Hey all, been awhile since I wrote anything. I doubt anyone on still remembers me, but that's best I'd say. Anyway, I notice the lack of fanfictions for such a great game, Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2, and I just had to do something about it. From the title you should be able to guess what this fic is about, but just in case.
This is a Post game (Not including bonus dungeons) fanfiction about Edgar and Dinah. I am starting at their ending in case anyone reading has not seen it.
Annoying Person: But they are like 12-14, you can't put them in a romantic situation!
Ok, if you go out at 14 years old and save the freaking planet in less the two weeks, I won't pass judgement on you. I don't think anyone in the game has any right to yell at them. Adventures make you grow up, ya know? Regardless, it's time to get started with this travesty of a wonderful game.
"I have no choice."
Chapter 1
Edgar had a hard time believing what had just happened the day before. It seemed like this whole mess had taken years. Ryouga and Lynn being Summon Creatures, meeting Gabriel, Xeride, Toumei and Nina. All the fighting, and searching he had done, to seal Goura and to save Master Blaire. But in truth, he had resolved this worldwide catastrophe in just over a week. It was ridiculous that so many important things could have happened in such a short time. And in the end, nothing turned out like he had imagined it would. Goura was not the cause of the evil, and left peacefully, Ryouga and Lynn recovered as well, and left the town. It was at this spot, just twelve hours earlier, that Edgar saw Ryouga for the last time. The thought was bittersweet at best, but Edgar managed to push the feeling of regret out of his mind. He had done all he could. He couldn't expect the villagers to forgive Ryouga and Lynn as easily as he had. But now was not the time to think about what could not be changed, there was much work to do now, after all a Craft knights work is never done so long as there are weapons to be made. And here he was staring out over the horizon, standing where his house once stood. He had fond memories of this place, his family, his father, meeting Ryouga, and saying goodbye to him. But breaking his train of thought was another memory tied to this place.
"Oh Yes! Finally I can relax…" Came the voice to his side. He had almost forgotten she was there, Dinah, his Guardian Beast. She stretched her arms above her head, as if she hadn't had a chance to do this in years. But as Edgar thought, she worked just as hard as he did, if not harder. Her voice forced him back into reality, as he felt he should respond to her.
"Thank you for your great work, Dinah." He meant in sincerely, but he had to think that it sounded so corny.
Dinah gave him a wry smirk and her quick tongued reply. "I'm really exhausted… Why don't you give me something full of Mana instead of compliments?"
Edgar smiled his hopeless grin. "I still don't know what Mana is. But still, thanks." Is that all he could say? He had so much more he wanted to say to her, but he didn't want to ruin the moment here. They were so calm and relaxed, still something needed to be added. "I was only able to get here because you supported me."
Again her smirk, and the smart-ass reply. "Well, duh! You should be showering me with gifts."
A thought entered Edgar's head, what about the other Dinah, Angel Dinah. He figured he should mention this, since Devil and Angel Dinah seemed to be on better terms lately. And he could even recall one moment when they finished each other's sentences, with no curses or complaints from Devil Dinah when she returned. "Yeah, I should. I also have to say thank you to the angel Dinah."
"No, not really. She didn't do all that much…" Dinah spoke, rather eager to get off this topic. She felt the Angel's reaction in her subconscious, and if this continued, she'd probably break out again.
Edgar pressed the point though. "Yes, she did a lot. She helped me through some tough times!"
Dinah's expression changed to her look of aggravation and annoyance. She never did like sharing the credit. "Hey! Don't your eyes work? I did everything, not her!" Adding with her usual smirk "After we met Guren, she was so scared that she hasn't even shown up since then."
And then, almost as if on cue, there was a soft light that Edgar was waiting for. Dinah's bat wings replaced by feathery angel wings, her jagged edge tail, becoming softer and gentler, and her hair becoming smoother, instead of devil Dinah's jagged nature. The expression was the only thing that didn't change, as Dinah now looked annoyed herself.
"That's not true!" Her softer voice spoke out, trying to sound angry, though she failed miserably.
Edgar smiled softly, relieved that he was able to pull out angel Dinah so easily. "Haha! It's been a while! I thought I'd see you soon!"
Dinah's facial expression changed to one of pleading almost. "You might not have seen me, but I was cheering you on the whole time! I was always thinking of you, even when you couldn't see me."
Edgar looked at her deeply. "I know that you're both a devil and an angel. Together you two make a single person." Nice one! That was brilliant, why had he never thought of that one before. It was so smooth even he was a little surprised. It seemed to have the desired effect as Dinah's cheeks reddened.
"Master Edgar…" She seemed very taken aback by his words, and Edgar figured it was time to restore the conversation.
"Thank you for everything! We are going to get along, aren't we?"
Her cheeks stayed flushed, but the smile returned to her face. "Yes…Master Edgar…"
And then the familiar flashes again, as Devil Dinah managed to take control back. The devil stands before him, looking more then a little annoyed.
"Hey! You should be saying that to me!"
Confused Edgar protested. "I just did!"
Dinah's expression softened momentarily, as she remembered that he had said the words to her, but just her other self. Still, she wanted him to say it to her. "That was different."
Seeing her expression soften put Edgar back into a joking mood, he figured he'd give her a bit of a hard time. "No it wasn't…"
Now she was annoyed again. "Say it again! Now!"
"Fine!" Edgar made his face look as sincere as possible, it wasn't hard because he did mean it. "Thank you, Dinah. I'm happy that we can help each other from now on, too."
The devil's cheeks now turned the slightest bit red as they both chuckled softly. She opened her eyes wide looking straight at Edgar.
"Well, I suppose I don't really have a choice."
That was the knife, her staying with Edgar was all obligation. She didn't care about him at all. She got along with him, but that was mere happenstance. The angel probably felt differently, but that was like half a person loving you, it doesn't work well that way. What would he have to do to make the devil Dinah see anything as more then superior or inferior maybe an equal, or a friend? But it was as if she knew what he was thinking, because what she next said warmed his heart.
"But if I did have a choice, I'd probably choose to stay with you anyway."
That was it. That was all the devil was capable of. She couldn't say it outright, but the point was made clear. She was staying with Edgar because she wanted too. It wasn't because she had to because she was weak, because she wasn't weak anymore. It wasn't because she had no choice, because she didn't need to live in the village anymore. It was simply because she wanted to. She just needed a way to say that without breaking who she was. She would use that as her way of saying she wanted to be with him, that she had no choice. And as long as he understood that, then there would never be a problem.
The walk down the steps, back to the town, was fairly quiet. Master Blaire had commanded that there would be a celebration to honor Edgar, Dinah, Orin and all of the heroes who had saved their town. Though it was not his decision to make, nobody argued with him, not even the Elder. And the village was thrown into a marvelous celebration.
The celebration was indeed amazing. Everyone was there, and all of Edgar's allies were treated as the heroes they all were. Tatiana, Orin, Gabriel and everyone, all were heroes on par with the great Edge Fencer. It was never mentioned that Gabriel was the Black Knight, because Edgar didn't think it was important for people to know. Despite this, Edgar could see that Gabriel felt very guilty about all the praise he received. Toumei, on the other hand, was drinking it up like a flower drinking water. Edgar noticed, amidst the festivities, that Dinah was not in sight. If the angel was out, then everything would be ok, but if the devil was out, he was worried that trouble might be happening. Over the din of the party, he heard a sound only the ears of a craft knight could hear. The look on Orin's face said that he heard it as well, despite all of the women that were crowding around him. Their eyes met and said the same thing.
The sound of a forge.
And there was only one place in the town with a forge, Master Blaire's house. Edgar dismissed this thought from his mind, so it was a forge? Master Blaire had not been able to forge for almost two weeks, of course his celebration would be returning to his dream. But still, something about this bothered him. He couldn't place it, but he wanted to check on it. And so he did.
Outside of his house, he heard very clearly the clanging of the hammer. Adding to this noise was a sound he had not been expecting to hear.
"So you heard it too Master?"
Edgar looked around confused. He knew he heard Dinah's voice, but where was she? After a moment of looking he heard her voice again. "Hey! Up here!" As his eyes drifted skyward, he saw her sitting of the roof, leaning over the side to look down at him. He asked the question he already knew the answer to.
"Why aren't you at the party, Dinah? Is something wrong?"
Dinah merely scoffed at him. "Why would I want to be around all of those bumpkins dancing around like buffoons? It's much more peaceful here. I've had enough of all the loud noises."
Edgar smirked in a way that she would. "So you're sitting on top of a house with an active forge inside?"
"Ah shuddup!" She snapped.
Edgar smiled again, and started to climb up the roof. As he climbed he felt a pain in his chest, one that he recognized immediately, but he ignored it and continued his climbing. In a moment he joined his Guardian Beast on the roof, with a perfect view of the town, lit up like it was morning.
"It's really a nice view from up here." Edgar remarked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.
"Yes." Dinah replied. "I can focus on gathering Mana from here too."
Edgar decided, now that their major mission was over, he had time for this. "You keep saying that, what exactly is Mana?"
Dinah thought for a minute, searching for the right words. "Mana is… the force of nature and life…"
"You mean like the elements?" Edgar asked.
Dinah shook her head in annoyance. "No no. The elements themselves are made up of Mana, it's…. a universal energy, that exists in all creatures and things. Whenever a material item is changed, it loses some of its Mana. For example…" She pointed at a small tree. "That tree has more Mana then you're whole house, because it is in its natural state. When I cast magic, the Mana allows me to form the effect desired. Mana can be absorbed when there is an abundance, like the glacier. There was no real development there, most things were as they should be, so there was an abundance of Mana. However there was almost no Mana at the factory where GUNVALD was, because it was all modified and used up."
Edgar looked very confused. "I'm not sure I really follow you…I have Mana?"
Dinah looked annoyed again. "Gah, come on it's not that hard! Mana is like…the potential of metal."
"The potential of metal?" Edgar echoed, now even more confused.
Dinah sighed. "If you take a piece of the iron ore, it has great potential. You could make it into a sword, or a drill or maybe something other then a weapon, like a door, or a table. It has great potential. However, once you melt it and create something with it, it becomes very difficult to make it into anything else. In its natural form it is most useful. Mana is like that, naturally it is very useful. But while everything has Mana, they don't have the same amount once it has been used and modified."
Edgar nodded. He actually started to understand this now. "So…is that why you like to be where my house was? Since there is nothing there the Mana is more pure then it is anywhere else?"
Dinah replied with a half lie. "Yes, there is more Mana there then anywhere else in this town, that's why I go there to rest. But here isn't bad either, since your on the edge of the town. The forest down there has a fairly good amount of Mana, so I managed to scrape together enough to cast. Which reminds me…"
She smirked again, as she starred intently at the town. "Maybe we should go to a place where there is plentiful Mana. Like that glacier again, or maybe the ocean. That would be a nice reward for my hard work, you know."
Edgar smiled weakly, he just couldn't seem to keep his eyes open. "A vacation eh…that sounds nice…"
Dinah could hear the fatigue in his voice. "Master? Are you tired?" She turned and starred in disbelief with her mouth gaped open. "Edgar!" He heard her cry out, he could see the look of fear in her eyes. He wanted to say something, to explain, but he just felt so tired. His body felt so heavy, he'd just lie down and take a nap, and he'd feel better after that. The last thought that went through his mind as it all went black.
Why does she only call me Edgar when we are in danger…
"EDGAR!" The cry fell on deaf ears, as she grabbed the shoulders of her Master, staring at the growing stain of blood on his shirt.
Then silence…
