Been a while between updates, but I was very busy with my other fanfics. I've got two others I'm working on right now, and a one-shot that I just finished. The one-shot is a Big O fanfic titled "Wakening of the Wanderer", and details what I believe to be the truth about the series, which is about as complicated as anime gets.
One of the reviews I got said I made the fanfic too fantasy style. To that person, LOOK AT SOUL CALIBER. These people are running after a demon-possessed sword, they perform Olympic level martial arts, lizard men are running around, one of the characters (Astaroth) is a animated golem... need I say more? Soul Caliber is a fantasy world, and a wondrous one at that. I've added my own backstory to it. The gist of my backstory is that Psi, or psychic powers, have existed on this world for years, ever since the Sundering War. If you want details about the Sundering War, check out my Deeping Dream fanfic. It details the Sundering War a little.
Here's Chapter Four. And now it's...
"SHOWTIME!"
Chapter Four
The Blade Freak
Ivy and Siegfried looked about themselves. They were standing outside the entrance to Travens' Castle, and the sight of the somehow sickening fort both disgusted and terrified them. It seemed to breathe, to ooze out it's own sickening life. The open holes gazed at them, and the cavernous mouth of the doorway, filled with the rubble that once was an oaken door, emitted a foul stench. The walls were green with slime and mold, and once or twice they had seen foul things slither alongside the walls, snake-like things that left oozing trails through the moss alongside the walls. The two guard towers at front were slumped, crumbled things that resembled wilting flowers atop the castle mound. It reeked of corruption and death.
Siegfried looked at Ivy. He was becoming very scared; he had been possessed by a demon once, and the scar that had left upon his very soul warned him of demonic presence. Here, it was almost as strong as the presence of Inferno inside the Soul Edge. Siegfried was having second thoughts about tangling with whatever was inside there; it was apparent that Voldo was the least of their worries.
" Uh, Ivy..." he began, then stopped. On her face was a look he recognized from his years of war, a look he had associated with those warriors who had revenge on their minds: the snarling lips and burning eyes told Siegfried that there was no way he was going to change her mind. She was going to go in there, like it or not. For the first time he wondered what happened to her father, and he felt it was a good bet magic had something to do with it.
" What?" she said, still gazing at the castle with that oddly intense look. Siegfried sighed. [Better help her,] he thought, [because come hell or high water, she's going to go in there... No high water in sight, but this sure looks like hell.]
" Let's go," he said, and they set off inside together.
************************************************************************
Inside the mind of Nightmare, Siegfried stirred, for the next part of the dream was one he had seen several times in his nightmares, for one does not forget a battle with a demon easily. However, he was too exhausted to wake, and his stirrings and mumblings only brought him to half-wakefulness. Outside, in the real world outside his psyche, Inferno was walking towards a port city in Spain. The demon did not know it, but it was the same town in which Ivy, Kilik, and Sophitia were spending the night.
************************************************************************
They had taken two steps into the castle when Voldo, who had waited patiently above the doorway (his edged hands and feet holding him there like claws) gave the order to attack to Thok'ti's servants. Four long, serpent-like monsters slithered out to strike, and Voldo dropped down on top of Siegfried.
The snake creatures, called Serpen by humans, were mutated snakes. They easily reached nine feet in length, and raised their upper body off the floor with long, muscular arms. These creatures were highly poisonous, and one demonstrated it's ability to spit this venom by trying to blind Ivy. She ducked and her Snake Sword went through the air, cutting a hissing path. It wrapped around the meaty flesh of the creature's upper right forearm. Blood spurted out when Ivy snapped the blade back, severing the arm with a scissoring motion.
Siegfried, meanwhile, had been belly-flopped by the leaping Voldo. Having heard the scratching of his claws just in time, Siegfried had used his sword as a makeshift shield. Voldo landed on it and leaped off, hissing and spitting like a cat the whole time. When he hit the ground, he turned, growling at Siegfried.
Siegfried put Requiem in front of him, the edge of the titanic sword aimed at Voldo. Siegfried heard his father's voice in his mind as he did this:
" Son, you will never be faster than your opponent. You wield a large weapon, and the weakness of a large weapon is speed. But you do not have to be faster than your opponent, just smarter. Many people say that large weapons are for brutes, but that is not true. It takes no skill or brains to strike with a speedy rapier, but it takes a true master to strike with a Zweihander. You must make your opponent move first. Trick him into doing what you want him to do. Make him think you are going forward when you are going back, and then you will outsmart him, son."
Remembering his father's words, Seigfried said the words that caused Voldo to fly into a rage:
" Where's your master, Voldo? Lying dead in a crypt somewhere? Still hearing voices, freak?"
Voldo, who at this point was extremely insane, lost control. Abandoning all care or caution, he leapt straight at Siegfried. Siegfried swung his sword in an overhead arc. Voldo saw the trick at the last minute, and dodged left. The result was that Requiem sliced off his right arm, and not his entire body. Voldo shrieked with pain as the tendons were cut and the bone was sliced. Blood spurted outward, hitting the far wall. Voldo hit the ground and rolled away, and when he got to his feet he ran off, the stump of his arm still bleeding. He disappeared down a dark hallway, running for his life.
Siegfried watched him leave, then turned to help Ivy. She was decapitating the Serpen in front of her, using the same motion she had used to slice it's arm off. Her sword quickly killed it's mutated namesake and returned to it's blade form. Behind her, rearing to strike, a Serpen opened it's jaws wide. It was going to swallow her head whole.
" Behind you! Duck!" Siegfried yelled, running forward. Ivy heard him and ducked at the last minute. The creature's snapping jaws shut with an audible click barely a foot above her face. It hissed it's displeasure. Ivy stabbed it between the eyes, and the beast's reflexes caused it to spasm, throwing Ivy into a nearby column.
Siegfried's run toward Ivy was stopped by the other two Serpen. Using his forward motion to empower his sword, he went into a dead stop and flung his arms wide. Requiem sung through the air, whistling. It sliced apart one Serpen's face, and the creature's dying body jerked and thrashed before laying still.
The other Serpen ignored it's dead companion and wrapped it's tail around Siegfried. Thrown off-balance by his own sudden stop, he couldn't turn in time. The monstrous, gray-scaled bulk of the tail wrapped about him and began to squeeze. It reached out a claw and began to crush his skull like a grape. He screamed in agony and tried to fling it off.
Ivy got up from the floor. Still dazed, she saw the Serpen crushing Siegfried to death. Her sword was still embedded in the skull of the Serpen she had killed. She grabbed a nearby torch brazier instead and threw it instead. The fiery missile only bounced off the Serpen's scales, but it distracted it for a moment. The irresistible strength of the scaled coils relented, and Siegfried's great strength pulled them off long enough for him to bring Requiem to bear. Not having room to swing, he instead lifted it so the hilt was at his face, the blade vertical. The Serpen, it's small brain not seeing the clear danger, squeezed again, hard.
The Serpen's own incredible strength drove it's tail onto the hard, sharp edge of Requiem. It was sliced neatly in half, and fell to the floor in a splash of hot blood. The Serpen screamed, right before Siegfried buried Requiem in it's skull.
Pulling the Snake Sword from the Serpen she had killed, Ivy looked at him, breathing hard from the battle.
" Where's.. voldo?" she said, gasping.
Siegfried, his ribs hurting and every breath agony, replied, " Dying,... I guess. Cut his... arm off. Hell... of a welcome wagon, huh?"
She smiled, and that was when a roar filled the entire castle. The sound caused them both to cringe in pain. A booming noise sounded out, and the ground shook.
Thok'ti walked into the room.
-Stay tuned for Chapter Five. I'll write it as fast as I can!
One of the reviews I got said I made the fanfic too fantasy style. To that person, LOOK AT SOUL CALIBER. These people are running after a demon-possessed sword, they perform Olympic level martial arts, lizard men are running around, one of the characters (Astaroth) is a animated golem... need I say more? Soul Caliber is a fantasy world, and a wondrous one at that. I've added my own backstory to it. The gist of my backstory is that Psi, or psychic powers, have existed on this world for years, ever since the Sundering War. If you want details about the Sundering War, check out my Deeping Dream fanfic. It details the Sundering War a little.
Here's Chapter Four. And now it's...
"SHOWTIME!"
Chapter Four
The Blade Freak
Ivy and Siegfried looked about themselves. They were standing outside the entrance to Travens' Castle, and the sight of the somehow sickening fort both disgusted and terrified them. It seemed to breathe, to ooze out it's own sickening life. The open holes gazed at them, and the cavernous mouth of the doorway, filled with the rubble that once was an oaken door, emitted a foul stench. The walls were green with slime and mold, and once or twice they had seen foul things slither alongside the walls, snake-like things that left oozing trails through the moss alongside the walls. The two guard towers at front were slumped, crumbled things that resembled wilting flowers atop the castle mound. It reeked of corruption and death.
Siegfried looked at Ivy. He was becoming very scared; he had been possessed by a demon once, and the scar that had left upon his very soul warned him of demonic presence. Here, it was almost as strong as the presence of Inferno inside the Soul Edge. Siegfried was having second thoughts about tangling with whatever was inside there; it was apparent that Voldo was the least of their worries.
" Uh, Ivy..." he began, then stopped. On her face was a look he recognized from his years of war, a look he had associated with those warriors who had revenge on their minds: the snarling lips and burning eyes told Siegfried that there was no way he was going to change her mind. She was going to go in there, like it or not. For the first time he wondered what happened to her father, and he felt it was a good bet magic had something to do with it.
" What?" she said, still gazing at the castle with that oddly intense look. Siegfried sighed. [Better help her,] he thought, [because come hell or high water, she's going to go in there... No high water in sight, but this sure looks like hell.]
" Let's go," he said, and they set off inside together.
************************************************************************
Inside the mind of Nightmare, Siegfried stirred, for the next part of the dream was one he had seen several times in his nightmares, for one does not forget a battle with a demon easily. However, he was too exhausted to wake, and his stirrings and mumblings only brought him to half-wakefulness. Outside, in the real world outside his psyche, Inferno was walking towards a port city in Spain. The demon did not know it, but it was the same town in which Ivy, Kilik, and Sophitia were spending the night.
************************************************************************
They had taken two steps into the castle when Voldo, who had waited patiently above the doorway (his edged hands and feet holding him there like claws) gave the order to attack to Thok'ti's servants. Four long, serpent-like monsters slithered out to strike, and Voldo dropped down on top of Siegfried.
The snake creatures, called Serpen by humans, were mutated snakes. They easily reached nine feet in length, and raised their upper body off the floor with long, muscular arms. These creatures were highly poisonous, and one demonstrated it's ability to spit this venom by trying to blind Ivy. She ducked and her Snake Sword went through the air, cutting a hissing path. It wrapped around the meaty flesh of the creature's upper right forearm. Blood spurted out when Ivy snapped the blade back, severing the arm with a scissoring motion.
Siegfried, meanwhile, had been belly-flopped by the leaping Voldo. Having heard the scratching of his claws just in time, Siegfried had used his sword as a makeshift shield. Voldo landed on it and leaped off, hissing and spitting like a cat the whole time. When he hit the ground, he turned, growling at Siegfried.
Siegfried put Requiem in front of him, the edge of the titanic sword aimed at Voldo. Siegfried heard his father's voice in his mind as he did this:
" Son, you will never be faster than your opponent. You wield a large weapon, and the weakness of a large weapon is speed. But you do not have to be faster than your opponent, just smarter. Many people say that large weapons are for brutes, but that is not true. It takes no skill or brains to strike with a speedy rapier, but it takes a true master to strike with a Zweihander. You must make your opponent move first. Trick him into doing what you want him to do. Make him think you are going forward when you are going back, and then you will outsmart him, son."
Remembering his father's words, Seigfried said the words that caused Voldo to fly into a rage:
" Where's your master, Voldo? Lying dead in a crypt somewhere? Still hearing voices, freak?"
Voldo, who at this point was extremely insane, lost control. Abandoning all care or caution, he leapt straight at Siegfried. Siegfried swung his sword in an overhead arc. Voldo saw the trick at the last minute, and dodged left. The result was that Requiem sliced off his right arm, and not his entire body. Voldo shrieked with pain as the tendons were cut and the bone was sliced. Blood spurted outward, hitting the far wall. Voldo hit the ground and rolled away, and when he got to his feet he ran off, the stump of his arm still bleeding. He disappeared down a dark hallway, running for his life.
Siegfried watched him leave, then turned to help Ivy. She was decapitating the Serpen in front of her, using the same motion she had used to slice it's arm off. Her sword quickly killed it's mutated namesake and returned to it's blade form. Behind her, rearing to strike, a Serpen opened it's jaws wide. It was going to swallow her head whole.
" Behind you! Duck!" Siegfried yelled, running forward. Ivy heard him and ducked at the last minute. The creature's snapping jaws shut with an audible click barely a foot above her face. It hissed it's displeasure. Ivy stabbed it between the eyes, and the beast's reflexes caused it to spasm, throwing Ivy into a nearby column.
Siegfried's run toward Ivy was stopped by the other two Serpen. Using his forward motion to empower his sword, he went into a dead stop and flung his arms wide. Requiem sung through the air, whistling. It sliced apart one Serpen's face, and the creature's dying body jerked and thrashed before laying still.
The other Serpen ignored it's dead companion and wrapped it's tail around Siegfried. Thrown off-balance by his own sudden stop, he couldn't turn in time. The monstrous, gray-scaled bulk of the tail wrapped about him and began to squeeze. It reached out a claw and began to crush his skull like a grape. He screamed in agony and tried to fling it off.
Ivy got up from the floor. Still dazed, she saw the Serpen crushing Siegfried to death. Her sword was still embedded in the skull of the Serpen she had killed. She grabbed a nearby torch brazier instead and threw it instead. The fiery missile only bounced off the Serpen's scales, but it distracted it for a moment. The irresistible strength of the scaled coils relented, and Siegfried's great strength pulled them off long enough for him to bring Requiem to bear. Not having room to swing, he instead lifted it so the hilt was at his face, the blade vertical. The Serpen, it's small brain not seeing the clear danger, squeezed again, hard.
The Serpen's own incredible strength drove it's tail onto the hard, sharp edge of Requiem. It was sliced neatly in half, and fell to the floor in a splash of hot blood. The Serpen screamed, right before Siegfried buried Requiem in it's skull.
Pulling the Snake Sword from the Serpen she had killed, Ivy looked at him, breathing hard from the battle.
" Where's.. voldo?" she said, gasping.
Siegfried, his ribs hurting and every breath agony, replied, " Dying,... I guess. Cut his... arm off. Hell... of a welcome wagon, huh?"
She smiled, and that was when a roar filled the entire castle. The sound caused them both to cringe in pain. A booming noise sounded out, and the ground shook.
Thok'ti walked into the room.
-Stay tuned for Chapter Five. I'll write it as fast as I can!