A banging on the door woke Saito and Louise the next morning. "Whuzgoinon?" He asked sleepily. "It's Agnés," said the Musketeer in question. "Ms. Valliére, Sir Saito, Queen Henrietta is requesting your presence, along with Ms. Westwood." Some time later, the duo was dressed and standing with the half-elf and Queen in a private room. Thank you all for coming," said Henrietta. "Is something wrong?" Louise asked.
The Queen looked serious, "A short while after the Pope returned to Romalia, he sent me a message. He wants the three of you to come see him as soon as possible." "To Romalia?" Saito pondered. "I wonder what he wants." "To tell you the truth," said Henrietta, walking towards them. "A city by the mountain ranges was demolished overnight."
"What!? What happened?" Asked a horrified Tiffa. "I don't know as of yet," Henrietta replied. "But I'm certain this is no natural event, it's something serious. Perhaps his Eminence'a request towards you three is an indication..." The two Mages looked unsure of themselves, nervous over the prospect of the danger ahead. Saito took note of it, "Well, it's not like we haven't faced danger before," he said. "But Saito," Louise looked worriedly at him.
"If nothing else, let's find out what's going on," the boy continued. "Besides, this guy's asking for you. And I know you would never ignore a request from the Pope." "Then Saito, I'll leave the rest up to you," said Henrietta. "Julio will meet you near the nation's border." "Got it," Saito affirmed. "How're we getting there?" "Just leave it to me!" Called a familiar, excited voice.
Saito turned, smiling happily at the sight of Illococoo entering the room. "Big Sis got nervous when she heard the news," she explained. "So she sent me here to make sure you get safely to Romalia, Big Bro!" "Glad to hear it!" Said Saito, ruffling her hair slightly. The blue haired girl grinned broadly, enjoying the interaction with her friend. "Well there's no time to lose! Let's get going!"
An hour later, the trio was flying over the mountains. The air was hot and it was becoming difficult to breathe. As Sylphid went over the horizon, a terrible sight beheld them. The land was black and scorched, as if a massive volcano had erupted. "Where's Julio?" Asked Louise, searching for the Knight. "I don't see his dragon anywhere." Saito looked down, scanning the ground. He saw what looked to be the ruins of a town. "Is that..." The boy gasped in horror, "It's Aquileia!!"
The once beautiful city was a charred husk of its former self. Just about every building was on fire. Through the smoke, he could just make out a set of figures on a balcony. "There's people down there!" Said Saito, pointing. "We have to help them!" Sylphid nodded and veered downwards. As they got closer however, it became clear that they were no longer living people, but burnt corpses huddled in place. Tiffa turned her head away, the horror of the sight too much for her.
"Partner, on your right!!" Derf called out. The boy snapped back to attention, a flock of red dragons burst out through the smoke and made a beeline towards Sylphid, attempting to attack her. Saito drew Derf and fought off a few, but there too many for him to keep it up indefinitely. "Damn, go away!" He yelled out, slashing at the open mouth of an enemy dragon.
Louise gazed out at something in the distance, "It looks like that thing is emitting a miasma." Saito turned to see what she was looking it. He couldn't make it out, but whatever it was, it's huge, as tall as a mountain. And it had a strange glow which pierced through the smoke. "What is that?" He asked, straining to look. "Saito, fly up!!" Called a voice. The boy realized to his horror that the glow was a huge blast of fire surging their way. "Sylphid!!" Saito called out, the dragon moved fast, narrowly avoiding the flames.
The fire incinerated a few of the enemy dragons, but not enough that they were out of danger. "Where do they keep coming from?" Saito asked, using Derf to absorb a red dragon's flames. "Over here!" Yelled the voice again, as Julio flew over atop his white dragon. "Sorry I'm late!" "Julio! What's going on here??" Asked the boy. "I'll explain everything, but first we've got to move!" Julio looked down regretfully, "This city is already lost..."
The two dragons accelerated their speeds to try and get away, but the red dragons were in hot pursuit. "They're still following us!" Louise yelled looking back. "Yes, all of the dragons in the vicinity have become like this," Julio replied. "I only managed to control my dragon's sanity with my Vindálfr power!" Saito could see the Knight's right hand was glowing brightly as it held the dragon's reins. Suddenly, he came to a realization, "But wait, what about-"
"You won't need to worry about Sylphid," said Julio, as if reading the boy's mind. "As a Familiar and Nature Dragon, she's naturally immune." Saito could hear Tiffa breathe a sigh of relief, "Then what's causingall of this??" Julio pointed ahead and downwards, "It's because of the miasma, being omitted by that." The trio atop Sylphid looked in that direction. Through the smoke and carnage of the destroyed city, the giant shape became clear to them.
It was a dragon, enormous in size and black as coal. The boy's eyes widened as the dragon turned its head toward them, glowing yellow eyes glaring with pure malice. Louise's grip on Saito's sleeve tightened as she could feel the intensity of its gaze. "What the hell is that thing?" Asked Saito. "It's the beast of legend, who's finally woken from its long slumber," said Julio grimly. "The Ancient Dragon."