Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this short story or the entire Soul Calibur series. They all belong to Namco.

Thoughts of the Silent One

It could sense its presence. It could sense some shards deep within these woods. It trembled with excitement as it closed in on the presence. The trees and plants of the forest made the perfect camouflage to either throw off or confuse normal human beings. But this thing was not human, and it had a sense that most human beings are not aware of, which would prove useful to it in the long run.

As it made its way through the treetops, it finally closed in on the presence. It managed could see five humans, who likely held the shards. From the way they were dressed, they appeared to be bandits. They were gathered around the campfire, drinking and laughing. Curious, it decided to listen in onto their conversation.

"Yeah, this haul is great. I would never imagine a bunch of knights to be this loaded," a large-looking bandit exclaimed.

"We were lucky we found them the way we did. We probably wouldn't have stood a chance otherwise," a female bandit pointed out.

"What does it matter? We made a lot off of them, including these shards. And this place made the perfect haven from any pursuers," another female bandit exclaimed.

"What is it about this place that scares people again?" a much younger one of them asked. It appeared that he was the youngest.

"This place was said to have once been occupied by the Azure Knight, the wielder of Soul Edge," one of the female bandit's explained. "Before that, it was under siege due to conflict and ransacked afterwards, not to mention many of the prisoners were executed here as well. This place has a long history of bloodshed, and it scares many people. Because of that, we're safe from any harm."

The female didn't know how wrong she was. Eying each of them, it thought, and finally materialized a weapon. It jumped down from the treetops and immediately killed one of the bandits as it landed. It turned to the rest of them.

"Wha-what is this thing!?" one of them asked in confusion.

"It's a monster!" another exclaimed. "Run!"

There was no place for them to run. Thanks to its senses and the calling of its brethren, it would be able to find each and every one of them, no matter how far they ran. But that doesn't mean it was going to let the escape. It will kill them all here and now, and bathe in their blood.

As much as it had to find all the shards, it always enjoyed hunting for them and fighting people. With the powers it had, it could toy with people's minds very easily. Some that managed to survive their encounter with this creature gave it a nickname: Charade.

While it wasn't the name the creature itself wouldn't have chosen, 'Charade' fit it perfectly. Charade was very different, but at the same time, similar to its former main body, Soul Edge. It loved to kill and see terror in the eyes of its victims, and it fed on the souls it killed, much like the sword itself. But above all, Charade had only one goal in mind that surpasses all of its other desires: completion.

Soul Edge was shattered not once, not twice, but trice. Charade's brethren were all scattered throughout the Earth, and Charade sought to absorb as much of the shards as it could before joining with the main body of Soul Edge. Completion was its primary objective. Soul-consumption was only a pleasure for work, if it needed to kill to obtain even just one shard.

Its recent hunt had been very successful indeed, for it not only managed to recover a few shards of its former body, but it also managed to increase its strength by absorbing the souls of those pathetic humans that held them. However, even though Charade was indeed after the shards they possessed, there was something else it was here for.

Charade came to Ostrheinsburg in the first place because it could sense lingering energy there, the same energy projected by itself and Soul Edge, likely left behind by the Azure Knight. If Charade could reach the focal point of those energies, it would be able to absorb them and strengthen itself, to further increase its speed to reaching completion, as well as to prepare itself for its enemies. As much as it pained for it to admit, there were those who desired to destroy Soul Edge, likely because they knew what it was capable of.

As it closed in on the castle and cleared the forest, Charade could sense something else. It could still sense the residue aura left behind in the castle, but it could sense an identical aura – the same as Charade and Soul Edge – inside the castle. Was it someone infected by evil energy, or was it someone carrying more shards of Soul Edge and figuring out how to merge them together? Wanting answers, Charade decided to proceed into the castle and investigate for itself. But it knew that there was a good chance that the presence would react to it with hostility, and decided to approach it with stealth.
Another advantage that Charade had is that it could disassemble itself and float through the air without being noticed. Though, if this being had the same sense Charade had, then it would be detected. But Charade wouldn't be caught so easily, and it would fight to the bitter end, even if it was Nightmare.

As it floated in the shadows of the courtyard, high above the ground, it could sense that it was drawing closer to the presence. It decided to stop before it exposed itself unnecessarily, so it wouldn't be attacked. It looked around and concentrated on the exact location of the presence. It found the location, and it could see a lone figure pacing around on one of the rooftops below Charade. It decided to float a bit closer to the figure, but still wanted to remain inconspicuous.

When it came close enough, it could see that the figure was a girl clad in green, with a ring-like weapon. She seemed a bit distracted by something. Did she know Charade was lurking around?

Suddenly, a black raven landed on the girl's shoulder. Charade couldn't understand what was going on, but it appeared that the raven was communicating something to the girl.

"I see… so, somebody killed them in the forest. I wonder if it's him?" the girl said to herself. She started to move across the rooftops, and Charade began to follow. 'Him'? It didn't know who she meant, but it wanted to know, and it wanted to see if this girl knew anything. The fact that she was radiating the aura of Soul Edge, and that she could communicate with ravens was enough to tell Charade that she was no ordinary girl. Perhaps it could learn something from her.
The girl finally stopped and decided to take a rest. She sent her raven out again, likely to keep watch for either intruders, or 'him'.

"I'm so bored. I was hoping to have a little fun with those bandits out there," the girl said to herself. It seemed that she was expecting people to come. The girl should be careful for what she wishes for, for Charade was lurking about, ready to pounce at any minute.

But Charade wanted to know something about this girl first. Unlike most of its victims, this girl showed many interesting traits to Charade, and it had to find out what this girl was. It fixed its eye on the girl and focused it. Unlike most living creatures, Charade could fix its eye in a unique way, one that Soul Edge didn't even possess. It could read the deepest thoughts of anyone it focused its eye on – even thoughts that the person isn't aware of.

Looking into the girl's thoughts, Charade could see that she had an above-average life from the start. She was raised as an assassin and killed throughout most of her life. That was pretty much the lifestyle of anyone who wielded Soul Edge as well, but she did this since a young age. Charade didn't care much for this thought, but its thoughts changed when it saw something else in her. The Evil Seed that rained down seven years ago had corrupted the leader of one of the girl's missions, and cause the mission itself to go completely different than planned, which, in turn, freed the young girl.

That's where Charade got bored. The events that happened afterwards didn't interest Charade very much… at least not until it found out something else. Apparently, when this girl wandered the Earth, it heard of the rumor of the Azure Nightmare, and began to search for him herself. When she arrived at Ostrheinsburg Castle, she encountered a man with a scythe, who explained that Nightmare was only a puppet manipulated by Soul Edge. Sometime later, the girl encountered Nightmare himself. Things became more interesting to Charade. After accepting the girl as his servant, he told her a few secrets.

"Tira, was it?" Nightmare asked the young girl in green.

"Yes master," the girl confirmed.

"If you are to be my servant, then it is time that I explain a few things to you," Nightmare explained to her. "First of all, I lost my former body – the sword of Soul Edge."

"But I thought that the sword you're holding was Soul Edge," Tira replied in confusion.

"This is nothing but a replacement sword until I get my body back," Nightmare told her in frustration. "Soul Edge was pierced by the holy sword called 'Soul Calibur'. In fact, my former host, Siegfried, pierced my body with that wretched blade, shortly after a fight that had weakened my grip over him."

"Your former host? What do you mean?" she asked in confusion. "I thought you were using the body of a man now."

"No. This body was formed by a scythe-wielding man in a white robe," Nightmare explained to her. "This body is powerful, but it will not last. In order to sustain myself, I must devour souls and increase my strength in any way that I can. Seeing how my cursed former host has my body, achieving my goal will be much more difficult. So, I have two tasks for you."

"I'm listening, master," Tira said out of excitement.

"First, I want you liberate my body from that accursed blue blade, Soul Calibur. That damned sword will only continue to restrain my power if it continues to exist," he explained to her. Tira nodded in response to his demand. "Secondly, I need a new host. Siegfried is no longer of any use to me, now that he'll fight back against my influence. I cannot let this happen again. But do not just pick anyone to wield the sword. I need someone who is strong. Both physically and spiritually, so they can draw out the full power of Soul Edge. It will also provide me with much more power. Do you think you can handle it, my young servant?"

"Yes," Tira responded with glee. "As for Siegfried, I'll kill him for you, once I catch up to him. It'll be fun."

"Yes… good. Now, be off. I must work to start recovering my strength," Nightmare ordered. "If you come across some shards during your tasks, go ahead and collect them… in any way you desire. I know how you want to do it, and that's the better way."

Tira was overjoyed with her orders and bowed to Nightmare with grace. And, without a moment's hesitation, she wandered off to do the bidding of the cursed sword.
How pathetic. The girl thinks she is in love with the Azure Knight. While the girl herself was not aware of this, this was how she felt, but what she really felt past this delusion was something deeper. However, this delusion would be costly to this girl, for she was completely unaware that Soul Edge does what it wants in its own interest. At some point, the girl's usefulness will end, and Soul Edge will either take her life, or claim her as its new host. But it was no value to Charade, unlike the other information it saw in her. The Azure Knight's body was unstable, and it was struggling by devouring souls just to survive. And the man that had revived Nightmare was a scythe-wielder in a white robe. This man in the girl's memories might be of some use to Charade as well, for nobody would revive the Azure Knight, unless they had a reason.

As for Soul Edge, learning that the will of the sword was now manifesting itself in the body of Nightmare, Charade knew that he was now weaker than ever, since he did not have the main sword with him. But, as much as Charade didn't want to bind its own goals to the Nightmare's, it knew that it had to destroy Soul Calibur in order to free Soul Edge and fuse with it. Unfortunately, Charade would need to do a few things on its own first, before it could confront Siegfried. As long as Siegfried had holy blade, Charade needed to increase its own power first.

But before it would put its plan into action, it wanted to see if the girl knew anymore information. Focusing its eye once again to read the girl's mind, it scanned deeper into the girl's thoughts.

The information it gathered wasn't as significant as the girl's connection with Nightmare, but it was still useful to Charade, nonetheless. It was saw that this girl had been collecting fragments of Soul Edge as well, especially after massacring a group of thieves in the Far East. This meant that either she had them, or Nightmare did. Either way, they'd end up in Charade's possession anyway, and nothing was about to stop it.

The next piece of information Charade uncovered was that this girl recently contacted someone thought to be dead by many – including Charade. The Dread Pirate Cervantes, one of Soul Edge's former hosts, had returned to life. The girl viewed him as a pawn for Soul Edge… but not an ally. She planned to have him killed. However, it would seem that the pirate was in the same predicament as Nightmare was, and had the same goal as all both Charade and Nightmare: destroy the source of Soul Edge's pain. It would be the only way for Cervantes to survive; otherwise, he'd return to the depths of hell, since he would not be able to survive without his body.

It was around this time that Charade felt lucky, compared to Cervantes and Nightmare. Unlike those two, Charade's body was perfectly stable and was unaffected by Soul Edge's restraint by Soul Calibur. That meant that it would be able to gain much more power in a shorter amount of time than either Nightmare or Cervantes, and it would make killing them both and taking their power much easier for Charade. Despite the fact that they were weakened, they would still give Charade a considerable boost in power, once he absorbed the souls of both of them, as well as the shards they had and Cervantes' sword. They all had the same goal, but Cervantes couldn't be controlled by the sword, and Charade preferred to be the dominant personality of Soul Edge this time, in complete control, instead of the wretched Inferno, who had now taken the form of Nightmare.

Lastly, the girl recently toyed with someone that Charade was all too familiar with: the woman who had shattered Soul Edge in the past. She was apparently still trying to destroy Soul Edge, despite having a family. Charade loathed that woman. It admitted that she was partially responsible for its creation, as well as the wielder of Soul Calibur four years ago, for Charade was made up of shards from both the male Soul Edge and the female Soul Edge... not to mention the body parts of a man that had found those fragments.

But that woman who had shattered Soul Edge seven years ago caused a great deal of pain to Soul Edge, and Charade could remember the pain both that woman caused, and the pain the wielder of Soul Calibur caused. Charade would destroy them both. In fact, it would probably make the woman suffer in any way that it could think of, before killing her. Either way, she, the past wielder of Soul Calibur, and Siegfried would all die at the hands of Charade, and it would absorb their souls. But Charade didn't feel that it would be ready for either the woman or Siegfried until it had time to build up its power first.

The best way for Charade to build up its power was to first, absorb any fragments of Soul Edge it could find. It would also be efficient for it to absorb any auras of dark energy as well, whether they'd be projected by beings like this girl, or if there were residue auras left behind in places, such as this castle. Finally, it would have to absorb souls like Nightmare in order to be adequately ready to take on either Siegfried or the woman. Charade didn't consider Nightmare or Cervantes that big a threat, compared to those two, since they understood Soul Edge's power and knew how to either weaken it or destroy it. Besides, the fragments and evil energy it merges with here and prior to meeting either of the Soul Edge wielders would be enough to conquer them.

The girl was a gold mind of information to Charade, and it would get started on its tasks here and now. Only one thing was left on its mind: what would be the best way to fight this girl who projected the evil energy, this servant of Nightmare? Charade scanned the girl's mind of all the fights she's been in. Being a former assassin, as well as a mass-murderess, this girl had no doubt experienced many fights, but she had witnessed several powerful beings fighting, including the ones Charade was familiar with.

The best way to attack any enemy would be mentally. After carefully reading the girl's thoughts thoroughly a second time, as well as making decisions, Charade rained down on the area the girl was resting, and quickly reassembled itself. The girl stared at it, somewhat surprised at Charade's appearance.

"What is this?" the girl asked in a rough tone. "What are you? What do you want?"

This girl was a strange one indeed, but it did not matter. Charade chose the weapon and style that would be the most confusing, and perhaps shocking, to the girl. It materialized the chosen weapon into its hand, and prepared for the kill.
Author's Note: I hope you liked it. I'm sorry if it wasn't very climactic to some of you, but this is my first time in writing in a silent character's point of view. Also, I did not see anything written in Charade's point of view yet, so I decided to make one for myself. There is probably one that exists, but this is something I felt like doing, especially for getting back on track with my main fic.

Speaking of which, this story does not relate to my main fic in any way. It's merely a short story, completely different from my main one.