This is the first real chapter of The Legend of Leinad, I finally got Soul Calibur 3 and 've seen the trailer for Soul Calibur 4 enough times to make this a Soul Cal 3-4 semi novelization, the next couple of chapters are going to set the stage for all the characters and then there will be full chapters. This chapter sets the stage for both Raphael and Siegfried.

"But the strong man is strongest when alone."

"Wilhelm Tell," Freidrich von Schiller

As Nightmare plundered powerful souls and recovered the shattered fragments of the sword, the cracks in the surface of Soul Edge healed one by one. His goal of reviving the evil sword edged toward completion. After some time, the azure knight returned to his old stronghold, Ostrheinsburg Castle. This land which had once tasted the blood of many, was a fitting place for the restoration of the sword's true power.

A lone man appeared in search of Soul Edge. He wielded a thin blade in his left hand, and his eyes revealed al the madness and obsession he held inside.

Raphael moved slowly through the castle, this was it, the place where Soul Edge was last seen. He would not let such an opportunity pass him by. He made his way up the stone stairs until he finally reached the top, a knight in azure armor kneeled before a massive blade with a singular eye, Soul Edge. Their eyes locked, deep blue met crimson red and the two reached for their weapons, a simple rapier passed down to him from his father against the legendary Soul Edge, the odds were not to his liking.

The two began their hard battle, Raphael's quick, thrusts and stabs had little affect against the azure Nightmare, it moved slowly and for each of its strikes Raphael struck ten times more but the difference in their power was obvious. Soon the battle was done. Raphael was beaten, all that was left was the killing blow as his bloodied body hit the wall, "Your strikes were weak. Fragile. Pathetic. Just like human souls." What Raphael did not notice was the splash of blue that entered the knight's eyes.

Inside Nightmare's mind a battle was being fought between the host and the parasite.

"Why do you continue to fight me!? I cannot be beaten, your soul is too weak, just like your will..."

"Silence…I will not obey you anymore. I will atone for what I have done…"

"The depth of human greed astounds me. You still seek forgiveness, after all you have done?"

"No! But one must reflect on one's sins and move onward!"

"…Even if the path ahead leads only to darkness? Only death awaits in the end."

"Is it because it is finite that people cling to the joys of life?"

Can you not hear them—the wails of the souls that were swallowed unto the abyss by your hand?"

"I am eternally sorry for what I have done… But listen to me!"

"… He sought death. He revered it. Death is beautiful. Your father, too, knew its allure."

"Yes. If I could, I would return to that time—"

"… He must perish. You shall cast his body into the darkness. He shall stagnate and rot, steeped in despair, as you squeeze the final gasp from his lungs!"

"No! That's an illusion! I can see it… I can see the proud way he faces his end!"

All of this was waged in the mind of Nightmare, as he stood completely motionless. Seizing his chance, he moved his body though his strength of will and shoved the tip of his sword into the massive eye of the sword held above the motionless Nightmare's head.

Nightmare let out an inhuman cry. Inside him, the crazed, wounded mind of the wicked sword clawed at the consciousness of its host. But he stood with an iron will against the raging storm. The time had come. The eyes that had been dyed crimson by evil were washed away and in there place the flame of life was relit. He who had been host to the cursed sword for so long had reclaimed his body as his own. In response to the rapidly weakening evil, light poured out like the coming of the dawn…

When it was all done, when it was over, Siegfried thought back in a daze over what he had done. It had been a reflexive action. A sword had appeared along with the light. As if guided by something, he took the sword in his hand and drove it into the evil eye that was the core of Soul Edge. That sword was the holy sword Soul Calibur, which had been trapped by the evil sword.

The blow, however was not enough to destroy the evil sword. As the evil blade began to crack, thick tendrils coursed from the evil sword's eye and wrapped around the handle of the holy sword, a blinding light shone, banishing the tendrils of evil energy and knocking Siegfried backwards into the wall. When Siegfried pushed himself up the weapon he saw was nether Soul Edge nor Soul Calibur, it was something else entirely, an embrace of souls, it was a sleeping blade yet to awaken. The evil energy of the cursed sword had quieted, but the holy sword had gone silent too, as if it had lost its power.

"This isn't enough…" Forcing his tired brain into motion, he began to think. He threw off his destable armor and smashed it to pieces. Then picking up the fused swords, he left that cursed land. "I will seal away Soul Edge for all eternity and atone for my sins. This I swear!" shouted Siegfried to the rising sun.

His bloody fate would not release him from his fate so easily, however. What Siegfried failed to notice was the fleeing Raphael. But more important then that was the small flames that had snaked from the sword as Soul Calibur pierced it, into the pieces of armor scattered on the stones of the castle floor.

There was no way for him to know an Azure Nightmare would soon reawaken.

Well, that was fun, the next chapter is going to be just as good, I hope to get plenty of reviews, and make sure you check out my next work, DMC3: The novelization, I plan to do a large number of SC and DMC based fics.