The next chapter is up! Jan and his friends meet up with Abelia in battle what's going to happen? Read it and find out. Enjoy!

Chapter 18

Heart of Duty

The Arthias Rebels continued their way to Parousia, capital of Grandall. The members of the Arthias Rebellion Unit are Aeneas, Riese, Meiga, Eurydice, Jinkai, Xiaoxin, Ailian, Kanon, Leraje, Tina, Yuilin, Luca, Rudiger, Feofan and their leader, Jan. All were part of the Grandall Army until the rebellion against Grandall was made by Jan's mentor, Girardot Argezas. After his death, Jan decided to carry on his legacy by joining the rebellion to free Grandall from the iron fisted reign of Strife.

As they reached the fields, Jan and the unit saw a massive army waiting for them. Jan then saw a stronghold at the other side of the fields. He was then surprised to see who was on top of the stronghold, his former comrade Abelia Schillfelt.

"So you've come!" yelled Abelia, "I never should have thought you would lower yourself any futher until now."

"You're still supporting Strife?" asked Jan.

"Why should I not? I will not let this kingdom fall in the name of justice!"

"I don't sense any power of the Soul Edge anywhere." said The SoulCalibur

"That's because Abelia has always been at the side of Grandall and believes she is fighting for the people." Jan said, "But she doesn't realize that she is being used."

"Commander Abelia!" yelled Tina, "Why?"

"So, you too have stooped yourselves." said Abelia, then looked around the fields, "This place seems perfect for our battle, Jan."

"What does she mean?" asked Leraje.

"This is the same place where Jan defeated Abelia a year ago during the testing." said Aeneas.

"I never thought we would actually fight her in here again." said Riese.

Jan looked at Abelia's eyes.

"Her eyes looked puffy." thought Jan, "Is she crying?"

Abelia then looked at the entire Arthias Unit.

"So you have all joined." she said, "I never knew. Even you, Eurydice."

"I'm sorry, Abelia." said Eurydice, "But there are reasons for actions."

"Hmph. Soldiers! Show no mercy! Destroy all traitors!"

The soldiers then moved forward.

"Let's go!" yelled Jan.

"Right!"

"Everyone then jumped off the hill and ran to the fields and prepared themselves for battle.

"So Jan, what's the plan?" asked Aeneas.

"Easy, we split up." said Jan with a smirk.

"Huh?"

"You, me and Riese head to the north. Eurydice, Meiga, Tina, Feofan, Kanon and Xiaoxin head to the west and Jinkai, Ailian, Leraje, Yuilin, Luca and Rudiger head to the east."

"Wow, that was quick thinking." said Ailian.

"Move out!"

"Okay!"

Everyone headed to their ordered postions. Eurydice and the rest ran through the bridge and encountered a group of soldiers led by two of Abelia's best, Mingyue, who held two nunchakus, and Balduin, who weilds a lance. Eurydice and Xiaoxin charged in and slashed the two front soldiers but then Mingyue then did a fast barrage of nunchaku hits but Eurydice was blocking them with her sword as Xiaoxin jumped high and then smashed them next two soldiers into the ground. Balduin then attacked with a lance stab but was tackled by Feofan and crashed into the soilders. Meiga and Tina then came from behind and back suplexed the two remaining soldiers and knocked them out. Eurydice and Mingyue continued thier clashed then Kanon kicked Mingyue from behind. Mingyue then bounced back at Kanon and did a huge barrage of hits on Kanon but missed from Kanon's backflips. She then was led to Eurydice who then sliced Mingyue and smashed to the air. Kanon jumped and smash kicked Mingyue to the ground and knocked her out. Balduin and Xiaoxin continued their battle until Tina came and twisted Balduin's body around leading him to a quick draw slash by Meiga. Feofan then made an uppercut using his sheild and Balduin was then finished off by Xiaoxin who grabbed him and smashed into the ground.

"Whew, that was pretty rough." said Xiaoxin.

"Well, we won right?" said Eurydice, "Let's go!"

"Right!"

Eurydice and the others headed off to the north. Meanwhile, Jinkai and the rest met two other members of Abelia's best soldiers, Ouka, weilded a staff, and Ryouga, weilded a Chinese sword. Jinkai threw a shuriken and got stopped by Ouka's staff. Luca then threw a bomb and was kicked away by Ryogua. Jinkai then charged towards Ryouga and both swords hit. Rudiger then came into the fray and tried to attack Ryouga but missed and almost hit Jinkai. Ouka faced Ailian and Yuilin.

"Ready?" asked Ailian.

"Ready!" said Yuilin.

Ailian whipped her sickle at Ouka but was dodged. Yuilin then unleashed a gust of wind that carried Ouka up to the sky. Leraje then came up and attacked but his attacks were being blocked. Ouka fought back but her attacks were blocked as well. The two kept hitting back and forth until they reached the ground. Ailian then chained Ouka down with her sickle but escaped. Yuilin's fan then blazed fire.

"WIND OF FIRE!"

Yuilin then unleashed a huge wave of fire to Ouka but jumped and found a bomb in front of her. The bomb then exploded which knocked Ouka to the giant wave of fire, inflicting huge damage. Ouka stood up but was struggling and then fell down.

"Whew, thanks Luca." said Yuilin.

"No problem!" Luca said with a thumbs up.

Ryouga clashed with Jinkai and Rudiger then attacked from behind again but was blocked. The two repeatedly hit Ryouga from the sides but were being blocked every time. Rudiger then hit the lergs and tripped Ryouga. Jinkai then made a stab down but missed and Ryouga kicked the sword out of Jinkai's hands. Rudiger then made a barrage of lance stabs but only hit once on Ryouga's right arm. Jinkai then grabbe then giant shuriken on his back and threw it. The shuriken slashed Ryouga but only hurt his torso. Rudiger then attacked from behind and sent him flying up. Jinkai managed to get his sword and jump to the sky. Jinkai then slashed Ryouga down to the ground and knocked him out.

"Man, that was a tough one." said Jinkai.

"No time for talk." said Ailian, "Let's hurry."

"Right!"

As Jinkai and the others were on their way, Jan, Aeneas, and Riese made it to the stringhold where Abeila is. Unfortunately, there were two people in the way, Notus and Ishtar.

"We shall not let you pass." said Ishtar, "Not matter who you are."

"It doesn't matter." said Jan, "I'm here for Abelia."

"If you want to get to her, you'll have to get through us." said Notus.

"Allow us." said Aeneas.

"We'll beat you easy." said Riese.

"Enjoy yourselves." said Jan.

"Okay!"

"How dare you!" said Ishtar, attacking Riese but missed.

"You may be Abelia's best but you can't beat Jan's unit." said Riese, behind Ishtar.

"What?!"

Riese then made a swift barrage of slices on Ishtar. Ishtar was already hurt and could barely move. She then grabbed her sword and swung it to the ground, shaking it. Riese then lost her balance which gave Ishtar a chance to attack. But then the attack missed by dodging under the sword. Riese then made a double uppercut using both her fists and hit Ishtar's chin. Ishtar then fell on the ground and became unconsious.

"Ishtar!" yelled Notus.

"Your guards down." said Aeneas.

"What?!"

Aeneas then made a huge lance joust on Notus. Notus then smashed into the wall.

"Argh, damn it..." Notus said, then knocked out.

"What? That quick?" asked Aeneas, "You mean this is all the fight I'm gonna have?!"

"Ahh, don't worry." said Riese, "There's next time."

"Thanks guys." said Jan, "I'll take it from here."

"Careful, Jan." said Eurydice.

"Oh, you guys guys are here already?"

"We've been here for the last five minutes." said Ailian.

"Okay then."

Jan then went inside the stronghold. As he came in he found a small arena that resmbled the one when he faced Abelia a yead ago but had no walls. Abelia was there sitting and looking down. As she looked up, Jan noticed a tear down her eye.

"She was crying..." thought Jan.

Abelia then looked at Jan with eyes of a warrior. She then took out her sword and sheild.

"I won't lose to traitor, even if it is you." she said pointing her sword at Jan.

"Even after all that has happened this whole year, you still want to fight me in such a cold manner?" asked Jan.

"I fight for Grandall and the people that live in it."

"But is it really for the the people?"

"Enough talk."

"Fine then."

Jan and Abelia prepared themselves for battle and charged towards each other. Abelia and Jan clashed their weapons back and forth as everyone was watching from the sides.

"How do you think they'll last?" asked Riese.

"Not sure." said Eurydice, "Even Abelia had a soft side."

Jan then attacked Abelia's legs and she fell but got back up and hit Jan's left arm. Abelia then threw her sheild and whacked Jan's head. As Jan was trying to recover Abelia then charged her sword and lit it on fire.

"Forgive me, Jan." siad Abelia, quietly.

"FIRESTREAM OF JUSTICE!"

The fire was then unleashed to Jan but was reflected off of Jan's SoulCalibur.

"What?!"

The fire hit the ground near Abelia and she couldn't see where Jan was. Jan then came through the fire and tackled Abelia. Abelia dropped her sword and stumbled flat on the ground. Jan's sword was then pointed close at Abelia's face. Jan's eyes stared coldly at hers. She couldn't move and decided to accept it.

"I am defeated." said Abelia, "Do you worst."

Jan looked at Abelia and withdrawn his sword and put his hand out.

"Need a hand?" asked Jan with a smile.

Abelia was surprised by the mercy she was given and took the hand and got up.

"You're still the same after one year." she said, "Why? Was everything I fought for wrong?"

"No." said Jan, "You fought for good but eventually blindly sided with a huge enemy."

"I see. Well, then..."

"Hmm?"

"May I?"

"May I what?"

"May I join you guys in fighting against Strife?"

"I was actually going to ask you." Jan chuckled.

Abelia then smiled.

"Hey, you smiled again."

Abelia then blushed with embarrassment.

"So we now have Abelia in the group!" said Riese, "Everyone is back together!"

"All right, Arthias! Let's move out!" Jan said with a big grin.

"Right!"

"I'm glad I'm back with Jan." Abelia thought, "But if he is going against Strife, what's going to happen?"

Meanwhile, Strife heard the news of Abelia's actions.

"Dammit!" Strife yelled, "Even Abelia changed!"

"It seems you don't have anymore options, your majesty." said Chester.

"Actually I have one."

"Hmm? What is that?"

"You!"

"ME?"

"This is your chance to get back at Jan for what he did to you a year ago."

"Thank you, sir. I'll make sure Jan suffers terribly."

"Good. Now move out!"

"We're almost at the city of Parousia." said Jan.

"I can't believe we have to fight the same place we used to defend for." said Yuilin.

"Don'tya hate irony?" said Riese.

"What was that? Some new language?' asked Aeneas.

"Some weird phrase."

"I missed my fun antics with you guys." said Jan.

"Depends on what you call fun." said Abelia.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

As the unit was, walikg a group of five hooded people were watching them and following them.

"Jan, we will finally meet agian." said one of the figures.

"When will we make our encounter, Luna?" asked another figure.

"Soon."

In the previous chapter I was supposed to enter it earlier but there was an error so I couldn't submit but then I could. Now be sure to look out for the next chapter.

- R2J