Dragon's Legend

by Randomist

Hello, it's another LOD fanfiction, eh? If you want to find out what happens to the Dragoons, read this. Be warned, the body count is rather high, especially since the Divine Dragon is frequently used as a spirit and a character.

So it begins, my first Legend of Dragoon Fanfic.  Time jumps around a bit here, so as to make compensations.  The main character shall be Cyrus, who I made up.  Oh, the Dragoons don't die in this chapter, and I don't think they need to die, but then again… I'd appreciate any comments made, just so long as they're not idiotic and give me an idea.  Hmm, I think that about takes care of things.  Revivals are possible in this story, but not until later, but I'd like to know if anyone wants them.  Oh yeah, and I don't own anything in particular, at least in the game.  I do however own my plot and characters.  If you want to use them or something, just ask, you'll probably be allowed.  One more thing you might want to know beforehand, this is extremely long: 34 pages Times New Roman, single-spaced, 12 font.  Be prepared for a lot of information crammed into every second, or at least every minute.

Cyrus: "Hey, what's going to happen to me?"

Well, you're going to grow up a bit, and towards the end, you'll go completely berserk and summon a Devil to kill just about everything.  Oh yeah, a note on my definition of berserk.  To me, if you go berserk, you loose track of everything else but one thing, your mind stops thinking and you live only in the moment.  The eyes dilate so you can see details more than usual.

Cyrus: "Umm, I don't like the sound of this…"

Of course not, this story ends with you being ten or twelve.

Cyrus: "Oh."

The Dragoons floated over the explosion that the Moon had created.  Dart was saddened by the loss of Rose and his father, as was everyone else.  They'd all looked up to Rose in one way or another.  The full impact of what had happened dawned upon them, many lives had been lost for their campaign, but at least now there was a future for everyone.  The Dragoons landed and went back to their usual forms.

Dart: "Is everyone alright?"

Albert: "I am unharmed."

Kongol: "Kongol is fine, strange thing not harm."

Meru: "Yeah, I can't believe that he was once a wingly!  Oh, and I'm totally okay."

Haschel: "I may be old, but an idiot like him couldn't hurt me."

Shana: "I'm alright, thanks to you all."

Miranda: "I'm glad nobody's hurt, now I don't have to heal any of you."

Meru: "(Pouts) Miranda, that's mean!"

Miranda: "Your point is what?"

Dart: "Okay, that's enough.  Lets just head home."

Albert: "Actually, I have a question about that, where exactly are we in relation to home?"

Dart: "Uhh, (Scratches back of head), that's a good question."

Haschel: "Oh boy."

Kongol: "We not flying away from here?"

Albert: "That is a good idea, however, we're short on the energy necessary to transform."

Kongol: "Why we not just kill monsters over there until energy filled?"

Dart: "Kongol, that's brilliant!"

Kongol: "Actually, it simple logic."

Dart: "That too."  After beating on some monsters for a while, the Dragoons transformed and flew upwards until they could see were they were.

Meru: "Look!  There's Fletz!"

Dart: "Okay, lets go there, and then I guess we'll head our separate ways."  Using their spirit energy, they flew to the Twin Castle.  They were greeted with cheers as they descended.  Everyone knew of their exploits, (How do you miss an explosion like that?), and were quite anxious to know what exactly had happened.  After everyone had quieted down, Dart told most of the story, with a few interjections by everyone every so often.  Even king Zior and his daughters, (along with most of the guards) had come down from the palace to hear.  When Dart finished, there were applause and tears, and even a bit of laughter.

Dart: "That about wraps it up.  Now I guess we'll have to make our futures from here on in."

Zior: "So what do you intend to do?"

Meru: "I'm going back to my forest for a while!  Maybe with a little persuasion winglies and humans will get along better in the future."

Albert: "You plan on being a diplomat?  If you need any help, just ask me.  Anyway, on my behalf, I think I'll be going back to Bale, but I would to get to know you better, Emile.  That is, if you will allow me to."

Emile: "Spending time around you would make me the happiest person alive."

Zior: "I agree as well, I truly see a bright future for both our countries."

Haschel: "I think I'll head back to Rouge, I'm getting too old for this traveling thing."

Kongol: "Kongol go too, maybe get stronger."

Miranda: "If anybody needs me, I'll be in Deningrad."

Shana: "I'd like to return to Seles, Dart, do you mind accompanying me?"

Dart: "Of course.  I was planning to go in that direction too."

Haschel: "Go on Dart, you know that you made this journey entirely to save her!"

Dart: "Haschel...(warning tone)"

Albert: "Dart, it isn't good to deny the truth."

Dart: "Albert, not you too!"

Shana: "Dart, you went all the way to the moon, just to save me?  Wow."

Dart: "Umm, (Blushing and rubbing the back of his head)."

Haschel: "Three cheers for the happy couple!"  Everyone went his or her separate ways, and the ending movie played out.  Now here comes the part where I take control of the plot.  After a few years, the spirits stopped shining in their owners' hands.  It was collectively decided that to prevent the spirits from being misused, they were to be placed in specific places designed to test the person who wanted it.  Also, with the help of the spirit itself, a cave with a maze and challenges based upon the element were created to deter anyone who wanted to steal it.  In short, they made it so that no spirit could be used by anyone except its true wielder. 

  Haschel, being himself, held a tournament to determine if anyone had the capacity for using it at that time.  The person who won was actually not able to use it at all.  Every person who was there was tested, but none reacted.  Finally Haschel gave up and did what everyone else was doing.  Three years after the second Dragon campaign, Meru's efforts paid off and some winglies left the forest.  Another two years made the existence of winglies become accepted by most humans.  Even so, winglies preferred their secluded settlements to living directly with humans.  There were also a few winglies who found love in humans, but there were only a few.  Let us zoom in upon one wingly family, a child only recently born.  Let us give the date as being ten years after the second Dragon Campaign.

Father: "Do you think it'll be best for our child, here in the forest?  He won't really ever know the outside, and he'll never truly be used to humans."

Mother: "I don't know, is that so important?"

Father: "I think so, winglies and humans are meeting more and more these days, so he would be at a disadvantage."

Mother: "Perhaps, but I don't think life in one of those huge human cities would be good for him."

Father: "That I agree with.  Maybe we should settle down in a small village?"

Mother: "I actually know a place.  I've heard of a nice, secluded village.  I believe its name was Seles.  I also remember that two Dragoons live there some of the time, so the place is very tolerant of winglies."

Father: "Excellent!  It sounds absolutely perfect.  I think we should go on foot to truly experience everything ourselves."

Mother: "Are you sure about that?  There are still those who would harm us."

Father: "Don't worry, if they do attack, we'll just fly away."

Mother: "Okay then, let the travels begin!  First lets get packed up, though."  There were mixed emotions regarding their decision to leave.  However, nothing would deter them from the path they had chosen.  From the wingly forest, they headed to Deningrad.  They decided to stay there for a while, until they understood human culture to an extent.  Their son was a year old when they left the forest, and two when they left Deningrad.  They went at a leisurely pace, but still got where they were going.  At Furni, they got a ride from a metal ship similar to the Queen Fury, mainly because the father saved the captain's life.  The captain was unstoppable at sea, but not so good on land.  They met in the forest, and a ton of monsters forced them against a cliff.  The captain took a step back, readying himself to attack, but he'd stepped too far and fell off the cliff.  The father, being a kind man in heart and deed, jumped from the cliff himself, caught the captain in mid-air, activated his wings, and flew them both to safety.  In the meantime, his wife had taken to the sky, and was holding her son in one arm, and blasting the remaining monsters with fireballs using the other.  Once the father and captain had landed, both took out their weapons and decimated the monsters that the mother hadn't gotten.

Captain: "Thank you.  If there's any way I can repay you, just ask.  I'm Captain Sparrow, by the way."

Father: "Isn't a sparrow a bird?  Anyway, I'm Onaru and this is my wife Inima.  This is our son Cyrus.  We're looking to travel to Seles."

Sparrow: "Aren't you all winglies?  Why would you want to go to a human village like that?"

Inima: "Both my husband and I feel that since winglies and humans are getting closer and closer together, our son should grow up knowing your ways, and not be trapped in a life of confinement.  He should know both worlds."

Sparrow "Aye, I want my kid to know the world as well.  That's why I take him sailing on my ship most of the time.  Hey, why don't you three sail with us for a while?  My kid's probably not too much older than yours, and they could be friends.  That way your child could see the world, learn about human culture, and you could have a place to live."

Onaru: "I like it, what about you?"

Inima: "I don't mind, I think that would be a good idea."  So they got a ride, and stayed on the ship working.  Both parents were happy, they enjoyed the jobs given, and Cyrus became stronger and knowledgeable on humans over time.  At five, he could wield a sword, daggers, bow and arrows, and just about anything else, to an extent.  His preferred weapon was a sword, and he liked swords that were a bit bigger than necessary, not a gigantic blade, but if his size recommended a three foot sword, he'd get a three and a half or a four foot sword.  Of course, he rarely used the weapons, and was only a beginner when it came to skill, but he could defend himself if necessary. 

  Around this time, his parents decided that a life settled down might be better, so they decided to go to Seles.  Captain Sparrow bid them farewell, and they promised to visit whenever they could.  Sparrow sulked a bit saying that would probably be once a year, but Onaru laughed and reminded him that they were winglies, with the ability to teleport.  They all laughed and the visit was planned for a month in advance, to allow them to settle in their new home.  At Seles, the family found a house rather easily, and was accepted into the village society without any trouble.  After about a week, Cyrus and his family got to meet the fabled Divine Dragoon, and his wife, the moonchild, Dart and Shana.  Everyone was very happy indeed.  Inima and Onaru were pleased with how things had turned out. 

  The one, tiny problem was that Cyrus was rather distant from everyone except his parents and those that they knew.  His parents tried to get him to communicate with other children, but to no avail.  It was a bright day in Seles.

Onaru: "Okay son, I believe it's time for you to deal with your heritage.  You're a full-blooded wingly, and you should be able to fly and use magic.  It's time I taught you how.  Go and get some water from the well, I think you're going to need it."

Cyrus: "Okay daddy."  He went to the well, and there he bumped into someone.

????: "Ahh!  Awww, you made me drop my water!"

Cyrus: "Oh no, I'm sorry!  Hmm, here, I'll get you another bucket of water."  He ran to the well and set the bucket, let it down, pulled it up and hefted it to the person.

Cyrus: "Ugh, here's your bucket, where do you need it?"

????: "Umm, I'll take it."

Cyrus: "Are you sure?  It's heavier than your earlier one."

????: "I'll be fine."

Cyrus: "Okay..." he was holding it by the handle and she, (he could tell because of her hair and just a sense), grabbed it at the actual bucket.  He released most of the weight, and she almost collapsed.  He then lifted it from her, smiling a bit.

Cyrus: "Here, I'll carry it for you."

????: "Sigh, fine.  What's your name then?"

Cyrus: "I'm Cyrus, what's your name?"

Kira: "My name is Kira.  Nice to meet you."

Cyrus: "Nice to meet you too.  Where to with the bucket?"

Kira: "My house, over there.  You know, I've never seen you before..."

Cyrus: "I just moved here."

Kira: "Ooo!  We never get anyone new around here!  Where from?"

Cyrus: "Uhh, my family's been traveling around since I was born.  I honestly don't remember exactly where I was born.  I do remember that we were last on a boat, in fact, we lived there for three years according to my parents."

Kira: "Cool!  So, why were you at the well?"

Cyrus: "My dad said to get water, we're practicing magic today, and he said I'd need it."

Kira: "You need help using items?"

Cyrus: "No, he said we're winglies, and that we can do magic.  I'm not sure what a wingly is, but apparently I'm one."

Kira: "Hold on, I think my daddy told me that winglies are people with energy wings."

Cyrus: "Well, my parents have wings, I don't know about me, though."

Kira: "You're practicing magic though, and I heard that only winglies, Dragoons, and some monsters can use magic."

Cyrus: "Well, I haven't actually used magic yet, I'm going to learn how."

Kira: "Can I come watch?"

Cyrus: "Uhh, I'm not sure..."

Onaru: "Cyrus!  What's taking so long?"

Cyrus: "Okay, you can watch, but only if you tell my dad why I have no water."

Kira: "Is that usually a bad thing?"

Cyrus: "Well, I don't like to disappoint him, but dad usually doesn't mind and laughs it off, but I'd like to have a reason, if you don't mind."

Kira: "Sure, why not?  I've never seen magic before."  Cyrus and Kira walked in.

Inima: "Oh, who's this?"

Kira: "Cyrus bumped into me at the well and made me drop my water, but was really nice and got more for me, even more than I could hold!"

Onaru: "Cyrus, that was very nice of you, I'm glad."

Inima: "I'm glad you've made a new friend, son."

Cyrus: "Friend?  (Turns to Kira), are we friends?"

Kira: "Well yeah, I suppose.  You're funny and I don't mind being around you, so I suppose that makes us friends."

Cyrus: "Oh, so that's a friend, I thought friends were people you meet with your family."

Kira: "Sometimes, but it's usually people that you like, people you'd trust."

Cyrus: "Oh, now I understand!"

Onaru: "Well, I suppose that means we'll have to have the magic lessons tomorrow."

Kira: "Oh, but I really want to see them now that Cyrus told me about them."

Onaru: "Are you sure, some of it's kinda boring..."

Kira: "I'm sure it'll be interesting."

Onaru: "Okay then, I'll try to make the boring parts as short as I can.   (They leave and go to a barn nearby) Here goes.  Using magic isn't a trick, it's an art.  Through the travels we made when you were born, Cyrus, we've found many human things that are actually magic, and not just tradition, as they believed.  One such thing is the true astronomy that is practiced in Tiberoa.  Humans can use magic, even though it was told that they couldn't. 

  I've tested my own magic, and found that instead of being some unknown thing that nobody can understand, it's actually using a type of character I call a rune to manipulate energies into doing what you need them to.  Each person has a rune; it's a reflection of yourself.  Most winglies form them from birth, changing the rune itself when they feel like it.  The runes reach out to other runes, and can be used to draw a spell from memory, sometimes even making it up on your own.  Also, there are other runes in the world, usually they are connected with elements, or events."

Cyrus: "Sorry to interrupt, but there's a rune connected to fire?"

Onaru: "Yes there is."

Cyrus: "How would you write it?"

Onaru: "As with all runes, you've gotta focus yourself into what you're writing.  For instance, if you think about fire as a whole, a rune should come to you.  The more truthful you are about fire, the better your control will be, and the stronger your spell will be."

Cyrus: "Hmm…" after a moment, he gets up, looking inspired.  He finds some sand and writes a strange squiggle in it.  Onaru looks over Cyrus' shoulder, and when he's finished his eyebrows rise.

Onaru: "Hmm, nice job Cyrus.  That's actually a rather powerful fire rune.  One more thing about these runes, the more you know makes the spell stronger, so that means that the more you know about yourself, the stronger your own rune becomes."

Kira: "Grr, I just can't get one!"

Onaru: "Well Kira, maybe more focus would help?"

Cyrus: "Hmm, what do you know best?"

Kira: "I know the layout of this town like the back of my hand..."

Cyrus: "I don't know if you can make a rune based on directions... Wait, focus on the layout you know, picture every detail in your head.  Got that so far?  Okay, now just try and make all of that one thing."  Kira's concentration showed on her face, but she finally wrote down a rune.

Onaru: "Very good, both of you!  Now, you may be wondering why there's no effect so far.  That's because the most important thing to using magic runes is to pour your energy into them.  Become part of the rune and let it become a part of you.  If you do that, your runes should make their effects known.  Kira, you try first."  Onaru was doing this, hoping that Cyrus would try and teach her, because in teaching someone else, you sometimes explain it to yourself.  Kira tried a few times, then pouted and looked at Cyrus.  He said to try and pour herself into it, maybe that might work.  She did and a 3D map of Seles appeared, with tiny dots with names over them representing people.  She sat back, tired.

Kira: "I did it!  Thanks Cyrus and Mr. Cyrus' dad!"

Onaru: "Heh, I haven't quite gotten used to the whole title of 'dad' so just call me Onaru."

Kira: "Okay Mr. Onaru!"

Onaru: "Sigh, better.  Cyrus, lets see what you can do."  Cyrus gulped and looked at the fire rune before him, and was comforted by the heat within it, the power of destruction and comfort.  Raising his hand directly in front of him, he traced the rune in the air.  The feeling he'd had before, as if there was a fire within him that would give him some strength, increased exponentially until he could bare it no longer.  It moved to the forefront of his consciousness and he settled into a stance.  His eyes seemed to change as he looked around quickly.  Seeing that Onaru had set up targets for him to unleash spells upon, he charged the nearest one.  He began an intricate and deadly addition upon it, moving too fast for any counter, and for the final strike, lit his hands on fire, hit the dummy with a forceful enough uppercut to rip it from its bonds, and then a massive punch complete with an explosion when it came within range.  Almost needless to say, all that remained was ash.

Onaru: "Whoa son, I didn't know you'd been practicing that addition, but we're aiming for spells, not attacks."

Cyrus: "Ugh, what hit me?"

Onaru: "Hmm?"

Cyrus: "Dad!  When I cast that spell a fire person took control and did that, not me!  I still could see what was going on, though."

Onaru: "Hmm?  I don't understand."

Cyrus: "I cast the spell, and something took control of me."

Onaru: "I've never heard of something like that before."

Cyrus: "Then I failed at using magic?"

Onaru: "No, lets try another rune, why not lightning?"

Cyrus: "I'll try."

Onaru: "That's the spirit!"

Kira: "Cyrus, don't worry too much, you're good at this."

Cyrus: "You managed to cast a spell, I didn't.  Are you so sure about who's good?" Nevertheless, he thought for a moment and came up with a lightning rune, which Onaru said was a strong one.

Kira: "Hey, if nothing else, you're great at runes."

Cyrus: "That wasn't actually that comforting, but I'm fine anyway."  He traced the rune in the air, but it still had no magic effect, instead making him do a ton of punches and kicks, ending in him yelling out "Omni Sweep!" and annihilating the dummy.

Onaru: "I know I've heard of that technique."

Kira: "That's the main addition of the Thunder Dragoon!"

Onaru: "I knew I'd heard it somewhere before.  Cyrus, are you back?"

Cyrus: "Owwie.  Yes, I'm back."

Onaru: "I think I understand what's going on with you.  Your magic isn't like mine or most other people; it seems to be centered closer to your body.  Now, you mentioned upon using the fire rune that there was a fire inside you that took control.  Was it one fire, completely one thing, or was it composed of many smaller ones?"

Cyrus: "Hmm… I think it was many made into one."

Onaru: "I think I understand a bit.  Try it again, but this time look for one thing, select it, aim it, and use it." Cyrus traced the fire rune in the air again, and in his mind he asked for something long-range, like normal magic.  All the flames died away except one.  The flame that he'd used before was always there, now a part of his memories, giving him the capacity to use it even without casting a spell.  The flame he chose showed him what he was going to do, he liked it and accepted it, aimed at another target, and let the attack fly.  The attack lit his hand on fire.  He swung it in a circle in front of him, and when the timing was right, pulled back and punched the center, making several lines of fire create a spiral.  This shot forth and burnt a hole through the center of the dummy, aptly proving its name to be 'flame spire'.  Onaru and Kira applauded.

Onaru: "I think I understand fully now.  Just to make sure, take this sword and use another rune." 

  Cyrus took the sword and after a bit of thought traced a rune for the void in the air.  He tried his best to select and control what he was doing, but there was an overly strong spirit in there and it was all he could do to aim the attack at a dummy instead of the town.  Outside his mind, a transparent copy of the Divine Dragoon armor encased his body and the canon pointed at a target.  After a moment of charging, he roared out in Dart's voice, "Divine Dragon Canon!"  The insanely powerful attack incinerated the target, along with the wall behind it.  The armor gone, Cyrus slumped to the floor and nearly passed out.  Kira rushed to his side while his father cast a healing spell on him.

Cyrus: "Oww.  What was that?"

Kira: "That was one of the strongest Dragoon attacks you dummy!  You could have destroyed everything!" Cyrus checked where he'd fired.

Cyrus: "It didn't go past the wall.  I managed to hold off that spirit.  I think it was the Divine Dragon itself."

Onaru: "Indeed it was, you couldn't project the attack as a dragon, so it changed you to a dragon knight."

Cyrus: "Am I a Dragoon then?"

Onaru: "No, but you can use their attacks since the Dragons have themselves passed on.  I get what your magic is, you're connected to the spirit realm, and your magic is close to your body, so what you do is call upon techniques from things that are now gone.  I bet you can let them take control and do the fighting themselves, right?"

Cyrus: "What does that mean?"

Dart: "I couldn't help but overhear.  It means that you are as close to being the ultimate warrior as possible.  Techniques people have been working on for their entire lives, you have access to them.  You can fight at any level."

Cyrus: "Yes, but I still can't fly, or use magic like the rest of people."

Dart: "Kid, most people can't fly or use magic at all, consider yourself lucky."

Cyrus: "Hmm, yes, yes you're right!  I am definitely lucky, I doubt many others get the chance to talk with every philosopher in history and discuss their views on the world with them."

Onaru: "That's the spirit!"

Kira: "Cyrus, now I'm jealous, you get all the cool magic and all I can do is make a map."

Cyrus: "Try the fire rune I made." She does and almost burns the place down.

Onaru: "I'm glad I chose an abandoned barn for training purposes."

Cyrus: "See Kira, your magic is as interesting, if not more than mine!"

Kira: "I like your kind too, it means you'll never ever loose anyone close to you."

Cyrus: "Hey, you're right, 'cause if they die, I can just call them and talk."

Dart: "Actually I'm a bit curious, how is it in death?  I've been to Mayfil, but you never really know..."

Cyrus: "Hey, I haven't called anybody more than a few people.  Umm, not to be rude, but who are you?"

Kira: "(Slaps forehead) Haven't you seen pictures of the Dragoons?"

Cyrus: "I know about the jade one, because when we went to Bale on the ship we lived on for a bit, my friend told me he was the king of Serdio."

Dart: "That's my friend, king Albert."

Cyrus: "Hmm, hold on, you've got a fire personality!  Hey, that spirit I met when I called on the void, the Divine Dragon, it was connected to you...  You're the Divine Dragoon, Dart!"

Dart: "Very good logic, and nice to meet you.  I think you're going to need some training on that power of yours.  You may be able to use people's abilities, but you still need a style of your own.  I offer you my services in training with a sword."

Cyrus: "Learning to sword fight from a Dragoon?  Wow, can I dad?"

Onaru: "Whoa, things are moving a bit too quickly for me, but okay."

Cyrus: "Wahoo!" Kira blasts him with water.  She smirks at him.

Kira: "You forgot about me, didn't you?  I can use magic too, and I know how to fight a bit."

Cyrus: "With what?"

Kira: "I fight with most weapons, I'm not choosy, unlike you who absolutely needs to use a sword."

Cyrus: "I can use my fair share of weapons too!"

Dart: "The only problem with that is that I don't know anything about teaching people how to use anything but the sword."

Onaru: "Oh yes, and Kira, if you wish to train with Dart, I'd recommend you speak with your parents."

Kira: "Okay, I will, but would you let me, Mr. Dart?"

Dart: "Uhh, just Dart, I'm not used to the whole 'mister' thing."

Kira: "Neither is Mr. Onaru!"

Cyrus: "Kira, I don't think anybody likes that."

Kira: "(Pouts)"

Cyrus: "Umm, you don't have to be sad, just don't do it too much, you know?"

Kira: "Okay."

Dart: "Anyway, as you know, I'm Dart, and you're probably Cyrus' dad, Onaru.  Not often that you see a family of winglies in this neck of the woods."

Onaru: "Yeah, I suppose most of us are still clustered near or in our villages."

Dart: "So, what's your reason for travel?"

Onaru: "We figured that it would be best for Cyrus to know of the human world from a direct point of view, since it is the age of humans after all.  It's in his best interests to see the world as a whole."

Dart: "I agree with you, I want my girl to see the world in a few years, if she wants.  I'm not going to force her, but you know how we parents have our true authority."

Onaru: "(smiling) From persuasion?"

Dart: "Yep.  (Both laugh)  I think it's going to be nice having a wingly for a neighbor."

Onaru: "Having humans as houseguests doesn't sound bad either."

Dart: "Perhaps our wives should meet?"

Onaru: "I think so, it sounds like a good idea." Cyrus and Kira got bored of the conversation really quickly, and decided to play games using their new runes.  This translates into both trying to outdo each other in massive amounts of destruction.  By this time, Dart and Onaru noticed this and told them to go play outside, but not to use their runes unless they had to.  Cyrus asked Kira if they should go ask her dad about the whole training thing.  She agreed and they set off into the unknown.

Onaru: "I think there's a bright future in store for them both."

Dart: "I agree… How was she capable of magic?"

Onaru: "To the degree she did it, I'm not sure.  Using runes other people make is very improbable and rather dangerous, yet she used Cyrus' without any trouble."

Dart: "What's the danger?"

Onaru: "Everyone always puts some of themselves into the rune.  A rune is sort of like an opinion, and the strongest opinions and runes are both completely factual, without any part of you in them.  Even so, if you don't know the subject, no matter how little of yourself you put in, your opinion usually flounders.  However, Cyrus apparently made a rune with none of himself in it, and most of the information, some of which even I didn't know."

Dart: "Ah.  You still didn't answer my question."

Onaru: "Sorry, I kinda like to go off on tangents.  Anybody can use a rune; they just have to use their energy while tracing it in the air.  Winglies just happen to have known about it for longer and are a bit better from experience."

Dart: "Oh.  I saw that blast from earlier, what was that."

Onaru: "Cyrus used one of your spells, I believe.  The Divine Dragon Cannon."

Dart: "Didn't you say his magic was close range only?"

Onaru: "No, it just has to start at his body, but from there it can go anywhere."

Dart: "I don't quite see the difference."

Onaru: "Your Divine Cannon, the blast is charged energy, fired from your hand, right?  That starts at your body, but goes forward.  A burn out, for instance, starts directly at the monster, and that's it.  Actually, I do believe he has access to nearly all your Dragoon spells."

Dart: "Really?  Flame Shot, Explosion, Final Burst, the Red-eye Dragon?"

Onaru: "Everything but the Dragon."

Dart: "Astral Drain, Death Dimension, Demons Gate, Dark Dragon?"

Onaru: "Hmm… Astral Drain, and maybe Demons Gate."

Dart: "Grand Stream, Meteor Strike, the Golden Dragon?"

Onaru: "Grand Stream, perhaps Meteor Strike."

Dart: "Wing Blaster, Rose storm, Gaspless, Wind Dragon?"

Onaru: "The first three, and probably the same for the other Dragoons."

Dart: "What about Moonlight, Star Children, Heaven's Gate?"

Onaru: "Probably Moonlight only."

Dart: "Freezing Ring, Rainbow Breath, Diamond Dust?"

Onaru: "Hmm… I don't think any of those."

Dart: "Hah!  There's at least one Dragoon he doesn't have the magic of."

Onaru: "He has all your additions, and probably most of your power."

Dart: "Uhh."

Onaru: "Don't worry, I highly doubt he has that kind of magic power and strength to be able to fight a Dragoon and win, at least, a trained Dragoon.  A Dragon wouldn't be that difficult though."  They began to have a long discussion on Cyrus, the Dragoons, and just about anything along those lines.  Meanwhile, back with Cyrus and Kira, they'd gotten to her house.

Kira: "Mom, Dad!  I'm home!"

Cyrus: "(Holding ears) Could you not yell in my ear, please?"

Kira: "Sorry."  Kira's mom came downstairs and met her daughter in a hug.

Kira's Mom, (Helen): "Where were you, dear?  I was wondering where your usual complaints about having to get the water were.  Oh, and who's this?"

Kira: "Mom, this is my new friend Cyrus, he carried over the water since it was too heavy when he filled it for me, after he'd spilt mine.  I was at his house learning magic."

Helen: "Magic?  (Smiling knowingly) What kind, pulling a bunny out of a hat?"

Kira: "No, Cyrus made up some runes that I can use to blow stuff up, and he can go nuts and use, what was it, 'the spirits of those departed to access their attacks for devastating results'."

Helen: "(Raised eyebrows) Really?"

Kira: "Yup, yup!  C'mon Cyrus, say hi would 'ya!"

Cyrus: "(A bit shy, remember that he's still quite new) Hello.  I'm Cyrus, nice to meet you."

Helen: "Oh, I haven't seen you here before, did your family just move here?"

Cyrus: "Yes.  We lived with our friend Captain Sparrow on his boat for a while, but mom and dad decided to settle down."

Helen: "Oh, why were you living on a boat?"

Kira: "I don't know, but isn't it cool?"

Cyrus: "Umm, as far as I recall finding out, my dad saved the Captain's life while I was still really little, and the Captain offered my parents a place to stay.  They were actually heading here, but decided to see more of the world before they settled in one place."

Helen: "Why ever were they traveling with a small child?"

Cyrus: "Uhh, I think it was, 'so I can see the world and get a better understanding of human culture than the rest of the winglies, and thusly gain an advantage in life'.  I think that's what dad says."

Helen: "Hmm, you're a wingly?"

Cyrus: "Yeah, but I don't think I have wings."

Kira: "Cyrus has strange magic, so he can't fly.  At least not now."

Helen: "Oh, then are you sure you're a wingly?"

Cyrus: "(Looks at the ground)"

Kira: "Mom!  Cyrus is shy, he's never sure of himself and always doubts, he doesn't need your help!"

Helen: "Oh, I'm so sorry dear.  Here, why don't you two come and try some of my fresh cookies, that might cheer you up a bit."

Cyrus: "Cookies?"

Kira: "Yay, you're not all sad anymore!"

Cyrus: "(Stomach grumbles) I'm hungry, that's more important.  Oh, it would be impolite to eat here after I just met you, I'll go home and-."

Helen: "Nonsense, I'll just tell your parents you'll eat here.  I've always wanted to meet a real, live wingly." She takes them to the kitchen and gives them a few warm cookies, then makes a few sandwiches.  She gives them to the two, and then leaves them for a bit.

Cyrus: "Kira, your dad, don't we have to talk with him?"

Kira: "Oh yeah!  Hmm, I don't think he's home, lets eat and then look."

Cyrus: "All right."  They ate their food and Kira's mom came back, she said she'd talked with Cyrus' mother and it was okay of him to stay a while.  He nodded and asked where Kira's dad was.  Helen answered that he and Kira's older sister were at the church helping out.  Cyrus nodded again and asked Kira if she wanted to go see them.  She liked the idea and they headed to the church.  Once there, they saw Kira's dad working on the roof, and Kira's sister was doing some painting.  Cyrus saw Kira about to yell, and put his hand to her mouth.

Cyrus: "Kira, your father's high up and your sister's concentrated, you shouldn't try to scare them."

Kira: "Okay, I guess."  She walked up next to her sister and waited for a pause, and then poked her.

Kira's sister, (Andrea): "Yes, what is it?  Kira?  Oh, hey."

Kira: "Can you get dad?  I dun wanna spook him."

Andrea: "(Raised eyebrow), you don't?  You're actually using logic for once?  Wow, there are miracles in life."

Kira: "Hey!  Besides, it was Cyrus' idea."

Andrea: "Who's Cyrus, your imaginary friend?"

Kira: "No!  He's right here!"

Cyrus: "Umm, hi."

Andrea: "Oh, so you are real.  Thank you for making my sister use her head a bit."

Kira: "Hey!"

Cyrus: "Uh, thank you?"

Andrea: "You're very shy, what's up?"

Kira: "Cyrus is just like that."

Cyrus: "She's right, I'm kind of not used to being around so many people.  I've been to plenty of cities and seen tons of people in them, but it was usually from our ship."

Andrea: "You lived on a ship for a while?  Your parents wanted you to see the world or something?"

Cyrus: "Yes."

Andrea: "So you're shy because you haven't met too many people in your lifetime.  That's okay, no big thing.  Just be as nice as you are and you should be fine.  Oh yeah, if you want to be nice, you'd better be strong mentally and physically, people like to take advantage of nice guys like you."

Cyrus: "Really?  Well, I like being nice, and I guess I'm kinda strong, but what do you mean, 'mentally'?"

Andrea: "Have a strong will.  Know what's right and wrong and base what you do on that, and on what the situation requires."

Cyrus: "Oh, okay."

Kira: "Hey, sister!  I wanna talk with dad!"

Andrea: "Oh boy, just when I was getting used to fresh conversation.  Alright, hold on." She leaves and goes to her father.

Kira: "I hate it when she does that, ignoring me."

Cyrus: "You like attention?"

Kira: "Yeah, I guess."

Cyrus: "Okay, I'm kinda the opposite on that one.  Anyway, your sister's smart.  Captain Sparrow's son was like that, he was smart and tough, but he was funny too."

Kira: "Really, what was his name?"

Cyrus: "We all had nicknames, but his real one was Kenji if my memory serves."

Kira: "What did they call you?"

Cyrus: "Spirit.  Knight, err, Kenji had a feeling about me and just started calling me that.  Hey wait, I'm connected to spirits, so I suppose that he was right about me."

Kira: "What would my nickname be?"

Cyrus: "Umm, I don't know, Kenji was the one with the names… Umm, (Tries to think like Kenji), can I connect to living spirits?  (Tries it and looks at her differently than he usually does), I'd say you're hummingbird.  Way hyper, a bit too much for my tastes.  Huh?  Oh, I managed to get a connection to Kenji, so that was his personality talking, not mine.  What did he call you?"

Kira: "(Raised eyebrow), Hummingbird.  He said I was too hyper for his tastes, whatever that means."

Cyrus: "Well, you are a bit hyper, and I kinda like that name.  Kenji always was good with getting a feel for people from when he met them."

Kira: "Don't call me that, okay?  I kinda don't like that name.  I think I'll make up my own for you too.  Hmm, actually, I'm not too good with names, so I'll just call you Cy."

Cyrus: "Okay, I guess that's part of my name."

Kira's Dad, (Inachus): "Okay Kira, what do you need me for?"

Kira: "Can I train with Dart?"

Inachus: "Dart?  Do you mean the Dragoon?"

Kira: "Yep."

Inachus: "Well, if he says you can…"

Kira: "He already said I could."

Inachus: "Well then, this is a good opportunity for you."

Kira: "Thank you.  See Cyrus, it wasn't that bad."

Cyrus: "I never said it was."

Kira: "Oh yeah, I suppose you didn't."

Andrea: "Hey, Cyrus, keep what I told you in mind, you might need it in the future."

Cyrus: "Okay."

Kira: "Lets go." They headed back to Kira's house.

Inachus: "I'm surprised.  Kira didn't yell loud enough to nearly make me fall, and Dart offered her training."

Andrea: "It was Cyrus who told her not to yell, and I think he may have had something to do with the whole training idea too."

Inachus: "Do you think she'll be okay with the training?"

Andrea: "Kira's a tough little munchkin, she'll be fine."

Inachus: "Yes, but it kind of makes you wonder what sort of ability or power made the great Divine Dragoon decide to train two kids?"

Andrea: "I don't know, but I hope neither decides to become evil.  Especially not Cyrus."

Inachus: "Why him?"

Andrea: "He managed to keep Kira in line a bit, that's more than a lot of people can say.  If he goes bad, Kira will probably end up just as bad without anyone to keep her in line.  Also, I have a feeling that he's got a lot more power than he's letting on."

Inachus: "Wouldn't it be funny if the two of them ended up Dragoons?"

Andrea: "Where'd that come from?"

Inachus: "I don't know, but still."

Andrea: "Yeah.  I think Kira's more towards the ideals of the lightning Dragoon, don't you think?"

Inachus: "I don't know, it may be possible, but what is Cyrus?"

Andrea: "Hmm.  Maybe fire?  Or perhaps wind.  He might be light or darkness, but I don't think he'd be suited to water, earth, lightning, or Divinity."

Inachus: "Water is very calm sometimes, you'd be surprised.  He's also down to earth, and I can sense a strong pride about something deep within him.  As to being the Divine Dragoon, that's possible too."

Andrea: "Possible but not too probable.  Lets just focus on today."  So they did, while Cyrus and Kira headed back to her home.  At Kira's house they parted ways and the rest of the day wasn't too eventful.  The next morning Onaru woke Cyrus up.

Onaru: "Hey, you've got to wake up now."

Cyrus: "Why?"

Onaru: "Dart told me that your session began towards the morning, and you need to prepare.  Find an outfit that you can move in, that you like, but don't mind getting dirty."

Cyrus: "Okay."  He arose and grabbed a gray shirt and some sweatpants.  He ate breakfast and headed to Dart's house with his parents.  Kira and her parents and sister were there too.

Dart: "Okay you two, you're enrolled in my training program, so be prepared to get tougher, quick."

Shana: "Dart, don't be too harsh, they're still young."

Dart: "Really?  First one to annihilate a dummy gets a cookie.  Ready, go!" It was a contest between Cyrus' Flame Spire, and Kira's Burn out.  It came to a tie.  Dart grabbed a cookie, tossed it into the air, cut it in half, and gave it to the two of them.  They munched happily.

Dart: "Young, huh?  They're both very strong for their age, especially with their magic."  After finishing the cookie, Dart told them to start with a couple of laps around the town.  He told them not to waste all their energy.  They got about 3 laps in before deciding to leave it at that.

Dart: "Okay, I'll need to know what weapons you prefer before we begin."

Cyrus: "I like swords, and I like ones that are just a bit too long.  Not more than a foot too big for my size."

Dart: "A mildly oversized blade, huh?  I'll give you this sword for the time being.  Kira?" Cyrus' sword reaches to the start of his ribcage.

Kira: "Hmm, I don't know, let me try my favorite stance with a short sword."  She does, holding it behind her with her hand out in front.  Dart thinks for a moment, and decided that her stance was closer to a spear stance . . .

Dart: "Hmm, you're close to being in spear stance, but I don't have any spears.  Try this weapon." He gives her a double-edged spear, (the sword that has one blade facing up, with another facing down?)  She gives it a spin and says she loves it.  Dart then nods and says they should begin training now.

Dart: "Okay, Cyrus, since you've got billions of attacks and patterns in your head, I want you to access each and every one of them.  Once you've done that, figure out which techniques work best with your own personal strategy, and memorize them.  Maybe you might want to find some stances and styles that you like, and incorporate them into yours."

Cyrus: "Okay, will you help me out?"

Dart: "Call if you've lost control or something, but otherwise I don't think I can help you out much."

Cyrus: "Okay." He goes off to train as Dart told him to.

Dart: "Kira, you're not so lucky.  We're going to have to train together, I'll teach you a style fit for your weapon.  Oh yeah, my daughter might be coming to your training sessions sometimes, and she may spar with you.  I taught her well and she's older than you both, so you'd better be prepared."  From then on they did a warm-up, and got straight to the training segment.  Though Cyrus' job sounds easy, it really wasn't since calling forth each personality took some time and energy, and learning how to use, memorize, and control each technique was extremely difficult.  Kira had a difficult time as well, Dart was a harsh trainer.  After a few hours learning their respective basics,

Dart got them into the harder portion of it, strength training.  He gave them a half hour of working out, and then they went home to rest.  Since they're kids and regain energy quickly, they were out and about in another half hour or so.  Fast-forward to a month after they'd first arrived in Seles.  Cyrus waved goodbye to everyone as his family left town and his parents teleported him and themselves to Fletz, where they and Captain Sparrow had agreed to meet.  Cyrus was impressed by the immense crowds, and wanted to wander around a bit, but his parents told him they couldn't at the moment, because they didn't want to be late.  Upon finding the dock, they met up with Captain Sparrow as he and his crew were unloading some cargo.

Sparrow: "C'mon people, we should've had this done a half hour ago!"

Onaru: "Need a hand?"

Sparrow: "Thanks, we could use... Onaru!  You guys are early!"

Cyrus: "Actually, Captain, we're on time."

Sparrow: "Hey, it's the little spirit!  Looks like you've been working out.  What, had to resort to farming to eat?"

Onaru: "No, but our son's training with the famous Divine Dragoon."

Sparrow: "Dart?  I heard of him from my friend Puler."

Onaru: "Yeah, that's the guy."

Kenji: "(coming from packaging) So, what weapon you wielding now, spirit?"

Cyrus: "Knight!  It's good to see you, and I still use a slightly oversized sword."

Kenji: "Same old, but now you seem tougher, stronger somehow."

Cyrus: "The nickname you gave me was correct, Kenji.  My magic isn't like others', I use spirits and their techniques to attack."

Kenji: "My feelings haven't led me wrong yet."  Everyone began talking about old times and new things, but when Sparrow began talking about money and such, Kenji noticed Cyrus was bored.

Kenji: "C'mon, lets walk around for a bit.  (They wander into town) So, how have you been?  Met anyone?"

Cyrus: "I've been fine, aside from after Dart's practices when I'm exhausted.  I did meet a very nice girl named Kira.  Would you believe that I didn't know what friends were until she told me?  We're really good friends, even though I'm now friends with just about everybody in town.  I think the term is 'best friends'"

Kenji: "Oh? (Smirking)  then what are we?"

Cyrus: "You're like my big brother!"

Kenji: "Awww.  So, you're getting better with your weapon, would you like to spar?  I've beaten everyone on board the ship, and even others outside the ship, I'm pretty good."

Cyrus: "What weapons do you use?"

Kenji: "I use two daggers.  The ones I have aren't top of the line, they were passed down, but I'm still pretty efficient with them."

Cyrus: "That's okay, I use one of Dart's old swords, it's kinda beaten up, but it still works."

Kenji: "Maybe we should both buy new weapons, there's a shop in town."

Cyrus: "Umm, I'm broke."

Kenji: "I have some money, but it may not be enough for both weapons.  Hey, lets go fight some monsters outside!"

Cyrus: "But we're just kids!"

Kenji: "Chicken?"

Cyrus: "Fine, I'll do it, but if we get in trouble, it's all your fault."

Kenji: "Fine."  They couldn't leave immediately due to the guards who said that they shouldn't leave.  Kenji sighed, backed off, and found another exit, Cyrus grumbling the whole time.  Once outside, they found several monsters with ease.  Kenji was at a high enough level to defeat them, but Cyrus found himself having to heal frequently.  Finally he got a bit ticked of nearly being beaten most of the time, and simply summoned forth the Divine Dragon to do the dirty work.  Needless to say, Kenji was shocked to see his 'little brother' go all Divine Dragoon on everything's ass.  By the time Cyrus' spell had worn off, most monsters were hiding, either that or dead.  Kenji's pile of kills was significantly smaller in size than Cyrus'.

Kenji: "You didn't tell me you were the next Divine Dragoon."

Cyrus: "I'm not, remember how I told you about the spirit thing?  Well, the Divine Dragon's included in that, so I can summon it, and it gives me its armor."

Kenji: "Please tell me you have that under control."

Cyrus: "What, me, control a Dragon like that's mind?  Are you kidding?  I just supply the targets and it does the rest."

Kenji: "Remind me not to get near you when you do that."

Cyrus: "I think the Dragon will do that, don't worry.  Hey, why haven't any of these monster disappeared?" As if on cue, they dispersed."

Kenji: "Perhaps they were waiting for the Dragon to go away?"

Cyrus: "Maybe.  Lets go and get our weapons."  Let it now be made clear that for at least a year, no traveler would ever have trouble in the Barrens due to monsters, and that all this was accomplished in a half hour.  Upon re-entry into Fletz, the guards realized they'd left, but merely scolded them and told them to be glad they weren't hurt.  The two went into the weapons shop and had a grand time looking around.  Cyrus was particularly fascinated by everything shiny, but finally found one weapon that just caught his eye and held it.  He found himself comparing everything there to it. 

  This weapon was a katana.  There were runes scattered about on it, and it was just Cyrus' size, or at least, a half-foot larger than his size needed.  The thing had perfect balance for Cyrus, and he liked that the rune for spirit was made into the hand guard.  It had a slight edge to the back, but it seemed more for decoration than frequent usage.  He placed it upon the counter and asked how much.  The guy tried to tell him it was too much, but he didn't care.  The guy gave a price of 2,000 gold. 

  Kenji came up with two daggers that reflected quite well and seemed more like quicksilver than steel.  Runes for the ocean were scattered about the blades, and they had coral hand guards.  There was a circular hand guard at the base of the blade, a smaller blade at the base of the dagger, and a small guard around it too.  Kenji put those on the table.  2,300 gold.  The two counted their money, and Cyrus obviously had more, but they pooled the cash and purchased both. 

  Exiting the shop, they went to the item store to spend what they had left.  Cyrus stuck with mostly healing items, a few purifiers, and one or two attack items, while Kenji stuck with mainly attack and a few healing.  Leaving that, they walked over to the healing place in town to check it out.  Inside, there were a lot of sick people, some of them really hurt.  A few were bleeding, and said newer monsters with twice the usual strength had attacked them.  Cyrus called upon what little healing magic he had, but all he could do was stop the blood flow, and ease some coughs.  Healing wasn't exactly his specialty; he had only enough so that if seriously injured, he could heal well enough to go where it was possible to attain real care.  Those he healed thanked him, but he left feeling a bit dismal.

Kenji: "You did what you could, and hey, they were in a healing place, you know."

Cyrus: "I just wish I was better at it."

Kenji: "Well, you win some, you loose some, no big thing."

Cyrus: "Sigh, I wish I had your carefree attitude."

Kenji: "What, and make me miss out on teasing you?  C'mon!"  Both laughed a bit and headed back.  Once there, their parents greeted them, and invited them in for dinner.  After eating, it was time to go.  Cyrus and his family waved and teleported away, promising to meet in another month, at Donau this time.  The next month was relatively normal, and Kira and Cyrus both got even stronger.  Before leaving, though, it was Cyrus' birthday to take care of. 

  That day, Cyrus awoke, and had actually forgotten about it mostly, since he was so used to training, and now learning.  He got up that morning, expecting a regular day.  Then he remembered that tomorrow they'd be leaving to see Kenji and Captain Sparrow.  He left after eating a quick breakfast, still not knowing since his mother had quizzed him slightly to see if he remembered.  He went over to Dart's house to talk with his mentor.  Dart opened the door and was slightly surprised to see Cyrus.

Dart: "Cyrus, what are you doing here?"

Cyrus: "We're not supposed to train?"

Dart: "Hmm, (He probably forgot about his birthday, now that you mention it, when's mine?  I'll ask Shana later.  Kira and the others are organizing a surprise party, so I'd better play along and buy them some time) Yeah, I completely forgot.  Give me a minute." Dart got dressed rapidly, and they headed off to train.

Dart: "Hmm, lets try something different.  Kira has something to do, so she won't be here today.  Lets go outside Seles for a while, we're going to a prairie nearby, I think training around monsters will help you."  They went to the prairie, and there Cyrus began accessing his powers.  Dart tried helping Cyrus as much as he could, and also by giving him targets, but since he had no such powers, had no such luck.  Finally Cyrus was tired and couldn't summon another personality.

Dart: "Tired?  To something else then, instead of your usual workout, how about this: kill twenty monsters, you have five minutes, go!" Cyrus rushed and managed to make it on time.

Dart: "Okay, but a bit sloppy.  You should focus less on finding them and then slashing madly to make the time, but in making them come to you, and then destroying them so as to do the most damage with the least amount of strikes."

Cyrus: "Okay."  At this time, Dart's daughter walked to them.

Dart's daughter (Lenne): "Aha!  I found you.  Why are you here instead of helping mom?"

Dart: "Gotta train Cyrus."

Lenne: "But isn't it…?"

Dart: "Yeah, but he still wants to train, dedicated isn't he?"

Lenne: "(Raised eyebrow) A eight year old who trains this much?  Now I've seen everything."

Cyrus: "Have you been to Fletz?"

Lenne: "Yeah, once or twice, why?"
Cyrus: "How about Mayfil?"

Lenne: "That monster infested place?  I'm not at a high enough level."

Cyrus: "Then you haven't seen everything."

Lenne: "Ugh, it was a figure of speech."

Cyrus: "Really?"

Lenne: "Sigh, all you fighters are alike, strong and smart on battle, but no sense whatsoever outside the battlefield."

Cyrus: "Oh yeah?  (Can I summon another personality?  Yes, great!)"

Lenne: "You probably couldn't even understand half the things I know."

Cyrus: "(Summons a philosopher/poet) My dear, you probably wouldn't understand half the things this boy knows.  I doubt that what you claim is true."

Lenne: "Talking about yourself in third person?  Have you lost it?"

Cyrus: "No, this child is still in possession of all his sanity, however he has summoned my spirit to do the talking."

Lenne: "Whatever, crazy little training addict.  You probably aren't even that strong."

Cyrus: "(Smirks and shakes head) Dear lady, thou hath just called upon the fury of the Divine Dragon itself by challenging its vassal, so be prepared." Cyrus continues smirking, until he suddenly changes into an enraged face.  His canines seem longer, and the ghostly Divine Dragoon armor encases him.

Dart: "Cyrus, try to maintain some control, I don't want you to hurt my daughter."

Cyrus: "(Changes to normal face, struggling) I think… I can…hold it off…a bit…. Miss…be careful…. I'm not myself." With that, he seemed to go berserk and charged her, attempting to tackle her to the ground.

Lenne: "I have no weapon!"  The Divine Dragon hesitates, Cyrus' honor is stronger than his will sometimes, so it shoves a hand into the earth, pulls out a chunk of steel and asks.

Cyrus: "(Rasping and growling) WHAT WEAPON DO YOU WANT?  BLASTED HONOR."

Lenne: "Uhh…"

Cyrus: "DON'T BOTHER, I CAN ALREADY SEE." He shifts the steel around until it forms a sword that's about normal sized, but with a really long handle, maybe twice the size of a broadsword's.  He flings it and it impales at her feet.  She takes it out, twirls it, and settles into a half spear, half sword stance that leaves Dart with a questioning look on his face.

Lenne: "I heard about this, it's a naginata.  I always felt that I needed a longer handle."

Dart: "That's nice, but DODGE!"  She looked around, saw Cyrus charging, and jumped into the air.  Bad move, he thwacked her by stopping upside down, propelling upwards, and spinning forward.  She landed on her butt.

Lenne: "Oww that hurt!"

Cyrus: "HAHAHA!  IS THAT THE BEST YOU'VE GOT?"

Lenne: "Okay, you die now!"  She charged at him, but even though the armor was large and heavy, Cyrus dodged with ease.  Then, raising his blade, he charged and made repeated frontal strokes in quick rapidity, (think Rose's Dragoon addition), but didn't connect since he wasn't trying to.  Lenne kept attacking, but Cyrus always was a bit out of her reach, taunting her, playing with her attacks.  He didn't even need to block. 

  Lenne was getting more and more frustrated, and attacking wildly now.  Cyrus just kept up the smirk.  He'd goaded the Divine Dragon into knowing that she was vastly weaker than it, but perhaps toying with her might be more fun.  Indeed it was, since the Dragon was laughing the whole time, evilly of course, but laughing nonetheless. 

  Lenne kept on striking, hoping that the range of her naginata might give her a hit, but Cyrus was always stayed either in front of her, to her sides, or even above her, but always within striking distance, always making her feel that if she'd push a little harder, she might just hit him.  Dart marveled at Cyrus' ability to use the spirit's powers, and how fast he was despite the armor.  Cyrus just was happy he and the Dragon now had a working agreement; he called upon it when he needed something destroyed, gave guidelines on how it should be destroyed, and let the Dragon do the rest.  The Divine Dragon was just happy to have more targets in front of it. 

  Unfortunately, Cyrus took a bit too long in his head, and Lenne seemed about to hit him.  The Divine Dragon Ball attack came out, and one shot was fired, knocking her feet from under her.  Cyrus flew quite out of reach.  Lenne got up slowly, seeming ready to give up.  The Dragon looked at her, concerned because this game was very fun.  Lenne looked up at the Dragon, and it could literally feel the insanity and hatred radiating off of her.  Cyrus looked at Dart with a raised eyebrow.  He mouthed, "Battle madness" and pointed to Lenne again.  The Dragon settled them into a stance, and prepared. 

  Lenne seemed to be taking the berserk part very literally, and her eyes dilated until they were totally white.  She raised the naginata very slowly.  The Dragon could feel an increase in the output of her energy and power, so it took up a more defensive stance.  They stood that way for a bit, the wind swirling around them.  From a tree, the last drop of dew fell.  At the moment it hit the ground, seemingly with all the noise of an earthquake, the two charged.  Steel clashed with steel, and both were thrown back. 

  The Dragon had gotten a feel for her strength, and it knew that flying around like they'd been doing before wasn't going to happen.  It poured some 30% power into their attacks, and charged again, to be met with equal force.  It shifted strength on the fly to 40%, but that was matched.  The two clashed blades with an almost insane rapidity.  The Dragon, for kicks, pumped 90% strength into all their attacks.  Now it had an advantage in strength and speed, but actually not too much. 

  The Dragon was immensely surprised, but continued the battle as before.  The two fought with such speed that it seemed as though their blades had disappeared.  Flying back, they jumped forward into another set of attacks.  The two were moving very fast as the Divine Dragon was in an adrenalin rush, putting 100% into the battle.  It was having the time of its life until an immense spasm of pain wracked Cyrus' wings and back. 

  The Dragon had held off everything else with its adrenalin, but that one had gotten through.  Cursing to itself mildly, (though enough to make Cyrus start jotting down some mental notes), it decided to finish the battle before it exhausted its host's body and the berserker Lenne killed him. 

  The Dragon was all about the 'kill or be killed' mentality, but Cyrus pleaded for it not to kill.  It sighed mentally, and jumped back quite a distance.  Lenne had covered half of it by the time it had lifted its left hand.  Right before Lenne slashed onto Cyrus, the Canon's power was unleashed in a small quantity.  This would've had most people passed out for an hour, but Lenne just got back up.  The Divine Dragon used the shot, but Cyrus said it wouldn't affect her at all now. 

  Cyrus stretched while the dust cleared, quickly loosening his muscles.  Lenne ran out and almost beheaded him.  He flew back, up into the air and told the Dragon to begin to give her scratches.  The only way to defeat a berserker under these circumstances was to tire them out utterly.  Either that or make the target go away.  Option two wasn't available. 

  The Dragon charged, using most of its power in its attacks, breaking Lenne's guard or using openings.  By the time Cyrus said he gave it ten minutes before his strength gave out, Lenne seemed to be bleeding from small cuts everywhere on her body.  She stood up, barely.  The Dragon smiled and charged.  She too charged, but her hatred and wrath weren't there as much.  Her guard was broken with ease, leaving her with a slightly deeper cut.  She swayed, but managed to stay standing.  The pupils were beginning to return to her eyes.  She attacked a few times, desperately trying to kill Cyrus, but with her energy, didn't stand a chance.  Finally, her berserk wore off.

Lenne: "Ugh… Die…" She slowly walked towards the two.  Cyrus calmly walked backwards, dodging the weak strikes she posed.

Cyrus: "Can we call a truce?"

Lenne: "What, no more Dragon?"

Cyrus: "Oh, it's still here, but since I used so much mp, I've got more control."

Lenne: "I can't loose."

Cyrus: "This is a sparring match against a Dragoon practically, you're lucky to have gotten this far.  No, not lucky, extremely skilled."

Lenne: "Ugh, flattery will get you nowhere, except for a nice rest.  I'm tired, lets quit."

Cyrus: "Okay." Inside his head, he bowed politely to the Dragon, and it nodded in acceptance.  Its personality retreated to a corner of his mind, and he regained full control, ceasing the existence of the armor.  Suddenly the pain that the Dragon had held at bay hit him and he went to one knee for a moment, and then got back up.  They walked towards Dart.

Dart: "I'm amazed, I've never seen a fight like that in a while.  However, Lenne, remember to keep your temper under control if you know going battle mad is in your capacity.  Cyrus, don't expend so much time, energy, or magic!  Had you used a full-powered Divine Dragon Cannon from the beginning, this would've been over a long time ago."

Cyrus: "Sorry, the Dragon wanted some fun, and underestimated Lenne's battle madness."

Lenne: "I think one cannon might not have killed me."

Cyrus: "No, but it would've knocked you out, those shots I hit you with were at about 10% power in comparison with the actual cannon."

Dart: "Lets head to town, you two need a rest.  I'll go on ahead to get some water."

Cyrus: "Water, wouldn't that make little to no sense?"

Lenne: "See, most warriors lack sense outside the battle."

Cyrus: "I think that they either A) Have a specific reason for that, B) Like doing that for some reason, or C) Use that as cover for the fact that they could've slit your throat a thousand times and solved the problem that way while you were busy talking."

Lenne: "I never thought of it that way.  You do know it's your birthday today, right?"

Cyrus: "It is?  Oh yeah, I forgot."

Lenne: "Any particular reason?"

Cyrus: "I got so caught up in the here and now that I forgot about the future."

Lenne: "Hmm, not too bad in this case."  They walked to town and found two rather large cups filled to the brim with water right outside the gate.  They chugged them with pleasure, then they wiped their mouths.

Lenne: "I'm going on ahead, I'll go see dad."

Cyrus: "Okay, I hope to fight you without the Divine Dragon at some point."

Lenne: "I'll kick your ass from here to Mayfil."

Cyrus: "We'll see then, won't we?"  She smirked and left, laughing to herself.  Cyrus wandered to the well, and found nobody there.

Cyrus: "Odd, no one's here, I don't hear anybody.  Where is everyone? " He heard a bit of laughter from somewhere nearby, so he followed where he thought it came from.  In a circular plaza, he stopped to check his surroundings.

Cyrus: "Is it just me, or did it just get even more silent? " He placed his hand upon his blade, but something in him told him to keep his hand away from it.  He wandered around a bit more, until finally everyone jumped out from wherever, yelling, "Surprise!"  Cyrus had drawn a bit of his blade before he could think, but sheathed it the moment he felt it in his hand.  Everyone was talking really fast, gibbering so he couldn't understand a word.  Finally Onaru quieted them all down.

Onaru: "Cyrus, it's your birthday!  It's time to celebrate."

Cyrus: "(smiling goofily) I completely forgot."

Kira: "How'd you forget your own birthday?"

Cyrus: "Too much training, I got so used to focusing on today that I forgot about any future plans."

Inima: "Then lets show you a better present than you're used to."  It was a nice party, with good foodstuffs, and of course the symbol of all birthdays, cake.  Later towards the evening, Cyrus' birthday party turned into more of a regular party, but he didn't mind.  Summoning the spirit of a master violinist and acquiring said instrument, Cyrus caught everyone's ears with spectacular classic music.  Later on, as it got dark, Cyrus and Kira had a contest of spells, making dozens of beautiful fireworks.  When they finally realized everyone was watching the explosions of light and color, they nodded to each other and unleashed all their fireworks at once, dazzling onlookers.  By now, both were a bit tired, so they gave up on using more spells.  There was no longer any cake, they were tired, and most adults and older kids were staring at the skies and the stars.

Kira: "I don't understand why everyone always looks at the stars at night, and the sky during the day."

Cyrus: "Haven't you ever wanted to fly to the sky, away from everything?  Oh yeah, and parents look at the stars because they think the stars are 'romantic', whatever that is.  I look at them 'cause they're shiny, and since they're so far away, I always wonder what it's like over there."

Kira: "Oh…  They're also good to focus on so your mind can think freely, neh?"

Cyrus: "... That too..." they sat there allowing their minds to float freely.  Cyrus yawns, and then Kira yawns.  The two decided that it was time for sleep.  The next morning, Cyrus got up later than usual, but then got up and got dressed quickly.  He went downstairs, but his parents were still asleep.  Shrugging, he called forth a chef's personality, and since it was a friendly one, he didn't expend much energy.  He told it to cook a good meal that would give energy, and fell asleep again, letting the chef do the work.  He awoke to a gentle prodding in his mind, finding himself in front of a great breakfast.  Hungrily he devoured his serving and then got up to stretch.  After his vertebrae popping themselves into place, he saw his father following the scent of the food as if in a trance.  Once his consciousness returned, he addressed his son.

Onaru: "Wow son, when did you learn to cook like that?"

Cyrus: "Yawn, plenty of chefs have died over history, some who are really nice."

Onaru: "Oh, right."  He began eating ravenously.  Cyrus went outside and did some stretching and was about to start training when his mother called him in.

Inima: "Cyrus honey, you should go get changed into something nicer, but not too formal, since I know you and Kenji love to roughhouse."

Cyrus: "Okay mom."  He went and put on the chest plate he'd gotten for his birthday, (Leather in between metal, vinyl inside so it's comfortable), a black shirt over that, and some nicer sweatpants with knee guards.  This attire accepted, he and his parents left via teleport.  They arrived in Donau after some time, and this time Cyrus really wanted to see it, since the flowers were very pretty.  His parents again told him they didn't want to be late, but a bit reluctantly themselves this time.  Upon reaching the harbor, this time Captain Sparrow was waiting for them.

Sparrow: "I see you're on time, I thought you would be.  Great to see you all, how've you been?"

Onaru: "Great, Cyrus is getting stronger and smarter by the day, and we love the place we're staying.  One thing though, I kinda miss the traveling myself, but that's just me."

Inima: "Now that you mention it, I could use some adventure."

Cyrus: "But mom, dad, I like Seles, and I'm still training!"

Onaru: "I know, but according to Dart, he's going to need you guys to take a day off at the end of the week from now on, so I propose that we visit you and your crew on those days, Sparrow."

Sparrow: "I'm not against it, it's always nice to see you guys, what about you, Inima, Cyrus?"

Inima: "Fine by me, but how are we going to know where you'll be a week from now?"

Sparrow: "To tell the, truth, it's actually more difficult to tell where I'll be in a month, than every week."

Cyrus: "Well, just so long as I get to train."

Kenji: "No matter how much you train, you'll probably never beat me without those personalities of yours."

Cyrus: "(Smirking) I've memorized plenty of the techniques that I could access."

Kenji: "I doubt you can use the Divine Dragon Cannon."

Cyrus: "Actually, I've learnt a sort of Divine Dragon Ball."

Kenji: "Nice, but I've been doing my own training, and I'm capable of defeating many adults.  Can you boast that?"

Cyrus: "The only adults capable of fighting in Seles are my parents, Dart, and his wife Shana.  I'm not about to face any of them in combat."

Kenji: "Then test your skills against me."

Cyrus: "Lets see who's better."  As they settled into their respective stances, Sparrow invited them to see Donau first.  Before doing so, he handed Cyrus a package, calling it a belated birthday gift.  Cyrus opened it and found a pair of fighting gauntlets that were specially made for swordplay.  The only problem was that they were way too long.  Otherwise they were of leather laced with metal, so as to protect the hands, fingerless, and Kenji gave him two small belts to wrap around his wrists so they'd stay on.  Happily Cyrus accepted, and they wandered around for a while.

Cyrus: "Hmm, Seles has a lot of flowers, but I bet Kira hasn't seen even half of these.  I'll take one to her!"  After a moment's thought, he grabbed a beautiful flower, smelled it, decided to keep it, and used a preservation technique to keep it in good shape.  The only place not gone to was the bar, so Kenji and Cyrus left to walk around.

Cyrus: "Okay Kenji, where do we fight?"

Kenji: "And here I was thinking that we wouldn't get a chance.  How about in the center square?"

Cyrus: "You want to prevent me from using my spirit magic.  That's okay, it wouldn't be fair if I used it anyway."  The two took their places at opposite ends of the entrance.  Several people eagerly crowded to see what was going on.

Kenji: "Okay Cyrus, no magic or special skills, just use your sword and whatever else in this fight.  Your objective is to disarm me and put your blade to my throat, either that or get a hit that would normally be deemed fatal."

Cyrus: "Right, and don't throw your daggers."

Kenji: "Don't throw your sword then."  They took up stances and waited for a while.  Cyrus finally got bored and asked if he was waiting for something.  Kenji responded that someone had to say, "Go!"  A random passerby offered to do so, counted from three, and began the battle.  Neither moved for a moment, then Kenji charged.  Cyrus jumped to the side, and then countered with a diagonal slash.  Kenji put his daggers in an X shape, and used Cyrus' swing to propel him away. 

  Cyrus took up another stance and waited for Kenji this time around.  Kenji used a few, quick, slashes that he laced with martial arts.  Cyrus knew his weapon wasn't fast enough to block Kenji's attacks, so he pushed forward and attacked through Kenji's attacks.  Kenji jumped back and pressed his attack.  The two continued to clash and fight, drawing more and more spectators.  Finally the Mayor himself came to break it up.  He thought it was an actual fight instead of just a sparring match.  When he saw them complimenting each other on his style and techniques, he decided that it wasn't necessary to break it up. 

  The two continued to fight, neither really gaining an advantage.  Kenji jumped forward in an attack, and Cyrus jumped back, thought for a millisecond, and charged, swinging very hard from his left to his right.  Kenji dodged it, and Cyrus jumped, and his momentum sent him into the wall.  Actually, he landed on the wall, and was standing on it.  Cyrus then jumped from it and smashed the flat of his blade to Kenji's back.  Kenji flew forward into a roll and massaged his back, grumbling.  Cyrus then swung his blade, knocking Kenji's daggers away, and placed his blade upon Kenji's throat.

Cyrus: "I win."

Kenji: "(Smirking) Really?"  With that he used his daggers to swing Cyrus' blade away and put his daggers to Cyrus' throat.

Kenji: "I win."

Cyrus: "Not necessarily." He punched Kenji in the stomach to distract him, even though the punch was pretty hard, swung his blade to knock Kenji's daggers away, and put his sword to his throat."

Cyrus: "Now I win."

Kenji: "I can get out of this one, how about we call this a draw?"

Cyrus: "Okay."  The two then sheathed their weapons and shook hands.  The crowd then erupted into cheers, and some money changed hands.  The two just shook their heads, and started to look for their parents.  They found them rather easily.

Onaru: "Hey guys, who won?"

Cyrus & Kenji: "Tie."

Sparrow: "That's not bad, both of you are extremely good with your weapons."  Let us allow the passage of time to continue forward a year or two.  Cyrus is now ten.  It is time for the usual visit to Sparrow and Kenji.  At Seles, Kira and Cyrus became best friends, and were rarely seen without one another, and they always had fun pulling pranks and testing one another to see who was strongest. 

  After Cyrus' first battle with Kenji, both progressed evenly, so it was a tie nearly all the time.  Cyrus became more and more skilled with using the spirits and his weapon.  Only once had he allowed his temper to slide, and the power and bloodlust he had shown scared him, he didn't want to be evil, so he began to try and control his emotions, to stop himself from getting out of hand, when in fact all he needed to do was use the rage every so often and let it off before it had a chance to accumulate.  Cyrus still can't use his wings or regular wingly magic.  The scene is again at Donau, and Cyrus, Kenji, Onaru, Inima, and Sparrow are all sitting at the bar, talking about current events.

Onaru:  "Anyway, Sparrow wants me to relay a message to Dart, but he's got to show me what he means."

Sparrow: "Yeah, I need you to tell Dart that the reconstruction of Neet is going smoothly.  It'll be a surprise to him so you should expect that.  I've got to show you what I mean though.  Cyrus, if you want to go, you won't be able to train with Dart for a while."

Cyrus: "Well, I haven't been sailing in so long, why not?  I'll just train aboard."

Sparrow: "Okay then, it's settled.  We're heading to Furni, Evergreen forest, and then Neet!"

Cyrus: "Let me guess, that's the order they're in?"

Kenji: "Yep.  Lets go."

Sparrow: "Hold on there, we can't leave until tomorrow."

Inima: "Lets get a room at the inn." They did so and slept easily.  The next morning, they got on Captain Sparrow's ship and they headed off.  On board, they all helped with various jobs.  Cyrus treated it as training, so most jobs were shifted to him because he worked so incredibly fast.  Add to that the fact that he had plenty of sailor spirits to call upon, and he was basically unstoppable.  They reached Furni with the ship being very clean, much more than usual.  There Cyrus also helped in the unloading of cargo.  After a few minutes of looking around, they left for the exit.  The walk to the forest didn't take too long, but monsters still attacked them.  Kenji and Cyrus destroyed them mostly.  Otherwise the trip was rather uneventful, and everyone got to the forest okay.

Kenji: "Hey, I remember a shortcut through here, but it won't work on the way back."

Sparrow: "No problem."  Kenji pointed to a tree branch up above.  Everyone climbed up to it with ease.  Following the branch, they reached a crossroads.  From there they exited the forest and headed to Neet.  There they came to a small village that had signs of being burnt at some point and left as it was.  Now there were a few buildings that were not burnt, and people working to restore and create buildings.  Sparrow gave some introductions to Onaru and Inima, while Cyrus and Kenji looked for some way to amuse themselves.  After a bit, they were invited to lunch, and accepted.  It tasted better than it usually should have for some reason.  They left Neet, and headed back to the forest.  Sparrow asked if Onaru and Inima knew anyone here.

Inima: "Actually we were born in the wingly forest, and so were you, Cyrus."

Cyrus: "Really?  That's interesting, I always sort of felt that I never belonged to any particular place, but I do, cool."

Onaru: "I'm sorry about that, it's my fault, but would you rather have no knowledge of the outside world and have been stuck in one place for most of your life?"

Cyrus: "Hey, I've always liked my life."

Sparrow: "Why don't we see the forest of the winglies?"

Inima: "Well... They may not be happy to see humans."

Sparrow: "I thought relations were better since Meru became ambassador?"

Onaru: "They are, but old habits die hard."

Sparrow: "Too true." They walked into the area that was the magical entrance.  Upon stepping inside, Onaru instantly regretted it, seeing that the guardians were a new pair of Bardel brothers.  They didn't recognize Onaru, and one shot a fireball at Kenji since he had his weapons out.  It stopped mid-air, due to Cyrus' using a technique that blocked magic.  Cyrus turned to the wingly with a fire in his eyes.  Honestly, that was enough to get that wingly to take a step back.  Onaru and Inima activated their wings.

Onaru: "C'mon, it's me, Onaru!  Don't tell me you've forgotten me so easily, Bardel?"

Bardel: "I didn't quite place it at first.  What's with the humans?"

Sparrow: "I thought relations between humans and winglies had become better over the time that Meru became ambassador?"

Bardel: "That's true, but lately there have been a few deaths.  We can't chance anything, so we've tightened our defenses more than usual.  I'll have to ask all you humans to state your names and such.

Sparrow: "I'm Captain Sparrow, my son Kenji and I have only been here a day or so with Onaru and his family, so we're not the ones you're looking for."

Bardel: "Onaru?"

Onaru: "Yeah, they're telling the truth."

Bardel: "What about you, the youngest human?"

Kenji: "You mean Cyrus? He's a wingly, Onaru's son."

Bardel: "Then why didn't you activate your wings?"

Cyrus: "My magic is different.  I have access to all spirits and their techniques and fighting styles instead of normal wingly magic."

Bardel: "(Raised eyebrow) Really?  Then show me... A special technique of Lloyd, the wingly of the second Dragon Campaign."

Cyrus: "Hmm.  How's this? (Performs the technique Lloyd used on Melbu Frahma)"

Bardel: "(crispy) Cough.  That's good, you can pass too." They entered via the teleport pad and had a look around.  Onaru was giving Cyrus a tour of where they'd lived and how he and Inima had met, when another wingly came up to them.

Wingly: "The ancestor requests your presence.  Come with me." Since Cyrus and Kenji were young and agile, plus they didn't have much armor, they jumped and climbed most of the time.  Sparrow, after many complaints, allowed himself to be flown where it was necessary.  They reached the room of the ancestor in good time.

Ancestor: "Greetings.  Onaru, what brings you and your family here?"

Inima: "We merely wished to visit, ancestor."

Ancestor: "No need to be so formal, it's not as though I'm displeased.  Actually I'm curious to see how your son turned out.  I want to know if your idea was good, Onaru."

Onaru: "Mind not talking about my son like he was an experiment?"

Ancestor: "Hah, I'm sorry, I forgot my manners.  So you named him Cyrus?  Where is he?"

Cyrus: "(Somewhat timidly) Present."

Kenji: "Yeesh, c'mon Spirit, you need guts."

Cyrus: "I have guts, I just don't feel the need to over-use them.  When I need to be strong, I will, but until then politeness will do."

Ancestor: "Ah, I haven't even talked to you and already I can see that you're developing into a fine young man.  I also hear that you posses an interesting sort of magic, may I see it?"

Cyrus: "Hmm, would you like to talk with the Divine Dragon?  It seems to want to talk with you."

Ancestor: "(Raised eyebrow) You have access to its spirit?"

Cyrus: "Yes."

Ancestor: "Alright, call it forth."

Cyrus: "(Eyes change) Blano.  I THOUGHT YOU'D BE DEAD BY NOW."

Ancestor: "No, I have not yet passed on, unlike some people."

Cyrus: "SILENCE!  THOSE DRAGOONS HAD A CHEAP ADVANTAGE, AT FULL STRENGTH I WOULD HAVE ANNIHALATED THEM!"

Ancestor: "Yet they still beat you, and that's what truly counts."

Cyrus: "… I REALLY HATE YOU WINGLIES."

Ancestor: "In case you haven't noticed, your host is a wingly."

Cyrus: "NOT BY MY STANDARDS.  HE'S RESPECTFUL OF MY POWERS AND ME, ALONG WITH HAVING A STRONG SPIRIT.  HE'S ALSO WILLING TO DESTROY WHAT IS EVIL AND UNJUST IN THE WORLD, BE IT HUMAN OR WINGLY.  I'M HOPING IT'S THE LATTER."

Ancestor: "I would say your hatred will destroy you, but it already has."

Cyrus: "I BELIEVE THE HUMANS HAVE AN APPROPRIATE EXPRESSION.  'BITE ME'."

Ancestor: "Return control to the boy."

Cyrus: "(Raised eyebrow) IDIOT, HE'S BEEN IN CONTROL THIS WHOLE TIME.  HE'S JUST WAITING FOR ME TO FINISH, WHICH I HAVE.  MAY YOU SUFFER IN THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT.  (Changes back) Sorry for what it said."

Ancestor: "Don't worry, that's just its usual way of thinking.  How far have you progressed in terms of using your magic?"

Cyrus: "I'm pretty far."

Ancestor: "I think that I may have something to aid you.  Wait here for a moment."  He teleports and comes back in a few seconds. "This gem is a magic amplifier.  Faust created it and he used it once or twice, but couldn't fully control it.  If my theory is correct, it should allow you to use your magic on things more outside your body."  Cyrus takes it and it glows brilliantly.  He feels some of the spells contained in items coming to him, and he feels a stronger connection to the elements around him.  Cyrus felt as though he'd learnt a few new things.  He handed the stone back to the Ancestor.

Cyrus: "Thank you, but I don't think it will do anything more for me."

Ancestor: "It imparted all the powers it could at once?"

Cyrus: "I think so."

Ancestor: "Good, do you know anything new?"

Cyrus: "Hmm." Uses a burn out, spear frost, spark net, pellet, and the magic shield.  He then reaches to the ground, pulls out a piece of steel from the structure of the house, and in his hand it shifts around like liquid and shapes into a dagger.  He gives it a good slash for a test, and then replaces it in the ground.  He tries to teleport, but ends up moving Kenji a few inches forward.  Smirking a bit, he does that many times until Kenji hits a wall and starts rubbing his head.  Cyrus laughs a bit.

Ancestor: "Well, it seems you have a few new skills to add to your repertoire.  Good luck in the future."  They nod and leave.

Sparrow: "Hey, those deaths Bardel mentioned, I wonder who's the culprit?"

Kenji: "Probably some wingly hate group.  They're popping up all over the place."

Onaru: "Yes, but it worries me that they are successful.  Most winglies are exceptionally fast and strong, and can wipe out an untrained human with ease, no offense."

Kenji: "None taken, I know that even against Cyrus without his magic, anybody without a lot of training would be toast."

Cyrus: "I'm not that good."

Kenji: "Your agility and reaction time is higher than most humans'.  I've seen you dodge things that I thought were impossible to dodge."

Cyrus: "Well, I suppose.  I mean, unless fighting someone good, I usually feel a bit like everyone's in slow-motion."  Upon leaving the wingly settlement, Onaru and Cyrus felt a chill go up their spines.

Onaru: "I don't like this."

Sparrow: "Huh?"

Cyrus: "It feels like something bad is going to happen."

Kenji: "Better safe than sorry, (takes out daggers)" They walked forward and decided to go straight to Furni.  When they reached the exit, they found it blocked and barricaded.

Onaru: "A trap."

Cyrus: "Not for long, Divine Dragon Cannon!" Nothing happened. "What?"

???? : "Hahahahaha! You foolish winglies, there's an anti-magic field around this entire area!  How does it feel to have your advantage taken away, how does it feel to be, human!"

Cyrus: "You mean there's a difference between winglies and humans besides magic, 'cause my friend Kira-."

???? : "Of course there's a difference you imbecile!  You winglies are greedy b******s!  You enslaved humans for no reason but your own gain!"

Sparrow: "Look, that was thousands of years ago, can't we all just get past it?  Everyone involved in that time period is currently dead and buried."

???? : "Be quiet, this doesn't involve you.  We shall free you from the bewitchment these disgusting things have placed upon you and your child."

Kenji: "Bewitchment?  I don't really know what that means, but we're all friends here!"

???? : "Friends?  How could you possibly be friends with that?"

Cyrus: "Kenji's been like a big brother to me ever since we met, way back when we were really little!"

???? : "Ugh, you disgust me.  Might as well kill you now and be done with it."  From the trees, a man in red armor jumped down.  Take Dart's Dragoon armor, minus the wings and gems, add brown hair almost reaching the shoulders and you've got this person.  From around him stepped people in similar attire, but all in various colors.  They seemed to want to imitate the Dragoons for whatever reason.  The guy in red pointed his blade towards Cyrus and his family.

???? : "You shall die, now."  The rest also took out their weapons, each one imitating their respective Dragoons.  Cyrus, Kenji, and Sparrow took up stances, but Onaru and Inima, while taking out their weapons, activated their wings.

Onaru: "I don't think we should take these guys.  They're probably responsible for the deaths of the winglies up until now, I think we should escape while we can."

Sparrow: "Yeah, that's the best option, then we can hunt them down on our terms." Cyrus kept his eyes trailed upon them.

Cyrus: "Yeah, these are the ones.  I can feel several spirits calling for their blood to be spilled.  It appears that they've found some way of imitating the Dragoons in armor and power.  That's why they're capable of winning."

???? : "Very good, it appears that one wingly out of the bunch has some intelligence.  No use hiding." They all transformed.  While they were busy, Onaru grabbed Sparrow, and Inima grabbed Kenji, simply because Cyrus had called forth the ghost of the Divine Dragon armor, and was capable of flight himself.  They started to escape, only to find a barrier in place.

???? : "That would be the magic barrier.  Good for keeping out magic and others, and especially good for keeping cowardly winglies inside."

Cyrus: "Now may I kill them?"

Kenji: "Cyrus, why are you so bloodthirsty?"

Cyrus: "Those spirits, they died for no reason, I can't let that go."

Kenji: "Right, lets go at them."  Cyrus charged at the Divine Dragoon copy, and the two began a duel.  The copy was good, but Cyrus had way more practice, and he was strong without the armor, so he was far superior.  The Red-eye copy charged in and kept Cyrus busy with swordplay, while the Divine Dragoon copy shot blasts at him. 

  Kenji and Sparrow were having trouble, especially since they got only one attack per movement.  Finally Kenji used his brains a bit and yelled out that they were fighting like the winglies of old, and that they weren't man enough to face him directly.  That got him a duel with the water and wind copies.  The Dark, deciding to go with the flow, charged at Sparrow, only to be blocked and countered. 

  Inima was busy with the White-Silver one, keeping him from healing anyone, (They're all guys, most females had enough sense to think better than them, the copies are also all criminals and hotheads.)  Onaru was busy with the Golden copy, who was rather large and wielded a huge axe, (no he's not a Giganto, but he's taller than most people).  Things went downhill when Onaru got hit in the stomach.  He flew back into a tree, and Cyrus' attention shifted just a bit.  That was enough for the Divine copy to blast him pretty harshly. 

  Kenji was doing very well due to the speed of the daggers, but when the Divine copy blasted him, it was enough to knock him down.  Sparrow dodged the blast from the Divine, but the dark cannon from his opponent hit him head-on.  Inima had her blade to her opponent's throat, but another cheap attack got her thrown into the tree near Onaru. 

  The Divine copy restrained Cyrus, using a technique to siphon off energy and magic, keeping him from using any techniques.  The golden one stepped in as well, since Cyrus was very difficult for one person to hold.  Water and light held onto Kenji, while wind held onto the unconscious form of Sparrow.  Red-eye and Dark stepped forward.

Red-eye: "Now you two have nowhere to go, so I guess we'll fight on the ground."  Inima stepped forward to challenge the Dark, and Onaru stepped to oppose the Red-eye.  Before they began the fight, Onaru grabbed Inima and pulled her into a quick but passionate, and somewhat desperate kiss.  They pulled apart, looked at each other, and readied their weapons. 

  Cyrus began struggling as if his life depended upon it.  Since nothing was happening for a moment, he got a chance to use his brain.  He used his minor teleport to move his opponents off him, just a bit at a time so they wouldn't notice.  Just as he had their grips latched only to his wrists, the battle began.  Onaru and the Red-eye charged and began slashing to the point where the blades couldn't even be seen.  Inima was going for a more defensive strategy, dodging the Dark one, and trying to keep him away as long as possible.  Sometimes, when she saw it coming and had an opening, she had him lunge with his rapier and almost hit his leader.  Usually this had very little effect since both he and Onaru rolled away and kept right on fighting.  The Red-eye was tiring; he knew Onaru was officially stronger than him.  Onaru knew this too, and his attack became even fiercer. 

  Finally the Red-eye jumped back and smirked as if he'd already won.  Onaru ran in and attacked, only to find air where there had been an opponent microseconds ago.  Onaru rolled away and looked around, but nothing, it was as if the Red-eye had disappeared.  He looked up, and managed to block the slash from above.  The Red-eye had anticipated this; in fact, he'd waited for Onaru to think about it before he attacked.  The Red-eye clone only used Onaru's blade to do a front flip and land behind him.  As Onaru turned around, the Red-eye stabbed him in the gut.  Onaru's eye widened as he looked down at the blade protruding from his stomach.  The Red-eye smirked again.

Red-eye: "That's the trouble with you winglies, you're too damn hard to get rid of."  He then swung his blade, decapitating Onaru with ease.  His head rolled to the floor and his body came with it.  A pool of blood began to seep from the corpse.  Inima had jumped back upon hearing something, and noticed this.  She screamed, she screamed as if her life and Onaru's depended upon it.  The Dark was stunned momentarily, only to find a deep gash where his shoulder met his neck, and a pressure point.  That entire side was instantly numbed.  Inima immediately rushed to Onaru's side and started a healing spell. 

  The Red-eye laughed, an evil, hollow laugh.  Inima looked at him, hatred in her eyes.  She continued healing even as the Red-eye raised his blade.  When she sensed the slash coming, she looked at Cyrus.  Her eyes no longer held hate, or anything else for that matter, it seemed she was already dead.  She mouthed, "We love you" and the blade came down. 

  The Red-eye laughed again, this time almost insanely.  Cyrus just looked on, stunned.  It seemed as if all his worst nightmares had come true at once.  The fact that his parents had died just kept repeating in his head, along with Inima's eyes.  Finally, one thing in his head made a suggestion.  "Kill."  Questioning, he looked for the source.  Once again he heard it, but this time it was louder.  "Kill." Again it repeated, this time loud enough for him to hear.  "Kill!"  It was greeted with a chorus of other voices yelling the same thing.  The noise was immense.  Cyrus understood and joined in with them, chanting and calling.  The noise of his mind was enough to transfer to his mouth.

Cyrus: "Kill."

Gold: "Huh?  You say something?"

Red-eye: "Let him have his last words, he's next.  Go on, say them."

Cyrus: "(Rising crescendo) Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill…. (With billions of voices melding with his) KILL!!!!"  He reached, grabbed the Divine's arm, and broke it once, twice, three times, each with a sickening crack and a scream.  The Divine let go, and then Cyrus punched the Gold in the face.  He let go, his nose bleeding.  Cyrus looked at the Red-eye with pure evil in his eyes.  He traced his rune and melded it with the Darkness rune.  Into the element he called out.  "Bring forth the strongest, all must die!"  He could feel that he'd just done something really stupid when he felt the spirit being alive.  He could sense that it was in Mayfil, deep within Mayfil.  It came forth, he asked it to destroy those he would ask of it.  It responded that it had nothing better to do.  He gave it free dominion over his body, by melding his personality with its.  It was a shock to find that it was the strongest Devil, directly from the bowels of Hell itself!  After noting this in his mind, he stopped caring in the least.  It was a bit surprising to see Cyrus go from near berserk, to completely calm, if not smirking.

Cyrus: "Well, well, well.  What do we have here?  A bunch of humans, copying Dragoons, absolutely pathetic.  Which one amongst you has triggered my current host's rage?  I mean, for one kid to summon me is next to impossible.  I had a large group of necromancers try that once, but I suppose you poor fools never found out what happened to the cult of the Demon King?"

Red-eye: "(Raised eyebrow) Them?  I knew them, they were insanely powerful."

Cyrus: "Yes, and they still stood almost no chance against me.  In fact, I doubt anyone past or present has yet to reach that level of power.  Hmm, I suppose this kid might when he gets older, but I doubt even he will be capable of defeating me."

Dark: "Who are you?"

Cyrus: "You couldn't pronounce my name even if you tried.  Know this, I am the supreme ruler of Hell, second only to Satan himself!"

Dark: "Right, and you inhabit the body of a kid, why?"

Cyrus: "Simple, you brainless imbecile.  He summoned me, I decided to help him with revenge."

Red-eye: "Regardless, you are in the body of a wingly that we must destroy.  Escape or face death."

Cyrus: "Ah, but you shall be the ones to die in this battle.  I offer you two choices right now.  Either you bow down to me and two of you sacrifice your lives to revive those you slew, or you may fight and die.  Either way someone dies, but I'd go with the first one if I were you, perhaps there are some sacrificial virgins around."

Blue-sea: "Yeah right, like we'd bow down to a wingly kid like you!"

Cyrus: "You'll regret that decision."

Blue-sea: "Make me."

Cyrus: "With pleasure." He licks his lips, and unsheathes his sword.  He looks at it a moment, then settles into a stance.  He charges so fast it should be impossible.  The blue-sea copy ends up as a bunch of bloody pieces on the ground, and the thing that was sustaining the armor absorbs the pieces and disappears.

Cyrus: "Oh?  You applied a curse to become more powerful?  How pathetic, you truly are worthless scum."  Dark and Gold charge at him, Dark having healed his wounds.  Cyrus simply swats their weapons away as if they were flies and sends them flying with a roundhouse kick.  Divine comes at him, only to find that he was impaled before he even came within striking distance.  Red-eye jumps in and does a vertical swing while the White-Silver one heals the rest of them.  Cyrus merely catches his blade in one hand, looking bored.  He twists the steel with ease, pointing the blade at the handle, and then grabbing the middle, twisting, and breaking the blade into many pieces, leaving the Red-eye copy stunned and without a weapon. 

  The Divine unleashes a cannon attack, only to see Cyrus walk through it, while he's still blasting!  This time, Cyrus makes sure of the attack, and beheads him with ease.  He sees the White-Silver trying to heal as fast as he hurt, but soon found himself lying on the floor, immobile and bleeding to death.  Cyrus smirked; the Devil he called upon had an interesting sense of poetic retribution.  Dark and Gold came at him once more, and he decided to have some fun.  He blocked all their shots, but made it look like they had almost hit him each time.  Wind joined in, but Cyrus didn't care.  Finally, the Red-eye, in a fit of desperation, grabs the Divine's sword and charges, screaming.  Cyrus raises an eyebrow, knocks his opponents away, and blocks the Red-eye's attack with enough force to break his sword.  Cyrus puts the tip of his sword to the Red-eye's throat.

Cyrus: "Hmm, I can't think of anything better to do than behead you like you've done to others."  As he raised his blade, he saw the Wind flying at him.  He took no notice since he knew that based on what he'd seen; there was no chance he'd ever make it.  He swung his blade down onto a stunned Red-eye, only to find it blocked by a spear blade.  Wind pushed his companion out of the way and looked at Cyrus.

Wind: "I will not allow you."

Cyrus: "You stopped my kill?"

Wind: "Yes, and I will destroy you, making you unable to kill anymore."

Cyrus: "That's not the point, the point is that you stopped my kill!  I allow NO ONE to get away with something like that and live!  I will make certain your torture is personally developed in Hell, and I'll make eternity all pain and suffering for you, this I swear!"  With that, Cyrus cut the spear into three.  Wind looked at what was left, shrugged and adjusted his stance.  Cyrus began fighting with tons more force than before.  Wind was trying his hardest just to survive, but he really didn't have to worry about being cut down in one stroke, because Cyrus was slowly and surely damaging him with billions of cuts and scratches, each bleeding.  Finally, Wind actually stepped back, preferring death to what he was going through, but Cyrus wasn't that kind.  He jumped forward at an impossible speed, and left trillions of cuts on every single portion of Wind's body.  He left him there, knowing that blood loss would kill him in a day or two.  He then fashioned an illusion over the body so that no one would ever find it, and Wind would die exceptionally slowly.  By this time White-Silver was dead from lack of blood, so Wind hadn't a hope in Endiness.  Dark and Gold readied for another round, this time hoping to actually have a chance, but it was Red-eye that made ready.

Red-eye: "You shall… DIE!!"

Cyrus: "You don't even know how many people have said that."  Red-eye drew his regular blade, and Cyrus saw the familiar dilation of the eyes, changing them to all white.

Cyrus: "You're going berserk, in Dragoon form no less.  This should be fun." Red-eye's blade lit on fire, and became an enormous broadsword, perhaps as big as the Divine Dragon's claws.  One thing was abnormal with this blade; it was quite simply fire, like the Dragon Buster, except red, if not crimson.  Cyrus raised an eyebrow, and dodged the following strike.  He didn't expect the next strike to come immediately after the first one, and it came rather close.  He reasoned that the fire didn't weight anything, or that the man's going berserk had given him the strength necessary.  Upon seeing his arms during the next slash, Cyrus figured that it was the first option. 

  Red-eye had forgotten his wings entirely, and was at a disadvantage when Cyrus climbed into a tree.  Actually, the battle wasn't like the one with Lenne, Cyrus didn't have so much trouble.  He kept on his toes, and kept right on doing damage to the Red-eye until he got so infuriated that he reached a new level of insanity.  The armor transformed to liquid crimson fire, and the Red-eye became lots faster and stronger.  Cyrus now had to block the attacks, which was no easy task considering the blade he had to block. 

  The battle raged on evenly now.  Cyrus finally got annoyed that this human worm that had gone insane wasn't dead yet, he must be used to it, and capable of controlling his movements and attacks.  Cyrus gave a mighty attack and sent the Red-eye back a few feet. 

  He then called forth the Divine Dragon.  Instead of allowing it to have its usual armor encase him, he altered things a bit.  An illusion of the Divine Dragon flew down, much smaller, and wrapped itself around his arm.  A few moments of change and it became a cannon the size of Cyrus' lower arm attached by legs apparently, with gray armor surrounding it, and the Divine Dragon's larger eye in front of the cannon to protect it.  The cannon reached a bit past Cyrus' hand and had a handle for him to grab in case of using the cannon for its usual purpose.  Upon the defensive covering for the cannon were many spikes pointing upwards, and they looked the Divine Dragon's wings.  Three spikes pointed out from the elbow, one over the elbow, and two on either side.  From the wrist came another set of spikes, one following the hand, the others on the sides of it.  The armor otherwise was similar, except less bulky, more tightly bound, and the wings were in the same style as the Divine Dragon's, (two wings at the shoulder, two below, and two below that?) The headband was normal, except that it went back, went down to guard the back of the neck, and then forward to guard the upper neck and chin.  As he floated, Cyrus examined the armor, now satisfied. 

  He rushed the Red-eye, and he nearly collapsed under the pressure Cyrus exerted.  Cyrus pulled back, wanting to make this a bit slower.  He aimed his cannon directly at the Red-eye, making sure he had time to see it and guard.  The resulting blast was incredible, and took up much of the Red-eye's energy to survive.  Finally, when the light cleared, the Dark cheered, seeing his leader alive.  Cyrus smirked and charged.  When the blades connected, the Red-eye's broke as if made of glass. 

  Cyrus flew back, savoring the moment.  The Red-eye's berserker instincts continued, and he charged, intending to fight using his bare hands.  The first punch lost him that arm.  The next met the same fate.  He swung out in a kick, only to have his legs lost.  Cyrus put his blade to the Red-eyes throat, when his eyes lit up in a twisted, evil idea that hadn't occurred to him before. 

  Dark charged at him, only to be turned to dust by the sheer power and speed of Cyrus.  Cyrus again walked towards the Red-eye, who was now swearing madly.  The Golden one charged at him, and Cyrus' blade dug a hole into his axe.

Cyrus: "I sense that you originally had good intensions.  Your death will be as quick as possible."  The Golden looked at the situation, and ripped his axe out to attack again.  Before he even came close, Cyrus had blasted him with the cannon, incinerating him instantly.  All that came near was the man's hand, firmly grasped on his axe still.  Cyrus walked up to the Red-eye, who at this point was still not dead and Cyrus was surprised.  The Devil relayed his evil idea to Cyrus, but since it involved letting the Red-eye live, Cyrus told him just to finish him.

Cyrus: "You know, death's too good for you."  One swipe of the blade and the Red-eye was decapitated.  Cyrus grabbed Wind's spear, made it whole, stuck the head on it, and propped it up.

Cyrus: "Heads on poles, it's just what you do with them once the owners are no longer amongst the living."  Cyrus felt the Devil leave him and he passed out easily.  Kenji just looked at him and the head.

Kenji: "Perhaps it was, 11,000 years ago.  Now, I doubt even Cyrus wants something like that as a constant reminder."  He pulled out a fire item and burnt the bodies, burying the ashes, and then spitting on the grave.

Kenji: "Here lie those who tried to copy Dragoons and use their power for their own sick methods.  May their souls never find peace."  Sparrow had gotten up by now, and Kenji filled him in on the details.  They then took Cyrus to the forest of the winglies.

So, what do you guys think?

Cyrus: "You killed off my family even though you gave them personality!  You made me into a half a wingly!  I go insane at the end even though I'm only ten!  You didn't even come close to what you wanted, since Legend of Dragoon was a game bursting with the essence of light, while this carries angst and destruction and stuff like that."

Damn, you're right, but I had to do this.  The light is even brighter when it follows a period of darkness.

Kira: "Deep.  So, what Dragoons are we?"

Who said either of you were Dragoons?  Cyrus can use every Dragon's powers already, so why would he need a spirit?  And you could just be an extra added for the hell of it that doesn't play any particular part.  I did that with Cyrus' parents, remember?

Kira: "Don't be mean to Cyrus or me.  We're still kids and still are developing personality, you haven't written it out yet."

Good point.  Okay, here's a hint; your weapon is one-handed.  Why might you need that?

Kira: "Hmm…"

Cyrus, don't tell her.

Cyrus: "I'm supposed to know?"

You're too depressed.  I've gotta add something to your character and plot to make you laugh more.  Hey, I got it!  You're obsessed with weapons!  (Pulls out massive sword), oh Cyrus…

Narrator: "Both characters began chasing the author around.  I think that ends this chapter.  Please remember to review the story and such."