A/n: Hahahaha! Okay, I know you guys reviewed asking to be certain characters, and I thank you for at least reviewing ^ u ^. I said this in the prologue, but some of you might have missed it, so I'll say it again!
I already have the "successors" picked out, and they're all original characters (Seriously. Just because the heroine's last name is "Mayfair" doesn't mean she's connected with the Mayfair witches in that Anne Rice book, and just because the friend's last name is "Burnside" doesn't mean she's related to my math teacher. They're just cool names.) I deeply apologize, and I hop you won't stop reading it just because you aren't a major character. But if you would like to be someone like a teacher et al, review and please give me an actual first-name last-name name, so I have something to go by. Or I'll have to start making anagrams again.
That said, I have a game to play while you're reading this epic tale of souls and swords!!! SPOT THE SIMILARITIES (situational or characterization-wise) TO BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER!!! XD
Chapter One:
The Calling
~~~
Texas, En route to the Dallas Museum of Natural History, October 2003
Everyone said Sabrina Mayfair was going to be a movie star. She had a nice build, naturally wavy blonde hair, and soft brown eyes, which were always hidden under dark sunglasses. She had money, she had the clothes, and she had an attitude. The only things she had that were different were brains and a love of violence and games like Dead or Alive and Soul Calibur. But now, she was sitting impatiently on a school bus with her classmates on the way to visit a European exhibit at the museum. She tugged at her turtleneck shirt, wondering how it could be so hot in October, and listened to the discussion Jezebel and Warren were having.
Jezebel Burnside had been Sabrina's best friend since Kindergarten. She had green eyes that were so intense it was frightening, and always had her long brown hair up in either a braid or a ponytail. Today, it was in a braided ponytail, and she had it hanging over her shoulder as she talked to the boy behind her. Jezebel was very tough and tomboyish, almost to the point of acting more like a guy than a girl. She always wore loose-fitting and comfortable clothes, and she seemed like the last person who would be Sabrina Mayfair's friend. But she was. Sabrina admired Jezebel for her strength and courage. Jezebel admired Sabrina for her lifestyle, but also for her kindness and intelligence.
Warren Kelley often got a lot of crap for being friends with two girls and having "Kelley" for a last name. But he had been the girls' friend ever since he moved to their town in the sixth grade. He had burnt red hair that was always spiked up in every direction, and gray, twinkling eyes. Warren was like a brother to Jezebel and Sabrina. He was funny, he was sarcastic, and sometimes very protective. He also had a nasty habit of not thinking before he spoke, which was part of the reason why he was fighting with Jezebel now. Warren and Jezebel had been fighting the most recently. But it was all in jest. Eventually, one of them would roll their eyes, throw up their hands, and sigh, and that was when Sabrina would join in. Within seconds, they would all be laughing as if the argument, no matter how mediocre, had never happened.
Sabrina began to fiddle with the end of her chenille scarf- it had been a major mistake to wear clothes like this when it was so hot outside- and looked out the window as the bus pulled up to the museum. "We're here," she turned around and looked at Jezebel and Warren. "What a day, huh? At least we get to get out of school…"
"Going to look at some stupid things that aren't going to help us in real life, ever?" Warren raised an eyebrow and slung his rucksack over his shoulder. "I'd pick school any day. At least it isn't just the three of us there."
"What, so we're too boring for you, macho man?" Jezebel playfully punched Warren in the shoulder. "Come on, Warren. I thought you hated school."
"But this counts as school, seeing as it's a trip made for educational purposes," Warren wrinkled his nose. "I'd rather just go home and play SCII."
"Ain't it the truth?" Sabrina shrugged and descended the steps on the bus onto the sidewalk. The museum wasn't a very large one, but it had a large front garden with a statue of an important-looking man in the middle of some roses, and above the large doorway, there was a banner that read "European Exhibit October 1- November 1".
A middle-aged man was waiting for them in the lobby. He was balding and wore glasses and a plaid shirt with khaki pants. Sabrina nudged Jezebel and smiled. Same old museum, same old boring tour guide.
"Welcome to the Museum of Natural History," the guide began his relentless droning. "My name is Mr. Smith, and I'll be giving you a tour of the European exhibit we have on display today. Please observe the rules: No gum chewing…"
Jezebel hurriedly sucked the half-blown pink bubble back in her mouth and grinned sheepishly. Warren smirked, and Sabrina snorted, causing a few students to stare at her.
"………………And most importantly, there will be no loud talking or other distractions. This is a museum after all, people. Now, if you'll follow me, we'll begin in the eastern section of the museum…"
The trio rolled their eyes and hung at the back of the crowd of students, where they remained, talking in low voices as the guide pointed out the different types of jewelry royalty in the Middle Ages wore, some furniture that had belonged to Louis XIV, blah blah blah…
"Ooh…" Jezebel tugged on Sabrina's sleeve as they entered the last room of the tour. "The weapon room… This ought to be interesting…"
Sabrina nodded vaguely. The tour guide's voice was beginning to put her to sleep. She glanced around the room with half-closed eyes and yawned. Then, she did a double-take and blinked hard to see if what she had seen was real. It was. She gently nudged Warren and Jezebel, and pointed at it. Their eyes grew wide, and all three of them slowly broke off from the rest of the group, and walked over to the display that had caught their eye.
"Am I dreaming?" Warren whispered.
"Not unless we all are…" Sabrina shook her head. "But still… It can't be."
The thing they were looking at was a sword. But it was a large, rotted-looking sword that had a small hilt and a large eyeball towards the hilt. Many other people like Warren, Sabrina, and Jezebel might have recognized it as the Soul Edge.
"Th' hell…?" Jezebel grew pale. "That can't be… The Soul Edge?!"
Sabrina bent down to read the plaque underneath the display. "The museum is unable to discover anything about this artifact besides that it was found by a group of excavators in a crumbling temple near Hamburg, Germany in January of this year…"
She suddenly felt very dizzy. The Soul Edge was real? Then all those other people…She had thought they all were just video game characters… They were…Were they… Could they be…
"Sabrina?" Jezebel moved closer to Sabrina and put her hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Sabrina managed to turn her head and look at Jezebel with wild, almost frightened eyes. She nodded, just barely, and reeled backwards, collapsing.
"Sabrina!!" Jezebel caught her and lowered her to the ground. Warren knelt beside her.
"What's going on?" One of the teachers had heard Jezebel's cry and came over. "What happened to her? Did one of you-"
"No, ma'am," Warren shook his head.
"We were- she was just looking at the sword-" Jezebel stammered.
"And she collapsed!"
"Ah, yes."
The tour guide had come up to them as well. "We received that sword from a patron of our museum. He said he acquired it from a team of excavation workers in Germany, as you would know if you read the plaque. But…"
"But what?" Jezebel, Warren, and the teacher asked.
The guide shook his head. "That's a strange sword," he replied. "It does weird things to people. The workers who found the sword and sold it to the man all suffered insanity, saying they saw ghosts of knights and pirates and the like. The last one of them died about a month ago…"
"You don't have any idea what that thing is, do you?" Warren stood up. "What it can do?! That's the-"
"Mr. Kelley," the teacher interrupted, supporting Sabrina between herself and Jezebel, "That's enough. Please help Ms. Mayfair get onto the bus." She looked at the two students. "She'll be all right."
"Why did you go and try to tell that guy?" Jezebel snapped at Warren in a hushed tone. "You think he would have listened to us?!"
"I doubt it," Warren shrugged as he lifted Sabrina's arm over his shoulder, "But he might have. You never know."
"The ghosts of knights and pirates…" Jezebel frowned. "You don't think…"
"If the Soul Edge is real…" Warren continued her thought.
They looked at each other, obviously thinking the same thing. "……….Naah…" They said at the same time. "It couldn't be…"
Once Sabrina's unconscious figure was seated on the bus, her two friends sat down in their seats. A few minutes of silence passed, and Jezebel couldn't hold it in any longer.
"You think- by taking the sword out…" she said to Warren, "It couldn't have… you know… awakened their souls?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean…" Jezebel frowned. "I think… never mind. It's a crazy idea."
"All your ideas have been crazy." Warren moved to the seat across from Jezebel and leaned forward. "It's never stopped you before."
Jezebel leaned back and sighed. "The workers claimed they saw ghosts of knights and pirates, so-"
Warren blinked. "Cervantes and Nightmare? Jez, it's crazy, but it just might be true!"
Sabrina moaned softly and turned her head. Finally, she opened her eyes, looking rather confused. "Where am I?"
"You're on the bus, Sabrina," Jezebel put her hand on Sabrina's shoulder. "You passed out when you saw that sword."
Sabrina shut her eyes tightly and opened them again. "The Soul Edge? So I wasn't dreaming…"
Warren nodded. "Jezebel and I were thinking that since-"
All three turned their heads towards the bus door. Warren quickly moved back to his position behind the girls' seat. "They're coming back," he said quickly. "But Jezebel and I thought that since, you know, the Soul Edge is here, then…"
"Those people must be real, too." Jezebel finished. "And there's some kind of curse on that sword, you know…"
"I do. I heard you talking." Sabrina struggled to sit up. "You think those… the people who tried to destroy the Soul Calibur are back?
"It would make sense, wouldn't it?" Warren answered. "The fact that the Soul Edge is here, and the guide saying the excavators saw ghosts of pirates and knights…"
"And fire." Sabrina said quietly. "There was a lot of fire, too. I mean…"
Both Jezebel and Warren looked at Sabrina worriedly.
"While I was knocked out, I saw things… there was a lot of fire, and…" she sighed. "The men combusted. I don't know how I know it… I just do…"
"Spontaneously combusted?" Jezebel looked at Warren.
"Lots of fire? Ah… It makes sense," He nodded. "Inferno."
"Hey, Mayfair," A girl sitting across from them looked at her. She was a very pretty girl, with dark brown hair and almond-shaped brown eyes. What was on her neck that hadn't been there before was a jade, tear-drop shaped stone on a gold chain. The three girls she had been talking to stopped and looked at them too.
"What?" Sabrina scowled.
The girl, Chelsey Mason, twirled a part of her hair around her finger. "Why did you, like, pass out in the museum? Creepy atmosphere too much for you? Or was it just because you were scared of the sword?"
"That's a nice necklace, Chelsey," Jezebel cut in. "Did you buy it here?"
Chelsey rolled her eyes. "No, I bought it on E-bay. Of COURSE I got it at the museum!"
"Yeah," a girl with blonde, braided hair added. "What kind of loser would throw away a piece of jewelry like-"
"Thank you, Amanda," Chelsey jammed her elbow into the back of the seat and Amanda went silent. Warren, Sabrina, and Jezebel exchanged looks and leaned closer together.
"Am I just getting this weird feeling, or…" Warren glanced over at Chelsey, "Is that necklace more than it seems?"
"You and your superstitions," Jezebel threw up her hands. "Hey, Sabrina. Can you spend the night this weekend? My parents'll be out."
Sabrina barely inclined her head, but said: "Yeah. Why not?"
"'Brina?" Warren leaned further over the back of the seat. "What's wrong?"
Sabrina paused. "Ssh," she whispered quietly. "Do you hear something?"
The three teenagers were still for a moment. In the midst of the chatter around them came a hoarse, unearthly whisper.
"Give it back…"
Sabrina, Jezebel, and Warren exchanged frantic glances, and that was when the ground under the bus exploded.
Ooh!! Do I make too many cliffhangers, or is it just me? Well, that's the first (official) chapter of Soul Calibur 2003! I hope you guys see where this is going, and if you'd like to be a minor character, please review, as I said above.
~ M
