(AN: As far as "the void", I'm still not sure what it is. I'm thinking it looks like the Chaos realms from SCIII and SCV.)
Escape
Cassandra was falling forever. All signs of light were gone, with only the all-consuming chaos of the void to meet her as she fell into its gaping maw. She wondered if there even was a bottom, and what would become of her if she finally found a bottom. Perhaps she would die. Maybe then all would be well, and she would be with her sister forever...
Suddenly, she fell hard upon a large platform of rock, so far from where she had been dropped that the darkness had altogether consumed it, obscuring it from her sight. She had fallen onto it front first, and the whole front of her body ached. She pushed herself up gingerly, looking about at the darkness closing in on her from all sides.
"Hello?" she asked. Her voice was still dead in the darkness, falling lame even as it escaped her lips. It seemed futile to try to speak again: here, so far from the world she knew, no one would hear her last cries for help.
As she stood in the dark solitude of the void, a faint light appeared: it was red, like the morning sun, yet soft and unassuming. It didn't give off much of a glow, but seemed to float through the darkness.
"Hello?" a voice, a human voice, spoke to her from out of nowhere.
"Where are...who are you?" she asked it.
"Over here," the voice said. She looked where directed and saw, to her amazement, that it was nothing more than the speck of red light.
"What are you?" she asked again.
"I am not real," the voice answered. "What you see before you is an astral projection of my mind and soul."
"Look," she retorted. "I'm not exactly one for fairy tales and astral projection, so why don't you just tell me how I can get out of here."
There was silence for a moment, and Cassandra saw something else far in the distance that caught her eye: a tiny speck of blue light, faint and fading far off into the darkness.
"My purpose here," the red light said. "Is to close the gates of night, sealing off my world from the other world forever."
"You're gonna leave me stranded here?"
"Malfested inhabit the void," the voice replied sternly. "I must keep them from entering my world!"
"What the hell are malfested?"
"You wouldn't understand..."
"All I understand, is that you're trying to keep me trapped here, while my nephew and niece are separated and without their mother!" Her voice broke into tears as she spoke. She then looked up at the red light.
"Are you Soul Calibur?"
"What, me? Never! That sword is a malfestor, manipulative and deceiving! Once the void is closed forever, I intend to destroy that sword and rid the world forever of its bile!"
"Please, whoever you are! I need your help! I have to get out of here!"
"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow that to happen," the voice said. "If the astral gates are allowed to remain open, malfested will enter the world! Chaos will ensure!"
Casting angry yet wary eyes away from the red light, she heard a clear, ringing call from the blue light, like the sound of wind chimes that she had heard before. Curiosity got the best of her and she began taking wary steps into the darkness, towards the faint and fading blue light.
"No, wait!" the voice of the red light exclaimed. "Don't leave! I...I can help you!"
"You've got some nerve!" she returned, turning about and addressing the red light angrily. "First you wanna keep me in here forever, then you dare try to act like you wanna help me!"
Without warning, the red light blinked out of existence. It faded as soon as it had appeared, and its voice was, for a season, silenced.
"Good riddance," she snorted at the empty space where the red light had last appeared, then turned towards the tiny glint of blue, slowly receding into the darkness.
This island was larger than Cassandra had first thought. Taking careful steps out into the darkness that stood between her and the blue light, she saw that there seemed to always be enough space for her to walk forward: but sometimes, just barely enough. Any other time, and she would never have taken such a chance: no light to guide her feet, only a faint, dying blue glow in the distance, and darkness before her feet. But she wanted to get out, she had to find Rothion and Patroklos, take care of them for her sister. Then she would begin her search for Pyrrha, and woe betide that ring-blade wielding Nordic b*tch who broke their family apart.
No, it was Soul Calibur's fault, wasn't it? she asked herself. Suddenly it dawned upon her how silly she had been to lay the blame on the Spirit Sword. Sophitia had never truly possessed the sword, so how could it have been responsible? Also, it was the girl, the servant of Soul Edge, not Soul Calibur, who had kidnapped baby Pyrrha.
Then a new thought came into Cassandra's mind. She had heard those words that Sophitia had said at the foot of the Tower of Remembrance, how she had to fight for Soul Edge to keep her child safe. What if it had all been a plot by Soul Edge to get her to destroy Soul Calibur and increase its own power? She had been an unwitting pawn of the Evil Sword and had she been allowed to find that knight she met in Spain, she knew she would have killed him and destroyed the sword, practically throwing victory into the arms of Soul Edge.
"Boy, am I stupid!" she sighed in resignation.
-{-|-o-O-o-|-}-
Time did not exist in this place, not even the signs of aging that are associated with time. For Cassandra, she had only been walking this dark path towards the blue light, slowly but surely growing brighter as she approached it, for no longer than three hours.
At last, she came to a place where she found the island path disappeared into the void. The blue light, she saw, was streaming from a sea of tiny, watery lines of blue light that floated around this place like Copernicus' planets around the sun.
"Cassandra," a voice spoke from out of the darkness. It was not the low, guttural growl of Necrid, or the ominous roar of the Beast, or even the voice that came from the red light. It was another voice, clear and beautiful, sounding so familiar that a tear fell down Cassandra's cheek.
"Sis?" she asked. "Wha...How is this possible?"
"For many years," the voice said. "Shards of Soul Edge remained in me after my first battle with the Evil Sword."
"Why are you here?"
"I am not really here," it replied. "As the Evil Sword was broken, it attempted one last strike against the world of the living, like what it did four years ago. Only instead of the Evil Seed, it opened a hole into this place, where all the souls of those vanquished by Soul Edge are trapped forever."
"No, it can't be!"
"The soul of the one you call Sophitia is asleep, Cassandra. All that I am is what was stolen from her by the shards of Soul Edge, taken up into the void and doomed to remain here, until I am reunited with the sword."
Cassandra's face was twisted in confusion once more.
"The memories of Sophitia reside within me," the lights said. "Although I came from the Evil Sword, I am not a threat to you. Sophitia's memories make certain of that."
"Uh, okay," Cassandra replied, still not entirely sure what to make of this.
"The knowledge of your presence caused me to seek you out," the lights said. "There is a way out, but you must go now."
"Wait," Cassandra interjected. "If you're part of Soul Edge, how can I trust you? What if you just want to get out and cause more harm in my world?"
"Concerning your first question, you have no other alternative," the voice began. "The Terror of the Night is out there, hiding in the darkness, seeking you out. If he finds you, you will never escape the void: you will be as good as dead. As for your second question, I am only the essence of the shards of Soul Edge that were once in Sophitia's body. Most of me was purged by the kunoichi, greatly weakening my power in your world. Even so, the Evil Sword is dormant: I too would have no power in your world."
"I don't know," Cassandra replied. "I still think something bad's going to happen if I follow you."
"If you didn't," the voice said. "It would only end in your death. The only thing important is the survival of Sophitia's children."
"Wait, you're just...essence! Why do you care what happens to my sister's children?"
"You forget, I possess all of Sophitia's memories, including those of Patroklos and Pyrrha. You must return to the other world and ensure their survival."
Cassandra was wracked with doubt and worry. She knew that her nephew and niece were in danger, but could she trust this "speck of light", especially when it said it was part of Soul Edge? Of course, the only other alternative would be to stay on the run from the Beast, the "Terror of the Night" as the light called it, and wait for the inevitable end when she would grow too weary to keep running. Either choice was fraught with doubt and the possibility of misadventure, and neither of them promised a good outcome in the end.
"Lead on." she said at last.
The light responded by suddenly vanishing, then appearing as a faint blue dot far out in the void. It rapidly grew larger and brighter, until it appeared as a shimmering gateway, but Cassandra could only see light at the far side.
"Leave this place at once," the voice said. "The gates of night cannot stay open indefinite..."
"No!" The red light suddenly appeared again. Before Cassandra could react, the red light came before the entrance of the gateway, and it started to shrink, closing in on itself.
"You have been deceived!" the red light shouted. "This...thing is using you to let the malfested into my world!"
"He is misguided in his goals," the blue light calmly said. "Even if you destroy both swords, what will it matter, if all the world is ravaged by their power?"
"This isn't about the whole world!" the red light returned. "It's just one family. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few!"
"Hey! That's my family you're sacrificing!" Cassandra shouted at the red light.
"Trust me, this is the right choice, for all of us," the red light replied.
Suddenly, a deafening roar was heard. Cassandra felt once again the chill of death and despair creeping over her. The Beast was coming, and there was no more escape. She didn't know how she would survive this; that didn't seem likely.
Meanwhile, the gate started collapsing even faster than before. The red light vanished, and the blue light was suddenly pulled away into the gathering darkness, a wail of desperation in Sophitia's voice echoing after it.
Cassandra couldn't speak, for now all hope was gone. The gates of night were sealed, the red light had done its duty. Now there would be no escape for Cassandra Alexandros from the depths of the void. She drew her sword, for whatever good that would do, and prepared to make her last stand.
Without warning, the large, green figure, clad in its torn robes, appeared from out of the darkness, running fast to where she stood.
"You!" she exclaimed.
Quickly! Necrid growled. I will keep it open for you long enough to escape, but you must go now.
Slowly the Beast's form began to materialize from out of the darkness. It was monstrous, larger than anything she had ever seen. A pair of wings, fifty feet long from tip to tip if spread apart, trailed behind it in a blaze of fire. Upon its monstrous body was armor that looked like bone, covered with horns and spiked protrusions. Its face was clad in a helmet of bone, with one single horn pointing outward. Two burning yellow eyes glared at her from the depths of the Beast's skull.
At the sight of the Terror of the Night, Cassandra was paralyzed all over. Here was a thing straight out of some nightmare, and it was coming toward her, with the intent to destroy her. There was no escape, for she was just a little human, still very young, and her sword and shield looked like toys before the giant blade the Beast carried, covered with teeth.
Now! Leave this place! Save your family! I hope to never see you here again!
Cassandra turned around and saw the green creature Necrid was bowing down to his knees, holding the fabric of the void back, keeping the gates of night from sealing. It seemed too much, even for this great creature, to handle, for it was crushing him beneath its sheer weight and power.
Hephaestus, she prayed. If you're really there, give me strength!
She ran toward the collapsing exit, sliding beneath Necrid's legs and was gone from the depths of the void.
-{-|-o-O-o-|-}-
When Cassandra woke up again, she found herself in a wilderness of snow and ice, and she was freezing. This was not the valley beneath the Tower, this was not Ostrheinsburg, it wasn't even Mount Olympus. She was somewhere all-together alien to her. In the sky, however, there hanged the sun, forcing its way through the dark clouds of snow. Cassandra breathed the clean air once more and knew in her heart that it had worked. She was back among the world of the living.
She set her eyes and heart southward. Her journey had just begun.
(AN: A lot of strange stuff happened, but all you need to know is that Cassandra is alive and still around. I would like to believe so, because I just started getting to like her in SCIII, then she's gone in SCV. Exactly where and when she is, I don't know.)
(If you recall, Kilik was meditating and said those exact same words when Xianghua interrupted him, and his profile in SCV said that he spent time closing the 'astral gates'. That was what he was doing while meditating.)