Chapter 2! Here we go! Get ready for another exposition dump!

Disclaimer: Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, FE. Got all that? Good.

Chapter II: Dragons, Dragons Everywhere

We all gathered in Mister Eliwood's house, and as Mrs. Pherae laid Roy down on the sofa, the rest of us sat nearby as his father looked at me square in the eyes. "So, tell me what happened, from the top."

I explained everything to him. The thugs, the fight, and Roy turning into a dragon. While I was telling him this, all he did was nod and nod.

"I see, I see." He said, then gazed at his wife and the prone form of his son. "I suppose there's no hiding it from you, my boy. Ninian and Roy are manaketes. In other words, they're dragons who have human forms. However, thanks to some DNA tests run by Canas, Erk, and Serra over in the R & D division, we've learned that Ninian is only half ice dragon, which means Roy is just one-fourth ice dragon."

"So, my best friend is a dragon?" I asked, "Does this mean dragons are real?"

Eliwood chuckled, "You'd be surprised at how many things are real. Dragons, magic, gods, monsters, supernatural beings, mythical creatures, other universes, gods and creatures from other universes... The list could go on and on... Most of these are hidden from typical people, but there are some who know, some who can see, and some who both know and see."

"What do you mean by that?" I inquired.

"Basically, it goes like this: any entity that was recorded in any given mythology in our world, the human mind will attempt to filter them out. There is some sort of supernatural veil which shrouds them from normal people's eyes. The veil goes by many names: Mist, Duat... whatever its true name is, it usually keeps the supernatural hidden from plain sight."

His gaze shifted towards his family once again. "However, there are exception. Entities not tied to any mythology are not filtered out by the veil, it has no power over the perception of them. This makes it very dangerous for manaketes, intelligent dragons who can take human form, as medieval Europeans persecuted them to the brink of extinction. Magic not tied to any mythology is commonplace, too. In fact, our researchers are also scholars of the arcane."

"Going back to what I said earlier, there are those who know the existence of the supernatural, in varying degrees of knowledge. These are mostly people who were told by their acquaintances. The ones who can see are known as 'clear-sighted mortals'; they are completely normal and yet their eyes pierce the veil, allowing them to see what is normally hidden. The ones who both know and see are usually demigods, since the gods are still up to their old tricks of making more offspring with humans."

Mister Eliwood shook his head. "That isn't important right now. What's important is that you have saved my son, and I am grateful for that, but you must also promise to keep the secret of my family, is that clear?"

I nodded. "Of course, Mister Eliwood! I'll do anything for my friend!" I glanced at Roy. He was still unconscious, but he suddenly started shaking.

What was going on?

Roy POV

Hi, my name's Roy, the son of Eliwood Pherae and the ice dragon Ninian. As you would've probably known by now, I was unconscious.

However, I was also dreaming.

I saw a fire dragon before me, it roared before blowing fire breath in my direction. As I ducked, the dragon left, and I looked up to see a terrible sight:

As far as I could see, there was only rubble. Dragons were everywhere, stomping in tandem and destroying what was left of what I presumed to be a city. To my left, I saw a fire dragon incinerate some human survivors, and to my right, I saw an ice dragon freezing another group of stragglers in place. I screamed as more humans succumbed to the wrath of the dragons, whether by breath or by claw, there was no escaping from this chaos.

"Roy, this is what will happen if you do not take the steps to prevent it." A powerful voice boomed in my mind, feminine and kinda condescending.

"Who are you?" I asked, alarmed, "What can I do to stop this?"

"My identity is not important right now, child, but it will all be revealed in due time." The voice replied, "What you see here is the result of the madness of a man by the name of Zephiel. He has the means to create war dragons."

"War dragons? What are war dragons?"

"War dragons are beings physically indistinguishable from normal dragons, with one key difference. They do not have souls, they cannot think, they cannot feel."

"That's horrible!" I replied, "How does this Zephiel guy make war dragons?"

"With him is the Demon Dragon, Idoun. Long ago, she was once a divine dragon, but in an attempt to win the Scouring, a group of dragons destroyed her soul and turned her into a Demon Dragon, with the unholy ability to create war dragons to outnumber the humans. She was sealed at the end of the Scouring, but a few months ago, Zephiel unsealed her. Since she is still regaining her full strength after being sealed for so long, her ability to make war dragons is still severely limited. Every day, she conjures two war dragons, the daily count increasing by one every month. If this keeps up, at this rate..."

"I get it, soon, he'll have enough dragons to take over the world." I responded.

The voice paused for a moment before continuing. "Don't interrupt me, child! Ugh, you're starting to remind me of that sea spawn... Never mind, just... gather whatever allies and resources you can muster, and set off on your quest, which has been prophesied long ago. Normally, your quest's team would consist of three persons includiny yourself, but this time the Fates have made a subversion. You are to gather three allies to form a team of four, although you can also ask aid from others, even if they are not part of the prophecy surrounding your quest. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." I replied uneasily, with a feeling that I could trust this powerful mystery lady.

"Good. Now wake up!" The voice said, causing me to snap my eyes awake.

"Roy!" I heard my father exclaim, and immediately he was at my side. "What happened? You were shaking in your sleep!"

"Father, I had the weirdest dream ever." I replied, and conveyed the dream sequence with the dragons and the mysterious voice's explanation. My father scratched his chin in thought before responding slowly. "My son, I have a feeling I know the identity of that Zephiel fellow mentioned in your dream."

He took out his phone and made a quick search, showing me the image results of an ominous blonde man in a dark purple suit. "This man is Zephiel Bern, the current governor of Illinois. Our corporate spies over in Lycian Enterprises have reported suspicious activity in Illinois-based government facilities, and rumors from the locals of mysterious roars which suddenly ring out into the surrounding areas every now and then. It's entirely possible that he does have the Demon Dragon under his command, and I believe I know the reason why."

Dad shook his head. "However, you aren't ready to know it yet. All will be revealed in due time." He said, echoing the words of the voice in my dream.

"Who'll be the friends I would need to bring along with me on this quest?" I asked.

"It is your decision to choose, Roy." My father replied solemnly, "If I struggled alongside Hector and Lyn as teenagers against a single fire dragon, you kids would have even more trouble against several dragons."

"You ain't counting the ice dragon you fight in bed every night, Eliwood." Wolt's dad remarked smugly, "I bet she loves getting pierced by your personal "rapier", boss."

"Hush, Wil, there are children present!" His wife scolded.

"I don't get it..." Wolt softly muttered. I turned to look at him. "Trust me, my friend, I don't know what your dad meant by that, either."

"Back to the topic at hand," Dad called everyone's attention, "There might be a way to deal with the war dragons."

My mother gasped. "Dear, you don't mean..."

"Yes. The legendary weapons of the Scouring will be used, a necessary evil to ultimately make sure Zephiel doesn't win. Not just Durandal and Armads, but all of them except Eckesachs, which I know for a fact lies in the hands of the Bern family themselves."

"Where exactly are these legendary weapons, dad?" I asked.

"Although originally distributed among the medieval European kingdoms," My father replied, "They've long since been scattered across America as the flame of Western Civilization shifted to the United States. We can start with Durandal, which is hidden away here in New York. Hector knows the exact location of the cave where the Blazing Blade rests. I'll give him a call."

He brought out his smartphone and dialed Mister Hector's number and placed it on loudspeaker. A loud voice immediately responded. "Hey Eliwood, how ya doing? Me and Lilina are cleaning up after the big party we had. Turns out Sain got drunk, and he started flirting with Lyndis, so Kent had to drag him all the way home!"

We all chuckled at the womanizing deliveryman's antics. Dad started to talk to Hector and asked, "Hey Hector, it turns out we got a situation, activate the protocols for Operation Zeta-Beta-Delta-Delta, Code Purple."

"Does this mean-"

"Yes, Hector. Zephiel does have the Demon Dragon under his control."

"How the fu-"

"How do we know for sure? Well, our boy Roy had a dream involving a prophetic vision of dragons running amuck and a voice telling him he can prevent that scenario. The voice indicates a Code Omega."

"Wow, it must be really important if an Olympian was telling him this personally."

"Indeed, my friend. Can you give us the location of Durandal?"

"Sure thing! Lemme write it down for yo-" Suddenly, he was interrupted by the sound of a door slamming open. "HOLY CRAP! Lilina, stay back!" Then we heard the phone being placed down, a crisp crackling sound filling the air, a heavy object being swung, thunnder booming inside the room, and Lilina screaming. "Dad! Help!"

"Lilina!" Hector cried, desperation unusually in his voice, "Get your scummy hands off of my daughter!"

"You fool!" A sinister voice remarked, then the sound of thunder was heard again.

"Hector's in trouble!" My dad said, "We need to get there as soon as possible!" We started grabbing anything that could be used to help us and went out into the dark of the night, racing against the clock to assist my dad's closest friend.

Boom, a Kliff-hanger! See you in the next chapter! I'm sorry.

This is Vanillite the Dragonslayer, signing off.