Chapter 4: Good Fortune and the Unfortunate
With Rekki-Maru (the demon slaying sword) in one hand and Mekki-Maru (the sword infused with Soul Edge's evil) in the other, Taki was convinced that she had found true symmetry. Good and evil, light and dark. She was very well-balanced, indeed. However, it had not always been this way.
Four years earlier, she had been on a quest to destroy Soul Edge. Joining forces with Sophitia, she was able to defeat the dread pirate, Cervantes. Soon after, Sophitia shattered his half of the evil blade. Unfortunately, Sophitia was reckless; she believed that Soul Edge was harmless without anyone to wield it. She was cocky — and she payed for it. Several shards flew into her body, nearly killing her.
Taki came to her aid, putting her through a strenuous, magical process where she extracted the pieces of the sword. To this day, Taki held onto them. Still healing, Sophitia departed leaving Taki to find the remaining half of Soul Edge by herself. That was okay — she preferred to work alone. Not that she didn't appreciate Sophitia's help, but it was time for her to live her own life. It was time to take care of herself. And so began Taki's desire for independence.
To tell the truth, Taki was actually best off not working alone, although she would never admit it. She had a tendency to make hasty decisions and act rather rash. For example, there was the time she had gotten the "brilliant" idea to try and fuse one of her pieces of Soul Edge with her sword, Mekki-Maru. The experiment failed, but Mekki-Maru glowed with the evil aura of Soul Edge ever since.
After a while, Taki became exceedingly paranoid as well. She belonged to a group of ninjas called the Fu-Ma clan. She became worried that her master, Toki, would learn of the evil presence within Mekki-Maru and would try to take it from her. Eventually, she left the clan altogether and became a renegade ninja.
She then set off in search of the remaining half of Soul Edge. According to the plan she had developed, she would destroy both Mekki-Maru and Soul Edge by forcing them against one another. This plan fell through, however, when she learned that the other half of the malevolent blade had already been destroyed. Taki now found herself stuck with the evil Mekki-Maru.
This time she ran out of ideas. So, instead of destroying the sword, she trained with it. Her new goal became to master the power of the sword. In time, she became quite skilled. She never went anywhere without her two swords: Rekki-Maru and Mekki-Maru. They were both ninja swords, and were quite small. As a matter of fact, they were not much bigger than a dagger, which gave her an edge in battle. Her opponents would often let their guard down once they saw them.
One day, Taki was walking through an old forest when she sensed something. The birds, which had been chirping nonstop, where now quite. The only sound that could be heard was the wind rustling the branches of the trees. She was sure that see was being followed, and it turned out that she was right.
Up ahead, a ninja stepped out from behind a tree. He wore the clothes of the Fu-Ma clan. Taki suddenly had a bad feeling about this. She turned around and walked in the opposite direction, but yet another ninja blocked her path. Then one appeared on her right, and then on her left. They had her surrounded. It was no big deal, though. She had gotten out of tougher situations before.
One of the ninjas spoke. "Taki. We need you to come with us. Master Toki would like to speak with you."
Taki snorted. This wasn't the first time her old master had sent ninjas after her. In her previous encounters, they had always attempted to kill her. Well, she wasn't about to let that happen.
As though he had read her mind, the ninja said, "We are not looking for a fight. All we ask for is your cooperation. Besides, it is in your best interest to cooperate." The four of them slowly closed in on her, not allowing her to make a run for it. It didn't matter. Taki didn't feel like running. One of the ninjas pulled out some rope. "Your hands will have to be bound. It is merely a safety precaution. I'm sure you'll understand." They way he talked, you would have thought that Taki had offered to have her hands tied together. What a naive fool.
They were right on top of her now — so close that she could feel their hot breath. The ninja in front of her asked her to hold out her hands. She did. Then, she screwed up her face. She was going to sneeze. The ninja took a step back, looking disgusted. Idiot, she thought. His hesitation was just what she needed. She quickly reached behind her and pulled her twin swords out of their sheathes, which were strapped to her back. The first ninja was dead before he knew what hit him.
The remaining ninjas jumped back and pulled out their own swords. Two of them immediately rushed at her, but she was ready for them. She ducked, and they had to slow down so they wouldn't collide with each other. Still on the ground, she rolled out of the way and slashed at one of their ankles. Pain shot through his body. He dropped to his knees, and clutched his bloody foot in his hands. Taki jumped up behind him and plunged Rekki-Maru into the back of his neck. Two down and two to go, she thought happily.
She withdrew her sword from his neck, and faced the next ninja. He looked terrified, the poor fool. Nevertheless, he charged at her with his sword raised high. She parried his attack, and swung her foot around, kicking him in the side of the face. He staggered backward with tears in his eyes. Taki laughed.
The man clenched his teeth, and ran at her in a blind fury. Again, she easily countered his attack, and she stabbed him in the stomach. He grunted and collapsed to the ground. Well, that took care of all three of them. Wait a minute . . . three? Taki looked behind her and saw the fourth and final ninja running for his life. Without hesitation, she tossed Mekki-Maru at him. It flew the air and struck him in the back. He fell face down in the dirt.
Now wasn't that a waste of time, Taki thought. Toki must be getting desperate if he sent morons like that after her. What exactly had they hoped to accomplish? Your hands will have to be bound. I'm sure you'll understand. Honestly.
Taki began to pull Mekki-Maru out of the ninja's body, but she stopped. Mekki-Maru was suddenly glowing (more so than usual). She wondered . . .
Feeling slightly revolted, she searched the body. Sure enough, she found a piece of Soul Edge. So that was what they were after. Toki must have realized that she had a few pieces of the sword. Either that, or he wanted information about the evil weapon. No doubt he wanted it for himself. Taki sighed. At least that explained why they wanted her alive. But little did they know, Soul Edge was destroyed. Or was it?
The shard glowed ominously in her hand. Her own pieces didn't do that. She took out one of hers to compare. She frowned. It was glowing too. What did it mean? Surely it didn't imply that the blade's evil power had been awakened in the shards. If so, why hadn't it happened earlier? The longer she thought about it, the clearer it became: Soul Edge was still alive.
Taki knew she had to stop it. She grabbed Mekki-Maru, and she left, taking the piece with her. If she was to destroy the sword once and for all, she would need to find as many pieces as she could. After careful consideration, she decided to go to the place where she had defeated Cervantes. Perhaps some of the fragments were still there.
Three weeks later, Taki found herself on a ship out at sea. Her destination lay far to the east, and this beat walking. After searching port after port, she eventually found a captain that agreed to escort her to Eastern Europe. The journey was long, and the ship was boring; the crew members were all idiots, and it was impossible to train due to the continuous rocking of the ship.
After a while, they stopped at a lonely little island. Taki went up to the captain and asked why. "A few days ago our sail was torn," he explained.
"We sailed well enough with the torn sail, so why bother fixing it?" she asked impatiently.
"The sail is slowing us down. At this rate, we won't reach our destination without exhausting our supplies. It's crucial that we stop and repair it." Taki began to ask for the name of the island, but the captain had already walked off, barking orders to his underlings. One of the sailors answered her instead.
"You see Miss, this island has no name. But at one time it belonged to the great merchant of death, Vercci. To this day, most people are afraid to set foot onto the island. I can assure you that we will be here for only a short time. Two hours and the very least."
The merchant of death . . . Taki had heard of that name once before. Vercci had supposedly owned a private island where he stored his great wealth. But he had protected it with countless booby-traps.
Suddenly Taki felt an odd presence. She pulled out one of her swords. Mekki-Maru was glowing again. It was picking up a trace of Soul Edge's evil on that island. Could Vercci have picked up a fragment in his travels? But Taki had thought he had died long before either sword was shattered. Whatever the reason, she wanted to find out what it was.
As soon as they had dropped the anchor, Taki convinced the captain to let her go down to the island. The captain reluctantly agreed, but only on the condition that one of his sailors went with her.
Taki hurried along — she only had two hours. The sailor (she didn't even know his name) struggled to keep up. "Come on!" she yelled, feeling annoyed. He was holding her up.
"I'm trying. It would be a lot easier if I didn't have to carry this bag," he complained.
Taki thought it over. The bag was filled with food, water, and her shards of Soul Edge. She had packed the food and water for obvious reasons, and the fragments were to help her locate the source of the evil. It appeared that they glowed brighter as they got closer to other shards. She decided that everything in the bag was necessary. "Sorry, but we need that stuff. Besides, you need to learn your manners. A gentleman carries a woman's luggage."
Not too much later, they arrived at the entrance of a cavern. "I don't think we should be here . . ." the sailor said hesitantly, but Taki had already dashed inside. What she saw was stunning. It turned out to be an enormous room, rather than a cave. In the center was a huge pit. A tower had been built within the pit, and it had several flat tiers (like platforms) throughout it. Taki stepped out onto the top tier and looked down.
The floor of the tiers were made of metal bars that were in a framework like pattern. She could look down through the holes and see the bottom of the pit far below. It was one long drop. She knew that if she fell, she would surely die. And there, at the bottom, there were large piles of gold coins. Soul Edge was suddenly driven from her mind. There were so many coins, in fact, that if she could take only one-tenth of them, she would be rich beyond her wildest dreams.
"The Money Pit!" the sailor gasped as he walked in behind her. He also stepped onto the top tier. "Look at all of that money! I bet —"
Without warning, some large creature jumped through the air and tackled the sailor. Blood splattered the floor. Taki pulled out her swords and ran at the creature, but before she could get there it grabbed its legs with its hands and rolled rapidly across the floor like some kind of crazy wheel. Taki was so surprised that she stopped dead in her tracks, and the wheel came at her, running her over. She looked up, watching the wheel go. For a moment, she thought it was going to run right off the side, but it stopped at the edge and stood up. Finally, she could get a good look at it.
The creature turned out to be a man. His skin was so pale that it looked as though he had never seen the sun in his life. The man's body was partially wrapped, and it almost looked like a mummy. The most bizarre part, however, was the head. It was completely bald, and Taki couldn't be sure if she was looking at his terribly white skin or the skull. His eyes and mouth were also covered by the bandages, and he was making raspy, hissing noises. She didn't think that it could speak, but judging by the way it followed her movements, it must be able to see. Somehow. The man looked utterly revolting.
And then there were its weapons . . . in each hand he held something that looked like three-pronged scissors, and they were dripping with the blood of the dead sailor. They looked pretty lethal. She had seen something like them before — they were called Katars.
Much too late, Taki remembered hearing that there had been a guardian in the Money Pit along with the booby-traps. If she could recall correctly, its name was Voldo.
Taki got to her feet and rushed at the man. Again, it rolled into its crazy wheel and came at her. She got out of the way just in time. But it didn't stop there; it turned around and came back for her. This time she dived out of the way and found herself lying on her back. Before she could react, Voldo jumped at her. His Katars crashed down on both sides of her head, missing her by inches. Taki pulled her legs in close to her body, and kick in the torso with all of her strength. Voldo went flying backwards, and she was able to get back up to her feet.
She ran at him as fast as she could, but at the last second he moved out of the way. Taki kept going — right toward the edge of the tier. "No!" she screamed, but it was too late. She was going to fall. With all of her might, she swung her arms around and the sword in her right hand shank into Voldo's shoulder. Desperately, she tried to hang on, but her weight pull him over the side with her.
The two of them fell through the air. Taki's arms and legs were flailing; one of her feet hit Voldo in the stomach, but he scraped her arm with one of the Katars.
Suddenly, she hit something. Hard. She was relieved (and shocked) to see that the sword in her left hand has caught in the steel grating of one of the tiers. Quickly, she hoisted herself up and lay on her back, panting heavily. As soon as she caught her breath, she stood up and looked around. It looked as though she was on the third tier down from the top of the tower. She looked down at the money-covered floor, and then back at the tiers above her. That demented man was nowhere to be seen. Thank God, she thought.
A horrible realization dawned on her — Mekki-Maru was gone. What had happened? Did she drop it? She replayed the events in her mind. She had it when she first entered the Money Pit, she was sure of that. Did she have it with her when she fell? No, she didn't. So she lost it sometime before that.
Taki racked her brain, trying to think. Oh, of course. Now she remembered. She had stabbed Voldo with it as she fell. That monster must still have it. Taki swore. Without Mekki-Maru, she was weak. Besides, she needed it to track down the pieces of Soul Edge. Speaking of which . . .
That idiot sailor had her pieces of the sword, and he was lying on the top tier. Could she climb back up? Yes, but it would be hard. The tiers were shaped like octagons, and there were weblike walls on four of the four of the eight sides. In order to climb up, she would have to get on the outside of the walls, and hope that she didn't fall. She may have survived once, but that didn't mean that she could do it again. In the end, she decided to go after the shards. That was her priority. After all, she didn't need Mekki-Maru to defeat Soul Edge. It would certainly help, but she didn't really want to have to fight that creature again.
Taki grabbed onto one of the walls. The metal was cold, and water had condensed on the bars. That would complicate things a bit. She took a deep breath, and started to climb. It took a while, as the tiers were far apart. She slipped several times, but she had always been able to regain her balance. No wonder thieves couldn't steal the gold so easily. This was treacherous. Even if they could reach the bottom alive, the gold would be hard to carry back to the top. It would be heavy, so they would have to make several trips — no amount of money was worth that.
At long last, she reached the second tier. She collapsed upon the floor, completely exhausted. Taki groaned. She was only halfway up. A few minutes passed. Eventually, she got up and stretched. I might as well get this over with, she though grimly. As she neared the wall, she heard an odd clanking sound, like metal hitting metal. Just as she turned to see what it was, something plowed into her, knocking her to her feet. She rolled on the ground and threw it off of her. It was Voldo.
Taki struggled to her feet. She could feel pain in her left side. The clothing had been torn, and there was blood trickling down it. She was cut, but it wasn't deep. It hurt like hell, though.
Voldo hissed at her; Mekki-Maru was still impaled in his shoulder. He didn't seem to notice. Taki had just enough time to pull out Rekki-Maru before the man charged at her. Man, he was fast! She did her best to counter the attack, and she made a desperate reach her other sword. Voldo moved away before she could grab it. Again, he rushed at her. She didn't even try to block this time; she just jumped out of the way. At the same time, she reached for the sword once more.
Yes! She grabbed it. But as she pulled it out, Voldo landed on top of her and she lost her grip. Mekki-Maru came out of his shoulder, skidded across the floor, and came to a stop before falling over the edge. The noise seem to distract Voldo. He looked up, trying to see what it was. Taki kicked him in the head and dashed for her sword.
He saw what she was doing. He ran for on of the walls, jumped onto it, and scurried along using his Katars. At least that explained why he was able to get around so easily, she thought. The guy moved like a freaking spider.
Once he reached the end of the wall, he leaped off, landing right in front of Mekki-Maru. He picked it up and began to advance on her. But then he stopped. Voldo stared at the sword, looking confused. Taki didn't stop to think why — she had only one thing on her mind. She wanted her sword.
She ran right at him, and then she slid right between his legs, grabbing Mekki-Maru from him. Before he could retaliate, she stabbed the ground with Rekki-Maru so she wouldn't slide off the edge, and then she slashed at his right leg with Mekki-Maru. Voldo dropped to his hands and knees. She swung her leg around, kicking him in the head, and he flew off the platform.
Taki watched him fall. Somehow, he managed to grab onto the tower as he fell, and began to climb back up to her.
Time was short, and she knew it. She had to go. Now. Without wasting another second, Taki began to climb as well. Unfortunately, Voldo was faster. His Katars were perfect for climbing the tower. Come on, she told herself. Come on. He was gaining on her. She looked up; she was only halfway there. Below her, Voldo stepped onto the second tier. He was right behind her now.
She was going as fast as her arms and legs would take her. In the rush, one of her hands slipped and for terrible second, she thought she was going to fall. Luckily, she was able to hang on, but her mistake had cost her dearly. Voldo was just behind her now. Taki forced herself to think only about climbing, and not about the hideous thing that was chasing her. Come on, only a few feet left . . .
It was a few feet too many. He had finally caught up to her. She could hear his horrible, raspy breathing. He reached up with one hand, hoping to grab her leg. Unable to think of anything else, she did the only thing she could do. Taki let go.
Her feet landed on Voldo's head. He roared; he hadn't been expecting that. Voldo had only been holding on with one hand, and her weight pushed him down. There was nothing he could do to stop it. He lost his grip and fell.
Taki whipped out her two swords, and struck the wall with them. They caught on the metal, stopping her fall. It was only when she reached the top that she breathed a sigh of relief. The first thing she did was run to the dead sailor. She frowned. The bag with the pieces of Soul Edge was gone. He must have taken it.
Voldo sat at the very bottom of the pit, tending to his wounds. He was much too skilled to let someone like her kill him. She had just been lucky. If he wanted too, he could have chased after her a second time, but he knew it was pointless. The women had learned her lesson. She wasn't coming back.
He turned the bag upside down, spilling its contents on the floor. What really drew his attention were the pieces of metal that he had found inside. They glowed with a familiar aura.
Long ago, his master Vercci died. Even then, Voldo remained a faithful servant. He continued to guard his master's great wealth in the Money Pit, but he also looked out for the sword that his master had desired. It was called Soul Edge.
A few years ago, Voldo has thought he heard the voice of his deceased master. When he went to investigate, he discovered an intruder. Once he killed him, he realized that the man carried a katana that gave off an evil aura. Believing it was Soul Edge, Voldo kept the sword. However, he never heard his master's voice again.
But today, as he studied the metal fragment, he realized that these were pieces of the ultimate sword, and the katana was not Soul Edge. He could almost feel his master trying to talk to him through the shards. Voldo decided right there to go out into the world and find more pieces. Perhaps then, he could finally hear his master speak to him once more. And that sword that the women carried . . . it had the aura of Soul Edge as well. How was that possible? Oh well, he thought, he would worry about that later. Right now, he only wanted to find more shards.
He went to the top of the cavern, where his master had hidden a small boat. He gathered supplies, preparing to disembark.
Taki swore, cursing her bad luck. How could she have been so foolish? Why had she taken the fragments of Soul Edge with her? Now they were gone. At least she still had Mekki-Maru, though. But still, she would have to be much more careful from now on. Taki ran toward the shore. She had a ship to catch.
With Rekki-Maru (the demon slaying sword) in one hand and Mekki-Maru (the sword infused with Soul Edge's evil) in the other, Taki was convinced that she had found true symmetry. Good and evil, light and dark. She was very well-balanced, indeed. However, it had not always been this way.
Four years earlier, she had been on a quest to destroy Soul Edge. Joining forces with Sophitia, she was able to defeat the dread pirate, Cervantes. Soon after, Sophitia shattered his half of the evil blade. Unfortunately, Sophitia was reckless; she believed that Soul Edge was harmless without anyone to wield it. She was cocky — and she payed for it. Several shards flew into her body, nearly killing her.
Taki came to her aid, putting her through a strenuous, magical process where she extracted the pieces of the sword. To this day, Taki held onto them. Still healing, Sophitia departed leaving Taki to find the remaining half of Soul Edge by herself. That was okay — she preferred to work alone. Not that she didn't appreciate Sophitia's help, but it was time for her to live her own life. It was time to take care of herself. And so began Taki's desire for independence.
To tell the truth, Taki was actually best off not working alone, although she would never admit it. She had a tendency to make hasty decisions and act rather rash. For example, there was the time she had gotten the "brilliant" idea to try and fuse one of her pieces of Soul Edge with her sword, Mekki-Maru. The experiment failed, but Mekki-Maru glowed with the evil aura of Soul Edge ever since.
After a while, Taki became exceedingly paranoid as well. She belonged to a group of ninjas called the Fu-Ma clan. She became worried that her master, Toki, would learn of the evil presence within Mekki-Maru and would try to take it from her. Eventually, she left the clan altogether and became a renegade ninja.
She then set off in search of the remaining half of Soul Edge. According to the plan she had developed, she would destroy both Mekki-Maru and Soul Edge by forcing them against one another. This plan fell through, however, when she learned that the other half of the malevolent blade had already been destroyed. Taki now found herself stuck with the evil Mekki-Maru.
This time she ran out of ideas. So, instead of destroying the sword, she trained with it. Her new goal became to master the power of the sword. In time, she became quite skilled. She never went anywhere without her two swords: Rekki-Maru and Mekki-Maru. They were both ninja swords, and were quite small. As a matter of fact, they were not much bigger than a dagger, which gave her an edge in battle. Her opponents would often let their guard down once they saw them.
One day, Taki was walking through an old forest when she sensed something. The birds, which had been chirping nonstop, where now quite. The only sound that could be heard was the wind rustling the branches of the trees. She was sure that see was being followed, and it turned out that she was right.
Up ahead, a ninja stepped out from behind a tree. He wore the clothes of the Fu-Ma clan. Taki suddenly had a bad feeling about this. She turned around and walked in the opposite direction, but yet another ninja blocked her path. Then one appeared on her right, and then on her left. They had her surrounded. It was no big deal, though. She had gotten out of tougher situations before.
One of the ninjas spoke. "Taki. We need you to come with us. Master Toki would like to speak with you."
Taki snorted. This wasn't the first time her old master had sent ninjas after her. In her previous encounters, they had always attempted to kill her. Well, she wasn't about to let that happen.
As though he had read her mind, the ninja said, "We are not looking for a fight. All we ask for is your cooperation. Besides, it is in your best interest to cooperate." The four of them slowly closed in on her, not allowing her to make a run for it. It didn't matter. Taki didn't feel like running. One of the ninjas pulled out some rope. "Your hands will have to be bound. It is merely a safety precaution. I'm sure you'll understand." They way he talked, you would have thought that Taki had offered to have her hands tied together. What a naive fool.
They were right on top of her now — so close that she could feel their hot breath. The ninja in front of her asked her to hold out her hands. She did. Then, she screwed up her face. She was going to sneeze. The ninja took a step back, looking disgusted. Idiot, she thought. His hesitation was just what she needed. She quickly reached behind her and pulled her twin swords out of their sheathes, which were strapped to her back. The first ninja was dead before he knew what hit him.
The remaining ninjas jumped back and pulled out their own swords. Two of them immediately rushed at her, but she was ready for them. She ducked, and they had to slow down so they wouldn't collide with each other. Still on the ground, she rolled out of the way and slashed at one of their ankles. Pain shot through his body. He dropped to his knees, and clutched his bloody foot in his hands. Taki jumped up behind him and plunged Rekki-Maru into the back of his neck. Two down and two to go, she thought happily.
She withdrew her sword from his neck, and faced the next ninja. He looked terrified, the poor fool. Nevertheless, he charged at her with his sword raised high. She parried his attack, and swung her foot around, kicking him in the side of the face. He staggered backward with tears in his eyes. Taki laughed.
The man clenched his teeth, and ran at her in a blind fury. Again, she easily countered his attack, and she stabbed him in the stomach. He grunted and collapsed to the ground. Well, that took care of all three of them. Wait a minute . . . three? Taki looked behind her and saw the fourth and final ninja running for his life. Without hesitation, she tossed Mekki-Maru at him. It flew the air and struck him in the back. He fell face down in the dirt.
Now wasn't that a waste of time, Taki thought. Toki must be getting desperate if he sent morons like that after her. What exactly had they hoped to accomplish? Your hands will have to be bound. I'm sure you'll understand. Honestly.
Taki began to pull Mekki-Maru out of the ninja's body, but she stopped. Mekki-Maru was suddenly glowing (more so than usual). She wondered . . .
Feeling slightly revolted, she searched the body. Sure enough, she found a piece of Soul Edge. So that was what they were after. Toki must have realized that she had a few pieces of the sword. Either that, or he wanted information about the evil weapon. No doubt he wanted it for himself. Taki sighed. At least that explained why they wanted her alive. But little did they know, Soul Edge was destroyed. Or was it?
The shard glowed ominously in her hand. Her own pieces didn't do that. She took out one of hers to compare. She frowned. It was glowing too. What did it mean? Surely it didn't imply that the blade's evil power had been awakened in the shards. If so, why hadn't it happened earlier? The longer she thought about it, the clearer it became: Soul Edge was still alive.
Taki knew she had to stop it. She grabbed Mekki-Maru, and she left, taking the piece with her. If she was to destroy the sword once and for all, she would need to find as many pieces as she could. After careful consideration, she decided to go to the place where she had defeated Cervantes. Perhaps some of the fragments were still there.
Three weeks later, Taki found herself on a ship out at sea. Her destination lay far to the east, and this beat walking. After searching port after port, she eventually found a captain that agreed to escort her to Eastern Europe. The journey was long, and the ship was boring; the crew members were all idiots, and it was impossible to train due to the continuous rocking of the ship.
After a while, they stopped at a lonely little island. Taki went up to the captain and asked why. "A few days ago our sail was torn," he explained.
"We sailed well enough with the torn sail, so why bother fixing it?" she asked impatiently.
"The sail is slowing us down. At this rate, we won't reach our destination without exhausting our supplies. It's crucial that we stop and repair it." Taki began to ask for the name of the island, but the captain had already walked off, barking orders to his underlings. One of the sailors answered her instead.
"You see Miss, this island has no name. But at one time it belonged to the great merchant of death, Vercci. To this day, most people are afraid to set foot onto the island. I can assure you that we will be here for only a short time. Two hours and the very least."
The merchant of death . . . Taki had heard of that name once before. Vercci had supposedly owned a private island where he stored his great wealth. But he had protected it with countless booby-traps.
Suddenly Taki felt an odd presence. She pulled out one of her swords. Mekki-Maru was glowing again. It was picking up a trace of Soul Edge's evil on that island. Could Vercci have picked up a fragment in his travels? But Taki had thought he had died long before either sword was shattered. Whatever the reason, she wanted to find out what it was.
As soon as they had dropped the anchor, Taki convinced the captain to let her go down to the island. The captain reluctantly agreed, but only on the condition that one of his sailors went with her.
Taki hurried along — she only had two hours. The sailor (she didn't even know his name) struggled to keep up. "Come on!" she yelled, feeling annoyed. He was holding her up.
"I'm trying. It would be a lot easier if I didn't have to carry this bag," he complained.
Taki thought it over. The bag was filled with food, water, and her shards of Soul Edge. She had packed the food and water for obvious reasons, and the fragments were to help her locate the source of the evil. It appeared that they glowed brighter as they got closer to other shards. She decided that everything in the bag was necessary. "Sorry, but we need that stuff. Besides, you need to learn your manners. A gentleman carries a woman's luggage."
Not too much later, they arrived at the entrance of a cavern. "I don't think we should be here . . ." the sailor said hesitantly, but Taki had already dashed inside. What she saw was stunning. It turned out to be an enormous room, rather than a cave. In the center was a huge pit. A tower had been built within the pit, and it had several flat tiers (like platforms) throughout it. Taki stepped out onto the top tier and looked down.
The floor of the tiers were made of metal bars that were in a framework like pattern. She could look down through the holes and see the bottom of the pit far below. It was one long drop. She knew that if she fell, she would surely die. And there, at the bottom, there were large piles of gold coins. Soul Edge was suddenly driven from her mind. There were so many coins, in fact, that if she could take only one-tenth of them, she would be rich beyond her wildest dreams.
"The Money Pit!" the sailor gasped as he walked in behind her. He also stepped onto the top tier. "Look at all of that money! I bet —"
Without warning, some large creature jumped through the air and tackled the sailor. Blood splattered the floor. Taki pulled out her swords and ran at the creature, but before she could get there it grabbed its legs with its hands and rolled rapidly across the floor like some kind of crazy wheel. Taki was so surprised that she stopped dead in her tracks, and the wheel came at her, running her over. She looked up, watching the wheel go. For a moment, she thought it was going to run right off the side, but it stopped at the edge and stood up. Finally, she could get a good look at it.
The creature turned out to be a man. His skin was so pale that it looked as though he had never seen the sun in his life. The man's body was partially wrapped, and it almost looked like a mummy. The most bizarre part, however, was the head. It was completely bald, and Taki couldn't be sure if she was looking at his terribly white skin or the skull. His eyes and mouth were also covered by the bandages, and he was making raspy, hissing noises. She didn't think that it could speak, but judging by the way it followed her movements, it must be able to see. Somehow. The man looked utterly revolting.
And then there were its weapons . . . in each hand he held something that looked like three-pronged scissors, and they were dripping with the blood of the dead sailor. They looked pretty lethal. She had seen something like them before — they were called Katars.
Much too late, Taki remembered hearing that there had been a guardian in the Money Pit along with the booby-traps. If she could recall correctly, its name was Voldo.
Taki got to her feet and rushed at the man. Again, it rolled into its crazy wheel and came at her. She got out of the way just in time. But it didn't stop there; it turned around and came back for her. This time she dived out of the way and found herself lying on her back. Before she could react, Voldo jumped at her. His Katars crashed down on both sides of her head, missing her by inches. Taki pulled her legs in close to her body, and kick in the torso with all of her strength. Voldo went flying backwards, and she was able to get back up to her feet.
She ran at him as fast as she could, but at the last second he moved out of the way. Taki kept going — right toward the edge of the tier. "No!" she screamed, but it was too late. She was going to fall. With all of her might, she swung her arms around and the sword in her right hand shank into Voldo's shoulder. Desperately, she tried to hang on, but her weight pull him over the side with her.
The two of them fell through the air. Taki's arms and legs were flailing; one of her feet hit Voldo in the stomach, but he scraped her arm with one of the Katars.
Suddenly, she hit something. Hard. She was relieved (and shocked) to see that the sword in her left hand has caught in the steel grating of one of the tiers. Quickly, she hoisted herself up and lay on her back, panting heavily. As soon as she caught her breath, she stood up and looked around. It looked as though she was on the third tier down from the top of the tower. She looked down at the money-covered floor, and then back at the tiers above her. That demented man was nowhere to be seen. Thank God, she thought.
A horrible realization dawned on her — Mekki-Maru was gone. What had happened? Did she drop it? She replayed the events in her mind. She had it when she first entered the Money Pit, she was sure of that. Did she have it with her when she fell? No, she didn't. So she lost it sometime before that.
Taki racked her brain, trying to think. Oh, of course. Now she remembered. She had stabbed Voldo with it as she fell. That monster must still have it. Taki swore. Without Mekki-Maru, she was weak. Besides, she needed it to track down the pieces of Soul Edge. Speaking of which . . .
That idiot sailor had her pieces of the sword, and he was lying on the top tier. Could she climb back up? Yes, but it would be hard. The tiers were shaped like octagons, and there were weblike walls on four of the four of the eight sides. In order to climb up, she would have to get on the outside of the walls, and hope that she didn't fall. She may have survived once, but that didn't mean that she could do it again. In the end, she decided to go after the shards. That was her priority. After all, she didn't need Mekki-Maru to defeat Soul Edge. It would certainly help, but she didn't really want to have to fight that creature again.
Taki grabbed onto one of the walls. The metal was cold, and water had condensed on the bars. That would complicate things a bit. She took a deep breath, and started to climb. It took a while, as the tiers were far apart. She slipped several times, but she had always been able to regain her balance. No wonder thieves couldn't steal the gold so easily. This was treacherous. Even if they could reach the bottom alive, the gold would be hard to carry back to the top. It would be heavy, so they would have to make several trips — no amount of money was worth that.
At long last, she reached the second tier. She collapsed upon the floor, completely exhausted. Taki groaned. She was only halfway up. A few minutes passed. Eventually, she got up and stretched. I might as well get this over with, she though grimly. As she neared the wall, she heard an odd clanking sound, like metal hitting metal. Just as she turned to see what it was, something plowed into her, knocking her to her feet. She rolled on the ground and threw it off of her. It was Voldo.
Taki struggled to her feet. She could feel pain in her left side. The clothing had been torn, and there was blood trickling down it. She was cut, but it wasn't deep. It hurt like hell, though.
Voldo hissed at her; Mekki-Maru was still impaled in his shoulder. He didn't seem to notice. Taki had just enough time to pull out Rekki-Maru before the man charged at her. Man, he was fast! She did her best to counter the attack, and she made a desperate reach her other sword. Voldo moved away before she could grab it. Again, he rushed at her. She didn't even try to block this time; she just jumped out of the way. At the same time, she reached for the sword once more.
Yes! She grabbed it. But as she pulled it out, Voldo landed on top of her and she lost her grip. Mekki-Maru came out of his shoulder, skidded across the floor, and came to a stop before falling over the edge. The noise seem to distract Voldo. He looked up, trying to see what it was. Taki kicked him in the head and dashed for her sword.
He saw what she was doing. He ran for on of the walls, jumped onto it, and scurried along using his Katars. At least that explained why he was able to get around so easily, she thought. The guy moved like a freaking spider.
Once he reached the end of the wall, he leaped off, landing right in front of Mekki-Maru. He picked it up and began to advance on her. But then he stopped. Voldo stared at the sword, looking confused. Taki didn't stop to think why — she had only one thing on her mind. She wanted her sword.
She ran right at him, and then she slid right between his legs, grabbing Mekki-Maru from him. Before he could retaliate, she stabbed the ground with Rekki-Maru so she wouldn't slide off the edge, and then she slashed at his right leg with Mekki-Maru. Voldo dropped to his hands and knees. She swung her leg around, kicking him in the head, and he flew off the platform.
Taki watched him fall. Somehow, he managed to grab onto the tower as he fell, and began to climb back up to her.
Time was short, and she knew it. She had to go. Now. Without wasting another second, Taki began to climb as well. Unfortunately, Voldo was faster. His Katars were perfect for climbing the tower. Come on, she told herself. Come on. He was gaining on her. She looked up; she was only halfway there. Below her, Voldo stepped onto the second tier. He was right behind her now.
She was going as fast as her arms and legs would take her. In the rush, one of her hands slipped and for terrible second, she thought she was going to fall. Luckily, she was able to hang on, but her mistake had cost her dearly. Voldo was just behind her now. Taki forced herself to think only about climbing, and not about the hideous thing that was chasing her. Come on, only a few feet left . . .
It was a few feet too many. He had finally caught up to her. She could hear his horrible, raspy breathing. He reached up with one hand, hoping to grab her leg. Unable to think of anything else, she did the only thing she could do. Taki let go.
Her feet landed on Voldo's head. He roared; he hadn't been expecting that. Voldo had only been holding on with one hand, and her weight pushed him down. There was nothing he could do to stop it. He lost his grip and fell.
Taki whipped out her two swords, and struck the wall with them. They caught on the metal, stopping her fall. It was only when she reached the top that she breathed a sigh of relief. The first thing she did was run to the dead sailor. She frowned. The bag with the pieces of Soul Edge was gone. He must have taken it.
Voldo sat at the very bottom of the pit, tending to his wounds. He was much too skilled to let someone like her kill him. She had just been lucky. If he wanted too, he could have chased after her a second time, but he knew it was pointless. The women had learned her lesson. She wasn't coming back.
He turned the bag upside down, spilling its contents on the floor. What really drew his attention were the pieces of metal that he had found inside. They glowed with a familiar aura.
Long ago, his master Vercci died. Even then, Voldo remained a faithful servant. He continued to guard his master's great wealth in the Money Pit, but he also looked out for the sword that his master had desired. It was called Soul Edge.
A few years ago, Voldo has thought he heard the voice of his deceased master. When he went to investigate, he discovered an intruder. Once he killed him, he realized that the man carried a katana that gave off an evil aura. Believing it was Soul Edge, Voldo kept the sword. However, he never heard his master's voice again.
But today, as he studied the metal fragment, he realized that these were pieces of the ultimate sword, and the katana was not Soul Edge. He could almost feel his master trying to talk to him through the shards. Voldo decided right there to go out into the world and find more pieces. Perhaps then, he could finally hear his master speak to him once more. And that sword that the women carried . . . it had the aura of Soul Edge as well. How was that possible? Oh well, he thought, he would worry about that later. Right now, he only wanted to find more shards.
He went to the top of the cavern, where his master had hidden a small boat. He gathered supplies, preparing to disembark.
Taki swore, cursing her bad luck. How could she have been so foolish? Why had she taken the fragments of Soul Edge with her? Now they were gone. At least she still had Mekki-Maru, though. But still, she would have to be much more careful from now on. Taki ran toward the shore. She had a ship to catch.