A Dulled Edge
"Speech"/ "Thoughts"
"Soul Edge/Nightmare Speech"/ "Thoughts"
AN: I've been wanting to write this story since day one of my writing career, this idea has gone through a ridiculous amount of changes- be it plotlines, character motivations, pairing, setting- but I finally got it figured out. This latest iteration is far different from the others, only coming to me recently but out of all of them, it's the most unique and I hope you guys find enjoyable as well. Posting this in the non-crossover section so its more visible.
Chapter 1: A Forgotten Blade
- Drip… Drip…
Specks of water fell from cracks in the ceiling of an underground vault, gently hitting the only item held within. Sticking out of the bare earth, wrapped in multiple heavy chains, excessively covered with inscriptions impossible to decipher, stood a large sword. Its silvery blade's luster was hidden by the darkness, along with its unusual rock-like guard and grip . In the center of the X-shaped guard sat a closed organic eye, adorning the weapon like how a jewel would.
- Drip… Drip…
Slowly, the eye opened to reveal a pupil with the tiniest glow – a far cry from the brilliant blaze it once had. "How long… will this silence last?"
This blade, a once feared and highly sought-after weapon, had been brought to the lowest he'd ever been. Having been trapped in this grave for an innumerable amount of years, these chains with alien symbols drained him of his last bits of corruption, the wicked soul within rendered inactive long ago.
"How long am I to remain discarded? Unused?"
This sword, once the antagonist of a tale of souls and swords, had been lost for… thousands? Tens of thousands? The concept of time had been forgotten, having left the sword while he sat in silence. The sword remembered his past, those far away moments being the only reprieve from the damning silence.
"All I can do is remember…"
Once, about an eternity ago, the chained sword had been forged by a nameless blacksmith – nothing extraordinary about him. Then came the centuries of war… constantly shedding and bathing in the blood of his wielder's foes had dyed the sword scarlet and gave birth to an evil soul, later called 'Inferno'. As for the sword, he received the name 'Soul Edge', given to him by a king who united the world using the living weapon as his main armament. It was during this time Soul Edge earned the title of "Ultimate Sword".
"Algol… your campaign contained the best battles I ever had… Oh, how I long for combat…"
Corrupting one of the King's sons, Soul Edge lost the ensuing battle with Algol and had been lost to world, with the King creating Soul Edge's mortal enemy, Soul Calibur, by purifying fragments of Soul Edge, sacrificing his life in the process.
From then on, both blades left various marks on history. Soul Edge often being used by rulers to expand their dominion or obliterating their enemies, whereas Soul Calibur preferred to lend her power to the world's heroes, the two swords often at odds. The sword sighed as their various battles flashed through his mind.
In the early years of his isolation, these memories filled him rage as he sent out telepathic pulses in attempt to draw whatever fool he could near to him… but none came.
"Yes… after my last battle with Calibur, I managed to teleport before Siegfried could shatter me again."
Soul Edge had neither time nor focus to pick an area to flee, as the original Nightmare approached with Soul Calibur to impale the crystal sword through Edge's eye. Leaving his destination up to chance, the formerly Ultimate Sword warped itself to an uninhabited island. Weakened and unable to feed, Soul Edge had no choice but to stay put.
This was when the isolation began – the lack of viable souls to feed on, combined with the damage sustained earlier, prevented Soul Edge from leaving this place.
The eye shut, the all-encompassing silence broken only by a few drops of water percolating through the ceiling. Once more, Soul Edge lost himself in the past, unable to do anything else.
Actually, there was one moment when Soul Edge had contact with humans on this island –that very same day the accursed chains were attached. After a week, the humans with red spirals on the back of their clothing locked him in this vault.
Only one of these people ever spoke to him. "I don't know what you are, but the world will be better without you."
The symbols on the chains had eaten at the source of his evil till Inferno was rendered comatose, while Soul Edge himself reverted to his current appearance. Now, without the Evil Seed clouding his thoughts, without the fiery hate which once consumed him, Soul Edge was finally able to think rationally.
And he hated every second of it. Looking back, Soul Edge could only ask what was the point? Devour everyone's soul… and then what?
Slowly regress in strength?
Die of boredom?
Becoming whole again was the only goal which made sense, but every other thing meant nothing to him. He NEEDED humanity to thrive in order for himself to continue having a power supply.
No humans meant no souls.
"Not that it matters…" Soul Edge stated absentmindedly with a deep sigh.
This was his penance, wasn't it? To be left alone for all eternity for his crimes against life? No longer wishing to think on the matter, the forgotten sword shut his eye, hoping to return to a state of unconsciousness.
"Finally! A vault that hasn't been opened!"
The eye snapped open at the voice. Soul Edge remained silent in his disbelief. Had he finally begun to go insane? Was his mind playing tricks on him?
He heard the voice again, muffled from the door, but he could understand the words.
"OK, Grandpa told me to rub a bit of my blood on the seal… There!"
On the last word, Soul Edge heard a mechanical sound as whatever sealed his prison was released.
'I… I never thought I'd hear those doors open…' The sword thought with rapidly growing anticipation as a young male walked in, the light of a lantern illuminated his features.
At the sight of blond hair and blue eyes, Soul Edge felt a sense of familiarity as he was reminded of his former wielder Siegfried, but this newcomer's facial features were more akin to Mitsurugi. A set of triple whisker-like scars marked his cheeks, resulting in a somewhat feral appearance. The rest of his body was covered in an obscene amount of orange, but Soul Edge could care less.
He could leave…
He could finally leave and…
And what?
Soul Edge's initial explosion of hope froze at the self-imposed question. Despite his desire for combat, Soul Edge hadn't spared an inkling of a thought to any particular endgame. As the light from the human's lantern illuminated links of chain, Soul Edge decided ensuring his release took precedence.
The human drew closer to his binds, crouching to examine the glowing seals lining every inch of metal. A low whistle came from him. "Talk about excess. Wonder what they're holding?"
Following the chain with the light from his lantern, it illuminated a silvery blade. Walking closer to the sword, the newcomer saw multiple chains tightly wound around the weapon, concentrated around the guard, just above where a hyper-realistic eye sat.
The small glow in eye's center drew the boy's attention as he crouched to get a better look. Admiring the craftsmanship, he wondered how long it would take someone to replicate an eyeball so perfectly.
Then it blinked.
"…"
- Drip... Drip…
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Soul Edge impatiently demanded. He wanted out. Out of this vault and these infernal chains!
"T-T-T-Talking, blinking sword!" The boy loudly exclaimed, falling back on his ass.
"Yes, I can speak," huffed Soul Edge in irritation. "Now, are you going-"
"Jackpot! You're one of those special swords, aren't you?! Like the Seven Swords of the Mist?!" The boy excitedly asked.
"I know not of the weapons you speak of, but I am FAR mightier than them. I am SOUL EDGE." The weapon declared his name, the small glow now brighter as he fixed his eye on the child before him.
"Never heard of ya'." Naruto stated innocently.
Soul Edge sighed. Given how long he had been isolated from the world, he wouldn't be surprised if the ruling powers had buried his existence.
Speaking of ruling powers… "Tell me child, how are the affairs of the Holy Roman Empire?"
"….?"
"What's your name?" Soul Edge inquired, believing he may be in a land unknown to the H.R.E.
"Naruto Uzumaki."
"Ah, so I am in Japan."
"What's a 'Japan'?"
Naruto saw the eye widen in disbelief, mixed with suspicion.
"…China?"
When Soul Edge saw his head shake negatively, he guessed with a major civilization of his original world. Then, exasperated, he asked the boy regarding the main powers the latter knew of.
"The five Elemental Nations, with the Land of Fire being the most influential." Naruto answered, confused by the names spoken by the weapon. How old was this thing? His clan forged this thing, right?
"Has it truly been so long that the entire world order has changed?"Soul Edge asked aloud to himself. No, it was too soon to assume – he needed more information. "How far back does the history of your village go?"
"A few hundred years, but overall, I think we started writing history down like a thousand years ago," Naruto answered with uncertainty, smiling sheepishly while a hand went to the back of his head. "Sorry, I didn't really pay attention in class."
Naruto watched as the eye went slowly moved around, the upper lid squinting while he mulled over Naruto's words. "Perhaps an event happened which created those multiple nations, and your people are merely ignorant of the world around you," Soul Edge thought aloud. It was plausible Japan could've fallen apart, with the resulting fragments isolating themselves from the world.
"What are you?" Naruto saw the eye turn to him. He drew closer to the weapon and grasped a section of chain. "These are purification seals meant to filter and reverse corruption." He let go of the chain, crossing his arms. "What did you do for this many to be necessary?"
A sound Naruto supposed was a sigh came from Soul Edge, a somewhat sullen expression showing. "I suppose if I refuse to answer, you'll leave?"
Naruto nodded at the accurate assumption, causing another sigh to come from the weapon. Unsure when or if another opportunity for freedom would arise, Soul Edge agreed to the boy's terms.
"Very well, but get comfortable – this is a long tale."
Over the course of five hours, Soul Edge told Naruto everything – from his blood-stained origins, to the final battle with Soul Calibur at Ostrheinsburg Castle, which resulted in his solitude and confinement. Despite sparing the more gruesome details, Soul Edge made no attempt to hide the depravity of his past from his prospective wielder. The living weapon had to give the child credit in staying for the entire story – he expected him to leave multiple times throughout.
With the tale finished, both human and sword entered a dense silence with Naruto's eyes focused on Soul Edge, carefully contemplating his next words. Having been silent over the course of the weapons blood-soaked existence, his response would decide whether or not Soul Edge would leave his prison.
"From how you explained things…" Naruto began as he stood up from a sitting position. "It sounds like you were screwed up from the beginning."
"You are referring to the birth of my soul through bloodshed and war, correct?"
Naruto simply nodded. "According to you, that same soul is dead-"
"Inactive," Soul Edge corrected. "Without my spirit, I would return to being a regular sword."
"Either way, the seals did their job by purifying you from evil." With those words, Naruto went over to the sword and began to unbind him. The human spoke over the clinking chains noisily falling off the sword, "I think it's time for you to start over. You yourself said you don't care for world extinction anymore, right?"
"I just want to reclaim my title as the Ultimate Sword. How I get it doesn't matter," Soul Edge answered, the last chain laying on the ground.
A part of Soul Edge expected all the darkness to immediately flow back into him, yet he remained as he was. It seemed the boy's claim of purification was true.
Naruto stood across from the weapon. "Before I take you out, is there anything I should know? Anything about using you in particular?"
"Remember how I said souls are my fuel?" Naruto nodded. "I cannot turn off my ability to take them from my fallen foes." Soul Edge stated. "Avoid using me for the killing blow if you don't want to feed me."
"Is… feeding you necessary?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, but I suppose you already learned enough from my past to avoid gluttony." Seeing the boy nod, he continued,
"You should also know despite my current state of… cleanliness, the curse of malfestation may still affect you."
Naruto paused for a few moments, before nodding again. "Anything else?"
"When you grasp me in your hand, I will establish a blood bond between us. This will connect you and I at the deepest level, down to our souls."
Naruto nodded shakily, recalling this enabled Soul Edge to seize control of Siegfried in the night. "Anything else?"
Taking the sword's silence as a negative answer, Naruto went to grasp the handle, but stopped before he closed his hand around the rocky material. "This is a new life for you – no nightmare business, OK?"
"Shame, I've rather grown attached to my owner taking up the name and armor."
"…we'll talk more on that later."
Naruto closed his hand, feeling an odd – though not harmful – sensation coursing through his body.
Soul Edge released a pleased sigh as his new wielder yanked him from the earth. Finally… he was free. He could feel Naruto's surprisingly powerful soul through their connection, the immense energy inside new to him. Soul Edge decided to ask about this later – for now, he would simply relish his release. Naruto could feel giddiness from the weapon, his pleasure from finally leaving this place. However, Naruto wasn't leaving with just the sword, as he felt a little more insurance would be nice to have.
Grabbing two sections of chain, Naruto used one to secure Soul Edge to his body and wrapped another around the handle and pommel.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Soul Edge hissed indignantly.
"Just in case you or I start going stir-crazy, I think the chains will be helpful in warding off any corruption, don't you?"
Grumbling something with words Naruto couldn't understand, Soul Edge dropped the subject.
Leaving the vault, Naruto decided to quickly check the last vault before returning to the surface. "Let's hope this one has some money and jutsu scrolls!"
With that thought, he went to his destination, unknowing to fact that he had begun a new chapter in a story of souls and swords, to be eternally retold.
CUT! CHAPTER OVER!
AN: Short but I think it's fair enough start. I've never seen a story featuring a mellowed out Soul Edge but don't think Naruto's going to turn him into a do-gooder in here. While this a new start for the Spirit Sword, old habits die hard so expect Edge to learn to dial back a bit.
Other characters from Soul Blade/Calibur series will appear so if you have a favorite character be on the lookout for them and feel them to mention them in the reviews. I'm still a bit unsure about pairing, jumping between Tira, Ivy(please help on this), Setsuka, or someone from the Naruto-verse like Ten-ten or Haku(Female cause I can't see them as anything else) maybe Samui.
Feel free to ask questions in the reviews and remember your opinions matter to me!
Later! Greyblueflames burning out!