Disclaimer: I own no rights for Legend Of Dragoon, as sad as the reality is. Only disclaimer for the story, as per my usual.
Warning: As old as this game may be, if you haven't beaten it, you should not be reading this; otherwise you probably won't understand everything. Also, rated for later actions and some mentions of blood.
Chapter 1: Lateralus
After their final battle against Melbu Frahma, Dart had felt rather empty inside, like he was missing a part of him. While it was true that he missed his father, his father being dead wasn't the reason that he had felt so empty. It was Rose.
While it was true that she was supposed to have died 11,000 years ago, she became the Black Monster and was immortal, forever looking for the Moon Child, every 108 years she killed the new Moon Child.
He didn't care that she was the Black Monster anymore; he had long since forgiven her for that. He only knew one thing: an unknowable sadness had crept over him, over his very sense of self, as he came to terms that she was dead.
He stood on the roof of his home in the rebuilt Seles, staring at the moon. He had recently began to feel a pull on him, a calling, if you will, to bring him somewhere, though he knew not where he was being called to. He pulled out his Dragoon Spirit, and looked down at it. It seemed to resonate in hand, though the reason was not obvious as to why it would be reacting to something, when there was nothing to react to. Suddenly, he felt a pulse flow through his body, feeling almost like a second heart had started beating within his chest, opposite the place of his normal heart. It had caught him off guard, and he fell to his knees before he began laughing uncontrollably at the sudden giddy feeling that he felt in his chest, no doubt coming from the second heart beat that he felt.
He stopped laughing when he thought he heard a voice calling him, a voice that sounded almost as if it were being carried on the wind itself, as if it were the wind. He then heard it again, but this time it was inside his mind, as well as his heart as he recognized the voice, though he did not, and would not believe it, at least, not yet.
"R-Rose…" Her name left his lips in only a whisper, but he could almost swear on his life that he had gotten a response. He was convinced that it was dream except that it all felt far too real to be any dream that he had ever had.
He felt his whole body suddenly ache, as if awakening from a long slumber and finally waking up and starting to move around. His back arched with the pain until he fell backwards and was finally rendered unconscious.
--
Upon awaking, he sat up, albeit slowly, as his body ached like it never ached before and put a hand to his head until his light-headedness faded. He looked around to find that he wasn't on the roof like he remembered being before he passed out; he was in his sparsely furnished room. The door to his room opened and Shana walked in.
"Oh! You're awake; I was wondering how long you would be asleep." She said, moving to make sure that he didn't have a cold or anything.
"How long was I out?" He asked, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, ignoring the continuing ache that ran surged through his body as best he could.
"A day. What happened? When I found you, you were on the roof mumbling something Vellweb and having to go there." She asked, clearly wanting an answer to what was going on.
"I did?" he questioned, more to himself than to her, though Shana answered it anyway by nodding her head. As if feeling her insistent, yet quiet question, he decided to fill her in, omitting the part about hearing what he thought it was Rose's voice that heard.
"So you were being called? By Whom?" She inquired.
"I am not sure. I don't know if I'm just going crazy or if I actually heard it, but my dragoon spirit is calling to me, telling me that there is somewhere I must go. Alone." He said, slowly shaking his head
"The Divine Dragon Spirit? Strange, mine hasn't been doing much of anything lately." She said, finding a chair by the small round table that was in dart's room.
He then stood up, and was about to step forward when he felt a sudden pulse surge in his chest again, and then the other heart beat, and he kneeled on one knee immediately.
'Just like that night a day ago… Now I know it was real." He thought as Shana rushed to his side to see if he was alright, asking him questions that he did not hear as he heard his name being called in his head again, and he knew it was her. Rose. He did not know how or why she was calling his name, or even if he should try to seek it out, but the pull of her voice and the Divine Dragoon Spirit was too great for him to endure any longer He had to take action, and he had to take it now.
Having made up his mind to seek out the owner of the voice and see if it really was Rose, the heart beat lessened in its power, though it was still there. He stood slowly and methodically and then turned to Shana, who was still by side, asking incessant and never ending questions.
"Shana, I have to go somewhere. Somewhere far away. I don't know if I'll even return, but I must seek out the owner to that voice and see who it is that is summoning both me and the Dragoon Spirit." He said as he gathered his toughest armor and his best sword before equipping them and then gathered some healing potions that he kept in the chest at the foot of his bed.
"Dart… I-I understand. Please… be safe." She said. He nodded, and was about to head out the door of his room when Shana suddenly lurched forward, hugging him as close as she could. He hugged her back before whispering in her ear, "Sorry, it wouldn't have worked out anyway. My eyes have always been for her, I just never knew it until now." He said, completely realizing is feelings for Rose and finally admitting them to himself. "Goodbye, Shana." And with that, he was gone like the wind, further than the eyes could see; he had transformed into the Divine Dragoon and had flown out his window.
Having just allowed the love of her life to just walk out of her life for what was likely to be as long as she lived, she sat on the floor of his room, sobbing with not just her tears, but her very essence of what made her, her.
--
Once Dart was near Lohan, he had dropped nearer to the ground so he could take a short break from flying, though in all honesty, he wasn't really sure of where he was flying. Once his feet were on the ground, he changed back to his normal form of blood red armor with a sword by his side and stepped into the town, heading to the pub to hopefully get some information.
The pub was rather sparsely populated, making things that much easier for the young warrior. He stepped up to the bar and the barkeep asked, "What can I do ya for, stranger?"
"Information."
"What kind are ya lookin' for?"
"I'm looking for a young warrior wearing all dark armor that has black hair. Her name's Rose."
"Sorry, haven't heard much about a warrior like that in these here parts."
"But you've heard of her in other parts?" Dart asked, looking a little hopeful.
"Sorry lad, can't say that I have." The barkeep said, strangling Dart's hopes that he could find her through the normal route of human information.
"Thanks anyway." Dart said, leaving 300 Gold on the bar top before walking back out into the sunlight.
Heading back near the entrance, he thought 'I'm not too far from Tiberoa… should only be another hour and a half before I reach it if I travel at full speed.' Once he was outside of the bustling commercial city, he activated the Dragoon Spirit and headed towards Tiberoa.
--
About a week later, Dart found himself on the road to Vellweb, where he would hopefully find Shirley so he could get some clarification, though something told him that he would probably be better off searching in Mayfil. Either way, Dart was headed there for some sort of answers.
Now outside Vellweb, he decided to stop and take a break, so he gathered some wood and built himself a small campfire, and caught himself something to eat. He carefully hung the poor animal that had been caught and skinned by him over the fire, being careful not to let it get burnt too much.
As he sat there, his food over the fire, the cool night setting in, he decided that he would head inside Vellweb tomorrow.
As customary (for the past week) when he starts to get some rest, the second heart starts up again, as if to remind him that it was still there, and that he was still supposed to be searching for the owner. Having eaten the flesh of the poor animal that he had caught, he continued to gaze into the fire, as if it held all his answers.
"Is it really Rose? If she's somehow alive again, does that mean that father's alive again too? Who's heart is it that I'm feeling in my chest besides my own? Then again, I guess that would be obvious, right Rose?" he asked no one in particular. When he asked his last question, however, the second heart picked up its tempo, though only for one second as if saying, "Yes, Dart, that is my heart you're feeling."
"Rose, if that is you calling me, I'll make sure that nothing bad ever happens to you again." The heart beat responded again, this time slowing down a little before resuming its normal pace while he felt a small amount of warmth spread throughout his body. Still having extra energy, and not being able to sleep much, Dart decided to continue his journey after dousing the fire. Now in the early hours, Dart activated his spirit again and flew near the center of the seven dragoon towers, trying to get there more quickly, to wherever it was that he was heading. He headed for the basement, the room where he had seen his father, and Rose had seen Zeig for the first time in 11,000 years. Once there, he found what he was looking for; the portal to the desert that many have called the Death Frontier, though the name fit, as many travelers had fallen victim to the never ending sand dunes.
Having been there once before, he headed for the only place where something might make any sense at all; he was going to see Charle in the city of Ulara, the Spring Breath Town, hopefully to get some answers to his questions and how to get to Rose, if it was indeed her calling out to him.
After about two hours of wandering around the desert, he finally remembered the way and headed into the Wingly town. He was looked at and regarded very suspiciously, regarding the fact that he had appeared in the town just after sunrise was rather suspicious to most Winglys. On the way to the back of Ulara, he was stopped by a slightly more muscular Wingly guard (when compared to other Wingly's).
"Halt Human! You will not be going any further into our town." The guard said, holding the tip of his spear at Dart's throat.
"Please let me through, I have urgent business with Charle." He said, somewhat miffed by the guard
The guard raise the rest of his spear as if he were going to ram it into dart's throat and asked him very harshly, "How do you know that name, and what is this urgent business you speak of?!"
Dart opened his mouth and was about to try and explain things so that the guard would understand when they both heard a voice in their heads, "Maestro, please let Dart dear through, he has some very important business to discuss with me."
"Very well, Human, you shall pass. But don't think that I won't be watching you very closely." Dart walked passed him without appearing to care or even show any sign that he heard the Wingly's threat, and just continued to walk towards the source of his answers: Charle.
As he walked into Charle's house, he heard the familiar sound of Charle's voice coming from the very back of he room. "Dart, dear, do come in."
"Hello, Charle." He said as walked into Charle's room, greeted by the pink dressed Wingly, which was an unusual color for a Wingly.
"Hello Dart, dear. I assume that you're here about Rosie dear?" She asked in an amused tone and Dart immediately recoiled a bit in surprise.
"Yes. How did you know that?"
"I can feel her too, dear, though you hear her heart the strongest. I also assume that you want to know where to go to find her?" Dart only nodded in response, not surprised that she knew he would ask that.
"Do you remember where the Moon That Never Sets landed?" Again, Dart's only response is to nod. "Go there and you will find her, though you will have to look a little, but you find her, and not only have you been summoned by her, but so has the key to getting her."
"Key?" Dart asked, slightly confused.
"The Divine Dragon Spirit. That is the key to getting her, Dart dear. That is all that I will reveal."
"That's fine; you gave me all the answers I was looking for. Thanks Charle." He said to the pink clad Wingly as he started to head back for the door.
"It's nothing worth thanking me dear. I would recommend that you stay the night here before going to get our dear Rosie. The journey ahead will be a draining one, not necessarily hard one, but a physically draining one, as I'm sure you'd agree already."
Dart turned around at her words, and again, Dart responded with only a nod. "I've already talked with the inns keeper, and has allowed for you to stay."
"Thanks Charle." Dart said; now heading for the inn.
"Wait, dear."
"Yes?" Dart asked, stopping half way in the door.
"One more piece of advice; do not doubt your judgment. You may be young, but your judgment is sound, and never question what your heart tells you."
Dart turned around again and looked somewhat confused at what the Wingly was telling him. "Never mind, dear. Just the babblings of an ageing Wingly." She said, hoping that he would one day understand what she said.
He nodded before resuming his course back to the inn where he would get some much needed rest, the sound of Rose's heart lulling him to sleep, now that she knew he was on his way and would find her soon; she decided to quiet her heart so he could get a little rest.
--
He was standing in a field of flowers, Rose standing by his side, one of his arms around her, holding her close to him, one of her arms doing the same. She rested her head on Dart's shoulder and was now smiling while watching two children play in the field, the boy looking like a miniature Dart and the girl looking like a miniature Rose, except that their hair colors were reversed. The miniature Rose had her father's blonde hair, and miniature Dart had his mother's black- as- midnight hair.
The children continued playing while their parents just stood there, holding each other, watching their children play until the sun started to set, and then headed back to their home, where they saw a man with blonde hair and silver/green armor, as well as a long green cape that touched the ground.
Dart and Rose slowly walked towards him while their smaller selves ran on ahead and greeted the man.
"Hello Uncle Albert!" they both exclaimed, standing right at the Albert's feet, staring up at the tall man, while he waited for Rose and Dart to get closer. He kneeled by the children, and pats each one on the head as he said hello to them.
"Hey there, little Zeig, how have you been?"
The child beamed up at the man, "Good!" he exclaimed while Albert ruffled his hair.
"Hello Steena, and how are you today?" he asked, smiling.
"Good!" she returned, smiling like her brother was as Albert ruffled her hair as well. Dart and Rose finally picked this time to actually get close to the house that was theirs.
"Hey Albert, what's up?" Dart asked, curious as to why the king of Serdio would travel to their home.
"Just wanted to chat and catch up and all that stuff." Replied the king of Serdio in a non-chalant way.
Dart opened the door and they walked inside the log house, no doubt built by Dart with a little help from Rose and their dragoon friends.
--
Dart suddenly sat up in the bed, feeling a cold sweat running down his brow, as well as a tear down his cheek. He wiped his brow and the tear and got out of the bed, wondering what it was that he had just experienced.
'It may be her just reaching out to me, but then again, maybe I should talk to Charle again before I leave.' He thought for another minute as he paced his room. 'Nah, I shouldn't bother her. Besides… it was kind of… nice' he thought as he recalled all of what he had seen and experienced, and overall, he had admit that it seemed more like a shared dream between him and Rose… not that he was complaining.
'Rose… I'll definitely find you.' He thought as he put his armor back on and refastened his sword to his waist. He then headed for the entrance to Ulara and stepped into the transporter and was transported to Fletz, the city with the twin castle.
He exited the town and again summoned his Divine dragon spirit in its manifestation and flew from the ground and head for the Divine Tree, the place where The Moon That Never Sets had set, and Soa, the creator had attempted to recreate the world from scratch.
He wanted to reach Rose as soon as possible, so he flew as fast as he could, even willing himself to fly faster then he knew he was capable of, though that didn't last long as he kept losing thrust, so he kept to as fast as dragoonly possible.
After some time of flying, he started to see what was left of the Divine Tree, and flew to a spot near where there was a shore; he could feel something or someone there, calling out to him. That spot had been his goal of the entire trip for one reason; Rose. His Rose, the only woman he could be with, though he had never truly noticed that until she had died.
'Funny how death has a way of making you noticing things that you never noticed before.' He thought as he neared the little islet/gulf. 'Like how much I really love her, though I never noticed it until she was gone.' He thought as he sighed when the Divine Dragon Spirit deactivated. He walked forward until he came across what could be considered a dome of some sort. It was a dark blue color, and was rather opaque, with black streaks swirling with the blue.
He kneeled by the dome, and made to touch it with his hand, but his hand was forced away when he touched it. He then heard Rose's voice again, sounding like it was almost coming from the dome, though he still heard it in his mind, he could definitely tell it was her voice.
"Rose, I'm here." He said as he tried to touch the dome again, and this time was not forced away, though he could not penetrate it with his hand. He then recalled Charle's words: "…Not only have you been summoned by her, but so has the key to getting her."
He pulled out the Dragoon Spirit of the Divine Dragon and held it in front of him, like the time he held the Dragoon Spirit of the White-Silver Dragon to revive Shirley's guard, Drake.
At first nothing happened, and then the Dragoon Spirit of the Red-Eyed Dragon began to resonate from within his pocket. He had recovered it after the moon had disappeared, though he had not been able to recover Rose's. He took the Red-Eyed Dragon spirit out and held it up with the Divine Dragon spirit and watched as they resonated together for about five minutes before anything started to happen.
Suddenly, the Dragoon Spirit of Rose's Darkness Dragon started to resonate from within the dome, eventually making the surrounding area dark, summoning up dark rain clouds and making it rain before the dome exploded in a flash of white and dark energy. Being nearly blinded, Dart threw up has hands and arms to defend against the light, and eventually fell to the ground as he was tackled by something, or rather, someone; Rose.
She was just as he remembered her, except that she could now feel emotion as she couldn't for 11,000 years. She was holding him close to her body, burying her face in his neck (it would be difficult to do so as his chest is covered by his usual armor), crying uncontrollably. He returned the embrace, never wanting to let go of her ever again, holding her nude body to his armored one.
Being unable to release her emotions for 11,000 years takes a toll on someone, so she let it all out at once. She cried until she had fallen asleep on Dart, with him stroking her midnight black hair, holding her close, though not trying to crush her, as she had no clothes on.
Once she had fallen asleep, he looked around a bit and found her armor sitting where the dome previously was before it had disappeared and Rose appeared. The clothes she usually wore underneath her armor were also by the midnight black with dark gold trimmed armor that she usually wore.
He had carefully lifted both himself and Rose up and headed over to her clothes and found a midnight colored robe that she wore underneath her armor, so he carefully removed himself from her rather clingy, sleeping embrace, and put her robe on her before laying her down on the ground carefully.
His chest plate was beginning to feel rather heavy and hot at the moment, though heat was nothing new to dart, once being the wielder of the Dragoon Spirit of Red-Eyed Dragon, but the heat of the desert was starting get to him, so he removed his blood red chest plate.
'Charle was right, this is draining, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.' He thought as he looked at the sleeping Rose, suddenly feeling rather tired himself, and then lay down next to her and pulled her into his arms, letting the combined sound of her real heart beat and her steady breathing lull him to sleep. Just before he fell asleep, though, he thought he could hear her mumbling the words, "Dart… you came… for me." And then all he knew was the world of darkness known as sleep.
--
He froze in the doorway, not moving for a minute before he finally finished taking the last step into his home… their home.
"Something wrong, Dart?" Rose asked as Albert took a seat on their couch in their living room.
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just spacing out." He said, thinking that he was somewhere else a minute ago, and that he belonged there. He shook his head to clear his thoughts before continuing towards the smaller couch that Rose was now occupying.
Once both he and rose were comfortable on their couch, holding each other's hand with Rose resting her head on Dart's shoulder, Albert finally began talking.
"Dart, Rose, as you are aware, our actions to save the planet seven years ago are beginning to have consequences." Albert said with a completely serious face.
Dart looked to Rose, who looked just as shocked as he was. "What do you mean?" Dart asked, almost afraid of what the king would say.
"Well, I'm not sure, but it seems that evil is beginning to rise from the ashes of Melbu Frahma."
Dart and Rose say nothing, too shocked to actually be able to say anything for several minutes. "How long do we have before it's powerful enough to find us and fight us?" Rose asked, scared for her children, not for her or Dart, as they were warriors and could take care of themselves and each other, but when in battle, would have to leave their children behind.
"I am not absolutely certain. It could be months, days, or even years before we see it. The best option would be to go find it and kill it before it can manifest any powers, but we cannot search for it." The traveling king said grimly.
"Why not?" asked Dart.
"It's in hiding. Until it's powers or body reach a mature enough state, we cannot be sure of where it is located, and therefore it would be useless to search."
"So you're saying we just wait for it to attack our children?" Rose asked, using her seldom used (anymore) stoic and logical voice.
"I was hoping that you would word that differently, but essentially, that is the gist of it." Albert said, face set in a dour expression.
--
Dart woke up with a start, though wanting to sit up, but forced himself to stay laying down, as Rose was laying on top of him, her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as she slept, and he didn't want to disturb her.
'What the hell was that?' Dart questioned himself. 'Maybe we should head back to Ulara so I can ask Charle about these 'dreams'. They seemed far too real to be fake, but they weren't reality, though in the 'dream', Albert said that seven years had passed. I just hope that doesn't happen in seven years, at least, not the part about evil coming back from the ashes of Frahma.
Rose started to stir, which roused him from his thoughts, though she snuggled deeper into his chest before not being able to get sleep to claim her again, so she lay there, listening to the natural rhythm of his body, his breathing, his heart beat, his stomach growling…
Then he broke the silence, aware that she was now awake.
"Rose." He said gently, far more gently than she had thought possible from the warrior.
"Yes?" She asked, trying to gain control over her newly awakened emotions.
"Why me… I mean, why was I the one that had to come and-" Dart started, but was interrupted by the woman still laying on him.
"Because, out of everyone in the group, you're the one I trust the most, and… you also know me the best." She replied, voice level as always, but undeniably showing emotion now. However, she wasn't done talking yet. "And death has a way of reshuffling your priorities." She said, which finally concluded what she was saying.
Dart almost laughed at that, but decided against it, as he would have said the same thing, except it didn't apply to him like it did to her; her death reshuffled his priorities when the whole 'I'm going to look for Rose' thing started about a week and half ago. He still couldn't believe that it took him only a week to find her, as he thought it would have taken longer than that to find her. If he had traveled with the others, it would have taken him a lot longer to find her, he knew that much, though he meant no harm to his friends.
"So" Rose said, pausing in her sentence to lick her lips before continuing, "What made you come and save me from death?" She asked, looking up into his face, her own showing slight amounts of amusement as he squirmed trying to answer her question. In theory, it seemed like it was easy enough to answer, but in truth, it was tougher than trying to kill a Virage, which anyone who's fought one could tell you, it's quite difficult.
"Erm, well, you see…" but his bumbling was stopped when she put a finger to his lips, and her captivating violet eyes made contact with his smoky blue-grey eyes.
"I know what you are trying to say." She paused to lick her lips again. "I feel the same, but you knew that, this whole time you were coming to save me." She said, making it a statement more than a question, slowly bringing her lips closer to his.
"Err, yeah, I did." He said 'I knew all too well.' He thought.
He was starting to get lost in his thoughts but his thoughts were interrupted by Rose's lips coming into contact with his own, the softness of her lips driving him wild.
He was surprised at first, but then responded with his own hungry, needing kiss. They opened their lips for each other and the duel of tongues began; only to find Dart the victor, slowly massaging her tongue with his and making her moan into the kiss. After several minutes of intense kissing, they were forced to break their kiss for much needed air.
Once they had recovered enough breath to speak, Dart pulled her into an embrace, whispering into her ear, "I never want to be without you again. You're death taught me that you don't truly appreciate someone or something until they are gone, and I never realized just how much I love you, Rose." He said, meaning every word.
Rose smiled at him, though he couldn't see since they were holding on to each other tightly. "I love you too, Dart." She said into his ear before they separated slightly, enough to enjoy another kiss before they decided that making out in the middle of desert wasn't all that much fun, and they slowly stood up and put their armor on and began to walk, as most of the energy from the Divine Dragon spirit was used up, as well as the energy in the Red-Eyed Dragon and the Darkness Dragon.
They encountered few monsters, but were essentially in the middle of nowhere, though they were happy, having each other as company. It was some time before they were anywhere near a town of any sort, though they traveled day and night, stopping only when they absolutely needed to.
After a few weeks of traveling, with the occasional animal caught by Dart for food, they finally neared Ulara, after what seemed like an eternity, and the two desert-worn warriors had fallen face first into Ulara once they stood upon it's entrance.
--
AN: My longest work yet, and there will be more of this longevity of the chapters to come. Hope you guys like it so far, and there is only more to come, so sit tight for the next chapter.