Soul Urge II

Soul Urge II
By The Playing Mantis
Epilogue: The Cutest Couple Ever!

She rides the wind freely, singing her wind songs…
---Talim’s mother; part of a speech after Talim passed the final trial and became the priestess of the wind

Three Years after the Liberation of Siegfried

Talim stood by her window, pondering what she was going to do. Today she turned 18. She was now eligible to be married. She had many suitors, and they were all nice men, but she just couldn’t get her mind off of that tall dark stranger that she had met three years ago.

Three years previous… (Between Sophitia’s and Xianghua’s chapters)

Talim was upset that someone would try to sell an obviously tainted piece of metal by passing it off as a ‘vitality charm’. She yelled at the man, but he seemed completely ignorant about what she was talking about, so she bought the shard off of him and decided to try and find out what was going on. “Talim,” called a voice that she recognized as her mother. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to ask the wind for advice on what to do about this evil shard of metal,” said Talim.

“Evil?” asked her mother. “Let me see that.” Talim handed the shard to her mother, and the older woman held her hand over it, chanting and focusing her energy on it. It only took a few seconds before Talim’s mother dropped the shard in horror. “My dear,” she gasped. “This holds the most evil energy I’ve ever felt in my life! And you felt the power without even channeling yourself into it?”

“Indeed,” said Talim. “The thing is, it’s the same feeling from 7 years ago, when I passed out while communing with the wind.”

“The night the sky turned to blood…” muttered her mother. “Talim, I don’t think you should be anywhere near that shard. We must take it to the elders at once.”

“Don’t be silly mom,” said Talim. “The elders have much more important things to worry about. Besides, I’ll tell them about what I plan on doing after I’ve talked to the wind.” Talim quickly picked up the metal shard and dashed away before her mother could stop her. “Sorry mom,” she said to herself. “But this is something I have to see for myself.” She ran to the tallest windmill in her village and looked out over the valley. She smiled when she saw the small huts and large buildings of her small village. The clouds lazily passed by the many windmills surrounding the one she was on. “This is the best place to read the wind,” she said to herself. She slowly sat down by the edge of the windmill, noting that her father was fishing in the river that ran through the hamlet. She slowly closed her eyes and held out the small shard of metal as she called out, “What should I do with this evil thing?” The wind howled around her, blowing her pigtails back. “Are you sure?” she asked quietly. The wind blew slowly past her head, gently rattling her pendant. “I see,” she said. “I’ll do it. But, I’ve got to tell my parents and the elders first.” She slowly got up and looked down on the village before slowly turning and heading to the ladder.

She was halfway across the platform when something leapt up onto the platform with her from behind and started growling at her. “What are you?!” asked Talim fearfully. The creature was tall and green. It wore metal boots and greaves as well as a pair of metal leg guards that covered it’s blue shorts. There was a strip of metal around it’s torso that wrapped around it’s body and protected it’s crotch. There was a huge pulsing orb of red flames buried in it’s chest, surrounded by a metal and glass frame that seemed to hold it in check. It had a goatee, sharp looking fangs and glowing red eyes. It’s entire body was covered with little spikes and it’s left hand was a huge misshapen claw with three fingers and a pair of spikes that shot out from it’s wrist toward it’s arm. It was big, muscular and scary looking, but Talim felt a sadness emanating from it. The creature grumbled at her and stepped forward. Talim felt the wind rustling through her hair and said, “You’re human, aren’t you?”

Necrid halted at those words. He stared at his opponent and grumbled in distrust. She wore a pair of small green shoes and knee high socks that were green and red striped. She had on a small pair of white shorts that had a small metal ring dangling from the right side. Her chest was covered by a chest wrap of plain green cloth. She wore a pair of plain metal wrist guards and had on a pair of ‘sleeves’ that covered her upper arms only. There was a cloth wrap around her neck that held a small pendant of an eye that hung over her chest and her black hair was pulled back in short pigtails. But, most importantly, she had a fragment of Soul Edge. He could feel the energy, the only thing that would give his heart solace. But, something about her made him not want to harm her. What was it? She was just another girl. He had killed them before, searching for shards…not finding any. He took another step towards her. She merely brought up a small pair of elbow blades and stared directly into his eyes. His eye twitched. It was so much easier killing them when they were afraid. He beat his chest and growled at her.

“Don’t worry Talim, believe in yourself,” said Talim to herself as she twirled her elbow blades around and psyched herself up. She had never fought a truly hostile opponent before, so she was a little nervous, but she knew she had the wind on her side so she would be okay.

Necrid was slightly put out. She actually intended on fighting him. He grinned as the small orb of void, Maleficus, slowly turned into a huge axe. The girl paled and backed up slightly, but didn’t run away. He would make her regret that decision. He roared as he swung the energy axe upwards, the handle caught her between her legs and flung her into the air. He rushed forward and flung out his chest, allowing a small amount of the void to escape as she fell down on him.

Talim was flung away by the intense power of the void, slamming into the wall and hitting the ground hard. She slowly pushed herself up, pain shooting through her entire body. She swallowed hard and realized that her entire body was trembling. She had never been so afraid in her whole 15 years. But then, she felt the wind rush past her and said, “Calm down Talim…okay!” Her opponent was bigger and apparently stronger than her. She had to follow the wind’s path and flow around him, striking only when the opportunity presented itself. It came earlier than she thought when the creature stomped up to her and tried to kick her aside. She quickly grabbed his leg and pulled him off balance. She then smacked both of her blades into his head and slammed one into his armor, flipping him away. “I can do this!” she said.

She was a decent fighter. That would make things all the more fun when he defeated her and took the shard. Something in the back of his mind said that he should have his way with her afterwards, but he didn’t care about things like that. He reared back and dashed at her, spinning around and twirling his weapon and leg out, trying to catch her off guard. He felt himself connect with her, but she didn’t fall.

“I won’t run away!” she screamed as she smacked the monster with her blades before hitting him in the stomach. When he doubled over, she vaulted over him and smacked her blades into his butt. He stumbled forward so she quickly grabbed him and leapt onto his back. She smacked his butt two more times with her elbow blades before slamming them both into his butt, sending him sprawling onto the floor. “Please, let me through,” she said calmly.

Necrid grumbled angrily. He wasn’t going to let the little girl win against him. He rushed forward, before she could even blink and punched her with his clawed hand. She tumbled away, slamming into the wall. Before she could recover, he stomped up to her and smacked her in the face with his fist, backhanded her and tripped her up as his weapon turned into a segmented sword. While his weapon was still a segmented sword he pulled her up to a standing position, uppercut her into the air and snagged her around the ankle with the sword, slamming her into the floor.

“There’s a reason I can’t yield…” groaned Talim as she staggered to her feet. She looked at the monster who was just staring at her in astonishment. “What sorrowful eyes,” she said. The creature backed away, giving Talim the time to regain her momentum as she tumbled over to him and started swinging.

She was tough. She was also very determined. But, what was her reason for fighting? He blocked her swings left and right before wrapping his arm around the back of her neck and flipping onto his back, crashing her head into the platform. He didn’t expect her to recover from that blow, so he was very surprised when she got up and hit him in the head.

“I must keep going!” she said. Her blows all connected. She was as chaotic as the wind itself as her blows seemed to attack places that were safe but were vulnerable at the time that they connected. “Forgive me!” she said as she leapt into the air and slammed her blades into his head, forcing him to the ground. “Please…don’t get up,” she panted.

Necrid did get up. He was just as tired and hurt as she was, but he got up and prepared for one last mad dash at her. He roared angrily as he reared back and dashed at her, all of his muscles working in tandem to give him as much speed as they could. He saw the shock in her eyes as he barreled towards her, saw that he would definitely hit her, and then saw her quickly step to the side right before he hit her. He saw the wall coming up and couldn’t stop himself.

Talim winced as the creature slammed face first into the wall, almost breaking it. She knew that if she didn’t do something it would just get up and attack her again, but she didn’t want to hurt it anymore than she already had. “I don’t want regrets,” she said to herself as she slowly walked up to the creature and gently placed her hand on it’s chest. She felt nothing more than an intense sadness raging through the creature’s body. “Who’s responsible for this?!” she asked angrily before she felt a familiar evil presence in the creature’s clawed fist. She slowly and carefully pried the creature’s hand open and took the small metal shard from it’s grasp.

Necrid felt his solace go away. She was taking it. And he couldn’t do anything to stop her. The shard’s power faded from his senses, leaving him with a horrific emptiness that made him very sad.

Talim was slowly walking away from the creature when she heard it start to sob. She turned around and looked back at it. It’s clawed hand was grasping at the air, trying to catch her. “You poor thing,” she said softly. “This shard of metal makes you feel good, doesn’t it?” The creature nodded it’s head as it tried, futily to grab at her. Talim slowly put the shard in her pouch along with the other one and started to step towards it when a voice called up from below.

“Talim!” called her father’s voice as he slowly climbed up the ladder to the platform. “What’s all the ruckus?” He took one look at the creature that was pitifully grasping for his daughter and cried, “Talim! Get away from that thing!”

“It’s okay dad,” said Talim calmly. “This man…” She stopped as she felt the wind whirl around her. “Necrid…” she said. “Necrid here is a victim of the evil sword. I want to help him.”

“But…” started Talim’s father, even though he knew he couldn’t stop her.

“I just want to help you,” said Talim sweetly as she took another slow step towards Necrid. “Please, let me.”

The girl was almost within reach. One more step and he could easily grab her and take the fragments she had. But, something about the way she was talking to him made him hesitate. He let her step up to him and merely watched as she knelt down in front of him.

Talim held out a trembling hand and placed it gently on his chest. She was relieved that he didn’t attack her, but she still felt nervous about being so close to him. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she said as calmly as she could. “Please wind, let me help ease his suffering.” The wind whirled around her as a faint glow emanated from the palm of her hand.

“Talim…” said her father quietly, knowing how much of a strain using that technique would be on her body.

Necrid grumbled a little at the tingling sensation in his chest, but it started to feel warm. The suffering and emptiness that he normally felt was disappearing. And, as the emptiness vanished it was replaced by memories and feelings long forgotten from his many years trapped in the void. He looked down at the young girl and saw that she was becoming frightfully pale and moved to stop her but her father stopped him.

“You can’t stop this ritual once it’s started without damaging the caster,” he said. “She’s putting her life on the line for you. I don’t know who you are, but I want you to take care of the new life my daughter is granting you.”

Necrid nodded solemnly as Talim slowly pulled her hand away from him and collapsed forward, into his arms. She was breathing, but barely. He quickly scooped her up and stood up, looking at her father for guidance.

“Come on,” he said, “Our house is this way.”

Talim woke up in her bed back in the village. Her mother was watching over her and her father was sitting by the window. She shot up and looked around. “Where’s Necrid?!” she asked.

“I asked him to leave the village,” said her father. “He wrote this note as a thank you to you, since he still can’t speak.”

“But…I wanted to talk to him,” said Talim. “I was hoping he could help me deal with the evil sword.”

“Is that what the wind told you to do?” asked her mother.

“Yes,” said Talim. “Apparently, these are shards of an evil sword. I have to go and destroy it completely, or help out someone who will be able to in my stead.”

“Let’s see what the elders want,” said her father calmly.

“What they want doesn’t matter,” said Talim making her parents gasp. “I’m not being disrespectful. The wind told me that it was my duty to follow the path of the sword. I have to at least try to put the evil energy to rest.”

“You know you need the blessings of the elders to leave the village,” said her mother sternly.

“I understand that, and I will get their permission,” said Talim, “Whether they want to give it or not.”

As she had predicted, the elders had their misgivings about letting such a pure-hearted and innocent child go out into the world to stop a great evil, but her heart-felt pleas eventually broke their defenses and they gave their permission, albeit grudgingly. Talim quickly packed some food and other essentials for traveling, making sure to keep the shards of metal in a small pouch on her waist. The entire village was there to see her off. Her mother gave her a small parcel full of her favorite nuts that only grew in the valley and her father promised to take good care of Alun, her pet bird. The last one to say good-bye to her was her Grandmother. “The other elders don’t like this idea at all,” she said, “and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t agree with them. But, you have always been a strong-minded young lady who would listen to the wind before you would ever listen to your family.” Talim blushed and smiled. “Take care of yourself, little Shaman. May the wind protect you.” Tears came to Talim’s eyes as she hugged her grandmother and slowly turned, leaving the Village of the Wind for the first time in her life.

She traveled around for a while, following the wind’s guidance until she found her first town. She steeled herself and entered quietly, passing the guards quickly and looking around in wonder. “So many different kinds of people,” she whispered to herself.

“Excuse me, miss,” said a male voice behind her. Talim stiffened and slowly turned around, coming face to chest with a man wearing a guard’s uniform.

“Y-yes?” she stammered.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” said the guard kindly, “But, it seems to me that this is your first time to our little hamlet.”

“Is it that obvious?” asked Talim as she blushed.

The guard laughed happily. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “But, you don’t want to look like someone who’s lost, there are a lot of scary people out there who will try to take advantage of you.”

Talim shuddered. “Thank you for the warning, but I really must be going,” she said. “I’ve got to get some information. Would you know of a good place to get any?”

“Information?” asked the guard. “I’d normally say the tavern, but…”

“What’s a tavern?” asked Talim innocently.

“It’s a building where people go to get food and ale, but…” started the guard.

“Thank you very much,” said Talim as she bowed and took off, waving cheerfully at him.

The guard sighed and shook his head, saying, “But you’re too young to go into one by the look of things.” He scratched his head and returned to his post just in time to see a mismatched pair of men slowly walk into town.

Talim wandered around the town for a short while until she found a building that had a shingle, with a knife and fork crossing each other, hanging on the door. Figuring she was in the right place she slowly pushed the door open and quickly ducked as a chair whirled over her head. She squeaked and scrambled to the side just in time to avoid being clobbered by a man who was being tossed out. “Nice place,” she murmured as she swallowed and entered the building. She dodged and weaved around people who were stumbling all over the place and others who were sitting back and laughing raucously, deftly avoiding hands that attempted to pinch her butt. Finally making it to the bar in the back she yelled over the din, “Hello, could you help me out?”

“Certainly miss, what can I…?” started the bartender before he looked at Talim and immediately saw how young she was. He frowned and said, “How old are you?”

“Uh…fifteen,” said Talim. “Why?”

“That’s what I thought,” said the bartender angrily. “Get out of here!”

“What?” asked Talim. “But I just…”

“No!” snapped the bartender. “Do you want to get me arrested? Go on! Get out!”

Talim winced at the man’s harsh words and quickly left, only stopping when a youth, just a little older than her, grabbed her wrist. “What?!” she gasped as she looked back at the person in question and was immediately stunned by how handsome he was. His light blonde hair was unkempt and toped with a green pointed hat. His jerkin was the same color green and he wore white tights and brown boots. The youth smiled at her and gestured that she should follow him. “Wait…” said Talim, remembering the guard’s warning, “Who are you and what do you want?” The youth held up his hands and shook his head before merely pointing at a small bench out in the open, where two other men were sitting. One was wearing all black leather and the other was an older man wearing a black karate gi.

“You’ve got Soul Edge fragments, don’t you little girl?” asked the man in black as he opened his eyes, showing her that they glowed green.

Talim shuddered when she saw his eyes, but instead of shrinking back she ran to him and gently touched his face. “Oh, you poor thing!” she said gently. “You’ve been touched by evil too. May I help you?”

The man in black narrowed his eyes and grumbled but gently took her hand away from his face. “There’s nothing you could do for a person like me,” he said as he slowly removed his mask, revealing the horrifically burned skin of a corpse. Talim shuddered but held her ground. The man grinned, which was especially gruesome since he didn’t have any lips to begin with, and put his mask back on. “I like her,” he said.

“Are you done yet, Spawn?” asked the old man. The man in black nodded. “Good. The reason that we had Link bring you over is that we are looking for someone who took something from us. You appear to also be looking for the sword known as Soul Edge.”

“I suppose that’s what it’s called,” said Talim. “You’re not going to try and take these shards, are you?”

“No,” said Spawn. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry; besides, you’d hardly be a challenge, little girl.”

“You’re probably right,” said Talim. “But, I would definitely cause you quite a bit of harm before I went down.” Spawn glared at her, but she just looked at him with her large, innocent eyes.

Spawn chuckled and said, “You’ve got a lot more spirit than I did when I was your age, I’ll give you that. Alright, Heihachi, tell her.”

The old man slowly opened his eyes and looked at Talim. “We are looking for a man named Raphael. Have you seen him?”

“I just left my village,” said Talim quietly. “I’ve never met anyone else who’s trying to destroy the sword.”

“He’s not trying to destroy the sword,” said Spawn angrily. “And neither are we.” The youth spat out the milk he was drinking and glared at him. “Okay, Link is.”

“If you have not seen anyone else who is after the sword, how did you come to possess two shards?” asked Heihachi.

“After I bought the first shard from a merchant, I was attacked by a tainted human,” said Talim. “I barely defeated him and healed his mind. I took his shard because I knew it was that that had driven him insane.” She looked at Spawn and Heihachi. “So, may I go now?”

Heihachi looked at Talim. “You’re young, so you shouldn’t have to hear about this, but you need to be warned,” he said. “There is a person out there named Nightmare. He is having brutal monsters and bestial creatures rape women searching for Soul Edge. You are also in danger, so watch yourself.”

Talim stared long and hard at Heihachi before she asked, “What does ‘rape’ mean?” Heihachi and Spawn slowly turned their heads to look at each other and Talim tilted her head when she saw that they both had huge sweat drops forming on the backs of their heads.

“Uh…don’t worry about the details,” said Spawn. “Just suffice it to say, you don’t want it to happen. Watch out for anyone who doesn’t look friendly.”

“Like who?” asked Talim.

Link suddenly scowled and drew his sword, pointing it at a pair of men who were slowly walking up to the small group. “Like them,” said Heihachi as he slowly stood up and got in front of Talim. Talim peeked her head out from behind the taller and bulkier man and looked at the two. The smaller one was wearing a half-helmet with a blue cloth covering the rest of his face. He had on plain looking clothes and minimal armor. He also carried a short sword. The bigger one had a face mask on that looked like a face. He wore minimal clothing and had a huge battle ax.

“What do you two twerps want?” growled Spawn.

“There is no need to give our orders to a decaying corpse, an old fart or a brat with a toy sword,” said the smaller man. “Just give us the girl and you can go.”

“Who do you think you are?” asked Heihachi angrily.

“We think we are people who will kill you and get the girl!” said the small man. The bigger man just grunted angrily.

“You’re pissing me off,” said Spawn. Link readied his sword, but Spawn stopped him. “Take the girl and get her out of here,” he grumbled. “We can defeat these two ourselves.” Link scowled but nodded. He quickly grabbed Talim’s wrist and dashed away, dragging her behind him.

“What about your friends?” she asked. Link just shook his head and kept running until they were at the town entrance. He pointed for her to leave before turning and starting to run back. “Wait!” called Talim, causing Link to stop. “Allow me to help your troubled heart,” she said. Link tilted his head as Talim placed her hands on her chest and bowed her head. Link watched, awestruck, as a gentle wind came from out of nowhere and whirled around the young girl. “The lady that you love…with all of your heart…” she said as if in a trance. “A princess…Zelda…She waits patiently…for your return…She is safe…” The wind slowly died down and Talim smiled at Link. Link smiled back and bowed before racing back to help his comrades. “Please be careful…” she said quietly as she turned and ran from the town as fast as her legs could carry her.

When she finally stopped she realized that it was getting dark and she would have to find a safe place to camp out. She shuddered at the thought of being caught unawares by the two people who had seemed to want to do her harm, so she found a small cave and set up a small perimeter defense that would make noise if someone attempted to enter. Sure that she was safe she ate a little bit of the food that she had packed and bed down for the night. She was sound asleep when the visitor easily bypassed her defenses and stepped silently up to her sleeping form.

He looked down at her. She was so cute and innocent. He gently touched her hair. She moaned softly in her sleep, making him freeze, but she merely shifted slightly and murmured something unintelligible. He sighed with relief and turned to leave, but he stopped when he passed her satchel. The shards were in there. He heard a pure, dulcet voice that seemed to come from them and called gently for him. They said that all he had to do to possess them once more was to kill the girl. He hesitated before slowly turning and walking back to her sleeping form. He looked down at her and growled. It would be so easy. She was completely defenseless. He slowly lowered his left hand down and traced one of his claws along her throat, making her giggle a little. He stopped and quickly pulled his hand back. He backed away from her, real fear showing on his face, but not fear of her; fear of himself and what he had almost done. He quickly left, accidentally hitting her noise maker in the process.

Talim shot up as soon as she heard the pots banging together and looked around. She just barely got a glimpse of a large creature leaping away. “Necrid…?” she asked quietly.

A month later… (During Ivy’s chapter)

“What’s the matter with you?” asked the youth with the red hair angrily.

“I can’t let you go on,” said Talim sternly. “The sword is evil!”

“I don’t care if it’s evil!” said the youth hotly. “I will protect my country!”

“Please!” cried Talim as the youth turned and ran off without looking back. She tried to chase after him, but he easily lost her when he ran into a town, merging into the crowd. “Rats!” she said as she turned and immediately ran into an older couple. The man was very handsome with blonde hair and deep blue eyes. The lady was beautiful, and her outfit didn’t hide that fact. She had white hair and light blue eyes.

“Out of the way!” snapped the man as he roughly shoved her aside and kept going.

“Raphael!” scolded the woman as she bent down and held her hand out. “That was very rude!” She smiled down at Talim and said, “I’m sorry. He’s not normally like that…at least, I hope he’s not.”

“Dammit, Ivy, we don’t have time for this!” growled the man. “We’ve got to save Amy!”

“The boat won’t be leaving for two hours,” said Ivy. “There’s nothing for us to do until then. We’ve already got all of our things safely on board.”

“Um…excuse me,” said Talim as she pulled herself up, almost pulling Ivy down in the process. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. I ran into you, I should be the one apologizing.”

The two adults stared at her for a second before Ivy smiled and said, “I’m surprised to hear that from someone so young. I wasn’t nearly that polite until I got into my twenties.” She smacked Raphael in the chest and said, “You apologize too for knocking her down.”

Raphael grumbled a little but when he looked down at Talim he stopped and said, “I’m sorry.” He was being sincere, and that fact apparently shocked Ivy.

“Well, I didn’t actually expect you to do that,” she said with a smirk. Raphael blushed, making her laugh. “Tell you what,” she said, “To make up for knocking into you, how about if I treat you to some lunch.”

“Uh…but…” said Talim.

“Nonsense,” said Ivy. “I won’t take no for an answer.”

“It’ll be a lot less painful if you just do as she says,” muttered Raphael.

“What was that?” asked Ivy caustically.

“Nothing!” said Raphael quickly. The two looked at each other seriously for a second before grinning.

Talim giggled and said, “I would be honored to have a meal with you.” The three had a pleasant meal at a small tavern, being forced to eat outside because of Talim’s age, and chatted together as they walked to the ship that Ivy and Raphael were going to get on. “Where are you two headed?” asked Talim.

“Egypt,” said Raphael. Talim shrunk back when she saw his face darken. He looked down at her and blushed. “Sorry,” he said. “We have nasty business to take care of.”

“That’s right,” said Talim. “You said something about saving someone named Amy. Perhaps I could help.”

Raphael and Ivy exchanged glances. “I don’t think so,” said Ivy. “The man that took her is the most despicable man you’ll ever meet. You’d better wait a few years before you try and deal with people like him.”

“Oh…okay,” said Talim quietly. She was about to say goodbye when she suddenly remembered something. Her head shot up and she looked at Raphael, asking, “Are you the Raphael that Link, Spawn and Heihachi are looking for?”

“You know those three jokers?” asked Raphael.

“I met them when I left my village,” said Talim. “They saved me from some bad men who were after me for some reason. I hope that they’re okay.”

“They’re fine,” said Ivy. “We ran into them a couple days ago on our way here. But what is this about bad men being after you?”

“Well,” said Talim, “While I was looking for information about this evil sword...”

“What did you say?!” asked Ivy and Raphael at the same time.

“I was looking for information about an evil sword…?” said Talim timidly under their harsh stares. “Don’t tell me you two are too.”

“I’m not anymore,” said Raphael. “She, however, is. How many shards do you have?”

“Just two,” said Talim. “One that I bought off of a merchant who was trying to pass it off as a vitality charm, and one that I got off of a tainted human that I fought.”

“He didn’t do anything to you, did he?” asked Ivy tensely.

“No,” said Talim. “He was being driven mad by the shards though, so I healed his mind.”

“I see,” said Ivy as she let out a huge sigh of relief. “I believe that those men that you ran into were sent by Nightmare to make up for that tainted human’s failure at violating you.”

“No!” said Talim, suddenly getting angry, but not knowing why. “Necrid would never work for someone like him! He’s a good person!” She looked at the shocked expression on Ivy’s face and blushed as her hands went up to her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly, “I don’t know why I said that…”

Ivy smiled and patted her head. “I’m sorry if I insulted your friend,” she said. “As Raphael said, I’m also looking for that sword and I would like to challenge you to a duel for those shards of yours…”

“…but we don’t have time for that,” finished Raphael. “We have to get on the boat now.”

“Very well,” said Ivy. “Stay safe Talim. When next we meet, I will take those shards from you.” She smiled a smile at Talim that made the young girl shudder.

The two turned to get on the boat when Talim said, “Wait. I want to be of some help to you, so this is all I can do.” A small gust of wind gently blew past Ivy and Raphael before curling around Talim. “The girl you seek…” said Talim in a trance-like quality. “She is safe…but is tired and hungry…” Raphael stepped forward but Ivy held him back. “The man that took her…is keeping her alive…but is not paying attention to her otherwise…he could not care less…as long as Ivy and the shards meet him…he wants…he wants…!” Talim let out a small shriek as the wind suddenly blew out in all directions and she fell to the ground.

“Talim!” cried Ivy as she bent down and gently patted her cheeks.

“I’m okay,” said Talim. “But he…Cervantes…he noticed me. I don’t know how. He sent some of his evil energy through the wind to me.” She shook her head. “I haven’t felt anything that powerful since the night the sky turned blood red.”

“The evil seed…” muttered Raphael. “Nightmare’s birth.”

“Thank you for relieving us of our fears for Amy’s safety,” said Ivy. “Please stay safe, little one.”

“May the wind guard you through your journey,” replied Talim with a smile. Ivy and Talim embraced before Ivy and Raphael got onto their boat. Talim waved goodbye to them and ran off. Ivy smiled as she watched the young girl disappear. She turned and went into her cabin just as a mismatched pair of travelers came into view.

Talim headed to the exit of the port town and attempted to find the youth from before, but her break with Ivy and Raphael had given him more than ample time to get away. “I doubt anyone else is in Spain,” she said. “I guess I should just keep looking.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” said a familiar voice behind her making her freeze. “You don’t have to find anything when you’re dead.” Talim slowly looked back and shivered when she saw the two men from before. This time the smaller man had on a brown head wrap and leather armor and the bigger one wore full plate mail and a horned helmet with a face mask.

“But…the others…they’re still alive…how…?” asked Talim.

“That’s easy enough,” said the small man. “They killed us. But our master didn’t want us dead yet. So he brought us back from hell to give you as much pain as we could.” Talim backed up a step but brought out her elbow blades. “Do you actually plan on fighting us, little girl?”

“Not alone, she doesn’t,” snarled a voice as the red headed youth from before jumped down from a rooftop and stood between Talim and the two others.

“You!” gasped Talim.

“I can’t have a cute girl like you get killed by thugs like this,” said the youth with a smile. “The more girls that die, the less girls I’ll have for my harem when I become a famous hero!”

“What’s a harem?” asked Talim, making the youth stumble.

“Well, at least she didn’t smack me,” said the youth as he pointed his sword at the men.

“Well, well, well,” said the smaller man. “We’ve got us a real hero here, standing up for the damsel in distress. Why don’t I just skin you alive?” The smaller man stepped forward, but was held back by the bigger man. “What?!” snapped the smaller man. The bigger one grunted a couple times. “What?! Fine!” growled the smaller man. “Apparently we’re being summoned back. We’ll see you again, little girl. And next time, we’ll settle things.” The two left, the smaller one muttering the word ‘Germany.’

“Thank you very much,” said Talim as she smiled at the youth.

“Yeah, whatever,” said the youth. “I didn’t even get to show off for you. See ya!” The youth dashed away before Talim could stop him.

She sighed and smiled as she quietly turned and left the town. “Germany, huh?” she said. “Guess I should look there if I want to take the fight to them.” She was about a mile from town when something jumped out of a tree and landed in front of her. She let out a small squeak of fear before she saw what it was and smiled. “Necrid!” she said happily. “How are you?”

She pulled him to the side of the road and started telling him about all the things she had experienced while out exploring the world. He listened quietly, unwilling to interrupt her excited story-telling, and unable to utter a meaningful word even if he had wanted to. She had grown as a person since he had last seen her sleeping in that cave. She still had the child-like innocence, but there was something about her bearing that showed that she wasn’t about to be beaten down by the harshness of the outside world.

“I was hoping we could travel together for a short while,” said Talim. “I wanted to really talk to you. And I…” She blushed and put her hands to her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry!” she said, “I’ve been talking the entire time. Why don’t you tell me how you’ve been?”

She looked up at him with those big shining eyes and smiled. But, he couldn’t say anything to her. He slowly opened his mouth and grumbled at her in the same voice he had used when he had fought her the month before. Her smile slowly faded as he continued to speak, merely showing his emotions through the tone of his voice and his facial features. He slowly stopped and turned away.

Talim gently placed her hand on his arm and smiled at him when he turned to look at her. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’d still like to travel with you, if you don’t mind.” Necrid looked troubled, but he nodded. He quickly stood and helped her up making sure he stayed a few steps away from her. “Are you okay?” she asked curiously.

He looked at her pouch, knowing that she kept the shards in there. He kept away from it, making sure that he was always on the side of her that didn’t hold the pouch. As long as the pure creature in front of him was between him and the shards, he could resist them. He gestured that they should get going, so she shrugged and walked along, with him following behind her.

The two walked along the path, Talim chatting whenever she thought of something interesting to talk about, until nightfall. “We should find a cave to rest in for the night,” said Talim. Necrid cocked his head at her. “It’s going to rain tonight.”

He looked up at the sky, didn’t see a cloud in sight, and shook his head. She just giggled and told him to trust her. He shrugged and the two started looking around for a cave. They found one just as they heard the rumbling of thunder in the distance. He looked down at her, but she just giggled again.

“Told you so!” she said happily as she started gathering firewood. The two had a nice small meal together, and Necrid took to drawing in the dirt to get his messages across to Talim. “That’s what we need to do,” said Talim happily. “When we get to the next town, we need to buy you a quill and some parchment. Then you can communicate!”

He wasn’t so sure about the idea of going into a town. And he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he had been living by stealing animals and fruit from farmers. She would have been disappointed with him and he couldn’t bear to see her looking at him like that.

Talim yawned and stretched her arms. “I’m getting tired,” she said. “We should get some rest. There’s at least another days worth of travel before we reach the next town. Goodnight, Necrid.” Talim slowly laid down on her bed roll and looked at Necrid before closing her eyes. Necrid stood up and walked over to her, pulling her blanket up over her body. When he pulled the blanket up, however, it jostled her pouch and the two shards of metal fell from it and onto the ground in front of him. Talim quickly got up and reached for the shards but stopped when she heard Necrid growling menacingly. “Necrid?” she asked quietly as she slowly looked up at him. She shuddered in fear at the fierce look he was giving her.

He heard the voices loud and clear. They were so pleasing to listen to. They gently soothed in his ears and told him to rip the girl’s clothes off and rape her before killing her. He grinned. That would be a pleasant task.

“Necrid, you’re scaring me…” said Talim quietly as he took a step towards her, grinning maliciously. “What’s the matter?”

He hesitated. She was talking to him. He understood the words, but not what they meant. The shards told him that she was begging for mercy. He nodded to himself. That must be it. He reached down with his huge left hand and grabbed her around her waist, easily lifting her into the air. She continued to beg for mercy, but something wasn’t right. Her eyes weren’t shedding tears and she wasn’t fighting him. She actually looked concerned for him.

“Necrid…let me help you!” said Talim. He reached out his other hand and gently caressed her cheek. She pulled her face away from his hand and asked, “What are you doing? Necrid, pull yourself together.”

She was shivering as he placed his hand on her chest. She wasn’t fully mature yet, but he could tell that she would be a true beauty when she grew up. He growled as he ripped her top off, and grinned when he heard her shriek in surprise. His hand ran over her chest, squeezing her small breasts a little before slowly moving downward. His hand traveled into her shorts and traced over her lower lips. She let out a small gasping moan as one of his fingers pushed slightly into her. He was surprised to feel that she was slightly damp. He growled and pulled his hand from her shorts readying himself to rip them from her body when he felt a drop of water hit his hand. He looked down at it and then up at the girl’s face. She was crying now, but it still wasn’t out of fear for herself.

“You poor thing,” said Talim sadly. “You’re still under the sword’s control, aren’t you? I’m so sorry. I wasn’t able to help you after all.” She gently hugged his huge clawed arm and said, “If doing this to me will calm you down, then go ahead. I may not survive, but I won’t complain. Just remember me from time to time, okay?”

He heard and understood every word she said. He looked at his hand, poised and ready to tear her pants off. He dropped her to the ground and looked at his hands. He had almost raped her! His savior! He actually had a small amount of her feminine cream on his fingers. He couldn’t stay with her. He looked at Talim, who was looking at him with tear-stained eyes, and roared with self-loathing and regret. He tore from the cave before she could stop him, racing into the harsh thunder storm that had started during dinner. He had to get away; away from her and those shards before he did something that they would both regret. He wouldn’t stop running until the sound of the shards left his head and her ripe scent left his nostrils.

“Oh Necrid…” sobbed Talim as she watched him run away. “I’m so sorry.” She shivered in the cold and wrapped herself up in her blanket before looking at the two metal shards. She had never known true anger before that moment. It felt hot and powerful and dangerous, but it’s what she felt when she looked at the shards of metal that had taken control of her friend and made him almost…almost… “Oh god…” gasped Talim as she started to retch at the thought of what might have been. The strange thing was that it wasn’t the thought of having sex with Necrid that upset her, but the thought of it happening when neither of them wanted to. Talim had been led to believe that sex took place between two people who loved each other. “He doesn’t love me…at least, I don’t think he does. There’s no way he’d want to do anything like that with me right now. But…maybe he might want to…when I’m ready…” she thought to herself. She blushed and slowly reached over and picked up the shards, placing them back in her pouch and setting it aside. She laid down and stared outside, wondering what to do next. She was still trying to figure things out when she fell asleep. Her dreams, unknown even to herself, must have been exciting, because when she woke up the next morning she flushed when she realized that her fingers were deeply buried inside herself.

Two months later… (Between Seung Mina’s and Cassandra’s chapters)

Talim slowly woke up, finding herself in the same position as every morning for the past two months. “What’s going on?” she wondered. “What have I been dreaming about? I’m so confused.” She looked around the small room that she had rented for the night and wondered if she had made any noise during the night. She quickly got dressed and left the room.

“Oh my!” said a female’s voice from her right. “You’re so young!”

“Uh…what?” asked Talim quietly as she turned and saw a young Chinese girl smiling at her.

“With all the noise you were making last night, I figured you were with someone,” said the girl as she walked over to Talim. She peeked her head into the room that Talim had just exited and smiled again. “It appears that you were in there alone. That must have been a really good dream. So, I’ve just got to ask you, who’s this ‘Necrid’ guy? He must be a real stud to get you moaning like that!”

Talim turned beet red as she finally realized what she’d been dreaming about for the past two months. “Oh gods…” she gasped as tears started sliding down her face. “Oh gods…no…”

“Oh no,” said the girl, “I didn’t mean to upset you! I’m sorry!” She gently wrapped her arms around Talim as the young priestess started bawling.

“It’s not your fault,” sobbed Talim. “It’s not your fault…but I just…how could I feel that way for him? I don’t even know him! And I haven’t seen him since…oh gods…what is wrong with me?”

“Hey now, calm down,” said the girl quietly as she walked Talim into her room. She sat Talim down on the bed and sat next to her, gently rubbing her back. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, but you seem like a nice girl to me. I doubt you would have feelings for this guy for no reason.” She stood up and looked down at Talim, saying, “Tell you what! I was going to go down to the local bath house anyway. Why don’t you come with me? It’ll help you feel better, and if you want, you can tell me what’s been going on. I may not look it, but I’m a responsible adult! Just kidding!” She giggled, making Talim smile. “My name’s Xianghua.”

“I’m Talim,” said Talim. “Congratulations, by the way. I’m sure you two will be very happy together.”

“Excuse me?” asked Xianghua.

“The wind just told me that you’re getting married soon,” said Talim, pointing to the open window behind her.

“You’re a shaman?” asked Xianghua. “Neat! Let’s go!” Talim and Xianghua had a nice relaxing bath, and Talim told Xianghua about everything that had happened to her since she became entangled in the search for the evil sword. She spoke of Necrid, her run-ins with the masked duo, her meeting with Ivy and Raphael, the red headed youth and the mysterious trio who had helped her. She hesitated, but even told her about what happened the last time she and Necrid had been together.

“I know he was being controlled by the shards,” said Talim, “And I know that it would have been bad if he had gone through with it…but I apparently wanted him to anyway if my dreams are any indication.”

“How old are you, exactly?’ asked Xianghua.

“Fifteen,” said Talim shyly.

“Then you shouldn’t be thinking about things like that,” said Xianghua. “Just be happy with how you feel about him…even though I must admit I wouldn’t feel the same way if I were in your shoes.”

“You think I’m weird, don’t you?” asked Talim.

“There’s a loaded question if ever I heard one,” said Xianghua with a smile. “Of course I think you’re weird. You were almost raped by a big monstrous creature and instead of being afraid of him; you fall in love with him instead.” Talim looked down into the water and stared at her reflection. She looked like she was about to start crying again, so Xianghua tackled her and shoved her head under the water.

Talim spluttered and gasped as she clawed her way to the surface again. “What was that for?!” she coughed.

“Because you needed it,” said Xianghua. “What I think, or what anyone else thinks for that matter, isn’t important.” She slowly edged her way behind Talim and wrapped her arms around the younger girl, hugging her tightly. “All that matters in affairs of the heart are how you and the other person feel about each other. If you both truly care for each other, then that’s all that matters, isn’t it?”

“I guess…no, you’re absolutely right,” said Talim. She gripped Xianghua’s arms tightly. “Thank you so much. You don’t know how much I needed to hear that.”

“I can imagine,” sighed Xianghua as she slowly got up and started drying herself off. She looked at Talim as the younger girl got out of the bath. “Now, I think we should talk about something a little more important. Do you think you’re strong enough to defeat Soul Edge? Kilik, Maxi and I all thought we could, but we weren’t as strong as we thought we were. I was brutally raped by a golem and almost lost my mind for it.” Talim shivered under the hard stare of Xianghua. “If this Necrid guy tries something again, are you sure you’ll be able to stop him? If you don’t, you might survive, but I doubt you’ll be yourself again.”

Talim looked down at the floor and said, “I don’t know. I don’t know what stayed his hand last time. All I know is that he was about to rip my pants off and then he stopped and ran off. I won’t expect that much luck next time.”

“That’s smart,” said Xianghua seriously. “Look, I’m not trying to scare you or anything, but you’re a sweet girl and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I know, and I thank you for it,” said Talim. “I’ll be careful. I know I can protect myself, I just have to stay on guard, that’s all.”

The two girls got dressed in silence and slowly left the bath house. “I’m going this way,” said Xianghua as she pointed to the left. “I’m meeting Kilik and Maxi in the tavern.”

“I would like to meet the man you’re marrying, but I really have to go,” said Talim. “I haven’t heard anything about the two men who are chasing me, but I’m going to keep looking. I’m ready to take the fight to them and the more people that I meet who have faith in me, the more powerful I feel.”

Xianghua smiled. “Watch your back, cutie,” she said.

“May the wind bless you on your joyous day,” said Talim. The two girls embraced before waving good bye and heading off in opposite directions.

When Talim was out of site, Xianghua turned and smiled, saying, “Take care of yourself.” She started to walk to the tavern when she saw the shadow of a huge humanoid out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head in time to see a large green arm disappear behind a building. “If you harm one hair on that girl’s head, you’ll have me to deal with Necrid!” she shouted. She received a low growl in return and narrowed her eyes as she turned and left.

The strange girl cared for his savior. He didn’t understand why, but he didn’t really care either. As long as no one attacked the young girl, he could merely watch her from afar and not cause her any harm. He was fine with that. It was really all he needed. He would follow her to the ends of the earth if need be in order to keep her safe.

A few weeks later… (During Taki’s Chapter)

Arriving in Switzerland, Talim sensed the familiar presence of the two men who were after her. “They’re close,” she said to herself, “But where are they?” She slowly passed by a small cave inside a large cliff, feeling a presence that she knew but wasn’t what she was searching for. “Necrid…” she whispered. She started to enter the cave but stopped and shook her head. “I’ve got to deal with those two first,” she said. With one last look back, she continued down the road to the next town. As she entered the town she saw them sitting in a tavern, apparently waiting for something or someone. They were still wearing the same outfits she had seen them in the last time they met and weren’t trying to hide their presence at all.

The smaller man sighed as she walked up to them. “And I was so looking forward to having that drink,” he said. “Ah well, business before pleasure. Barkeep, give our drinks to whoever here wants them.” The bigger man growled but the smaller man ignored him. “Come on, little girl. Let’s talk somewhere a little more private.”

“Agreed,” said Talim. The three quickly left the tavern and headed into a small alleyway. “Why are you after me?” asked Talim as soon as they were out of earshot of the villagers.

The smaller man sighed. “I suppose I may as well tell you,” he said. “I assume you realize that our master, Nightmare, has managed a plot for the women looking for Soul Edge, correct?” Talim nodded. “Well, I think you should know that not all of the creatures are under his control. As a matter of fact, what happened to Seung Mina and Ivy were completely out of his hands.”

“Ivy?!” cried Talim. “It was Cervantes…wasn’t it?”

“Smart girl,” sneered the man. “Anyway, he figured that Necrid would get you…but he was pathetic. Beaten by a little girl and then becoming smitten with her…how sad. He was given two perfectly good opportunities to do his appointed task, and backed down each time. I still don’t know what you did to him, but I intend to do what he could not.” Before Talim could blink, the bigger man had snatched her up and had his hand over her mouth. “I assure you,” hissed the smaller man as his cold eyes stared into Talim’s terrified eyes, “that nothing that Necrid would have done to you would have hurt half as much as what we have planned for you.” Talim let out a small whimper as she felt the smaller man easily bind her hands behind her back. “You can let her go now, she won’t go anywhere, and she won’t call for help either. Because she knows that anyone who tried to help her would be cut down, isn’t that right?”

“Who are you two?” asked Talim quietly.

“Us?” asked the smaller man, genuinely surprised by her question. “I’m just a nameless assassin. And my friend here is a relatively mindless berserker.” He bowed derisively to Talim before binding her feet to make sure she couldn’t run anywhere.

“You’ll never get me out of town like this,” said Talim.

“No, I don’t suppose we will,” said Assassin. He started unbuckling his pants, making Talim tremble. “So, why don’t we just do this here? By the way, if you scream, you’ll alert innocent villagers here, and as I mentioned before, we’ll cut them down without a second thought. So, just keep your mouth shut!”

Talim’s bottom lip trembled as she heard a loud clank and saw that Berserker was taking off his armor. “No…” she whimpered right before a huge purple whip came from out of nowhere, wrapped around Assassin’s leg and flung him into Berserker. “Necrid…?” gasped Talim as Necrid leapt down into the alley with the three and turned his small orb of the void into a pair of swords, which he used to cut Talim’s bonds. He then snatched her up, tossed her over his shoulder and dashed out of the alley, much to the surprise of the local villagers. Talim let out a small shriek as Necrid dashed out of town, unaware that the townspeople would take it the wrong way.

He ran as fast as he could, which was pretty damn fast considering how big he was. He would protect her from those two, no matter what. He could hear that she was trying to talk to him, but it wasn’t safe for him to stop yet, not until they made it to the place he had been hiding in. It was a coliseum concealed at the back of a small cave. He had checked the entire building out and knew the place backwards and forwards. It would be a perfect place to fight those two if it came to that. She would understand.

By the time that Necrid put her down, she was extremely sore. “Ouch,” she muttered as she rubbed her stomach. “You could have carried me in a better way, you know.” She looked up at Necrid, who looked embarrassed, and grinned. “Don’t worry,” she said, “I’m not mad at you. I know you were just trying to protect me from those two, and I’m very happy you did that.” She threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. “Thank you so much. They were about to…” She shuddered and didn’t continue.

They were about to do what he had almost done the last time she had seen him. He knew that it wasn’t what she would have said, but it was what she was thinking.

Talim saw the shame plastered all over Necrid’s face and bit her lip. She knew what he was thinking of and didn’t want him to keep beating himself up over it. She decided to change the subject. “So, you’ve been here for a while?” she asked. “When I passed here earlier, I felt your presence.” Necrid nodded and calmly sat down on one of the benches. Talim nervously looked around, taking the building in. She leapt down to the central platform, barely avoiding slipping into the water that surrounded it, and looked out at the lake. The sun was slowly sinking into the horizon, but there was still enough light to see the boats set out on the lake, presumably so people could watch the fights. She watched the sun slowly disappear and looked up at where she remembered Necrid sitting. She couldn’t see very well in the darkness, so she was a little startled when she felt Necrid’s hand on her shoulder. “What?” she yelped as she backed away reflexively. The only light she could see were his red eyes, and she could easily see the hurt in them. “Necrid…I…” she started to say but stopped when the torches started lighting one after the other.

He had only wanted to stand with her when the torches lit up. He knew she would find it to be a beautiful thing, but she had pulled away from him. He couldn’t blame her. So, he just backed away and watched her look on with awe as the torches slowly lit themselves like they had done for years even after the coliseum had stopped being used. But, she wasn’t looking at the torches. As they slowly filled the entire area with brilliant light, he saw that she was looking directly at him. Tears were streaming down her face, and she looked ashamed of herself.

“I’m so sorry for that Necrid,” she said. “It’s not that I was pulling away from you…it’s just that you startled me, that’s all. I mean, I have no reason to pull away from you.” She looked down at her shoes and absently kicked at stones that weren’t there. “I mean, you aren’t trying to hurt me, so…”

He watched her fumble with words for a second before slowly stepping up to her and gently lifting her face to look at him. She was blushing profusely but her tears were slowing down. She wrapped her arms around his arm and pulled him down. He got down on his knees and watched with confusion as an emotional battle took place on Talim’s face. She looked frightened and determined and embarrassed all at once, as if what she was planning was the biggest decision of her life. Her entire body trembled as she seemed to make a decision. She closed her eyes and let out a short breath before opening her eyes and kissing him on the lips. Necrid pulled back as soon as he felt her lips touch his, backing away a few steps and staring at her in shock. He immediately regretted this reaction. As he looked at her, she slowly licked her lips and put on a very false smile, but suddenly seemed very small and powerless.

“I guess that’s my answer then…huh?” asked Talim quietly. “It’s funny. I’ve trusted the wind to tell me what to do and how to live my life for the longest time; all my life actually. But, this one time I wanted to find out how it would go without any help. I wanted to take a chance without the direction of the wind, so I didn’t ask it how you felt about me.” Her voice started to quaver so she cleared her throat and turned away from him, choosing to look out over the lake instead. “I should have known that my feelings wouldn’t be right,” she choked, “that I would screw up. I guess I need the wind’s guidance for everything after all. That’s kind of sad, don’t you think?” She slowly turned her head and looked at him; a smile of self-derision on her face and tears welling up in her eyes. She was fighting them as well as she could, but she was fighting a losing battle. “I should go.” She turned and started to walk away but stopped when she felt Necrid’s hand grab her wrist. “Let me go please,” she said firmly. She heard Necrid try to speak to her in his grumbling nonsense and suddenly screamed, “I said ‘Let me go!’”

Necrid responded to her cries by pulling her back and holding her. She screamed and cried and beat futily on his chest, trying desperately to just get away from him, but he wouldn’t let her. Not until he was able to tell her how he really felt. He held her until her struggles slowly turned into small gulping sobs, punctuated with the occasional hiccup. Once he was sure he could still control her, he started to gently stroke her hair with his normal hand.

“What are you doing?” asked Talim between sobs. “Are you taking pity on me? I don’t want any pity.” Necrid merely continued stroking her hair. Talim looked up at Necrid and screamed, “Didn’t you hear me?! I don’t want any MMPH!!!” Talim’s eyes widened in shock as Necrid closed his eyes and kissed her. She thought of trying to pull away, but before she could come to a decision, her arms wrapped around his neck, seemingly of their own volition. She shrugged and smiled inwardly as she closed her own eyes and kissed him back. They pulled away from each other just long enough for Talim to whisper, “I love you,” before going back to it.

Necrid was truly happy. He hadn’t felt this way for a long, long time. Not since before the sword had poisoned his mind and body. This delicate little creature had saved his soul and rejuvenated his spirit and now she was healing his heart. She loved him. If he still had tear ducts he was sure he would be weeping with joy.

“Aw, such a pretty picture,” said a familiar contemptuous voice that echoed through the coliseum. “Well, a pretty picture drawn by a sick madman at any rate.” (Guilty as charged!) Talim and Necrid broke off from each other and looked around, but couldn’t see anyone. “Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was to get thrown into that big lug?” asked Assassin as he dropped from the ceiling onto the platform with the other two. “Why don’t you tell them?” Berserker roared as he rammed through a wall and leapt to the platform, growling angrily at Necrid.

“Get out of here!” screamed Talim at Necrid. “They want me! You don’t have to get involved.” Necrid grumbled firmly at Talim before roaring at the other two.

“I guess that means we’re all gonna be fighting, huh?” asked Assassin. “Good. Two against two. I like those odds!” He looked at Berserker and said, “Do it!” Berserker growled and hurled his ax into the air. Talim screamed as a huge cage fell from the ceiling and crashed onto the platform, keeping anyone from getting out easily. “You won’t be getting away now,” said Assassin. “Not until we’re dead.”

Berserker roared and leapt into the air, catching his ax and bringing it down at Necrid. “Get out of the way!” cried Talim as she shoved him away. She blocked the ax swing with her elbow blade, but the swing was so powerful that it numbed her arm. Berserker growled and spun around, hitting her with the flat end of his ax. She cried out as she was flung into the wall. Necrid caught her at the last minute, his back slamming into the cage. He roared in pain and fell to one knee. “Are you okay?” asked Talim.

“Last chance! Give us the girl and we’ll let you go free,” said Assassin. Necrid grumbled a little and got up before roaring at the other two, clutching Talim tightly to him.

“Let her go!!!” screamed a new voice that took everyone by surprise. Everyone’s heads turned in time to see a ninja girl dressed in a red body suit hurl three kunai at Necrid. Necrid moved quickly, bringing out a great sword and batting two of the kunai away, but he wasn’t quick enough to get the third one. At the last second, Talim smacked the third kunai away and glared at the woman.

“Leave us be!” she said, “We can handle these two by ourselves!” She was about to yell at her some more when she heard the wind call to her. She listened intently, staring at the woman. She didn’t like giving up the shards just like that, but the wind said that the woman had all of the others, including the ones that had been held by the people she had met during her travels. She nodded to herself and leapt from Necrid’s arms. She reached into her pouch as she said, “You also seek to destroy the sword! Take these!” She quickly pulled the shards from her pouch and hurled them at the woman. The woman caught the shards and looked at Talim with a look of pure confusion. “Go!” cried Talim, “before these people get to you! May the wind protect you!” She looked at Necrid and nodded, Necrid nodded back and the two stared down their opponents. She saw the ninja bow out of the corner of her eyes before she left without saying another word.

“Don’t think that this changes anything!” snarled Assassin. “You’ve both made fools of us! That stupid woman is going straight to the master. Whether he wins and sends us back to hell because he doesn’t need us anymore, or he loses and we get sent back to hell because he’s lost his power, it doesn’t matter to us; but I’ll be damned if I let some little prepubescent girl and a brainless mutation walk all over me!!!” Berserker roared in agreement.

“You sad little man,” said Talim sadly. “You can’t live with your bad choices so you take your aggressions out on others.”

“Shut up!” screamed Assassin. “One more word out of you and I’ll rip out your tongue.”

Necrid roared and stepped towards him, but Talim held him back. “He’s my opponent,” she said.

“Finally, something intelligent coming from your mouth,” sneered Assassin.

Berserker grumbled as he brushed off his ax and faced Necrid down. Necrid leaned forward, stretching out his arms and growling at Berserker. Assassin laughed as he twirled his blade around and pointed it at Talim. “I won’t back down,” said Talim as she twirled one of her elbow blades and faced off against Assassin.

“Time to die, little girl,” said Assassin as he raced up and swung his sword at Talim. She easily blocked with her elbow blades and swung his blow off course. She swung her elbow blades at him, attempting to strike him away, but he actually moved into the blow so that her blade pierced his chest.

“What are you doing?!” screamed Talim.

“Just trying to show you just how futile fighting us really is,” said Assassin as he ripped the blade from his chest, the wound healing as soon as the blade was free. Talim stepped back and squeaked. “I told you before,” said Assassin cruelly. “We were killed already. Our bodies are being controlled by our master. Until he wants us dead, we will live and fight for him. You should just give up. You have no chance!”

“As long as a person is alive, there’s always a chance!” said Talim. “Just because I can’t kill you doesn’t mean I can’t knock you out!” She probably would have said more, but the two had to leap away or be trampled by Necrid and Berserker, who were flailing wildly at each other. “Maybe trapping us all in here wasn’t the brightest idea,” said Talim as she stuck her tongue out at Assassin.

Assassin’s eyes narrowed as he nodded his head and said, “Cute…real cute.” He pointed his sword at her and snarled, “If you think that those two lumbering morons will get in my way, you’re sadly mistaken.” He quickly stepped up to her and grabbed her shoulder. Bringing up his leg, he kicked her in the chest before smacking her face left and right a few times with his foot. Before she could recover he reared back and kicked her between her legs so hard that she was sent flying over and behind him.

Talim tumbled through the air and landed on Berserker’s head, barely missing being impaled on his horns. Berserker roared and reached for her, but was stopped when Necrid grabbed him by the arm and, with an impressive amount of strength hurled him into the air. As Talim tumbled off of Berserker’s helmet, Necrid split his huge sword into two smaller ones and caught Berserker with one of them, twirling him around before slamming Berserker’s back into his knee with his elbow. Berserker groaned in pain and rolled off of Necrid’s knee but stood up almost as soon as he hit the ground. Necrid backed away and surveyed his opponent, letting him make the next move.

Berserker lowered his head and stamped his foot like a bull preparing to charge. Necrid’s eyes widened and he quickly braced himself and thrust his hands out, barely catching Berserker’s horns in time to keep them from impaling him. He was shoved backwards, slamming into Assassin, who Talim had backed up just in time to break Necrid’s slide into the cage wall. Assassin screamed as he felt his bones snap as he was crushed between the wall and Necrid’s bulky body.

“Get away from him!” cried Talim as Necrid pushed Berserker off and tossed him away. Talim knelt down next to Assassin’s crumpled form and quickly felt for a pulse. She didn’t find one and sighed heavily. She was about to get up and help Necrid fight off Berserker when Assassin’s arm shot up and grabbed her wrist.

“Where…do…you…think…you’re…going?!” rasped the broken man, sounding like his scream had damaged his vocal chords. He slowly raised his other arm, and Talim shrieked as she watched the limb that had been snapped back in a bad angle slowly move back to it’s proper position. “Didn’t I tell you?!” snarled Assassin as Talim trembled in real fear. “We can’t die because we’re already dead!” Talim merely groaned in disgust as she heard his bones snapping back into place as he stood up and stared at her. He slowly rolled his neck, making Talim wince with the sound of each cracking bone before chuckling and charging at her.

Necrid turned his head when he heard Talim scream in surprise, which turned out to be a big mistake. As soon as his attention was diverted, Berserker grabbed him on the shoulder and head butted him into the ground. Before Necrid could get up Berserker leapt into the air, lifted his legs in midair, and landed on Necrid’s chest. Necrid roared as he felt the case containing the void in his body cut deeper into his chest. He threw Berserker off of him before standing up and focusing his energy on the spot that Berserker was standing in. He growled and concentrated before a small spark emerged from his chest and slowly ran along the ground towards Berserker. Berserker watched the spark with curiosity as it edged it’s way along until it was right under him. Then it exploded. Berserker cried out as a huge column of flame burst up from right below him and sent him flying into the air. He hurtled back down to the ground, landing on his head. He slowly got to his feet, growled menacingly at Necrid and promptly keeled over.

“This changes nothing!” snarled Assassin. “Do you really think you can do the same to me?”

“No, I think I can do you one better,” said Talim as she charged Assassin. Assassin scoffed as he thrust his sword out at her, but she easily ducked under his thrust and grabbed his arm. She vaulted onto his arm and twisted her body, throwing him to the ground with her arms and legs wrapped tightly around his sword arm. With a quick pull, she dislocated his shoulder and broke his arm at the same time. He writhed in pain as she crawled out from under his arm and got on top of him, her knees pinning his shoulders. “That was for Ivy and Xianghua!” she shouted. “And this is for all the other women that were violated on your master’s orders and because of that sword!” She punched Assassin repeatedly in the face until she ran out of breath and sat on him, panting heavily. “And this…this is for screwing with Necrid and me,” she snarled, real anger showing on her face as she twirled her elbow blades inward and sliced them into Assassin’s head. Assassin screamed as the blades bit into his skull. Talim sliced them out as she got off of him, panting heavily and trembling as her rage slowly left her. She backed away from Assassin as she watched his wounds slowly heal up, but squeaked when a long, purple snake sword wrapped around his neck and tightened, ripping his head off. Necrid slowly walked up to the head and tossed it over the cage wall, into the lake. Assassin’s body twitched and jerked around before it got up and started moving towards where it could feel it’s head was. “Oh gross…” moaned Talim as she buried her face in Necrid’s chest.

Necrid held Talim tightly as he leapt out of the cage and back into the spectator stands. She was still trembling, afraid of her own rage more than anything, and sobbing softly. He wanted to be able to tell her that it was okay, that those men didn’t deserve any of her pity, but he couldn’t. All he could do was grumble soothingly and gently stroke her back and hair. They stood like that for a long time, Talim crying and Necrid trying to sooth her while keeping a close eye on the other two. He grumbled in distaste as Assassin’s body continued banging futily on the cage walls, unable to climb or jump over the bars without a head. Necrid slowly sat down, Talim automatically sitting on his knee and resting against him, slowly closing her eyes and drifting into a light slumber. Necrid wanted to sleep as well, but he couldn’t. Not until the threat of the two evil warriors was gone for good. So, he sat and quietly stood guard over his little savior, ready to protect her if the time came.

The sun was slowly starting to rise when Talim started to cry out in her sleep. “No!” she said, “I didn’t! He was evil! I…He was dead! I…killed him! No!!!” She shot up and looked at her trembling hands, tears streaming down her face. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said with a quavering voice. “I just can’t stop shaking. I mean, he was already dead…I didn’t kill him. I’ve still never killed anyone…right?” Necrid grumbled something and gently ran his fingers through her hair. She moaned softly at his touch and grabbed his hand, holding it against her cheek. “You’re hands are so warm,” she said softly as she nuzzled her cheek into it. She looked up at him and smiled. “You’re too good to me. Thank you.”

Necrid let her gently push him onto his back and watched as she slowly crawled up his body until they were face to face. She gently stroked his face and twirled her fingers into his goatee. She slowly closed her eyes and blushed as she leaned her head in to kiss him, but stopped and jerked her head around when they heard a loud crash behind them. Talim screamed as Berserker plowed his way through the cage wall and tore at the two. Necrid quickly pushed Talim off of him, but didn’t have enough time to properly defend himself, so he dodged to the side and howled when Berserker’s horn pierced his side.

“Necrid!” screamed Talim even as she heard a loud splash and looked down in time to see Assassin’s body emerge from the lake, holding his head under his arm.

“Did you forget about me?!” gurgled Assassin as he slowly twisted his head back on. “I told you, you can’t kill me! Why is it that you can’t listen to me?!” He started giggling insanely, the loss of his head apparently affecting his brain.

“Leave us alone!” cried Talim. She dashed at Assassin and used all of her forward momentum to increase the power of her strike as she punched him in the face and sent him rolling down the stairs. She looked back over at Necrid and saw that he was having trouble holding Berserker back. The bigger human had Necrid pinned and had the blade of his ax against Necrid’s throat. “Get off of him!” shouted Talim as she ran up and kicked at Berserker. She had meant to kick him in the leg, but she was a little upset and it threw her aim off. Her foot slipped between his legs and hit him squarely in the balls. Berserker howled in a much higher register than normal as he grabbed his crotch and collapsed.

Necrid picked up Berserker and tossed him down the stairs, watching in amusement as the bigger man toppled Assassin like a bowling pin. He roared and beat his chest before wincing and holding his side. Talim rushed over to him to help him, but he held her back, knowing that his blood was filled with the evil and chaotic power of the void itself. If she touched it, she would be transformed just like he was. He couldn’t let that happen to her.

“But, you need to be treated!” said Talim. “A wound like that needs attention! I can help you!”

“You little idiot!” sneered Assassin as he crawled out from underneath the unconscious Berserker. “Do you have any idea what would happen to you if that creature’s blood touched you? You would become exactly like he was when you first met him! Your mind and heart would be filled with pain and loss unless you were in the void itself!” Talim looked down at Assassin and then up at Necrid. Necrid looked ashamed and turned away from her. “That proves it!” laughed Assassin. “If you try to help him, you’ll cease to be you! You’ll just be a raving monstrosity! Don’t think I’ll stop you from doing that!” He laughed hysterically. “The choice is yours! Either help him and turn into a raving, tainted human, or don’t help him and watch him die! This is too perfect!” Assassin continued to laugh even as the floor underneath him and Berserker started to crumble. “Whoops!” he giggled, “Looks like the master lost! Hee hee hee! I won’t see either of you again, but I can go back to hell happy knowing that you lost! AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!” Talim shuddered as his laughter echoed all around the cave. The ground underneath the two dissolved completely and they plummeted into the earth, Assassin’s laughter finally vanishing as the ground healed itself.

“I don’t care what happens to me,” said Talim quietly as she looked up at Necrid. “I will save you!”

Necrid looked down at her determined eyes and shook his head. She frowned at him and took a step towards him. He stepped away quickly.

“You won’t stop me!” said Talim resolvedly as she tackled Necrid to the ground. Necrid roared in fear as he watched his green blood get on her. She winced and whimpered at the burning sensation of his blood on her skin, but ignored the pain she felt. She placed her hands on his wound, hoping to at least stop the bleeding. She screamed at the pain in her hands, but refused to move them. “Wind…” she moaned, “Please, give me the strength to hold out…until he is okay! Please!”

Necrid tried desperately to push her off of him, but she held on and wouldn’t leave him. He could tell that she was suffering, but she wouldn’t let go of him. She looked at him and he could see the pain in her eyes, but he could also see that she was determined to help him whether he wanted her to or not. She quickly pulled her chest wrap off and used it to staunch the bleeding, completely unashamed of her bare chest. He tried to yell at her to stop, but all he could do was roar incoherently.

“I know what you want,” said Talim through clenched teeth. “But, I won’t leave you. Until your bleeding stops, I won’t leave your side.” Her hands twitched and she shivered as she saw small scales start to grow on her fingers, but she refused to budge. “Promise me,” she said, “If I go crazy. Promise me that you’ll stop me…and promise me that you’ll tell my parents that I had no regrets…please?” Necrid’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded. She smiled, even as her mind started to get hazy. She shook her head and closed her eyes.

Necrid watched her carefully. She was starting to show signs already. His bleeding was slowing down, so she took the opportunity to wrap her chest wrap around his waist, bandaging him up as best she could. She had a spare in her bag, so she slowly got up and walked over to it, pulling another piece of cloth from the bag and wrapping it around herself. When she looked back at him, he shuddered when he saw that her eyes were slowly turning red.

“I…don’t feel…so good,” slurred Talim as she put her hand to her forehead. A jolt of pain shot through her left hand, making her clamp her eyes shut and scream. When she opened her eyes again she screamed again as she looked at the deformed claw that had been her hand. “Is this how it felt?” she whimpered as she looked up at Necrid. She never saw what his answer was because more pain shot through her arm and she crumpled to the ground, clutching it tightly, crying out in agony. Her entire body trembled as it was wracked with pain. She clenched her teeth together and nearly bit her lips off as they grew into long, sharp fangs. “So cold…” sobbed Talim as scales started popping up all over her small body.

Necrid didn’t know what to do. He was beside himself with guilt. It was his fault that she was turning into this thing and he didn’t know how to help her. She was screaming and writhing in pain so much that he almost didn’t hear the small voice that called to him. He looked around and didn’t see anyone, but there was definitely someone calling desperately for him. It took him a short while to realize that the voice was coming from all around him. It was the wind. The wind was speaking to him. It told him that only he could save Talim, which was why he was able to hear it just this once, and that he only had one chance. If he did anything incorrectly, they would both die. He looked down at Talim and clenched his fists in determination. The wind told him how to save Talim and Necrid actually hesitated. He realized that the task would be dangerous, but if he screwed up, not only would they both die, but the entire world could be at risk. But then the wind asked him a question that he hadn’t thought of. It asked him ‘What is more important to you; the world or Talim?’

Necrid looked down at Talim, who was in so much pain now that she couldn’t catch a breath to scream anymore. She was just writhing and whimpering on the ground, her blood red eyes staring up at nothing and her hair slowly turning a pale white. He slowly sat down next to her and put her head in his lap. “Ne…crid…” wheezed Talim, “H…elp…m…e…”

He grumbled to himself as he gently stroked her hair. A single tear slid down her face, but it turned to crystal before it hit the ground. He winced at how quickly her transformation had progressed, and nodded to himself, knowing what he had to do. He had to save her. The world wouldn’t be right without her in it. He carefully unsnapped the metal bands that surrounded the dome in his chest, holding it in place with his clawed hand. Once the last band was removed he closed his eyes and silently prayed that the plan worked, and removed the dome from his chest, unleashing the void on the world. The void, freed from it’s captivity, quickly surrounded the first foreign object it touched, which happened to be Talim, and engulfed her. Necrid, his eyes closed, felt the void’s movement and felt it merging with the taint that was already present in Talim. As soon as the void and the taint had merged completely, Necrid started concentrating on regaining his control of the mass of chaos. It didn’t really want to listen to him, but it’s long captivity had made it weak, and it’s continual proximity to him had made it susceptible to his commands. He commanded it to return to him. It resisted, but he had more strength than the void did. His need to save the one he loved was stronger than the void’s need to be free in the world, and the void complied. When the void had returned into the hole in his chest, Necrid quickly clamped the dome back in place and started reclasping the metal bands. After he was done he looked down at Talim and sighed with relief when he saw her smiling up at him, and her body was back to normal.

“What you just did was very brave,” she said. “It was also very stupid and dangerous, but…” She blushed and looked away from him. “But, it makes me happy to know that you would risk your own life for mine. It makes me feel important…just a little.” She giggled and started to get up, but thought better of it and laid back down. “Sorry, I don’t think I can move just yet. Do you mind?”

Necrid smiled as he gently stroked her hair and shook his head. She apparently didn’t realize that if he hadn’t been able to control the void, the entire world would have been consumed. He felt it would be best if she didn’t know that. He would, at least, get a good running start before he told her.

Talim closed her eyes and fell into a light doze. Her body needed rest and Necrid’s warmth felt so good. She slowly woke up when she felt an immense positive aura flow throughout the land. “What was that?” she asked as she got up and looked around.

Necrid understood exactly what had just happened. Soul Edge had been destroyed and he had to leave. Soul Edge was the only thing that allowed him to stay in this realm, and with it’s defeat he couldn’t stay. The void would always try to drag him back, opening portals that would become dangerous to the surrounding countryside if something escaped. He felt a familiar essence behind him and slowly turned, seeing a portal slowly opening.

Talim was grinning from ear to ear when she turned and saw Necrid staring at the portal. Her face fell as she realized what it meant. “You have to go…don’t you?” she asked. Necrid only nodded. “I suppose I should have seen this coming…” She looked up at him and said, “If it weren’t for you, I would have never stood a chance against those two. Thank you so much.” She threw her arms around his waist, being careful not to hit his injury, and hugged him tightly. “Please don’t go,” she said miserably, “I’ll miss you…Don’t leave me…”

Necrid growled soothingly at Talim before he forced himself to push her away. He saw the look of hurt on her face but knew that she was a strong girl and could get through anything. He patted her on the head and grinned at her before slowly entering the portal. The last thing he saw before the portal closed behind him was Talim smiling at him, trying desperately to hold back her tears.

As soon as the portal was closed and Necrid was gone, Talim’s tears couldn’t be held back anymore. She slowly fell to her knees and cried uncontrollably. “I love you,” she sobbed as she hugged her arms tightly, the wind gently whirling around her body.

Present Day

Her parents had told her to forget all about the evil sword and said that her feelings for Necrid were more of a childish infatuation than love. She didn’t buy it. During the three years that had passed, Talim had gone out and visited a few of the people that she met during her travels. Xianghua and Kilik had a baby girl, which they named Xianglian after an old friend of Kilik’s. Their friend Maxi, on the other hand, just kept trying to hit on her, much to Xianghua’s distaste. The hot-headed youth, Yunsung, hadn’t changed much. He was still a bit of a braggart, but now Talim was smart enough to know that and not listen to him. Yunsung’s friend, Seung Mina was a fun girl to chat with. She had a friendly, upbeat personality and decided to join Talim when she said she was going to visit Ivy. The two made a stop in Athens to look in on a friend of Seung Mina’s. The sisters, Sophitia and Cassandra, were in the middle of a sparring match, but when Sophitia saw Seung Mina, she dropped her sword and ran to give her a hug. While that was going on Talim, noticing something odd, silently picked up a rock and tossed it at the roof, hitting Yoshimitsu. He tumbled off the roof and laughed merrily, causing Seung Mina to run over and give him a hug, much to Cassandra’s discomfort. They stayed only a short while before heading towards France. Ivy and Raphael were holding up well. Their odd personalities made them perfectly compatible, and Amy, it turned out, was rather cute. Ivy actually had a child on the way, much to Seung Mina’s surprise. Seung Mina decided to stay with Ivy and Raphael for a while longer, so Talim headed back home on her own. She was halfway there when she heard the sounds of battle. She steeled herself and rushed in to help, but by the time she got there, the battle was over. Two people, a female ninja and a male knight, were surrounded by the bodies of ninjas. The female ninja looked up at Talim’s approach and smiled. It was the same ninja that Talim had given the shards to. Her name was Taki and her friend was Siegfried. She wanted to stay and talk with them, but they said it would be too dangerous to stick with them. They were both being hunted for things they did in the past and didn’t want to involve anyone else. Talim shrugged and smiled as she bowed to them both and left.

She smiled as she remembered her travels, but whenever she thought of any of her new friends, she couldn’t help but think of Necrid. “Three years to the day since I first met him,” she sighed. “I wonder what he’s doing right now.” She sighed heavily as she prepared herself for bed. Her mother was planning on inviting over all of the eligible men in the village the next day, and wanted Talim to finally choose one of them. She flopped down on her bed and grumbled, “Can’t I just take my time and figure out what I want to do later?” She looked out her window and stood up, finding she wasn’t really all that tired. She walked over to her window and leaned against the sill, enjoying the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair. She cocked her head to the side, feeling that the wind was trying to tell her something, when her mother suddenly burst into the room.

“Talim, come downstairs and have some tea,” said her mother tensely, almost as if she wanted to keep Talim in her sights.

“It’s odd, mom,” said Talim as she slowly walked away from the window. “The wind is trying to tell me something, but the message is a little garbled. It’s almost as if…” She stopped and whipped her head back at the window. “No…” she whispered. “Is it true…?” She looked back at her mother, who suddenly couldn’t look at her daughter in the face. “You…tried to keep me from feeling it…” she said quietly.

“I was only looking out for your best interests,” said her mother miserably.

Talim silently stepped up to her mother and raised her hands. Her mother winced, expecting her daughter to hit her, but was surprised to feel Talim’s arms slowly wrapping around her shoulders as she hugged her. “I know you were only doing what you thought was right, and I have no right to be mad at you,” she said, “But, what you think is right isn’t right for me.” She pulled away from her mother and kissed her on the forehead. “I have to go.”

“Wait! Talim!” cried her mother.

“I’ll be back!” shouted Talim as she raced down the stairs and left the house, not even bothering to close the door behind her.

“But…!” started her mother. She was stopped when Talim’s father placed a hand on her mother’s shoulder.

“This is what she wants,” he said. “She never asks for anything for herself. Let her go.” Talim’s mother sighed resignedly and nodded, watching her daughter run towards the windmills.

Talim dashed through the village, ignoring the strange looks she was getting from the villagers for running through town dressed only in a camisole and a pair of panties. She raced to the tallest windmill and stood panting at the base of it. She looked up and swallowed, sensing a familiar presence at the top. Dashing inside she quickly climbed up the ladder and stood on the platform where she had met Necrid three years ago. Nothing had changed. There was nothing up there. Even the presence that she had felt wasn’t there anymore. “What…?” she asked quietly. She fell to her knees and sighed. “Why would you let yourself get your hopes up like that?” she mumbled to herself. “Although, it is odd for the wind to be wrong.”

“Who says…the wind is wrong…?” choked a voice that seemed to echo through the entire building. Talim looked around, trying to find the source of the strange voice, but stopped when she felt the familiar presence again. “Please, Talim…I need your help…!”

“Where are you?” cried Talim as she looked around wildly. The presence was all around her and there was something about the voice that made her need to help whoever was calling to her. “Please! Tell me so I can help you!”

“The wind…” groaned the voice. Talim winced. The person speaking to her was obviously in a lot of pain. “Strike…when I…tell you to.”

“Strike what?!” cried Talim. “Who are you?!” She whirled around and stopped when she saw a small red dot hovering in midair, directly in front of her. “What is…?” she asked before her eyes widened. “Necrid!” she screamed.

“Talim!” growled the voice. “Wait for my…signal! If you strike too soon…you’ll be…sucked in.”

“But…!” said Talim.

“Listen to me!” hollered the voice. “The void has slowly grown very unstable and weak due to the death of Inferno! But it’s not so weak that it will allow me to leave without the two of us working together! I still have a little bit of the power of the void inside of me. I need you to channel the wind into yourself, and we need to strike that hole at the exact same time!”

“But, what will happen if either of us is off?!” asked Talim.

“You’ll be sucked into the void and I’ll be sent back to the real world,” said the voice, “neither of us having the power to get you back.”

Talim trembled at the thought of being trapped in the void, but the thought of losing Necrid again was too much for her to handle. “I’ll do it!” she said. “I’ll get you out of that chaos! I’ve got to have you back!” She sat down and started chanting. “Please wind,” she said, “I’ve always done as you’ve asked of me. Using your guidance, I was able to help in the destruction of Soul Edge. You’ve given me strength in the past, now I ask for one last favor. I would revoke my right as a priestess if it would allow me to save Necrid, and if that is what you ask, that is what I’ll do. Please, help me!” The wind gently tickled Talim’s chin and playfully ran through her hair. “I have to do something in return,” said Talim. “I can’t ask for this without doing something for you!” The wind slid over her lithe body and blew softly into her ear, making her shiver. “Is that really what you want?” she asked quietly. The wind gently rustled her camisole. “Then it shall be done.” She stood up and said, “I’m ready whenever you are!”

“Okay Talim,” said the voice, “On three, hit that little hole in reality with everything you’ve got. 1…2…3!!!” Talim swung her fist at the dot in the air. She felt her fist connect with another one and yelped at the slight pain, but concentrated all of the power of the wind into her fist, channeling it forward, to open the hole in front of her. “It’s working!” cried the voice as the hole slowly got bigger. “Don’t stop now…it’s working!”

Talim clenched her eyes shut, not wanting her sight of Necrid to get in the way of her concentration. “Please…let it work,” she whimpered. Against her better judgment, she slowly opened her eyes and immediately teared up. Necrid was right in front of her. He was gritting his teeth in concentration, but when he saw her looking at him, he grinned. The hole was getting big enough that Talim could squeeze through. “Just a little more,” she said.

“Almost there…” growled Necrid. Talim grunted with the effort of using so much power at one time, but found a small reserve left in her and screamed as she felt more power than she was used to controlling flowing from her. The hole was now big enough for Necrid to step through. “Okay,” grunted Necrid. “We have to stop…now!” Both of them pulled their fists away from the hole and Necrid dove through, crashing into Talim. The two fell to the ground, panting heavily. Necrid quickly looked back and sighed with relief when he saw the portal to the void slowly close and vanish before his eyes. He flopped back down and said, “I’m free. I’m finally free. Thank you so much…Talim?” He looked around. “Where are you?” His answer came in the form of a muffled growling underneath him. “Oh sorry,” he said sheepishly as he got up.

“Man, you’re heavy,” groaned Talim with a smile as she got up and looked at him. He hadn’t changed much. The only difference was the fact that the hole in his chest was gone. “How did you get your voice back?”

“I told you,” said Necrid. “The power of the void was getting weak inside of me, but I knew it would never be completely gone. I was basically given the choice of getting most of my body back to normal, or getting my voice back. I needed to be able to communicate with you in order to see you again…I hope you don’t mind that I still look like this.”

“If I didn’t mind when we first met,” said Talim shyly, “why would I mind now?” She happily threw her arms around him and hugged him. “I missed you so much!” she said as he gently hugged her back.

“How long has it been?” asked Necrid. “You’ve grown up so much, but time in the void is chaotic and uncertain. It feels like it’s been 100 years and at the same time it feels like I only just left you at the coliseum.”

“It’s been three long, painful years,” said Talim. “I tried to do things to get my mind off of you, but it never really worked. So I traveled around and visited all of the people who I met while searching for Soul Edge. But, everyone was so happy with their lovers and husbands.” She blushed and looked down as she pulled away from him. “I have to admit, I felt really jealous of them all. It’s not something that comes naturally to me, so I’m a little embarrassed to admit it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” said Necrid as he watched her slowly walk to the edge of the tower and sit down, dangling her legs over the side.

“I know that,” she said as she kicked her legs absently. “But, it doesn’t change the fact that I was upset because other people were happy. I don’t like feeling that way. It makes me think that I’m a bad person.” She looked back at him and asked, “Am I a bad person for feeling that way?”

Necrid looked at Talim and joined her, sitting on the edge of the tower. He draped his arm around her shoulders and said, “I don’t think there’s a bad bone in your whole body.” Talim smiled and leaned into him, resting her head against his chest. “You know what?” asked Necrid after a time had passed.

“What?” asked Talim.

“I love you,” said Necrid. Talim looked up at him and smiled. “I’ve wanted to say that to you for the longest time, and I finally got the chance to. It feels good.” He looked down at her and grinned before cocking his head to the side and saying, “I just noticed…uh…you’re barely clothed.”

Talim looked down at herself and turned beet red. “Yeah…well, I was getting ready for bed when the wind told me to come up here,” she mumbled as she hugged her knees to her chest.

“Hey,” said Necrid, “Don’t cover those up on my account. You’ve grown into quite a woman there.”

If it had been possible, Talim would have turned a deeper shade of red as she looked up at Necrid’s grinning face. “Well,” she said nervously. “I-I showed you mine…You show me yours. That’s how it’s supposed to go…right?”

Necrid looked a little nervous before asking, “Hey, are you sure about that? Once you see it, you might want to try it out!”

Talim looked at him and stuck her tongue out at him. She knew he was teasing her, but refused to back down. “Come on!” she said as she stood up, “Off with them!”

“Hey now!” said Necrid, “You don’t really expect me to…out here?” He tried, desperately, to find a decent way to get out of his predicament. “Well,” he said, “It’s not like I really saw you naked, so I don’t have to show you anything.” Talim stared at him for a little bit before slowly reaching down and starting to pull her top off. Necrid made an amusing gasping sound before saying, “Hold it! That wasn’t what I meant!”

“Oh…so you don’t want to see them?” asked Talim bashfully. “I see…I’ll just go home now.”

“Hold it!” cried Necrid, trying to figure out exactly how things went spiraling out of control this quickly. His mind was so preoccupied with covering his embarrassment that he didn’t notice Talim smiling slightly with her tongue stuck out. “Fine…I give, you win!” said Necrid, his green scaly skin getting a pinkish hue to it. “Just keep your clothes on.”

“Let’s see if we can change his mind about that,” thought Talim to herself as she watched him slowly take his pants off. (What?! You expect her to remain a cute and innocent little girl her entire life? She’s 18 which makes her a raging mess of hormones!) She was admittedly very nervous, after all, she was still a virgin and had never so much as fooled around with a boy before. The closest she had ever come to it was three years ago when she had her first kiss with Necrid. She was brought back to the present when she heard the clank of his armor hitting the platform. She looked up and saw him staring at her and holding his pants up before swallowing and dropping them, letting them crumple at his feet. She gasped when she saw his penis. It was rather large, not all that surprising considering how big he was, and covered with smaller, rounder versions of the little spikes on his back.

Necrid trembled when he saw her looking at him with hungry eyes. “I think I should get dressed again,” he said.

“I don’t think so,” said Talim as she tackled Necrid to the ground. Necrid felt the wind getting knocked out of him as Talim fell on him. He looked up and gaped as she quickly pulled her top off and tossed it aside. “I’ve wanted this,” she said as she lowered her head so it was right next to his. “I’ve wanted this for so long,”

“Talim,” said Necrid. “Stop it!”

“What are you saying?” asked Talim as her hand slowly traveled down to his crotch. “This guy doesn’t want me to stop.”

Necrid groaned as Talim gently wrapped her hand around his length. “No!” he cried. “Please…I’m begging you! Stop!”

Something in Necrid’s voice clicked in Talim’s mind. She looked into his eyes and saw the same fear that she had felt three years ago when he was about to rape her. “Oh god…” she whispered as she got off of him and scurried away. “I’m sorry…” she said as she slowly reached for her camisole.

Necrid placed his hand on hers, stopping her. She looked up at him, tears of shame in her eyes. “No, I’m sorry,” he said heavily. “I still can’t get it out of my mind. I almost raped you.”

“But…” said Talim, “But, I’m willing now! I want to. I said I wanted to.” She gripped his hand tightly and placed it on her chest. “Do you feel my heart beating?” she asked. “It’s pounding furiously. I love you with all my heart and want to consummate our love, but I’m terrified about it as well. But, you’re important enough to me to make my fear lessen.” Her other hand slowly moved up to his face and gently stroked his cheek. “If you aren’t ready, I can understand,” she said softly.

Talim’s voice caressed Necrid’s soul as much as her hand caressed his cheek. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said quietly as he pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

“I know,” said Talim. She frowned as a strange feeling slowly rose between them. She looked down and giggled. “But, if you use that, I don’t think you’ll have much choice in the matter.”

Necrid blushed as he felt his arousal get bigger; suddenly wishing he had put his pants on when he had the chance. “Sorry,” he said, “Automatic reaction. Don’t have any control over it.” He grinned sheepishly at her, making her giggle again.

“It’s okay, I understand,” she said as she looked down again and licked her lips. “Uh…you don’t mind if I…?” Necrid stiffened for a second before letting out a large sigh and shaking his head. Talim slowly got onto her knees, looking curiously at Necrid’s cock. It was longer than she thought it would be, and really wide too. “Um…are you sure…it’ll fit?” she asked quietly.

“Well…I’ve never tried anything…since I got this body, so no, I have no idea,” said Necrid nervously. He looked down at her and his eyes widened with shock as he watched her slowly lean in and lick his cock head. “What…?” he groaned as she started to slowly lick up and down his shaft. “Where did you…?”

“I told you,” said Talim as she rubbed her hands up and down his cock, “I visited a lot of couples over the past few years. When I was with the girls, the talk invariably led to sex, so I got quite a few pointers from women who knew a lot about pleasing their men. I’ve been dying to try this out, so just relax and let me.”

“But…” was all Necrid was able to get out before he groaned as Talim slowly engulfed his cock in her mouth. She slowly ran her tongue around his length as she bobbed her head up and down. Necrid groaned loudly so he almost missed Talim’s muffled moans. He looked down at her and saw that she was slowly rubbing herself through her panties as she was sucking him off. He frowned and pulled her off of him. She looked questioningly up at him. “That won’t do,” he said. “It’s not fair for you to be doing all the work of pleasuring both of us.” Still holding her, he flopped down onto his back. She let out a small squeak as he pulled her down with him. He was still taller than she was, so he pulled her up so that they were face to face. She was breathing heavily, desire plainly visible on her face. He kissed her lightly on the lips. She responded by kissing him back. Their lips pressed together and they both closed their eyes before Talim slowly opened her mouth, giving Necrid an invitation he couldn’t refuse. His tongue shot into her mouth and it was like a floodgate of passion opened up between them. Talim moaned happily as she started rubbing her hips against him as they kissed each other. Her hands roamed all over his upper body, gently massaging his chest and rubbing his head. Necrid’s hands slowly moved down her back and started to squeeze her butt, making her moan even more. He left his normal hand at her butt and moved his clawed hand inward, letting it slowly run along her panties. She gasped and her eyes shot open as a spark shot through her body. He eased the crotch of her panties aside and started to finger her, easing a clawed finger into her a little at a time.

Talim gasped and moaned in pain at the feeling of the huge claw slowly pushing into her virgin tunnel, gently stretching and loosening her up as well as getting her entrance wet and slick for his eventual entrance. “Feels odd,” she said quietly. “And really good… I think I’m ready.”

“Are you sure?” asked Necrid. “I think I should work on you a little more.”

“Please…” hissed Talim. “I need to feel you in me. Please, Necrid.”

Necrid slowly pulled his claw from her, making her moan, before grabbing her hips and pulling her up to sit on his chest. He grabbed the straps of her panties and slowly pulled them down. Talim lifted her hips to ease their passage and trembled as Necrid pulled them down and tugged them off of her feet. “I’m still not sure about your readiness,” said Necrid as he gripped her hips and pulled her up to his face. “I hope you don’t mind.” He grinned a little as his tongue gently traced the outline of her pussy. Talim let out a quavering gasp as she arched her back and gripped Necrid’s legs tightly.

“Oh Necrid…yes!” she cried as she felt his tongue run along her inner walls. “So good! So good! Don’t stop!” She tried to move her hips against him, but his hands held her in place, leaving her to groan in frustration. She bit her lip and whimpered happily as she felt an odd stirring inside of her stomach. The feeling was indescribable but it was getting bigger and bigger. Her entire body was shaking as she felt the feeling suddenly burst into a lightning bolt that shot through her entire body. Her eyes shot open and she screamed as she had her first orgasm ever. (Well, while conscious at any rate.) She panted heavily as she felt all of her muscles burn out one by one, causing her to fall backwards, completely spent.

Necrid gently reached down and brought her face up next to his. He brushed her hair, which was plastered to her face with sweat, out of her eyes and asked, “How was that?”

“In…credible…” whispered Talim. “I never knew it could feel like that; that a body could feel so much joy at once.” She rested her head against his chest and slowly closed her eyes, happy to just be held by him and to hear his gentle heartbeat. “Necrid?” she murmured sleepily.

“Yes?” asked Necrid.

Talim slowly pushed herself up on trembling arms and looked directly into his eyes that reminded her of a beautiful sunrise. “Please, make love to me,” she said softly. She leaned in and kissed him on the forehead. “I can feel your love. It’s radiating from you so strongly that it’s almost tangible. But, I want to experience the kind of love that only true lovers share.”

“Uh…” said Necrid, unsure how to tell her that sex sometimes happened between people who didn’t love each other at all.

“I know what you’re going to say,” said Talim sweetly as she gently caressed his head, “and I know that sex isn’t always love. But, I also know that for those who truly love each other, it can be the most pleasant experience in the world; both physicaly and emotionaly.” Necrid looked at her and she giggled. “I told you, I talked about this subject at length with quite a few knowledgeable women.” She thought back at the knowing smiles of Xianghua, Ivy, Cassandra and Sophitia as they talked with Talim about the ways of the world. When they looked at their husbands and lovers, there was a serene look on their faces that she wanted to be able to give someone else before she died. It was the same look that she had seen on Taki’s face when she looked at Siegfried. And regardless of how much Seung Mina denied it, she had the same smile on her face when she talked about a man named Hwang. She smiled as she looked at Necrid, wondering if it was the same type of smile. “I’m rested enough,” she said. “I’m ready for you. Make love to me. Please, Necrid.”

Necrid smiled and kissed her on the lips before slowly sitting up. Talim slowly slid down his body, until she landed in his lap, his erection pressed up against her stomach. Necrid gently grabbed her by the hips and positioned her over his throbbing erection. Talim smiled when she felt the tip of his cock brush up against her entrance. A shiver ran through her as she looked down and slowly rocked her hips a little, loving the feeling of the cockhead sliding back and forth along her opening. “I said I didn’t want to hurt you,” said Necrid, “and I still mean it. But…”

“I know,” said Talim, “and it’s okay. I can take it…if it means being one with you.” Necrid nodded and slowly lowered her while she rocked her hips, allowing the tip of the cock to gently spread her lips open. She groaned in pain as the huge cock slowly stretched her tight tunnel, but merely wrapped her arms around Necrid and said, “Keep going.”

“When it gets too painful, just tell me and I’ll stop,” soothed Necrid. Talim only nodded. Her eyes were clamped shut as she willed her body to remain relaxed to ease the penetration. Her descent was slow, allowing her body the chance to get used to the size of the invader inside of it and she was starting to enjoy the feeling until the tip of his cock hit her barrier. She gritted her teeth and sucked in a quick breath, making Necrid hold her in place.

“I didn’t tell you to stop,” she said.

“You didn’t have to,” said Necrid calmly. “We’ve reached the point of no return. If I go any further, you won’t be a virgin anymore.”

“That’s nice,” said Talim sarcastically, “Do it!”

“There’s two ways to go about this,” said Necrid, ignoring her sarcasm. “I can either push you down the rest of the way all at once, or I can keep slowly pushing you down, slowly tearing through your hymen.”

“Which way is better?” asked Talim as she winced.

“Either way, you’ll be hurting,” said Necrid.

“Then just do it,” said Talim. “Better a fast pain than a slow lingering one.”

“Are you sure?” asked Necrid. Talim held him tighter and nodded. “Okay then,” he said as he gently kissed her forehead and pushed her down. Talim arched her back and opened her mouth to let out a scream, but nothing came out that was louder than a whimper. She let out a few more strangled gasps before falling forward onto Necrid’s chest and sobbing quietly. “You did it,” said Necrid quietly as he laid down and stroked her back. “Please don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying because of the pain,” said Talim as she sniffled. She raised her head to look at him and he saw that she was smiling. “I’m so happy! We’re finally one! Thank you so much for allowing me to be one with you!” Necrid smiled at her and ran his fingers through her hair.

“You’re so radiant,” said Necrid, “I couldn’t see myself loving anyone after meeting you.”

“Good thing!” said Talim as she playfully punched his shoulder. She started to slowly roll her hips around, getting used to the feeling of the large, foreign object inside of her. She moaned softly as she twisted her hips, feeling the small bumps on his cock stimulate her in ways that she never thought possible. “Necrid…” she moaned softly, “I’m ready. Please…”

Necrid looked down at the beautiful creature that was begging for him to love her completely. She was breathing heavily and writhing on his cock. When she looked up at him, her eyes were half-lidded and full of passion. He leaned in and kissed her passionately for a second before saying, “Whatever you want, my little savior.” Talim smiled and giggled before she moaned loudly as Necrid grabbed her hips and slowly raised her before letting her slide back down. Necrid groaned as Talim’s tightness engulfed his entire length over and over again. “Amazing!” he groaned. “You’re taking it all! I didn’t think you could!”

“I can do anything if it’s for you!” moaned Talim as she started to bob up and down on his cock herself. She planted her hands on his chest for support while he started to grope her breasts. Talim yelped when she felt him start to gently tweak her nipples. “So good!” she cried. “I’ve never felt anything like this before! It’s so amazing!” Her arms started to lose their strength so she lowered herself onto his chest and just moved her hips while Necrid moved his hands back to squeeze her ass. “That feeling…it’s coming back…” she moaned through gritted teeth. “It’s so close!”

“I’m almost there too,” said Necrid. “Wait for me!”

“I…I can’t…I don’t…know…” sobbed Talim as Necrid grabbed her hips and started pumping her up and down at a furious pace. “Yes!” screamed Talim. “Yes! Yes!! Yeeeeeeeess!!!”

Necrid felt Talim’s muscles tighten around him. She was on the edge of her orgasm and it sent him over. “Talim!” he roared as he slammed her down onto him and came, filling her womb with his cum.

Talim’s eyes shot open at the new feeling of cum flowing into her and screamed, “Necrid!” as she came as well. Talim’s entire body shook as she screamed his name with joyous release again and again, unmindful of the fact that her cries of passion were resounding around the entire valley. As they both came down from their ultimate pleasure, Talim’s body started shivering. “So weak…” she mumbled as she fell onto Necrid’s chest. “So tired…”

“Shh…” said Necrid as he stifled a yawn. “It’s okay. Let’s get some sleep.”

“And then we can do that again?” asked Talim hopefully.

Necrid’s jaw dropped before he chuckled. “We’ll see,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to him. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you. What did the wind request in payment for helping you get me back?”

“Hmmm?” murmured Talim sleepily. “Oh, all the wind wanted was for me to be happy.” Necrid smiled as he laid his head back and looked out at the night sky, certain that he was where he wanted to be. The two slowly fell asleep, with Necrid still buried deep inside of Talim. The last thing he heard before he fell asleep was Talim murmuring, “I can’t wait to introduce you to all my friends…they’ll be so jealous.”

Her mother and father, after making sure that they were both really asleep, slowly climbed the rest of the way up the ladder to the platform and quietly walked over to the pair, gently laying a blanket over them. As they were walking away from the tower, her mother said, “I suppose there’s no point in trying to hide this.”

Talim’s father chuckled a little. “Not with the way she screamed his name,” he said. “There’s real love in our little girl.”

“Will the rest of the village accept him?” asked Talim’s mother.

“You heard what Talim said,” said her father quietly. “The wind wants her to be happy. It’s all the wind requested of her even though it gave a lot to help her free Necrid. If the wind feels that this union is right, then we have no right to argue.” Talim’s mother looked back up at the windmill before smiling and nodding, the two heading back to the village, certain that their daughter would be okay.

The End…for real this time

(Yay! Talim and Necrid fun! They really are the cutest Soul Calibur couple ever! My friends all look at me oddly when I tell them that, but who cares what others think?! I love them both and think that they are so perfect for each other! I just hope that the way that the entire storyline meshed together worked properly, and you enjoyed it because Soul Urge II is truly over now. My next Totally Accurate…sort of…Fan Fiction will take place in Parasite Eve, so look for it in the near to far future, depending on my mood. Peace!)