Fan Fiction ❯ Second Advent of the Vow ❯ Goodbye ( Chapter 7 )

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

Second Advent of the Vow
Book II: The road to the Arena


DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Soul Calibur characters; they belong to Namco.
NOTE: Some graphical and gory sword battle sequences depicted.

Chapter I: Goodbye

Sophitia felt the sun stinging insistently over her closed eyelids. Even with her eyes closed, she could almost "see" and feel how bright it was. She resisted the urge to open her eyes, and instead moved her head to the side, so the sun would not hit her face directly. As she lay down between all kind of packages and bundles over the cart, she could feel the pebbled road under the wooden wheels of the cart. It wasn't the most comfortable ride, but it was better than walking. Her mind trailed back to the last thoughts she remembered before falling asleep. Her last hours at Athens, where she received Athena's oracle; her family saying goodbye, watching her don again her travel clothes, and her betrothed. When she left Athena's temple that morning, she had noticed that Rothion had also stayed outside the temple during the night to keep her company during her vigil. The dark marks under his eyes bore witness to that fact, as he tried to remain as cheerful and high-spirited as he usually was, but a touch of sadness in his voice betrayed him. As she remembered his final admonitions and words of encouragement, Sophitia held her blue and gold shield closer to her chest.

He also had arranged a ride for her with a merchant friend of his who was headed towards Italy for business. The merchant had planned to pick up some merchandise at a nearby city before catching the ship that would take them to Italy. A long string of endless good-byes soon followed, as all members of her family lined one by one. Her shirt soon got soaked with the tears of her mother and sister, while her father silently hugged her firmly and planted a kiss on her forehead, as she remembered he used to do when she was just a child. Her youngest brother Lucius brought laughter to the Alexandra clan again when he requested the trophies of Sophitia's vanquished foes. She promised to bring him the most rare of weapons she could get just for him.

Rothion watched silently with the corner of an eye as he put Sophitia's travel pack on his friend Andreas' cart. As her parents gave her their blessings, Rothion approached her from the back and put his hands over her shoulders, now covered with armor, and whispered softly:

-"Andreas is ready to leave whenever you say."

Sophitia nodded without turning her head. She did not wanted to see his face. She could not bear to see in his chestnut eyes the certainty of their separation. She felt his warm hands now over her own as his chin rested over her golden hair. As she had done so many times before, she relaxed her back over his chest. Still holding her hands, he folded her arms over her chest. She closed her eyes, trying to memorize every second and every detail of this last moment together; the masculine scent of his skin, the reassuring rhythm of his breathing, the long, hardened fingers of his hands intertwined with hers.

Then she remembered her mission. So many lives could be at stake at this very moment while she lingered! Every new day that Soul Edge remained at the hands of its new wielder, the stronger it became. Someday, her country, even her own family could be threatened by its menace. The time to say goodbye had ended and the time to start her quest had begun.

Rothion saw the renewed determination in Sophie's eyes as she turned.

-"I'm ready, Rothion. Please look out for my family."

-"They are my family now, Sophitia."

-"Rothion, I¼"

"Shhh"- Rothion commanded as he put a finger over her lips. "You don't have to say anything else. I understand. Come, I'll help you", he said, as both walked toward the cart, while her family waved goodbye. Sophie was about to step up the cart when Rothion suddenly held her tightly in an embrace as a plea came from his lips:

-"Promise that you'll come back to me."

Sophitia answered back with a passionate kiss. His response was immediate and equally passionate. Sophie took this last instant to memorize the taste of his mouth, his warmth, the way his kiss was both bold and tender. Gods, how she would miss in him those long chilly nights! She broke the kiss and leaped to the cart, as Rothion's glance locked onto hers. She lifted an arm and waved goodbye as Andreas' cart moved away, her loved ones fading in the distance as the cart pulled forward.

A sudden "ooh" woke Sophitia up from her remembrances. Andreas held his horses in a sudden halt, making the cart shake violently. Sophitia propped up to see what was happening.

-"Andreas, is there something wrong?"

The white haired man leaped from the cart while his assistant held the horses' reigns with a tense expression. Without saying a word, Andreas pointed at the smoke that came from not too far away from where they were. A grayish column mingled with the cotton white clouds as sounds, no, screams seemed to come from were the column originated. Andreas said thoughtfully:

-"There's a small village close to here. It seems it must be suffering from some sort of attack!"

Andreas' son Alexander, who was on a horse escorting the cart, said:

-"I'll go see what's going on there before venturing any further."

-"I want to go with you, Alexander," added Sophitia, with her weapons at the ready. Andreas nodded to his son in affirmative and Alexander and Sophitia left together.

As they closed in on the village, it was more than obvious that their inhabitants suffered a massive attack. *Could have been the Ottomans? * thought Sophitia to herself, as the possibility of this village being one of many that didn't want to remain under Turkish reign crossed her mind. Many Greeks weren't too thrilled with the idea of being drafted as Jannissaries for the Ottoman army, so the Ottomans had to establish their policies with an iron fist. But what Alexander and Sophitia saw was too crude even for zealous Ottomans in a fit of rage to have committed. The smell of burnt flesh hit Alexander's and Sophitia's nostrils like a fist. Sophie feared the worst as they started to see bloodied bodies lying outside the village, as if the unfortunates had been caught while trying to escape. The remains of what used to be houses and other structures were burnt to the ground; barely a couple of them miraculously survived, others were still consumed by hungry flames. After the time she had spent in peace at home, it was very hard to look at death and destruction so soon. Her eyes filled with tears of righteous rage and pain. Her body shivered with each bloodied corpse they encountered.

-"Not even a whole day on my quest and I have already seen such destruction and in my own homeland. But by whom?" asked Sophitia to herself as she gripped her weapons tightly. Alexander's face turned paler with each gruesome sighting. But what made the Athenian feel uneasy is that all screams had ceased. The hoof steps of the horse and the crackle of the remaining fires were the only sounds heard. Was the carnage over?

An inhuman growl answered Sophitia's questions as she saw a creature straight out of myth come to life in front of her astonished eyes. It had limbs similar to human and walked in two legs but it was all covered in scales. A long reptilian tail hanged from its rear and an enormous Lizard head was attached to the creature's body. It seemed to be looking for something or someone. Sophitia instructed Alexander to stop the horse and hide behind a thick brush. All of a sudden a scream, this time very human, alerted both them and the creature. They both watched with horror the sight of a woman trying to cover with her own body a child who came from the devastated ruins, frantically trying to help her up. The creature rushed to where both mother and child were. A man wielding a scythe came from behind the lizardman and tried to hit it but the lizard parried him effortlessly with the battleaxe he held in his inhuman hand and pushed the man back violently. It was about to strike a fatal blow to the man when Sophitia leaped from her hiding place and with a battle yell, approached the creature. The Omega sword sank above the lizard's elbow and cut through scaly skin, tissue and bone with a clean stroke. The lizardman shrieked in pain with a grotesque voice, the axe falling simultaneously with a loud thud as he noticed that his forearm was dangling from mere shreds of skin. A stream of bright red blood gashed from the almost amputated limb. The lizard uprooted the useless limb with a growl and rushed to face his assailant. Disarmed, the creature threw its tail against the warrior but Sophitia avoided it swiftly with a leap and directed her hoplon towards the creature's head. The creature staggered backwards due to the full impact of the shield and Sophitia, taking advantage of this, drove her blade into the lizard's torso. The creature screamed as the Omega sword ripped through its internal organs and soft tissue. The Greek maiden ended the lizard's agony it with a direct blow to the neck. The creature fell violently forward, dead.

Sophitia looked at the creature with a mixture of relief and sadness. She just could not learn to enjoy a killing, no matter how needed it was or how much the opponent deserved it. As she observed the carcass, she realized it was one of the creatures Athena's oracle referred to. She was thankful of the divine origin of her weapons. A common sword would have never cut through the creature's scaly hard skin. The survivors and Alexander gathered around her.

-"Are you okay?" asked Alexander anxiously.

-"I'm fine. Don't worry," the warrior said reassuringly. "Are you alright?" she asked her the man, who was just being helped up by his son as they saw the woman approach them.

-"Thank the gods you were around, young warrior. If not, our fate might had been the same as our townspeople," the man said.

-"But what happened, who did all this?" asked Alexander.

-"Spawns of Hades, demons in lizard bodies. They came out of nowhere and viciously attacked without mercy, without regard of age or sex!" the woman said with trembling voice.

-"We were lucky we were just coming from a neighboring village when the attack was under way. My family and I remained hidden. We thought they were all gone while we tried to salvage some of our possessions when we saw the remaining lizardman. That's when you arrived." The man finished the story as his eyes wandered painfully over the smoke that engulfed the ashen remains of his village. He added with a deep sigh:

-"Well, we don't have another option but to go to my brother's inn and warn them of the danger!"

Sophitia cleaned off the blood and greenish remains of her arm with a cloth the boy had given her. They were observing each other, he with admiring eyes, her with yearning as he reminded her of her brother Lucius.

-"My name is Constantinos. My family and I have a debt of gratitude with you. Would you honor my family's home with your presence? You both must be wanting now a hot meal and a bath," the man said to Sophitia and Alexander.

-"My name is Sophitia and this is my traveling companion Alexander. If you allow us to reunite with the rest of our traveling partners, I think your offer is more than welcome. What do you think Alexander?"

-"I agree. I think all of us need some time to relax and put this behind."

Constantinos gave Alexander the instructions on how to reach the nearby village, so they could catch with them while they left with Sophitia.

Hours later, at the inn, Andreas listened enraptured to Alexander's tale of the raided village as they finished their meal. Constantino's brother served them another cup of wine while his nephew went to feed the visitor's horses. Meanwhile, Sophitia changed into clean clothes in a nearby room. Countless thoughts burdened her mind. She had just finished a much-needed bath when the oracle came to her again under the guise of Athena's sacred owl. She was still meditating with a heavy heart on what the oracle had just revealed her. No more Greek towns would be in immediate danger of further attacks by the lizardmen. However, the cause of their attack had also been unveiled: the lizardmen had attacked a random village just to attract her and know her strengths. They had murdered an entire village just to lure her into battle and study her! Such evil was inconceivable. She had an enormous task ahead and her foes were just starting to emerge from the darkness.

-"How many more enemies I have yet to encounter?"

She placed her head over a soft pillow as her lips murmured a prayer. Still in the middle of her prayers, her eyelids started to close slowly and her mind drifted away under Morpheus influence. A pearly colored owl hooted outside perched over a branch, watching the golden haired warrior drift into a deep sleep through a small wooden window.

-"Rest well my warrior. This is just the beginning of your travails."