Chapter 36-(Trouble on the Homefront)
A/N: Hey guys! I am back with another chapter...which had been somehow deleted since my Office Writer did some weird ass shit, and I had to re-do the entire chap....AGAIN. SO after a few angry hours...here is the new chap. Enjoy....or else!
The sun was gently rising over the cold, snowy lands of Arcadia and everyone was slowly waking up. The guys had hangovers and they struggled to keep themselves up. Galadrial on the other hand was up all night, vomiting and using the toilet for a good hour. Luckily for her, she was not suffering from Alcohol Poisoning and the girls were feeling the pain from yesterday's encounter with Pobon. Cynder had a broken neck and she couldn't get out of bed. Luckily for her, her brother-in-law gave her a small piece of food and she was back into full health.
"What did you do to me?" asked Cynder in shock and awe.
"In this small bag Cynder, contains the most rarest, yet most magical beans of all. Senzu beans, as they are called, have the ability to restore a body back to its full health. All bones that were broken are now fixed." smiled DL Mark as he twirled the bag around and placed it in his pocket.
"Thank you Mark...you really are sometimes a life-saver." smiled Cynder as she gave him a kiss.
The group later on met up with the others in the dining hall. Godith and Hera only had a bump on their heads from where Pobon had hit them and Galadrial had bandages here and there. Queen Elizabeth had her wound covered up and she was recovering quite fast. Arcadian Medicine were really advanced and she would be back to full health within two days.
"Welcome everyone, glad to see that you all made to the table without a problem." smiled King Daimios of Arcadia.
"Easy for you to say." spoke Reignor as he held his head.
"Sounds like somebody has a bad hangover." smiled DL Mark.
"Shut up...how the hell are you not suffering?" asked Reignor.
"When we have some celebration and birthday parties...he drinks a lot and hardly feels the effects. Even though drinking 60 barrels yesterday is enough to kill any man, my dear hubby got a belly of steel." answered Godith with a smile.
"Well if you are feeling any effects, the food that we have set up for you guys today is really good. I made them myself whenever my husband goes on a drinking rampage." blushed Elizabeth.
"Really? Great! I always wondered how food tasted in the other Kingdoms." spoke Spyro as he got his breakfast.
"Always thinking with your stomach eh Spy?" asked Lethak. The group got a laugh out of that and they all had breakfast. Pancakes and French toast served with berries, butter, the sweetest maple syrup. Plus eggs made in all ways, with oatmeal, sweet and spicy sausages and muffins, on the side with juice, milk, and water to drink. Most of the group only ate a plate or two-full while the two Gods were chowing down everything....yes....even Galadrial was eating like hell. The rest of the group watched in awe as they ate everything on the table.
"Man...you Dragons are like bottomless pits!" said Elizabeth in shock.
"Ell, at id u uy xcep?" asked Reignor with his mouth full.
"Reignor...remember what I said about eating with your mouth full?" asked Hera. Reignor gulped everything down and looked at his wife with a silly smile.
"Sorry hon. What I said was, well what did you guys expect?" spoke Reignor once more before he ate some more.
"I'm just surprised to see how Galadrial is eating much more then you guys combined." stated Cynder. The two Gods looked at each other and then at Galadrial who had perhaps twice more plates down the her father and Uncle combined.
"Galadrial...are you pregnant?" asked Godith.
"No..." replied Galadrial quickly as she ate more and more. It wasn't long till she finally stopped eating, and not even a crumb was left on the table. The dishes were cleaned out and both DL Mark and Reignor were too amazed to keep eating. Galadrial sat back in her chair with a sigh and she cleaned her mouth off from all the stains. She burped, but she held it in.
"Ohhh, I am stu-uffed." whispered Galadrial.
"If you were to be as old as your father, perhaps you would've ate every food possible in the world." spoke Lethak.
"Anyways....what are you all going to do next?" asked Daimios.
"We are going to have to go back to Drake's Castle and hold that place off from the Fallen Ones. The last thing we need is to have the entire population of Dracovia whipped out." stated Cynder.
"We can send our men to battle with you." spoke Elizabeth.
"There won't be any need my Lady. It would only cause more problems for us and we don't want to other territories to interfere with us. Thanks but no thanks." said DL Mark.
"Can I go?" asked Alicia who was playing with her younger brother Daren.
"Now, now young lady, you know well what we are going to say." spoke her mother.
"Aww mom come on! Please! You know well that I got find someone who I can be with. Remember the tradition?" asked Alicia.
"What tradition?" pondered DK Mark.
"Here in Arcadia, when the prince or princess reaches the age of 17, he or she must find a man with whom she can be with. Two and a half years ago she did, but a just last week, he left her." growled Daimios in anger.
"I sense some spoiled love." whispered Spyro.
Alicia only stood by her parents' side and she took a few deep breathes before she continued speak.
"Can you tell us what has happened?" asked Galadrial.
"Of course...it all started when it was my 17th birthday. It is of tradition in Arcadia that a prince or princess must find a love. I found one named Blake Forzighn. Blake and I had met during my party and we were together since. My mother and father were glad that me and Blake were together. For almost two and a half years we were together and we were due to be married next week." spoke Alicia.
"Oh no...really? I hate it when men just leave their loved ones for something stupid. Why did he leave you?" asked Godith in anger.
"It was because Blake had heard about the Fallen Ones. You see, his parents were killed when he was only 12. They went up to the mountains to spend some quality time. An avalanche occurred and 13 people were killed, and 36 were wounded. Blake had lost his entire family in that one day and he had been a wonderer since. He always had been traveling from city to city, searching for jobs and helping out others. He was a sweet lad. I met him once and I had asked him to come by to my party if he had the time. He eventually did and we fell in love. When the Fallen Ones had arrived just last week, Blake had a couple of decisions on his mind. He wanted to bring back his family and he knew that if he was to be with the Fallen Ones, they would return. I did all I could to stop him from joining but it was no use. The thought of power and his family had gotten to him and he had left me a week before our wedding." spoke Alicia before she shed a few tears and cried in her mothers arms.
"If I ever meet this Blake, he will be sorry for ever doing such a thing like that!" stated Hera as she slammed her fist onto the table.
"I wish I could do so myself, but this lad I too fast and I really can't stand up to the Fallen Ones. Just look at what has happened to me with Pobon. I couldn't stand up to that guy so what can I do with Blake?" spoke Daimios.
"There is...one thing that would perhaps cheer you all up." spoke DK Mark. Everyone turned to look at him with a confused look.
"What do you mean?" asked Alicia as she dried up her tears.
"I myself, have a son named Ryuu. He is just a little older then you...wait a second...how is he 22 when the time line of the story only advanced 10 years?" asked DK Mark.
"Don't look at me...I didn't do nothing." spoke the author.
"Bullshit! Now you better make sure that Ryuu is only 18! Not 22! What were you thinking?!!" yelled DK Mark to the author.
"Shut up before your wife dies." replied the author.
"You gonna change it or what?" asked DK Mark.
"Yes I will, jeez calm down." replied the Author.
(A/N: I had made an error since the beginning of the story. Supposedly I did not do my math correctly and my friend godofmadness43 told me that I made a mistake. For a few months I thought it would be nothing to worry about, but it really is a problem. So Ryuu is really 18, not 22 okay guys? Good, read on.)
"Thank you...now as I was saying, I have a son named Ryuu, who is only a bit younger then you. He is 18 years of age, but he is a good man. Maybe if your parents agree that you go along, then perhaps you would like to meet him." suggested DK Mark. Alicia thought about it for a while and she looked at her parents.
"What do you think mom and dad?" asked Alicia.
"I guess our dear friend is right. If I trust him, then I believe that I can trust his son being with you." answered Daimios.
"So that means I can go and date his son Ryuu?" asked Alicia.
"Of course my dear...but don't have too much fun though...you are not having babies till you get married and that Ryuu is 21." stated Elizabeth.
"Don't worry, we will make sure that they have a good relationship." smiled Cynder.
"Oh! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!" squealed Alicia with joy as she hugged her parents and ran off to pack her things.
"Oh happy girls...just like us when we were young." spoke Godith.
After an hour, Alicia had gotten all her stuff...really...all of it. She had 5 luggages of her clothing, plus another 3 more for makeup, and another 2 luggages that were her personal belongings.
"Jesus...what did you do? Clean out your entire room?" asked Reignor.
"Hey, if I am going to be with you guys, I might as well bring everything that I got along with me." smiled Alicia as her servants chugged her bags.
"So who wants to be a good man and carry them all for me?" asked Alicia.
"DK Mark!" said all the guys.
"ME?!" replied DK Mark in shock.
"Hey you suggested the idea of her and Ryuu being together so you might as well take her stuff and be a nice guy." smiled DL Mark.
"Damn you guys..." growled DK Mark and he turned into his full grown Dragon Form.
"Strap your stuff onto me and let's get going. Make sure that they are all sealed tight so that when we fly, we don't have a mile's-worth trail of clothes." spoke DK Mark. Without hesitation, the bags were quickly strapped onto DK Mark and Alicia plopped herself onto his back.
"All done and ready to roll King." smiled Alicia.
"Be careful love!" shouted her mother.
"Don't worry, these guys are the strongest beings in the world, what do I have to worry about?" asked Alicia.
"Blake." sputtered her brother Daren.
"Oh shut it you, anyways, bye everyone, I'll miss you!" shouted Alicia as she waved good-bye to her family. Soon enough, the group had taken off and they were heading back to Drake's Castle.
For the next 2 hours, the group were flying as fast as possible to reach home. During the flight, Alicia was talking with DK Mark, trying to know as much as possible about Ryuu. The skies were darker then before and the lands looked a lot different since they had left for Arcadia. Before it was just all black and dead. Now living un-dead creatures were roaming around.
"What the hell happened here?" asked Hera in shock. DL Mark was flying high above them and he went up into the clouds, but he soon came right out. He was coughing and it looked as if the clouds caused his body to look more un-dead like.
"Dad...are you okay?" asked Galadrial.
"I'll be fine." replied DL Mark as his skin turned back to normal.
"Looks like the Fallen Ones had made the clouds seem a bit more different." guessed Spyro.
"They have. The air has been poisoned, causing living animals and beings to look more zombie like. I don't know why the Fallen Ones have decided to do this, but I just hope that it has not reached Drake's Castle." spoke Godith. It wasn't long till they reached the cave entrance and they quickly found their secret home. Cynder punched in the code and they rushed in quickly and closed it, thinking that the deadly air was perhaps spreading everywhere.
As soon as the door was closed, a couple of guys in environmental protection suits came running at them.
"Thank goodness you guys have come back! The air outside is making a nightmare here in this place." spoke Sedro.
"I think we already noticed that from flying by." said Reignor.
"We are going to have clean you guys up from all the dead air. It may take a while but its for the sake of our people." spoke Sedro.
"Make it quick Dad, we don't have all day." spoke his son DK Mark. For the next 10 minutes, the group were being decontaminated and given masks to protect themselves from the sickness.
"From what has just happened in the past 12 minutes...I don't think that Drake's Castle will be a pretty sight." spoke Spyro with worry.
"Before we move on, can I ask you guys who is the young woman?" asked Sedro.
"My name is Alicia, and I take it that you are Sedro. I have heard about you in stories and of how you ruled Dracovia when you were King. I come here today to date your grand-son Ryuu. It is of tradition that an Arcadian prince or princess at the age of 18 or older should find a love as quickly as possible." spoke Alicia.
"Good thing you came to the right place my dear child. Ryuu is a man who will not disappoint you." smiled Sedro.
"Dad I already told her everything about Ryuu." spoke DK Mark.
"Oh, okay then...let's get going then." said Sedro as he went forth and the others followed, with the masks on them.
When the group came in sight with the main city they were stunned to see of what was happening. Streets were filled up with people laying in the streets, crying for help, coughing from sickness and a few were already dead.
"What the hell happened hear?" asked Lethak.
"The ventilation system that usually gives us fresh air from the outside had been clogged up. The air outside had caused the system to malfunction and it didn't ventilate to pollution. We shut it down as quickly as possible but by then enough bad air had reached and caused almost everyone to be infected." spoke Sedro.
"How many people are sick?" asked Spyro.
"About 90% are currently infected. Only 0.5% of the population is dead. The rest of the 9.5% are immune to it." added on Sedro.
"Then why bother giving me this mask?" asked DL Mark as he took it off.
"Give this to someone who actually needs it." spoke DL Mark.
"I got to go with my brother." said Reignor as he too took off the mask.
"But we don't know if you guys are going to be sick or not! Please put it back on!" pleaded Sedro.
"Sedro...remember when you were King and a plague had spread out. I was not sick from it at all. So what makes you think that this 'bad air' is going to get me?" asked DL Mark as he walked forward, helping out as much people as possible.
"I better get back home and check and see how my Pythios is doing." spoke Galadrial with worry as she flew above the packed-streets and to her home. The rest of the group decided to help out as well.
As Galadrial arrived to her home, she quickly opened the door and noticed that it was quite empty.
"Demitri? Pythios? Anyone home?" asked Galadrial.
"Galadrial?" asked Demitri from upstairs. Without hesitation, Galadrial ran up the stairs and ran straight into the room of where Demitri was. Demitri was wearing a mask and so was Pythios, but Pythios seemed so weak.
"No, he can't be infected." spoke Galadrial with tears in her eyes.
"He is. I tried all I could to help him fight off the infection. He is showing signs of improvement, but at times, I felt so terrified." spoke Demitri.
"What happened to him love?" asked Galadrial.
"I don't know, one time he just stopped breathing. I did all I could to bring him back and thankfully he started breathing again." spoke Demitri. Galadrial only hugged and kissed her fiancée.
"Oh thank you Demitri...I don't know what I would've done without you." cried Galadrial. Pythios only coughed as he weakly opened his eyes and saw his mother.
"Hey there little one, mommy's back." whispered Galadrial as she carefully took hold of her son. Pythios only cooed softly and weakly as he was taken in by his mother. He shed a few tears but was too weak to actually cry.
"Don't cry darling...I'm here now." whispered Galadrial. Pythios had a happy face on him before he coughed a little bit more worse.
"He's so sick. Did you take him to my sister Grace?" asked Galadrial.
"Grace is doing all she could. Despite the fact that she has been hurt badly from what ever happened up there in Arcadia, she is running around helping out as many as possible. I couldn't even get to her." spoke Demitri.
"It's okay...we're back home now, ain't that right Pythios? Pythios?" asked Galadrial. She placed her hand on his chest and he was not breathing.
"Oh great not again!" shouted Demitri as he took off the mask and opened up his sons mouth. He quickly performed CPR on him and gave him some breath.
"Come on Gally...help me out here!" shouted Demitri as he repeated the procedure. While Demitri was trying to get his son's heart pumping again, Galadrial was giving air to her son. It seemed as if Pythios this time, was not going to make it.
"Come on God damn it!" yelled Galadrial as she gave air once more. Tears were streaming down from her eyes. Demitri did the procedure one last time and Galadrial gave him her breath of life. They waited for a bit and nothing had happened. The two looked at each other with fear and sadness and they soon realized what has happened.
"No...NO!! Not my Pythios!" cried out Galadrial as she did the procedure out of desperation. She gave her boy air once more and nothing had happened again. Galadrial only sulked, realizing that their adoptive son had been taken from sickness.
"This can't be happening!! It just can't!!" cried Galadrial over her son's body. Demitri only hugged his love and the two cried together over their dead son.
"Galadrial...I am so sorry." whispered Demitri. Galadrial continued on crying in her lover's arms and her eyes were running down like a rapid. Demitri looked back at his son once more and noticed that his chest was moving.
"Galadrial....Gally look...he....he's breathing." whispered Demitri in shock. Galadrial looked with watery eyes and her husband was telling the truth. Pythios was breathing again and he coughed, showing signs of life and he soon let out a loud cry. The two of them smiled as they hugged their little boy together.
"Ohh Pythios...you had me so worried!" cried Galadrial as she hugged her son tightly.
"Pythios, you little rascal, I knew that you were a fighter." whispered Demitri as he kissed his son and hugged him as well.
Meanwhile, outside on the streets of Drake's Castle, the gang had met up to discuss of what has happened. DL Mark and Reignor were the only ones not wearing a mask, but the others were taking no chances.
"So when did this Bad Air come about?" asked Godith.
"It was just a few hours after Galadrial had left to get you guys and that we when we noticed some changes in the air outside. The air that was being sucked into our system showed signs of all different kinds of lung disease." spoke Sedro.
"What do you mean?" asked Cynder.
"What he manes is that the Bad Air outside contains every possible lung disease such as Pneumonia, Tuberculosis, Cancer, Tyrax, you name it. I can tell right now that this ain't no act of nature. Someone had decided to flush us out." spoke DL Mark.
"And that is what we came to conclusion with. The only problem...well problems is that we can't seem to find the source and figure out who did this." said Sedro.
"It's kinda obvious of who wants to do this to us. The Fallen Ones wants to kill us. Location of where this has started is the only problem. We can right away say that there is no way that they had released this virus all the way from Warfang. The chances of the virus to spread World-Wide is too great. So the only possible ways are that they had decided to connect our Ventilation System with a machine and pump on the virus that way, or they just literally released it near-by and it got sucked in." spoke Spyro.
"I go with Machine Possibility. Reason why is because Drake's Castle is capable of supporting three times the population of Dracovia. So releasing a virus is out of the question. All we got to do is go and find this machine and disconnect it from the main line and we can then give cure out folks in a flash." spoke Lethak.
"Alright then, me and Reignor will go and find this machine and see if we can shut down this machine." spoke DL Mark.
"Be careful, there might be guards out there, plus a member of the Fallen One waiting for you guys." spoke Godith.
"Don't sweat it Godith. With us on your side, what can possible be bad?" asked Reignor as he and his brother had turned around.
"Hold up guys! You are going to need this." spoke Sedro as he handed them both a communicator.
"Oh right...never leave without one." said DL Mark.
"Alright then see ya guys! Do your best to keep this place cleaned-up!" spoke Reignor and the two teleported themselves outside of Drake's Castle.
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Meanwhile, Xervan was watching from his Balcony from Warfang and Raikov came to him.
"Xervan, DL Mark and Reignor are going to find the source. What can we do?" asked Raikov. Xervan only turned around and smiled evilly.
"Send Xuryu and our new friend with him as well. I am sure that they will be a problem for bot of them." spoke Xervan evilly.
"Fine...but if they die don't blame me." said Raikov and he left his King be.
'Oh don't worry my friend. Xuryu and Blake are sure to be a challenge for them.' thought Xervan evilly as he looked out towards the East once again. From the corner of his eye, he saw two people fly off with immense speed, Xuryu and Blake...both were hungry for a Kill.
A/N: Uh-oh! Looks like Xervan has decided to send Xuryu and Blake to face off against the two Dragon Gods! What are their powers like? Will DL Mark, and Reignor be able to find this machine that is slowly killing their people? What will happen if they encounter Blake and Xuryu? Find out next time on R.O.D!