Chapter 6: The Accursed Azure Knight

A/N: Please pardon the lazy writing lol. Please enjoy and review! DarkNovelist out.

After another long day of travel, the group finally arrived at the city of Chaldea. Upon entering the walls of the city, they were escorted by guards to meet Emperor Takumi XIII, Chaldea's ruler. When the group entered the king's throne room, their escort left.

"Welcome, brave ones." said a voice at the back of the room. There sat a man in a wheelchair and a woman in a military coat. The man was in his mid- 40's, with spiky brown hair that had two strands hanging over his shoulders. The woman standing next to him had a strict, unfriendly aura, her hair was a dark green and was short with a long ponytail in the back.

"Greetings, Emperor Takumi." said Notokishi, bowing as she spoke. The others also bowed in respect.

The man smiled. "You must be King Mashiro's daughters, Notokishi and Kaia. I have heard much about the two of you, you're quite famous. Tell me, what brings you and your friends here to my city?"

"I will be glad to explain."

One very long explanation later…

"I see." Takumi said once Notokishi had finished. "So that was the light that we saw a few days ago. And to think, that so much evil came out of it. I must thank you for defeating that invasion force before it reached our city."

"I could have taken them…" the grouchy woman next to him mumbled.

"Please forgive my friend's rudeness. Akira, have you not introduced yourself yet?"

The woman looked at the group. "I am Akira Okuzaki, otome to Takumi XIII and enforcer of his ambitions. I am the one who protects this city."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Okuzaki." Kaia said. "Your highness, we would be grateful if you could aid us in our mission. If Soul Calibur is here in Chaldea, then we can defeat Nightmare before he can become an even bigger threat."

"Of course, princess. Though I am unsure if the sword is here, feel free to look around. I will take care of your lodging, so take as long as you need to."

"Thank you, your highness."

The group left the emperor to begin searching the city. They searched everywhere, under everything, over everything, and inside everything. Still, they could not find the sword. Deciding to continue their search later, and retired to their hotel for the night.

"Huuuuuh…." Notokishi groaned, lying down on her bed. "We've searched practically everywhere in this city, and we haven't found anything that looks like a legendary sword."

"Maybe we just overlooked something." said Verona, lying next to her. "I bet it would be a lot easier to find it if we actually knew what the sword looks like."

"Yeah, but I already asked Cassandra that, and she didn't know. This isn't going to be easy…"

Just then, Miyu opened the door to their room. "I request your presence downstairs, I have found something that could benefit our mission."

Once the group had gathered in the living room of their hotel, Miyu laid out a large paper on a table.

"Please look closely." instructed Miyu.

On the paper was drawn an elaborate blue long sword with a strange blade that split down its middle.

"Is this…Soul Calibur?" asked Verona.

"I believe so."

"Where did you find this?"

"Ms. Okuzaki gave it to me. She said it might be helpful."

"Huh, maybe she's not so bad after a-"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A large explosion suddenly occurred somewhere outside, followed by screams of fear and the cries of wild beasts. Gathering up the portrait and readying their weapons, the group rushed out of the hotel. The city was under attack!

Outside, Chaldea was burning around an ominous figure clad in azure armor. Nightmare walked up the steps to the royal palace, where the royal guards charged at him.

"Fools!" Nightmare shouted as he cut down the guards with ease, claiming more souls to feed his endless thirst.

The azure knight entered the throne room, where Akira guarding Takumi. Her large ornate blades were drawn, her Robe had already been activated.

"You're Nightmare, aren't you? How dare you assault my city!" shouted the angry otome.

"I require the souls of this city's citizens to restore Soul Edge. A human like you could never understand…"

"I understand you are my enemy! And therefore, I will defeat you! I don't need some stupid sword!" Akira charged at the knight with incredible speed, swinging her blades. Nightmare swung Soul Edge just in time to parry the blows, then countered with a strike of his own. Akira narrowly dodged the massive sword, and retaliated with a forward kick. The blow struck Nightmare in the chest, but the knight barely flinched.

"What?" said a surprised Akira.

Nightmare grabbed her leg with his corrupted arm, and slammed the otome into the ground. While Akira was struggling to rise, Nightmare drove Soul Edge into her exposed shoulder, crippling her left arm. From where he sat, Takumi gripped his left shoulder. It was now throbbing with pain.

"What's this?" Nightmare asked. He drove Soul Edge further into Akira's shoulder. As she cried out in pain, so too did Takumi. "Interesting. It would seem that you two are linked somehow, and feel each other's pain. Perhaps if I take the soul of one, I will also claim the others soul." Nightmare withdrew his sword from Akira's shoulder, then aimed the blade at her heart.

"Akira!" Takumi cried.

Nightmare thrust Soul Edge through the otome's chest. Akira groaned once, and was still.

"Your highness! Are you alr-" Kaia said, bursting into the throne room. She and Cassandra had split from the others to protect the Emperor, but they now saw it was too late. Akira and Takumi's bodies were already halfway dissolved, and a faint light flew from their bodies into the sword in the azure knight's hand. Nightmare turned around to face the two new opponents.

"You…" he said staring at Kaia. "I've been looking for you."

"Looking to finish our fight, bastard?" Kaia said, angrily tightening her grip on Angheol.

"You don't realize what's happening to you at all, do you? From what I can see, your sword, 'Angheol' as you called it, is exactly the same as Soul Edge. They are the same, and so are we."

"Shut your mouth! We are not the same!" Kaia charged angrily at Nightmare, sending forth a wave of ice with a swing of her sword. Nightmare was surprised by the sudden burst, and was knocked off balance by the wave. Seizing his momentary loss of balance, Cassandra ran at the knight and brought first her shield, then her sword down on Nightmare's sword arm. Though the pain was great, the knight refused to let the sword leave his hand. Nightmare swung his sword in a 180˚ arc in front of him, pushing back Cassandra. Kaia rushed towards him again, swinging at his head. Nightmare blocked the strike with one of his own. The two now stood facing each other, blades locked.

"I, will, defeat you! I have to defeat you!" Kaia shouted.

"Are you like the other girl, trying to destroy my cursed blade for justice? Are you, like many, seeking revenge for someone I've killed?"

"No! I fight to free myself from this body, which has been tainted by the blade in my hands. When I have rid this world of your evil, I will be freed from my bond! As long as Soul Edge exists, this world will never be safe!"

"…you poor fool."

"What?"

"You and I are very much the same. But unlike you, I have accepted my fate. My bond can never be broken…" Fire suddenly erupted all over Soul Edge, and Kaia was blown back. "The sword and I are one!"

Seeing Kaia down, Cassandra ran at Nightmare, throwing her shield. It struck the knight's head, dazing him. Gripping her sword with both hands, Cassandra drove the blade at Nightmare's exposed throat.

SCHINK!

Cassandra stared forward. Her sword had stopped inches from its target. She looked down. Soul Edge was sticking into her stomach. Nightmare retracted his blade, and Cassandra fell backward.

"Cassandra!" Kaia cried. She ran over to where Cassandra lay, and held her up.

Cassandra stared into space. "Sophitia…I'm…sorry…I…failed…" then she closed her eyes and was still.

"No…" Kaia muttered. Dropping Cassandra's body, Kaia readied her sword and charged furiously at Nightmare. "Damn you!"

Kaia's eyes turned silver and beast like, and a great frozen aura radiated from Angheol. Nightmare reignited Soul Edge's flames to match the cold aura. The warriors swung their demon blades, and when they clashed a surge of immense power blasted them apart from one another. Kaia was knocked unconscious upon landing. When she came to, Notokishi, Verona, and Miyu were standing over her.

"Kaia, are you alright?" asked Notokishi.

"Ugh…yeah, I'm fine. Wait, Cassandra! Is she-"

Notokishi mournfully closed her eyes and shook her head. "She was already gone when we found her. We're the only ones who survived."

Kaia clenched her fists and slammed one hand on the ground. "Dammit! Why wasn't I able to stop him?"

"Kaia…"

"I'll make him pay…for Aires, Chaldea, and our friend. I swear I will."

For a brief second, Notokishi saw a glint of silver in Kaia's eyes.

"Kaia?"

"What?"

"We'd better get moving. We have a lot of walking to do."

"Yeah…let's go."

The group gathered what supplies they could, and went on their way. As they left the outskirts of Chaldea, a freshly made pile of stones lay behind them, with a sword and shield resting on top of it. The five had now become the four.