Disclaimer: This is a fan written work based on the works of J.K. Rowling. It might possibly also have some elements of a number of other works. There is no money being made from this, it is merely a work meant for the entertainment of myself and the masses. This is merely for fun, and no profit. I repeat: I am not making any money out of writing this.
Warning: OCs OOCs Sues, and some crack. You have been warned.
Note 1: AU.
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POWERLESS
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chapter fourteen
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The return flight was uneventful as compared to the first one the group had taken. There weren't that many dangers along the way, as if all the dangerous predators of the skies were scared of the waters which sometime ago the Continent of Volcanos once occupied.
Next to nothing remained of the continent, thousands of destroyed dreamers had been slain in the destruction of a whole continent. Dragon-kin could now be considered as one of the more endangered species among the Firsts, along side the Were, but were lucky enough to still exist unlike the friendly Sol and peaceful Moon Children.
Ryoku and company after some flying above what used to be perimeter of the continet locared the remnants of a once great city. They had found Lucertola, the seat of power of the Dragon-kin. There wasn't much land around the ruins, but there was plenty of water.
After dropping the boat near the a spot of boiling water, Novo and Marius were able to determine the cause of destruction, a flood. But the magnitude of such a swift flood was inconceivable to them. The two landlubbers searched for possible survivors of the massive and sudden catastrophe, they wouldn't call it a natural occurrence for even the disasters that befell the world weren't as thorough as what had happened to such a continent.
While the two did that, Ryoku dived underneath the uncharacteristically calm waters and swam through the still surviving structures in search for anything that could possibly clue them into who or what had decided that an entire continent was no longer worth keeping afloat. It reeked of Dark activity, but in Aetas there was no Light or Dark, sure there was good and bad, but as for the terms light and dark those were only elements. The only thing that Ryoku could think of to replace the concept of Dark, was the concept of Corrupted Power.
He figured that it wasn't coincidence that the continent he was heading for was suddenly sunk and its people redered lost. Someone knew he sought help there for his quest of seeking out and retrieving the Dagger of Time, and that someone wanted him to experience much hardships and most likely and ultimately failure. Whoever that someone was, he had to have quite a lot of power in the world, possibly even having the backing of a powerful god. That conclusion was based on some of Novo and Marius' ramblings during their uneventful journey to the now sunken continent.
Slinking and swimming beneath the waves provided Ryoku some opportunities to learn a little about the culture of the resident race. Using the bubblehead charm helped him stay under longer than without it. When thinking of dragons one would think of violent creatures that were fearsome in battle, and favored strength over knowledge. Now that he had swam around some of what seemed to be homes of the newly decesed, Ryoku learned that the Dragon-kin, and by extension dragons themselves, had a thirst for knowledge as well as some real love for treasures.
Novo and Marius had told him what they had seen of the race, but as they were not of that race, weren't intimately knowledgable about the actual culture of the race.
Dragons were a later creation which had started out somewhere in the North Americas or so he was lead to believe based on what he had seen, which meant that they were named after the Dragon-kin as magic had been brought to Earth from Aetas. Ryoku began to wonder why they were even called Dragon-kin. One theory which he had come up with was that it was because they had the ability to transform into their more beastial relations, proof of which was the body of a half transformed Dragon-kin in one home.
The thirst for knowledge and treasure part about dragons and Dragon-kin was confirmed when Ryoku stumbled upon a library, covered entirely in gold and jewels, and was filled with so many books, he was sure that Hermione Granger of any reality would have died and remained as a ghost just to absorb all that knowledge.
As he reached what looked like a barracks, he noticed that some of the bodies wore some kind of armor, most likely that was the kind of armor that Novo and Marius were going to get him. While dragon hide was hard to damage, nearly fully fireproof, and resistent to spells, Ryoku had found a spear sharp enough to cut one of his fingers. It was rather shocking to find something that could do that without really having it press that hard into his skin. The armor was just like regular armor in the sense that it it protected the wearer from harm.
He had attempted to damage the armor using the spear, and the spear ended up shattering when he stabbed the armor. Apparently there were things more durable than dragon hide, and the armor was one of those things. He even managed to find a set of armor being worm by a transformed Dragon-kin. After removing the armor, it shrunk down to the size of a regular Dragon-kin which could probably allow a human to wear it comfortably as well, which he tried to. Tried.
He needed to ask either Novo or Marius why that was, as they were his sources of information on this world.
He resurfaced with the armor, and a broadsword in hand, and headed over to where they were trying to pull away some rocks from the top of what must have been the palace of the royal family.
"Drop those Ryoku, they're useless, and come over here!" Novo called out to him once he spotted him.
He went over to his friends after dropping his booty.
"What are you guys trying to do?" he asked them.
"Lift this thing," Marius said, refering to the rock which they had tried to use a crane to remove, how Marius had a crane on him Ryoku didn't know, and Novo didn't care to know.
He did as instructed and found out the reason why he was told to do the deed. Underneath the rock, and it was a big rock, was a single Dragon-kin.
"One survived..." Ryoku said with a little bit of wonderment.
"Its alright little one," Novo said, trying to coax the Dragon-kin out of the for some reason not filled with water hole that she was in, and indeed it was a she as well as that she was but a child, "We're not here to hurt you, we're here to help you."
She moved away from Novo who was still in the boat, while Marius played with the crane as if the girl were a prize in an arcade game of the same name, except with unlimited tokens allowing him to fail and fail and fail to his heart's content.
"Let me have a go," Ryoku told his friend.
He approached the frightened child, in his dragon form, and tried coaxing her out of the hole she was in.
"Come now little one," he said, "We won't hurt you," he then reverted to a more Dragon-kin like state, "You can trust us."
His Dragon-kin like state was exactly that, he looked like a grown-up version of the little one he was trying to coax out. Dragon-kin looked like dragons in most ways, save for the proportions of their body parts, which were closer to humans. Clothing depended on the class, status, position, or rank in society, and Ryoku had chosen to go with looking like the Dragon-kin equivalent of a mage, a Magus Draconum, which was more of a mage knight or battle mage than a simple spellcaster. They were well respected in Dragon-kin society, and even the kings, who lived to a thousand years old, respected even the youngest of such a class.
"B-but the bad man might come back.." the little one said, fear evident in her little eyes.
"If he does, I'll protect you," Ryoku said, "I promise, and I always keep my promises."
"O-okay.." she said and allowed Marius to pull her up using his crane toy, and got her into the boat.
"Finally!" the Monopolian exclaimed, "I've never gotten anything from that game."
"Marius," Novo said catching the trader's attention.
"Yeah, Novo?" Marius asked, the response he got was that of Novo's fist crashing down on his head.
"Can you two please be serious for the time being?" Ryoku asked as he caught Marius' attempt at retaliation which consisted of a pair of shears and shaving cream.
"Yes Ryoku," they both said, sending each other glares when they thought the teen was not looking.
He left them to their own devices, while he focused his attention to the child he had coaxed into joining them.
"Do you know who the bad man was?" he asked the child.
She shook her head in response.
"Father told me to hide in there and not come up no matter what, because a bad man was coming," she told him, "I didn't see the bad man...do you know where my father is?"
"I'm sorry little one...but I don't think he escaped," Ryoku decided to be honest, instead of give the child hope, only for the trust the child had placed in his to be shattered upon the accidental revelation that her father was no longer of this world.
"No!" the child shouted and began to cry, "He can't be d-dead! He promised!"
Having never really had much experience with crying girls, or anyone else for that matter, he had simply reacted in the way he wished someone would have when he felt that sad. He knelt down and hugged her, and stayed in that position until she had calmed down enough or fallen asleep, whichever came first. Sleep won out.
"I just realized something," Marius said after Ryoku put the child in one of the bunk beds in their cabin.
"What?" the other two asked.
"Each race has Patron gods...why weren't the Dragon-kin protected?" Marius asked, "The mages are still powerful in their own right, and the Nightmares haven't really won much against them for some reason. How was it that the Sol and Moon Children wiped out, the Were and Dragon-kin become rare sights, and the actualy continents of clouds and volcanos destroyed? Why didn't their patrons protect them?"
"Do gods go to war?" Ryoku asked, he'd heard about gods fighting amongst themselves in some myths and legends back in Earth, but he was in unchartered waters when it came to Aetas.
"Unfortunately," Novo said, "The first world war was orchestrated by three gods, or so the legends say."
"So maybe the gods were fighting with the patrons of the attackers," Ryoku said.
"Possible, but to allow their kind of home continent be destroyed I think something more sinister was afoot," Marius said, "The Dragon-Kin's Patrons were none other than the major Gods of War and Wisdom. Oorlog is the God of Winning Wars, Krig the God of Losing Wars, plus they had Viisas the Goddess of Wisdom. They were the major brawn and brains of the whole pantheon."
"That would be three against five, and wisdom is not particularly strong physically," Novo pointed out, "And yes, I do believe that the Nightmares were involved, just as much as the Wights."
"Why them and their Patrons?" Ryoku asked.
"Because they participate in each and every major conflict, either with a major or minor role," Novo said, "Even when my old empire was attacked, there were a few Nightmares shredding our forces to pieces. My Patrons weren't able to help us either...as if something or someone was keeping them away..."
"It is said that in order for the First World War to have happened four of the five Patrons of the Nightmares ganged up on the Goddess of Calm," Marius said, "They managed to somehow incapacitate the Goddess of Calm but had to sacrifice the Goddess of Sleep in the process."
"Who are the Patrons of the Nightmares?" Ryoku asked, "It might clue us in on how they were able to beat the Gods of War and the Goddess of Wisdom."
"Novo, this is more your territory," Marius said.
"The gods are thus, Sleep, Dreams, Fear, Nightmares, and Calm," Novo said, "Quies, Somnium, Metus, Alric, and Aequus, the five Patrons of the Nightmares."
"What happens when you pray?" Ryoku asked suddenly struck by the question.
"Supposedly it gives more power to the god or gods, a small boost..but I wouldn't really know as I am not a god or demi for that matter," Novo answered.
"Maybe the reason why the gods were overpowered was because the Nightmares might have prayed to their Patrons before battle," Ryoku said, then asked Novo, "Did your people pray?"
"I...don't think so...we were more focused on survival at that point in time..." Novo said, when realization struck him, "If t-they had prayed...gods above...we could have stood more of a chance..."
"Don't cry over spilled milk," Marius said.
"What?" Novo asked, confused.
"Its a saying on Earth, its in the past forget about it," Marius said, "There's nothing that can be done now."
"B-but if we had just prayed to our Patrons...if only for a moment..." Novo said, depressed.
Ryoku didn't know what to say, as the subject of higher powers never ever really crossed his mind in his past.
After a few minutes Novo got control of himself.
"You're right..its in the past, maybe we can arm the remaining races with such knowledge," Novo suggested.
"The question is, would they listen?" Marius said, "Back when you were a legitimate prince somone might have, but as a deposed one..."
"Is there a way to communicate directly with a god, as in face to face?" Ryoku asked his companions.
"Direct contact?" Novo asked.
"Yes, direct contact."
"I've never heard of such an instance," Novo admitted.
"We...could...visit Obsido...their Realm of Worship has got the most number of actual temples in all the land...probably because they were the first of the Firsts," Marius suggested.
"There's a problem with that," Novo said.
"What?" Ryoku asked.
"While I did live there, I hid the fact that I am a Were by remaining in my human guise," Novo said, "They hate Were, Dragon-Kin, and a number of the other Firsts."
"Why?" Ryoku asked.
"Its something they picked up from Earth's magical human population," Marius answered, "I don't know how it came about myself, but suddenly according to record there was this influx of those prejudiced purebloods into our world."
"That sucks..." Ryoku said, "That's really a problem..as I don't think that the little one would be able to handle that."
"So...any more bright ideas?" Novo asked.
Ryoku paced around the deck for a while thinking, recalling everything that he had so far learned, when an idea struck him. He stopped and faced his friends.
"The Vanishing Continent...we can go there," Ryoku said.
"Are you mad?" Novo rhetorically asked, "Of course you're mad, you want us to go to the Vanishing Continent!"
"Shh, you'll wake the little one," Marius said, "Tone your outbursts down a little bit."
"Fine," Novo said pushing off Marius who had managed to surround Novo's head with all his appendages, "Ryoku, I already told you of the dangers of venturing near it, we were almost attacked last time. Why there?"
"There's a temple which is more like a shrine to Aetas there right," Ryoku said.
"There is...but what does that have to do with anything?" Novo asked, avoiding Marius' attempts to grab onto his head again.
"Well...I'm sure no one bothers him...so we could maybe ask him for a favor...or in Marius' case another one," Ryoku said.
"Oh right..forgot I did that.." Marius said calming down a little bit, enough to get him to sit down on the deck and play with some handy marbles.
"Y-you've both m-met H-Him?" Novo asked in disbelief, "H-how? W-when? W-why?"
"In Earth, in the past to be more precise," Marius said, "I needed to go home, and for some reason Ryoku over there," he nodded to Ryoku, "Needed to see Him too."
"Yea, we've both met him, rather young looking too," Ryoku said, "One of His adopted sons introduced me."
Novo immediately passed out, leaving Ryoku and Marius to play exploding snap while waiting for the cat-man to regain consciousness. Which took the better part of an hour.
"G-guys...I had this really weird dream.." Novo said upon waking, a little groggy at first, but he gained control of his motor skills enough to stand and move over to the two.
"About us meeting Lord Aetas?" Marius rhetorically asked, "That was no dream, and if you faint on me, I'll kick you in the nuts."
"Err...so..now what?" Novo asked, leaning against the protective barrier which separaded deck from water.
"We go to the Vanishing Continent, and have either Marius or the little one request divine assistance," Ryoku said, "You two've told me how much Aetas loves children."
"Yes, but this is a little bit war related, and Aetas detests wars," Novo said.
"Which does not explain why he participated in one before I met him," Ryoku said.
"What?!" Novo exclaimed, forcing Marius to mummafy Novo's head with toilet paper.
But it was too late as the three of them heard a scream from within the cabin. All three led by Ryoku entered the cabin.
"Its alright little one," Ryoku said, still in Dragon-Kin form, hugging her he said, "I'm here...shh..."
"I..I..I thought you left me.." she cried into his shoulder..
"I didn't leave you, little one, I was just outside," Ryoku said, reassuring the child that he would not leave her, "I promised to protect you if the bad man came, how will I do that if I leave you?"
She calmed down after that. Then Ryoku remembered that he didn't know her name, and that he couldn't keep calling her little one, even if she was.
"Little one," Ryoku said, getting her to focus all her attention on him, if she wasn't already.
"Y-yes?" she said, hesitantly.
"What is your name?" Ryoku asked, "I can't keep calling you little one."
"My father named me Lavina," she told him.
"Nice to meet you Lavina," Ryoku said, "I am Ryoku, and those two by the door are my friends, they'll protect you too."
"I'm Novo," the cat-man introduced himself.
"'N I'm Marius," the trader said and bowed, "I also know that you lil one are a princess."
"H-how?" she asked.
"I'd heard of you from friends of mine who lived here before all this happened," he said, "Perhaps you've heard of 'em, Coro and Cairo."
"I..I knew them...they always visited court..." she said, "I don't know where they are..sorry.."
"S'alright princess," Marius said.
"Back to what we were talking about earlier, before we forget," Novo said interrupting, "Vanishing continent?"
"Lavina," Ryoku said, "We're going to be heading for the Vanishing Continent, ok?"
"Uhm...but the merfolk..." she said a little scared, she'd heard about what happened there from her history lessons.
"I'll protect you from them too," Ryoku said, "But we need you to do something there."
"W-what?"
"We need you to ask Aetas for help," he said, then asked, "Can you do that for us?"
"yes," she said meekly, "But what if he doesn't listen? I'm so little."
"Then at least you tried," Marius said, "He listened to me, I'm sure he'll listen to you."
"He listened to you?" she asked him, awe shining in her eyes.
"Yea, Ryoku too," he said.
"How 'bout you, Novo?" she asked.
"Not that lucky," he said.
"Oh.."
"Tis alright, lil lady," Novo said, "When all this mess is over, I'll try and talk to him too."
"Okay," she said a little happily, granting them the sight of her smile.
It was at that time that Novo noticed darkness approaching.
"Ryoku, get us out of here," Novo said.
"Why? What's up?" he asked, letting go of Lavina and standing up.
"Darkness approaches...those that did this might want to finish the job, as Nightmares are more powerful at night," Novo said.
"Up for another jump?" Marius asked.
"Not enough power for another one," Ryoku said, "I'll fly us out of here, Marius direct me."
"Gotcha," Marius said, "What'll Novo and Lavina do?"
"I'll make sure Marius doesn't fall off, while Lavina stays in the cabin," Novo said.
"B-but.." the litte one said.
"No buts," Novo said with finality, "Its too dangerous on deck, especially at night. Plus, you need to rest."
"ok..." she agreed reluctantly..and watched as the three men went outside, Marius leaving her some toys to play with.
#
He'd managed to thrwart the plans of the seeker of the Dagger of Time. His spy had told him of the party's plans of acquiring some Dragon armor for when the seeker transformed and would eventually have to do battle in that form of his. Too bad he, Dranos, had stole quite a few of the blades before sinking the entire continent.
Nightmares made sure to pray to their gods before perfoming any acts of war against another race. It was through prayer that they were able to oppose any force against them so effectively. They went into battle with all the protections that their Patrons could offer then, which was a lot more than those that didn't bother to ask for help from their Patrons.
It was an unfair advantage, but it was war, and all was fair in war, Dranos cared not for love, as he was assured his immortality and needed no heirs to continue his reign.
His spy had also just reported that the group had acquired the sole surviving heir to the throne of the Dragon-Kin race, how pitiful it was that such a powerful race had to fall only due to some potential threat.
What could a child possibly contribute to the party and their cause. How would such an insignificant child be able to help.
He would admit that letting that Were prince live was a minor mistake, but a mistake that would be righted once he bore of the entertainment he got out of interfering with the party's plans.
There was also the report that they were heading for the Vanishing Continent, while the Merfolk would possibly rid the world of the meddleson mortals, he wanted to still have a hand in their possible demise, and as it was nearing night, he would dispatch a tiny fraction of his aerial forces to do some damage to the group, allow them a sliver of hope, then letting the merfolk finish the job.