You know how people have moods? I guess the same goes for when there is writing to be done. I should really alternate which stories I'm writing, but I'm only really in the mood for Soul Calibur at the time. Anyway, thanks for all of the feedback from the last chapter. The amount of readers is climbing fast. And by the way, thanks to JerichoCross, I know quite a bit more about Link. Now I can be more accurate when writing about him in the future.

Hilde's mount fell forward as its iron-shod hooves slipped on the muddy ground below it. The Wolfkrone princess barely managed to stop herself from falling in the muck by outstretching her free arm, and once again cursed the torrential rain that had impeded the progress of both herself and her troops for the past week.

A few days after leaving Wolfkrone, a massive storm had conquered the sky and begun to pour drenching sheets of cold water on the column of soldiers below. And it had not stopped, not for a single day since then. Needless to say, over a week of cascading rain had done a lot more than just dampen Hilde's spirits. The ground they traveled on was little more than a muddy bog now. Instead of walking or riding, the Wolfkrone soldiers sloshed through brown muck that almost rose to their knees. The distance they had traveled so far should've taken them two days, but instead they had been traveling for ten.

And the roads could only worsen, if this downpour kept up. Already, threats of mudslides and sinkholes were quite worrisome. In fact, a swordsman had already lost his horse to one such sinkhole. The might of all the soldiers could not rescue the poor animal from the swallowing mud; the would-be rescuers couldn't even get their footing to do so.

Fortunately, the hills that the column traveled on had done a little bit to improve the situation. The incline of the land helped run the water downhill, so that it wouldn't soak into the ground as much as it would have on flat land. But this did little to improve the mood. The soldiers were demoralized, tired, and already sick of travel. Yet the only battle that had been fought was against this accursed rain. Each and every member of the column, Hilde included, was caked in mud, which, although it was washed off by the rain from the heavens, was quickly replaced when the troops fell into the muck.

Hilde was used to the rigors of battle; and that included all of the dirt, sweat, and blood. She wasn't unused to being dirty. But this was different. She felt soaked to the bone, and every inch of her body felt as though it was covered with slimy, brown mucus. At this exact moment, what Hilde wanted the most, even more than the destruction of Soul Edge, was a warm bath, a hot meal, and a hearty fire. No doubt her soldiers felt the same...

"Princess!"

Hilde turned to face her lieutenant, careful not to fall off of her horse's slippery saddle. "Gerhilde? What is it?"

The green-haired woman rode up beside her princess, although watching her horse stumble through the mud was almost comical. Gerhilde was Hilde's right hand for this journey, since the Wolfkrone princess had opted to leave Luana in charge back home. Gerhilde took a moment to catch her breath before speaking, as the very atmosphere around the column was exhausting.

"Princess Hilde, the troops cannot go much further. The horses are getting antsy, and those on foot are exhausted. We need rest."

Hilde shook her head, obstinately opposing any idea of stopping. "Nonsense. We've hardly traveled half a league today, if that! We cannot step yet."

The scarlet haired woman said this, but on the inside, she just wanted rest as well. It was only her determination to reach Ostreihnsburg that kept her moving at all. It was just as likely that her troops only kept moving out of dedication to their princess.

"Princess, please. If we reach Ostreihnsburg in this condition, we will be unable to fight effectively anyway. Surely Soul Edge won't leave its stronghold anytime soon. Is it not better to take longer to get there, so long as we have more energy when we do?"

The logic of that argument wasn't lost on Hilde. Truly, she would never be able to besiege Ostreihnsburg with her troops in this condition. But the lack of progress today nagged at her wish to quickly reach Ostreihnsburg. She prepared to ask her troops for just one more hour of walking, but before she could, she was met with a sight that sunk her heart as much as the mud sunk the boots of her soldiers.

The column was exiting the hilly region they had been graced with so far. Before them was a large open plain that stretched out all the way to the horizon. Hilde could see how far the flat ground had sunk into the earth. The pouring rain had saturated the area ahead to such a degree that the plains could be more accurately described as swampland. The column would never be able to move through that; if they tried, both man and beast alike would be endangered by the horrific conditions of their footing. No doubt that some places in the bog ahead were deep enough to swallow a man.

Gerhilde stared at the grim scene with a dismal look. "Please, your Highness, we cannot possibly hope to traverse that in these conditions. It's just... not possible!"

Hilde scowled, irritated that the very skies and earth seemed to oppose her. She wanted to push forward; determination and willpower were known to be her two most prominent aspects of character. Of course, this was also viewed as stubbornness, and it was quite true that the princess was stubborn at times. But even she would not force her troops into such a nightmare as what lay ahead. Sighing, the redheaded Wolfkrone princess couldn't help but wonder if her journey itself was cursed; plagued by some opposing force with goals contradictory to her own.

She turned to her troops, motioning for them to turn back a ways and find as suitable of a campsite as they could, as a blast of thunder permeated the air around them.

Tira sat perched on the tallest of Ostreihnburg's many towers. Many of her Watchers were there with her; although only Archimedes had been brought along with her when Spawn kidnapped/rescued her, all of her ravens had made it back to their master over the past week.

Speaking of time, it usually passed quickly for the broken-minded girl. She usually had things to occupy her focus when she was at her master's side; but after she had been brought back to Nightmare by Spawn, and subsequently given her report on Cyril, (She had left out the details of her getting along with him at certain times) the Azure Knight had told Tira to do whatever she wished until he summoned her again.

So this week had gone by very slowly for the girl. Although she could watch the massive storm off in the distance, she didn't really have anything to do; and her thoughts kept wandering to things that bothered her. For instance, while she was performing no tasks for Nightmare at all, Spawn had been sent on several missions since his arrival in Ostreinsburg. It seemed as though Nightmare was taking a liking to this new servant of his, and more importantly, finding him more useful than Tira. The thought of being replaced as Nightmare's dominant servant by that stupid teleporting guy made the malfested girl angry, and more than a little worried.

Tira briefly recalled the tender words Nightmare had spoken to her before she had left on her previous assignment. The things that were spoken then were nowhere to be found now. But the thought of tender words brought Cyril to the forefront of her divided mind. She recalled a lot of nice things the man had said to her, and even more than that, how he had cradled her that night to keep her warm. Reminiscing about that memory even made Tira's gloomy side a little flustered, if only because kindness of any sort was something she had not experienced in many years.

Honestly, we only spent two days with him, and it was against our will to boot... what the hell is wrong with me?

I think that second question has a pretty obvious answer... but anyway, I think we could've left a day early if we really wanted to. I mean, we were in good enough condition to ditch him after the first night, but you didn't wanna...

Tira's gloomy side responded with irritation, but her jolly self thought she could detect a slight hint of embarrassment in there as well. Shut up. I only wanted to stay near him as long as possible to increase our opportunities for killing him. B-besides, you didn't want to leave after the first night either...

Well that's understandable for me, but I think you didn't want to leave because you fell in looove. L-O-

Tira's ribbing of herself was cut off by herself; if anyone could truly understand how that works. You can't be serious. Have you forgotten what happened the last time we 'loved' someone? Nevermind the last time someone loved us...

Now even Jolly Tira was depressed. Sheesh, you sound just like Zassy. We could at least hope for something one day... right? I mean, we aren't totally incapable of being loved, are we...?

In another truly confounding manner, Tira's gloomy side tried to console her counterpart. It's alright. Soul Edge will always keep us. Next time we find Cir- I mean, that man; we'll gut him like a fish, and then his worthless lies will never bother us again.

OK... that sounds nice.

"TIRAAA! COME TO ME!"

Nightmare's bellow scattered Tira's ravens and almost knocked the brooding girl off of her perch.

Something about this seems irritatingly familiar...

Wallachia castle: surrounded by rumors of mythical creatures of darkness and curses created by such beings. Chrysaor looked upon this structure from afar; he had used his Lightning Stream ability once more to jump from China to this place. Well, near it, at any rate. He had still required a full week of travel to reach the region. He had come here because, like the temple back in mainland China, this castle possessed a peculiar energy of darkness. It swirled around it like fog, and it felt remarkably similar, although weaker, to the energy from the mountain monastery.

Chrysaor had been eager to reach this place. Several days ago, the Sentinel had felt a massive energy distortion in northern Europe; and he soon identified it as one of the many by-products of The End. Some sort of unnatural anomaly was wracking the Germanic region; and although Chrysaor didn't know what it was exactly, he did know that it bore energy akin to a thunderstorm; a very, very large thunderstorm. He wondered if Talim, who was also able to detect disturbances in the wind, felt it as well. Although Chrysaor did not know where the young Wind Priestess was right now, he was sure that someone with her abilities would be able to feel the disturbance that was taking place in Northern Europe.

This unnatural phenomenon spurred Chrysaor onward; the more of these anomalies there were, the closer The Final Consummation was. Of course, even now, Chrysaor may have had decades until The End began. But nevertheless, he was not eager to test such things, as there was no way to know just when The End would occur; the anomalies were just a rough estimate of a countdown.

All of these things occupied Chrysaor's thoughts, along with that of Tira. The girl had been kidnapped by Spawn nearly a week ago; and Chrysaor wasn't sure how he felt about it. Sure, he had taken a sort of... interest in the girl, but as she herself had said, they were not friends. Nor were they acquaintances, even. The only thing they knew about each other was names and birthplaces, and maybe a few tiny aspects of character.

Still, Chrysaor had grown somewhat attached to Tira, perhaps because she was the first person he had engaged in any significant human interaction with. That struck the Sentinel of Lightning as ironic, considering that Tira had met him with the intention of killing him. But on the other hand, although Chrysaor disliked admitting it, Tira was little more than a distraction. His purpose here on earth was to find the Catalyst. A mortal companion would only slow him down. He was not here to befriend people... only to save them from fiery Armageddon.

With that in mind, Chrysaor neared the castle he sought to investigate. It was, unfortunately, in a very difficult position. It sat high on a hill, and the gate was steel, as far as he could tell. Climbing the walls would be difficult also, as it seemed mostly smooth and devoid of outcroppings. The walls themselves were also several hundred feet tall. But Chrysaor did see one potential entryway. If he charged his electrical energy into his legs, he could make it. How angry would the owners of the castle be if he smashed such a nice work of art?

Amy stood in her father's study, one hand brushing the spines of the many books it housed, and the other holding a chocolate muffin Marienbard had left behind. Much to her chagrin, Amy had never learned how to cook anything herself; Raphael had always insisted that such a thing was servant work, and therefore below his esteemed daughter. However, there was plenty of food stored in the kitchen's pantry, and more importantly, plenty of sweets. Raphael had done a wonderful job of spoiling Amy over the past few years, and now she had an uncontrollable sweet tooth. She even had a minimal number of sweets to consume each day. Fortunately, possessing a certain amount of malfestation meant that Amy's metabolism was unusually high; and therefore she didn't really gain too much weight from her unhealthy eating habits.

But although Amy was currently occupying her father's study, she wasn't here to actually read anything. The only books she really liked to read were those that dealt with romance, and there were practically none of those in Raphael's collection. Amy hated to admit it, but the fantastical stories of romantic love intrigued her. It was something alien to her. She had never experienced that type of love before... and she really wanted to. Sure, she was loved by her father, and she loved him, but that was a family type of love. It wasn't the type of love Amy was interested in.

Of course, such interest may have just been caused by hormones. After all, Amy was that age, and even a malfested girl like her couldn't escape the subtle changes in her body. She hoped to conquer such childish fantasies as love in the near future; but for now, while Raphael was away and she was left alone in this dismal castle, she was willing to entertain them, if for no other sake than to occupy her thoughts.

Despite her efforts to the contrary, Amy was growing ever more restless as the length of Raphael's absence extended. She knew that the task Raphael had left to perform was for her sake; he only wanted the best for her. But nevertheless, she couldn't help but feel slightly bitter about the whole situation. How could a parent leave their fledgling, and expect it to be pleased with their absence? Regardless of her father's motives, he had still left her alone. All alone in this expansive, deserted castle. Although not for much longer, as she was about to find out.

The silence of Raphael's study was shattered right along with the stained glass window that dominated one of its walls. In a shower of iridescent glass, some silver and red figure landed in the center of the room; and unfortunately crushed one of Raphael's expensive tables as he did so.

This seemed remarkably similar to an incident with a certain green-haired girl once before . Oh dear... Father is not going to be too happy about that window. He just finished replacing it a few months ago.

Amy stood completely still, unfazed by the armored intruder that had just burst into the study through the window. Her lack of movement left her unnoticed by the strange being, who was shaking off splinters of wood from his torso as he stood. Seeing as she was already behind him, and that she had, fortunately, brought her rapier along with her, Amy quietly positioned herself behind the intruder, the sound of her footsteps concealed by the cackling of the blazing fireplace. Soon she was within a decent enough range to place the tip of her blade at the back of her enemy's neck.

"Who are you?"

"That's it? That's all he wanted me for!?"

Spawn eyed the small crazy girl he was about to transport as they stood on Ostreihnsburg's ramparts. "What are you so pissed off about? You were bored, weren't you?"

Tira shot the axe-wielding creature a look of irritation. "That's beside the point! I've been without any orders all week, and now that I finally have some, it's just to go and kidnap some stupid kid!"

Spawn rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but it's that Greek lady's kid, right? Don't you hate her?"

"Yeah, which is why I want to kill her, not nab her stupid babies!"

Spawn tried to play to the sadistic side of this deranged lunatic. "Wouldn't kidnapping a mother's children cause way more suffering than just killing her? And don't you want to make this woman suffer?"

Tira pondered this seriously. "Hey, I never thought about that... that's actually a really good idea! You aren't as dumb as you look, Tights!"

Spawn filled with rage at hearing the name that stupid lightning-metal bastard had given him. "T-Tights!? Listen you bitch, if you call me that again, I'll rip you in half!"

The harlequin-esque girl wagged a finger at him. "Not so fast, Tights! You may be more useful right now, but I'm still Nighty's favorite! If you hurt me, he'd get reeeeeeaaal mad!"

Spawn said nothing, but just snatched the girl up and prepared to take her to Athens, all the way on the opposite side of Europe. "You need some gad-damned medication."

Chrysaor judged the threat level of the person behind him. He couldn't see her, and he couldn't tell just what she was threatening him with, but he felt that whatever the situation was, he wasn't in that much danger. He raised his palms to show that he was unarmed, and slowly began to face his unknown 'captor'.

"Look, I'm really sorry about that window..."

He hardly caught sight of the girl, and the rapier she pointed at him, before she stopped him with her voice. "Don't turn around."

For the voice of a young girl, it was awfully commanding. Chrysaor thought it was funny, but he complied with the girl's wishes anyway.

"I asked you a question."

"That question has an answer you won't understand."

Not even a moment of hesitation was put into the girl's retort. "Is that so?"

Chrysaor nodded. "It is. although I'm sure you still wish for an answer?"

"Of course."

Chrysaor shrugged. "Suit yourself. I am Chrysaor, an elemental wielding warrior of immense strength sent into the mortal realm by a being with near deity-like status in order to preserve all life as you know it."

This time, there was a long silence before the girl behind Chrysaor responded. "Oh...I see."

"You do?"

"Of course. You're one of those people. There seems to be a trend with crazy people breaking through that window..."

Chrysaor rolled his eyes, hidden behind his helm. "Well, I told you that you wouldn't understand the answer."

The girl did not reply to this, but uttered a new command instead. "Remove your armor, and drop any weapons you have into a pile along with it."

Chrysaor scoffed. "Or what, you'll prick me with that sorry excuse for a sword?"

"I'll do a lot worse than that. Besides, you are in no position to be defying me."

Chrysaor teased the girl before disarming her by replying with her own words. "Is that so?"

Before she could answer, the Sentinel spun around at lightning speed and whipped his arm into the blade the girl wielded. She was unprepared for such a maneuver; her grip on the rapier's handle had been weak. And thus, the sword was sent flying across the room, and it landed several paces away from the two of them.

The scarlet-haired girl, whom Chrysaor could now see fully, stumbled backwards in surprise. But before she could tumble backwards and land on her rump, Chrysaor caught a hold of her arm, gently pulling the Gothic-lolita girl back to her feet.

"So who was in no position to be defying you?"

Talim shuddered, as she was beleaguered by foul winds from the west. There was something amiss with the wind lately, and although she had felt this disturbance for several days now, she still did not know what was causing it.

"Still feeling that bad omen, Talim?"

The Wind Priestess looked to Hwang, who stood beside her on the Valiant Gale's deck. They were just about to pull into a port town in Korea, after sailing for several weeks.

"It is more than a bad omen. There is something very wrong with the wind. I've never felt anything like it."

Hwang stroked his chin in thought. "What do you think it is?"

Talim shrugged as she fiddled with the tips of her elbow blades, Syi Salika and Loka Luha. "I'm not sure. But do you remember what Sir Atkins said? About unnatural phenomena occurring in nature because of impending doom? It would not surprise me if that was the source of this foul air."

The serious conversation between the two was interrupted by Seong-Mina, who came up behind them and placed her hands on Talim's shoulders.

"I think you're just seasick."

Hwang eyed the Korean woman in a joking manner. "The only one who has been sick this whole journey is you, Mina. If anything was wrong with Talim, I think it would be homesickness."

The accosted girl stuck her tongue out at her fellow countryman. "Whatever. I'm sure she isn't feeling this way just because she misses that silly bird."

Talim looked up at the taller woman with pouting eyes. "Alun isn't silly! He's a very noble and loyal falcon! And I actually do miss him..."

Seong-Mina sighed. "Sheesh, don't look at me with those eyes, it makes me feel guilty. Besides, maybe the reason you're really so bummed out is that your handsome 'Sir Sentinel' isn't around to keep you company.

The Wind Priestess blushed furiously. "O-of course not! As a Priestess of the Wind, I would never let s-such impure things... I can't think about those things! It's wrong!"

"It's wrong to think that a guy is handsome? Geez, strict religion."

Hwang poked Mina in the side. "Stop teasing her Mina. You were also smitten with his 'dashing good looks' as you said yourself after he left."

Mina punched Hwang in the back of the head. "Shut up. You're just mad because you aren't as good-looking as he is. Besides, I said no such thing."

Rubbing the back of his head, Hawng sighed. "Is that kind of comment really necessary Mina?"

The three of them continued to accost each other in this way, unaware that in the near future, such lighthearted conversation would be scarce.

Wow, I cranked this out in two days... Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I think I put a lot more detail into it than I usually do. There was also a good bit of insight into a lot of characters, as well as a decent modicum of humor. I'm rather pleased with it; I just hope you guys are as well.