Well, here I go again. Working on too many stories at once. But this one is actually randomly thought up and not based on anything I can think of, so yay for that! :)


/The dark shall spread across the land

It's tendrils sap both beast and man

The bonds of love and guidance turn

To wrath and pain, as spirits burn/

/Bitter spite shall fan the flames

And those that die all bare the blame

The world will cry and suffer so

As life will writhe on high and low/

/But hidden by a fault unseen

A child will stand to oppose the queen

His heart empowers all to fight

His soul shines forth to break the night/

/Firaga's half will be his shield

To lift what 'lone he cannot wield

Both youths' strength untest'd may be

But each must fight to then be free/

/They'll battle off the evil's day

Their hearts to wicked schemes may sway

But harken, those who seek to fight

All hearts hold both the dark and light.../

~The Last Recorded Prophesy of the Moon Children

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Chaos. The village of Brale was under attack in the dead of night, split by the shattering screams. Armor and weapons clashed in vain all around; the villagers fell left and right in the onslaught. Even those who tried to stand and fight were quickly dispatched without mercy, littering the ground as the putrid smell of death mixed with the smoke. The air burned angrily, suffocating those who tried to run.

No one had known the knights were coming until it was too late...

Unearthly roars then shook the village, shaking the small, wooden huts to their very foundations and toppling them. Many stopped and grasped their ears, screaming loudly in terror as another fireball was shot into the village, burning the flimsy structures to the ground and badly charring anyone foolish enough, or unlucky enough, to have been standing in its path. The knights dismounted on the rooftops, watching the horrified people scramble for their lives. They looked so utterly bored, and yet fascinated at the same time, watching cruelly as if these were animals they murdered, not truly people..

"Worms, the whole lot of them..."

The knights all turned to see a dark, hooded figure standing upon the roof behind them. The hood was drawn up over her face, concealing it from the people below in the glare of the surrounding firelight. But the knights knew her instantly by sight, each hastening to bow low in respect.

"Your Majesty. We have taken the village of Brale, as you requested."

"Perfect," she replied evilly, pushing her hood back to reveal a vicious smile.

"This is the last of those wretched villages we must burn. The gem and its bearer must be here!"

One knight rose to his feet and approached her, signaling the other men to move out and continue the attack. He could clearly see his queen's expression, even through the smoke of the fires, and his eyes followed hers, scanning the crowds of fleeing innocents for the one they sought.

"How will we know which child bears the gem, Your Majesty?"

"The only clue we have is to search for blue eyes, the most telling sign of regality among their people." Looking about in the crowd, though, she glared upon seeing so many vermin with bright, frightened blue eyes searching for sanctuary.

"Don't trouble yourself to take him alive, Rolland," the queen said calmly, patting his shoulder lovingly. It sent a rather unpleasant chill down his spine, but the old knight new better than to react to it in front of his queen."The Black Gem was easy enough to take from that old fool in Free, and that was only me back then. Robbing a child should be all the easier for you. Just remember, your orders are to destroy the whole village and take whatever you like, but search the corpses and bring me the gem without fail! I don't care if you have to burn the whole forest to the ground, just see that it gets done!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." With that, the queen was gone, and Rolland smirked as he jumped back down into the fray. He and his men had been itching for a fight for so long, and tonight nothing would be left standing in their wake...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Mommy! Where are you?"

A young boy with ash-riddled blond hair ran through the panicking crowds, who shoved and scurried as they attempting to escape the village. The boy was only eight years old, and he cried loudly now, confused and afraid to be separated from his family.

Where had they gone? He had been out playing with the other children in the fields when the fires started, and now everyone was screaming and crying! The nearby streets were full of fire and bodies, and everywhere he looked was red, red, red, as the angry flames roared higher...

"Mommy!" he cried louder, tears spilling out over pale cheeks as he was pushed back into the dirt path by a stampede of people. Grabbing his head and simply hoping that no one would trample him in the chaos, the small boy sobbed.

"Stop it...Stop...MAKE IT STOP!"

Suddenly, a hand reached from out of nowhere and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, pulling him out of the crowded street and into a nearby alley. Pulled into a warm embrace, the little blond turned and watched as more people still scrambled by outside, fascinated and yet frightened as he watched the mesmerizing flames.

Feeling a light shake, the boy blinked up, his blue eyes meeting familiar ones.

"Mommy!" He threw himself into her arms again, sobbing hysterically and clinging to her like a life line.

"M-Mommy...what's going on? I-I can't find H-Hayner and Olette a-anywhere! Are they o-okay?"

"Shhhhh...baby, it's alright..." the woman soothed back, stroking his head softly as he hiccuped. Suddenly, something from one of the huts nearby exploded in flame, and his mother looked at him seriously, holding him out a little to face her.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. But right now, I need you to listen to me carefully, Roxas."

Her voice was urgent, and the young boy wiped his eyes softly as he sniffled.

"There's been an attack on the village, baby. I don't know what they want, but it isn't safe here anymore. I want you to get as far away from here as you possibly can-"

"But Mommy!" Roxas sobbed again, burying his head in her shoulder desperately. "I don't wanna go without you! I-I don't know where to go!"

"Sweetie, you have to listen to me." She rocked him a little, walking briskly back out of the alley and hoisting him up into her arms as she began to run.

"You have to keep running, do you understand? Don't stop, don't speak to anyone! Make it as far as you can, and don't look back, alright, Roxas?"

The little boy's grip tightened on her shoulder tightened. As he was carried down the street, Roxas looked up to see large, angry monsters on some of the rooftops of the houses, obscured slightly by the thick, black smoke that rose all around them. They glared down at him with their yellow eyes and fierce teeth, and even in the shadows it was utterly menacing.

Roxas shivered, burying his head again as his mother managed to reach the forest.

"Roxas? Do you promise me?"

His looked up quickly at the pleading sound in his mother's voice. She set him down on his feet at the edge of the forest, ushering him towards it urgently.

Roxas nodded shakily. "O-Okay...But you're coming too, r-right Mommy?"

"You there! What are you doing?"

The woman gasped at the stranger's voice, pushing her son behind her instinctively as she turned to face the approaching man. He was tall and muscular, with long brown hair that hung down the back of his armor and swayed lightly as he approached. He wore a strange-looking eye-patch, no doubt hiding a wound from his escapades with the queen's knights, and his vicious scowl did nothing to diminish his hardened, burly look.

The woman whispered softly, but urgently.

"Go, my son. Get out of here, as fast as you can!" And with that, she took off running in a different direction, leading the angry man away from the trees where her son was hiding.

"Get back here, woman! Answer me!"

Roxas blinked back tears as he watched her go, feeling strangely confused and betrayed. She didn't even look back as she left him there...

Startled by another explosion of fire nearby, Roxas turned tail and ran deeper into the woods, the screams of his people and the howling of the strange monsters burning in his ears and spurring him on to run faster. If he wasn't gone soon, the whole forest might catch fire, and he'd always been taught that a wildfire was one of the most dangerous situations he could ever face. Chancing a quick look back at the slowly spreading fire in the village, the little blond didn't doubt the truth of that.

Roxas grabbed a hold of the pendant around his neck with a small, shaking fist, praying that his powers would awaken and he could do something to help his village. But the snow white gem only glowed faintly in response, doing nothing at all no matter how hard he called to it. The boy sobbed a little hopelessly at that. He was still too little to fight or do much of anything, and by nature he was a bit of a coward. No one had ever said it to him out loud, but the boy knew they were thinking it...

Roxas was no hero. He wasn't brave or strong like Hayner, or any of his friends, and he doubted he ever would be. It should be him that burned alive back there in the village, not them. He'd never be helpful to anyone...

The boy stumbled on a stray root and yelped as he hit the ground. He sat up quickly and whined a little as he inspected the scrape on his knee, but his mother's voice urged him on.

"Keep running...Don't stop...Don't speak..."

He repeated the mantra in his head, trying to ignore the fresh tears welling in his eyes. He couldn't even stand the small pain in his knee, how was he ever supposed to...

A sudden, loud crack rang out behind him, loud and powerful like thunder, and he turned and stared wide-eyed as the trees were then consumed in the angry red flame. The fire had hit the forest now too!

The trees were dry from a recent drought, one that surprisingly no one had been able to counter, and without enough water now, the whole forest would surely burn!

Roxas wanted to stop and put out the fire, but his magic was underdeveloped, and he didn't know any spells to summon the rain or snow. He could only watch in horror as the fire drew closer, and the roars and howls filled the sky once more. Trees swayed uneasily around him, one even toppling over and making him jump as it crashed to the ground and spread its flames onto the dead grass.

Clasping his hands tightly over his ears, Roxas bit back a scream and shut his eyes, running and crashing through dried brush and foliage without care. The terrain was slowly becoming more treacherous, and he stumbled more and more trying to navigate it in his panic.

Soon, the dark, ashy smoke in the air got to him, and Roxas coughed as it filled his lungs, trying to smother him. It was raining flames and soot everywhere, and the boy had to dive a little to one side as a burning branch almost came crashing down on his head. Picking himself up and brushing off his clothes hastily, Roxas ran and ran until he thought he couldn't run anymore. He saw a few animals occasionally running around in a panic, eyes rolling madly as they too tried to escape the burning enferno.

And still, the fire followed him, like flaming hounds chasing his scent and stalking him to the ends of the earth...

"Please...I don't wanna die!" Roxas cried desperately. He knew it was probably a selfish thing to wish, when his village was burning to the ground somewhere behind him, but he no longer cared. He was too terrified.

"I-I want my mommy!"

Another loud explosion shook the nearby trees, as the wind picked up and battered the burning plants. Were the monsters following him? Roxas doubted that the fire could have spread so quickly like this naturally...

Perhaps there was magic involved. But only the dragons were capable of such magic, other than his own people, and the dragons were usually a peaceful bunch that cherished nature and the forests as much as his people did. They could be violent, and they were very strong, but rarely did they harm nature without a just cause...

Roxas had never seen a dragon before, being so young and barely into his first year of schooling, but he'd read about them and heard many stories. Were these really the same mighty, heroic beasts that he'd always dreamed of?

Roxas coughed harshly again, covering his mouth and nose with his hand to keep some of the smoke out. Feeling light-headed and dizzy, Roxas dropped down to his knees and placed his other hand out in front to steady himself, panting and coughing as the smoke rose higher. More tears flowed from his eyes, and his insides felt like they were burning with the rest of the forest...

Suddenly, he heard a strange noise from above, and rolled under a nearby bush just in time for a huge creature to fly overhead, causing the trees to shake fiercely in the wind. As the beast circled around and cried out into the night, Roxas hesitantly brought his head out from under the shrub and looked up. His breathed hitched as he examined the beast above him fearfully.

There was no mistake; that monster was a dragon. Even from where he hid, Roxas could see the glowing yellow eyes searching hungrily for something...

It had to be after him...

The boy finally let out a sigh of relief as the dragon flew off, seeking its prey elsewhere. But he couldn't understand what was going on at all! Why were they coming after him? And why did they have to burn down the whole village over one child?

As he ran on, Roxas turned his head back and looked up at the sky where the creature had just flown; it's massive, scaly wings spread wide against the harvest moon. Not looking where he was going, the boy stumbled as his foot made contact with another rock, and he whimpered as he expected to hit the hard, dry, dusty ground yet again.

But instead, Roxas found himself tumbling off of a small cliff into a bed of large, hard rocks, slamming his head hard as he landed.

The boy moaned softly in pain, blinking his hazy eyes up at the sky as he tried to stay awake. But the pain throbbed violently in his skull, and that combined with the surrounding heat and smoke battered his senses and threatened to overtake him quickly. His limbs and head felt heavy, as if they were being weighed down by thick, iron chains...

"M-Mommy..."

Soon Roxas just couldn't fight it anymore, and he fell limp against the cold stone as the world burned all around him...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"WHAT? YOU HAVEN'T FOUND THE GEM YET?"

The men winced inwardly and begged for forgiveness as the queen growled and stomped impatiently.

"I NEED THAT GEM! THE PROCESS ISN'T COMPLETE UNTIL BOTH THE BLACK AND WHITE GEMS ARE UNITED IN BLOOD!"

Rolland stepped forward, dragging a middle-aged woman with grey-blond hair behind him.

"Your Majesty, the village elder survived the attack. I caught her on the edge of the forest trying to escape." The knight thrust her forward, sending her to the ground literally at the queen's feet. The dark-clad woman was still fuming, and she placed the heel of her hard boots onto the woman's left hand, pressing down hard.

"Well, well. The last of the Jessari. I've waited long for the day I could eradicate your kind from the face of the earth...Funny, you don't look old enough to be the village elder..."

"Wisdom and guidance are not confined to age, heartless queen...though as one so young, you are certainly lacking in both!" the elder spat back, gritting her teeth.

Larxene glared viciously, but said nothing to that. She pressed down harder on the woman's hand, taking pleasure in her pained noises.

"Answer me now, old woman! You try my patience! Now where is the White Gem?"

The blond woman groaned but still glared defiantly, her face stubbornly set.

"It has been scattered to the wind, just as the ashes of my people are now. The earth will not stand for this imbalance, nor its injustice. You will never have what you desire!"

Larxene let out a feral growl, glaring back into those cold blue eyes angrily. Another hard press of the queen's heel, and Rolland came over and kicked the elder hard in the stomach, sending her rolling over groaning in the dirt.

"You are speaking to her majesty, Queen Larxene, and you will show her the proper respect, filthy worm!"

Larxene bent low, almost so that her knees touched the ground, and she grabbed the woman's tunic roughly and hoisted her into the air.

"I will ask you one last time, WHERE IS THE OTHER GEM?"

The queen drew out the pendant around the woman's neck, seeing it glowed a pale gold in the light of the fires. It was an unusual color, that was for sure, but it was clearly not the gem she was looking for. Growling, she pulled out the pitch black pendant around her own neck, and pressed the gems together harshly. The elder cried out loudly in pain, writhing in Larxene's grasp.

"TELL ME, OR I'LL POISON YOU SLOWLY WITH THIS AND LET YOU SUFFER THE SLOWEST, MOST PAINFUL DEATH I CAN CONCEIVE FOR YOU!"

The woman spat angrily, around gritted teeth.

"N-Never, y-you vile s-snake!"

Larxene threw her to the ground and screamed angrily. "NO! I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS!" She turned back and commanded the knights to take the old woman away, and glared at the moon in thought. The woman had to be lying, there was no way it could be gone...

The gems the Jessari wore around their necks acted as a life and power source, made of a natural earth stone combined with their spiritual energies. Even once the person had died, the stone would endure, based on the power and potential of the life force within it. It wouldn't simply turn to dust and fade away as the Jessari did. No, the queen knew that from experience...

The name Jessari translated in Haelian to mean 'spirit children,' and they were a stubborn yet powerful race that lived in peace with nature. Larxene was overjoyed that she could be rid of them once and for all, so that they could never again be a threat to her plans. All she needed now was the Gem of Light, or the White Gem as it was also called. Unlike the pale gem the elder wore, this gem was supposedly pure white, innocent and untainted by the malice of the world unlike the Black Gem. It held energy enough to equal the Black Gem's power, and was essentially the gem's brother; it's other half...

it was paramount that the gem be found, before it faded into obscurity and extinction with the Jessari themselves.

Rolland soon joined her again, watching her angry expression with worry. Even the queen's closest servants were not safe from her unholy wrath.

"Do not fear, Your Majesty. We are scouring the forest for any sign of the gem or its bearer. It will not escape us..."

Larxene's grip tightened on the wooden railing in front of her, digging her fingers into the splintered wood harshly without so much as a flinch.

"No, it certainly won't..."