Author's note: Nothing new, as always, thanks for waiting!

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"Hey, pretty boy! Get your ass up already!"

Malice spoke those words with a rather annoyed glare, tapping one of his feet. Patroklos would finally awaken, opening his eyes and seeing that he was alone.

His eyes widened in surprise when he took notice of the brown-haired man. "Malice! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Your girlfriends are all outside making big plans, so I suggest you rendezvous with them." Malice said, crossing his arms.

Rubbing his eyes whilst stifling a yawn, Patroklos said, "I guess I should see them, soon. By the way, isn't Greed supposed to be with you?"

"Nope, he's just gobbling down some breakfast at the tavern."

"I see. I think you should leave as I'm preparing myself to get dressed." the Greek youth said.

"Whatevers..." Malice said as he exited the room, closing the door behind him.

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Once he was fully clothed, Patroklos left his room to go look for Marie and the others. Lucky for him, they were almost finished having breakfast together.

"Oh, good morning, Marie." he said with a small smile.

"Good morning!" was her excited greeting.

"Can I eat with the five of you?"

"We're nearly finished eating, but don't worry; the servants didn't just make bread for us, but for you, too." Helen replied.

"Thanks. After I'm done chowing down, I need to go check up on Pyrrha." he said. "Also, how do you feel about the six of us returning to Greece?"

His question prompted Isuzu to raise and eyebrow, who asked, "Really? For more sight-seeing?"

"No, I want to spend a couple of days or so with Aunt Cassandra. Just to see if I have the same amount of potential Marie has; after all, we're the successors to Soul Calibur." he replied.

Marie beamed at his response, before Patroklos finally began eating.

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After breakfast, he visited the Schwarzwind's castle, Patroklos had planned to visit Pyrrha. Expecting Siegfried, he instead came across Tristy.

"Tristy," he said, "May I drop by to see my sister? I hope she's doing alright."

"Of course. She seems to be a bit perplexed about one of her arms, though. Maybe you can talk to her about it?"

"Sure."

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Pyrrha had just awoken, and had asked for some soup for breakfast. When the doctors brought it to her, she began to eat.

At the same time, Patroklos had entered the medical bay. "Pyrrha? Are you okay?"

Hearing him speak made her smile, and she replied, "Patroklos...it's good to see you again. And yes, I'm getting better...I hope."

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be traveling to Greece with the Mad Hearts Neo at my side." he said.

"Wait...you courted all five of them at once?" Pyrrha asked, eyes widening in surprise.

Patroklos chuckled with a faint smile, before replying, "Y-Yeah, I have."

"Don't be ashamed about that. I know they care for you deeply as much as you do towards them. Just...be careful, okay?"

"I will; don't worry."

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Several days later...

Having returned to his native country after taking temporary leave from Lasberg, Patroklos smiled. He heard Marie ask, "So you said you were gonna visit Cassandra, right?"

He looked over at her and the rest of the MHN before nodding. "Let's go find her."

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Cassandra had just come home after a rather busy day, and was preparing to have a bath. However, her plans were cut short when she heard a knock on the front door.

"Could you save the bath for later?" she asked one of the servants.

"Of course, madam."

She went to answer the door, and upon opening it, she was pleasantly surprised.

"Patroklos!" she exclaimed with a smile. "It's so good to see you again! How's life going?"

Patroklos smiled back, before replying, "I'm glad to visit you again as well, Aunt Cassandra. I've got good news and bad news, by the way. So can we talk in the courtyard?"

"Sure!" Cassandra said. "Oh, and uh...from the looks of things, does it look like you've gotten yourself a harem?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she noticed all five of the Mad Hearts Neo accompanying him.

The Greek youth couldn't help but blush, but replied with a smile, "Uh, yes, I have. Besides, it was a decision I made to Athena. Aren't you surprised?"

"Yeah, I am, actually. But if you got multiple lovers, it's okay." she said.

"Pyrrha gave me some similar advice, too."

As he entered the house, Patroklos was already poised to go to the courtyard to speak to his aunt.

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"Nightmare chose her?!"

Cassandra bolted from her chair, eyes widening in shock.

"Yes...and to make matters worse, she was assigned Soul Edge as prophecized. Pyrrha was also assigned to work for Nightmare, and was also told to find and kill Marie and I, the holders of Soul Calibur, and also the Fated Hero and Heroine."

Taking a deep breath, the Greek woman asked, "Y-You didn't fight her, did you?"

Patroklos replied, "Marie and I fought her, but in the end, Pyrrha lost fair and square. Luckily, we didn't kill her. Instead, we brought her back to Schwarzwind's castle, where she would be tended to by Liz and the doctors."

Cassandra breathed a sigh, and exclaimed, "Oh, thank the gods!"

"But, as she told me, she also has a bullseye on her back, in a figurative sense. In other words, Nightmare could track her down and kill her for her failure." Patroklos added.

"Then I'm glad you've still got her on your side. Otherwise, things would've been even worse for Pyrrha, my poor niece." she said, giving him a hug out of relief.

He hugged her back, before eventually pulling away. "So I came here to train for a bit, and with you as my teacher." he added.

"Oh, really?" Cassandra asked, before her relieved smile grew bigger. "I'd be honored! Besides, it's been a while since I last kicked ass!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, don't forget us!" Lydia told her with a grin.

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After escorting him to her home's training room, Cassandra has already took out her sword as well as her shield. "So, you ready?" she asked as she turned to see him.

"Yes, but hold on." Patroklos replied, before taking out Soul Calibur from its sheath.

This was enough to take the woman by surprise, and exclaimed, "So it IS true! You're one of the holders of Soul Calibur's newest incarnation!" before asking, "Didn't it come with a shield?"

"It did, but Ares destroyed it one not-so-uneventful day."

"I wonder why?" she inquired.

"Well, Athena insisted that she and Ares mentor me and Pyrrha, but Ares wasn't all that happy about it, so in a rage, he broke it." Patroklos told her.

"Couldn't you bring it to a blacksmith?"

"No, I'm far better off with only the sword." he replied.

"A-ha, I see..."

Once she walked to the center of the room, he followed her lead. It didn't take long for her to charge, exclaiming, "Here I come!" before her blade cut through his armor.

As he took the first hit, Patroklos had to put some effort into his training. After a couple of hits from her, he retaliated with several swings of his sword.

Cassandra smirked, before dodging an incoming attack. However, she was already caught offguard by his combo.

Ready to strike back, she was close to pulling it off. To her surprise, since he didn't have a shield, Patroklos parried her attack with Soul Calibur.

"Way to improvise." she said.

"Thanks."

He finally slashed at her several more times, nearly breaking her armor. Around the same time, Marie watched, eyes full of curiosity.

However, his string of moves were cut short when Cassandra blocked with her shield. She would then figuratively slice through him a few times, before attempting to jump onto his head with her posterior.

Luckily, Patroklos was more than happy to evade her, before taking her by surprise with his Critical Edge. When he was finished, he sheathed his sword and looked back to see Cassandra panting and grinning at the same time.

"Well, damn. You sure did learn an awful lot back in Germany!" she exclaimed.

He smiled, before helping her up. "Thank you, Aunt Cassandra." he told her.

"I suggest you take a load off for the rest of the day; what do you think?"

"Sounds pretty good."

"But what about us? Y'know, me and the other Mad Hearts Neo girls?" Isuzu asked.

Cassandra briefly rubbed the back of her neck, before replying, "Well, since it's pretty late out, having all five of you train with me is a tall order. How about tomorrow?"

"Sure." Elizabeth replied with a nod.

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Once all five retreated to the villa that they once resided in, Patroklos chose to retire for the night. But first, he had to bathe, considering he needed to rest his muscles after his spar with Cassandra.

As he began to let his mind drift, the Greek man was fairly unaware of the sound of splashing water. In fact, it just so happened to be Helen and Isuzu, as both were sinking their legs into the bath.

"Have you remembered the time that we bathed with Leixia and Natsu?" the samurai asked.

"Yes. Not to mention we had ourselves a splash fight, too."

Taking notice of their voices, he opened his eyes. He was surprised to see that both women were in the underwear, and had their legs somewhat submerged.

"Helen? Isuzu? What're you guys doing here?" he asked.

Isuzu instantly recognized his voice, and replied with a smile, "Oh, Helen and I are just hanging out."

"You know, I actually do remember how Xiba wanted me to take a look at both of you, and even Natsu and Leixia. I told Marie about that not so long ago."

"Oh, really? I bet he was quite the pervert." she said, her smile turning into a grin.

Patroklos chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck, unaware of the fact that Helen was sporting a noticeable flush. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked.

"Y-Yes. It has been a bit of a while since I saw you like this." Helen managed to reply.

"And I can tell you like what you're seeing."

The Russian girl's blush began to intensify, while Isuzu stood up and removed her fundoshi. "Is that so?" she asked, swimming over to him.

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Meanwhile...

Cassandra grinned as she had heard a few of the noises that her nephew had made with both MHN members.

He sure is lucky!

But she did have some work to do, as she would soon spar with the Mad Hearts Neo so that all six would be ready for the final battle.

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Chapter 18 coming soon! Sorry to be very brief with such a statement.

With love for my fans,

Chrissy