The Story of the Darkness Dragoon

by Queen of the Faeries1

She was their mysterious leader, their pillar of strength, the wall they leaned on. But who had she to lean on? This is her story.

9. The deaths of Mayfil

Author's Note: Take care of this posting. I've put in some vital clues.

Rating: Probably PG for some mild cursing (in my opinion), and maybe some blood, but who actually cares?

Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Dragoon or any of its characters and whatever. What's the point of these things anyway?

Mayfil

The Death City is a dreary place, as one would expect. The stench of rot hangs acridly in the air. Silent screams of torment echo. I draw my sword; there will be many angry monsters and specters here.

Miranda takes one look around and stumbles, nearly falling off the platform. I grab onto her elbow before she can pass out.

The Sacred Sister leans over the edge of the platform, her hands on her knees, breathing rapidly.

"Take it easy." I tell her, gathering her golden hair in one fist and holding it away from her face, as she becomes sick.

"The voices." She replies, her eyes widening. "The pain…"

When the others move forward to help her, I hold up my hand. "No. Let her deal with it. The same thing happened to Shirley when she came here. The pain and the devastation of the screaming souls here affect the Light Dragoons in a bad way. She'll get used to it in a second."

A few minutes later, Miranda turns back to us, shaking but otherwise fine. "Let's go." She snaps, gripping her bow very tightly in one fist. "Zieg isn't going to wait for us to show up before destroying the Signet."

She falls into step with me. "You've been here before?"

"Yes. Eleven thousand years ago. I've stayed away from it since. I don't like this place. Like you, my mind is sensitive. You hear the screaming and anguish of the souls, and as Light Dragoon and a Sacred Sister of Mille Seseau, it is all you can do to try and help it. Maybe you should stick to the back until you get used to it."

"I'm not weak." She snarls at me.

I nod, business-like. "Good."

I look around as I walk down the pathways leading to the inner structure of the dark castle-like building. "I can't believe this place still exists." I comment. "Mayfil was destroyed in the Dragon Campaign. I thought it was obliterated."

"These are ruins." Albert calls over his shoulder. "There's nothing here."

"True. Aside from the Signet Sphere, there is no reason for Zieg to be here." I agree, slashing my sword against a Specter in Demon Dance. To my surprise, it doesn't crumble in a flash of red immediately. Instead, it simply recoils and turns back to me. Clenching my teeth, I slash again.

The doors have been knocked away, and the arches are half demolished. The entire city seems to be in ruins. Is the Signet Sphere even functioning?

"Rose," Dart calls, knocking away a Hyper Skeleton. "Do you know anything about this place? Where is the Signet Sphere?"

"I don't know." I reply. "Mayfil was not one of my favorite places. I was here once or twice, and I know the basic layout, but I don't remember where the Signet Sphere is exactly. Somewhere on the far side of the castle, though."

"Guys, I think I've found something!" Meru yells from up ahead. She had chosen to fly instead of walk, to give herself a better advantage in fighting. The enemies couldn't reach her, but with her hammer she could easily knock them out from in the air.

Striking an irritating Undead with my foot, the pathway is cleared momentarily of monsters, and we run toward where she is hovering, poking at a wall with her toe.

"There's something here…" She says. "I can feel something, and when I kick it, the wall's hollow. I'm sure there's something behind this wall."

It can't be the Signet Sphere. It's too close to the entrance. I think.

The dancer takes her hammer and positions it over her head. With a yell, she brings it down and slams it against the wall. The wall shatters with an earthshaking sound, and the ceiling cracks. The wall crumbles inward, toward us. I growl, leaping back from the falling debris, but Meru is not so lucky. She would have been trapped under a ton of rubble had Kongol not snatched her out of harm's way, turning at the same time so that the wall falls upon his back. The Giganto barely flinches.

"Kongol!" The dancer squeaks. "Oh boy, thanks! Are you okay?"

"Kongol am fine." He replied haltingly, as if thinking of his words. Vaguely I remember Albert and Haschel trying to teach him proper grammar. I frown. Kongol is an important part of our group, even if he does not speak much. It upsets me slightly that many other people would simply overlook him as a dimwitted giant.

"Guys, look!" Miranda notches an arrow into her bow and aims it at something in the room.

I turn, lifting my sword instinctively, thinking that perhaps Zieg is standing there. But what I see is not what I expected at all. Instead of a slender man dressed in red, I see an immense dragon of gray. A growl reverberates around Mayfil and I am staring at the jaws of the Divine Dragon.

"Damn!" Dart leaps back from the teeth that are clamping down. "I thought we killed it already!"

"We did." I tell him, staring coldly at the faded Dragon. It struggles to move toward us and yet seems to be chained invisibly to something. In a way, it is almost pitiful. It rests on a raised platform about two meters high. "It is only a shade, a ghost, a spirit."

I examine the way it is struggling, fiercely but in pain. Its screams of rage are faint and halfhearted, almost mournful. "It doesn't want to die," I realize. "Like Syuveil, it is afraid of hell. It doesn't want to go to hell so it is a shade clinging to life, trying to stay here."

"We must put it out of its misery." Albert says quietly. "Kill it."

I look at him for a moment. His head is lifted proudly, although his gaze wavers as he stares at the Dragon. He had just given an order, a death sentence. As King of Serdio, I wonder how many more of these deaths he had ordered, and how many more he must order, as he stays in the throne. I wonder what it feels like, to have someone else kill for you, instead of bringing the sword down yourself.

But I turn my attention back to the Ghost of the Divine Dragon. It is not for me to worry about. Why did I only realize such things now? Am I growing in mind? Losing some of my sense? I shake my head. "If we kill the ghost, it will not go to hell. It will simply…disappear. Its very existence shall be wiped out and the Divine Dragon will not have to worry about going to a world without light."

Miranda draws the bowstring tight. "Then let's do it. As a Sacred Sister, I cannot pass any chance to help someone…or something, be it human or Wingly or Dragon."

But when she releases the arrow, the Dragon turns at the last moment, so that the arrow strikes its flank instead of its heart.

"What is it doing?" Haschel asks.

"Dragon hate Dragoon warriors." Kongol says, lifting his axe and weighing it in his giant hands. Using his strong arms, he pushes himself up onto the platform, and helps lift Meru as well. "Ghost does not want to die at hands of its murderers. But we must help it."

"Right!" Meru chirps, looking down at the rest of us. "Dart? Will we?"

"Huh?" The red-clad warrior is staring at the Dragon. "Yeah, let's go."

I leap up onto the platform. Dragon, we do this for you, do not forget. I tell it mentally, as I draw a deep gorge of blood on its shoulder. It roars, turning its head and snapping its jaws at me. One tooth rips a long gash in my arm, staining the cloth armor a blackish color.

"If it really wants to die, then why is it fighting us?" Miranda asks, staying at a safe distance and firing arrow after arrow.

I wait, thinking that someone, perhaps Albert, will answer her question. But when silence is the only reply I hear, I transform into Dragoon and speak. "It was defeated by us once before. We are the reason that it died in the first place. If we hadn't killed it, it wouldn't be facing the fear of hell right now. So it is holding a grudge, not wanting us to be the ones to kill it yet again. Its pride is too great for that."

I watch Dart out of the corner of my eye. The red-clad warrior seems languid, distracted. What is on his mind that keeps him from fighting at his full potential? I call out to him, snapping for him to pay attention.

"Ah!" He cries out as the Dragon sinks a fang into his hand. He drips blood and drops his sword, backing off. I snarl at him. Because of his lack of attention, he has gotten himself hurt.

"I don't understand…" Miranda growls, tossing Dart a healing item. "Why sentient beings are so mindful of their pride. It doesn't matter what species it is, everyone always worries about their pride."

"Maybe that's something that binds us all together and shows us that all species are alike. Pride. Damn!" I swear as the Divine Dragon rakes a claw along my side.

There is a flash of white light and then Miranda is standing in her silver armor. She tightens her hands on her bow, tilting her upper body and head back up toward the starlit sky. She lifts the bow up to the moon, stretching the bowstring taut. "Moonlight!" She shrieks, releasing the arrow. It flies up into oblivion somewhere in the sky. The moon glows brighter with a silvery light, and it almost seems to rotate on its axis. The light spills downward onto the earth, surrounding me.

Peaceful light washes over me, closing my wounds, rejuvenating me. I spin once, filling the air around me with black power. Gathering it in one fist, I switch my sword to my left hand. "Darkness Dragon!"

The moon dims suddenly, a contrast to its brightness as it healed me, and a shadow crosses over us. The shadow sticks to the ground and coalesces, lifting into solidity in a vague Dragon shape, sleek and quick like a black arrow.

The shade of my Vassal Dragon, Michael.

It is all I have left of him since his death, one of my ultimate magical spells. The shade can do nothing but obey me, because it is only a shadow of his spirit, an echo of what he truly was.

The ghost of one Dragon strikes another, with an explosion of magic that reverberates in my mind and gives me a headache. Its work done for this one summoning, the darkness disappears, leaving everything in a silvery illumination again.

The ghost of the Divine Dragon screams at the pain, writhing. It tosses its head back, stretching its long neck to its full length and howls at the moon. I can the feel the magic in the air dissipating, just falling apart, caving inward. And then the Divine Dragon fades away, howling mournfully. I can still see the scars that we had inflicted on it, in this battle and the past one, until finally its entire remnant disappears and the only sound is the whispers of the wind.

I turn around and look at the others, falling out of my Dragoon form. Miranda does the same, and so does Meru. Dart cradles his injured hand against himself, watching the effects of the Healing Fog take care of the wound. Albert picks up the sword and places it back in Dart's sheath for him.

The master of the Red-Eyed Dragon nods his appreciation and turns away, walking slowly back out over the crumbled wall.

* * *

"Where's Dart?" Albert looks around. "I wanted to ask him something, and we need him to light the fire."

"Do it the old-fashioned way." Miranda snaps, sprinkling the Charm Potions in a wide arc around our little circle so that the enemies would stay away while we slept. "I saw him head off that way. He looked like he needed to think."

Haschel starts to stand, as if to go speak to his grandson, but I wave him back down. "Let me."

I find Dart sitting on the platform of the ghost of the Divine Dragon battle. I stand beside him, not quite sure what to say to him.

"Rose." He says without turning around.

I am mildly surprised. I hadn't made a sound. His psychic powers joining the Dragoons together must be getting stronger. "Hey," I say quietly, sitting down beside him. "How'd you know?"

"I recognize your aura."

"Ah. I guess I'm losing it then." There is an awkward silence. I flick a pebble off my thigh, choosing my words carefully. "The others are worried about you."

"I'm fine." He says. "Just a little disoriented."

I follow his gaze to the Moon That Never Sets, the body of the God of Destruction. "You miss Shana."

"Is it that obvious?"

"You forget, I was once in love as well." I tilt my head, swinging my legs against the platform. "What's on your mind, Dragoon?"

Dart smiles slightly. "You want to know my thoughts?"

"If you get them off your chest, you won't be distracted in battle like you were earlier today." I lie. And if you tell me, I may be able to help, so you won't get hurt.

"I knew Shana since we were both kids. We ran from monsters together. We played hide-and-go-seek together. I never even guessed that she could be evil. She was too sweet. She wouldn't even fight. How could she have been evil?"

"Dart." I sigh. "How can I say this to you? …Shana isn't evil. She's just…a vessel. The soul of the God of Destruction needed an unborn child's body to lie dormant in until the time was right. Shana was there, and the god used her as its vessel. She's not evil, Dart. Try to understand her."

"I still love her." He says quietly, ignoring my words.

Just as I still love Zieg.

"But I have to kill her. Is Shana's life worth the lives of billions of other people? Is our love worth all life? A fool in love would say so, but I am the Fire Dragoon of the Red-Eyed Dragon. I can't afford to be a fool. I have to kill her, to save the world."

"Just as I must kill Zieg." I say quietly. "I too, am a fool in love, and I too, am a Dragoon."

Dart smiles without looking at me, picking up a stone and throwing it. "We're more alike than we originally thought, huh?"

I nod. "In fact, we all are. We're caught up in some sort of twisted fate woven by the god Soa, just pawns on a big chessboard called Life. We have to give up our own lives and loves and happiness for the fate that the god planned for us."

"Hmm." Dart seems to think about my words, holding something back. Before I can ask him what it is, he continues, "That was an impressive magic attack you did, the one that killed the ghost of the Divine Dragon. What was it?"

"One of my most powerful spells, the Darkness Dragon. I summoned the ghost of my Dragon, Michael, to help me. He's not really there, but I call on his power from the next world." I stretch out with my mind for a second. "You're almost up to the level, Dart. After a few more battles, you should be powerful enough to summon the ghost of your Dragon."

Dart nods, distracted. "You never told us how Michael died, Rose."

I slant a look at him. "With the other Dragons in the Dragon Campaign." I reply fluidly.

"It must have been terrible for you."

"Yes. What makes you say that?"

"Well," Dart pauses. "I wasn't one of the original Dragoons in the Dragon Campaign. I wasn't the first to bond with the Red-Eyed Dragon. But I can still…feel it. Not just its power that I call on, but its soul, its thoughts. I can hear it calling to me, sense its energy supporting me. And I'm not even its first master. So if you were, and you went through the bonding process, feeling its every emotion and death must have been horrifying."

"…Yes. It was." I answer honestly. "Dart, I have a question for you. Why is it that every time someone tries to help you, you seem to turn the tables and try to help them? Whenever I make myself serene enough for you to talk to, you always switch the topic back to me."

Dart flinches, as if not even knowing. "I don't know. I guess I just sincerely want to help people. I believe that I deal with things pretty well by myself, and I know I can talk to any of you. But I don't really have so many problems. You do, Rose. You have gone through hell and you never talk about it to anyone voluntarily. So I guess I just want to help."

I frown, staring into the darkness, the only familiar thing to me. Dart's passion and his… flame was always confusing. What is it that keeps that fire going? Why does he keep helping everyone even though he gets nothing in return? Is it for the gratitude in itself, or something else? Does he expect a reward for kindness? …Does he really think that he, or anyone else, can help take away this pain?

"Rose, you're doing it again." Dart reminds me gently, giving me a light shove to snap me out of my trance. "See? You always keep your emotions inside. I've never seen you laugh or cry."

"That's because I've kept it all inside since over eleven thousand years ago."

"So you should let it out once in a while."

I start to argue with him, but then calm myself. "If I find myself wanting to, then I will." I reply simply. "Come on, let's get back to the others. We'll need an early start tomorrow. We're still rather far from the Signet Sphere, if my memory serves me correctly."

Dart accepts my hand up, glancing one final time at the Moon. "Yeah. Let's go."

We draw our swords, wary of the monsters that have started to gather, smelling mortal flesh and blood. When we see the rosy glow of the fire, we step over the lines of the watery circle that Miranda had drawn on the ground. The monsters seem to whine, reaching out, but staying away because they hate the smell of the Charm Potion.

"Here." Haschel hands over a couple of food packs. "Eat up."

"If Rose is right, and the Signet Sphere is on the far side of Mayfil," Albert says, "Then we're a bit over halfway there. I flew over to see if I could find it, but I couldn't see it and only ended up wasting my spirit points."

"…I used several Charm Potions to make the circle, but I'm not sure if it'll keep all of them at bay until they decide to go away, or how long it'll stay up. We should take turns keeping watch, like we did in the other Wingly cities." Miranda suggests. "I'll take first watch."

"Then Kongol will watch." The Giganto volunteers.

"Then me." Meru offers.

"And I'll take the last watch." I say.

"Then it's settled." Dart yawns, and brushes the crumbs off his armor. "Night, everyone."

* * *

I am restless, tossing and turning.

MASTER! The voice shrieks in my head. It echoes over and over again, and I groan, trying to wake up. The aura of the call is so familiar and I know who it is. But I am afraid to face it. The darkness pours over me, wave after wave of black power. The kind of power that fuels a Dragoon in battle. I know.

HELP ME!

"Michael!" I scream, reaching out for him. I can't see him, but I can feel him. He's close, but I can't touch him, can't help him. "Michael!"

WHY DID YOU DO IT?

"Michael! NO!" I claw out at nothingness, groping in the darkness that envelops me. Ironic, that the darkness that binds us now is also the darkness that separates us. "Michael!"

MASTER, HELP ME!

* * *

"Rose?" Someone is calling me.

I try to open my eyes, only to realize that I have shut them tightly.

"Rose, please wake up, you're scaring me!" the same someone is patting my cheek gently. "Come on, girl, get up!"

I snap my eyes open, amazed at how much force it takes, and sit up, covered in a sticky film of cold sweat. "What?"

Meru is kneeling beside me, her elfin face drawn in worry. "What happened to you? You were tossing and turning and clawing out at nothing. Were you having a bad dream?"

"…Yes." I reply flatly. I look around; I have not awakened anyone, thank the gods for small favors. I notice Meru gripping her left wrist with her right hand. Curious, I hold out my hand, and she shows me. Her left wrist is covered in shallow gorges, still bleeding. "Did I do that?"

"Yeah. Remind me next time not to try to stop you when you're clawing out in your sleep." Meru tosses me a quick grin. "Don't worry about it."

"Sorry." I mutter, standing up.

"So, you wanna talk about that dream?"

I pause, turning to look at her. "No. Not really. I have a feeling you'll find out soon."

She studies me for a moment and then shrugs, giving up. "All right then. I won't tell anyone, okay? I know you wouldn't like that."

"…Thank you."

It seems as though she is going to go to sleep, but she suddenly speaks up again. "You know, you're like a sister to me, Rose."

I freeze in my motions of stretching my legs. "What did you say?"

The dancer twirls once, a musing look on her face. "Well, I'm an only child. And all the Wingly females in my village weren't like me at all. They were so old-fashioned. When I came into the human world, the dancers there knew me, but that was basically it. This team, our little group here, is the closest I've ever gotten to friends. And close friends are like family, right? I've known you longer than Miranda, plus she's kinda nasty to me sometimes. You're always watching out for me, so I think of you kinda like an older sister." She smiles impishly. "Way older." She yawns. "Anyway, good night."

She is asleep before I can even answer. Confused at this new feeling, I put my hand on the hilt of my sword and start my watch.

I wake up everyone a half-hour after dawn, still slightly perturbed over the dream that I had, with Michael calling out for me, and my not being able to help him.

"Meru, what happened to your hand?" Haschel asks, when he notices the faint scars on her wrist as she swings her hammer at a monster.

"Oh, these little marks?" Meru laughs breezily. "I just scratched myself during my watch last night. It's nothing."

"All right then."

Meru winks at me, grinning, as if telling me that it is our little secret.

"Rose?" Dart calls. His voice is slightly uncertain. "Rose, what's happening?"

I run forward, thinking he is under some sort of psychic attack from Zieg. "What is it?"

"I…can't move. Something's moving in my mind." Dart does seem to be paralyzed, as if his feet are glued to the ground. His Dragoon Spirit flares even though he has not called on it.

I breathe a sigh of relief, sheathing my sword again, leaving the others to deal with the quantity of monsters, which has surprisingly decreased greatly. I guess that they have learned to leave us alone. "Dart, calm down. It's your ultimate magic attack. I told you last night you would learn it soon, did I not?"

"Yeah, but what is it? What's happening to me?" Dart's voice breaks in frustration. As a warrior, he does not like this feeling of immobilization. "What should I do?"

"Calm. Keep calm." I instruct him. "Albert, would you and the others just keep the monsters away? This may take a while, perhaps forty minutes."

The king tilts his head at me, but nods. "Sure."

I turn back to face Dart. "This will hurt." I warn him, and grab at his mind.

I am vaguely aware of him crying out, but I ignore it, diving deeper into the thoughts and buried memories, where one piece of knowledge is currently in the process of unlocking. I feel around me at all of Dart's thoughts, his mind, his emotions, and his knowledge. But I leave them alone. Just as I would want my own privacy, I respect his. I focus on the magic section of his mind.

I hold onto that knowledge, coaxing it out with my mind, luring it with memories of my own ultimate magic spells. I bring a sense of familiarity into it, so that bit by bit, it edges out into his consciousness.

I smile with my mind. I remember when Zieg did the same thing for me, with one of my other ultimate attacks. I had been so scared, screaming my damn head off, and he reached into my mind and helped me. It seems only fitting that I help his son with the same.

When I can acknowledge the consciousness absorbing the wisdom of the magic, I slide out of his mind with a gasp. "There." I tell him, tossing my hair over my shoulder. "That should do it. It will take some time for you to get used to the feeling of having another magic attack, especially one this powerful, but just deal with it."

I pause. Even after eleven thousand years, the war is not finished. The Winglies are still separated from the Humans, and there is still a need for the Dragoons. "The Dragon Campaign is not finished yet." I inform the rest of them, the six other Dragoons wielding the power of the ancient Dragons.

Dart tests out his sword with a new ease. The magic attack also raises your vital statistics, making you stronger. "Then we shall end it by defeating my father." He declares. "Shall we go?"

We go through the open walkways, with the sky in a perpetual twilight above us. I glance over my shoulder at Miranda. The Sacred Sister still looks a bit ill, confused and tormented by all the souls around her, but she is doing her best to keep strong, holding her head high.

The next structure is darker not only in architecture but also in aura. There is something tortured inside.

Stepping ahead of Dart, I enter the building first. It is dark inside, lit only by several small light panels lining the walls, giving off a pale bluish light too dim to make out much of anything.

I pause, feeling what is inside. I pause, shifting my sword from hand to hand, uneasy.

"Rose?!" Dart yells, when he cannot feel me walking beside him anymore in the darkness.

"Don't come near me." I warn them, my voice harsh. The things flooding into the room, too many to count. I keep my hand on my sword, ready to defend myself if need be, but I know that they cannot hurt me.

The Black Monster. A thousand voices hiss.

Finally, you are dead. Another thousand voices, from my other side, growl at me, filled with a vague smugness.

Like me. Says one voice mournfully.

Like me. Another voice, spitefully.

Like me. Yet another voice, this one insane in death.

Like us. Millions of voices and thought-bombs launch at me, spilling everything onto my body and mind. So many of the souls that I have killed, swarming around me as if to drag me into the death world with them. I can feel them grasping at my mind, tugging at my arms and legs to drag me deeper into the darkness.

I tug my arm free, picking up my Dragoon Spirit and holding it up in the air. The pendant glows a bright violet, and the Souls scream, fleeing away from the light. I replace the Spirit necklace back into the neck of my armor.

"Hate me if you want…but I cannot die now." I tell them. Please wait until everything is over.

The rest of them walk over. "What was that?"

"The souls of the people I have killed. They wanted me to go with them. I said no." I reply. "Come on. We should be nearing the Signet Sphere now."

Dart, Albert, and I take the lead, moving through the corridors. "Rose, you helped me to unlock my ultimate magic, right? And it would have been much harder if you hadn't helped, right?"

"Correct."

"You went through it alone?"

"Correct again."

"What was it like?"

I shrug. "Like reaching into past lives and gathering knowledge. Like trying to pick up all the pebbles in the world. Like reaching inside yourself and finding nothing familiar at all. Frustration, fear, anger, pain, sorrow, all of that and more." I glance sideways at him. "Why do you want to know?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'm trying to see what things were like for the original Dragoons. I have this weird feeling that I should know." Dart shakes his head. "Anyway, do you know how long it is before we actually reach the Signet Sphere? Do you know if my father is there yet?"

I remain silent.

"Rose? Are you listening to me? Rose? Albert, you too? What's with you two?"

I do not answer because I am too busy staring at the man crouching in the room ahead of us. A man clan in green pants and a torn white tunic, with sandy blonde hair. A man with kind gray-blue eyes, questioning gentle eyes, and a bloody wound across his chest. Holding his back straight and his head up, with a lance in his hand, he carries the aura of the knight that I knew for what seems like an eternity ago.

Lavitz.

Dart finally stops speaking to look at what the king and I are gaping at. For the first time in a long time, I am at a loss for words. I cannot even put my sword back in its sheath. The knight of Basil, Sandora. The man whose mother I had met and seen weeping when we brought news of his death. The Dragoon whom Lloyd had murdered with the Dragon Buster. The friend that Albert started his journey for.

"No!" Dart exclaims. "You are! No way!"

Albert lowers his lance. "Yes, it is possible in this city!"

Mayfil, city of the dead, where the tortured souls reside.

"Lavitz!" Dart yells.

"Who?" I can hear Meru ask behind us.

That's right. We are the only ones that knew Lavitz as a person and not as a memory. Aside from Haschel, but we knew him longer. Haschel was only there in the last stage.

The knight smiles calmly and turns to the King of Serdio. He is slightly pale and faded, but then he is only the soul. "It's been a while, Your Majesty Albert."

The king steps forward. "I knew it was you!"

Lavitz bows as if we are all at a formal court. "Your Majesty Albert, I have the honor of seeing your face again. And Dart…while we have been apart, you have become strong."

Dart nods. "Yeah. Since you left us, we have encountered many enemies."

"'Enemies…' That's why there are so many souls that know you."

Dart tilts his head in confusion. "…?"

Lavitz continues. "Souls that are attracted here remain with a variety of thoughts. That's why they are attracted by the gate of hell. Negative thoughts like attachments are the favorites of the devils from hell."

"And those devils are driving Mayfil, aren't they?" I question. The negative influences that are ruling the Wingly cities and are tearing apart the knowledge that I have gained over my years.

Lavitz turns to look at me, as if noticing that I am here for the first time. It is a long time before he says, "Rose…there are many souls who know you. Yes, there are countless…"

Dart interrupts. "Lavitz, tell me! Why have you appeared in front of us?!"

"Maybe…" Albert takes another step forward. "Are you helping us out?"

As if this question pains him, Lavitz stumbles backwards, grasping his head with his hands and crying out in agony. His entire personality changes. "AAGH!" his yell echoes around the empty room. The lance that he holds in his hands moves, lashing out as if to try and take away his pain against the enemies in his head.

I dash forward, grabbing Albert's shoulder and pulling him back just in time before the lance nearly impales him. "Watch out." I growl. "Something's wrong with him."

The King pulls free of my grip. "Lavitz!"

"Don't come near me!" Lavitz warns, his voice muffled, and suddenly it turns harsh. "Get out of here!"

Without warning he turns and runs away, down the narrow hallway and across the bridge to another room, too dark for me to see or sense anything.

There is silence, broken only by a gasp from Albert, and a light curse from Miranda.

"What happened?" Haschel asks.

"It was Lavitz, the knight from the very beginning of our journey. He was my best friend." Albert explains quietly. "Lloyd killed him with the Dragon Buster. We were speaking to him now and everything seemed fine, but he suddenly ran off. I don't know why he would do that."

"He was talking about the devils that were controlling Mayfil." I muse thoughtfully. "Perhaps… I wonder if one of those demons is playing with Lavitz's soul?"

Dart turns to look at me, his eyes blazing. "What?!"

I shrug, staring down the dark hallway. "I cannot think of anything other than that."

Albert slams the end of his lance against the floor. "Unforgivable!" he roars, and I am again reminded that he is a born king.

"We must go after him, to help free his soul." Dart declares.

Albert is already racing down the hallway.

"Who—who are you bastards?" Lavitz demands, holding the lance up to keep us away. His skin has taken on a darker tinge and in his eyes in a crimson wildness.

I had ordered the other Dragoons to stay behind, much to their protest, but I am the highest-ranking Dragoon, meaning I am the oldest, and I managed to persuade them. It would have worked against us had they come with us to help Lavitz. If Lavitz saw unfamiliar people with us, he might panic and run off again, or worse, attack us. I would not like having to hurt him.

"Lavitz! It's me! Dart!"

"Dart."

"Don't you recognize me?" Albert asks gently. "Lavitz, do you remember me?"

"Majesty…Albert." Lavitz throws his head back and screams. He turns to run away again, only to stumble. I draw my sword, seeing the monster attached to his back. It reminds me of a small sea creature I had seen clinging to the jetty a couple of years ago. About the size of his back, it is a darkish purple color, with a single eye glaring out from the center of five stiff limbs, like a demonic starfish.

"Look at his back." I tell the other two. "There is something attached. It seems that is affecting the soul." I frown as I prod at it with my mind. It retaliates, pushing me out. "It smells of devildom."

"Lavitz! It's me! Dart! Don't you recognize my face?!"

"AAAHHH!!!" The creature detaches itself from Lavitz's back, leaving the knight collapsed facedown on the stony ground. It warps and smokes until it takes on a new form.

"Hee hee hee." The monster, now transformed into an overgrown bat, smirks at us. "What a show! It was so moving a reunion, I'm totally choked with tears."

"W-who are you?!" Dart demands, drawing his sword.

"Oh, excuse me." The creature clears its throat. "My name is Zackwell. I'm a resident of the darkness."

As am I, but I do not possess the souls of others. I snarl with my mind. Leaving the creature and the Fire and Wind Dragoons to fight, I draw my sword out of its sheath silently, keeping to the side of the corridor. Staying along the shadows, I slip behind Zackwell without him noticing. Or perhaps he does notice and simply does not care.

Instead of attacking him, as the smartest thing would be to do, I sheathe my sword again, kneeling down beside Lavitz's fallen form.

"You have taken over Lavitz!" Dart accuses.

"Yes, I have." The monster says it without shame. "The man insisted he was so worried about you that he couldn't bear dying. I thought it was a little presuming, but I granted him momentary life."

The devil with enough power to grant life to the dead souls. This must be the demon controlling and manipulating Mayfil. I examine Lavitz's back. Zackwell's other form had left a red imprint on his back, almost as if it clung on tightly against struggle. Had Lavitz been conscious enough to fight against it once Zackwell nearly attacked King Albert? Is friendship that deep, that even in unconscious death and being possessed by a demon, one can still fight?

I turn the knight over onto his back. The wound across his chest is still there, where in Hellena Prison, Lloyd had thrust the Dragon Buster through the Wind Dragoon's armor and into his flesh. It is no longer bleeding, just an ugly scar. Lavitz's face seems normal enough, as if he is not dead, but only sleeping.

Dart and Albert are fighting against Zackwell now. I keep half my mind focused on the battle, should they need my help, or should the monster turn to attack me and possess Lavitz again.

I never got to thank you, knight of Serdio, for trying to help me even when you knew nothing of me. I tell him with my mind. In death, you have finally figured out the mystery of my past. I wonder what you thought when you first learned of it? I dry the sheen of sweat that had accumulated on his face during those minutes of life. My motions are gentle, almost…sisterly, as Meru had put it. I wonder if you have been watching our journey from the death world? Have you seen your mother? Have you learned the truth?

I draw my sword out of my sheath, turning to face the battle. Dart and Albert have forced Zackwell to back up, nearly stepping on me now.

Uttering a battle cry, I slice in a wide arc, cutting deep slashes across his legs. The demon screams, turning around to face me, its sickle-like weapon coming down. I block expertly, and kick up with my legs, knocking it back to the other Dragoons. Albert thrusts his lance into the creature.

With a howl of pain that makes the other Dragoons disobey my wishes and appear in the doorway, Zackwell falls backwards. I scramble out of the way before he can land on me, diving to the side and standing next to King Albert.

"You bastards!" Zackwell screams. "How dare you!" He leaps to the side, shrinking and contracting as he goes, until he is back in his starfish-like shape. He forcefully lifts Lavitz's limp body off the floor and reattaches himself to the knight's back, reanimating Albert's dead friend.

I shouldn't have left him like that, open for Zackwell's attack. I reprimand myself, cursing in my head. I know I could have blocked that attack had I been a shield in front of him.

Lavitz stands up, lifting his lance. The scarlet eyes scan us for a moment, and then faster than even I can perceive, he is moving, lance thrust toward Dart.

"Dart!" Albert yells. "Lavitz, NO!"

"Lavitz!" Dart tosses his sword aside.

The blade hits the ground with a clatter that echoes again and again. I watch it bounce, hypnotized by its movement. The titanium blade, the golden bloodstained hilt carved in the shape of a monster face. A boshi, an emblem meant to keep demons away. Looks like it doesn't work. The blade silences itself, and I tear my eyes away back to Dart. I draw my sword, to protect him, because he will not protect himself.

He stands proud and tall, head held high as if defying death. If he is afraid, he does not show it. "Lavitz!"

His cry is loud and powerful and pleading, a yell torn from his soul. It is heroic and passionate and it stops Lavitz's headlong rush.

The possessed knight stops, pausing, just awakening from a long slumber. "I…AARGHH!"

He lifts his lance again, this time not against Dart or Albert, but against himself. He turns the weapon backwards and stabs himself with it. The spearhead digs into his skin, alongside the scar of the Dragon Buster. It goes straight through his chest and out the other side, impaling Zackwell.

The leech-creature hisses, losing its grip and falling to the ground. I watch quietly as it emits steam, slowly dissipating back to wherever the hell it is that devils come from.

"Lavitz?" Albert whispers, afraid to speak up louder, like the slightly noise will disturb this volatile balance.

The knight has his hands on his knees, his head lowered. The forgotten spear falls to the ground and rolls toward us. Lavitz lifts his head at the sound of Albert's voice.

I sigh. The eyes are no longer carmine-insane, but the gray blue of the knight of honor again. The face is not twisted in a ferocious scowl, but in a tentative smile.

"Dart, Your Majesty, I am sorry." Lavitz steps forward and no one steps back. I sheathe my sword again. "Even though I was being manipulated…"

Dart shakes his head furiously, to keep Lavitz from saying anything more.

"I could even… give thanks to Zackwell." The knight continues. His eyes scan across us, and then the other Dragoons, the new ones that joined after his death, the other members of our…team. I hesitate to even think the word. "So that I could meet you in death."

"You are not dead!" Dart yells. Everyone looks at him in surprise, and he smiles. "You will continue to live on in us!"

Albert holds his lance against the ground with one hand, and with the other salutes Lavitz.

The three men link hands, solidly, promising that their spirits and friendship will always connect them.

I step back to the other Dragoons in the doorway, picking up Dart's sword and weighing it in my hands. This is a moment for them, the three closest friends. I stay off to the side, like I always have, like I always will.

Lavitz takes Albert's lance and examines it, running a pale finger along several scratches and ridges that had appeared along the journey and the numerous battles that went along with it. "Your lance is ruined, Your Majesty," Lavitz comments quietly as if making a remark about the weather. "It will do you no good if you keep this." He looks up at me.

Understanding him, I stoop down and pick up Lavitz's lance, which had rolled to my feet. Walking over to them, I hand it to Lavitz.

He in turn gives it to Albert. "Your Majesty Albert, it would do me the greatest honor if you would accept my weapon as yours."

Albert stares at it for half a second and then takes it, cutting through the air a few times. The lance is nicely carved, with Serdian words etched into the grip. "It is a fine weapon, and an even finer gift. I will gladly accept your weapon, my friend, and I will keep it as a token of our friendship, to remind me of our times together."

Lavitz bows, and when he straightens, I can see the skin on his hand begin to drop away, like old paint peeling off the side of a ship, being replaced with golden light. "There is no time left. I will lead you to where the Signet Sphere is with my last strength."

Dart turns, gesturing to the others to come. Cautiously, they come into the circle, and Lavitz lifts his arms. His mind draws on a foreign power, and the world is surrounded in a golden light.

It envelops us entirely, and Lavitz smiles. "This will take you to where you are needed."

I stare at him for a long while, studying the twin wounds on his chest.

"It's not a beautiful sight, huh?" Lavitz says.

I look up at him. "I've seen worse." I admit. "May I?" He nods, and I place the palm of my hand on the wounds. Shutting my eyes, I call on the power around me and within me.

"Ivy Prism." I mutter. Dark light gathers around me, filtering through an invisible point in the air before me, changing, warping into different colors. The rainbow array of lights instantly travels to Lavitz's wounds, but just as instantly disappears, releasing back into the air.

I shake my head. "I apologize. I cannot rid them."

Lavitz shrugs. "It's not a pretty sight, but it is a sight of friendship. I am proud of these scars."

"…Yes." I gaze into his eyes, reading the emotion that was once nosiness and is now concern. "You are an honorable man, Lavitz. Thank you."

"Well, this coming from the untouchable darkness maiden, I'll take as high praise." Lavitz winks, and then turns away, gathering the golden light back to its source.

We are now standing in a different place, in a doorway leading into a large room. Lavitz is nowhere that I can see. The transportation spell must have taken the last of the power that he had. He has…gone back…to where life goes after death, I suppose.

"Lavitz, thank you." Dart whispers to the empty air.

Kongol is gazing off the platform ahead of us. "Signet Sphere is safe."

I move forward, sitting at the edge of the hallway without any walls or railings. The Signet Sphere is indeed here, a concentration of condensed red-white light. A sphere of energy between three claws is the only thing that stands between life and death. "The Signet Sphere is the last barrier to protect the world."

"If it is destroyed…"

I twist my mouth into a scowl. "There will be no other way but to deal with the god itself." It is better to tell them this now. It is high time they learned the entire truth and what comes along with it. If they want to back out, now is the time. The fight with Zieg will not be easy.

Dart comes to sit beside me. "When Shana crosses to the Moon That Never Sets, the God of Destruction will be born…?" A look crosses his face and he leaps up, passionate again. "I won't let it happen! I'll finish it here!"

"I think so too."

The voice is calm, pleasant, but mocking. I jump up, holding my sword horizontally over my head, my other hand lifted palm out as if to push someone away. "Zieg."

"Dad?!"

"I'll finish the world here."

"Reveal yourself!" I command.

"I don't hide." There is a flash of red that dims even the Signet Sphere. When my eyes adjust, I can see Zieg hovering above the Signet Sphere. He holds the Moon Gem in his hands, a glowing green sphere of energy. I feel Albert tense, drawing in his breath. "Our settlement is a peaceful one. We don't need weapons here. A fight is not appropriate before the celebration of a birth."

"I won't let you!" Dart yells. There is movement and then he is in the air, leaping incredibly far, closing the gap between his father and himself, sword thrust forward.

Zieg forms an energy sphere in his hands, keeping the Moon Gem in the air with just his mind. The psychic power slams into Dart and the warrior falls back onto the pavement. "Don't come near me." He growls.

"I-I won't let you." Dart repeats, but his voice has lost much of its force.

I help him to his feet, supporting his weight until the spinning in his head goes away. "Zieg, do you not know who this boy is? Do you not know who I am? Or do you know and you simply don't care?" I rage my words against him, each syllable clipped and biting with fury. "Have you forgotten your son? Have you forgotten the days when you were a hero?"

To my everlasting surprise, a look of horror crosses Zieg's face, shocking me into silence as well. "I…I am carrying out Soa's will. I am helping Fate with what should happen."

"Bullshit!" I shriek, my voice hitting a new note. I walk to the very edge of the platform, gripping my sword in one hand and my heart in the other. "You know very well what you're doing, Zieg!" I stamp my foot, my youth returning to me, back when I went through a spoiled phase with my parents. That phase disappeared when I met Zieg, but now it all returns, the power and the anger. "I was your fiancée, Zieg. That is not a blood connection, but I took our love seriously! You did too! Even if that is not enough for you, you must realize that this is your son! You cannot deny that he is your own flesh and blood! If you can find that darkness in your heart to willingly fight him like such, then I pity you, Zieg. I love you, but I pity your coldness."

There is only silence in the room. Without looking, I can tell that Dart is sitting up, stunned at the exchange of words that is happening, and the others are frozen in shock at my display of emotion. It is disturbing, but if I had cared so much about what other people thought, then I would never have become the Black Monster.

That strange look crosses Zieg's face again, and for a moment, I think that I have gotten through to him. Like Lavitz, his eyes were wild too, but not with possession, with a lust for power, with the insanity of the Fate that Soa planned. But now, everything has dropped and I can see my fiancé again, the man I once loved. The man I still love.

"Zieg…" My voice is gentle, soft, devoid of all the anger that had been there not a minute ago. The same voice that he knew over eleven thousand years ago, the voice I used to call him when I was frightened at night, the voice that I cried out his name with when he was torn from me. Maybe I can still bring him back.

To the others, they can see nothing. But I can. I can see and more importantly, feel him reaching out. For a moment our minds link again, and I can feel him again. He is calling out, desperately. He is calling out my name, and another flurry of words that I cannot understand.

Too suddenly, he withdraws his mind, as if realizing what I am doing. "No! I am carrying out Soa's will! You will not tempt my mind again, witch." He stumbles back in the air, falling. I am there, grasping him, holding him up with my mind.

In that instant that Zieg is disoriented and confused, Albert is moving.

Transforming into the Wind Dragoon, he pushes himself off the platform and toward the brilliant green sphere hovering in the air. Of course! If we have the Moon Gem, then it will be harder, if not impossible for Zieg to destroy the Signet Sphere. It would require more power than he has.

Albert's gloved hands reach out, and I hold my breath, daring to hope. Almost…

But then Zieg is back, his mind unbendable again. He thrusts his arm forward at the same time, not toward the Moon Gem, but toward Albert.

My mind brings me an automatic flashback of when Lavitz died. The knight had also reached for something precious to him, his lord, his king, and Lloyd had thrust the Dragon Buster forward, killing him.

I almost whimper, seeing the Dragon Buster, thrust forward. I automatically think of what had happened after Lavitz's death, the sadness, and the grieving of his mother. Albert's mother had passed away when he was a child, this he told us, but he has Emille. How will the others tell the golden angel that her love has died? And what of political consequences, the union between Serdio and Tiberoa?

But then my brain clears up, and I see that it is not the Dragon Buster at all—no, of course not, the Dragon Buster disappeared with Lloyd when Zieg killed the Wingly swordsman—it is only Zieg's arm, powerful as any sword, but not as powerful as the Dragon Buster, thank the gods. Zieg shoves Albert away from him, and grabs the Moon Gem with his other hand as Albert falls from the powerful push.

Not powerful enough. The Dragoon does not land on the pavement as Dart did, but falls, grazing his armor on the claws that hold the Signet Sphere, and down into the abyss, the hell. Flustered, he will not get his wings to work, I know. Dragoons are not immune to fear. I of all people know this.

Miranda and Haschel, the two closest to him, dive to the edge of the walkway, lying flat on their stomachs, their hands reaching down. The Rouge martial artist grabs hold of Albert's right hand, and the Sacred Sister takes grip upon the left. Albert swings in a wide arc, crashing into the side of the walkway.

"Albert!" Dart yells. Another voice screams with him, and it takes me seconds to realize that it is mine. Meru is screeching too, dropping her hammer and leaping up and down in fear and frustration. How very much like mortal humans we are, with or without our powers.

Kongol moves quickly but carefully, behind Miranda and Haschel, both of who are straining to pull up Albert's weight. The Giganto bends down, wraps an arm around each of them, and straightens, pulling. He barely strains at the weight of three people. Albert appears on the edge of the walkway and Haschel yanks him the rest of the way up.

While this has been happening, Zieg used it as a distraction. Even as I turn back, sword drawn, the Moon Gem is already hitting the Signet Sphere.

The two magic forces collide with each other, creating an explosion that destroys both and the hope of the world.

"NO!"

Zieg only smiles at our shouts. "The arrow has already been released! To the finale of the world!" With another charming smirk, he disappears.

I lose my footing as the ground begins to tremble violently, as if Endiness itself was screaming in pain. Loose rocks and rubble shake down and Meru falls to her side.

I stare up at the ceiling, looking past it. "The moon is falling." My voice is oddly kind, as if I had been reading from a book and nothing is real. Everything is torn apart; nothing can be trusted anymore.

The thousands of years of my hard work. The millions of people that had to die. The innocence of too many beings. Zieg, you have gone too far!

"The-the world is ending." Albert says shakily from his place on the ground. "Does this mean that Humans cannot revoke the will of the creator?! Are we bound to follow the Fate that Soa plans for us?"

No… I tuck my knees into my chest, wrapping my arms around them, my sword a forgotten dead weight against my hip. Everything I had ever worked for. Everything I had ever believed in… all gone… Nothing is real anymore. We must finally succumb to what Soa has planned for us. My years are nothing now.

And to think I could have stopped this. I could have stayed in Neet a while longer, been more accurate in my hunt and killed the right Moon Child. I could have simply let Zieg die as he was falling in his confusion. He would have impaled himself on the claws of the Signet Sphere. But I helped him, saved him. I could have killed him, stopped the end of the world.

Everything is going now… including me. I wish I died with the others in the Dragon Campaign. The end is going to happen anyway, so why did I go through everything as the Black Monster? …Nothing matters anymore. We're already dead.

"Not yet!" The voice is powerful and hypnotic as it breaks into my thoughts, making me look up at him. "Don't give up!"

Dart's eyes flare a brilliant blue. He runs forward, pulls me to my feet and shoves the sword into my hand. He is moving as quick as a madman, yanking the others to their feet, shouting like a lunatic. "It is only the Signet of the Moon that is broken!"

And yet in those words, I am back.

I am on my feet before I know it, my sword an extension of my body. "Yes." I find myself saying with a different voice filled with a strange emotion I have never heard before, or at least, not in my voice. I feel feverish and deadly. "We can still struggle! The Moon has not obtained Shana yet! Let us go pursue Zieg!"

It is like the tide rising and falling, swelling up powerfully, impossible to stop. In eleven thousand years I have never felt this, and it is impossible for me to comprehend. But I know that all seven of us were running down the walkway and through the doorway on the far side of the room. I feel the identical power that keeps us together. I know not the name of this power, nor how it works, but I know that it is more powerful than anything else is.

The doorway bursts into light and we are outside, in a dark desert covered in twilight. Somewhere in the hidden depths of what was once Gloriano, I guess. But we are on a balcony, with no teleportation pod.

"Dead end." I skid to a stop, testing the limits of this new power in me.

What is this power? Why does it fill me only now, when it could have fueled me eleven thousand years ago? Why is it so powerful and sweet, like the transformation, but even better? And why does this sweet power diminish when I am at an end? Why does despair replace it?

My ears pick up on the sound of wings flapping in the air, and then on the mournful whale-like sound that Coolon makes as he lands next to us, hovering next to the balcony. Its eyes blink, silent words being exchanged.

"The wings of Savan!" Dart cries, hurdling over the lip of the balcony and onto Coolon's back. "Come on!"

When everyone has clambered on, Dart calls out, "Coolon, we have to get to the Moon! Quickly!"

The magical creature moves faster than before, gliding through the shadows of the clouds and the light of the sun shyly peeking from behind its shrouds. Gloriano's desert zooms by, the dunes becoming mere ridges as we speed by.

A blinding pain stabs my mind, and I stumble, nearly falling off Coolon's wing. Instead, I land awkwardly on my backside, clutching my head in my hands. This new sensation, not pleasant at all like the last one, but pain. So many different thoughts: fury, pain, gratitude, freedom, rage, hate.

Awakening.

"Oh my gods…" I am not a very religious person, but even I…

"Rose!" Kongol puts his arm as a wall behind me so that I will not fall off Coolon, and Miranda leans over his back to place her hand on my shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"Oh gods…" I shift my weight slightly. "Dart, Coolon, we're going to need to fend off attackers soon."

"What happened?" Dart calls, looking over his shoulder at me. "What's going on?"

"The Virages of the ancient powers have awakened."

Author's Note: Okay, sorry it took me so long to get this up. For those really perceptive readers, you'll notice some clues that you won't understand until I post up my next major story. STORY, not chapter. That's right. You guys aren't getting rid of me that easily.