Tira was a bird trapped in a cage. Not once had she ever had the freedom to choose her own future. Her earliest childhood memories were of taking orders from others. The act of taking orders had become a regular routine in her life. She knew of nothing else - no other way to live. When the Evil Seed rained down, Tira suddenly found herself set free from the life she knew. But her newfound freedom meant nothing. 'Freedom' was confusing even as just a concept to her - living it was little different than torture. Tira began a life of aimless wandering. She was no longer a trapped bird; she was a stray dog.

It was around this time that the intensity of her emotions grew so much that she could no longer control them. The slightest occurrence would cause her heart to sink, and for her to feel like rejecting everything. Then, her mood would improve suddenly, and everything she did would feel tremendously enjoyable. She had two sides - a side of light and a side of darkness. She grew more and more confused, but she now lacked the will to even concern herself with it. She simply accepted the way she was - or at least tried her best to do so.

However, the day came when all of that changed. One day, she learned of Siegfried. A man who was forced to be the servant of a sword - a man who was evil as the Azure Knight, but good as himself. A man who had been traumatized by his experience of not having his own free will, a man with a side of light and a side of darkness. Tira's heart leapt - she had found someone else like herself.

"Finally, someone to whom I can give myself entirely. Someone I can call master." Tira couldn't help but lick her lips at the thought.

Following a trail of rumors, Tira finally pinpointed where Siegfried would travel next, and was able to get ahead of him. Once ahead of him, she started a rumor of her own, a rumor she knew he wouldn't be able to ignore, in order to orchestrate where he would go next. There, she would meet him...

Ostrheinsburg was famous for its canals. It was built on an archipelago of more than 100 islands in a shallow lagoon. The canals served the function of roads, and almost every form of transport was on water rather than on foot. Rafts plied regular routes along the canals and between the castle's islands, drifting on water currents.

Siegfried was standing atop one such raft, floating down the canals of Ostrheinsburg. Siegfried had come to this ruined, abandoned castle, in which lay the terrible memories of his past, because he had heard rumors of someone who was suffering under the influence of evil there. He had - not once, but twice - known that same suffering. Out of a desire to atone for his sins, Siegfried had decided that the evil energy must be stamped out.

Siegfried floated down the canal on the raft, looking left and right, searching for the victim of evil. As his raft began to enter a tunnel, Siegfried suddenly heard a sound behind him - as if something had fallen down and landed on the raft. He whirled around, and saw someone standing on the opposite end of the raft - they must have jumped down from the bridge above right before the raft entered the tunnel.

She was a female - Siegfried could tell quite easily because of her mostly exposed breasts. He studied her. She looked to be no older than about 17 years. He had met a number of opponents with very bizarre appearances, but that did not stop this one's unnaturally colored features from appearing strange to him. Whether because it was their natural color, or because she had somehow colored them, her hair was blue, her eyes were purple, and her lips were green. She had a beauty mark beneath her right eye, a purple streak of face paint ran across her right cheek, and similar streaks ran in several other places on her body. She wore what looked like green feathers around her neck, her thighs, and her wrists. She was clothed in a green tunic that was torn and stitched in many places - the tears exposing a great deal of her breasts. She was a very attractive young woman - but, at the moment, Siegfried was concentrating more on the giant circular blade that she was wielding. It was an unconventional weapon, the likes of which he had never seen before, but despite its strange appearance - like that of the girl - Siegfried did not doubt for a second that it was deadly.

"Who are you?" Siegfried demanded of her.

The girl seemed to be entranced for a moment before responding - she was staring at Siegfried in a blissful way, as if his existence alone pleased her. "Oh, Master! I've been waiting for this day! The day when I can finally introduce myself to you!"

Siegfried's eyebrows arched to form a confused expression. "...Master?"

The girl preformed a deep bow, swinging her weapon to the right as she did. "My name is Tira! And, as of this moment..." She kneeled down. "...I open the most sacred depths of my heart and accept your will into myself, Master!"

Siegfried simply stared at her, dumbfounded. Keeping his guard up, knowing that the girl's claims could be a trap to deceive him, Siegfried made an effort to comprehend the girl's actions. "...I do not understand. What exactly do you mean?"

The girl seemed slightly disappointed, but not discouraged. "What do I mean? Master, isn't it obvious? I'm giving myself to you!"

"...Giving...yourself?"

"Yes! I am giving myself to you! Totally and completely! All of me!" The girl gestured at her body. This gesture could most definitely have been interpreted in a sexual way, but Siegfried did not want to risk misinterpreting her in a way that would offend her.

"...Do you mean to say that you are...submitting yourself into slavery?"

"Yes, Master!"

"But - why?"

"Because! You and I are the same!"

"The same?" Siegfried was becoming frustrated. Every time this girl spoke, he had to ask her to clarify what she meant.

"Yes, Master! I was a prisoner. And you were a prisoner, too! I've got two sides. And you've got two sides, too!"

...Nightmare. She's speaking of Nightmare...I see that rumors travel fast.

"I'm..." The girl paused. An expression formed on her face that implied deep concentration. It seemed as if she was trying to figure out an overly simple way to explain something extremely complex. "...Let me put it this way. I'm...a servant by nature. I need a Master, or else...I just don't know what to do with myself!"

Siegfried nodded slowly, understanding what she was saying. This girl must have been in a position of servitude for a very long time. She doesn't know how to live her own life; the only way she can be function is if someone else is making her decisions for her. She believes we have strong similarities, and...thinks that this makes me fit to be her new 'master'...

"...What's wrong, Master? Do you...do you reject me?" Tira's purple eyes showed fear.

"...No! I don't reject you. It's just that...this is very...sudden. I'm not sure what to think."

"Well, I don't know how you could be hesitant. Who would object to having a faithful and loyal slave that will do whatever you want? There must be SOME way that I can be useful to you! Right, Master? Right?"

As Tira spoke, she gestured with her arms, and took a few steps toward Siegfried. Her movements made her breasts bounce and sway, and once she came closer, Siegfried could see the outline of her nipples against the shredded cloth that barely covered her breasts. Although he felt guilty for it, no matter how hard Siegfried tried, he found himself utterly unable to tear his gaze away from Tira's perfectly shaped body.

...Be careful, Siegfried. The last time you allowed yourself to be seduced, you were enslaved as the puppet of Soul Edge...Wait. Soul Edge!

Siegfried was a man perpetually tormented by the guilt he felt for the sins he had committed as Nightmare. His days were spent searching for ways to ensure that the reign of Soul Edge would never appear again, in order to truly atone for his sins once and for all. It was at this time when Siegfried realized that a slave could serve as more than a mere servant - Tira would be invaluable if she were to prove capable of aiding him in his quest. This revelation would have come to him much earlier if Tira's beauty had not distracted him.

"Do you still need convincing? I promise I won't inconvenience you, Master. I'll get all my own food. You can treat me however you want. I promise I'll be a good slave!"

"No - I need no further convincing. Tira...I believe that you could prove to be a powerful ally."

Tira's eyes grew wide, she gasped happily, and then she began to leap up and down. "YAY! Master accepts me!"

Siegfried, normally a cordial and stoic man, could not prevent the corners of his mouth from curling to form a small smile. Not just because her bouncing and jiggling breasts seemed just about to pop out of her clothing, but because he found the girl's actions and behavior to be...cute.

"So, Master! What is my first command?"

Siegfried's thoughts finally returned to business. "Well, I came here to investigate rumors I heard of someone who was suffering under the influence of evil..."

"...Oh." Tira said. She looked down, put her hands behind her body, and gently nudged the raft with her boot's toe. "...I made up that rumor."

"...You...You made it up?"

"...Yes...Oh, Master! Please forgive me! I only did it because I wanted to meet you so badly!"

Siegfried sighed, closed his eyes, and rubbed his forehead. "...It's alright. No harm was done."

Tira gasped with glee. "Thank you, Master! Forgiving a slave for her poor performance is the greatest honor a Master can give his slave!"

...Well, it certainly does not take much to make this girl happy. "It's nothing."

Now, Siegfried's thoughts turned to where he should go next. He looked towards the sun to see the time of day. The sun was setting - it would be nighttime soon. It wasn't safe to travel when it was dark. Siegfried looked towards the next dock that the raft would pass. On the dock was a sign that read, "Inn."

"We will stay at this inn, and set out tomorrow."

"If that is what my Master wants!"