Soul Urge II

Soul Urge II
By The Playing Mantis
Chapter 3: Death of the Bondage Queen of Darkness

Her resolve is stronger, and more tragic, than any other…
---Taki; asked of Ivy’s need to destroy Soul Edge

Some people would call Ivy severe. Those are people who don’t know her at all. Ivy is cold and ruthless during battle but she was a decent sort of person…sort of. She was also getting seriously pissed off at how well Raphael was hiding. No one seemed willing to give her any information on where exactly she was supposed to be looking. All anyone would ever say was that the mansion was in the south of France. After the tenth person told her that she grabbed him by the lapels and hissed, “The south of France is a very big place! We’re in ‘the south of France’ right now! Could you be a little more specific?!” The man that she was holding shook his head, but Ivy noticed that he was looking behind her. Her sword quickly segmented and struck at the person behind her. She turned her head and saw that her sword had wrapped itself around the wrists of a person who was planning on stabbing her in the back. “Rather cowardly if you ask me,” she said blandly. “But, at least it proves I’m on the right track.” She looked back at the man that she was interrogating and snarled, “Now are you interested in telling me where the mansion is? I don’t doubt that Raphael paid you quite a bit of money to keep it a secret, but is it really worth your pathetic lives?”

“You wouldn’t!” said the man.

“Try me!” growled Ivy. To make her point, Ivy’s sword let go of the man behind her and wrapped around the first man’s neck.

“Okay!” cried the man desperately. “I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

“That’s better,” said Ivy as she made her sword let go of the man and become a regular sword again, before calmly stabbing backwards and killing the man who was trying to sneak up on her again. “Now, where is he?”

The man she was threatening started to whimper and Ivy actually smiled when she saw a big wet stain start to form at the crotch of his pants. “There’s a maid!” he said, “She comes into town every other day to buy groceries! Her name’s Gina! She’ll tell you where he is, because I don’t know exactly where!”

Ivy let the man go, and he slumped to the ground. She smiled as she put her shoe on his crotch and said, “Next time, just give me the information; unless you want to have more fun with me?” She laughed as she walked out of the alley, leaving the man trembling in fear. She walked, quickly, to the marketplace, hoping to catch her new quarry as soon as she could. She looked around the marketplace for most of the day, but didn’t see anyone who looked like a maid, so, grumbling, she asked one of the merchants for information. “I’m looking for a woman name Gina,” she said calmly, trying to look non-threatening.

The merchant looked her over and said, “Gina will be here tomorrow. Look for her then.”

Ivy smiled at the merchant and said, “Thank you. And I wasn’t here.” She laid a few coins on the merchants stall.

As she turned around, she heard the coins hit the ground. “Yes, you were,” said the merchant.

“Keep the money anyway, for the information,” Ivy said, not even turning around as she went to find a hotel room for the night. The night went by without incident, which surprised Ivy no end. She left the hotel, expecting to be attacked at every corner and dark alleyway, but no one seemed to pay her much attention. She went back to the merchant she had talked to before and asked, “Did I miss her?”

“She’s walking past you right now,” replied the merchant. Ivy whirled around and saw a cute girl of about 15 or 16 with bright red hair and a face full of freckles walking past her and leaving the marketplace.

“Thanks again,” said Ivy as she slowly followed the girl out of the marketplace and then out of town. Ivy followed the girl from a distance for a short while before slowly getting closer and closer.

“Aren’t you even going to try hiding your presence anymore?” asked Gina as she stopped and looked at Ivy.

“What’s the point in that?” asked Ivy as she walked up the Gina. “You knew I was following you as soon as I saw you.”

“Yes, well, that outfit of yours doesn’t really help you blend in with a crowd,” replied Gina with a smile.

Ivy looked down at herself and couldn’t deny Gina’s claim. She was wearing a pair of purple, thigh-high, high heeled boots that had small, gold ankle protectors. There were gold rings surrounding her lower thighs that worked as protection and held her leggings up. The leggings were connected to her, extremely revealing, body suit by a pair of gold clasps at her pelvis. The purple body suit didn’t leave much to the imagination. There was a thin strip of material that wrapped under her, covering her crotch, and barely covering her butt, not hiding her cheeks at all. Her stomach was covered by a thin layer of translucent fabric in the shape of a heart. Around the heart, her body suit wrapped around to the back, which had the appearance of a corset. There was a gold ring that wrapped around her torso and ended in gold clasps that connected to a pair of straps. The straps at her back, criss-crossed and attached to the choker she wore that bore the crest of the Valentine family. Attached to the choker by small gold buttons, were a pair of thin straps that held her cups up. The cups at the top of her suit barely covered her nipples and had the appearance of claws that were constantly gripping her breasts. The whole suit fit tight around her body and gave her the appearance of a dominatrix. Her right arm was covered by a tight-fitting purple glove that reached just past her elbow and had a metal wrist guard. Her left arm was covered by a gold bracer and her shoulder had a gold shoulder guard. She had purple lipstick and eye shadow that offset her blue eyes with her shock white hair rounding off her ensemble. “I suppose you’re right, but I rather like the way I dress,” said Ivy with a smile. “I think this will make things much easier if you know I’m here. Will you take me to Raphael?”

“I don’t have any reason not to,” said Gina. “He’s not my master, just someone who’s staying at the mansion right now.” With that, Gina turned and headed off, not even paying attention to Ivy.

Nonplussed, Ivy trailed along in Gina’s wake, unsure of what to expect when she met up with the mysterious Raphael. Gina and Ivy traveled along the dirt road for close to an hour before Gina suddenly turned and headed into a dense patch of forest. “You’re not trying to get me lost, are you?” asked Ivy conversationally.

“Not particularly,” replied Gina. “However, if you do happen to get lost, don’t think I’ll come to save you.” She looked back at Ivy and smiled for a second before continuing on.

Ivy snorted, showing her contempt. She didn’t want to admit it, but she actually liked Gina’s attitude. It was refreshing to meet someone who didn’t hate her automatically, or wasn’t afraid of her. “If you don’t mind me asking, how long has Raphael been living in this mansion?”

“He appeared at the front door a couple of months ago,” said Gina. “He was badly wounded and had a small girl with him. He claims that our master was an old friend of his family, but there’s no real way of finding that out now that The Master has passed on. We let them stay, mostly because the mansion is really so big that he could have easily snuck in and lived there quite comfortably without anyone noticing. He doesn’t treat us like staff, but like equals, and Amy’s a sweet child too. So, it’s just the two of them and the remaining servants who really have nowhere else to go. I was born into service to The Master, so I don’t have a home to go to. The mansion is all we really know. It’s not even like we’re lacking money. The Master had a lot saved away and we can easily live on it and be quite comfortable for the rest of our lives.”

“Have you tried getting employment from someone else?” asked Ivy.

Gina looked at Ivy a little strangely. “The Master was the lord of the land. He had no heirs and there’s no one else in town who needs us to help them. They have their own sons and daughters to do that. After all, why bother paying strangers to do work when you can just boss your own kids around?” Gina chuckled a little. “Our numbers slowly dwindle as a servant finally leaves to find his or her fortune in the outside world. But, I intend to stay. Even if I’m the only one left in the whole mansion, I can’t leave it behind. I love that old mansion and will stay there until the day I die.”

Ivy was impressed. She’d never met a girl with the amount of mental strength that she was seeing in Gina. She started chuckling, causing Gina to scowl at her. “I’m sorry,” said Ivy. “I wasn’t laughing at you. I’m just not used to hearing things like that from girls who appear to be half my age.”

“Half your age?” asked Gina. “I’m not twelve, you know.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere with me, young lady,” said Ivy with a smirk. “I’m 32.”

“Huh…that’s funny,” said Gina.

“What?” asked Ivy.

“Well, it’s just that you’re the same age as Raphael,” said Gina. The two continued conversing as they moved deeper into the forest. Ivy almost collided with Gina when the girl stopped dead. “Well, we’re here!” she said happily.

“I’m not seeing a mansion,” said Ivy. Gina pushed through a dense clump of bushes and disappeared. Ivy sighed and followed, not sure what to expect. What she saw took her breath away. The mansion was covered in ivy and looked like it needed to be repaired, but the landscape around it was spectacular. The mansion stood at the edge of a cliff, over-looking a beautiful mountain range. There were flowers of all kinds in the garden and surrounding the mansion were topiaries as far as the eye could see. “Beautiful,” sighed Ivy. “So much better looking than my own.”

“Your own?” asked Gina.

“Oh yes, well I haven’t exactly bothered keeping it in decent shape,” said Ivy. “Our family fell into ruin a long time ago. I’m the only one left, even the servants left years ago, and I can’t really say I care much about appearances very much. But this place is simply stunning.”

Gina giggled. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m the one who takes care of the flower garden. Come on, I’ll introduce you to Raphael.”

The two walked up the path to the mansion and Gina opened the door, letting Ivy in first. “Gina!” called a little girl’s voice. “You’re back!” From out of nowhere a little girl with red hair who appeared to be 10 or so came tearing into the room and wrapped her arms around Ivy.

“Uh…” said Ivy.

“You’re not Gina!” said the little girl as she pulled away from Ivy and shrank back. “Who are you?!”

“She’s a guest who’s here to see Raphael, Amy,” said Gina calmly. “Don’t be rude.”

“But…but she’s scary looking!” hissed Amy in that voice that all kids use that makes them think that only one adult can hear them, the kind that echoes through a room.

Ivy smiled as she bent down and ruffled the girl’s hair. “I may be scary looking, but I’m only scary when I have to be,” she said. “Hopefully Raphael will listen to reason, than I won’t have to be scary.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Gina.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Ivy, “And, in all truth, the less you know the better. Take me to him, please.”

“He’s in the library,” said Amy, not taking her eyes off of Ivy. “But…but I don’t think he wants any company right now. All he’s been doing lately is pacing back and forth, looking at these little metal shards and looking angry and nervous.”

“Take me to him,” said Ivy again. “I’ll be able to help him, I’m sure.”

Amy looked at Gina, who merely nodded. “Okay, but if he gets mad, it’s not my fault.” Amy headed to a small circular stairway that lead up to a balcony overlooking the foyer. Ivy followed and was surprised to see that the balcony was the library. There were columns that showed where the edge of the balcony was, but there was no guardrail, so anyone not paying attention could easily fall and hurt themselves. There was a throw rug on the floor depicting an ornate family crest. The back wall was covered with shelves of books of different thickness and color. On either side of the balcony were windows that looked out onto the garden below. There were a pair of banners hanging above the window on the east side, with the same family crest as the throw rug. Above the window on the west was a stuffed head of a buck with beautiful antlers. In the center of the back wall was a glass doorway that led deeper into the mansion, apparently to sleeping quarters. Ivy looked at the bookshelves more closely and saw that between each shelf were small drawers. She opened one and found that they held documents and files. Considering how decrepit the outside looked, Ivy was very surprised about how well kept up the room was.

She was about to ask Amy where Raphael was hiding when she heard a sound above her. She looked up and saw a leg dangling over a ledge she hadn’t noticed before. She looked to the side and saw a small ladder that led up to another tier of books. “Hello?’ she called.

“Who’s there?!” snapped a man’s voice. The leg disappeared from view and was replaced by a man’s head. He had handsome features and blonde hair, but the dark circles under his deep blue eyes were a testament to how little sleep he had gotten recently. The man’s eyes narrowed when he saw Ivy and he leapt down, his hand on the hilt of his rapier. “Who are you?” he asked suspiciously. “How did you get in here?” He was wearing a pair of purple boots with bronze ankle protectors. He wore a pair of tight-fitting leather pants and a brown leather shirt, covered by a dark red vest that was held together with buttons and a leather belt around his waist. Over the vest he wore a short-sleeved, purple fencing jacket that only reached his rib cage. The jacket was held together with a pair of gold rings attached to a gold clasp. He wore purple gloves and had a small red sash tied to his belt.

“Gina let her in,” said Amy as she walked up and hugged Raphael’s waist.

“Really?” asked Raphael as he pulled his hand away from his sword. “Well, she’s a good judge of character, so I suppose it’s not that bad. Especially when the guest is a beautiful woman such as yourself.”

“I’m flattered,” said Ivy with a smile. “But, I’ll get right to the point. I’m not here to exchange pleasantries. I’m here for something you have. Some things, actually.”

“Ah, yes,” sighed Raphael, “I figured someone would appear here sooner or later. Well, you can have them. I don’t want them anymore.”

“What?” asked Ivy, taken completely off-guard.

“I’ve heard the rumors of what is happening to the women who search for…the item,” said Raphael, choosing his words carefully in front of Amy. “I also heard that Nightmare is supposed to be doing the same thing to women who are close to the men searching for it. I won’t take that chance. Not with Amy. She’s far too precious to me to allow anything to happen to her.” He reached into his pocket and handed four shards of metal to Ivy. “So, take them. Take them away with my blessing.”

Ivy shrugged and pocketed the shards. “Thank you very much, Raphael Sorel,” she said, bowing to show her respect.

“You know my name, but I fear I don’t know yours,” said Raphael as he took Ivy’s hand and kissed it.

“Isabella Valentine,” said Ivy with a hint of a blush on her face. “But, I’m known as Ivy.”

Raphael’s rapier was at Ivy’s throat before she could blink. “One of Nightmare’s goons?” he spat. “I see, and you were planning on… To Amy?! How disgusting!”

“You seem to be suffering from a great misunderstanding,” said Ivy calmly. “I don’t work for Nightmare anymore. I merely want to destroy the sword, that’s all.”

“I don’t like being lied to,” said Raphael angrily. “Amy, go downstairs. I’ve got to teach this deceitful woman a small lesson.”

“But, she…” started Amy.

“No ‘buts’!” snapped Raphael, cutting her off. “Leave now, young lady!” Amy scowled as she ran down the stairs. “Now, it’s time to deal with you.”

“I don’t really want to hurt you,” said Ivy calmly. “But don’t think I’ll hesitate to if you push me to it.”

“Don’t think you can flee,” said Raphael as he swiped his blade through the air three times before pointing it at Ivy.

“Be careful, or you’ll feel the pain,” said Ivy irritably as she ran her fingers through her hair. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Raphael lunged forward, striking at Ivy with the tip of his sword. Ivy easily dodged his strike and did a roundhouse kick, knocking him to the floor. “There, are you satisfied now?’ she asked as she shook her head and walked toward the stairs.

“Damn you!” shouted Raphael as he got up and ran at Ivy, doing a sliding kick, hoping to trip her up.

“Go ahead! Hate me!” cried Ivy as she easily side-stepped his kick and whacked him on the butt with the blunt end of her sword. She was getting annoyed with his stupidity and just wanted to leave. She understood his feelings about the girl, but he wasn’t listening to her.

Ivy was about to extend her sword and really bring on the pain when she was halted by someone screaming, “Stop it!” Both Ivy and Raphael looked to the source of the scream and saw young Amy, panting heavily and holding Gina’s skirt.

“Mister Raphael!” said Gina angrily. “This is no way to treat a guest at this manor!” She walked huffily up to Raphael who grumbled and looked down at his shoes.

“But she’s…She works for…” mumbled Raphael like a school boy who was being disciplined by a teacher.

“I don’t care who she works for,” snapped Gina. “As long as she’s a guest in this manor, she is to be treated like one, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes ma’am…” said an extremely humbled Raphael. He looked angrily at Ivy and spat, “Stay away from Amy, dammit!”

“How many times do I have to tell you? I have no intention of doing anything to Amy!” said Ivy.

“If that’s true than you must prove it to me,” said Raphael sternly. “We’ll discuss this later.” He walked over to Amy and knelt down in front of her, hugging her tightly. It was then that Ivy noticed that on the back of Raphael’s jacket was another family crest. She guessed it was the Sorel family crest and shrugged internally.

“I don’t think staying here would be very smart,” said Ivy quietly. “Someone might get hurt, and I want no unnecessary deaths on my conscience.” Raphael snorted as Ivy headed down the stairs, followed closely by Gina.

“You’ll have to excuse him,” said Gina desperately. “He can be a little overprotective of Amy.”

“It’s fine,” said Ivy as she opened the front door and stood stock still. She and Gina stared out at the torrential downpour that no one had noticed in all the excitement. “Great,” she grumbled, “and the closest town is four miles away.”

“It looks like you’ll be spending the night, after all,” said Gina with a smile. “I’ll have one of the guest rooms set up for you.”

“But, that’s not…” started Ivy, but Gina had taken off already. Ivy sighed and scratched her head. “This is turning out to be a very bad day.”

Raphael and Amy came down the stairs and looked out at the rain. Raphael scowled as he said, “Fine then!” Amy broke away from him and, much to his dismay, walked up to Ivy and grabbed her hand.

Amy tugged Ivy away from the door, saying, “Come on! You’ll get sick if you don’t close the door!”

Ivy looked down at Amy and smiled. “I suppose you’re right,” she said as she closed the door and turned around. She looked directly at Raphael for a second before bending down and ruffling Amy’s hair again. “You probably shouldn’t be talking to me. That stupid git over there doesn’t trust me, and I don’t want to get you in trouble with him.”

“I won’t get in trouble,” said Amy quietly. “Cause, you’re not really THAT scary. He just has to stop being afraid of you.”

Ivy laughed at that. “I suppose you’re right!” she said happily. “But until then, go over to him so that he stops giving me the ‘death eye’.” Amy smiled and nodded before running over to Raphael. Raphael narrowed his eyes at Ivy, but nodded to her as the two left.

Ivy was about to head back to the library for some quiet reading when she heard Amy ask, “Hey! What’s a ‘git’?” Ivy laughed so hard she had to hold onto the wall for support.

Ivy spent most of the rest of the day reading quietly in the library. There were a vast number of books that she had never read and was simply engrossed in the amount of information the library had on the Evil Seed incident. “This must be where Raphael learned about Soul Edge,” she said to herself as she leaned against one of the columns, letting her legs dangle over the edge of the balcony. “But, what could be his reason for looking for it? He seems to be a very passionate person, and he truly cares for Amy. He is such a mystery.”

“Don’t think about him too hard, or you’ll get wrinkles,” said Gina as she walked up the staircase and sat down next to Ivy.

“And you would know about that how?” asked Ivy with a sly grin.

Gina blushed. “Well, he is rather handsome, after all,” she mumbled. “But, I’m far too young for his tastes.” She elbowed Ivy in the ribs as she said, “But you, on the other hand, should have no problem landing him!”

“What?!” hissed Ivy. “I have no interest in that pompous, overbearing, jumping-to-conclusions buffoon!”

“I doubt that,” said Gina. “He’s sparked your interest, I can tell.”

“I’m only interested in what motivates him,” said Ivy.

“Riiiiight,” said Gina as she got up and dusted herself off. “Anyway, I came up here to tell you that dinner is ready. I’ll take you to the dining hall, and you can meet the other servants.”

“Sounds good,” said Ivy. The two headed downstairs and entered the dining hall. They were greeted with happy voices conversing different topics and general merry making.

Gina was about to introduce Ivy to everyone when they both heard Amy calling them. “Ivy! Gina! Come on! I saved you two seats over here by me!” Ivy and Gina smiled at each other and decided to save introductions until after Amy was calmed down. The servants that they passed all said hello and seemed to be very friendly, and the whole scene had a calming influence on Ivy. Gina and Ivy sat next to Amy, making sure that Gina sat between Amy and Ivy to keep from upsetting Raphael who was watching Ivy very carefully.

Ivy was having a good time being in a large gathering of people for the first time since she heard about Soul Edge. She actually started to lower her guard and allowed herself to get a little drunk. “I love this place!” she slurred as she draped her arm over Gina’s shoulder and hugged her. (A little drunk…uh-huh…) “I haven’t had this much fun in ages! If only my father hadn’t wasted his life looking for that stupid sword, I could have been a happy child!”

“Stupid sword?” asked Gina.

“I think she’s had enough to drink,” said Raphael quickly as he grabbed Ivy by the arm and dragged her away from the table. “I’m going to take her outside for some fresh air.” By this time Ivy was sobbing into Raphael’s shoulder, making him sigh and roll his eyes. He took her outside and tossed her to the ground. “Stop it already!” he snapped. “You made a right spectacle of yourself in there!”

“Do you honestly think I give a damn about that?!” cried Ivy.

“No, I don’t,” said Raphael calmly as he sat down on the front step. “You actually do want to destroy that sword, don’t you?”

“The sword is evil!” said Ivy as she gave up trying to get to her feet and merely sat where she was. “My father was driven insane by it…both of them!”

Raphael raised an eyebrow. “Both of them?” he asked.

“My real father was possessed by the blades and my foster father went insane and destroyed our family searching for it,” said Ivy dejectedly. “I won’t be able to have any real peace until it’s gone.” She looked down at her sword, attached to her outfit with a small clasp, and snorted. “This sword bears the same fate I do,” she said. “It won’t be free until Soul Edge is destroyed either.”

“It won’t be free?” asked Raphael. “What the hell are you talking about? It’s just a sword!” Ivy looked at Raphael before unlatching her sword. She held it up and pointed it at Raphael. The sword extended to just in front of Raphael’s face, making him jump back. The sword followed his every movement before, with a flick of her wrist, the sword retracted and looked like a normal sword again. “What sorcery is this?!” cried Raphael.

“Alchemy,” said Ivy, “With just a hint of evil energy. I summoned up a demon, who gave my sword life. As I searched for Soul Edge, I ran into the demon again. His name was Nightmare, and he said he wanted my help in an alchemical ritual that was supposed to summon souls. I didn’t know that he had Soul Edge, or that he was using Astaroth and Lizardman to kill people so I could summon their souls. The bastards kept me in the dark for the most part. I only found out that Nightmare had Soul Edge when that Chinese girl, Xianghua, destroyed it with Soul Calibur. For the past four years, I’ve spent my life in seclusion. I’ve worked on my alchemy, and trained with this sword so much that it’s like an extension of my arm. By chance, I learned that Soul Edge was trying to be reforged, so I’m out to destroy it now.” She looked at Raphael again and said, “I’m never going to work with Nightmare again. Amy is perfectly safe around me.”

“Yes, I know,” sighed Raphael. “I’ve never been lied to by a drunk before, and I don’t think that that has changed tonight.”

Ivy giggled. “I’m not used to drinking like I used to be,” she said. “I just got a little carried away, that’s all.”

“Well, you appear to be in better spirits, at least,” said Raphael. “Let’s head back inside before people start worrying.”

“Or before people start talking,” snickered Ivy.

“What are you talking about?” asked Raphael.

“Oh, nothing,” said Ivy innocently. As soon as Raphael opened the front door, Amy and Gina spilled out onto the front step. Raphael raised an eyebrow, while Ivy started laughing.

“How much of our conversation did you hear?” asked Raphael sternly.

“Only your half of the conversation,” said Amy angrily. “Ivy talks too softly to eavesdrop properly!”

Gina slapped her hand over Amy’s mouth before quickly saying, “What she means is that we were worried about Ivy’s health and were about the come out and join you when you opened the door.”

“Why is it that I don’t believe you?” asked Raphael sarcastically.

“Probably because you’re not an idiot,” said Ivy as Gina helped her to her feet. She was still a little shaky, but she could walk on her own.

Raphael grumbled as he and Amy went back inside. Ivy decided to enjoy the cool night air a little longer, and Gina stayed with her. “I wanted to ask you something,” said Gina.

“Go ahead then,” said Ivy. “I won’t stop you.”

When Raphael attacked you earlier, you said something that disturbed me,” said Gina. “You said, ‘Go ahead. Hate me.’ What was that all about?”

“I’m used to being detested by people,” said Ivy, “especially by people who know anything about my past. I’ve all but given up on the idea of being a normal person again, so why don’t I just let the entire world hate me? Once my quest is over, I’ll just go back to my mansion and live out the rest of my days alone, like I’m used to doing. It will be a gift to both myself and the world, we two who despise each other.”

“That’s a rather defeatist attitude,” said Gina simply.

Ivy shrugged. “Maybe,” she said, “but it’s the only one I’ve got. Come on, let’s get inside before the others start spreading rumors about us.” The two women laughed as they headed inside. By this time the meal was over and most of the people had gone to do the dishes. Amy and Raphael were the only people left eating, so the two joined them. “I do apologize for the scene I made,” said Ivy with a blush on her face.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Gina. “We all have problems that come out when we drink too much.” She leaned in and whispered in Ivy’s ear, “Raphael’s done the same thing before.”

“I have not!” said Raphael. “When I get falling-down drunk, I start giggling like a little school girl, not weeping like one.” He stared at the two women, haughtily, for a second before laughing merrily. Ivy and Gina followed suit and soon all four of them were laughing and chatting like old friends.

As they were finishing dinner Amy tugged on Ivy’s arm and said, “I have to talk to you about something important!”

Ivy raised her eyebrows towards Raphael, who shrugged. “Okay, what is it?” she asked.

“It’s a secret!” hissed Amy. “Come on over here!” Ivy smiled as she let the small child drag her over to a corner and bent down so she could whisper in her ear. As Amy whispered in her ear, however, Ivy’s smile slowly changed to a shocked expression and she turned beet red. She looked over at Raphael and quickly stood up. “Think about it…won’t you?” asked Amy.

“E-excuse me…I have to…Where’s the kitchen? I’ll do my own dishes,” said Ivy as she grabbed her plate and veritably dragged Gina away.

“What was that about?” asked Raphael when the two finally left through the right door.

“It’s a secret!” said Amy. Raphael was about to respond when he heard Gina laughing happily in the kitchen.

Later that night, Amy insisted that Ivy put her to bed. Ivy wasn’t used to doing things like this, but she remembered how her mother had done it for her and did as well as she could. She kissed Amy on the forehead as she tucked the young girl in and blew out her candle. She slowly got to her feet and turned around, surprised to see Raphael standing in the doorway, watching her. “Still don’t trust me?” she asked quietly as the two exited the room and closed the door.

“That’s not it,” said Raphael. “I’m always here when she’s put to bed.”

“Your daughter’s really cute,” said Ivy with a hint of red on her face as she looked away from Raphael.

“She’s not really my daughter,” said Raphael making Ivy look at him. He walked down the hall slowly as he spoke, Ivy trailing behind him. “I was the head of my family, the Sorels. But, I made a severe tactical error and was cast out. Information about my political wrongdoings, the same political wrongdoings that were being done by everyone else in my family, were leaked out by family members who didn’t much care for me and I was pursued by soldiers into a small, impoverished settlement. I was badly wounded by the soldiers by this time, and thought that my life had come to an end, but then a young orphaned girl hid me and told the soldiers that I had gone off in another direction. She saved my life, and I will never be able to repay her for that. The best that I could think of at the time was to become a father to her. We came to this mansion, which belonged to a friend of my father’s and I was planning on living here in peace with Amy for the rest of my life. But, one day, while flipping through some books in the library, I found out about Soul Edge. There was even a shard of the sword hidden among the shelves. I figured that if I had the power of the sword, I could over-throw the bastards who attacked me, and maybe gain a better life for Amy. I searched the countryside, eventually finding three people who had shards. I defeated them and took their shards and was in the process of looking for more when I came upon a young lady in Athens, who warned me against Nightmare’s plot. I wasn’t about to believe her until she said that she herself had been attacked already. I raced back here to protect Amy, not caring about the sword anymore. You know the rest.” Raphael looked up and saw that his rambling had brought the two to the library again. He smiled as he looked back at Ivy. “I wish you luck in your task, my lady. Take care of yourself. I doubt we’ll meet again.”

“That may be true,” said Ivy slowly. “But, don’t you want to know what Amy asked me back in the dining room?”

Raphael pondered the question for a moment before shaking his head. “She said it was a secret,” he said, “I suppose it’s not for my ears.”

“Well, I think it is,” said Ivy. “She asked me if I would stay here and be her mother.” Raphael chuckled, making Ivy blush again. “It’s not funny. She was serious.”

“I’m sure she was,” said Raphael. “But, that doesn’t make the whole situation any less amusing.” Ivy glowered at him, making him laugh even harder. “She saw the way we were flirting when we first met, and once I figured out that you weren’t here to hurt her, she thought that everything would fall into place.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” mumbled Ivy. “I’ll admit that I’ve enjoyed my time here, and everyone has been really friendly.” She looked at Raphael. “After a short while anyway. But, I’m not a good person. This sword isn’t the only thing here that’s absorbed a small portion of Soul Edge’s evil energy. The cursed blood of a madman runs through my veins. I’ve done things I’m not proud of and I don’t deserve to live a peaceful life, unless it’s in total seclusion.” She looked away from Raphael and headed towards the stairs. “Tell them I said goodbye.”

“Don’t leave!” called a small voice that made her stop. She whirled around and saw Amy standing in the doorway, looking at her. “Please don’t go! Raphael! Stop her!”

Ivy looked to Raphael for support, but all he would say was, “I won’t stop you or force you to leave. What you do must be your decision.”

“If you have to leave, at least stay the night!” begged Amy as she rushed up to Ivy and hugged her leg. “It’s too dark out there, and you’ll get lost and eaten by bears!”

Raphael laughed, saying, “I think the bears have more to worry about than she does!”

“I don’t think there are any bears out there, anyway,” said Ivy.

“She does make a good point though,” said Raphael. “You will get lost in the forest if you try to leave now, unescorted. Gina can take you out to the main road in the morning.”

“But…” started Ivy, but Amy wasn’t going to have it any other way.

“No ‘buts’ young lady,” she said happily as she dragged Ivy back over to Raphael. “You’re staying here until morning, and that’s final!”

“Yes, alright, fine,” said Raphael as he scooped up Amy. “Now, I’m going to get you to bed and tie you down so you stay there this time.” Amy giggled as Raphael bowed to Ivy and headed back to Amy’s room.

“I don’t believe this,” said Ivy when she was alone in the library. She had been convinced to stay the night by a small child. Not that it had been all that hard. Ivy really wanted to stay anyway, which is why she wanted to leave so badly. She couldn’t allow herself to get too comfortable. She had to destroy Soul Edge. But the allure of a peaceful and happy life was very strong. “Dammit!” she hissed as she unlatched her sword and started practicing. She did a few normal thrusts, slashes and parries before allowing the blade to extend and twirling it around. She had just started really getting into it when she heard someone open the door to the hallway behind her. She immediately had her sword go back to normal and whirled around. Raphael was standing in the doorway, smiling at her. “What do you want now?” she asked irritably.

“Well, I normally train myself in here after I’ve sent Amy to bed, and since you’re doing the same thing, I was wondering if you’d like to spar with me,” said Raphael.

Ivy’s eyes narrowed. “What’s the catch?” she asked.

“No catch,” said Raphael as he took out his sword. “I just want to see how well I can do against you when my emotions haven’t taken over.”

Ivy giggled a little, letting her sword extend before whipping it around her body and returning it to it’s normal shape. “I like that!”

“Well then, let us dance!” said Raphael as he bowed to Ivy before pointing his blade at her. The two stared at each other for a second, wondering who would make the first move. Raphael blinked first and rushed in, swinging his sword in a horizontal arc at Ivy’s face.

Ivy responded by backing up and swinging her sword in a vertical arc. “Extend!” she said as the sword extended like a whip and came down on Raphael’s head. Raphael blocked at the last second and kicked forward, hitting Ivy in the stomach. Ivy bent over, clutching her stomach, giving Raphael the opening he was hoping for. He ran in and grabbed her, tipped her backwards like a dancer, forcing her to lift up one of her legs to keep her balance. With a quick smile, he kissed her on the lips before whirling around and tossing her to the ground. As she was recovering, Raphael used his momentum to keep spinning and smack her on the back with his sword, sending her sprawling. “You’re a feisty one!” laughed Ivy as she got up, determined to do him one better. She quickly dashed in and allowed her sword to segment again, this time twirling it over her head. She whipped her sword in front of Raphael’s face once before letting it wrap around her body. “Dance!” she cried as she whipped the sword out and let it roll across the floor and wrap around his ankle. With a quick flick of her wrist, her sword lifted Raphael into the air and let him fall onto his back.

“You’re pretty reckless,” chuckled Raphael as he quickly rolled towards her and hit her in the head with the blunt part of his rapier three times. “Coup…de grace!” he roared as he leapt into the air and did a spin kick that sent Ivy to the ground again.

“You’re quite lively. I like that!” said Ivy, her eyes flashing. This was the most fun she’d had in a fight in a long time, and she wasn’t about to let it end now. As she got to her feet, she pulled her left leg in and spun around, laughing happily as her sword whirled around her in a perfect barrier. Raphael backed away from her, which was her intention to begin with. She stopped spinning suddenly and rushed up to him. She grabbed his shirt collar, made her sword encircle his torso, spun around and hurled him over her shoulder. “I got you!” she said with a grin.

“No problem! This is part of my plan!” said Raphael as he got up and stabbed at Ivy. He swung his sword around twice in a vertical figure eight. Ivy barely dodged the attack, but left herself open. Raphael smiled as he yelled, “Thrust!” and charged forward, hitting Ivy on the shoulder with his sword.

Ivy quickly ducked down, going with the blow, and surreptitiously segmented her sword. She laughed as she swung her sword around in a circle on the floor, hoping to trip him up. Raphael jumped the first two passes, but as Ivy was getting up, her sword snapped past Raphael’s legs again, catching him this time and making him lose his balance. He reached out for something to regain his balance. The only thing within reach was Ivy, so he gripped her arm and took her down with him when he fell. The two flopped onto the floor, Raphael on his back looking up at Ivy and Ivy on her hands and knees straddling Raphael. The two were laughing merrily at the silliness of it all. “There, are you satisfied now?” asked Ivy.

Raphael chuckled and feigned boredom. “Huh…” he said unenthusiastically. “Not a bad dance!”

“I could keep going if you like!” said Ivy with a grin.

“No, no…” said Raphael. “I think that was enough.” The two continued laughing for a short while before Ivy finally noticed the position that they were in. She swallowed slightly as she looked at Raphael’s smiling face. He was handsome…and she did like him. “Is something the matter?” asked Raphael as he noticed the intense look in her eyes.

“No…nothing…nothing at all,” said Ivy quietly as she leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

“What are you…?’ started Raphael, before Ivy put her finger on his lips and shook her head. She was breathing heavily as she looked at him. Raphael’s eyes narrowed as he quickly shoved her off of him and got on top of her instead. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked softly.

“Shut up and kiss me!” hissed Ivy. She needed this. Four years of total seclusion had her yearning for pure human contact. Raphael leaned his head in and was about to kiss her when they were both startled by the sound of someone stomping up the spiral staircase.

“What in the world is going on up here?!” yelled an angry sounding Gina. “Do you have any idea what time it is?!” She looked at Raphael and Ivy, who were now standing on opposite ends of the room, not looking at each other. “Are you two fighting again?!”

“Sparring, actually,” said Raphael. Ivy merely nodded, unable to speak at the moment.

“Whatever you want to call it, you’re keeping everyone else awake,” said Gina sternly. “Go to bed, both of you!”

“Yes ma’am!” said Raphael as he clicked his heels and saluted. “I’ll take Ivy to her room. Sleep tight.” Gina rolled her eyes, but smiled as she went back downstairs. “Come on,” he said as he walked over to the door. “Your room’s this way.” He knew her moment of weakness was over and silently cursed his luck. She wasn’t just beautiful, she was fun, smart, charming and Amy liked her too. But, he wasn’t about to force himself on her.

The two walked down the hall to Ivy’s room in silence. Ivy was so embarrassed at having lost control like that that she wanted to hide for the rest of her life. Raphael opened the door to Ivy’s room and entered, making sure it was in proper order. He smiled and nodded as Ivy walked past him and sat on the bed. “Good night,” said Ivy quietly as she put her sword down on the side table.

“Good night, dear lady,” said Raphael with a bow. He grabbed her hand and kissed it softly before turning and leaving.

When he got to the door, Ivy said, “Wait!”

Raphael didn’t turn around. He merely asked, “Is there something else I can help you with?”

He heard soft footsteps behind him and felt her arms wrapping around his chest before he heard her whispering in his ear, “Please stay…with me…”

Raphael closed his eyes and grabbed Ivy’s hand. “Anything for you, my lady,” he said quietly as he closed the door to the room and turned around to face her. She had tears in her eyes, but she was smiling. “Don’t do that,” said Raphael as he wiped her tears away. “It mars your beauty.”

“I’m sorry,” said Ivy as she buried her face in his shoulder. “I’ve held them back for so long, I don’t think I can stop.”

Raphael lifted her face up and looked her in the eyes. “If that’s the case, go ahead,” he said. “Cry as much as you need to.”

Raphael wrapped his arms around Ivy and held her tightly, running his hand through her hair. “Thank you,” said Ivy as the two merely held each other for a few minutes until Ivy had calmed down. “I didn’t think I could care about anyone ever again,” she said, “but you, Amy, Gina, and everyone here; you’ve all been so kind. I wish I could stay, but I can’t!”

“It’s okay,” soothed Raphael. “No one here will force you to stay, and Amy will understand eventually.” He leaned in, intending to kiss her on the cheek, but Ivy turned her head to face him at the last second and their lips met. There was no turning back for either of them at that point. Raphael pressed Ivy’s back up against the wall, holding her arms with his hands and kissing her ferociously. Ivy, unable or unwilling to free herself, merely kissed Raphael back as she wrapped one of her legs around his waist and started grinding her hips against his. Raphael let go of her arms and wrapped his arms around her body, holding her tight. Ivy wrapped her other leg around his waist and allowed him to carry her to the bed. Raphael gently laid Ivy down onto the bed, smiling at her, and ran his hand through her hair. Ivy smiled back at him as she slowly removed the bracer and shoulder guard from her left arm and dropped them to the floor. She then removed the wrist guard and glove from her right arm and did the same with them. “A strip tease, is it?” asked Raphael playfully as he stood back and watched Ivy unsnap her leggings from her suit and take them off.

“It’s only a strip tease if I stop here,” said Ivy slyly, “and I have no intention of stopping any time soon.” She reached behind her back and undid the clasps that held the straps to the back of her body suit before removing her choker. She reached behind her back again, and slowly untied the back of her body suit. As it became loose around her, she held it up before standing up and letting it fall to the floor. Now the only stitch of clothing she had left was her black panties. (Oh, come on! What other color did you expect for Ivy?!) She blushed as she covered her breasts and said, “Just one more item to remove. Would you like to do the honors?”

“Yes, but before I do that…” said Raphael as he took off his jacket and tossed it aside. His gloves were next, followed by the vest and shirt. Ivy’s eyes twinkled when she saw that Raphael had a good body underneath all of those layers. He quickly bent down and took off his boots, before removing his pants as well. He was left standing, wearing a pair of striped boxer shorts. (I have no idea what people used for underwear in this time period, except maybe pantaloons…and I ain’t about to use them, so I’m just gonna give them what I want to.) The two stared at each other for a second before Raphael reached out and pushed Ivy’s hands away from her breasts, making her blush even harder. “There’s no reason to cover those up,” he said, “They’re as beautiful as you are.”

“But I…” started Ivy, but Raphael stopped her with a kiss.

“You heard Amy,” he said. “No ‘buts’, young lady.” The two laughed as Raphael pushed Ivy back onto the bed and slowly took her panties off. He was a little surprised to find that white was her natural hair color, but he played it off well. He then dropped his boxers. Ivy’s eyes widened when she saw how well endowed he was. She licked her lips eagerly as she crawled back on the bed, giving Raphael room to climb on. He smiled as he bent down between her legs and ran his tongue along her slit. Ivy groaned and gripped her breasts as Raphael continued to lick and suck on her pussy.

“It’s been so long!” moaned Ivy. “Too long!” Raphael slowly moved up Ivy’s body, running his tongue over her stomach, lightly kissing both of her breasts, nibbling on her neck and finally, when they were face to face, kissing her deeply and passionately. Ivy kept her eyes closed, allowing her tactile senses to take over, and making the pleasure that was coursing through her body increase. Raphael never stopped moving. His hands slid down and ran over her hips, caressed her cheeks, groped her breasts and rubbed her pussy like a pro, all while continuing to kiss her. Ivy’s hands ran up and down Raphael’s back before she gripped his head and pulled it away from her own. Her eyes shot open and Raphael almost shrank back from the intense look she gave him. “Fuck me now!” she growled before pulling him in and kissing him.

“I’ve never been one to disappoint a lady who asked nicely,” said Raphael with a smirk as he pushed himself onto his knees and slowly rubbed his cock along her pussy.

“Don’t tease me!” groaned Ivy. “Please! Fuck me!” Raphael laughed a little as he continued lubing his cock up with her juices before gripping it and slowly pushing it into Ivy’s secret depths. After he pushed himself halfway into her, Raphael laid down on top of her again and started to gently thrust into her, going deeper with each thrust. “Yes! So good!” screamed Ivy. “Please! Don’t stop!”

“You’re being rather noisy,” said Raphael. “I’ll have to do something about that.” He raised Ivy’s head and started kissing her again. She continued to moan and groan in his mouth as her arms and legs wrapped around his body, pulling him into her even more. By this time, Raphael was moving his whole cock in and out of her with each thrust and Ivy was making muffled cries and screams as her hips raised to meet his. “I can’t believe how tight you are!” hissed Raphael as he pulled his mouth away from Ivy’s.

“I told you, it’s been a long time!” groaned Ivy as she buried her face in Raphael’s shoulder. “Oh God! Cumming!” Ivy wailed as she bit into Raphael’s shoulder, her orgasm making her entire body spasm uncontrollably. Her pussy clamped down on Raphael’s cock like a vise, making him draw in a quick breath.

“Not yet!” he said as he continued thrusting into her. “Getting close though…”

“Don’t cum in me, please!” panted Ivy. “I can’t get pregnant! I can’t doom a child to having the same bad blood as me!”

“Where then?!” hissed Raphael, “Make it quick!”

“In my mouth,” groaned Ivy. “I’ll swallow it!” Raphael veritably ripped his cock out of Ivy’s pussy and rammed it into her mouth. He could only thrust in her mouth twice before he’d had all he could take and came, shooting his cum down her throat. Ivy was as good as her word, swallowing every last drop.

“Wow…” panted Raphael as he sat back. “What a woman!”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” panted Ivy with a light giggle. The two started laughing as Ivy crawled over to Raphael and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for that. Even if it was just this once, I enjoyed it very much.”

Raphael smiled sadly as he nodded. “I guess so,” he said. “I must admit though…now I’m inclined to insist that you stay.”

Ivy was about to respond when the door flew open and Gina stormed in. “What did I tell you about…making…noise…” she said, slowing down as she looked at the two and realized exactly what she had barged into. “Uh…heh heh…oops? I hope I didn’t interrupt anything…did I?”

“Not at all,” said Ivy with a surreptitious wink to Raphael. “As a matter of fact, we were just thinking about asking you to join us. How does that sound?”

Ivy and Raphael started laughing uncontrollably as Gina turned the shade of a cherry tomato and slowly closed the door. “That was mean,” chuckled Raphael.

“Maybe,” said Ivy, “but she’ll forgive us later…I think.” The two continued laughing until Ivy’s sword suddenly segmented and started writhing on the table. “What?” cried Ivy. “What’s going on? It shouldn’t move without my touching it. It’s only done this once before…when I met…” Her train of thought was stopped when they both heard a crash and a scream coming from down the hallway.

“Amy!” cried Raphael as she quickly tossed on his shorts, grabbed his sword and took off.

“Dammit!” said Ivy. She didn’t have anything that she could put on quickly. “What should I do?!”

Raphael ran down the hall, where he ran into Gina. She was looking into Amy’s room with a look of terror and was trying to scurry into the wall on the other side of the hallway. “What’s going on?!” he demanded.

“I-I-It’s a g-g-ghost!” cried Gina as she pointed into the room.

Raphael scowled at her before entering Amy’s room and stopping dead. Whatever it was, ghost or not, it wasn’t alive. The pale blue skin and dead, milky white eyes were a dead giveaway. But, whatever it was, it had Amy in it’s clutches, and he couldn’t tell if she was dead or just unconscious. “Stop right there!” cried Raphael as he pointed his sword at the demon.

The creature was halfway out the window before it stopped and slowly turned towards Raphael. “Oh ho!” it said, “It looks like daddy’s arrived!” The monster was wearing a pair of bronze boots that covered a pair of flared leggings. It had on the outfit of a pirate captain, including the round hat with the feather in it. It wore a tattered jacket like a cape and had on green gloves. On both arms it had large bronze wrist guards and on it’s right arm there was a bronze guard above the elbow. It’s pale white mustache connected to it’s mutton chop sideburns and it’s face was framed with it’s sick-looking hair. The thing was holding two swords. One was a short sword, but the other one was radiating so much evil that Raphael felt like throwing up.

“Give Amy back!” hollered Raphael.

“Give me your shards of Soul Edge and I might!” laughed the monster.

“I don’t have any!” said Raphael.

“Then you’re no use to me,” said the monster as it pointed it’s short sword to the ceiling. Raphael heard the click and the shot, wincing by reflex, but he didn’t feel the bullet hitting him. He looked up and saw that Ivy’s sword had extended in front of him, deflecting the bullet. “So, you’re here too. And I see you’ve been having fun!” laughed the monster. Raphael looked back and saw that Ivy was wrapped up in a bed sheet.

“I’ll kill you if you hurt her!” hissed Ivy. “I don’t care if you’re dead, you will burn in hell for all eternity!”

The monster laughed loudly before saying, “Already been there! Not interested in going back just yet! If you want the girl back, meet me at the Egyptian Crypt Ruins! You know what I mean!”

“Father!” screamed Ivy as the monster dove out the window and took off, moving at a speed that made it seem like it was teleporting.

“Amy!” cried Raphael as he almost dove out after them. Ivy grabbed his arm and stopped him. He looked back at her, but she merely shook her head. He sat down heavily on the bed and asked, “What the hell was that thing?! You called it father!”

“That was Cervantes De Leon,” said Ivy. “The dead pirate who was the first person in recorded history to be possessed by Soul Edge. He is also my birth father. I told you that I had the blood of a madman flowing through my veins.” She sat down on the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. “Back when Cervantes was still alive, he was the most feared pirate in the land. His father had been a privateer who was betrayed by the county he was working for, so Cervantes decided not to work for anyone but himself. His last job was given to him by Vercci: The Merchant of Death. Vercci wanted Soul Edge and hired Cervantes to find it. Well, I don’t know where or how, but Cervantes found Soul Edge and was immediately possessed by the twin blades.”

“Twin blades?” asked Raphael. “I thought Soul Edge was a single sword.”

“It is now,” said Ivy. “After Cervantes became possessed, he killed his entire crew, making the swords more powerful. But, it wasn’t enough to stop a young girl with a big heart and a sword given to her by Hephaestus, the God of the Forge. Sophitia Alexandra, the woman you met in Greece, destroyed one of the blades. She would have destroyed the other one too, but some shards of the first blade impaled her. She would have died, but a ninja by the name of Taki came along, killed Cervantes and pulled her out. Shortly afterwards, a young man by the name of Siegfried came along and found Cervantes’ body still clutching the second blade. But Soul Edge, fearing that Siegfried had come to destroy it, took total control of Cervantes’ body and attacked. Somehow Siegfried won, and took the blade away from the burnt out husk. But, as soon as he touched the blade, he was no longer human. You might have heard about Siegfried’s new name. He calls himself Nightmare.”

“I see…” said Raphael. “But how did Cervantes come back to life?”

“I’m not sure,” said Ivy, “but that sword he was holding. Not the one with the pistol in it, the other one. It had the same aura as Soul Edge. I have to wonder if he managed to forge that sword from shards of Soul Edge that he’s found. If that’s the case, I need to take him down and get that sword.”

“That sword?!” spat Raphael. “Amy is far more important than that!”

“If we don’t stop the sword’s resurrection, it won’t matter if we save her,” said Ivy. “The entire world will be destroyed.”

“I don’t care about the world!” snarled Raphael as he stood up. “I’ll get her back, with or without your help!”

“You idiot!” snapped Ivy as she shot up and blocked his path. “Cervantes isn’t someone you can just go up against with a normal sword! You can’t stop him, but I can!”

“Get out of my way!” said Raphael.

“Make me!” said Ivy.

“Stop it, both of you!” screamed Gina, making them both turn to look at her. “Stop fighting! It doesn’t matter why you go after him, just save Amy! Please!”

Ivy looked down at the floor and gritted her teeth. “Damn you, father!” she screamed before racing out of the room.

Raphael sat down on the bed again and sighed. “What happened to you two?” asked Gina.

“That sword of his,” said Raphael. “It is an evil thing that loves negative emotions. Hatred, Fear, Distrust, Corruption, Greed and others are nourishment to it. It’s very presence in front of us probably brought those emotions out of us. I’ve got to go apologize to Ivy, and then we have to go.”

Gina looked sad, but nodded. “I’ll go pack some food for you,” she said. “Egypt is a long ways away, but I’ll pack as much as I can.”

“Thank you,” said Raphael. Gina bowed and ran out of the room. Raphael slowly got to his feet and walked down the hall to Ivy’s room. He entered the room and saw that Ivy was quickly putting her clothes on. “Ivy…” he started.

“Don’t say anything,” said Ivy without looking at him. “You were in the right and I apologize. Get your clothes on. We’ve got to leave at once.”

The two quickly packed their things and ran downstairs where Gina was waiting for them with two sacks full of food. “Please take care,” she said, “both of you.”

“You take care of yourself, Gina,” said Ivy as the two women hugged each other goodbye. “We’ll save Amy, and Raphael will bring her back.”

“This place won’t be the same without you,” said Gina with tears in her eyes. “Please, at least come back and visit when your quest is over.”

“I won’t promise anything,” said Ivy. She looked into Gina’s eyes and said, “Except that we WILL save Amy. Good-bye.” Gina looked like she was going to say something, but she merely sighed and bowed.

“Let’s go,” said Raphael as he put on a traveling cloak and headed out the door, followed closely by Ivy. Gina watched them leave, not taking her eyes off of them until they disappeared into the forest. She made a silent prayer that they all return safely before slowly closing the door.

Ivy and Raphael’s trip was, for the most part, uneventful. However, as they were traveling through Spain, hoping to get a boat over to Africa, they ran into a trio that Raphael was hesitant to show his face to. “Oh great,” he hissed as soon as he saw them camped out on the side of the road. “Not these three jokers!” Ivy looked at them and was slightly confused, because they didn’t look like the types of people who would be traveling together. One appeared to by a youth in a green tunic, white tights and a green cap. There was an old man in a black karate gi, and then there was a guy covered from head to toe in black leather. Raphael quickly pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, covering his face, and said, “We’ve got to get past these guys without fighting them. There’s no time to waste. Just think up something to say to them if they stop us.”

“Great…” muttered Ivy, as the two continued walking along the path.

They were almost past them when the one in the leather said, “Hey little lady, why don’t you leave shorty over there and hang with me for a while?”

Ivy looked the man over, noting his green eyes before snorting, “Sorry pal. I only go out with my own species!” The youth snickered while the man in black growled.

“Spawn, don’t be rude,” said the old man severely. “This young lady is obviously in a hurry, we must not keep her.”

“Shut up, old man!” snarled Spawn. He looked at Raphael and sneered, “As if that guy’s anything. I could probably take him right here, right now.”

“We’re leaving,” said Ivy firmly as she turned her back on Spawn and pushed Raphael along.

“Hold, young lady,” said the old man, making her stop. “We’re looking for someone, and are asking whoever we run into about him.”

“She won’t know anything, Heihachi,” said Spawn.

“What do you want?’ asked Ivy. “And make it quick!”

Heihachi opened his eyes and looked into Ivy’s. “Do you know where Raphael Sorel is?” he asked.

“No,” said Ivy unflinchingly.

“Your ability to lie is impressive,” said Heihachi, “but it’s not good enough to get by me.”

“Lying, huh?’ growled Spawn as he brought out his ax. “I’ll make her tell the truth.”

“I wouldn’t suggest that,” said Heihachi calmly.

“Shut up!” roared Spawn as he charged Ivy.

Ivy calmly reached down and grabbed her sword. As soon as Spawn was right on top of her, she stepped to the side, grabbed him from behind and held her sword over his throat. The sword separated completely and started swiping over his body repeatedly. The sword pieces, one-by-one, slowly returned to the hilt before Ivy let Spawn go, asking, “Is that painful? I could do more.” Spawn responded by groaning and crashing, face first, to the ground.

The youth looked at Ivy’s handy work and proceeded to run up to Spawn and offer him a jar of milk. “Leave him be, Link,” said Heihachi. “He’s the one who attacked without knowing his opponent’s strength.”

“Can we go now?” asked Ivy.

“At least tell us where Raphael is staying,” said Heihachi. “Nothing specific, since you obviously care about him.”

“He’s living in a mansion in the south of France,” said Ivy. “Goodbye. And I suggest you don’t attempt to speak to me again.” Ivy turned her penetrating glare on both Link and Heihachi, causing Link to shiver, before the two turned and left.

“I finally understand the name that you’re called now,” said Raphael after they were out of earshot.

“What name would that be?” asked Ivy.

“The bondage queen of darkness,” said Raphael. “That attack of yours would have killed a normal human.”

“I know,” she said, “That’s why I used it on him, not the other two.” The two walked on in silence for awhile before Ivy stopped suddenly and said, “Bondage queen of darkness. I like that.” She smiled and veritably skipped along, with Raphael slowly shaking his head.

The two managed to acquire passage to Africa with little difficulty, and while their trek towards Egypt wasn’t particularly nice or fun, it was uneventful. They were camping for the night, about half a day away from the ruins when Raphael finally asked, “Why did he choose this of all places? And, for that matter, how do you know how to get there?”

Ivy sighed and said, “I had an alchemy lab there for quite some time. Four years ago to be precise…”

“I see…” said Raphael. “So, how does Cervantes know about it?”

“I fought him there four years ago,” said Ivy. “I have to warn you, the place is a maze, and there are at least two possible locations that Cervantes could be waiting for us.”

“Are you going to be alright?” asked Raphael.

“I won’t turn on you,” snapped Ivy. “We’ll get Amy back.”

“That’s not what I meant,” said Raphael quietly. “I want to know if you’ll be alright with this.” Ivy looked up at him and saw he was sincerely concerned. “He may be evil, but he’s still your father. Will you be able to fight him?”

“I can, and will,” said Ivy firmly. “Before I met you, I probably would have just ignored him and went on my journey. But I have someone that I want to save now. Amy is precious to me, and I won’t let him harm her.”

Raphael smiled as he stood up and walked over to sit next to her. He draped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “You’re precious to me as well as Amy,” he said softly. “If you hadn’t been there, Cervantes would have just taken Amy and my Soul Edge shards and I would have been left without any way of saving her. But, it’s not only that. You’re smart, beautiful, strong and a lot of fun to be around. I think…I love you.”

Ivy’s body stiffened at Raphael’s confession. She wanted to respond, but for some reason, she couldn’t. She opened her mouth to blow him off, but her voice wouldn’t let her. It wasn’t until she tried a few times that she realized that the reason she couldn’t say she didn’t feel the same was that it would be a lie. She did love him. She actually wanted to be near him for the rest of her life. She slowly leaned her head down, and rested it on Raphael’s shoulder as she whispered, “I love you too.” The two stared at the fire in silence, watching it slowly die down to nothing. Ivy closed her eyes and sighed heavily as she pushed away from Raphael and said, “But, I still have to leave after we get Amy back. I can’t let that sword live any longer.” Raphael dragged her back to him, causing her to struggle against him. “Stop it!” she said. “Don’t you get it? It doesn’t matter how we feel! We can’t be together!” She scowled as she looked at him, but when she saw the smile on his face, her heart melted.

“It’s okay,” said Raphael with a smile.

Ivy had tears in her eyes as she sobbed, “No it’s not!” She buried her face in his shirt, beating on his chest and crying uncontrollably. “Why are you so fucking calm about it all?!”

“Because I’m willing to fight alongside you in your quest to destroy Soul Edge,” said Raphael. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “Try as you like; you’re not getting rid of me.”

“But what about Amy?” asked Ivy as she pushed away from him. “What would happen to her while we were off destroying the sword? What if someone else came and took her away while we were gone?” She shook her head. “I can’t allow that. I appreciate the thought, but no. You’re not coming with me.”

“Then at least do me the honor of being a cheerful companion for the rest of our time together,” said Raphael with a sad smile.

“I suppose I could do that for you,” said Ivy with a smile. The two kissed each other goodnight and curled up together before falling asleep.

The next day, they got up bright and early, hoping to make it to the ruins before sundown. The sun was still beating down on them when they made it to the ruins, but there were clouds in the distance that made it look like it was preparing to rain. “This is it,” said Ivy. “Time to save Amy.”

Raphael noticed the nervous tone in her voice and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” said Ivy quickly. “I’m just worried about what that sicko is doing. Let’s go.” The two raced down the stairs and were about to enter the first room when Ivy stopped and held up her arm. “I’ve got to warn you,” she said with a smile. “There are some interesting booby traps in this place. Natural ones admittedly, but they can make the journey a lot more interesting.”

“My confidence soars with each word you speak,” said Raphael sarcastically. Ivy giggled as she pushed open the door in front of her and the two entered the first room.

“Watch your footing,” said Ivy as she carefully jumped onto the circular platform in front of her.

Raphael stared around the room in wonder. “Ice?!” he asked, shivering in the cold. “How did they manage to make an entire room made of ice in the middle of the desert?!”

“I have no idea,” said Ivy as she carefully walked along the platform, jumping to the opposite side of the room. “Come on, or I’ll leave you behind.” Raphael quickly jumped to the ice platform and promptly fell on his butt, sliding towards the other side. Ivy chuckled as she segmented her sword, wrapped it around Raphael’s legs as he was sliding off, and pulled him up to the ledge she was on.

“Well,” said Raphael. “That was fun. What’s next?”

“Don’t get a hot foot,” said Ivy as she pushed open the door and a blast of steam hit them both in the face.

“Oh gods,” muttered Raphael. “It’s like a sauna in here!”

Ivy quickly closed the door to the ice room and said, “It’s because of the lava.”

Raphael looked around and was disturbed to see that there was, indeed, lava surrounding the platform in the middle of the room. There was even lava in a small trench around the edge of the platform. “That would make for an interesting sparring ground,” he said flippantly.

Ivy sighed as she leapt over the lava, barely making it past the trench. “I always hated this room,” she muttered angrily.

Raphael smiled as he jumped over to the platform, touched his foot against the edge of the trench, flipped over the trench and landed behind Ivy. “I don’t know,” he said. “It has a certain charm.” Ivy rolled her eyes and grumbled as she made a running leap for the ledge on the other side and opened the door. Raphael leapt after her and was surprised to see that it appeared to be a normal room. There was still only one platform in the center of the room, but there didn’t appear to be anything wrong with it. “Did they run out of ideas already?” he asked.

“Don’t be fooled,” said Ivy as she jumped to the platform, only to have half of it fall away. “This platform changes it’s shape with each person who touches it.” Raphael stared in wonder at the platform. What had once been a perfectly round platform was now more of a triangle.

“Very interesting…” said Raphael as he leapt for the platform. He was forced to scurry forward as the blocks he was standing on fell away, while others raised up to make the platform look very long and thin.

“Perfect!” said Ivy with a smile. “This will make splitting up all the more easy.”

“Wait!” said Raphael. “What do you mean ‘splitting up’? Why would we have to do that?!”

“I mentioned yesterday that there were two possible places that Cervantes could be hiding,” said Ivy. “One way is through that door.” She pointed down to one side of the room that had a doorway that lead to stairs leading down. “And the other way is through that one, on the other side.” She pointed to a doorway that had stairs leading up. “The stairs leading down leads to my old lab, the one’s leading up leads to the crypt. I want you to check out my old lab. I’ll check out the crypt.”

“I don’t think that splitting up is such a good idea,” said Raphael.

“The faster we find Cervantes, the faster we find Amy,” replied Ivy as she ran and leapt to the doorway that lead to the crypt. “Take care, and come find me if you get stuck at a dead end.” Ivy didn’t even look back as she whispered, “Good bye,” and ran up the stairs, certain that one way or another, she would never see him again. When she reached the top of the stairs she quickly pushed open the doors in front of her before staring in shock at the scene in front of her. There was a big, gaping hole in the wall at the other end of the room. She could see that the thunderstorm, that had been threatening to strike, was right on top of them. What should have been a large, expansive room, became much smaller due to the fact that most of the floor had crumbled away, leaving a jagged edged platform in the middle of the room. As she slowly walked down the small hallway, leading to the room, she could see that along the walls were ancient hieroglyphics depicting ancient gods and pharaohs. Pillars surrounded the room, many broken and shattered, lying crumbling on the ground. She took the last few steps at a run and leapt to the central platform, before turning and gasping. She had expected to see the two pillars in the shape of the eye of Horus on either side of the passageway, but Amy was chained up to one of them. The young girl appeared to be unconscious, and Ivy’s blood ran cold when she saw the small trickle of blood that ran down the side of her face. “Amy!” she called, hoping that Cervantes hadn’t done anything more to her.

The young girl stirred at the sound of her name and winced in pain as she opened her eyes. But all thoughts of pain went out of her mind when she saw Ivy standing on the platform in front of her. “Ivy!” she screamed. “No! Get out of here! It’s a trap!”

Ivy smiled as she saw the tears sliding down the girl’s cheeks. “Of course it’s a trap,” she said softly. “But I’m not going to let that bad man hurt you again.”

“Is that right?” cackled a booming voice that made Amy scream. “And do you really think you can stop me, little girl?”

“I’ll take you down, once and for all,” snarled Ivy as she looked around wildly. “And then when I destroy Soul Edge and myself, the world will be free of the evil! Now, stop hiding you coward!”

“I suppose that fighting you will be more easy than talking,” said Cervantes’ voice.

“Please Ivy!” cried Amy desperately. “Go! I don’t want you to die!”

Ivy closed her eyes, a peaceful smile on her lips as she silently thanked Amy for her kindness, but then she opened her eyes again and there was nothing but cold hatred shining in them. “Amy,” she said, “Close your eyes! You don’t want to see this!”

“But, I…” started Amy but Ivy’s head snapped towards her and she shivered at the look she was given.

“I’m not playing around here!” snapped Ivy. “Close your eyes and don’t open them again until I say you can!” Amy’s eyes shut involuntarily making Ivy sigh. She hadn’t wanted to speak harshly to Amy, but she couldn’t fight at her full strength with the girl watching her either.

“I see you’ve become pathetic in the four years it’s been since we last met,” hissed Cervantes coldly.

“You’re the last thing on earth that has any right to call me pathetic,” growled Ivy as she tried, desperately, to find where Cervantes was hiding. She stopped looking for Cervantes when her sword suddenly started moving on it’s own and leapt at one of the unbroken pillars. Ivy stared at it intently before Cervantes stepped out from behind it.

His two swords circled him before shooting out and striking the platform in front of Ivy. “Come back to me, my child,” he said grimly as he leapt onto the platform with her, picking up his swords and holding them up.

“Silence!” said Ivy severely as she willed her sword to go back to it’s normal shape. “I can change my own destiny!”

The two combatants glared at each other. Ivy hated her father and everything he stood for, and Cervantes couldn’t believe that he had sired such a pathetic woman. “Do not defy me!” roared Cervantes as he reared back and flung himself at Ivy like a torpedo.

Ivy quickly dodged to the side, and when he stopped had her sword whip around his body before pulling him back towards her. “Be still!” she hissed as she quickly ducked down and had her sword snake under him. Cervantes looked down, but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid Ivy’s next attack. She quickly pulled her sword up, right between his legs, sending him flying into the air. As soon as he landed, Ivy plunged her sword into his chest, willing it to separate again. This time the fragments of her sword shot through Cervantes so many times that he started to get lifted up into the air before the segments shot through him from above, sending his body slamming into the ground, and reattached to the sword hilt. “Was that painful?” asked Ivy quietly.

“I will burn you to ashes!” growled Cervantes as he slowly got up. Ivy took an involuntary step backwards as she saw the holes in his chest slowly close up. Cervantes looked even less happy than normal as he rushed up to Ivy and swung his sword up, connecting the flat of his blade with her chin. Ivy was sent into the air by the powerful uppercut, and her eyes widened with shock when she saw that Cervantes was waiting for her. “No use!” he sneered as he tilted his swords so they wouldn’t kill Ivy before swinging them down and smacking Ivy back down to the ground.

“Not over yet…” groaned Ivy painfully as she slowly got up. She couldn’t understand why, but it seemed like Cervantes was merely toying with her. And that thought made her more pissed off than anything else could have. She was still kneeling when Cervantes walked up to her, sneering. She grinned as she quickly whirled her sword around her body, letting it segment, feeling it rip into Cervantes. “Squirm!” she shouted as she flicked her wrist and her sword whirled in the opposite direction, slashing across Cervantes’ body. “You’re revolting!” she scoffed as she started to swing her sword at him again, but Cervantes wasn’t about to let that happen.

He easily ducked under her swing, grabbing her by the shoulders. He spun her around, grabbed her by the hips and tossed her into the air. As she was coming back down, he thrust up his knee, right into her tailbone. Ivy let out a squeak of pain before falling and writhing on the ground. “I’m disappointed! What a useless daughter!” laughed Cervantes as he folded his arms and laughed evilly, allowing his swords to circle him before landing at his sides.

“Ivy!” yelled Amy.

“Don’t open your eyes!” cried Ivy. She blinked back tears as she willed the pain to go away like always, but it wasn’t working like it normally did. “What’s going on here!” she groaned.

“It’s like I said,” whispered Cervantes right into her ear. “You’ve become pathetic. Caring about what happens to that little girl. Making love to that foppish noble. You’re not the same woman I fought four years ago.”

“T-that’s ridiculous!” said Ivy as she tried to scramble away from him, but Cervantes gripped her shoulder tightly, making her wince. “I haven’t changed at all. I’m still the same person I’ve always been!” Her voice wavered as she spoke. She wasn’t sure of herself anymore. Her fighting had been sluggish and she had reacted to pain a lot more than was normal for her. “No!” she said, “I don’t believe it. I’m still the one they call the bondage queen of darkness!”

“The bondage queen is dead…” said Cervantes as he got up. “All that’s left is this pathetic little girl without any Soul Edge infused blood left in her.”

“What?” asked Ivy, shocked.

“Since Soul Edge feeds off negative emotions, the love you have for the people in that house slowly ate away at the negative energy in you until you lost it completely,” said Cervantes as he spat on the ground, disgusted. “Try using that sword of yours, and you’ll understand.”

“Valentine?” whispered Ivy as she held her sword out. She willed it to segment and strike at Cervantes, but it merely segmented and flopped to the ground.

“You can’t use it anymore,” said Cervantes. “It’s not a part of you anymore.” Ivy hung her head in sorrow. She wouldn’t be able to destroy Soul Edge anymore. There was nothing left for her to live for. “I’ll be taking my prize for defeating you now,” said Cervantes.

“Fine…take them,” said Ivy as she reached into her satchel to get the shards of Soul Edge.

“I didn’t mean those, although I’ll be taking them too,” said Cervantes as he looked up and down Ivy’s lithe body.

Ivy saw the look in Cervantes’ eyes and shrank back. She’d never felt so alone and helpless as she did right then. She willed, with all her might, for her sword to move, but it just sat there. “No,” she stammered. “You can’t be serious! I’m your daughter!”

“Oh, what’s gonna happen to me?” laughed Cervantes. “Am I gonna be sent to hell again?! Or would you rather I took my prize from that little girl over there?”

“No!” screamed Ivy as she shot up and kicked at Cervantes.

“Useless!” said Cervantes as he caught Ivy’s leg and twisted her back onto the ground. He scowled at her for a second before looking at her sword and saying, “Do something useful for a change.” Ivy yelped as her sword segmented and wrapped around her arms, holding them tight against her body.

“What have you done to my sword?!” screamed Ivy.

“That sword is as much a part of Soul Edge as I am,” said Cervantes. “Did you think it would still protect you now that you no longer have the dark energy within you? It’s working for me now. And I want it to spread those nice shapely legs of yours.”

“Stop it, Valentine!” screamed Ivy as the sword did as it was instructed. While still holding Ivy’s arms, the hilt and tip of the blade moved down and wrapped around her ankles before pulling them apart. Ivy blushed as Cervantes knelt down in front of her and slowly ran his finger up and down along her crotch. “Stop!” she whimpered, “Don’t do that!”

“Well, I suppose I could do something else instead,” said Cervantes. His hands slid up Ivy’s tight body suit until they came to her breasts. “You’ve grown into a fine figure of a woman,” said Cervantes with a leer as he unsnapped the straps that held her cups up and pulled them away, revealing her huge breasts to the world. “I’m still not sure who your mother is, but I don’t think any of the possible candidates were anywhere near as big as you!”

“Get away from me, you disgusting monster!” moaned Ivy as Cervantes started groping her breasts. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized that there was nothing she could do. Her own sword was holding her in a death grip, and she was about to be raped by her undead father. She found herself wishing that Raphael would come to save her, but she had purposefully gotten him lost in the ruins so he wouldn’t get hurt.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman with tits like these,” said Cervantes thoughtfully as he pinched her nipples, pulling her breasts up and down and letting them snap back into place. He carefully rubbed his cheek against her soft flesh, making her shiver. “Of course!” he said happily. “That barmaid in—no…wait. I killed her after she tried to pick my pocket. Drat!” Ivy shuddered as Cervantes leaned in and started sucking and chewing on her breasts. “It could have been that milkmaid…with the big…and that…heh…no. She died of the plague while I was out at sea.”

“Please…stop…no!” she sobbed. She wasn’t sure what was worse; the way he was treating her breasts or him talking about all the whores and promiscuous ladies that could have been her mother.

“How about that shop keeper’s daughter?” said Cervantes as he absently pulled Ivy’s outfit away from her crotch and started stroking her pussy. “She was a feisty young thing! And she was well endowed too. But, she was killed by bandits three weeks after I spent my first night with her. Blast! Who the hell is your mother?!”

“I don’t know!” wailed Ivy. “I didn’t even know I was adopted until both of my parents were dead!” Ivy’s breaths were coming out as ragged gasps. She hated to admit it, but Cervantes’ ministrations were turning her on. “Stop doing that!” cried Ivy as she felt her body spasm in a way that filled her with shame.

Cervantes looked down at his fingers and snickered. “So, it seems that you take after you mother after all, regardless of which whore it was,” he sneered. “None of them could resist me either!”

“My mother wasn’t a whore!” cried Ivy.

“Don’t be stupid,” said Cervantes. “Who else would sleep with a guy like me? I was a pirate! I had no allegiance to any lord, unlike my father. I lived as I liked, and killed as I liked. No lady of good breeding would even deign to be in my presence.”

Ivy let out a choked sob. She knew that he was right, and it hurt her to think that her mother could possibly be like any of those women that Cervantes had mentioned. “Why are you doing this to me?” she whispered, making sure Amy couldn’t hear her. “Why don’t you just fuck me and get it over with?!”

“What’s the matter?!” laughed Cervantes loudly. “Too shy to do something like this in front of the little girl?! I think she should watch!” Ivy’s eyes shot open in shock at the suggestion and she screamed an expletive at Cervantes that was drowned out by a sudden crash of thunder. “Do you kiss you mother with that mouth?” scoffed Cervantes.

“My mother is dead!” hissed Ivy, but her rage turned to loathing when she saw Cervantes take off his gloves. She groaned in disgust when she felt his cold, clammy hands rub against her flesh and let out a yelp when he stuck a finger inside of her again.

“Aw, what’s the matter?” asked Cervantes. “Are my fingers cold?” His other hand moved up and started groping her breasts again, making her shiver as unwanted lust filled her body. She let out a soft whimper that might have been a moan as she realized that regardless of how she felt about this, her body needed it. Cervantes noticed how her body was reacting and smiled. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “How about a kiss for old daddy?” Ivy grimaced but didn’t fight at all when his lips pressed to hers. She quickly closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was happening anymore. She didn’t even react when she felt his tongue slowly enter her mouth. She merely let out small gasps and moans as Cervantes continued to please her, all too willing, body. She blushed when she started to hear wet squishing sounds emanating from her channel, but the sound made something click in the back of her mind. Suddenly, she didn’t care who was pleasing her, all that mattered was that she was being pleased. She started kissing Cervantes back and thrusting her hips into his fingers.

“Yes…” moaned Ivy between kisses. “Please…touch me…I need you…please…”

Ivy let out a few short gasps as she came, covering Cervantes’ hand. Cervantes pulled away from Ivy, leaving her panting on the ground with a satisfied smile on her lips. “Well, if that’s how you feel, I guess we should proceed!” said Cervantes jovially. Ivy’s eyes snapped open and the realization of what she had just done crashed over her like a tidal wave. She slowly curled up into a ball and started sobbing. “Come on! You were having fun before! Don’t ruin it now!”

Ivy looked up at Cervantes and shuddered when she saw that he had removed his clothing and stood in front of her, completely naked. The sheen of his pale blue, undead skin made her want to vomit, but she held herself in check and merely glowered at him. “Don’t mock me!” she growled.

Cervantes raised an eyebrow as he grinned and said, “Don’t mock you? You deserve to be mocked! I had you panting and moaning like a bitch in heat!” Cervantes laughed as he grabbed her by the hair, pulling her to her knees and saying, “And now I think I should treat you like one! Suck on it!”

Ivy let out a disgusted grunt as Cervantes pushed his cock into her face. “Bastard,” she hissed, giving him the opportunity to shove it into her mouth. Cervantes let out a sigh as he gripped Ivy’s head and started thrusting into her mouth, almost making her gag each time his cock hit the back of her throat. The taste was awful, and Ivy couldn’t help but shudder when she realized that the cock had been in her mouth for over a minute and was still cold as ice. Trying desperately to finish Cervantes off as quickly as she could, Ivy started licking and rubbing the cock with her tongue, trying to stimulate it so that he would cum and let her go. Her plan worked, to a point. Cervantes wasn’t able to hold out for much longer due to her attention so he thrust deep into her mouth and roared with release, shooting his cold, slimy cum into her mouth. He held his cock in her mouth for a few seconds as it deflated before pulling out of her, giving her the opportunity to spit out his spunk.

Cervantes looked down at Ivy. She was a mess. There was cum and drool dribbling down her chin and there was even more of his cum covering her breasts, since she didn’t have the air to spit it out very far. She was panting heavily and looked like she wanted to die. “You’ve never been more beautiful,” he said, gaining a glare in return.

“Fuck you!” grunted Ivy.

“Don’t mind if I do,” said Cervantes. He knelt down in front of Ivy and pushed her into a sitting position. He quickly got behind her, reached under her legs and easily lifted her. He sat down, cross-legged, underneath her and slowly lowered her until the tip of his cock touched her entrance. Ivy whimpered and Cervantes saw a single tear sliding down her cheek. He grinned as he started lowering her again, enjoying the feeling of her warm inner walls engulfing his freezing cold cock. After he was sure that she had gone as far down as was possible, he shouted, “Hey, girlie! I want you to see this!”

“No!” screamed Ivy. “Don’t open your eyes, Amy! You don’t want to see this!”

“Whether you do or not is irrelevant,” said Cervantes nastily as he picked up his pistol blade and held it against Ivy’s throat. “If you don’t want your lady friend here to die, I suggest you open your eyes!”

“He’s lying, Amy!” shouted Ivy, eyeing the blade. “His weapons aren’t in reach!”

“But, Ivy…!” started Amy, but Ivy cut her off.

“Under no circumstances are you to open your eyes, young lady!” snapped Ivy.

“Don’t think for even a second that I wouldn’t be perfectly fine fucking your headless corpse,” hissed Cervantes.

“I’m perfectly well aware of that,” hissed Ivy right back. She glared at Cervantes for a second before turning back to Amy and saying, “Please, keep your eyes closed.”

Cervantes growled for a minute before roaring, “Fine! You die now!”

“No! Stop!” cried Amy as her eyes flew open and she stared at the scene in front of her. “I’m looking! Just don’t kill her! I can’t lose her! I love her!” Tears filled her eyes as she saw the shame on Ivy’s face, but she was a tougher kid than either of them had expected. She quickly blinked her tears away before shouting,” Is that all you were trying to show me?! I knew what you were doing from the very beginning!”

“Amy?” whispered Ivy.

“Sex has been a big part of my life for years now!” screamed Amy, rage filling her tiny body. “When I was four I watched as my mother was gang raped to death! I only survived the next six years by hiding from pedophiles and slavers. Most of my friends weren’t so lucky. Of the girls who were caught, the ones who were killed afterwards were the ones who were considered fortunate! Now just get it over with and let us go! I want to go home!”

Ivy and Cervantes stared at Amy in stunned silence for a few seconds before Cervantes started chuckling. “You know what?” he said as he tossed his blade away. “I think I like her. I may just hold on to her, after all!”

“What?!” cried Ivy, but if she had more to say, it was lost when Cervantes suddenly lifted her up and dropped her again, thrusting upwards at the same time. Ivy let out a loud moan as Cervantes continued to thrust into her at a rapid pace. “I’ll kill you for this…I swear it…!” she panted before the lust took over and she started groaning and screaming with pleasure.

“I’m sorry,” said Cervantes, “I didn’t quite hear that last part. What did you say?”

“Oooohhhh!” moaned Ivy. “Fuck me harder! Give it to me!” Cervantes smirked as he moved his hands from her legs and started groping her breasts. “Oh yeah!” groaned Ivy as she leaned her head back onto his shoulder. “Don’t stop! I love this feeling!” Cervantes continued to thrust into Ivy as he tilted her head to the side and started kissing her again. She was only too happy to comply and kissed him back. Ivy’s mind was so far gone that she almost didn’t hear the sound of a small girl crying to her left. She almost didn’t look in that direction, but something told her that she had to. She sighed happily at the feeling to the cock moving in her as she slowly opened her eyes and looked toward the sound. What she saw hit her like a ton of bricks. Amy was staring at her and bawling. Suddenly, Ivy was filled with so much rage and hatred that she couldn’t see straight, and it only became more intense when she felt Cervantes cumming inside of her, coating her womb with icy cum. She screamed in anger, and was surprised to feel her sword release her and go back to her hand. She jumped off of Cervantes and immediately fell to her knees. She had cum so many times, that she didn’t have the strength to stand. “You’ll pay for this!” she said angrily, still unsure of why her sword let her go. She was about to say something else when the doors burst open and Raphael ran into the room.

“I heard the scream!” he shouted as he ran to the platform. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that Cervantes was naked and Ivy was sitting on the floor, panting heavily, with shame written all over her face. She quickly turned her head away, unable to look at him. “What the hell has been going on here?!” he roared. Ivy reached out her hand to stop him, but Raphael wasn’t even looking at her as he jumped onto the platform and tore at Cervantes. Cervantes merely smirked as he picked up Soul Edge and whipped out his arm, intending to cut Raphael’s head off with one blow, but either he was worn out from all the sex or Raphael had an extreme adrenaline rush because Raphael easily blocked his swing and grabbed his arm. Before Cervantes realized he was caught, he felt Raphael’s rapier stab him in the chest. He growled as his body started to heal again, but before it could, Raphael stabbed him again and again, moving so fast that Cervantes’ healing factor couldn’t keep up. Raphael kept stabbing him until Cervantes couldn’t hold himself up anymore. He fell to his knees, gasping, which gave Raphael the chance to really wind up and thrust his sword forward, pushing Cervantes away, and over the edge of the platform. “You’re revolting!” he said to Cervantes’ disappearing form, “Go away!”

“No!” cried Ivy as she scrambled over to the edge of the platform and looked down. Cervantes was holding onto the platform with one hand, but his grip was loosening.

“Have you come to help me, child?” asked Cervantes grimly.

“Not on your life!” sneered Ivy. She flicked her wrist and her sword quickly reached down and wrapped itself around Cervantes’ sword. She quickly pulled it back, but Cervantes grabbed the hilt of her sword and refused to let go. “What are you doing?!” cried Ivy.

“If I have to die, I’m taking you with me!” snarled Cervantes.

The two struggled futily for a few seconds before Ivy’s sword dropped Cervantes’s sword on the ground and snaked out, striking Ivy’s hand. Ivy let her sword go with a yelp, causing her cursed sword to fall into the pit alongside her cursed father. “You die first…I’ll join you someday…” she said quietly.

“What just happened?” asked Raphael.

Ivy looked at her hand, the back of it was bleeding from the small cut that her sword had given her. “Valentine saved me,” she said calmly. “It decided to protect me in the end, sacrificing itself for my survival.” She looked up at Raphael and smiled. “You saved me. Thank you.”

“Uh…yes well…maybe you should readjust your costume,” said Raphael with a hint of a blush on his face.

Ivy stood up and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a kiss before whispering in his ear, “You’ve seen me with less on than this before, what are you so embarrassed about?”

Raphael was about to respond when the two were brought back to reality by Amy shouting, “Hey! Did you forget about me? Hello!!!”

“Sorry!” called Ivy as she quickly put her outfit back to normal. Raphael went over to untie Amy while Ivy walked over to Cervantes’ sword. As she had thought, it was nothing more than shards now that Cervantes was dead…again. She scooped up the shards and placed them in her pouch with the others before looking down at the rest of the pirate’s things. She picked up his clothes and other sword and tossed them over the edge of the platform. “Goodbye, father.”

“…and there was this lovely room where the entire platform was a sand pit!” said Raphael as the three walked through Spain. Raphael was telling Amy about all the rooms he had to go through to get to Ivy’s lab.

“Did you almost drown?!” asked Amy, the light of admiration shining in her eyes.

“It wasn’t that deep,” said Raphael. “It only came up to my hips, but it slowed me down tremendously. You could have warned me about that room, you know…Ivy?” Raphael looked over to where Ivy should have been, but didn’t see her. He looked around wildly for a second before he saw her walking a few paces behind the two. She was wearing his traveling cloak, holding it tight around her body. “What’s the matter?’ asked Raphael as he stopped and waited for her to catch up.

“I…I…I don’t have anything to live for anymore…” said Ivy. “I’m just a normal human without a weapon…I can’t fight Soul Edge. My entire life has been leading up to the destruction of the evil sword and then the destruction of myself. But, I’ve lost my sword. What should I do now?”

“You can give those shards of Soul Edge to me and not get hurt!” shouted a young voice that made both Ivy and Raphael start.

“Who’s there!” shouted Raphael as he pulled out his rapier.

A youth with bright red hair rounded a tree and pointed a large scimitar at them. “I said, give me those shards of Soul Edge!” said the youth hotly.

“Oh please,” said Raphael. “I could take a punk like you out in my sleep!”

“Stop it,” said Ivy harshly. “Don’t discount him just because he’s young. I’ve seen that stance before. It’s very close to Hwang Sung Kyung’s.”

“You know Master Hwang?!” asked the youth excitedly before regaining his composure. “But that doesn’t matter. I still need to take those shards. I will protect my country!”

“I see you’re just as stupid as he was too,” sighed Ivy. “Fine, go ahead and take them.” She took her pouch out and tossed it to the youth. “Learn the truth about the sword like Hwang finally did!”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” asked Raphael, but Ivy silenced him with a glance.

“Excellent,” said the youth happily. “Now there are only a few people left. And I can take them all, cause I’m the best!” With that self-aggrandizement the youth turned and ran away.

“What was that all about?” asked Raphael, “And are you sure it’s wise to leave the shards with an idiot like that?”

“They won’t stay with him for long,” said Ivy. “If he’s who I think he is, then he’s a young man that a girl named Seung Mina is looking for. When she finds him, she’ll take him down a peg. And she’s smart enough to know that Soul Edge is a danger to the whole world, so she’ll destroy it.” She leaned her head back and took in a deep breath of fresh air before letting it out slowly. “I feel like a tremendous weight has finally been lifted from my shoulders,” she said with a smile. “After over four years, I can finally stop worrying about that stupid sword. Dad was right; the Bondage Queen of Darkness is dead. I’m just Ivy now.”

“Are you still wondering what to do with your life?” asked Raphael.

Ivy looked at Raphael and Amy, smiling warmly. “No,” she said, “Not at all.” She bent down and scooped up Amy in her arms. “I wouldn’t mind attempting to be a normal woman for once. And we can see about that secret of yours!” Amy giggled as Ivy tickled her before setting her down and grabbing Raphael’s hand. He squeezed her hand gently and smiled before the three walked down the path together, looking, for all the world…except for Ivy’s outfit…like a perfectly happy little family.

To Be Continued…

(Yay! I loved writing this! Ivy and Raphael are my favorite humans in the Soul Calibur storyline and I’m soooo glad that they work well together! Now, I know I’ll get flames from people who are upset with how I handled Ivy, but I don’t really care. I’ve always thought that Ivy was more than a tight outfit and a bad attitude, and if you guys can’t handle that, then you’re just being childish…or something…I don’t know. Anyway, Seung Mina is next, so look for it in the near to far future!)