Part I:
Lloyd Returns
Blackness, it enveloped him, stifled him, it was all around him. The man who had been Lloyd stood in the dark, wondering what had happened. The last thing he remembered was attacking Melbu Frahma, then he'd been slammed by something and it all went black. Suddenly a blinding light flashed in front of him, he threw up his hands to block it out and then realized he could look right into it. He opened his eyes and looked around at where he was. Light blue columns rose towards the sky, and glowing energy flowed around him everywhere. Mayfil, he thought, I'm dead. Excellent. Walking off, no particular destination in mind, he took stock of his position. He was dead; he'd lost the Dragon Buster, and The Divine Dragoon Spirit. But he was still one of the most powerful Winglies. He held up a hand in front of him, palm up and concentrated. A ball of orange, glowing, energy formed, and kept growing larger. With a smirk, he snuffed it out and continued walking.
While he was deep in thought, his eyes on the ground, a voice spoke in front of him. A low, familiar voice, great, he thought, Just who I need to meet. He raised his eyes, but he already knew who he was going to see.
"Hello, Lloyd." said the man who had been Lavitz Slambert.
"You look well, for a dead man." He replied, smirking slightly.
"You too,"
Lloyd's eyes hardened.
"What do you want Slambert?"
"Oh, it's not me. If I had my way, you'd stay here for eternity. The higher ups want you to go back."
The platinum-haired man's eyes widened.
"They want me to go back?"
"Don't read too much into it. As much as I hate to say it, the remaining Dragons need you. Now that Zieg and Rose are dead, Dart will reclaim the Red Eye Dragoon Spirit, and a new bearer will emerge for the Darkness Dragoon. You must reclaim the Divine Dragoon Spirit. A new threat is going to appear, and I fear that, without you, they cannot hope to defeat It." said the knight, through clenched teeth.
Lloyd threw back his head and laughed.
"What makes you think I won't just go back to my olds ways the second you send me back?"
It was Lavitz's turn to smirk.
"Because if you do, I'll be resurrected with more power than you could ever imagine, for the sole purpose of killing you." He grinned.
"Alright," Lloyd replied, suddenly serious, "I'm ready."
"Not yet you aren't." said the former Wind Dragoon. He held out a hand towards Lloyd, and an object shaped like a Dragon's head appeared in it.
"I think this belongs to you." He stated with a small smile. Lloyd reached out and took hold of the Dragon Buster. It flared into life, and he smiled widely.
"Thanks."
"Don't thank me. Just do what you have to." With that, Lavitz closed his eyes and Lloyd felt himself being hurled upwards.
The wind whipped the sand up around the six people standing at the base of the huge, twisted tree. It had only been four days, since they had defeated Melbu Frahma, at the price of a father, and a friend, the loss was still fresh. The man with the spiky, blond hair looked up at the twisted boughs of the Divine Tree. Father, we just met, it wasn't fair for you to leave me like that. A young girl, with short, light brown hair, and shining brown eyes, walked over and took his arm,
"Dart? Are you okay? You've been standing over here for more than an hour." He turned to look at her and smiled.
"Yeah, I'm fine Shana, what's everyone-" he never finished the sentence as a glowing Red stone seemed to fall from the tree and hovered inches from his chest. Suddenly, it seemed to explode with a red light, he was engulfed in flames. Moments later, he stood there, as the Dragoon of Fire.
"My Dragoon! I got it back!" He shouted to the empty air as he flew high above his friends.
"Get back down here you clown!" Albert shouted up at him good naturedly.
"Come get me!" In a flash the other five Dragoons were flashing up towards him, all talking at once. Shana stood alone on the ground. She had given her Dragoon Spirit to Miranda, she wasn't one of them anymore. She turned her head away to hide her tears, and then she saw it. Lying on the ground like a normal rock, lay Dart's Divine Dragoon Spirit, where it had fallen when he had reclaimed his Red Eye Stone. She just stood there eying it when suddenly a hand reached out and picked it up, and a voice said,
"So they left poor little Shana all alone again, huh? Some friends you got there."
She looked up quickly and her eyes widened. Lunging for her bow she notched an arrow, and pointed it at the platinum-haired man before her.
"Lloyd? I thought you were dead?" she demanded, more than asked.
"A common misconception." He smirked. "I was sent back to help you people."
"What do you mean?" she demanded again, the skepticism clear in her voice. "We beat Melbu Frahma, why would we need your help?"
"Even I don't know, all your friend said was that a new threat is about to emerge, and without me, you can't hope to defeat it."
"What friend?" She asked.
"Lavitz."
"I don't believe you, I'm calling the guys; they'll know what to do."
"Suit yourself." He said with another smirk. She ran a short distance away and started calling their names, at the top of her voice. Lloyd leaned against the gnarled trunk and watched her with a detached sort of interest.
Dart heard Shana's cries first and dropped down to see what it was, the rest of the Dragoons followed, wondering what had gotten her so flustered. She recounted what had just happened and they all stood there listening incredulously. Finally Dart stopped her and asked,
"Lloyd, is alive?"
"Yes, and he's right here," cut in an all too familiar voice.
"Lloyd!" came six voices in unison.
"In the flesh," he said, then retold what had happened to him in Mayfil. The six Dragoons listened even more incredulous at his incredible story. Suddenly, Dart couldn't take it anymore and sprang at the Wingly, sword in hand. The sound of steel on steel echoed across the barren wasteland as Lloyd parried the blow with his own blade.
"You kill my best friend, and then I kill you! Now you come back with some bullshit story about how he sent you back to help us? You might as well spit on his grave! I killed you once, and I'll damn well do it again! Red Eye Dragoon EMERGE!"
Flames enveloped the red warrior for the second time that day, and he stood as the Dragoon of Fire. Muttering the words under his breath, he cast the spell 'Flameshot'. The ball of fire flew straight for Lloyd who stood his ground, seemingly unafraid. At the last second, a blinding white light enveloped the Wingly, and he stood there, wearing a familiar chromium-gray armor. Unscathed by the spell.
"As you can see," he said, casually. "I'm one of you now."
"You will never be one of us, as long as I have anything to say about it!" Albert suddenly shouted. "You killed my best knight and friend, I will not rest until I have avenged his death!"
The Wind Dragoon leapt into the air and flew at breakneck speed for the Wingly. Lloyd closed his eyes and called the Dragon Buster to his hand, holding it out in front of him he spoke to the King.
"Either stop your flight, or you die the same way as your precious knight." He said softly.
The King stopped in mid-air and hovered above the Wingly, the rage clearly written on his face. Dropping to the ground he reverted back to his human form. Gripping his lance tightly, he spoke again, through clenched teeth. "What do you want?"
"I want to help you against this threat. To make up for my past sins."
"Nothing you can ever do will make it up to us." Said Dart. "But if there truly is a new evil arising, I would rather you be with us, than against us." He turned to the other Dragoons, "I think we should give him a chance. It's what Lavitz would have wanted." The others nodded their consent. Albeit reluctantly. Lloyd bowed his head and reverted back to his normal form. Once his feet touched the ground he bowed to them.
"I will do my best to help you." Dart simply nodded and walked off. The five Dragon Knights followed him, and Lloyd slowly walked behind the group, his head bent in contemplation.
Kayla sat on the riverbank, fingering the blade of one of her daggers. She'd just been kicked out of the village, again. She looked at her reflection in the river. The girl that stared back had dark violet eyes, and raven black hair that flowed past her shoulders. She was only nineteen, yet she had killed countless men, if those filthy bandits could be called men. She felt no animosity towards them, she just couldn't stand what they did, and the only way to stop them was to kill them. She remembered all the times she'd felt so helpless when they had sacked her town, killing her mother and father, then making her watch as they desecrated their bodies. She'd spent the rest of her life since then looking for the power to get back at them. Now she'd have to continue alone. The last batch of bandits she'd killed hadn't been enough. Another group had swept through her village burning and pillaging, wanting revenge for the deaths of their comrades, comrades she had killed. The chief had thrown her out. And now here she sat. Staring into the river, searching her mind for the answers she didn't have. Enough of this. I'm moving on, I'll find the power, then they'll see. She shook herself and got up, but as she did, she caught a glimpse of something shining in the shallows. Reaching in, she plucked it out, turning it over in her hands, it was a dark purple stone with a star carved into it. It seemed to pulse with a strange light. She shrugged it off as her imagination, put it in her pocket and walked off. The bandits would pay.
My first attempt at a LoD Fanfic! Please review. All CC is appreciated! Thanks!