Yes, dear readers, yes: there is a time skip of two years. No misreading in that ^^ reason being, two years will allow all of our characters to settle in nicely into their new roles ^^
teamBLAZE: hey and welcome to the story! I'm glad you enjoyed it so far and thanks a lot for the compliment ^^
hannah and/or Guest: okay, guest, I assume you are hannah (if not I am so sorry) and since you guys ask similar questions anyway...
1. the laws on regulating attacks is actually to reduce the number of dragon's deaths due to dragon hunters. And yes, it increases instead thanks to the rebels who disagree with this law for any reason. And yes, none of the sister is aware of Allen and Neil moving out since it happened after they left.
2. Yeap, Reine took Gwen since she plans of have a complete element party.
3.1. The uncle wanted to burn them so that he can retain his position to claim the throne since Reine and Gwen would take precedence over him, being the daughters of the then current King.
3.2. (for Guest) well, I'll be sad if you stop reviewing since I love reading them :( and truth to be told my motivation is derived from all the reviews that is left for the latest chapter posted, and of course that includes yours :3 then again, I can't force you to review anyway hahaha I just hope you don't stop enjoying what I write ^^
Chris Shino: actually it is not "only". Lord is the highest authority in the clan, so Allen is already at the top of the hierarchy. ^^" and as far as I can tell you, the knowledge of the "riddle-prophecy thing" is not a common knowledge among the dragons, so does the knowledge of the reason why the current dynasty was established. ^^
and now... onward to the chapter!
Despite the festivities of the first day of Flower Festival, the three Leicestria cousins sat around the dining table with serious expression on their faces, with a map of the Greater Lowlands—the region which Elviaros was in—spread out on the wooden table before them. Beforehand, Rod had marked out the location of recent dragon attacks and it seemed that towns surrounding Elviaros had been attacked at least once.
"Seems like they're going here next." Allen said.
Neil pointed at the forest area outside Elviaros, the open space where Rachel had once held the sisters captive. "We should check this area," he said.
Rod and Allen looked at him inquiringly, "Why?"
Neil paused for a moment—trying to figure out how to bring his point across—before eventually he took a quill and drew a line connecting all the assault locations and it seemed that all the lines intersected at that particular spot, much to the surprise of the other two hunters.
"What time does the attacks occur usually?"
"Right after sunset."
Allen looked at the window, "If we go now, we can arrive there before sunset."
The three cousins galloped to the field pointed on the map, and as they were getting closer to the field, Thor let out a small voice that let Neil knew that there were dragons nearby.
"Seems like we're on the mark this time," he told his cousins.
They emerged from the woods and before them, there were eight dragons of different colours—three of them bound in ropes and forced to bow on the ground by the other five. Two of remaining five—the blue and red ones—were smaller than the other three. Their skins, too, were rather different since it was rather crystalline in appearance instead of the usual rough, thick-scaled skin like the other six.
The five unbound dragons turned to meet them, and for a moment time seemed to be frozen between the two parties.
Neil found himself staring at the red dragon. There was something that told him this wasn't the first time he saw this particular dragon. He recalled that when he was a kid, he saw a red dragon flying in the sky as well, but surely there was more than one red dragon in this world?
That was when a flaming bird came into the field and perched on the red dragon's shoulder. And then everything made sense to the blond.
Meanwhile, Allen was frozen. He recognized the impression of the aura the blue dragon gave him. Much colder, yes, but there was a distinct gentleness that he always felt when he had been around her.
"Gwen…" he murmured.
The Queen had brought her party to do a patrol on the area, and they had just managed to defeat the rebels before another attack could be launched. They were just about to bring them back to the Court when Gwen suddenly turned around.
"What is it?" The Queen inquired.
She didn't need to answer, though, when they saw three men emerged from the woods on their horses.
Her eyes immediately found Neil, who seemed to have changed significantly. Instead of his usual long-sleeved bicoloured shirt, he wore a black sleeveless, high-collared top that he zipped to just below his collarbone. His dark green camouflage pants were changed into black as well. His trademark coat was gone; instead he wore a loose deep magenta robe-like sleeve covering his left arm connected to a metallic pauldron and straps across his chest, which were held in place by the red rose badge he wore over his heart. In addition, he wore an elbow-length fingerless leather gloves that were secured by straps and buckles. His attire exposed his upper right arm, letting any observer to see the black brand on it: the symbol of his clan. His shoulders seemed to be broader than she had remembered last, and the muscles on his arms much more pronounced. He looked like ready to fight for whatever he believed in more than ever.
Meanwhile, Allen now sported a royal blue cloak emblazoned by the crest of their clan in silver thread on its back: a heirloom passed down to the head of Leicestria clan through the generations. Beneath it, his attire took on a lighter shade of blue—reminiscent of Gwen's hair—except for his armguards which was black in colour instead. Around his waist, which was previously empty, there was a sword: a long sword with silver handle and sheath. Gwen could see that there was something dangling free on his left ear, only to find that it was a dangling earring made of platinum that depicted the clan crest. The silvery colour of the earring contrasted greatly with his deep red hair and well as his royal blue cloak, as if announcing to the world of his position as the lord of the clan for an earring of the clan's crest was indeed the symbol of the lord of any dragon hunter clan. His face was slightly sterner out of responsibility and he exuded the charisma that was expected from the leader of the most ancient dragon hunter clan.
She heard him calling out. "Gwen…"
"They are the Lord and Vicelord Leicestrias!" one of the guards exclaimed. "If we manage to kill them, it surely is a good deterrence for those humans!"
Gwen glanced at her sister, who nonchalantly turned around. "We are leaving." She announced, "Our priority is to capture the rebels."
Just then, a lightning bolt was shot just a few inches away from the Queen and it hit a tree before her, striking it down. The Queen turned in shock and she saw Neil had jumped down from his horse and drawn his sword, pointing it at her. "We need to talk," he said.
Before she could react, the earth dragon in her party had trapped both of Neil's wrists using earthen plates and retracted them back to the ground, forcing Neil to kneel down.
"How dare he attacking Her Majesty!"
The two guards advanced towards Neil as Allen and Rod quickly drew their weapons. However, they were quickly disarmed and soon they were knocked down from their horses. One of the dragons slashed Neil across his right shoulder and soon blood started seeping out his arm.
"He shall be the first!"
"Halt!" The Queen commanded, promptly halting the two dragons before they could actually kill him.
"But, Your Majesty!"
"Step aside."
Both dragons stepped aside, bowed their heads and folded their wings. She took a step forward to Neil's direction as gradually transformed back into her human form, and her flames took the form of a magnificent dress covering her body. Only then Neil could see her scarlet eyes again, and he saw the changes in her. Her girlish, fiery aura was replaced with something more subdued and restrained although retaining the same intimidatingly heated impression. It had only been two years, but she—due to the pressure of the Court—had matured beyond her age.
She stared right into his eyes as she stood before him, "My father told me, we should see eye to eye with humans. So now, let us see eye to eye,"
"Remember what I told you… about how love is regardless of from whom it came from and to whom it is given to?" he asked, "I mean it."
She shifted her gaze towards Allen momentarily before turning back to Neil, "Your cousin had broken one of the most sacred laws in dragons," she said. "With what he had done to my sister…"
"Are you telling me that it's wrong for a human to love a dragon?!" Neil asked, raising his voice.
The two guards—who didn't understand the conversation yet sensed aggression in the tone of this voice—immediately stood up and were about to decimate the Vicelord Leicestria, but the Queen raised her left hand, halting them again. "It's wrong when a human gave a dragon a taste of love… then forcefully take it back," she replied, her voice trembled slightly. She then pointed at Allen and gradually a fireball was formed at the tip of her finger.
The Queen shifted her gaze back to Allen. "It is not because of you being Lord Leicestria. It is because you have abandoned my sister when she had taken that leap of faith… of giving herself to you. You desecrated our sacred law."
Allen, who was kneeling on the ground, bowed his head in acceptance. Her earlier words had just revealed to him how much faith Gwen had put in him that night, and he just realized how much worse his deed to her was. His chest was tightened in pain. He could talk all day about how he believed in protecting women, yet he had harmed the one who trusted him the most. There was nothing he could say to defend himself. Even telling her that he still loved her sister didn't seem to be enough repentance even if it was the truth.
The fireball was launched straight at him. Allen closed his eyes. He could feel the heat was rising on his face when suddenly he felt the heat was gone. He opened his eyes and looked upwards and Gwen, half-transformed to human to increase her speed, stood before him and erected a barrier of ice to stop the fire.
His heart skipped a beat. He didn't expect Gwen to forgive him, much less saving him. "Gwen…"
It was the first time he realized the black marking on her back, The Royal Blood Seal, on the space between her wings. That marking soon glowed blue and it dissolved into black lines and slowly crawled on her skin.
"So you are baring your claws against me for his sake?" The Queen asked.
There was silence for a moment. Everyone was staring at Gwen, both humans and dragons alike. Finally, her gentle, yet determined voice broke the silence. "Yes."
The Queen narrowed her eyes. The twin sisters stared at each other, no one breaking the eye contact, as another silence—this time much heavier—sunk in.
"He is that one thing that is more important than my own existence." Gwen continued, "If I have to surrender my existence to keep his, so be it."
Gwen is challenging her sister to defend Allen!
How will the Queen react?
Stay tuned to find out! ^^
Thanks for reading! Please rate and review! ^^
A/N: If any of you are familiar with Final Fantasy VII, actually Neil's new appearance is taken from Cloud's apperance in Advent Children while Allen's is inspired by Vincent Valentine's ^^
