Soul Caliber: No Future
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Soul Caliber 2, its characters, or any other part that is involved with the Soul Caliber Series created by Namco.
Chapter 1
Some time after he decimated the village (but before Cassandra got her letter), Nightmare was walking down a road toward Kilik and Xainghua. He felt no remorse for his actions. In fact, he felt somewhat pleased. All he ever wanted was power, and slowly, but surely, he is gaining it. Every soul he takes, every shard collected brings him closer to power. The Eye of Soul Edge looked around and then being satisfied, closed until it wanted more death.
The mountain was perilous. The freezing winds creating a bone-chilling knife on his skin every time it blew, but it did not seem to affect him. As he paced down it, the sky grew more cheerful and bright, the exact opposite of Nightmare. He slung his sword upon his shoulder and continued the march to the bottom. As he reached the very bottom, trees were visible, and the sight reminded him of home.
His mother was exceptionally beautiful, and always let him go with her everywhere he was allowed to go with her. She was a good mother and Nightmare was a happy child, but probably his most memorable idol was his father, the one who trained him. He was a master swordsman, how ironic for the student to slay the master.
A forest was brought upon him, and the darkness suited him. He was as dark as a shadow on the inside. Then suddenly, in the brush, he saw another being, humanoid in figure, and appeared to be armed. The Eye opened up wide and looked into the direction of the figure. Its gaze passed through shadow and it was able to see a woman, blond and slender. In her hand she held a short sword (or gladius) and a small shield.
Quite attractive, too bad she's armed with a sword and shield. She'll have to become part of a greater being.
She stopped to rest on a rock, wiping the sweat that had formed on her head from the intense humidity in the dense forest. Nightmare appeared in front of her, but still concealed in the shadows.
"Who are you?!? Show your self!" demanded the woman. She raised he arms into her fighting stance, and prepared for an ambush. She looked around everywhere, but to no avail.
Nightmare responded to her demand in a sinister voice, "It is not you who needs to now me, for you know me already. No, it is I who should know the next of his victims."
"Nightmare...so, you've appeared to me at last! How dare you threaten me and my children! You've already come too close to Athens! I'm here to slay you to protect the world, an especially my children," she said twirling her sword around in an attempt to frighten Nightmare, which she already knew was futile.
A round of applause came from the distance, "A touching story. I've really been brought to tears. What care I who is slain for me benefit? You shall be the next. Now I'll ask again, who are you?"
"I am Sophitia! Now step into the light so I can gaze upon death and spit on him!"
"Tisk Tisk. Now why do we have such a tongue? Well, of you want to meet death, HERE I COME!"
Nightmare dashed at Sophitia, taking her off guard. He had Soul Edge in his right hand and swung a great horizontal slash at her. He used her shield to block, and a nasty grin grew on Sophitia's face. She attempted a thrust, but Nightmare parried her and took her off balance, then kicked her to the ground. With a great roll, she broke the fall and flew at Nightmare with a high-low-kick combo, and it was a block-block-catch for Nightmare. He held her leg and Sophitia grew more enraged. She used her left leg to kick him while he held her right. It succeeded, but she fell to the ground. The other, rubbing his head, took the winded Sophitia by the hair, held her up, and punched her in the stomach, knocking her out.
I hate fighting women, too fast for me.
Sometime later, Sophitia awoke in a dark cavern, poorly illuminated by candles Nightmare had brought. She was bound by her hands and legs, but not gagged. She grew tiresome of the despicable monster in her path. She was so close to her goal, and now she was to lose utterly with the ultimate price.
"You know, I heard rumors about you Nightmare," she said with a much sweeter voice.
Nightmare, whom was cooking, did not turn his head to create eye contact, "So really, I've heard so many from people like you I can't remember them all. Plus, I'm in the mood for a story, continue."
"Well, a long time ago, a young man found a steel shard of the powerful sword Soul Edge. Wait, no let's go back further. A long time ago, a small boy and his family were so greatly bonded the gods could not destroy their happiness. He was a fairly good warrior, but enjoyed playing this game he called life. Now one day he went into a field and found a metal shard, and slowly it consumed him. Years passed and his family did not know what was wrong. Then one night, the now young man slew his family and set fire to his own home. He thereafter called himself Nightmare, but do you know his real name?"
"No, tell me. What is it? Even thought it matters not."
"Siegfried..." And as he voice trailed off and echoed in the cavern, Nightmare slowly turned to Sophitia.
"You're lying. You must be!"
"Never, I cannot lie to anyone. You're name is Siegfried."
"Siegfried, I'm Siegfried?" he said to himself, then the great voice of Soul Edge throbbed in his head as if intense heat had overcome him.
Fool! See what she is doing!? She is trying to gain your trust then she'll cut your throat as you lay asleep. Or even worse, run away and not become part of me! She's trying to toy with your head, and you're letting your weaker self start to take over. I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO LIVE WITHOUT ME!
Soul Edge passed and Nightmare regained his mind once again, "What does it matter!? You're going to die!" He ran for his sword, and then he looked at Sophitia. She was crying in fear and lost all hope. He did the unthinkable. He grabbed a knife, went over to Sophitia (who waited for her impending doom) and cut her bonds.
"Listen and listen closely," he whispered to her as he crouched down, "You can live, but you must leave your weapons with me, and never return to Athens. You cannot call for help from anyone. You must keep this a secret, because otherwise I will make it my lifelong goal to slay you." With that, Sophitia nodded and ran off out of the caver and into the distance.
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?! Rang the voice of his blade. That wasn't the Nightmare we know! That was your weaker self talking! Never mind anyway. We must kill Kilik and Xainghua. But if you pull another of those, I'll make you wish you were never born.
He understood and went back to his journey but all throughout the road he kept thinking: What did I do? Who am I?
Cassandra was on a boat headed for another town. She arrived in a few hours and whenever she went to a far off land, she went to the gods for guidance. In the vast town, she maneuvered through bazaars and people going to their jobs to a shrine. It was a big old shrine, full of great monuments of the gods she learned to worship. Her particular favourite and patron was Athena. As she knelt and prayed, she started to remember a past she held for a long time.
A child Cassandra and Sophitia stood in a field sparring with wooden equipment, and Cassandra was losing. As she fell to the ground, the young girl began to cry. Her tears rolled down her face, and then a warm hand wiped them up. It was Sophitia comforting Cassandra.
"You know Cassy, you've gotten a lot better!"
"Really sis? But you're still much better than me."
Sophitia sat beside her sister, "Well, I've had more practice, but for you're age, you're a great fighter. You remind me of Athena."
"No, that can't be!"
"Why sis?"
"That's 'cuz you remind me of Athena!" And for a long time, they argued childishly over who was more like Athena, but did not compare themselves as gods in fear of upsetting them.
Cassandra stopped praying and went to see some of the sights before moving on. She eventually came to an amateur gladiator fight, which brought her another memory as she watched the two fearless opponents fight.
A teenage Cassandra fought an older Sophitia in a competition for the warrioress of Athens, an annual contest for female fighters. Cassandra and Sophitia were fighting a mirror; match for match, blow for blow, and beauty for beauty. The cheers and whistles filled the stands, and then Cassandra fell to the ground. The crowed chanted for blood, and Sophitia looked at her next soon-to-be slain opponent, her own sister. Cassandra just nodded and raised a finger, the sign of surrender.
The judge looked and listened to the crowd for a decision, and it was death. His finger was raised to his throat for a signal for "Kill her". Sophitia looked again at her opponent and then she did something very displeasing to the crowd, she threw her sword down and brought up her sister off her back. The crowd booed at the sight, but then the Emperor silenced the crowd.
"This is a sight to behold: Two warriors that will not let either die, for if they do they cannot astound us with their feats of weaponry. I decree that Sophitia wins the match, but if Cassandra and Sophita fight again in public for entertainment, they shall not slay each other. Sophitia has demonstrated a mercy only gods may grant." The cheers continued.
Cassandra finished watching her share of the fight and continued on. She then found an article of clothing identical to her sisters in a bazaar. When she asked how he found it, the merchant said it just came in the tide. It was Sophitia's vest undoubtedly. She felt even worse. Too bad for her, this was where her father and Sophitia bought her clothing. That wasn't her vest.
On the outskirts of town, a red gleaming shard caught her eye. It was in the grass, lying there as if waiting for a warrior to pick it up. Cassandra did not know what it was, but she put it into her pocket. Then a flash of The Eye was in her head, and then vanished as quickly as it had come. The red shard pulsed in her pouch, but Cassandra felt nothing.
But unknown to her knowledge, her foe Nightmare was elsewhere and unknown to her. She was traveling in the wrong direction. And Nightmare was trailing right behind her.
Kilik and Xainghua, exhausted from the journey, decided to rest at the next town. The two had been silence for most of the trip. Unfortunately for them, the next town they ran into was a dump. It was obviously burnt down many years ago. Nightmare was already here, but nowhere to be found. They entered the ruins of a town and entered with extreme caution.
"Xainghua, go to the right, I'll cover the left." Xainghua nodded at Kilik's order. He wasn't quite himself lately. It was a little harsher than as of late, but nothing too serious. She thought he was just overreacting.
Kilik, covering the left flank, approached a small cart with a cover on it, rod out ready for combat. His steps sank into the mud that was left from a previous and recent rain storm. He used his rod to lift up the cloth cover to reveal several children. When they saw Kilik, they screamed thinking Nightmare had returned. When they did this, they had something to really scream about. The vibrations of several children screaming shook the rook and pieces of the roof the cart was under became dislodged. The wood fell at a high rate, and would surely crush the children under it. Kilik thinking quick, used his rod to shatter two smaller pieces, and then threw the larger piece far away to shatter safely. The children came out of the cart and hugged Kilik.
"Where's your parents?" inquired Kilik.
"They're dead!" said a small child and began to cry. Kilik gently directed them to safe to the sturdiest structure in the town.
Xainghua, taking her right flank heard screams a few minutes after going in her direction. They were adult voices, a male and a female. She ran calling out to them. She followed the voices to a caved in building. It must have recently caved in because the dust was still in the air.
"One sec! I'll get you out soon!" She tried to move large pieces of debris, but she wasn't strong enough, "Ok No Name, do something good and you might give yourself a name!" She slashed at the fallen planks, which were so rotted that No Name didn't have to work too hard. She slashed through planks, windows and other parts of the house to find the two injured adults huddling. They were gaunt in the face and tired. She helped them out and she heard Kilik call her.
Kilik and Xainghua met and the children held on to their parents. They knew this would scare them, but they knew they had to ask.
"Where is Nightmare?" asked Kilik bluntly.
"What he means is we are trying to make sure Nightmare comes after us, so we're traveling to find a safe spot for us to finish this battle off," added Xainghua.
"H-h-he's gone t-t-to the p-p-place called Athens... We don't know why, but he's not too near it though. He'll have to port to the town and the port town is forty miles from here."
They both thanked the adults for the information and agreed to stay the night. Xainghua awoke in the middle of the night. In a tall building, she went to the balcony and looked at the destruction Nightmare had caused.
"This is his work for sure. I don't know if we can do it this time. I'm so scared!"
Kilik in his room was acting quite odd. He was talking to himself, sitting in his bed.
"Xainghua is slowing me down. Wait, she helped me a lot today. No, she's going to take all the glory..." He trailed off while he kept talking to himself and eventually fell asleep.
A/N: I'm not good with these city names. Bear with me until I can research them.