A/N: Some of you are wondering about the Christianity thing in chapter 3 (sorry if I'm late on clearing this up). No I didn't change Cassandra's religion. The priest is just familiar with Siegfried's religion and so, uses his religion as an example. If he were to say a follower of Hades, then Siegfried wouldn't care because he doesn't believe in Hades. Besides, many missionaries were trying to spread their form of Christianity (especially Catholics) around that time period so it should come to no surprise for someone to know a little about it. If you think it is bogus, then look it up on the net and see what you find. Or for those in school, look in your history books. Somewhere along the lines of ancient rome and medieval time periods.
The man in green silicon armor looked over the two careful, examining their every move. In a strong, fierce voice the man spoke to the two, "I order you to lower your weapons at once."
Cassandra looked at him a bit confused, but since she had no idea what she was up against, dropped her sword and raised her hands as a sign of surrender, "We ended up here on accident while avoiding a small army of zombies. We mean you no harm."
"Silence wench!" The man roared. "You in the blue armor! I order you to drop your sword at once!"
Siegfried gave a small chuckle, "You are a fool is you think I'm going to surrender."
"Nightmare!" Cassandra glared at her partner, "Lower your weapon at once. There's two dozen of them and two of us. We don't stand a chance!"
"You can cower if you like, but I will stand up and slaughter those who get in my way!" He roared as he swung Faust around before stabbing it into the concrete ground and sending a flow of electrical currents into his claw.
"Is that so? Jesse!" The man called out as a woman in blue, female designed silicon breastplate appeared with a large gun. She aimed it at the two warriors and pulled the trigger, sending a canister that flew into Siegfried and exploded on contact, releasing a large cloud of dust. The soldiers surrounding them grabbed their masks on their belts and slid them over their face as the world started to grow dark for the demon and his Greek companion. In a matter of seconds, after coughing violently, the two hit the ground in a large thud with Siegfried's body and armor returning to normal.
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Siegfried shot up from the cold hard dirt, sweat dripping down his forehead. Upon close inspection of his surroundings, he was in some sort of dungeon. The smell was dank and foul, the walls were covered with moss and aged old stains while the metal bars creating one of the walls and the door were covered with rust. In front of the bar door was the woman who fired the canister, standing with Faust in her hands and looking at the sword. The man in the green silicon armor appeared into his sight, looking a bit agitated. "Jesse, are you going to stand there looking at that sword all day?" He complained.
"This is a most impressive weapon. Compared to our guns, I bet he has no trouble killing zombies with this thing. Hell, it must weigh at least one hundred pounds!" She held the sword in her hands, struggling to raise it above her head. "Imagine how much damage I would do with a weapon like this!"
"Now there's a scary though." The man snickered.
"Hey!" The woman slugged him in the arm after dropping Faust to the ground.
The man, who's name had just been revealed as Dyne, turned around and looked at Siegfried, "Looks like one of them is awake. Strange, you should be sleeping for at least another hour."
Jesse glanced at Siegfried and smiled a bit, "Seems like we got ourselves a looker."
Siegfried slowly stood up and stretched. He felt lighter now that most of his armor was removed, all that was left was the thigh guards attached to his belt and his boots. "I take it your name is Nightmare, correct?" Dyne asked.
"The name is Siegfried. Nightmare is a name I want to leave behind me."
"Well, Siegfried, tell me about yourself." Dyne questioned.
"Who I am is none of your concern." Siegfried said.
"Ah, but that is where you are wrong. You see, the elder and I are concerned about you. Never have we seen armor such as yours, so where you are from we simply don't know. For all we know, you could be some invading foreign country, much like the Black Army to the west. Or perhaps you are part of the Black Army? Which is it, my inhuman friend?" Dyne walked over to the cell bars and stared at Siegfried in the eyes, showing no sign of fear.
"You expect me to give you answers when I myself have many questions? Especially when you have done nothing to earn my trust? Ludicrous." Siegfried spat.
Dyne chuckled a bit, "You are in no condition to act tough. If you are found guilty of conspiracy, then you will be put to death. And I'll make sure I'm the one who pulls the trigger."
"Your threats are meaningless against one who has faced death many times." Said Siegfried.
"Is that so? Jesse, open the cell door." He ordered. She looked at him a bit confused. "That is an order soldier." Hesitantly, she complied with his command and unlocked the door and swung it open. Dyne, while withdrawing his pistol, stepped through the door and approached his German captive. He stopped a couple feet in front of the demon and raised his pistol up to the man's head, daring the man to make any sudden movements. Siegfried's arm changed into a claw, shredding the right part of the shirt. "You can transform all you want, it'll do no good."
Siegfried watched as Dyne slowly pulled the trigger, and at the last second, moved his head to the side to dodge the bullet. With the swiftness of a lion, he swatted the man's gun out of his hand and pounced on him, pinning him to the ground with his claw pointed at the man's throat while the man had unsheathed a dagger strapped to his waist and held it to Siegfried's throat. The two stared at each other for nearly five minutes, sweat dripping down their foreheads as they waited for the other to make a move.
"What's wrong? Too scared to move?" Dyne smirked.
"You foolish human." Siegfried let out a low growl, "I fear no man." Lightning started to surround his claw.
"I have you at knife point. You may kill me, but you'll die as well."
Siegfried let out a small laugh, "Death doesn't scare me. But how about you? The thought of an eternal sleep, the thought of losing everything you had."
"That may be, but I place others above myself. If my death ensured their safety, then I'll gladly accept it any time." Said Dyne.
The two made eye contact, staring at each other for what seemed like eternity but in reality was on a few seconds. "That's enough!" A elderly man's voice was heard from outside the cell. Both men quickly turned their head to see an elderly man in a wheel chair.
Dyne quickly sheathed his knife and snapped to attention, "Sir!"
"Dyne, you fool, what do you think you are doing with this demon?" The elder questioned. "Isn't it obvious now that he doesn't mean us any harm?"
"But elder, surely this man means us harm. He doesn't cooperate or anything. Besides, him and his companion are clearly from some other country. They could be spies sent here to see how difficult it would be to invade!"
"I'm aware of that, but because he chose not to cooperate makes me trust him more. It's clear that he could care less about being our ally, so any information about us is of no concern to him. And if you were watching closely, you'd notice that he could've killed you already. To be able to kill a shadowstalker must be a force to reckon with." The elder smiled as Siegfried walked over to the cell door ripped the door off with little trouble. He then dropped it and stepped out.
"Who are you?" Siegfried questioned the elderly man.
"The name is Kyle Raynor, founder of this base. But you will call me elder." The old man smiled at Siegfried, "That is, if you want me to refer to you as Siegfried."
Siegfried said nothing, but his silence told the elder that he did agree with the deal. "Walk this way with me please." The elder asked as Jesse grabbed the elder's wheelchair's handles and started to push him as Siegfried walked by his side. "This journal of yours is interesting. I've never heard of these countries."
"The planet I live on is called Earth." Siegfried said as they turned down another hallway. It was dimly lit, much like the dungeon he was in, but the fact that it was lit by glowing glass bulbs was what really bothered him. Then he remembered what Soul Edge taught him while he was under its control. Taught him a bit about the mysterious world it was from, a more medieval world similar to his own with much more magic. Or to be more to the truth, he saw the memories that Soul Edge had in his own mind. Memories that were now locked inside his mind. Some were clouded in mystery, others were as clear as day.
"This sword, Soul Edge, that is the reason why you are here, correct?" The elder looked at Siegfried already knowing the answer. "A sword of great evil, as you put it, must be destroyed. Much like your world, our world is plagued by a great evil as well. Conner Sekai, a man who mysteriously appeared about six years ago. He brought nothing but death upon the lands. Rumor has it that he has the infamous Nevarious Crystal that was thought to have disappeared over a thousand years ago."
"What does this have to do with me?" Siegfried asked as the elder stopped.
"I want you to help us fight against Conner and the Nevarious Crystal. Over half of the planet is under his control, and I fear that as each day pass, his crystal grows in power and will soon engulf the whole planet in its malice."
"So you want me to chase Conner and Raphael at the same time? I'm not a man to go to far away from his trail to help others. Putting my quest on hold for even a day may ensure my failure. All my life I have been a failure. Failed my father, my mother, and every single person slain by that sword. This time, I'm going to succeed. I have to, it's the only way I can ever find peace." Siegfried said as the elder looked down at the book.
"To carry a burden as the one you carry, it must be so hard. So I won't try to talk you into helping us anymore. I'll let you decide for yourself if it is worth pursuing Conner. Sixty miles north of here across the border in the town of Krena is the Grand Church of Siergu. They have a library filled with information about discovered magical weapons and armor. And if Soul Edge is indeed from this planet, any information regarding it will be there. While you're there, look up some information about the Nevarious Crystal. You might want to know what you're up against if you ever meet Conner again." The elder said as he held the book up in his fragile hand.
"No you keep it. And thank you elder." Siegfried said.
"If you'll come with me, I'll give you a tour of our base and see if we can find your equipment."
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Siegfried sat on the hard soiled ground and leaned back against Faust, which was stabbed into the ground, and opened a book in his hands. The books was loaned to him by the elder, and strangely enough, it was written in English, or a similar version of it for the words were a bit different than the words he'd find in the books from England. The information it provided was indeed interesting. Electricity, genetics, the way the weather works, the stages of an embryo. Each of these subjects were completely alien to him. As he read the book, he absorbed the information into his mind. Lightning was electricity, and the fact that electricity was vital to most animal's, including human's, body and its nerve system was very amusing. To think on how something as destructive as lightning could be so vital to life.
"Hey there handsome! What are you reading?" Jesse asked as she walked up to him and sat beside him. "A book on science? I figured you'd be interested in a book on guns and explosive."
Siegfried glanced at her coldly, hinting that he didn't want her company. She looked at him and smiled as he went back to his book and ignored her presence. "You know," She started her second attempt to have a conversation with him, "we do have cafeteria here. Would you like to get something to eat with me? Because I'm starting to get hungry."
"No." He answered in a monotone voice.
"Well, ok. Since you're not hungry, I'm going now." She stood up and started to walk away. He looked up to catch her glimpsing at him. She quickly turned her head around in embarrassment. After a few tries, he managed to turn the page again as his gauntlet made it hard to turn them. Then he started to read the first paragraph. Thump. He looked to his side to see Cassandra sitting beside him. Her sword was strapped to her side and her shield on her back, obviously they had no attention of detaining her any longer…damn.
"The gods must really hate me. First I get stuck in some strange world, then I get chased by zombies and black ghosts, and now I'm stuck in some underground place for who knows how long!" She complained as she hugged her knees close to her chest.
"Could be worse." He stopped reading and looked at her.
"How?" She asked a bit confused.
With a smirk he said, "You could be in my shoes."
"How could that be any worse? You're used to this stuff."
"Maybe, but at least you don't have to hear you bitch all the time." Whack! She had pulled her shield off her back and slammed it across his head.
He rubbed his head a bit, "Damn violent woman. Seek help!"
"So what are you reading?" She asked, pretending like nothing had happened.
"A book." He snapped at her.
"I could've told you that. What kind of book?" She looked at the pictures and then the words in it. "What language is this in?"
"You speak English yet you can't read it?" He let out a sigh. "You are pathetic."
"Well I'm sorry, but Rothion only taught me the oral part of the language."
"Let me make this clear, I can't stand you. The only reason why I'm even willing to teach you how to read English is because there is nothing else to do to pass time. Now listen well, because I'm only going to teach you this one. There are twenty-six letters in the English alphabet. The first letter is A…"
TBC
