Maria de los Dolores

'''This article was written by 'Nightmare76'. Please do not edit this fiction without the writer's permission.'''

Maria de los Dolores is a Soulcalibur: Chronicles of the Sword fan character created by Nightmare76. What lies in her soul is Vengeance.

Biography
As a child, Maria had all she could want with a wealthy and loving family, but when she was five years old, all of this would be taken away when her family's mansion was invaded by bandits. Maria herself hid, but her mother, father and younger sister were killed by the bandits. Maria lost everything she had and worst of all, she pinned most of the blame on herself for not being strong enough to save her family.

"I will get stronger and avenge my family!" Maria promised herself.

Without her family, Maria was forced to survive on her own, she went from living a high-class life to the life of a scavenger. Eventually Maria was discovered by Kunpaetku. The man's appearance scared the child, but as she tried to run away, the man's words made her stop in her tracks.

"I can see your heart is in so much pain... I can help you avenge that pain."

Remembering her vow, Maria agreed to go with the strange man. Soon after she discovered he was the High Priest of the Fygul Cestemus. He made Maria pledge eternally loyalty to the cult and in return, she would undergo training to become an assassin for the cult. Maria reluctantly agreed and trained under the cult's most elite assassins for years. Eventually, she became the most skilled assassin at the cult's disposal and was given "Viper Edge"- a living sword which was possessed by the spirit of an ancient and powerful serpent. Eventually, Maria learned the terrible truth- the bandits that killed her family were members of the cult. In an uncontrollable fit of rage, Maria slaughtered the cultists responsible for her family members' deaths; however her revenge was poorly planned and she was imprisoned by the cult for their murders. After enduring months of torture, Maria's fate was finally decided by the god of war himself, Ares. He decided Maria would be the first test subject for a horrible experiment that would turn humans into horrible reptilian monsters using shards of the cursed sword, Soul Edge.

Maria was transformed by the shard's power, but not to the extent Kunpaetku had hoped- for the most part she remained human other than sprouting a serpentine tail and her skin turned scaly and green. Worst yet, she could randomly revert back to her human form. Kunpaetku had her locked away and later perfected the ritual required to create these reptilian monsters. Maria remained imprisoned for nearly five more years- her sanity slowly fading, but one day the cult's Golem, Astaroth went berserk and began slaughtering everyone in his path. During the calamity, Maria managed to escape and fled to the country of Grandall, but since her sanity was not intact, she began living an animalistic lifestyle that would eventually lead her into attacking people.

Eventually reports of Maria's attacks were reported to one of Grandall's top officers, Abelia Schillfelt who led her unit to investigate the attacks. Maria attacked Abelia's unit, but was defeated by Abelia and was captured. After being captured, Maria was turned over to a prison in Grandall where they attempted to cure her of her affliction. Although her sanity began to return, Maria did not trust her captors, so she escaped and went into hiding. Eventually, her memories began to return and she remembered how this grizzly fate befell her. She swore revenge on Ares and Kunpaetku and began hunting for both Kunpaetku and Astaroth. Eventually she came across other like her including Aeon Calcos. She formed an alliance with the creatures, but she soon discovered they were too far gone to be of much use to her cause.

Her journey eventually led her to Ostrheinsburg Castle were she was confronted by an insane girl clad in green ragged clothing. At first, Maria had the advantage since she was in her reptilian form, but in mid-battle she reverted to human form and the strange girl defeated her. Maria closed her eyes in preparation for the death blow, but it never came. As it turns out the green clad girl had been traveling with a young male knight who stopped her from killing Maria, but before Maria could react to his merciful act, she lost consciousness and by the time she awoke, both the knight and the green clad girl had left.

Maria soon learned that the knight's name was Draco Faust Williams and he had been cursed by Soul Edge much like her, but he was rumored to of somehow cured himself. It was a long shot, but perhaps he could cure her as well. Maria then dedicated all her efforts into finding Draco and hopefully a cure for her affliction.

Maria's journey would lead her to Drachenburg and finally a cure. Once in Drachenburg, she learned Draco had taken his place as it's King and made Tira his Queen. Maria was given the chance to meet the king, but before she could, she transformed into her reptilian form and was attacked by royal guards. Maria managed to defeat them, but she was soon confronted by Draco himself. Not knowing what to expect, Maria attacked him, but Draco blocked her attack and smiled.

"I know what you seek... a cure for this curse that torments you... Very well, it is your's!" with that, Draco's newly obtained sword, Broken Destiny glowed brightly as it did, Maria returned to her human form and she could no longer feel the beast within her soul.

"Th...thank you!" exclaimed Maria as she hugged him.

"Think nothing of it, it is my sworn duty to undo the wrongs Soul Edge has done," replied Draco.

Maria blushed.

"If you need a place to stay, you can live here in Drachenburg," said Draco.

"Thanks you... I think I will..." replied Maria still blushing.

Suddenly, Tira entered the room. "Draco, we're needed to resolve a matter with some villagers."

"I must go now, but my offer still stands," said Draco as he left with Tira.

As Maria watched Draco leave, she felt something she never had before- love. 'He'll never have me... he's happy with her,' thought Maria as she watched him with Tira.

Maria would settle down in Drachenburg, but she would never confess her love to Draco, she would just admire him from afar...

Trivia

 * Maria was used a guinea pig for the curse used to transform humans into reptilian monsters (Lizardmen).
 * Maria is sometimes referred to as "the Serpentine Princess".
 * Unlike the Lizardmen, Maria is able to transform back into her human form; however, she is unable to control it, so her transformations happen at random.
 * Maria's sword, Viper Edge is possessed by the spirit of an ancient serpent which allows the sword to poison it's victims.
 * Maria has a crush on Draco; however, he only loves Tira.
 * Maria's name translates into "Marry of the pain".

Relationships

 * Tormented by Kunpaetku who afflicted her with her curse.
 * Was defeated and captured (although she later escaped when she began to regain her sanity) by Abelia Schillfelt during the events of Chronicles of the Sword.
 * Sought to destroy Astaroth to get revenge on Ares.
 * Considered Aeon Calcos an ally as they both sought revenge, but they parted ways shortly after Aeon fell to his animal instincts.
 * Was defeated by Tira, but she was spared when Draco stopped Tira from killing her.
 * Sought out Draco hoping he had a cure for her curse; upon locating him, she was cured using the Soul Embrace.

Appearances
Soulcalibur Fanon Omnibus