Well, it's been a while since I've updated this. I've been busy with another fanfic of mine called Nightmares and Phenomenon. I've also been reading fanfics much more often than writing them and have gone through a little bit of a writers block. However, I will try to update this at least once per month (hopefully even more often than that). Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. For some reason I had a hard time writing this chapter though I'm not quite sure why.
Disclaimer: I don't own any videogames or videogame characters represented in this fanfic.
War of the Warriors: Crystals of the Sky
Chapter 7: Demons in a Castle
Auron walked back towards the town of Jonin after his battle with the mysterious man, Dante. As Auron walked further into town, he began to think about what happened and what may happen in the future. Was Dante the one who would help them in the future? Or was he the one who they would fight against? Although Auron wasn't quite sure at that time, he had a feeling that Dante would be on their side. After all, Dante willingly gave him the crystal. Auron didn't think a potential foe would do that. Then Auron remembered what Dante said about a man named Vergil. Who was this Vergil? Obviously, Dante and Vergil were enemies since Dante thought that Auron was sent by Vergil to kill Dante. Whoever this Vergil was, Auron had a feeling that he and the others would soon find out, especially if Dante became their ally.
As Auron continued to walk, he heard someone shout "Auron!" and saw Talim, Chun-Li, and Cloud heading towards him. "Hey Auron, did you find anything?" asked Chun-Li. Auron nodded his head and replied "Yes, I found one of Sparda's sons." His three companions looked at him with a stunned expression on their faces. "What! You met one of them? Where?" inquired Chun-Li. "I saw him walking around the western part of town and he challenged me to a duel", replied Auron. "What!" asked both Chun-Li and Talim at the same time. "So, if you fought him then that means that he's one that will fight against us, right?" asked Cloud. Auron shook his head and showed the others the crystal as he explained, "Not exactly. In fact, he willingly gave me this. I think he will be with us, not against us." "Still, we should keep our guard up around that guy," said Cloud. "Of course," agreed Auron, "even I am not quite sure of his intentions; however, I don't think he's after the crystals." "Yes, if he were interested in the crystals then he probably wouldn't have given one to Auron", agreed Talim. Cloud still have had somewhat skeptical look on his face, but before he could reply, Chun-Li cut into the conversation and said, "Well, it's getting late. We should go back to the house and get some sleep so we can go crystal hunting tomorrow." Everyone agreed and they went back to Chun-Li's home.
After they arrived back at Chun-Li's house, Cloud putted his sword away and lied back on the couch while Chun-Li went back to her room to get some sleep. Talim, however, was wide awake and was peering into the crystal ball in her lap. Auron, who passing by her room, stepped inside and asked, "Did you see anything?" Talim quickly looked at Auron before gazing back down at the ball and said, "Well, it's fuzzy but I see some sort of abandoned castle. I think there is a crystal there." "Do you think it's anywhere near by?" asked Auron. Talim looked back up at Auron and replied, "To tell you the truth, I have no idea. I've never been very far from my village before. When I was little, I used to dream about traveling the world, but my uncle wouldn't let me go very far." Suddenly, a sad look crossed Talim's face, and she looked down as her eyes began to fill with tears. Auron decided that it might be a good idea to leave Talim alone for awhile and began to leave. As he came to the door, he looked back at Talim and said in a somewhat comforting voice, "If you need to talk, I will listen." "That's okay. I'll be fine", replied Talim as she looked back up again and forced a smile. Auron nodded and quietly shut the door as he left the room.
Meanwhile, not too far away from Jonin, there was a campsite several yards away from the ruins of a large, abandoned castle. Sleeping near the campfire was a certain female ninja dressed in a tight fitting red outfit. As the moon went down and the sun replaced it, the morning rays hit Taki in the face and woke her up. Although she wouldn't admit it, she needed a nice long rest to heal from the injuries she attained from fighting Chun-Li. Escaping had also taken its toll on Taki, and she needed a break fighting and stealing things. However, her break would not last long since she was still searching for crystals and had sensed one from the nearby castle. After a few minutes of waking up and stretching, Taki put out her campfire and grabbed her daggers. Taki walked towards the castle until she noticed a strange figure walking into it. It was too far away for her to get a good look at whoever it was, but there was something about the figure that made her uneasy. Taki waited for a few minutes before cautiously following the figure into the castle ruins.
At the same time, Auron and the others were waking up and preparing for the day's crystal hunt. Talim was already dressed and eating breakfast when Chun-Li sat on the other side of the dinning room table. "Have you looked into your crystal ball yet?" asked Chun-Li. Talim stopped eating for a few seconds and replied, "Yes, I looked at it last night. Do know if there are any castles nearby?" "Actually, there's an abandoned castle about 5 miles north from the town", answered Chun-Li. "Really? That's great!" exclaimed Talim, who had finished eating and was cleaning out her bowl in the kitchen sink. After she was done, Talim and Chun-Li went into the living room where Auron and Cloud were waiting. Cloud still looked half-asleep, but Auron seemed to be fully awake. "So, where are we going?" asked Auron. "We are going to a nearby castle", replied Chun-Li. "Yeah, I think it might be the one I saw from my vision," added Talim. "Good, let's go", said Auron, who opened the door and began to leave. Talim and Chun-Li quickly followed while Cloud trailed behind.
For a while they walked northward until they came upon the abandoned castle ruins. "Talim, is this the castle you saw in your vision", asked Auron. Talim looked at the castle carefully before replying, "Yes, that's the one." "Alright, let's go", said Cloud as he headed toward the castle followed closely by Chun-Li, Auron, and Talim. As they came closer to the castle, Talim suddenly stopped walking. Auron was the first one to notice Talim's hesitation, and he turned around and asked her, "What is it?" Upon hearing Auron's voice, Cloud and Chun-Li turned around to see what the matter was. Realizing that Auron had asked her a question, Talim replied, "I feel an ill wind coming from there." "Huh? I don't feel anything", said Cloud with a somewhat confused look on his face. Chun-Li appeared equally puzzled. Auron, however, closed his eye and went into a somewhat meditative state. When he opened his eye a few minutes later, Auron stated, "Talim's right. There is some sort of force besides the crystal." "Well, whatever it is we can take it", said Cloud as he grabbed his sword from his back. "Perhaps, but we still must use caution", warned Auron as the group cautiously entered the castle ruins.
As Auron and the others entered the castle, they found themselves in a large hallway with a strip of long red carpet that had been faded and torn over the years. The hallway was also very dark and dusty. Cloud grabbed a nearby torch that he felt on the wall and lit it using a fire spell. With some light to guide them, the group walked down the hallway. As they were walking, Auron noticed some footprints ahead of them that were made by the dust. 'Footprints that are not ours', thought Auron to himself.
At the end of the hallway, the group opened a creaky, old door that led to a large room. There was a door at the right side of the room and another door at the left side of the room. In the middle of the room was a large spiral staircase that led upstairs. What the group noticed immediately after they entered the room was that there were several lit torches and candles scattered around the room. "Someone's here", said Auron out loud to the rest of his group. Suddenly, they heard a creaking sound coming from the rafters and a slender figure dived down from the shadows. It was a figure that both Auron and Chun-Li recognized.
"Taki!" shouted Auron has he grabbed his sword in preparation for battle. Taki grabbed her daggers but made no move to attack Auron or his companions. Chun-Li glared at Taki and got into her fighting pose. Talim and Cloud just stood around in bewilderment. "So, I take it that you came for the crystal", said Chun-Li to Taki. "Of course", answered Taki, "and you came here for that reason as well." "Ha! I bet you're the evil force that Talim and Auron sensed", accused Chun-Li. Talim stared at Taki for a few moments before shaking her head and saying, "No, that woman isn't the force I sensed." Chun-Li still look skeptical, even as Taki explained, "How perceptive, young one. Someone or something else had beaten me here. Perhaps that was the evil you sensed."
Before anyone could respond to Taki's explanation, strange portals appeared seemingly from out of nowhere. Out of each one crawled weird cloaked creatures that carried scythes in their hands. The creatures' faces looked as if they were screaming. "What the hell are those things!" exclaimed Cloud as the creatures came closer. Taki got into a fighting position and said one word: "Demons!"
Suddenly, the demons quickly swooped down. One of the demons swung its scythe at Talim and would've cut her in half had she not ducked down at the last moment. Talim saw her chance and knocked the demon into the air with her tonfas. While the demon was still in the air, Talim kicked it so hard that it slammed against the wall and landed on the ground unconscious.
Meanwhile, Chun-Li was busy dodging attacks from another demon. The demon was fast but Chun-Li was also quick on her feet. Noticing a quick lapse in its guard, Chun-Li jumped up and kicked it in face. While the demon was stunned by the kick, Chun-Li kicked it about 100 times with lightning fast speed and then grabbed it by the neck and pummeled it into the ground.
At the same time, Taki ran up the wall to dodge an attack from the demon she was fighting. When she landed back on the ground, she was caught in the demon's surprise attack and received a cut on her leg. Taki looked down at her wound then looked back up and gave the demon a death glare. "You will pay for that", said Taki as she charged full speed at the demon. The demon swung its scythe at her, but Taki avoided the attack by jumping high into the air. Then, she stroked down the demon with her daggers. When it tried to get back up again, Taki kicked it into a wooden table which broke into several pieces upon impact before jumping up and striking again to deliver the final blow.
Auron and Cloud were busy fighting demons as well. With a single swing of his sword, Cloud slung several demons into the air and the ground. Auron, on the other hand, had skillfully avoided a demon's attacks. Although the demon was much faster, Auron had skill and experience on his side. A one second lapse in the demon's defense was all that Auron needed to deal a fatal blow. After defeating the demon, Auron looked back at Cloud, who was battling another group of demons. Cloud was now fighting five demons by himself, which was more than he could handle. To make things worse, the demons had gotten smart and were avoiding and blocking Cloud's swings. Then, one of the demons snuck behind Cloud and attempted to stab him in the back. Auron noticed this and yelled "Behind you!" just in time that Cloud turned around and managed to block the demon's attack. The other demons tried to take advantage of the situation, but Auron entered the fray and disposed of the demons before they knew what hit them.
After all the demons were slain or knocked unconscious, Auron and the others gathered together to discuss what their plan was. Well, almost all the others had gathered. Taki, however, was nowhere to be seen. "I knew we couldn't trust her", said Chun-Li in an accusatory tone. Auron just shook his head and said, "Look, we have more to think about than Taki's motives." Talim nodded in agreement and added, "Yes, we must find the crystal. I have a terrible feeling that something or someone with dark intentions may find it. That is if it hasn't already been found." "I agree that something is up," observed Cloud, "since all of these demons are running around." Chun-Li sighed, "I guess you're right."
"Alright," announced Auron, "we need to find the crystal as fast as possible. In order to do that we should split up. Chun-Li and Talim, you two go look at the door in the right. Cloud, go check the door to the left. I'll climb up the stairs." Talim, Chun-Li, and Cloud nodded their heads in agreement and did as Auron told them. Meanwhile, Auron made his way up the spiral staircase to check the upstairs area.
A few minutes after Auron and his companions separated, a certain white-haired man in a red trench coat had arrived at the castle. Upon entering the room where Auron and the others were fighting demons, Dante had noticed numerous demon corpses littered throughout the room. "Looks like I missed the party," observed Dante as he walked around the room. Suddenly, a demon that wasn't dead but merely knocked unconscious came to and began to charge at Dante. However, Dante heard it coming and turned around and shot the demon several times until it dropped the ground. With a cocky smirk on his face, Dante thought, 'Then again, maybe the party has only just begun!'
Characters in this Chapter: Auron (FFX), Cloud (FFVII), Chun-Li (Street Fighter series), Talim (Soul Calibur 2), Taki (Soul Calibur 2), Dante (DMC3). Also, the demons were based on the ones Dante fought in the beginning of DMC3. I don't own any of them, any other characters mentioned, and anything else that came from any of the games.
(A/N)Normally, I would have the review responses listed here, but I have heard that they recently made a new rule that you can no longer respond to reviews. I don't want to risk getting into trouble so unless they remove this rule, I will no longer have review responses listed here. Still, I urge whoever reads this to please review anyways. If you have any ideas or suggestions of characters to add to my story, feel free to say so in your reviews. However, I do urge you all to limit your suggestions to video game characters since this fic is going to be really complicated as it is. Also, I cannot guarantee that I will incorporate all suggestions into my story nor can I guarantee that they will have a large part in it. I might add them if I can find a way to make they fit into the story line. Also, suggestions on how to make this story better are also greatly appreciated. Finally, if you think that this fic is getting too violent, please let me know and I will raise the rating. Thank you to all who have reviewed this or any of my other fanfics.