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Dark Chronicle - Chapter Eight - History And Destiny Collide

As Raziel enters the Relic Hall within the Sanctuary, he discovers the fresh corpse of one of Moebius's guards. Raziel kneels to examine the body - the soldier's neck appears to have been snapped, his throat is torn open, and the pallor of his skin suggests that the victim has been drained of blood.
Suspecting Kain, Raziel glances up and begins to rise. He addresses the seemingly-empty hall -

Raziel:
Show yourself, Kain.

Kain's voice emerges from the depths of William's chapel -

Kain:
Here, Raziel.

Raziel crosses the threshold of the chapel - just as in his previous visit he feels the distortion caused by the nearness of the Reaver. As he enters, he discovers Kain inside, standing before William's sarcophagus.

Kain:
Everything is decided here...
You cannot comprehend the magnitude - the rapture and the tragedy - of this moment...
And yet you must if Nosgoth is to be dragged from the wreckage of its damnation.

Whatever game Kain is playing, Raziel is tired of it. He responds irritably -

Raziel:
I understand only this, Kain - that you and Moebius have impelled me to this moment, simply means that I can trust neither of you.
I don't know who's pulling the strings, but it no longer matters - because I'm cutting them. I set my own course from here.

Raziel turns to leave. Kain watches him go for a moment, then replies.

Kain:
If it were only that simple.

Raziel stops and responds, exasperated.

Raziel:
Your fatalism is tiresome, Kain.

Kain:
... and profoundly ingrained, Raziel.
You must understand, our presence here doesn't alter history.
You and I meet here because we are compelled to - we have always met here.
History is irredeemable.
Drop a stone into a rushing river - the current simple courses around it and flows on as if the obstruction were never there.
You and I are pebbles, Raziel, and have even less hope of disrupting the time-stream.
The continuum of history is simply too strong, too resilient.
Except... then how do we explain William, here?

Kain gestures toward William's funereal effigy, and turns to face the sarcophagus.

Kain:
The beloved boy-king turned tyrant.

He lifts the Soul Reaver from the casket, and turns back to Raziel, flourishing the sword.

Kain:
In my youth, I witnessed William's rise to power, and his transformation into the 'Nemesis' who laid waste to Nosgoth.

Raziel: (steely)
Keep your distance, Kain.

Kain walks slowly forward, Reaver in hand, as he speaks.

Kain:
Years later, I stumble upon a chance to journey back in history, unaware that the entire affair has been orchestrated by Moebius.
In my wisdom, I seize this opportunity to murder the young king before he can ravage Nosgoth...
... and thereby provide the catalyst Moebius needs to ignite a genocidal war against our race.

Raziel grows more agitated as Kain advances.

Raziel:
I warn you - no further!

Kain continues, his voice taking on a greater sense of urgency.

Kain:
This one reckless act unravels the skein of history.
The Nemesis never becomes the Nemesis; William dies a martyred saint. I, the vampire assassin, become the author of my own species' destruction. And Moebius profits from it all.
I destroyed a tyrant only to create one far worse.

Kain gestures toward the stained glass window, which depicts a lionized William and a demonized Kain in combat, both armed with the Soul Reaver.

Kain:
But how can it be so? How, if history is immutable?

Kain advances slowly on Raziel, gripping the Soul Reaver. As he approaches, the feeling of displacement intensifies.

Kain:
The answer is here in this room, Raziel.
Moebius propelled William and me together - but ensured first that we were both armed with the Soul Reaver.
The Reaver is the key.
Two incarnations of the blade meet in time and space... a paradox is created, a temporal distortion powerful enough to derail history.

As Kain takes a final step toward Raziel, the surrounding distortion reaches its peak, and the wraith-blade begins to manifest of its own will. Raziel reacts in alarm.

Raziel:
Is this your sorcery?

Kain:
Not mine, Raziel - yours.
You have nothing to fear from me, Raziel.
You hold all the cards.

Kain turns the blade and extends it to Raziel, hilt first. Raziel reaches out tentatively and takes the Reaver - Kain releases the blade willingly, and extends his hands to show that there's no deception. As Raziel grips the hilt, the displacement intensifies around them.
Raziel addresses Kain icily. As he speaks, the wraith energy of the Reaver manifests and begins to twine itself around the physical blade.

Raziel:
Then perhaps I should test your sincerity.

Swiftly, Raziel brings the point of the blade up to Kain's throat. Kain steps back, and Raziel advances with him, keeping the sword at his throat.

Raziel:
If what you say is true, you should be terrified. I could kill you here and now.

Kain responds, clearly apprehensive, but also strangely resigned -

Kain:
And so you do, Raziel.

The blade begins to tremble slightly, as if possessed of its own will.
Raziel is confused and alarmed -

Raziel:
What's happening?

The trembling intensifies as Raziel struggles against the pull of the Reaver.

Kain:
We are hurtling toward our destinies, Raziel. What you feel is the pull of history rushing to meet us.
This is where history and destiny collide.

The Reaver lunges at Kain - he stumbles against William's sarcophagus and falls to the ground. As Raziel fights to resist the pull of the blade, Kain urges him with earnest intensity.

Kain:
If you truly believe in free will, Raziel, now is the time to prove it.
Kill me now, and we both become pawns of history, dragged down the path of an artificial destiny.
I was ordained to assume the role of Balance Guardian in Nosgoth, while you were destined to be its savior. But the map of my fate was redrawn by Moebius, and so in turn was yours...

Raziel struggles to maintain control.

Raziel:
This is madness!

Kain:
Fight it, Raziel... This moment does not have to be an ending - it can become a prelude.

The pull of the Reaver is too powerful; Raziel is losing strength.

Raziel:
I can't...

Kain:
You can, Raziel - look inside and see that it is so.
You have the power to reshape our inevitable futures.

Raziel raises the Soul Reaver and brings it down violently. Kain turns his head and tenses for the impact. The sword crashes downward in a blinding flash of light, and Raziel staggers back, his hand now free of the blade.
Raziel has diverted the Reaver's course, avoiding Kain by mere inches - the blade stands embedded in William's sarcophagus, the impact having fractured the stone.
Rising unsteadily, Kain regards the impaled, fractured coffin, and makes a weak attempt at a joke -

Kain:
... poor William.

At once, the room is overwhelmed by an indescribable disturbance - their surroundings warp and blur, and a colossal groaning fills the air as history labors to admit this alteration.
Raziel looks around the room in confusion and alarm.

Raziel:
What is this?

Kain:
History abhors a paradox, Raziel.
Even now, the time-stream strains to divert itself, finding its old course blocked by your refusal to destroy me.
The future is reshuffling itself to accommodate your monumental decision.

As Kain continues, the distortion begins to subside.

Kain:
This is where we restore ourselves, Raziel, and reclaim our intended destinies.
It may yet be possible for me to assume my role as Balance Guardian and return the Pillars to their rightful inheritors -

Raziel interrupts disdainfully.

Raziel:
- to the vampires.
And this is the destiny you urged me to discover?
I don't know what game you and Moebius are playing, Kain - but I refuse to be your pawn.
Unlike you, I still revere whatever shred of humanity I've managed to preserve. You will not use me as the instrument of your messianic delusions.

Raziel turns his back on Kain and strides out of the chapel.

Kain:
Very well, Raziel. I'll not ask you to trust me - your truths are for you to discover alone.

Raziel pauses briefly, and replies without turning -

Raziel:
Humble words for one who presumes to teach me a lesson at every turn.

Kain:
Then continue your journey and learn your own lessons, Raziel.
Remember - Moebius led you here, but you walk away unfettered. A champion of free will, and conqueror of false histories.

Raziel stalks away without looking back.

Kain:
There is much more for you to unearth, if you have the heart for the truth and the will to see it...

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