Tainted Souls, Tainted Swords
Chapter Fifteen: The Hands of Soul Edge
Her hands had been stained red by a river of blood. A river created by her own soul-tainting sword, Mekki-maru. It thirst and hungered for souls, and absorbed the essence of the creatures it had slain. Taki could still feel their anguish and suffering, hear their cries, still emanating from within the dark blade, and she drown in the tears of those she'd killed.
But it wasn't she who killed them; although that did little for her conscience. She failed as a Fu Ma, she failed as a demon hunter, and she failed at everything—
No! That's what he wanted her to think. That's why he did this. She couldn't bring back the dead, and she couldn't atone for what the sins the demon committed while possessing her, but she could still stop him from hurting more ... somehow. There had to be a way. She had to hold on to her faith, hold on to her mind, not give up ... she had to wait for her chance to strike back. Taki could still save lives…somehow.
Within her own body, Taki's consciousness had been locked into a tiny cage while Tenebraurum had free reign to control her physical body as he saw fit. Her force of will, her spirit, her soul – whatever you wanted to call it – had been suppressed. Stepped on, and crushed beneath the combined might of an abyssal creature and an abyssal weapon. Forced to bear witness at what the demon intended, forced to watch hundreds innocents perish for no reason. Children, elders, and everyone inbetween.
And now, a shape emerged out of the shadows of her consciousness. A familiar shape. One with a face, a voice, and a sword she recognized. Though the eyes belonged to another, she recognized them too. Master Toki, possessed by Oni, appeared as an apparition before her, compliments of the telepathic link provided by the Soul Edge fragments.
His mouth twisted into a smile, looking down at his pupil's spirit caged up like an animal. Toki's mouth moved, but it was Oni who spoke, "Taki . . . I see my brethren has done well."
The Kunoichi refused to answer the apparition. The demons could possess her, could lock away her soul and force her body to obey their whims ... but they have no power over her soul where the real Taki resided.
The demon continued to speak, "I look forward to seeing you soon, seeing you in the flesh," and Oni delighted in her reaction.
"You're coming here?"
"Already almost here. There was little for me anymore in Japan. Besides, the shards of Soul Edge have gathered enough information about its enemies to destroy them, as you've seen first hand." Taki found herself gulping while the demon gloated. Indeed, she had suffered an overwhelming defeat – was Soul Edge in a position to crush its other opponents so effortlessly as it had done to her? Sensing her fear, her concern, Tenebraurum's voiced boomed with laughter. Oni continued his speech, "It's time for the sword to reunite and eliminate its enemies once and for all—"
"Yes," Tenebraurum agreed. "New life for Soul Edge, death to its enemies!"
Oni continued the thought, like an identical twin who finishes the other's sentences, "And then Soul Calibur!"
"For without a master..."
"... Soul Calibur is nothing."
Both demons laughed. Taki challenged them both with a promise to put an end to them, personally; however, the demons answered with more laughter. And Taki, herself, knew how empty the vow was. Bitterly she promised to find a way ... somehow.
But what was the promise of a helpless fragile mortal? One whose confidence and will had suffered a devastating blow after her defeat and continued to suffer as Varelli Tenebraurum continued to wittle away at her minute after minute, of every passing day. She was strong, but he'd break her completely one of these days. And only after she'd surrendered completely, only after she'd given up all hope and plunged into irreversible despair would he finally put the shrew out of her misery.
The apparition of Toki and Oni vanished, replaced by a series of ghostly scenes (presumably mirrors of events happening this very moment) intended to break her, but she had no way of knowing. Was this truth or a lie? No way at all –
In the first vision there was no movement, no action, but the images, themselves, still disturbed her – images of a battle's aftermath. Friends, former allies, the bodies of dozens of Fu Ma lying dead back in Japan, having died a terrible painful death that left the grimace of agony on their faces. Underscoring the scene came the muffled sound of Toki's voice, Toki's true voice, a voice that had weakened significantly from the last time she heard him speak. "Oni ... damn … you ..."
Like her, he was possessed. Like her, he was trapped. And like her, he could do nothing to stop the slaughtering. But if master Toki, a man more powerful and wiser than she, could not escape the demon's grasp, what chance did she have? 'No,' Taki told herself, wishing she could turn her head and not listen, but these were images and sounds projected directly into her consciousness. The demons could force feed them to her, and they enjoyed it. 'These are lies. They're all lies.' She told herself. But were they?
Then she watched the vision of the armored knight who holds the most potent and most complete incarnation of Soul Edge – Nightmare, driving back another knight who wore an eye patch. Driving him towards the edge of a high cliff where water crashed against the rocks far below, a romantic dusk illuminated the partly clouded sky. With ease, the armored servant of Soul Edge wielded the insanely massive sword with far more speed than anyone would have thought possible. And though his opponent fought bravely, he was obviously overwhelmed. Inches away from the cliff's edge, he had nowhere to retreat to and the one-eyed knight pursued his only option: a desperate offensive maneuver.
But Soul Edge's range was too great – the massive sword swept low, and Arthur managed to leap over the blade. Nightmare made a second revolution, however, catching Arthur just as he landed, and it sent him off his feet, over the cliff's edge, to the rocks below. The water momentarily turned red as they crashed against the cliff's edge, and then the deep blue coloration returned.
From there, the landscape faded to a dock and Nightmare changed to a familiar undead pirate with two swords. And now Taki saw an eerily similar scene to the one she just witnessed. Only Cervantes' two swords struck with the speed and venom of a viper, and the girl with the sword and shield did her best to block, but Cervantes was too fast. The shield blocked high, then low, then high again and she visibly struggled to get her sword into a defending position as well. And though she managed to block, it did not stop all the blows. Taki could see shallow cuts along the girls' arms, calves, and a bloody cut in her top; Taki could see the fatigue in the girl's stance, and that she struggled more and more to defend. Like Arthur, Cassandra was overwhelmed and pushed back until she stood at the edge of the dock with the waters waiting below. A crowd of spectators watched this fight, cheering on the girl's inevitable demise.
It was obvious the girl's spirits and confidence had been crushed, not just from the losing end of a one-sided fight but also from all those eagerly watching her lose. Voicing their desire for Cervantes to "finish her!" Knowing she had nothing left, and knowing she had nowhere to go, Cassandra glanced over her shoulder to the water, then back at the blade that swept for the deathblow. She swallowed her pride, and leaned backwards, allowing herself to fall to the water below as the sword narrowly missed her throat.
But on the end of Cervantes' sword hung the shard of Soul Edge that the girl had worn around her neck. Another shard, another step towards completion, and another warrior who was no match for the storm that was Soul Edge's resurrection.
'Only lies,' Taki repeated, not fully sure how much she believed it. 'I'll get out of this, and I'll pay the demons back in full.' For to possess her, to bring her this close to the heart of the demon and to Soul Edge meant giving her a chance to observe the strengths and weaknesses of her enemies on a more intimate level ... just as Mekki-maru had allowed them to find out her weaknesses, just as the fragments unveiled the weaknesses of those who held them. Quietly she whispered to herself, "Just hold on, Taki . . . just wait and watch for now."
The visions ceased, but what replaced them was far from pleasant. A new village – a tiny nameless and helpless village – on the horizon, and around her the glowing fog mounted . . . more blood would stain her hands tonight.
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Author's Note: Short Chapter, I know, but I'd rather deliver a short chapter than pad it with BS. As always, thanks for the feedback from all.
