Chapter VII

Rin watched as the light emitting from Mika started to fade away. Once again torches were the only source of light in the night. Orange flames cast their light over the blonde girl that now stood in dark purple, almost black, armor. It was hard to see in only the light of a few fires but Rin could make see that the armor covered Mika from the neck down. A faded red gem sat in the center of the armor's chest, the shoulders were the same red as the gem with black veins. From elbow to shoulder Mika had no armor leaving her tanned skin exposed. At her waist the armor no longer clung to her body, it instead curved out a little and extended down to just past her knees. Mika's upper leg, from waist to knee wasn't covered in armor but black leather that looked just as strong as the dark armor she wore. What caught everyone's attention wasn't the new armor but what was on the back of the armor. Mika had two large black wings with a white-green membrane, both wings moved back and forth as if they were ready to haul the body into the sky at any moment.

I can't believe it, Mika is the Dark Dragoon. Rin could only stare at the woman in front of her that exuded power. Even Mika's steel staff had taken on the purple coloring and look of the armor. Neither the armor nor the staff looked to be made of any metal that was produced naturally. It was as if someone had melted down dragonscales and turned them into a metal.

There was a fire in Mika's eyes as she looked at the soldiers that had caught up to them. It was the Dragoon's insanity coupled with the sudden burst of power. Rin watched as Mika leapt forward, her feet no longer touching the ground, and slammed into the soldier that had leapt in front of them. Dark energy could be seen coming off the staff as it collided into the soldier. Before the soldier's torch hit the ground Mika had moved onto the next opponent and was already slamming her staff into his side. The speed at which Mika moved was astounding. None of the Gestaltian soldiers were able to defend against the Dark Dragoon as she annihilated them.

To think that she's one of the eight Dragoons of legend, I have to take her to the High Priestess right away. If the Dragoons are awakening it can only mean Endiness is in need of their power. As she watched Mika lay waste to the Gestaltian soldiers Rin found that she was scared more than anything. The quiet life she had lead in Clestia was at an end, in fact the peaceful life of Endiness was coming to an end.

"What's happened to her?" Sol asked as he too watched his sister fly from soldier to soldier.

Rin kept her mouth shut. While she knew what had happened to Mika it'd be best to wait and explain things all at once to the both of them. Right now she had to figure out what she was going to do. Going to the High Priestess was her goal but getting to her wasn't exactly just a hop skip and a jump away. They would have to cross a large portion of enemy territory that seemed to be on a hunt for someone matching Mika's description. Rin could only pray that the Gestaltian Kingdom didn't know what Mika was and that the soldiers had been mistaken in taking her.

With the power of the Dark Dragon flowing through her Mika made quick work of the unprepared soldiers. Still the rest of the troop was catching up to them since they had stopped to deal with the few that had managed to reach them. Rin could see that Mika was starting to tire, the strain of the transformation starting to take its toll on her. Nocking an arrow Rin took aim at the approaching men who had yet to put on their armor leaving their bodies wide open. Each arrow Rin let loose found its way into the flesh on one man or another. Only three of the men, ones who had bothered to put on armor, had made their way to Mika. They did their best to surround her but Rin wasn't going to let them team up on her. Dropping her bow Rin took out her knife and tackled the soldier closest to her. When Rin saw the face of the man she had tackled she thanked the heavens for giving her this particular one. It was the same soldier that had insulted Mika.

"Who's the bitch now?" Rin asked him before she stabbed him in the shoulder. Any answer the guy may have been going to give was cut off by his scream. Ripping the knife out flipped it around and brought the blade cleanly across his neck ending his life before he knew what had happened. Hopping up to see if there were any other soldiers Rin had gotten up in time to see Mika's armor vanish. No longer supported by the power of a dragon Mika swayed back and forth a bit before falling. Rin had barely started running to Mika before Sol was there to catch his sister. Rin went and picked up one of the torches, all had been extinguished by the force of Mika's power, and held it out to Sol who lit it with a snap of his fingers. Without any magic to call on and no other way to light it herself Rin needed Sol to do it.

"Where to Rin?" Sol asked as he shifted Mika in his arms.

"We left the road when we ran from the camp. We'll need to head back and follow it to a town." Rin looked back in the direction that they had all just come from. She hadn't counted the number of soldiers that had chased after them but she had a feeling that a few of them were still around. If they did run into any of them it was going to be up to her to stick an arrow in them before they got near. There was no telling when Mika would wake up and even when did, she'd be too drained to fight.

With Sol caring his sister they headed back to the camp they had just escaped from. Rin was still on edge waiting for someone to come out of the shadows and attack them. Nothing happened while they were at the camp though. Sol set Mika down and together he and Rin set about looting the camp for what supplies they could take with them. They didn't find much other than trail food, some hard biscuits and dried meat, and measly amount of gold. Rin was thankful when she noticed that another quiver in one of the tents, she restocked her supply before they headed to the road.

"Sol, I promise to explain everything once we get to a town," Rin said as she looked over at him her eyes pleading with him to leave it all alone for now. Sol just nodded he knew that they needed to get moving so they could find a safer place. "Though uh Sol, can I borrow your lab coat? It's a bit chilly." The remains of Rin's skirt fluttered in the night breeze showing off her legs and a bit more. Rin swore she saw Sol's shoulders move up and down as if he was laughing at her. He took off his coat and offered to Rin who promptly tied it around her waist. The front of her skirt was mostly intact but the back of it had suffered greatly.

-o-O-o-

By the time morning arrived Mika was awake but still too weak to walk so Sol carried her on his back. The walk down the road was filled with awkward silence. Both Sol and Mika wanted to ask what was going on and what had happened back there but they knew that Rin wasn't going to tell them anything until she felt they were in a safe place. Rin used the silence to organize her thoughts and figure out how she was going to explain everything to them once they reached a town. What she planned to tell them was among her closest guarded secrets. Much to Rin's dismay they came to a town not long after noon. While the town was large enough to require more than three inns to support the amount of travelers passing through Rin could only manage to find two and one of them was packed already. The other inn only had one room available for rent and it was going to eat up the majority of the gold they had stolen from the campsite. Still Rin paid for the room knowing that she couldn't put it off any longer. She had to tell Mika and Sol just what was happening to them.

The inn was in desperate need of repairs and Rin thought for sure that her weight was going to be enough to cause the floorboards to give way. Unspeakable noises came from the rooms the trio passed as they headed towards the room at the end of the hall. Each door had a number painted on it, though the paint was so badly faded you could barely make it out, and their room was number thirteen. Rin was slightly superstitious and wished they could have had any other numbered room but there was no such luck. Opening the door to the room they found it had only one bed in it pushed against the far wall right under the small window. There was a small nightstand where a magicite lamp sat and other than those two things the room was empty. Mika still wasn't feeling her best so she laid down on the bed with Rin sitting on the edge. Without so much as a chair to sit in Sol sat down cross legged and felt a bead of sweat trickle down his neck as the boards groaned under the weight. The two siblings looked at Rin expectantly for a few moments before she let out a deep sigh.

"Alright. First Mika, I need to know how you got this stone." Rin held up the purple-black stone that had shone last night in Mika's pocket.

"Our mom gave it to me," Mika said sadly. While Rin knew that Mika's parents were dead it wasn't something that she talked about. Both Sol and Mika kept quiet about the death of their parents and Rin had enough sense not to pry and let them talk to her when they felt like it. "Our too many greats to count grandfather found it inside a fish they said. He was out fishing near Fueno and he landed this large fish. When he gutted it he found the stone inside."

"According to dad it's been used as the equivalent of a wedding ring ever since," Sol added. "It goes to the oldest child and has been passed down that way ever since."

"As I'm sure you two have figured out by now it's more than just a pretty rock." Sol and Mika gave Rin the "no duh" look before letting her continue. "It's… well, it's a dragon spirit. There are only eight in the world, one for each element and one non-elemental. This one is the Dark Dragon Spirit. When it recognizes its partner it's able to transform them into a Dragoon. That's what happened to you Mika, the spirit recognizes you and gave you the power to change into the Dark Dragoon of legend."

Mika sat up in her bed, there was too much information for her to just lie down and listen. "So you're telling me, that the stone I've been carrying around for the past oh eight years or so is actually a dragon spirit?"

"Yes and unlike the other spirits the Dark Dragon has only ever had one partner." Rin smiled at Mika trying to make her feel more at ease.

"But wait. Didn't the first Dragoons appear during the Dragon Campaign over 14,000 years ago? After that the legends say the next set appeared only 3,500 years ago. How can a person live for 11,000 years?"

"Her name was lost to the ages but we know that she was given a magical choker that allowed her to live that long. For what reason she was given it or where the item came from are a mystery to us."

"You keep saying 'we'," Mika pointed out. "Rin, who's we?

"Mika sweetie." Rin picked up Mika's hand and held it on both of her own. "Remember how when we first met in Clestia? I was looking for magicite researcher to help me with an experiment. I was looking for you in particular. I, I belong to an organization that's done their best to keep track of the eight dragon spirits. We knew you had one so I was sent to keep an eye on both the spirit and you."

"So it wasn't just a chance meeting then. Can't say that doesn't hurt a bit." Mika placed her other hand on Rin's. "Even if us meeting was arranged by this organization it doesn't change how I feel about you Rin. So you didn't tell me that you're working for a secret group of people that are keeping track of mystical objects. I've been keeping a secret from you, I dye my hair."

Rin pushed Mika over, turned away, and folded her arms over her chest with a huff. "I'm being serious here Mika!"

"Sorry Rin. I just don't know what to say right now." Mika looked like she genuinely felt sorry for what she had done. "I'm learning that I'm apparently something called a Dragoon all of the sudden."

"And it only gets worse," Rin sighed. "The Dragoons only appear when Endiness is in trouble. With the Dark Dragoon awake we can expect some threat to the world."

"You mean that Mika's going to be fighting for the sake of the world?" Sol asked in disbelief. A very awkward silence fell over the room. Mika wasn't exactly the save-the-world type of girl and they all knew it. She was more the let's-party-and-have-some-fun type girl.

"You're joking right Rin?" Mika asked clearly hopeful that this was all a dream or a very bad joke.

"I wish I was. The organization that I work for," Rin started because she saw Sol open his mouth to ask the question, "is called The Church of the Harmonious One. There's one church on each continent and the one here is in the Gestaltian Kingdom. We need to head there, the High Priestess will be able to help you Mika."

"Brother have you heard of that?" Mika looked at him with curiosity on her face. Sol was far more interested in the general knowledge of the world than Mika was and read up on the happenings of the world. Still Sol shook his head no. "So what's the Church of the Harmonious one?"

"Sol, you know about the appearance of the second set of Dragoons. Tell me what you know about that first," Rin instructed.

"Not much really. I only know that there were seven of them they have something to do with the legend about The Moon That Never Sets. Stories of each Dragoon were kept secret it seems, their names never written down." Sol looked more than a little confused about why Rin was asking him that.

"The Dragoons fought to protect the world from that Moon. It was part of the 108th fruit meant to destroy the world. As you can see now, the Moon is gone and we had all thought everything was fine. It's not though. The High Priestess will be able to tell you more once we reach her." Try as she might Rin couldn't help but smile as she thought of heading back to the church and seeing her old friends. It had been six years since she had left the church to go out and see the world.

"How are we going to get to this church? We spent all our money on this room and as good as it looks on you Rin I don't think you want to run around with Brother's coat tied around your waist." Mika tugged on the lab coat that Rin was still using to cover herself to drive home the point. Rin's cheeks went pink as she swatted Mika's hand away.

"You're right though, we're going to need some gold." Rin pulled her knife out linked her ring finger through the hole in the pommel. Rotating her finger ninety degrees she pulled it out transforming the pommel into a ring. A dove was carved onto the top of the ring. "The church may be secret but we do happen have an account with a few money lenders around the world. Sol you'll need to take this ring to the Setzer Money Lender in town and hope it has money." While Setzer Money Lenders were all over the world they weren't very reliable on stocking gold as their founder was a bit of a gambler and used the business to fund his habit. "Withdraw enough gold to buy some supplies; arrows, food, clothes, potions, and tonics. You know travel items. Most importantly, a new skirt please."

"How am I supposed to buy you a skirt?" Sol questioned feeling awkward at the thought of going into a tailor's for women's clothing. "I wouldn't know what size to get or anything."

"Please Sol," Rin pleaded, "I know you can figure it out. Most tailors have some stock marked with sizes and I'm sure you can figure it out. If we sent Mika she'd mess it up."

"I could do it," Mika said angrily.

"Sweetie," Rin patted Mika on the leg, "you can do a lot of things but when it comes to shopping for clothes, you pick all the wrong things. Colors, sizes, cut, anything that can go wrong you seem to have a knack for finding."

"You do realize that it's going to be awkward as all anything for me to buy a skirt right?" Sol tried to wiggle his way out of doing it. In all fairness he wasn't any better than his sister when it came to picking out clothes. If it wasn't for Rin they'd both be running around in quite the atrocious attire.

"And it's not awkward running around with a coat tied around my waist to cover my backside?!" Rin shouted tossing the ring at Sol who barely managed to catch it. "Be a man and by me a skirt. Tell the salesmen you're an errand boy for all I care just get me a skirt." Rin got up off the bed and grabbed Sol's shoulder using it to pull him up. He was only about three-quarters of the way up when Rin's hand was already above her head still she kept her grip till he was standing upright. Turning him around Rin pushed Sol towards the door leaving him to either reach out and open it or get slammed face first into it, Sol chose the former. "Blue if you don't mind," Rin said before pushing Sol out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

Sol stood outside the closed door and debated if he should just turn around and head back in or give into the blue haired she-devil. This time he picked the latter. His sister was in need of recovery and her having to listen to him and Rin argue. Pocketing the ring she had tossed at him Sol headed out into the city to find the money lender and stock up on supplies before they had to leave. He only hoped that no one would give him trouble for buying womens clothing.

-o-O-o-

A woman wearing a shin-length pink dress with buttons up with the front and a red bolero jacket walked briskly down a corridor within the mountain known as Bur-Omisace. She wore brown boots and metal bracers on her wrists and around the edges of her jacket sleeves. Her hair drawn back in a thick plait with a large pink ribbon, Aerith Gainsborough was never seen without that pink ribbon. Bur-Omisace was a large mountain able to hold a small city's worth of people should it need to. Outside you would only be able to see a single building, the Temple of Harmony. It was a grand structure that looked like a castle sitting atop a mountain peak. Inside the temple was a staircase that led down into the mountain where homes and shops were set up for the few that lived here. Aerith was the leader of the city, as High Priestess of the Church of the Harmonious One it was her job to look after the people the Goddess sent to the mountain.

Today Aerith found herself heading to the infirmary. Cloud had really gotten hurt protecting the mountain from a pack of Mountain Apes. One of the Apes had managed to snap the bone in his lower leg and if it wasn't for Zack he probably would have died. Sadly Zack too had suffered serious injury at the hands of the Apes but had managed to kill the alpha male and scare away the others before getting killed himself. Zack had gotten clawed down the back but still managed to carry Cloud back to the temple in time for them to get treatment before passing out from pain or blood loss. Zack and Cloud were two of her best friends so when they were brought to the infirmary a nurse was sent out to find Aerith. There were many capable healers in the mountain city but few could come close to the power that Aerith had. The severity of their wounds was more than enough to warrant calling Aerith in to heal them rather than one of the other city's healers.

Walking into the infirmary Aerith spotted her two friends on beds with nurses flocked around them. There was one girl sitting in a chair next to Zack's bed that wasn't in the white nurses' outfit. She had on white shirt underneath a dark chocolate colored jacket with only the top two buttons undone. While Aerith could only see her torso she would have laid money on the fact the woman was wearing black pants and shoes. The woman's red hair was wavy and fell down to her shoulders. Brown eyes looked down at Zack with concern. Even though it was her day off Cissnei still dressed more formally instead of for looks or fun. Despite the many nurses crowding Zack, only about a third of them actually taking care of him, Cissnei didn't seem affected by them in the least. It wasn't official but many of the girls in the city considered Cissnei Zack's girlfriend with how much time they spent together and so they considered her a rival. Those that didn't think Zack and Cissnei were a couple seemed to think Aerith was the rival for the spiky haired man's love. Yes, it was love triangle plus a few dozen other single girls.

Aerith approached Zack's bed and all the nurses scattered to the four winds. That is to say they headed over to Cloud's bed, the blonde chocobo haired warrior was awake unlike Zack and trying to tell the nurses that he was alright. Zack was lying on his stomach, completely shirtless, and Aerith took a deep breath when she saw the claw marks on Zacks back. The claws had went deep and there was a lot of bloody rags on the tray next to the bed. Some of the working nurses had actually managed to close up the wounds enough that Zack's life wasn't in immediate danger anymore but he still wasn't in the clear, even his normally black spiky hair had lost some of its luster and spikiness as if to say the man wasn't feeling well. Aerith wasn't sure if she should be happy that Zack was out cold or not. Placing her hands over the claw marks Aerith started to chant stringing various healing spells together. White light poured out from Aerith's hands and over the claw marks. It was a long process but Aerith stood there using her magic to knit flesh back together, urge muscle to grow, veins to form, and blood to flow. It was a bit more complicated than that as Aerith had to make sure that she was having the body repair itself in the correct order and the correct way.

When Aerith felt like she had done enough for Zack to be safe she stopped the flow of magic, she had to remember to save her energy for Cloud and any other people that may need her healing magic. Walking over to check on Cloud, Aerith could hear Zack start to stir in his bed. A wave of relief washed over her, Zack was a strong guy and could take a hit but even he had his limits on what he could survive. Aerith felt a slight sting of jealousy though when she heard Cissnei start talking softly to Zack. Ignoring the feeling Aerith looked at Cloud's broken leg, it was patched up well enough by the healers that it didn't require any attention from Aerith. Cloud's pride was probably hurting more than his leg at the moment.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes Eala," Aerith heard Zack say. Turning around to see who this "Eala" girl was Aerith saw no one other than Cissnei next to Zack. It seemed that with no real reason to approach him none of the nurses wanted to try and get between him and Cissnei. Zack's head was resting on his pillow still but he had turned so he was looking directly at Cissnei. "You know Eala, you really should add some brighter colors to your wardrobe, you'd look really beautiful then." Aerith just shook her head, even right out of unconsciousness Zack had the energy to flirt.

"Zack I told you not to call me that in public," Cissnei scolded the injured warrior. It probably would have been more convincing if Cissnei's cheeks hadn't turned pink at "beautiful". Aerith wondered if Eala was Cissnei's real name, she knew that the red head's real name wasn't Cissnei, that was just the name she gave people. Cissnei was one of the Church's spies; Aerith had taken the role of High Priestess only two years ago. Most of the staff, soldiers, and spies were people the last High Priestess had hired so Aerith didn't know everything about them like she wanted.

"Come Eala, it's a pretty name," Zack whined. Aerith didn't even have to see Zack's face to know that his big blue eyes had gone into puppy dog mode. No doubt he was pouting at while he looked up at Cissnei. It was the kind of look that could melt the ice around even the coldest of hearts. "So does this," Zack pointed to his mostly healed back, "finally get me a date?"

"Call me Cissnei in public and we'll see," the red haired woman folded her arms.

"That's not fair, you real name's way better," Zack huffed. Cissnei smiled and ruffled Zack's spiky hair.

"Alright fine, it gets you one date," Cissnei conceded. Aerith stifled a giggle behind her hand as she make a victory sign behind his back. She wasn't sure if the sign was meant for her or for Cloud but the level of excitement Zack almost always had was contagious. Heading back over to the the blossoming couple Aerith moved into Zack's line of vision.

"Hey doc," Zack joked with a grin on his face. Aerith found herself smiling back even though she was sad that Zack had actually gotten a date with Cissnei. The blue eyed warrior had been trying a few times to get Cissnei out on a date and each time she had shot him down. Aerith hadn't know it'd be as painful as it was when she finally heard Cissnei agree. "So how's it look? Will I be back out protecting the city within the week? Heroes can't afford to rest."

"Well Mr. Hero," Aerith joked back, "you won't be slaying monsters within the week. It'll take at least two with physical therapy to get you back in shape. That's after staying in bed for a few days to make sure the wounds don't reopen." While magic could be used to knit flesh there was always the chance that something had gone wrong in the process. While the number of times magic had failed were small anyone that had been magically healed had to stay in the infirmary for a few days. All instances of magical failure happened within four days of the first healing session.

Aerith explained to Zack what it was going to take before he was going to be allowed back out as one of the city's soldiers. While he didn't seem happy with the fact that he was going to have to sit still for so long he did understand the reason. No longer being needed and feeling like a third wheel Aerith decided she would head back to her room to rest. Some might think that being the High Priestess of a church that Aerith would have some grand room to live in. She had the bare necessities in her room. As the leader of the church she was expected to set an example for the others which apparently meant living like an impoverished person.

The room was originally decorated in white. Bedding, curtains, chair, etc. if it could be colored white it was. When Aerith had be appointed High Priestess after the death of the last she had kept the white for over a year in memory of her predecessor. Now though Aerith had started to add her own color to the room. The white curtains had been the first thing to go, replaced with a set of pink curtains. The window was one of the luxuries of being so high ranked within the church. Most people lived down in the mountain while Aerith got to live up in the temple where she could look out at the world below her. At first she had been afraid of the sky having spent her entire life under rock. After the curtains Aerith had replaced the blankets of the bed with a baby blue colored set instead, leaving the sheets white. Her white painted wooden chair and desk had been replaced with unpainted versions.

Kneeling on the floor next to her bed Aerith started a silent prayer like she did every time before falling asleep. One didn't become the leader of a church without being devout after all. Aerith did her normal prayers, asking for protection of the people and world, the normal things you would think people with good hearts pray for. Then with a twist at the end Aerith did something she normally didn't do, she prayed for something selfish:

"Please Lady of Harmony, give me the courage to continue as High Priestess. I don't know how much longer I can continue watching over the world as it passes us by. Cosmos, Goddess of Harmony, give us a sign that what we are preparing for may one day come to pass and these people can return to a normal life."

Character Corner:

Aerith Gainsborough

Game: Final Fantasy VII

As the High Priestess of the Church of Harmony Aerith has a demanding job. She doesn't let the effects show though as the people would lose their spirit. There are secrets she knows that will end up changing the course of the world. Aerith waits for the day that she can pass these secrets on to their intended recipients and start to lead the people of Bur-Omisace to peace.

Zack Fair

Game: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

One of the leaders of Bur-Omisace's small military force. Zack strives to be a hero and protect the city from the monsters of the surrounding area. Friend to all those he meets Zack has a positive outlook on life and takes time to enjoy the small things in life. A bit of a flirt, this spiky haired soldier has a heart of gold. As of right now there are two women fighting over that heart, though he doesn't know it.

Eala "Cissnei"

Game: Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Cissnei to all but Zack this red head follows the rules to the letter. She's by the book in all she does. She has few friends outside of her job as the leader of the Church's spy network. Coming across as cold to most Cissnei cares for her students and those she sends out into danger. There's a past to her that she wishes to remain a secret.