Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child
Chapter Six: The City That Leads to the Sky
Ryu's perspective.
Mina had kept me up late asking a lot of questions. I would have assumed she would have shared a room with her sister after being reunited with her, but she thought it was more interesting to ask me a ton of questions.
"Are you and Katt together? Do you like my sister? What do you look for in a girl? What happened to Bow? Where was I going after we reached Windia? Many other as well, she barely waited for me to answer before firing out the next one.
"Do you think Nina is okay?" she asked me, and finally waited, looking at me seriously.
"What do you mean?" I asked her. I knew she clearly noticed something about the black winged Windian she called her sister, and I had noticed her behaviour was oddly forced, she seemed to be putting on a fake smile when I noticed Mina staring at her, yet I did not understand why. Clearly the young princess noticed something amiss as well, but I decided whatever was going on, I wasn't going to honestly answer unless I was sure what she meant. "She was fine, I think Katt and I got there before they could harm her, or you, and the Joker didn't seem to hurt her during our fight. She should be fine..."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it, Ryu. Did she seem to be acting weird to you?"
Mina was not as naive as I would have expected, she could tell her sister was acting odd as I could. "She seemed to be distracted, about what, I have no idea, but, I'm sure everything will be fine once we reach Windia." She seemed to accept my answer, and soon we had both drifted off to sleep.
Nina's perspective
Katt was quite friendly with me; I found it odd having been mostly isolated from people most of my life. She soon tired of talking about learning magic for now, and began telling me about how she lived at the coliseum. She was a popular fighter, and had become quite popular.
"My next match was supposed to be against some guy named Baba, a woodsman from north, but it turned out to be Ryu. He wandered into my dressing room by accident, and since then I've been bugging him about trying to get a peek at me, but I know I've wandered into the wrong one several times when I first started, they never really let you know which one is your room. Anyways, he found out Angus was going to sabotage the fight by poisoning me, and worked hard to stop it. I must say, I didn't' make it easy for him, I think I enjoyed knocking him around a little bit more than I would have normally, but he was alright in the end. We went to confront Angus together, along with the big repair guy, and found out he was a demon, just like the Joker guy who was after you. Well, he was a wolf or something though, and we beat him up. Then I decided to go with Ryu, I kind of wanted to just get out of there, the people in the audience that last match were giving me a strange vibe, like they wouldn't have cared if it had been me that snuffed if. Feeling unwanted after Angus tried to kill me, it seemed like the perfect time to leave, and joining with Ryu here has already proved fun."
"Fun?" I asked the Woren "We were attacked by a demon; I was terrified something was going to happen to Mina, and you found that fun?"
She just shrugged at me. "Well, maybe not that part, but we took out a demon; the world is a safer place now because of us. Was that the first time you were in a fight?"
I just nodded. She smiled at me. "That's why you were so nervous. Don't worry, it gets easier, and soon you'll get that rush when you kick a demon's ass."
She spoke like she was an expert, but I suppose compared to me, she was. I knew magic, had memorized spells that could be quite deadly, but that was the first time I had to use them in a real live situation. Those two had found a path that suited them, battling demons and saving people, my main concern now was what awaited me, she looked happy travelling with this group to Windia, I was just dreading when we arrived there still.
"Katt, I think I'm going to go to sleep. So, see you tomorrow then."
"Mom, look!" I called out to her excited. "I have wings!"
I was so excited that day, it was my eighth birthday, and I would be spending the day with Mina and my mother and father, there was to be a ceremony to attend when the princess had her Wing day, and we would have a celebration in the city, then a dinner at the castle. Mina would be jealous, but soon she would have her wings too, till then, I could tease her about it though.
I ran to the throne room, only my mother was there, everyone else was gone, I ran up to her expecting her to be happy, but she recoiled.
"Demon" she hissed at me.
Then voices began echoing around the room.
"She will ruin Windia"
"Cursed one."
"Wings of Death"
"Kill the monster."
Then, Windia began getting far away; I was no longer welcome here. My mother and father looked at me with hatred, my sister backed away looking scared and the people were calling for my death. Men, women and children were all looking at me as if I were a monster, because of my wings. My grandmother was shouting I had to die, she stood at the head of a mob calling me a demon with the rest of them and I turned and ran.
I woke up, it was just a dream. I was back in Corsair. It was still night out, and Katt was sleeping in the other bed, purring softly. Sitting up, I smoothed my clothes and decided I needed a short walk to shake off the dream. Tomorrow I was going there, would they still look at me with that fear, with that hatred, or had life moved on. Corsair was quiet, it was 3 in the morning, just like in Hometown, and it was when I would chose to go out to avoid being seen by people. There was only one person out still at this hour, the blue haired Ranger, Ryu stood in front of a strange statue not too far from the inn we were at. It had been years since I saw anyone acknowledging the altar of the Dragon God, but the statues were still around. Most days if anyone wanted to seek advice, they went to the church of St. Eva, though I think some places still refused to have a church of that religion built. I was going to stay out of sight, but somehow he knew I was there.
"Can't sleep, Nina?" he asked me.
"I...just bad dreams woke me up. Is everything okay with you?" I wanted the focus off me, he almost seemed like he knew what was running through my mind, and I didn't want him asking questions and having to make up stories to avoid them.
"Same, just bad dreams, and Mina talks in her sleep, figured I would just take a walk. Always enjoyed the peacefulness of night time, it's quieter." He turned to me. "You seem worried about tomorrow, I just want you to know, and I'm here for you, Nina."
His words shocked me, his eyes seeing much more then I put out, and I felt as though I knew him from before. Nodding, I just said "Thank You" to him and we stood there for several long minutes in silence.
"Rise and shine, sleepy head." Katt's cheerful voice called out to me. She looked like she had already showered and was ready to head out; her bag was packed up and slung over her shoulder. I felt like I had just fallen into a restful sleep, but the sun brightly lit up the room once Katt threw open the curtains, there would be no more sleep with that much light here.
"Okay, okay, Katt, I'll just be a few moments." She walked out with a bounce in her step, apparently she slept well, and seconds later I had my privacy to get cleaned up. Outside Mina, Katt and Ryu were all ready and waiting.
The funny thing is, the more you're not looking forward to something, and the quicker it approaches. Soon I saw Windia in the distance, and we would soon be there.
Not much had changed since when I was here last time. From Corsair, a massive bridge covered the expanse leading to the city, but there was also a passage that led to the crypts below the castle. The entrance was blocked by a gate, but seeing my sister, the guard allowed us through.
"A maze begins here to keep intruders away, but you know the way. Welcome home, Princess Mina."
The guard nodded at me and allowed me to pass without saying anything.
"Sister, it has been a long time since you visited home. Mom and Dad will be so happy to see you." Mina said as we were walking through the tunnels. She really had no idea that they would not be happy to see me, but for now she was glad we were together again.
I felt like I was almost numb being this close to the castle again. One foot in front of the other I followed Mina, barely listening now, feeling more nervous as we would be there soon.
"Everyone will be shocked you're home, won't they, sister?"
"Yes" I felt myself say to her quietly.
A few more moments passed when I found she stopped and looked at me, she had just said something, but I didn't hear. "What was that, Mina?"
She looked into my eyes. "I said, I wish you could home every once in a while, you're spending too much time at that magic school."
"I'll try." I replied to her, and thankfully she just walked ahead of Ryu and kept leading us through the crypt here. Finally we reached the passage that lead to the lobby and I took a deep breath as I followed them up.
We were surrounded. A dozen guards were waiting for us, and there stood my mother. Instantly I was frozen in fear, I don't think I could speak if I tried.
"Another cursed one? I thought we killed it years ago" I heard one of the guards whispered to the man beside him.
"What do we do with it? She has the black wings" someone said from behind me.
Their words hurt, but I was only looking at my mother, waiting for what she was going to do. She had been the one who announced to everyone that they had the black winged princess killed, what would she say now that I was here. Katt was the first to speak.
"We rescued Mina for you and brought her home." She said to the queen. If the situation wasn't so serious to me, I might have laughed, she didn't' use my sister's title even here in the castle, and didn't refer to my mother as majesty, yet no one noticed, all eyes were on me. At this moment, I would have given anything to be invisible.
"Mom, what's wrong, I brought my sister home..." at this point the queen stopped her.
"...I..." I was trying to speak, but, no words came. Katt looked confused, she was expecting it to be a celebration, bringing my sister home after rescuing her from a demon, but Ryu knew that something was wrong. Then I swallowed and was able to talk again. "Princess Mina was lost, we thought it best to bring her home, and I think she started calling me sister just to comfort herself. I should have corrected her."
My mother nodded, she probably wasn't expecting me to ever appear here again, and I caught her by surprise.
"Sister, what are you talking about, Mom, what's going on?"
"Mina, hush, you do not have a sister." The guards were looking as confused as Katt was, but my mother had now regained her composure. "Please escort these three to the gate and reward them for helping Princess Mina home."
The guards soon had led us to the gate, Katt looked like she wanted to slap him for hustling us out of here, but she seemed to stop when Ryu gave her a look. I was once again rendered speechless, thankfully no one would believe I was Mina's sister, and my mother would probably be forced to tell her something to keep her from finding out just why I could no longer be associated with them, a feeling like wanting to vomit was building in me, but I was able to fight it down, and soon we were outside, the castle doors shut on us, and the sound of them being locked could be heard.
"What the hell was that about?" Katt asked Ryu, and then looked at me. "I thought you were the Princess?"
I sighed. It was something that still was tough to talk about. "I'm not a Princess, Katt, I'm sorry for deceiving you, but it's something that is difficult to talk about."
"Is it because of your black wings?" she asked me. Her innocence was admirable, I was always afraid of people despising me because of them, but these two seemed to not give it a second thought. "I think your wings are beautiful, they are much prettier than everyone else', don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
The two of them began walking away from the castle. I took a deep breath. The reaction of the guards scared me into thinking what would happen when I walked into the town, how would the people react? The dream of a mob waiting to attack me was pictured in my mind, and though I couldn't become invisible, I thought of something that may make the trip here less terrifying to me.
I touched both of my wings and they began changing color from black to white. It was just a temporary solution, a spell that gives the illusion that my wings were white. I almost felt shameful doing this; many times I hated the fact that because my wings were a different color, I was unwelcome. It wasn't my fault, I didn't do anything wrong, but, for once I wanted to walk through here like a normal person.
I caught up with my two new companions, they seemed confused. "Nina, what happened?" Katt asked me. I told her it was just temporary, and would explain later, and we were in Windia finally.
For the first time in a long time, I was walking through town and didn't feel people's eyes on me disapprovingly. A man even smiled and winked at me as he passed. It was a lie and I knew it, but it felt good to be a part of the population of Windia for a change. Not in years had I been able to walk through Windia and just admire the kingdom that should have been my home, it was a beautiful city. The castle stood behind me now, and before the three of us paved streets led to the bustling food market, a wide variety of stores that sold weapons, armour, clothes, trinkets, spells and so many other things. Before I could stop myself, I felt a tear on my cheek; this was my home until the wings on my back snatched it from me. As much as I would be able to enjoy today, once it was over, I vowed that I would not return here again with this ruse.
Ryu and Katt were waiting for me ahead. Rubbing my sleeve against my face, I caught up to them, and acted like everything was fine, today I wanted to have some fun and laugh while I could.
The market was the first stop, we picked out some food, the vendors gave us free fruit because we were two attractive young ladies, and he flirted with both of us. Katt seemed to have strange tastes, she picked out several unusual meats from a butcher that I wouldn't dare try and packed them for the trip. She seemed to have assumed that I would be going with them, and I was warming up to the two of them, so I was considering it. Hometown was my home, but perhaps it was time to see the world a little bit.
Ryu had wandered away from us; he was talking to a few of the locals here, asking about some woman with blue hair and bat-like wings. I didn't know why he was searching for her, but in the meantime I was having fun with Katt, who was already becoming a close friend. Sied before her had been the only one who really talked to me, and as much as I respected her, she seemed to be much worldlier and experienced than I was, and I felt like she could be an aunt or something if she wasn't only a few years older than me. Katt was much more of a friend, she had travelled some, but didn't give off a know-it-all vibe and I was already feeling like I could open up to her.
After we left the market, we did some shopping for clothes, it was definitely a girl's day, and Ryu probably wouldn't be caught here with us if he could avoid it. She picked out some things for me, and I for her, neither of which were of the style we were used to, and soon we left laughing, but not having bought anything. Finally we were in the town center where a magician, a highlander clansman in a blue suit was awing the audience with magic tricks. It was here Ryu had decided to rejoin us.
Rabbit out of the hat, pick a card, sawing a man in half, making water spiral in mid air, they were all showy types, but still entertaining to watch, and after each one, Katt leaned over to me to ask how he did that, but I "Magician's secret" and she gave me a wicked glare before watching him again. As the crowd started thinning out, he wanted to do something drastic to get more people's attention.
"I need a volunteer for my next trick...How about you good sir?" he said to Ryu pulling him into the center of the shrinking crowd "Are you brave enough to get in this box while I send you to another dimension? Come, come, you don't want to look like a chicken in front of the prettiest ladies in Windia here" he nodded to us. Ryu was stammering as the Highlander opened the door to a large blue box that appeared out of nowhere and pushed him inside. Shutting the door on him, he did up the latches at the side and turned back to the audience. "Now, on three, everyone yell 'abracadabra'. 1...2...3!"
"ABRACADABRA" both Katt and I yelled and we started laughing.
A puff of smoke burst out of the box, and the sides all fell down and the box was empty. The crowd cheered and he thanked everyone for coming. People clapped, but for some reason the man was packing up. That was the trick? I thought, isn't bringing him back the big finale?
Looking disappointed, many people started clearing away, and the Highlander was putting away his box of magic tricks when Katt walked over to him.
"Hey, monkey, is the show over? Where's Ryu?"
He looked down for a moment, "Is that man, Ryu, is he your boyfriend?" he asked her.
"What? We're...we're just friends."
He looked over to me, "What about you miss is Ryu your boyfriend?"
I just shook my head, hoping I wasn't blushing.
"Good, then I don't feel so bad telling you two. The trick wasn't a complete success, it failed. Ryu is in another dimension. I can bring him back, but..." and he paused, looking at us.
"But, what, monkey man?" Katt asked him.
"But, I'll only do it, if you go on a date with me." He said smiling evilly. "Shall we go get a cup of coffee, kitten?"
"What are you talking about?" Katt said "I don't get it, where did Ryu go?"
I stepped closer to him. "Look, we know you didn't send Ryu to another dimension, what did you do to him?"
"Ooh, another pretty girl, I think if you two babes want me to bring Ryu back, you'll both have to go out with me..." It was then that I noticed the ground looked loose; I kneeled over it and started digging, soon seeing blue hair...
The Highlander had turned towards Katt before I saw the key to his little disappearing act and wasn't looking at me now. "First I'll go out with you, kitten, and then Blondie the next night, then both of you together the night after..."
"Hey, there's Ryu" Katt interrupted him seeing me help him out of the hole the magician sent him to. "Another dimension, you're such a sleazy little man. Time to teach you what happens to sleazes." She started swatting at him with her staff, and I cringed when I heard it hit him particularly hard. The sounds of him crying out and encouraging her to do it harder were kind of funny, and Ryu and I laughed knowing Katt wouldn't really hurt him.
About 10 minutes Ryu left to find a nearby bathroom. Being buried underground covered him in dirt and he wanted to go clean himself up a bit before we would do anything else here. The Highlander whose name we learned was Sten apologized to Ryu profusely and vowed to repay him. We weren't' sure what he meant, but he insisted on coming with us to help catch the thief Ryu had been asking about. He said something about seeing a hot blue haired woman here a few days ago and she left yesterday. After he begged to join us for a bit, we finally agreed to let him, though Katt said she was going to be keeping him on a short leash, to which he replied "The shorter the better, kitten," which earned him another bump on the noggin.
It was the best day I had in a long, long time. I should have known that it would be too good to last. Ryu was off cleaning up, Katt went to the store with Sten to get a few supplies when Ryu told her that the land between Windia and the port town, Captaina was home to poisonous creatures and they were out of antidotes, and I was sitting alone on the edge of a beautiful stone fountain at the center of town. I was wishing I could see Mina before we left, but there was no way that they would allow me in the castle, the guards saw my black wings and my mother wouldn't allow it.
It suddenly felt colder here, and a man in black robes appeared beside me. I had never seen him before, but instantly felt a dark aura from him.
"Nina..." he said coldly
"Who are you?" I replied to him "my friends will be back in a moment, if you're here to cause trouble." Something about him told me that he was, and I hoped someone would be returning soon to send him away.
"I put a lot of my time into helping that gang of idiots capture you, and I was highly disappointed when you and your friends ruined my plan. I had high hopes for what I was going to use your power for, but seeing as how you ruined my day, I shall do the same to you."
"You, you're the one who captured Mina..." I said to him, but suddenly he vanished. It was strange; I didn't understand the meaning of his words until I heard a child nearby scream "Mommy, the demon!" Looking back I saw my wings were no longer disguised white, they had turned black again, and I was right in the middle of town surrounded by people.
"Mommy, the demon!" It was a little girl that said it, she was no younger that I was before I got my accursed wings, and the fear she said the word demon with, it hurt. Her cry alerted anyone nearby who hadn't noticed that I was suddenly in their midst, and dozens of eyes suddenly turned to me. I tried to run, but they had me surrounded, all I could see was fear. Fear that I would harm them...that I would bring about the destruction of Windia. The prophecy told that the black winged one would cause Windia to burn, and they all knew of the prophecy. It wasn't like in Hometown where they just didn't like the woman with black wings; here they thought I was their enemy.
I backed away from them as much as I could, with my back to the wall of a nearby store, I couldn't go any further, and their callings for my end rang in my ears. I couldn't use magic, they thought I was a murderous demon, and I was not going to prove them right, but my heart was hammering in my chest, I was trapped. It wasn't like last time when I was able to run away from them, this time I was cornered, and they were going to kill me.
What would Ryu and Katt think, would they find my body when they got back and think, good riddance, once someone told them what would happen to Windia if I lived? Would they be sad I was gone, or angry a demon had walked with them, fooled them into thinking I was a real person. Again, tears came to my eyes, and someone noticed.
"It's trying to fool us, demons can't cry. Stop the trickery, monster!" a man said loudly. I looked over, the man was holding a large rock, and preparing to throw it at me. This was how I was going to die, they were just going to throw whatever they could at me till I stopped breathing, it was a horrible way to go, so much pain, but I just curled tighter into a ball praying it would end quick...but it never came.
The sound of a rock striking metal made me open my eyes, and before he knew what had happened, Ryu floored the man who threw it. A look of fire appeared in his eyes as he walked back to. The crowd backed up when he pointed his weapon at them.
"Ryu..." I began, not sure what I was going to say "...don't, lets, just leave here"
I saw Katt and Sten walk out of the store and them immediately notice the mob, all directed at me. She shoved the bag she was carrying into Sten's arms and in a second was at my side. It was quiet, the crowd didn't make a sound as Katt pulled me up and they parted for the Ranger. We left Windia, what started off as a great day had turned into a nightmare for me in mere seconds, my worst fears of how people saw me reflected in their eyes. An hour or two outside of Windia we had set up camp, and sat in silence, Katt just held her arm around my shoulder while Sten and Ryu worked quietly preparing a meal. Eventually us two girls went inside and fell asleep; I hoped it would be a dreamless night.
Another chapter finished. Every play through of the game I always found it disappointing that Nina was banished from Windia, but you could take here there anytime, and nothing happened. I wanted to make it a place she was not comfortable visiting and try and give a reason why, though I think I'll try and go into the story of the Black Wing Prophecy a bit more in later chapters.
I also wanted Nina to have a reason to join with Ryu and Katt, after they get Mina to Windia, it seemed dumb in the game how she didn't go back to Hometown, she just joined, I wanted an explanation out there why she left her home, and I think having Katt form a friendship with her when she never really had one was a good start.
Anyways, I hope that I did a decent job conveying how I think Nina would be welcomed in Windia, and the thought of mindless prejudices. Thanks for reading.
Chris