Chapter 11 – A Nightmare's Beginning
A dark fate has crossed Leonsritt's path. The shard has taken over his body. Now what will be of him is unknown. Nightmare Leonsritt appeared in Ostrheinsburg, atop the cathedral ruins in the center of the capital. He sets the steel paddle in the center of the ruins.
"And now to wait for him. Once he arrives, I'll be complete..."
Cassandra had fallen to her knees.
"He's... gone...?"
Hilde had looked down. Siegfried was angered about this.
"We can't be here moping about this... We must go to Ivy... And we gotta get to him before Nightmare does..."
"But how do we get to Ivy if we're so far from where she is...?"
"I'll handle that..."
Siegfried raised his sword and a light appeared in front of them.
"Follow me..."
Siegfried walked in to the light. Hilde and Cassandra and Hilde looked at it for a few seconds, and the walked through the light. They had arrived at the Valentine Manor, where they found Ivy, donning a red frilled dress.
"And the boy...?"
"It's not looking good at all..."
"What about these two...?"
"HEY! THESE TWO HAVE NAM-"
Hilde had covered Cassandra's mouth.
"My sincerest apologies, Isabella. I am Hildegard von Wolfkrone, daughter of King Wolfkrone. This is my traveling companion, Cassandra."
"Now my main concern is the young man that was with both of you..."
"We don't know where he is. He just disappeared..."
"We need him to restore everything to the way it was..."
"Why? What's going on?"
"The situation with him is worse than we thought..."
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Nightmare had appeared at the Ostrheinsburg castle gates, where the aura of Leonsritt's shard had been emanating from...
"Finally, a new host for me... This'll be fun... And once I obtain the new body, I will find more souls to devour..."
He had started walking in to the castle ruins...
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"So then without him you can't stop this...?"
"No... This had all started with Soul Edge and the idea of traveling through time..."
"We have to find him quick before it's too late..."
"It's most likely for him to be at the castle ruins in Ostrheinsburg..."
"But how do we get there? We're still far from the place... And we gotta get Leo out of there!"
"I will help you get there..."
A mysterious figure had appeared to them. A man with a hood covering his face, carrying a scythe. This man had given everyone a chill down their spine. Ivy had soon recognized this person.
"Zasalamel..."
"I've foreseen everything that's going on with this world..."
Zasalamel turned to Hilde and Cassandra. Both girls had stepped back in fear.
"You... you are the one who will save us..."
"Wait... Hilde or me?"
"You'll see for yourself soon enough..."
Zasalamel had stretched his arm to the left and a portal appeared.
"Follow me..."
Zasalamel walked towards the portal but noticed that Hilde and Cassandra stood looking at him...
"How do we know if what Cassandra and I will walk through will be a trap?"
"Do you not trust me? Or do you want everyone to die because of the catastrophe that is happening...?"
"Hilde, he's right... We should just go through this..."
Hilde sighed and stepped in to the portal, but she still didn't trust Zasalamel. They had appeared in front of the Ostrheinsburg castle ruins. A flash of light had appeared and Siegfried stood in front of them. They noticed that a black aura had been emanating from the inside of the ruins. Everyone had stepped in and looked around. A thunderstorm had started and the light had grown dim...
"I'm not liking this at all, Hilde..."
"Be on your guard. You never know what can happ-"
"SHH! Stop..."
Siegfried stood still, with weapon in hand. Cassandra and Hilde had stopped and prepared themselves. They looked around and started hearing footsteps approaching them.
"Sieg... fried..."
He looked to see where that came from...
"DIE!"
Something had jumped out and attacked Siegfried, with him blocking the unknown figure's attack.
"We meet again Siegfried! Are you ready for your demise this time?"
"NIGHTMARE! YOU BASTARD!"
The two crossed swords. Siegfried looked at Hilde and Cassandra.
"Go! I'll hold Nightmare off!"
"Not for long!"
The two kept power struggling and Siegfried managed to push Nightmare off. The girls ran towards the door in front of them.
"Siegfried, all your efforts will not be enough to stop me..."
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Go, now. He has arrived... But beware, two nuisances will be in your way...
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"Come on! We have to hurry!"
Cassandra had dashed to the stairs leading to the upper floors. Hilde had not been far, but she froze...
"Hilde! What's wrong?"
Hilde pointed and saw an injured Leonsritt lying in the middle of the hallway.
"Leo!"
They ran to him but Hilde stopped halfway.
"Cassandra, stop!"
"But we gotta help him!"
Cassandra turned to him. Leonsritt opened his eyes and smiled at her.
"Are you okay?"
There was no answer, but the smile turned in to a sinister grin.
"What a fool you are..."
"Wha-aughh!"
His arm was extended to Cassandra's neck, choking her. He stood up, with Cassandra in hand and threw her to the wall. A slam was heard and she coughed up blood. Hilde ran to Cassandra but was kicked down to the ground.
"You are such fools..."
Nightmare Leonsritt had walked up to Hilde and picked her up by her neck.
"You... guh... what did you do to... Leonsritt...?"
He laughed in a sinister manner...
"He doesn't exist anymore..."
He landed a punch at Hilde's gut, causing her to spit out blood. She flew to the end of the hallway. He turned to Cassandra, and walked to her, only to stop...
"Grrr... Gaahh... Why... do you resist me?"
Cassandra looked at Nightmare Leonsritt. She stood up and leaned back on the wall.
"You have to fight it, Leo!"
"Grr... GAH!"
Nightmare Leonsritt had grasped his head in pain...
[]
Deep in the void, Leonsritt is being held down by strings of what seems to be Soul Edge's aura.
"Get out of my body!"
I take orders from no one!
"I won't let you take over me!"
Silence! Your body will serve as the new host! There is nothing you can do about it!
"Get the hell out of me!"
Leonsritt struggled but the aura was too strong.
Do not resist me... Sleep...
The aura sent a surge of energy, shocking Leonsritt's body, rendering him unconscious...
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"FIGHT IT!"
Cassandra walked slowly to Nightmare Leonsritt. He stopped grasping his head and stood still. Cassandra looked at Nightmare Leonsritt.
"Leo...?"
A moment of silence had gone by. Cassandra had suddenly felt a burst of pain in her gut, and noticed his fist on her gut.
"You're so stupid... He's gone... Now... SUFFER!"
She began to spit out more blood and fell to the floor. Hilde stood up and looked at Cassandra on the floor. Nightmare Leonsritt walked towards the stairs and began walking down. Hilde ran to Cassandra's aid.
"Are you okay?"
"It's too late..."
Cassandra broke down in tears. Hilde had helped her up and helped her walk to the top of the ruins.
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Nightmare and Siegfried's battle led them to the top of the ruins. The Sacred and Evil Swords clashed, with both warriors weakening but still fighting.
"Nightmare! You will perish..."
"Fool! You can never get rid of me..."
"This is THE END!"
Siegfried raised Soul Calibur in the air and slammed it down, but only to see Nightmare Leonsritt hold the blade with one hand.
"What?"
Nightmare Leonsritt sneered and threw him to the ground. Siegfried stood up.
"Now is the time for the final step..."
Nightmare stood up and pierced Soul Edge to the ground. He had suddenly disappeared but had turned into a visible aura. Nightmare Leonsritt had absorbed the aura, and walked to Soul Edge.
"Say farewell to this useless excuse of a world, for it will be mine soon... As for this boy... If he hadn't been here, I would've never made it this far..."
He grabbed the blade and a red light emanated around Nightmare Leonsritt. The earth shook violently and thunder had struck down where Nightmare Leonsritt had stood. Cassandra and Hilde appeared and dust had covered the whole area. Minutes had passed by as the dust had finally started clearing out. Everyone had seen what was standing in the middle. A giant with wings and a red aura covering it. It slowly floated up in the air. Soul Edge had now taken its complete form. And with it, it had transformed Nightmare Leonsritt into...
"NIGHT TERROR!"
"N-no way..."
Night Terror had looked down and raised Soul Edge in to the air. Looking at the horizon, he noticed something was different about the land, as if certain things are not supposed to be there.
"Both worlds will be mine to rule..."
Leonsritt had opened his eyes and slowly did he recognize the place he was in. It was all too familiar to him, and then he realized where he was...
"I... I'm back..."
Author's Note: After being stuck with writer's block for a while, I figured out what I needed to write for this story. I've been kind of busy too, but thanks to some music listening,it's what I needed for the story. And I still don't own anything that is SOULCALIBUR-related. So tell me, how's the story so far?