Author's Note: …Erm…yeah…I don't own any part of Breath of Fire. Rather…tragedyish…this occurs 3 years after BoF2. Will likely get "happier" as plot moves on. Please R&R.
Ryu sat on his bed, his head bowed. Horrific news had arrived all throughout the day, and he was alone in trying to face it. …Well, that wasn't entirely true, but Niro didn't count for much. Ryu had shut himself in his room when the first letter came, but as Niro slid the letters through cracks in the door, he had to accept the facts.
All his friends…gone. They shouldn't have separated…The first letter he had received was one from a nature conservation group. It came while he was having breakfast, while chatting with Niro. A large and well-built man walked up to the house, set down his delivery, and walked off. Upon reading the parchment, Ryu was devastated. Apparently, his friend Spar had attempted to stop loggers from mowing down a forest. He had rallies the trees to help in the fight, and they had been fending off the loggers. After a day of fighting with nature, though, the men got impatient. They simply set fire to the trees, and burnt down the whole area. Spar was not seen exiting the forest, and it was near impossible for him to have survived.
Bow…Bow had gone on a hunting trip. Ryu had complete trust in his good friend's ability to defend himself, so he didn't go with him. That and the fact that Ryu had a broken arm when Bow had left for his trip. This letter came in the flock of three in the middle of the day, when Ryu was stretching his healed arm out. The sun was shining brightly, and Ryu was trying to get over Spar's death. It was delivered to his door by a young Grassrunner, whose shining eyes looked at Ryu with such adoration that Ryu could tell that he had heard of the Destined Child, who had struck down Deatheven years ago. He was accompanied by a much older Grassrunner, who looked stern and led him away after the letter was delivered. Bow's body had been salvaged from a new, re-instated colosseum, and the letter stated that the cadaver would be sent to him (Ryu) later. Supposedly, Bow had been wandering around that area, and, mistaking him for a beast, the colosseum workers had captured him. Upon finding out that he was intelligent, thye had a hard decision to make. To let him free and clear their conscience, or to keep him? They decided to keep him captive, as if let free, he would soil the reputation of the new arena. So they pitted him against various beasts. He had done quite well, but match after match without rest had led to an inevitable defeat. The letter commented, "I used to watch those gladiator matches with glee, enjoying seeing beasts pit against each other with much bloodshed. But seeing one of my own out there just changed it…I understood that it was not right, but it was much too late to do anything about it…after he lost a match, I asked for his corpse, saying that I was family. They grudgingly gave it to me, having some conscience after all, and I decided to write this letter to you first. I am unable to deliver the letter myself at the moment, so have assigned my son and father to give this to you. When I get all the formalities sorted out, I will be able to legally send you Bow's body.
The other two were from Highfort and Windia. Sten had been in the middle of a war between two parts of their nation. He was the High General, and his friend Torubo was just a rank below him. Together, they had fought, and pushed the enemy forces back. But when Torubo disappeared, Sten was forced to promote a new officer to the rank of General. This new officer was really a spy sent by the other army. Sten was stabbed in the back when poison had been slipped into his drink. His army, spurred by their general's poisoned demise, found the spy and eliminated him, and fought on with renewed spirit. They had won the war, and now Highfort was very peaceful, but the damage had been done. Sten was also gone. The letter was from the princess, and was so tear-stained that it was hard to make out the actual message. Delivered by a trained Gonghead, and Ryu was tempted to attack it at first. After seeing that he had read the letter, it sped out the door and left.
The one from Windia horrified him. It was delivered by a maiden with silky white wings, who flashed him a shy smile after delivering the letter, before flying off. Though he could see that the smile was genuine, pain and sadness was vibrant in her eyes, which made him hesitate. In the end, his curiosity won, and he opened and read this next letter. It was even worse. After she had gone back to Windia and assumed the throne, Nina had had a good rule. But a horrible epidemic spread through the city. Nina herslef attempted to treat the victims, but in the end, she, too, caught the sickness. She did her best to fight it, but it was obvious that she would die. Because of this, she decided to make the best of her situation, and gave her life in order to rid her people of the sickness, sacrificing her soul to cure all. But after the ritual that allowed her to do so, there was no body left. She was gone forever, and the correct owner of the throne was being argued about. The letter included her final, dying words: "I shall never forget my life. I have adventured all over the world, with the Destined One. He…truly made me feel complete. And now…now, I will gladly throw away my life for my people, for I have already done enough in life…"
In the afternoon, as the sun was starting to dim, two more parchments containing bad news came in rapid succession. One was given to Ryu by a witch he did not recognize. After he received her package, she immediately Warped away, a grumpy look on her face. And…perhaps there was some angst in her expression, too…The reason for this became evident when he read the letter. Jean had not been doing well in politics lately. Soon after going home, his mother and father died within months of each other, seemingly of natural causes. When he started his rule, he was popular with his people at first, but they began to tire of his carefree manner, and, when a frog who claimed to be Jean's cousin, and therefore, royalty, stepped up with a more serious tone, he had a lot of support. The frogs of Simafort didn't care if his ties with the royal family were real; he seemed real enough for them. So eventually, they overthrew Jean, and the "cousin" took over the throne. His first act as the king was to execute Jean and his sister. His sister managed to escape while Jean fought with the frogs sent after them, but Jean himself did not make it. Petape hid from the palace and lived with the witch, Nimufu, until the "cousin" was revealed for what he truly was: a demon, one of the few that had survived the purge when Deatheven was…"destroyed". The demon was soon impeached, and Petape assumed her position on the throne. Unfortunately, Jean could not be brought back just because things had been made right again…
Rand had run into trouble after living in his hometown for a while. The few St. Eva worshippers left had remembered him and his defiance. They organized themselves, and raided the village. The letter, delivered by a disgruntled, withering old man, said that Rand had fought bravely, but was outnumbered and died from multiple stab wounds. They tore down Farmtown, and, in a last despearte act to end their suffering, killed off their whole group in a fire.
But the worst news came at night, when the sun had gone down. Ryu was sitting on the porch at the tim, wondering how he would cope with all the losses. After the third or fourth letter (he had lost count), Bleu said that she was leaving, and would visit him every once in a while. She Warped away minutes after telling him that. As he sat there, pondering, he noticed a group of people coming towards him. Or, more accurately, Worens. His heart sunk. Surely not her! She had been on her way back to Township! These Worens just wanted to talk to him, him being the Destined One. But a voice in the back of his mind knew it was not true, that he was just persuading himself that she would be alive…he observed the group as they came nearer. They seemed to be circled around something, and, when they reached 5 feet of him, they set whatever they were carrying down, and moved into two parallel lines so Ryu could see. It was a coffin. His heart seemed to stop as he peered through the glass. It was Katt, still as beautiful as she always was and had been to him…but she lay there, unmoving. The color was drained from her face, and all the Worens looked anguished. But Ryu felt the worst of all. He didn't want to hear explanations, he didn't want to know what had happened. He ran up to his room and locked the door. He jumped onto his bed and lay there, sobbing.
