"So, Miza-chan~" Vector giggled as he turned around to see the blonde dragon-human hybrid standing in the center of the throne room. "What do you think of my castle?" He used his staff to point around; to the balcony, to the walls, everywhere. It was more of a taunt and less of an actual question.
"Vector..." Mizael growled, not in the mood for things like this. His leathery wings itched and he felt the urge to just go ahead and put an end to Vector's life, if only to wipe that smirk off Vector's face.
But Mizael needed answers.
"What has happened to my body?!" Mizael demanded, pointing at his golden wings and tail.
Mizael had always loved and admired dragons. In fact, he did not even particularly mind his current physical form.
It just hurt his pride that such a significant change to his body had happened without his consent. And if Mizael hated one thing, then it was things not going the way he desired it.
In that way, he and Vector were similar. Too similar.
But even worse than all of this was the damage done to his memories. Ever since he'd transformed into the... thing he currently was, he had been lacking memories everywhere.
Important memories.
Ironically, he still remembered an innocent orange-haired brat that had kept annoying him when they had been children. Children in a village where... where... The memory slipped away.
But one thing was for sure, Mizael figured, and it was that this brat was barely recognizable at all right now, Vector's mad expression was the exact opposite of the warm smiles that he had used to give.
Yet none of this was important to Mizael. It was in the past.
Faintly, in the back of his mind, Mizael wondered. Wondered if he had been different before... this happened, too. But he shoved the thought aside.
He was Mizael, the Dracoslayer.
That was the title he'd been given. He would live up to it and defeat Vector, the Dracoverlord.
That was his duty. If not for all the lives that Vector had taken, then for the sake of proving that he was stronger than him.
But now, Vector cackled. "If I knew, I wouldn't look like this, would I?" Silver hair, grey skin. Black wings, a tail. Not human.
Vector was right, and Mizael knew, and he shook his head because Vector was the only person who could've known what was going on.
Vector, the one who was using Dragon Alchemy in order to turn all living things into his minions; horrible, corrupted shadows of what they had used to be.
The man who was feared by many for his power, to the point where the only ones left to oppose him were Mizael and, of course, Durbe.
Durbe, the one with the pegasus, the one who was still human, the one who had barely survived. Durbe who would tell Mizael that they were good friends (something Mizael did in fact remember), who'd tell Mizael about 'Nasch' and 'Merag' and all the other people Mizael had forgotten about. He had not forgotten everything about Vector and Durbe, though.
But this was something Mizael had to do alone - both to keep Durbe out of trouble and to prove that he could do this.
However, before that, he wanted to find out how he had become this, and why.
There had to be a reason.
Of course, it would've been the easiest to just blame Vector, but Mizael knew that it would be incorrect - Vector would never do something like that to his own body, because really, who would?
That only left one conclusion: Vector had been forced into this as well and, unlike Mizael, he had accepted that power and used it for pointless things such as world domination.
But Mizael was left no further time to think, because right when he opened his mouth again, Vector snapped his fingers and Mizael could hear... roars.
He barely managed to evade the monster's attack.
These were Vector's minions - pitiful animal-dragon hybrids with only the will to destroy left in them. The desire to devour other living beings. These beings whose only salvation could be death were forced under the magic of Vector, even incapable of putting an end to their own misery.
But Mizael would do it for them.
As the Dracoslayer drew his sword, he could see Vector grinning from the corner of his eye, but he quickly focused on his enemies again.
Quick, precise and dangerous slices were part of his fighting style; Mizael did not play with his enemies, and something in the back of his mind told him that Vector probably would.
As he finished three of the creatures, Mizael was sure he could hear his own heart pound, and he was panting as he folded his wings again.
He could not fly with them, and he was convinced that Vector could not, either.
They were no real dragons, after all.
In the meantime, Vector sat down on his throne again. "Oh, I forgot to ask~ You know what the runes on the walls are for, right?"
"What?!" Mizael took a second to look at his actual surroundings, had not looked at them before, had dismissed them as unimportant.
The walls were covered in runes that now started to glow.
And it was then that Mizael realized that he'd been lured into a trap.
He realized one moment too late, because it was then that a creature manifested in front of him. A creature that was barely a hybrid anymore, almost a full dragon at this point, but it would never be like the majestic beings that Mizael had always dreamt of. That Mizael had... had he ever seen an actual dragon? He was not sure, but it felt like that.
And now that creature was ready to fight him.
"What did you want to say, Miza-chan?" Vector taunted, a chuckle in his voice. "You know, you could've saved yourself and Durbe all the trouble by just not getting in my way. Too bad."
If gazes could kill people, Vector would be dead now. But they could not.
"What made me lose my memories?" Mizael asked while barely evading a hit from the draconic creature.
Vector shrugged with an amused grin. "Don't know. Probably the same thing that caused me to lose mine. Doesn't matter now though, does it? You're going to hell soon, anyway."
"I am Mizael, the Dracoslayer, and I'm not gonna lose to likes of you, Vector!" Mizael shouted, landing his first hit on the creature, which let out a terrifying roar in response.
"But aren't we the same? You're using the power of Dragon Alchemy as well. The same power that killed Nasch and Merag, the power that almost killed your precious Durbe, mind you." Vector laughed, and right then all Mizael wished for was being able to get rid of that laugh, to not have to hear it. Vector was not even wrong. The power that Vector used for the dishonorable and dreadful things he did was the same power that enabled Mizael to fight him right now. This power was also what Mizael hoped to be the solution for his memory loss problem.
And it was the rage born from the scratch Vector's words had left on Mizael's pride, that rage was what gave Mizael the push to end this even faster.
Vector raised an eyebrow when Mizael jumped and sliced the draconic creature in two. Vector's staff transformed into a black sword. "What a bother, now I actually have to do this myself."
"Vector..." Mizael hissed as he charged forward.
But as soon as their blades connected, a blinding light took their vision.
When Mizael managed to open his eyes again, he saw a purple orb of energy floating above them, and it was drawing energy from... everything around it. The remains of Vector's minions seemed to fuel it, and even Mizael felt himself getting weaker. This was draining his energy.
From the looks of it, Vector experienced similar trouble because he pushed Mizael away, panting lightly.
"Seems like whatever has given us this power knew that this would happen," Vector commented, now more interested than disturbed by the energy orb that was steadily absorbing their power. "But this power could be useful if I made it mine."
Mizael knew he had to prevent that, rushed towards Vector again, but Vector managed to avoid his hit - something that undoubtedly was only possible because Mizael was worn out from the fight and having more his energy drained with every second that passed.
"Time to enjoy myself." Vector touched the source of energy, the light expanded, and once more their vision was taken.
Mizael knew he had to brace himself for what was about to come, but he could not.
He stumbled in a direction that he hoped was a wall, because walls were potentially safer than a room's center, but then something unexpected happened.
"Mizael, you have to get out of here!" Mizael felt himself dragged off his feet, tried to protest but could not, felt wind around him.
When the black spots finally disappeared from his vision, he took notice of the roars he could hear in the distance, the fact that the sky had darkened and that he was leaving the tower behind him.
He quickly realized he could feel soft fur under his hands, and it took him only a few seconds more to realize he was on a very familiar pegasus' - Mach's - back. He positioned himself properly on the pegasus, turning around to see Durbe who was giving him an apologetic smile.
"Durbe!" Mizael exclaimed, surprised to see his grey-haired friend here. "...Why?"
"Because we're friends and you would've been unable to handle... that." Durbe pointed to the tower that they were getting increasingly more distance from. The light was still visible, even from that distance.
"I need to retrieve my memories and put an end to Vector," Mizael protested, but Durbe shook his head and gave Mach a sign to fly downwards.
"Not now. We need to find out what powers he's gained, and then we take care of this."
Mizael was aware that Durbe hated war, but he was also certain that the only thing that Durbe hated more than war was seeing his friends get hurt.
There was no arguing with Durbe to that.
However, one thing was for sure. Whatever had caused Vector and Mizael to become this way, it had plans for them that no one had actual control over.
And so Mizael nodded, reluctantly. "Fine, but be careful."
Mizael rarely listened to anyone, and in fact, he usually did not listen that much to Durbe, either. But Durbe was being reasonable and Mizael would be a fool for not accepting that.
The clash of the Dracorivals would continue another day.
And Mizael would make sure that he'd be the one to win.