(A/N) It worked!

Sorry this chapter is several hours late, I tried uploading the document around midnight this morning but the site wasn't working for some reason. I don't know what happened; I just opened it up again and uploaded the document like normal this time, nothing weird happened. Hopefully whatever it was won't happen again.

I'm behind again! I haven't written the next chapter! So again I'm going to hope I can get it done by next Friday, but it's possible there might be a delay since my mental state keeps warring against me...

As Roy made his way across the desert, walking slowly and kicking up sand to pass the time, he couldn't help but wonder if this really was the best decision. Idoun had wandered off alone, after all, meaning she probably wanted to be alone. And remembering their conversation from earlier, he was pretty sure he knew why she wanted to be alone. Still, his curiosity got the best of him, and he decided he couldn't just wait back in the village for her.

"She'll understand, right?" he thought. "She didn't tell me not to follow her…"

Roy had a bad feeling that something was going to go wrong out here, but he was already far enough from Arcadia that it seemed like a waste to go back now. Surely Idoun would stop walking eventually—

"Wait, she just did!"

Startled, Roy jumped several steps back to ensure Idoun wouldn't see him, and carefully watched from a distance. It was difficult to see much out here, and he was staying far enough back that she looked pretty small and indistinct, but if she used her dragonstone he was sure that would change instantly.

Roy watched in awe as a faint purple flash appeared around Idoun, followed by a huge transformation. It happened so fast that he couldn't focus on the details very well, but he watched as she went from a moderately tall human to an enormous dragon in a matter of seconds. Even in the dark, he recognized the form of the Dark Dragon, and his heart rate increased as memories of fighting her in the Dragon Temple rushed back to him all at once. She had been without a doubt the most terrifying foe he had fought, not just because of her infamy in history but because of how big she was. Even Jahn, the other Dragon he'd fought in the Temple, hadn't been quite that big.

A chill ran through Roy's entire body as Idoun roared, the sound echoing into the night and calling back even more vivid memories of the time he'd fought her. That sound had been terrifying then, and it was almost as terrifying now even though he knew she shouldn't hurt him.

"That's really her…" he thought, having trouble wrapping his mind around the concept. "This is the same girl I've been talking to since I came here, the one I've been trying to comfort and help to recover…"

He didn't know why this was occurring to him all of a sudden, since he'd known the whole time who Idoun was. He had fought her years ago, long before he'd ever gotten to know her, so none of it should have come as a surprise at all. He had seen this very form—the Dark Dragon—the first time he had met her, but for some reason the sight was only now starting to make him realize just how formidable Idoun really was. It was so hard to grasp that this huge, fierce beast was the same person he had started to form a connection with. She was starting to seem so easy to talk to, he was getting used to being around her, but despite all of that…she was very different from him. No matter how much he tried to deny it, there was no getting around the fact that they were not even remotely the same.

Roy was so immersed in watching the imposing Dark Dragon that he didn't realize right away that she was just standing there, not moving at all. He frowned, confused. Why would she go to the trouble of changing forms if all she wanted to do was stand there?

Then, without warning, the purple flash appeared again, and Idoun's form changed back into a human…before collapsing into the desert sand.

"Idoun!"

Roy's legs had already started moving before his mind fully registered what was happening, sprinting through the sand as fast as he could, towards Idoun. His thoughts raced as he wondered what could have possibly happened to her, but he couldn't imagine what would have caused that reaction. All he wanted was to get to Idoun before—

"Huh?!"

Up ahead, where Idoun was lying in the sand, several other figures had appeared and seemed to be taking her away. One of them lifted her up and carried her; she seemed to be unconscious or at least asleep somehow. Roy didn't know what they wanted with her, but he doubted it was anything good. They had most likely seen her in her dragon form, given how fast they had shown up, so they at the very least knew she wasn't a regular human. Did they want her for her power? He didn't want to think she could be corrupted again, but she hadn't fully regained her emotions yet, and he wasn't sure how she would react if someone else tried to make her fight for them.

"What should I do?" Roy thought frantically. "I can't just let them take her! But there's at least five or six of them, maybe more…I can't fight them all on my own, even if I have the Sealed Sword. That wouldn't be a smart thing to do… I could go back and get my friends, but…they could be so far away by then! I won't know where they are…"

So, making a snap decision, he decided to take the risky path and follow the new figures, staying far enough behind that they hopefully wouldn't see him. He planned to follow them far enough and see where they were headed, and if they stopped somewhere close enough, he could run back to Arcadia and bring in his friends for reinforcements. If not…well, he hoped it wouldn't come to that, because it would be incredibly dangerous to try and fight this many on his own. Unless Idoun woke up and was able to help him…that would probably be an instant victory, but he didn't want to count on that. She evidently hadn't reacted well to the last time she'd transformed, so there was no guarantee that wouldn't happen again.

The minutes dragged on forever as Roy followed after the unidentified figures, keeping just far enough back that he could still follow them without risking being seen. As time went on, he began to ponder more over what might happen when they reached their destination, wherever it might be. Was it going to be simple to rescue Idoun? It had been a long time since he'd had to fight in any real battles, and it felt weird to think about marching back into one, especially at this time of the night.

"How odd to think the last high-stakes battle I was in was against Idoun," he thought, chuckling silently to himself. "Now I'm marching through the desert, intent on rescuing her."

Finally, an old fortress came into view on a hill ahead of them, sitting out in the midst of a seemingly empty desert. It looked to be in mildly poor repair, but still held together. Roy guessed it must be some kind of bandit stronghold, maybe an unused building that they happened across and decided to make into their own fortress? At least, that's what he hoped. If these people were something more organized than common bandits, the situation was only going to get messier.

Roy came to a stop a good distance away from the fort, watching as the unknown figures carried Idoun inside and disappeared. This definitely seemed to be some kind of base for them, which meant it shouldn't be too hard to locate.

Roy sighed and started walking backwards, the way he had come. He wanted to keep his eyes on the fort for as long as he could in case the supposed bandits saw him, or did something else unexpected, but he knew he needed to head back to Arcadia and get his reinforcements. He didn't like the idea of waiting, but he knew it would be foolish to go in alone. There had only been about six of them, but there could be any number more hiding inside that fortress, and he was just one person.

"Let's see…Wolt, Lilina, Sofiya, Igrene…maybe Fa, too?"

Bringing in Fa didn't sit too well with him, but she had fought alongside him in the last war, and she had been a valuable ally. Still, even though she was a Dragon—and a Divine Dragon at that—it was hard not to see her as a helpless child. She was so young, at least in terms of maturity.

"But then again, I was young when I fought in the war, wasn't I?" Roy thought. "I suppose I can't tell Fa not to come if she finds out; she'll want to help rescue Idoun. And she's far from fragile in dragon form, even if she does kind of resemble a chicken…"

Once he was far enough away from the fortress, Roy turned around and broke into a run, his legs carrying him as fast as they could back towards Arcadia.

Roy sprinted frantically through the quiet streets of the village, breathing shakily as he burst into Owen's inn. He only stopped for a second or so to catch his breath, and then went running up the stairs to find his friends. Wasting no time, he hammered on both Wolt's and Lilina's doors as loud as he could.

"Wake up!" he shouted. "I need you both! It's an emergency—"

Wolt's door flew open and Wolt jumped out, his bow and quiver ready and his expression as alert as ever. Even in the urgent situation, Roy couldn't help smiling.

"You called, Master Roy?" he said.

Before Roy could answer, Lilina rushed out of her own room, clutching a Thunder tome.

"What is it?" she asked, urgency in her voice too.

"Idoun's been kidnapped," Roy answered. "I don't know who they are; I'm hoping they're just common bandits, but they've taken her to this fortress out in the desert. I'll explain what happened on the way, but we need to go, and we need as many reinforcements as we can get!"

"Got it!" Wolt said.

"Wolt, you go and find Igrene," Roy ordered. "Lilina, we'll go and get Sofiya. I don't know if there's any other fighters in the village, unless you count Fa…"

"Understood," Lilina replied.

All three of them rushed down the stairs and out into the night, Wolt splitting off from Roy and Lilina while they headed back to Sofiya's house. Neither of them said a word as they ran up to the house and both knocked loudly on the door.

"Sofi—" Roy started.

The door opened instantly, revealing Sofiya and Fa, both looking fully prepared. Roy was about to ask, but then the realization hit him.

"You already know, don't you?" he said.

"We know…that Idoun is in danger…and that you came here for our help," Sofiya answered. "Lead the way…and we will help in any way we can."

"Is Idoun ok?" Fa asked. "Did someone hurt her? They better not hurt her or Fa's going to get very very mad!"

"I don't know yet," Roy said. "Wolt's going to get Igrene, and then we're going to go to the fortress where she was taken. It's not too far away, but I don't know anything about the people who took her. They might just be regular bandits, or they could be something much worse. Sofiya, do you know anything else?"

"I do not…" she replied sadly. "I only see danger…we must go at once, correct?"

"Yes," Roy answered. "Come on, let's go meet up with Wolt and Igrene!"

The four of them all went running, Sofiya moving much faster than she usually did. Roy hoped this small group would be enough to break Idoun out. Suddenly, he found himself wishing he and his companions hadn't been so quick to return all of the Divine Weapons…

"At least I still have the Sealed Sword," Roy thought. "And we have a Divine Dragon with us. And if Idoun is able to use her own dragonstone, there's no way we'll lose…"

At the edge of the village, Roy and the others caught up to Wolt and Igrene, both of whom had their bows ready and wore solemn expressions on their faces. Roy was always impressed by how quickly Wolt could go from carefree to serious; it must have been part of his strong sense of duty, which was something else Roy also found impressive. He was grateful to have loyal friends like him and Lilina…and the others, too.

"I heard Idoun was in danger?" Igrene said.

"Yes," Roy confirmed. "Or, at least, I think she is. I don't know why they took her or what they want with her, but I think they know she is a Dragon."

Igrene raised an eyebrow.

"And how would they know that?" she inquired.

"Because…she was in dragon form for a few brief moments," Roy sighed.

This earned collective surprise from all of the others, who all shared nervous glances with each other. Fa's mouth dropped open in surprise, and then bent into a big smile. The rest of the group weren't quite so thrilled by the news.

"Didn't Idoun have her dragonstone taken away?" Lilina asked.

"I thought she wasn't supposed to use it," Wolt agreed.

"Yes…that is what I was told as well…" Sofiya said.

"It would seem someone disregarded the elder's orders," Igrene said, frowning at Roy. "Master Roy, you knew about this, correct?"

"Y-yes…" Roy admitted. "Look, it's a long story, but I'll tell you on the way. We have to get there as soon as possible because I don't know who these people are or what they want with Idoun!"

Igrene sighed, but nodded.

"Lead the way, Master Roy," she said.

By the time the fortress came into view up ahead, Roy finished explaining all of what had happened with Idoun's dragonstone, including their plan to let Idoun transform in secret, and how Roy had followed her even when she had gone off on her own.

"You are certain she changed back to human form?" Igrene repeated. "And collapsed?"

"Yes…it's kind of hard to miss an enormous Dragon," Roy answered. "She seemed to still be unconscious when I left, but I was far enough away that it was hard to see. I don't know where they would have taken her once they got inside."

"Doesn't look too big…" Wolt said, squinting his eyes to get a better look at the fortress. "If she's in there, we should be able to find her fairly quickly…unless there's a basement or dungeon underneath it."

"The question is…how many are in there?" Lilina wondered aloud. "And how strong are they?"

"I…cannot see…" Sofiya said. "But I have…a bad feeling…"

"Fa has a bad feeling too!" Fa shouted. "This place looks—"

"Fa!" Sofiya whispered loudly, placing a hand over the little girl's mouth. "We can't alert the enemy…remember?"

"Oh, right!" Fa whispered back. "It's a surprise attack, like hide-and-seek!"

Once again, Roy was caught off guard remembering how this little girl was actually part of their rescue team…and remembering that she was one of their more powerful allies. It really did feel strange to have her fighting with them, but even at her young age she was stronger in dragon form than most humans were. Plus, there was no convincing her to stay home if Idoun was in danger.

"Yes, Fa, that's correct," Roy said. "Alright, let's move slowly, and everyone be on your guard in case they see us coming. Igrene, Fa, you two go around to the back and see if there's another entrance."

"Understood, Master Roy," Igrene replied.

"Yay!" Fa added.

"Oh, and Fa?" Roy continued. "Make sure you use your dragonstone and transform before you get down there. You'll be exposed in human form and we don't know when the enemy will see us and try to attack."

"Ok!" Fa said happily.

She took out a bright blue stone and stepped away from the group, closing her eyes for a few seconds as there was a blue flash. Once it was over, Fa stood a little taller than the rest of them in her Divine Dragon form.

"Let's go!" she exclaimed.

Her voice, while still recognizable, had more resonance to it and almost sounded like multiple voices speaking at once. She was certainly no ordinary child; that was for sure.

With no more deliberation, Roy and his friends started in the direction of the fortress, spreading out as they neared the structure. As instructed, Igrene and Fa circled around to the other side, looking for another entrance. Roy tried his best to stay silent as he and the others traversed through the sand, always staying alert for any sign of motion from the fortress and the hill ahead of them.

Before too much longer, they got what they were listening for.

"Dragon!" shouted a faintly audible voice, likely coming from the other side of the fortress.

"That'll be Fa," Wolt sighed.

"No reason to wait now!" Roy agreed.

He increased his pace to a run and his friends did the same, sprinting up the hill and rapidly approaching the fort. They were almost to the top when Sofiya threw herself on Roy and they both tumbled to the ground, just as an arrow flew past where he had been standing.

"Thank you," he said quietly as he got back to his feet.

"You call that archery?" he heard Wolt saying as he readied his own bow and let loose an arrow.

Roy, meanwhile, was nearing the entrance to the fort when a burly guy with an axe jumped towards him and swung down. Roy jumped out of the way and swung back with the Sealed Sword, igniting a brief flame as the enemy fell down. He wasted no time and pressed forward to the fort's entrance, looking for signs of danger from any direction as a burst of blue lightning lit up the desert night.

"Must be Lilina," he thought. "Unless the enemy have mages, too…"

At the front of the fort, he was met by another surprise attack from a man wielding an axe, and dove to the ground this time to dodge. He got up and swung back, but had to jump out of the way as the axe came back his way. There was a loud crack and another blue flash, and the man fell to the ground.

"I've got your back, as always," Lilina said, standing beside him.

"Thanks," Roy said, breathing heavily. "How are the others?"

"Well—" Lilina started.

She was cut off by a guy with a sword running towards them from behind, yelling some kind of battle cry. He fell to the ground seconds before reaching them, an arrow in his back. Wolt and Sofiya joined them at the fort's entrance and they all rushed inside. There were no doors, likely because it was an old building that these bandits had just found and decided to turn it into a makeshift base.

At least, he was pretty sure they were bandits. They certainly looked like it; they didn't look like any kind of civilized army—

"Whoa!" Wolt cried out, ducking down to avoid a blow from an axe.

"No!" Lilina shouted.

Another lightning bolt and the attacker fell onto the floor. Roy's heart was pounding, remembering more clearly every second how it had felt to be in the midst of battle all the time. He really hoped this was only a one time excursion, and that they would be able to avoid more battles in the future.

"Of course, this is kind of my fault, since I encouraged Idoun to go…" he thought.

"This side is clear, Master Roy," Igrene's voice said from ahead of them.

"Whew, that's you," Wolt sighed with relief. "Heard footsteps and I was about to attack."

"This is why we can't trust you to make the decisions," Lilina joked.

"Well…I did save your life out there," Wolt pointed out. "But you saved mine just now, so I guess that makes us even."

"For now," Lilina agreed, smiling.

"There's more enemies out there!" the resonant voice of Fa's Divine Dragon form shouted, bending down to fit inside the building.

"Let's just try to get to Idoun," Roy said quickly. "Which way should we—?"

"That way!" Sofiya said, pointing to some stairs on the other side of the room. "I…sense something…"

"Got it!" Roy replied. "Everyone, follow me!"

He took off towards the stairs, keeping alert and expecting more enemies to show up at any moment. None showed until he reached the top of the stairs, and another sword-wielding fighter came running at him. Roy just barely had enough time to jump aside, then swung the Sealed Sword and threw a blast of flames at the attacker.

Lilina reached the top of the stairs next, followed by the others, and they found themselves in what looked to be some kind of hallway with simple walls made of stone, and a few doorways here and there that seemed to lead into empty rooms. Roy wasn't sure where to go next, so he turned back to Sofiya, who had arrived on the floor last.

"That way…I think," she said, pointing in the direction the last attacker had come from.

Roy wasted no time and ran in that direction, checking both sides of the hallway for any doorways that might lead to somewhere besides an empty room. Having no success, he reached the end of the hall and started up a winding spiral staircase, expecting to be attacked at any moment.

"Roy!" Lilina shouted.

Roy flinched and froze as another lightning bolt struck an enemy right in front of him, having just rounded the corner. Heart pounding again, Roy jumped over him and continued to the top of the stairs. They emerged into another room, and came face to face with a tough looking axe wielder who Roy guessed was probably the bandits' leader. Behind him, chained to the wall, was Idoun.

"Stop right there!" the man shouted. "Don't take one more step, or else…"

He held his axe over Idoun threateningly, and Roy's heart sped up again. He looked around the room frantically, trying to think of a way to get Idoun to safety. Her eyes were open and she seemed to be conscious, but she must not have had her dragonstone with her. If only she could transform, this would all be resolved easily…

"What do you want?" Roy demanded through clenched teeth.

"What do I want? What do I want?!" the man roared. "I want her! The Dark Dragon! With her at my side, I can do whatever I want and no one will be able to stop me!"

"You can't have Idoun!" Fa shouted, back in human form again. "She doesn't wanna fight for you anyway!"

"Quiet!" he retorted. "Now, either you leave right now, or things are going to get ugly."

"What good is it going to do you to kill her?" Roy asked, trying his best to sound calm. "She won't be able to fight for you then, will she?"

On either side of Roy, Wolt and Igrene drew their bows and pointed arrows directly at the bandit leader.

"I…guess not," he admitted. "But I'm not about to let you take her after all the trouble I went through to find her!"

"She's not going to fight for you anyway," Roy said. "Surely she's told you that, hasn't she? She's recovering now; you can't control her like Zephiel did—"

"Shut up!" he exploded. "How can you claim to know what the Dark Dragon will and will not do? Haven't you cowards kept her from using her full powers, afraid she'll be too strong for you to control? But with me…she will not have to hold back anything. With me, she can let loose the full extent of her powers, all across Elibe!"

"Idoun would never do that!" Roy shot back. "You don't know her at all! You just think she's an asset for whatever you're trying to accomplish, but you can't make her fight for you and she's never going to agree to your mad plans!"

"Oh, really?" he said. "Why don't you ask her what she wants to do?"

Roy's eyes turned to Idoun, whose face was still expressionless as always. He so wanted to think he knew what all of her intentions were, but in that moment he wondered if he really did. Had she kept something else from him? Maybe they really weren't as close as he thought…

"…Give me the dragonstone," Idoun said, her voice unusually forceful.

"Aha!" the bandit leader exclaimed. "So…you've finally agreed to join me, have you?"

"Yes," Idoun answered.

"What?!" Roy said.

"Here, take it!" the bandit said, tossing the purple stone to Idoun. "Show me the extent of your strength!"

"That I will do," Idoun answered.

There was a purple flash, and the ceiling of the fort—as well as the wall Idoun was chained to—exploded without warning. Everyone jumped to the ground—including the bandit leader—as huge chunks of stone rained down and moonlight streamed in through a newly formed massive hole in the fortress. The bandit leader got to his feet and stumbled back towards Roy's group, staring fearfully up at the enormous dragon silhouetted against the night sky.

"Y-yes!" he cackled like a madman. "Now destroy them! End them now and we can conquer Elibe together!"

"Do you really think controlling me will be that easy, human?" Idoun snarled.

A chill ran through Roy's entire body at the sound of her voice. Like Fa's, it was far more resonant and powerful, but coming from her it was downright terrifying. The way she spoke to the man as if he was nothing to her…no human could ever be that intimidating.

"What?!" the bandit exclaimed. "What are you talking about—?"

Idoun leaned her long neck down into the room, slowly getting closer to the bandit as he backed away as far as he could.

"I am the Dark Dragon," she said. "You are no one. You cannot control me, and it was foolish of you to think you ever could."

"Back down the stairs, now!" Roy urged his companions. "Go!"

"But—" Fa protested.

"Now, Fa!" Sofiya urged.

Sofiya pulled Fa along and Igrene led Wolt and Lilina down the stairs, while Roy backed up to the edge of the staircase. Immediately after he rounded the corner, Idoun roared and let out a furious blast of inky purple flames, consuming and disintegrating the bandit leader as he shrieked at the top of his lungs. Roy turned and sprinted down the stairs after the others, finding the next level down was partially broken too. Out the gaping holes in the walls, Roy could still see the massive Dark Dragon looming over the fortress.

"Ido—" Fa started, before Sofiya clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Wait until we reach the bottom," she said.

The bottom layer was more intact than the others, but once they got outside they found that a good chunk of the fortress had been demolished. Idoun looked down at Roy and his companions as they exited the building, heterochromatic eyes gleaming.

"Where are you going?" she asked; even though the fury in her voice was gone, it still echoed loudly.

"Idoun, are you going to change back?" Roy called up to her. "We came to rescue you, to bring you back to Arcadia!"

"Arcadia?" Idoun snorted. "That village does not want me. Do you not know how they would react if I returned in this form? The elder would hide my dragonstone, keep me from ever being my true self…"

"But you don't have to return in this form!" Roy said. "You can change back, and…maybe the elder will understand if he hears what happened!"

"I do not answer to him!" Idoun growled. "I do not answer to anyone! I am not a shell anymore. I am the Dark Dragon Idoun, and I will command myself!"

She let out another vicious roar, this one so loud Roy covered his ears for fear they might be damaged otherwise. His legs were shaking, his heart beating fast. He had been warned that Idoun could lose herself in this form, and he was afraid that was happening right now before his eyes. And he had no idea how to stop it from happening.

"I don't want to command you!" Roy promised. "But…if you don't come back to Arcadia, where are you going to go? You can't blend in anywhere as a huge dragon!"

"Blend in?" Idoun repeated. "One does not need to blend in if they are as powerful as I am. Who could possibly hurt me? I—"

"Idoun!" Fa shrieked. With a flash of blue light, she transformed back into the Divine Dragon chick. It was nowhere near as massive or intimidating a form as Idoun's, but it got the bigger Dragon's attention. "You listen to Fa right now! You have to come back to Arcadia because Fa would be sad if you left! And Roy would be sad too! And if no one else likes you as a big dragon, then Fa will yell at them and tell them that they need to be nice to you because you're Fa's friend and she doesn't let anyone be mean to her friends!"

That seemed to get Idoun's attention. She didn't reply at first, just standing in place and staring at Fa for at least a minute…and then she transformed back into a human. Fa did the same, and went running across the sand to meet Idoun, who was lying on the ground a little ways away. Roy followed her, wanting to make sure Idoun was ok.

"Idoun!" Fa said. "That was really cool how you got to be a dragon again! But Fa thinks you got a little bit scary for a while…"

"I…" Idoun said, sitting up slowly. "That was…that was…too much…"

"What happened?" Roy inquired. "Was it just like the elder said, the power was overwhelming?"

"Yes…" Idoun answered, breathing heavily as if she had just run for miles. "I cannot even…describe…it was so…so strong…but I liked it, too…feeling that way…if only…could concentrate…"

"Idoun!" Fa giggled. "Why are you talking like Sofiya?"

"I think she's tired," Roy guessed. "Is that right, Idoun?"

"Yes…" Idoun said. "I think…once we return to…Arcadia…I must rest…"

Roy breathed a sigh of relief, reaching a hand down to help her up. As they walked back to join the others, and then started back across the desert towards the village, a feeling of calm had overtaken him. Seeing Idoun transform and get captured, coming to rescue her, and then…the most recent transformation…it was all a lot to process in only a few hours. But now he knew that Idoun was ok, even if she might not be able to use her dragonstone for a while.

"I have to be more careful now," he thought. "If I hadn't convinced her to go out and transform, this wouldn't have happened. I can't let something like this happen again."

(A/N) This chapter was really fun to write! I feel like the story had gotten a little familiar and predictable, so I wanted to take the opportunity to add in some more action. I don't know for sure where it's going to go from here, but I'm looking forward to it and I plan to have some more chapters like this one in the future.