Chapter 74: The interrogation

- It's useless, Rock. – said Ivy. – He won't say anything.

- He will. – he disagreed.

- Why would he? He knows that if we find the sword, he's dead.

They had locked and chained up Cervantes in the held, and Rock had decided to question him about Soul Edge's whereabouts. The pirate obviously didn't know anything about it, because if he did he would have gone after it, but maybe he could give them a clue.

- I'll make him talk. – claimed Rock heading to Cervantes' cell.

- How are you going to do it?

Rock ignored her and descended into the held. Ivy hurried to follow him.

Down there, everything was very dark.

Cervantes was tied to a beam. Beside the ex-captain, Alan was standing still, guarding him.

When Rock and Ivy arrived, the prisoner raised his eyes and laughed.

- I think I underestimated you, Rock, didn't I? – he said.

Rock approached him and grabbed his neck.

Alan and Ivy were surprised to see Rock so furious.

- My name is not Rock. – he grumbled. – My true name is William. William Adams.

Cervantes looked at Rock's eyes and smiled evilly.

- Adams? Where did I hear that? – he wondered, mockingly.

- Maybe from my parents. Nathaniel and Catherine Adams.

- Nathaniel Adams? Oh, of course…the man who allegedly first found Soul Edge.

- Allegedly?

- So that's why you're here. – understood Cervantes, ignoring the question. – You came looking for revenge.

Rock snorted as a confirmation.

- Then I'm sorry you have travelled so much for nothing, because you need to destroy the sword to kill me, and even I don't know where it is. And if I knew it, I wouldn't tell you, of course. Furthermore, now you're a zombie too. If I die, you'll die as well.

- I told you. – intervened Ivy. – He won't talk.

Rock released Cervantes and addressed Alan.

- When I arrived here, they took my axe. Do you know where it is?

Alan nodded.

- Bring it here.

- What are you going to do?

- Just do it.

Alan sighed and left the held.

Ivy and Rock looked at each other.

- You don't have to stay in here if you don't want to. – he said.

- I will…I think I will stay. – she replied.

- Fine.

Alan came back soon later, seizing Rock's huge axe

- Here you are. – he said handing it to its owner.

Rock grabbed it and approached Cervantes again.

- So aren't you talking?

The only answer he got was a loud laugh.

- Do you really think you can hurt me? – asked Cervantes. – A zombie doesn't feel pain and you should know it.

Rock smiled.

- Alan, I've been wondering about something for a time. What would happen to a zombie if he gets his head cut off?

Cervantes' face immediately changed.

- The same as if he gets any other part of his body cut off. – the crewman answered. – He wouldn't feel anything, but that part would become useless. The brain is in the head, so…I guess that if a zombie gets his head cut off, the rest of his body would become useless instead.

- I suppose being just a bodyless head isn't very nice, right? – the new captain said while approaching his axe's blade to Cervantes' neck. The pirate gulped.

- Of course. – replied Alan.

Rock seemed very pleased.

- Well…then I'll ask you again, Cervantes…Aren't you talking?

...

- Let's start from the beginning. – said Rock. – When was the first time you heard about Soul Edge?

- I hadn't heard about the sword when I first found it. – explained Cervantes. – I was sailing my old pirate ship and I boarded another boat. As soon as I did it, I noticed there was something strange on that ship. The captain was enormous, his skin was red and his heart was in sight.

Ivy and Alan gave each other a look of disgust when they heard that.

- Undoubtedly, it wasn't human, although he seemed to be considering his intelligence. That monster was carrying Soul Edge, and I took it from him. I don't usually leave people alive when I board a ship, but I didn't dare to fight with that giant. So, as soon as I had Soul Edge in my power, I fled along with my crew. – retold the pirate. – Some time later I found out that monster was Astaroth, who had taken the sword from his creator, Kunpaetku.

- How did Kunpaetku get the sword? – inquired Ivy.

- I don't know. – answered Cervantes before continuing. – That sword…was the most powerful weapon I had ever seen, and I haven't seen a better one since then either. I went so far as to love Soul Edge as much as my own life. However, short after, I lost it during a naval battle, near Portugal. It fell to the sea and I thought I had lost it forever. But I was wrong.

- My father found Soul Edge in Portugal. I guess it had been swept by the tide. That night you boarded our ship and killed my parents. – Rock said angrily. – How did you know we had the sword?

- I guess I was led by my instinct…or by the sword's. Soul Edge is alive, you know? It knew it belonged to me, so I suppose it led me to it.

- How did you lose the sword again? And how did you become a zombie?

- Months after killing your parents, I was mortally wounded. I fell to the sea, dying, but holding Soul Edge tight. The sea swept us to India, but by then I was already a dead corpse. – said Cervantes with an evil grin. – However, one day, a warrior who looked Nordic, or maybe German, found us and tried to take the sword. Then, Soul Edge resurrected me to protect itself. Unfortunately, that warrior was too powerful, and he managed to defeat me…but I was now an immortal zombie.

- What do you know about Soul Edge, nowadays?

- I know it doesn't lead me to it any more, and that's strange. However, I found a mighty warrior named Olcadan, who had information about Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, and I questioned him. I found out he had created both swords and he had used Soul Calibur to defeat a god, who then hid the sword.

- I read that in your ledger. – said Rock. – What else? What about Soul Edge?

- He realized it was too dangerous, so he got rid of it by selling it to a guy who was really interested in it. Maybe Kunpaetku himself.

- That's possible, yes.

- He also talked about an immortal man who is looking for the two swords in order to kill himself, but you probably read that in my ledger too. – said the pirate ironically.

- Yes, but…on that same page, there was a note which said "Soul Edge" between question marks. What does that mean? Do you think that man already has Soul Edge in his power?

- That's it. Why did Soul Edge lead me to it the first time I lost it instead of leading Astaroth? Why doesn't it lead me to it now? I think the sword wants to be in the most powerful hands. I guess I'm most powerful than Astaroth. And someone most powerful than me…an immortal person could be. A really immortal person, not a zombie.

- Do you know anything else about that man?

- No... Olcadan told me that he is always wearing a hood. It could be anybody.

- Wait… A hood?

- Yes, it is something you put over your head. – mocked the pirate.

- The first time we disembarked in Spain, a hooded man talked to me…

Cervantes seemed surprised to hear that.

- Alan! – yelled Rock.

- Yes, captain?

- Tell the helmsman we're going back to land.