Here we are one more time. Only two more chapters to go!
This was a very hard chapter to write, but it had to be done. Hope no one throws rotten tomatoes at me or anything.
Next time around young Talim faces the monster himself! Hope to see ya back soon!
XIII.
It did not take Tira long to track down her master. Still in possession of the shard of Soul Edge she had taken from Cervantes, she swiftly made her way to the island where she felt Nightmare's presence so strongly.
She giggled in delight as the small wooden boat took her across the channel from the mainland towards the island. Her master was going to be pleased with her, and that excited her a great deal.
Tira nibbled on a bit of chocolate as the winds brought her to her destination. Finishing her sugary treat, she surveyed the island. The area was lush and green. Trees filled the inland, but too densely.
As Tira gazed inland, a searing, blinding pain swept through her soul. She fell to her knees, fighting to get a grip on the pain that threatened to devour her. Tira could not tell where the pain was coming from.
Tira realized that the pain was not from anything in the physical world, but instead a presence, one that inspired fear in her heart. Fear and anger. There was someone else on the island besides her master, and they were a threat to her and her master as well.
Her anger pushed the pain away, and Tira understood that the presence was disgustingly pure. It was strong enough to rival Soul Edge, though it had somehow kept itself hidden until Tira had arrived.
She stood, and began laughing manically, reveling in the idea of destroying something so powerful. Her mind swirled with her new bloodlust for the death of the presence.
Tira leaped out of her small vessel and danced around on the beach, laughing and carrying on like she had just been proposed to. Suddenly, her laugher stopped along with her dancing. Her face instantly went from the happiness of a teenaged girl to that of a stone cold killer.
"Your death approaches" she whispered into the empty sea air with all the malice of pure evil.
She sprinted through the underbrush until she reached the edge of a clearing. Beyond she saw a large platform suspended over a hole in the ground by several ropes. There were three people on top of the platform, two of them engaged in battle.
One was a man, no more than a year or two older than Tira. He had blazing red hair, and wore a white uniform. The patches on the clothing seemed to indicate he was a member of some group, though Tira could not make out what they said. He carried a single weapon, a sword.
The man's weapon was ivory white, but something was different about it. The surface seemed to dance and shift with his every movement. The man swung it deftly, using a very acrobatic style.
His foe was a woman, maybe in her late twenties. Her long, dark hair flowed down her back in a single braid, reaching almost to her waist. A red headband held her bangs out of her eyes.
She wore a red top, barely nothing more than cloth to cover her breasts, allowing her free upper body movement. Her lower body was covered by a red loincloth, reaching down to her mid calf. White underwear peeked out from behind their crimson covers as the woman danced about in combat.
She carried a huge halberd, somewhere around seven feet long. The blood red staff mated with a steel bladed head, forming a wicked upward curve at the end. An impressive weapon, all in all.
The third person was a young girl, appearing to be almost still a child. Tira placed her anywhere from thirteen to sixteen years old. Her raven black hair was held in place by a pair of brass rings near the end. It was almost like the girl was going for a pigtail look but still trying to appear 'grown up'.
She wore several golden chains around her neck, beautiful accents to her young beauty. Her top consisted of an emerald green halter top wrapped around her chest with white off the shoulder sleeves running midway down her arms. The entire set was accented with strips of blue and red, giving her a very festive look.
She wore white shorts, with a fiery colored strip running around the top where a belt might go. The shorts stopped a few inches above her knees. Tall stockings mixed with red, white and green finished out her ensemble.
In her hands was a pair of tonfas, and these immediately grabbed Tira's attention. They were a deep blue, the color of the calm oceans. Though Tira could not perceive it with her eyes, in her soul she could feel the tonfas breathing.
This was where the pain came from, this was the presence that threatened everything she loved. Soul Edge had a counterpart. Tira wondered if this young girl realized that she wielded a weapon that could rival the mighty evil blade itself.
That did not matter, Tira knew. Stopping her from reaching Nightmare and Soul Edge was the only thing that mattered. Tira had failed her assassin master, she would not fail Nightmare. She would stop the girl, and Nightmare would reward her for it.
Tira watched intently as the scene below her played out. The woman with the halberd was fighting the man, and beating him pretty badly. Every time the man challenged her, she would strike him down.
Finally the man was struck down and did not return to his feet. He was directly in front of Tira's hiding spot in the trees. The halberd woman raised her halberd for a deathblow, but the tonfa girl stopped her. They argued a bit back and forth between themselves, words that Tira did not care enough about to register.
The man slowly rose to his knees and pleaded for his life. Tira knew this was the perfect moment, and she sprinted into action.
She burst from the trees, and leaped to the platform, landing right behind the man. As she came down in her landing, she swung her ringblade horizontally, removing the man's head from his body as easily as slicing through butter.
The man's head flew off to the left, bouncing once before falling into the hole between the platform and the wall. Tira spun around and kicked the still kneeling body as hard as she could, sending it flying to the right, and down the hole as well.
The two women were caught off guard, and Tira took advantage of the fact. She rushed forward again towards the halberd woman. She thrust her ring forward, slicing deeply into her back.
The woman cried out in pain and turned to face her attacker. Tira followed her around, dancing herself into range of the tonfa girl. Tira shot a wicked kick at the young girl, her foot landing directly in the center of her chest, and sending her sprawling to the ground behind her.
Halberd woman attempted a fumbling blow with her weapon, a wild strike not truly targeted anywhere. Tira easily moved out of the way of the flailing weapon, and sliced again at the woman, cutting a deep and bloody trail into the outside of her arm.
The woman stumbled back, but amazingly, was able to regain a bit of her composure. Wincing through the pain, she presented herself in proper battle stance, though fear swam through her eyes.
"I'm gonna kill you now, you ready?" Tira asked mockingly.
The woman responded not with words, but instead with a straight forward stab of her halberd.
Tira stepped to the right, allowing the blade to pass right by her. She then stepped forward a bit and cut at the woman's forward leg.
Her ringblade bit right through flesh, and chewed through bone like it was not even there. The attack did not cut the woman's leg completely off, but it did sever through most of it.
Halberd woman tumbled over, her leg unable to sustain her weight any longer. She caught herself by bringing her weapon back and using it like a crutch to hold herself up.
Tira smiled, the rush of the kill washing over her. She brought her ring up in a vertical arc from the ground, and sliced off the arm holding the weapon completely. Blood spilled from the wound, and the woman began to fall, having lost her last bit of support.
Before the body had time to fall, Tira continued the motion of her swing, turning the ringblade in midair from a vertical swing into a horizontal one, and brought it around. With yet another deft blow, she decapitated this warrior as well.
What was left of the woman finally hit the ground and a large pool of blood materialized around her. Tira basked in the glow of the murder, letting every sensation sink deeply into her spirit.
Her basking was interrupted by an air piercing scream.
"No!" the tonfa girl shouted with all her might. "You! How could you?"
Tira turned, and answered with nothing more than a maniacal laugh, her eyes dancing with insanity, and the absolute fear of facing the pure presence.
The girl's face changed as she looked at Tira. "Your eyes…they are filled with sadness."
Tira wavered for an instant at the words. This girl was showing her pity? Tira had just killed two people in front of her, one was obviously her friend, and yet she is showing compassion?
Lies! Tira thought to herself, allowing her hatred to overcome her again, her features becoming hard and full of malicious intent.
The girl sighed. "I am Talim, Priestess of Wind, and wielder of Soul Calibur. I shall release you from your suffering."
"Your heart still beats. The noise is grating!" Tira growled in response.
The pair charged at each other, and met in a massive clash. Both of the women were fairly evenly matched, and Tira did not have the advantage of surprise. No matter how hard she fought, Talim matched her blow for blow.
As the anger welled in Tira, it seemed to that Talim became stronger, and more pure, doing nothing more than increasing Tira's anger.
The fight continued, and Tira noticed that Talim was not attacking, but only defending. If she could hold Tira off so well just being defensive, Tira would surely be no match if she decided to go on the offensive.
This thought made Tira realize she was about to die. Instead of being sad, or even angry at the thought of defeat, it brought her a sense of peace. Her life had been so filled with pain that it had twisted her into a shadow of who she really was.
Relief washed over her at the thought of being released from the pain that was her life. She would not yield, she would make Talim work for it. With each passing second, Tira's mind begged for the release even more, wishing Talim would just strike her down.
A strange thing happened as these thoughts passed through her mind. Talim started to falter and weaken. Tira's blows made the young girl stumble backwards. She was able to block them all, but was rapidly losing strength.
The truth of Soul Calibur became clear. It only had power when facing the darkness. When Tira let go of her suffering and pain, Soul Calibur lost its advantage.
The pair worked their way over to the edge of the platform, Talim trying to move away from Tira, and her newfound power. Tira cut and sliced and danced about, raining blows.
Because she had let go, she never struck hard enough to wound the priestess with anything more than superficial cuts. After a flurry of blows, Talim fell to her knees in front of Tira.
Disappointment and happiness flooded Tira all at the same time. She wanted to be released, but she was also happy that she had once again won a fight beyond any odds. She stood over her prey, gloating once again creeping into her heart.
Tira was about to raise her ringblade and take Talim's head when something caught her attention. A flurry of movements below the platform drew Tira's eye. Nightmare was engaged with a man dressed in some kind of purple body suit. The old man was kneeling by the edge of the lower platform, obviously defeated.
Nightmare was about to kill his prey, and Tira's heart caught up with the excitement of watching her master do what he did best. She forgot about Talim for the moment, not thinking the priestess had any chance of recovering in the brief moment it would take to watch her glorious master.
Talim did recover, however, and was moving to end Tira's suffering. The young priestess had turned around, presenting her back to Tira. She then threw herself forward onto her hands, and shot her legs up and out from behind her, kicking Tira hard in the chest.
Tira flew upwards and out a foot or so before beginning the long drop. As she began to fall she understood her mistake, and had the presence of mind to retrieve Cervantes' blade from her belt, and toss it down behind Nightmare. As she fell down she saw that she was lined up perfectly with the old man.
Comfort flooded into her heart as she realized what was about to happen. If anyone should end her, it should be someone she cared about. And the only one Tira cared for was Nightmare.
She did not call out, nor scream. Instead Tira just closed her eyes and waited for the release of death. All of her suffering, all the insane thoughts, the compulsive behavior, all the pain of her existence was about to be gone.
She was directly behind the old man as Soul Edge sliced through the air. Not only did the blade decapitate the man, but it also ripped through Tira's torso, cutting her completely in half. The two parts of what had been the fearsome young woman tumbled down the hole and into the darkness.
In the last instant before Tira was no more, she thought she heard birds singing.
