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: While the announcement may disappoint many people I am not going to keep Spawn in the action for very long, but he will gain a longer lasting role in a later chapter. Trust me its worth the wait.
Soul Calibur II: Of Souls And Swords
Chapter Thirty-Two: Hellborn and Hellbent
Sophitia's perfect emerald eyes scanned the halls as Katherine lead them out of the stairwell and onto the fifth floor of the fortress where the Commander's chamber was. The hallways were came of the same greyish white stone as the rest of the fortress and had several portraits hung mostly of the group's founders and some of the great leaders that had somehow been involved in the formation of the Defenders. Everybody followed the elder of the Alexandra sisters as they came to a pair of large wooden doors that lead into what could have been called a look out tower, Katherine had mentioned that the Commander preferred not to be disturbed unless it was of commendable importance.
The right of the twin doors opened as Katherine stepped inside everybody else followed suit Yunsung stepping into the room last before allowing the doors to close. One could pretty much see exactly why privacy was preferred by the commander, the room of the tower was built like a thrown room with a platform in the back, the support pillars were lined with several scratched that appeared to have been made by a blade only they were very fine and close together. The group all split off from one another to different parts of the room as it became apparent the leader of the Defenders was not present.
Katherine breathed before she spoke up "The commander must have gone to speak with Colonel Loire, he should be back soon. Surely he will know the whereabouts of your friend." Katherine said before she dismissed herself from the room. Mina stayed close to Kyle who headed over to place his back against one of the pillars, he looked at her lightly before speaking "Do you know this man that we are seeking?" he asked as he remembered that she had run into many of the original seekers in Spain.
Seung Mina looked up at Kyle lightly hesitating to speak, she was still wondering what new light she was seeing the ever serious Kyle Strife in "I do recall hereing of a young man who was traveling with a maiden from Athens, that was during the race to find Cervantes. Unfortunately Hwang caught me before I had the chance to meet either of them." she said as she flashed back on her first quest beyond Korea. Kyle chuckled lightly "You still haven't forgiven him for that have you?" he questioned, Mina just huffed in responce.
Yunsung looked around the room as he joined Mina and Kyle. Cassandra and Link had taken place next to a pillar across the room, Sophitia had taken a seat on the table in the center of the room, Kilik and Xianghua were near the wall not far from them while Taki and Mitsurugi were not far from them. He breathed before speaking "I don't like the smell of this. What if all of this is just a lost cause?" he asked in a serious amount of doubt.
Mina looked up almost at once as she noticed Sophitia shaking her head obviously fighting doubts of her own "Don't say that. If he could survive all that he went through in the hunt for Soul Edge I'm sure that he wouldn't let a few wounds do him in." Xianghua swallowed lightly from the corner, both she and Kilik knew that it was a pretty bad wound she inflicted on him. Kilik shook his head before speaking "If Nightmare could survive it I'm sure that Siegfried could. After all, Nightmare's source of power is allergic to the Soul Calibur." this seemed to add some confidence to the room.
Yunsung was silent for about five minutes before he turned to Taki, despite that they had not spoken at all he knew that her experiance was only rivaled by Mitsurugi's and possibly Kilik's "What do you think off all this?" he asked her. She looked up speaking "Simple. In the event he is alive we gain a powerful ally that knows Nightmare's tactics. Otherwise we still gain a shard of the Soul Calibur. It really makes no difference to me." she said dryly before walking to the table. Mitsurugi shrugged, he obviously would be a little effected if the man he spent a month dragging to Venice had died.
Everybody pretty much fell silent in the room. Link and Cassandra had halted their conversation. Kyle and Mina had done the same. Kilik and Xianghua were casting one another reassuring glances and Sophitia was now pacing lightly while Mitsurugi and Taki were calm as always. Yunsung personally was worried about Talim. While Drake seemed like a trustworthy guy something just seemed to ironic about him showing up in that place and then offering to join them. He was beginning to fear that he was falling into jealousy which was the one thing that Hwang, the man he was working to surpass just plain hated.
Taki walked to Sophitia who now starred at something on the wall "I have seen that sword before." she breathed. She was looking at a trio of large five foot blades mounted on the wall, each of a different design. The first one had a golden hilt and the blade was in a normal looking sharp. The second was an al steel blade and at the tip was an odd blunted area, obviously it was made to get stuck in on something and stay there. The third was a pure work of art. The blade was serrated near the hilt and the edges were a shimmering luster of silver. There were several golden runes up and down the blade accenting its place in the commander's hands.
Sophitia gasped as she finally noticed the marks on the first blade "This sword is Faust!" she let out rather sharply. Some of them had no clue what that was, Yunsung was about to ask when Mitsurugi cut in with his extensive knowledge "Apparently it is the German made Zewihander that defeated the Soul Edge, wielded by the same man that we are searching for. They must have recovered it after Nightmare began to appear, using it as some sort of symbol." Sophitia slowly nodded. The question was obvious though, if Siegfried had been found...why did the Commander have it?
Sophitia was about to point this out when she suddenly noticed a few strands of her hair being blown loose by a draft, they all turned to see Katherine Chambers entering the room once again "I'm sorry I can't seem to find him anywhere." she admitted.
Mitsurugi huffed lightly at this, he was beginning to doubt the organization of the Defenders "How much longer must we wait? Didn't your superior know anything?" he said refering to the Colonel she had spoken of earlier, Arus Loire.
Katherine shook her head at this "Arus doesn't seem to know either. I'll continue looking." she said before leaving the room. While everybody seemed to just be annoyed by the fact they were being made to wait Link seemed to have become much more alert as he heard that name.
Cassandra looked to him as he made an effort to shake it off "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a dead man?" she said. Link looked at her and nodded claiming that it was just a familiar name that he wasn't particularly fond of, Cassandra accepted this.
Even as the door shut there was still a light draft in the room, this lead Sophitia's eyes to discover a small door on the side of the room. It appeared to be just open enough for a light wind to blow into the chamber, Sophitia without much hesitation stepped toward the door as if drawn by it. The others followed her out to find a large balcony overlooking the city, it was semi-circular in shape and a pair of gargoyles lined the edges. Sophitia stood there shocked as she starred at a man standing at the center looking over the city.
Cassandra observed this and looked at the man who had taken the attention of her sister's eyes, he stood around her own height maybe a little more from what she could see and appeared to be whom they were looking for, the Defender's Commander. He was obviously of northern decent as he possessed the dark blonde hair that went halfway down his back, this barely conceiled what looked like an exit wound probably made by a blade going through the left side of his abdomen. This could only be seen due to the fact he wore no shirt allowing his powerful form to be seen. He did however wear a pair of dark pants and boots that seemed appropriate in the fair weather the city was having.
His right arm moved over the railing as he leaned forward, everything fro his upper arm to his fingertips was wrapped in white bandages. He didn't appear to be in any pain however and didn't make a sound as he looked out over the city, the only real whisper was that of the passing wind. Sophitia breathed as she felt her heart rate go up in great amounts as more an more of the similarities became apparent to her. Link looked at Cassandra as he noticed the scar "Somehow I am not surprised." he said. Taki repeated Link words in agreement.
Kyle gripped Oblivion's hilt as he felt the ominous presence coming from the man, it was not normal it was like the aura of a man screaming for redemption. Kilik looked at this man easily seeing the resemblance between him and Nightmare, his attention was lightly taken away and he allowed the Kali-Yuga to slip lightly enough to stand erect on the ground. The sound of the metal against the stone was all it took to disturb the tranquility of the balcony and the man turned his head back to look at them as they stood there.
The unruly bangs of his blond hair played upon his forehead as a pair of dark blue eyes looked back at Sophitia's emerald ones. A thin scar went down over his right eye probably just missing his iris and his face possessed features of most of the more handsome northern men. Xianghua noticed the nasty looking scar on the left side of his abdomen in the exact spot she had stabbed Nightmare with the Soul Calibur. Mitsurugi lightly chuckled at this turn of events as this was not only the obvious commander of the Defenders but the same young man he had dragged out of the wastelands. Of course the way Sophitia and him starred at one another made it clear, this was Siegfried Schtaffen.
The violent creature let out another battle cry as he rushed Raphael and Maxi once again with his ax which was apparently called Agony. Both of them jumped away as the monster tore another piece of the deck out, Maxi growled "For the love of...! Lay of my damned boat!!" he shouted at the monster.
The ax wielding demon pulled his ax free before he looked at Maxi holding it up so the spike between the blades pointed at him "Hand over your shards and I'll leave peacefully. There is no need for us to fight like this, you cannot win." he said as he went back into stance.
Drake had been waiting for this moment as the monster took his mind off of the two warriors from the wind village. Talim suddenly darted toward the demon jumped up and twisting around, the two elbow blades cut a pair of deep gorges in his back spilling an amount of the glowing green blood. The demon roared in pain as Talim used her agility to duck under the swipe of its arm and lure his eyes away from Drake who stood ready.
"You little...argh..." he growled in pain as his bleeding wounds seemed to smolder as if his blood was liquid fire. Drake decided he didn't have anymore time to waste and jumped down from the wheel landing behind the creature, the monster moved to turn but was not quick enough as Drake jumped up his swords flashing from their sheaths. The demon's eyes went wide as the sharp edges of the swords were braced against his neck, he then took notice of the frenchman rushing at him with his rapier.
There was a flash of bright green to the monster as his blood was spilled. The twin tantos were drawn across his neck cutting open the area where the windpipe would be almost at the exact same time Raphael plunged his rapier into the monsters chest. Talim had also come along the side putting a slash wound at the monster's waist causing him to drop the axe which reformed into the crimson cape which spread out across the deck.
Raphael pulled his sword free from the monster's chest the green blood boiling on his blade as Drake backflipped off the monster's back kicking it to the ground. Raphael looked back at Maxi "I've seen more than enough of the Soul Edge's victims but I don't think I've ever seen anything this horrible. He actually had a style to his fighting but at the same time had the raw power of all the others." he breathed as he cleaned his rapier, surprised to find that the blood was not even hot as he expected.
Drake reached down prying open the monster's hand taking the Soul Edge shard from him holding it in his half gloved hand. He looked at it as he wondered if he could get off by just handing this one over to the Black Wind, then neither him nor Talim would be forced to fight in the end.
[Bastards. I'm through with this merciful shit.] the demon thought to himself as he slowly climbed to his feet drawing the eyes of everybody including the young Drake who was standing right next to the once fallen monster. The monster straightened up and growled as if in pain as something happened, Drake's jaw lightly dropped as he watched the deep, always lethal wound he had inflicted slowly heal over until there was nothing to look at but the deep black material that was somehow the monster's flesh.
Drake for the first time in a long time was now officially scared as he knew of no other, that could heal themselves at such a rapid pace. Drake looked at him as he straightened up and looked right down at him "What are you?" he murmured under his breath his hands unable to move for his swords.
The somehow living demon spoke to Drake in his deep voice that was no longer ready to allow mercy in this battle "I have been called many things. Those of the underworld call me Spawn." he raised his hand and Drake could feel a powerful and unseen force growing "I was reborn in Hell and given a second chance but first I must take the Soul Edge. So I do not have time for you to stand in my way!" he said before drawing back his hand.
"Don't take this personally kid!" he shouted before an orb of fire appeared in his palm which he brought down the strike Drake in the chest with. The impact knocked the breath right out of Drake as it sent him straight off of the ship and over the water. His body skipped several times like a smooth stone before he struck the hull of the Nightwraith back first and then vanished into the water.
"Drake!" Talim screamed as she placed her elbow blades back on her belt preparing to dive in after him, despite the distance. However as she prepared to go after him she noticed a shape from the ship "Naoyuki. Please." she breathed as she saw Yunsung's long time friend and the captain of the Nightwraith go in after Drake. She also noticed Jack taking position on the side of the Nightwraith with his rifle.
The creature who had addressed himself as Spawn looked at Talim before speaking "He should be fine if he is saved in time. I'm sick of fighting you people, just give up or I'll be forced to destroy you." he said. He then noticed Talim running at him, he breathed as he held up his hand ready to defend. However he had no clue what kind of power circulated behind her tiny frame.
Talim rushed at him swinging with her elbow blades several times putting several gashes into the Hellspawn's arms before she took a step back and then front flipped. Both her feet struck him hard in the face and sent him tumbling back over the railing and on to the docks. She back flipped and landed on her feet perfectly before dropping back into stance. She was breathing heavily now, in her style anger was to be kept out but after seeing what she had it wasn't exactly easy to just hold back.
Maxi looked at Talim as Stephan and Michael came out from the ship "You get over the Nightwraith and check with Naoyuki and Drake. I have a score to settle with this green eyed freak." he said before jumping over the railing of the ship. Raphael followed suit not allowing Talim to give her opinion in any way, without anything else to do she made up her mind and jumped the railing as well.
[Why does everything always have to go so shitty for me?] the hellspawn mentally questioned himself as he slowly climbed to his feet. He couldn't believe the fighters that he was up against. One was an Elvis look alike that used nunchakus and seemed to fight off of raw aggression. Then there was a pair of teenage brats that had both given him quite a bit of pain. Finally there was a frenchman. A frenchman! He couldn't even remember if the french had a word for victory and he seemed to be one of their best.
He could only blame the one that sent him here in this empowered body of his, he was nowhere near as used to it as the one he had grown in and he had absolutely no experiance fighting with bladed weapons. He could hardly utilize his powers without taking quite a bit of time and all he could truly do was heal, and the act of saving himself was already making him weaker. He growled as he climbed to his feet and raised his hand, his cape flowed over the deck and to his hand reforming into Agony.
He watched as the young girl who had kicked him off the ship ran to check on the boy he had sent away from the battle ground, this left him with only the ship's captain and the frenchman. He growled [Damn it Al, you've got to take this seriously. Screw this up and your shit out of luck. Get your shit together!] he mentally yelled at himself as he stood up. He swipped the ax once through the air before his eyes flashed, he felt his body loosening up as he remembered his close quarters combat training "Alright you bastards! Say your prayers!"
Cassandra looked to Link who stood there behind Sophitia observing everything he saw with great interest, Link took notice that Sophitia was also very much in shock at the sight of this man. Sophitia was nerve wrecked at this point, she had absolutely no clue of what to say to him after so long. He in turn took a breath before speaking "Have you too come to condemn me for my mistakes, Sophitia?" he asked looking away crossing his arms over his chest. Sophitia breathed ever so lightly as the man spoke again "I'm not surprised. There isn't much I could ever say that would make me worthy of forgiveness." he said as he looked out over the city of Venice.
Yunsung soon became irritated with the silence and looked toward Kilik who seemed to be the most commanding presence there "Can we just get this over with and get the shard?" he asked clearly impatient.
This earned him a swift shot to the ribs from Mina who shot him an angry glare as she lowered the Scarlet Thunder "This is not the time for you to be selfish Yunsung. Give them some room." she growled at him. He painfully nodded in response.
Kyle meanwhile stepped up to Mitsurugi who stood to the side of the crowd, the samurai looked toward Strife as he spoke "Is he the man that was once Nightmare?" he asked, despite the resemblance between the two he wanted to make sure anyway. Mitsurugi nodded his head in response before he noticed Sophitia slowly stepping toward the poor soul.
"Siegfried....is it really you?" she asked in a low voice as she moved toward him, he looked off to the side as he was addressed by this name "If I even deserve to be called that anymore, then yes. Sophitia." he said lowly, obviously he was ashamed to have to face her after all this time.
Taki stepped up to Sophitia placing a hand on her nervous shoulder, she was unsure of how much they could trust this man. Siegfried sighed bringing one hand to his head as if it were in pain "So do you mean to tell me why you went through the trouble of breaking into this place or just stand around gawking all day?" he said obviously fed up with their ever drilling gazes.
Kilik looked at Xianghua and nodded, she took a breath before she stepped forward to join the other women "Mitsurugi tells us he brought you here, I believe something was left in your body to prevent further injury. Does this mean anything to you?" she asked.
Siegfried nodded before stepping away from the balcony and back toward the doorway "Follow me." he ordered without turning to face them. Taki stepped first followed closely by Sophitia and then the rest of the group as they reentered the commander's room.
Once back in the room Siegfried moved over to the platform in the rear of the room which held up a large chair. He moved up to the chair pulling it aside and then taking the carpet that was under it away. This revealed a part of the floor that was cut in the shape of a square. Reaching down he gripped the attached iron ring before pulling a solid wooden box up from the floor. He placed it down on the floor and Xianghua felt that same aura as from when Nightmare handed over the blade piece. He reached up pulling the side of the thick crate loose with his right bandaged hand before he reached inside and came back with a long shimmering piece of metal.
Xianghua beamed at it with relief as he stepped down the platform lightly tossing it into the air before catching it "I hope this wee thing is worth all the pain I have been going through in the last few months." he said looking at the healed over scar.
Sophitia stepped up to him which made him slightly uncomfortable, she guessed that he had memories of what happened when she confronted him at the castle in Germany "You actually held on to the blade that almost killed you?" she questioned a little surprised.
His eyes slid closed as he spoke in a solemn voice "It was because of this blade that I was able to fall through Nightmare. It almost purified Soul Edge and to keep from death it had to throw its host away." he explained. This did little more than bring more questions.
Sophitia looked at him not understanding "Then why is he still around and looking like you as well?" he almost instantly asked how she knew this and she quickly explained about the incident in Oman over the course of about ten minutes.
Siegfried absorbed all of this and looked to the elven warrior who removed his hood, but he unlike others did not stare or ask questions. He only answered Sophitia's original question "I'm still oblivious to how Nightmare managed to stay attached to the Soul Edge. I have a theory though it is only a guess." he explained.
Sophitia requested to hear this, he sighed before he spoke "Well as you know the Soul Edge was only possessed by me...or Nightmare...whichever for only five years before it was defeated. While Soul Edge attempted to poison me it could only take control of the side of me that wanted to continue holding the blade, that little shred of my own greed and lust for power. I guess when Mitsurugi drove the Soul Calibur deeper it split us in to. Nightmare and myself. Because unlike Cervantes de Leon, I could not be completely dominated by the sword's power." everybody didn't like the sound of any of this.
Siegfried shook his head before speaking "I cannot be sure of anything, all I know is that essentially Nightmare has full control of the Soul Edge. I absorbed a lot of knowledge from the Soul Edge and do know that this broken blade, the Soul Calibur was originally forged to destroy the Soul Edge. If you are going to continue your campaign to destroy the sword for good, this blade might be your best option." he said holding it out to Sophitia.
Sophitia took the thin blade from Siegfried as he presented it to her and then turned stepping down from the platform to hand it to Xianghua who placed it in the bag she held under her shoulder. Everybody seemed to be slightly more positive as several of them nodded to Siegfried who did the same in response, only problem was he had no intention of helping them further.
Yunsung looked up to the others "Alright so now we've got another piece of the blade and another teammate, shouldn't be nearly as hard now to get the Soul Edge away from them." he said. Some of them seemed a little optimistic but agreed.
Siegfried slowly sat back in his chair with a sigh as he looked up at the ceiling "I really don't think so. All you gain here is the shard and if you give me a little time possibly directions as to where the next one is. I'm not going anywhere." he announced causing a little surprise to everybody but none of them seemed to react much. Except for an ever hopeful Yunsung.
Next Chapter: Through Hell and Back
Yunsung loses his cool and verbally assaults Siegfried who in turn shares just how foolish the young Korean is. The battle going on at the docks is brought to his attention and Siegfried, being the most powerful member of the Defenders finds himself setting out to go head to head against the Hellspawn that seeks the Soul Edge.
I NEED REVIEWS FOR INSPIRATION! I NEED INSPIRATION TO CONTINUE!!
Authors Note: While the announcement may disappoint many people I am not going to keep Spawn in the action for very long, but he will gain a longer lasting role in a later chapter. Trust me its worth the wait.
Soul Calibur II: Of Souls And Swords
Chapter Thirty-Two: Hellborn and Hellbent
Sophitia's perfect emerald eyes scanned the halls as Katherine lead them out of the stairwell and onto the fifth floor of the fortress where the Commander's chamber was. The hallways were came of the same greyish white stone as the rest of the fortress and had several portraits hung mostly of the group's founders and some of the great leaders that had somehow been involved in the formation of the Defenders. Everybody followed the elder of the Alexandra sisters as they came to a pair of large wooden doors that lead into what could have been called a look out tower, Katherine had mentioned that the Commander preferred not to be disturbed unless it was of commendable importance.
The right of the twin doors opened as Katherine stepped inside everybody else followed suit Yunsung stepping into the room last before allowing the doors to close. One could pretty much see exactly why privacy was preferred by the commander, the room of the tower was built like a thrown room with a platform in the back, the support pillars were lined with several scratched that appeared to have been made by a blade only they were very fine and close together. The group all split off from one another to different parts of the room as it became apparent the leader of the Defenders was not present.
Katherine breathed before she spoke up "The commander must have gone to speak with Colonel Loire, he should be back soon. Surely he will know the whereabouts of your friend." Katherine said before she dismissed herself from the room. Mina stayed close to Kyle who headed over to place his back against one of the pillars, he looked at her lightly before speaking "Do you know this man that we are seeking?" he asked as he remembered that she had run into many of the original seekers in Spain.
Seung Mina looked up at Kyle lightly hesitating to speak, she was still wondering what new light she was seeing the ever serious Kyle Strife in "I do recall hereing of a young man who was traveling with a maiden from Athens, that was during the race to find Cervantes. Unfortunately Hwang caught me before I had the chance to meet either of them." she said as she flashed back on her first quest beyond Korea. Kyle chuckled lightly "You still haven't forgiven him for that have you?" he questioned, Mina just huffed in responce.
Yunsung looked around the room as he joined Mina and Kyle. Cassandra and Link had taken place next to a pillar across the room, Sophitia had taken a seat on the table in the center of the room, Kilik and Xianghua were near the wall not far from them while Taki and Mitsurugi were not far from them. He breathed before speaking "I don't like the smell of this. What if all of this is just a lost cause?" he asked in a serious amount of doubt.
Mina looked up almost at once as she noticed Sophitia shaking her head obviously fighting doubts of her own "Don't say that. If he could survive all that he went through in the hunt for Soul Edge I'm sure that he wouldn't let a few wounds do him in." Xianghua swallowed lightly from the corner, both she and Kilik knew that it was a pretty bad wound she inflicted on him. Kilik shook his head before speaking "If Nightmare could survive it I'm sure that Siegfried could. After all, Nightmare's source of power is allergic to the Soul Calibur." this seemed to add some confidence to the room.
Yunsung was silent for about five minutes before he turned to Taki, despite that they had not spoken at all he knew that her experiance was only rivaled by Mitsurugi's and possibly Kilik's "What do you think off all this?" he asked her. She looked up speaking "Simple. In the event he is alive we gain a powerful ally that knows Nightmare's tactics. Otherwise we still gain a shard of the Soul Calibur. It really makes no difference to me." she said dryly before walking to the table. Mitsurugi shrugged, he obviously would be a little effected if the man he spent a month dragging to Venice had died.
Everybody pretty much fell silent in the room. Link and Cassandra had halted their conversation. Kyle and Mina had done the same. Kilik and Xianghua were casting one another reassuring glances and Sophitia was now pacing lightly while Mitsurugi and Taki were calm as always. Yunsung personally was worried about Talim. While Drake seemed like a trustworthy guy something just seemed to ironic about him showing up in that place and then offering to join them. He was beginning to fear that he was falling into jealousy which was the one thing that Hwang, the man he was working to surpass just plain hated.
Taki walked to Sophitia who now starred at something on the wall "I have seen that sword before." she breathed. She was looking at a trio of large five foot blades mounted on the wall, each of a different design. The first one had a golden hilt and the blade was in a normal looking sharp. The second was an al steel blade and at the tip was an odd blunted area, obviously it was made to get stuck in on something and stay there. The third was a pure work of art. The blade was serrated near the hilt and the edges were a shimmering luster of silver. There were several golden runes up and down the blade accenting its place in the commander's hands.
Sophitia gasped as she finally noticed the marks on the first blade "This sword is Faust!" she let out rather sharply. Some of them had no clue what that was, Yunsung was about to ask when Mitsurugi cut in with his extensive knowledge "Apparently it is the German made Zewihander that defeated the Soul Edge, wielded by the same man that we are searching for. They must have recovered it after Nightmare began to appear, using it as some sort of symbol." Sophitia slowly nodded. The question was obvious though, if Siegfried had been found...why did the Commander have it?
Sophitia was about to point this out when she suddenly noticed a few strands of her hair being blown loose by a draft, they all turned to see Katherine Chambers entering the room once again "I'm sorry I can't seem to find him anywhere." she admitted.
Mitsurugi huffed lightly at this, he was beginning to doubt the organization of the Defenders "How much longer must we wait? Didn't your superior know anything?" he said refering to the Colonel she had spoken of earlier, Arus Loire.
Katherine shook her head at this "Arus doesn't seem to know either. I'll continue looking." she said before leaving the room. While everybody seemed to just be annoyed by the fact they were being made to wait Link seemed to have become much more alert as he heard that name.
Cassandra looked to him as he made an effort to shake it off "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a dead man?" she said. Link looked at her and nodded claiming that it was just a familiar name that he wasn't particularly fond of, Cassandra accepted this.
Even as the door shut there was still a light draft in the room, this lead Sophitia's eyes to discover a small door on the side of the room. It appeared to be just open enough for a light wind to blow into the chamber, Sophitia without much hesitation stepped toward the door as if drawn by it. The others followed her out to find a large balcony overlooking the city, it was semi-circular in shape and a pair of gargoyles lined the edges. Sophitia stood there shocked as she starred at a man standing at the center looking over the city.
Cassandra observed this and looked at the man who had taken the attention of her sister's eyes, he stood around her own height maybe a little more from what she could see and appeared to be whom they were looking for, the Defender's Commander. He was obviously of northern decent as he possessed the dark blonde hair that went halfway down his back, this barely conceiled what looked like an exit wound probably made by a blade going through the left side of his abdomen. This could only be seen due to the fact he wore no shirt allowing his powerful form to be seen. He did however wear a pair of dark pants and boots that seemed appropriate in the fair weather the city was having.
His right arm moved over the railing as he leaned forward, everything fro his upper arm to his fingertips was wrapped in white bandages. He didn't appear to be in any pain however and didn't make a sound as he looked out over the city, the only real whisper was that of the passing wind. Sophitia breathed as she felt her heart rate go up in great amounts as more an more of the similarities became apparent to her. Link looked at Cassandra as he noticed the scar "Somehow I am not surprised." he said. Taki repeated Link words in agreement.
Kyle gripped Oblivion's hilt as he felt the ominous presence coming from the man, it was not normal it was like the aura of a man screaming for redemption. Kilik looked at this man easily seeing the resemblance between him and Nightmare, his attention was lightly taken away and he allowed the Kali-Yuga to slip lightly enough to stand erect on the ground. The sound of the metal against the stone was all it took to disturb the tranquility of the balcony and the man turned his head back to look at them as they stood there.
The unruly bangs of his blond hair played upon his forehead as a pair of dark blue eyes looked back at Sophitia's emerald ones. A thin scar went down over his right eye probably just missing his iris and his face possessed features of most of the more handsome northern men. Xianghua noticed the nasty looking scar on the left side of his abdomen in the exact spot she had stabbed Nightmare with the Soul Calibur. Mitsurugi lightly chuckled at this turn of events as this was not only the obvious commander of the Defenders but the same young man he had dragged out of the wastelands. Of course the way Sophitia and him starred at one another made it clear, this was Siegfried Schtaffen.
The violent creature let out another battle cry as he rushed Raphael and Maxi once again with his ax which was apparently called Agony. Both of them jumped away as the monster tore another piece of the deck out, Maxi growled "For the love of...! Lay of my damned boat!!" he shouted at the monster.
The ax wielding demon pulled his ax free before he looked at Maxi holding it up so the spike between the blades pointed at him "Hand over your shards and I'll leave peacefully. There is no need for us to fight like this, you cannot win." he said as he went back into stance.
Drake had been waiting for this moment as the monster took his mind off of the two warriors from the wind village. Talim suddenly darted toward the demon jumped up and twisting around, the two elbow blades cut a pair of deep gorges in his back spilling an amount of the glowing green blood. The demon roared in pain as Talim used her agility to duck under the swipe of its arm and lure his eyes away from Drake who stood ready.
"You little...argh..." he growled in pain as his bleeding wounds seemed to smolder as if his blood was liquid fire. Drake decided he didn't have anymore time to waste and jumped down from the wheel landing behind the creature, the monster moved to turn but was not quick enough as Drake jumped up his swords flashing from their sheaths. The demon's eyes went wide as the sharp edges of the swords were braced against his neck, he then took notice of the frenchman rushing at him with his rapier.
There was a flash of bright green to the monster as his blood was spilled. The twin tantos were drawn across his neck cutting open the area where the windpipe would be almost at the exact same time Raphael plunged his rapier into the monsters chest. Talim had also come along the side putting a slash wound at the monster's waist causing him to drop the axe which reformed into the crimson cape which spread out across the deck.
Raphael pulled his sword free from the monster's chest the green blood boiling on his blade as Drake backflipped off the monster's back kicking it to the ground. Raphael looked back at Maxi "I've seen more than enough of the Soul Edge's victims but I don't think I've ever seen anything this horrible. He actually had a style to his fighting but at the same time had the raw power of all the others." he breathed as he cleaned his rapier, surprised to find that the blood was not even hot as he expected.
Drake reached down prying open the monster's hand taking the Soul Edge shard from him holding it in his half gloved hand. He looked at it as he wondered if he could get off by just handing this one over to the Black Wind, then neither him nor Talim would be forced to fight in the end.
[Bastards. I'm through with this merciful shit.] the demon thought to himself as he slowly climbed to his feet drawing the eyes of everybody including the young Drake who was standing right next to the once fallen monster. The monster straightened up and growled as if in pain as something happened, Drake's jaw lightly dropped as he watched the deep, always lethal wound he had inflicted slowly heal over until there was nothing to look at but the deep black material that was somehow the monster's flesh.
Drake for the first time in a long time was now officially scared as he knew of no other, that could heal themselves at such a rapid pace. Drake looked at him as he straightened up and looked right down at him "What are you?" he murmured under his breath his hands unable to move for his swords.
The somehow living demon spoke to Drake in his deep voice that was no longer ready to allow mercy in this battle "I have been called many things. Those of the underworld call me Spawn." he raised his hand and Drake could feel a powerful and unseen force growing "I was reborn in Hell and given a second chance but first I must take the Soul Edge. So I do not have time for you to stand in my way!" he said before drawing back his hand.
"Don't take this personally kid!" he shouted before an orb of fire appeared in his palm which he brought down the strike Drake in the chest with. The impact knocked the breath right out of Drake as it sent him straight off of the ship and over the water. His body skipped several times like a smooth stone before he struck the hull of the Nightwraith back first and then vanished into the water.
"Drake!" Talim screamed as she placed her elbow blades back on her belt preparing to dive in after him, despite the distance. However as she prepared to go after him she noticed a shape from the ship "Naoyuki. Please." she breathed as she saw Yunsung's long time friend and the captain of the Nightwraith go in after Drake. She also noticed Jack taking position on the side of the Nightwraith with his rifle.
The creature who had addressed himself as Spawn looked at Talim before speaking "He should be fine if he is saved in time. I'm sick of fighting you people, just give up or I'll be forced to destroy you." he said. He then noticed Talim running at him, he breathed as he held up his hand ready to defend. However he had no clue what kind of power circulated behind her tiny frame.
Talim rushed at him swinging with her elbow blades several times putting several gashes into the Hellspawn's arms before she took a step back and then front flipped. Both her feet struck him hard in the face and sent him tumbling back over the railing and on to the docks. She back flipped and landed on her feet perfectly before dropping back into stance. She was breathing heavily now, in her style anger was to be kept out but after seeing what she had it wasn't exactly easy to just hold back.
Maxi looked at Talim as Stephan and Michael came out from the ship "You get over the Nightwraith and check with Naoyuki and Drake. I have a score to settle with this green eyed freak." he said before jumping over the railing of the ship. Raphael followed suit not allowing Talim to give her opinion in any way, without anything else to do she made up her mind and jumped the railing as well.
[Why does everything always have to go so shitty for me?] the hellspawn mentally questioned himself as he slowly climbed to his feet. He couldn't believe the fighters that he was up against. One was an Elvis look alike that used nunchakus and seemed to fight off of raw aggression. Then there was a pair of teenage brats that had both given him quite a bit of pain. Finally there was a frenchman. A frenchman! He couldn't even remember if the french had a word for victory and he seemed to be one of their best.
He could only blame the one that sent him here in this empowered body of his, he was nowhere near as used to it as the one he had grown in and he had absolutely no experiance fighting with bladed weapons. He could hardly utilize his powers without taking quite a bit of time and all he could truly do was heal, and the act of saving himself was already making him weaker. He growled as he climbed to his feet and raised his hand, his cape flowed over the deck and to his hand reforming into Agony.
He watched as the young girl who had kicked him off the ship ran to check on the boy he had sent away from the battle ground, this left him with only the ship's captain and the frenchman. He growled [Damn it Al, you've got to take this seriously. Screw this up and your shit out of luck. Get your shit together!] he mentally yelled at himself as he stood up. He swipped the ax once through the air before his eyes flashed, he felt his body loosening up as he remembered his close quarters combat training "Alright you bastards! Say your prayers!"
Cassandra looked to Link who stood there behind Sophitia observing everything he saw with great interest, Link took notice that Sophitia was also very much in shock at the sight of this man. Sophitia was nerve wrecked at this point, she had absolutely no clue of what to say to him after so long. He in turn took a breath before speaking "Have you too come to condemn me for my mistakes, Sophitia?" he asked looking away crossing his arms over his chest. Sophitia breathed ever so lightly as the man spoke again "I'm not surprised. There isn't much I could ever say that would make me worthy of forgiveness." he said as he looked out over the city of Venice.
Yunsung soon became irritated with the silence and looked toward Kilik who seemed to be the most commanding presence there "Can we just get this over with and get the shard?" he asked clearly impatient.
This earned him a swift shot to the ribs from Mina who shot him an angry glare as she lowered the Scarlet Thunder "This is not the time for you to be selfish Yunsung. Give them some room." she growled at him. He painfully nodded in response.
Kyle meanwhile stepped up to Mitsurugi who stood to the side of the crowd, the samurai looked toward Strife as he spoke "Is he the man that was once Nightmare?" he asked, despite the resemblance between the two he wanted to make sure anyway. Mitsurugi nodded his head in response before he noticed Sophitia slowly stepping toward the poor soul.
"Siegfried....is it really you?" she asked in a low voice as she moved toward him, he looked off to the side as he was addressed by this name "If I even deserve to be called that anymore, then yes. Sophitia." he said lowly, obviously he was ashamed to have to face her after all this time.
Taki stepped up to Sophitia placing a hand on her nervous shoulder, she was unsure of how much they could trust this man. Siegfried sighed bringing one hand to his head as if it were in pain "So do you mean to tell me why you went through the trouble of breaking into this place or just stand around gawking all day?" he said obviously fed up with their ever drilling gazes.
Kilik looked at Xianghua and nodded, she took a breath before she stepped forward to join the other women "Mitsurugi tells us he brought you here, I believe something was left in your body to prevent further injury. Does this mean anything to you?" she asked.
Siegfried nodded before stepping away from the balcony and back toward the doorway "Follow me." he ordered without turning to face them. Taki stepped first followed closely by Sophitia and then the rest of the group as they reentered the commander's room.
Once back in the room Siegfried moved over to the platform in the rear of the room which held up a large chair. He moved up to the chair pulling it aside and then taking the carpet that was under it away. This revealed a part of the floor that was cut in the shape of a square. Reaching down he gripped the attached iron ring before pulling a solid wooden box up from the floor. He placed it down on the floor and Xianghua felt that same aura as from when Nightmare handed over the blade piece. He reached up pulling the side of the thick crate loose with his right bandaged hand before he reached inside and came back with a long shimmering piece of metal.
Xianghua beamed at it with relief as he stepped down the platform lightly tossing it into the air before catching it "I hope this wee thing is worth all the pain I have been going through in the last few months." he said looking at the healed over scar.
Sophitia stepped up to him which made him slightly uncomfortable, she guessed that he had memories of what happened when she confronted him at the castle in Germany "You actually held on to the blade that almost killed you?" she questioned a little surprised.
His eyes slid closed as he spoke in a solemn voice "It was because of this blade that I was able to fall through Nightmare. It almost purified Soul Edge and to keep from death it had to throw its host away." he explained. This did little more than bring more questions.
Sophitia looked at him not understanding "Then why is he still around and looking like you as well?" he almost instantly asked how she knew this and she quickly explained about the incident in Oman over the course of about ten minutes.
Siegfried absorbed all of this and looked to the elven warrior who removed his hood, but he unlike others did not stare or ask questions. He only answered Sophitia's original question "I'm still oblivious to how Nightmare managed to stay attached to the Soul Edge. I have a theory though it is only a guess." he explained.
Sophitia requested to hear this, he sighed before he spoke "Well as you know the Soul Edge was only possessed by me...or Nightmare...whichever for only five years before it was defeated. While Soul Edge attempted to poison me it could only take control of the side of me that wanted to continue holding the blade, that little shred of my own greed and lust for power. I guess when Mitsurugi drove the Soul Calibur deeper it split us in to. Nightmare and myself. Because unlike Cervantes de Leon, I could not be completely dominated by the sword's power." everybody didn't like the sound of any of this.
Siegfried shook his head before speaking "I cannot be sure of anything, all I know is that essentially Nightmare has full control of the Soul Edge. I absorbed a lot of knowledge from the Soul Edge and do know that this broken blade, the Soul Calibur was originally forged to destroy the Soul Edge. If you are going to continue your campaign to destroy the sword for good, this blade might be your best option." he said holding it out to Sophitia.
Sophitia took the thin blade from Siegfried as he presented it to her and then turned stepping down from the platform to hand it to Xianghua who placed it in the bag she held under her shoulder. Everybody seemed to be slightly more positive as several of them nodded to Siegfried who did the same in response, only problem was he had no intention of helping them further.
Yunsung looked up to the others "Alright so now we've got another piece of the blade and another teammate, shouldn't be nearly as hard now to get the Soul Edge away from them." he said. Some of them seemed a little optimistic but agreed.
Siegfried slowly sat back in his chair with a sigh as he looked up at the ceiling "I really don't think so. All you gain here is the shard and if you give me a little time possibly directions as to where the next one is. I'm not going anywhere." he announced causing a little surprise to everybody but none of them seemed to react much. Except for an ever hopeful Yunsung.
Next Chapter: Through Hell and Back
Yunsung loses his cool and verbally assaults Siegfried who in turn shares just how foolish the young Korean is. The battle going on at the docks is brought to his attention and Siegfried, being the most powerful member of the Defenders finds himself setting out to go head to head against the Hellspawn that seeks the Soul Edge.
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