CHAPTER TWELVE: Arial Pursuit
"…you're leaving to find Soul Edge again, aren't you…?" I heard Miss Amy mutter to Raphael as Auguste, Jacqueline and I made the horses ready for our departure. When I looked into her eyes I saw an overwhelming amount of sadness, even when she kept such a neutral expression on her face. Suddenly I felt piteous, wanting to squeeze Amy's hand in a reassuring way, but I did not dare to approach her while Master was in sight.
"Not Soul Edge, Amy…something greater and far less dangerous than that. A 'spirit sword'…" Raphael comforted, smoothing the red hair atop her head. "With it I will brew a perfect world for both of us."
"…what if you get hurt? Remember the first time you went for the cursed sword…?" I saw Amy begin to tremble, and I took my eyes away from them, out of respect. I had no right to eavesdrop on their departing words, but my ears were still listening as I saddled the steeds.
"Then I was arrogant, but now I am wiser and stronger… You will not have to worry! That is in the past, Amy. I will return to you healthier than before, and in but a matter of time." He kissed her forehead, but Amy clutched tightly to him.
"Papa… I do not want you to go…!" Amy cried into his shoulder. Raphael hugged her even tighter than she did, telling her not to cry and whiping away her tears.
"When I return, Amy, it will be much worth the waiting… We will have our own world, and we will never depart again."
"Never again…?"
"Never." He hugged her one last time, and then turned to the stables to fetch his saddle and the bag of supplies Auguste had prepared. Seeing my chance, I approached Amy and knelt down in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Amy… Wait for him." I muttered, daring to look into her eyes again. In the depths of their red color I knew that Amy had the strongest will to depart on her own journey for her father, but in my yellow eyes I begged her to turn down the idea. "Please just…stay and wait for him." I repeated, yet I knew Amy would not listen to pathetic words of a governess. In the corner of my eye I saw Raphael returning, so I quickly turned and readied my horse before he could notice me conversing with Amy.
"Je t'aime, papa." Amy murmured.
"Je t'aime. Be a good girl, I'll be back in a while." Raphael mounted his horse, motioned for me to ride aback with him, then I nodded to Jacqueline and Auguste to mount their horse. We strode west, toward the place where I saw the shower of stars the other night, the silhouette of Amy and Master Sorel's manor becoming smaller with each gallop.
Once we were a few miles away from the mansion, Auguste spoke up.
"Master, where are we headed to first?"
"Our first destination will be Ostrheinsburg. There we should be able to gather useful information; and with those facts it will lead us to our next place of investigation."
It made me smirk how Raphael was content with heading to Ostrheinsburg just as Auguste, Jacqueline and I were. It must have been notorious for its encounters with Soul Edge! I believe I remember Master telling us that he had fought at Ostrheinsburg against the Azure Knight, coming home to Amy gravely wounded and malfested. If it were me, I would feel too stricken by harsh memories to even return to Germany – so I admired Raphael for his perseverance but also pitied him; his attempts almost seemed desperate at making a new world for Amy and he.
When we had departed for this journey at the Sorel manor in Wallachia, the sun had not even barely risen it was so early in the morning. By now, considering the amount of miles we traveled, I estimated we were somewhere in Bohemia or Hungaria, but my geography is poor considered to my other roots of knowledge so I am unsure. Nonetheless the sun seemed to be making Raphael weary and sick; I wanted to suggest settling down for a bit, but finally around noon he did so on his own. We dismounted at an oak tree on a hill overlooking a peasant town.
"Any notion to where we are, sir?" Jacqueline squeaked as she unloaded a satchel of food from the horse she and Auguste were mounted on.
"We should be in Hungaria. We will have to pass through Bohemia before we are in Germany's borders." He replied. I suppose my geography wasn't so poor after all. Raphael snapped in Auguste's direction. "Auguste, take some change and see if there is anything essential you can purchase in the town down there. Items such as…canteens would be nice." He paused and glared at Auguste in a repulsive way. "Why do you wear that mask, boy? It makes you look like a beast."
"I wear it out of respect, sir," was Auguste's terse reply.
Raphael turned from him and sighed, closing his eyes and muttering loud enough that we could all hear, "It must be some custom in that tribe of yours."
"What was that, sir—?" Auguste was about to ask before I motioned him away. I mouthed him to go, and he bluntly did so. I breathed in deeply, my lungs feeling dense.
"Jacqueline, you go and see if there are any rivers, streams or ponds nearby. If we can't find any source of freshwater, we'll have to move elsewhere." Raphael directed. Jacqueline made somewhat of a mocking gesture by saluting, then scurried off before he could grimace.
"Do you need anything of me, sir?" I asked quietly. As if forgetting about my presence, Master Sorel seemed to snap to his senses then pulled out a small journal – the same one I had torn a page from – and flipped to a page that thankfully was nowhere near where I had stolen. He pointed to the picture of a crystal-like sword on the page that he had sketched.
"This… Marienbard, do you know what this is?" he seemed eager. I identified the picture immediately.
"That is the Krita-Yuga, sir, one of the Three Sacred Treasures." I paused, then suddenly remembering something from a book I read, and continued, "It is also called Soul Calibur."
Soul Calibur… How is it that I had remembered that at this moment? Surely upon my discovery of Soul Edge it would have flickered a spark in my mind… I seemed to remember everything I read about the Three Sacred Treasures of the Orient and their demolition of evil. I could recite every page of my book about the occult right at that second.
"Soul Calibur…" He muttered, almost in the same tone that I thought. He shook his head, as if the Krita-Yuga's second alias was extraneous information. "The… 'Three Sacred Treasures'; what are they, exactly?"
It looked like I would have to lecture again, like I had with Amy. At least I was deeply interested in this certain matter. "The first is the Kali-Yuga, which is a rod that can absorb both good and evil energy, the second is the Dvapara-Yuga, which is capable of purifying the malfested." Raphael had the same expression on his face that Amy had when I spoke of the Dvapara-Yuga. Perhaps it had some paining memory tied to it… I ceased, out of respect, and asked, "Shall I continue, master?"
He closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes."
I inhaled. "And the third one is the Krita-Yuga, or Soul Calibur. Its objective in this world is to maintain order and rid of all things evil."
"Is it in any way tied to Soul Edge?"
"Yes, sir; in fact its purpose, or 'destiny', is to destroy the cursed blade."
"Has it existed as long as Soul Edge?" Raphael tugged at his leather glove to have it more firmly fitting his hand, and his red eyes drilled into mine as he ordered for more answers.
"It is said ages ago that the son of the great Hero King Algol was murdered by Soul Edge and so out of mourn the king forged Soul Calibur out of purified shards from Soul Edge," said I.
"Do you know the current whereabouts of Soul Calibur, then?"
I bowed my head, my gaze fixing upon the faded grass then muttered, "I do not, sir."
Raphael sighed. "I suppose I was getting my hopes up, but an estimation of its location would be nice, no?" Even though he edged on the question, I could not come up with an answer. I tried to form a reply that made my false identity as a member of this "tribe" stronger by stating of their means.
"I am afraid I cannot answer to that either, sir. We do not have any knowing of the sword's location; we only pass on the legacy of the Hero King." Surely that would suffice.
"Very well," he murmured, and I could not tell if he was agitated or tired. I hoped it was the latter.
"Master…! Hah… There's a… little stream just… down the hill!" Jacqueline yelled in between pants as she ran back up to us. She rested her forearms on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
"Good." Raphael sounded monotonous, as if water was the very last thing on his mind, and I didn't doubt that it was. "Go to Auguste and bring him back. He should be finished by now."
Jacqueline gritted her teeth and glared at Raphael behind his back, snarling her fangs and breathing purposely heavily. A deep growling emitted from her throat as she descended down the hill once again to fetch her friend. I would have laughed at her annoyed expression, had it not been for Raphael in my presence and the many things possessing my thoughts. Instead I just watched her go with an almost apologetic expression as she had been doing much exercise while I just stood and conversed with Master Sorel.
When Jacqueline was gone and away from ear's reach, Raphael said to me, "Marienbard, picture yourself in my position. Where would you go next?"
I blinked, confused with his statement. "We were heading to Ostrheinsburg, were we not?"
He scratched his head. "Yes. Never mind." Raphael was acting very strange, but I decided to not linger any further. Auguste and Jacqueline returned at a most opportune moment.
"I got canteens like you asked sir, as well as blankets and bags of more food." Auguste announced, placing his bundle of items on the grass in front of him. Raphael narrowed his eyebrows.
"Why would you buy blankets when we will stay in cabins? Do you expect us to camp outside?" Raphael snapped.
Auguste shrugged, indifferent, but then bluntly replied, "I did before. I suppose not, though." I cringed at how sarcastically he spoke. Master just licked his pale lips then mounted his horse, extending his hand involuntarily to assist me up.
"A waste of my money," I heard him mutter quietly, then he yelled to Jacqueline and Auguste, "What are you waiting for? Mount your horse! Hungaria is clearly not Ostrheinsburg!"
And without another word we left and continued to Germany.
Only a day later we finally arrived in Germany, and thankfully we did not pass by the gruesome battlefield where my father was murdered as well as other innocent people. My hate for the Azure Knight grew stronger as those unsightly memories crawled back into my mind, but instead of clouding my thoughts with fear I decided to think about Edwyn. I wondered where he was and how he had been – thankfully he and Tryg had made their way from their hole in the ground. I told myself that once I was finished with my duties with Raphael that I would find Edwyn and live with him, wherever he was.
As I was drifted away by the past, Raphael abruptly pulled back on his reigns; the horse was caught by surprise and bucked backwards so that he stood on his hind legs. I almost fell off the steed, yet thankfully I acted quickly by wrapping my arms tightly around Raphael's waist. I went rose red as soon as I realized what I'd done, but once the horse ceased his fit I released my grip on him. Master did not seem to notice.
"Is that Ostrheinsburg?" Jacqueline said in an awestruck tone as Auguste fiddled to calm his horse also at the stop. Even from the back of his head I could see Raphael smiling, and without speaking his dismounted and headed toward what was evidently Ostrheinsburg.
The fortress seemed as though it had been ruined by countless years of war, and there were uncountable amounts of damage that siege weapons had done to its four citadels. Around the battlement was a river, or more likely a moat, as well as a drawbridge partially open to the public. Master Sorel obviously strode to the gateway, gazing up at it vigorously.
"Auguste, swim across the moat and lower the drawbridge," Raphael commanded without making eye contact.
"But, sir!" Auguste cried, appearing to be overwhelmed by how large the moat was. Raphael turned and sneered at him before he could finish.
"But, WHAT?" His red eyes seemed to glow with frustration. "Moats are made of WATER, of course you're going to get WET!"
Deciding not to anger Raphael any longer, Auguste reluctantly swam across the river and onto the rocky shore on the other side. Even from where I was I could see Auguste shivering – it was either that or he was shaking himself dry like a dog – but he still went to the rusted drawbridge gears and pulled the wheel with all his might. The handle would not budge from what I could see; Auguste was trying so hard that I could see the veins bulging out of his biceps as he attempted to make it move. With a sputtered breath, Auguste finally gave up and kicked the gear out of frustration. He gave the handle a mighty hit with his sword, and he even tried to slash off the chains that were suspending the bridge in the air. All of his efforts were futile and gave us no progress.
Raphael muttered a swear then yelled out to him, "What is the hold up? Why hasn't the bridge fallen?"
"The h-handle is too ru-rusted!" Auguste shouted in return, his teeth chattering.
I tried to look for something that would make this situation easier. From the east side of the moat I spotted an object floating in the water, and when I focused my vision closer to the object I realized that it was a raft, floating aimlessly on the moat! "Master, look!" I called, pointing in the direction of the raft. Jacqueline, Raphael and Auguste turned their heads to where I was pointing.
"Yes, that raft… Go to the edge and see if you can pull it closer to the shore." Master directed. I ran to the place where the water met the rocks and readied my scythe for when the raft came closer. When it was in preferable reach, I held the very end of my scythe's long handle and stretched my arm towards the raft's edge. The curved blade of the scythe hooked onto the wood of the raft and I heaved it closer to the shore.
"Well done, Amy!" Master called as he walked onto the raft, Jacqueline following.
Did he really just call me Amy? I thought, shocked. I kept my best neutral veneer as I lingered on that thought, and I was so deeply contemplated I almost forgot to get on the raft. Once I stood upon its wood surface, I used my scythe again like a paddle and slowly steered us to the side where Auguste was on, and he barely had time to leap on the raft the river was moving so quickly.
"Wait," Raphael called, I suspended the raft in the water as best as I could against the strong current. "Jacqueline, you stay there with Auguste and see if the two of you can manage to open the drawbridge. We will circle the perimeter of Ostrheinsburg and see if there is another opening. If not, we will continue to ride on the current and come back to the drawbridge."
"Aye, sir," Jacqueline squeaked out unwillingly, then jumped onto the rocky shore where Auguste was.
I steered the raft back into the center of the river, the current taking us along nicely. As Raphael scanned the battlement for alternative entrances, I looked at my reflection in the water of the moat, still surprised by how Master called me Amy. Did I look like her? Did I sound like her? I didn't speak out as much as Jacqueline or Auguste did… maybe my quietness reminded him of Amy. Maybe it was the blank and neutral stare I always had to paint on my face that made him think of Amy.
Suddenly, our raft crashed with another object in the water. With a silent gasp I looked up from the river and saw that we had collided with another raft, identical to ours, only atop it were three oriental people; one woman and two men. Raphael unsheathed his rapier from its hilt and held his fighting stance. Following, I held my scythe closely, scanning the trinity of Asians closely. One man seemed to be about twenty and was dressed in white, wielding a nunchaku; the woman seemed twenty or eighteen as well, dressed in sporty yet imperial noble clothing, a decorative sword in her hand. The third man was in a dark blue robe that had several split ends, and in his hand was none other than the Kali-Yuga rod itself. I gasped at what I saw; I had only read and dreamt about seeing it in person – and yet even when I looked closer, he had the Dvapara-Yuga pendant around his neck! This man had two of the Three Sacred Treasures. Raphael seemed to recognize the oriental man.
"He has two of the Three Sacred Treasures," I repeated aloud, only muttering to Raphael.
"Does that mean he would know about Soul Calibur?" He whispered in return.
"Most probably, sir."
Raphael smirked, then let out a nasty glare at the oriental man with the Kali-Yuga. "You shall tell me everything I want to know."
"You're…no longer human, are you?" The man with the Kali-Yuga said, a piteous look on his face as he prepared himself to fight. Just from how they looked at one another and by what they said; I immediately knew that they had met before. Raphael seemed enraged at the man's pity and thrust his rapier near his foe's chest, the man dodging just in time. So great was the impact of Master's sword and the Kali-Yuga that sparks flew. The attacking started quickly, and before I could turn around I had both the woman with the Chinese sword and the man with the nunchakus charging in my direction.
It was very difficult to fight them off; the two almost seemed to be mocking me as the leapt away from my slow attacks easily, sneaking behind me and surprising me with kick attacks and guard impacts. The man with the Kali-Yuga gave out a cry as Raphael sliced his arm, so like a little duckling following the mother goose the man with the nunchakus went to his aid in the duel. I was left with the oriental woman.
"That man is too dangerous!" She said as she guarded one of my strong slashes.
"I serve him," I spat through gritted teeth, frustrated with this girl.
"Is your resolve this thin? You must carve your own fate!" She spun her sword in an elaborate circle against my side which I luckily blocked in time. The woman would not cease in her teasing ways as she span around me this way and that, poking at me with her sword wherever there was an opening. "Over here!" she taunted, and I had it for the last time.
"Nuisance," I mumbled, too angry to yell. I hooked my scythe against the Chinese woman's bare stomach and swung her back, her body hanging helplessly on the blade as I threw here across the raft. Blood splattered everywhere from the large gash in her stomach.
"Xianghua!" One of the men called to her. I supposed that was her name, then. Xianghua shook her head at them in a reassuring way, as if to say that she was alright despite her profusely bleeding wound.
"Don't worry," I sneered, "it's fatal."
Xianghua wobbly stood up, her eyebrows creased and her face swelled up in pain. She held her arm against her stomach to try and staunch the blood, but it only stained the sleeve of her cropped jacket. Smirking and seeing my chance at her weak state, I dashed up to her, swinging my weapon in front of me but hitting the edge of her blade instead of skin. Amazingly, Xianghua held her guard as I pushed my scythe against her thin sword until both of us were trembling with the force. I tried to push her into the water, she tried to push me away; the opposing powers were holding us in one place.
I grimaced, not letting my fresh strength fall behind her when she was so wounded. The Asian's face became pale with the horrid pain, yet she bit her lip and held a hand against her sword's blade to add more push to her side. "Fall," I whispered, impatient with this performance. I heard two splashes of water, one right after the other, from the side of the raft that Raphael was on. He had managed to heave the two men into the water.
"Now, Marienbard!" He yelled.
With that bidding, I pulled back for a mere second then kicked Xianghua into the streaming river. Her gasp was lost into the current as her bloody body submerged in the liquid. I let out a shaky breath now that the duel was finished and looked at the cut in my arm. It was bleeding, but was nothing to quarrel about.
"Are you alright?" Raphael asked, walking towards me.
"Yes, sir." I nodded to him, then stuck the bloodied end of my scythe into the water, letting the current of the river wash the crimson away. "Did you get the information you wanted?"
He shook his head. "Not exactly, but I know that Ostrheinsburg will not be where we will find the spirit sword. We will fetch Auguste and Jacqueline and see where this raft can take us if we can get it out of the battlement." We turned and saw them where the drawbridge was at the exact moment he finished his sentence. "Any luck?" He called.
"No," Jacqueline replied, shaking her head then leaping on with Auguste as the raft almost flew by them. "Whoa! Time out! What's up with all these bloodstains? Were you attacked or something?" She squeaked as she stepped in a puddle of blood.
"Yes," Raphael said, halfway sighing and halfway groaning. "We're heading out of Ostrheinsburg on this raft for now."
Jacqueline pouted and whined, "Why do I always miss the fun?" but soon received a nasty leer from Raphael to stop talking.
We neared the far west side of the battlement and luckily Raphael's eyesight caught a glimpse of a cave that could lead us free of Ostrheinsburg; I immediately began maneuvering the raft towards the opening of the tunnel with my scythe like a gondolier, yet soon the current was drifting with us again as we entered the channel. It was a dimly lit passageway, with torches suspended against the stone walls, and bats hiding in the recesses of the underpass where the light of the fire would not reach them.
"Those bats are so annoying!" Jacqueline complained.
"They sound like you," Auguste grunted.
She puffed out her nostrils. "I'm sure under that mask you look as ugly as a bat!"
"HUSH!" Raphael shouted, waving his hand as if he were a conductor silencing his orchestra. "Don't you hear that noise?"
The earth seemed to shake – the bats, sensing a disturbance in nature, fled from the channel, squealing as if something had gone vitally wrong – a large swell in the river pushed the raft out of the tunnel and everyone almost fell into the water with the impact. The raft waded its way in the direction of the bats as they fled their shelter, yet soon the animals had flown away from our sight as we were left floating in a large lake where the moat mouthed in. The ground shook again; I looked over west at the exact time everyone else had. Upon the horizon was an ominous and large funnel cloud, grey and blanketing a strange occult-looking tower that seemed to stand so tall it touched the heavens. It glowed with its own amber light – I recognized the sky scraping structure immediately from my books.
"I didn't think it true…" I whispered aloud to myself, awestruck and my wide-eyed gaze frozen on the tower. I felt Master Sorel's questioning eyes on me, so I cleared my throat and explained, "When the Hero King Algol sacrificed himself for power to Soul Calibur and Soul Edge, a tower – made entirely of memories – rose from the ground. Fittingly, the spire is called the Tower of Remembrance, and it was said to rise again when Algol was resurrected…"
I could see Raphael's eyes shine with enlightenment. It must have been exactly the information he sought. He stretched out his arm and muttered something for us all to grasp it – we obeyed; suddenly a rouge-colored mist surrounded us and instantly we were on a stone bridge that lead out of the citadel Ostrheinsburg. Of course; I remember reading that vampires had the ability to form into mist, bats, or even wolves in some folklore.
Raphael sped into a jog down the stone bridge, his servants tailing behind him. I knew in all of our hearts that no one wanted to question that determination in his eyes, yet still Jacqueline said in a more serious tone than usual, "Sir, what do we do now—"
"No more questions," Raphael only murmured, yet it was loud enough for us to hear. "We are too close to doubt ourselves."
I knew that when Raphael said 'we' he meant Amy and him, but I could not help but let my thoughts squander. Perhaps I just stayed like this – running alongside my master, filling my servitude to him – perhaps it would not be a burden. I could spend the rest of my life doing his bidding gleefully – loyally. Every task that was set upon my shoulders I would exceed to the maximum, because in the end it would be for him… Curse the world, I could not escape it. I could not escape the fact that I had fallen in an obsessive love for Raphael.
But what about Auguste? The other side of my sanity seemed to scream this out at me. Had all of his sparks worn out? Had my once fiery passion for him died away? Perhaps…perhaps we were only meant to be so close. No more than brother and sister – exactly how I was to Jacqueline; or like she and her fellow brigands! She had called them 'brothers,' had she not? Yet she loved them all deeply and truly. Auguste was no more than family to me. Raphael was the one I craved, the one who must love me…wasn't he?
So much time was wasted on those thoughts – it seemed that as soon as we left Ostrheinsburg we had arrived at the Tower of Lost Souls. My mouth had fallen open so wide, it was sure to have touched the ground. The occult tales of the Hero King Algol were all true! And my sister Catriona had only called my beloved stories "lies written on parchment." Not even Father had believed them. Mayhap if he were still alive…after his experience with the demonic power of the Azure Night…mayhap he would believe me now.
Everything was exactly as described in my novels – the path was carved of beige stone, rising up in the air almost alike a craggily mountain pathway, with fiery liquid slithering against the side of the rock.
"What…what kind of place are we in?" Auguste muttered, and I did not know if he was fatigued from the heat or astonished by the sights. Perhaps both.
"There, master!" I said, shouting over the steam and hissing noises of the liquid fire and pointing forward, "that platform is where the warrior is said to 'fight away the gatekeeper, whomever it may be.'" I quoted exactly from my novel. Standing ahead of us was a woman with long, silky black hair that had been pulled back and was covering half of her face. She wore revealing, oriental clothing and a strange skull figure sat upon her shoulder. When the four of us approached, I saw her sneer.
"It's time to play," the woman said in a kittenish voice. "Here I come."
Immediately she charged at Raphael with her dual katanas, slashing the fabric of his black coat. I didn't want the woman to take his off-guard for granted, so I ran in and attempted to attack, but she pushed me aside when the blades of our weapons met. I was impressed by her strength.
She must be some kind of demon, I thought, and that skull is feeding her power. For its eyes seemed to glow crimson every time she attacked.
Raphael and she engaged in battle – dodging, parrying, striking, slashing – I seemed helpless as I laid on the rocky ground next to them, the heat getting to my head and making me a bit dizzy. I wiped the sweat from my brow; the battle seemed to be earning us no progress… perhaps Raphael had not noticed the pauldron on the woman's shoulder…
"Master," I called, "the skull."
Immediately his blade fell upon the bone of the skull, and the woman screamed – sounding almost like the yowl of a wild dog – then fell to the ground. I knew not if she were dead or just unconscious. Master did not linger on our victory. He took us down the road that had formed, heading closer to the Tower of Remembrance, taking a fast pace and long strides. I slowed a bit to walk next to Auguste and Jacqueline, who looked either afraid or anxious.
"Jacqueline," I muttered, "why are you so worried? Look at how far we have come."
Jacqueline said nothing but swallowed and closed her eyes for a moment, as if afraid I might see her shed a tear, and bit her lip. I blinked and looked at the road ahead of me, thinking that I could understand the emotions Jacqueline was feeling. Auguste's hand squeezed mine.
The enormous and elaborate doors of the tower opened slowly, and we encountered countless numbers of battles while we descended. We all fought ruthlessly against the warriors and monsters that were scattered about the endless floors of the building – I honestly think that Auguste, Jacqueline and I had the most blood on ourselves than Raphael…but who was I to question motives?
We reached the second to last floor. Already I had run out of breath from the fights and stair climbing – and at the sight of our opponents I was completely petrified. The first was a girl, her hair tousled and tangled into hideous looking pigtails with a ring-blade who would not stop giggling, the second was a giant; a golem – a terror. He rose eleven feet in the air and had an axe taller than Auguste. The last one, however…
It was the Azure Knight himself.
I had not enough words to describe him – he looked like a void…an abyss…only shrouded in blue armor and taking a humanoid form. His right arm was exactly as Edwyn described – grotesque, misshapen, enormous, and demonic. And clutched in that horrid arm was none other than Soul Edge.
Had it not been for Raphael's presence, I would have charged at the Azure Knight and slaughtered him until he was nothing left but a heap of crimson-stained metal.
"Tremble in my darkness!" The Azure Knight roared, his voice indescribable – like a mixture of thunder and howling winds.
"Worthless dogs… Learn your place!" Raphael taunted, almost with a look of pity on his face. The fight began.
Jacqueline and Auguste took on the golem – for they were fast and the giant was slow but powerful. Jacqueline had an easy tactic of sliding between his legs, then leaving an opening for Auguste. Their tricks worked for some time.
My responsibility was the lunatic girl. She giggled and spun her ring blade around her waist jovially, but I suppose in also a threatening way. "Eheheheh… Let's play!" She chimed, holding her weapon in a more intimidating position now. Raphael was to battle with the Azure Knight, but the girl was too distracting and admittedly far too strong for me to pay attention to his battle – or Jacqueline and Auguste's, for that case.
"Pretty… You're so pretty! Ahahahaha!" This girl was truly insane – here she was, handing out compliments like flowers as she slashed furiously at me with her blade, having a strong intent to kill. "My name's Tira," she called as she twirled away like a dancer from one of my attacks. "What's yours?"
I was becoming quite irritated by her joyous persona in the midst of the chaos. Aggressively, I swung my scythe at her so hard that she lost the guard of her ring-blade. "What a killjoy!" She squawked. "All I wanted to know was your name!" Her voice had gone very raspy and she was glaring at me in such a cold way… If looks could kill, she would have my head on a spike. I almost gaped at her sudden mood change. Tira was obviously psychologically torn.
We engaged in a long series of offense and defense. Tira had grown more aggressive and strong than I thought…I began to panic of whether or not I would win this fight.
My attention was stolen from the duel as I heard Jacqueline scream and the golem throwing her into the wall of the tower. The stained glass window that was there shattered, and she collapsed to the ground motionless. Just as she was slowly lifting her head and blinking out the rubble in her eyes, the golem snatched her up again and threw her on the ground with such force, I knew she had to have broken limbs.
"No-!" I began to scream, but Tira pushed me against the wall with her ring-blade against my throat.
"You've come all this way just to die," she whispered in that deathly, raspy voice. "I couldn't care less about you." Tira's eyes lifted, and she became jolly again. "You wanted to play a little longer, didn't you?"
I let out something of a breath or a grunt of plea – thinking I had no other option – but then I stomped on Tira's foot with all my might. She screamed (or maybe squawked) and doubled over. Seeing my chance I came at her with furious slashes, and she only grinned. "That's it! Show me you mean business!"
Time seemed to stop as I ran up to her, swung my scythe at her open hip – the skin tearing, the blood spurting – and clipped her to the wall with half of her side cut open. Blood poured everywhere and her face was frozen in surprise. Had I more strength, perhaps, I might have dissembled her legs from her torso completely. I did not linger on my victory. Turning on my heel, I ran up to the golem and – from being caught in the adrenalin, I suppose – hacked at him as if he were barely crops. He grunted and wailed in agony, then fell to the ground in a pile of cooled rock. Auguste had his eyes locked on me – whether it was a stare of horror, surprise or thanks I knew not for his mask blocked me from knowing. His skin and clothes were torn, and he bled in several small places.
Puffing out my nostrils, I knelt next to Jacqueline. A stream of crimson fell from her dry, thin lips. Dirt, blood, and bruises were smeared on her face and just about everywhere else. I glanced at her shoulder and saw that it was shaped in a way that it shouldn't have been, and her shaking right arm was holding it tightly. Despite everything else stained on her, Jacqueline's yellow eyes were fogged and moist – I almost believed she would perish right there in my arms – so for a wicked and anonymous reason I slapped my hand across her cheek.
"Marienbard!" Auguste yelled. I saw him beginning to lunge at me, his hands aiming for my throat, but the tear that ran down my cheek must have ceased his actions. I kept my eyes locked on Jacqueline's.
"I… will not let you go," I said with a hoarse voice. Jacqueline's cool demeanor collapsed and she embraced me, sobbing. We said nothing more as I stroked her stringy, ruby hair with a trembling hand. I wiped away her tears and we both swallowed our weeps.
From the far side of the chamber, I heard metal crash and the Azure Knight's booming yelp, as if in agony. His armor clattered as he began to collapse to the floor. I had completely forgotten about the battle Raphael was engaged in. "You'll never hold the power to wield Soul Edge!" The demonic knight screamed with dying breaths.
"Soul Edge? I've already put that behind me." Raphael said in a completely calm tone. There was a small series of shaking, and a final staircase appeared at the end of the chamber. "Come," he said, "our final battle awaits."
I could all but feel my heart bursting out of my breast as we ascending the staircase. My arms erupted in gooseflesh – at the end of this staircase we would face the wielder of Soul Calibur… We would return to Romania and Raphael would finally have his new world for he and Amy.
And perhaps me, even. Did he not favor me? Did I not gain his trust? Amy had trusted me, at least. Raphael was blind by his daughter's approval; maybe he would bestow me into his thoughts as well. Maybe…if I had the luck…he would view me as a wife… …a wife?
Something about that did not seem right. A wife? It was a hopeless thought – absurd! Neither luck, favor, trust or love would win me his kinship. There was a fact that I could not face that I had to realize; Raphael's heart was stone hard and cold as ice. Nothing else mattered in his world except Amy. Who did I think I was, hoping that I could even catch his eye? He was only using Auguste, Jacqueline and I to stall the enemies as he captured his prize. Once he had Soul Calibur, we would mean absolutely nothing to him. Our duties would be fulfilled – we would no longer be needed… What would he do with us? Just merely cast us away, banish us from his castle? Or would he completely rid of our existence…?
I did not want to live in the darkness with Raphael any longer. I did not love Raphael. It was Auguste I wanted – a stream of light to warm me; not a glass of wine to quench my thirst. Once we were finished, Jacqueline, Auguste and I would escape from Romania – perhaps we would find Edwyn…or make a home of Amelie's vacant workshop. We would forget the darkness of the past and live in harmony.
The last step of the staircase crept under my shoe. I had passed the point of no return.
We were on the roof of the tower, the sun setting in the distance. I felt as though we were in the heavens ourselves. Father? Amelie? Can you see me? I thought.
Standing in the center of the platform was a young man – most probably in his twenties - in crystal armor with shaggy blonde hair. His eyes were as blue as the ocean and a scar was over his left eye. He was staring at Raphael with intent – it was nothing of a glare. In his hands was the large and radiant Soul Calibur, which looked as though it had been carved from diamonds. The man, evidently, had been expecting us.
"Siegfried Schtauffen," Raphael spit. "Or should I call you Nightmare."
The man named Siegfried winced. "Do not say that name," he muttered in a soft but brusque voice, haunted with turmoil. It was at this moment I began wondering who was really the just – the vampire Raphael, or this man Siegfried, who looked like a saint in his shining armor?
"For one who has sinned so much, it is quite ironic that Soul Calibur is the weapon you wield." Raphael taunted again, his words like poison. "So hand it over."
Siegfried's grip on the hilt of Soul Calibur only tightened.
I saw Raphael sneer. "You will regret not killing me when you had the chance." For a moment too long, the five of us stood in silence.
"There is something I must finish," Siegfried lightly stated with his deep and gentle voice.
"IT IS BESIDE THE POINT!" Raphael was growing impatient. "Give the sword to ME!"
Siegfried's eyes blinked only once, then he held his sword in an attacking position. "You're in my way," he grunted, seemingly impatient also. "Stand aside!" Siegfried almost seemed…hesitant to use force.
"How dare you? Just heed my orders!" Raphael unsheathed his Flambert.
The final battle had begun. Slowly, at first – Raphael came at Siegfried with strong thrusts and slashes – for a while Siegfried only defended against the attacks. Raphael's blade came down upon Siegfried's crystal chest armor; the protection cracked. It was then that Siegfried began to play a more offensive game. The Holy Sword and Flambert crashed together – I was surprised that against a weapon so powerful that Raphael's rapier had not broken yet. Perhaps it was Raphael's malfestation or his vampirism that gave the blade extra support.
I was lost in thought. Should I support my master? No… this battle was to be fought only with him. I had no relationship with Siegfried or with Raphael's connection with Amy… nothing really sentimental, in the least. So I watched. I stood in the middle of Auguste and Jacqueline, watching silently and innocently, as the two men severed each other with their swords.
For some reason, I closed my eyes and said a prayer.
Amelie, Father… However this battle shall end, I will tell you not to look. Do not put your saintly gaze upon the victor of this battle. Do not look at Jacqueline, Auguste or me. We are as much sinners as the two are fighting this battle—
My thoughts were erupted when I heard Siegfried's deep voice grunt and breathe deeply. My heart was beating so loud I knew Auguste could hear it. Even in the strain of my corset, my chest fell up and down with my short breaths.
Please, dear father, Amelie, do not look!
I did not want to look, but I saw Raphael standing above Siegfried, a look of pity – regret, maybe...humility – yet his words were harsh. "Why do you fight… when you know you will lose?"
"Why?" Siegfried's words were gargled at first, but then he spat out a bit of blood and spoke with dying grunts, "why do you shred me from my path of redemption?"
"What do I care of your motivations?" He glared at his fallen foe. "This is reality. Know your place." Raphael stuck the tip of his rapier in Siegfried's throat, and the man died without a single sound. I could all but stare in silence and shock. Raphael pried Soul Calibur from Siegfried's grip and smiled most deviously.
"Amy…we are close!"