Series: Soul Calibur
Rating: R
Authors: Sephira jo (sephirajo@yahoo.com) and Cap'n Dampeal (capndampeal@lycos.com)
Story: White Reflections
Part 5/?? (the prologue counts as a part)
Archive: With Permission only
Disclaimer: We don't own this game! Namco does! If we owned it, the characters would be seriously fucked. 'Cause we like to mess with characters minds. Oh yeah. ^-^
Authors' notes: There's some serious angst in this chapter. But we both hope you enjoy it! Remember, it will all work out in the end. Also, please take the R rating seriously, like you would for a film of the same rating. We mean it, this fic may contain material that will offend some of you, you have been advised.
The girl had curled herself into a tight ball, sheltering herself between two large rocks that hid her from view as she slept. Assassin didn't have to see her to know she was there, however. He felt her presence as if she were a part of him. Mina belongs to me, after all, he reminded himself, and tonight I will re-forge my claim while punishing her for her betrayal. He had fantasized about how he would take her as he had pursued her through the scorching desert from sunrise to sunset. He had pushed his body beyond capacity—such was the power that the soul shards lent him—and now Mina would pay dearly for the pain he had endured. I know now that I can enjoy neither rest nor peace until I have settled the score between us and ended her miserable existence. Then I will end my own life. End my own life. He repeated the thought, testing himself for weakness.
A horse whickered softly in the distance, causing Assassin to halt in his silent advance toward the sleeping girl. He could not allow the animal to give away his presence, but to kill it would certainly cause a lot of unnecessary noise. Shards, lend me stealth and strength, he prayed as he approached the creature head on. He knew that horses had two blind spots—one directly in front of them and one directly behind. As long as he caused no sudden movements to startle the creature, it would not even be able to see him coming. His dark cloak did not even stir as he closed the few meters that remained between him and the horse, disguising him a merely a dark ripple in the desert night.
As soon as he was within arm's reach of that massive head, the stallion sank to the ground with a soft thud. It crumpled to its knees first before keeling over on its side. Assassin stepped over it while silently congratulating himself. Nothing stood between him and his prize, now. Mina twitched, her fingers clenching and relaxing around the bladed weapon snuggled next to her sleeping form. Assassin grabbed it, twisting it away from her as he crouched down to straddle her. He watched her eyes snap open in surprise, then widen even more in terror. She lunged for her zanbotou while Assassin twirled it casually out of her reach. She gasped, bucking under him as she tried to escape. Assassin hurled the zanbotou into the distance and roughly shoved her shoulders to the ground.
"You little bitch," he snarled. "Look at me. Look what I've become!" He slapped her when she peered at his veiled face. "I should kill you for what you've done to me, but first I will take what was rightfully mine."
At first, Mina thought it was another nightmare. Another dark and horrible dream featuring the madman with Hwang's voice. But the pain in her cheek where his hand had landed, the feeling of being half-on and half-off the bed roll and the very real scent of blood, dirt, metal and sweat stung her nose. After that reality sank in, another quickly followed it. This was the person who had been following her. But what did he mean by 'rightfully mine'?
"Wha-" Mina started, her voice forced and choked around adrenaline and fear, only to be cut by yelp of pain, as one of her attacker's strong hands curled in her unbound hair and pulled - hard. The sting jerked tears out of her eyes, obscuring her vision, clouding the two eyes that stared back at her, their hue a very familiar shade of chestnut.
"What's wrong, Mina?" He started, his voice bitter as his free hand pulled at her clothing, rending it open at the bosom. The sound of his voice with the tearing fabric making her flinch, "Practically promised, remember? Or did you forget about that, Mina? As quickly as you forgot about me? Leaving me to rut with that auburn haired pup?" He spat out, each question more angry than the last, each question accented by a pull of her hair, a tearing of her clothing.
Practically promised, Mina thought desperately, her mind reeling, only Hwang knows that. Only Hwang. Moving her own hand as quickly as she could, she made a wild grab for the fabric covering his face and pulled, tearing it quickly before his free hand took hers and slammed it into the ground, shooting pain up through her arm. The gasp that followed though wasn't caused by the burning pain of the damaged nerve, but by the recognition of the face.
"You should not have done that, Little Mina," Hwang said, his voice like steel, cold and sharp. His eyes were inhuman as well, almost glowing and metallic. It was Hwang's face, but not his face at the same time. It was like an animal trapped in a human body. Trapped in Hwang's body. His face drew closer to hers, his eyes reflecting the light in an odd angle, "You should not have done that," he repeated, his timber low and harsh as he took her mouth with his in a brutal kiss, bitting at her lips to force them open, taking the wild kiss deeper still, like he was staking a claim.
Mina was in turmoil. Hwang was alive when she had thought he had been dead. But at the same time this wasn't Hwang, and even so, everything he was doing to her, as he forcibly removed the last vestiges of her clothing, felt both right and wrong. Hands that, in her dreams, had been gentle and loving, were harsh and violent. Pulling and scratching at sensitive flesh while he held her down with the weight of his body. Words that should have been soft and loving were instead cold and angry. He kept muttering about her betrayal, accusing her of having some phantom lover. Things that should have been pleasurable were instead causing pain.
When his mouth moved down to her neck, clamping down hard with his teeth, biting her, Mina screamed, "Hwang! Stop, please!" she shouted, her cries going unheaded as he continued, his flesh, hot and feverish rubbing against hers in so many places. There was also the scraping sensation of something metallic against her skin as well.
"Kyung!" Mina screamed, using his first name as she always had when trying to gain an emotional response from him. And it worked, just not in the way she had hoped.
Hwang's hand came down hard and fast across her face, the blow sending stars across her vision and snapping her head to the side. "Don't say that name, you little bitch, you're mine. You belong to me! Not to anyone else, despite what you may think. You are mine."
"What are you talking about?!" Mina sobbed, turning her head to face him, "It's your name! You are Hwang Sung Kyung, and there is no one else!"
"I don't have a name. You stole it from me," he hissed, the words not making any sense to Mina, "you did this to me."
"I didn't do anything to you," Mina cried out around a yelp of pain that followed Hwang settling himself over her, touching parts of himself to parts of her that no one had ever touched before, "I thought you were dead."
"I won't die until you do, in that way at least, my life is tied to yours," he said coldly, no emotion in his voice.
What does that mean? Mina thought panicked. She could feel Hwang getting ready to push forward, it was everything she had ever wanted from him. But not like this. This was not her Hwang. It looked like him, it sounded like him, it smelled like him. But it was not him. And Mina had had enough. With a strength fueled by desperation and fury, she wrestled her arms out from under him, and swiftly, with a strength she wasn't aware she possessed hit him on the side of the head as hard as she could.
He fell on top of her, suddenly a slack comatose body and nothing more than dead weight. Wiggling out from underneath him, Mina looked down at the unconscious man in his tattered dark clothes. Shaking from the after effects of the rush of fear and anger Mina dropped to her knees and covering her head with her arms screamed.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" Mina sobbed, the enormity of what had almost happened sinking in. Hwang almost. . . Hwang tried to. . . rape me?! She looked up for the ball she had curled herself up in, Hwang was still out cold. His actions had been so unlike him, Mina realized a second later. He also hadn't recognized his own name, and she had felt something sharp and metallic against his skin.
Moving cautiously, she moved and took Scarlet Thunder, then to Hwang. Kneeling down beside him, she idly ran her fingers through his hair, jerking her hand back when it came in contact with something hard and pulsing at the base of his neck. Gently she pushed the stray locks cover his neck to the side.
Mina gasped, something was lodged in Hwang's neck! It was metal, with tendrils moving out in various directions as it seemed pulse, imbued with some unholy life. It seemed familiar somehow. Soul Edge Shards! Mina suddenly remembered the few words she had been able to coax out of the wounded ninja. Mina looked closer at it, the one on the back of his neck was in too deep to be able to pry it out casually like one would a splinter, but hadn't she felt something similar scraping against her when he was on top of her moments before?
With a deep breath Mina rolled the comatose man over on to his back, putting him directly on top the bed roll. There was indeed another splinter-like shard on his chest, a chest marred with scars Mina didn't remember having been there, also dotted by wounds that had yet to heal fully. This metallic intruder was over Hwang's heart. Mina bit her lip and held back tears, again it was too deep to pry out with the small knife she knew she had in her belongings.
She reached out to lightly brush her fingers against the shard. After a simple brush of her outstretched hand against it, Mina pulled her fingers back with a curse. The shard had burned, been hot to the touch, like it had come directly out of a forge. Mina knew that both of the metallic pieces were responsible for the feverish temperature of his flesh. Almost like it was eating him from the inside out.
Maybe the shard were responsible for other things too, like Hwang's lack of memory. Him accusing her of being unfaithful and his new, angry personality. Even if he had suspected such a thing of her in the past, he would never had said anything about it. That was just Hwang, that was the way he was. Mina bit her lip, if the shards were responsible for what was happening to Hwang, but if she couldn't pry them out of him what could she do?
White Storm, Mina realized, the sudden epiphany sending her reeling, re-energizing her almost instantly. She had been so close to giving up in her grief, so close to letting Yun Sung get away with theft. Just one more day and she would have crumbled. Mina smiled brushing Hwang's bangs with her fingers, White Storm would restore his memory and personality easily, all he had to do was look into the blade. It would be such an easy task to find Yun Sung, thus far he had left a trail that a blind and crippled man could follow without error.
Mina covered Hwang with the blanket to the bed roll and gathered her tattered clothing. The garments would be easy enough to fix in the next village, the rips were clean, the fabric still mostly intact. Mina moved over to where she had tied Kyung, the horse was standing on unstable legs, shaking its head like to clear it. The stallion calmed when she approached, and Mina took her spare outfit from her saddle bags. While not crimson like her other outfit, the green, gold and white outfit was the one Daddy preferred because it was more 'modest' as he had told her once. The only thing was she didn't like the colors nearly as much as her other outfit. Mina quickly braided her hair and looked back to where Hwang lay on the bedroll. She wouldn't be able to take it with her, but she didn't mind lending it to Hwang.
Without thinking, Mina grabbed the spare bag of food and another of supplies and walked back over to where he was. She set both bags down next to him, after all, she didn't want him dying of hunger if she needed him following her. And he would follow her, of that Mina had no doubts. He also wouldn't kill himself over this, Mina knew, he had said that his life was connected to hers. Although unsure exactly what he had met by that statement, it was strangely familiar to another one he had made a couple years ago, when taking her home for the second time.
Rest assured, Mina, I won't let anything happen to me until I get you home safely. Mina had to hold back a foolish smile at that. That had been in response to Mina telling Hwang that he should just drop dead, that she was in no way going back to the dojo with him. Mina pushed Hwang's bangs aside. He looked so different with his hair mused like this.
"I don't know what's happened to you Hwang, but I will fix it. Mina will make it all better this time," Without thinking she bent down and kissed him softly on the lips, "I love you, Hwang Sung Kyung. And you'd better not forget that again."
Mina took one last glance at Hwang, already forgiving him for what had happened. It was obvious to her that Hwang was not himself right now. She smiled again, "I'll see you soon, Kyung," she said, a lightness that she thought lost once again in her steps.
Hwang's alive! Hwang is alive! And Once I get to Yun Sung, Hwang will be himself again, Mina thought happily, mounting the stallion, with scarlet thunder in hand she galloped off into the night, knowing that Hwang would follow, knowing that he was alive, she felt lighter than she had in days.
Assassin rubbed his head woefully as he awoke from the dream. No, not a dream, he remembered as he touched the shard at the back of his neck. He had failed in both claiming and killing Mina. The bruised lump at the side of his head explained how she had managed to thwart him.
"Little bitch," he growled into the darkness. He scrambled up from the sandy soil, vowing that he would catch up to her again before the night was through. He couldn't have been knocked out for more than an hour, most likely less. Mina's horse had suffered an injury to the head similar to his, so she couldn't be riding hard.
"I'll make you wish you'd killed me instead of knocking me out," he hissed into the desert night before running after the hoof prints that led to the north. The shards in his chest and in his neck burned as he ran, stinging him onward. Weak, weak! He cursed himself. How could you be so weak? She's just a woman, after all. Or perhaps it was the shards that cursed him.
We thought you were strong. We joined you when you defeated the Japanese general and were strengthened when you killed the mutant moon bear. We delighted in your slaughter of the mountain bandits, for it brought us much strength. But you disappoint us with the failure to kill the woman. She does not even possess a shard. You must turn to other prey. Yes. It was the shards that spoke into his mind, manipulating his very thoughts.
No. Let me kill the woman. She will be dead before sunrise, I promise, Assassin begged, feeling a fool for arguing with himself like this—for arguing with two bits of cold metal embedded into his flesh.
You do not have the strength to keep that promise. You can barely stand on your own two feet.
Yes, I do! Assassin retorted silently, clutching at the severed arm he kept close within his cloak. I have enough strength and stamina to catch one little girl, and this will give me more. He had eaten bits of the flesh every day to replenish his body with strength; the limb was now gnawed down to a ragged stick with a dark shard of metal embedded into the bone.
It is no longer enough to sustain you—or us! If you want a chance at ever catching any sort of prey, you must implant the shard within your flesh.
Very well, Assassin replied as he pried the shard from the bone. Even in the darkness, it glittered slightly with stolen starlight. He felt the length of his arm with his other hand, searching for a recent cut in which to insert the piece of metal. If there was none, then he… his fingers touched an abrasion on the inside of his wrist. A memory pulsed to life, of Mina twisting one arm away in a swift and violent maneuver that allowed her to get hold of a makeshift weapon. The lump on his head wasn't the only mark she'd left. He growled softly, then plunged the shard into the wound. She would not escape his grasp the next time he got his hands on her.
You will not, however, chase after the girl just yet. We know that she is what has kept you going, kept you killing for more pieces of ourselves. But there is a more important entity you must defeat, first. Can you feel it? It lies near…. Assassin stilled his thoughts and did as the shards bid, reaching out his senses for the entity they spoke of. He did not have to concentrate hard. The creature had a strong presence; the only reason he had not noticed it before was that its energy was very similar to his own. He could feel its heart beat in time with his own, both synchronized with the pulsing of the three shards embedded in his body.
Where is it? Assassin wondered. It felt so very near, yet the desert field was devoid of everything but sandy dirt and nocturnal insects that scuttled through the sparse vegetation.
It lies below the earth, within the labyrinth remains of a palace that once stood in this area.
How do you know this? Assassin demanded.
Can you not hear it? It speaks to us. It speaks to you. We will be one, you with us and us with it. The shards then filled Assassin with memories, images that seemed to describe their own history. Part of the flood of memories described the life of a young man whose life became intertwined with that of the shards. Obsessed with obtaining more fragments of a weapon named the Soul Edge, this man lost his life over his greed for the shards. However, his spirit continued on when his body died. He continued his search for the fragments of the Soul Edge, gathering them onto himself until he formed a new body—a body composed of soul shards.
What is this? Is this my life? Assassin wondered in horror. No. I am not a monster composed of metal shards. And I will not become one! I only need to borrow the strength of the soul shards so that I can avenge the wrongs committed against me by Seung Mina. Then I will end my wretched existence. In death, I will finally find peace, I will…damn! An entire entity composed of shards! he suddenly marveled. I will make those fragments my own. He raised his face to the wind as if he could smell the intoxicating fragrance of the soul shards.
Join with me, my brethren, the entity called. Assassin heard it clearly this time, a whisper into his mind. He followed the guiding voice, blind to his surroundings, knowing only his lust for more soul shards and the sensation that guided him towards them.
Assassin stood before the subterranean entrance to a forgotten dungeon, the remains of a palace that had long since crumbled to dust. Inside, he could feel the presence of a hundred shards—no, maybe a thousand—waiting for him to add his self and the three shards he possessed to the growing entity. The metal fragments embedded into his skin seemed to try to pull away from him, pull toward the massive stone door. He pressed a hand against the worn surface, feeling the shape of a sword scratched into the stone even though the low-relief carvings that had once covered the door had all but worn away. At his touch, a mechanism within the door gave way and the heavy stone slab swung forward.
A hundred torches lit the cavernous room that the open doorway now revealed. They flickered violently from their wall brackets, casting a vicious play of light and shadow on the stone walls of the chamber that was easily the size of the entire Seung dojo. The center of the room seemed to have crumbled away except for a wedge-shaped platform supported by six massive pillars—or what remained of six pillars. Once painted in bright blue and green bands, the structures had lost more than their color over time. Large chunks of their stone was missing and huge fissures ran along their lengths. Assassin hardly dared look below, where the bases of the pillars ended in dark obscurity. But the sight that awaited for him in the middle of the island platform was too terrible to look upon; his gaze refused to settle in that direction.
A myriad of shining black shards swirled around a blood-colored nebulous, sometimes arranging themselves like the bones of a human skeleton. Now the ghastly humanoid stood with his "arms" crossed over his chest and, although it had no eyes that Assassin could see, he was certain that the creature stared menacingly at him. My brethren, it hissed into his mind.
"I am not your brethren!" Assassin shouted, his voice echoing madly in the cavernous chamber. "I don't know what you are, but your shards will belong to me!" He vaulted over a huge gap in the ruined floor, landing on the wedge-shaped platform with a cloud of dust.
"What do you mean, what am I? Don't you remember me, Hwang Sung Kyung?" begged a soft, feminine voice. When the disturbed dust settled once more, Assassin found himself staring into Mina's dark, round eyes.
"Y-you!" he spat, stepping back and almost overstepping the reaches of the platform.
"Yes, me," she affirmed, and it couldn't have been anyone but her. From her young, pretty face to her defiant stance; from her crimson fighting outfit to the scarlet zanbatou she held in her small hands, she couldn't be anyone but Seung Mina. "Come on, let's get this over with. I know you want to kill me because you claim I betrayed you. However, you have long since forfeited your claim on me and I am free to do as I wish. Yes, that's right—you never owned me, 'practically promised' or not," she said confidently as she casually stretched her muscles in preparation for battle.
"We were promised in marriage!" Assassin retorted. At the same time, he mulled the words over and over again in his mind—the ones that were supposed to be his name. Am I Hwang Sung Kyung?
"I was offered to you in marriage, but you turned the offer down! And when you left the dojo to fight in the war, you're the one who left me! You swore you'd always be at my side, or at least my back, to protect me. You left me, Kyung. Your claim on me is forfeit, and the vengeance you hold for me is unjustified. But you stalked me and you tried to rape me, and for that I am the one who deserves revenge."
"What about that auburn-haired boy? The one whose vest you cuddle with at night?!" Assassin demanded, refusing to believe her words.
"Jealous, Kyung?" Mina smirked. "Too bad you never realized your feelings for me until it was too late. Do you think I could ever love you now, after what you've done to me? I never held another in my heart. But if I decide to turn to Yun Sung, well, that's my decision. You won't even be alive to see me make it."
"You lie like a woman. And you'll die like a dog," he growled as he stepped toward her. Dust flew up from their footsteps as the two combatants circled around each other for a few moments. Mina was the first to close the gap, swinging Scarlet Thunder out at his midsection in a powerful strike. It connected, but not as she expected. Assassin dodged the blade, taking the force only from the staff. He then kicked the thing away from him, sending both the zanbatou and its wielder flying backwards.
Mina recovered easily, turning the backwards movement into an easy flip that landed her back on her feet. She came at Assassin again, jabbing at his torso with three quick strikes. He couldn't escape it quickly enough and took the sharp jabs painfully. He ignored the pain, however. After all, it was nothing compared to sheer ecstasy he felt when she was this close to him. The small cut on her exposed midriff leaked the exotic perfume of a soul shard. An enormous, powerful soul shard. He came at her viciously, hungrily, wanting nothing but to consume her entirely. He launched himself at her in a spinning attack, striking that exposed midriff as he avoided her counterattack in a whirl of his black robes. She crumpled to the dusty floor, clutching her abdomen as a sticky river of black blood spewed forth.
Mina jumped back to her feet, using her weapon to vault her into position. Assassin swooped down upon her before she could fully recover, knocking her back onto the broken tile of the platform. He pinned her down with his body, his legs weighing down hers as he gripped her arms savagely in his wrapped hands. He was suddenly glad that he hadn't killed her before. He tore at her clothing with his teeth while she struggled uselessly against him. When his mouth reached her wounded midriff, he plunged his face into the wound and began to lap up the dark blood that pooled in her navel and spilled down her sides. She screamed horribly, but it sounded dry and faint. Her body began to deteriorate beneath him, fading into a black-boned skeleton with a bloody red orb that swirled in the area of the wound.
Finally, the creature broke free of him. Assassin leaped to his feet, wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve.
"We're not finished, yet," it growled furiously, its voice fluctuating in pitch and volume until it finally settled at a mild tenor. It brushed the dust from its gruesome bones, and suddenly it took on a completely different form.
"Mina?" Assassin whispered.
"What about her?" the auburn-haired boy demanded, swinging a bright white blade that was very similar to Assassin's weapon. "Now, you'll quit if you want to live, because I'm not going to lose to a fool like you. For years, I strived for you to recognize me as your rival. I needed to surpass you in all ways. Now I realize that I have always been better than the great Hwang Sung Kyung. And as for Mina, well, now that you're out of the picture…."
"I'm not out of the picture, yet," Assassin growled. "And I don't have time for this, so get out of my way." It was hard to focus on the boy. His senses reeled under the fresh influx of shards, shards in liquid form. He felt like they turned his tongue, his mouth, his insides to metal; he could barely speak.
"You always said that," Yun Sung scoffed. "You never had time. There was always something more important than the business I had with you. Then the war came along, and that was your biggest excuse of all."
"You think me joining the military was an excuse?!" Assassin demanded, jabbing his sword at the broken tile floor for emphasis. It was more of a test to see if he was in condition to fight this fellow if it came to it; he was pleased that his limbs appeared to be just as quick and supple as they always were, maybe even more so.
"Yes. An excuse for blowing me off, for dodging the awkwardness you created between yourself and our master when you refused the marriage proposal to his daughter, for escaping from the sudden closeness that was developing between you and Mina. Don't tell me you just wanted to serve our country, because we both know that's bullshit."
"Let's just cut the crap. You want to fight me? Then let's fight!" Assassin screamed, but it only came out as a hoarse whisper. Yun Sung nodded and mirrored Assassin's ready stance. The two combatants began to circle each other, matching each other pace for pace.
Assassin closed the distance first, as he was impatient to get the battle over with. Shards. I need more shards. I can't waste time on this when there are shards to be had! His senses were going haywire. He was sure he felt the aura of the shards emanating from the very walls of the ruined subterranean chamber; then they were in the dark eyes of his young opponent; then they were inside himself, swallowing him whole. Well, if the boy was a shard carrier, Assassin would find out soon enough. He slashed at Yun Sung's midsection in a spinning move that carried him away from his opponent as a blaze of green lightning struck the place where he had stood only a moment before. The scorched, cracked tiles smelled of… shards.
"Don't tell me you just wanted me to recognize you as a rival! You're not just after my woman—you want my shards!" Assassin accused the boy as he danced around the blackened area and launched a new attack. He knew full well that anyone who possessed fragments of the Soul Edge craved more, and that desire was the whole of their existence. Yun Sung dodged Assassin's quick thrust, however, and the green lightning flashed upon the white blade once more. Assassin watched the blade warily, edging away from it as he sought a better opportunity to strike. He did not expect the three sharp kicks to his knees that knocked him to the crumbling tile floor. All he saw was a blaze of green light, and then he was nearly toppling over the edge of the platform.
"How's that?" Yun Sung demanded with a laugh. How? Assassin wondered angrily. How did Yun Sung know I would be here? He must have set a trap, with Mina. Of course. That's why she was here as well. I should have known. I should have known that they were both after my shards all along. The string of thoughts raced through his mind in an instant. In the same moment, he leaped up to a crouching position and kicked Yun Sung's legs out from under him. Yun Sung yelled and another flash of green blazed toward Assassin. It struck full in his face, slicing like an ethereal blade. It was as painful as taking a real sword in the face, however.
Assassin felt like his bones were on fire, that even the marrow was consumed with flame. He threw his head back and screamed. The fire erupted at his cry, burning away his body in a storm of green flames.
"You will never have my shards, you scheming twit! I am the shard!" he declared loudly. His words did not make a sound audible to his ears, but spewed forth in a stream of fire that transformed Yun Sung's body into a blackened husk. The flames danced upon the black ooze that leaked from the smoldering pile, gathering the strength of Yun Sung's shards into Assassin's new body.
He stood up slowly, realizing that he possessed more height than before. No, then he was shorter. As the liquid metal within him began to cool, his body could not seem to decide on its shape. He didn't have time to think on this much longer, for Yun Sung's remains suddenly began picking themselves up off the floor. His cinders consolidated into a blackened skeleton which righted itself and strode to the center of the platform. A pale red nebulous spun weakly below his ribcage. Shards. There's still more shards? Assassin wondered. The red light flared briefly. When it died, a man stood in the place of the grotesque skeleton.
The man wore a tattered turquoise vest, identical to the one Assassin knew Mina kept with her and snuggled with when she slept. I thought it was… Yun Sung's. His dark spiky hair was pulled back with a wide band of plum-colored fabric. The same piece of fabric that I used to wrap my hands? Assassin wondered, glancing down at his bloodied hands. He seemed to remember tearing the plum-colored headband from his head and, rending it into two, using it to wrap his hands. He'd shed the ruined vest, leaving it in the carcass-strewn battlefield and replacing it with the dark cloak of a Japanese general who lay at his feet. After all, the man wouldn't be needing it anymore….
"Shortly after, you named yourself Assassin. I am the real you, the whole you. I am Hwang Sung Kyung," the man announced. Assassin jerked his eyes up from his hands to meet the man's fierce gaze.
"How can you be me? I'm me," Assassin blurted out. He knew it sounded stupid, but he couldn't stop himself from saying it. Just who was this person? "So, Yun Sung, still up to your games? I don't know what kind of power the shards have lent you but, believe me, it isn't enough to overcome me." The man's visage flickered. Once, Assassin thought he glimpsed Sung Mina, then Yun Sung. Then the appearance of himself reappeared.
"Hwang, Hwang, Hwang…," the man spoke slowly and condescendingly. "I can't believe you would kill Seung Mina for the Patriot Sword. Shards of it, even. You wanted the sword so that you could make your country safe from the invading Japanese. Safe, so that you could protect her. Safe, so that you could start a family with her someday and your children would not grow up in the bitter world you did. You've totally lost sight of your original purpose, Hwang. You've transformed into some kind of monster. Assassin. It's… beautiful."
"She—" Assassin began, but Hwang wasn't done talking.
"So she's the one that betrayed you. Very interesting. Well, Hwang, you did refuse the marriage proposal. When you left to fight in the war, well, you didn't explain your reasoning for that to Mina, either. You simply left. Can you blame her if she turned to Yun Sung? Is that really a betrayal? Regardless of your intentions, she never belonged to you."
"Look, what do you want?" Assassin demanded.
"What do I want? I want what you want. I want more shards," the man replied hungrily. I'm going to kill myself, Assassin realized. Somehow, it doesn't seem right. But when the man launched himself across the arena in a spinning attack, Assassin had no choice but to fight for his survival.
"I told you, you can't overcome me," Assassin grunted as he blocked the attack to his chest and knocked back his attacker with a sharp kick to his head. He felt stronger and more limber than ever before. The very pores of his skin glittered with the shards. They formed a netting of metal interlaced with his flesh, a beautiful casing that made him impervious to damage from any of Hwang's sword strikes that made it though his guard. With a sweeping undercut, he slashed his opponent's feet out from under him. Hwang looked stunned as he fell.
"Those were my shards! I lost my life over those shards. I will not let you take them from me!" Hwang screeched from the broken tile floor. He leaped back to his feet and delivered another blow to Assassin's chest. Assassin nimbly dodged it.
"You always strike my chest. The energy of the shards does not swirl in a central nebulous as it did within you, however. It is within me, and I am within it. I am the shard! You cannot overcome me. So I extend the offer you first made to me: join with me, my brethren," Assassin announced boastfully.
"I am you!" the man insisted. "I know everything about us!" He slashed at Assassin twice in the chest, then finally struck home with a blow to his head with Blue Storm.
"You aren't me! You aren't anyone! You're some kind of… charade!" Assassin argued. He launched himself at the man, vaulting off of his body as he leaped into a diving slash that drove the man into the floor. Bits of the ceramic tile exploded around him, but Assassin took no damage from the shrapnel. Energy crackled within him, and he released it in the form that "Yun Sung" had wielded so dangerously. He slashed his own copy of Blue Storm through the air, sending a wave of green light from the blade. The green light enveloped his opponent and erupted into a storm of lightning. The man screeched as the light ate away his body; Assassin yelled in triumph as he felt the energy from his opponent's shards course into his body. This was it. The fight was over.
Assassin sagged to the floor next to "Hwang's" incinerated remains. I did it. I defeated him. It. Whatever it was.
You have proved your strength, his shards congratulated him. Assassin suddenly felt very weak, however. He couldn't seem to draw upon the energy that he had just acquired. Your new body needs rest, the shards advised.
"Not here," Assassin groaned. He didn't want to be in the same room as his dead "self" any longer. He didn't want to think about all the bullshit that the creature had thrown his way as it had assumed the forms of people in his past life. It could have all been lies, meant to weaken my resolve in battle. No… I don't want to start thinking about it. He lurched to his feet and walked to the edge of the platform. He would have to summon the strength to leap over the gap once again. Shards, help me, he prayed as he jumped across it. He barely made the solid floor on the other side and, as he landed, chunks of tile crumbled into the gap he narrowly cleared. Heaving with the effort, he stumbled across the dusty floor of the subterranean chamber and climbed out into the night above.
Assassin wasn't aware of where he was going, but somehow his feet guided him to Mina's abandoned campsite. She seemed to have forgotten some of her supplies. There was some food, which he ignored for now, and a small bag. He unfolded a thin blanket from the bag and wrapped himself in it. As he drifted off to sleep, he begged that it would be a dreamless slumber….
Seung Mina dismounted and stared at the ground below her intently. She looked left, then to the right, then straight ahead. She swallowed a string of curses. The changing landscape as she approached the Chinese border made Yun Sung's trail disappear into grass and the tracks of the uncountable amount of caravans that made their way between China and Korea.
Mina bit her lip, instead of following Yun Sung directly she now had to go off on her intuition. There were many small villages and townships on the border, but the best place to find anyone would be in The City of the Spices, as the Chinese had named the large trading city on the coast near the border of Korea. The City of Spices. Those who had traveled well and knew more of the world called it something else. The City of Spies. There would be someone there with information on her query, Yun Sung.
And information on something else as well. Something vital to freeing Hwang. Soul Edge Shards. Drawing a deep breath of purpose Mina spurred her horse and turned, heading in the direction of the City of Spices. Before long, the walls of the large city loomed over the horizon, like sentinels guarding the priceless information she needed to continue on her quest. Information on Hong Yun Sung. And more importantly information on the Soul Shards. After all, anything and everything could be found in this city if you knew where to look.
She reached the city when the light of day had faded, giving rise to the 'day' the lights of the city created. Brilliant and shining they called out to travelers begging them to bring themselves here to rest. At the large gate Mina passed easily, no trouble with the guards here. Although not common, China did have its share of woman fighters. Even their epic tales spoke of woman wielding blades in battle. Besides, in a trade town most, if not all, things were either accepted or ignored.
Mina balked at the smell of salt as it stung her nose, its pungent aroma hanging in the air as she led her horse through the town. She picked a stable near the docks, where the price was cheap, but the care still satisfactory, for Kyung, the horse. Without wasting anymore time she then headed to a tailor. The woman examined her torn garments and without asking how they had come to be in that state quoted a price for their repair, and said blandly that they could be picked up tomorrow afternoon. Mina nodded and paid the woman in advance to ensure a job well done then went out in search of information.
The amount of people out after sunset going about their business just as the lamps which lit the city were lit was staggering. People of all shapes and sizes moved about, different tongues and dialects assaulted the ear. No where did she see hide nor hair of Yun Sung. Mina sighed, she had never expected him to materialize out of no where, but it would've been nice had he magically been in the large city.
Mina snorted with laughter that all of a sudden bubbled forward, odds were that Yun Sung knew nothing about this city, that it existed or what it could do for him. Or for her. A cocky smile on her face Mina made her way to the large row or Inns near the docks. Packed with foreigners as well as Chinese and Koreans it was bound to turn up leads of the Soul Edge and these shards that she kept hearing about, and indeed had taken something infinitely precious to her.
She had picked a Inn to enter when a shape caught her eye. Mina turned to follow it and sucked in her breath. A very familiar foreign woman walked the streets then stepped into one of the many buildings that sat along the street. Short white hair, dressed like a man of her own culture, and not like a woman. Mina remembered her well, as the woman who had humiliated her on the second quest Mina had undertaken for the Soul Edge.
A very uncharacteristically feral grin spread across Mina's girlish face. This was certainly convenient. A little payback was in order, and this woman would also surely possess at least information about the Soul Edge Shards, if not some shards themselves. Mina had to consciously stop herself from skipping playfully as she moved toward the building that the other woman had disappeared into.
The door to the tavern-inn slid open to a smokey, rancid smelling world Mina had long associated with men outside the dojo. She scanned the debauch place quickly, her gaze instantly settling on the white haired woman. Mina started towards her, only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
Mina turned and looked at the person attached to the hand. A taller Chinese man stood there, a bottle of liquor in his free hand, his fat face flushed with tell-tale signs of drunkenness. Mina's face twisted into a look that was half disgust, half pity and she tried to disengage herself from his surprisingly strong grip. The last thing she needed right now, to speak nothing of wanting, was a come-on. But of course, that was just her luck.
"Hey bab~y," the man drawled out, his voice catching on the words until they were almost beyond recognition, "Lookin' for a good time?"
Mina laughed aloud, ignoring the attention that now centered on her and Mr. Drunken Man. Moving easily, and way to quickly for Mr. Drunk to avoid she made a sweeping motion with Scarlet Thunder, catching the drunken man right between the legs, in a move that was well known for making nearby men flinch in sympathetic pain. With an easy balance Seung Mina threw Mr. Drunk across the tavern, his body cutting the palpable rancor of the place. His limp, fat form crashed into the table where the white haired woman had seated herself. She glanced down at the figure of the unconscious man with no more than a raised eyebrow. Then up to Mina who know stood a zanbatou's length away from her, with Scarlet Thunder outstretched.
"You," She started, her voice thick with accent as she attempted a European tongue to better get her point across to the white haired woman, "have something I need. Besides, you owe me a rematch."
Mina stood, unflinching as the white haired woman looked her over, trying not to shudder at her eyes, their unearthly color of turquoise sending shivers down Mina's spine.
"I don't think so," was all she answered before standing and attempting to walk nonchalantly past Mina. Mina blocked her exit easily with Scarlet Thunder, the weapons wide reach also scattering the few drunken men that remained in the tavern.
"Well, I do think so," Mina said, silently praying that her words were correct, now was not the time to be tripping over foreign speech. She ignored the particularly volatile look that the white haired woman cast towards her. Mina could almost picture her staring down her nose at her as the highborn had a habit of doing. That annoyed Mina even more. She felt her own eyes narrow in response, her look becoming hardened by the mixture of venom and annoyance that moved restlessly through her being. "You will fight me. Now," she finished.
The older woman's gaze bore into her, searching, it seemed for her weaknesses, strengths, and what else, only the dead knew. Again, Mina had to steel herself against their unusual color and potency. Mina stood her ground, keeping her gaze and features as hard as she could. There would be no doubt, no fear, about the battle ahead. She had trained, she had studied, and she knew with a certainty that went beyond faith, beyond a simple idea that she might be able to, that she could win.
The smoke circled around them for what seemed an eternity and each breath Mina drew and every beat of her heart were as loud as thunder in the small room. The other woman finally broke into a smug, cruel, grin and snorted. She placed her hand on Mina's zanbatou and pushed the weapon down. "As you wish, outside then."
Mina grinned ferally in response, "Outside."
The world outside, was a different universe from the one indoors, the smoke from the tavern seemed to circle out and around the foreign woman, forming an aura that made her eyes glow even more in the lanterns that lit the street in an horrible red parody of daylight. She looked like a demon. And for a nervous moment in the moonlight, where she stood, Mina thought she might have been. Her resolve almost fled in that moment - almost.
Her legs spread in a fighting stance, her face not having shown even a flicker of her emotions that racked her soul, she swung Scarlet Thunder around to her front, and in a voice she didn't know she had possessed she called out, "Let's do this!"
Her response was laughter, deep and almost insane, "Prepare to die," the woman said, before, with a single whip of her wrist her sword became a chain whip, racing toward Mina with a speed that she often remembered in her more detailed dreams of her pervious fights.
This time, however, she was ready for it. Mina vaulted into the air, using her weapon as leverage to carry her out of the way of the sword's path. With Scarlet Thunder reached out before her, she aimed and fell towards the white haired woman. Of course her blade hit nothing, as she expected. No one would stay in on place long enough to let her come down right on top of them. She turned quickly only to trip as something cold and metal wrapped around her ankle. Mina worked free quickly and flipped backwards, only to have to avoid another attack with the strange sword.
With all the dodging Mina was doing, she realized she'd have to change her strategy. Trying to get in close wouldn't work, the woman was still quite good at keeping her at a distance, so Mina decided she'd have to attack from a distance too.
She flipped and, reaching out with her blade as far as possible, she felt the stick connect with something. Without really thinking she pulled it back sharply toward her, and heard a 'woof' followed by a form hitting the ground, and a quick recovery.
Dodging the sword she continued, whirling in a dance of her own in answer to the one the European woman was weaving, staying far enough out of range for a sword attack, yet close enough to answer with her own blows. Mina wasn't sure how long it had gone on when she brought the back of the stick around hard and heard a hollow thud. The onslaught stopped suddenly. And Mina had to shake herself clear to remember what had happened.
After a moment of metal stagnation, Mina looked down at the unconscious form of her opponent and smiled. Dancing around, she said in very satisfied Korean, "God, that felt good."
She ignored the crowd that had gathered around the fight scene and gave her downed opponent the one over, it didn't take her long to find what she was looking for, in a horribly obvious pouch were three blood red shards of metal. They reeked of the same aura that had emanated from her Hwang. With a simple hand toss, she caught the pouch and tied it to her own outfit and turned around to find an inn to spend the night and gather some information of her own. In the morning, after she'd picked up her favorite outfit from the Chinese tailor, she'd be off once more. Hopefully with Hwang hot on her trail. She whistled a happy song from her childhood as she walked into the moonlight, leaving the stunned townspeople to deal with the aftermath of her fight with Ivy Valentine.
Two days and forty-five miles out of Bordertown, Yun Sung finally began to relax. It was time to stop running from Yoshimitsu's band of thieves, which he finally gave up imagining were chasing at his heels, and redirect his energies toward finding the Patriot Sword. He hadn't imagined where his journey would lead after he reached China. Luckily, Ling seemed to have a general idea. After all, Yoshimitsu had been after the legendary sword himself. And would be still, Ling informed him, except that he needed to build up more resources and a better idea of the sword's location before resuming the trail. Lacking both but with no other path to pursue, Yun Sung and Ling rode with the sun rising at their backs, hoping that along the way they would learn wherein the Ottoman Empire the fabled sword lay.
"It's time to rest. Even Bear is tired," Ling said wearily.
"We'll stop soon," Yun Sung replied curtly. Ling had a nasty way of intruding on his thoughts when he was trying to think seriously about his mission. He was tired, too, of course. And most fatigued of all was Kiri. The mare's sides heaved with exhaustion. It was simply too much for her to carry both Yun Sung and Ling on her back at the strenuous pace at which they had been traveling. But they couldn't stop here, not in the unguarded open space of the dry grasslands.
Yun Sung dismounted and Bear hopped down after him.
"Help me find us a shelter for the night," he told the creature. It scrambled off ahead and Yun Sung followed, leading Ling on Kiri. They finally crested a hill and halted on the other side. There they found shelter with their backs to the hillside and a few thin trees to screen their campsite.
Ling seemed much more comfortable camping outside that Yun Sung was. In fact, her eyes were nearly ablaze with excitement as she worked at starting a fire.
"This is just like the good old days, before Yoshitmitsu moved the clan out of Japan. Back when he had a personal score to settle, before he became obsessed with the Soul Edge. Oh, he hunted the sword even then, for to him it seemed his only hope to avenge the man who has massacred his entire clan some years ago." She sighed. "Anyway, I would wake up every morning to see the snow-capped peak of Mt. Figi rising above the forest. There was no whoring for me to do, so I helped the bandit clan by making meals and washing clothes. Never had I felt so carefree… it was the best time of my life. Now again, I begin to recapture that feeling of freedom."
Yun Sung smiled. He realized that he had withdrew White Storm from his belt and now absently turned it over in his hands. He wondered what the bandit lord had seen in the blade's reflection that had moved him to tears, that had prompted him to simply hand over—no, nearly force the sword back into the boy's hands. "`It lies! I help others! I am not a common criminal with only self-interest at my heart! This thing of evil tries to twist my heart—you may have it!'" the man had wailed.
"So, your boss… he steals from the rich and gives to the poor or something?" Yun Sung asked Ling. She shrugged.
"Kind of. He considers himself a chivalrous thief because his mission is to destroy the Soul Edge once he finds it, so that the tragedies caused by its evil will never be repeated. And of course, it is his thieving that supports this mission against evil," she answered.
"Do you believe that the Patriot Sword is evil?" he asked. She shrugged again.
"It never mattered to me. Yoshimitsu protected me, and I did what I could to support him in return. I don't know if I believe in good and evil. If I did… well, I should think this whole world an evil place for what it has done to me, for what I have to do in order to get by."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…," Yun Sung began.
"It's alright. Anyway, I'm not worried about the Soul Edge. And besides, I've always wanted to see the world," she said, interrupting him. Yun Sung edged closer to the fire. They had no food, but the warmth of the fire offered some comfort.
"I am worried about getting food, though," she said as if reading his thoughts. Bear had disappeared to hunt and forage for his own dinner.
"We couldn't stop in any towns, and we didn't have time to pick up supplies in Bordertown," he lamented.
"There's other ways to get food. I just don't know what I'll be able to find in this area, especially in the near-darkness." Ling smiled softly. "Oh, you really have led a sheltered life, haven't you?"
"Not really. I left home at the age of five. Well, to live at a dojo…." She giggled before he could finish.
"Oh, a warrior! Well, guard the camp, will you? I'm going to see what I can find for us to eat," she said, standing up from the fire. Yun Sung watched her slim figure, silhouetted by the fire against the deepening twilight, disappear through the trees. He leaned back and sighed, feeling rather helpless and useless. He returned his gaze to White Storm.
She trusts me. She trusts me to protect her like Yoshimitsu and his band of chivalrous thieves once did. But why? The further from the Seung dojo I get, the less clear my mission seems. I hardly know what I'm doing out here. But it's too late to go back now, he thought, glaring angrily at the sword as if its abduction was its fault, not his. But it would be so easy to give up. All I have to do is wait for Mina to catch up with me and drag me back by my earlobe….
Dinner was a meager collection of such roots and plants that Ling determined were edible, but it was better than nothing. She emptied the rest of the contents of Yun Sung's water canteen into her cupped hand and gave it to Kiri to drink. Soon they would have to find more water. But right now, sleep was Yun Sung's primary concern.
"Goodnight, Mina," he mumbled as he rolled into a ball near the remains of the fire, now banked and extinguished. "And thanks."
"You called me Mina again," she said, her voiced muffled by the blanket. Yun Sung now had only his traveling cloak to sleep in.
"Sorry," he muttered back, slightly irritated at her—or himself—he wasn't quite sure at the moment.
"You know, Yun Sung, I think part of the reason I trust you is because you're so sheltered, so innocent."
Sheltered?! "Innocent?!" he creaked.
"Oh, so you have been with her then?" she asked slyly.
"No, of course not! But that doesn't mean that…."
"Oh, so you were awake when I had my way with you back in Bordertown. You did a good job pretending to lie in a drug-induced sleep."
"WHAT?!" he demanded fiercely. Ling giggled.
"I'm just teasing you. I told you, you're not my type," she said. "So innocent… it's so fun. Oh, and you can call me by my given name if you want to. It's Mei."
"Goodnight, Mei," he grumbled, his face hot enough to rekindle the campfire.
Yun Sung dreamed that night. He thought he saw Seung Mina step through the thin trees that sheltered his campsite, thought he saw her standing over him as he slept. The campfire was rekindled, its flames throwing flickering tongues of light and shadow across her face as she loomed over him. She looked like an enraged goddess. Yun Sung half wanted to embrace her, half wanted to burrow into the ground and disappear from those angry eyes. She snatched up White Storm from where it lay wrapped in his cloth belt and brandished it as if to strike him with it. Yun Sung, lacking the ability to either move or speak, cowered in silence.
"How dare you?!" she demanded. He was powerless to answer. But even if he could speak, he did not think he could summon the right words to say to her. I know you're angry with me. Even angrier at yourself for trusting White Storm to me. But, Mina….
"How dare you sleep with another woman?!" she cried.
What? No, Mina, no! I'm not…! I wouldn't…! You're the only one there is. The only one there ever was! But she could not hear his silent pleas. With one mighty stroke, she brought the blade of White Storm down on his paralyzed form.
Yun Sung awoke with a scream. He scrambled up into a sitting position, finding that he was strangely encumbered. It was as if the effect of the frightening dream refused to completely disappear! Then he realized that the warm, heavy thing pressing against him was Ling. He jumped back, scrabbling away. Oh no! No! Mina! I didn't mean to! I don't know how… oh no! He pulled at his messy hair. No, it's alright. We didn't do anything. We were just cold, that's all! Yes, cold! And, and….
"Arrrrgh!" he cried aloud. Ling stirred.
"What's wrong?" she asked groggily. Yun Sung thought he detected amusement in her tone of voice.
"I didn't touch you!" he said.
"Huh?"
"Anyway, it's not like… snuggling will defile my, my…." Ling did not seem to be paying attention. She grabbed his cloak from where he had discarded it on the ground and rolled herself into it. Yun Sung sighed. "I'm just trying to get my blanket back," he said to an imaginary Mina that still loomed behind the trees, as he fought for the last remaining corner of his cloak and curled up against the thief in defeat.
Assassin dreamed. A shadow pulled away from him, retreating from the dream world that Assassin suddenly also wished to escape. In this world, nothing existed except for himself and that shadow. The only light seemed to be coming from the back of his head. No matter which way he turned, he could not see the light source. He turned this way and that in the bleak, two-dimensional world. The shadow was always directly before him, as if a projection from his own forehead. Always, it moved away from him. After a while he realized that he was also moving. He had no body, but he was being propelled forward as surely as if his own feet carried him. He was chasing the shadow. He desired for it—the one thing that existed in the world besides him—to be near him. But always it retreated. He yelled in frustration. The noise moved awkwardly, echoing in his ears but refusing to move through the air like a real sound would. He screamed, and this was enough to wake him from the nightmare.
Assassin rubbed his head woefully as he awoke. A dream. He'd know it all along, yet he felt surprised somehow. The ruined temple buried beneath these desert sands, and the frightening characters he had battled there—was that also part of the dream? Yes, it must have been, he lied to himself, ignoring the pulsing sensation at the back on his neck. He had not accumulated any new, physical shards from those battles. It could not have been real. And yet, he felt the energy of his shards, now doubled in size and power, coursing through his veins. Pulse… flow. Pulse… flow. It was as if he breathed through a hole cut at the back of his neck.
She's gone, he suddenly realized. At the same moment, he wondered who "she" was.
No one. Nothing. A shadow, the shards told him. We have shown you a new goal, one infinitely greater than the old. That was but a means to an end. You must let the shadow pass beyond your sight.
She…. Assassin could not remember the shadow's uncloaked form. Bits of the dream in the ruined temple floated to the surface of his mind.
--Jealous, Kyung?
--You are not me!
--I want what you want.
--I'm not out of the picture, yet.
The montage of dream and memory flickered incoherently before his mind's eye. Which images belonged to her? Why was it all so unclear?
Enough! demanded the shards. Assassin shook his head to clear it. Enough. He was quite inclined to agree. The memories disturbed him. And yet, he also wanted to savor them. They were like the wound on the back of his head—because it evaded his sight, he could not help but feel inclined to touch it constantly, to remind himself of its ragged shape.
He got up slowly, easing himself up from the hard ground. It was time to go, time to feed. He had proven himself worthy of being a vessel for the growing entity of the shards; now he must upkeep his duty. He cast a glance over his campsite: the blanket, the supplies. They wore the scent of the shadow, his body knew. Although he did not require them as food and shelter, they provided a link to her. He gathered them up before he set out into the early morning. Beneath the slowly climbing sun he walked, a fevered man chasing a waking dream. The shards may have wished to subvert him from his quest, but instead they had awakened a state more primal, more base, than the animal instincts that had ruled him.