Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Caliber, Tekken or any of it's characters. They all belong to NAMCO. I don't own anybody from the Zelda Series they belong to Nintendo. I do not own Spawn or Necrid either, Todd McFarlane does. And if you want the copyright info on the Original Characters it is in my profile.
Authors Note: I revised the very end of this chapter. I felt it was getting a little repeditive.
PROFILES: Dark Link's Profile Added, Drake's Background Added (See author's profile for the link)
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Soul Calibur II: Of Souls And Swords
Chapter Thirty: Breaking And Entering
A refreshing breeze blew over the deck of the Eternal Wind as the late morning sun shone over the deck giving the world the light of another day to the exited travelers. With their destination now in sight everybody was ready to step off after two long weeks of travel, several of them planned on finding the Defenders Headquarters. They were the original Black Wind before Nightmare took the name for his own group of brigands as it became known to the world that he was, or once was Siegfried Schtaffen.
With this realization the members of the original group devoted whole heartedly to the destruction of the sword renamed themselves the defenders and moved their operations to Venice. Sophitia had filled the group in on everything she knew, the Venice faction was the leading group to the other countries of Europe. That the Defenders had originally been lead by Siegfried Schtaffen himself, considering that Mitsurugi had dragged him to Venice it was more than likely they would know what had become of him. That was her theory but upon arriving they discovered navigating the city would be harder than they thought.
It was clearly more of a metropolis than a common city. People crowded the streets and bridges that crisscrossed over the rivers where several boats moved from point to point. It was clearly one of the busiest cities that any of them had ever seen, at least that was as far as Link saw. Venders shouted at people along the docks as they approached and others were fishing trying to get what they could from the shore sides, clearly everybody had to do something to make their way through in life.
Looking around the ship it seemed everybody was ready to hit the city as soon as they landed, he was beginning to see just how important this Siegfried person must have been to them. Sophitia stood next to Mitsurugi who was now wearing a combo of black and white pants with a fire pattern and a middle open shirt, he must have figured the armor was too much trouble. Taki was also standing there but she had been a little more distant the last two days, she was now wearing a small cut green kimono over what appeared to be more of that skin tight black material, she also wore some armor on her shoulders and shins.
Talim and her friend whom for some odd reason was the only one to not question him on his ears were across from them. Talim leaned against the railing and Drake was sitting crossed legged on the deck of the ship next to her apartently about to die from the wait. Cassandra was standing near the door now wearing the same outfit she had worn when they met in Athens, that blue and white skirt and shirt piece, he averted his eyes before she could catch his glance. Maxi and Xianghua were near the back of the ship behind the wheel, they slowly neared the crowded docks and Link shaped up ready to do his job.
"Look alive people! Docking in this place is gonna be tricky!" Maxi shouted from his place at the wheel. Link looked back before he remembered where he was, standing on one side of the ship opposite from Kilik who was on the other. Both of them were holding one of the anchoring ropes and were ready to stop the ship. The Nightwraith and her crew had already landed and were waiting on them, slowly they pulled into the narrow docking and both Link and Kilik jumped from the boats and dropped the loops of their individual ropes over the large wooden stakes that would secure them.
The ropes tightened and the Eternal Wind came to a stop. Almost at once Mitsurugi slowly lowered the boarding ramp and the members of the White Wind began to step down the plank to join with Kilik and Link who stood there. Sophitia was stepping the lead and seemed to be forcing herself with each step "What are we going to do now?" Kilik questioned the Athenian. She breathed before she spoke "We find the Defender's headquarters and find out where Siegfried is, and then we find Siegfried and hopefully more of what Nightmare is doing with be revealed." she announced.
Link looked over as he heard footsteps and saw the four seekers from the Nightwraith walking toward them. Kyle was wearing only black pants and his shirt, he had his jacket over his shoulder lighting covering his sword, the rest of them seemed just as ready. Sophitia breathed as she looked at Kyle "So your going to?" she asked. He nodded simply not saying a word, Mina decided to cover for her ever serious team mate "We feel that learning anything we can about the Soul Edge might be beneficial to our search. After all it is all still fair game." Sophitia nodded in agreement.
Cassandra lightly looked around as she noticed that a few people were missing from their group "Hey where is Jack and Naoyuki?" she questioned suspiciously. Yunsung spoke up as he adjusted his sword on his belt explaining that Jack wasn't interested and Naoyuki was going to watch the ship.
Kilik noticed a few were missing from their group as well, Maxi wanted to stay with his boat as long as nothing truly involved him, the same went for Stephan and Michael who apparently had territorial grudges against Venice. But the Wind priestess and her friend were not there either, he decided not to both with it as they began walking. Himself, Xianghua, Sophitia, Cassandra and Link all began moving but the Four Blades along with Taki and Mitsurugi stood their group. "Do any of you even know where to go?" Taki questioned crossing her arms.
Sophitia thought and then let out a sigh as Kyle and Mina joined them followed by Yunsung who looked back at Raphael who seemed to be stepping back toward the Nightwraith "Hey I thought you were coming!" he shouted. Raphael looked back and gave a wave "I'm not needed." he said before stepping on board the ship. Raphael didn't want to admit it to any of them but he was truly beginning to consider completely dropping the hunt for Soul Edge and just heading back to France. He didn't know how much longer he could be away from Amy, he didn't trust his luck to hold out this long.
Soon all of them were gathered in a circle probably not looking like the most normal group of characters to ever set foot in Venice. Taki spoke up with a breath "Alright, Drake said that the headquarters is a large fortress near the center of the city. It would make sense as the heads of the group are all there." she explained. Sophitia nodded as she looked out over the city from the docks able to see a pretty tall tower which looked like it was fortified.
"Hold on, when did Drake tell you this?" Yunsung suddenly blurted out not exactly expecting Taki and Drake of all people to discuss anything. Taki smiled as she turned speaking "Well apparently the reason he isn't going is because last time he was in this city he was arrested by the Defenders, at least that is his excuse." Yunsung lightly huffed not knowing weather or not to buy it. His opinion wouldn't have been worth much as before he could voice it they were already moving North.
Drake watched as the group of ten people, seven being their own moved off down the wood and stone roads on Venice. He breathed as he leaned back against the side of the ship "Why didn't you want us to go with them?" Talim's voice suddenly asked him, he looked up lightly to see her standing there. She rolled his eyes before he spoke "I had a pretty bad experiance with the people of the Defenders last time I visited this city, aside from that the immorality and disrespect of this place is sickening. I'm saving you a lot of concern." he said sounding a little colder than usual.
Talim sighed as he continued to show that not much had changed about him in the last few years, she shrugged before she sat down beside him. He lightly shifted as her shoulder pressed against his "So what exactly happened, Drake?" she asked. Drake breathed as he thought it over in his mind, he wasn't searching for the truth. He was trying to remember what he told Taki hoping it would deceive Talim for the moment, she would find out the truth sooner or later and it was going to hurt both of them when she did.
He breathed before he spoke "Well as you know the only true way I've been able to make money these days is to track down those infected by the Soul Edge's energies and put them out of their misery." Talim nodded grimly wishing she was powerful enough to do it without killing them but many under its control were beyond saving. "Well I tracked one to this city where we fought, I managed to take him down and get the shard. However the Defenders who are of course dedicated to destroying it found me and threw me in prison thinking I had been infected." he chuckled.
Talim nodded, it was pretty much impossible for the blade to control Drake after Talim had saved his soul from the Evil Seed. "Anyway I managed to buy my time and then break out, however I had to hurt a lot of people to do it. I think showing up there again would be a very big mistake." Talim nodded her head before she leaned her head on his shoulder. He just sat there lightly breathing, not because of the narrow distance he and Talim were sharing but because of the fact it was a sickening lie and it was being given to her. Could he tell her that they knew that he was a member of the Black Wind and would probably label all of them the same.
"You do that everywhere." Talim suddenly dryly. Drake looked to her with concern, had she caught him, would they had to fight? His mind screamed these questions at him as he himself spoke "What do you mean?" he asked. Talim smiled lightly closing her eyes "You always get yourself into fights. It's plauged you since you were a child." she told him with the sweetest voice. Drake chuckled before laughing and Talim joined in.
Maxi lightly smiled as he took a drink out of a canteen "Kids." he murmured under his breath as she continued to look out at the other ships. Despite the amount of joy the two might have been broadcasting, half of it was all a lie. Drake felt that every action he did was impure and no more pure than the sword he had originally set out to retrieve. He was accomplishing his self-assigned mission to near perfection, they all trusted him and believed that he was truly on their side. He had even fooled Talim, and she was far from naive. But truly the more she believed him, the more he wanted the spirit this country worshiped to just strike him down.
Link breathed as he blew a lock of hair from his vision, once again he had doned his cape and hood and was walking with this group of misfits he called his allies. The Alexandra sisters walked along side him along with Yunsung seemed to be thinking about something, he would put money that it was Talim. Kilik and Xianghua had their hands and fingers intertwined with one another as they walked.
Cassandra looked over to Link as he walked able to catch the look of annoyance on his face "I'm really sorry that you have to go everywhere like this, we just feel better that you don't cause any...outburst from people." Link looked up lightly and smiled at Cassandra as they unknowingly fell back from the group. "Don't worry about it. I never blame anybody. I've reacted like a born fool several times in the presence of things I don't understand." Cassandra smiled as she moved over to Link pulling him to catch up with the group.
They came to a stop in the middle of a side street as Xianghua refused to continue moving, she closed her eyes as she began to try and track whatever she was feeling. Xianghua spoke as several of them gave her room "Soul Calibur...I feel another part of it calling to me." she breathed out. Kyle and Mina looked at one another and moved to Sophitia explaining that they would meet them at the fortress, with this said the two of them followed by Yunsung moved off down the street toward the target.
Sophitia just nodded without even giving the three members of the Four Blades a glance, she was more concerned with Xianghua and the Soul Calibur. Xianghua breathed as she held up her hands concentrating, she soon looked up to see a concerned Sophitia and Kilik. She spoke slowly her voice shaking lightly "Its...its in the tower of the Defender's fortress. There is a very strong presence near it, I don't think we should judge the Defender's lightly." she explained. Kilik helped Xianghua regain her balance as they noticed that a good number of people were starring right at them.
Mitsurugi narrowed his eyes at a select group that was talking among themselves and drew out Shishi-Oh, the blade producing the threatening volume of the sword leaving its sheath. The gawkers slipped away almost at once and Xianghua slowly regained herself and took a breath as she rested one arm over Kilik's shoulders "Can you walk?" he asked with concern he often kept in check out of respect. She nodded as she looked up toward the north "Its not far now. I don't want to sound cold but even if Seigfried is not around at least they have a shard for us." Sophitia nodded slowly not liking the doubt but still it was a luck break.
Kilik and Xianghua both took a seat on some stairs that lead up into a shop, Mitsurugi began discussing with Taki exactly what they would do if Siegfried truly was still alive. There were several possibilities that had to be taken into account but from how they spoke it seemed that neither of them planned to harm Siegfried unless the Soul Edge still had some sort of a hold on him. Link and Cassandra meanwhile found themselves offsides trying to ask directions from the group that had been listening in but they ended up eavesdropping on them.
The youngest of the group spoke up with a news given tone "It isn't enough that the defenders are mobilizing for a strategic assault against the Black Wind but more and more weird people have began showing up all around here." he said. Another with raven hair spoke "I know. Damn it just the other day I heard some trader from the Southeast babbling about seeing some sort of a dragon that breathed fire and some rider cloaked in black." the other told them flat out that the sun got to him. The dark haired guy however insisted that it burned a town to ashes just outside of Europe.
While Cassandra proceeded forth to get some directions Link found himself standing there, dragons did not exist in this world to his knowledge. He quickly shook it off as the only dragon that he knew of that could possibly come from Hyrule was still very much dormant and would not be getting up anytime soon. The subterranean lava dragon, Volvagia. The ancient tyrant of Hyrule's dragon population which he had been forced to put away in his first journey through the land of Hyrule. Cassandra managed to get some answers after they realized she was with Mitsurugi and the others and they were on their way.
It didn't take long for them to finally come across the Defender's stronghold, a large fortress built near the center of Venice from there it was likely one could see the entire city. It was at least five floors tall and was very imposing, going around the fortress complete would probably be a collectively over two miles. Surrounded by a man made moat one had to cross a bridge to get to the main entrance which appeared to be a pair of large oak doors. However as they approached the entrance to the castle they noticed that the trio from Korea were waiting on something.
The guards stood there each of them holding a quality double edged sword with a dagger at their sides, they also wore armor clear evidence that uninvited visitors would have a hard time forcing their way in. Sophitia stepped ahead of Kilik and Xianghua moving up to Mina who stood there with her arms crossed, the guards looked at them showing a great deal of devotion to their duties "What is going on? Why are you waiting?" she asked. Mina looked up towards the highest tower before speaking "Seems that all those the Defenders are unfamiliar with have to have entrance cleared with the commander, apparently he is very cautious."
Mitsurugi lightly huffed before speaking "The way things are going he sounds like a pretty smart man. How are intruders dealt with I'd like to know?" Kyle looked up to the samurai, his hand tracing along the hilt of the Oblivion "Apparently intruders are not worth the dungeon. Kill on sight apparently, they pretty much told us that when we got near the gate." he explained. Taki lightly growled not liking their sudden decrease in chances as far as getting in without incident went, she loosened up ready to do what she had to do.
Yunsung looked up as Link approached him, he still didn't know what to make of Link but had come to respect him. Of course had he known that Link had taken on Nightmare he'd probably be jumping him for details. "What are we waiting for?" he asked. Yunsung looked toward the guards "We told one of them that we are seekers of the Soul Edge, that we were also allied with the White Wind. We're hoping that is enough." as if on cue a third guard appeared and appeared to be a little out of breath.
He stood up straight and spoke up "Captain Chambers insists that nobody should be admitted until further notice. The Commander seems pretty absorbed with tonight's operation anyway." the name of the captain brought back memories. The woman that had been leading the Defenders in Istanbul was named Katherine Chambers, she must have been promoted to the Venice branch, surely she would understand! Sophitia spoke up "Wait you must tell Katherine Chambers that the Four Blades are with Sophitia Alexandria, she knows me and will let me pass." she said.
One of the guards forcefully pushed Sophitia back and placed his hand on his sword "The answer is no! You'd better leave before you cause more trouble than your worth." Cassandra growled as she helped her sister up "Fine but you'd better apologize." she demanded out of respect for her family. The guards huffed and drew their swords refusing and stepped forward threatening them, there were two flashes of metal as Xianghua and Yunsung both moved forward striking the swords from their hands.
The third turned toward the wide open doors only to spy Link standing there, he went for his sword but Link reached his first and in a flash of sapphire blue his blade was left with only a hilt, the broken tip glowing with a strange energy left by the other blade. Link then brought back his sword and punched the hilt into the man's face knocking him down, this was right before Sophitia sent one foot into one of the guard's chest sending him off the bridge. Taki took the last one down with a well placed knee to the stomach that incapacitated him with high efficiency.
Sophitia stepped forward as the first one attempted to move away but before he could she stepped up and grabbed him by his windpipe slamming his back into the door. He choked as he spoke "Please understand...we don't have time..." Sophitia gripped his throat. Cassandra stood back from her sister able to clearly see that she was sick of these delays, as Sophitia told her she owed a lot to Siegfried and would not take being bared from him so easily. However this filled her with worry, if this man she had traveled with was alive, and considering her depression after her battle with him as Nightmare...what did that mean for her sister and Rothion?
Cassandra cast these thoughts away giving herself a hard mental kick as Sophitia continued to make demands "You will come with us and you will have Katherine Chambers summoned, she knows me and her people owe us a favor." Taki nodded her head as Sophitia said this able to see the raw anger boiling in Sophitia's blood and body. Without another word she forced the guard through the large wooden doors and the others followed, Mitsurugi took the time to kick the remaining weapons into the water and followed them.
Next Chapter: Agony of the Betrayed
Sophitia finally meets with Katherine Chambers once again and they discuse the current events revolving around the Soul Edge. Drake contemplates his deception. Eventually they are cleared for a meeting with the mysterious Commander of the Defenders who brought them back to power in recent years. But more important than all of that, what is this new presence that has appeared and blatantly attacked the Eternal Wind?!
Authors Note: I revised the very end of this chapter. I felt it was getting a little repeditive.
PROFILES: Dark Link's Profile Added, Drake's Background Added (See author's profile for the link)
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Soul Calibur II: Of Souls And Swords
Chapter Thirty: Breaking And Entering
A refreshing breeze blew over the deck of the Eternal Wind as the late morning sun shone over the deck giving the world the light of another day to the exited travelers. With their destination now in sight everybody was ready to step off after two long weeks of travel, several of them planned on finding the Defenders Headquarters. They were the original Black Wind before Nightmare took the name for his own group of brigands as it became known to the world that he was, or once was Siegfried Schtaffen.
With this realization the members of the original group devoted whole heartedly to the destruction of the sword renamed themselves the defenders and moved their operations to Venice. Sophitia had filled the group in on everything she knew, the Venice faction was the leading group to the other countries of Europe. That the Defenders had originally been lead by Siegfried Schtaffen himself, considering that Mitsurugi had dragged him to Venice it was more than likely they would know what had become of him. That was her theory but upon arriving they discovered navigating the city would be harder than they thought.
It was clearly more of a metropolis than a common city. People crowded the streets and bridges that crisscrossed over the rivers where several boats moved from point to point. It was clearly one of the busiest cities that any of them had ever seen, at least that was as far as Link saw. Venders shouted at people along the docks as they approached and others were fishing trying to get what they could from the shore sides, clearly everybody had to do something to make their way through in life.
Looking around the ship it seemed everybody was ready to hit the city as soon as they landed, he was beginning to see just how important this Siegfried person must have been to them. Sophitia stood next to Mitsurugi who was now wearing a combo of black and white pants with a fire pattern and a middle open shirt, he must have figured the armor was too much trouble. Taki was also standing there but she had been a little more distant the last two days, she was now wearing a small cut green kimono over what appeared to be more of that skin tight black material, she also wore some armor on her shoulders and shins.
Talim and her friend whom for some odd reason was the only one to not question him on his ears were across from them. Talim leaned against the railing and Drake was sitting crossed legged on the deck of the ship next to her apartently about to die from the wait. Cassandra was standing near the door now wearing the same outfit she had worn when they met in Athens, that blue and white skirt and shirt piece, he averted his eyes before she could catch his glance. Maxi and Xianghua were near the back of the ship behind the wheel, they slowly neared the crowded docks and Link shaped up ready to do his job.
"Look alive people! Docking in this place is gonna be tricky!" Maxi shouted from his place at the wheel. Link looked back before he remembered where he was, standing on one side of the ship opposite from Kilik who was on the other. Both of them were holding one of the anchoring ropes and were ready to stop the ship. The Nightwraith and her crew had already landed and were waiting on them, slowly they pulled into the narrow docking and both Link and Kilik jumped from the boats and dropped the loops of their individual ropes over the large wooden stakes that would secure them.
The ropes tightened and the Eternal Wind came to a stop. Almost at once Mitsurugi slowly lowered the boarding ramp and the members of the White Wind began to step down the plank to join with Kilik and Link who stood there. Sophitia was stepping the lead and seemed to be forcing herself with each step "What are we going to do now?" Kilik questioned the Athenian. She breathed before she spoke "We find the Defender's headquarters and find out where Siegfried is, and then we find Siegfried and hopefully more of what Nightmare is doing with be revealed." she announced.
Link looked over as he heard footsteps and saw the four seekers from the Nightwraith walking toward them. Kyle was wearing only black pants and his shirt, he had his jacket over his shoulder lighting covering his sword, the rest of them seemed just as ready. Sophitia breathed as she looked at Kyle "So your going to?" she asked. He nodded simply not saying a word, Mina decided to cover for her ever serious team mate "We feel that learning anything we can about the Soul Edge might be beneficial to our search. After all it is all still fair game." Sophitia nodded in agreement.
Cassandra lightly looked around as she noticed that a few people were missing from their group "Hey where is Jack and Naoyuki?" she questioned suspiciously. Yunsung spoke up as he adjusted his sword on his belt explaining that Jack wasn't interested and Naoyuki was going to watch the ship.
Kilik noticed a few were missing from their group as well, Maxi wanted to stay with his boat as long as nothing truly involved him, the same went for Stephan and Michael who apparently had territorial grudges against Venice. But the Wind priestess and her friend were not there either, he decided not to both with it as they began walking. Himself, Xianghua, Sophitia, Cassandra and Link all began moving but the Four Blades along with Taki and Mitsurugi stood their group. "Do any of you even know where to go?" Taki questioned crossing her arms.
Sophitia thought and then let out a sigh as Kyle and Mina joined them followed by Yunsung who looked back at Raphael who seemed to be stepping back toward the Nightwraith "Hey I thought you were coming!" he shouted. Raphael looked back and gave a wave "I'm not needed." he said before stepping on board the ship. Raphael didn't want to admit it to any of them but he was truly beginning to consider completely dropping the hunt for Soul Edge and just heading back to France. He didn't know how much longer he could be away from Amy, he didn't trust his luck to hold out this long.
Soon all of them were gathered in a circle probably not looking like the most normal group of characters to ever set foot in Venice. Taki spoke up with a breath "Alright, Drake said that the headquarters is a large fortress near the center of the city. It would make sense as the heads of the group are all there." she explained. Sophitia nodded as she looked out over the city from the docks able to see a pretty tall tower which looked like it was fortified.
"Hold on, when did Drake tell you this?" Yunsung suddenly blurted out not exactly expecting Taki and Drake of all people to discuss anything. Taki smiled as she turned speaking "Well apparently the reason he isn't going is because last time he was in this city he was arrested by the Defenders, at least that is his excuse." Yunsung lightly huffed not knowing weather or not to buy it. His opinion wouldn't have been worth much as before he could voice it they were already moving North.
Drake watched as the group of ten people, seven being their own moved off down the wood and stone roads on Venice. He breathed as he leaned back against the side of the ship "Why didn't you want us to go with them?" Talim's voice suddenly asked him, he looked up lightly to see her standing there. She rolled his eyes before he spoke "I had a pretty bad experiance with the people of the Defenders last time I visited this city, aside from that the immorality and disrespect of this place is sickening. I'm saving you a lot of concern." he said sounding a little colder than usual.
Talim sighed as he continued to show that not much had changed about him in the last few years, she shrugged before she sat down beside him. He lightly shifted as her shoulder pressed against his "So what exactly happened, Drake?" she asked. Drake breathed as he thought it over in his mind, he wasn't searching for the truth. He was trying to remember what he told Taki hoping it would deceive Talim for the moment, she would find out the truth sooner or later and it was going to hurt both of them when she did.
He breathed before he spoke "Well as you know the only true way I've been able to make money these days is to track down those infected by the Soul Edge's energies and put them out of their misery." Talim nodded grimly wishing she was powerful enough to do it without killing them but many under its control were beyond saving. "Well I tracked one to this city where we fought, I managed to take him down and get the shard. However the Defenders who are of course dedicated to destroying it found me and threw me in prison thinking I had been infected." he chuckled.
Talim nodded, it was pretty much impossible for the blade to control Drake after Talim had saved his soul from the Evil Seed. "Anyway I managed to buy my time and then break out, however I had to hurt a lot of people to do it. I think showing up there again would be a very big mistake." Talim nodded her head before she leaned her head on his shoulder. He just sat there lightly breathing, not because of the narrow distance he and Talim were sharing but because of the fact it was a sickening lie and it was being given to her. Could he tell her that they knew that he was a member of the Black Wind and would probably label all of them the same.
"You do that everywhere." Talim suddenly dryly. Drake looked to her with concern, had she caught him, would they had to fight? His mind screamed these questions at him as he himself spoke "What do you mean?" he asked. Talim smiled lightly closing her eyes "You always get yourself into fights. It's plauged you since you were a child." she told him with the sweetest voice. Drake chuckled before laughing and Talim joined in.
Maxi lightly smiled as he took a drink out of a canteen "Kids." he murmured under his breath as she continued to look out at the other ships. Despite the amount of joy the two might have been broadcasting, half of it was all a lie. Drake felt that every action he did was impure and no more pure than the sword he had originally set out to retrieve. He was accomplishing his self-assigned mission to near perfection, they all trusted him and believed that he was truly on their side. He had even fooled Talim, and she was far from naive. But truly the more she believed him, the more he wanted the spirit this country worshiped to just strike him down.
Link breathed as he blew a lock of hair from his vision, once again he had doned his cape and hood and was walking with this group of misfits he called his allies. The Alexandra sisters walked along side him along with Yunsung seemed to be thinking about something, he would put money that it was Talim. Kilik and Xianghua had their hands and fingers intertwined with one another as they walked.
Cassandra looked over to Link as he walked able to catch the look of annoyance on his face "I'm really sorry that you have to go everywhere like this, we just feel better that you don't cause any...outburst from people." Link looked up lightly and smiled at Cassandra as they unknowingly fell back from the group. "Don't worry about it. I never blame anybody. I've reacted like a born fool several times in the presence of things I don't understand." Cassandra smiled as she moved over to Link pulling him to catch up with the group.
They came to a stop in the middle of a side street as Xianghua refused to continue moving, she closed her eyes as she began to try and track whatever she was feeling. Xianghua spoke as several of them gave her room "Soul Calibur...I feel another part of it calling to me." she breathed out. Kyle and Mina looked at one another and moved to Sophitia explaining that they would meet them at the fortress, with this said the two of them followed by Yunsung moved off down the street toward the target.
Sophitia just nodded without even giving the three members of the Four Blades a glance, she was more concerned with Xianghua and the Soul Calibur. Xianghua breathed as she held up her hands concentrating, she soon looked up to see a concerned Sophitia and Kilik. She spoke slowly her voice shaking lightly "Its...its in the tower of the Defender's fortress. There is a very strong presence near it, I don't think we should judge the Defender's lightly." she explained. Kilik helped Xianghua regain her balance as they noticed that a good number of people were starring right at them.
Mitsurugi narrowed his eyes at a select group that was talking among themselves and drew out Shishi-Oh, the blade producing the threatening volume of the sword leaving its sheath. The gawkers slipped away almost at once and Xianghua slowly regained herself and took a breath as she rested one arm over Kilik's shoulders "Can you walk?" he asked with concern he often kept in check out of respect. She nodded as she looked up toward the north "Its not far now. I don't want to sound cold but even if Seigfried is not around at least they have a shard for us." Sophitia nodded slowly not liking the doubt but still it was a luck break.
Kilik and Xianghua both took a seat on some stairs that lead up into a shop, Mitsurugi began discussing with Taki exactly what they would do if Siegfried truly was still alive. There were several possibilities that had to be taken into account but from how they spoke it seemed that neither of them planned to harm Siegfried unless the Soul Edge still had some sort of a hold on him. Link and Cassandra meanwhile found themselves offsides trying to ask directions from the group that had been listening in but they ended up eavesdropping on them.
The youngest of the group spoke up with a news given tone "It isn't enough that the defenders are mobilizing for a strategic assault against the Black Wind but more and more weird people have began showing up all around here." he said. Another with raven hair spoke "I know. Damn it just the other day I heard some trader from the Southeast babbling about seeing some sort of a dragon that breathed fire and some rider cloaked in black." the other told them flat out that the sun got to him. The dark haired guy however insisted that it burned a town to ashes just outside of Europe.
While Cassandra proceeded forth to get some directions Link found himself standing there, dragons did not exist in this world to his knowledge. He quickly shook it off as the only dragon that he knew of that could possibly come from Hyrule was still very much dormant and would not be getting up anytime soon. The subterranean lava dragon, Volvagia. The ancient tyrant of Hyrule's dragon population which he had been forced to put away in his first journey through the land of Hyrule. Cassandra managed to get some answers after they realized she was with Mitsurugi and the others and they were on their way.
It didn't take long for them to finally come across the Defender's stronghold, a large fortress built near the center of Venice from there it was likely one could see the entire city. It was at least five floors tall and was very imposing, going around the fortress complete would probably be a collectively over two miles. Surrounded by a man made moat one had to cross a bridge to get to the main entrance which appeared to be a pair of large oak doors. However as they approached the entrance to the castle they noticed that the trio from Korea were waiting on something.
The guards stood there each of them holding a quality double edged sword with a dagger at their sides, they also wore armor clear evidence that uninvited visitors would have a hard time forcing their way in. Sophitia stepped ahead of Kilik and Xianghua moving up to Mina who stood there with her arms crossed, the guards looked at them showing a great deal of devotion to their duties "What is going on? Why are you waiting?" she asked. Mina looked up towards the highest tower before speaking "Seems that all those the Defenders are unfamiliar with have to have entrance cleared with the commander, apparently he is very cautious."
Mitsurugi lightly huffed before speaking "The way things are going he sounds like a pretty smart man. How are intruders dealt with I'd like to know?" Kyle looked up to the samurai, his hand tracing along the hilt of the Oblivion "Apparently intruders are not worth the dungeon. Kill on sight apparently, they pretty much told us that when we got near the gate." he explained. Taki lightly growled not liking their sudden decrease in chances as far as getting in without incident went, she loosened up ready to do what she had to do.
Yunsung looked up as Link approached him, he still didn't know what to make of Link but had come to respect him. Of course had he known that Link had taken on Nightmare he'd probably be jumping him for details. "What are we waiting for?" he asked. Yunsung looked toward the guards "We told one of them that we are seekers of the Soul Edge, that we were also allied with the White Wind. We're hoping that is enough." as if on cue a third guard appeared and appeared to be a little out of breath.
He stood up straight and spoke up "Captain Chambers insists that nobody should be admitted until further notice. The Commander seems pretty absorbed with tonight's operation anyway." the name of the captain brought back memories. The woman that had been leading the Defenders in Istanbul was named Katherine Chambers, she must have been promoted to the Venice branch, surely she would understand! Sophitia spoke up "Wait you must tell Katherine Chambers that the Four Blades are with Sophitia Alexandria, she knows me and will let me pass." she said.
One of the guards forcefully pushed Sophitia back and placed his hand on his sword "The answer is no! You'd better leave before you cause more trouble than your worth." Cassandra growled as she helped her sister up "Fine but you'd better apologize." she demanded out of respect for her family. The guards huffed and drew their swords refusing and stepped forward threatening them, there were two flashes of metal as Xianghua and Yunsung both moved forward striking the swords from their hands.
The third turned toward the wide open doors only to spy Link standing there, he went for his sword but Link reached his first and in a flash of sapphire blue his blade was left with only a hilt, the broken tip glowing with a strange energy left by the other blade. Link then brought back his sword and punched the hilt into the man's face knocking him down, this was right before Sophitia sent one foot into one of the guard's chest sending him off the bridge. Taki took the last one down with a well placed knee to the stomach that incapacitated him with high efficiency.
Sophitia stepped forward as the first one attempted to move away but before he could she stepped up and grabbed him by his windpipe slamming his back into the door. He choked as he spoke "Please understand...we don't have time..." Sophitia gripped his throat. Cassandra stood back from her sister able to clearly see that she was sick of these delays, as Sophitia told her she owed a lot to Siegfried and would not take being bared from him so easily. However this filled her with worry, if this man she had traveled with was alive, and considering her depression after her battle with him as Nightmare...what did that mean for her sister and Rothion?
Cassandra cast these thoughts away giving herself a hard mental kick as Sophitia continued to make demands "You will come with us and you will have Katherine Chambers summoned, she knows me and her people owe us a favor." Taki nodded her head as Sophitia said this able to see the raw anger boiling in Sophitia's blood and body. Without another word she forced the guard through the large wooden doors and the others followed, Mitsurugi took the time to kick the remaining weapons into the water and followed them.
Next Chapter: Agony of the Betrayed
Sophitia finally meets with Katherine Chambers once again and they discuse the current events revolving around the Soul Edge. Drake contemplates his deception. Eventually they are cleared for a meeting with the mysterious Commander of the Defenders who brought them back to power in recent years. But more important than all of that, what is this new presence that has appeared and blatantly attacked the Eternal Wind?!