For the first time in a while, Siegfried was lonely. Over the years, he had grown accustomed to being by himself - but, over the short amount of time that he'd known Tira, he'd grown accustomed to her company. Especially at night - especially at night. This was the first night that he wouldn't be spending with Tira since the day he had met her; Ivy had given them separate rooms. Siegfried had not protested, seeing as drawing attention to the relationship between him and Tira might upset Ivy. He had decided that he would just have to deal with it. There would be other nights.
And, so, Siegfried slipped into slumber, while Tira, even though she was alone as well, did not sleep. Although she had her own room and warm, comfortable bed, she was not in it. She was perched on a tree outside of the mansion, looking into her Master's bedchambers. The reason was a mixture of her fondness for him and her desire to make sure that he was safe in this new environment with this strange woman in it. Her vantage point allowed her a view into the hallway that led to Siegfried's room, as well, and she kept a close eye on it, watching for that woman. When she became too tired, she would let herself fall asleep, but until then, she kept watch for her Master. Maybe, one day, I'll tell him about all the times I pretended to be asleep, but was really keeping a watch over him, and he'll be proud of me, and he'll praise me. Master, I'm trying hard. I really am.
It was a few seconds before Tira would have let herself drift off to sleep when she noticed movement in the hallways. It was that woman. She was creeping, quietly, stealthily, towards Siegfried's bedroom.
Instinctively, all sorts of different ways to kill her began to appear in Tira's mind - she could fly through the window this way, or that way, and dispose of the woman using this technique, or that one...however, she soon remembered that she was to remain committed to not killing. She heaved a heavy sigh, and then put her mind to work trying to think up an alternative. The first idea that came to her mind was impractical, but to her, anything that didn't involve killing was impractical, so she didn't know the difference. She'd simply let the woman know of her presence. That should be enough to ward her off.
So, Tira sprang from the tree branch to the windowsill, landing as safely and soundlessly as if she had been a tiny bird. Once there, she leaned against the wall and stood with her legs crossed, a sleepy expression on her face. As nonchalant as this made her look, it was mainly caused by how tired she felt.
She tapped on the window to let the woman know of her presence. The woman jerked her head to the right to see Tira, and the two of them stared at each other silently. Tira slowly shook her head from side to side to warn her, "No."
Strangely, the woman smirked. When Tira saw those purple lips curl into a smile, she became agitated. She didn't like the woman looking as if she knew everything. The woman simply turned and walked away from the door. Shrugging, Tira leapt back onto her perch, and remained there for the rest of the night. She fell asleep, and the woman did not return that night.
---
It was morning. Siegfried left his chambers, but did not know exactly what he should do. Currently, he was merely waiting to hear word from Ivy - but did not know when or even if he should approach her, afraid of doing something wrong and endangering their proposed partnership.
Around noon, he figured that she'd had adequate time to think about the matter, and decided to finally discuss it with her. He and Tira found her standing in the middle of her living room, facing the door they had entered the room in, as if she had been waiting for them.
"...Ivy." He said, the awkwardness of the situation leaving him clueless of a proper way to greet her.
"Siegfried." She responded plainly, but not coldly.
"...I slept well last night. I would like to thank you again for letting us use your mansion."
"Oh, it was no problem at all."
"I...suppose I shall simply get to the point. Have you decided whether or not you will join us, yet?"
"I have decided that I will join you - but only under one condition."
The already thick tension in the room elevated to astronomical levels.
"...Yes? What is it?"
"I do not see a purpose in embarking on a journey if the solution could have been determined in my lab the entire time. I understand your apprehensions about me doing experiments on the Soul Embrace, but until I know for sure that no solution can be reached here, I think it unwise to leave."
Siegfried closed his eyes in thought. As he did so, Ivy smiled slightly, and looked in Tira's direction.
And Tira was furious.
Ivy had determined the exact thing that would drive Tira out of her mind. Tira had spent sleepless nights guarding her Master and Soul Embrace, and even successfully prevented Ivy from obtaining it last night. And, now, Ivy had given Siegfried an ultimatum - to hand over Soul Embrace, or no partnership. Ivy had felt that doing this would jab Tira brutally. And she was not wrong.
Tira said nothing - in fact, she did nothing. She did not even change her facial expression. However, her face grew hotter and redder as she seethed with anger.
"...How long would it take?" Siegfried finally asked, breaking up the unspoken war between the two women.
"Oh. Who knows. I may be unable to do anything with it after exhausting every option, and it could all be over in a matter of hours. Or, one discovery may lead to another, to another, to another, and so on for weeks. Months, even."
"We don't have weeks or months." Siegfried said. "There are those who seek me, and seek Soul Edge. There are those who possess the ability to sense the exact location of the Soul Embrace. They are always following me. They are closing in on us as we speak. We don't know when they'll arrive. But, if we stay in one spot for more than a day or two, we will be found, and there will be fighting. That is a guarantee."
"Hmph. It may be, but that fact doesn't change how long it will take."
"...But it does tell how long you will have." Siegfried replied coldly. "...One day. You have Soul Embrace for one day." Siegfried carried it with him at the moment, as he almost always did. He slung it off of his shoulder, and held it out to Ivy. "You'd better work fast, alchemist."
---
The remainder of the day was spent in Ivy's laboratory. It was a fascinating place, the like of which Siegfried and Tira had never seen. Occasionally, they inquired as to what a certain instrument was, or what it did, but they could rarely comprehend Ivy's replies. They did, however, insist on understanding what Ivy was doing when she preformed experiments of alchemy and magic on the sword, and she explained well. When Siegfried dubbed the experiment to be safe, it commenced.
And always without results.
Half to their relief, because there were no negative results, and half to their dismay, because there were no positive results, every single experiment that Ivy preformed on the Soul Embrace failed to produce any results whatsoever, other than that the swords were immune to it.
Ivy cursed, and then muttered to herself explanations, talk of matter and energy and chemicals and elements and compounds and other things that neither Siegfried or Tira had ever heard of before.
Ivy had only needed half a day to discover that every instrument in her lab and every procedure she knew were ineffective on the Soul Embrace.
Siegfried and Tira, at first intrigued, but now nearly bored, could also tell that Ivy was getting nowhere, but neither wanted to tell her so. In the end, she admitted it herself in the form of cursing and slamming her fists against a table.
"...I can't believe it. Something with this sort of structure shouldn't even be capable of existing..." Ivy muttered to herself.
"...Ivy." Siegfried said calmly. "I say this with only our interests and safety in mind - we are endangered here, and should leave now." He was careful to word himself without saying anything potentially offensive. "And, you...will you join us?"
For a few moments, Ivy didn't give any indication that she had heard anything that Siegfried had recently said. Then, she spoke. "...Well, damned if I'm going to leave the fate of the world in the hands of a pacifist knight and Featherbrain over there. ...Oh, hell, I'm coming with you."
"I am very grateful." Siegfried replied sincerely, not affected by Ivy's other comments. Tira, on the other hand, was affected, but knew that infighting wasn't going to help at all, and as hard as she found it to do so, kept quiet.
"...So, where do we go?"
"...Well, although I am certain that any number of options is open to us, an option that has stood out to me for some time now is to search for a power greater than Soul Edge, powerful enough to destroy it."
"What? Nothing I tried here today was powerful enough. What makes you think that we could find a weapon powerful enough to destroy the sword?"
"If something as seemingly indestructible as the Soul Embrace could exist, then there must be other weapons or powers in existence with equal or greater strength. We should seek one such weapon."
"...Suggesting we use brute force, eh? It figures..."
Siegfried was offended, seeing as he had initially chosen the pursuit of knowledge over 'brute force,' but did not argue.
"Anyway, where are we going to find a weapon or power strong enough to destroy Soul Edge?"
"I would not know. However, I think I may know who would know. Warriors of exceptional strength. They would wield powerful weapons themselves, and must be overflowing with knowledge of strength and how to acquire it."
"And where are we going to find warriors like that?"
"In ancient Rome, there was a sport where men bet their lives in combat. I learned that, on a certain lakeshore, exists a secret arena constructed to recreate that aspect of the Roman world. It is said that, in this arena, the strongest of warriors gather to risk their lives at this sport."
"How barbaric." Ivy muttered. "So, you're proposing that we travel to a secret arena to try to learn from someone of a weapon powerful enough to destroy Soul Edge?"
"It is not our only choice, but our options are scarce, and I believe that it is a worthy pursuit." Siegfried chose the perfect way to conclude his argument: "...I would gladly be willing to listen to any propositions that you might have."
Ivy had none.