Oh my I realized I kept writing Ironsides instead of Gray! Whooops, it's fixed now :)
Chapter Thirty-six
"Don't Let Her Get Into Your Head."
"You both realize what doing this entails, right?"
"Of course we do. We did long ago."
Deis' violet gaze shifted back and forth between her guests of honor's determined faces. Full red lips took a sip from an overly fancy glass of wine that was just placed in her delicate hands by a bowing, muscular blonde who's muscles shimmered in candlelight. "Drogen and Drakken are still just as close of neighbors as they were five hundred years ago, dragon, and you're likely to meet a lot of new acquaintances in the latter."
Ryu nodded. "Good."
The Shade Queen's smile was stale. "The only way you can free yourselves is to kill her. Even if you do find anyone in Drogen they will tell you the same thing."
"Even better."
She took another long sip. Nina's composure was noticeably faltering. The dragon reached over and squeezed her hand in his. "The first chance she'll get, she'll take over your lover."
"The first chance I get, I'll slit her godsdamn throat," growled the dragon back.
Deis set her glass on an ornate table beside her. Her blonde filled it to the brim. "Excellent. That would also be in my best interest."
The week had gone by too fast with nothing but good food, fun, and laughs with her sister during the light of day and Ryu's unwavering passion at night. Nina had almost forgotten what anxiety felt like, but now, here with the bandit queen solidifying the journey for their last quest, it gnawed her stomach something fierce.
"Although I do not know how to tell you to do so. She is a goddess- be it a mortal form- but a deity still. She won't be a pushover."
"Wouldn't it be boring if she was?" Ryu smirked. Nina wished she had his confidence. She should have had it.
She's right, this won't be any stroll on the beach.
Please. Anything but the beach.
Deis snapped her fingers. Nina flinched. Out of a dark corner, seemingly materializing from nothingness, a Mogu scampered forward, nervous eyes on the guests. "Underneath here is a series of caves used by the Mogu to transport goods to this city from all over the world. I'm sure they don't exactly go to Drogen, but they'll get you near faster than any surface way. Say the word and Magloi here will be your guide."
The little moleman trembled within his heavy desert garments. "I to l-l-lead monsters?" Magloi stammered, nose twitching vigorously.
Ryu scowled. Deis laughed. "You must forgive him, he's quite aware of the existence of Drakken's soldiers." She leaned down, patted his turbaned head briskly. "These are good monsters, I promise."
He shied away from her touch. "I no take them far."
"You will take them as far as I command if you want to be paid."
"Money worth nothing if no life."
Both Nina and Ryu had been in this room for over an hour listening to Deis talk of the dark dragons. There were many, she said. Hundreds, thousands, no one knew for sure. All wearing those gods awful suits milling about their underground city like an angry hive of wasps protecting their queen deep inside.
Deis snapped again and a barrage of glittering jewels rained down on the mole. He dropped to furry knees and hurriedly scooped them into a large satchel slung over his shoulder, eying Ryu as he did so. Tangible funds seemed to sedate his nervousness. "Fine, I take far as you want, but I leave at first morning light. I not wait any longer. Three day journey. My wife and boy need food and will pack before dark ones are provoked."
"Good boy. You hear that? Will you be ready by morning?"
No, Nina's mind said. "Yes," replied Ryu steadily.
"So be it. Provisions will arrive in your room tonight," said Deis and her glittering eyes. "At daybreak, you depart."
"Things will be alright, Nina. I'll make sure of it."
"But you don't know for sure, you can't say that you do."
Chandelier light from the hotel hallway ceiling made Nina's widened eyes even more amber. Where was her dragon bravado? She couldn't stop her damn hands from shaking.
Don't let her get in your head.
Ryu's face was neutral. She was right. "Don't let it consume you. We can do this," he was trying hard to convince them both.
"How, Ryu? We haven't talked much about it; we keep pushing it away."
He leaned back against the wall, gazed out of the gigantic windows taking up the entirety of the opposite wall out into the bustling city. She was right about that too. He'd been too busy the last few days trying to make her feel as good as possible in as many ways as he could. With Ethan out of the way, he could relax. His head went back, a soft laugh escaped his lips. "And I wish to push it back even farther. I want nothing more than to spend another night worrying more about whether our escapades were loud enough for the rest of our party to hear."
Nina frowned with reddened cheeks. "Ryu, I'm serious how are we supposed to fight a godsdamn goddess?!" It didn't seem real until now, even with all they had been through.
"You heard Deis. She is flesh and blood. There is a way and we will find it."
"These thousands of dark dragons aren't just going to let us waltz through the front door, how the hell are we supposed to get anywhere near her?!"
"Maybe getting caught would be the best way," he said thoughtfully.
Nina's heart skipped a beat. She flashed back to Ryu's severed arm in her grasp. "What?! Are you serious?!"
He shrugged. "They see through stealth. That was already proven to us."
"How can you shrug like that? Like it's no big deal?!"
"Look, I don't like the idea either, but right now it seems like our only option. Get caught and brought straight to her, then play it by ear."
"They'll separate us for sure!"
Ryu shook his head. "No, she wants me almost as bad as she does you. She'll make sure I'm there to witness whatever she does with you, I guarantee it"
Whatever she does with her. There went her ruthless anxiety again.
I'll do what I can to protect you. I promise.
"I will protect you. You know that," said Ryu's body softly to her.
Nina walked past him and into their room. No one was there. Gray and Shyloh were out for a walk with Isabella according to the note on the table. Kittah was probably out brooding over Leslie. She'd opened up a bit more to Nina about it but not by much. She'd been spending too much time avoiding her brother anyways. Nina sat down at the table, crumpled the note in her hands and tossed it cleanly into a wastebasket across the room. She wished Isabella was there. "I don't like the idea of leaving Isabella here without me for too long."
"Why? She'll be with trusted friends."
"It's not them I worry about," she said grabbing an orange from an assortment of fruit in the middle of the table. "I can warn her all I like about Ethan, but I don't think she'll hesitate if he were to approach her."
"We don't even know if he's still here."
"I also don't know if he's intending to continue his idiocy." Isabella was smart, but Ethan had been in her life for a long time doing nothing but noble deeds in front of her. If she were to get separated from Kittah and company somehow, Nina had no doubt in her mind he'd easily be able to coax her into coming with him. The bastard had an unfortunate way with words.
"I'm sure Gray will tear him a new hole if he does try anything."
"We can only hope." But she didn't hope that. A small part of her still hoped there was some good in him, despite the show he put on for her out in the desert. She bit messily into her fruit. Why did she always think such stupid things?
Ryu sat down in front of her. His hair was getting even longer these days; black tips grazed the tops of his shoulders, fell messily in his sharp eyes. Hers was as well. It must've been a dragon trait, for it to grow so fast. "We'll make this trip as quick as we can. You'll be back with your sister before you know it."
"What are we going to do when we return, Ryu? Live here? I can't think of any other place where it would be safe. Ideally the Kaiser will be gone from me after this...but you...I trust you around Isabella, don't get me wrong, but wouldn't it be a good idea to stay here where if something were to happen you couldn't do any damage to anyone anyhow?"
He shrugged. "City life has never been something I desired, but I can't say I've given much thought to any life outside of the present. Revenge clouded my thoughts in Wyndia. You are right, however, here would be the best place."
"What do you desire now?"
"A quiet place away from everything with you," he smiled warmly, "I am but a simple man underneath this madness."
"Do you think we'll be able to accomplish that?" she asked softly, "Because it is all I wish for as well."
Beneath that smile he looked so incredibly sad.
Both of them turned toward the door. Isabella burst through with Arson and her new Nina made hat hanging for dear life on her shoulder. "Sissy you're back!" she cried throwing her arms around her sister. Surprisingly Arson had been tame around the younger Wyndian. After she saw the way Isabella cried about her burned sketchpad the little nut somehow grew a bit of a conscience and actually listened to Nina telling it not to burn Izzie's things. That or it was impressed by the little girl being able to create tiny magical sparks of her own for it's amusement.
Shyloh and Gray looked annoyed at each other. They were always bickering as of late. "You shouldn't be bothering Kittah so much," said the shaman with her finger in the big cat's face.
"Why? She be tha dumbest broad evah thinkin' 'bout dat idiot dog all tha damn time!" he roared. 'E's an AG an he ain't gonna be nothin' dif'rent ta me no how. Tha fact dat 'e been hidin' stuff from 'er an erryone botha's me, aight?"
"How many times do we have to remind you that he'd been protecting her?"
"Dun care one bit 'bout dat, a liar's still a liar! All she been doin' is mopin' ova dis fo' no reason! If'n she'd jus' lemme git 'er anotha damn dog. One dat ain't gonna be spyin' on 'er or turnin' inta no stupid guy..."
"Gods, Caleb you don't understand a thing," Shyloh sighed, turning from him to the dragon pair. "What did the Shade Queen tell you both?"
"We leave tomorrow," said Nina ruffling Isabella's hair.
Her sister shook her head hard, pulling away and looking up through misty eyes. "No! Sissy don't leave!"
Ryu knelt down near her. "We have to, Sissy's sick and we need to find someone to cure her, remember?" It was a lot easier to explain things to her this way.
The little girl sniffed back tears. "B-b-but I'm gonna miss her again! I waited so long to see her and now she's gonna be gone!"
"It'll be okay, I'll try really hard not to be long. You want Sissy to get better right?" Why did she feel like she was lying horribly, that this was one of the last time's she'd ever see her sister's little face? Isabella clutched the front of Nina's shirt in her tiny fists.
Stop it. No negative thoughts. We'll get through this. All of us. You will come back to her. You'll come back to everyone.
Kittah came through the door and sat down on the couch without a word. Gray looked to her and then the rest of the crew. "C'mon, I be hankerin' fo' some grub, Les go ta tha joint downstairs, aight? One last meal wit all o' us? Can we at least have dat? Missin' ya'll's gonna bite. Who gonna go out ta tha bars wit me when I be bored? Sure ain't gonna be dis icebox." He laughed pointing to Shyloh. She rolled her eyes in response. Ryu laughed along with him.
Nina's chest tightened along with her hug on Isabella. Why did everything feel so godsdamn final?
Ethan slouched in a well cushioned chair at an umbrella covered table on his room's balcony draining the last bit of pale ale out of a bottle. When finished, he tossed it back over his shoulder into a broken pile of its mates on the ground. It wasn't the same room he'd stayed in earlier that week, he'd made damn sure to get one far away from Nina and her party. Glassy eyes panned over city lights reflecting off the clouds. There were no stars tonight. He'd been out on the town earlier, taking every drink and woman he could afford. Nothing seemed to fill the void he still had inside of him. "Godsdamnit," he muttered to himself trying unsuccessfully to again will Nina and her uncharacteristically exciting dominance out of his head.
Something in his pocket vibrated. In his haze, he'd forgotten what it could be. He felt around his pockets and pulled out his communicator with a heavy arm. What was that number? It was familiar.
"What," he answered after pressing all the buttons on the right side of it with a fat feeling drunk thumb.
"How nice it is to hear your voice again, Von Buren."
Red brows furrowed, he sat up a little straighter. "Chasta?"
"Oh I'm so glad you remember me after so long."
"Whaddya want?" Why in Elanaar would she want to communicate with him?
"All I can see is your damn ear by the way."
He pulled it away from the side of his face to see her on the screen smirking at him. Her hair was down. He wasn't used to seeing it like that. "I thought you were dead," he slurred.
"Dead? Where did you hear that?"
"Rumors are errywhere in these parts."
"From who?"
"Whaddya want?" he repeated, irritated. He just wanted to drink more.
"Your drunk ass to listen to me. You want to kill that dragon still don't you? Isn't that what you're out there doing? I heard you had Isabella. What the hell were you doing kidnapping a princess?"
"Ain't got her no more."
Chasta laughed hauntingly. "Nina kicked your ass didn't she? Or was it her dragon?"
"Ain't no one kicked no one's ass," he lied with an acid tipped tongue.
"Oh really? Well," she grinned with annoying elation. "What if I told you I had a sure fire plan to get them back?"
"Didn't you fight her once as well? Did you not see what she can do? You of all people wouldn't stand a chance so what kinda idea could you possibly have?"
She held up a black bodysuit with red glittering tubes laced into it against a desert background. "You wanna repeat that?"
Hunter green eyes widened and he was suddenly a lot more sober.
A/N: I apologize this isn't longer. I just kinda wanted to get something out there to where you know I'm not lying about posting :) Thank you so very much for the support and incredibly kind words. I'll be fine...I think. Time heals all wounds. I think I just need to get to a fight or something in this to get back into my groove haha.
Also please check out my friend DarkPhazonElite's fics, it's not Breath of Fire but she's been a real inspiration to me lately. Her continuing to write and improve has been very motivating :) I'm really loving her newest Undertale one but they all are worth a peek!