Chapter 1: Greetings From the Holy One (Prologue chapter.)
Ashes… Fire… Rubble… Devastation… Ruin… Elimination… wreckage…
"…*Deep Breathing* God Fucking damn it…" A wounded man spoke as he laid out on the remnants of a demolished car. Havoc and desolation surrounded the bleeding man. Wounds littered his body from all sides.
"God *cough!* fuck-*Cough*-ing damn it!" The tattered clothed man struggled to breathe out of his crushed lungs, spitting out blood and bits of food as he tried to speak, deciding that it was better to keep his pipes used importantly for the much-needed air instead of filling it with bits of his dissolving guts and bleeding innards.
He softly turned his head to take in more of the sight that tore him. The effort it took him not to sob so he wouldn't disturb his desolated injured body was intense, but the tears kept flowing down his scarred cheeks, the pain of the wounds his body had accumulated had nothing to do with his emotional breakdown.
It was the sight that was scarring him, torturing him, breaking him, making him want to do nothing but scream.
The sight of the bodies bleeding out beneath the wreckage of the buildings that fell over.
Bodies of little school kids that happened to be in the same school he blew up with his magic.
The same magic…
the same attack…
"You really shouldn't have dodged that one, little Jack." A deep, hoarse, and itching voice boomed and filled the world around the bleeding man.
He didn't turn, he didn't acknowledge the godly echoing voice or its owner.
Jack only kept his eyes on the heavily crushed face of a little girl, staring at him with glassy eyes.
"Hmmm, I did tell you that your intervention would make things worse. You shouldn't have disturbed Flugel's plan, Jack."
A dark, colossal shadow covered Jack's broken form.
The man couldn't face the giant entity, he couldn't turn his head for his neck was burned, couldn't stand to face him for his legs were crushed beyond holding a shape, his arms weren't usable because they were completely burned all over and covered with slash wounds that bled.
The less we talk about his face and midsection would be the better, no one could handle the sight of melting guts…
I doubt anyone would be able to describe it in words either.
Jack's tearful eyes closed, his expression unseen because of all the blood that covered him.
"Ah," the giant beast sounded in amusement, probably raising an eyebrow while looking down at the broken man. "I see you've given up. Wouldn't have been a surprise if you weren't a mere mortal."
The dying man didn't give any reaction to the amused mocking of the deeply voiced beast.
"Hm," the beast mused, "this isn't much fun when you're not able to reply rudely to me." The beast's voice sounded almost offended by the fact that the man was ignoring him.
"I guess… you should be punished immediately… They're all anxious to get their hands on you… Especially little Flu and Tella… I highly doubt she would be the one in control when you are thrown at her mercy… Such a troublesome side effect her mind had to uphold."
Jack stayed silent as he let the beast continue to muse by himself.
Memories between the both of them played.
"But you know why Satella is the way she is, don't you, Jack?" The scaled entity stopped looking at the outskirts of the destroyed Tokyo and gazed at the smudge of blood that he recognized as the little troublesome person that caused all of this.
"You made her take that dangerous curse. You made her turn her soul for the darkness of an incompatible authority. What happened 400 years ago. What was brought upon our worlds… It was all because of you."
The hot, melting air that was exhaled out of the beast's nose covered his wounds and broken body parts.
The fearsome, reprimanding creature faced its snout downward towards Jack.
"Not only did you decide to come back after all of that, but you also managed to interfere with Flugel's plan to fix your mistakes and took Subaru away into another one of your nasty interventions… you took him away from Satella's grasp… AGAIN!" The roar was strong enough to tumble a few more of Tokyo's building crashing down.
Jack remained silent.
The mountainous Dragon took a deep breath, but he didn't exhale, only closing its snout for a moment, the faint flare of blue fire emitted out of his lips and nostril with faint smoke trailing out.
The beast's mouth opened and imitated a small pit of hell that had just opened as its insides burned from the inner parts of its cheeks to the opening of its throat with blue fires stretching all over.
"Now," the holy dragon telepathically spoke inside of the soon-to-be-burned man's head, "I shall give you a merciful end… better for me to end you than let the others have their turns." Although the dragon sounded a bit sympathetic, his fury was still deeply engraved in the delivery as he increased the flames bolstering inside of his throat.
Settling to make his head turn, ignoring the ever-burning pain that was scorching from his pumping head as it had been smashed a few too many times against various surfaces after a run-in with an angry Envy possessed half-elf. Opening one of his swollen eyes, the bleeding youth faced the mighty dragon with his eye barely holding open.
Jack's tearful eyes closed, his head was settled against the rubble, his limps fell limp, his expression went calm… Jack Winston has given up the fight in a 500-year-old struggle.
"After your death, Subaru and the important pieces of Flugel's puzzle will be returned to the timeline you ruined." Volcanica delivered emotionlessly and hacked his throat to make his flames intensify.
Towering over the broken human, the dragon glared down with its sharp eyes at Jack.
"You were wise to finally give up this fight. With you gone, Flugel has one less enemy to worry about, our perfect future is finally at hand."
"Uh… hagh…"
The dragon stared in silence at the youth as he finally tried to speak, with some trouble because his damaged body wouldn't let him.
"Wh-...Who said… that I gave up?"
…
…
…
The menacing sharp eyes narrowed, the scaled snout turned snarling as Volcanica's mouth flared with combusting flames.
He was supposed to be a broken, dying, bleeding man, waiting to be burned to death from the holy dragon's mercy, Jack Winston, the Warden of his theater, should have given up at this moment for this is no fight he could put up that could save him at this moment.
But Volcanica was ignorant to one fact, this was a person that had nothing to lose. And because the dragon couldn't understand this crucial fact, he stared at the smirking boy beneath him with sheer bewilderment.
"Why are you still fighting this, Jack?" The holy dragon has been trying to kill this boy for eons. He had seen this boy's nastiness and unmatched tenacity to survive…
"What… are you planning?" Now closing his snout, the dragon stared the human down with ferocity and anger as he demanded to know why he still held hope.
Jack softly gazed back towards the bodies of those he failed to save… The children that were killed because he had dodged all of the blasts…
His fists shook, the boy's eyes narrowed as raging fury and determination filled them.
The holy dragon didn't know what it was, maybe the sheer strength the boy was showing, maybe it was simply curiosity the ancient entity had for what the little human has planned to get out. No matter what it was, the boy had no qualms or powers to use anymore, his hold over the theater should be weakened enough so that one of the strong candidates or knights to escape. Even Satella let the shadow Witch have control when facing him, the boy wasn't even worth the effort in her eyes.
As the dragon pondered how pathetic and weak the Warden had become ever since he started this fight, he couldn't see the small human as he forced his upper body up so he could gain some semblance of control over this situation.
"I...I'm doing all of this… for… " Jack struggled to speak as his mouth overflowed with blood, "It's all for this world, Volca-sama."
"DON'T CALL ME BY THAT NAME!" The holy guardian howled ferociously as it stood atop the human.
"You have no right to say that to me. That was what my friend used to call me, that friend betrayed me, betrayed us, and killed my daughter's love to please his ego."
Jack ignored the spiting venom the godlike beast howled towards him, he kept the tears in and stared up once again, meeting the sight of Volcanica's smiting gaze with his guilt yet determined own.
"I never denied my crime. I know what I've done to you, to Subaru, to Tell-… Satella… But you have to believe me, Flugel's plan is not what you need to fix this world."
"HE'S DOING MORE THAN YOU'VE EVER DARED TO DO!"
"HE'S KILLING EVERYONE YOU OLD FOOL! YOU, ME, SATELLA, NO ONE WILL BE SPARED!"
"Flugel's plan has flaws, yes. But he's always done what he could for the greater good."
"HA! Greater good my ass! Look around you, what did this world do to deserve all of this destruction? Answer me why Earth was punished for Lugunica's disruption?!"
"You don't get to talk about Earth or Lugunica after what you caused them, Winston. You've lost all dignity to do so when you escaped here to hide from us."
"SO YOU KILL FUCKING CHILDREN?!"
"We did what we had to do."
The younger man stared at the dragon with a burning, raging look filled with hate and pure frustration.
The ancient guardian simply stared the human down with disdain clear in his sharp eyes.
It was clear that this won't be solved over something like morality, they both were too different to take this road as a solution.
"You asked me why I think I can escape from you?" The bleeding Warden held his head low, muttering emotionlessly, coldly.
"You won't escape from here, Jack. You've lost." Volcanica stated softly and a little sympathetically, ready to burn the boy to crisp.
"Let me show you why little Fluy can't be trusted."
The dragon emitted a sound of disappointment and tiresome. "You can't change m-"
"Roswaal kills you."
…
…
…
"What?" The old wise dragon raised a brow and gave the beaten human all of his attention.
Jack slowly… smirked in triumph.
"Did you know that I'm showing the events of their world? Of this timeline that Flugel created? Do you know that at the end of it, you would be the clown's pet? Killed by him for a goal that's not even real."
…
…
…
Jack's smirk widened as the dragon fell to silence, his heart was crash beating into his broken ribs, his mouth was filled with blood and some of his bleeding guts… but oh, how setting this old fool into a coma of silence was worth it.
"If it is what must be done. I sha-"
"Course you would agree, but I know for a fact how much you hate the idea of losing your life to that creep. But that's not the only thing Flugel robbed from you."
"Robbed? What are you-"
"Why do you think Flugel told you to give him control over the dragon stone after Farsel's line was dead? He chose the select five candidates using your name, right?"
"Those five candidates were the exact ones I had already chosen before Flugel asked for them to be nam-"
"There's a sixth."
The holy dragon lowered its head and glared sternly at the human male. "What?"
"While you gave Flugel control so he could create whatever he saw as the most perfect of timelines, you gave away the chance to make a timeline where everyone can be saved, where the kingdoms of the world would find peace and Envy could be defeated without any massive loss of life needed. One where Satella is happy."
Volcanica's gaze narrowed as his claws dug through the vacant streets beneath him. "You mean… There's a world where I was the one planning the events?"
Softly shaking his head, Jack looked at the dragon with as much sincerity as he could. "No, you only made one different choice that derailed the world's events into a newer much cleaner timeline where things went differently for this Subaru's sake. A timeline where you ignored Flugel's plan for once and chose to trust your merit to make a sixth person the dragon maiden for the throne."
"…"
"…"
The dragon and bleeding human stared at one another with no emotion clear on any of their expressions.
Only the distant voices of ghostly screams from Tokyo's residents that had died because of Envy's wrath could be heard… to Jack they were heard, at least. And they shall be remembered.
Volcanica's gaze softened and his eyes closed.
"I don't believe you."
Jack's head fell, lowered in disappointment as his fists shook in anger and frustration.
"… But I do want to see this through."
"What the hell are yo-"
"Show me that world, that choice I decided to make that set things in a greater direction… "
Jack's eyes widened and his bloodied jaw hung low, his mouth trialed overflowing blood but he didn't care, the holy dragon himself stared the boy down with his claw inched closer before him.
Menacingly and proudly, the god towered over the broken Warden with his claw outstretched for one last chance.
"If what you say is true, and these events that could've come to pass were better for my Subaru and Tella… Then I shall help you… Od has been trying to convince us to stop siding with Flugel for eons… maybe that's why I'm hearing a monster such as you out."
Receiving a gesture of kindness yet still able to read the sheer amount of disdain his old mentor held towards him, Jack could only shake his head and softly raise his battered, burnt arm to touch the dragon's claw.
"I will be showing you that timeline at a speed faster than the others… I need to finish this quick before She comes."
The ancient god simply nodded and let the human cast his only magic… the magic of (=====).
And with that…
Warden had a holy dragon on his side.
Jack Winston, was one step closer to beating Flugel.
Next chapter,
The dragon's demand.
Confusing? I know.
This was just a fun project being made by both me and ArcherfromAnor who owns the story.
Yes, we only made this so we can start another shitty trend in the fanfiction community.
Come at me.