Hey everyone! Sorry about the long wait. I'm on break right now so more chapters will be coming in soon!


Chapter 10: What Lies Ahead

Cassandra opened her eyes and found herself in total darkness. There was no one in sight and no source of light. She was all alone in the dark.

"What . . . is this place? And where is everyone?"

Suddenly, flashes of light appeared out of nowhere, forcing her to cover her eyes. With each flash, she saw images. When she looked closely, she saw a monster, attacking her friends. She looked closer and saw that the monster was her, and within her hands was Soul Calibur.

"What? What's going on?"

Suddenly, she heard a voice saying, "You're becoming a monster . . . just like me."

The Athenian quickly turned around and froze instantly. It was Sophitia.

"Face it little sister, you can't control the power within you. Power without control transforms one into a hideous monster. Come! Join me! Let's kill everyone and destroy this world together!"

Cassandra furiously shook her head. "No! I don't want to become a monster! I don't want to hurt my friends and kill everyone!"

Suddenly, mysterious creatures from the shadows came from behind her and grabbed her arms and legs. She tried to break free, but they were overpowering her.

Then Sophitia said to her, "You disappoint me, Cassandra. Resistance is futile. Soon . . . you will give in to the power within you . . . and you will become a monster."

The girl tried even harder to break free, but it was no use. The monsters then pulled her to deeper darkness.

"No! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


Cassandra immediately opened her eyes and shot up. She suddenly realized that it was a just a dream. But she had a bad feeling about the images she saw.

They all felt so real. . .

Suddenly, she remembered Zasalamel and her encounter with him.

He was trying to unleash Soul Calibur's power! So what-?

Then the images in her dream came back to her. She suddenly realized it. She indeed became a monster and tried to hurt her friends.

"No! Everyone!"

She quickly got up and ran to the foyer. Once she got there, she saw Siegfried, who seemed alright. The knight walked up to her.

"Cassandra, are you-?"

"I tried to kill everyone last night, didn't I?"

Siegfried seemed surprised when she said those words. He then frowned and looked down.

Cassandra knew that she was right. "I'm . . . becoming a monster."

"That's not true, Cassandra!"

"It is true! Don't you see? Zasalamel was right! I'm no different from my sister! I can't control the power within me!"

"Yes you can Cassandra!"

"Don't try to fool me! I can't do all of this on my own! This is all just too much for me!"

She then fell to her knees and cried. Tears began pouring out from her eyes and her screams became loud with agony. The knight stared at her for a while, wondering what to do.

He then knelt down and lifted her chin. The next thing he did really surprised the girl. He licked the tears from her eyes. Then he kissed her on the forehead before wrapping his arms around her and hugging her so tightly.

"You're not alone, Cassandra. You never will be. You don't realize how blessed you are. You have so many friends beside you who are willing to help you carry your burden and doing their best to ease your pain. We'll all fight alongside you, share happy moments together, and shed tears with you."

Siegfried then looked straight into Cassandra's eyes with an unwavering conviction. "I'll watch over you and protect you . . . because I know what you're going through. When I wielded Soul Calibur, I thought that no one would ever understand what I was going through. I thought that it would be best for everyone just stayed away from me and leave me alone so no one would get hurt. But I was wrong, for I was hurting myself. I needed support from loved ones. Cassandra, you're not going to go through this alone . . . I'll always be there for you. I promise."

The girl looked down with a little confusion. "We've only just met, but you've been acting like my guardian . . . like our bond has grown in such short amount of time."

The knight chuckled a little. "I know. It's a little bit strange. But I meant what I said. I will protect you."

Cassandra looked backed into Siegfried's eyes with tears becoming to come out again in hers.

"Thank you . . ."


Outside the temple

Hilde, Kilik, Xianghua and Rock readied all of the horses for the long journey ahead of them. If what the ninja told them was true, Sophitia's next target, Ivy Valentine, was in grave danger. They needed to get to London as quickly as possible. All of a sudden, everyone saw Cassandra and Siegfried emerging from the temple. The Athenian looked at all of them with a sad look on her face.

"Everyone . . . I know what I did last night . . . and I'm terribly sorry for trying to hurt you."

Xianghua ran up to her and hugged her. "Cassandra, it's okay. We know that it was not your fault at all. If anyone is to be blamed, it should be that bastard Zasalamel for manipulating you."

The Athenian pulled away. "I know . . . but I'll try not to worry you."

Hilde then got on her horse. "Well then, shall we head for London?"


It took them a whole week to get across Europe. Sometimes they stayed at inns at night, but other times they had to make camp near the road. Eventually they made it to the northern border of France. With luck, Hilde managed to find a ship that was heading for England and paid for all of them.

That evening, Cassandra was all by herself on deck, looking across the sapphire sea. It was so beautiful and crystal clear. She kind of envied it.

I'm so . . . clouded with uncertainty in my heart. Lately I've been finding myself unsure about what to do next . . . and what I should be fighting for. If only my mind can become like water . . . become crystal clear.

Suddenly, she heard someone approach her from behind. She turned and saw that it was Hilde.

"Oh. Princess . . . You kind of startled me for a second."

"My apologies. I couldn't help but notice that you had something on my mind."

Cassandra looked back to the sea. "A whole lot is on my mind. I know that you're all here to support me, but . . . I can't help but feel lost and tired sometimes. I've got a heavy burden on my heart and there are times where I find myself of the future. It can be very . . . frightening."

Hilde walked towards Cassandra's side and leaned on the ship, gazing out to the sea. "I know how you feel. I've felt that way a lot when I took over the throne of Wolfkrone."

The swordswoman looked at the princess with a little confusion. "How's that?"

"When my father became insane, I had to take over for him. I was trained very well for the job as princess, but sometimes I was afraid that I would mess up and let everyone down. There were even times where I wished that everything would just disappear . . .

"But I would always remind myself that I can take care of Wolfkrone because I have people I can count on to support me and won't ever leave me alone. I know that I can be prepared for what lies ahead of me . . . even if I don't know what the future has in store for me."

Hilde then looked back into Cassandra's eyes. "We're all here to support you all the way. We'll help you in any way we can and never abandon you."

The Athenian slowly gave a small smile as tears came out of her eyes. She then wrapped her arms around Hilde.

"Thank you so much, Hilde."

The princess merely smiled as she began wrapping her arms around Cassandra. As they pulled away from each other, they looked back to the sea for one last time, each of them silently vowing to prepare themselves for the future that's yet to come.


The ship sailed for two days before it finally reached the southern border of England. When they all got off the boat, Xianghua asked, "So how much longer to London?"

Rock answered, "Without stopping, about a whole day."

"What? That long?"

Suddenly, they heard a voice crying out, "It's too bad that you're not gonna get there in time!"

The next thing they knew, lightning came out of the sky and attacked everyone in the harbor. The men, women and children went running frantically in all directions, trying to avoid the bolts. The six warriors pulled out their weapons and stood their ground.

Kilik then called out, "Who goes there?"

Suddenly, a man landed in front of them. When he got up, Kilik and Xianghua were in shock.

"Maxi?"