Breath of Fire 2: Destiny Unraveled

Chapter One: Regrets

I searched for a long time, and finally found it.

I was a follower of St. Eva; I allowed my family to make the trip before me. Everai, the magnificent city where the Grand Church was built, it was where we would live happily for the rest of our lives, honoring God.

It all changed when the so called great hero came. Bando Church was abandoned when I arrived, the statue representing St. Eva broken and it looked like it had been ransacked.

I heard not long after that Everai was no more. The church, the city, everything was gone. No one escaped; no one except the 'hero' and his friends.

I spent years finding out what happened that they were in league with a group opposed to the church. Over ten thousand people, dead, when they destroyed the Grand Church, and now they were seen as heroes.

I had no idea why they were seen as heroes, not until after.

Since that day, I hated them. If they just left the church alone no one would have died, my family and I would be happy in that paradise.

It turned out to be a foolish dream.

A man came to me one day which what I sought, the goddess key I desired, the Key of Time. His face was hidden beneath his heavy black hood and all I could see was darkness, none of his face visible. I paid him a hefty amount, an enormous sack full of Zenny, but he just waved it away as if he couldn't care less about it.

If he didn't want the money, no skin off my back, most people wouldn't turn away one hundred thousand Zenny, but if I didn't have to pay this mysterious wizard, all the better.

I had a plan, most people would be disgusted by it, but few people killed off a whole city. He had to pay for his sins, and by saving all those people, wasn't I the hero? One life to save thousands, it wouldn't be pleasant, but I was prepared to do it.

I did my research; this 'hero' killed off the owner of the coliseum for some unknown reason and walked away without consequence. He killed the owner of the travelling carnival in Tunlan, killed the leader of a small time gang near Hometown, and one of the wealthy men living in that city as well. A path of death followed him which reached its peak when he caused the whole city of Everai to collapse upon itself killing thousands including my family.

Twenty years ago he was a child; it was one of the last times he was seen before he reappeared in Hometown as a Ranger, a protector of the people, a joke of a title to me, for someone who caused so much destruction. I knew I had to do something; he was no hero, but a murderer that so many were blinded to.

The Key of Time, it allowed me to go back, reach Gate, which was where he was from. I found the 'hero' as a child, sleeping alone in the meadow. What I did next, I'm not proud of, he was helpless, there is a difference between killing someone conscious and aware of what's going on around them, and killing someone who is asleep; killing an adult, or a child is another difference, and few would have the determination to cross that line.

He was responsible for so much death; I had to tell myself again and again. He hardly looking like someone who could do what he would later in life, but things can change in this world so quickly. I reminded myself that so many at Everai were innocent like this, and this was my chance to save them all. He didn't care for what he did, and twenty years later was regaled as a hero.

The sleeping dragon, I read that it had not moved in years, since it appeared that day. It was unnerving to feel like it was watching me. I dragged the boy's helpless body a little bit away from it and pulled the knife from my belt.

A quick slice was all it would have took, but anger overtook me, I stabbed once, then began thinking that he was the one responsible for me no longer having a family, and began seeing red as I plunged the blade into his dead body again and again. I was covered in blood by the time I stopped, his body a mess of wounds, and stood up. It was done.

A voice screamed into my mind, calling me a monster. It was full of sorrow, and hatred at me for what I did. I drowned it out, and kept reminding myself that he may have been innocent now, but in fifteen years he would kill a whole city of devoted St. Eva followers for no reason.

Holding the key, I returned to my time. My family would be returned to me, the Key would fill in any memories of what changed between the two timelines now and I would keep the secret, taking it to my grave, not letting anyone know of this horrible act I did.

Hours passed since I returned, and I lay in the alley, disgusted at myself, and what became of everything I had done. Aspiria was not as I remembered, or hoped. I just wanted my family back, but in this kind of world, they were not the same, they would have encouraged what I did.

My return to the current time flooded my mind with changes from the last five years. I lived in Corsair with my family, and though it wasn't the most peaceful place, with a coliseum as its main attraction, how could anyone expect it to be, it was never bad. Now, it was a violent, cutthroat city; the coliseum owner who was killed by the 'hero' was a tyrant, he turned the contests into death matches, bloody fights where sometimes neither would leave alive happened often, and the fans loved it, stadiums packed night after night with those craving this kind of show.

My family which I thought I would be with again was no more. I had thought that when I returned I would be able to make the journey to Everai and be with them, but the changes to Aspiria took that hope away. Followers of St. Eva who were devoted to God were drained of their life and it turned out that we had been worshiping a demon all along.

Hometown, Corsair, Highfort, and Gate, they were all under a tyrant's control, Windia stood strong, the kingdom being led by the princess, but she was being pushed hard to hold her ground against outside forces. Captaina was no more, overrun by creatures I never knew existed.

"What have I done?" I asked myself, but the answer was there, my hands still covered in blood from my actions. I hadn't done the world a favor; it had changed greatly from the time that Everai was destroyed, but not in a positive way like I wanted. My family was dead, sacrifices to a dark god, my home city of Corsair a den of murder and violence, and demons running amok all over. I was stupid to do this, history had changed for the worse, and I needed to fix it, go back and stop myself from what I did.

I started to stand up when I felt a dart in the back of my neck, I couldn't move.

"I found you, murderer." Came a female voice from behind me, but I couldn't even turn to see who it was. "You sick bastard, I saw what you did to him all those years ago, sleeping peacefully, and then you came. You didn't just kill him, what you did was monstrous beyond anything I saw before, and now is the day you pay for it."

I couldn't speak, I knew what she was talking about, in my mind it happened hours ago, but for everyone else it was so much longer. Whoever this woman was, somehow she knew what I did, and I felt the sharp blade sink slowly into my spine. I wasn't even granted the ability to scream, but I felt inch after inch of the knife pushed into me, that was just the start.

She worked slowly, savoring the torture she was able to inflict on this monster who murdered her older brother. The young assassin had been practicing for a few years, studying how to inflict as much pain as possible before she slit his throat. She was alone with him in the alley for three hours, cutting shallow cuts and slowly driving another dagger into vital parts of his body while watching his eyes wide in pain. The paralysing dart made it so he couldn't even scream, which made it all the more pleasant for her, no interruptions. Selina made sure no one would come down here, so she was able to take her time.

When the last bit of life drained from his eyes, she retrieved all her tools of torture and spat on him before leaving his bloodied corpse in the alley. It took so long to find him, and now that she had, she had felt a little better that the monster who killed her brother got what he deserved. She killed before, but never had she gotten such pleasure from it.

A black cloaked figure walked over to the mutalated mortal, blood now pooled around him. He reached into the man's coat taking a small key from him and placed it in his robes, then left him there. In Corsair, what was one more dead body, no one here cared if some nameless fool was robbed and murdered; it was that kind of place now.

Author's Note:

This is a darker story I'm working on, rating it M because I plan on showing a much more violent version of the world where the demons never had to face a destined hero and were left to build their power. The prologue is a bit short, but through this story, more will be expanded on. I always felt the Everai event should have had more consequences for the party, an entire city dead; there would be people out there who would hate the heroes for what they did. This is the story of one who decided to do something about it. I'm still working on the other story, but just wanted to try out a different style briefly.