Fan Fiction ❯ Sleep well, Xianghua ❯ Xianghua meets Kilik ( Chapter 3 )

It was no more than five minutes later that I changed back into the old warrior costume that I had the last time I found the Soul Edge. It was sleeveless but had additional sleeves that weren't connected to the shirt and came up to just a few inches down my shoulder. The ends of them were belled.

The pants were a purple Capri style with yellow designs on the legs, matching the ones on the front of my shirt. The costume came complete with a crown that matched the light blue shirt.

The costume was my mothers when she trained with the No Name before she died. I wore it with pride as I put on my sandals, scooped up the cracked No Name and left the mansion as quickly as I could without being heard.

I couldn't let my father discover the fragments of the Soul Edge and make it into his own evil creation!

I knew I would have some competitors while searching for the fragments. Probably those most of which I had met before on my previous journey for the Soul Edge would be after them.

After I had my sword repaired by the weapons master, I had also gotten a few pointers from him. He had told me to take the Xiameiana ship over to the Japan harbor to begin my search.

On foot, the trip to the Xiameiana would take a half a day. I ignored the hot sun and hiked to the ship.

I felt my mother's presence with me as I walked the road to Xiameiana. It was surely a long journey and I wasn't even nearly half way there when I felt myself begun to tire out. Just as I was about to tell my mother of my feelings, I heard a familiar voice behind me call out my name. Curious, I looked over my shoulder and saw a young man with a large rod waving at me. I stopped and allowed him to catch up.

When he got closer, I recognized him as Kilik, a warrior from the previous tournament to capture the Soul Edge.

Kilik was a young man of twenty-three and had a heart of gold. He had gone after the Soul Edge for the same reason as everyone else and that was to claim its power. I had guessed that was why he was here as well, to find the pieces and put it back together again.

"I knew I'd be seeing you after those fragments," he said with a smile, stopping behind me and running his fingers through his loose brown hair and pushing the thin strands out of his face.

"You cut your hair," I said, stating the obvious, remembering when he had a ponytail last time we met.

He nodded. "Yep. My ex-girlfriend convinced me to get a cut after I came back home a few months ago after you destroyed the Soul Edge. She said it looked too "girlish.""

"Ex?" I questioned, remembering that on the last trip to find the Soul Edge when we partnered up with another warrior named Maxi and that's all Kilik talked about was his girlfriend.

Kilik nodded sadly. "Yeah…" he said with a short sigh. "She left me shortly after I returned home to my temple. Said she didn't want to be alone anymore." He looked back up at me. "I can't help it if I'm the adventurous type! I'm not a couch potato, Xianghua, I need to be where the action is!"

I nodded. "I understand. Well, sorry."

He shrugged. "I'm starting to get over it. Like my sister, Xianglian, always used to say, there are so many other girls out there."

I nodded comfortingly. I could tell he was still hurt over the break up.

"So…shall we go?"

"Sure."

We both walked side by side and talked together the whole way. It felt like the last time. I never realized how much I missed being with him and hearing his jokes and good sense of humor.

What I especially loved about Kilik was his eyes. They weren't cold or serious, but calming. I always knew that if I was with him, I'd be safe. I just knew everything was going to turn out all right.

"Is Maxi coming along to?" I asked.

Kilik twirled his rod again for the millionth time in the last hour that they were walking.

"I…doubt it."

Kilik was very gifted with his Kali-Yuga. He continued to twirl the six-foot rod above his head, around his back, and in front of him like it was nothing. Frequently, he also switched hands and did it as well.

"Why?"

He stopped twirling the Kali-Yuga and walked with it. "Maxi had an accident."

I gasped. "What?!"

Kilik had gotten close to Maxi, just like he had to me, but we both never knew what had happened to him the day he had us both take off as he said he was going to stay behind and finish some business he needed to take care of.

"I had just heard about it when I had gotten home after the sword was destroyed. Do you remember Astaroth?"

I nodded, recalling the huge 6'4" golem that had a large axe as a weapon.

"Well…it appears that Maxi still wanted revenge for Astaroth slaying his crew from back when he arrived on the island with his ship and we all know that Astaroth works for Ares, the god of war. Do you remember when Maxi had us travel ahead of him in search for the Soul Edge?"
I nodded. "Yes…we never saw him again either."

Kilik shook his head. "No we didn't…because after Maxi won his battle…Ares made the ground open up and swallow him whole."

My mouth hung open as I felt stinging tears come to my eyes slowly. "No…not Maxi…"

Kilik was speechless.

"Is he dead?" I asked, praying it was a no answer.

Kilik shook his head. "No…he's not dead…but he might as well be."

"…Why?" My heart pounded in fear.

"I heard he awoke on a river bend just outside a village. His body was very badly wounded, Ares sought to that. They had brought him into their village and nursed him back to health as best they could.

"As the days went on, there had been some talk of a creature with a giant axe. Maxi had a hunch it was Astaroth and chased after him. His body eventually broke down and he couldn't go any further.

"Next, he went back to the village medicine healer and pleaded for a cure to make him his old self again. The medicine maker healed him…with a piece of the Soul Edge."

I gasped.

"Maxi's health was complete, but had no idea that he had to give up something very important to have this done…he no longer had the memory of his past, or of his friends. The only things he remembered were the Soul Edge and the fact he was after Astaroth for the slaying of his crew."

My head hung low, wagging back and forth, not wanting to believe what I was hearing.

"Are you very sure about this, Kilik?" I asked, praying that I would see a cheeky smirk on his face and he would jump out and say he was just joking around, but I saw no smirk or smile of the kind…only a deeply saddened face.

"Yes I am very sure. If he does learn of the Soul Edge pieces he will be after them, I guarantee, but he won't be the Maxi we know anymore."

I shook my head. "No way, I'll make him remember. He has to remember!"

"Xianghua, it's not that easy. Maxi selected in his heart the things that he wanted most to remember without even knowing it. He had no idea that he was going to lose his memory. The medicine man took what he saw in Maxi's soul and allowed him to remember that and only that."

"How could he want to forget about us?!" I cried, feeling that our very best good friend would want to choose \power and immortality over friendship. I didn't want to listen to Kilik's friendly words; I just wanted to go assume Maxi was what he wasn't.

I heard Kilik sigh. "Xianghua, you must understand-"

"No, I won't understand!" I interrupted, stopping in my tracks. My heart felt like it was yanked from my chest, stomped on, then slit in half.

Kilik stopped and looked up at me with a shock frown.

"I loved Maxi, I believed in him! I'm not going to believe some…story that says he's going after the Soul Edge heartless and forgot about his comrades! Tell me the truth!"

He walked a few inches closer to me from where he had stopped after he learned that I stopped suddenly.

"That IS the truth, Xianghua, I wouldn't lie about something like that!" Kilik sighed. "Okay, if you don't believe me, I'm not going to force you to. When we get to Xiameiana and board the ship there, if he's going to find the Soul Edge fragments, then he will be there and you can see for yourself."

He had walked on ahead of me, probably hurt that I suggested such a thing that he would lie to me with something like the condition Maxi had.

I was just as hurt as he was. I don't know why I was defending Maxi so forcefully. I do admit that I liked him a lot and he returned the favor. My feelings always got in the way of my mental functions. That always happened.

"…Kilik."

Kilik had stepped no more than a few feet when I called out his name in a low voice. I wasn't looking at him, but I felt that he had stopped. I walked up beside him with my head down, staring at the sand below my feet. I stopped by his side.

"I'm sorry." I looked up into his eyes. "Sometimes that happens. I don't mean to say it, but it's just hard for me to believe that he would allow that to be done to him."

"He wanted to stop Astaroth at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing his memory. Do you understand, Xianghua? Maxi didn't care what he gave up; all he wanted was to regain his full strength to save the world from evil like Astaroth. Even if he does learn of the Soul Edge, that's no one's fault. I believe that he would go after the fragments anyway, memory sober or not."

I sighed. "I know…I'm sorry I argued…"

"You just believed in Maxi, I know."

I nodded. Kilik said nothing.

"…Do you think he'll be there?"

Kilik shrugged as we both began moving again.

"Hard to tell. For all I know, maybe. If he hadn't defeated Astaroth yet, I believe he's only going there to stop him for the slaying of his crew, not to find the fragments. I could be wrong, I don't know. The medicine man that healed him may be holding his soul in exchange for the Soul Edge fragments. If Maxi doesn't return them to him, I believe he may not have much longer to live."

I shook my head and struggled to get his previous words and theories free from my brain. "Kilik, no more, okay? I want to have at least a few sober memories of Maxi, not picture him as a cold killer."

Kilik nodded in respect for my words.

We both walked and said nothing for the longest time. I didn't speak because I was thinking of the happy moments we had with Maxi, but I didn't know Kilik's reasons for not speaking.

"Xianghua…"

I looked up at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or anything, I just felt as if I needed to update you before you found out the hard way."

I nodded. "It's more than alright Kilik, you had every right to do so."

"I was thinking that maybe Maxi would be able to gain his memory back if he gathered the Soul Edge pieces and wished for it."

"…But Kilik…if he doesn't know about it, why is he going to wish for something he doesn't know about? He's just going to think we're the ones who are crazy."

He nodded. "I thought about that too." He sighed. "Well…there's nothing we can do for him then. We just have to go on with our memories or try and remake friends with him. I fear though that he's not the same man we know. Evil resides deep within his soul and his abilities have skyrocketed."

"I would have guessed…" I said in a low voice.

"Let's not try and think of him though, let's just concentrate on the fragments."

I nodded. We walked another few minutes side by side without saying anything. Bored, I twirled my No Name in between my fingers and watched the blade whirl quickly in front of me.

"Quite a talent you got there," Kilik complimented.

I laughed briefly. "Thanks, but nowhere near yours. This is only a sword, that's a rod."

He grinned and began to show off, twirling it. "You mean…like this?"

He twirled it behind his back like the speed of wind, not messing up once. I was always amazed of how gifted he was with his Kali-Yuga.

"Yes…like that," I laughed. "Showoff."

He stopped and put on a fake sad face. I grinned and rubbed his back. "Just kidding."

"I know."

Before looking out ahead of us again, we stared uncomfortably in one another's eyes. We both looked away quickly. I felt my body heat rise while he said nothing. My heart beat quickly.

Moments later, he broke the ice by asking me what I had been doing for the past year. When I told him, he got angry.

"How could he?!" he said when he found out my father sent me to Hylam's mansion to slave for him.

"Xianghua, why didn't you speak up?"

"I wanted to, but I had nowhere to go."

"I would have let you live with me!"

I shrugged. "You had a girlfriend, plus, I wouldn't want to impose."

He wagged his head. "You're not going back there after this mission is over. I refuse to allow you be under that man's command again."

I grinned. My heart fluttered. "Thank you Kilik, that means a lot."