...Tick...Tick...Tick...Tick...Tick...
The steady rhythm of the clock tower's ticking as it faithfully counted the passing of seconds was the only sound that could be heard, aside from the low creaking sounds of the rest of the clock's machinery. The ticking, however, as the most famous characteristic of a clock, was the most noticeable sound. Only one man was present inside of the clock tower to hear this sound.
This man in particular had paid visits to this clock tower since the day it was built. It was a habit of his that had not changed over the course of many years - indeed, many lifetimes. He had been such a different person each time he visited. So many different forms of him had stepped into the same tower, sat in the same spot, listened to the same sound that echoed throughout the tower with the passing of each second.
...Tick...Tick...Tick...Tick...Tick...
This man had distorted the laws of causality set down by the gods, and torn off the shackles of time. 'Time' no longer held any meaning for this man.
Sometimes, this man wondered why, despite his timeless condition, he had such an affection for this place - for an instrument built for the purpose of measuring something which meant nothing to him. Seeking an explanation, he had ventured to theorize that, for one who has lost his sense of time, this is the only place where he can truly feel the passage of time. Perhaps it is the endless ticking of the clock's mechanism that reassures him that time even exists.
...Tick...Tick...Tick...Tick...Tick...
---
Siegfried, Tira, and Ivy stood looking up at a tall stone clock tower. It was standing at the corner of a temple that sat outside the edge of a large town.
The trail that the trio had been following had led them not to the tower, but the town. They had asked around for a man matching the description they provided. It turned out that there was a local myth about 'the man with the golden eye'. Legend held that a man with a golden eye could sometimes be seen entering the clock tower, after which a light would begin to shine from a window near the top of the rarely-visited tower's clock mechanism. The town was aflutter with rumors that, recently, the man had once again returned to the clock tower. Most of the town's citizens, however, warned against approaching the clock tower and attempting to communicate with the man, for he was said to be a powerful dark magician who placed a curse on those who disturb him.
These details were enough to tell the trio that they had finally caught up to the man they were looking for. They set out for the tower at once, and, now standing at the entrance, discussed what to do next. Their discussion was the most the three of them had spoken after the events of last night.
Siegfried had awoken to find Ivy in her blankets and Tira in her own blankets, as well. It seemed possible that, if Tira spent so long bathing that she did not return until Ivy had slipped into her blankets, she might not know a thing about what happened last night. If she did know, she did not express it. Siegfried found himself speculating about it out of curiosity - perhaps it didn't bother Tira at all if Siegfried slept with other women? Something to do with being a slave? Siegfried had no way of knowing what she thought about the situation, and in case she didn't know about it at all, he was in no rush to discuss the matter with her. With a heavy sigh, he regretted that their group had transformed into such a melodramatic mess. He detested the awkward air that hung over the three of them due to the passion they'd each shared, whether in the form of fighting one another or making love. Their situation was becoming so complex that he felt like he was a character in a play, or a story for someone's amusement.
Ivy moved her hand to open the door to the clock tower.
"Wait."
Ivy turned around and faced Siegfried. "What is it?"
"This could be a trap. One of his skill must have been able to tell that he was being followed. If he didn't want us to catch up to him, he would have thrown us off of his path, not stopped in a place he often comes to. He is anticipating us to walk in any moment now. Judging by his previous deeds, he has most likely laid traps for us."
Ivy paused, took in Siegfried's argument, and then nodded. "All right, so, what shall we do?"
"I'll go in alone."
"What? No!" Tira said suddenly. She usually passively accepted any order or plan, and it was rare for her to object to something, so Siegfried and Ivy were slightly surprised by her objection. "You...you can't go in there alone!"
"Why not?" Siegfried asked.
"...Because..." Tira seemed lost. "...Because...you're our leader! You're too important! You shouldn't risk your safety!"
"I agree with her, Siegfried." Ivy said suddenly. Siegfried and Tira turned to her. "Tira is saying that you are too important to send in, and should send in someone who is less important - whichever one of us you can afford to risk. Tell us whoever is less valuable to you, and that person will go in."
Both women looked at Siegfried, and his glance went back and forth between the two of them. Ivy stood with a smug smirk on her face, confident that Siegfried would choose Tira to go in. Tira's expression was of fear and anticipation - if Siegfried chose her, then she would know that she really was nothing more than a slave to him.
A short silence followed, which, due to the heavy anticipation in the air, seemed to stretch on for minutes. Siegfried closed his eyes for a moment, and then he spoke.
"...No."
"...What do you mean, 'no'?" Ivy asked.
Siegfried pointed a finger at her. "I see what you're trying to do, and I'm not going to have it. I'm not going to fuel any more drama or infighting. Didn't you say last night that you were sorry for the times when you added more fuel to the fire?"
"I - I..." Ivy was taken aback by how a situation geared in her favor had suddenly been turned against her.
"I'm going in, not because of anything that has to do with value, but because I believe that I could best defend myself. Now, you two stay here, don't follow me unless I give a signal, and no fighting."
With this, Siegfried turned around, pushed open the door to the clock tower, and entered it.
---
The inside of the clock tower was not well-lit; the only light came in from windows. Stained glass windows, no less, which painted the interior of the tower in surreal colors. Siegfried did not see anyone on this level of the tower, and only saw a spiral staircase, leading to the top of the tower where the clock mechanism was. With no other alternative, Siegfried began to climb the staircase.
His ascension through the clock tower was an odd journey, as the stained glass windows cast everything in a bizarre light, the ticking of the clock above became louder and louder with every step, and the anxiety of finally meeting the mysterious man washed over Siegfried. Finally, the journey was over, and he was at the top of the stairway.
Siegfried was surrounded by a complex arrangement of machinery. There were dozens of giant gears on his every side, all creaking as they counted the passage of time. Chains and ropes ran to and fro across the area, connecting and holding up various weights, gears, and other things. In the center of the area was a large circular platform, spinning around, but doing so very slowly. There was a plank leading from the staircase to the circular platform. Siegfried stepped across it...and immediately wished he had been more cautious.
The plank was pulled out from underneath him! Upon noticing this, he barely had enough time to order his legs to make a leap onto the circular platform - missed! - his arms flailed out, and he grabbed onto the edge. He hung precariously by his fingertips. He looked down, and saw the plank fall, clattering against various outcroppings, to the ground a great distance below. That fall would be an instant death.
With great labor, Siegfried hoisted himself up onto the platform. He reached around to make sure he was still in possession of his sword. He was, and took it out of its sheath and into his hand. He walked to the center of the platform, and began to look around the room for the man. When he saw no one, he called out.
"Hello? I know that you are here. I wish to speak with you - nothing more."
Siegfried waited for a reply, but received none. He continued looking around the room for a sign of anything.
"...You've served your purpose. It's time for you to die."
Siegfried whirled his head around at the source of the voice, but he could not detect where it had come from.
"Wait! Who are you? Why do you wish to-"
CLANG
Siegfried whirled around at this new sound. He saw, rolling towards him, a giant cogwheel. His first reaction was that it was an extremely bizarre way to attack an opponent, and his second reaction was to quickly remove himself from the path of the wheel, by rolling to the right. The wheel rolled past him, fell off the edge of the platform, and fell the long distance to the ground below, making a lot of loud noise as it did so.
Then, the man finally showed himself. He leapt down from a higher level, and landed on the platform. He was clad exactly as Ivy had described him - white hood and robes, brown skin, golden eye, and large scythe.
"Who are you?" Siegfried demanded. The man did not respond. "Why are you trying to kill me? Is it for revenge? Is it for Soul Edge? Please, let us talk, so that we may avoid any needless bloodshed!"
The man chuckled quietly. "...I do not wish to waste any breath on one who is about to die. However, I shall at least grant you the name of the one who shall take your life. I am Zasalamel."
Siegfried had no time to say anything more. As soon as the last syllable of his name had left his breath, Zasalamel spun around in a circle, swinging his scythe as he did. Siegfried reflexively raised his sword and parried the blow. Zasalamel then spun around in the alternate direction, doing the same with his scythe. This move caught Siegfried off guard, but he was able to parry this blow, as well.
Zasalamel then rapidly approached Siegfried while spinning his scythe vertically, moving it back and forth between the right and left sides of his body. Siegfried knew that he would be unable to block such blows, and walked backwards to evade them. He then realized what his enemy's intent was - to make him walk off the edge of the platform! He leapt and rolled to the right a second before he would have walked backwards and fallen to his doom.
In an attempt to cut Siegfried as he leapt, Zasalamel swung his scythe parallel to the platform, although he missed. With a vertical swing, he sliced the blade of his scythe into the ground, and then used it as leverage to swing his body over it, nearly landing a kick on Siegfried's jaw as he did so.
Once he had righted himself, Zasalamel started using a different technique - stabbing his scythe forward using the top part of the blade instead of the crescent. Siegfried was not going to fall for the same trick twice, and dodged to the side instead of backwards.
Zasalamel then began to twirl the scythe around his body, this time without spinning, and then stabbing with a spike located on the back end of the scythe's shaft. When Siegfried did not falter during either attack and parried and evaded them with ease, sometimes even poised to attack although he held back, Zasalamel decided that he had underestimated his opponent, and would have to fight more seriously.
Zasalamel's scythe suddenly began to burn with fire, although Zasalamel did not show any pain. Both the scythe and his own arms then began to spark with lightning. Realizing that he was witnessing magic, Siegfried moved to the center of the platform to best be able to evade the ensuing attack. Zasalamel's following attacks were lightning fast, and he struck with force he did not have before. Siegfried could not catch most of his attacks, and was stuck - although not fatally - by several blows, and beaten back several feet. He was in danger of falling off of the platform, or even of being sliced in two by a well-aimed slice of the scythe. He prepared to fight back and possibly kill his opponent, when his sword was struck with such force that it was knocked out of his hand!
Siegfried was not skilled in unarmed combat - attempting to attack the man now would be suicide. His only choices now would be to flee the area completely, or possibly pick up his sword again and try to fight, but his level of moral at the moment did not tell him that it was likely he could defeat this man.
Siegfried's moment of hesitation as he pondered his options was all the time Zasalamel needed to swing back his blade in preparation of decapitating Siegfried. But, at the moment when his scythe should have been slicing into Siegfried's neck, Zasalamel was, instead, looking up. In the next moment, he was he who was nearly decapitated, as he leapt backwards in order to dodge a slice from Tira's ring blade.
Tira landed in front of Siegfried, poised to make another strike. But she was not Siegfried's only savior. Moments later, Ivy dropped in as well, her whip-sword slicing through the air where Zasalamel had stood a moment ago.
The three of them stood on one side of the platform, and Zasalamel on the other. His eyes darted back and forth among them, sizing up his situation. Then, he seemed to ease up. His scythe and arms returned to normal. He stood up straight, and faced Siegfried.
"...Are you done with this foolishness? Are you ready to talk?" Siegfried demanded.
Suddenly, the man's left arm began to glow a dark hue of blue. He raised two glowing fingers, and drew a pattern in the air, facing Siegfried. "...I place my curse upon you, you who struggle to escape the sword..."
"...What? ...Why won't you listen! Why won't you just-"
"Your struggle to destroy the sword is futile...but I shall leave that sword in your hands for now. Be sure to take good care of it. We shall meet again."
The man then began to move backwards, although his legs and feet were not moving. He moved into the shadows, and then seemed to melt into them - just as he had done at Ivy's mansion. Despite a cry from Siegfried of "No, wait!" Zasalamel disappeared, and all that remained of him were his cryptic words on the trio's minds.
When the danger seemed to be gone, Ivy spoke. "...So? What did you learn? Who is he? What does he want?"
"I was not able to learn much." Siegfried confessed. "He told me that his name was Zasalamel, although he refused to tell me anything more than that. Besides that, all I have learned is that he is very powerful, and that there is absolutely no doubt that he is an enemy."
"Hmph...so, I trust that we'll be going after him again?"
"No...not for now."
"Why not?"
"Finding him again won't accomplish anything. He refuses to speak, and he's already told us that we'll meet again - when he wants to meet us again, he will arrange it to be so."
"...Master?" Tira inquired timidly. "He said...something about a curse. Did he...really put a curse on you?"
"I...don't know." Siegfried confessed. "I don't feel any different. He is a powerful magician; I wouldn't doubt his ability to curse someone. I doubt that he'd simply claim to put a curse on me for no reason. Only time will tell, I suppose."
"What kind of curse do you think it was?" Tira asked, panicking for the well-being of her Master.
"I told you, Tira, we don't know yet."
Tira looked down sadly. "...Sorry, Master...and sorry for disobeying your orders..."
"...Disobeying my orders?"
"You told me to stay down there. But I disobeyed you. When Ivy and I heard a loud noise, we went to investigate."
Siegfried smiled a little. "I see. That's understandable. And I'm grateful that you came."
Ivy seemed annoyed by the discussion going on between Siegfried and Tira. "...So, where shall we go now?"
Siegfried looked down in concentration. "...I once heard rumors of a man who researched Soul Edge, and stored all of the information in a secret pit in an island in the Mediterranean Sea..."