Chrosis - lol, thanks for pointing that out. yeeeah, i just noticed it too. haha, oh man, i really should proof read once in a while, or at leat try not to type in teh dark at around 4 am in the morning. hopefully i did better with thsi chapter.

Shinryu-Twilight Dragon - To be honest, I didn't become a Siegfried fan until Soul Calibur 3. Yeah, I'm horrible. My favorite character to use is actually Xianghua though, but story-wise, I'm not sure how I can incorporate her with that bubbly personality of hers. Ah well, we'll just have to see. Anyway, I'm glad you like the story so far.

Chapter 7

Heart Under Blade

With the news of Helena's death, the temple of Hephaestus was engulfed in fear and despair. While many shrine maidens wept at the loss of another sister, they, too, feared that they would share in her fate.

It was only Sophitia who had shed no tears. Tears would do her no good if she wanted to get to the bottom of the whole mess. Although it was not uncommon for shrine maidens to get killed, it had never occurred so frequently before. It was as if someone was purposefully targeting them. Most importantly, all the maidens killed had been in the same temple as Sophitia, and according to all the reports, they were all found in the same gruesome way as Helena.

There has to be a link, Sophitia thought to herself, leaning against a column. Why would someone want to target shrine maidens? Did the temple unknowingly anger a god they shouldn't have? Sophitia shook her head. There couldn't possibly be anyone that…

It was then that a metallic ring flashed into Sophitia's mind. It had been covered in blood, and had belonged to that girl…

No…it couldn't…

A month ago, Sophitia had caught a strange young woman defiling the temple grounds. When she had asked the girl to leave, the girl had run off, along with several of the temple's most sacred relics. When Sophitia had pursued, a fight soon ensued between them, and Sophitia had put the girl back in her place.

"Curse you, you shrine wench! I will make you suffer for this!"

Back then Sophitia had thought nothing about the girl's words, regarding them simply as empty threats. But with the recent events taking place, Sophitia couldn't help but suddenly recall that night. It was as if there was a connection. There had to be…

"Sophitia."

Her train of thought interrupted, Sophitia immediately looked up and met several worried gazes.

"There is a messenger waiting outside for you. He demanded an immediate audience with you," one of her fellow shrine sisters said, wringing her hands nervously.

Sophitia scowled slightly. "Me? What for?"

"He wouldn't say," another sister spoke up, biting her lip apprehensively. "I insisted that he return in the morning, but he was adamant on remaining where he was until he saw you. Apparently, there is some pressing matter that he wishes to discuss with you."

Sophitia fought the urge to sigh and thanked her fellow sisters for the message. "Very well. If his presence is so unsettling, I shall tell him to be off." And with that, she headed out for the temple's entrance.

Some of the maidens hurried after her, barring her path. "Please don't go, Sophitia! You could be in danger. We couldn't bear to lose another sister. Especially not you!"

At this, Sophitia gave them a reassuring smile and shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous. Nothing is going to happen to me. I appreciate all of your concern, but you really mustn't worry." And with that said, Sophitia moved past them and exited the temple. There, she immediately spotted a towering figure at the very bottom of the steps. "Good evening, stranger. What brings you to our temple at such an hour?"

The figure stepped into the light, revealing his white cloak. Instead of returning her greeting, he merely replied, "Are you the priestess Sophitia Alexandra? Daughter of Hephaestus?"

Sophitia nearly laughed at the misconception of her title, but remained composed. "I am," she replied with the tiniest of nods. "And who are you?"

The man lowered his hood, revealing a face as black as night, and eyes as piercing as daggers. "I am the great sorcerer Zasalamel. I have traveled far and wide to seek an audience with the purest of hearts."

"Zasalamel," Sophitia said quietly, testing the name with her tongue. As she stared intently at him, she soon noticed one of his eyes glowing a bright gold. "How may I be of assistance to you?"

She felt a shiver run down her spine. She didn't trust this man. Although he emitted a different aura from the crow she had seen earlier, she could still sense something evil within him.

Zasalamel pulled something out in the darkness and pointed it towards Sophitia. "I am to escort you out of the temple. If you are wise, you will obey my orders."

It was then that Sophitia wished she had brought her sword with her. This man was dangerous. It didn't help that he was pointing a large scythe towards her.

"And if I were to politely decline?" Sophitia asked, edging ever so slightly away from the man.

He laughed. "I can assure you…you wouldn't."

It was then that she heard it, the bone-chilling cries of hundreds of crows. As she looked up, she could see the sky filled with screeching crows.

"She is here." And with that, Zasalamel charged at Sophitia, swinging his scythe inches away from her neck.

Sophitia gasped and jumped back just in time, landing on the alabaster stone hard. Yelping in pain, she scrambled back up to her feet and ran back inside the temple with Zasalamel in hot pursuit.

"Sophitia! What's going on? The crows–"

"RUN! Everyone, get out of here!" Sophitia screamed, moving out of the scythe's way just seconds before it swung down on her. Moving behind a column, she could feel Zasalamel hack the side of the column she had stood seconds before.

"You cannot escape me!" Zasalamel cried out, wrenching his weapon out of the column.

Sophitia took advantage of this and rolled behind him. With a fierce cry, she slammed her hip against his and knocked him down. She then proceeded to pin him down with her feet.

Zasalamel quickly grabbed her ankle and dragged her onto the ground. Grunting, he rolled on top of her and tried to pin her shoulders down.

Panic set in, and Sophitia slammed her head against his, causing him to release his grip on her shoulders. Taking advantage of the distraction, Sophitia kneed Zasalamel in the groin and sent him flying over her head and into another column. It was then that she rolled onto her stomach and jumped up to her feet, running as fast as she could to the altar of Hephaestus. As she ran, she noticed a swarm of crows darting through the air, attacking anyone nearby. Around her, panicked shrine maidens ran about, trying their best to avoid the rampaging crows.

There was a sharp tug on her hair, and Sophitia immediately whirled around, sending the crow flying against two others heading towards her. With no time to stop and think, she ran past the giant doors leading towards Hephaestus's altar and immediately shut it, causing many of the charging crows to slam into the doors. Holding the door shut, Sophitia glanced behind her and noticed that most of the women had fled into this very room. Many of them huddled together, in fear of what was to come.

"Bar the doors!" Sophitia ordered, trying her best to keep the door shut.

From the other side, someone was banging against the doors, trying to force them open.

Sophitia gasped and pressed her back against the door, trying with all her might to keep Zasalamel or the crows from entering. "Bar the doors now!"

Zasalamel's scythe pierced through one of the doors, the tipping cutting through Sophitia's shoulder.

"Sophitia!"

Several maidens hurried to Sophitia's aid, carrying a gigantic wooden plank with them. Quickly, they set the wood onto the doors, barring anyone or anything from coming inside.

Moving out of the way, Sophitia fell to her knees and clutched her wounded shoulder, panting for breath. Was Zasalamel the one responsible for all the dead shrine maidens? Just what did he want with her?

For what seemed like an eternity, the doors continued to rattle from all the pounding from Zasalamel and the crows. But the ruckus soon died down, and within seconds, the pounding ceased. Soon there was only silence.

For a long time no one spoke, in fear that the crows and Zasalamel should return. But finally, when the maidens could no longer bare it, some began to weep.

"Are we to be doomed here?"

"Hush, we can't know that for sure."

"This is the will of the gods that we die here!"

"Don't be silly. Why would the gods wish that upon us?"

"Is the danger over?"

Sophitia remained where she was, panting silently. Although she wanted to believe that the danger was over, her gut instinct told her that they were nowhere near safe.

"Are we safe now?"

She could hear it now, her heart pounding against her chest. Why was her heart pounding so?

"You cannot hide from me forever."

"What are we going to do?"

Her heart continued to pound loudly. She couldn't calm her nerves.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Her breathing grew shallow. She could feel her heart pounding fiercely against her chest, as if ready to explode in any given second.

"I see you…"

"Sophitia?"

Emerald eyes widened. "Oh gods…"

There was another piercing scream. But it was not from inside the temple.

Cassandra!

CRACK!

With a deafening sound, the doors burst open, flinging Sophitia and a few others into the air. In an instant, the crows flooded into the room, shrieking loudly. From where the doors used to be, Zasalamel stood, a golden light surrounding him.

"And now you all DIE!"

Zasalamel raised his scythe into the air and attacked anyone unfortunate enough to be in his way.

The shrine maidens screamed and tried to flee. One maiden, amidst all the chaos, stumbled just as Zasalamel's scythe came swinging down…

CLANK!

Metal clashed against metal, and as Zasalamel looked down, he soon found the fiercest green eyes glaring into his very soul.

"You've killed enough," Sophitia hissed, holding back the scythe with her sword. Feeling her anger erupting once and for all, she pushed the scythe up into the air and slammed her shield against Zasalamel's chest. With inhuman speed, she swung her sword, and within seconds, she plunged it deep within Zasalamel's chest.

There was blood everywhere.

Sophitia's eyes widened with shock as she pulled her sword out of Zasalamel's body. Blood spurted out of the sorcerer's mouth as the grip on his weapon loosened. Soon, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he slowly sank to his knees, his mouth twitching awkwardly. He was dead before he hit the ground.

The sword in Sophitia's hand clanked loudly onto the marble floor as she immediately released the hilt. "Oh god…what have I done?" She took a deep breath and glanced around the room, noticing that the crows had vanished. Only her fellow sisters remained, and they all gaped at Sophitia as if she were a monster. Killing was forbidden. Sophitia had broken the rules.

"Sophi–"

"Don't!"

Sophitia held up her hand to stop anyone from approaching her. "Stay back…you mustn't!" She gritted her teeth and reached down to pick up her sword. "I must be dead to you now. Those are the rules." And with that, she slowly staggered away from the altar, bloody sword in hand.

"Sophitia! Wait!"

Before she knew it, Sophitia felt a tug on her arm, and one of her fellow sisters holding up a shield before her.

"Please…take it with you. It is Hephaestus's will."

For a long moment, Sophitia stood where she was, a look of awe on her face. Slowly, she reached over for the shield and weighed it carefully in her hand. It felt light as a feather under her touch. Turning her gaze back to the maiden, she gave her a reassuring smile and bowed her head down in appreciation. "Thank you." And with that, she was off, never looking back.

She would be an exile now. She could never return to the temple ever again. She would return to Cassandra…

"Cassandra!"

Sophitia gasped as she caught a vision of a flock of crows gathering around a house in flames. Earlier she had heard a scream in her head belonging to her younger sister. There was no mistaking it that the house was their father's.

Sprinting into action, Sophitia ran as fast as she could to the burning house, wishing with all her might that Cassandra was perfectly safe and unharmed.

But fate was a cruel thing.

Upon her arrival, Sophitia came face to face with her former home ablaze.

"Cassandra! Cassandra!" she cried out, running towards the burning house. But as she drew near to the entrance, the house collapsed. There was no way anyone could have survived.

With a great cry, Sophitia sank to her knees. She could feel the tears run down her cheeks now as she wept for the only family she had left.

A high-pitched giggle sounded behind her, and Tira appeared, a smug look on her face. "I promised to make you suffer."

Sophitia's gaze hardened. "You!"

Tira held up a finger and smiled. "Ah, tsk tsk. You wouldn't want to be doing that," she sneered as Sophitia raised her sword towards her. "If you want to see that doppelganger of a sister of yours again, you're going to have to catch me." And with that, she vanished into the night.

"Wait!"

But Tira was gone.

Sophitia now stood alone, unsure whether or not to trust in Tira's words. There was no proof that Cassandra was still alive. But there was no proof that she was dead, either. Sophitia had no choice. She would have to pursue the girl in order to get her sister back.

Author's Note: God, I hate doing fight scenes. I'm so bad at it. It's hard to pull a fight scene in your head and get it perfectly into words. Unfortuantely, the fight didn't come out as long as I thought it would. It really wasn't supposed to be that short. Ah well. Anyway, Zasalamel fans, don't despair, and most importantly, don't hate me (hides in a corner)!!! I don't want people getting mad at me for killing off their favorite characters immediately. Anyway, for Siegfried or Seoung Mina fans, please be patient since I have to get around to introducing all of my main characters. Thanks so much for all your reviews, guy!