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: Okay people this is it. By the end of this chapter one of the main characters that have been labeled will be taken from the story. I'm not going to tell you here and am going to try to keep people guessing through this chapter. But please if the results don't meet your expectations, don't stop reading because this is all working towards something big. Trust me.
Another Note: For those asking yourself Arus's name is pronounced: R-us nay
Soul Calibur II: Of Souls And Swords
Chapter Forty: Post Battle Tension
Link was gone.
It was a horrible truth that the sobbing Cassandra barely managed to get out before breaking down before her sister who attempted to comfort her. Despite how casual Cassandra attempted to act, there was clearly something special between the two that neither of them had much time to realize though Siegfried and Sophitia had seen it without much effort. Talim, having regained consciousness wanted to say something to Cassandra, something comforting but felt her knees give out before she fell to the ground hitting her fist on the ground. Following Cassandra in tears. Link had been a very good friend to her in their travels, and was probably the only outsider who got along with her father.
Many of the group had scattered around the mansion and the estate to look for those who had gone missing, Mitsurugi and Maxi found Drake in the attic trapped under a fallen wall. Kilik and Xianghua had found Kyle halfway down the basement's hidden tunnel and had to work to drag him back to the main hall as he was bleeding out his side pretty badly, luckily a few weeks would heal such wounds. While Mina and Kilik attempted to start sewing Kyle's wound shut like they had done with Sophitia's back prior to finding Cassandra and the Master Sword everybody felt guilty in some way or form.
Yunsung looked at the sheathed Master Sword which laid beside Link's recovered shield, it was a reminder of what made him lower than Hwang, Kyle and even Mina. His lust to prove himself had made him an easy target, a little patience and he might have been able to prevent Link's death. "I'll take his things inside." he said suspecting they would be using the guilty mansion for the night as long as they were there. He took the shield by the handle inside and took the Master Sword by the top of it's sheath before moving inside.
Siegfried felt even more guilt upon his shoulders as he realized his error of allowing Ivy to move from his sight after he knew that she was looking to take a life from their group. While the only witness was unable to explain through her sobs and silent screams it was obvious that Isabella Valentine was the only one who could have struck where the two were. From his hands was life given to this weapon, he possessed at least half of the blame.
Taki Moyika found a surprising amount of depression building in her heart. Despite the fact she was a hardened former assassin of the Fu-Ma Syndicate who had mastered nearly every form of selective killing imaginable she couldn't even bring herself to say anything. She couldn't even begin to convince herself that life is fragile or unexpected. Because it truly wasn't fair, not after all he had done. With only words he had helped her more than she could explain, by calming the screams in her soul it might have prolonged her life. It was a priceless favor that could now, never be returned.
Xianghua and Kilik were mourning as well. Though neither of them had truly gotten to know Link on a personal level he had proved that he could be trusted with their lives, they admired him for his view on the world. Maxi recalled the story he had told them back in Athens, he had come over to help his world destroy the Soul Edge before it could continue to spread. He had sacrificed any chance of being able to return to his home for the sake of a world that probably wouldn't ask for help even if it was truly needed. If nothing else, he deserved a cleaner death.
Kyle winced as the searing hot needle was taken from the small flame and pierced into the flesh that outlined his wound, slowly beginning to close the wound his target had dealt him. He felt like a born fool. He had allowed himself to be lead from the mansion and away from the others following his revenge. He had been like a dog on a leash to Ivy, who had no challenge in provoking him into her trap. He had been hurt but his presence top side could have served toward Link's existence.
Mina placed a hand on his back trying to calm him as he forced himself to remain still, she didn't like doing this kind of thing but Taki was the only other member with experiance and she had wandered off. She could tell that Kyle was beating himself up. She had first seen guilt in his eyes when he saw the bruises on her shoulder which still ached greatly and then again when he learned Link had been killed on the surface. It was a rare look coming from him but he truly regreted his actions. "Mina..." he suddenly murmured "I will not be so naive again." she breathed nodding before she tied off the knot.
Last but not least was Raphael Sorel who was feeling a heavy degree of negative emotion. Obviously unhappy with the death of Link he was angry at Siegfried for not telling them that he had such suspicions about Isabella Valentine. His own common sense told him that he deserved to introduce his fist to the young german's face. But in his heart he knew that he had no right to be angry at Siegfried before himself. It wouldn't have made much of a difference. Even if he had been told of the relationship between Siegfried, Ivy and that sword he would have denied it being possible. He would have insisted she had some alterior motive. Some sort of plan...
He would have been dead wrong. She was just as merciless as the rumors stated, she was just as twisted as the bastard that now wielded the Soul Edge. She was an assassin, a commander and a strategist of the Black Wind and her actions proved it beyond a doubt. Flambert went point first into the ground as he realized all of this "I will not be so pathetic...ever again." he breathed out accepting the fact that somebody had to take her down. Isabella Valentine. The rebellious girl and friend he had once known in much better years was essentially dead.
Something had changed her. The Soul Edge or the blade which was powered by the same energy, given life by a barely sane and very desperate Siegfried. Perhaps her own ambition had gotten the best of her in the end. Be it the fault of the sword, the boy or herself something had changed her. Siegfried had already blamed himself for making the vengeful heiress of the Valentine clan his insurance, and continued to brood over it on the bench just shy of the garden. Raphael couldn't bring himself to speak a harsh word to the man, he had suffered immeasurable amounts already. He would leave him be.
Sophitia looked at Siegfried as he stood out on the cliff where Link and this shadow Yunsung spoke of had been fighting before the fateful blow. His blade was stabbed point first into the ground and he was down on one knee and had his head bowed, clearly praying to his god to forgive what he believed were his faults and his sins. Knowing him, he was likely praying for Link's deed to be recognized so that his soul could find safe passage to the paradise of his world. When Siegfried mourned or prayed, it wasn't something the faint of heart was able to witness.
Sophitia brushed another tear from her cheek as she looked back in the front courtyard where the group had piled the dead. Cassandra sat on the front steps with her arms holding her knees, her face buried in them. It was as if she had been shattered by what she had witnessed, it wasn't something any of them wanted to see and something that some still so field fresh should be sparred from. "I'm sorry Cass." she breathed looking down at the ground.
Eventually night came and the clouds that had been billowing overhead finally began to release their burden upon the landscape, forcing the group to take shelter in the house. Save for Siegfried the group found themselves assembled in the main hall, the silence only being joined in by the hammering rain. Some of the group paced around the hall the burning fireplace their only source of light, curtsey of Mitsurugi. Like a strange omen the light gleamed upon the Master Sword and the shield which sat next to it.
Sophitia gave a deep sigh as she sat down in a padded chair that was set near the fireplace, her body sank and she found herself relaxed. The Four Blades were assembled on the stairs along with Talim, the trio was also with them. Taki was in the corner holding the oak box that contained their collected shards, they weren't about the leave it on the ship with the likes of Jack, Stephan and Michael. Not that they weren't trustworthy. Mitsurugi sat by the warmth of the fire while Cassandra remained silent in the next chair. Mina breathed "So what do we do now?"
Taki looked up holding the rune sealed box against her stomach "There is nothing we can do. Siegfried suspected that the Soul Calibur shard would be here. We've searched this whole mansion and found nothing. We don't have any other leads from here." Mitsurugi nodded his head as Taki pointed this out. Cassandra gripped her legs as she curled up remembering every last detail from when she moved to assist Link to the point where he was ultimately struck down by Ivy's strange weapon...she then remembered when the shadow taunted Link...he gave it to him.
"Link has it." Cassandra suddenly murmured seemingly out of nowhere. Everybody looked at her as she stood up and stepped towards the door where she stopped and took a breath before turning around still recovering "That shadow that attacked him dropped it at his feet after it was obvious Link could not continue fighting. He out matched Link clearly so I have no idea why he would surrender the shard...But Link had it with him when he fell from those cliffs...he probably still does." she said before she fell back against the wall.
Xianghua lightly swallowed as she realized this "Are you telling me that a piece of the Soul Calibur is at the bottom of the sea by now?" she asked the younger Athenian. Sophitia shook her head "I doubt it. Don't forget that the Soul Calibur can move of its own accord and will probably move towards the one it has selected. It will probably end up on a shoreline somewhere...think you can continue tracking it?" Sophitia asked Xianghua. The Chinese seemed reluctant at first but eventually nodded her head.
Kyle took a breath which pulled at the stitches in his side before speaking "We're going to have to remain here for the night. Give it some time to be carried, if our theory is correct that is...I think we all need some time to rest." Kyle said, it was probably the first compassionate thing that he had said when the entire group was present. Talim nodded her head taking heavy breaths every few moments "He's right. Going out in this weather and in this kind of condition it would be reckless." Yunsung nodded "Speaking of which where are Siegfried and Drake." he asked noticing neither were present.
The rain poured hard as he looked over the ocean the rain soaking his cloths and his hair causing his dark blond bangs to be pasted against his brow. Drake had been doing this for over a year and he had never been on one of their assignments this long, it had been just over two months since he had ran into Talim during his fail attempt to retrieve that creature's shard of Soul Edge. Learning that they had been traveling with the White Wind changed everything, he knew they had shards if he could just get away with at the least three shards there was a good chance they would let him go. But he was beginning to believe that they had no intention of it.
He breathed as he reached up to his neck where he wore a necklace made from a simple stand of leather and looked at the medallions on it. It was of the Wind Village and it symbolized him as a warrior of the winds, it would have been the badge of a guardian had he not disobeyed their laws. There was another necklace as well, one tied from a small silver chain. It was the emblem of his teacher that he had kept hidden from the Fu-Ma assassin after their talk on the deck nearly a month ago, obviously in Japanese kanji it translated into 'Hitkiri' the name of the one who taught him. Taki's love interest.
"Yugo...what would you have me do?" he asked thinking about everything that he had been ordered to do, he couldn't help but wonder if he was in the wrong about all of this. Being defeated by Ivy had its penalties, he was her servant and her personal guard weather he like it or not. But because he knew that Nightmare had ambitions that would effect the entire world he had to do something to make up for his past mistakes and swore to never disobey her, in exchange for the safety of a small, insignificant village in the fields of Southeast Asia. He had been thinking about the village. Now he only thought about Talim.
Link was dead and he knew that it was going to happen to somebody. Link had proven himself to be a good friend and a great man despite the fact he was not from the world they all walked upon, he was too humane to be human. All he had to do was consider the time it would take to move from the Wind Village to Athens and it would prove obvious that Link and Talim had been relatively close in travel. Their friendship was evident very often and now he was gone, and she was crushed which made him wonder. If I were to betray her now...what would that do to her?
Drake had seen too many times what deep rooted depression and shock of loss could do to a person, he had seen it too often while traveling with Yugo. He feared that figuratively stabbing Talim in the back would be just as good as doing it for real. she trusted him more than anybody else he could think of, and it hurt him. It pierced his heart like a thousand tiny daggers tearing away at his soul...if he could not somehow spare her...was it even worth it for a village that probably still hated and despised him? He sank to his knees and struck the ground convinced ever more that Fate was a bitch.
Getting to his feet he looked back to see Siegfried heading back towards the mansion, Drake reached up to his head rubbing his temples as he placed his hands on his swords. He knew that when he did have to tear the Soul Edge shards from the group it would have to be swift and decisive, it was obvious that a few of them were suspicious of him specifically Yunsung. He knew that just grabbing that box and running like mad wouldn't help, with Taki around there weren't many places he'd be able to run she wouldn't be able to chase him. He had to wait, hopefully things would work to his favor.
It was surprising how easily some of the group took their slumber in the mansion that still reeked of the cannonballs that rocked it earlier. The group was still assembled in the main hall not wanting to venture back into the house during such a storm, they feared a few stragglers might still be in hiding. A dripping Siegfried had his back leaned up against the door, his eyes closed in sleep though it was known he could be ready in the time of a waking wink. Drake was seated up on top of the stairs also drip drying from the rain. When demanded what he was doing he claimed he was attempting to read the winds, get a hint of where the shard is.
Mitsurugi still sat by the fireplace with his sword leaning against his shoulder, Taki sat with her legs crossed up on one of the chairs. Their obvious ability to go days without sleep apparent as a few of the others were getting groggy at such a late hour. Kyle leaned against the railing of the stairs, Mina's head was against his shoulder as she slept. He remained awake. Xianghua looked exhausted as she had been keeping her senses constantly on the Soul Calibur shard that was somewhere in the ocean, her eyelids seemed to massively gain weight and attempted to drag down as she tried to plot a course on where it would go. Kilik sat next to her as well there to catch her as he energy left her and she fell against him.
Yunsung breathed as he looked around the room, a good majority of them were silent and he decided to go ahead and say it "I'd really hate to bring this up but we need to discuss something. Who is going to be holding onto that sword." he said looking over at the Master Sword next to Mitsurugi. Sophitia leaned forward placing her chin on her hands "I've no experiance with longer swords, it would more than likely weigh me down. Raphael, what about you?" she asked towards the Four Blades member.
Raphael shook his head before speaking "It is a double edged long sword. I've practiced some but its weight would not adhere to my style. Kyle, you have experiance wielding two blades. How about you?" he said as he continued polishing Flambert. Kyle looked up from his place on the stairs as he was made this offer Oblivion was a longer sword but the weight with one hand still gave him difficulty. He shook his head "Sorry, it wouldn't work...and I hardly knew Link." he explained before falling silent again.
Yunsung breathed as he paced around the carpet "Mitsurugi has used single sided Japanese blades most of his life and Xianghua's blade is much lighter than the Master Sword. What do we do with it then?" he asked looking up. Kilik looked up at Yunsung before speaking "Have you used that blade all your life?" he questioned one hand holding Kali-Yuga. Yunsung looked down at the sheathed Korean blade and nodded his head before Kilik made a suggestion he really didn't expect "Their weight and balance should be relatively equal. Why don't you use it?" he suggested.
"Me?!" Yunsung gasped jumping back a step "Look Kilik, I know I can come off as an arrogant jerk but I really don't think I should. Hell I spent nearly three weeks pestering Link about his ears. I'm probably the last person he'd want using his sword...and I've already proven I'm no match for his shadow." he said remembering that he had been knocked to the ground in one swipe. He didn't have the kind of strength to stand up to such a frightening power. The group looked at him as if requesting with their eyes before he sighed "Fine. Whatever." he said approaching the sword.
Yunsung stepped to the fireplace where Mitsurugi stood next to the sword and picked it up near its hilt feeling a good amount of power through the sheath. Feelings a little more confident he took hold of the handle and pulled...it didn't move an inch. Yunsung pulled against and found an amount of great difficulty, it was like the blade was forged to the sheath. Sophitia raised an eyebrow, she would have laughed if it hadn't been unexpected. Yunsung looked up at the woman who had replaced the blade in its sheath "Cassandra? It there a lock or something on this thing?" he asked.
Cassandra shook her head as she stepped up still being affected by everything she had been through "Not to my knowledge. It went in like any other sword." she said as she took it and tried. Cassandra put a good amount of force behind the pull and the blade was taken from the sheath without any true effort, she quickly brought her hand around to hold it before her face. Yunsung blinked as Cassandra held the dimly glowing blade, she looked up and down the blade as if in a light trance. "Uh Cassandra?" Yunsung questioned. Cassandra snapped out of it and attempted to pass over the sword.
The moment Yunsung got a hold of the handle and Cassandra released it, the tip of the blade gained an additional hundred pounds to it and was driven into the floor. Yunsung attempted to hoist it up only getting it a foot before it fell against "What the Hell is going on?! This thing weighs more than Requiem!" he shouted at his inability to so much as lift the mighty blade, let alone wield it. Cassandra stepped up to him placing her hand on it and took it away from him holding it at her side as if it weighed no more than it should have. Yunsung was speachless.
Sophitia quickly made a theory understanding "It seems that it truly is a type of spiritual sword, otherwise it wouldn't be so selective of its user. But what is the basis for its choice?" she questioned, the gears in her mind grinding to think of an explanation. Cassandra flashed back to the moment after Link had been impaled and remembered his exact movements that kept her from falling as well "He placed it in my hands..." she murmured "Back on the cliff...he lifted my hands to grip his sword before he fell."
Kyle nodded as he began to understand "He entrusted his sword to you, it seems. I haven't seen anybody else be able to so much as touch that sword let alone wield it. That or it has picked you of its own accord." Cassandra tried to absorb all of this wondering what she had that could possibly compare to Link. She remembered the story he had told her much earlier, how the sword had chosen him upon his seventeenth birthday. Why would it choose her? And why would Link entrust it to her? Did he really believe in her that much?
She breathed as she moved up the stairs stepping past Drake taking the sword along with her, she entered the library where she had first saw Arus'Nei and clinched her fist. He couldn't stand the thought that Link was dead while that creature continued to live, she looked at the Master Sword which she held in her hands and found herself making up her mind. She would not allow Arus'Nei to think he had gotten away with it, the next time he appeared before her he would not survive. Even if she had to take him down herself. This was a promise.
The storms and the night pasted relatively quickly and the next morning the groups were gathering on their two ships, a missing space by the entry way near the railing, where a certain ominous member of their group would gaze out over the sea. Several took notice and moved on as they made their calculations, the shard had somehow stopped moving after a single night. The current was strong and so was the storm, Xianghua deducted it was on the shores of Germany. With this in mind they prepared their sails and moved on...back on the journey.
Next Chapter: Unlikely Allies
(Kyle's Voice) With our fallen allies blade in Cassandra's possession we move south to Germany where it seems the shard has landed. The younger Athenian reminds me of myself, starved for a vengeance that might not be worth following. As we arrive many things change and confusion sets in again. That is until somebody I never expected to see again comes into the scenario followed by another even more unlikely ally...both speaking of a powerful being that came through the area. Seeking the Soul Edge shards.
NOTE: This next part could go so many ways it isn't even funny. There are a few character that have yet to be introduced or have gone missing and you can probably guess who these two are. I'll continue writing if you guys continue reviewing me. This is building to something big and I can't wait till I'm at it, but I can only get there if you review.