Disclaimer: I do not own Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut series.
A Thousand Year, In A Distant Future
He sat idly in the corner of the room.
He fondly shared his precious companion one last look before their meeting come to an end.
That companion, who had helped him on countless battle and brought peace to the New Kingdom, stood firm against the wall, motionless and possessed none of the emotions he was having. Once, it was an invincible beast, now it was the Kingdom's protector.
He stood up from the barrel, approached it. His hand trace along the dark armor part of its body.
"You've done well." He said with a smile. "For helping me to make it this far."
He was the young King of the New Kingdom. The new era of Light was just ahead of his long-lasting peaceful reign.
"Bahamut."
The name of the Ruthless Dragon was called. Lux Arcadia felt grateful for everything in this whole journey. Thanks to it, the destined battle was over.
Peace had come.
So there was no need for this Dragon to stay awake anymore.
He wished for it to be here, in the secret storage that lied in the depth of the capital.
He wanted to break the chains that bounded it to all those selfish conflicts from the past.
Lux formed a fist, and he lightly tapped the back of his hand to the roughed surface of the armor.
"Your fight is over." Which was why, Bahamut should go back to sleep. "From here on, I'll walk together with them."
Lux had made a promise to everyone. He would be the ruler this Kingdom needs. He made sure that conflicts were no longer a part of this era.
A world without violence, war and bloodshed.
A world where the Ruthless Dragon's existence was unneeded.
And in order to achieve that ideal.
"I won't rely on you anymore."
He would find himself in a different fight.
But Lux was prepared. Because the people he loved was there to support him.
"Which is why, please take a good rest for now."
The legendary Dragon seemed to glimmer in respond. The last ray of sunlight outside the entrance shone on its armor like a farewell to the young King, who was its noble, chivalrous Drag-Knight.
"As long as this world lives in peace." Lux spoke those words as he detached the black sword on his waist. "And until the day someone needs your strength to protect, I hope that you will never have to wake up again."
Carefully, he placed the sword in the heart of the cockpit.
"Goodbye, Bahamut. Become a myth." The kind-hearted King smiled thinly at his friend. "Thank you for everything."
Lux bowed his head, showing Bahamut all the gratitude he had. The entrance closed shut once he was gone.
The Ruthless Dragon finally went back to its long slumber.
Until the day it would rise again.
….
….
….
A thousand year, in a distant future.
In the darkness.
The entrance seemed to budge.
Then, a nasty sound echoed somewhere within those walls that had been turned green by tree roots and leaves. The ancient gears became so rusty it refused to move, not even an inch.
A boy let out a heavy sigh.
"Of course." One hand ran through his silvered hair, he looked around, thinking. "It won't be that easy with these Ruins."
He shook the object in his hand.
A bright column of light shot through the narrowed path of the corridor with the blocked entrance. Batteries from the flashlight didn't last much longer.
Unfortunately, he didn't bring any extra. The boy was in a race against time. He cared too much about the safety of those who were important to him that he forgot to check his bag of equipment.
The boy glanced at the only weapon he carried. A handgun with a customized magazine, came along a few bullets that didn't prove any worth.
He was that type of person everyone would call an ordinary young man with a timid, soft spoken personality.
He was someone who preferred to avoid conflicts and not being dragged into the spotlight.
He was someone they would describe as the identical twin of a historical figure.
He was someone they would deem as a commoner.
And indeed, he was.
He was just a commoner. He made a living as an intern mechanic engineer and part-time delivery postman.
The boy ready his only weapon, aiming for the crack on the large door. Trigger pulled multiple time. Ears almost rang in frustration with the loud noise that seemed too small to this ancient place.
"Not working." An entrance made of steel was not something to make light of. "And they said this type of bullet can cut through materials."
Leaving the bag here, he quickly ran back to the exit.
Beneath the night sky, a machine waited for him. It had no wheels, it was floating in midair, engine on standby. It was the transportation the boy used as a part of his job.
Thanks to it, he was able to get here. The planet that was once home to the civilizations he learned about. But that purpose ended here.
As he hopped on the driver seat, a hologram appeared.
System Overheating! – It read.
"Good."
This was plan B. The customized Force Core exceeded its limit in exchange of an enormous driving force.
The boy held the handle and slowly pushed. His floating vehicle began to move, heading inside the cave. Just a little bit until it reached the decaying corridor. And stopped, right before that sealed entrance.
One swipe of his finger on the interface, the color burned red. Auto-pilot mode confirmed.
He grabbed his bag of equipment and made a mad dash to the corner where there was any space for him to duck.
The entire place roared as boosters exploded, releasing the driving force that big enough to crash down a skyscraper. And yet, these ancient walls took it all. They withstood the crashing and the explosion with a thousand years of experience.
Cough! Cough!
"Should have worn a mask." He groaned.
Once the dust was clear, he stepped out and into the thick smoke. The sealed door was no longer there.
It worked. He managed to break it down.
What he had been seeking was there. It stood against the wall, sleeping, undisturbed by the event that just happened.
The jet-black armor that became a forgotten myth.
The legendary beast from an ancient time.
"Mom was right." He recalled the memory of the person he loved most. "You're real."
Once, there was a beast that brought destruction to an Empire of Tyranny.
The Drag-Knight, who became the Kind-hearted King, was its friend and companion.
Together alongside comrades, they brought peace to the world. They achieved the ideal that the King wished for.
However, the beast was a being of power, violence and destruction. Its existence found no purpose in the new era.
So the young King made one final request.
He asked the beast to return to it slumber, hibernate for eternity. Until the days someone needed it strength to protect, the beast would rise again.
The beast agreed and became a myth.
After a thousand year, it was forgotten. Its fate was to forever unawake, buried underneath the ground. The story from the old world.
Still, someone remembered it. His mother had passed on such a story to her children.
The boy smiled.
And he finally found it.
He needed the strength of this beast. He was in a race against time.
Peace was not disturbed. War did not happen. But the lives of those whom he cared deeply was hanging on a thread.
"Which is why, please wake up." The boy said. "I need you to protect them."
He had a family.
A caring mother, who had become one with the stars.
A little sister with a calm temperament, who would always criticize him for every reckless thing he did because she cared about his well-being.
A little sister with a haughty attitude, who had a complex of wanting to be better than him because she wanted to be strong enough to protect her brother as well.
Then, there was the overprotective onee-san and her family, who were always willing to give them support.
The boy stepped onto the grand stage and reached out. The sword stayed within the heart of the beast was finally removed. It looked like brand new, detached from the passage of time. The cruelness that decayed these walls could not touch it, because it was a part of the unawaken myth.
The boy attached the sword to his belt and turned to the machine that was reduced to a piece of junk. The booster began to melt, and inside the Force Core felt out. A mini ball of energy that would never stop giving power to anything it touched.
The boy waved his arm, something like an interface began to surround it. The Force Core slowly lifted off the ground and vibrated. It shot toward the sleeping armor.
A crashing sound should have echoed. But there was none.
The Force Core gradually went through the armor, installing itself into the soul of the beast. The need to break down parts to insert tool seemed like a thing of the past.
"I'll leave it to you." He spoke. "Arshalia."
Finally…..
Finally…..
Finally…..
Bright dark patterns spread across its body. Bloody red orbs glimmered and stared down at the boy with silver hair in a moment of delivering judgement.
The Ruthless Dragon awakened.
The boy, however, never saw himself as a worthy person to control this beast. But for the sake of protecting them, he would try.
"System operation is normal." A monotone voice of a girl echoed. It came from the beast.
"What is its name?" He asked.
"Divide Drag-Ride. Code name Bahamut."
Not wasting time, he quickly climbed into the middle part of the armor. An interface popped up, it was written in ancient texts.
"Arshalia, can you translate this?"
"Collecting data. New Arcadia language discovered. Translated. Compiled."
"New Arcadia?" He muttered that name. "Such a name, in this place. It really is…..."
He began testing the movement. The armor seemed to budge a little and stop. The boy had some experience, but he wasn't used to such an old technology.
"These handles are for the arms. And the buttons? I see. I see. Got it. Arshalia, do we have a manual for this?"
If the beast could speak, it would express the amusement toward this commoner. He dared and bravely broke into its domain and disturbed its slumber.
But for this boy, who wished to protect his family, the beast would rise once more. Just like it once did together with the kind-hearted King.
The boy slowly rode the beast toward the entrance of the cave.
"Okay." Taking a deep breath, razor-sharp greys filled with determination. "I'm prepared."
Boosters roared in the back. That boy smiled as he stared at the night sky glittered with stars.
"Thank you, Arshalia. I'm taking full control from here. Form the oxygen barrier and let the power output stays at 100%."
"Done."
"Let's go, Bahamut."
In that moment, the entire Ruin shook.
A large crack left on the ground. The air torn apart. The jet-black armor with the support of the customed Force Core, flew past the clouds, bathed in the moonlight and went beyond.
A thousand year later in the future, the Ruthless Dragon was released to the world.
And that boy, who looked like the kind-hearted King, was deemed worthy.
Bahamut would gladly give him everything he needed in order to protect them.
If the beast could speak, it would have asked him for his name. And that boy would reply with the name that his mother had given him.
Lux Arcadia XIII.
That was his name.
"Airi, Hayes. Hang in there."
His family was in danger. Lux had to be quick.
Together with Bahamut, he raced toward the place that started this all.
The other side of the universe. Across the galaxy.
/
Author's Note: After reading Volume 20, this one-shot suddenly came to me.
A thousand year later in the future, Lux's descendant (same appearance, same personality if that would help your imagination) came back to his ancestor's home world based on a lost myth. He searched for the slumbering beast in the hope that he could use its strength to protect his family from a threat. All the names indicated that this generation has the same appearance as their ancestors (again, just to help the imagination).
Everyone has a happy ending, which is great. Then I thought that Bahamut should have a fitting ending, too. If there was a moment like that, I imaged it would be this.
Thank you for reading. Take care!