Xiba toppled lifelessly to the grass, nearly cut in half from an oversized chakram wound across his waist. Natsu followed next, riddled with cuts, stabs, and bruises that marked where she had been struck with a Grecian sword and shield. The battle had began after the party's senior member stepped out of the camp, briefly evening the odds for the attackers. What had been a quaint and cheerful gathering only moments ago was now a war zone. Light from the campfire sparkled over the pools of blood that had formed across the earthy ground. Leixia was the only one left fighting for her life, and her defense was growing desperately weaker as a pair of bladed tonfa crashed against her sword.
Talim sneered sadistically as she took another swipe at Leixia. The defender let out a frightened yell when her oriental shortsword finally buckled under Talim's brutal nature and exploded into a shower of silver splinters. Without a moment of mercy, Talim sliced through Leixia's defenseless silk dress and gouged the flesh and muscle beneath. The wounded girl soon met the same grisly end as her fellow campers and crumpled to the ground. Talim's demented expression never changed.
Tira and Pyrrha were free to watch the final moments of Talim's battle after they had dealt with their own objectives. When the deed was done and the final painful breath had escaped Leixia's lips, Tira hoisted her chakram to her shoulder, muttered some obscenities to herself, and clutched her temple as if she were fighting a sudden headache.
"Damn it, Talim! She was the one we were supposed to capture alive!"
The former wind priestess calmly gazed toward the fresh corpse at her feet and offered a bored shrug. She replied as she fastened her elbow blades to her belt.
"It's not like I had a choice. She wouldn't give up."
Tira's patience was clearly wearing thin. She grit her teeth as she shouted in return.
"You could have just knocked her out or something. You didn't have to KILL her!"
Talim sighed, more likely conveying annoyance rather than a sense of defeat. Her voice lowered to an angry mumble.
"Fine. Maybe I got a little carried away this time."
As Tira and Talim become absorbed in their bickering, Pyrrha quietly knelt to Leixia's side and set her sword and shield on the ground. Her eyes curiously studied the fallen girl's body before settling on a specific object, a small trinket that Leixia had received from her parents and always wore around her neck. Pyrrha snapped the necklace from the collar of Leixia's dress with a swift tug and gave it a closer look in her palm. A second later, a satisfied smile curled across her mouth. She cupped both of her hands around the pendant and began a silent prayer.
Oblivious to what was happening only a few feet away, Talim continued her argument with Tira.
"Does it really matter? We'll find someone else."
Tira was becoming increasingly more agitated by Talim's attempts at oversimplifying the situation. The claw-shaped armor around her fingers made a clinking sound as her free hand tightened into a fist.
"Someone ELSE? Where exactly are we going to find another female descendant of a Soul Calibur wielder? She's the whole reason Master sent us out here!"
Talim responded with another neglectful shrug.
"We can ask around."
A sudden red light escaped the gaps between Pyrrha's folded fingers. When she opened her hands, Leixia's pendant was left freely floating in the air and its glow grew even brighter. Pyrrha carefully guided it downward until it touched Leixia's sternum, where it seemed to pulsate with life and slowly rooted itself to the slain girl's body. Once it had taken permanent residence on the bare skin just below her choker, her wounds miraculously began to close. Her nose gently twitched and her chest quietly rose and fell as her breath returned.
Tira continued her scolding, lowering her voice to a grumble as she winced at her imaginary headache.
"You really messed this one up, Talim. He's not going to be happy when we tell him what happened."
Leixia's sleeping form levitated out of the grass. Once she was a few feet off the ground, an unseen force rotated her into a vertical position and lowered her lightly on her feet. When her eyes opened, her irises glowed with the same crimson tint as the jewel at her throat.
On the opposite side of the camp grounds, Talim rolled her eyes at Tira's warning.
"Take it easy. You're just angry I've killed more people than you."
Her words were enough to cause Tira's rage to return in full force.
"You wouldn't be able to kill anyone if I hadn't recruited you!"
Talim snorted as she recalled the day they had fought in the ruined chapel nearly two decades ago, where her weaker previous self had succumbed to a deadly poison and she had been granted a new life as a servant of the evil. The scar on her back made it hard to forget.
"Soul Edge recruited me. You were just his delivery girl."
Leixia reached outward with one arm, allowing a new weapon to materialize in her hand. It was a ceremonial blade with a design similar to the one Talim had ruined minutes earlier, only this version seemed to be crafted out of obsidian, sported a pair of demonic eyes on the hilt, and subtly quivered with a life of its own.
Tira fumed at Talim's mockery. Before the argument could take a turn for the violent, however, Pyrrha's alarmingly soft, happy voice caught their attention and prevented any further escalation.
"Welcome back, Leixia."
They turned to see everything they had missed. Leixia appeared to be her usual lively self, minus the glow in her eyes and the fact her pendant was now fused to her breastbone, faintly flickering in the same rhythm as a heartbeat. Pyrrha's incantation had also healed all of her wounds and cleaned any trace of injury. All that remained were the spots where Talim had slashed her dress, revealing small portions of the flawless skin underneath.
Tira blinked in confusion at Leixia, then glanced toward Pyrrha.
"What did you do?"
Pyrrha smiled modestly in response. She allowed herself to take pride in her hard work.
"I prayed to Soul Edge for help. Since I acted quickly, he was able to catch Leixia's soul before she reached Elysium."
Her eyes trailed toward her as she continued sharing her pagan knowledge.
"Her original body was too damaged to be used directly as a vessel, so I offered him her pendant as a substitute. It's just the right size to keep her spirit trapped and bring her under his will."
Talim looked as if she was about to snicker at Tira.
"Sounds like I didn't screw up the plan after all."
Tira paused for another moment, then spoke with a quirked head and a raised eyebrow.
"Okay, but... is she on our side yet?"
Leixia heard the rustle of leaves approaching her from behind. All four women turned toward the sound to see Maxi stepping out of the brush and onto the campsite. The veteran fighter immediately knew something was wrong, and the only thing that surprised him more than the sudden presence of three of Soul Edge's minions were the mutilated bodies of two of his younger comrades strewn across the ground. It took him a second to gather his bearings and speak toward no one in particular.
"What happened here?"
Leixia recognized her unsuspecting mentor and was the first to answer. She was standing almost face to face with him when he walked onto the scene, and she swiftly launched herself into the air and twirled over his head. Before he had any idea what was happening, she landed behind him, crouched to the grass, and aimed a low slash at the backs of his ankles. Maxi screamed in agony and hunched over on his now paralyzed legs, struggling to look over his shoulder as he gasped in disbelief.
"Leixia... why... ?"
A grin appeared on her face as she responded in a delightfully sinister voice.
"Master says it's time for you to retire, old man."
The black tassel that decorated Leixia's newly forged blade danced through the air as she thrust downward. Despite the weapon's compact and lightweight design, she was able to summon the strength necessary to steer the tip through the back of Maxi's shoulder and out the front of his chest, impaling his heart somewhere in between. As he lifelessly slumped forward, she firmly planted the sole of her slipper on his back and used her leg to push his carcass off of her blade. She giggled when a thin stream of blood rained across her cheeks.
Talim casually turned her head to answer Tira's question.
"Guess so."