Welcome to this, my overly ambitious project, hobby and first piece of Suikoden fan fiction, the planned first piece in a series of Novels. My goal is this, to blend the wonder of the Suikoden Universe with my own personal vision for a good story, with influences from many forms of music and fiction that I enjoy (A keen Thrice fan may have already picked up on this). Any characters and references from the Suikoden Universe are not owned by me. They belong To Konami Corporation. This piece of fan fiction is intended to be a monument to my love for Suikoden. It is set exactly ten years after the events of Suikoden III and I will strive, where I can, to make sure that any returning characters shall always remain true to their personalities as depicted in the games. In conclusion, I truly hope that anyone who reads this finds as much enjoyment in it as I do in writing it.

Act One: Firebreather – Chapter I – Prologue

As a child I have never in any way stood out from the crowd. My mother, a famous swordswoman, the undisputed hero of the age in our country, Celeste the Flash, a woman who in her youth, defeated and routed an invasion attempt from the Nagera Theocracy, a strange and distant country to the south east, across the sea. She did it almost single handed, with nothing but her famous sword Howling and superior knowledge of the southern terrain of our borders, the King personally declared her his champion, bestowing upon her, the title of The Flash of Zelant. She took it upon herself to train me, her only and entirely useless Son to become a Swordsman, so that I might one day carry on her legacy for the continued glory of The Kingdom of Zelant. Eventually, she opened an entire training school in the village of Saber, each student learning to fight with weapons crafted to mimic the distinctive curved hilt of her own sword. Privately, I had never felt capable of living up to such lofty goals. I never knew my father; my mother abandoned him to his wanderings and took me with her before I was old enough to remember his face. Maybe he was just as hopeless as I was. Or maybe my shortcomings were mine and mine alone...

This morning, the morning of what promised to be the most important day to date of my Twenty Two years, I rose early to get out of the house before my mother could catch me. My best friend Michael and I planned to visit the local Rune Shop, where I intended to purchase a Rune of magic and have it imbued in my left hand by the Rune Mistress. My mother would have disapproved of this decision as with her considerable talents, she never felt the need to augment herself with silly little things like magic and also believed her son to be above such things. I however was nowhere near so confident in myself. I didn't think her legendary talents were in any way genetic.

The morning sun rose to meet me as I ascended the cobble steps to the town square, Michael waiting for me at the top. With his long flowing mane of blonde hair and perfect, easy smile, Michael was easily the most popular boy in town, indeed whenever we were seen together training or chasing local girls around as teenagers, I might have been a tree or a lamppost. Women young and even some older flocked to him. Enchanted by his aura of complete serenity and strength, it emanated from him effortlessly. He was also my better in the realm of Combat, we had trained together under my mother along with the rest of the boys in the village since before I could remember, and yet I had never once defeated him in a duel, he was simply too calm, controlled and sure of himself, while I always let my anger get the better of me and he knew only too well how to turn this to his advantage.

He never believed himself superior to me, and always strived to bring out the best in me, for this I grew to regard him like a brother.

However, we have had our differences in the past, 6 years ago when I turned 16; I met and experienced my first love with a girl from a foreign land. New to the village, she claimed to hail from the distant land of Harmonia on the Northern Continent. I had never heard of it before, but her long silver hair and enchanting blue eyes certainly marked her as foreign to Zelant. So we the villagers of the small town of Saber took her at her word. The local girls whispered, the boys stared, but none dared to approach her.

One day, a day like any other before it, as i sat on the porch in front of my home, carving a figure of some imagined great warrior out of wood, using my mother's dagger given to me for such purposes, the strange girl with the silver hair appeared before me, strange that I had not even seen her approach.

She knelt down to meet me at eye level (such a shade of blue...) and she spoke to me "Little village boy", the sun had not long set and the moon was rising, her long legs and slender figure were accentuated by the form fitting clothing she was wearing. Such a strange accent, she spoke softly and almost musically, "I know you sweet village boy, child of a legend, but you entirely lack the talent of your mother, Celeste the Flash don't you? Ignored by all the girls in the village in favour of your dashing friend with the mane of blonde hair, you believe your own abilities are overshadowed and overlooked by everyone you've ever known, i can read this from your eyes". "Ordinary boy from an ordinary village..."" I find you very interesting indeed" she said to me in her seductive voice. Completely out of my depth and flustered for words to work up a response, yet also angry at her entirely accurate assessment of me, I frowned and she laughed at me. Why the hell was such a description in any way interesting? Who was this girl? "Join me on the hill overlooking the dock later tonight" she whispered into my ear, her scent washing over me, I was intoxicated by it.

The very thought of her invitation froze me to the floor with a look like a terrified deer in the torchlight, but she only laughed again in her otherworldly voice and walked away without waiting for a response, i had no idea how to respond even if she had stayed. That night, the curiosity overpowered me and I went to meet her, blindly stumbling into a situation that we in the village would have called, The Making of a Man.

She revealed her name to me as Cheyenne, a mysterious woman, unknowable and utterly enchanting. Our initial meeting was somehow already widespread knowledge as i was jeered the next day by all the other boys in the village except Michael, who seemed genuinely pleased for me. But this mysterious girl was not destined to remain in the village, or my life for very long. After all, how can an uninteresting one such as I have held her attention longer than I had already managed? Her. The unapproachable. The Enigmatic and mysterious girl from another land...

As I reached the top of the stairs and greeted Michael, I was suddenly bought back into another recollection, this one naught but two weeks after the first. Two weeks of strange visits in the middle of the night, she would climb through my window like a cat, saying nary a word; she would always be gone once more before i woke.

For reasons that remained forever unknown to me, Cheyenne would go on to seduce Michael as she had done with me and lay with him at our same place on the Hill overlooking the dock, a scene I unwittingly stumbled upon while searching for her in childish heartsick desperation. She vanished from town the next day without so much as an explanation or apology. I never saw her again. But my heart was broken. My already short temper grew shorter; i needed an outlet for this all consuming anger that refused to abate.

For a long time i turned this anger to my training, I hated Michael and seethed with a burning desire to one day best him, best him at everything, become great enough to defeat him and make him pay for his betrayal. Indeed, I stubbornly carried that grudge against him for years but eventually, I learned to put it aside. After all, she was but one girl was she not? Strange fleeting dream from a distant land, gone as quickly as she appeared. How could I let such things affect me so? Put it down to my youth I suppose.

Betrayal or no, Michael was my greatest friend, possibly my only true friend, he had apologized to me profusely at first, but he was never a man to dwell on the past. He looked to the future, and she was but one in a long line of village conquests, there were rumours that he had even seduced the local Rune Mistress, though he with a wry smile, had revealed to me that he would never attempt such a thing. He claimed she intimidated even him.

Tonight was the night that the two of us were to fight a ceremonial duel in front of the company of the Kings Court. Together, we planned to get twin Runes augmented onto ourselves as a sign of our brotherhood. For Michael, a fire rune on his right hand." "For myself, the same rune on my left hand." While not at all confident in my ability to put on a good show for the King and Queen, Michael and I planned to spend the day training with our Swords and our new Runes.

I knew my mother would eventually catch me and scold us both at some point today, she wanted to oversee our preparations for the duel personally and she loved Michael as though he were another son to her. She saw him as the blueprint for what she would build me up to, a fantastic scion to carry on the name of the Flash. The very thought annoyed the hell out of me. What if I didn't want to serve my country? Maybe I felt crushed under the weight of such responsibility, the weight of her dreams. Dwelling on all these things was a sure-fire way to put me in a bad mood to start the day.

With a snap of his fingers, Michael roused me out of my rambling thoughts. "Wake up Jack" He said. "Relax a little; you're going to do fine, just imagine how impressed the King will be when we use our runes to augment our swords. Who doesn't like flaming swords? We'll be the Shining Stars, the burning new hope of Zelant!" I sighed at him and his dramatic declarations and motioned towards the Rune Shop. "Come on Michael, let's just get this over with" I said tiredly as we entered the store.

Inside, my eyes fell upon the Rune Mistress, with fantastically foreign pink hair and a figure that did not belong to a mortal woman, Jeanne the Rune Mistress was lusted after by all the men in Saber, and even some of the women. I stood there flustered for a second before Michael barrelled past me and walked right up to the counter. 'Rune Mistress Jeanne" he said confidently. "My Brother Jack and I seek to purchase two Fire Runes, imbued on opposite hands as a mark of our brotherhood" he said proudly as The Rune Mistress silently regarded us both. She smiled at him and in a sultry voice said "You two must be the boys who will perform the Ceremonial Duel today! Oh but aren't you handsome?" I got the sense that she was saying that to Michael and not to me but I had long since learned not to let such thoughts show on my features. "Yes Indeed" I said, trying to make a show of Michael's confidence.

"Please Rune Mistress, if my mother comes looking for us, we were never here ok?" She laughed a little. "Yes, Celeste the Flash, I can't imagine the mighty champion, the Flash of Zelant herself, being happy that her son wants to become a rune wielder" Michael grinned at me, he always enjoyed watching any interactions I had with women in the village and especially with complete knockouts such as The Rune Mistress Jeanne, he had tried for years to coach me to be more confident in speaking to women. I personally thought that my current progress with the rune mistress wasn't a big deal just yet and pressed on "You're quite right my Lady, I don't share the same disdain for the magical arts that my mother does, however, Michael and I are determined to impress the King" Michael smiled again and turned to Jeanne" My lady if you would, I have the required payment here" He handed her 2000 Potch, our entire shared savings, which she accepted with a sly smile.

Ok boys" I understand completely, I would be most pleased to help you in any way I can. "She shot Michael a lecherous grin then glanced at me. "Jack, give me your left hand, Michael, your right if you please. We offered our arms over the counter, and Jeanne pulled two stones from under the counter, Crimson in colour and shining subtly but brilliantly, The Rune Mistress took the stones in her hands and began to chant, I suddenly felt a rush of sensations shoot through my left arm...