Crossed Paths -- Part Three

Crossed Paths
a Soul Calibur fanfic by Somenosuke.

Disclaimer: All characters here are the respectful properties of Namco (well, except Lola, but she isn't important ^_^). Man, if I owned them, do you think I'd be writing fanfics!?

A/N: Thoughts are in italics. But so are stressed words. I think you can figure which is which when reading the story..

Part Three

"Right you are, Seung Mi Na," the platinum haired lad said, flashing her his pearly whites.

"Uh... You know this guy?" Kilik asked her, pointing his thumb at the one named Siegfried standing beside him.

Mi Na nodded, her copper colored eyes narrowing. "I met him three years ago," she replied. "He arrested me. When I was in Germany."

"You forget that I had no choice. Stealing is a crime. You stole a weapon from the castle, and thus, you were thrown in jail." [1]

"But if you had only let me go, Hwang wouldn't have found me and dragged me back home." Mi Na's tiny fists clenched, a mere representation of the fury that was beginning to boil within her. "I wasn't done with my search and you knew that!"

"A thousand pardons, m'lady," Siegfried droned, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Shut up," Mi Na growled.

Kilik watched their exchange with silent curiosity. It seemed that the more he stuck around Mi Na, the more questions he had to ask her. Who is this Hwang? Why was a young Asian girl like her in Europe anyway? Who is this Siegfried and how does she know him? And what was she searching for? The yearning to know the answers to his many inquiries intrigued him...

"Hey, hey," he said, calmly, "what good is it to argue now? Let's let bygones be bygones." Then he turned to Mi Na, a polite grin etched across his lips. "You're probably tired from that nonstop running and as hungry as I am, eh?" If he were there, Maxi would have been proud to hear Kilik's smooth persuasion.

Mi Na looked off to the side. Though she was irritated by the jarring memories Siegfried's presence provided, Kilik was right. She hadn't eaten in what felt to be days. And a good rest from all this travelling was in order. "Fine," she said, "I'll go. But if Hwang is waiting for us at wherever you're taking us, I swear Siegfried, I'm going to kick your---"

She was interrupted by Kilik roughly patting her shoulder. "That's the spirit, Mi Na!"

Turning on the ball of his foot, Siegfried began to depart. "Nightfall is almost here. Let's go."



Kilik and Mi Na were led to a stone-walled edifice not too far from where they had ran into Siegfried Schtauffen. Inside, a handful of strangers seated about an unlit fireplace, discussing things quietly amongst themselves. They glanced to the newcomers, nodded in greeting, and returned to their going-ons.

"This is an inn?" Kilik asked the blond man as they entered. Several vacant tables lined the room and stairs led to the second deck. The entire place looked too empty yet too cozy to be like any of the inns he had spent many a night in.

"You can say that. The Council provided this place as lodging for mercenaries in return for our services," Siegfried explained. "With the war going on, things have been quite undermanned in terms of manual labor. I figured you two might lend a helping hand for a few days..."

"Oh, so...We're going to do random chores while the rest of you go out and get your hands dirty?" Kilik asked.

"Something like that." Siegfried began making his way over to a room in the back, Mi Na and Kilik trailing behind. "You'll get paid whenever you decide to leave."

"Well, I'm game."

"So, where are all the girls?" Mi Na asked, taking a look around and noticing no other females.

"There are no girls here."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

Mi Na groaned.

"Don't worry though," the German said with a bit of a grin, "you will be treated fairly."

"We'll see." Mi Na folded her arms.

"Lola!" Siegfried called out towards the kitchen, "when will dinner be ready?"

A pretty red-haired young woman poked her head out from the kitchen in the aft area of the room. She smiled at Siegfried and his two new guests. "Give me an hour."

"Fine; just remember we have two new mouths to feed."

Lola nodded and back into the kitchen she went.

Meanwhile, Mi Na looked on with an incredulous gaze, her eyebrows furrowing. "I thought you said I was the only girl here, Siegfried?" She looked to him for an explanation.

"You are, Mi Na," Siegfried replied as he led them up the creaky stairs, "Lola is a woman; you are a girl." He and even Kilik laughed as Mi Na swung her fists at him.

***

[1] -- This was loosely based on her Edge Master Mode Quest in Germany...

A/N: Ugh, I know, the chapter was listless. I had to cut typing it short because of some personal matters... Sorry about the length, too. Well, I won't make any promises, but the next chapter should be more interesting... If not, you're free to rub honey over my butt and sit me on an ant-hill.