I really do have an unhealthy obsession with this game. Luckily for me though, my brother got a new DS, so I stole his old one and bought the game myself. So with luck this'll be a bit more accurate than my other writing, since I actually know what's going on. Maybe.

I wrote this for my English Honours class, when we had to do a personal response on the topic of "seeking self-fulfillment" or something like that. I was sitting there in brainstorming time, thinking of what I could possibly write to reflect that, when it came to me on a flash of inspiration. "ZOMGLUNARKNIGHTSTRINITYANDAARONSQUEEE!!!" Sometimes my mind even scares me. o0

Anyway, it's basically a fan-fic, so I figured I'd put it up here. I didn't use names to avoid confusing my poor teacher, and I didn't actually know what Ellen's actual purpose in the game was other than dying and acting like a robot, so I made her a computer techician. wOOt.

Oh, and I suppose that Lunar Knights belongs to Konami and not me. Disclaimer aside, here we go!

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To my dearest son,

I write this to you in the hopes that one day you will see these words and understand them, and yet I hope that this time is not near in your future. For as I pen these phrases, the sky is dark, and I know that I walk to my death tomorrow morning.

Make no mistake, I walk without fear, for my life has been filled and there is no regret within my heart. But at the same time I can't help but feel an inkling of guilt, leaving you alone in this world with no one to watch you grow up. So as a final payment, some sort of retribution for the wrong I am about to commit for and against you, I am writing this letter to tell of how life was, how it is now, and how what I hope the future holds leaves me with nothing but satisfaction at what I've accomplished.

I joined the resistance when you were still young, much too young I'm afraid, and still too much a child to have been left alone. But I couldn't bear to see you grow up in this world I was forced to endure for these thirty-two years: a world of darkness and hopelessness, and of suffering silently, a slave to those who had neither the right nor authority. So I left, and I fought, and gradually I found myself to be a leader among the other soldiers, one who seemed to bring hope to their hearts and fire into their eyes. This responsibility evolved and strengthened, and soon I found it to be officially mine, a leader in this time that was so badly deprived of them. And caught up in the task of not only protecting you but all the others that followed me with trusting eyes and a smile, I found myself unable to find the time to write, or visit, and show just how much I cared.

It went on for some time, and one day another soldier came to be under my command, a boy whose eyes had not yet lost their glow, and an eagerness that both filled me with admiration and twisted my heart with fear. For he was young, much too young for the hardships of war we had been enduring for so long it had almost become the norm. He told me he was seventeen. I knew otherwise. And he reminded me so much of what I believed you would be like in a few years that I instantly felt protective of this young, fiery life and all the promise it held.

Thus I found within myself my true goal: to protect you, and protect him, and make sure that neither of you would be forced to spend your lives within the darkness my generation suffered through. I became bold, leading my party on reckless raids and ambushes, still sheltering the lives that had come to be my responsibility but letting my determination to come out victorious shine though. And I suppose that that determination rubbed off on my soldiers, for we never lost a life, and our morale outshone every other squad in the region.

The young soldier I had secretly taken as my charge fought with me too, of course, and he truly was one of the best my force had to offer. He was fast, fairly strong, and he had the conviction to do what needed to be done, no matter the price he had to pay. Quiet and solitary, he didn't talk very much at first, but I finally I began to win over his trust and he gradually started spending more time with me. And I was right about his inner personality-his energy and boldness bore a striking resemblance to you, my one and only son. When I told him this he seemed to draw away though, and though I wondered the reason I quickly dropped the subject, and we remained close.

Throughout all of this, the resistance was gradually sweeping across the continent, freeing the people and gradually restoring hope to this despair-ridden land. I walked many a city and saw a small child, younger than you, smile for the first time in genuine happiness, and I knew that my conviction still rang true. I would free the children, the families, the hurt and the lonely, and then I would know that I had finally done something right for you, instead of leaving you alone to face this cruel world unaided by me, a father who couldn't do nearly all that the title required. But I knew that simply destroying petty enemies and paltry commanders wasn't enough. In order to save that which I fought to grant salvation, I needed to make a final crushing blow to those that who opposed us, and the only way I could think of accomplishing this was by taking out their leader, a dark creature devoid of any morality that could classify him as a human. He resided in the center of the dark empire, within a twisted castle that was the epitome of everything we had endured within the last century, and all that we sought to eradicate from our future.

I planned the venture for months on end, making sure I had taken every aspect into account before even suggesting it to my troops. It was dangerous certainly, and I knew that many a soldier could lose his life, but I had to try. And when I finally brought up the idea with the others I knew they felt the same, for they nodded their heads in a firm way and their eyes filled with what I had quickly come to recognize as the sign that I was making the right decision. This was only a piece of their lifelong journey, a stepping stone leading to their final destination, but for me, this was it. All my life I had been aiming for this event, a chance to finally accomplish what I believed to be my one mission here on this earth, and I was going to take the chance no matter what it cost me.

But the boy I had almost come to hold as dear to me as you seemed less than certain, and for days he avoided me, staying with the other two soldiers he had taken as friends and accompanied when I was busy or leading the front lines. It worried me, for I never liked to see him bothered or on edge, but it wasn't until nearly a week after I had made my announcement that I finally caught him alone, and he told me just what was going on.

What he said astounded me. He was only fifteen, two years after he had first joined. He looked so much older than his years, and even though I had known he couldn't have possibly been seventeen when he first appeared before me, I couldn't believe that all this time a child had been fighting alongside me, and I had noticed nothing. And though on any prior missions he had never shown even faint unease in the face of battle, this time he was terrified, and finally told me so, trembling and pale, standing back lest I retort and call him a coward.

What could I do? This child was mine to protect, a responsibility that I would not let myself leave unaccounted for. Yet at the same time I had a duty to you and the mission I had sworn to uphold, so I was torn. I told him he had no obligation to come, that I would bring older, more experienced soldiers with me and that we would be back, smiling and victorious, so he didn't have to worry. But he shook his head at me and refused to believe, telling me I'd die, that there was no way I could survive and that if the resistance fell with me, the world was doomed. His voice was so absolute too, backed up by the fear that now lurked behind those once bright eyes incessantly, and I couldn't help but let myself believe him. Torn and pained by both sides of the never-ending argument, I brought the question up with the rest of the soldiers, to see if maybe, just maybe, there was some way we could solve the dilemma as a whole.

It was a young computer technician that finally came up with a solution, and her answer brought a great deal of relief and at the same time more concern. If a small force of soldiers could infiltrate the dark castle with her among their numbers, she would be able to knock out the mechanical defenses within the fortress, leaving out target essentially defenseless. It involved a great sacrifice on the part of one, a distraction to hide the true intention of our actions, but if it worked, the rest of the world would be free. I was frightened, for both you, my soldier boy, as well as for the rebuilding of this mangled world, but I knew what had to be done, and I volunteered to be the bait.

Now please don't hate me for this, my son. I know I can never convince you of the true good at the heart of my actions, but I did it for you, and I hope you can lift some of your blame on that account. It will never be enough, but it was truly all I could give you.

I needed one more soldier with me though, in order for the operation to run smoothly, and you can imagine my horror when my own little soldier boy, the one who had forced me to change my mindless attack into a planned strike, volunteered to come with me. As a commander I could have denied him, but his heart was in his eyes as he pleaded with me, and suddenly I knew that his previous fear had not been for himself, but me, and upon giving up myself for what I held true in my beliefs, he was going to be with me for my final sacrifice. So I agreed. And we planned and coordinated, until all was ready, and our plan was to take effect the next morning.

That morning is tomorrow, my dear. This world is twisted and vile, a horrible place to grow up in made doubly so by your runaway father, but I hope that by making this final gesture of love, I can lift some of that evil. I don't ask you to commend, or even forgive what I've done. I only ask that you understand that I did what I could, and that if all goes well, if you grow up to be a strong and content man, if my little soldier boy comes back from the ordeal with the fire still burning in his eyes, and our brave technician can finally conquer what has hung over us all these years, my life will truly be fulfilled.

Forever for you,

Your loving father

The resistance leader fought and killed the dark commander, but a subordinate and conniver in the enemy's dirty scheme trapped the injured party within the dark castle and slaughtered their leader, killed the technician and left the soldier boy barely alive. His son, touched by his father's untimely death, joined the resistance and now fights along with the older soldier boy, whose one remaining eye reflects nothing but death and sorrow. He fights to reclaim his father's dream, and will make sure that the life that was given for him truly was fulfilled.

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Well? It's depressing, I know...and did anyone figure out who everyone was? Let me know (and you can tell me what you thought of the writing too)!

lady-of-destruction-aria