Cassandra could hardly believe what had happened. She had travelled so far to ease Sophitia's burden, and now one of her children was dead. Before the silence could become completely overbearing, Cassandra found herself asking, "How did this happen?"

"I don't know", Rothion replied. "Pyrrha and Patroklos were playing together outside, when suddenly… she fell unconscious. Her heart simply stopped beating. There was nothing we could do." He erupts into further tears. "How is that possible? How does a child's heart just stop beating?"

Sophitia shuddered. "I never got to see Pyrrha during her last moments", Sophitia said. "I thought I was protecting my children, but clearly I was wrong. I'm a terrible mother."

"Don't ever say that", Rothion said. "There was no way you could have known that this would happened – this isn't your fault."

"Yes it is. It is my fault, I know it! I should have been there for her! Why wasn't I there for her?" Sophitia's forcefulness shocks Patroklos, and he starts to cry. "You see?" Sophitia said. "I'm a terrible mother. I can't even comfort the child I still have" She hugs Patroklos again. "I should have been there for her…"

"Now darling…"

"I'm sorry, Rothion". Sophitia got up suddenly. "I can't stay here. I just… I just can't"

Cassandra watched Sophitia run out of the house. "Should I go after her?" Cassandra asked.

"No. We should leave her alone for a while. I think we all need some time to reflect upon this terrible turn of events."

As he leaves the room with Patroklos, Rothion said, "If it helps, Pyrrha didn't suffer in any way when she died. Her final moments were moments of innocence and joy." He tries desperately to put a smile on his face, but the smile cracks almost immediately. He turns away. Soon enough, Cassandra is left alone in their house.

She decides to visit the children's bedroom. She looks at the two matching oak beds, one of which would never be slept in again, with their matching blankets and matching wooden dolls tucked behind the pillows, both dressed in scuffed pieces of fabric. She soon realised that she could not bear to be in the room any longer, and quickly shuffled out.

Cassandra had been alone in the house for over half an hour, and she felt that she should try and find Sophitia. Her instincts immediately propelled her to the Eurydice Shrine, where Sophitia had often worshipped during her formative years. These instincts proved to be correct, because Cassandra immediately saw her kneeling at the large marble steps, holding her hands in prayer.

"I had a feeling I'd find you here"

Sophitia turned around. "Cassandra..." Her voice drifted off once again.

"It's quite inspiring that you can still find faith in times such as these", Cassandra said. "I lost my faith in the 'powers that be' a long time ago"

"Why did you come here?"

"Because you're my sister, and I want to help you, that's why!"

"I don't think you can help me. In fact, I'm not sure if anyone can. I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself". Suddenly, Sophitia's eyes became more alert, and focused upon Cassandra. "When you came home, you told me that you had good news. What was it?"

"Er, now probably isn't the best time."

"Please. I want to know. It really can't get any worse than this – I need some cheering up."

"Well, OK", Cassandra relented. "I've managed to destroy the two legendary swords, Soul Edge and Soul Calibur"

Sophitia's eyes widened, and a look of disbelief spread across her face. "You… destroyed Soul Edge?"

"Yes. I felt that you shouldn't have that bur-"

Cassandra stops suddenly when she sees Sophitia's countenance. Sophitia finds herself quivering with rage. Her fists are clenched, her face has morphed from disbelief into passionate fury, and even her eyes seem to twinkle with anger. Suddenly, she punches Cassandra in the face. "You stupid bitch! Do you realise what you've done?"

Cassandra is caught in a stupor, and does not respond.

"You've killed my daughter!"

"What? What do you mean?"

"My daughter depended upon Soul Edge to live. Her soul and the soul of that sword had become entwined, and when you destroyed it, you destroyed my child in the process!"

Cassandra could not believe it. "No… no, you must be mistaken, surely?"

"Leave"

"I'm sorry?"

"I said leave. I don't want to see your face ever again!"

Cassandra began to cry, and as she ran out of the temple she covered her face and cried further. She could not believe that this was really happening. "Surely", she thought,"this must be a horrible dream, and I'll wake up at any moment and we'll all be happy again. Together." But unfortunately, Cassandra soon had to accept that she was not in a dream – she was wide awake and trapped in the real world. Pyrrha was dead, and Sophitia was convinced that she was to blame.

Within days, news of Cassandra's supposed murder of Pyrrha had spread throughout Athens, and she became reviled by everyone she had previously known and trusted. She could not plead that she had not killed the young girl, because in truth she had, by destroying Soul Edge, but the rumours that spread about her became increasingly sinister. Some suggested that she had stabbed the poor girl in the heart while she was asleep, whilst others said that she had slipped poison into her food, and some even suggested that she had drowned her in the lake. Rothion, of course, knew these rumours to be entirely false, but he was so choked with grief that he struggled to speak, let alone deny these allegations. It also became known that Cassandra had destroyed Soul Calibur, and those who were unaware of its sinister nature persecuted Cassandra further for annihilating the sword that was meant to bring everlasting peace to the world.

Immediately after Pyrrha's funeral, which Cassandra had not been allowed to attend, the people of Athens decided that justice must be served. Cassandra was stripped of all her belongings except for the clothes on her back, and she was ordered to leave Athens and never come back. If she did return, the punishment would be death. As she walked away from the city for the final time, she looked at Sophitia, "Please. You can't do this."

Sophitia's face was grave. "Cassandra, even if I wanted to forgive you for what you've done, I wouldn't be able to. You killed my child."

"Please. I didn't mean to kill her. I didn't know about her connection with Soul Edge. You can't do this to me!"

Sophitia lowered her voice to practically a whisper. "Even if no one else knows it for sure, I do. You killed her. And I can never look at you in the same way because of it"

Without another word, Cassandra walked away from the angry crowd, and away from Athens, leaving behind her home and her former life. She could hardly believe it. In less than a week, Cassandra's life had changed irrevocably, and the future looked to be ruled by uncertainty and danger. She had no idea where she would go, or what she would do, or how she was going to do it. She longed for the simple days of being a baker's daughter, which she knew she could never return to. She tried to cry, but found that she had run out of tears.

For weeks, Cassandra wandered aimlessly through the vast countryside, constantly struggling to find enough sustenance to stay alive, all whilst being completely and utterly alone. Even when kindly people offered her shelter, she was still alone within her mind – everyone that had ever mattered to her had abandoned her. Most of them probably thought that she was dead by now. One night, when she was about to settle down under a nearby tree to rest, she heard a snarling noise in the distance.

"What was that?"

She turned and saw a shadowed, hunched figure in the distance. Against her better judgment, she went to see who it was. She walked towards the creature, and when it came into view, she was repulsed by what she saw. The creature that she was looking at was not human – it was an overgrown reptile, with flaky, scaly green skin and sharp, oversized teeth. Its bulging eyes stared into the distance. Cassandra was appalled.

"What are you?"

The reptile turned its attention towards Cassandra, and she saw that it was holding an axe and a shield in its hands. Cassandra made a movement to grab her own weapons, then realised in horror that she had none – she had been stripped of all her possessions when she was sent away from Athens. Thus, Cassandra now found herself completely at the mercy of this terrible creature, which continued to move towards her. She remained frozen to the spot in fear.