please help me apply Link's bandages? I'm not really good at that, but I know you acquired that skill somewhere."
"Yes." Amy responded. Amy removed Link's bandages from his skin and applied the medicine to his wounds. She then reapplied new bandages. Treating an injured person was nothing new to Amy, as she had done so in the past when Raphael had come home from his first adventure, badly injured from his battle against Nightmare.
Link seemed to wake up as Amy finished tightening the bandages.
"How are you?" Amy asked.
"Good." Link responded, sitting up.
"You should continue resting until you recover fully." Amy suggested.
"What happened to others?" Link asked, noticing that Cassandra, Taki, and Mi-na were all gone.
"Cassandra got over her cold, and Taki and Mi-na's wounds were finally healed, so they left this morning." Amy informed.
"You haven't left since I got injured?" Link stated to Amy. "Thank you, but no worries for me. I be O.K. soon. Go out and have fun."
"I'd rather stay here until you're healed." Amy informed.
"That's my Amy for you." Raphael chuckled. "Don't bother trying to convince her to leave, Link. My daughter may not open up to many people, but once she does, you won't find anyone more loyal. Amy, could you please leave us alone for a while? I need to speak to Link alone for a moment."
Amy looked at her father. She was hesitant to leave Link's side, but Link gave her a reassuring look.
"It'll only be for a second and then you can come nurse him back to health." Raphael assured.
Wanting to keep her father happy, Amy did as he told her.
"Say Link, I know this isn't the time, but you know about the truth behind Amy and me, right?" Raphael decided to double check.
"Yes. Taki said you were cursed by Soul Edge."
"Yes. Well, when you get better, I'd like to speak to you about my curse in more detail. Pprivately. That is, if you trust me."
"Of course I trust you." Link responded.
"Excellent. When you're ready, we'll head west of town to speak, but until then, get your rest. That's what is most important right now." Raphael turned to call his daughter. "O.K. Amy, you can come in now."
On cue, Amy quickly came back in and sat next to Link's bed.
"I'll leave you alone now. Ta ta." Raphael spoke as he left the room.
Taki and Mi-na were outside stretching. Lying in bed for so long had stiffened their joints and it felt good for them to move around again. The first thing Taki wanted to do was practice her fighting skills to make sure she wasn't rusty. Taki raised her leg so that her foot touched her head. She then dropped her leg and bent backwards in an arch, touching the ground with her hands.
"Boy, are you limber." Mi-na complimented. "Anyway, I'm going to go see what Yun-Seong is up to. It's been awhile since I got to kick his butt."
"He's currently working construction." Taki informed.
"Thanks! See ya later." Mi-na waved as she left the ninja alone.
"It's good to see you're up." Mitsurugi said to Taki as he walked towards the ninja. "Don't push yourself though. Your body is used to lying down. We will have plenty of time to kill each other once your body has its endurance back."
"It's nice to see you care about me so much." Taki snorted. "By the way, thanks for being so thorough to my injuries and helping Link and I back there."
"As I said before, you and Link are…"
"Yeah, I know already." Taki interrupted Mitsurugi. She ignored the samurai as she continued to stretch in ways that seemed impossible.
The next morning, Link was up and feeling healthy.
"Should you be up?" Amy questioned the Hylian.
"I'm fine, don't worry." Link assured as he walked out of the room.
"Hurray! Mr. Elf is back." Patroklos cheered.
"Yeah, Mr. Elf is back." Pyrrha echoed.
"Enough, you two. Don't crowd him." Sophitia warned. "Link, how are you feeling? Should you really be up after only three days of rest? Taki had to rest for a week before she could even move much and then another week before her wounds were most healed."
"I'm fine, see." Link stated, showing his chest. The scars were still present from his fight, but his wounds had closed.
"Well, O.K. Be careful if you go out, though. We don't want to see you get trampled by a crowd." Sophitia parented Link the same way she did Cassandra.
"Right." Link chuckled.
"Will you play with us now, Mr. Elf.?" The children asked in unison.
Link turned and noticed that Amy stayed in the back room and hid behind the door as soon as the other children began to cling to Link's legs.
"Maybe later." Link offered.
"You heard him, you two." Sophitia instructed. "Come on, it's time for you two to go outside and burn off some of your energy." Sophitia took both children by the hand and led them outside as they waved to Link.
Link walked back into the room where Amy played her ocarina. She played some songs Link had given her.
"Hi." Link greeted with a smile. "You want to go outside? I been lying down long time now and would like to stretch my muscles and maybe spar."
Amy looked up at Link and nodded with a smile. Both of them grabbed their weapons and headed towards the field by the river.
While Link sparred with Amy, he was surprised by her skill. For someone so young, she fought fairly well. Her moves were executed with the utmost grace and she had perfect form, but she made simple mistakes, such as letting her guard down and not keeping her eye on her opponent. It was clear to Link that she had learned how to fight mostly from watching her father, due to the similarities in style, but she had actually sparred very little in her life. That would explain the perfect form but lack of experience.
"Keep guard up." Link instructed. "Watch my feet and shield, not just sword." Link slashed at Amy, but the girl managed to block the attack and then dodged a blow from Link's shield.
"Good." Link complemented. "Ready to go back?"
"Not really. I don't like the others." Amy admitted, looking down to the ground. "I mean Cassandra is O.K., but the rest I don't like very well. Especially Talim."
"You don't like Talim?" Link asked shocked. Talim wasn't mean to anyone and had always spoken very sweetly to Amy when Link was around. How could Amy dislike her so much? "Why?"
"Conflict in personality." Amy informed.
"Oh." Link responded, still a little speechless.
"Link!" Talim called, waving at his from on top of a hill. "Hey Pyrrha! Patroklos! I found him!"
Sophitia's two children ran down to greet the Hylian hero, with Talim close behind. Talim carried a basket with her.
"We brought you lunch." Talin informed.
"Mommy made it for us." Pyrrha informed.
"Yeah, its really yummy." Patroklos added.
"Innocence." Amy snorted quietly to herself as she got up and began to leave.
"Oh, Amy, wait. There's enough for you, too." Talim offered.
"No thanks. I'd rather eat with my father." Amy informed. She headed towards the library where she knew she'd find Raphael.
"Poor Amy." Talim spoke once the girl was gone. "I feel so bad for her. Raphael is hardly around to spend time with her. I guess she likes to spend as much time as possible with him."
"Yeah." Link agreed silently. He didn't have the heart to tell Talim the real reason Amy left.
"Oh, let's get the food ready." Talim opened the basket and spread out a blanket as she prepared the food.
"Thank you." Link thanked his friend again. He wondered again how Amy could dislike Talim. Talim was one of the few girls Link felt comfortable around. After the Shadow Link incident, Link felt more comfortable around Cassandra, but when he first met her, the woman had really frightened him. Then there was Mi-na and Xianghua, who loved to tease him when Talim wasn't around. The teasing was harmless, but annoying all the same.
In fact, the only nice girls who never hit on Link were Talim, Sophitia, and Taki. Granted, Ivy and Sophitia didn't really count, leaving only Talim. Come to think of it, Link had never met anyone as sweet and innocent as Talim since…well, Saria.
Link couldn't help but smile as he took a piece of food. He further reminisced about the trouble he and Saria got into and how Talim and she were so alike.
"Look, Mr. Elf is smiling." Pyrrha announced. "He must really like the food."
"Oh yes, must tell Sophitia thank you for meal." Link commented.
Link then looked at Talim and smiled. Never failing to blush, Talim quickly picked up a large piece of food to hide her face so Link couldn't see her turn pink.
"Talim, what are you doing?" Link asked.
"Oh, just grabbing some food."
"You eat a lot." Link stated in amazement.
"Hey." Talim shouted, pretending to be offended by the Hylian's blunt comment. "Hasn't anyone told that's rude to say?"
Talim gave Link playful shove.
"Uh oh! Mr. Elf, you're in trouble." Pyrrha informed. "You're not supposed to say that to a lady."
"Yeah, that's right." Talim pretended to pout. "Go get him, you two."
The children playfully tried to tackle Link. Link laughed as he and the two children roughhoused together. A large shadow loomed over Link and the others, causing them to stop playing and look up at Mitsurugi. Scared of the Samurai, the two children hid behind Link.
"It only Mitsurugi, he not scary." Link informed.
"You're the only person still alive who would say that, Link." Mitsurugi informed. "Time for the children to go home while the adults talk, you three."
"But Link's a child too." Talim forgot that Link was an adult because he was shorter than most men and was so playful.
"Despite his appearance, he is an adult." Mitsurugi informed. "Now go!"
The two children ran out from behind Link and hid behind Talim since she was further away from the scary samurai.
"Fine, but you need to ask nicely." Talim took the two children by the hand. "Come on, you two. It's time to go home."
Talim led the two children away while Link scowled at Mitsurugi. "Could have asked nice."
Mitsurugi ignored Link's commented and got to his point. "You'd better watch your back, Link. Or haven't you learned your lesson about refusing to take me and Siegfried with you where ever you go?" Mitsurugi reminded Link, forcing the Hylian to remember that whenever he ventured alone, he would get into some sort of trouble.
"Sorry." Link apologized.
"Forget about it. I only wanted to tell you something that I should have told you a long time ago, but I never got the chance."
"What?" Link asked.
"Ivy wants Raphael dead." Mitsurugi informed.
"I see." Link responded. "No one seems to like her."
"She has a dirty past." Mitsurugi continued. "Anyway, I don't know why Ivy wants Raphael dead. I was just a mercenary working for her at the time and didn't ask questions. For all I know, it was for personal gain since they're both nobles, but something tells me it was for a different reason. However, she acted like it was for the best that he was dead. On the other hand, I never fully trusted that witch, so I don't even know if she was evil or not."
"Ivy not evil. She is a good person." Link argued. He then thought about what Ivy had said before she left. "Keep in mind that not all your friends are what they appear to be."
However, Link quickly cleared his head of those thoughts, deciding that Raphael wasn't dangerous.
"Hmpf, I think the only person who believes that is you, Link. The only reason that woman saved your life in the first place is because it benefited her plans. That I know for a fact."
Link frowned at Mitsurugi, still disagreeing with the samurai. Mitsurugi didn't push the issue. Instead he continued to speak. "However, I also trust Raphael. He helped us many times and seemed like good person. If worries appear, I talk to him later."
Link nodded. "Excuse me; I have to catch up to Amy."
Link ran to catch up to the girl and Mitsurugi could only murmur to himself. "That guy is way too trusting."
Amy walked into the library with a plate of food for her father and herself.
"Oh, you brought lunch." Raphael smiled. "Thank you, my dear. That was very kind of you. Please set it on the table and I'll eat it soon."
Amy set the food on the table and waited until Raphael finished putting his book away to eat.
"No need to wait for me, my dear." Raphael assured. As he approached Amy, he noticed the sad look on her face. "My dear, what is wrong?"
"Nothing." Amy commented. "Just worried that Link will leave us."
"Oh, is that what has been troubling you? That is something you don't have to worry about. I can personally promise you that Link will never leave us."
"How do you know?" Amy noticed a strange glimmer in her father's eyes. That glimmer usually indicated he was concocting a plan.
"Call it father's intuition, my dear."