Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Soul Calibur.

Author's Note: I had a serious SC-feels attack. This is something AU-ish I have been interested in exploring. Took a fair bit of research. It follows some canon aspects, but not others; it is sort of jumbled in a way. Enjoy!

ASHES

age of truth

It was pure peace.

There were no questions, and all intentions were good. They were all treated with respect, cared for and loved. There was no fighting, no buying or selling, no death. Whatever was visualised would appear. Whatever was created was visited, touched and enjoyed. Governed by the Gods, all was good, happy, and above all, equal.

Kilik learnt to love meditation. It was something that he would carry with him through time. It brought peace and joy, and his body quivered as he opened his eyes and saw his other half staring back at him with a warm, affectionate smile. And Xianglian asked curiously, fiddling with the end of her midnight hair, "What did you see, brother?"

So he told her how he saw the stars dance and the light, the beautiful light shine across the entire universe. She smiled and told him of how she saw the light glow and breathe life, and how the sun and moon guided it. And then they laughed and wondered what they were going to do today in their perfect world.

Kilik momentarily glanced around at the few other pairs in the nearby area. He saw the blonde sisters, the pair with darker skin, the two boys who loved to explore; those that the Gods had brought to the world. He was thankful that they had chosen such an idea – with his sister Xianglian, he would always be happy and feel whole. He was thankful that the Gods were generous, so generous as to bestow upon them longevity, agelessness, bliss and truth. And for that, he would always have faith.

He stood abruptly, brushing grass from the back of his red pants. His ponytail fell forward as he offered her his hand, and the turquoise pendant around her neck glinted in the sunlight, "Let's go visit the stars, Xianglian."

And so they did. They watched as it shone, and like the light of the world, brought all things good. Their hands linked, they wandered around each and every star, because they were able to, because they had that power, and because the Gods were so kind and thoughtful. Xianglian reached out to grab a star, and as she took it in her tiny hands, it transformed into a phoenix and flew to the next star, only to fuse with it. The light shone brighter and created more smiles.

There was nothing in this world for them to fear, and everything they ever wanted, they could have. Such was the nature of this world that they were so fortunate to come into. They had visited places around the world and places in time – together – and nothing would ever change. And when they were done exploring to their hearts content, they would return home, to the mountain, rest a little and then meditate some more, going privately to more places.

All was well for thousands of years.

age of ritual

It was full of energy.

There were new, vibrant people, though neither Kilik nor Xianglian knew how or where they came from. They all held new ideas and new minds. They were people who questioned the Gods out of curiosity. Where hierarchy began to form in humanity, of those who had not been blessed. This was not what the Gods had taught them.

They had left the mountain, their earthy home of thousands of years, to find these people expanding rapidly. They were doing things they had never seen before – they called it agriculture, they called it farming, they called it urbanisation – and it confused the pair. They did not meditate. When Kilik tried to explain the concept, they furrowed their eyebrows, uncertain. In the background, he saw people shove around for a bit before settling.

Tentatively, they were accepted amongst these people – these... villagers – and learnt their ways; but although they were familiar, there were things that were changing in the air, in the world. Both found it difficult to have their desires manifest. It took extreme concentration, it took... rituals for the connection to strengthen. For them to visit those beautiful stars again and feel the warm light at its full strength. To bridge those worlds again – that purple-and-red world, their own, and others – they needed those rituals. And they did not understand why.

One day, it rained. Kilik and Xianglian had never seen such a thing before. Not on their time with the mountain, or in their dreams, or in their travels. It was a new creation from the Gods. They marvelled at it, as did whatever twins remained amongst the mass of – humans, they were called. Humans. Those who were not blessed by the Gods with as much longevity, agelessness, bliss or truth.

Xianglian reached her hands into the sky and felt the water gently touch her skin and coil down her arms. The sound, the feel of the gift was relaxing. The rain was gentle, not strong – it wasn't a relentless force by any means. Her lips curved upward into a smile as she looked to her brother, whose hair was drenched and falling over his eyes from the weight, "What a gift."

So Kilik smiled back, raised his hands and closed his eyes, feeling that same calm wash over him.

The next day, trees appeared. Perhaps in the end this was the real gift. It brought fruit, it brought jewellery. They were tall and strong, unyielding and generous – they provided comfort, shelter, and honey. A few humans looked to the pair and the other fortunate twins – two blonde sisters – and wondered what their reaction was. It was the same as they had expected, "Be thankful to the Gods."

They were, but they saw that the humans were still sceptical. It was as though they had forgotten the truth the Gods had given them before hand – or perhaps they were not of that world in the first place. Children of a lesser being, which evolved into humanity without the Gods to guide them. What a strange life, Kilik surmised. He tugged the large red coat the villagers gave him closer to his body.

It was not long after the trees had appeared that Xianglian held her head. Kilik placed both his hands on her shoulders; she looked to her brother with a deep frown, "I feel strange. I feel..."

She could not describe, and he didn't understand – he didn't understand what he was feeling either. So they appealed to the humans, asking what it could be. One answered for Kilik, "That is called concern. Worry. It is when we are anxious or uncertain about a problem." And then for Xianglian, "And that is called sadness – the opposite of happiness."

"Take it away," Xianglian begged.

The humans, confused, furrowed their eyebrows or shuffled on the spot before turning away. Because nobody other than the holder had the power to take away or change emotions – and it was unusual that they couldn't name them. But what would they know? They were of a time before their own – they were blessed, almost like Demi-Gods.

The new emotions made them feel stranger by the moment. Xianglian never had a problem before with Kilik speaking with other women, but recently, she did. She didn't want any of them near him, because whatever that look in their eyes was, it wasn't comforting, and it certainly wasn't meant for someone as talented or pleasant as him. So one day, she asked one of the other blessed sisters, to which Cassandra answered, "I'm told that's jealousy. It feels awful, doesn't it?"

They wondered why the Gods were changing things – why they were being punished with such heavy and haunting emotions.

The world continued to change, and it frightened them. It was harder to escape into the stars and the lights – and they didn't have to be told that when the branches of the trees were cut down that the emotion, the foreign emotion that humans held but they did not, was called greed. The trees vanished after that – a gift that had been abused – and extremes in weather followed. Maybe it wasn't really a gift.

"I don't like it here anymore," Kilik told Xianglian in a whisper one freezing afternoon. They were alone now. They held onto each other for warmth as they gazed at the humans – they had long begun to ignore them and forced them away, especially when Cassandra and her sister left for different lands. Humans were the norm these days, and they who had set foot on these lands long before were not, "I wish things were normal again."

Murmurs of something heavy – they did not know what else to call the feeling that was like sadness – reached their ears in the years that went by. Murmurs of a man – Algol – who lived off of those darker emotions, for he had something stolen from him. And in a show of a strong conscious, the man produced a flesh-sword who devoured all the happiness from someone with an unblinking eye.

They called the weapon Soul Edge.

They called the emotion stirring in their hearts fear.

What was fear? Hate? Jealousy? The opposites of the good that, until these humans appeared, they had never felt before? Not in the thousands of years before – not until now in these past few hundred years. Why was the world changing? More importantly, why did they fear the changes?

Soul Edge began to cultivate followers – men, beasts deranged by the sword's promises of power. And when it came to the village, all that could be seen was fire and something new to Kilik and Xianglian – death.

It was a horrible smell. Blood, charred corpses, the fear in the air – they followed the humans, running from the source of the growing darkness, and hiding wherever they were able. The man named Algol was in the vicinity, demanding his son; but there hadn't been visitors to the village in hundreds of years. He was delusional.

At one stage, he Algol was about to slay a small girl with bright, straw-like red hair. The girl's blond Father, dresses with a purple jacket, moved to rescue her when nobody else stepped forward because she was of low class. Before he had the opportunity, a shoe hit the delusional man in the back of the head, forcing him to turn and glare at the defiance. The man whisked the girl away and went back into hiding, casting a glance at the one who had distracted him.

"She's just a child," Xianglian stated, "You won't find your son's soul in her."

If he couldn't be happy, then neither could this woman.

Algol knew of the legends of old. Of how thousands of years ago, the Gods created lesser beings, but they were greater than humans and felt so otherworldly, with different ideas and actions. They never aged and were always in pairs – that was how people could tell. He knew that to be without their sibling would be a great torment. That maybe they would even succumb to the darker emotions and be on the level of a human. That they would continue to live in torture.

He saw the scar-faced man behind her and lunged without a second thought.

Fear swallowed her.

Kilik dodged the vertical strike. The impact the sword did to the ground made him swallow. Algol roared again and lifted the sword, this time horizontally. His target again successfully avoided it, jittering back behind a wooden fence. He increasingly grew frustrated – he would give as many souls to Soul Edge as it wished, so it would fulfil its promise to return his son. Surely the soul of a Demi-God would please the weapon greatly.

The fence was cleaved in two. Kilik glanced at Xianglian, who was coming towards him, reaching for his hand. The sword came down then, between where their hands would've joined, and all they could feel radiating from the weapon was a darkness they had never known. It felt like a disease was travelling through the air. They both retched involuntarily.

A great power suddenly burst from Soul Edge. The red energy dashed to Kilik, grabbing him. Xianglian called out, but it was as though he had lost all sense of sound. He felt very heavy, confused, and if he focused, he could name other emotions – but he didn't want to. That would make those darker emotions real, right?

He suddenly lunged out at his sister. She frowned deeply – he didn't know what was going on. All he could feel was the crushing weight of these darker emotions, and he wanted to get out – he had to get out – he wasn't supposed to feel this way. How did the humans live like this?

"Kilik, please, stop!" she shouted, weaving away from her brother and Algol. She broke into a run, navigating through the burning houses, past the corpses, and past the forms of the survivors shivering and sobbing. When she glanced back, Algol was still as determined as ever, but Kilik looked increasingly confused as the red aura continued to throb around him.

The eye of Soul Edge soon stopped watching her, instead looking to Kilik. It twitched, forcing him to fall to his knees – this time only ever seemed to show force against the land, against the trees, and against each other. Algol seemed to understand, and raised the weapon, voice distorting, "If I can't be happy in this world, no one can."

Before he had the chance to bring it down, Xianglian shoved his shoulder, forcing him to stumble to the side. The weight of the weapon made Algol fall. She then turned to Kilik and grabbed his arm, trying to pull him to his feet to run again – but he was unable to move, even as he looked up at her.

It was the aura. She watched as it tried to connect with her as well, but the necklace she wore repelled it. Hurriedly, she removed it and slung it around Kilik's neck, watching as it vanished, but soon crawled up her own arms and held her still. He hadn't noticed, instead moving to run again, holding her hand – at least, he hadn't noticed until he pulled too hard to run and their hands disconnected and he was several steps ahead.

When he turned his head, she stood there, paralysed by the weight, by the darkness; Algol was standing again with Soul Edge in hand. A motivated fear made itself known in his heart as he dashed back to her, to save her and force that hateful human away. Failing smoke and growing rain filled his vision, and he blinked repeatedly to clear it from his eyes.

Algol was much too close, and he had been too far away; but that wasn't right.

From his position behind her, he watched as Soul Edge ripped through the other side of her body and merely remained for many moments. The red aura around Xianglian vanished, and there was life in her limbs again as they began to violently tremble. Her body couldn't support itself, so she dropped to her knees as Soul Edge was pulled from her body.

As she fell, Kilik saw that indeed Algol was many steps from Xianglian. Soul Edge had taken it upon himself to deliver the blow. And as Soul Edge remained poised in the air, blinking rapidly, he dashed over to her, shaking, sick, uncertain. He lifted her into his arms and shook her, watching her dulling eyes gaze back at him, "Xianglian!"

There was suddenly a blue light emitting from her. Xianglian's eyes drifted to Soul Edge, and the blue light followed – Kilik tried repeatedly to seize it and bring it back to her, but he couldn't. The light went all the way up to Soul Edge, until there was nothing left and the sword was back in Algol's human hands.

When he looked back to Xianglian, her eyes showed no life, no nothing.

Was this death?

She did not move. She didn't breathe, she was cold – it sounded like what the villagers had described to them before. But she was a Demi-God – she wasn't supposed to perish so easily. He knew that they were not immortal, but he knew it was supposed to take so much more to get rid of them.

Sensing the man's confusion, Algol laughed, dirty teeth bare. Blood dripped from the sword's sharper side, and it seemed more alive than ever, "Soul Edge is no ordinary sword, Blessed One." And the 'one' was so emphasised, so emphasised because now there was only Kilik, only one half, only one side of the coin.

His throat closed up and his eyes blurred.

Xianglian, his wonderful sister, his twin, was gone. Forever.

He was destined to walk alone through thousands of years on this planet alone. Forever.

His cheeks were wet. It was something human that he didn't understand – and he wondered again how humans lived like this, how they could deal with such heavy, dark emotions. He knew this was a form of sadness – but even as Algol and his soldiers left, even as he raised her body to his and held her tightly, weeping – nobody told him it was misery.

"Look at you people," he choked, glaring at them with emotions he couldn't understand, but couldn't help but feel, "You are given so many things by your friends, your family, your Gods – and you simply take and take without thanks, and without regret... You force yourselves onto one another and onto things the Gods would've given you if you just asked and if you weren't so blinded by such strange ideals!"

The man whose daughter was saved by Xianglian looked down upon him as though he were mental, "This is not your world anymore, Blessed One."

He clenched his teeth and his fingers dug tighter into Xianglian's body. The man was right. Still trembling, Kilik stood, holding her against him. He stared amongst them all, and for the first time in his long, long lifetime, he felt more human than ever, "I will wait for the days when this world burns, and when my own will rise from the ashes."

He left the village, buried her in the mountain where they lived, and never returned to either.

Things were not... the same ever again.

age of doubt

It was substance.

He wandered the earth, heavy and sore after Xianglian was forcibly – forcibly – removed from him. For thousands of years, he watched humans grow, scurry into new parts of the world and descend further into the darker thoughts and feelings of lying, doubt, greed, hatred and murder. He watched as Soul Edge's control extended across every island and every continent.

What had the world become?

One hundred years after Xianglian was taken from him, a man with a long, white beard came to him, for he sought out the blessed who remained. The man's eyebrows furrowed, for he thought that Cassandra and Sophitia were still near him, or perhaps Talim and Zasalamel, or Hwang and Li Long. But not just... him.

"That was many millennia ago," Kilik replied coldly.

Back when things were good and truthful, and they all kept in relatively close contact near the mountain. Back when he and his wonderful sister would play in and around the mountain. When Cassandra and Sophitia would play in and around the streams and lakes, before water had to be collected with hands. When Talim and Zasalamel freely flowed through the wind. When Hwang and Li Long would disappear for a few years, then return for a few more, then vanish again due to their love of exploring.

Where are they now? he wondered.

"I am Edge Master," the man had said, stroking his beard, "I am like you."

He was not familiar with this name. Perhaps he was from the other side of the world, where maybe more of his kind were. Maybe there were more Demi-Gods on the other side of the globe, in the shadow of the sun where he could not venture; or perhaps they all constantly migrated now because of the humans. Kilik asked, shuffling on the spot before the fire, "Where is your twin?"

"Where is yours?" he countered.

"Killed by Soul Edge," he answered.

"Mine as well."

They spoke for a while, of Xianglian and Olcadan, and how Soul Edge was a darkness that neither could forget nor understand. During conversation, Kilik found himself growing weaker and weaker – a testament to being on this world with humans for too long. He remembered the old ways and continued to meditate and pray, but these horrible feelings were too ingrained in him to ever leave.

Edge Master crossed his legs and sat up a little straighter, "Tell me, do you know how to fight?"

"No. I take care of myself by running. That way, nobody gets hurt, and I'm alive and away from Soul Edge."

He clapped Kilik on the shoulder, almost throwing him to the ground in the process. He then, with great concentration – it was even harder now to make desired items materialise; Kilik could not do it anymore – made a bo staff appear. He stuffed it into Kilik's hands, much to his confusion, "Boy, you need to learn! It is a necessity! This world is not safe for our kind anymore, not by any means. If you learn, then you can survive, and maybe one day, we can all take down Soul Edge."

"But fighting is human."

"Yes, it is. But we are more human now than we have ever been."

Kilik learnt much from Edge Master, and more than just the bo staff, though it was that weapon he felt the most comfortable with. They did not murder – only wounded those who came to hurt them. In time, Edge Master taught him how to land a purifying blow on those who were controlled by Soul Edge. Not long after, Edge Master left, and Kilik continued to wander, much more prepared for the humans.

As he wandered, he found a few who sympathised with him. Some were blessed by the Gods – he found Sophitia, who also wished to destroy Soul Edge, but not Cassandra – and others were irrevocably human. He grew to befriend two of them, but it was hard to be around them because of those human qualities.

Maxi was a man who hated like Kilik had never seen before. His family, his crew were slain by a beast of Soul Edge, which he wanted to annihilate. Many times as they aimlessly travelled, he tried to convince Maxi to forgive and move on, but he would not have it. He tried to teach him the ways of old, but while he listened, he also ignored it. In time, Kilik stopped trying, because after all, he was human.

But it was not Maxi that made it hard for him.

The other was a woman named Xianghua, and every time he looked to her, all he saw was Xianglian's face. To look at one and feel as though someone he loved dearly was right next to him, only to know that it was not her, was just as torturous as the many years he spent wandering alone without her. And she, in her silk clothing, made it so hard for him because of her own human emotions. How she would not let go of his dark blue sleeve when Maxi would go somewhere, because she wanted to 'be alone' with him. He didn't understand – he'd instead turn away and think about how the other Blessed Ones were doing.

"Man, she lusts after you, you know," Maxi mentioned once when they were resting at an inn near Ostrheinsburg. The innkeepers would glance at Kilik, for they felt something strange in the air any time he passed them. He heard them question under their breaths if he was 'one of them'.

"What is lust?" he inquired.

Maxi did a double-take. It took several long moments before he spoke again, "Seriously?" When Kilik's face did not shift the slightest bit, he rubbed his face and explained, trying to remember that this man was from another world, another time, "Well, it's like love, but... not quite? This is awkward..."

"So it is hate?"

"God, no. But it's opposite to love, sort of."

"So it is bad love?"

"I guess."

Kilik didn't quite understand, but he merely shrugged and gingerly looked to the woman across the room, who was speaking about money, or whatever women spoke about nowadays. All he could hear was the sin in their voices, the greed, and the disregard for what the Gods had given them.

Humanity was pitiful.

All he ever saw now was greed. He did not understand why money and jewellery was so important. He remembered how thousands of years ago, humans would take from those special trees diamonds, rubies, sapphires – now they merely took from one another. Thoughts, speech and acts brought about drought, disease and death. He could not connect to the other worlds anymore, for his consciousness was further reduced; but unlike the humans, his memory and awareness of the Gods, of the age so long ago, did not diminish at all.

It did not take long after that for them to encounter Soul Edge, who was poised in the grasp of a demonic, deformed man once named Siegfried, but now named Nightmare. Algol had long lost the sword, and had passed away thousands of years earlier.

Yes, Soul Edge remembered him well. Its pupil shrunk as it stared, stared into Kilik. Nightmare registered this and laughed a little, rolling his shoulder, "I see you've encountered the sword before instead of one of my many minions. And yet, you are alive, Blessed One."

"Not in my heart," Kilik replied softly, but his grip tightened on the bo staff gifted to him by Edge Master.

The battle began quickly after that. Nightmare was relentless in his strikes. Many times Kilik had the opportunity to slay him, but he avoided it. He just wanted to purify the sword with one blow to the eye. That way, perhaps whatever remained of Siegfried would be saved as well. Soul Edge didn't want that.

Nightmare summoned two beastly servants. He had heard their names whispered on the wind before – Voldo and Astaroth – and it was the latter that made Maxi roar and dash towards him in rage. It must've been the creature that killed his crew. If that were the case, he would not interfere. He long tried to sway Maxi's decision and failed at it anyhow.

He was not adept to battling two people at once. Voldo and Nightmare, in their unique but partially familiar styles, proved to be a handful. Xianghua assisted where she could, but as talented as she was, the other two were an overwhelming strength, flinging her away as though she were a material toy. The irony was not lost on him – this world was much more materialistic than the two before it.

With her help, he managed to land a purifying blow on Voldo, who stopped attacking immediately and looked completely confused. He could not speak, or see, but as he listened, he seemed to hear something that appealed to him towards the West – and so he left. As Voldo left, Kilik glanced at Maxi, who had somehow managed to get onto Astaroth's shoulders. The chain on his weapon was wrapped around Astaroth's throat, constricting his airways, choking him, and the beast struggled to breathe.

Maxi's face, though... Pitifully human.

Before long, the three were left with only Nightmare, who disliked his odds. Instead of summoning more servants, he lowered Soul Edge and observed his opponents. He could use them – he could use the hate-filled man and the selfish woman to kill the Blessed One. But, something had changed about the latter. He was not as timid as he once was.

Nightmare raised a deformed hand, watching as a red aura enveloped the hate-filled man and the selfish woman. They froze in place, trying to look around but unable to – and then he made them turn on the Blessed One, weapons darting out to wound him. He watched as the Blessed One frowned, but more so as he seemed to be in another time.

"You will meet the same fate!" he hissed, darting forward, Soul Edge raised.

Kilik's movements were swift and light. He sidestepped a vertical strike from Maxi before hitting him in the stomach with one end of the bo staff. He ducked beneath a horizontal slash from Xianghua and hit her in the stomach with the other end. And before Nightmare could come down onto him, he readjusted the staff and hit him square in the chest.

The red aura disappeared, and Nightmare was left winded. He tried to right himself but found that the pain felt like burning.

"I am better prepared this time," Kilik stated calmly, adjusting his gold shoulder guard.

"This won't end here," Nightmare replied, vanishing thereafter with Soul Edge.

There was silence for a few moments before Xianghua whined, stomping her feet into the ground, "We didn't get the evil sworddd!" She then turned to Kilik and lightly embraced his arm, thankful that the conflict, for now, was over; and then she did the same to Maxi. He felt uncomfortable.

It was the last time Kilik saw either Maxi or Xianghua, for he snuck off in the night as they slept.

Yes, he felt bad. But it was for the best for everyone.

He couldn't handle being around humans, no matter how honest they tried to be. He would always see their faults, and it made him sick. It was hard to be around them, and honestly, seeing as he seemed to be hunted, like the other remaining Blessed Ones, then it was for the best that they parted. He was sure they hated how people would judge them for being around him. Kilik hated Maxi's vengeance, and he hated Xianghua's selfishness.

And then he realised... he hated.

It had been millions of years. Had he forgotten the ways of truth?

Had he become that human?

A lump lodged itself in his throat as he continued to dwell on the thought for another hundred years. Had he been around on the world for so long, so out of touch with his kin, that he had become... human? Could he die by an ordinary blade? Was he now too weak to destroy Soul Edge, even with the help of people?

He had not seen another Blessed One for that entire time. Sometimes he thought he saw Xianglian in the river, or perhaps in the frequenting rain, but he knew he was wrong. He ran into Xianghua twice early on, and slipped away both times, much to her unhappiness; and she would use it against him, reminding him that he was only ever supposed to bring joy to the world. He hated that she was right, and then hated himself for hating. He didn't see her or Maxi again afterward – it was possible that they were dead.

Kilik looked to the sky as it became blue and red. It was dark. He did not see the sun.

The world was falling.

age of darkness

It is burning.

The world and everyone, everything in it is burning.

Kilik, ageless and yet so old and wise, watches from higher ground with his hand firmly grasping his bo staff. He watches the smoke rise into the sky and merge with the dark clouds. He watches as death swarms over the lands, and as life evades the population at all costs.

Meditation told him that soon, the cycle will begin anew; that all he has to do is wait, and the world will be reborn from the ashes of darkness into that of truth once again. There will be no more lying, no more sadness, no more selfishness, no more anger, no more hate, and no more death. No more.

He can't wait.

He pulls his phoenix helmet further down, obscuring his face all the more save for the old scar on his cheek, and reflects on how the humans got themselves here. How through all of these ages, they destroyed what the Gods had taught them, destroyed themselves; they ostracised the Demi-Gods, following Soul Edge to kill them out of spite and fear of their differences.

He is the last, but two hundred years before this very instant in time, there were another two – Zasalamel who he'd seen on occasion millions of years ago, and Elysium, who'd been from the other side of the world. And in their brief meetings they all agreed that this world should burn.

"The humans never listened," Zasalamel had growled under his breath. His switched his scythe into his other hand, gold eye watching the slowly budding chaos with utmost amusement and interest, "Kings became thieves, and thieves unjustly became Kings. They brought this upon themselves. They were their own downfall."

Elysium's voice, distorted but firm, sounded after the tall man, "And until they learn and adhere to the old ways, they will always be their own downfall. We tried to teach them, and they persecuted us, hated us, killed us; and now they suffer!"

Kilik knows that the world must burn and that the world of truth must be reborn, but he wonders if Zasalamel and Elysium had known just how human they too have become. How disconnected from the world they were familiar with they'd become. How they hated – and they hate, it is so clear in their voices. He knows how much he's changed, and how he tries to cling onto the old ways – but through time, he couldn't.

He'd been chased to the ends of the earth, berated for his sense of honour and compassion, laughed at for his respect for truth. He had watched as Soul Edge warped their minds – as the children of Sophitia were pitted against each other and they were both killed. As the descendants of Xianghua, her blood now so thin in their veins, disembowelled each other. As armies under Hwang's apprentice, Yun-seong, and his lineage rose and fell. As the blond man and his red-haired daughter, who was saved by his dear sister from the second age, still so young, but cursed to feed off of a creature's life force, brought sin into every village and laughed.

This world is a disgrace, as is humanity.

This is not what the Gods had intended, and it hadn't been for a long time. It's time to create a new world and start again.

With one hand still grasping the bo staff gifted to him by Edge Master, Kilik raises both his hands into the air as the beginnings of rain appear. He tilts his head up and feels the water streak down his face, down his jaw and down the throb of his jugular. A crack of thunder screeches overhead and feeds the destruction.

He exhales and removes his helmet, holding it against his lightly armoured chest. His brown eyes take in a raging firestorm and soot, sweeping across the land as far as he can see. It takes out settlements, men, women, children, beast and darkness. It comes straight for him, eating away at the ground, forcing it to become black, until he is surrounded from all sides – because this is the fire. And it is all around the world.

His eyes trail up the inferno until they reach the sky. He sees the stars as they begin to melt. He sees Xianglian's face in the ascending flames, as they touch the sky and burn it down too, ripping away at the very fabric of reality. He knows that soon, all will be well. He knows that soon, Xianglian will be back, and everything will be as it was, as it should've been.

And for the first time in many millenniums, Kilik smiles.

He waits for the ashes.