*Two Years Later*
On the roof of a tall building three youths sat together amiably chatting. One was a tall young man with shoulder length brown hair and a thin build. The other two were young women. The first had short light brown hair cut fashionably short. The second had longer dark hair curled out at the ends.
"I can't believe school is finally over." The dark haired girl sighed. "We've waited so long to get out of high school that it's just weird now that it's over. I wonder what's going to happen to us."
The other two nodded, but said nothing. Silently, they all pondered their futures as well as their pasts.
"Hey!" The dark haired girl continued with a smile. "Hitomi, maybe you could do a reading. You know, tell us what lies ahead."
The girl, Hitomi, stood and walked to the side of the building and leaned against the guard wall and looked out over the city. "You know I don't do that anymore, Yukari." She moved her gaze to the sky and sighed. "I haven't done any readings for two years."
"But why?" Yukari stood up and walked over to her friend. "What happened to you? You used to do readings all the time, but you won't even touch your tarot cards anymore. You've changed, Hitomi."
"It's nothing really." Hitomi blushed.
Yukari's face brightened with an impish smile. "It's a boy isn't it?!"
"No," She sighed. "It's not a boy."
The young man stood and joined the two girls. "You know, Hitomi, you can tell us anything. We're your friends." He insisted.
"Hitomi smiled, but didn't look up at him. "Thanks, Amano. But really, it's noth-" Her vision went dark and she stumbled backwards. A bright light flashed before her.
"Hitomi!" Amano lunged forward and caught her. He gently laid her down on the ground.
The girl's emerald eyes were wide open and her pupils were dilated, but she could not see either of her friends. Instead she saw flashes of people and places she did not know. The visions were scattered and random. Blood and death filled her senses, but instead of terrifying her like they used to, the scenes before her made her feel just a little more calloused to it all.
Hitomi saw an image of herself appear in her mind's eye, this girl was only fifteen, though. She was wearing a green and white school uniform and she was kneeling pitifully on the ground, crying. Hitomi pushed the vision out of her mind.
'I don't cry anymore.' She thought to herself. 'It never helped me anyway.'
The vision of her crying self drove its way back into her mind. Hitomi watched her for a moment, eyeing her curiously.
'I pity her.' She realized. 'That poor young girl. She was put through so much she should never of had to bear. At least I know now that sometimes you have to do and see things you never wanted to. At least I know now that they leave you stronger than they found you. I wish I understood that then.'
The vision moved away and was replaced by a new one. It was Folken, and he was alive! Beautiful white wings stretched out behind him. Hundreds of perfect white feathers floated around the room.
'White?' Hitomi thought.
Folken turned and smiled. His mouth opened as if he was about to speak, but it was not his voice she heard.
"Hitomi!" Amano and Yukari were frantic. Hitomi had been unconscious for over three minutes. "Hitomi, wake up!"
The young woman's eyes blinked in rapid succession as her pupils returned to their normal size.
"Something's coming." She said, still in a half trance. "Something big."
*:.~;`;~.:*
A tall man with long blonde hair walked confidently into a large room with a vaulted ceiling. A woman with shoulder length silver hair followed behind him with small, dainty steps.
"Allen Schezar, Knight of Caeli and his sister, the Lady Celena Schezar." A herald announced loudly.
Allen bowed at the waist and Celena curtseyed prettily. "We thank thee, King, for inviting us to your newly rebuilt capital." Allen declared.
The young king laughed and lithely leaped from his throne. "There's no need for formalities here, Allen," The two friends embraced. "And me capital is hardly rebuilt."
"It's good to see you're still the same, Van."
The two men walked outside together and wandered aimlessly through the royal gardens. Celena watched them walk away silently before turning to go to her room and unpack.
"So," Van started. "How is your sister? Nothing strange has happened, has it?"
"No. The monster that resides in her has not shown his face since the war ended. I don't know if he's dead or just hiding, but it doesn't really matter."
"How has she been adjusting?"
"Almost all of her memories are gone. She has faint recollections of my mother and I and a beast man named Jajuka, but that is all." Allen replied. "I have been trying to bring back her memories by surrounding her with things from our childhood. I even had her room made up the same way it was from before she was taken away. None of it seems to be helping, though."
Silece fell over them again as they walked.
"So, how have you been doing lately?" Allen asked.
"Everything has been progressing fairly well." Van stated. "My people demanded that the castle be rebuilt first. It wasn't until a year ago that I convinced them to concentrate more on rebuilding their homes. Freid helped us by sending an army of workers to help. With their help we should be done in no time at all." He rattled offhandedly.
"That's not what I meant, Van. How are you personally doing?"
Van sighed and looked down. "I miss my brother. He was gone for so many years and then as soon as he came back he left again, but this time, forever." He paused. "Sometimes I hate him, though. Kingship never should have been my responsibility. Folken should have come back to Fanelia as soon as he could. He never should have sided with Zaibach. It is his fault Fanelia burned and it was him who put me through all that pain and suffering. If it weren't for him my mother would still be alive. He told me he was sorry, but sometimes I think he was lying to me."
Allen just nodded. Nothing was said for a long time as both men stood and listened to the sounds of summer.
"What about Hitomi?" Allen finally asked.
Van didn't move. He hadn't thought of her in a very long time. "Hitomi..." He sighed. "I suppose a part of me we always miss her as well. She is not a part of my life anymore, though, so I have chosen to forget her. Now that I am older, I don't even think we would get along well anymore. She was always a little too timid, I think. If we had met under different circumstances, I doubt we would have ever even talked to each other."
"I suppose that to forget her would be for the best, Van."
The young king smiled as a thought came into his mind. "Hey Allen, do you want to see the parts of my city that are actually finished? The artisans of Freid have done a remarkable job."
"Sure."
As they walked out the castle gates Van felt a cold shiver run down his spine, but he thought nothing of it as he shrugged it off.
*:.~;`;~.:*
"Is everything ready?"
"Yes."
"Then begin."
Folken, the unknown emperor of the Zaibach Empire, stood solemnly and waited for the results of his newest device to appear. A large, metal machine started to make a tremendous, loud sound. It rang in the ears of every man present, temporarily deafening them. A bright light flashed, covering the room in pure white for a brief instant. The sound stopped abruptly and the light ebbed away.
A door in the mighty machine opened and a person stepped out. He was tall and muscular. Behind him followed six more men just like him. They were each wearing a simple dark colored robe and looked dazed and confused but were on their guard, ready for an attack.
"Where are we?" The first one asked. Lights were shining into their eyes and they could not see anyone or anything in the dark shadows surrounding them.
"You are in the capital of Zaibach. Don't you remember this place?"
"Who are you? How did we get here? I thought I was dead!" He yelled back. Fear was slowly making itself present in his mind but he quickly stamped it out. He hated the feeling of being out of control and helpless.
A figure stepped out of the shadows. The person was wearing a long dark cloak and had green hair. "I thought you would have at least recognized me, Chesta."
"Lord Folken!" All seven men got down on one knee and bowed before him.
" As for your other questions, they will have to wait. You should all rest first. Your first few days back will be very tiring. I trust you all remember where you rooms are?"
They nodded yes. Folken turned and walked out of the room, leaving them alone. The men all stood and looked at one another.
"This is impossible!" One said. "I saw all of you die."
"I felt myself die."
"I'm certain I saw you die."
"I know that you died. There's no way you survived that attack."
"Come on now," Chesta interrupted. "I think we get the point that we all died. There's no point in talking about it." He paused and looked all his comrades in the eye for a moment. "What we need to be doing now is not pointing out the obvious to each other, we need to figure out what is going on."
"And how do you propose we do that?"
"We need to ask ourselves what our commander would do right now if he were here."
"But he's not here." Someone countered.
"Where is he anyways? Did anyone see him die?"
The room was silent.
"How are we going to be Dragon Slayers without our captain?"
Chesta shook his head. "We're not going to get anywhere without him here. I suppose we should just do as Folken commands. He is our superior, after all. Lets hit the showers and then go to bed."
They all nodded in agreement and halfheartedly drudged to the bathing room. As they walked through the door, they all paused.
"Hey Chesta, is it just me, or are we all taller?" One asked.
"My head almost touched the doorframe." Another one said.
"What the heck is going on?"
"We're all older!"
"And taller!"
"Come on guys." Chesta said monotonously. "Let's just go. I'm sure Lord Folken has some sort of an explanation for us. Let's just do what he says and not worry about anything. Okay?"
"Fine." They grumbled as they continued walking down the hallway. A few of them reached up and touched the ceiling, smiling afterwards because they didn't even have to jump.
After showering, they each went to their own rooms and obediently went to sleep.
*:.~;`;~.:*
All seven Dragon Slayers stood in a straight line in a large, dark room. They were wearing uniforms identical to their old ones, just slightly modified for their new heights.
Emperor Folken walked into the room and stood before them. "Two years ago every person in this room died." He began. "Unlike you, I was brought back to life through the power of the will of the Wing Goddess, and when this happened, I had an epiphany.
"Years before the Destiny War started, Emperor Dornkirk gave me a special assignment. He wanted me to find out how to achieve the greatest of all fate alterations: how to conquer death. He wanted me to find a way to bring the dead back into the mortal world. It wasn't until I myself had died did I find how this fantastic event could take place using the miracles of science.
"Your bodies were transported here after you died, and kept in a frozen storage compartment until the life giving machine could be created. As you have noticed, you're all older and taller. The device caused you to grow to the age and size of what you would have been if you had not died. You're bodies are not as strong as they used to be, but with a little training you will all be back to your regular selves very soon.
"The reason you were all brought back to life is very simple. I brought you back to help me rebuild Zaibach to the great power it once was. Together, we will reclaim the Empire and we will bring peace to Gaea once and for all."
One of the young men stepped forward. "My Lord," He bowed. "With all due respect, if you brought us all back to life, why didn't you bring General Dilandau back as well? He is our leader, after all." He bowed again as he stepped back into his place.
"I did not bring Dilandau back to life because he is not dead." Folken patiently explained. "Dilandau's situation is very intricate and it will be your first mission to bring him back. In one week we will travel to the country Fanelia, release him from the bonds that hold him and bring him back with us. Chesta will be your commanding officer until then and he will be in charge of your training." He turned and left the room the same way he had entered.
Chesta smirked. "Let's get started, men. We have a lot to do. Just remember, we have to be strong for our commander. We have to be strong enough to get him back from the Fanelian scum who hold him."
*:.~;`;.:~*