Chapter 2: Devil Inside

On the way to Wolfkrone Kingdom, Leonsritt and Cassandra walk through the grassy plains. What now became Cassandra's concern is the marking that started appearing on Leonsritt's right arm. Leonsritt had thought to himself if the marking on his arm would mean if time is running out. Cassandra had wondered about the marking too. Nighttime had come and both travelers found a resting spot.

"Hey, Cassandra. So, uh, what do we eat tonight?"

"I don't know, you have any suggestions?"

"I do, but you won't like any of them."

"Why?"

"We're out in the wilderness."

"Ohh... eww!"

"My thoughts exactly."

"Um we don't really have to eat wild things, do we?"

"Hey, if you wanna survive out in the wild, then yes. So I'm gonna go hunt for some food."

"Knock yourself out..."

Leonsritt had gone out to hunt himself something to eat. Cassandra had been sitting around the campfire, resting. As Leonsritt had started looking for something to kill, he spotted a wild chicken. Slowly, Leonsritt sneaks quietly towards it, without hesitation. He pounces on the chicken, only to miss. Leonsritt had started chasing the chicken. As he ran, he had tried knocking his steel paddle towards the chicken, and missed. After an hour of chasing, he gave up on it and walked back to the resting spot, only to find out Cassandra had gone missing. Wondering and looking around the spot, even on the trees, she was nowhere to be found. Leonsritt had then heard humming coming from somewhere. Curious, he wondered if that was Cassandra. He followed the humming from where it was coming from. As he crossed the bushes and trees, he saw a glimmering light coming from the direction he was walking to. The closer he got, the brighter, and he arrived at a lake, with the moonlight reflecting on the water. Leonsritt had seen someone on the water. Apparently, it was Cassandra bathing in there and she turned around to look at Leonsritt staring at her. Both had an awkward moment of silence, and after they realized what just happened...

"I'M SORRY!!!"

"YOU PERVERT!!!"

Cassandra had chucked her shield at Leonsritt, while he ran. The shield had hit him, but he kept on running. Leonsritt had looked back to see if Cassandra had chased him, but he hit something and fell back. What he hit wasn't a tree. It was something like if he hit a person. He shook his head, and realized he didn't hit a tree, but someone big... and familiar to him.

"You bastard... Do you have a death wish...?"

"Uhh... no?"

Leonsritt had noticed who this was, as this giant stood up and grabbed his hammer. Leonsritt ran back the way he came. Dashing he didn't care anymore about Cassandra and the embarrassing moment they had, but the giant that was now chasing him. Reaching the lake again, Leonsritt ran towards Cassandra, now clothed again, picked her up and ran even faster.

"YOU PERVE-- uhh, why're you running?!"

"RUN NOW, TALK LATER!!!"

Back at the campsite, he rested for a bit, letting Cassandra down, and sat down.

"Look, I'm sorry if I saw you naked at the lake but you weren't here, so I decided to look for you and thanks to you I was chased down by Astaroth!"

"Astaroth!?"

"Yeah..."

Something had landed in front of them, causing the ground to shake. It had been Astaroth. Looking at Leonsritt, he had grabbed him by the throat, choking him.

"You're my dinner now! Your soul is MINE!"

"Guh... not on... my watch..."

Cassandra had jumped to try and have Astaroth release Leonsritt, but he had swung his arm at her causing her to hit a tree and get knocked out. Leonsritt had grabbed his sword and swung it at Astaroth's arm, causing him to let go of Leonsritt. He dashed towards Cassandra to see if she was okay, but Astaroth had put his hammer in the way, blocking Leonsritt away from her. Turning around, Leonsritt had nowhere else to run.

"Alright. You want me? Well, come and get it!"

"Don't expect a quick death, you worm!"

Astaroth had punched the ground, and Leonsritt had dodged the giant's attack, had suddenly felt the force of the hammer against him and had been knocked down. Astaroth had grabbed him from his legs and tossed him in the air, ready to strike him with the hammer. Leonsritt landed on the striking point and was on the ground. Coughing, Leonsritt had stood up, and Astaroth knocked him down once more. Picking him up, Astaroth was laughing.

"Time to devour that soul of yours, along with that Soul Edge shard you have!"

Leonsritt was doomed, but he had felt that stabbing pain in his arm again. In pain he let out a scream, that had turned into maniacal laughter. Astaroth had felt something immense from Leonsritt, that he felt his grip was loosening.

"What is this?"

"You... you shouldn't expect a quick death from me... you insignificant being..."

That being said, Leonsritt had broken free from Astaroth. Cassandra had woken up and saw him with his back slumped, breathing heavily. His fangs had been showing, and his eyes gray, just as she saw before. The influence of the shard had changed him into a demon. Astaroth felt the power of Soul Edge flowing through Leonsritt.

"Astaroth... I'll devour... YOUR SOUL!!!"

Leonsritt lunged at Astaroth with great speed, as he tried to attack Leonsritt. He attacked Astaroth and had knocked him down. Leonsritt stomped him and had started whacking Astaroth with his bare hands, letting out a cynical laugh for every hit he gave. Blood was now coming out of Astaroth as Leonsritt kept beating him. Cassandra looked in horror as Leonsritt kept laughing. Running towards him, she pulled him off an unconscious Astaroth. Leonsritt was on the floor with Cassandra on him. He struggled to get Cassandra off him as she tried to get him back to normal.

"Let me go!!! I'm not done with him!!!"

"STOP IT ALREADY!!!"

"GET OFF ME!!!"

"STOP!!! PLEASE JUST STOP!!! Stop..."

Cassandra was begging him to stop, and had tears running down and landed on Leonsritt's face. As every tear landed, he seemed to calm down. Now calmed down, Leonsritt had noticed her crying. He placed his hand on her face as she noticed him back to normal. She smiled and he blacked out.

"Leonsritt? LEONSRITT!!!"

Cassandra had held him tight. Leonsritt was knocked out as she cried loudly. Astaroth had awakened from his unconscious state, and walked away simply ignoring both Cassandra and Leonsritt. She placed Leonsritt's head on her lap as she fell asleep. The next morning, Cassandra had woken up, seeing Leonsritt had gone missing. Cassandra had started looking for him. She headed towards the lake to see if he was there, but didn't find him there. She kept looking for him until she found a hot spring. Leonsritt was resting there, as Cassandra had seen him rest there.

"Hey!"

"Um, hi."

"I guess I should head back to the camping site then. Sorry I didn't tell you."

"It's fine. Besides, now that I found you in this hot spring, I think I'm going in, too!"

"I'll get out right now."

"No, it's okay, just stay in there."

"Um, no really. I feel weird with a girl in here."

"Oh, don't worry."

"I think I'll be on the opposite side, then."

"Come on, just deal with it."

"No, seriously, I'm okay where I am."

The closer Cassandra got to Leonsritt, the farther he was getting from her. He really felt uncomfortable with Cassandra in the hot spring. He was once dreaming of her and himself in a place by themselves but this was too much for him. Cassandra couldn't help but laugh at Leonsritt for his expression. Could it be that she now held feelings for him? He wondered about this but it was a little too quick for that. He ignored the fact and instead though of it as a friendly gesture. They both had enjoyed the hot spring for awhile.

"Look... about last night... I don't know how to explain it..."

"It's... it's alright..."

"But it's not alright. You saw what I did... the marking is spreading on my arm a lot more."

"Yeah, but you have to fight it."

"I know, I know. It's just that... How can I control it...?"

"There's just gotta be a way to learn how to control this power..."

"If anyone can control such power as this... How can I be able to tame its power?"

"I have an idea..."

Cassandra had stepped out of the hot spring and changed. She turned around and signaled Leonsritt to follow her. He immediately changed into his clothing and followed Cassandra. Arriving at the campsite, she picked up her weapon and had told Leonsritt to get his. Leonsritt had followed Cassandra once more to a widely open area. As they both had been standing in a distance from each other, Cassandra had readied herself.

"Alright, Leonsritt. You ready?"

"Um, you know we don't have to do this."

"It's probably the only way I can help you, though."

"But fight with you? I didn't wanna do that in the tournament, but you were my opponent. I had no choice..."

"But you have no choice either here..."

Cassandra had charged at Leonsritt, but he did nothing to attack her. Instead, he decided to go on the defensive, As Cassandra attacked relentlessly, Leonsritt had struggled to keep her at bay. She kept attacking him, and as he had let his guard down, he had received a kick to the gut. Leonsritt had felt that power starting to take effect, little by little. He didn't want to fight the girl that was accompanying on his way to Wolfkrone Kingdom, but Cassandra's assault had gotten the best of him. Weakened, he fell on his knees.

"Cassandra, get away... NOW!!!"

Cassandra ignored him. He had felt this power overflowing. Leonsritt had let out a roar. Standing, he had looked at Cassandra. She knew that this wasn't Leonsritt anymore. It was the other one, the demon Leonsritt.

"Leonsritt, fight it. FIGHT IT!!!"

"YOU BITCH!!! YOU WILL SUFFER!!!"

Cassandra had gone all out on the demon. Leonsritt had attacked her, but she was way too quick for the demon to lay a hand on her. She kicked him down several times.

"You've got to fight it!!!"

Leonsritt had been holding her off. As Cassandra had yelled at him, he didn't respond...

Deep inside darkness, Leonsritt had awoken in a strange place. He had seen nothing but darkness all around him. As he looked and looked, he saw Cassandra far away. He ran towards her, but the closer he got, the more faint she appeared, until nothing was there. He had been thinking where he was at, until he saw himself, a reflection. But that reflection had soon changed in to his dark self.

"Well, well, well. The weakling finally wakes up... So how are you enjoying the stay in this place while I fight your girlfriend... entertaining isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I know what you think... I AM YOU..."

"Well, she is not my girlfriend..."

"Oh, but you want her..."

"SHUT UP!!!"

Leonsritt and the shadow charged at each other. Both of them attacked each other identically, and Leonsritt was getting worn out. On and on the battle raged. No matter what attack Leonsritt made, it was countered by the same attack he performed. He was fighting his own reflection. Starting to feel exhausted, Leonsritt moved on to the defensive, but his own shadow kept on with the assault of attacks. Dark Leonsritt laughed as he saw Leonsritt falling to his knees.

"You're giving up already? Don't make me laugh..."

"Who... ever said I... was giving up...?"

"You seem really tired... Maybe I should put you out of your misery..."

The shadow lifted his blade, ready to slam it down and slice Leonsritt in half. Leonsritt looked up as he saw his dark self lift the blade.

"NOW YOU DIE!!!"

Dark Leonsritt slammed the blade, but had struggled to push the blade down. Leonsritt stopped the blade with his hands...

"You... aren't taking me down... not now... not ever... you... won't take over... my BODY!!!"

Leonsritt had pushed the blade away and attacked his dark self. Though he knew that his own techniques wouldn't work, he had used his own physical attacks combining them with his blade attacks. His dark self was tiring out due to the assault Leonsritt dealt. Both had tired out but Leonsritt wasn't gonna give up. He charged at Dark Leonsritt and had sliced him in half, and Leonsritt collapsed on his knees.

"You can never kill me... You know I exist inside you..."

"But I ain't letting you take over me..."

"I will if you die..."

"We'll see about that..."

Cassandra was too worn out to keep fighting. Leonsritt had kept attacking until she let her guard down. Landing a hit on her gut, she landed on the ground and Leonsritt got on her, ready to attack a defenseless Cassandra. With all hope lost, she had closed her eyes, ready to accept death. Leonsritt had readied his hand, to pierce her heart. A moment of silence had passed and Cassandra had opened her eyes, looking at Leonsritt. Leonsritt was still a demon but it wasn't the demon. Leonsritt had picked her up from the ground and, with her items, he walked back to the campsite.

"Cassandra, take a rest, and if I caused any damage to you, I'm deeply sorry..."

"It's... okay..."

Leonsritt, now reverted to his regular self, let Cassandra down on a soft patch of grass.

"Leonsritt... thank you... for taking me here..."

"Just take a rest, you'll be fine."

Cassandra had fallen asleep, while Leonsritt had placed a warm blanket over her. From the bag of items, he took out a pot and quickly fetched water for Cassandra. He placed the pot next to her as he sat next to her. As it got dark, Leonsritt had cooked something and noticed Cassandra waking up.

"You feeling better?"

He asked her as he smiled.

"Yeah, just a little..."

"Don't struggle to get up..."

"Okay..."

"Here, eat this..."

He had made some chicken broth for both of them. They were eating as they looked at the night sky.

"Cassandra... Thanks for helping me with this... I really appreciate it!"

"Sure!"

"Let's get some rest. We still need to get to Wolfkrone Kingdom."

"Okay, but you're not getting any rest are you?"

"I'll be on guard. Don't worry about me."

Casandra had fallen asleep. Leonsritt had been standing for an hour, just guarding Cassandra. Yet he thought about her. He thought deeply about her, if it would be possible for him to stay here. He knew deep down he slowly started to have feelings for her. He turned and looked at a sleeping Cassandra. He saw how cute she looked when she slept. That though was soon interrupted by an unknown intruder. Leonsritt blocked the incoming attack, and the intruder turned out to be none other than Taki.

"Well, well. Not bad."

"What do you want, Taki?"

"So you know me?"

"Don't ask, answer me. What do you want?"

"You would've been someone easy to steal from, but you're a lot better than I thought."

"Stealing, huh?"

Leonsritt had readied his blade, but Taki had put her her weapons away.

"You seem like a worthy opponent, but not now."

"What do you mean?"

"You and I will fight some other day. Right now you seem to be taking care of that young woman right there."

Leonsritt turned to see Cassandra still sleeping, but when he turned to Taki, she had already disappeared. He still stood there, guarding Cassandra. After that little intrusion, Leonsritt knew he would see Taki once again.

Cassandra had woken up, only to find Leonsritt missing again, but this time, he had left his blade near her. Cassandra heard Leonsritt from a distance, grunting, as if he was fighting. She got up and followed his voice, and had found him practicing on a tree. She hid behind a tree to see what he was doing. Leonsritt punched and kicked with all of his might. She noticed that Leonsritt was starting to get worn out of this, but he kept going. Cassandra had headed back to the campsite, thinking of him and what he was practicing for. She sat down for a moment and prepared her items to finally leave and move on to the next destination but not without Leonsritt. Leonsritt had come back, and noticed Cassandra waiting for him.

"You ready to leave?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, let's go!"

He noticed Cassandra blushing. This was odd for Leonsritt.

"You okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine."

"Well, just wondering. (Weird)"

"I know from this path, we should arrive at a small village."

"Let's go, then."

Leonsritt had walked behind Cassandra, yet he was still weirded out. One thing was still in mind: a battle against Taki. But, why him? He pondered that question, but kept walking. Cassandra seemed pretty happy about today, yet it still was strange for Leonsritt. Leaving that out of his mind, they walked towards the next village.

Author's Notes: No, I still don't own SoulCalibur. Like, seriously, do I have to repeat this every time? Seems like I do, and I don't wanna get in trouble with the people at NAMCO BANDAI. Hell, I wish I would own SoulCalibur, but I don't. Chances of that happening are slim to none. Yep, but whatever.