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The old man sat meditating in his hovel, the makeshift shelter created after the fall of his dojo at the end of the world. Faintly, at the edge of his notice, he could feel a presence. Good. It has been too long since my blade's thirst has been slaked.
"I should have known I would find you alive, after all this."
His eyes shot open, looking around. He would know that voice anywhere. "Kozaru, my finest pupil. Hast thou truly returned home to my side? I cannot see thee."
"You have not been blinded by the world's end, I trust."
Still he could not pinpoint her voice. "Nay, thou findest me whole, hale, and hearty. The world's maw yawned wide to take me, but I would not allow it."
"Pity."
The ice in her tone did not go missed. "Mind thy tongue, girl. Is that how they teach thee to speak at thine academy?"
"The world has its way of protecting vermin for awhile, as I've found out. In the end, however, they all meet the same fate. And, O wise Master," she spat, "I am here to deliver your fate unto you."
"Kozaru Akiyama--" he began to shout, before she interrupted.
"Akiyama has never been my name, bastard! Do not presume to call me your daughter after you slaughtered my true parents! Do not tell me yet again that they were villains, because I know the truth of who they were! Not their names, the names you stole from me long ago, but their very souls!"
The old master did nothing but laugh. "Thou wert always a willful, emotional child. 'Twould seem even I could not break thee of that. 'Tis no matter." He stood, removing his blade from its sheath in a practiced motion. "Come, then! Out from thy hiding place to join thy mother and father! My blade thirsts, girl!"
"Oh?" The harshness in her voice faded to amusement, though it still positively dripped with malice. "You mean to tell me you can sense me, but you cannot tell where I lurk?"
"Mock me not, cowardess. Thou hast come for my head, but thou layest in hiding. Come out, that I may cleave thy head from thy body and pluck that insolent tongue from thy mouth!"
"I'm closer than you think, doddering fool. Think! What are you forgetting? What talent could Kozaru Livia never hope to possess?" Her voice sounded near and far at the same time, echoing off the walls and yet right in front of him.
"Livia," he scoffed. "That was not the name of thy parents."
"It is the name of my wife. I have found new happiness in this wasteland, new family! And it seems your isolation has driven you into senility!"
"Pah. Thou callest me senile, and yet..." Something in his head clicked. "Magic? Thou expectest me to believe thou art a magus?"
"Can you not see me standing before you?" She cackled in his ear. "Keeheehee! Or perhaps you hear me behind? Where am I, Akiyama?"
"Thou art nowhere at all. 'Tis a prank, played with some form of technology. A speaker, transmitting thy voice, because magic is unknown to thee," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Juvenile girl, I will find you."
"Foolish bastard. I am in the shadows. Each and every shadow! No, that is not quite correct..." She thought it over for a long moment. "Rather, it would be more accurate to say I am the shadows. Pray, come and find me now!"
"Impudent bitch," he growled, "just like thy mother!" He scoured the corners of the room for a hint of Kozaru, his blade at the ready. Ultimate Samurai or no, he was the one who trained her, and he would fell her just as easily.
Kozaru cackled again, the sound uncomfortably close. "I said every shadow! But still you are a fool!" Before his eyes, a form rose and coalesced from his own shadow, quickly settling on the form of his finest pupil.
In anger and fear, he struck.
She parried, and drove the blade in her other hand into his chest.
He fell to his knees, looking at her in disbelief.
"I will not butcher you as you did my parents. But be warned. I know what happens to dead souls. Should you show even the barest hint of following me, of intending to haunt me..." Kozaru withdrew her blade and leaned in close. "I can cleave a soul in twain. I have surpassed you in every way. I am Kozaru Livia, and I will hasten your journey to hell."
She seemed to melt back into the shadows as he fell, bleeding his last.