Badabing-badaboom! Just changed the usual, except for one or two lines of conversation between mystery person and crackling voice.
Let's see. . . oh yes, if someone in the story knows Meirra's real identity then when the fic is centered around them, she will be referred to as her true name, even if they don't use it when they speak. Does that make any sense? Hope so.
Here are some things you might want to know.
/. . . denotes thoughts or that a certain word is emphasized. . . /
*. . . denotes mindspeech. . . *
. . . denotes flashback or vision. . .
The Fate of Destiny
Part Three:
Three Strands for a Braid
"You want to know where we're going?" Meirra raised an eyebrow at him and Terran shuddered under her cynical gaze. "Or do you want to know what we are going to do?"
Terran vaguely wondered at what type of being had replaced Meirra's soul as he answered her. It was a question that had been bothering him for a while. "I asked the first question, but an answer to both would be nice." Could it be a demon or some kind of faery? A banshee maybe, one of the ghosts that was rumored to haunt the area around his home town? Whatever she was, she confused and utterly bewildered him. And fascinated him.
"Good." Her voice startled him out of his reverie. "I was going to answer both, along with other things." Meirra sat down on a log that seemed to be less slime covered than the rest of the surrounding area. She gestured for him to sit beside her. She gazed out into the marsh while he settled beside her.
"What other things?" Terran's curiosity got the better of him.
"Like what -- who -- I am. What I was doing before I came here." She gave a wicked smile, but Terran thought it was more directed at herself than him. "You need to know these things before we go on, or else you could do something we would both regret."
"Regret?" Terran ran his eyes over Meirra. His earlier assumption that she was unaffected by the Marshland was wrong. Her long black hair had numerous bits of moss and twigs on it, and a scratch ran down her left cheek. Even though it had stopped bleeding long ago Terran had to stop himself from inspecting it. His mother had trained him a little too well in medicine. Every time he saw an injury, no matter how small he wanted to fix it. "Why don't you just kill me then?" Like she had been threatening him since they had begun the trip. Except he realized, that she had stopped ever since they had left Lohan.
"Because now I can't."
"You can't? Why not?" Inwardly Terran winced. He seemed to be asking a lot of questions. Then again, he had a lot he could question on.
"Because now you have been woven into the tapestry of fate and it seems your thread is a key part in the pattern." Meirra ran her fingers through her hair, not really concentrating on it, just using it as if using it to distract herself from an unnerving subject. What was she talking about? "It became obvious when that shopkeeper had your armor and weapon there. Shirley had him make it and she would only do that if it was Soa's will."
Terran unerringly latched onto the last two words. They were familiar. Where had he heard them before? In the shop when Meirra had insisted that the shopkeeper had her armor. She had said something about Soa's will. It had to have been a password, a security measure so that no one else could claim her armor without it. But who was this Shirley -- Meirra had mentioned her before at the shop -- and how could she possibly be doing something under the Goddess' will? Was that even possible. He took a deep breath, it was time to ask more questions. "Shirley?"
The black haired woman pursed her lips together and gazed at Terran. He unconsciously shifted his eyes away from her intense gaze. "I'll answer that in time, but first I must start at the beginning." Another wry smile graced her pale face. "Or what the beginning was for me."
Her hands stopped playing with her hair and Terran felt that hand grasp his chin, lifting his head so that his green eyes once more met hers. "This is the beginning. I was born eleven thousand years ago, when Winglies ruled the world and humans were their slaves. I was born a human, but I was lucky. The place I was born in was one of the Wingly cities ruled by Charles Frahma, the Wingly ruler who believed that humans were equal, and that was the way she treated them. My mother named me Rose and for eighteen years I was innocent and naive to the goings of the outside world. . . Then I met Zieg and my life was changed forever."
Biting his lips Terran tried to take in the new information. Meirra -- no, Rose -- was human, that he could handle, but the fact that she was born so long ago kept him still. Why was she still here? A mission of some kind no doubt, but what kind of mission? And why was Rose's soul in Meirra's body? So many questions and all he could do was wait for her to tell him the answers.
*****
The man leaned back against the tree, wearily stripping his armor off. He had fought his way through the muck and mire of the Marshland and he desperately needed a break. And also an opportunity to speak to the voice that had been harassing him ever since he had bought the red stone he wore around his neck at a merchant's shop. "Are you sure this is the right way?"
A dry chuckle answered him in his mind. *Of course, child. Go where I tell you and do what I tell you to do and everything will be fine.*
"Really? That's good news to hear." The man's voice was seeped in sarcasm. "So Great and Mighty One, what do I do next?"
*You start walking on that path in front of you.* The voice told him, its dead and crackling sound making the man wince.
"Now?"
*Yes, now. Put your armor back on. You're going to be walking right into a fight.*
"A fight!" The man angrily put his armor back on. "I suppose the people I'm going to join up with are the ones who are fighting?"
*You are correct. Hurry, you've got to help them. It would be best if you transformed.*
The man stopped the process of replacing one of his shoulder pieces. His face twisted in something close to fury. "Fine, push me all you want, but let it be known that I had better get what I want when this is all finished. I had better . . ."
The voice's crackling laughter sent shivers up the man's spine. *I can assure you, oh desperate one, that you will get what you ask for. That I can promise you.*
*****
Terran was sitting back in shock, observing the seemingly young woman in front of him. Nothing had changed about her appearance, but his perception had completely changed his view of her. Struggling almost in vain, he tried to organize what he had just heard into some semblance of order. "You were a Dragoon." It wasn't a question, more of a way to confirm what he had heard and engrave it in his mind. His gaze rested on Rose's chest, his eyes having been drawn there by the sparkling dark violet jewel she wore there. "And that's your Dragoon Spirit."
"Yes." Short and clipped, her tone of voice hadn't changed from when she had begun her story. "Is there anything else you need to know before we go on?"
He was still confused, there was no denying that, but he knew that he held all the answers. He just had to look for them. At least the ones he could get from her. There was still the mystery of the crystal disk that hung at his neck. "Yeah." He stood up and stretched, wrinkling his noise in disgust as the stench of the Marshland became stronger. "We are going to move on now, aren't we?"
"No." A pale hand reached up and grabbed his arm, pulling him back down to sit on the mossy log. "We still need to discuss some things."
He could feel his face turning white at those cold words. Whatever she was going to say, she was deadly serious about it. Terran tried to act like her words didn't affect him. "Sure. If that's what you want."
"Good. Let it be known that if you ever mention my real name to the group of people we are about to meet, I will kill you." He was not going to smile, despite the laughter he felt bubbling up from his chest. It seemed she always reverted back to that threat -- not that he doubted she wouldn't fulfill it. "I don't care if you're an important key to what is going to happen. I can only be Meirra to them." He opened his mouth to speak, but she shoot him a glare that made him immediately shut up. "Even if they say my name when they see me, you must help me convince them that I am not who I truly am."
For a moment Terran's thoughts were in a whirlwind, unfortunately it wasn't the only time that it had happened it the last day. /What is she talking about? How can her old friends recognize her if they believe she's dead. They shouldn't know who she is. . . unless. . ./ "You mean they'll be able to identify you?" His eyes widened as the full implications hit him. "That means when you were alive, you looked like Meirra, doesn't it?"
She gave a quick affirmative nod, "This body looks exactly like mine did, except it's younger than mine was before I was put under the spell of immortality." She bent her head down to look at the ground, except she stopped and winced when her long black hair caught on the log. "And my hair wasn't quite this long." She gently freed her hair from the wood's gripe and chewed on her lip for a second. She looked more human in that moment than Terran had ever seen her before. "It keeps getting in my way."
"Here." He was hesitant at first, not willing to ruin what he saw. "I can help you with your hair." Her violet eyes narrowed, but she slowly nodded her assent, suspicion written across her face. He took her tangled black hair in his hands, marveling on how soft and silky if felt in his callused hands, while trying not to reveal that it fascinated him. To cover for himself, he continued their conversation. "Why can't they know who you are?"
"I've told you before." Scorn colored her voice, "The enemy we are going to go up against is powerful. More powerful than Melbu Frahma ever was." His hands moved up and down, switching strands of black hair, twisting them into a design as she stared ahead, unseeing. "If it finds out who I truly am, then one of our advantages against it is lost and that could mean the end of the world."
He paused in the braiding of her hair as the immensity of the situation hit him. She had explained to him what the danger they were going up against was to the best of her ability and now he knew exactly how dangerous, suicidal, and insane their quest was. "So why did you tell me everything?"
He resumed his work on her hair, occasionally stopping to pull out a tangle or stick that had gotten stuck in it, while he waited for her answer. "Because you're going to be my cover if they don't believe that I'm Meirra."
Terran tried his best to hide his smile, but he couldn't help saying, "You aren't Meirra."
"Obviously. But you're going to help convince them that I am." He raised his eyebrows in surprise. Was that amusement in her voice? Yes, it was, he decided. It was surprising that in the last ten minutes he had seen Rose act more like a normal person than in the she had in the months before this moment.
He finished the braid and looked for something to tie it up with. He frowned for a second before carefully tearing away a strip of his sleeve that peeped out from beneath his armor. It had been getting in his way anyways. A quick movement of his hands and Rose's hair was secure in its braid. "There, it's not exactly the neatest it could be, but it'll do for now."
She shook her head experimentally and Terran ducked as the thick black braid nearly clipped him on the side of the head. "Watch it!"
"Hm. It's going to change my balance when I fight, but it won't get in my way." She stood up, shifting Dark Wraith into position on her back. "You did a good job."
He tried not to chuckle, standing up and following behind her as she walked further into the Marshland. "If you're going to fool your friends, you can't act like you usually did around them."
An amused gaze was directed his way, "I'll do the best I can." Terran chuckled knowing she was playing along, relieved that she did have a sense of humor.
"Re-" His words were cut off by a shrill scream that didn't sound like it was close by, but it wasn't too far away.
Rose took off in a flash in the direction of the sound, swift feet dodging obstacles in her way. "It's starting."
"What is?" Terran jumped a stump that appeared in his way, landing with a big splash in the muddy sludge behind it. Mud splattered over his clothes and face, but it didn't matter. Someone was in trouble and if Rose's tale had anything to do with it, that person was important to what was going to happen.
"The fight." Several minutes of running at top speed took them to the edge of a cliff. He stopped with her by his side and gazed down and what he saw made his breath catch in his throat. Below them a gigantic monster lay in a muck filled hole. Long slimy gray tentacles flailed around, aiming for its targets. Human targets flying up in the air on faery wings. Dragoons. Terran spotted three, all different colors. A dark silver gray, jade green, and a silvery white. They dodged out of the monster's grasp, twirling around and aiming for what it held in one of its tentacles.
He squinted his eyes and then widened them. It was holding a young woman dressed in white, holding her close to its body. She didn't seem to be injured. He caught sight of movement on the ground and cursed under his breath. The woman might not be injured, but one of the people on the ground seemed to be. A small white figure, cradled in the arms of a giant, while another purple figure was frantically pouring what seemed to be Healing Potions on the white one. Whoever they were, they were in trouble. They needed help and Terran would have willingly given it to them if it hadn't been the fact that he was nearly two hundred feet above them. It was a good thing he wasn't afraid of heights.
A shimmering violet light by his side caught his attention and what he saw held it. The stone at Rose's neck glowed, dancing rays lighting the area around her. The light darkened till it was nearly black, enveloping around her in a sphere, obscuring her from sight. Then there was a burst of bright white light, silhouetting her shape and a roaring sound. He closed his eyes to shield them from the radiance that came off of her.
When the light died and he opened his eyes and before him stood a mystical winged being that he had only heard about in legends and recently from the mouth of a woman who had lived those legends. The woman now standing -- floating -- before him. Black boots covered both of her legs, nearly all the way up to the top of her calves, silver swirls decorating the edges of them. Armor adorned her midsection and chest, going down until it reduced into leather pants that tucked into her boots. All of it was black, silver designs dancing across her armor and shoulder guards. There was a band of armor around her forehead, nearly blending in with the black of her hair, dotted with seven silver stones. Rose was deadly, mystical, and impressive looking, but the thing that made Terran gasp was her wings.
He had seen the wings of the Dragoons flying below him, however they were not close enough so he could get a good look at them. Rose's wings were fluttering slightly, shimmering silver veined with red, and all of it edged in black. She was glorious floating above the ground like an avenging angel. He shook his head, he couldn't have these fantasies about her, especially at a time like this. "That's your Dragoon form I take it?"
"Yes. The Darkness Dragoon." She twisted her head around to look at herself, "Except the uniform's changed. . . Strange." He watched her muse for a moment longer before looking down onto the battle. "It's also the way we're going to get down there. So grab on to me. I'm going to drop you off on one of those large tentacles to save the girl."
Terran approached, not quite believing that she would be able to carry him down there before her words registered. "Drop me off where?"
"On one of the tentacles." She gave him a look that told him she was getting impatient. "Now come over here and hold on to me. I'm not going to drop you."
He slowly unsheathed one of his swords, realizing that he might not have time to later on, and wrapped his free arm around her waist while placing the one that held his sword over her shoulder and neck. He felt her arms wrap around his waist and then he was lifted up. His feet no longer touched the ground and his only security was the woman who held him; she who had threatened him numerous times. Air started to move past them as she flew up into the air and in a moment of fear, Terran buried his head in the juncture between her shoulder and neck.
He took deep breaths in an attempt to steady himself. /I've never been afraid of heights before, why now?/ He breathed in the scent of her hair, still trying to calm down. /Is it because I'm relaying on someone else? Someone else. . . who smells like that meadow near home when the sun is setting. She smells so. . . What the hell am I doing? She's prepared to kill me and we're going right into a battle. Dear Soa, I must be insane!/
"Remember, I'll kill you if you so as much mention my name." He lifted his head from her shoulder to gaze up at her face, the air flowing between them as she went down through the air. "Now get ready, I'm dropping you. . . NOW!"
/Oh dear Soa, I know I'm insane now!/
He let go of her, holding his sword to the side so it wouldn't cut her as he fell away from her. The air rushed up around him, making his eyes blur and as he saw something gray flash in front of him, he instinctively reached out and grabbed onto it. It was one of the monster's tentacles, slimy, cold, and amazingly not moving as much as the ones that surrounded it, and as his bleary eyes cleared up he saw why. Rose had dropped him right on the tentacle that held the girl in white and the monster was keeping that limb amazingly still, too distracted to do anything about the girl in its grasp nor notice the new ornament that dangled form it.
Terran hung on with both arms, one hand still grasping his sword, and he winked at the seemingly uninjured girl staring at him with wide brown eyes. He swung his way to her, knowing that he had to hurry. Glancing down, he prayed thankfully to whatever gods had placed large rocks that he could use as a landing place, instead of the deadly quicksand. "Nice to see you. Um. . . I'm going to cut this thing to get you out of here, so it might be a good idea to grab on to me."
The girl, who could only be a year or two older than him, nodded, one hand tentatively creeping forward to clamp down on his shoulder. "If it gets me out of this, I'll do whatever you say."
"Good. Hang on, this might hurt a little." He heaved himself on top of the monster's appendage, straddling it to the best of his ability, facing the girl in white, allowing her get a better grasp on him. Terran swung his sword up, and then back down, striking the blade on the tentacle between himself and the girl. The sword slid through the thick tentacle like it was a piece of paper, splattering his face with dark green blood. Terran, expecting it to take more than one swing was caught off guard and was not ready when he started falling. The girl wasn't either, so he in the split second when he realized they were falling, he managed to manipulate himself so when they landed he would take most of the impact. He gave a desperate prayer that the rock wasn't rocky or jagged where they were going to land.
The monster's angry roar as they fell gave Terran the idea that it might be good to run as soon as they hit ground. He landed on the rock -- grimacing as vibrant streaks of pain ran up through them -- holding the girl off the ground with her still partially caught in the now cut off tentacle. He set her down on the ground and shoved her forward, "Run! Hurry get as far away from this thing as possible."
He drew the other Ember Soul and started to back up before he stumbled and cried out when his left ankle gave out. Underneath his breath he cursed up a storm. His ankle was badly sprained, perhaps broken, and it would take a miracle if he was going to walk anywhere on it, much less dodge flailing limbs, and there was no way that he would have time to grab a Healing Potion and use it on himself. So he did the only thing he could. Kneeling on his injured leg, he brought up his swords to defend against the monster's limbs. He knew that it would do no good, but he had to try.
He sliced, dashed, and cut through any tentacles that came his way for what seemed like an eternity when in reality it was only a few seconds. He felt hands grasp him shoulders from behind and he slowed his desperate fight to look back. The girl he had rescued stood behind him, tugging on him gently to make him move. "Come on, get up. I'm not going to leave you behind."
"But-"
"No buts, you saved my life and now I'm going to save yours." She forcibly swung one of his arms across her shoulders and dragged him away, dodging the creature's limbs. "The Dragoons are distracting it, now is a good time to sneak away."
He turned his head in the direction of the monster to see if her word's were true. She was correct, the dark silver Dragoon wasn't too far away, making cuts with his sword, glancing for reassurance that the girl who was helping him was all right. The white Dragoon and green Dragoon fought side by side, the green one diving in to fight within the tentacles and the white one firing arrows, trying to get them through those waving limbs in an attempt to hit its body. Then there was Rose, flying high above everyone else, a dark violet glow surrounding her as she dove forward.
"ASTRAL DRAIN!!"
Ducking an errant tentacle with the girl in white, he watched as Rose impaled her blade through a tentacle that was as thick as a good sized tree trunk. She pulled back and flew once more up into the sky, the glow becoming more pronounced as she did so, then a white light came streaming down towards Terran and the girl.
"Wha?" The girl had stopped and her mouth was hanging open. The light flashed over them and Terran felt his injured ankle heal, not all of the way, but enough so that he could hobble without the girl's help.
"Come on! Move!" The girl shook her head and pointed up into the sky. Terran followed the line her finger pointed out and he too, stared in amazement. Instead of just four Dragoons in the air, there was five. Of course the girl was pointing at both Rose and the other new Dragoon. A Dragoon in bright red armor had appeared by the other red Dragoon, nonchalantly hovering in the air before a fiery red aura surrounded him and he shouted out the words, "FINAL BURST!"
*****
Dart stared in shock at the new Dragoons in the air around him. It seemed help had come when he had least expected it to. Or maybe not, considering the fact that Albert had told him they were waiting for someone or something to come to them. What he didn't expect were two Dragoons whose Spirits had supposedly been destroyed.
The fight had seemed hopeless with Meru out of the picture and Haschel and Kongol on the ground, pulling out Healing Potions to heal her wounds. He, Albert and Miranda had transformed, flying up into the sky to see if they could free Shana from the monster's grasp. They had discovered that it was near impossible to do so with all of the waving tentacles and the fact that none of them could use their sure kills without injuring his fiancee. The only thing that was going their way was the fact that the creature hadn't injured her yet.
Help came in the form of three people. One was a young man who had appeared out of nowhere, swinging on the tentacle that held his love prisoner. He had cut that thick limb and dropped down with Shana, allowing Dart to breathe a sigh of relief. The next person caught his attention by her cry. She was shouting out words that he thought he would never hear again and the way she said them brought back memories as well. All he got was a glimpse of her, before the last helper appeared by his side, flying on wings and wearing the armor that Dart had once worn.
This third newcomer with red hair and golden-brown eyes flashed Dart a cocky grin. He threw out his arms and called out an attack that Dart remembered all too well. The Dragoon's spell hit the monster head on, causing it to roar out in pain. Then the new Fire Dragoon turned towards Dart with a raised eyebrow. "Do you want to do the honors, or shall I?"
For some strange reason, this man rubbed Dart the wrong way. Glaring at him, he raised his arms and called out one of his attacks. "DIVINE DRAGON CANNON!"
The monster disappeared in a bombardment of light and when the light faded there was nothing but scattered ash, drifting through the air. In a flash he took off for Shana and the young man. As he de-transformed near them, his fiancee wrapped her arms about him for comfort and reassurance. "You didn't get hurt, did you Dart?"
He tweaked her nose with his finger tip, "You shouldn't be the one to ask that question. Are /you/ okay?"
"Yes, but only because of the person who rescued me." She bowed her head, gesturing to the young man who was now accompanied by the person who had to have been the Darkness Dragoon. Dart stared at the two in shock.
The young man was boyishly handsome, unruly brown hair and bright green eyes. He wore reddish-brown armor decorated with faint gold. It was looked lighter than Dart's own, but stronger. The shoulder plates were close to his body, and armor hugged his chest and stomach. Black pants ran down into black boots that ended mid-calf on him. He wore two reddish-brown arm-guards, along with a knee guard on his right leg.
But he wasn't the one Dart was really paying attention to. Dressed in armor that could have been the twin's to her companion's armor, the woman that was the Dragoon of the Black Burst Dragon made him catch his breath. The only difference in what she wore -- was that instead of arm-guards -- she had black gloves reaching all the way up to her elbow and around her wrists there was a band of silver colored metal. Her color scheme was different too, black where her companion's was reddish-brown and silver where his was gold. Still the way she looked brought back memories of another Darkness Dragoon.
A Darkness Dragoon with long black hair that flowed down her back, its only containment a winged headpiece to keep it out of her face, and piercing violet eyes. A cold demeanor and a secretive heart. She had dressed in dark purple and gold armor. This Darkness Dragoon looked exactly like her, except for those small differences that meant the world. Her hair was braided down her back, there was no headpiece, her armor was different, and she looked several years younger. Even though he knew it was impossible for a person to come back from the dead, he asked the words that popped into his mind.
"Rose? Rose, is that you?"
The woman stared at him, raising her eyebrows, and the young man at her side rested a hand on her shoulder. She glared at him, but he ignored her and answered Dart. "No, her name is Meirra and I'm called Terran."
"And my name is Ewren." Dart turned and was confronted the man who was now the Dragoon of the Red-Eyed Dragon. He flashed Dart a sarcastic grin. "Nice to meet you."
*****
