Chapter Two: Fighters awaken
The birds in the trees began to stir, Taki broke out of her meditation as he swords, Rekki-Maru and Mekki-Maru, began to glow. The fragments of Soul Edge she had fused into them were awakening. She jumped out of the make-shift hammock that she had crafted and positioned herself on the tops of the trees. Her eyes closed as she tried to determine the whereabouts of the demon.
"Soul Edge has returned, I must destroy it once and for all." And with that she dropped, jumping from tree to tree towards her destination.
"Where is Sophitia?" yelled Cassandra as she burst into her sisters house, "Where has she gone?"
Rathion, Sophitia's husband, looked up from the sword he was sharpening. "Ah, Cassandra, how good to see you."
"Don't play games, where is my sister?"
"She's lying down, some of her scars had started hurting, so she decided to rest for a while."
"Her...scars?"
"Yes, the ones the Asian woman healed, the ones she got from Soul Edge."
"But why would they be hurting?"
"I have no clue, a customer of mine gave me this metal fragment," he produced a shard of a sword from his pocket, "And ever sense, she has become irritable, panicky, and quite out of it. The fact that our children keep fighting doesn't help either, they seem to make her worse. She had become convinced that the evil blade has something to do with it. I just pray that she will not have to be the one to stop it." With this he looked down at the blade in his hand and continued to sharpen it.
Cassandra examined the fragment. She knew that this was a piece of that evil blade, and she did not want her sister to have to go through with that pain again. Holding the metal tightly, she ran out the door.
Cassandra was in tears by the time she got to the temple. The hall echoed with her crying and yelling as she ran to the statue of Hephaestus.
"Why are you doing this to my sister? What kind of almighty god are you? Do you know the pain she's in because of you? ANSWER ME!" she collapsed to the floor and threw the Soul Edge fragment at the stone god.
The shard of metal skipped off the base of the figure and landed near a small rack containing weapons blessed by the gods. It started to glow, along with a sword that her sister had used to take out Soul Edge the first time she left, the Omega sword. Cassandra looked up, Soul Edge was alive, that's why her sister got the fragment, the gods wanted her to go and destroy the blade once and for all. She was not going to let her sister bare the burden anymore.
"Gods, allow me to take her place in this, she has suffered enough."
Cassandra picked up the Omega Sword and the shield next to it and walked out the door, Soul Edge piece in her hand.
Sophitia awoke, still in pain. The scars Soul Edge had left her burned, he head was spinning from it all. She stumbled out of her room to see he husband sharpening his new sword. His faces told her something had happened.
"What's wrong beloved?"
"Cassandra just left, she took the metal shard with her." He looked at his wife, his face looked like it had aged six years, "She's going to try to destroy Soul Edge so you don't have to, she took the sacred sword with her."
Sophitia was shocked, never had her sister done such a dangerous deed, she didn't truly know about the blades evil.
"No...I should have been there to stop her. I need to find her, but without the Omega sword..."
"You will have to settle for its copy." Her husband blew the last of the scrap from his newly finished blade.
"Its what?"
Rathion held the blade in his hand to his wife. It was an exact copy of the Omega sword.
"A little pet project of mine, as well as this," he pulled a shield out from under the table, "I call it the Elk Shield. I was going to give them to you on your birth day, but I think now is the time that they are needed." He smiled and handed them to her.
A new kind of energy swept over her as she took the weapons from his hand. She bent down and kissed him. Then, with out another word, she was off, off to find her sister and stop the evil blade.
In the silence of the old fortress, a tattered painting began to move out of its place. Slowly, like a door, it swung open, and Nightmare stepped through the pathway. The trip through the forest had gone by with out any effort, it seemed that no one knew its back roads anymore.
Nightmare scanned the site he now stood. It had seemed that nothing had changed sense when the last fight was there. Bones lay all around, furniture was broken and out of place, much of the place had not been touched save for the occasional thief looking for some gold.
"What a mess, I just hope I can find enough supplies amongst all this to hold me over." Muttered Nightmare as he walked along the death-paved path of the room.
As he bent down to check a pack that lay on top of what looked to have once been a night, he heard a noise behind him. The sound of heals clicking on the stone floor echoed through the halls. Nightmare took the Requiem off his back, and placed it on a still standing table. Soul Edge in the ready, he faced the archway just as an old face emerged.
"I thought I smelled something evil about here, I didn't think I'd find you Nightmare." Said the cloaked figure.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it Ivy. I see you still have your Ivy blade." Nightmare said, a smile behind the helmet.
"Silence fiend, the blades name is the same as my own, Valentine. Ever sense you used me to find souls for that sharpened piece of flesh I have not been able to come to terms with myself. I spent many long months in my lab, searching my soul to find the truth. Now, I realize that I must destroy that evil blade if I am ever to repent for my father's blood."
"Repent for your fathers blood? Now why would you do that, what has he done that was so terrible, that it lingers on you as well?"
Her eyes narrowed as she pulled off her cloak. "He was the former wielder of that demonic sword, Cervantes De Leon."
"Ahh," Nightmare chuckled, "Now I get it, destroy Soul Edge, free your father's soul, and then all will be right again."
"You wretched creature!" Screamed Ivy as she pulled out the Valentine. With a quick snap of her wrist, the blade extended and was fly at the dark night.
Nightmare only had to sidestep to dodge it, his hand lunged out and grabbed a link on the chain. With a little tug, the blade shattered, its pieces falling to the floor.
"Now Ivy, you know that attacking in anger never works. Now your snake blade is in shards on the ground. What do you plan to do?" He laughed a dark laugh as he said this.
"Now, now, do you think I'm done and out so easily? Think again."
The Valentine's shards began to move into the air. They quickly started to flay faster and faster around the cursed warrior, slowly tightening the circle. One by one, the flying shrapnel zoomed in for an attack. Like flies, nightmare swatted the shards away as they came at him.
"I grow board of this," he grabbed on of the pieces coming at him, "Time to send this back where it came from."
He threw the fragment at Ivy, catching her off guard. The metal hit her straight in the chest, the force caused her to fall backwards, and a piece of Soul Edge to fall out of her belt. The rest of the Valentine fell to the ground as Nightmare walked over to the newly uncovered Soul Edge shard. He picked it up and added it to the demon blade.
"Well, well, looks like I know how you found me, thanks, I was looking for this."
"That was not meant for you." Ivy spat as she said this.
"I have what I came for, you may go."
"I will not leave until I see you dead!" she jumped up and lunged at the forsaken beast.
Nightmare turned and grabbed her by the throat with his disfigured hand. He lifted her a foot off of the ground as she dropped her sword. Their eyes met as he spoke quietly to her.
"I will set things right, get thee gone, I don't want to shed you blood this day. I will set thing as they should be." He threw her to the ground, "Now get thee gone before I change my mind."
"Ivy grabbed her blade and raced out the door, she looked back once, then never looked back again.
"Nightmare, why did you let her go?" Hissed Soul Edge.
"It is too early for blood to be shed, give it some time master, you will have souls soon enough." He gazed out into the open hall, "We will all be happy soon enough."
The birds in the trees began to stir, Taki broke out of her meditation as he swords, Rekki-Maru and Mekki-Maru, began to glow. The fragments of Soul Edge she had fused into them were awakening. She jumped out of the make-shift hammock that she had crafted and positioned herself on the tops of the trees. Her eyes closed as she tried to determine the whereabouts of the demon.
"Soul Edge has returned, I must destroy it once and for all." And with that she dropped, jumping from tree to tree towards her destination.
"Where is Sophitia?" yelled Cassandra as she burst into her sisters house, "Where has she gone?"
Rathion, Sophitia's husband, looked up from the sword he was sharpening. "Ah, Cassandra, how good to see you."
"Don't play games, where is my sister?"
"She's lying down, some of her scars had started hurting, so she decided to rest for a while."
"Her...scars?"
"Yes, the ones the Asian woman healed, the ones she got from Soul Edge."
"But why would they be hurting?"
"I have no clue, a customer of mine gave me this metal fragment," he produced a shard of a sword from his pocket, "And ever sense, she has become irritable, panicky, and quite out of it. The fact that our children keep fighting doesn't help either, they seem to make her worse. She had become convinced that the evil blade has something to do with it. I just pray that she will not have to be the one to stop it." With this he looked down at the blade in his hand and continued to sharpen it.
Cassandra examined the fragment. She knew that this was a piece of that evil blade, and she did not want her sister to have to go through with that pain again. Holding the metal tightly, she ran out the door.
Cassandra was in tears by the time she got to the temple. The hall echoed with her crying and yelling as she ran to the statue of Hephaestus.
"Why are you doing this to my sister? What kind of almighty god are you? Do you know the pain she's in because of you? ANSWER ME!" she collapsed to the floor and threw the Soul Edge fragment at the stone god.
The shard of metal skipped off the base of the figure and landed near a small rack containing weapons blessed by the gods. It started to glow, along with a sword that her sister had used to take out Soul Edge the first time she left, the Omega sword. Cassandra looked up, Soul Edge was alive, that's why her sister got the fragment, the gods wanted her to go and destroy the blade once and for all. She was not going to let her sister bare the burden anymore.
"Gods, allow me to take her place in this, she has suffered enough."
Cassandra picked up the Omega Sword and the shield next to it and walked out the door, Soul Edge piece in her hand.
Sophitia awoke, still in pain. The scars Soul Edge had left her burned, he head was spinning from it all. She stumbled out of her room to see he husband sharpening his new sword. His faces told her something had happened.
"What's wrong beloved?"
"Cassandra just left, she took the metal shard with her." He looked at his wife, his face looked like it had aged six years, "She's going to try to destroy Soul Edge so you don't have to, she took the sacred sword with her."
Sophitia was shocked, never had her sister done such a dangerous deed, she didn't truly know about the blades evil.
"No...I should have been there to stop her. I need to find her, but without the Omega sword..."
"You will have to settle for its copy." Her husband blew the last of the scrap from his newly finished blade.
"Its what?"
Rathion held the blade in his hand to his wife. It was an exact copy of the Omega sword.
"A little pet project of mine, as well as this," he pulled a shield out from under the table, "I call it the Elk Shield. I was going to give them to you on your birth day, but I think now is the time that they are needed." He smiled and handed them to her.
A new kind of energy swept over her as she took the weapons from his hand. She bent down and kissed him. Then, with out another word, she was off, off to find her sister and stop the evil blade.
In the silence of the old fortress, a tattered painting began to move out of its place. Slowly, like a door, it swung open, and Nightmare stepped through the pathway. The trip through the forest had gone by with out any effort, it seemed that no one knew its back roads anymore.
Nightmare scanned the site he now stood. It had seemed that nothing had changed sense when the last fight was there. Bones lay all around, furniture was broken and out of place, much of the place had not been touched save for the occasional thief looking for some gold.
"What a mess, I just hope I can find enough supplies amongst all this to hold me over." Muttered Nightmare as he walked along the death-paved path of the room.
As he bent down to check a pack that lay on top of what looked to have once been a night, he heard a noise behind him. The sound of heals clicking on the stone floor echoed through the halls. Nightmare took the Requiem off his back, and placed it on a still standing table. Soul Edge in the ready, he faced the archway just as an old face emerged.
"I thought I smelled something evil about here, I didn't think I'd find you Nightmare." Said the cloaked figure.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it Ivy. I see you still have your Ivy blade." Nightmare said, a smile behind the helmet.
"Silence fiend, the blades name is the same as my own, Valentine. Ever sense you used me to find souls for that sharpened piece of flesh I have not been able to come to terms with myself. I spent many long months in my lab, searching my soul to find the truth. Now, I realize that I must destroy that evil blade if I am ever to repent for my father's blood."
"Repent for your fathers blood? Now why would you do that, what has he done that was so terrible, that it lingers on you as well?"
Her eyes narrowed as she pulled off her cloak. "He was the former wielder of that demonic sword, Cervantes De Leon."
"Ahh," Nightmare chuckled, "Now I get it, destroy Soul Edge, free your father's soul, and then all will be right again."
"You wretched creature!" Screamed Ivy as she pulled out the Valentine. With a quick snap of her wrist, the blade extended and was fly at the dark night.
Nightmare only had to sidestep to dodge it, his hand lunged out and grabbed a link on the chain. With a little tug, the blade shattered, its pieces falling to the floor.
"Now Ivy, you know that attacking in anger never works. Now your snake blade is in shards on the ground. What do you plan to do?" He laughed a dark laugh as he said this.
"Now, now, do you think I'm done and out so easily? Think again."
The Valentine's shards began to move into the air. They quickly started to flay faster and faster around the cursed warrior, slowly tightening the circle. One by one, the flying shrapnel zoomed in for an attack. Like flies, nightmare swatted the shards away as they came at him.
"I grow board of this," he grabbed on of the pieces coming at him, "Time to send this back where it came from."
He threw the fragment at Ivy, catching her off guard. The metal hit her straight in the chest, the force caused her to fall backwards, and a piece of Soul Edge to fall out of her belt. The rest of the Valentine fell to the ground as Nightmare walked over to the newly uncovered Soul Edge shard. He picked it up and added it to the demon blade.
"Well, well, looks like I know how you found me, thanks, I was looking for this."
"That was not meant for you." Ivy spat as she said this.
"I have what I came for, you may go."
"I will not leave until I see you dead!" she jumped up and lunged at the forsaken beast.
Nightmare turned and grabbed her by the throat with his disfigured hand. He lifted her a foot off of the ground as she dropped her sword. Their eyes met as he spoke quietly to her.
"I will set things right, get thee gone, I don't want to shed you blood this day. I will set thing as they should be." He threw her to the ground, "Now get thee gone before I change my mind."
"Ivy grabbed her blade and raced out the door, she looked back once, then never looked back again.
"Nightmare, why did you let her go?" Hissed Soul Edge.
"It is too early for blood to be shed, give it some time master, you will have souls soon enough." He gazed out into the open hall, "We will all be happy soon enough."