Hi, guys! :) Hey, look – this time it didn't take me a month to update/upload something. XD I also just remembered that I promised shorter notes in Beyond's latest chapter (17), so all I'll say this time is that in addition to the usual stuff making me sick, I have a sore throat (it's starting to go away, though). Here's the profile-summary-description-thing that was on my profile:
Blue Dragon: Yami no Himitsu (Blue Dragon: Darkness' Secret/Blue Dragon: Secret of the Darkness): This takes place after Tenkai no Shichi Ryuu, several months after the final showdown with Rudolf. This probably would've been more sequel-like than Blue Dragon: Fierruneru no Unmei, except this story will have normal, story-type chapters, rather than the chapters of Fierruneru no Unmei, which are written to be as close to an episode of the anime as possible. Yami no Himitsu is one I'm looking forward to very much, mostly because of the main thing about it - which is that it attempts to bring in ideas from the Blue Dragon manga, Ral Grad. From what I've seen, the manga, sadly, is less known than even the Blue Dragon game or anime. I haven't read much of Ral Grad, save for two or three chapters via manga websites, but I'm going to start reading more once I start working on Yami no Himitsu for real. The only character from the manga who will make an appearance is Lady Bira (also known as Bira-sama or Queen Opsquria), save for Aia making a possible cameo (if I can work her in somehow, which I might be able to); keeping to how the characters are different in the game and anime, Bira (and possibly Aia) will be slightly different from her manga counterpart. I'm hoping to look into a few theories I have about the Darkness (now, if I can just not forget any of them before I start writing this thing...), and to a lesser degree, about Shadows in general, and about Zola. Though it doesn't play as big of a role, there will be some romance in this; main pairings will be Shu x Bouquet and Andropov x Kluke x Jiro (with a heavier slant toward the latter part of that love triangle equation). There might also be some fairly light Marumaro x Primula or Noi x Primula; I haven't entirely planned out those scenes yet, and I'm not sure which one of them will be with her at the time, or if there will be any romance occurring just then. A love triangle (another one XD) is also possible, but I'll have to write it out and see how it goes. That's pretty much it, though; this one should be fun to write. ;)
So, that's it until the ending note; after the disclaimer, read on! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Dragon, either season. I do kind of own the plot of this fan fiction, the minor changes to Bira's personality, and the fictional quotes at the beginning of each chapter (including this prologue). :P
It was a time of peace, full of promise. None of us knew that a dark shadow still lingered. - Lady Primula Tarkovsky, 47th Ruler of Nirvana
Darkness, everywhere...
Numbness, all over...
A memory of shadow and evil. A memory of light and space.
A voice, breaking the monotonous, pressing silence.
"Sh... Shu... J... Jiro..."
An awakening.
"I swear," Primula said wryly, "you get better at this by the day."
Shu grinned. "I'm usually bad at stuff like this," he moved one of the chess pieces on the board, "but I picked up a few things from some unlikely teachers."
"Who?" She furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the board. Yes, he was definitely getting good at this game.
He laughed lightly. "You'd be surprised."
Lacing her fingers together, she leaned on her hands. "Try me."
"Maybe some other time." He still seemed in a good mood, but evasive. Primula wondered about it, but let it pass as he continued, "You are losing, in case you've forgotten."
"I am not." Her tone was a slight, mock-indignation. "I'm simply waiting for the right moment."
A light shrug. "Wait if you want, but if you take too much longer, the game will be over anyway."
She thumbed one of the closer pieces, her mind already several moves ahead. "We'll see about that."
"You know, Kluke, I can carry it-"
"She asked me to do it! Will you stop bothering her already?!"
"I am not bothering her." Andropov turned to her, crystal blue eyes flashing. "I'm not bothering you, right?"
"U-um..." She had no idea how to respond; if she sided with one of them, the other's feelings would surely be hurt.
Kluke dearly, truly, wished that at the moment, she was anywhere else but here, sandwiched between an angry Andropov and an equally angry Jiro.
"You're bothering her just by asking," Jiro, clearly exasperated, saved her from answering. "Honestly, I have no idea how she could stand being stuck up there in the mountains with you."
"For your information, we did just fine up there," Andropov snapped at him. "I think the real question is how she could stand traveling around with you. If I remember correctly, you were even more of a jerk back then than you are now."
"Andropov, Jiro is not a jerk," Kluke interrupted, fed up with their bickering. "Not now, and not in the past. And Jiro, let it alone; Andropov was sick, badly injured from the Battle of Darkness, and I was happy to take care of him." She stood up stiffly. "Now, if you two are quite finished biting each other's heads off, there are still things to be moved."
She looked to the side, but she could still see them from the corner of her eye. They seemingly didn't know this, however - they were too busy sending each other hostile glares.
Kluke turned her head away fully now. Letting her eyes slide shut, she sighed wearily. Why can't these two get along?
The sun was high now, he noted. Primula had been dragged into one of those, as he eloquently put it, formal-obligatory-luncheon-things; Shu had been fortunate enough to escape, but had been left with little to do, and had quickly found himself wandering the gardens. It was kind of boring, but he didn't mind too much - some of the more tree-filled parts of the grounds reminded him of Talta's outlying forest.
Shu thought he understood now why Primula came here so often. It was a good place, he'd found, for letting your mind wander.
Even now, he could scarcely believe it - it had already been three months since that final battle with Rudolf. Things had been completely at peace since then - leaders from around the world were constantly arriving at Nirvana to formalize treaties and agreements, and Primula had been handling it expertly. Rogi had ceased his campaign; White Brigade and Rosenkreuz had even officially become allies. Save for one or two times during the first month after, where there had been some minor incidents concerning Grand Kingdom loyalists (there still seemed to be quite a few of those around, but most were in hiding nowadays, or seemed to be), there had been no disturbances whatsoever.
And about a week ago, Shu had even gotten a note from Noi, which he had mysteriously found on his pillow when he woke up one day, right in front of his face (albeit a messily-written and wrinkled note that had appeared to be written on very old parchment), which was still carefully folded at the bottom of his left pocket.
Sorry; expected to have visited by now, but things have been busy. I couldn't even bring this myself; had to teleport it. Will try to come sometime before your birthday (sorry again, since I know that's still half a year from now). But I'll definitely be there in six months for you and everyone else's thirteenth; wouldn't miss it. Here's hoping both of us are taller by then. Say "hi" to Bouquet and Marumaro for me. -Noi
Shu sighed, patting the pocket. It was things like that - any kind of reminder - that made him miss that month of traveling with Bouquet, Noi and Marumaro.
He shook his head to rid himself of the thought. It wasn't like they were gone; he'd been seeing Bouquet and Marumaro when it wasn't his turn to watch over Primula, and he'd be seeing them again soon (three days, in fact). He'd have to wait a while for Marumaro, since it was his turn next. But Shu could still see him before he left to meet up with Bouquet at the Resistance camp.
"Master Shu-"
"Aah!" Shu stumbled forward, arms goings into a momentary pinwheel before he caught himself on a nearby tree. Letting out a short breath of relief, he glared over his shoulder. "Can you try to not sneak up on me all the time, Szabo?" Why couldn't he have been a Mecha Robo with feet?
"Forgive me, Master Shu, but Lady Primula is finished now, and requested to see you."
"Alright," Shu let go of the tree, after all this time still unable to escape the weird feeling he had whenever he and Szabo conversed normally. "Tell her I'll be there in a minute."
Szabo gave a short bow, then left.
Shu started off the way the Mecha Robo had gone, but stopped, turning around quickly, eyes wide.
For a second... he'd thought he had someone whispering his name...
He stood still for a moment, waiting. No one appeared to be around. I must be imagining things. Probably just the wind or something. Turning back around, he headed for the castle, never giving it a second thought.
Thick, unnaturally black-green vines covered the surface of a cavern floor. But it was difficult to tell that they were even there, let alone what color they were. The area was bathed in shadow.
Visible, but just barely, was the form of a woman, sitting high upon something that couldn't be seen. She spoke, her voice sultry and influencing.
"Who do you worship?"
The shadows moved.
"You, Lady Bira!"
"Who would you give your minuscule lives for?"
"You, Lady Bira!!"
"Who do you love?"
"You, Lady Bira!!!"
There was a pause, the voices fading into echoes. And then she began again.
"Who is the most beautiful of all?"
"You, Lady Bira!"
"Do you wish for me to remain beautiful?"
"Of course, Lady Bira!"
"Then bring them," her voice suddenly picked up, laced with excitement. "Bring any young girls you can find, so I may use their youth to make me more beautiful than I already am. To whoever brings me the loveliest girl..." She gave them a cool, calculating glance, her smile as wide as ever. "They shall receive a lock of my hair."
There was suddenly a great, clamorous uproar as the shapes began turn on each other, inhuman shrieks and screams of pain filling the near-endlessly large room as they all fought each other to be the first to reach the surface - all for a strand of hair from a queen who did not care if they lived or died.
She leaned back, enjoying the noise that was so pleasant to her ears, that anyone from Above would consider monstrous. "Soon, very soon, my subjects will bring me what I desire, and I will become irresistible to all. No being will be able to deny me." She brushed her fingers lovingly (obsessively) along a perfectly round crystal held by vines; it was one of the few things that gave off any kind of illumination. Pictured in it was a moving image - a blur of orange and brown exiting a well-kept garden. "It is only a matter of time. Soon, my little Dragon, you'll be all mine."
Sorry it was so short; it's a prologue, but still… I'm glad things are kind of getting underway, though I'm probably more looking forward to what's coming up in the next (first) chapter. The second and third scenes seem a bit weak to me, though I'll let you guys decided about that. :) Also, I'm breaking the following part into another paragraph (and will be doing so).
If you can, please review and let me know what you think! :) The poll will be taken down temporarily while I use my old updating method; after the next update, the poll will come back up. The next story will probably be Blue Dragon Beyond, but I'm not sure yet. Hopefully, it won't take so long this time.
See you soon! :)