A window to the past

It was a window to his days with his last Tamer, Daisuke Niwa! He could see everyone; Daisuke, his mother Emiko, his friends Takeshi and Satoshi, everyone he knew was there. He was shocked; what was going on here?! He continued to watch the memories as they went by; the more he watched, the stronger the images became. It took a few weeks before Krad finally realized something was up with Dark. He had to actually look for his opposite half; he found him nearly two days later.

"DARK!!! What are you doing?!" roared Krad annoyed.

"I told you we were turning into dragons. And you just proved it…" said Dark, uninterested.

"You haven't answered my question! What are you doing?"

"I'm watching."

"Watching WHAT exactly?!"

"The past. And before you ask something stupid, I am not crazy; I found something that replays the past!"

"You're bluffing. The only window in here is the one we use to talk to…"

"You don't believe me; then come see for yourself! I'll set the time frame to the moments before the Black Wings was originally split into us," said Dark.

Sure enough, Krad watched as the Niwa clan interrupted the ceremony and they were cursed with their old selves. His eyes widened and he turned to Dark.

-----

"How is this possible?"

"I don't know… a few weeks ago I started to reminisce about my life as a Phantom Thief and then I discovered this. At first, the longer I watched the stronger the images became until finally I could see as clearly as if I was actually there."

"I don't know how or why this is here, but you need to return to the present! Our friend has started wondering where you are!"

"Tell him that I found something that caught my interest. I won't leave until I find out why this window exists…which could take a while."

"Are you sure he'll buy that?"

"In case you haven't noticed, sometimes he goes adventuring with the humans and doesn't return for decades. By the time his interest in questing comes back, the humans are either dead or too old. He'll understand."

"Fine…I'll tell him that I'll join you in that."

"So you two found something that has caught your interest? How long until you feel like talking again?"

"He said it could take a while. It'll probably be quite a few years."

"Huh…in that case, I think I'll leave you two be. I was thinking of joining some adventurers for a while anyway. Do you think you'll be ready to talk when I get back?"

"I don't know. But I think we might be ready to talk again by then."

"I'll see you two in a few decades or so then. I'll make sure no one comes in to disturb you while I'm gone."

"Thanks…and good luck on your adventure!"

The Brass Dragon left the lair and completely blocked the entrances so no one, not even another Dragon, could get in except him. After they were covered, he cast a spell so that in case someone did manage to get in, they would either die on the spot or be put into a very deep sleep. He flew off to meet up with his traveling companions an hour later.

"He's gone off on another quest with the humans and locked us in here by ourselves. What're you doing now?"

"I'm gonna try something. I've never tried to touch the window itself, except to go past a part I don't want to watch."

"Why are you doing that? What's the point?"

"I want to see if we can be taken to THAT particular point in time to see it firsthand. Or if it'll take me there to actually interact with the past."

"Are you insane?! If you interfere with the past, you could very easily destroy our future! Are you willing to risk everything on a whim?!"

"Yes," said Dark bluntly.

"You can't do this!"

"What if nothing happens?"

"Then we'll just watch the timeline like we have been doing for a while now."

"Fair enough."

As Dark leaned forward to touch the window itself, something strange began to happen. His wings melded into scales and his hair flattened onto him. His eyes became slits, his arms long powerful limbs that ended in sharp claws, his teeth were longer and definitely sharper, and he grew a long reptilian tail. He became…a Dragon!

"Dark…"

"What? Woah…what's with my voice?!"

"You just turned into a dragon."

"WHAT!"

"Scales, teeth, claws, the whole thing!"

"What color?"

"I think you're purple…but your scales make me think you're a Silver."

"They're reflective? So that would mean my scales are amethysts. What about the eyes?"

"Same as they were before, only now they're slit like a cat."

"Woah… I wonder what kind of dragon you'll turn into."

"I don't know and I don't care. What are we gonna tell him when he gets back?!"

"I don't know. I'll return soon enough though," said Dark.

As Dark touched the window, his body was thrown into the past itself. He chose a point in time at random, and was then sent there. He was surprised by the fact that no one seemed to see him at all! He walked among the past, and (much to his amusement) had all the mortal things walk right through him and not feel a thing! When the event was over, he was sent back to the past windows. He again chose a point in time, and was sent there. This time however, there was a different result!

He was in his own past, or what used to be his past as a Phantom Thief! He flew around, beating his powerful new wings. He thought he'd amuse himself by flying beside who he used to be. Too bad there was a catch!

"What the…! Hey Daiki, do you see that?"

See what Dark?

"You don't see that thing flying beside us?!"

You're imagining things. There's nothing next to us except the artwork!

"I'm telling ya, there is SOMETHING flying beside me! It almost looks like…a dragon!"

That's it, I'm taking over now. You've obviously lost your mind.

"I don't believe this. My former self can see me but the Tamer can't?!"

Daiki Niwa switched with Dark, who was still shaken from the encounter. Wiz, who was acting as Dark's wings at the time, sat on his head. The dragon form of Dark had an idea which would help prove his old form wasn't as crazy as Daiki believed.

If Daiki doesn't believe Dark, then I'll have to prove him wrong! But how…? Wait…I got it! WITH, COME HERE!!!

"Kyu…!" cried Wiz as he jumped off Daiki and onto Dark's back. When this happened, Daiki could finally see that Dark wasn't joking about there being a dragon flying beside him!

"I don't believe it… there really was a dragon flying beside us!" said Daiki in disbelief.

I told you! What I don't get is why it's flying next to us.

Maybe because I felt like it?

Wait…you can hear my thoughts?!

Why shouldn't I? I am you after all. Just in dragon form. Don't ask.

Why couldn't Daiki see you earlier?
Probably because I'm not in sync with the timeline. The only reason he can even see me at all is because With is acting as my wings. When he gets off, only you can see me.

"Dark, can you understand what that thing is saying?" asked Daiki.

Yeah… for some reason I'm in sync with him.

"I wonder why?"

He said he was ME only in dragon form.

"How do we know he's telling the truth?"

What is the date?

It's Friday, April 19. Why?
The piece you're carrying is the sealing staffs created by the Hikari, which happens to be older than the Black Wings. Oh, and you're still in love with Rika Harada.

WHAT THE…! Daiki, I think he's telling the truth!

"How can you be sure? What did he say?"

He knew about the staffs being older than I am! And he knows about Rika!

"What! But how…?!"

"I AM YOU! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD!"

I think he's starting to get annoyed.

That is an understatement! With, go back to Daiki now. You'll understand how I… correction, we become a dragon eventually. But it won't be until you are whole again and the Black Wings are sealed. That is all I can tell you.

Dark (dragon) returned again to the windows; he was about to pick another point in time from his past when something caught his attention. There was another dragon in there with him! It was gold and white with amber eyes. He knew immediately who it was.

"Yo Krad! What took ya so long?!"

"Shut up. I only came in here because you've been gone for over two weeks! And I just got here around the same time you reappeared."

"Why hasn't your voice changed?"

"It did change. I just toned it down so I could hear myself think."

"So what do we do now? I think the window is used to return to past events. Though I should warn you…if you encounter your past self, don't be surprised if he can sense or see you and the Tamer can't."

"Good to know. Wait…you mean to tell me you interfered with the past?!"

"No…I just made the past go the exact way it did before. I just forgot that I met myself as a dragon."

"So what're we gonna do now? We can't just jump into the past and not expect there to be consequences!"

"You toned your voice down again."

"You should try it! It's better than having to hear the echoes from the booming voice!"

"Fine… there's something I just now noticed. I saw a few windows to the past that didn't happen to us in our lives. You don't think this goes all the way back, do you?!"

"Wouldn't surprise me. We are talking about magic after all. Maybe it just goes back until the point when the first dragon appeared."

"Should we go there?"

"Yes. I have a feeling that was when we're meant to go in the beginning."

"The problem is finding it."

They looked and looked for the very first dragon in vain; it was so far back that they didn't have any idea what it looked like. Finally, Dark admitted defeat.

"Wait…maybe we're searching the wrong way," said Krad.

"What do you mean?"

"We're looking at the windows in the wrong order. Let's try to sort them out and put them from the oldest until we get to the point where we were created."

"How the hell are we…?"

Krad didn't answer; he concentrated on putting the windows in the correct order. It took a split second before they were sorted. There was only one window that was beginning to deteriorate. It was at the very end; there was only one thing it could be!

"So that's the first dragon. Wait…am I seeing things or that a…?!" said Dark in disbelief.

"I think it's a…female?! No way!"

"Okay, so who gets to go back to that point?"

"You! Did you really have to ask!?"

"I say we both go. Whoever isn't chosen comes back here. Agreed?"

"I hope you're chosen and not me! Knowing you, if I were chosen you'd come back here and laugh yourself to death!"

"How'd ya know?" said Dark with a wide toothy grin.

"Because you're an egotistical jerk."

Both Krad and Dark traveled to when the first dragon was created. At first nothing seemed too terrible. Though they both noted that there wasn't a single male dragon anywhere near her, even though she was clearly old enough to mate.

I don't get it. Why aren't there any other dragons around?

Maybe because the others were killed off before they had a chance?

But if that were true, then how did the dragon race survive?

Because she obviously found a mate, moron. Though I have no idea where.

I can hear you two talking over there. Who are you and what do you want?!
I told you that you should have kept your voice toned down!

Shut up.

I'M WAITING FOR AN ANSWER OVER HERE!!!!
That's odd.

She's a tad impatient. I wonder why?

Beats me.

If you two don't answer my question then you're both dead!!!!!

My name is Dark and my friend here is Krad. What's yours?

None of your business.

Nice to meet you, 'none of your business'.

I'd be more than happy to hit him for you.

If you'd be so kind.

OWWWW!!!! What'd ya do that for jerk?!
Because that response was idiotic and it amused me.

Why you!!!!

So why are you two here? What happened to the others?
Others? What others?

The ones behind me.

We didn't see anyone except you around. Are you sure that they were behind you?

They were until I exited the water. I thought they were still there…

Apparently they didn't adapt quickly enough.

(This little conversation went on for days, so I'll just skip to the main part.)

In the end, the dragoness had to choose between Krad and Dark. She chose Dark because he wasn't as shy as Krad. Krad was stronger, but Dark was cleverer. Krad went back and waited for Dark to return. Which took roughly around 12 years.