Chapter 5:Labyrinth
Raphael walked in and was a amazed by the structure of the pyramid. The place was a testamate to the mastery of architecture. The walls were lined with gold and the pillars were adorned with expressive and artistic hyrogliphs. Raphael wondered why they would waste such wealth and talent one one who had already left this world.
"Not a comfortable place in hell either, I'd imagine." Raphael said, glaring at a statue of a heathen god. Something named Anubis, he had read. It didn't matter. For all his cruelties and evil deeds, he remained faithful to his Lord and would accept the fate brought unto him on judgement day. He knew that this quest for Soul edge could not even be possible without God's blessing.
And with God's blessing, he would take the cursed blade and re-create France.
Three days of journeying showed nothing but fascination for Raphael. The architecture wasn't the only unbelievable thing of the pyramid. The climates switched from frigid to boiling to an almost mirror-like representation of the desert outside.
"Impossible." Raphael muttered under his breath. "Prove how you did it and I still wouldn't believe it."
Then to Raphael's surprise, he heard growling. He then heard the clang of metal, and knew to jump out of the way. Skidding right in front of him was a lizard on two legs. It was at least four feet tall with reddish scaled skin.
Raphael looked in complete consternation. What was this thing? Raphael had no time to wonder for it attacked again, with a short sword. Raphael stepped out of the way and thrusted his sword forward. The lizard man blocked quickly with it's small sheild. That was the obvious move. Raphael followed the sword thrust with a kick to the lizard's muzzle. The lizard man stepped back and began rubbing his muzzle in pain. Raphael then gave a downthrust with his sword, and the lizard man barely moved to dodge it. This was a creature of brute instinct and power. Raphael would not have any trouble defeating this abomination.
Raphael parried another sword thrust then moved forward, cutting the lizard's shield arm. The lizard man roared in pain, but did not release the grip on his sheild. Instead, the lizard man responded by slamming the shield into Raphael's face. Raphael stepped back and felt blood trickle down from his forehead. He managed to bring his sword up to block another strike and then grabbed the lizard man by the the shoulder. He proceeded to stab the lizard man repeatedly in the stomach and as the creature began to struggle, Raphael served one final blow to the lizard man's heart. The creature dropped from Raphael's hands and dropped to the floor, letting out a final death rattle.
"Know your place, beast." Raphael said, sheathing his sword.
After a week of retracing his own steps and walking throughout the entire pyramid, Raphaek finally came to the center of the pyramid. There it glistened. The oracle was there, on a pedestal. A pool of water stood there like an oasis in an endless dessert. That was then he spotted a woman there. Raphael shuddered at the sight of her. By her complexion, she was obviously a westerner, and perhaps even european. And the way she was dressed was unforgivable for anyone of the civilized races.
The woman turned to him with a compentuous look on her face. "Who are you?"
"Raphael Sorel." Raphael replied. "A traveler who wishes to find an answer to a question."
The woman nodded. "Then you must have come to find an answer from the oracle. Understandable." she looked at Raphael. "I am Isabella Valentine. Perhaps better known as Ivy."
Raphael's eyes widened at the mention of that name. "Ivy Valentine? Not the daughter of the very Count Valentine who was famous throughout all of Europe?"
"You knew of my father?" Ivy asked inquisitively.
"I should say so!" Raphael said. "I met him during a trade agreement between France and England. He was quite a man. How is the man doing?"
Ivy then frowned. "My father...passed away recently."
Raphael acknowledged the fact slowly. "I see." Raphael said. "That's unfortunate, for he was a truly good man." It was one of the most sincere thing Raphael had said in his entire life. "What, then, are you doing here?"
"Continuing my father's work." Ivy explained. "There is a great evil in this world."
"A great evil?" Raphael inquired, becoming suspicious.
"Yes, a great evil in the form of a sword." Ivy turned to face the oracle. "A sword named Soul edge. It's power is great, and many would hope to use it's evil for their own selfish reasons. I must complete my father's deeds and destroy that vile sword."
As she walked towards the oracle, Raphael simmered with rage. How dare she call his plans selfish! He was going to do it all for his angel, Amy! He would not allow this woman to crush his dreams.
"Stop right there!" Raphael said, unsheathing Flambert and pointing it at her. "You shall not leave this place alive."
"Are you serious?" Ivy asked, unsheathing a sword. "You cannot hope to beat me."
"A woman dares call herself more powerful than a man?" Raphael asked.
"A woman who is more powerful than any man." Ivy replied. Her sword then extended and began moving as though it were a snake. "This sword is Valentine. A blade created through the powers of dark magic. It is as alive as you or I. It even possesses it's own sentience."
Raphael looked at the woman, now enraged. "You would perverse yourself to those black arts? A lady who lives in a noble house would refuse the lord?" His face twisted in fury. "Oh, I will so enjoy killing you, for I will be the one to send you down to the depths of hell!"
"Come at me then." Ivy replied, pointing her sword at him. "You won't suffer....much." Raphael thrust his sword forward and Ivy blocked it. The sword then wrapped around flambert and Ivy then attempted to wrest it from Raphael's grip. Raphael was a master swordsman, however, and would not be caught by a simple trick generally used be a whip. He did not offer any resitance, and as Ivy pulled his sword forward, he used the force to pull him forward. He then heaved his fist into Ivy's face. Valentine released it's grip from and Raphael began his assault on the perverse Isabella Valentine.
Ivy was no novice to swordsmanship either. She began matching every strike from Raphael with solid parries. She then thrusted her sword forward and the blade extended by the evil magicks that Ivy had invested in them. Raphael, with the reflexes that only endless sword training and politics could produce, barely managed to dodge the sword. The blade knicked his arm and he felt how sharp and how deadly Valentine was. He began to show that he was adept at defense as Ivy. His defensive situation was much more dire, though. Raphael's rapier only stabbed and cut in rigid one-way movements. Valentine could twist and turn to respond to Raphael's moves. Raphael blocked the tip of Valentine and sent it veering to his right. The blade then made an unexpected twist and wrapped around Raphael's neck. The blade pulled him down and Raphael fell to the floor.
"I could kill you right now." Ivy said, with a firmness in his voice. She did not though. The flat part of Valentine was pressed against Raphael's neck. She yanked the sword and began dragging Raphael around with the sword. She was playing with him! Raphael released flambert. At this point, it wouldn't be any help. He grasped Valentine with both of his hands. As Ivy pulled again, Raphael was dragged with it and he slammed a fist into Ivy's stomach. Ivy fell over, the grip of Valentine on Raphael's neck breaking.
Raphael rolled towards his rapier and was quick to scramble up, Flambert now in his hands. Valentine shot out again and wrapped around Flambert again. Raphael had a plan this time, though. He twisted his sword so that it's blade was the one pushing pressure against the blade. Suddenly, Valentine shattered from the force of the two tugging.
"Stand down!" Raphael cried. "Your dark blade is destroyed. You may choose to either repent and live for our Lord or to die at my blade and fall to hell."
Ivy laughed at Raphael. "For all of your self-righteousness, you still have no understanding of black magic."
"I know that I have won." Raphael said. "Now stand down. I have no desire to soil my hands with the blood of a woman."
"You will never see me bleed." Ivy assured. "Only yourself. Look down!" Raphael did and saw the shards of Valentine begin to vibrate in a violent manner. They then rose in unison and began to fly towards Raphael. Raphael tried to move out of the way, but each was moving independently and two sliced his cheek.
"Valentine and I share a life force, to entirely kill Valentine, you have to have killed me." Ivy then let out a cackle. "At this point, of course, that's isn't going to happen!"
Raphael wasn't going to give up. He waved his sword wildly in circles and twists, striking all the pieces away that he could. "Strike all you like." Ivy commented, showing the broken hilt of Valentine and then giving it a long, sensuous, lick. "You'll never strike them all down. You are only prolonging the slow death of blood loss that will result."
Raphael tried to ignore her, but was having trouble seeing any fault in his logic. Already, he had several superficial cuts, all bleeding profusely. Raphael saw one option left, but was unsure of it's possibility of success. He would be going into the eye of the danger, but he would only need one hit....
Could he make that one hit?
No time was left to hesitate. Raphael charged forward past all the shards of Valetine, letting them cut his skin repeatedly. He ignored the pain. It was a neccessary and acceptable sacrifice.
Ivy did not have the time to be shocked. She could only stare at the rapier lodged between her breasts. "I win." Raphael stated.
She fell down and died, saying nothing. The pieces of Valentine fell to the floor, no master to command them. They were as dead as the family which shared their name now.
Raphael slipped his sword from Ivy's chest and wiped the blood from Flambert. It was truly disturbing killing a woman. To be exact, it was disturbing how it was no different from killing a man.
That didn't matter now though. All that did was now he could ask the oracle for the location of the Soul Edge, and create the new world for his darling Amy. As he walked, impending, childish fears came to him. He began to believe that it would evaporate before his very eyes, or fall into the earth.
No such fate came, though, and Raphael stood before the pool of water. It was the moment of truth. "Oracle of Egypt!" Raphael cried. "Show me what I desire! Show me where the Soul Edge lies!"
The water shimmered and a wrecked cathedral Raphael had never seen or heard of, but knew where it was now.
Ostenheinburg, Germany. In a demolished cathedral.
The oracle had worked. He had new destination now.
And, inevitably, a whole new brand of adventures.
Raphael walked in and was a amazed by the structure of the pyramid. The place was a testamate to the mastery of architecture. The walls were lined with gold and the pillars were adorned with expressive and artistic hyrogliphs. Raphael wondered why they would waste such wealth and talent one one who had already left this world.
"Not a comfortable place in hell either, I'd imagine." Raphael said, glaring at a statue of a heathen god. Something named Anubis, he had read. It didn't matter. For all his cruelties and evil deeds, he remained faithful to his Lord and would accept the fate brought unto him on judgement day. He knew that this quest for Soul edge could not even be possible without God's blessing.
And with God's blessing, he would take the cursed blade and re-create France.
Three days of journeying showed nothing but fascination for Raphael. The architecture wasn't the only unbelievable thing of the pyramid. The climates switched from frigid to boiling to an almost mirror-like representation of the desert outside.
"Impossible." Raphael muttered under his breath. "Prove how you did it and I still wouldn't believe it."
Then to Raphael's surprise, he heard growling. He then heard the clang of metal, and knew to jump out of the way. Skidding right in front of him was a lizard on two legs. It was at least four feet tall with reddish scaled skin.
Raphael looked in complete consternation. What was this thing? Raphael had no time to wonder for it attacked again, with a short sword. Raphael stepped out of the way and thrusted his sword forward. The lizard man blocked quickly with it's small sheild. That was the obvious move. Raphael followed the sword thrust with a kick to the lizard's muzzle. The lizard man stepped back and began rubbing his muzzle in pain. Raphael then gave a downthrust with his sword, and the lizard man barely moved to dodge it. This was a creature of brute instinct and power. Raphael would not have any trouble defeating this abomination.
Raphael parried another sword thrust then moved forward, cutting the lizard's shield arm. The lizard man roared in pain, but did not release the grip on his sheild. Instead, the lizard man responded by slamming the shield into Raphael's face. Raphael stepped back and felt blood trickle down from his forehead. He managed to bring his sword up to block another strike and then grabbed the lizard man by the the shoulder. He proceeded to stab the lizard man repeatedly in the stomach and as the creature began to struggle, Raphael served one final blow to the lizard man's heart. The creature dropped from Raphael's hands and dropped to the floor, letting out a final death rattle.
"Know your place, beast." Raphael said, sheathing his sword.
After a week of retracing his own steps and walking throughout the entire pyramid, Raphaek finally came to the center of the pyramid. There it glistened. The oracle was there, on a pedestal. A pool of water stood there like an oasis in an endless dessert. That was then he spotted a woman there. Raphael shuddered at the sight of her. By her complexion, she was obviously a westerner, and perhaps even european. And the way she was dressed was unforgivable for anyone of the civilized races.
The woman turned to him with a compentuous look on her face. "Who are you?"
"Raphael Sorel." Raphael replied. "A traveler who wishes to find an answer to a question."
The woman nodded. "Then you must have come to find an answer from the oracle. Understandable." she looked at Raphael. "I am Isabella Valentine. Perhaps better known as Ivy."
Raphael's eyes widened at the mention of that name. "Ivy Valentine? Not the daughter of the very Count Valentine who was famous throughout all of Europe?"
"You knew of my father?" Ivy asked inquisitively.
"I should say so!" Raphael said. "I met him during a trade agreement between France and England. He was quite a man. How is the man doing?"
Ivy then frowned. "My father...passed away recently."
Raphael acknowledged the fact slowly. "I see." Raphael said. "That's unfortunate, for he was a truly good man." It was one of the most sincere thing Raphael had said in his entire life. "What, then, are you doing here?"
"Continuing my father's work." Ivy explained. "There is a great evil in this world."
"A great evil?" Raphael inquired, becoming suspicious.
"Yes, a great evil in the form of a sword." Ivy turned to face the oracle. "A sword named Soul edge. It's power is great, and many would hope to use it's evil for their own selfish reasons. I must complete my father's deeds and destroy that vile sword."
As she walked towards the oracle, Raphael simmered with rage. How dare she call his plans selfish! He was going to do it all for his angel, Amy! He would not allow this woman to crush his dreams.
"Stop right there!" Raphael said, unsheathing Flambert and pointing it at her. "You shall not leave this place alive."
"Are you serious?" Ivy asked, unsheathing a sword. "You cannot hope to beat me."
"A woman dares call herself more powerful than a man?" Raphael asked.
"A woman who is more powerful than any man." Ivy replied. Her sword then extended and began moving as though it were a snake. "This sword is Valentine. A blade created through the powers of dark magic. It is as alive as you or I. It even possesses it's own sentience."
Raphael looked at the woman, now enraged. "You would perverse yourself to those black arts? A lady who lives in a noble house would refuse the lord?" His face twisted in fury. "Oh, I will so enjoy killing you, for I will be the one to send you down to the depths of hell!"
"Come at me then." Ivy replied, pointing her sword at him. "You won't suffer....much." Raphael thrust his sword forward and Ivy blocked it. The sword then wrapped around flambert and Ivy then attempted to wrest it from Raphael's grip. Raphael was a master swordsman, however, and would not be caught by a simple trick generally used be a whip. He did not offer any resitance, and as Ivy pulled his sword forward, he used the force to pull him forward. He then heaved his fist into Ivy's face. Valentine released it's grip from and Raphael began his assault on the perverse Isabella Valentine.
Ivy was no novice to swordsmanship either. She began matching every strike from Raphael with solid parries. She then thrusted her sword forward and the blade extended by the evil magicks that Ivy had invested in them. Raphael, with the reflexes that only endless sword training and politics could produce, barely managed to dodge the sword. The blade knicked his arm and he felt how sharp and how deadly Valentine was. He began to show that he was adept at defense as Ivy. His defensive situation was much more dire, though. Raphael's rapier only stabbed and cut in rigid one-way movements. Valentine could twist and turn to respond to Raphael's moves. Raphael blocked the tip of Valentine and sent it veering to his right. The blade then made an unexpected twist and wrapped around Raphael's neck. The blade pulled him down and Raphael fell to the floor.
"I could kill you right now." Ivy said, with a firmness in his voice. She did not though. The flat part of Valentine was pressed against Raphael's neck. She yanked the sword and began dragging Raphael around with the sword. She was playing with him! Raphael released flambert. At this point, it wouldn't be any help. He grasped Valentine with both of his hands. As Ivy pulled again, Raphael was dragged with it and he slammed a fist into Ivy's stomach. Ivy fell over, the grip of Valentine on Raphael's neck breaking.
Raphael rolled towards his rapier and was quick to scramble up, Flambert now in his hands. Valentine shot out again and wrapped around Flambert again. Raphael had a plan this time, though. He twisted his sword so that it's blade was the one pushing pressure against the blade. Suddenly, Valentine shattered from the force of the two tugging.
"Stand down!" Raphael cried. "Your dark blade is destroyed. You may choose to either repent and live for our Lord or to die at my blade and fall to hell."
Ivy laughed at Raphael. "For all of your self-righteousness, you still have no understanding of black magic."
"I know that I have won." Raphael said. "Now stand down. I have no desire to soil my hands with the blood of a woman."
"You will never see me bleed." Ivy assured. "Only yourself. Look down!" Raphael did and saw the shards of Valentine begin to vibrate in a violent manner. They then rose in unison and began to fly towards Raphael. Raphael tried to move out of the way, but each was moving independently and two sliced his cheek.
"Valentine and I share a life force, to entirely kill Valentine, you have to have killed me." Ivy then let out a cackle. "At this point, of course, that's isn't going to happen!"
Raphael wasn't going to give up. He waved his sword wildly in circles and twists, striking all the pieces away that he could. "Strike all you like." Ivy commented, showing the broken hilt of Valentine and then giving it a long, sensuous, lick. "You'll never strike them all down. You are only prolonging the slow death of blood loss that will result."
Raphael tried to ignore her, but was having trouble seeing any fault in his logic. Already, he had several superficial cuts, all bleeding profusely. Raphael saw one option left, but was unsure of it's possibility of success. He would be going into the eye of the danger, but he would only need one hit....
Could he make that one hit?
No time was left to hesitate. Raphael charged forward past all the shards of Valetine, letting them cut his skin repeatedly. He ignored the pain. It was a neccessary and acceptable sacrifice.
Ivy did not have the time to be shocked. She could only stare at the rapier lodged between her breasts. "I win." Raphael stated.
She fell down and died, saying nothing. The pieces of Valentine fell to the floor, no master to command them. They were as dead as the family which shared their name now.
Raphael slipped his sword from Ivy's chest and wiped the blood from Flambert. It was truly disturbing killing a woman. To be exact, it was disturbing how it was no different from killing a man.
That didn't matter now though. All that did was now he could ask the oracle for the location of the Soul Edge, and create the new world for his darling Amy. As he walked, impending, childish fears came to him. He began to believe that it would evaporate before his very eyes, or fall into the earth.
No such fate came, though, and Raphael stood before the pool of water. It was the moment of truth. "Oracle of Egypt!" Raphael cried. "Show me what I desire! Show me where the Soul Edge lies!"
The water shimmered and a wrecked cathedral Raphael had never seen or heard of, but knew where it was now.
Ostenheinburg, Germany. In a demolished cathedral.
The oracle had worked. He had new destination now.
And, inevitably, a whole new brand of adventures.