disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, Soul Edge, Taki, Mitsurugi or Sophitia. These all belong to
NAMCO. Such a pity; they won't let me have them. Oh well. But this fanfic is mine.
Requietum
by jin long
lycan11@yahoo.com
Epilogue
It was a dark night with few stars and a crescent moon as the only available light.
It was perfect, Sophitia thought as she looked out the solitary window in her room. The night
was perfect for what she intended to do. The little light and the fact that most of Athens was
asleep at this hour would make it easier to sneak out of the bakery and out of the city. After
that, it was only a matter of swiftly making her way to a group of travelling merchants that
were to leave at the crack of dawn.
Soul Edge was still in the world. She had sensed it, and Hephaestus himself had confirmed
that fact. Again, she chose to chase that evil sword to hell and back. Again, however,
no one had believed her and her own father had locked her in her room, thinking that she had
not the courage to slip through the window and climb down from there. He had underestimated
her, she knew. She was no longer that young, naive girl from the past.
After she donned her shoulder guards she turned her attention to her weapons, taking the newly-
forged sword and shield into her hands. They felt different somehow from her old weapons. Taki
told her that blacksmiths did- and as a matter of fact, should- place their very soul into
what they forged. Somehow, somehow something was off with this sword and shield, forged by
the one she was to be forced to wed.
The weapon seemed to give off an aura that seemed to suffocate her with its neediness and its
sense of possessiveness, as if whoever forged it wanted to have full dominion over her and her
life. It was such that Sophitia wondered what she was getting into and what she was attempting
to keep Cassandra from.
She thought about that. This fiancee of hers... she thought upon first glance that she loved this
person, but it was not so. The way her fiancee looked, brown-haired and brown-eyed... it reminded
her so much of Taki for one reason or another. That was why initially, she had taken to the one
she was to wed. But her realization of this fact and the feel of what her fiancee had forged made
her wonder.
And after all, her heart belonged to someone else, she knew. Someone she had loved and wished
to love still. Someone she would have wanted to spend her life with if it weren't for the fact that
Cassandra would have to take her place should she not sacrifice herself.
For now, the sword and shield she had would do. There was no way she could sneak into the
temple of Hephaestus and steal back the sword and shield Taki had repaired without being caught.
Maybe, if she met Taki once more, the ninja could fix whatever was wrong with her new weapons.
Sophitia eased herself out the window and got a good grip on some of the beams beneath her
feet that jutted out from the house. She squatted and took took one deep breath, then tipped
backward such that she swung down and hung from the beam, checking the area on which she
would land before she let go and landed with a near-quiet thump.
"You're doing it again."
Sophitia whirled around to meet the source of the voice, body tensing in readiness for an attack.
Seeing who it was, she dropped her guard and relaxed.
"Cassandra," Sophtia said, eyeing her younger sister.
"Why are you running away again, Sis?" Cassandra asked.
"You know why. I told you why." Sophitia gave Cassandra one last look, then turned to run away.
"I told everyone why, but no one believes me." She began to break into a run, but Cassandra
caught her hand and pulled her back.
"Sis, don't do this!" Cassandra pleaded. "I let you leave once, I won't again!"
Sophitia looked Cassandra in the face. The girl was almost crying, tears about to fall from azure
eyes. "You.... The last time you left... you came back with all those scars... you took so long..."
Cassandra paused to blink away some tears. "Why must you go? Why can't you stay here? Why
can't you just settle down, marry the one father wants you to wed instead of going off on a crazy
quest?" Cassandra asked.
Sophitia smiled and gently patted Cassandra on the head. "You're so concerned about me," she
whispered. "I never thought... what with all the trouble you used to give me and all the pranks
you played..."
She ruffled Cassandra's blonde hair slightly before continuing. "Don't you worry about your big
sister, Cass. I can take care of myself." Sophitia smoothed out Cassandra's hair, trying to comfort
her sister as she always did. "I must do this. The trouble may be outside Greece, but it won't be
long before it comes here. Please, Cassie, let me go."
"This is just about your wanderer, isn't it?!"
Sophitia was taken aback. It was true that part of herself imagined and hoped to see Taki again,
but that Cassandra should perceive this was shocking. "Let that wanderer of yours go, sis!"
Cassandra continued. "You're marrying someone here. Someone you love is right here in Athens.
Just forget about everything outside Greece and stay here!"
Cassandra really did not understand at all. "Father loves my fiancee. Not me. The one I truly love
is not here," Sophitia said softly. "All of you, stuck here in Greece, in Athens, will never
understand."
It was Cassandra's turn to be shocked. "But....If you don't love.... then why... why are you going
to...."
"Let me go, Cassandra," Sophitia said softly, avoiding the question. This was becoming difficult, and
she didn't have time to explain. "I must go." It felt like an eternity for Sophitia as she waited
patiently, half wanting to just break Cassandra's grip if her sister did not comply. Hesitantly,
Cassandra slowly let go of her hand. "I don't understand you, sis. You have everything in Greece.
Everything. And you're willing to let go of all this for a god and for a wanderer."
Cassandra brushed away tears before they could fall. "What if you return with that wanderer's child
in your womb? What if all this is discovered? What if.... what if...." She sniffed. "Why, Sophie? Why
must you go? Why do you want to leave?"
Sophitia took one long breath. "Cassandra, there is a whole world outside Athens, outside Greece,
even. I realized this when I went out into it. And it's not such a dangerous world, Cassandra. It
is also a world of freedom and it is a world with wonderful people in it."
She took one last look at Cassandra before she turned and left. "One of these days, Cassandra, I
hope and pray to Hephaestus that you too will see what I have seen. Maybe then you will
understand me and you will be able to choose."
-------------------------
Two magnificent horses, one a deep dark black and the other a rich brown, thundered across the
desert. Their hooves beat on the arid ground, sending sand flying in their wake. Their riders were
a woman on the ebony steed, a man on the auburn one.
Many who had seen them both would call them cold, almost unfeeling. There was a certain
determination in their eyes that seemed to say to hell with the world, we will achieve what we
will and we don't care what anybody thinks.
Perhaps it was because both of them looked battle-hardened, callous to the shedding of blood.
The man was a mercenary, known in some parts of these sands. He was the sort to be
anonymous,uncommunicative, fighting only for money and never for glory. The woman as well
seemed to have known battle, although those who had seen her together with the man would
admit that she'd probably seen worse battles by the look in her eyes.
To suggest that either one of them was capable of friendship was a laughable matter to most. To
even think that they would be capable of devotion to anything but their battles was ridiculous.
Taki and Mitsurugi, whether to Japanese or to foreigners, tended to give such an impression as of
late.
Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.
The demon-slaying ninja and the near-invincible swordsman were the best of friends from
childhood. It had begun when Taki had found Mitsurugi in a pit trap she had been constructing.
They had both been about nine or ten at the time.
It was a very unusual start for a friendship, to state the obvious.
"I swear, travelling by ship is much better than this," Mitsurugi said, squinting his eyes under the
hood of his cloak to keep his vision clear in the harsh glare of the sun. "Dry, dusty as anything -
man, I hate deserts!" As if to give emphasis to his words he spat sand that managed to gather
at the corner of his lips. "Persistent as you may be, Taki, if you get in my way I promise you
I'll have no choice but to battle you - again."
"And if you find the sword, get possessed and turn into another 'Naito-meru', I will have no choice
but to kill you," Taki retorted, humorous in tone but serious in intent, just as Mitsurugi was. "I
don't believe you still don't believe me about Soul Edge. I showed you Mekki-maru, told you about
Mekki-maru and even let you touch Mekki-maru to feel Soul Edge's dark ki!"
"It could have just been Mekki-maru, Taki!" Mitsurugi argued. "You said it had dark ki as well!"
Taki sighed. "Swordsmen! You never feel the subtle differences in anything, especially ki, do you?"
The horses paid no attention to their two riders conversing in Japanese, thundering still through the
desert. The animals further ignored the amused laughter of the two childhood friends. "I swear, if I
didn't know that you were prone to knocks on the head while training as a swordsman,
Mitsu-kun..." Taki mused.
"Well, Ta-chan, until we happened to meet in Edo and battle that oni in some daimyo's castle,
I thought you were crazy with all your demon talk."
The two of them laughed heartily, having not seen each other for so long due to Taki not making
an effort to see the samurai after one of her adopted sisters had died. Mitsurugi had been the one
giving his all to keep up their friendship, Taki knew. When they met once more in the Ming empire
by pure chance and he had asked how she had been, she'd decided to maybe open up a little to
him once more.
He of course was extremely happy that she did.
-----------------------------------
The sounds of battle ahead reached both their ears. "Another caravan," she heard Mitsurugi muse.
"That makes three since we started out from Mongolia," the samurai added. Their eyes met, and
both of them grinned. "Do we play the heroes again, oh samurai-obssessed- over-Tanegashima?"
Taki asked with amusement.
"I'm not one to turn a blind eye, oh ninja-who-obssesses-on-demonic-blades!" the samurai laughed
heartily. "Let's go! Kyah!" Mitsurugi replied, drawing his katana and sending his horse into a swift
gallop towards the besieged caravan. "Hurry up, Ta-chan, 'cause I'm not leaving any bandits for
you!"
"Hey, hey! Don't you be greedy, Mitsu-kun! There's enough for both of us!" Taki laughed yet again,
drawing the now repaired Rekki-maru from its scabbard. The jet-black horse broke into a run,
spurred on by Taki's heels against its flanks towards the ninja's target. "No way am I letting you
have all the fun, Mitsurugi!"
------------------------------------
As it turned out, the caravan had been quite prepared for fending off bandits but had not counted
on there being so many. As such, the traders were quite thankful for the involvement of both the
ninja and samurai in the routing of the brigands. They invited the duo to travel with them, further
hoping to sweeten the deal with the promise of monetary gain.
Taki grinned, saying in response that she would think about it.
She went to Mitsurugi's side, slapping him affectionately yet roughly on his back. "So, Mitsu-kun,
think you wanna stay with this caravan? They're offering gold to act as bodyguards fo them."
Mitsurugi grinned in response. "Hell no! Soul Edge would be worth more than all their weight in
gold!"
"Haha, I thought as much. In any case, they say there's a lot of raids somewhere to the northwest.
Makes you kind of wonder, doesn't it?" Taki said. "Rumors about some knight or something
wreaking havoc there, according to these guys," she continued, gesturing towards the traders.
"Well," Mitsurugi began, taking both their horses by the reins, "That's where we were headed
anyway, right?" He grinned. "Soul Edge has got to be there. Where there's dead bodies, there's
Soul Edge."
"If that Chinese girl we had a conversation with back in Mongolia was telling the truth."
"Yeah, if she was telling the truth. Damned agents of the Ming empire - they're everywhere and
tricky as hell," Mitsurugi finished. "Maybe she was. After all, we got both her and that stick wielding
friend of hers drunk as anything," he mused. "Heh. No one holds drink as well as you and I do, eh,
Taki?"
Taki grinned, remembering the petite sword-wielding girl and the bare-chested staff-wielding boy.
Both youths had stumbled about the tavern then had fallen asleep after losing a drinking contest
to herself and Mitsurugi.
"We do have a bit of a naughty streak to us, don't we, Mitsu-kun?" Taki smiled.
Mitsurugi grinned. "Ta-chan, you know the answer to that," he said, scratching the back of his head.
"I'm going to get the horses some water, you goin' to be fine on your own? Hey, Ta-chan?"
Taki didn't hear him, suddenly enraptured by the sight of a blonde-haired girl who was all too
familiar. "By the kami..." Taki whispered. "She's.... Sophitia's here....." She couldn't take her
eyes off the Greek. This was too good to be true.
"Hey, Taki. Is that the one you were telling me about?" she heard Mitsurugi ask. By the kami,
it was. She could never forget that face, not even in a good number of centuries. It was her.
It was Sophitia. It was so unbelievable that they would even meet again. "Yes, yes it is...."
she heard herself say. "It's... it's beyond belief... beyond all possibility, but it is..."
"Well, don't just gawk, call her, Ta-chan!" Mitsurugi had a gentle smile on his face. "You've been
wanting to see her, I know," he added.
Mitsurugi's words seemed to call her to action. "Sophitia?" she yelled.
The girl turned around and a smile of happiness formed on her face. "By Hephaestus! Taki, is
that you? Is it really you?" Sophitia shouted in reply before running towards the ninja. "By the
gods, it is really you!" Sophitia looked like she was about to cry before Taki grabbed her and
hugged her.
The scent of the young woman, the feel of her body... It was Sophitia, and Taki was now sure that
this was no dream but was as real as the sand at her feet. "Sophitia... by the kami.... Sophitia..."
Taki buried her face in Sophitia's neck, hugging the young Greek tightly and tenderly.
"I missed you," she whispered.
"I missed you as well," Sophitia said, raising her head to meet Taki's gaze with her own. "Taki...
It really is you... I hoped.... I wished I would see you again..." She raised her lips to Taki's own,
then paused, looking over the ninja's shoulder.
Taki realized that she'd forgotten that Mitsurugi was with her. Sophitia obviously wouldn't have
known who Mitsurugi was.
Looking over to the swordsman, Taki noticed that Mitsurugi was looking at her sheepishly,
obviously knowing that he'd somewhat spoiled the moment. "Gomen," she heard him say.
"Ano... I'll keep an eye out for you two," he finished in Japanese, giving Taki a wink and turning
around to watch the other people of the caravan.
Looking back to Sophitia, whose eyes betrayed a degree of puzzlement, Taki said, "Don't worry
about him. He's my best friend and he knows how it is to love someone he can't ever have,
so he's okay with you and me."
Taki paused for a moment, intuiting that Sophitia would ask just how Mitsurugi knew such things,
then continued. "He was in love with the daughter of a noble, and she loved him as well. But he
was just a peasant's son, and well, you can see how it goes from there."
"That's so sad, Taki," Sophitia said. "Is he the same friend you told me about, the one that lost
the love of his life to a political marriage?"
"One and the same," Taki sighed. "I guess now I understand why he could be so foolish
sometimes. Never did till I fell for you and you had to go back to Greece."
Taki caressed Sophitia's face gently. "In any case, and on a slightly lighter note, what are you
doing all the way out here? Don't tell me that you're...oh... Another mission for Hephaestus, I
suppose?"
"Soul Edge is still in the world, Taki," Sophitia replied. "There are rumors everywhere that it has
found a new master." Taki nodded. "I thought as much. But I guess if there's one good thing about
this whole demonic sword business, it's that I got to see you again." The ninja backed off a little
ways from the Greek, then set about fishing out something from one of her bracers. "I wonder
how long it's going to take us to find it again?"
The Greek smiled. "So do I. But what I'm thinking is, how much time are we going to have
together?" Sophitia said softly. "I was wondering, is it alright if I travel with you and your best
friend? I had myself trained a little bit in secret, but I might still be a dead weight compared to
either of you."
Taki smiled, knowing that she had only one answer to the Greek's question. Ah, here it was. Taki
pulled out a crimson ribbon tucked inside one of her bracers. That ribbon had such meaning for
her and was one reason that she'd been able to deal with Sophitia's absence for so long.
She heard the Greek gasp and knew that Sophitia saw the ribbon and remembered what it meant
as well. "By Hephaestus, I can't believe you've kept that all this time!" Sophitia said, reaching for
it and fingering it gently. Taki smiled. "You remember, I notice," the ninja replied, taking and
tucking it back into its respective armband. "I could never let go of what you gave to me, you
know."
Sophitia looked her in the eye with every bit of tenderness. "How could I forget?"
The Greek embraced the ninja warmly. Taki returned the hug, turning her head slightly
to the side in order to sniff at Sophitia's neck. The Greek breathed gently against her own, happy
and content to be in Taki's arms yet again. The ninja closed her eyes, savoring the moment,
knowing that after they had found Soul Edge, it would probably be an eternity before she ever held
the one she loved again.
Sophitia turned her head and Taki lifted her own to look into Sophitia's azure eyes. "Come with me
and Mitsurugi. I've waited too long just to let you go with the caravan and leave," Taki whispered,
a loving look in her eyes. "I don't know how much time I've got with you this time around, but I
am going to love every moment of it."
"So will I, Taki," Sophitia answered with every ounce of sincerity in her eyes, words and kiss.
"So will I."
*************
THE END
*************
jin long's end notes
.....I just had to stick Mitsurugi in here! Yes, I think he and Taki would
be good friends, even if the music that plays when they're fighting isn't
like the regular 'fighting friends' music.
Hiya! I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it.
It's not quite a happy ending, but then again, it could still be. Ah, well,
the trouble with working within canon I suppose.
well, that's it for this story. I don't know if I'm going to be writing anything
like this again, since I'm going to be quite busy for a while. Also, until
Soul Calibur 2 has been around for a while and information on its
storyline abounds, I don't think I'll be writing anything serious. I don't like
writing about something I barely know anything about, even if it's just
fanfiction.
Okay, I lied a bit. I have been writing a sequel to this, heheheh... Don't know
when I'm going to put it up, but it will be.
much thanks to all of you who reviewed and read,
jin long
NAMCO. Such a pity; they won't let me have them. Oh well. But this fanfic is mine.
Requietum
by jin long
lycan11@yahoo.com
Epilogue
It was a dark night with few stars and a crescent moon as the only available light.
It was perfect, Sophitia thought as she looked out the solitary window in her room. The night
was perfect for what she intended to do. The little light and the fact that most of Athens was
asleep at this hour would make it easier to sneak out of the bakery and out of the city. After
that, it was only a matter of swiftly making her way to a group of travelling merchants that
were to leave at the crack of dawn.
Soul Edge was still in the world. She had sensed it, and Hephaestus himself had confirmed
that fact. Again, she chose to chase that evil sword to hell and back. Again, however,
no one had believed her and her own father had locked her in her room, thinking that she had
not the courage to slip through the window and climb down from there. He had underestimated
her, she knew. She was no longer that young, naive girl from the past.
After she donned her shoulder guards she turned her attention to her weapons, taking the newly-
forged sword and shield into her hands. They felt different somehow from her old weapons. Taki
told her that blacksmiths did- and as a matter of fact, should- place their very soul into
what they forged. Somehow, somehow something was off with this sword and shield, forged by
the one she was to be forced to wed.
The weapon seemed to give off an aura that seemed to suffocate her with its neediness and its
sense of possessiveness, as if whoever forged it wanted to have full dominion over her and her
life. It was such that Sophitia wondered what she was getting into and what she was attempting
to keep Cassandra from.
She thought about that. This fiancee of hers... she thought upon first glance that she loved this
person, but it was not so. The way her fiancee looked, brown-haired and brown-eyed... it reminded
her so much of Taki for one reason or another. That was why initially, she had taken to the one
she was to wed. But her realization of this fact and the feel of what her fiancee had forged made
her wonder.
And after all, her heart belonged to someone else, she knew. Someone she had loved and wished
to love still. Someone she would have wanted to spend her life with if it weren't for the fact that
Cassandra would have to take her place should she not sacrifice herself.
For now, the sword and shield she had would do. There was no way she could sneak into the
temple of Hephaestus and steal back the sword and shield Taki had repaired without being caught.
Maybe, if she met Taki once more, the ninja could fix whatever was wrong with her new weapons.
Sophitia eased herself out the window and got a good grip on some of the beams beneath her
feet that jutted out from the house. She squatted and took took one deep breath, then tipped
backward such that she swung down and hung from the beam, checking the area on which she
would land before she let go and landed with a near-quiet thump.
"You're doing it again."
Sophitia whirled around to meet the source of the voice, body tensing in readiness for an attack.
Seeing who it was, she dropped her guard and relaxed.
"Cassandra," Sophtia said, eyeing her younger sister.
"Why are you running away again, Sis?" Cassandra asked.
"You know why. I told you why." Sophitia gave Cassandra one last look, then turned to run away.
"I told everyone why, but no one believes me." She began to break into a run, but Cassandra
caught her hand and pulled her back.
"Sis, don't do this!" Cassandra pleaded. "I let you leave once, I won't again!"
Sophitia looked Cassandra in the face. The girl was almost crying, tears about to fall from azure
eyes. "You.... The last time you left... you came back with all those scars... you took so long..."
Cassandra paused to blink away some tears. "Why must you go? Why can't you stay here? Why
can't you just settle down, marry the one father wants you to wed instead of going off on a crazy
quest?" Cassandra asked.
Sophitia smiled and gently patted Cassandra on the head. "You're so concerned about me," she
whispered. "I never thought... what with all the trouble you used to give me and all the pranks
you played..."
She ruffled Cassandra's blonde hair slightly before continuing. "Don't you worry about your big
sister, Cass. I can take care of myself." Sophitia smoothed out Cassandra's hair, trying to comfort
her sister as she always did. "I must do this. The trouble may be outside Greece, but it won't be
long before it comes here. Please, Cassie, let me go."
"This is just about your wanderer, isn't it?!"
Sophitia was taken aback. It was true that part of herself imagined and hoped to see Taki again,
but that Cassandra should perceive this was shocking. "Let that wanderer of yours go, sis!"
Cassandra continued. "You're marrying someone here. Someone you love is right here in Athens.
Just forget about everything outside Greece and stay here!"
Cassandra really did not understand at all. "Father loves my fiancee. Not me. The one I truly love
is not here," Sophitia said softly. "All of you, stuck here in Greece, in Athens, will never
understand."
It was Cassandra's turn to be shocked. "But....If you don't love.... then why... why are you going
to...."
"Let me go, Cassandra," Sophitia said softly, avoiding the question. This was becoming difficult, and
she didn't have time to explain. "I must go." It felt like an eternity for Sophitia as she waited
patiently, half wanting to just break Cassandra's grip if her sister did not comply. Hesitantly,
Cassandra slowly let go of her hand. "I don't understand you, sis. You have everything in Greece.
Everything. And you're willing to let go of all this for a god and for a wanderer."
Cassandra brushed away tears before they could fall. "What if you return with that wanderer's child
in your womb? What if all this is discovered? What if.... what if...." She sniffed. "Why, Sophie? Why
must you go? Why do you want to leave?"
Sophitia took one long breath. "Cassandra, there is a whole world outside Athens, outside Greece,
even. I realized this when I went out into it. And it's not such a dangerous world, Cassandra. It
is also a world of freedom and it is a world with wonderful people in it."
She took one last look at Cassandra before she turned and left. "One of these days, Cassandra, I
hope and pray to Hephaestus that you too will see what I have seen. Maybe then you will
understand me and you will be able to choose."
-------------------------
Two magnificent horses, one a deep dark black and the other a rich brown, thundered across the
desert. Their hooves beat on the arid ground, sending sand flying in their wake. Their riders were
a woman on the ebony steed, a man on the auburn one.
Many who had seen them both would call them cold, almost unfeeling. There was a certain
determination in their eyes that seemed to say to hell with the world, we will achieve what we
will and we don't care what anybody thinks.
Perhaps it was because both of them looked battle-hardened, callous to the shedding of blood.
The man was a mercenary, known in some parts of these sands. He was the sort to be
anonymous,uncommunicative, fighting only for money and never for glory. The woman as well
seemed to have known battle, although those who had seen her together with the man would
admit that she'd probably seen worse battles by the look in her eyes.
To suggest that either one of them was capable of friendship was a laughable matter to most. To
even think that they would be capable of devotion to anything but their battles was ridiculous.
Taki and Mitsurugi, whether to Japanese or to foreigners, tended to give such an impression as of
late.
Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.
The demon-slaying ninja and the near-invincible swordsman were the best of friends from
childhood. It had begun when Taki had found Mitsurugi in a pit trap she had been constructing.
They had both been about nine or ten at the time.
It was a very unusual start for a friendship, to state the obvious.
"I swear, travelling by ship is much better than this," Mitsurugi said, squinting his eyes under the
hood of his cloak to keep his vision clear in the harsh glare of the sun. "Dry, dusty as anything -
man, I hate deserts!" As if to give emphasis to his words he spat sand that managed to gather
at the corner of his lips. "Persistent as you may be, Taki, if you get in my way I promise you
I'll have no choice but to battle you - again."
"And if you find the sword, get possessed and turn into another 'Naito-meru', I will have no choice
but to kill you," Taki retorted, humorous in tone but serious in intent, just as Mitsurugi was. "I
don't believe you still don't believe me about Soul Edge. I showed you Mekki-maru, told you about
Mekki-maru and even let you touch Mekki-maru to feel Soul Edge's dark ki!"
"It could have just been Mekki-maru, Taki!" Mitsurugi argued. "You said it had dark ki as well!"
Taki sighed. "Swordsmen! You never feel the subtle differences in anything, especially ki, do you?"
The horses paid no attention to their two riders conversing in Japanese, thundering still through the
desert. The animals further ignored the amused laughter of the two childhood friends. "I swear, if I
didn't know that you were prone to knocks on the head while training as a swordsman,
Mitsu-kun..." Taki mused.
"Well, Ta-chan, until we happened to meet in Edo and battle that oni in some daimyo's castle,
I thought you were crazy with all your demon talk."
The two of them laughed heartily, having not seen each other for so long due to Taki not making
an effort to see the samurai after one of her adopted sisters had died. Mitsurugi had been the one
giving his all to keep up their friendship, Taki knew. When they met once more in the Ming empire
by pure chance and he had asked how she had been, she'd decided to maybe open up a little to
him once more.
He of course was extremely happy that she did.
-----------------------------------
The sounds of battle ahead reached both their ears. "Another caravan," she heard Mitsurugi muse.
"That makes three since we started out from Mongolia," the samurai added. Their eyes met, and
both of them grinned. "Do we play the heroes again, oh samurai-obssessed- over-Tanegashima?"
Taki asked with amusement.
"I'm not one to turn a blind eye, oh ninja-who-obssesses-on-demonic-blades!" the samurai laughed
heartily. "Let's go! Kyah!" Mitsurugi replied, drawing his katana and sending his horse into a swift
gallop towards the besieged caravan. "Hurry up, Ta-chan, 'cause I'm not leaving any bandits for
you!"
"Hey, hey! Don't you be greedy, Mitsu-kun! There's enough for both of us!" Taki laughed yet again,
drawing the now repaired Rekki-maru from its scabbard. The jet-black horse broke into a run,
spurred on by Taki's heels against its flanks towards the ninja's target. "No way am I letting you
have all the fun, Mitsurugi!"
------------------------------------
As it turned out, the caravan had been quite prepared for fending off bandits but had not counted
on there being so many. As such, the traders were quite thankful for the involvement of both the
ninja and samurai in the routing of the brigands. They invited the duo to travel with them, further
hoping to sweeten the deal with the promise of monetary gain.
Taki grinned, saying in response that she would think about it.
She went to Mitsurugi's side, slapping him affectionately yet roughly on his back. "So, Mitsu-kun,
think you wanna stay with this caravan? They're offering gold to act as bodyguards fo them."
Mitsurugi grinned in response. "Hell no! Soul Edge would be worth more than all their weight in
gold!"
"Haha, I thought as much. In any case, they say there's a lot of raids somewhere to the northwest.
Makes you kind of wonder, doesn't it?" Taki said. "Rumors about some knight or something
wreaking havoc there, according to these guys," she continued, gesturing towards the traders.
"Well," Mitsurugi began, taking both their horses by the reins, "That's where we were headed
anyway, right?" He grinned. "Soul Edge has got to be there. Where there's dead bodies, there's
Soul Edge."
"If that Chinese girl we had a conversation with back in Mongolia was telling the truth."
"Yeah, if she was telling the truth. Damned agents of the Ming empire - they're everywhere and
tricky as hell," Mitsurugi finished. "Maybe she was. After all, we got both her and that stick wielding
friend of hers drunk as anything," he mused. "Heh. No one holds drink as well as you and I do, eh,
Taki?"
Taki grinned, remembering the petite sword-wielding girl and the bare-chested staff-wielding boy.
Both youths had stumbled about the tavern then had fallen asleep after losing a drinking contest
to herself and Mitsurugi.
"We do have a bit of a naughty streak to us, don't we, Mitsu-kun?" Taki smiled.
Mitsurugi grinned. "Ta-chan, you know the answer to that," he said, scratching the back of his head.
"I'm going to get the horses some water, you goin' to be fine on your own? Hey, Ta-chan?"
Taki didn't hear him, suddenly enraptured by the sight of a blonde-haired girl who was all too
familiar. "By the kami..." Taki whispered. "She's.... Sophitia's here....." She couldn't take her
eyes off the Greek. This was too good to be true.
"Hey, Taki. Is that the one you were telling me about?" she heard Mitsurugi ask. By the kami,
it was. She could never forget that face, not even in a good number of centuries. It was her.
It was Sophitia. It was so unbelievable that they would even meet again. "Yes, yes it is...."
she heard herself say. "It's... it's beyond belief... beyond all possibility, but it is..."
"Well, don't just gawk, call her, Ta-chan!" Mitsurugi had a gentle smile on his face. "You've been
wanting to see her, I know," he added.
Mitsurugi's words seemed to call her to action. "Sophitia?" she yelled.
The girl turned around and a smile of happiness formed on her face. "By Hephaestus! Taki, is
that you? Is it really you?" Sophitia shouted in reply before running towards the ninja. "By the
gods, it is really you!" Sophitia looked like she was about to cry before Taki grabbed her and
hugged her.
The scent of the young woman, the feel of her body... It was Sophitia, and Taki was now sure that
this was no dream but was as real as the sand at her feet. "Sophitia... by the kami.... Sophitia..."
Taki buried her face in Sophitia's neck, hugging the young Greek tightly and tenderly.
"I missed you," she whispered.
"I missed you as well," Sophitia said, raising her head to meet Taki's gaze with her own. "Taki...
It really is you... I hoped.... I wished I would see you again..." She raised her lips to Taki's own,
then paused, looking over the ninja's shoulder.
Taki realized that she'd forgotten that Mitsurugi was with her. Sophitia obviously wouldn't have
known who Mitsurugi was.
Looking over to the swordsman, Taki noticed that Mitsurugi was looking at her sheepishly,
obviously knowing that he'd somewhat spoiled the moment. "Gomen," she heard him say.
"Ano... I'll keep an eye out for you two," he finished in Japanese, giving Taki a wink and turning
around to watch the other people of the caravan.
Looking back to Sophitia, whose eyes betrayed a degree of puzzlement, Taki said, "Don't worry
about him. He's my best friend and he knows how it is to love someone he can't ever have,
so he's okay with you and me."
Taki paused for a moment, intuiting that Sophitia would ask just how Mitsurugi knew such things,
then continued. "He was in love with the daughter of a noble, and she loved him as well. But he
was just a peasant's son, and well, you can see how it goes from there."
"That's so sad, Taki," Sophitia said. "Is he the same friend you told me about, the one that lost
the love of his life to a political marriage?"
"One and the same," Taki sighed. "I guess now I understand why he could be so foolish
sometimes. Never did till I fell for you and you had to go back to Greece."
Taki caressed Sophitia's face gently. "In any case, and on a slightly lighter note, what are you
doing all the way out here? Don't tell me that you're...oh... Another mission for Hephaestus, I
suppose?"
"Soul Edge is still in the world, Taki," Sophitia replied. "There are rumors everywhere that it has
found a new master." Taki nodded. "I thought as much. But I guess if there's one good thing about
this whole demonic sword business, it's that I got to see you again." The ninja backed off a little
ways from the Greek, then set about fishing out something from one of her bracers. "I wonder
how long it's going to take us to find it again?"
The Greek smiled. "So do I. But what I'm thinking is, how much time are we going to have
together?" Sophitia said softly. "I was wondering, is it alright if I travel with you and your best
friend? I had myself trained a little bit in secret, but I might still be a dead weight compared to
either of you."
Taki smiled, knowing that she had only one answer to the Greek's question. Ah, here it was. Taki
pulled out a crimson ribbon tucked inside one of her bracers. That ribbon had such meaning for
her and was one reason that she'd been able to deal with Sophitia's absence for so long.
She heard the Greek gasp and knew that Sophitia saw the ribbon and remembered what it meant
as well. "By Hephaestus, I can't believe you've kept that all this time!" Sophitia said, reaching for
it and fingering it gently. Taki smiled. "You remember, I notice," the ninja replied, taking and
tucking it back into its respective armband. "I could never let go of what you gave to me, you
know."
Sophitia looked her in the eye with every bit of tenderness. "How could I forget?"
The Greek embraced the ninja warmly. Taki returned the hug, turning her head slightly
to the side in order to sniff at Sophitia's neck. The Greek breathed gently against her own, happy
and content to be in Taki's arms yet again. The ninja closed her eyes, savoring the moment,
knowing that after they had found Soul Edge, it would probably be an eternity before she ever held
the one she loved again.
Sophitia turned her head and Taki lifted her own to look into Sophitia's azure eyes. "Come with me
and Mitsurugi. I've waited too long just to let you go with the caravan and leave," Taki whispered,
a loving look in her eyes. "I don't know how much time I've got with you this time around, but I
am going to love every moment of it."
"So will I, Taki," Sophitia answered with every ounce of sincerity in her eyes, words and kiss.
"So will I."
*************
THE END
*************
jin long's end notes
.....I just had to stick Mitsurugi in here! Yes, I think he and Taki would
be good friends, even if the music that plays when they're fighting isn't
like the regular 'fighting friends' music.
Hiya! I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it.
It's not quite a happy ending, but then again, it could still be. Ah, well,
the trouble with working within canon I suppose.
well, that's it for this story. I don't know if I'm going to be writing anything
like this again, since I'm going to be quite busy for a while. Also, until
Soul Calibur 2 has been around for a while and information on its
storyline abounds, I don't think I'll be writing anything serious. I don't like
writing about something I barely know anything about, even if it's just
fanfiction.
Okay, I lied a bit. I have been writing a sequel to this, heheheh... Don't know
when I'm going to put it up, but it will be.
much thanks to all of you who reviewed and read,
jin long