Partial Marshall, enters my home, Partial Marshall Uses my phone, Partial Marshall Raises my bill, Partial Marshall, The next man I kill.

Brutal right? I know, unnecessary, but it's small things like that I create to get into writing mode.

Anywho, here's the disclaimer. I don't own Soul Caliber or Legend of Zelda. So Nintendo and Namco, YOU CAN'T SUE!

Okay, here's another thing. I have a friend helping me out with writing now, kinda as a co-writer.

So there are some part's she'll be writing (It's almost obvious which ones) and I'll be writing some parts as well. This'll probably last for only this chapter but who knows? Because there are parts of it that I want to happen but can't write because it's stuff I don't normally write. Any ways, here it is!

Sweat was pouring down his brow as he held his sword ready. His eye's darted left and right as he peered into an onslaught of darkness. He knew he was being followed when he finally overcame his fear and spoke out into the darkness overcoming him.

"Who's there?"

Nothing for moments at a time.

"Who's there! I know your following me!"

Suddenly, a knight in dark purple armor appeared in front of him. But his right arm was far from human.

It was dark brown, like that of a tree, and eyes adorned it and in it's hand; held a gruesome fleshy sword with a single eye in the middle of it.

"I, Who you seek to destroy." Came a voice.

"What do you want?!" The man yelled in question.

"You." Came the same voice, as if out of no where.

"You'll never have me! We'll destroy you!"

"Pathetic hopes from an inferior being." Spoke the knight.

The knight raised the sword and brought it down fiercely. The man barely blocked it , deflecting the possible impalement to the side.

Dante… Come on. Wake up…..

The man looked up as if to see a person above him.

"I can't…"

Wake up!

"I'm trying.." The knight swung his sword around in a chopping motion in attempt to hack his victim in half.

Wake up!

"Here it comes…."

Dante shot up and threw his fist wildly, making contact with something that felt like a cheek bone.

"Ow! Asshole!" A familiar voice rang.

What?

Dante focused his eyes as he took in his surroundings.

He was in a guest room at the blacksmith's house. It was packed tight every night for the last three days that they stayed there because the entire group slept in it. The ladies all got the comfortable, warm bed whilst the guys all got the cold hard floor. He looked around again and saw that Maga was to his side on the ground, rubbing his jaw.

"Why did you hit me?" Maga asked painfully.

"I… I didn't mean to hit you.. I was.. Just dreaming.. that's all." Dante responded groggily.

It was just a dream… But it seemed so real…' Dante thought to himself.

"Well, listen. Everyone is already up and trying on that chain mail stuff that Rothion has. I'm going to go grab a bite to eat. You can come too if you want."

Who was that purple knight? And was that sword- the demonic sword we've been looking for? Was it talking to me?' Dante asked himself as a small shiver went down his spine.

"Are you even listening to me?" Maga asked.

Dante snapped back to reality and nodded sleepily.

"I need a drink." He said as he stood up.

"It's a little early for that isn't it?"Maga asked.

"Not alcohol, idiot. Water." Dante shot.

"You don't need to be a jerk."

Dante took in a deep breath to calm down a little.

"I know.. I'm just a little stressed. Look, just go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit."

"Okay." Maga said as he stood up. He turned around and briskly left the room, leaving Dante by himself.

Dante grabbed his sword and also left through the doorway and down the hall. The home was adorned with amazingly crafted shields, and several side wall pillars. Almost every ten feet, there was a potted plant of sorts atop a waist high pedestal. Childish giggling could be heard behind Dante. He turned around to see two small children sneakily following him. They quickly hid themselves behind a potted plant, though they were still very visible to Dante though. Dante smiled to himself.

"I can still see you two." He said aloud.

"Aww shoot." Said the eldest of the two as he stepped out from behind the potted plant, and the younger sibling slowly followed behind him.

"How did you know it was us Mr. Dante?" asked the older one.

"Well Patroklos, It wasn't easy." He mused, "I had to decipher a code in my head, and think really hard about who could be following me. At first I thought it was a monkey, but then I remembered that there are no monkeys in Athens!"

The children began giggling

"Then I thought that maybe a turkey was following me, but then I remembered that turkeys don't giggle like little children. So then I thought 'It must be the children of Rothion the blacksmith who is following me"

"Wow Mr. Dante, that's a lot of thinking!" blurted Pyrrha, the younger sibling.

"I know, and now my head hurts." He said, making a pouty face and rubbing his head.

The children began laughing at Dante's antics.

"Where is your father at?" He asked the children.

"He is in the back room with your friends. They are all trying on some funny clothes made of metal rings." Said Patroklos,

"Thank you very much Patroklos." He said.

Dante began walking in the opposite direction he was heading in, and now was going to the back room, where everyone was.

"I don't want to wear this…." Talim said. And she had good reason too.

She, Raine, and Mina were all trying on the black chainmail suits that were given to them.

Talim's suit was very large for her petite body. It's top half hung far below her waist, and it's sleeves extended far past her wrists. The bottom piece was so loose that it kept slipping down to her knees, lest she held onto it with her hands.

Mina's suit fit her snuggly, making her womanly curves more visible.

"If you don't want to wear it, then you don't have to." Raine said.

Raine's suit wasn't as snug as Mina's but it fit her well.

"Well, what would Rothion think if I turned down his gift?" Talim queried.

"He'll understand." Raine assured her.

Mina yawned loudly.

"I'm bored, what do you think we should do today?" She asked.

"I don't know, we've already seen the sights, we've been to some nice restaurants. There's not very much more to see." Raine said.

"Why not go see the Temple of Hephaestus?" Talim asked.

"You know, that's not a bad idea." Mina said.

"Then it's settled, we'll go see the Temple today." Raine said with a slight nod.

Then there was a knocking at the door.

"Are you ladies done in there?" asked Link.

"Almost!" Raine said loudly, then she turned to Talim.

"Let's get this chain mail off of you." She said.

Raine and Mina helped Talim take her suit off, leaving Talim almost completely naked. Had it not been for her undergarments, she would have been. Talim started to glow red with embarrassment and grabbed her cloths quickly and hid behind them. Raine and Mina laughed a little.

"It's not funny!" Talim said heatedly.

"Talim, we're all women here, you shouldn't be embarrassed about us seeing you in your underwear." Raine said.

"But it's just… I look like a washboard, you two look so curvy." Talim sheepishly explained as she put her clothing on.

Mina and Raine looked at each other as if they we're debating about what to say next.

"Well, uhh.. You will get a physique like ours some day."Mina assured Talim.

Neither Raine nor Mina has ever had to have a talk like this to someone.

They've never had to explain to anyone about growth and other bodily functions.

It was an awkward conversation, even if it lasted for a few moments.

"Hey, Talim." Raine finally began, " What do you know about your uhmm.. well.. womanly functions."

"What do you mean?" Talim asked.

"Uhm.. you know.. puberty."

"What's that?"

"Well," Mina began, in an attempt to help Raine out, "It's when and young lady like you turns into a woman."

"You mean when I get taller and grow older?"

"Well, kinda, but the whole process of it." Raine said.

"Not really. I never really had someone tell me about it…" Talim said.

"Well… Mina and I will explain to you about it later."

"Okay." Talim said.

Mina shot a look at Raine, the kind of look that says 'What do you mean Mina and I?'.

Raine gave her a look back as if to answer the question.

"Hey Rothion, got any of that chain mail stuff for Me and Dante?" Maga asked Rothion.

"Sadly, no. This is all I can spare for free. I do have a family to take care of after all." Rothion replied.

Maga and Rothion were in the back room next to his home furnace where he melts metal and makes his weapons and armor.

"Let me ask you something Maga. It's about yours and Dante's swords. They look ancient. As if they came from an old forgotten place."

"Well, we got them from our village, as a 'remember our fallen' kind of gift. Supposedly, they were taken from a fallen bandit during a raid on our village long ago by some group that called them selves the Black Wind." He began, "This particular bandit was carrying around these swords for their ruthless leader. A Young blonde headed boy. He seemed far too young to even be in a group such as this, but sure enough, he showed why he was considered their leader. A lot of people died that day, my parents died that day, but in the end, our village succeeded in driving away the bandits. The bandit's managed to take much of our valuables and destroyed several buildings."

"The black wind… My wife had spoken of them before. They were indeed led by a young blonde headed man. He had long since stopped leading the group and they both searched for Soul Edge together, in order to destroy it. She had once considered him her friend. He disappeared and was never seen again. This was before she and I were married... You'd have to ask her to learn more about it..." Rothion said.

"Where is she now?"

"She left a few months ago to finish what she started with Soul Edge. She said she was heading to Japan to search for an old friend there, one who had helped her before in her travels."

"I see. Do you think perhaps she is heading for Ostriensburgh now?" Maga asked thoughtfully.

"There's that possibility." Rothion replied.

"Now about your sword," Rothion said, in attempt to change the subject, "I Just finished it last night."

"And that reminds me," Rothion added, "Your Brother's sword is also finished. You should take it to him."

"Yeah, I guess I should. Where do you have them?"

"They're both wrapped in cloth over there." Rothion said, pointing to a corner of the room.

Although there were a lot of weapons wrapped in cloth over in the corner, It was not hard to spot which blade was His and Dante's. Maga grabbed what he thought was his sword and unwrapped the cloth from it.

Maga's eye's widened in awe at what he saw.

The first he saw was the hilt of his newly acquired weapon. The handle was at least two hands and a half long and wonderfully fitted with a wooded grip wrapped in leather strapping. Maga's hands slowly curled around it as he lifted his sword slowly, inspecting its every aspect.

The guard was an inch thick, and the entire blade half was as wide as his forearm is long. And at the end, it came back as an arrow head would and formed a sharp edged point.

Maga took the clothed blade and walked out the door with it, in search of his brother.

Dante was strolling down the hall, almost reaching the doorway, when Maga walked out with something covered in cloth.

"Hey Dante, Here's your new sword." He said, holding out the clothed item.

Dante nodded a thanks to Maga and grabbed the sword from his hands. Dante proceeded to take the cloth from the blade, slowly taking in the details of his new extension of his body.

The hilt was finely crafted hard steel, covered securely with a wood handle. The guard extended out and up a little ways towards the tip of the blade. The blade itself began at about two and a half hands wide and slowly regressed into a fine point, coming to an overall length that was almost as tall as Dante himself.

Dante held it out with an outstretched arm to test the weight of the sword, and to his surprise, it was amazingly light. Heavy to most standards, but still light to his standards.

"I can't wait to use it." Dante said in anticipation.

"Who's to say you can't?" Maga said with a grin.

"Is that a challenge little brother?" Dante asked cockily.

"And what if it is?"

"Then I accept your challenge. We'll meet in the plaza."

"The plaza?"

"Why not put a show on for some people? We could make some money on the side."

"You know," Came a voice from behind Dante, "There is a contest today. The arena is at the foot of the Temple of Hephaestus."

Dante spun around to see Link standing right behind him.

"What type of contest?" Dante asked.

"A fighting contest, the winner gets a pretty hefty sum of money."

"And how do you know this?"

Link pulled out a scroll from his shirt pocket and held up to Dante's face.

It read,

Feel up to a test of might? Welcome then, young warrior, to your destiny of showing your strength.

Enter yourself in a contest, and battle your way to the top. Become recognized by all as one of the Mightiest warriors of all of Greece!

Registry and Arena at foot of Temple of Hephaestus of Athens.

An amazing sum of money will be rewarded to the winner of the contest.

"I'll take that action." Dante said

"What?" Maga asked.

"Want to see who is better at fighting Maga?"

"Between who?"

"You, Link, and I."

"Wait what?" Link said completely clueless to what Dante was suggesting.

"You're coming with us." Dante said to link.

Link opened his mouth, ready to argue, but with his time with Dante, he's found that there is no arguing with him.

"Okay then Dante, I'll come along." Link said with a smile.

Both turned to Maga, waiting for his answer.

"Alright, But what are the Entrance fees?" Maga asked.

"Link will cover us." Dante said as he patted Link on the back.

"I guess I'll have to throw in some rupees. Apparently people fall head over heels over them." Link said.

"Then it's settled, we'll all enter the contest. We should head there now so we can sign up before the roster gets full." Dante said.

And with that, the three headed out to enter the contest.

Raine, Mina, and Talim walked down the hallway from the room they were changing in towards The backroom to give Rothion back Talim's chainmail suit. They saw Maga, Link, and Dante talking about something at the end of the hallway.

"I wonder what they're planning today." Mina Thought aloud.

"I don't know, maybe we should ask them. Maybe they would want to come to the Temple with us as well?" Talim suggested.

"That'd be nice."Raine added thinking of the time she would spend with Maga.

The three walked up to the guys and asked them where they were going that day.

"We're entering a contest." Chimed Maga.

"A contest? What kind?" Raine asked.

"This scroll will explain it, we have to go now before there's no more room." Dante said as he hurriedly handed the flier to Raine.

The guys all left quickly , leaving the girls wondering about what just happened.

"Well? Let's see what this scroll has to say then." Raine said as she opened the scroll.

"The contest is at the foot of the Temple." Raine said.

"Maybe we can go to the temple and cheer them on afterwards?" Mina suggested.

"I'd rather not watch them or anyone else fight." Talim bluntly stated.

"Talim, you have to realize that it is a primal instinct for men to fight. It's to see who the stronger male is." Mina said in a wise manner.

"Yeah, there's no way of stopping something like that." Raine added.

"But why do they have to have a contest about it?"

"I haven't the slightest clue." Mina said.

"Listen, lets just go to the temple and enjoy its beauty. Then we'll go cheer on the guys. It's only nice enough that we do that. After all, we're their friends."

"I suppose your right." Talim said.

"Hello ladies. How does the Chain mail fit?" Came Rothion's voice.

"Oh!, " Raine half yelled from surprise, " Well, Mina's and mine fit fine, it's just Talim's is far to large for her." Raine said as she handed Talim's suit of mail to Rothion.

"Hmm, I thought as much. I'm sorry I couldn't help you as much Talim." He said.

"It's quite alright.. It was a very big help for you to allow us to stay here in your home." Talim said with a smile.

"You are all welcomed back here anytime." Rothion answered back with a smile as well.

"Where did the guys go off to?" He asked.

"They're entering in a contest today. We're going to go cheer them on after we go see the Temple of Hephaestus." Raine said.

"Well, all I can say is have fun. They know that contest last's a few days right?" Rothion said.

"A few days? Really?"

"Yep, depending on how many people enter. Last year it lasted 5 days." Rothion replied.

"That's crazy!" Mina blurted out.

"Okay, we're all signed up right?" Dante asked Link and Maga.

"Yes." They both answered in unison.

"Let's go to the waiting rooms then. I want to see who all we're up against." Dante said.

The group walked into a small building that had a crude sign hung over the doorway reading

'Contestant's Room'.

The inside barely reflected what the outside looked like. The outside of the building was amazingly crafted out of stone and was beautifully decorated with flowers and vines crept up its sides. The inside was far from that. The inside walls were lined with rotting wood, had few places to sit, and smelled awful. In several corners were mouse holes, possibly connected in a network of tunnels.

There were already three other contestants sitting inside.

First, there was man with short brown hair that aimed itself behind him. He wore black pants and an orange vest with a light brown lining all around it. A large scar could visibly be seen across his chest. The man sat with his legs crossed, balancing a staff in his hands, as if meditating his power into the staff.

Another man, with black hair that had one side combed back and the other hanging up and out over his eye, sat next to him. He wore a vest as well, though it was colored quite differently. His clothes were light tan, the only outlining his clothes had were black lines going down the sides of his pants and some black around his shoulders. He smirked at the group as they passed by.

The group sat at the end of the line and looked at the final contestant who was leaning against the wall.

Dante quickly recognized who he was. It was the samurai from the bar a few nights ago. He had given him saki out of pity.

"Nice meeting you again. I never thanked you for that saki." Dante said to him.

The Samurai, who was relaxing and had his eyes closed, perked up one eyelid to see who was talking.

"Well, if it isn't the cry baby." He said.

"Excuse me?" Dante said in an annoyed tone.

"You heard me."

"What's he talking about?" Maga whispered to Dante.

"Apparently someone else." Dante said loud enough for the samurai to hear.

The samurai stood straight up and faced Dante.

"Nope, I never mistake a face." He stated.

"Listen asshole, your really starting to piss me off." Dante said. Just then, a man stepped into the room with a list.

"Okay fellas, the tournaments about to start. Here's the rules; No killing each other. I can't stress that enough. These people didn't come here to see a slaughter; they came to see some fights. Cutting is okay, deep gashes are okay, but please, try not to slash at each others heads, and try not to stab in each other's stomachs. I can see that'll be hard for you two with the large swords. Bone crushing and breaking is okay.
Secondly try to put on a show, meaning, make the fight last.
And that's pretty much it. Heh, you'd think there'd be more rules to something like this. Anyways, here's the match ups."

Link against…" He said as he brought his face a little closer to the list of contestants, "Maxi."

"Kilik against Maga… and… Dante against.. Mitsurugi? Is that how it is pronounced?"

"Yes" Said the samurai.

'Good, this asshole really has it coming now.' Dante thought to himself.

"Okay guys, first up is.. Link and Maxi. Follow me."

Link stood up and so did the man in tan clothing and proceeded to follow the announcer.

"Good luck." Maga said to Link as he passed by.

"Thanks, I think I'm going to need it." Link said back.

"This is by far the most serene place I've ever been in my whole life…." Raine said in admiration as she, Mina and Talim walked through the Temple of Hephaestus.

The temple, being very famous for its elegance and beauty, was normally packed tight, full of tourists and the residents of Athens. But today was no normal day; it was the opening day of the annual fighting tournament. So in today's case, it was empty. It was abnormally cold inside the temple. But yet so warm. Its walls were hand crafted by professional carpenters and artists. Crystal clear Water dribbled peacefully down a four layer fountain lined with masterfully cut gems, changing the colors of the water at every layer.. An enormous statue of Hephaestus himself; sitting on his famed anvil, was at the end of the temple. At the foot of the statue was a young blonde haired woman, kneeling in prayer.

"I wonder who that is." Talim whispered

"Please, tell me what I must do… Should I stand here and wait or should I go and look for Sophitia?" The woman asked contritely.

The group watched her to see what her next move was.

She stood up

"I understand." She said, and then she took a shield from the foot of the statue.

She turned to run until she met the gaze of her audience.

"Oh uhh h-hello." She nervously stuttered

"Hi." Talim waved, "Is there a problem? We heard you talking to yourself. Did you loose someone? Can we help?"

"Uhh-"

"Something tells me that you shouldn't have taken that shield." Mina said.

"W-well.."

"Don't be mean Mina. Maybe that's her shield?"Raine snapped.

"Its n-"

"Hello, my name is Raine." Raine said with an outstretched arm.

"Uhm, I'm Cassandra." The woman said, accepting the hand shake from Raine.

"You're Cassandra? Patroklos and Pyrrha have said so much about you!" Talim butted in.

"You know my niece and nephew?" She asked.

"Well, kinda. We've been staying at Rothion's home for the past few days. We told him we were searching for Soul Edge and he offered to help us." Raine said.

"You're searching for Soul Edge?" Cassandra asked disbelief.

"Yep. Us and our other friends." Mina said.

"Where are they now?" Cassandra asked politely.

"They've entered in the fighting contest." Talim said, "We're going to be cheering them on later."

"The tournament started like a half hour ago." Cassandra bluntly stated.

"What? We've been here that long!?" Raine asked in surprise.

"We need to go then!" Mina added in hastily.

"Well, mind if I tag along? I was just heading there myself." Cassandra asked

"Sure you can. But we have to hurry." Raine said with a kind smile.

The group briskly left the temple and made their way down the long tiring steps to the tournament.

"There sure is a lot of people here." Talim said as the group searched for a spot to sit in the large crowd.

The arena itself was at the center of a small body of water, whilst the stands were on solid ground and extended high into the sky. The group were near the bottom of the stands when they spotted an empty seat next to some Woman in a blue outfit.

"There's a place to sit!" Cassandra exclaimed.

"I see it! Let's go before someone else takes it!" Raine yelled over the roar of the crowd.

The group quickly made their way to the empty seats.

"Welcome everyone to your favorite annual tournament of strength!" Boomed a voice over the entire crowd. " As you all know, I'm not one for words! So without further ado, please allow me to introduce our first brave contestants! Kicking off our tournament this year are these two young warriors from far off lands! Our first combatant is Maxi!"

The crowd went wild over a man in tan clothing that walked into the center of the arena, bowing to every side of the stands.

"Whoo! Go Maxi!" Yelled the lady in blue next to the group.

"And challenging this rather dandy man is the man in green, Link!"

Link walked to the center of the arena so that everyone would see him.

"Go link!"

"You can do it!"

"Whooo!" were some of the cheers from the ladies of the group.

"Are any of them one of your friends?" Cassandra asked Raine.

"Yes, Link is one of our friends." She replied.

"Winner is decided by knockout or ring out!" boomed the voice.

"Contestants get ready! Fight!"

So, how did we go? I personally think that for two minds, My co-writer and I can mesh a good chapter together. We completely accepted each other's ideas and didn't have to go head to head with any of them. Though, I was little uncomfortable with the mention of 'puberty' within the story. But sometimes, things that you don't think is right to happen, can seem to add more to the plot and to the relationships of the characters. Speaking of characters, KILIK AND MAXI! WOOT! Next to Siegfred, these are my two favorite characters. And yes, I did call Maxi a dandy man. Because he is. That's just how he is. Don't argue. And Xianghua and Cassandra! You better believe that where there's Maxi and Kilik, there's Xianghua close by. And as for Cassandra, meh. She's a little too egotistical for my liking, but she fits in the story. And so she's here. So just to summarize what's happened.

-Raine, Mina, and Link are wearing Chainmail.

-Maga and Dante have new weapons. To be specific, Maga has Requiem, and Dante has Claymore, from Soul Caliber 4.(I think I saw it in SC2 but it's been forever since ive played it.) Requiem is really from earlier then that, in fact, I think it's in Soul Blade for the PS1. But I've been proven wrong before.

-Mitsurugi is a douche, but a cool douche.

-Cassandra stole the shield of Hephaestus, because that's what she did in SC2.

-The ladies of the group indeed have just sat down next to the most possibly hardest headest(?) Female character in all of the Soul Series.

So from here on out, I think my co writer will be writing the cornier stuff in my later chapters,

That's if she's up to it.

But anyways, enough of my babbling. I'm gonna crank up my new Disturbed CD and let you all read and review!