Chapter 10 – Inner Demons
::The Fourth Soul Calibur Chapter::
As they returned, Garlyle was surprised to see Xianghua and Maxi there already. If Kilik had mentioned anything about others, they obviously weren't there at the moment.
"Have you come to allow me to finally shatter it?" Xianghua asked.
Garlyle nodded, and after producing 'it' from his pocket, Xianghua took the fragment from Garlyle's hand, nervous a bit at first, but then seeing that he wasn't pulling it away, she quickly snatched it up before the boy had the chance to change his mind.
She placed it upon a stone, and drew the Soul Calibur. She took a moment to line up, then swung her blade straight down upon it.
The fragment shattered as the blade hit it, fragmenting into a hundred tiny pieces that faded into thin air as they floated.
Everybody held their breath for a few moments.
"...Is it really gone?" Maxi asked, starting to put away his nunchucks.
"No..." Xianghua backed up nervously. "I can sense..."
Kozo growled. "I don't like this..." he whispered. He backed away, and so did everybody else.
They could feel it. The fragment had been shattered, all right, but somehow the evil energy was still there, just floating.
"But... how...?" Kilik growled. "That should have finished it off, but the power..."
"Is growing..." Garlyle finished for her. He could sense it... they had simply cut off an evil's physical bonds, now...
"Garlyle, that power..."
"What, Ceres..." Garlyle breathed aloud, but only barely. Kozo caught him muttering out of the corner of his eye, curious.
"That power, I know it!"
"Then what the hell is it?" Garlyle stepped back again, drawing Ceres' fang from his chest.
"You can't fight it with that!"
"Why?" Garlyle muttered again, and he didn't even noticed that Kozo's gaze was on him, or that the ground seemed to be slightly vibrating, growing hotter...
"That power... that evil power... It's so familiar... Garlyle, I think..."
Before Ceres got to finish, however, there was a wave of red light from the evil energy that seemed to sweep through them, washing through everything. Garlyle was sent flying a distance, and his vision blurred in and out of minimal vision and blindness.
Underneath, the ground felt hard and rough, and it was incredibly hot. But... why? Garlyle slowly lifted his head, pushed himself up, and finally his vision returned.
He was stunned senseless.
All around him was an endless expanse of wasteland, fires erupting from cracks in the ground at random, his friends all scattered around him, unconscious.
"No! What...?" Garlyle stood up.
"It's behind you!"
Garlyle dived to the side, rolling and singeing his hands in the process, but he had avoided what he felt a moment later was some kind of 'heat wave'. As he looked again, it was hard on his eyes, but quickly they narrowed, reducing the glare.
It seemed to be some kind of humanoid beast, a fiend made out of flames and seemingly nothing else, wielding a long, silver-edged blade that was immense in its size, easily twice as tall and probably just as wide as Garlyle was, all held in one hand. Upon it, there was an eyeball that rotated about, before focusing on Garlyle.
Garlyle drew the fang again, knowing that he'd have to fight this... thing, whatever it was.
"No, Garlyle, you can't fight it like that!" Ceres cried out desperately.
"Why?"
"You can't use a demon's power against itself!" Ceres growled back, as the strange flaming monster dived for Garlyle.
Garlyle hit the ground and rolled, diving out of the way. As it reached where he had been and swung its sword down, Garlyle took the opportunity and stabbed into what he thought would be the heart.
Ceres' fang didn't even get close. It was stopped by something Garlyle didn't understand, as nothing had ever stopped it before! As the demon turned to face it, Garlyle saw it begin to crack, in his very eyes.
Then, suddenly, it shattered with a burst of energy that sent Garlyle tumbling a distance, his body and clothes getting cut by the rolls.
As he recovered, Garlyle looked at his friends, wishing they would wake up from their slumber. As he looked at Kozo, he realised that Inferno was approaching him...
"Kozo!" Garlyle stood up quickly, running towards Kozo, with the intent of saving him. But the fang didn't work...
Wait, had Ceres said something about... 'you can't use a demon's power against itself?' But the fang was Ceres' power, unless... unless...
"Ceres!" Garlyle shouted at the beast.
It turned.
"It... it's you?" Garlyle breathed slowly out, thinking to himself.
"Yes, Garlyle... And I can't fight it, trapped in your body like I am..."
"So what am I supposed to do?" Garlyle asked, as the inferno demon slowly marched towards him.
"You have to be the one to do it!" Ceres shouted at him, mentally.
"I have to..." Garlyle looked really nervous, but as the flaming Ceres swung the Soul Edge towards Garlyle, the boy knew what he had to do.
He dived straight down, against the hard floor, and rolled sideways, under the blade, taking off to run alongside the demon, in a desperate attempt to reach Kozo.
The monster, sensing this move, spun around with the blade, and brought it around as Garlyle was standing again, intent on lopping off his head.
"Watch out, Garlyle!" Ceres shouted a warning to him, his will pushing Garlyle right over and under the blade, but not before it managed to nick his shoulder.
There was an intense burning feeling in his shoulder, where he had been cut, and it felt as if there was some evil trying to invade him.
"Ceres? What... What's going on?"
He didn't get a response. He couldn't understand, but he felt the pain being suppressed. Was Ceres focusing all of his power on trying to stop whatever it was that the Soul Edge had done to him?
But with no time to consider this, Garlyle dived again, and smacked Kozo on the head with his fist as he did, crying "Wake up!"
Kozo did, quite suddenly, quickly realising the same things that Garlyle had when he had awoken. As he quickly drew out and slapped on the katars from his backpack, he faced the demon.
"What is it...?" Kozo demanded.
"I don't know... but... I think... this is the Soul Edge..."
"Such power..." Kozo's voice was shaking a bit, as if he was afraid, but courageously he braced himself, ready to fight.
The demon seemed to be scanning the two of them, before it nearly buckled over backwards, laughing at their feeble attempts in such a strange voice that both boys were scared stiff by it.
"It's true..." Garlyle thought to himself. "That laugh... That is the same laugh as Ceres had, back home..."
*****
His mind burning, all he could remember were the voices and the sounds... The screaming and rage, the cries of agony...
"Brother! Where are you?"
"Wah! Ga... Garlyle? Is that you?"
"Yes, brother, it'll be okay..."
*CRASH* he could remember fragments of wood and stone crashing up against his face...
"What the?"
"UWAA!"
"Fools, you can't hide from me!"
"I... I have to protect my brother"
"...hm hm hm he he hah hah ha!"
"I won't let you hurt him!"
"Garlyle!!"
*****
"Hm hm hm he he hah hah ha!" the demon laughed again.
"I'm not going to lose to another demon like you!" Garlyle raised his empty fists, wilfully, ready to fight.
The demon raised the sword, laughing at Garlyle's feeble threat.
*****
"Foolish human!"
*SMACK* the feeling came, something like a ton of bricks, hitting him.
"Ahh!"
"*Sniff* Garlyle! Garlyle! Please tell me you're okay! Speak to me!" his brother's arms, holding him, shaking him...
"It's okay... come here, Mek..."
"Garlyle, I'm so scared..."
"I won't let go of you, I promise..." the feeling of his brother, shaking, in his arms...
"Thank you, brother..."
"Pathetic humans, you make me sick!"
"Stop! You won't hurt my sons!"
"Hmm? What is this?"
"Garlyle, Mek, you're okay!"
"Mother!"
*****
"I'm not..." Garlyle swallowed. "I'm not going to lose again..." he turned to Kozo, a strange look in his eyes, blurred by the tears from his painful memories. "Kozo... please... stay out of this..."
"But, Garlyle..."
"Please, Kozo..." Garlyle asked him. "I know, it sounds crazy, but this is something that I have to do..."
*****
"Garlyle, stay back..."
"Uh huh" nodding dimly...
"Demon, we're going to seal you back up for another thousand years!"
"You foolish mortals think you can..."
"Foolish mortals did it once before..."
"Hmm? What's this?" soft chanting... then it grew louder...
"Mom! Dad!" Mek's cries, as he tried to escape Garlyle's grasp, but he wouldn't let him go, not now...
Then the blinding flash, the deafening roar of the demon Ceres...
*****
Garlyle dived madly for the demon, unarmed, intent on destroying it with his own hands. Kozo was crying out for him to stop, but Garlyle didn't want to hear him.
*****
"Mom! Dad! Where are you?"
The feeling of letting Mek loose, as Garlyle stood, shakily. He already knew.
"Where are you? Mom? Dad!? Where'd you go?"
"Mek..."
"They're gone, aren't they...?" Mek's hug, shaking so bad with the idea that he nearly collapsed, and Garlyle knelt down too, both of them crying.
*****
Garlyle dived underneath the beast as it swung, kicking backwards as he did, striking the inferno's leg. He used it to get away, diving for Xianghua.
He didn't want her to wake up.
Instead, he grabbed Xianghua's blade, the Soul Calibur, for himself, holding it in his hands.
It seemed incredibly light, and already Garlyle could feel his wounds healing. Was this the power of the good blade?
Garlyle lifted it up with ease, pointing it towards this world's Ceres. He stared the demon right in the... er... eyes. Garlyle could sense the thing's nervousness about approaching, suddenly.
"This blade's defeated you once, hasn't it?" Garlyle grinned. "It's going to happen once more, I promise you that!"
Garlyle dived towards the raging inferno, bringing the split-bladed sword straight towards the demon's arm.
The demon swung the blade around, and the two weapons clashed. A wave of icy cold and fiery hot air shot out from the two blades, making the terrain seem to shift and wave as the blasts passed through it.
Garlyle saw the demon pull backwards, intent on making another strike, but Garlyle was smaller and much faster. Before the demon even began the reverse swing, he stabbed the weapon straight into the beast's heart.
It collapsed into the flames, before rising up again a distance between Garlyle and him.
"Go Garlyle!" Kozo cried out from the side, before he realised what he was doing and caught himself.
As the demon rose again, it grabbed at the hilt of Soul Edge, then tore it apart straight down the middle. It became two swords, just like the kinds Necrid had used.
"So, switching weapons? Cheater..." Garlyle smirked, as he held the Soul Calibur in his hands. Slowly, it seemed to be becoming more and more natural for him to be wielding them, as if it was shrinking to fit his hand.
As the demon charged again, Garlyle bounced backwards nimbly, dodging awkward strike after awkward strike. He was busy, waiting for the perfect opportunity. Then it became apparent, as the inferno swung both weapons at once.
Garlyle jumped over both, probably higher then he ever had in his life, and brought the Soul Calibur down right in front of the beast's face, cutting a straight line right down it.
The inferno collapsed again, then re-appeared another distance, closer to Kozo again this time. As it drew out the weapon, this time, it seemed to slam them together, forming one weapon once again. And Garlyle was surprised by the result.
The weapon it had formed looked exactly like the fang Garlyle had wielded did, with the eye facing him on one side.
"This is twisted..." Garlyle muttered, preparing to face the weapon. He looked at his own blade.
Suddenly, though, it became apparent to him that his own weapon had shortened. It was exactly the length that the fang had been, and since that had been Garlyle's favourite weapon... had the Soul Calibur adjusted itself to help Garlyle? No way...
With that, Garlyle got up and dived towards the inferno.
It was much, much quicker this time, avoiding Garlyle's attack exactly as the boy would have, slashing in counter.
Garlyle barely realised this in time, and blocked it, before kicking toward the beast's head. It seemed to have been expecting this, and raised a hand to knock his leg away, causing Garlyle to tumble backwards.
He barely blocked the next few stabs by rolling just in time, and parrying the demon's weapon away every time he tried to stab Garlyle with it.
"He moves, just like me!" Garlyle muttered.
"Because he has copied your abilities!" Ceres realised, suddenly returning. "Soul Calibur has healed your wounds, but... listen, anyway, there's something we need to do."
"What?" Garlyle demanded, knocking another attack away, as he continued to back up.
"Let me take over!" Ceres demanded. "I can beat it!"
"No, I'll beat this thing on my own!" Garlyle responded, kicking up strongly with focused energy, causing the demon to fly up into the air.
As it came down, it poised its dagger to stab straight into Garlyle's skull.
Instead, Garlyle raised the palm of his hand above his face, and raised his other hand with the Soul Calibur pointed straight towards the demon's face.
He felt the accursed blade shoot right through his hand, and he screamed in pain. But he also knew he had scored again on the demon.
Ceres' presence floated away in his mind, occupied again with trying to suppress the evil feeling Garlyle was receiving from his open wound. The boy was glad for Ceres' help...
Then, finally, he felt the flames and the Soul Edge disappear again. He stood up, ready to face whatever was thrown.
The flames were gathering right in front of Kozo, this time, and the boy felt it impossible now to simply watch from the sidelines.
"Die, you miserable fiend!"
Kozo grabbed his two blades, and lodged them into the flames as they formed.
The demon couldn't reform with this barrier in their way, and it howled like crazy, until, finally, the flames died out, and with it, it took the katars from Kozo's gloves.
"Your blades..." Garlyle looked at Kozo.
"They don't matter... we've won, Garlyle..." Kozo smiled. "I shouldn't have under-estimated you..."
"I agree, that was excellent, Garlyle-kun" Falcon agreed from Kozo's side. It occurred to Garlyle that if that... err... thing didn't speak at all, he'd probably forget he was there.
It seemed to be rippling, and so did the air around them. But they could both feel a familiar pull tugging at them...
Then it became stronger, and Garlyle dropped the Soul Calibur, as in one smooth motion, he, Kozo, and the hellish lands disappeared, leaving only Maxi, Kilik, and Xianghua.
"What...?" Xianghua woke up first, to see the Soul Calibur lying on the ground. Surprised by something, she picked it up, and it returned to its full length.
"What's the matter, Xianghua?" Maxi asked.
"Nothing, but..." Xianghua looked at it. "The energy's gone, and so are Garlyle and Kozo... and I just had the strangest dream, and they were fighting Inferno..."
"I had that same dream" Kilik woke up groggily, using his staff to stand up.
"Me too..." Maxi added. "So, they're gone?"
"It's a shame..." Kilik muttered, sitting down, looking depressed. "But..."
"But what?" Maxi inquired, as the two moved towards him, he stood up again.
"I can't stay here, after all he's told me..." Kilik looked up towards the sky. "I'm leaving."
"Where to? For how long?" Xianghua asked.
"I don't know..." Kilik shook his head. "I'm leaving... to find out who my parents were... to see if my family is still alive..." and with that, he slowly started away.
"Kilik, wait!" Maxi called over to him, making him stop.
"I know, this is good-bye..." Kilik muttered. "But I don't like long farewells..."
"No, Kilik..." Maxi ran over to his side. "I'm coming with you."
"But what about you and Xianghua?" Kilik asked. "I thought you..."
"You don't think we'd both let you do this alone, would you?" Xianghua approached him, replacing the Soul Calibur in its scabbard.
"G... Guys..." Kilik's face lit up. "You sure?"
"Of course" they both nodded.
And with that, they set off for faraway lands...
::The Fourth Soul Calibur Chapter::
As they returned, Garlyle was surprised to see Xianghua and Maxi there already. If Kilik had mentioned anything about others, they obviously weren't there at the moment.
"Have you come to allow me to finally shatter it?" Xianghua asked.
Garlyle nodded, and after producing 'it' from his pocket, Xianghua took the fragment from Garlyle's hand, nervous a bit at first, but then seeing that he wasn't pulling it away, she quickly snatched it up before the boy had the chance to change his mind.
She placed it upon a stone, and drew the Soul Calibur. She took a moment to line up, then swung her blade straight down upon it.
The fragment shattered as the blade hit it, fragmenting into a hundred tiny pieces that faded into thin air as they floated.
Everybody held their breath for a few moments.
"...Is it really gone?" Maxi asked, starting to put away his nunchucks.
"No..." Xianghua backed up nervously. "I can sense..."
Kozo growled. "I don't like this..." he whispered. He backed away, and so did everybody else.
They could feel it. The fragment had been shattered, all right, but somehow the evil energy was still there, just floating.
"But... how...?" Kilik growled. "That should have finished it off, but the power..."
"Is growing..." Garlyle finished for her. He could sense it... they had simply cut off an evil's physical bonds, now...
"Garlyle, that power..."
"What, Ceres..." Garlyle breathed aloud, but only barely. Kozo caught him muttering out of the corner of his eye, curious.
"That power, I know it!"
"Then what the hell is it?" Garlyle stepped back again, drawing Ceres' fang from his chest.
"You can't fight it with that!"
"Why?" Garlyle muttered again, and he didn't even noticed that Kozo's gaze was on him, or that the ground seemed to be slightly vibrating, growing hotter...
"That power... that evil power... It's so familiar... Garlyle, I think..."
Before Ceres got to finish, however, there was a wave of red light from the evil energy that seemed to sweep through them, washing through everything. Garlyle was sent flying a distance, and his vision blurred in and out of minimal vision and blindness.
Underneath, the ground felt hard and rough, and it was incredibly hot. But... why? Garlyle slowly lifted his head, pushed himself up, and finally his vision returned.
He was stunned senseless.
All around him was an endless expanse of wasteland, fires erupting from cracks in the ground at random, his friends all scattered around him, unconscious.
"No! What...?" Garlyle stood up.
"It's behind you!"
Garlyle dived to the side, rolling and singeing his hands in the process, but he had avoided what he felt a moment later was some kind of 'heat wave'. As he looked again, it was hard on his eyes, but quickly they narrowed, reducing the glare.
It seemed to be some kind of humanoid beast, a fiend made out of flames and seemingly nothing else, wielding a long, silver-edged blade that was immense in its size, easily twice as tall and probably just as wide as Garlyle was, all held in one hand. Upon it, there was an eyeball that rotated about, before focusing on Garlyle.
Garlyle drew the fang again, knowing that he'd have to fight this... thing, whatever it was.
"No, Garlyle, you can't fight it like that!" Ceres cried out desperately.
"Why?"
"You can't use a demon's power against itself!" Ceres growled back, as the strange flaming monster dived for Garlyle.
Garlyle hit the ground and rolled, diving out of the way. As it reached where he had been and swung its sword down, Garlyle took the opportunity and stabbed into what he thought would be the heart.
Ceres' fang didn't even get close. It was stopped by something Garlyle didn't understand, as nothing had ever stopped it before! As the demon turned to face it, Garlyle saw it begin to crack, in his very eyes.
Then, suddenly, it shattered with a burst of energy that sent Garlyle tumbling a distance, his body and clothes getting cut by the rolls.
As he recovered, Garlyle looked at his friends, wishing they would wake up from their slumber. As he looked at Kozo, he realised that Inferno was approaching him...
"Kozo!" Garlyle stood up quickly, running towards Kozo, with the intent of saving him. But the fang didn't work...
Wait, had Ceres said something about... 'you can't use a demon's power against itself?' But the fang was Ceres' power, unless... unless...
"Ceres!" Garlyle shouted at the beast.
It turned.
"It... it's you?" Garlyle breathed slowly out, thinking to himself.
"Yes, Garlyle... And I can't fight it, trapped in your body like I am..."
"So what am I supposed to do?" Garlyle asked, as the inferno demon slowly marched towards him.
"You have to be the one to do it!" Ceres shouted at him, mentally.
"I have to..." Garlyle looked really nervous, but as the flaming Ceres swung the Soul Edge towards Garlyle, the boy knew what he had to do.
He dived straight down, against the hard floor, and rolled sideways, under the blade, taking off to run alongside the demon, in a desperate attempt to reach Kozo.
The monster, sensing this move, spun around with the blade, and brought it around as Garlyle was standing again, intent on lopping off his head.
"Watch out, Garlyle!" Ceres shouted a warning to him, his will pushing Garlyle right over and under the blade, but not before it managed to nick his shoulder.
There was an intense burning feeling in his shoulder, where he had been cut, and it felt as if there was some evil trying to invade him.
"Ceres? What... What's going on?"
He didn't get a response. He couldn't understand, but he felt the pain being suppressed. Was Ceres focusing all of his power on trying to stop whatever it was that the Soul Edge had done to him?
But with no time to consider this, Garlyle dived again, and smacked Kozo on the head with his fist as he did, crying "Wake up!"
Kozo did, quite suddenly, quickly realising the same things that Garlyle had when he had awoken. As he quickly drew out and slapped on the katars from his backpack, he faced the demon.
"What is it...?" Kozo demanded.
"I don't know... but... I think... this is the Soul Edge..."
"Such power..." Kozo's voice was shaking a bit, as if he was afraid, but courageously he braced himself, ready to fight.
The demon seemed to be scanning the two of them, before it nearly buckled over backwards, laughing at their feeble attempts in such a strange voice that both boys were scared stiff by it.
"It's true..." Garlyle thought to himself. "That laugh... That is the same laugh as Ceres had, back home..."
*****
His mind burning, all he could remember were the voices and the sounds... The screaming and rage, the cries of agony...
"Brother! Where are you?"
"Wah! Ga... Garlyle? Is that you?"
"Yes, brother, it'll be okay..."
*CRASH* he could remember fragments of wood and stone crashing up against his face...
"What the?"
"UWAA!"
"Fools, you can't hide from me!"
"I... I have to protect my brother"
"...hm hm hm he he hah hah ha!"
"I won't let you hurt him!"
"Garlyle!!"
*****
"Hm hm hm he he hah hah ha!" the demon laughed again.
"I'm not going to lose to another demon like you!" Garlyle raised his empty fists, wilfully, ready to fight.
The demon raised the sword, laughing at Garlyle's feeble threat.
*****
"Foolish human!"
*SMACK* the feeling came, something like a ton of bricks, hitting him.
"Ahh!"
"*Sniff* Garlyle! Garlyle! Please tell me you're okay! Speak to me!" his brother's arms, holding him, shaking him...
"It's okay... come here, Mek..."
"Garlyle, I'm so scared..."
"I won't let go of you, I promise..." the feeling of his brother, shaking, in his arms...
"Thank you, brother..."
"Pathetic humans, you make me sick!"
"Stop! You won't hurt my sons!"
"Hmm? What is this?"
"Garlyle, Mek, you're okay!"
"Mother!"
*****
"I'm not..." Garlyle swallowed. "I'm not going to lose again..." he turned to Kozo, a strange look in his eyes, blurred by the tears from his painful memories. "Kozo... please... stay out of this..."
"But, Garlyle..."
"Please, Kozo..." Garlyle asked him. "I know, it sounds crazy, but this is something that I have to do..."
*****
"Garlyle, stay back..."
"Uh huh" nodding dimly...
"Demon, we're going to seal you back up for another thousand years!"
"You foolish mortals think you can..."
"Foolish mortals did it once before..."
"Hmm? What's this?" soft chanting... then it grew louder...
"Mom! Dad!" Mek's cries, as he tried to escape Garlyle's grasp, but he wouldn't let him go, not now...
Then the blinding flash, the deafening roar of the demon Ceres...
*****
Garlyle dived madly for the demon, unarmed, intent on destroying it with his own hands. Kozo was crying out for him to stop, but Garlyle didn't want to hear him.
*****
"Mom! Dad! Where are you?"
The feeling of letting Mek loose, as Garlyle stood, shakily. He already knew.
"Where are you? Mom? Dad!? Where'd you go?"
"Mek..."
"They're gone, aren't they...?" Mek's hug, shaking so bad with the idea that he nearly collapsed, and Garlyle knelt down too, both of them crying.
*****
Garlyle dived underneath the beast as it swung, kicking backwards as he did, striking the inferno's leg. He used it to get away, diving for Xianghua.
He didn't want her to wake up.
Instead, he grabbed Xianghua's blade, the Soul Calibur, for himself, holding it in his hands.
It seemed incredibly light, and already Garlyle could feel his wounds healing. Was this the power of the good blade?
Garlyle lifted it up with ease, pointing it towards this world's Ceres. He stared the demon right in the... er... eyes. Garlyle could sense the thing's nervousness about approaching, suddenly.
"This blade's defeated you once, hasn't it?" Garlyle grinned. "It's going to happen once more, I promise you that!"
Garlyle dived towards the raging inferno, bringing the split-bladed sword straight towards the demon's arm.
The demon swung the blade around, and the two weapons clashed. A wave of icy cold and fiery hot air shot out from the two blades, making the terrain seem to shift and wave as the blasts passed through it.
Garlyle saw the demon pull backwards, intent on making another strike, but Garlyle was smaller and much faster. Before the demon even began the reverse swing, he stabbed the weapon straight into the beast's heart.
It collapsed into the flames, before rising up again a distance between Garlyle and him.
"Go Garlyle!" Kozo cried out from the side, before he realised what he was doing and caught himself.
As the demon rose again, it grabbed at the hilt of Soul Edge, then tore it apart straight down the middle. It became two swords, just like the kinds Necrid had used.
"So, switching weapons? Cheater..." Garlyle smirked, as he held the Soul Calibur in his hands. Slowly, it seemed to be becoming more and more natural for him to be wielding them, as if it was shrinking to fit his hand.
As the demon charged again, Garlyle bounced backwards nimbly, dodging awkward strike after awkward strike. He was busy, waiting for the perfect opportunity. Then it became apparent, as the inferno swung both weapons at once.
Garlyle jumped over both, probably higher then he ever had in his life, and brought the Soul Calibur down right in front of the beast's face, cutting a straight line right down it.
The inferno collapsed again, then re-appeared another distance, closer to Kozo again this time. As it drew out the weapon, this time, it seemed to slam them together, forming one weapon once again. And Garlyle was surprised by the result.
The weapon it had formed looked exactly like the fang Garlyle had wielded did, with the eye facing him on one side.
"This is twisted..." Garlyle muttered, preparing to face the weapon. He looked at his own blade.
Suddenly, though, it became apparent to him that his own weapon had shortened. It was exactly the length that the fang had been, and since that had been Garlyle's favourite weapon... had the Soul Calibur adjusted itself to help Garlyle? No way...
With that, Garlyle got up and dived towards the inferno.
It was much, much quicker this time, avoiding Garlyle's attack exactly as the boy would have, slashing in counter.
Garlyle barely realised this in time, and blocked it, before kicking toward the beast's head. It seemed to have been expecting this, and raised a hand to knock his leg away, causing Garlyle to tumble backwards.
He barely blocked the next few stabs by rolling just in time, and parrying the demon's weapon away every time he tried to stab Garlyle with it.
"He moves, just like me!" Garlyle muttered.
"Because he has copied your abilities!" Ceres realised, suddenly returning. "Soul Calibur has healed your wounds, but... listen, anyway, there's something we need to do."
"What?" Garlyle demanded, knocking another attack away, as he continued to back up.
"Let me take over!" Ceres demanded. "I can beat it!"
"No, I'll beat this thing on my own!" Garlyle responded, kicking up strongly with focused energy, causing the demon to fly up into the air.
As it came down, it poised its dagger to stab straight into Garlyle's skull.
Instead, Garlyle raised the palm of his hand above his face, and raised his other hand with the Soul Calibur pointed straight towards the demon's face.
He felt the accursed blade shoot right through his hand, and he screamed in pain. But he also knew he had scored again on the demon.
Ceres' presence floated away in his mind, occupied again with trying to suppress the evil feeling Garlyle was receiving from his open wound. The boy was glad for Ceres' help...
Then, finally, he felt the flames and the Soul Edge disappear again. He stood up, ready to face whatever was thrown.
The flames were gathering right in front of Kozo, this time, and the boy felt it impossible now to simply watch from the sidelines.
"Die, you miserable fiend!"
Kozo grabbed his two blades, and lodged them into the flames as they formed.
The demon couldn't reform with this barrier in their way, and it howled like crazy, until, finally, the flames died out, and with it, it took the katars from Kozo's gloves.
"Your blades..." Garlyle looked at Kozo.
"They don't matter... we've won, Garlyle..." Kozo smiled. "I shouldn't have under-estimated you..."
"I agree, that was excellent, Garlyle-kun" Falcon agreed from Kozo's side. It occurred to Garlyle that if that... err... thing didn't speak at all, he'd probably forget he was there.
It seemed to be rippling, and so did the air around them. But they could both feel a familiar pull tugging at them...
Then it became stronger, and Garlyle dropped the Soul Calibur, as in one smooth motion, he, Kozo, and the hellish lands disappeared, leaving only Maxi, Kilik, and Xianghua.
"What...?" Xianghua woke up first, to see the Soul Calibur lying on the ground. Surprised by something, she picked it up, and it returned to its full length.
"What's the matter, Xianghua?" Maxi asked.
"Nothing, but..." Xianghua looked at it. "The energy's gone, and so are Garlyle and Kozo... and I just had the strangest dream, and they were fighting Inferno..."
"I had that same dream" Kilik woke up groggily, using his staff to stand up.
"Me too..." Maxi added. "So, they're gone?"
"It's a shame..." Kilik muttered, sitting down, looking depressed. "But..."
"But what?" Maxi inquired, as the two moved towards him, he stood up again.
"I can't stay here, after all he's told me..." Kilik looked up towards the sky. "I'm leaving."
"Where to? For how long?" Xianghua asked.
"I don't know..." Kilik shook his head. "I'm leaving... to find out who my parents were... to see if my family is still alive..." and with that, he slowly started away.
"Kilik, wait!" Maxi called over to him, making him stop.
"I know, this is good-bye..." Kilik muttered. "But I don't like long farewells..."
"No, Kilik..." Maxi ran over to his side. "I'm coming with you."
"But what about you and Xianghua?" Kilik asked. "I thought you..."
"You don't think we'd both let you do this alone, would you?" Xianghua approached him, replacing the Soul Calibur in its scabbard.
"G... Guys..." Kilik's face lit up. "You sure?"
"Of course" they both nodded.
And with that, they set off for faraway lands...