A Love Forged By Blades and Souls

Disclaimer: I'm not saying this again.

Julia: We will now begin the next chapter of A Love Forged.

Dante: An old enemy of the Zelda series drips into their lives.

Julia: Drips into their lives?

Dante: The key word is drip, or water.

Chapter 26: A Link of The Past 2; The Return of Time

Morning rises up over Athens. Cassandra opens her eyes and looks down, seeing Link right beside her. Like she was yesterday morning, his eyes show residue of tears from crying before. The Athenian brushes his golden locks, admiring him for the peaceful expression he has now.

'He looks so peaceful now… I'm glad he's okay.' She thinks as she looks at him. Cassandra places a kiss on his forehead and lets him sleep in.

Cassandra then walks downstairs, and is surprised to see that no one else is around. 'Huh? Where is everyone?'

"Cassandra, you're up." Rothion says as he enters the living room.

"Rothion, where is everyone?" She asks her brother in law.

"Taki took Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi to go see a special store. Sophitia is upstairs with Pyrrah. Everyone else just left for someplace else." He says.

"Store? You mean the one Link and Taki went to before?" – Cassandra

"I guess. How is the little guy anyway?" – Rothion

"I'm fine." The two turn to the stairs to see Link walking down the steps.

"Link… How are you?" Cassandra asks.

"I'm okay now. Thanks to you." He tells the woman. Cassandra looks into his eyes to check for signs of lying, and finds he really means it. "I had so much sadness locked away inside of me when I last left Zelda to Ganondorf. I didn't go back to check, and I assumed he did away with her. It was only natural. So I hid my pain away and decided to search for Soul Edge, and lure Ganondorf to me to get revenge.

"And thanks to you I was able to open my heart again. You supported me when I didn't realize it and you were always there for me. Thank you, Cassandra." – Link

"It's okay Link. That's what people in love do." Cassandra says as she walks towards him. She bends down and embraces him in a hug. "I will always love you."

Rothion watches the sweet moment displayed between them. It reminds him of the time he met Sophitia. "Young love is always nice to see."

With The Others…

"I'm telling you it's right here!" Taki says as she touches the air. She is back where the Swift Edge store is, but unfortunately there's nothing there for her to touch.

"If he really was Master Edge Master, then there's a chance he might have moved when he was found out. He's always been a mystery to me." Kilik says, holding his chin as he thinks about the old man.

"So we have more weirdoes showing up?" – Maxi

"Maxi, Edge Master isn't weird. He's just strange." Kilik argues.

"It's the same thing." Xianghua says to her.

"Just who is strange, Kilik?" Kilik turns around and spots his master standing behind him. The guy then whacks him on the side of his head.

"Ow! Master!" – Kilik

"You! Where's your store?" Taki questions him.

"That's not important. What is right now is what will happen to the Hylian." – Edge Master

Elsewhere…

Link and Cassandra walk together through town. The first thing on their minds would be going to find the others, and seeing this Edge Master. After Link mentions the Triforce of Wisdom would remove the spell on the Master Sword, Cassandra seem to have become interested in speaking with him.

"What do you know about this Edge guy?" Cassandra asks him.

"Not much. He's just an old guy who knows a little about Hyrule and me. I wonder… How does he know about my language and culture?" Link begins to think about this guy.

"We'll know when we find him." – Cassandra

As they walk, Link notices someone walking along a path. It's a beautiful blond woman wearing a lush pink kimono and uchikake. Her kimono seems to expose the top part of her cleavage and a little legroom, and she holds an oilpaper umbrella in her hands. Link seems to have an interest in her, for reasons other than her outfit.

"That woman." Link says to himself as he looks at the woman.

"Who?" Cassandra notices the woman and narrows her eyes, turning Link away from her. "Link, just because you're a kid now doesn't mean I won't hit you if you start checking out other girls."

"No, it's not that. I think I've seen her before." He tells her. "She looks like this woman I met in Japan."

"Is that so?" Cassandra takes a closer look at her. She could see she isn't Japanese, despite her attire. It's easy to tell since she has blond hair, and you can't find that in any other part of the world except Europe. "Now that I look at her…"

Link walks towards the woman, prepares to speak with her, but she heads into a shop, and disappears from him. He would have gone after her, but he hears someone call out to him.

"Link!" He turns to the right and sees Talim calling for him. Ignoring the woman for the moment he heads towards them. The Japanese woman sees the boy run off, and could only think about a person who looks like him.

'Was that Link…' The woman watches the boy leave, her mind thinking of a certain someone.

"Link!" Link and Cassandra meet with Talim. Behind her is Yun-Seong carrying an old man. "Yun-Seong and I met this guy close by that says he knows something about Soul Edge."

"He does?" Link asks; his attention grasped when he looks at the two girls.

"He even says there's a shard there." Talim states. "I can sense where it's coming from as well."

"Well, I guess there's a start. We don't have a reason to keep them, so destroying the shards for now will just have to do." Link says as he tightens his belt.

"Thank you, young ones." The old man says.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Yun-Seong? Go take him to the hospital! We'll go check this out." Cassandra says to him as they prepare to leave.

"Shouldn't we get the others? I mean, if there is a shard there the chance someone might use them is very possible." Link states, knowing the dangers of Soul Edge.

"I'm sure Taki and the others can sense it. But just in case, Yun-Seong can tell them of what's going to happen." Cassandra tells him. The three of them head towards the source of the Soul Edge shard, using Talim as their lead. She seems to be able to sense energy farther away than they can.

As they pass the city's outer limits, Yun-Seong reaches the hospital. "Okay, old guy! We're almost inside!"

Before he could reach the door, the man explodes into dust. Yun-Seong quickly backs away from his remains in shock. "What the? Why did he turn to dust?"

Elsewhere…

"Hello? Link?" Taki calls out as she enters Sophitia's home. Behind her is the trio of Maxi, Kilik and Xianghua, who remain silent. For some reason, the whole house seems to be quiet, relatively too quiet. "Hello?"

"Sophitia? Rothion? Cassandra?" Kilik calls out, hoping to get an answer.

Taki immediately checks the home for damage, blood, any sign of a battle having taken place here. Upon entering the kitchen she sees Rothion lying unconscious on the ground. "Rothion!"

She rushes to his side and turns him over, checking his body for signs of life. Luckily his wounds aren't that serious, and his life isn't in any sort of danger. As Taki helps him, he begins to open his eyes. "T-Taki… Taki!"

"Rothion, what happened? Did someone hurt you?" She asks him. She couldn't sense any demonic energy around the house. Kilik and the others come in as well.

"Taki, it was horrible. A man covered in white showed up and attacked me. He…" He pauses for a moment and thinks, and becomes shocked. "Sophitia! Where is she?"

"Kilik, Xianghua, go check upstairs!" As per her orders the two head up the stairs to search out the mother.

Upstairs the couple looks around in search of Sophitia, but when they reach the children's room they find the window has been blown open. Pyrrah and Patroklos, even Sophitia, are gone. Seung Mina is out cold, having taken a nap to get over the pain of her wounds.

They head downstairs to where Taki and Rothion are, and painfully give them the bad news of Sophitia, Pyrrah and Patroklos' disappearance.

"That can't be… How could he have done this?" Rothion begins to grow fearful of what could possibly happen to his children or even his wife.

"We'll find them, don't worry." Taki reassures him, hoping to calm the man. Being a friend to Sophitia she owes it to him to save her.

"But where do we begin? If this was a kidnapping they would atleast leave a note." Kilik says.

"We could begin by regrouping. I'm sure all of us can accomplish something better together." Xianghua tells the others.

"Well then let's go! We can't do crap if we're stuck here!" Maxi heads out the door as he says this.

Taki grabs hold of Maxi by the shoulder, saying, "You stay here with Xianghua and Kilik. If there's a chance he may return, you'll need the three of you together."

"Where do you get off telling me what to do?" Before Maxi could answer, Taki vanishes, heading into the city. A shadow looms over him.

With Siegfried…

The owner of Soul Calibur is sitting by a riverbank far away from town, glancing at the crystal blade before him. He seems to be trying to meditate and reach the spirit inside of the purity sword. "Soul Calibur, Claire, what are you truly after? Why me?"

He receives no answer. All he could hear is silence. "I see. I guess things aren't as easy as I thought."

As Siegfried reaches out for the blade, something comes flying towards him. He turns around quickly the moment he senses it and swings Soul Calibur to block it, repelling the attack. A wave of energy deflects off of Soul Calibur and lands into the river, exploding and causing water to rain down. "Who's there?"

"How unfortunate! I was hoping to kill you in that one strike!" A voice speaks. Siegfried looks ahead to see his opponent; a man dressed as a noble of high authority. He has a black top hat and cape, with a big, obvious mustache. "Oh well. This will have to do."

"Who the hell are you? Another servant of Inferno?" Siegfried holds Soul Calibur up and faces his new opponent.

"That's right! My name is Sanyo the trick artist! I'm here to keep you distracted as per Inferno's orders! The pay isn't good, but I can always steal something better." He charges at Siegfried and clashes blades with him. His weapons are a set of fist knives.

"So you're after Soul Edge too! I won't let you move on with your plans!" Siegfried pushes him back and swings down at him.

Sanyo spins out of the way and kicks his sword to the other side. Since it's rather big it was easy for him to do, and it's easier for him to duck under and escape the huge blade.

"They're already set in motion. Besides, your friends are all distracted with their own problems, and the elf boy will soon die by the aquatic monster." – Sanyo

"What?" – Siegfried

"I don't know how that monster got here or why, but in the end it's perfect for dealing with him." He says to the knight, kicking him in the chest.

Siegfried splashes into the water from the strike, drenched and angry. He uses Soul Calibur to stand, and prepares to face him. "Then I better finish this up quick."

In Town…

An explosion goes off in town, gathering the attention of everyone in sight. In the center of it lies a man with a wolf head. He howls, scaring away the people around him. Some soldiers who were around attempt to attack him, but a second wave of energy blasts them away.

This attack comes from a man with long red hair and glowing purple/blue eyes. His clothing consists of that from the Japanese army and he holds a giant cutting blade found mostly in Japan. He laughs as he watches the soldiers twitch and suffer from his attack. "After what Aeon did we need to do a flashy job so Taki and her group show."

Ninja stars come flying towards the man, but he quickly jumps away and avoids them. Right on time, Taki leaps down from a building and faces them both. "Looking for me?"

The man chuckles and then says, "That was quick. Are you sure you wish to fight me alone?"

"I'm more than enough for you, Gel-O-Fury!" Taki takes hold of both blades and prepares to face this man in battle.

The wolf man turns to Gel-O-Fury in surprise. "That's right, Auguste. She and I know each other. It's such a long and juicy history. I'm surprised she discovered who I was so easily."

"Did you think I wouldn't recognize that demon energy leaking from your body?" As Taki speaks, Gel-O-Fury raises his sword up.

"I figured not. Why don't you have a taste for old times sake?" He swings and releases a burst of energy towards her. Taki runs to the side of a building to avoid it, but Auguste comes before her and kicks her in the stomach. She flips and lands on her feet, right as another stream of energy comes towards her.

Suddenly, Mitsurugi lands before her and stabs his katana into the ground, splitting the path of the attack two ways. "Mitsurugi?"

"It's like I said before, you aren't going to die by anyone but me! Even if I have to save your sorry ass I will make sure you die by my hands!" He tells her, pulling his sword up.

"I see." Taki stands back up and draws Rekkimaru.

"I see you've brought a samurai with you. Oh well. For now we just have to stall." Gel-O-Fury hoists his weapon onto his shoulder and runs towards them. Auguste follows by his side.

"Stall? What for?" – Taki

"Who cares? Let's just beat the information out of them." Mitsurugi charges Gel-O-Fury, crossing blades with him. Taki competes in a contest of speed with Auguste.

"Raphael should have already sent the water monster on the target. All I need to do is play with you kids for a while." Gel-O-Fury pushes Mitsurugi back and swings down at him.

He blocks by lifting his sword up, trying to match power with power. Gel-O-Fury kicks the samurai back and swings diagonally at the samurai.

"That won't work on me!" Mitsurugi charges electricity around his sword and swings, releasing the energy gathered to send Gel-O-Fury flying into a building. He rises from the rubble extorting as much energy as it has. "Taki, you know this guy right? What's up with him?"

Taki ducks underneath Auguste's blade and sweep kicks him. She then jumps back to Mitsurugi and says to him, "Gel-O-Fury is a demon spirit that possesses people. It was sealed in my clan home a long time ago, but for some reason it was released and possessed my master. I believe Soul Edge had something to do with its appearance."

"Demon, huh? You know, I never did think demon hunting would be so challenging. It's actually kind of fun!" Mitsurugi says as he sheathes his blade. He then prepares a battoujitsu stance.

"Take this seriously! They're obviously keeping us busy while they go after… Link!" Taki suddenly realizes the truth behind this attack, realizing they could only be after one thing. If Soul Edge is involved, then they're not doubt trying to kill Link.

"So you've figured it out… Too bad!" The demon spirit jabs at them. The air forcefully moves to strike, forcing Mitsurugi to act. He draws his sword and releases a stream of lightning to counter.

This attack fails and they both crash into a building. Mitsurugi is the first to crawl out, and says, "Normally I wouldn't care about somebody I don't know, but now I have to know… Just who exactly is that Link kid? Can he really be such a big deal?"

"Link use to be an adult, but Inferno casted a spell on him to make him a child. These guys want to kill him because he is that much of a threat to Soul Edge." She tells him. Taki rises up from the rubble as well, gripping her injured right arm. "That's the only reason they would go to such lengths to keep us from helping him."

"So he's that strong huh? Interesting," Mitsurugi gains a hungry look in his eyes as he imagines the strength Link may truly possess. Surely he could be strong enough to satisfy him.

"Don't even think about it. You won't get the chance." Taki prepares a jutsu as Mitsurugi gathers energy to his sword.

With Link, Talim And Cassandra…

Link, Cassandra and Talim head towards the town the old man said. As they approach it they see that the town is currently normal, without a sign of battle to it. Link says, "Huh?"

"I thought he said a shard of Soul Edge is close by. What's all this then?" Cassandra turns to Talim as she says that last line.

"No, I still sense it. It's close…" Talim gasps and quickly turns around. Sensing the shard as well, both Link and Cassandra turn to see their target.

Raphael stands behind the three warriors, grinning deviously. "Hello again, elf."

"Raphael," Says Link as he glares at him.

"Was he the Soul Edge power I sensed?" – Talim

"No doubt! That old man was right after all." – Cassandra

"You mean the corpse?" All three of them back away in surprise. Raphael then says, "That was nothing more than a corpse Zasalamel reanimated with his magic to trick you fools into coming. I had high hopes for Gel-O-Fury and my subordinate to kill you, but this will have to do."

Raphael then snaps his fingers, and just as quick as they realize, water rises up within the town. The whole place is flooded, and even captures Link, Cassandra and Talim. They get sucked into the town water. Luckily the three of them are good swimmers, so they reach a dry spot on top of a home.

Link shouts, "Raphael! What does this prove? Is this another one of your stupid attempts to kill me?"

"Of course. But, I won't be doing it this time." Raphael points at the center of the wet town. An orange nucleus-like blob rises up from the depths of the water. The water around it stands up and holds up two figures.

Squinting, Link and Cassandra could see both Patroklos and Pyrrah. Their aunt shouts in horror, "Pyrrah! Patroklos!"

"Aunt Cassie!" They try to call out, but being submerged in water all that could come out was a bunch of glug sounds.

Raphael laughs, and says, "That blob thing is called Morpha. It's a monster that comes from your world that can control all forms of water. Unfortunately for you, those two children are caught in its power. If you plan on saving them then you need to defeat it.

"But, I wonder just how much you can do when you're a child…" Raphael laughs as he views Link's predicament.

"I really hate that guy." Link complains as he digs into his bag. He hands Cassandra the Master Sword and its sheath. "Here."

"Huh?" – Cassandra

"You can use magic right? You should be able to properly wield this weapon to fight with." He says to her.

"But, I can't hold your weapon! The last time I did I couldn't fight against that eye thing!" She tells him.

"It's okay. All you have to do is use it to defend us." Link says as he pulls out the clawshot. "Talim, help me out here in using this."

"Eh? How can I help?" Talim asks.

Morpha begins to swirl around in the water, and some rises up before the heroes. Link says, "I'm too light to pull the kids in. I need your added weight to help me."

"Will we be enough?" – Talim

"No matter how you look at it, it looks around our size. We should be fine." Link holds out the clawshot, allowing Talim to grasp it as well. They both aim at Patroklos.

Morpha shoots the towering water at them. Link presses down on the button, allowing it to shoot forward and grab hold of the boy's left foot. It would be the only place they could aim that wouldn't harm the child so much. As the water prepares to hit them, Cassandra swings at it, scattering it away.

"A bit of a cheat I believe." Raphael says as he watches them retrieve the boy.

Patroklos falls into Cassandra's arms. "Patroklos, are you okay? Where's Sophitia?"

The boy coughs up water as he tries to speak. "A-Aunt Cassie…"

"Now for Pyrrah!" Link prepares to shoot at the girl.

Water shoots out from behind them and splashes the group. As it recedes into the sea around them, Link gets caught in it. Cassandra spits out water and shouts, "Link!"

"I'm fine! Save Pyrrah!" Link tells her. Morpha forces the water around Link to squeeze onto him tightly. He tries to swim to the surface, but the water continues to push him down.

"He won't survive at this rate!" – Talim

"Link!" Cassandra takes the clawshot and aims at him. Water rises up and strikes her, causing the girl to fall onto Talim.

"Uncle Link!" – Patroklos

"I see things are going as planned," Says Raphael. He laughs while watching their predicament. "It seems I didn't need you at all, Sophitia."

Sophitia walks out from behind him, her hands tied behind her back. Beside her is Zasalamel, who holds the other end of the rope that binds her. Tears continue to flow through her eyes as she looks up ahead, watching the horrid scene before her. 'Pyrrah, Patroklos, Cassandra, I'm sorry.'

"If this goes well we might not even need to use the backup plan." Zasalamel says to Raphael.

Link continues to struggle against the water, but is failing miserably. Cassandra tries desperately to aim properly, but a stream of water continues to get in the way. The last one steals the clawshot from her hands. "No!"

"What are we going to do? We can't get into the water, and we can't draw them out." Talim bites down on her bottom lip as she realizes her uselessness. "There has to be a way though."

Link soon begins to lose consciousness along with the last of his air. Gripping the Master Sword, Cassandra holds it in the air. "Don't worry, I'll save you. You've done so much for me before, so I'll do the same for you! I'll make sure you we all go home alive, Link! I won't let you die!"

On the back of Cassandra's left hand, a glowing triangular mark appears. She looks down at it and gasps, as light releases from her body and the sword. "This is…"

Dante: What? What happens next?

Julia: Find out next time.

Dante: What? No! I wanna know now!

Julia: Fine. Transcending…

Dante: JUST TELL ME!

Julia: Dante, where do you get off telling me what to do? You, the Sonic Knight Tau, to me, the Crimson Knight Beta?

Dante:…Sorry.

Julia: Next time, something good happens. But then another bad thing happens, and they're all forced to come up with a plan.