Summary

Jack Russell sacrificed himself to save Ridley, the girl he loved. By becoming the vessel for the Gold Dragon himself and sparing her from doing just that, he had sacrificed normal life.

Years have passed; the humanless world was empty and uneventful. The elves stayed north, the orcs stayed south, and even the goblins seemed to become calmer. Jack sat alone in what was once Theater Vancoor, wondering what the rest of his immortal life would be before the change.

Until one day, the human race was reborn.

Jack was so surprised by the rebirth of the human race, and extremely joyful. But only a few centuries into their life, Jack could already feel the cosmic balance tipping too far. Soon, everything would have to be reset once again, and Aphelion would be reborn. Jack eventually began to recognize faces as they grew older…and realized that all of the people he had known during his human life were being reborn. Which meant there wasn't much time left…

Jack, having claimed leadership of the new and reborn Theater Vancoor, stands idly by as the balance begins to tumble. The dragons begin to appear, and are slain by the exact same people as the previous life… History was repeating itself.

And as time quickly passes, Jack realizes that he is now faced with a choice…the same choice as Aphelion before him.

Jack would have to make a choice.

And it would be nothing like the choice that Aphelion had made.

A heads up:: This story is intended for people who know the storyline of Radiata Stories at least pretty well. I'm gonna use a lot of characters from the game without introducing them or explaining who they are, and a lot of characters in this fic will be different from the original with new stories/backgrounds that will play off the original. If you don't know it that well, you can watch the cutscenes on youtube, or read up on the separate characters on the game's wiki. Happy reading! :)

Prologue (Part 1): Faces I Know

The armored Jack Russell walked down the Path of Insanity and Fanaticism, breathing in the morning air. The majority of his face was hidden behind the light green helm of his legendary armor, which was not unlike the face of a reptile. He had obtained the armor from a distant dimension during the extent of his short human life, and, having never found any better armor, had never adorned any other. He was well-known through the revitalized city of Radiata for his unique armor, and also for his title as "Faceless" Chief of the Warrior Guild, Theater Vancoor.

He was suddenly shoved roughly—but not necessarily forcefully—from behind. He took a step forward reached back, snatching the small hand of whomever had tried to grab something from his belt. He turned to face the would-be thief, and found himself looking at a boy who was less than half of his height, with olive-colored skin and white hair. Jack had seen the boy roaming the dark shadows of the city plenty of times, usually looking quite antagonistic compared to the other children…but now his face was plastered with fear.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, not angry but not happy. The kid tried to pull free from Jacks' grip, but found he couldn't.

He stuttered out frightfully, "T-t-they dared me to do it! They told me to try and s-s-steal 10 dagols from your pouch! They said if I d-d-didn't do it, then I was a c-coward! I'm not a coward! I said if I could steal from the chief of Vancoor then I was the best there ever was in the b-b-Bandit Guild! And someday I will be the best!"

"What's your name?" Jack asked.

"…Ortoroz."

Jack's heart skipped a beat. He knew this child from his human life.

"Would you like to know a secret? Stealing from me wouldn't make you the best there ever was. But being my friend would be. All powerful men have to have powerful friends, right? Then no one would mess with you."

The fear was gone. It was all wonder and infatuation now.

"You're right!" the young Ortoroz cried.

Jack reached into his pouch and pulled out 10 dagols. "Here." He gave the money to the child. "Take this as a symbol of our new friendship and show that to your friends. But to stay friends with me, you'll have to prove yourself. How does that sound?"

"Awesome!" he yelled. "I'll be the best and you'll be proud! I'll prove myself to you…you just watch!"

Clutching the dagols in his hands, the child took off down the street and rounded a corner, going quickly out of sight. Jack continued on his walk, thinking about the child. Ortoroz was a man whom Jack had known while he was still human; Ortoroz was the leader of the Bandit Guild, the Void Community. Aside from meaning that the child really would prove himself to be among the best, this also meant that…the people Jack knew were being reborn?

Jack looked as he passed a Vareth student. Did he know this girl, as well?

Suddenly, someone said, "I saw what you did."

Jack turned to look at who had addressed him.

"Why would you want to be friends with a kid from the Void?" the young man asked. He was golden haired, and wearing a Vareth uniform. He was holding three large books in his left arm, and a globe in his free hand. Jack's eyes honed in on the globe; it looked familiar. And then, as if almost on cue, a baby owl crawled out from behind the boy's collar, perching on his shoulder…and that was all it took for Jack to recognize him instantly.

"Everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves, no? Isn't that what you want, Curtis? A chance to prove yourself?"

The young Curtis was surprised that Jack knew him. "Yes, of course, but being a bandit isn't exactly an ideal profession. At least I don't think so."

"To each their own," Jack said with a shrug. Curtis shrugged back.

"Also, if I may ask…how do you know who I am? I don't have any friends in the Warrior Guild. I barely even go into the Yellow Town."

"I'm a Guild Chief. It's my job to know what's happening. And I know—call it gut instinct—that you're going to be one of the best mages in the whole institute someday." And by best mage in the institute, he meant leader of the institute.

Curtis laughed at him. "Maybe in my dreams. I blow up everything I touch."

"Practice makes perfect."

"If you say so," he said, continuing on past him. "I've got to go, I have a class soon. Nice speaking with you."

Jack nodded and watched him go. His stomach twisted into knots. If the people he knew were being reborn, then surely that meant that history was repeating itself. And if history was repeating itself, then he knew exactly what was to come…and who he was to meet in only a few years…

Jack decided to cut his walk short out of fear of recognizing other children. He didn't want to think about it. He couldn't accept that he would have to go through the same ordeals as he had when he was human. The war, the deaths, Algandars disease...Ridley…

No.

He would not accept it. And nothing could change it. It simply could not be true. So two people had been reborn. Big deal. That didn't mean everyone he knew would be.

Could it?

Prologue (Part Two [Several Decades Later]): The Pain of a Fallen Brother

The water dragon Kelvin had awakened.

Jack had locked himself in his room in Vancoor, refusing to acknowledge anything. When the castle had called upon the Guild Leaders, Jack threw the letter in the fire. When the castle sent a guard to retrieve him in desperation, he refused and sent his deputy chief in his stead. Jack would have nothing to do with this sudden turn of events. He would have nothing to do with the slaying of dragons. And he absolutely would not meet with any knights. If he was correct, then his father would be one of the knights, and the knight to slay the water dragon. Jack wouldn't think about it. He barely had any memory of his father, and honestly, that was a hole that Jack preferred unfilled.

Years had passed since he met the young Curtis and Ortoroz and both had already taken control of their Guilds, and still—despite all of those years—Jack could not wrap his head around the fact that history was repeating itself. He had really begun to wish that he had known Aphelion, so he would have some clue about how to handle this situation. He knew the water dragon would be slain, and if he went to its aid, then he would become the enemy of mankind. And he was quite enjoying being welcome with his own race once again. Though he had fought alongside the non-humans for a good cause, one which he believed in, he was not eager to return to them.

There was a knock at his door. He ignored it. His helm was sitting on his desk beside him, and he was resting his head on his hands. He wasn't tired, but felt exhausted nonetheless. There was a second knock, a faint sigh, and then silence. All that was to be heard was the distant voices of the people on the floors below his own. The chatter of his sergeants with their squad members. He could barely recognize the voice of his Deputy Chief; he must have already returned.

Then there was a loud knock on the door. "Open up, Chief!" It was the Deputy Chief. "I'm coming in."

Don't you dare.

The door flew open, and the massive armored redhead stormed in, looking angry. Jack, in the blink of an eye, had returned his helm to his head, hiding his eternally-young face. "Why are you hiding in here, Jack?"

"I don't do dragons," he said very matter-of-factly.

"You're afraid?!"

"Sure. Let's go with that."

"I'm almost disappointed," he said. "This is a perfect chance for us to steal the glory! And you're going to just let the knights steal our chance?"

Was Elwen the chief at this point in time, during the last life? Did she have this same argument? What would she have said?

"If the knights would like to run off and slay the dragon, then let them."

His deputy was shocked. "I've just returned from the meeting at the castle. They wanted us to go, Jack, not the knights. But since you won't agree to send our warriors, they're sending knights instead. They've already sent a squad out! A squad of their best! Some knight named Ruffles or something is leading the charge."

"You mean Russell."

"Yeah, that's the guy. Jack, we could have taken the dragon. You might be afraid, but we're not. Why won't you let us go? To represent our guild, and earn ourselves the honor and glory we deserve? Those damn knights are probably already there by now!"

Jack began to briefly reminisce. The horrible memories drifted backing into his mind…the memories of watching the dragons, who were his friends, on his side, be slain by less-than-respectable knights, and being unable to do anything to save them. Not to mention, Jack himself was now a dragon, and there were only five in the world now. How could he be expected to be responsible for their being slain?

Absolutely not.

"You may not see eye to eye with me on this, Wight, but I have a very solid view on dragons. I absolutely will not allow the guild to be stained with dragon blood. This conversation is over. If you have more to say, I don't want to hear it. Have a good day, deputy. Get out."

Wight gave a deep frown, and stood still for a moment. Then he turned and left, slamming the door behind him. Jack could only think: he'll get over it. He removed his helm again and rested his head on the tabletop, closing his eyes. He sat there for a good while, just thinking, and focusing on the distant conversation beneath him to try and relax.

His relaxation was cut short when suddenly, a sharp pain struck his chest. Jack cried out and clutched his chest. The pain didn't dull or fade; it persisted. After a few moments, if finally faded away, but then once it was nearly gone, a bubbling pain overtook his head, like one of the worst headaches he had ever received. Jack imagined it as being equivalent to being struck on the head with a blunt axe over and over and over again.

Jack fell from his chair to the floor, crying out and holding his head. He could feel in his chest that something closely connected to him was departing. He was new to being a dragon, but knew exactly what this intense feeling was.

It was the pain of a dragon, his brother, being slain. And he knew then that Kelvin was dead at the hands of his father. Or man who should have been his father.

Jack lay on the floor, writhing in pain, until there was a knock at the door followed by a concerned voice. Jack couldn't move or speak, he could only cry in pain. Then the door opened, and Wight stepped back into sight.

His eyes widened with shock. He rushed over to Jack and lifted him into his arms, gazing upon the young face of his chief which he had never seen. "What's wrong with you?" he cried.

"The dragon is slain," Jack managed to say to him, before his vision began to fade. He felt Wight lift him up, and then everything went black.

A/N: A few years ago I watched a video about the game ending, and saw a comment that someone had theorized Jack had taken Ridley's place as the vessel at the end of the nonhuman path, since his voice is echoing just like Ridley's had been. I remembered this tonight and though it would make an interesting fanfiction. And so the journey begins! :)