"Hey, Spyro, did you see Bolzan lately?" Cynder asked as Spyro romped around the field with Ferno and Arashi. Cynder was resting beneath the shade of an oak tree, its flame of leaves providing ample shade from the midday sun. Beside her, Neve was noshing on a turkey leg as Noctis lay on Cynder's belly, relaxing in the comfortable sunlight.
"Hm? Bolzan? No, I haven't seen him lately... C'mere, you!" Spyro had caught up with Arashi and was mock-wrestling her playfully to the ground while Ferno, laughing happily, piled on top of them.
"Yeah, where IS he?" Neve looked up from her lunch as Spyro came under the tree with Ferno and Arashi.
"Mmnnnn…" Noctis rolled over and lazily opened his eyes.
"Should we go and find him?" Spyro asked, realizing that none of them had seen him for the past month.
"Maybe we should ask at the temple first, he could be there for some business." Cynder replied casually as she passed each of them some food.
"Yeah, maybe later." Spyro lay down under the shade with his family, unaware of the peril that would strike Avalar soon…
"Light-ning!" Serah shouted loudly as she and Snow walked through the Mah'habara, still wondering where her sister was a month after Lightning's sudden disappearance.
"Come on out, Light! Are you still here?" Snow added loudly to Serah's words.
"Of course she is! Her chocobo was outside the Mah'habara, still waiting for her!" Serah reminded her fiancée irritably.
"Whoa, calm down, Serah! I'm just trying to help…" Snow replied dejectedly.
Serah sighed and continued walking down the earthen corridors of the Mah'habara, still searching for her missing sister.
Ever since Lightning had disappeared a month ago, she hadn't stopped searching for her. Having asked around in the neighboring cities and villages, she got a hint that Lightning was last seen heading towards the Mah'habara, which explained why she was here with Snow.
Steadying her long bow, Fallen Wing, she fired off another series of flares into the dark caverns up ahead.
Behind her, Snow couldn't help but admire his future wife's tenacity as he followed her deeper into the caves. Clearly he'd made the right choice.
"The perfect combination of looks and guts…" Snow whispered to himself dreamily.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing!" He hastily added as a slight tremor rocked the cavern, far too faint to be of any consequence at the moment.
An armored knight in dragonesque armor walked calmly out of the dilapidated ruins, facing down the beasts that surged forth from the wastelands up ahead. With a blade in each paw and a veritable armory hovering around his body protectively, he strode out of the gateless entrance to the ruins.
Next to him, a woman with pink hair stepped out as well, wielding a device that was half-sword, half-gun. Transitioning from gun to blade seamlessly in a burst of black petals and white feathers, she walked up next to the dragon warrior with his armory of weapons, his twin-colored armor glinting in the perpetually weak sunlight.
Behind them, a mechanical warrior clad in red, a pair of ice machines shaped like beautiful ladies, a massive wall-like armored machine warrior and a god-like figure with a double-sided sword, both blades curved in a question-mark, followed.
The godly figure walked calmly towards the woman, transitioning into a majestic mechanical steed in the blink of an eye with the blades in its mouth.
She patted the beast on the head and leapt onto its back, accepting the blade it had offered to her.
"Thank you, Odin. Ready to go, Bolzan?" She turned to the armor-clad warrior, who turned and flashed a toothy grin, revealing a row of dragon fangs.
"Of course, I was waiting for you!"
They turned towards the oncoming horde, now closer than ever, and sprinted off into battle.
A month ago, Bolzan and Lightning had been brought to a deserted and dead landscape. Bolzan had arrived first and headed towards the ruins in the distance and, when Lightning arrived a short while later, she was naturally compelled to follow the tracks she saw before her, the only sign of life in the otherwise barren landscape.
When she got to the ruins, the first thing she saw was a young dragon, ambling around aimlessly.
Believing it to be a hostile force, she charged in, gunblade in hand.
A quick scuffle took place, destroying most of the entrance to the ruins before a larger, purplish dragon stepped out of the door beyond and eyed them angrily, silencing them like a pair of misbehaving children.
He had led them deeper into the ruins, explaining the reason as to why the two of them were here.
"We are at war here, in the world between worlds, The Betwixt. Both of you have been chosen as Champions from your respective worlds…" He sighed when Bolzan and Lightning eyed each other angrily, both covered in scratches and cuts.
"As I was saying, I'm Lazarus…"
"I already know that." Bolzan grumbled, unwilling to fight with the woman who had attacked him on sight.
"But I don't, you idiot." She snapped back coldly to the beast and they were about to begin bickering again when they hit their heads on a low-lying piece of rock.
"Ow!" They cried out in unison, rubbing their heads. Lazarus couldn't help but snigger at this sight.
"Anyway, there're a few more people both of you will have to meet before you can fight. Come with me." They continued down the path in relative silence until it opened up into a chamber where 3 figures were waiting for them.
"Ignitus!" Bolzan shouted, recognizing the red dragon that stood before him, running up and nuzzling him fondly in the chest.
"So, who're you?" Lightning asked the 2 other being in the room. They seemed very familiar to her…
"Hello, Lightning, I am Bahamut and this is…" The many-handed being ran forwards and lifted Lightning in a hug.
"Lightning! I missed you so much!" That accent struck a chord with her and she realized who it was.
"Vanille!" She exclaimed in surprise as the eidolon set her down.
"Yep!" Even through the menacing exterior, that same bubbly personality shone through, instantly recognizable as Vanille's.
"I guess you know who I REALLY am, now. Good to see you again Lightning!" The mechanical dragon extended a hand in a friendly gesture and Lightning shook it, careful not to punch holes in her palm from the razor-sharp claws.
"Nice to see you too, Fang!" Lightning replied happily; glad to see her two friends once again, even if they were in their eidolons.
"So, you know each other?" Bolzan asked playfully, earning him an angry glance from Lightning.
"I guess you're not the best of friends yet, huh?" Vanille remarked cheekily.
"No…" Lightning turned to the two other dragons and, with a quick nod of the head, introduced herself to them as Bolzan did the same with Vanille and Fang.
"Well, now that we've met, both of you have to be prepared if you want to protect your worlds…" Ignitus led Bolzan down one hallway while Fang and Vanille led Lightning down the other one.
Lazarus, now alone in the chamber, closed his eyes and took a quick look around the ruins. It seemed fairly clear with no sign of any hostile forces anywhere. However, he had noticed a disturbing energy growing in the distance.
"They're coming again…" Lazarus muttered, opening his eyes slowly before following Ignitus into the hallway.
"Bolzan…" Ignitus began, rifling through the books before stopping on one of them.
"Ah! There it is!" He pulled out a black book with Bolzan's name written in large cursive font over the front.
"What?" Bolzan tried to sneak a peek of the interesting book that Ignitus had taken from the monstrous bookshelf that covered the entire wall.
"My eyes only, Little One. Calm yourself down." Bolzan didn't really like it when someone called him something that implied he was still merely a child and he sat back down, sulking.
"I see… Okay, then, you'll be alright as a Champion." Ignitus slammed the book shut, jolting Bolzan from his comfortable nap on the floor.
"Wha…?" He blinked sleepily as Ignitus walked over to help him up, suddenly massive.
Bolzan stood up groggily and, with a little bit of effort, took a few toddling steps forwards.
Wait… TODDLING?
"Why the hell am I like this?" Bolzan shouted angrily, looking down at his now infantile body.
"I suppose that'll be because of me…" Lazarus' stepped out from behind the hourglass with a bag of stones slung around his neck.
"How'd you even do this?" Bolzan tried to walk over to Lazarus to give him a piece of his mind before falling flat on the floor after 5 shaky steps.
"Only I should be able to do this to myself!" He grunted angrily, rolling belly-up on the floor, eyeing Lazarus angrily.
"Sorry about that; it was the only way to let you assimilate with such a large amount of Lazarite. This bag used to be full to the brim!" Lazarus plunked the near empty bag onto the ground right in front of Bolzan. The bag was absolutely gigantic in Bolzan's juvenile eyes and, frankly, it didn't bring back many good memories…
"There, there, no need to cry now…" He hadn't even realized he was crying as Lazarus picked him up. Bolzan furiously wiped away the tears as he frowned angrily at Lazarus through bloodshot eyes.
"Whatever, don't ever do that again, you hear me?" Bolzan was thoroughly surprised when a blade manifested itself in his paw without any thought as he gestured menacingly at Lazarus, only managing to look absolutely adorable, given his childish features.
"What the…" He eyed the blade suspiciously as Lazarus closed his eyes and smiled.
"Looks like it worked fine, Bolzan." He opened his eyes and set Bolzan back down on the floor where he proceeded to try and stand up once again.
"If you can't stand up, you won't be able to…"
"I KNOW." Bolzan growled.
Lazarus grinned at Ignitus, who sighed and picked up Bolzan.
"Don't worry; like always, it's not permanent, remember?" Ignitus patted the angry hatchling in an effort to soothe his anger.
"God, I hope Lightning doesn't see me like… Oh crap." He blushed and buried himself into Ignitus' embrace when he caught sight of Lightning, sniggering at the entrance to the study.
"GO. AWAY." Bolzan growled; his voice muffled from his snout being buried in Ignitus' arms.
"No." Lightning smiled and crossed her arms, leaning on the entrance to show she wasn't about to leave anytime soon.
"So, he's all kitted out?" Lightning gestured to the extremely embarrassed Bolzan and Lazarus nodded.
"I take it you're ready as well?" Lazarus replied as Ignitus came over with Bolzan in tow.
"Bolzan? You can look up now." Bolzan opened one eye slowly and shut it again when he saw Lightning, hiding his blushing face in Ignitus' chest once again.
Watching Bolzan's juvenile antics, Lightning couldn't help but warm up to him, especially after what Fang had told her. She placed a hand on her heart and sighed.
"I thought I was already free… Looks like it's not over yet…" She mumbled before teasing Bolzan until he was at the point of tears.
Seeing that she'd nearly made him cry, Lightning strolled over and stroked his head warmly.
"Sorry, kid…"
Bolzan looked up for the first time and met her eye to eye, still blushing a lot with small tears pricking at the edge of his eyes.
"It's alright… We're stuck here so, might as well be friendly about it…" Bolzan sniffled and held out a paw to Lightning.
"Right. Sorry I attacked you just now." She held out a hand and Bolzan grasped a finger, his small paw unable to grasp her entire hand.
"Don't worry, I'll be alright!" He sneezed and rubbed his snout with the back of his paw.
"Anyway, what's your new skill?"