Fan Fiction ❯ Second Advent of the Vow ❯ A Warrior Loves ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"From that day on they were attracted to each other so strongly that they decided to to become engaged" (Taken from www.soulcalibur.com)

*DISCLAIMER: These characters are the sole property of Namco.

Chapter III - A Warrior Loves

"Eeyahh!!"

The battle cry resounded through the Shrine of Eurydice. Rothion, exhausted, dragged his sword noisily behind him and wiped the drops of sweat that slipped slowly over his brows with the back of his hand. Sophitia, on the other hand, leaped and stabbed the air with her blade with quick, firm moves. For Rothion, watching her do her stances was like watching poetry turn into battle motion. Every week, he waited anxiously for their scheduled practice day. It was after all, a magnificent opportunity to enjoy each other's company and to leave the grind of his everyday duties behind for some glorious hours along the golden haired sword master, even if it meant having to have a bruise added to his body on a daily basis.

It was utterly fascinating to him to watch the baker's girl transform into the god's chosen warrior, for these days of practices had enabled him to see her in a different light. He had quickly learned that she could entice her opponents into thinking she was deceitfully innocent and weak, something that she knew well how to turn it around to her favor. She had told him about how many opponents had underestimated her judging her too young and unseasoned enough fighter, to then discover how mistaken they were after they laid defeated at her hands.

-"It is truly a deadly combination, to look so young and innocent, being in reality so tough and shrew and resilient," - thought Rothion as he watched Sophitia spin and leap vigorously around the marbled floor of Eurydice's shrine, thrusting her sword to an invisible opponent. That masquerade had indeed become one of her strongest assets and she had learned well how to take full advantage of it.

"Beauty, brains and brawn, all in the same package. The gods did their choosing very well. Even her body is deceitful," - he meditated as he took the opportunity to observe the warrior's physique as she gyrated and swayed sword and shield in countless combinations. The sound of iron against iron that accompanied her routine served a sort of musical background to the well-orchestrated choreography of her stances. His dark eyes went again over the frame of the Athenian, caught up yet again in the reveling on the magnificence of the woman in front of him. His sight was evaluating her slender frame and well-proportioned figure, accentuated by a velvety skin slightly touched by the Aegean sun. A long, golden braid hung about her waist. The pretend softness of all these features all merged more than well to conceal the agile and strong muscles underneath that had served her well in battle and could give any veteran warrior a run for his or her money.

With his back resting against a column, he kept observing enraptured as Sophitia lifted a leg high up, her booted foot pointing to the clear blue sky above. The smith had to admit to himself that he also utterly enjoyed the sight of her lovely figure go through her battle drill. Since her skirt was short to enable her do her trademark leaps and kicks, once in a while he could get a peek...

Her insistent gaze was over him as he meditated on such topics and before he could stop it, a reddish blush betrayed his most inner thoughts.

-"I would pay with all I have to know what's on your mind right now, Rothion,"- Sophitia teased.

-"I thank the gods they only allowed you to master the art of battle and not mind reading, for I could end up right now with my neck broken,"- joked Rothion.


She returned a mock reprimanding glance to the smith, who now wiped more sweat from his forehead. Sophie pretended to be offended by his insistent gazes, but inside, her feminine vanity was flattered. She had grown accustomed to those occasional glances, and far from feeling uncomfortable, she missed them whenever he was not around, and like him, she also waited eagerly for the day of practice to arrive. Although she always ended up delivering him a sound beating, his upbeat mood and charming smile motivated her to continue the practices. Besides, it felt so good to hold a sword on her hands again; her weapons had become extensions of herself and she had to admit she felt odd, almost incomplete without them. She might have started a reluctant warrior, but in the end it had been as she had been born one and that part of her had laid dormant for most of her life. The practices made her feel nimble, strong and vital, just like before that dreadful fight.

Something inside her stirred as she evoked those memories again. The horrifying battle against the accursed pirate that ended with one of the evil swords destroyed; the wounds that almost claimed her life, the terrible pain of cursed white hot iron puncturing and poisoning her skin, tainting her white and pink outfit with bright red blood, the gruesome image of seeing herself covered by her own blood, lying somewhere on the Spanish coastline as another female warrior ended Cervantes' life and then tended her wounds; the agony that ensued for months before she fully recovered both her health and sanity. She closed her eyes and nodded forcefully, trying to push those memories away. Sometimes, in the dead of the moonless, stormy nights, she could feel the scars left by the fragments burning her skin, as if they were still inside her. She had learned to live with the discomfort; the pain after all reassured her that indeed she had made it out through the nightmare alive.

And then there were the premonitions, the feeling of everything starting all over again. Sophitia knew she had to remain focused and fit. Her biggest challenge may be yet to arrive. The smith could also sense the female warrior's apprehension. He also felt that something was about to pull them apart. Something dangerous, something that made him hasten his plans.

"Sophie, I think we have trained enough for today. " But she could not stop. She had to be in even better shape than before. She could not allow herself to be hurt again.

- "It is such a beautiful day, perfect for my practice."

Rothion insisted: - "Sophie. I know it's a glorious day. That's why I think we should not waste all of it here!" His heart was beating faster. - "I have to try today!" - a voice in his interior said. -"She might not be here tomorrow!"

However, Sophie felt irritated by his comments. - "How can he be so inconsiderate? I need to be ready," her own interior voice quipped.

-"So you think my training is a waste of time?"- she said menacingly.

-"Great, now she has misunderstood me," - thought Rothion frustrated.

- "Dear Sophie, your practices are not a waste of time, is just that it is such a wonderful day that I thought we could just enjoy it, together."

-"Well, if you want me to stop training, you will have to defeat me!" - said the Greek maiden in a challenging voice.

Rothion understood that her mind was already leaving the peace of her homeland and was being stirred to remain on the ready. He then knew he had to act.

-"If that's the way you want it..."


The clash of iron against iron resounded throughout the Shrine again. Rothion moved swiftly with all his might, but Sophitia was able to anticipate his every move, evading and parrying him almost effortlessly. Once again, he felt distracted by the incredible sight of Sophitia as the incarnation of grace and skill. Gods, she looked like an amazon; same famed beauty, same fiery spirit. The sun brought shimmers of gold on her long hair and her green eyes were shining purer and brighter than ever, a touch of unrelenting determination as her driving force. Rothion had to force himself to concentrate on the fight and not on the beauty that was about to land an iron shield squarely into his forehead at that instant.

But Sophitia's conscience had left Eurydice and Rothion. The oracle had taken over her attention and had brought her somewhere else. She looked around, unable to recognize the place. It was dark, eerily silent, barely the howl of the wind through leafless branches audible. She walked over the old, deteriorated flagstones of a medieval courtyard. Ruins of once protective stonewalls surrounded her. Thunder clapped and in a sudden flash of lightning, the outline of a figure was revealed in the opposite corner. An armored figure with crimson eyes peered through his helmet's visor menacingly, scanning all surroundings like a hawk waiting for his prey. The Azure Knight, Soul Edge with its baleful eye in hand and deformed claw stood still. Then the clawed hand extended menacingly towards her and suddenly, the knight charged her violently, as the eye of the blade focused eerily on her. Shield on the ready, she waited the first stroke of the huge blade and as it came down beside her, she shoved him away, readying her sharp blade to attack ... Sunlight pierced the blackness of the night and the familiar columns and facade of the Shrine materialized before her and then she remembered.

-"Rothion!" a loud cry came from her. He lay on the ground, shaking his head while caressing a throbbing temple. He was rendered speechless, more by shock than by pain. He had never felt Sophitia hit him so hard before.

-"I'm sorry, Rothion. I don't know what came over me. All of a sudden, it wasn't you who I was facing. It was... him".

Besides her youngest sister Cassandra, Rothion had become her new confidant and was well aware of the true nature of her previous quest. She had been afraid to open up; her family had been rather hostile with the notion of their daughter wandering the world alone, fighting strangers just because some Oracle ordered her to, risking her life in a quest that might just be a illusion of her over imaginative mind. Why the gods would choose her among all the competent and experienced warrior Greece had to offer? they had asked a thousand times. She could never come up with an appropriate answer, instead pleading on their faith in her. Her return with a witness served as sound testimony to her quest, but it was still too difficult for them to conciliate the image of their sweet eldest daughter with the almost legendary warrior she had become.

However, the young smith had understood perfectly as if he had heard the Oracle himself. Better yet, he believed in her with all his might and she could never thank him enough for that.

-"Him, you mean the wielder of Soul Edge?"

-"Yes. "- Her voice broke as her face grew somber.

-"I guess the gods are trying to alert you, but right now, warrior girl, please help me stand up!"

Sophitia extended her arm towards Rothion with the intent of pulling him up, but instead, she was startled at the sensation of being pulled down. She lost her balance as she fell over him. Their eyes locked and her green gaze pierced his, perplexed.

-"What are you doing?" Sophitia yelled, her face turning red with rage. Rothion couldn't help but laugh so hard, his face ached. Sophitia tried to stand up, but before she could, but his arms closed in on her shoulders swiftly, firmly pulling her towards him until their faces almost touched.

-"Since my dear warrior has not allowed me neither a proper place nor a proper moment, she leaves with no choice." His warm eyes had a mischievous glow that the Athenian hadn't seen before. She tensed, not knowing what to expect.

-"Let me go."

"Not before this."

His lips brushed against hers in a soft caress. Sophitia, caught off guard again, remained still. She felt his warm breath over her mouth as he subtlety pried it open, tasting its sweetness. The delicious sensation intoxicated her and after a brief hesitating instant, she daringly mimicked his caress, her body relaxing over his. He placed his hand over her head, his fingers at last running softly through her long, silky hair as he had longed to since they had first met, enjoying fully the sensation of her weight over him as his lips kept caressing hers. Her senses, aroused by the previous fighting, enabled her to sense his heart beating strong and fast against her own and the tantalizing awareness of the intimate embrace. She had never been kissed like this before; the warm, alluring caress stirred unknown sensations from deep inside and yet at the same time, the discovery of a sense of intense comfort and safety she had longed for, maybe all her life. The soft kiss deepened into a passionate one and for a glorious instant all premonitions and fears were finally haunted away.

Rothion pulled away gently from Sophitia and smiled triumphantly as he saw what he was hoping for in her eyes. His lips brushed over her forehead and closed in on her ear. She felt his breath tingle her ear as he murmured:

"If I told you I want to break away from such an enchanting embrace, I would be the biggest liar in the whole world. But I don't think it would be very gentlemanly of me to remain in this position."

Realizing that both were still on the ground, Sophitia felt her cheeks heat. Suddenly coming to terms about the compromising position they had been, she quickly leapt up, albeit reluctantly, helping him on the way up.

-"My love, we can both feel that your destiny awaits you. I have felt it on the last weeks that your conscience is slowly drifting away from the ordinary things and into the unknown and I don't know what or when it would happen, but I do know this: I do not want to spend any more time without you. So I ask you, could you give me the honor of accepting me as your husband."

Sophitia gasped, surprised and elated, a wonderful feeling of joy that emanated from within her heart filling all her senses.

-"I know this may seem too fast, but I knew since the first day I saw you that I was destined to be at your side. "

-"Rothion, " - she whispered, a multitude of sensations and thoughts colliding in her interior.

-"Just say 'yes,' Sophie." -His serene voice seemed to anchor her confusion into a safe place, one she longed hard to belong to and remain.

-"I, ... I accept you, Rothion," - muttered breathless Sophitia. A glorious smile adorned her face, her emerald eyes sparkled like beautiful gems as a tear of joy rolled down her soft cheek. Taking Sophitia's hands into his, Rothion exclaimed: -"Let's tell everyone, let the whole world know! However, there is a place we have to go first."

Words were not needed to be spoken as their thoughts had already merged on the same vision, so without hesitation, they headed together toward the Temple of Hephaestus.