I don't own Soul Calibur. Hah, I've been forgetting to say that! This chapter is quite short, it's just a chance for Siggy and Sophie to get a bit closer
Chapter 5 – Heart to Heart
Siegfried………
Siegfried………can you hear me………?
"Uhhhh…………"
Blackness finally left Siegfried's eyes, and he came to. He shook his head, still feeling dazed.
"Are you alright?"
Siegfried noticed Sophitia was kneeling beside him, her face full of worry. Siegfried quickly looked her over. She wore a bandage around her waist. He looked at himself, and noticed that the wounds to his arm and leg were healing. He would need to get his armour repaired at some point too………
"Yes, I think I'm OK………" replied Siegfried, getting gingerly to his feet. "You were stabbed in the stomach………" He felt sick at the memory. He had thought that Sophitia was dead………
"It wasn't that bad." Sophitia murmured, touching where her wound was. "It didn't pierce anything inside." She got to her feet with more vigour than Siegfried.
"How long were we out………?" asked Siegfried with urgency. How far away had Raphael gotten?
"About 3 hours………" Sophitia sighed. "He'll be long gone by now………"
Not the first time that day, Siegfried silently cursed. Raphael had gotten clean away with Soul Edge, and God only knew what horrors he was about to unleash.
However, Raphael was a worse enemy than he had at first thought. He was now master of the sword, and not controlled by it. Whatever his grand plan was, it couldn't possibly spell any good for anyone………
"We must make haste after him………" Siegfried said, making to leave.
"We're in no condition to go anywhere, Siegfried." said Sophitia, grabbing his arm. The young maiden turned Siegfried to face her. "We need to heal our wounds first. Besides, we have no idea where he went."
Siegfried looked her in exasperation, wanting to say something to the contrary, but he couldn't. Sophitia was right. With a heavy sigh, he sat down on the marble steps with her.
"I should never have come here………" Siegfried murmured, holding his head in hands.
"Don't say that." spoke Sophitia softly. "You were just trying to do the right thing."
"Yeah, and look where it got me………" Siegfried punched the floor with his fist, making Sophitia jump. The sound of his gauntlet against the shiny floor echoed through the shrine.
She tenderly touched his arm. "Don't blame yourself. Raphael would have found you eventually."
"I've caused enough pain with that sword, now someone else is going to do the same!" spoke Siegfried, bowing his head.
"All is not lost………there's still a chance we can stop him." Sophitia said, brushing her hair back.
"I've failed, Sophitia………I've failed my parents and every single person in this world. If only I had never taken that sword………if only I hadn't killed father!" The knight collapsed to his knees, tears welling in his eyes. The haunting memories of the last 4 years flooded back.
Sophitia was shocked at this revelation, but she didn't believe Siegfried was a murderer. She knelt down beside and put her arm around his shoulder.
"Let it all out, Siegfried. You shouldn't keep things bottled up………it only hurts your inside." She touched her chest were her heart was.
Siegfried looked up. Sophitia definitely seemed like a person who might understand him, and she seemed nice enough………she had tried to help him back when he was Nightmare.
"Alright………" He sat back on the steps, and swallowed.
"I was 16 years old………I'd fallen in with a group of brigands, the SchwarzWind………"
Heavy breathing and the birds of the night were the only sounds that the young man could hear.
"Siegfried………somebody comes!"
He peered through the bush that he was hiding behind. A group of men were sauntering towards them………or more like staggering. He heard singing, and it was all out of tune. These men were blind drunk.
Siegfried smiled to himself. This was going to be a piece of cake.
He took another look. The men were closer now, and Siegfried could see that they were knights. He was a knight in training, but preferred to hang out with his buddies from SchwarzWind rather than take his training seriously. They'd decided to jump someone tonight as they needed money to go and enjoy a few drinks. There was no way they were going to waste a fine night like this!
"Siegfried, they've had a drop too much." laughed one of his friends silently. "Come on, this'll be easy!"
"Hey………you know we'll have to kill them………" said another SchwarzWind member.
Normally, the idea of killing a person would have been repulsive to Siegfried, but his time as a knight and the goading of his friends had taken their toll on the young man's morals. Grinning at his friends, he nodded.
"Let's go." he spoke, drawing his Faust.
He and his three friends sprang from the bushes, lunging at the two drunk knights. Two of his friends brought one knight to his knees and stabbed him before he could even react.
Siegfried's bloodthirsty eyes looked squarely at the other knight. He swung Faust forward viciously, smashing into the poor man's armour. The sheer force of the attack caused the knight to lose his balance and fall backwards.
Siegfried lunged for the knight's helmet, pulling it off. "This is what passes for a knight these days?" he sneered. His friends laughed mockingly.
Siegfried couldn't see the knight's face, but he didn't care. He took a couple of steps back, and sliced Faust in a horizontal arc, cutting cleanly through the knight's neck. His head fell to the floor, the blood beginning to pour among the cobblestones.
Siegfried's friends looked somewhat shocked. True, this wasn't the first time they'd shed blood, but never before had they killed someone in such a horrible manner………
Siegfried picked up the knight's head, holding it aloft. "No knight shall mess with me!"
The moonlight suddenly appeared, shining through the street. It shone onto the dismembered head, revealing the shocked face of the knight. He had short black hair, and a moustache. His eyes were open in horror.
Siegfried's eyes caught the face, and shock registered through his mind.
In his hand, he held the head of his father, Frederick Schtauffen!
"Father…….no….Father…?" he gasped. "Father!"
His three friends were surprised by this sudden outburst. "Siegfried………?"
Siegfried dropped the head in shock, and he stepped back. "No………no, no no………NOOOOO!" He grabbed his head in hands, and fled into the night………
"My mind snapped after that………" spoke Siegfried to a shocked Sophitia. "I convinced myself that someone else was responsible for my father's death. It's the reason I went after Soul Edge in the first place, hoping it would avenge my father's death."
"I'm so sorry………" Sophitia's green eyes stared at Siegfried.
"Don't be. "replied Siegfried weakly. "I'm nothing more than a murderer. Soul Edge didn't make me turn into a bandit, or murder my own father. That was my choice………"
Sophitia turned Siegfried to face her. "You are not a murderer………what you did with Soul Edge was noble, and truly the actions of a hero. If it was not for you, Soul Edge could not have been kept in check for so long."
"It didn't stop me from becoming Nightmare and slaughtering people………" retorted Siegfried.
"You fought as best you could. If you hadn't, Soul Edge would undoubtedly have done worse." Sophitia gave Siegfried a warm smile.
"Maybe………" sighed Siegfried. He then remembered how Sophitia had tried to help him. "Thank you………for trying to help me when I last came here………"
"You remember that?" smiled the Greek girl. "I didn't want to kill you………"
"Maybe you should have." Siegfried turned away from her. "Nobody cares about me………"
"That's not true………" Sophitia said, surprised that he'd just said that. "Besides………I've lost too many people I care about………" Her voice broke, and she began to cry.
Siegfried heard her, and he looked at her. "What's wrong………?"
Sophitia tried to brush the tears out of her eyes. "It – it's nothing………"
Siegfried looked straight into her eyes, his blue meeting her green. "Don't bottle things up………"
Sophitia smiled slightly. "Heh………you're right………" She gulped, and closed her eyes.
"I was married until about 2 months ago. My husband, Rothion, was a blacksmith. He made these weapons for me." She showed Siegfried her sword and shield. "We were very much in love………"
Siegfried nodded. "Go on………"
Sophitia gulped again, trying to fight back the tears. "We were enjoying a walk by the river, when one of my children screamed………he'd fallen into the water, and he was being swept downstream. Rothion ran along the bank and dived in. He managed to get a hold of our son and dragged him back to the bank.."
The tears were flowing down her cheeks. "All of a sudden, Rothion was hit by a current. He tried to swim against it but it was no good. I and my children ran along the bank trying to reach him, but eventually he went under. He never came back up………"
She swallowed, but the lump in her throat would not go away. "A few days later, they found his body on the beach………my Rothion, so white and cold………"
Her grief gave way, and she burst into tears, burying her head in her hands.
Siegfried felt so sad for her. It must have been horrible to lose someone she loved so much………
He gasped to himself. He hadn't felt this for as ling as he could remember. He was feeling sorry for this girl who he barely knew………he was wishing he could bring back her happiness, and tell her everything was alright.
For the first time since he could remember, Siegfried was feeling compassion………
He gently put his arm around Sophitia, and pressed her close to himself. He took off his left gauntlet, and brushed her golden hair with his hand.
Though she was grieving, Sophitia was surprised by Siegfried's sudden gesture of compassion. She leaned into him, resting her head on his chest.
She uttered two words shakily. "Thank you………"
Siegfried blinked and smiled. "It's alright………"
He held her as she let her grief go………
The man crashed to the floor, his face twisted in horror. Blood poured from the gash across his chest and painted the dirt path red.
"Pitiful fool………" Raphael snorted. He turned away from the corpse and continued onwards. He was almost back at the town now, and only some brigands had given him trouble. He had no doubt, however, that Siegfried would be after him again. He smiled to himself. That young fool would find that it was too late to stop the grand plan.
He would finally wreak vengeance on those wasters, those pathetic parasites that called themselves nobles. His family, the ones he thought he could trust, would be first.
Once France was clean of noble scum, he and Amy could finally live in peace. He owed her so much, and for her kindness, he would give her the world.
"Dear Amy………you won't have to suffer anymore………"
Soul Edge gleamed in his hand, its voice silent. The sheer will of Raphael was too great, his desire more powerful than that of the sword's. It was of no consequence to the sword, however. This man would bring destruction and death, and it was more than happy to be his servant………
The shrine was quiet, save for the winds blowing in from outside, and the soft breaths of Siegfried and Sophitia.
She looked at him as he slept. He looked like he was at peace. Perhaps sleep was the only place he could get it………
She leaned over him, looking down at his youthful face. He looked very sweet when he was sleeping………in fact, he looked sweet when he was awake too………
"Sweet dreams, Siegfried." whispered Sophitia, softly kissing his cheek. She laid down next to him, and wrapped his arm around her.
His sweet breaths lulled her to her own dreamland ………
Sorry if anyone likes Rothion, but like I said this is SiegfriedxSophitia, and I couldn't see Sophie and Rothion breaking up!
Next chapter will be along in a while, don't worry
Chris the Phoenix Knight
