I do not own the rights to the Soul or Legend of Zelda series.

Please review. Thank you.

The quattro of travelers had finally reached the ravaged city of Ostrheinsburg, the Azure Knight's imposing castle looming over them on the eastern bank of the Rhine River – near the German-Dutch border.

There wasn't much time to admire the castle's once-impressive but now dilapidated stonework and architecture, however, as Soul Edge's corrupted minions swarmed about the city's remains.

A small group of Schwarzsturm soldiers intercepted Taki and her group, but they were making short work of them. But there fight had not gone unnoticed, as it was evident that more among Nightmare's ranks were preparing to reinforce their defensive.

As Taki ripped the Rekki-maru out from another felled opponent, she steeled herself. There wasn't a moment to lose. If Schwarzsturm was indeed as powerful as she'd been led to believe, the group had quite a fight on their hands.

"Is everyone okay?" Xianghua asked, holding the Tai Chi Jian at the ready. "We're not finished yet!"

Maxi twirled his nunchaku in a showy display of aggression, and Kilik appeared to be reciting a sutra to himself in preparation for the upcoming battle. Taki herself closed her eyes and took a breath, her right hand resting on the hilt of the Rekki-maru, now sheathed upon her back.

A few armor-clad soldiers began gathering with in views, some of them bearing scars and scuffs of a recent battle – perhaps Taki and her group weren't the only ones seeking to bring Schwarzsturm down.

The anticipation was already thick in Ostrheinsburg, but the tension became even heavier as the ground began to shake. An absolute monster of a man – over seven feet tall and massively built, wielding a gargantuan axe – shoved his way to the front of the crowd. He wore a mask over his face, with large, spiked shoulder pads and an open, steel gorget around his head. His pure white eyes and what appeared to be an exposed heart in the center of his chest served to worsen his inhuman appearance. "More worthless maggots to slaughter!" he shouted, then belted out a raspy laugh.

Maxi's knuckles whitened as he tightened his grasp his nunchaku. He bore his teeth and narrowed his eyes at the man, his face twisted into an expression of hatred and rage. "Astaroth, you son of a bitch," the former smuggler said quietly. He began racing forward, and suddenly shouted, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Maxi, wait!" Kilik reached out after him in a futile attempt to stop his friend, but Maxi was already beyond reach and reason both.

Maxi charged his foe, – Astaroth, evidently – bellowing a wordless war cry as he readied a strike. Almost immediately and seemingly without a thought, Astaroth swung his arm wide and knocked Maxi to the side. The Ryukyuan tumbled to the ground and rolled to a stop in the dirt.

"Bahaha!" Astaroth cackled, dropping the head of his axe into the ground. "Is that the best you can do?" he mocked, placing a free hand on his waist as he rolled neck with audible cracking.

Maxi rose to his feet once more, not ready to give up. "I'm going to kill you!" he shouted again.

"We have to help him!" Xianghua urged Kilik and Taki as she ran to join the fray. Kilik looked at Taki and gave her a nod, agreeing with Xianghua. With his staff at the ready, he followed after her.

Taki took a deep breath, and let go of the Rekki-maru. She dashed into the fight, delivering a fierce kick that instantly floored one of Schwarzsturm's number. She drew the Rekki-maru, and cut a deep gash into another's torso. The man staggered back, caught off-guard. Taki followed up with another strike, the warrior falling to the ground.

She turned to see Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi all attacking Astaroth while simultaneously fending off members of Schwarzsturm attempting to take advantage of their preoccupation with the giant. She took a breath, and began silently running towards him, the Rekki-maru gripped tightly in her hand. She leapt into the air and came down onto his back, her blade piercing into the giant's shoulder. He let out a guttural scream as he began to thrash about, trying to throw Taki off his back. Taki withdrew the blade as she held on tightly to the monster, driving back into his back. Again, Astaroth roared as he swung around, his free arm reaching up to grab Taki. She stabbed him a third time before jumping off his back, just barely avoiding the titan's grasp. As she landed back on the ground, Astaroth turned to face her, his axe gripped tightly and his eyes full of rage.

"You think you can mess with me!?" he snarled, and lifted his oversized axe high into the air. Before it could be brought down, however, Xianghua dashed in and slashed the Tai Chi Jian into his calf, knocking him off-balance. The axe came crashing down awkwardly, and the giant fell to one knee as he stabilized himself. He growled wordlessly and rose up to his feet again, and swiftly swept his axe widely roundabout him. He turned to the men of Schwarzsturm and shouted "STOP STANDING AROUND AND KILL THESE MAGGOTS!"

No sooner had he spoken this than another Ostrheinsburg soldier swung his sword at Taki, attempting to catch her off-guard. She parried the blow deftly, and stepped back from her opponent. Locking eyes with him, she leapt at and rolled towards him, rising back to her feet and delivering a fierce kick to the soldier's face. He staggered back and soon lost his footing, with Taki quickly driving the Rekki-maru into his throat to finish him off. She stood back up and was quickly faced with yet another opponent. The armor-clad man lunged forward with a spear, which Taki only barely managed to sidestip. She grabbed hold of the spear's shaft and yanked the man towards him, stabbing him in the neck as he lurched forward. He tumbled to the ground as Taki yanked out her blade and prepared herself for whatever followed.

More and more off Schwarzsturm began to surround her, and things began looking bleak. She was holding her own just fine now, but there's no way this was sustainable. Sooner or later, she'd start getting sloppier and messing up. Once that happened, it wouldn't belong before she was overwhelmed. And she had to see to it that Soul Edge was destroyed.

She had to save her family.

Another Schwarzsturm soldier charged towards her, his sword held high over his head. He let out a raspy war cry as he brought the blade down towards Taki, the edge clanging as it collided with the Rekki-maru. She pushed back against him before dropping low and sweeping his legs out from under him. As the man fell, Taki lunged and stabbed the Rekki-maru into his nape. He let out a gurgle and fell still. Taki pulled the dagger out, but was knocked forwards as she was clubbed in the back. She stumbled into the dirt, managing to roll back up to one knee. The Ostrheinsburg warrior prepared to swing again, but he was knocked off his own feet by a long staff. Kilik quickly closed in and knocked the man out with a swift knock of his staff to the man's skull. He shot a glance and a nod in Taki's direction before turning to face another foe.

Taki rose to her feet, prepared for the long, grueling fight that lay ahead. But maybe there was a way to end it quicker. She turned her gaze back towards Astaroth – he was clearly the bastion of their force. If he fell, then hopefully the bulk of Schwarzsturm would disperse. Then they could focus on storming Ostrheinsburg Castle and pursuing their main objective, the Azure Knight. Soul Edge.

Astaroth was still engaging Maxi, swinging his colossal axe left and right to cut the Ryukyuan down. Maxi himself was clearly tiring, no longer swinging his nunchaku as wildly as he typically died, and his hair quite disheveled from its usual, eccentrically-styled state. But he had a fire in his eyes and a drive in his heart – he wasn't going to back down, that much was evident. He was going to fight until either he or Astaroth died.

Taki decided to intervene.

She readied the Rekki-maru in her hand and once more rushed towards the monstrous juggernaut. She jumped into the air once more, plunging her sword into Astaroth's back yet again. He let out a deep, roaring shout that thundered across the battlefield as he once again began flailing about to throw Taki off his back. As she began repeatedly plunging the dagger into his back, his movements became wilder and more erratic. Maxi took advantage of it and began upping the ferocity of his attacks, trying to bring Astaroth down quickly. Before he could however, Taki felt a sharp pain wrap itself around her ankle – and before she knew it, she was being dragged across the dirt with barely enough time to grab the Rekki-maru.

As she squirmed trying to roll over onto her back as she continued to be dragged, she finally caught a glimpse of what had caught her leg. It looked like a long whip with multiple blades segmented all along its length. And it was slithering across the ground, like a snake; like it was alive. The whip continued to lug her across at the ground, bringing her to its weilder – a tall, pale-skinned woman with white hair in a very revealing and impractical violet leather battle outfit with a gold-plated armored sleeve. The whip suddenly hoisted Taki into the air by her leg, dangling her in front of the woman.

"Well, well, well," she drawled in her posh accent, the smugness in her voice almost palpable. "Not our typical prey, are we?"

There was something immensely familiar about her. Not so much her appearance, but just her presence. Something about her gave off this feeling Taki was sure she'd felt before. Something… sickening. It was unsettling, something was deeply wrong.

Taki swiftly swung the Rekki-maru at the woman, who hopped back to avoid the strike – her whip immediately disengaging from Taki's leg, dropping her to the ground. She fell with a thud and a groan, unsteadily rising to her feet and preparing for combat. The woman had her arms folded condescendingly, looking down on Taki from her impressive height – nowhere nearly as imposing as Astaroth, but notably taller anyone else present. The whip in her hand had pulled together, becoming nigh indistinguishable from a regular sword save marks where the segments of blade parted.

"Cheeky, aren't we?" she spoke, flicking her hair out of her face with a quick movement of her neck. "You'll regret that." She wound up her arm and swung her sword, the blade stretching out into its whip-like state yet again as it lashed towards the ninja. Taki attempted to block, but it was too long, there were too many pieces, and she was worn out from the previous fight. Her defense wasn't holding up, not against a warrior armed like this.

She didn't waste any time in retaliating, bounding towards Ivy with every strike of the Rekki-maru, unleashing slash after slash, jab after jab, hoping to pierce her guard and end this fight quickly – neither this woman, nor the giant, nor any other member of Schwarzsturm were worth the time. No matter how familiar and unsettling an aura they gave off.

Her mind went back to that. Where had she felt this before?

The woman spun the hilt of her weapon around in her hand, the whip itself flying left and right around her. The whip lunged outwards, even appearing to disconnect from the hilt of her weapon, and began circling above Taki. It came rushing down, spinning in a vortex, nicking Taki several times as it came down, but some cuts running much deeper than others. The bladed whip tail retreated back to its master, settling back into a hilted sword as though it had always been there.

Taki let out a breath and fastened her grip on the Rekki-maru. She took a quick step towards the woman, who immediately thrust her weapon forward, the whip stretching out and embedding itself into the ground, every shard of the blade disappearing into the earth. Taki suspected she missed her mark, but there was no change on the woman's smug face – she was up to something. Taki closed her eyes, and soon heard rustling come from beneath her. She speedily rolled out from over the blade as the whip sword sprung from the ground beneath her, still managing to cut her leg a bit. She gritted her teeth as she retreated from the unnatural sword, and steeled herself for whatever came next. Her eyes fixed on her opponent, she lunged forward. The woman immediately raised her blade to block the swipe of a weapon, but Taki delivered none. She instead reached out both arms and grabbed hold of the woman, and kneed her in the stomach. As her opponent doubled over, Taki boosted herself up. She jumped up onto the woman's shoulders, and then jumped up. She came crashing back down on top of her with the full force of her body, and then jumped again. As her opponent fell to the ground from the impact, Taki spun around in the air with her blade at the ready. She came down once more, and drove her blade into the woman's exposed arm.

The leather-clad warrior let out a shout, and her own weapon lashed out at Taki, carving a jagged gash into her arm as it dashed past her. Taki groaned and backed off, quickly tiring out. This had to finish soon, or she was going to be in rough shape.

The white-haired warrior stood up off the ground, a look of anger and indignation on her face. "How dare you!?" she bellowed, and swung her whip blade out towards Taki. The snakelike sword attempted to wrap itself around Taki's leg again, but she anticipated this and nimbly evaded the strike. She leapt forward once more landed a harsh kick on the woman's face. She toppled backwards to the floor, then looked up with bared teeth and a clenched fist. The whip sprang to life once more and began slithering towards Taki, before lifting up into the air and beginning to circle as it approached her. It began to spin wildly, with the blade fragments splitting apart as the weapon zipped about. Taki braced herself for the incoming attack, and tensed up as she felt the small shards rip across her skin. As the attack subsided, Taki managed to stay on her feet, and readied herself for another strike.

Before either she or her opponent could move, however, the ground began to quake. As the very foundation of Ostrheinsburg shook, and the stonework rumbled, a hideous, thundering laughter burst forth from the castle keep. "THE TIME IS RIPE!" the voice roared in a deep rasp.

For a moment, all the fighting around Ostrheinsburg Castle stopped. The few remaining members of Schwarzsturm began to cheer, and Taki saw a look of fear come over Xianghua and Kilik.

"We're running out of time!" Xianghua exclaimed, exchanging a nervous look with the red-haired monk.

"Go on without me!" Maxi shouted, "Your job is to stop is to stop the sword! Mine's here with this ugly bastard!"

"HEY!" Astaroth shouted, evidently offended. He raised his axe and swung it at the smuggler, who rolled around his attacker and delivered a harsh blow to the back of Astaroth's leg.

"Go!" Maxi shouted. "Now!"

Kilik and Xianghua gave Maxi a determined nod and turned away, knocking down a Schwarzturm soldier who stood in their path on their way into Ostrheinsburg keep. Immediately, the white-haired woman Taki was fighting chased after them. "Oh no, you don't!" she shouted, pursuing them.

Without missing a beat, Taki gave chase. She followed her opponent into the castle's main gateway, her dagger gripped tensely in her hand. As she entered the foyer of the castle keep, she could hear the echoes of blade clashing with blade, and the frequent thunk of a wooden staff. Unintelligible shouting and speech could also be heard, but Taki couldn't tell where it was coming from. Aside from that, the only sign of life was the sounds of her own footsteps echoing through the grand hall. Cautious, she continued to make her way further into the castle, trying her best to follow where the sound was coming from.

She shook her head, and sheathed the Rekki-maru. Keeping her hand wrapped around the hilt, she closed her eyes for a moment and focused on the sound. Calming her breathing, she attempted to pin down where the noise came from.

Suddenly, it hit her all at once – that same sickening aura she'd felt coming from the woman before. That was it. That was all she had to follow.

She picked up her pace and made her way towards the dark presence. Crossing through another doorway, she saw the woman locking blades with Xianghua while Kilik was nowhere to be found.

"Taki!" Xianghua called out, having noticed her comrade enter. The other woman also turned and looked.

"You again!" she said disdainfully, and turned away from Xianghua with her whip blades breaking apart once more. The fragments flew at Taki once more, and she parried each one she could, taking a few more cuts in the attempt. Quickly, however, the pieces retreated back to the hilt of her weapon as she fell to her knee, Xianghua slicing into her side. The woman groaned as her hand shot to her wounded side, grasping at her injury.

"Where's Kilik?" Taki asked.

"He went on ahead!" Xianghua shouted. "Please, help me! I have to reach him!"

"I'll go!" Taki said, "I have to see Soul Edge destroyed!"

"Taki, please!" Xianghua pleaded. "I'm worried about him! His… the Evil Seed!"

Taki widened her eyes. She was right. If Kilik was in such close proximity to Soul Edge, there was a decent chance he'd regress into the monster he claimed to be – and then… then Taki would have to kill him. She wouldn't hesitate to do so, but it wouldn't have been anything pleasant to do – certainly not in front of his friends.

Xianghua shot another pleading look at Taki. The ninja closed her eyes and sighed, "Go!" she said.

"Oh no, you don't!" the woman shouted as she rose to her feet, her blade stretching out after the Ming guardswoman. Taki threw the Rekki-maru, the blade catching in the whip and pinning it to the ground. Xianghua disappeared behind the next set of doors, and the woman attempted to follow. She recalled her blade, which pulled itself out from under the Rekki-maru and back to the pommel in her hand.

Taki dashed over to the woman, and stood in her way. "Your fight right now is with me," she said, defiantly.

"You?" the woman folded her arms and laughed. "You don't even have a weapon anymore."

Taki huffed and drew the Mekki-maru from its sheath. "Wrong," she said, and slashed the short sword at her opponent.

Caught off-guard, the woman reeled back in shock and pain. Her eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth. "You little..!"

"Is that all you've got?" Taki asked, returning the woman's condescending mockery.

The woman snarled and lashed out, slinging the whip of her weapon forward, cutting Taki's shoulder. She flinched, but elsewise stood fast. She swung the Mekki-maru once more, but her opponent managed to avoid it. Before she could swing again, she felt a familiar sharp pain around her ankle. She was quickly dragged off her feet again, and crashed into the cold, stone ground. Before she could move to get up, the woman planted her boot into Taki's abdomen.

"Know your place!" she shouted, her arms folded across her torso.

Taki was hit with another wave of familiarity, but she couldn't place it. She was snapped from her thought by another stomp, and the woman grinding her foot against her stomach.

"How does that feel?" she asked. "Does it hurt?"

Taki's eyes widened. Cervantes de Leon had said those exact words to her years before in Valencia. What's more, that's where she had felt this aura before.

She stabbed the Mekki-maru into the woman's ankle, and then ripped it out swiftly. She pushed her off and knocked her to the ground, flipping over and slamming her own heel into the woman's stomach. Kicking the hilt of her weapon out of reach, Taki dropped down and held the Mekki-maru to the woman's throat.

"Who are you?" Taki demanded.

"Ugh…," the woman groaned. "Ivy… Ivy Valentine," she finally said.

"Valentine…," Taki repeated, "Not de Leon?"

"What?" Ivy asked, confused. "No. You mean the pirate?"

"I killed him years ago," Taki told her. "And the same evil aura I felt coming from him, I feel from you."

"How dare you!" Ivy snarled. "Evil? I've devoted years of my life to destroying evil!"

"Destroying it?" Taki asked confusedly. "You're serving the Azure Knight."

"What of it?" Ivy spat. "I'll work with anyone I must to destroy Soul Edge! No cost is too great!"

"What?" Taki asked in disbelief. "He's Soul Edge's master! Just like de Leon was!"

"Impossible!" the woman protested. "He recruited me to stop it! Summoning souls to seal it away!"

Taki widened her eyes. This woman was a victim too, she'd been an unwitting pawn. "Nightmare lied to you," Taki said. "I've been all over the Holy Roman Empire, and I've seen what his group has done – and it's all to empower Soul Edge. You've been feeding its strength."

"No…," Ivy said, "No! It can't be! He… he gave my sword life! He promised me…!" She sputtered and came to a stop. After a brief moment in silence, she looked up at Taki. "Wait, no… I… I was adopted. My father… he… he wasn't actually…"

"I'm sorry," Taki said. She sheathed the Mekki-maru and turned away. The woman knew now – she was the daughter of Cervantes de Leon; the daughter of Soul Edge.

As she picked up and sheathed the Rekki-maru, she heard only the sound of the woman's quiet sobbing. She would likely have this cross to bear for the rest of her life. But right now, Taki had a much bigger concern. Soul Edge needed to be destroyed. She proceeded onwards to the next room, her heart pounding as she gripped the Rekki-maru tightly.

She passed through the chamber doors and found an empty hallway. All the way down at the end, she could hear the sounds of swordfighting coming from beyond a door. What's more, she could feel that aura again. It was similar to Ivy and Cervantes' – but different, somehow. Darker, more sinister. Primal.

Soul Edge.

It had to be.

She picked up her pace and sprinted towards the source. She flung open the door and saw Xianghua engaging who she presumed to be Nightmare in the throne room. He fit the bill – azure armor, with a horn and fin coming from the helmet. What was most striking were his gigantic horned – and of course, the sword. It had to be Soul Edge – a giant dull blade with a moving eye, and red flesh around the edge itself.

Xianghua was also striking – she no longer held the Tai Chi Jian. In her hand now an ornate two-pronged longsword, and it appeared to be made out of a blue crystal. And the aura it gave off was the antithesis of Soul Edge – almost pure, in a way. But at the same time, it made her uneasy.

But whatever it was, Taki could see that it was countering Soul Edge well. The Azure Knight looked worn and weary, and there was no way he had been fighting as long as the rest of the crew. That crystalline sword in Xianghua's hands appeared to be a worry for him.

Kilik lay on the ground near them, unconscious. Whatever had happened, it had worn him out.

Taki began making her way towards the far side of the throne room, where she saw Xianghua lunge forward ferociously, the tip of her sword piercing through Soul Edge's eye. Nightmare staggered and let out a vicious, wailing howl – the sound so loud and piercing, Taki stopped dead in her tracks and nearly fell to one knee. Managing to stay afoot, she tried inching forward. But as she did, the ground began to shake again. The room began to glow alternating shades of red and blue, and flames began to appear roundabout Xianghua, Kilik, and Nightmare. Taki stopped again and shielded her eyes from the heat and light emerging. Perhaps, most worrying of all, was the Dvapara-yuga around Kilik's chest began to crack and shatter. This was bad.

Again, Taki began to move forward. She had to intervene – she had to stop this.

But before she could, the flames surged and a dark void appeared. It engulfed the throne and the fighters around it. Flashing lights and intense heat flared all over the throne room, before disappearing into cold and darkness. Then, suddenly, a massive wave of force exploded outwards and sent Taki flying backwards. She collided into a wall, and blacked out.

I

HAVE

RETURNED

Hello, all. I would like to apologize for the immense delay in chapters. Life is happening.

I'm also sorry to say that I'm at a point in my life that it's now a very real possibility that I may not finish any of the stories I've got. I've got a lot to do, and a lot going on. And I'm sorry. I don't intend to abandon my works before finishing what I've got, but I also can't guarantee that I'll be able to keep at it. I'll try, that's all I can do.

Anyways, thanks for sticking around. Let me know what you think.