Azure

Disclaimer: I do not own the Soul game series, they are the property of Namco.

Right, let's try this again, shall we? Third time's the charm after all, so maybe this time I can write something I can stick to and maybe even like.

This is G. Reaper, fan-fic author and sporadic reader. I aim to make this a novel, full length if possible, as the biography of Siegfried Schtauffen, the generally accepted main character of the Soul series. This humble fic hopes to chronicle his life, from birth through SCIII, including Soul Edge, and a possible ending given as much canon as possible. Reviews appreciated, if you would be so kind.

Note: I'm going to mix a bunch of religious legends in this fic, because I want to. )

Prologue

For untold millennia, this world has been one of continual strife and discord. People lie, hurt and kill to satisfy their desires, however cruel or evil they may be.

The Gods of Light, who created humanity to be pure, were disgusted by mans' untold multitudes of sins. They decided to destroy mankind, with the exception of but one righteous man and his family.

They sent a flood to purify the world of mans' evil, and guided the man to safety on top of the Tree of Life, Yggdrasil. There he and his family was safe until the floods receded, returning to land only when the last of the waters were gone.

Thus a new race of men was descended from the man, and humanity was prosperous and kind. They were in every way better than their predecessors, and the Gods were pleased.

But the Gods of Darkness were not pleased. They reveled in the pain and suffering of humans, for they preferred it when the world was populated by the monsters and creatures of their own design. To avenge their fall from power, the Gods of Darkness created one last evil, one the Gods of Light had never forseen; war.

The Gods of Darkness found it perfect. War turned friend against friend, brother to brother, and all manner of terrible sins could be unleashed simultaneously. The Gods of Darkness turned their attention to bringing this great evil to Earth.

They found a young man, busy at his forge. He was a blacksmith who made farm tools for his village, but he was dissatisfied with his work; he found it unglamorous. The Gods of Darkness saw this seed of evil in the man's soul, and coaxed it to grow. They spoke to him, whispering beautiful lies into his ears. They told him to take a piece of iron from his forge and cast it into the fire. They instructed him to forge the iron into what resembled a giant knife to the man, who made it nonetheless because he found its shape beautiful. After three days without sleep in his forge, he emerged holding the worlds' first sword. The Gods of Darkness embedded the sword with their malice, and named it the Soul Edge, as it was so sharp it could cut to and corrupt a man's very soul.

The smithy who forged the sword brought it to show to his wife, who found it terrifying. She weeped and cried aloud, begging her husband to cast it back into the fire.

The smithy was at first confused, but quickly grew angry at his wife's lack of pride and support. He grew so enraged that he struck her with the sword Soul Edge, which slew her instantly.

His rage multiplied, and he slew the rest of his village in turn. Others grew afraid of this man, and the Gods of Darkness exploited their fear. They gave the secret of swords to those who feared, and they quickly forged other weapons, along with armor to protect themselves from this new phenomenon.

The villagers who had weapons found the man and killed him, but not without losing many people. They were awed at the sword Soul Edge's power, and each longed to possess it themselves. Friend turned on friend, brother to brother; women were raped and killed, children orphaned and left abandoned in the wilderness to be eaten by the beasts.

The Gods of Light looked upon their world, once again plagued by sin. They grew angry, for they could not undo this sin the Gods of Darkness had unleashed.

"If we cannot remove this sin directly, then let man remove it himself!" the Gods of Light said. "Never will we destroy the Earth again, so man must save himself!"

In mockery of the Gods of Darkness, the Gods of Light concentrated their essence and forged their own sword. They named it Soul Calibur, for it would judge the soul of the man who wielded it and purify him.

They found a righteous man and bestowed the sword Soul Calibur to him. The man, backed by the power of Gods, found the man who wielded Soul Edge, which in its malice had consumed souls to increase its power enough to rival the Gods themselves. Soul Calibur shattered Soul Edge, ending the lives of the men who wielded each of the swords. Thus the first War of the Blades ended, but the Gods of Darkness had triumphed in their original goal: to taint mankind.

As centuries passed, pieces of Soul Edge were collected by people unlucky enough to spy them. The shards bestowed power to their owners, but the weapon itself was the most powerful of all. One person would collect enough pieces to reform Soul Edge, and the malice of the blade would consume the person's soul utterly. The person would rampage upon the world, slaying friend and foe alike to find the pieces of the cursed weapon. The souls of those cut down served to boost the weapon's power, and over centuries the weapon gained a will of its own. However, Soul Calibur always rose, wielded by the righteous, to shatter Soul Edge again and again.

Despite Soul Edge's evil effect, people still revered it as the most powerful object on the Earth. The Sword of Heroes, some called it. As more and more time passed, the connection between the Sword of Heroes and Soul Edge was lost, until the name Soul Edge was mostly forgotten. Only the mythical Sword of Heroes remained, with Soul Calibur fading into the shadows.

Time passed ever more, until the 17th century CE. Many now seek the Sword of Heroes to bring honor and power to their families and themselves. Those few who know the truth are ignored. It is in this era that a young man would seek the evil blade, become its servant, and ultimately break free and destroy Soul Edge for all time.

Welcome...to the stage, of history.