Story: The Demon - Chapter 5
Category: Video Games - Soul Calibur
Pairings: Same as always.
Guess what? Now, I'm going to start spelling it 'Seong Mi-Na' because apparently, that's the right way. Fucking Namco screwing around with my favorite characters name...
Fiona Fairhame - Oh... well, I did warn you. And thank you for the review. I'm glad you thought so (I do try very hard to weed out typos. Perhaps I'm finally getting all the little buggers!).
Anyways, here we go.
The door burst open, but this time, it wasn't Mitsurugi's. Mi-Na stirred at the sounds of crashes, war hoots, and her name. Someone yelled it again.
"Mitsu! Hwang! Yunsung! Xiang!" She called out the names of her friends, but her voice was croaky and hoarse. "Kilik! Maxi!" She felt worse than ever. Her whole body was trembling from lack of food, water, and the cold, and her arms ached. It felt like a big part of her had been torn away and replaced with something that shouldn't be there.
"Mi-Na!" Hwang and Mitsurugi left Yunsung and his party to make sure the ninja didn't escape. Giving each other a quick nod, Hwang took left and Mitsurugi took right. Hwang found her first, but Mitsurugi was only a few steps behind.
Mostly naked, tied up, and sitting on the floor, Hwang rushed over to her. He quickly untied her, and her arms fell limply over his shoulders. He pulled her against him, away from the cold wall, half to protect her, half because he'd been so worried... when Kilik came forward with Yunsung's idea, the samurai was able to give a rough guess of where Taki's cabin was, after he told them of his and Taki's relationship. The search still took half a day. He pulled off his jacket, and wrapped it around her as she cried.
The last time she'd thrown herself at him was when she was seven, and he was 16. He'd just returned from the grueling exams he needed to pass to get into the Coastal Defense Force. She'd run down the courtyard yelling his name and he'd picked her up in a hug. She wasn't sad that he hadn't made it in; in fact, she seemed overjoyed, telling him he could stay and play games with her and tell her stories. All that changed in six years; he was 22 and she was 13. He finally got accepted into the Coastal Defense Force, and rumors of a marriage betweeen the master's daughter and his best student started flying around. Mi-Na finally claimed the Scarlet Thunder was hers, and started training with it with the other students. There were no more hugs, no more games, no more stories; only glares, yells, fights, accusations. Mi-Na wanted independence; Hwang and Han Myoung wanted her to be safe.
Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and he held her a little tighter. If only he'd tried to bridge the gap between himself and little Seong sooner... How much pain could she have been saved? "Mi-Na..." He made sure the jacket was snug around her before lifting her up in his arms.
Mitsurugi watched all of this, his lover in another man's arms, but he felt no jealousy. Mi-Na would be safer in Korea... where the deserved respect of her father and his dojo could protect her... He looked down at Mi-Na as she and Hwang stopped near him. The expression she gave him spoke only of sadness and pain. Whatever Taki had done to her... there was no God, weapon or ninja trick to save ehr from what she was to recieve. he shed no tears as he turned away, giving Hwang the unneccesary consent to take her away, bring her somewhere she would be safe.
"No... Hwang! I don't want to...!" She tried to struggle, but she was too weak and it failed. The ronin finally spoke.
"Mi-Na - chan... Just go... Go to Korea..." He mumbled, unable to look at her as he spoke.
"No! Mitsu-kun!" she lapsed into sobs once more, as Hwang carried her out. Mitsurugi followed closely behind them. If Hwang would take good care of his Mi-Na, he would make sure Taki paid dearly.
"Out, all of you." He grunted at the four surrounding Taki.
"But, Mitsurugi-san, we'd like to--" Xianghua began. Hwang cut her off.
"Come on." He said, kicking the door open. The hinges creaked, and Mi-Na gave a whimper.
Xianghua looked to her own lover, but he merely shook his head. "Mitsurugi-san will take care of this... I think it's best if we get Mi-Na into a safer environment, back home, as quickly as possible."
Mina started to shout, hearing that. "I don't want to go! I want to stay here with him! Rugi, Rugi-kun, tell them!" She pleaded. "You said... you said... No one would take your Mi-Na - chan from you!" She near screamed the last part.
"Get her away from here, Hwang... Mi-Na, please don't argue..." He said softly. She was so distraught, but still defiant and strong, but couldn't she see this was best? "Go, all of you..."
None of them argued, they knew they wouldn't be heard of Mi-Na's shouts at Hwang to 'put her down', 'stop treating her like a child' and 'it was her decision where she went'. As they all filed out, Mitsurugi turned a cold glare onto the ninja.
"I don't care what you did..." She'd been unarmed, but he kicked one ninja-to towards her. "Die with honor. Commit seppuku, you horrible bitch."
She could've laughed, but she held it in. "She was ruining you..." She whispered.
"She was not!" He roared, causing Taki to take a frightened step back. "She was never ruining me... Your ruined me. She was only making me better."
The words stung and burned. Tears welled in Taki's eyes. "I did it for you... I never wanted to hurt you..." She croaked desperately.
He felt a new emotion when he looked at her. It wasn't nostalgia, or anger, or sadness, or even hate, as much as she deserved it. It was pity. How could one woman fall so far? She used to fight for good, for the protection of others; now she was as evil as the demons she once so nobly slew. "I have no fondness for you. Not anymore. If Mi-Na was not... not the woman I love... I would still kill you. She's never done anything malicious to anyone, Hells, she even talked of you as a friend once! She was innocent. Do you feel any remorse for what you've done, you spiteful wench?"
"She was barely innocent!" Taki hissed, as if that made a difference.
"She was more decent and caring than you ever were!" He bellowed at her. He inhaled deeply, drawing the Shishi-Oh, before he spoke again. "Pick up your sword and die by it with honor, or I shall run you through."
"I will not." As she bent down to pick it up, he charged. Byt the time she had stood, he was standing before her. One stab, straight to the abdomen. As she fell to her knees, he moved behind her.
"You were a mere woman, Taki. You had no right to defile an angel." He grunted looking down at her.
"Neither did you... you're only human... too..." she said weakly.
"No, I'm not. I'm the Demon you should've killed." He replied.
Taki closed her eyes as the Demon swung for her neck.
Oh yeah. That's chapter five. Some terms and other things, in case you didn't get it.
Seppuku - basically, ritualistic suicide, usually done by samurai after they have failed to complete a mission, or have been otherwise shamed. They stab themselves in the stomach, and bled to death. But it isn't just used by samurai. Also, by ordinary people to cleanse themselves of sins and 'die with honor' or to protest something. Traditionally, a second samurai would stand by the first, and chop off his head if he showed any signs of pain. Later on, they would chop off their heads just to make it a little less drawn out. Now you know.
Mi-Na and Hwang's marriage proposal when Mi-Na was 13 - Alright, not exactly a marriage proposal, but because people died at such a young age back then, women were married off very early, and used basically for cooking, cleaning and breeding. And, usually, to older men, since beauty was also prized. Thus, Mi-Na and Hwang's 9-year age difference is actually no ig thing. And yes, the father always chose the husband, and if they had no wife, usually they consulted a matchmaker. Watching the movie Mulan will help you understand Mi-Na's plight better. No, I'm not kidding. Funny, Mulan married a general of the army... Wonder if the Disney staff play Soul Calibur...
Why Mitsurugi is so possessive of Mi-Na, and why she has to go home - Wives and women were possessions of their men, and also, Mitsurugi loves her. He is also bound to the samurai code, Bushido, which is like chivalry. Because he took her virginity, she is worth less on the marriage market, but because Taki raped her, she is considered dirty and worth almost nothing at all. However, if you come from a good family, it is less severe, and sometimes not a problem at all.
Okay, I think that's all. Soul Calibur is set in the feudal era, and I do hope I have my facts straight. Please, if there is anything I should know, or something I have wrong, tell me in an email or review.
Thanks. Now, please review!