* ssp47's Corner * Thank you Striker, Freefall Insanity and DarkDragonX for
the reviews! * sighs * AGAIN it's about two weeks since I've updated. Well
this has been caused due to the "paper and pen" method and you all know
that it takes awhile. Anyway I'll try to get the chapters up sooner since
I'm coming to a close in this story.
CHAPTER 22: "Jade" Part 2 of the Secrets Unknown.
"Who are you?!" Christa demanded. Her fists were clenched in a warning to the intruder whom she was sure was evil. The man infront of her eyes was in a business suit, his eyes glowed red and his hair was silver.
"I would've expected my servant to educate you more." The man said this quiet lazily as if he thought nothing could touch him. He casually hung his left hand in his jacket pocket.
"Neo!" The man cast his around and found Kay leaping into the scene. Behind him the other Dragoons arrived in full armor.
"Well here is the traitor now." Neo said glaring at the Dark Knight. Kay glared back and withdrew his weapon. Neo casually looked at him and withdrew his left hand. It was wrapped in a white glove. Slowly it rose from his pocket as Kay charged at him and without warning the hand quickly rose and faced Kay in the eyes. Quickly Kay was thrown into the wall. Kay stood up on his feet a little weakly and his weapon dropped from his hand.
Neo slightly smiled at the sight and drew back his hand.
"Foolish boy. You shouldn't have betrayed me, now that decision will haunt you." Kay grit his teeth and stared at Neo with red eyes.
"I'm no boy."
Neo slowly took his hand from his pocket again.
"Let's see if you can cower like one."
Erica quickly drew her bow and aimed an arrow at Neo's hand. Neo's eyes slowly glanced at the soaring arrow. In a flash the arrow spun around just as it was about to hit his hand. The arrow gained speed and hit Erica. The soldier dropped to her knees. It had also gained an enormous amount of power. Neo's hand was still opened and Kay was hit again with surges of supreme energy. Christa's eyes widened in shock and in fury.
"Erica!"
"Maybe I need to teach you a lesson as well." Neo said turning towards the other Dragoons. He stretched forth his hand at the young woman. Erica lifted her head with her arms around her waist. First air rushed at her and then the floor ripped. Boulders flew in her direction and seemed to gnaw at her armor. With one swift movement they all were thrown into the wall.
"Guys!" Christa yelled grabbing her sword. Infront of her face a snowflake landed on her nose. Many more flew through the air and melted on her armor. The ground beneath her was becoming hard and icy. Christa turned around and saw Ariel slam her hammer into the icy ground. Gracefully she leapt ontop of it and crossed her arms over her armor.
"Diamond Dust!" Ice burgs formed around Neo and trapped him in a cone of ice, which shattered on impact. Neo still stood there just as he had been, looking as if he hadn't been touched.
"Is that the best you can do?" Neo demanded looking annoyed. The hand came again and threw Ariel with her comrades. Her Dragoon armor flashed and she laid there in her cloths.
"Ariel! Argh, Neo!" Christa fumed inside. She leapt into the air and lunged her sword at the man. Neo simply caught her with his hand grasping the green orb on her armor. The two forces collided and a friction of matter began. Around Christa a straight column of fire and Wingly magic was flying towards the sky in fury. The ceiling collapsed and pieces of debris fell to the floor. Christa was paralyzed. Her hand slipped and her grip of the sword loosened and the floor fell to the earth. Slowly her armor was giving in to the power of the Wingly.
"Arghahh." Jett groaned and was on all fours. Daphne was at his side with her magical staff in her hands. Jett's eyes flamed when he saw Christa in the hands of Neo. "I'm going to get him back!" He yelled grabbed his Katuri.
"Jett don't!" Daphne called but the Prison Scale Dragoon had already taken off. Christa suddenly realized what was happening. Neo was somehow absorbing her element and full power. Neo saw Jett fly towards him and raised his free hand slowly. Jett grit his teeth. If he was going to go, he was going to make one heck of a scene.
"Chaos Dome Rupture!!" Jett maneuvered his weapon over his head three times and then brought it to a striking position. Behind him it seemed as if all of space was colliding in his double bladed sword. But just as the attack reached its peak Neo held up his hand. Two huge bombs of fire formed in his hand. Black energy surrounded them and multiplied their energy.
Jett brought on his magical strike. Neo released his energy. The fire element created such a force that it sent Jett through the barrier of space he created. Both attacks hit the young Dragoon and had it not been for the Prison Scale Dragon itself, everyone and everything would've been completely destroyed. Jett was thrown to the ground. His armor was sizzling and the color had drained from it, so had the color from his skin. The Dragon disappeared into its space realm. All of them were on the ground unconscious.
Christa couldn't scream. With the energy of the Dragoon went her physical energy. In the back of her mind she could hear the Red Eye Dragon scream in pain. The cry was so furious and painful that Christa felt more terrified of the Dragon than Neo. The very thought of failing was killing her.
"Soon you all will not oppose me anymore." Neo said.
A few feet away Logan lay lifelessly on the ground with no hope or prayer inside. But there is always hope. From the shattered pieces of the museum a bright light broke through the cracks. The light got brighter and a brilliantly shining emerald green orb floated in the sky. In its light it soared through the area and landed in Logan's open hand. At that moment night became day. There was no sun; the only light came from Logan.
The world seemed to breathe new life. Christa felt the last of her energy leave her and the column of fire dispersed. Christa's Dragoon armor left her and the blonde fell to the floor beside her comrades. But there was a life force that would not see her die. Neo stood in complete shock and awe as Logan took his stand with Christa in his arms. His armor was glowing brilliantly. There was not once inch of darkness left. Behind him a whirlwind formed and inside it came the Jade Dragoon.
With the Dragon came a huge windstorm started. It had the wrath of a hurricane and the strength of a tornado.
"You?! You're the one that was sent from Soa?!? No! I won't believe it! You'll be dead along with the rest of your friends!" Logan glared at Neo with bright green eyes. His lips moved slowly and words came out like missiles.
"I don't think so." Behind him the Jade Dragon roared and suddenly Neo was struck with all the power of the Jade Dragon. The storm magnified and created a large dome over the whole city and then dispersed. Silence crept over the collapsed building and the wind calmed, softly moving the hair on everyone's head.
Kay opened his eyes and got on his feet. He looked around and saw the bright green light around Logan. Logan's hands touched Christa's forehead with his two fingers. His armor glowed brighter. It gave a strange lift of energy to Kay and he saw the light rise all the Dragoons from the earth.
They all stared in wonder as Logan's spirit left him. His knees were shaking and he fell to his knees while breathing deeply. Kay stared at him in wonder and murmured to himself.
"The Prince of Dragons."
*~*
"What does this mean?" Erica asked Kay who was standing quietly beside the bed where Logan was laying. The two kept eye contact while they talked.
"Logan is the Prince of the Dragons. And that means that he can multiply the power of the spirit that chooses him. Neo told me about the legend decades ago. He never believed it but what Logan actually is, he is of the blood of Soa."
"You mean, he can call on the power of any element and the force will obey him?"
"That's right."
"But how can he be of the blood of Soa? Does that make him?"
"Half god." Kay finished. Erica stared at him, as he was mad.
"That's possible?"
"I would have thought that you of all people would have already figured out that anything can happen." Kay folded his arms and paused. "But now Logan will be the prey of the enemy. He has powers that we will never have. If he wishes to stay alive, he must follow the big play in store for him."
Erica said nothing and stared at Logan who lay limply on the bed. Suddenly his eyes started moving and the lashes fluttered. * It's strange how all of the Dragoons are revealing themselves to us. * She thought. Logan's lips parted and a gush of air flew out in a moaning tone.
"I have a migraine." Logan said rubbing his head. He had a very distinct New Jersey accent. Erica and Kay said nothing as Logan looked at them. "Wait, who are you? Where am I?" He sat up abruptly. "What happened? Where's Christa."
"Right here." Came the blonde's reply.
"Christa, you should be resting." Erica protested but Christa completely ignored her. The girl was slouching on the doorframe looking like a complete zombie from the underworld.
"Those are my friends so don't go blowing them to hell and back."
Logan looked at her as if lost in thought but the sudden rush of blood and the squint of the eyes assured all in the room that Logan had finally regained memories.
"That green light, I remember feeling power from it." He looked at the others searching for confused and "You're crazier than a redneck hillbilly" looks but he only got serious nods and serious eyes. "You, you mean it actually happened? I wasn't dreaming?"
"Dreaming? Don't be an idiot. You're part of our clan now Logan, as the Jade Dragoon Warrior."
"A Dragoon?" Logan repeated as if he had never heard the name before. Christa nodded and folded her arms and looked to Kay for a finishing statement. Almost as if he expected this Kay fully explained, without so much as a breath between words, the whole purpose of Dragoons and their situation at the present time.
"So I draw on the power of Wind?" Logan asked staring at his emerald green orb.
"That's correct, but normally the Jade Dragoon searches for a physical performance before accepting its chosen bearer. You have the strongest magical abilities that I have ever seen. No Dragoon that I know of has been able to bring forth that much power on the first battle." Nobody said anything for a while. They kept their gazes on the green orb and seemed to think it as its own free spirit. There was a rushing of feet and Christa found herself on the floor with a thud. She clenched her teeth and grabbed her wounded arm.
"Arghuhhh!! Jett!"
"Oh geez, go ahead and scream at me. It's not like I wanted to kill you or anything." The elfish teen was up on his feet and pulled Christa up on hers. He received a sharp punch to the ribs. "Hey I was being a gentlemen."
"More like a train wreck outta control." Logan's face looked rather confused and alarmed.
"That happens a lot around here, don't worry they're both made of steel." Hawk said walking past the doorway. There was a faint smell of junk food coming from the kitchen, which probably came from a stale bag of chips that was found in Hawks arms.
"Some are more like porcelain." Jett muttered rubbing his neck. He received another jab in the ribs. The two were in a fight faster than you could say, "cut that out". It didn't really matter to some how many bruises they got. At least Logan was learning and meeting the group.
Erica folded her arms and sighed. Seeing young people wrestle around on the floor like barnyard animals was hardly in her taste. Then again she came from a very proper family. * It's sad that he lost his. * Erica thought thinking of the dead bodies she found while leaving the museum. * The press will have a story tonight, wonder what they'll make of it. *
Feeling talkative Erica looked around the room and did not see her Dark Warrior. She quietly left and searched outside for Kay and found him on the bedroom balcony. At first he didn't act as if she was there, Erica didn't advertise, that wasn't her way. All the quiet it seemed until Kay suddenly seemed to release his thoughts.
"I am worried about the Red Eye." Kay said thoughtfully. "I wonder if there is any power left in the spirit now."
"What do you mean?" Erica asked looking him. Kay didn't answer for a while and Erica wondered if he had even heard her.
"I am sure that Neo drained the Red Eye of its power."
"Explain yourself." Erica said demandingly. Kay's eyes blinked, for what seemed the first time in ages, and looked at her with a serious face.
"I just did." He turned and entered the balcony that was outside the room. The apartment complex had been added with two balconies each. It was sort of a long unpaid debt to the homeowners. It didn't add anymore interest to the apartments though. Same nasty boring gray color, chipped paint and splintered wood, and so on.
(Jett: "Basically there is no hope for a romantic scene on this baby! Got space? Call 1-800-BuildersWreckageExpress."
Christa: "Shut-up, Jett! This is not a humor fic!"
Jett: "So? It's movin sooooo slowly!"
Christa: "Well you have to have serious moments! It's all in balance!"
Jett: "I saw a "Now Hiring" sign on Rebirth of a Legend."
Christa: "What does that have to do with anything?"
Jett: "Take a hint!"
ssp47: "You guys aren't even in this scene! Scram! And Jett, you're not fired yet!")
"What did you see?" Erica asked trying to tell Kay that she was still being sacked at the time.
"What is this? One hundred question answering machine services?" Kay asked frustrated.
"There's no reason to get angry. I wasn't conscious at the time." Erica said calmly. This added a small smile to Kay's less frowning face.
"Right." He said looking at the sky. "That's right." Erica's eyebrows narrowed on her brow and she stared seriously at Kay as his face relaxed as it normally did whenever he was about to explain something in some detail. "Neo has the best Wingly magical abilities I've ever seen. So when Christa foolishly attacked him, he caught her in his spider web. And I think you can guess what happened next."
"Does he have Christa's magic now? Permanently?"
"I would hope, or otherwise." His speech stopped and he said nothing more. Erica waited for him to finish and wondered if he actually meant too. * Dragoon magic would make him even stronger. But why would he need it? * Kay asked this to himself and expected no answer and didn't receive one. His dark brown eyes looked ahead and he allowed them to ring with question. * This is? * He looked harder.
"Clouds are gathering in the distance." Erica said this almost frightened. Right over the city huge round clouds were gathering. They were as red as the color of blood and twice as bright. "It's an old legend passed down from my family. When the clouds burn red the gates of hell are opening. It was said to have only happened once in our earth time."
"It's like seeing the Black Monster and the Moon Child all over again." Kay said to himself. He didn't expect anyone to hear him but Erica was only right next to him. Quite gracefully Kay jumped on top of the railing on the balcony.
"You can't go over there." Erica said grabbing his hand. Kay's head sharply turned around like a smacked whip.
"If you and the Peanut Gallery want to tag along be my guests."
"You may not think highly of us but you can't stand alone." Erica said sharply grabbing his arm again. Thunder cracked loudly in the sky but the two took no notice. "You're part of our team now."
Kay's eyes didn't blink and too soon they looked very dry. Wind was rushing through his hair and lifting it over his face. He grabbed his hair with his free hand in defeat. "There are a lot of things that Neo told me he was going to do when he was trying to take over the world. He was going to open the Gates of Hell and release the devil that he may discipline the world. Neo said he would come one black wings stained in blood." He said this quite loudly.
Erica looked at him and closed her eyes. "The devil of the under world, Xeros."
"It's going to be worse than bad. This demon is said to have the scream of a million deaths."
"But what was it?"
From the depth of the clouds came a high-pitched scream that only kept increasing in volume. Kay's mouth moved multiple times but Erica couldn't hear what he said. Jett and the rest of the group suddenly appeared, except Christa who hanging on her doorframe while trying to cover her ears. Vibration hit them and all were knocked to the floor. They couldn't hear it but they could see the apartment splitting. Wind was rushing over their bodies, pulling them off the balcony. Reaching for anything they hung to anything that would hold them. Their spirits glowed wildly. Logan reached for the doorframe and pulled himself to a sitting position.
Logan took out his spirit and transformed and everything stopped. It was quiet and calm but their ears were ringing like crazy. Kay stood up quickly and stared at Logan in full armor.
"Ok, what did we miss?" Jett asked slowly rising on his feet. Daphne used his arms and pulled herself up. Gravity felt more powerful at the moment.
"The devil of the underworld, Xeros, has been released." Kay explained. He lifted his eyes to the sky and stared at it for no apparent reason. "Yes, it seems Neo is placing his pieces in place." Kay said turning around to face the city. "You all should know that he is trying to destroy us and he will use every device to try and accomplish that. It has been said that Xeros is the supreme destroyer of the gods, feared by all. Before the Divine Tree there was nothing but that is not so. There was Xeros, God of Destruction and Darkness. He ruled over the Endiness with a death scream with a million deaths. Then there was Soa, opposite of Xeros. There was a battle and Soa won with the light of life. Xeros was sealed away in what we now call Outer Darkness or Hell. But the seal was only good to last the first six thousand years of the Endiness. Then the seal began to break and evil leaked into the world. It corrupted the Winglies and they imprisoned the humans. But Soa held fast and sent the Dragoons. Everyone believed that the Dragon Campaign was all about liberating the humans, well in truth it was. But the whole mission was to reseal the prison of Xeros, so that no evil could corrupt the Endiness again. But the Dragoons failed. Xeros made the Winglies strong and all but one of the Dragoons died. The last Dragoon was called to destroy the curse of Xeros, the Moon Child."
"And then came the "Moon War"." Erica looked over at the city.
"Yes. That was the second chance the Dragoons had to destroy the God of destruction, they thought they succeeded but that was only part of the problem."
"And now we're here to make up for it." Hawk said folding his arms. "Why are the last ones always stuck with the garbage."
"That's what it will be like. We will have to find the gate that has been opened and it's not of this world." Kay said sternly. "Now if we're all done with our "pow-wow", let's go."
*~*
It was quiet, so quiet. Like heat burning over a dead desert. There was no sound of scattered pages of newspaper hitting buildings or rushing across the street. Complete death-like silence
"Where are all the people?" Jett was always the first to ask the obvious. No one answered. Each of them wandered along the streets not knowing what to search for. Ariel bent down and picked up a baby's little teddy bear. It was brown and used but there was a different sense to it. Ariel stared deeply into the eyes of the toy. She closed her eyes and almost seemed like she was seeing what had happened. Jett scratched his left elbow and looked very nervous. * Just like a ghost town, so quiet and yet terrifying. *
"Xeros must have their souls captive." Ariel announced standing. A little breeze moved strands of her hair over the side of her face.
"What do you mean he must have them?" Jett demanded as if suddenly angered. His face was sweating and his eyes and skin were pale. Kay's eyes twitched as he suddenly noticed the anxious young teen. Jett was nervously walking around in circles like he was having a mental breakdown.
"Something's not right here." He murmured.
"Jett calm down. We'll get them back." Daphne said trying to calm her brother.
"Well how do you know that we can get them back?" Jett snapped back. Ariel stood by Christa and Hawk, who looked the calmest of the lot.
"He's only lost his sanity, don't worry." The man said calmly.
"'Only' his sanity." Christa folded her arms and rolled her eyes. She felt Ariel grip onto her hand.
"I feel them." The girl said quietly. Her eyes never blinked but stared steadily on Jett.
"What do you mean that you "feel them"?" Christa asked.
"Jett stop." Daphne was struggling to keep her brother from looking like a maniac, though it wasn't working. "We have to stay cool."
"You all don't understand what we're about to do." Jett yelled loudly. "If we try and fight we will all die!"
"What's gotten into you?!" Christa demanded, her temper rising. Daphne grabbed Jett's arm but Jett pulled it back and Daphne tripped. Kay and Logan's eyes widened and Logan stared not knowing how to react.
"What's up with you Jett?" He took a step forward but Kay stopped him. With a swift movement a rapier (Kay now has weapon choices) was drawn to Logan's chin. "What are you doing?" Kay's darted away to the right, silently blocking everything going on around him. From deep under the road he could barley hear faint cries. His grip on his weapon tightened.
"Calm down." Daphne was hit again and her face started bleeding. Jett suddenly relaxed and fell silent. His eyes gazed silently around the city. He carefully stared deeply into each of his partner's eyes. When they rested on Kay's, the Dark Warrior stiffened as he heard the screeches rise in volume.
"Jett don't move." He said this like a man with great power. His rapier was still at Logan's chin and everyone was looking back and forth at the two. Jett's eyes glowed and he slowly started walking backwards.
"Jett please stop." Daphne said with a concerned voice. Jett turned his head and looked at her. His Dragoon spirit flashed. Like a snap of a whip two huge blades pierced through his body. Loud screams cut through the air like a sword. Two huge swords arose from the ground and floated above Jett's armored body and floated in the air. Daphne tore her gaze from them and looked at Jett who was in full Dragoon armor. His hand gripped his weapon and he slowly stood up. Daphne ran over to him and helped him up. Jett's wings beat fiercely and it almost looked like Jett was holding in severe pain.
"Are you alright?" Daphne asked.
"As good as I'll ever be." Jett replied with a slight smile. His face was hard and his eyes were starting to water. The shimmering swords all quickly alerted them.
A red haze surrounded them and a spirit formed. It looked human enough, a ghostly body, dark hair and glowing red eyes.
"A devil?" Hawk asked aloud.
"No. That spirit used to be a citizen from this city." Kay replied slashing his weapon through the air. "You all had better armor up."
The spirit said nothing and only smiled evilly. The swords shined and sharpness rang in their ears. They aimed at Kay and flew like arrows. Kay blocked their attack and woke his Dragoon spirit. Darkness engulfed him and his purple armor appeared over his body. The swords kept flying through the air towards another target. Christa grabbed Ariel and ducked to the ground. Jett lifted his katuri up and slashed through on of the swords. The weapon dispersed to dust. Kay swerved around the other, avoiding the strike, and slashed the remaining sword in pieces.
"Too easy." Jett said landing on the ground. "Is that all you've got?!" The spirit grinned and again said nothing. He landed on the road. Stretching his hand, a red fog clouded the city.
"What's this?" Logan asked pulling out his spear. "I don't like this, what's he doin?" His New Jersey accent brought more smiles and grins from the spirit. He looked down to the black road by instinct and darted backwards in surprise. Like the kinds of movies you see, ghosts of men floated up and stood, circling around the group. Their cloths were ripped and their eyes glowed red. They made no movement of any kind.
"Look how many there are." Christa said drawing her sword.
"No, they're still coming." Erica said drawing her bow and arrow.
In an unknown language the devil cried out to what were guessed to be servants. Vibrations erupted from their throats that tore at the Warriors' spirits. They were all forced to the ground with, screams bursting from their vocal cords and their hands glued to their ears. Only Jett and Kay were unaffected, but their armor did vibrate.
"Why don't they transform?!" Jett asked angered.
"Maybe they can't. That vibration is the devil's calling to their souls."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jett demanded.
"They're gonna be sucked into hell like Jell-O if we don't stop them, we have to work fast. Look at their bodies. They're falling apart. That tells us that they have less than three minutes left to live."
* ssp47's Corner * Oh, this was a long chapter. Real long, about 11 pages. Whoo! Sorry for the time it took to update. I'll hopefully get the rest of it updated soon. The next chapters wont be pretty. I mean some serious stuff is gonna happen. Oh and I was planning on putting romance in this chapter but it didn't work out real well. I think I'm pretty much going to drop the whole romance thing. But if you would like to know more about that, email me. Thank you for reading! Please review!
CHAPTER 22: "Jade" Part 2 of the Secrets Unknown.
"Who are you?!" Christa demanded. Her fists were clenched in a warning to the intruder whom she was sure was evil. The man infront of her eyes was in a business suit, his eyes glowed red and his hair was silver.
"I would've expected my servant to educate you more." The man said this quiet lazily as if he thought nothing could touch him. He casually hung his left hand in his jacket pocket.
"Neo!" The man cast his around and found Kay leaping into the scene. Behind him the other Dragoons arrived in full armor.
"Well here is the traitor now." Neo said glaring at the Dark Knight. Kay glared back and withdrew his weapon. Neo casually looked at him and withdrew his left hand. It was wrapped in a white glove. Slowly it rose from his pocket as Kay charged at him and without warning the hand quickly rose and faced Kay in the eyes. Quickly Kay was thrown into the wall. Kay stood up on his feet a little weakly and his weapon dropped from his hand.
Neo slightly smiled at the sight and drew back his hand.
"Foolish boy. You shouldn't have betrayed me, now that decision will haunt you." Kay grit his teeth and stared at Neo with red eyes.
"I'm no boy."
Neo slowly took his hand from his pocket again.
"Let's see if you can cower like one."
Erica quickly drew her bow and aimed an arrow at Neo's hand. Neo's eyes slowly glanced at the soaring arrow. In a flash the arrow spun around just as it was about to hit his hand. The arrow gained speed and hit Erica. The soldier dropped to her knees. It had also gained an enormous amount of power. Neo's hand was still opened and Kay was hit again with surges of supreme energy. Christa's eyes widened in shock and in fury.
"Erica!"
"Maybe I need to teach you a lesson as well." Neo said turning towards the other Dragoons. He stretched forth his hand at the young woman. Erica lifted her head with her arms around her waist. First air rushed at her and then the floor ripped. Boulders flew in her direction and seemed to gnaw at her armor. With one swift movement they all were thrown into the wall.
"Guys!" Christa yelled grabbing her sword. Infront of her face a snowflake landed on her nose. Many more flew through the air and melted on her armor. The ground beneath her was becoming hard and icy. Christa turned around and saw Ariel slam her hammer into the icy ground. Gracefully she leapt ontop of it and crossed her arms over her armor.
"Diamond Dust!" Ice burgs formed around Neo and trapped him in a cone of ice, which shattered on impact. Neo still stood there just as he had been, looking as if he hadn't been touched.
"Is that the best you can do?" Neo demanded looking annoyed. The hand came again and threw Ariel with her comrades. Her Dragoon armor flashed and she laid there in her cloths.
"Ariel! Argh, Neo!" Christa fumed inside. She leapt into the air and lunged her sword at the man. Neo simply caught her with his hand grasping the green orb on her armor. The two forces collided and a friction of matter began. Around Christa a straight column of fire and Wingly magic was flying towards the sky in fury. The ceiling collapsed and pieces of debris fell to the floor. Christa was paralyzed. Her hand slipped and her grip of the sword loosened and the floor fell to the earth. Slowly her armor was giving in to the power of the Wingly.
"Arghahh." Jett groaned and was on all fours. Daphne was at his side with her magical staff in her hands. Jett's eyes flamed when he saw Christa in the hands of Neo. "I'm going to get him back!" He yelled grabbed his Katuri.
"Jett don't!" Daphne called but the Prison Scale Dragoon had already taken off. Christa suddenly realized what was happening. Neo was somehow absorbing her element and full power. Neo saw Jett fly towards him and raised his free hand slowly. Jett grit his teeth. If he was going to go, he was going to make one heck of a scene.
"Chaos Dome Rupture!!" Jett maneuvered his weapon over his head three times and then brought it to a striking position. Behind him it seemed as if all of space was colliding in his double bladed sword. But just as the attack reached its peak Neo held up his hand. Two huge bombs of fire formed in his hand. Black energy surrounded them and multiplied their energy.
Jett brought on his magical strike. Neo released his energy. The fire element created such a force that it sent Jett through the barrier of space he created. Both attacks hit the young Dragoon and had it not been for the Prison Scale Dragon itself, everyone and everything would've been completely destroyed. Jett was thrown to the ground. His armor was sizzling and the color had drained from it, so had the color from his skin. The Dragon disappeared into its space realm. All of them were on the ground unconscious.
Christa couldn't scream. With the energy of the Dragoon went her physical energy. In the back of her mind she could hear the Red Eye Dragon scream in pain. The cry was so furious and painful that Christa felt more terrified of the Dragon than Neo. The very thought of failing was killing her.
"Soon you all will not oppose me anymore." Neo said.
A few feet away Logan lay lifelessly on the ground with no hope or prayer inside. But there is always hope. From the shattered pieces of the museum a bright light broke through the cracks. The light got brighter and a brilliantly shining emerald green orb floated in the sky. In its light it soared through the area and landed in Logan's open hand. At that moment night became day. There was no sun; the only light came from Logan.
The world seemed to breathe new life. Christa felt the last of her energy leave her and the column of fire dispersed. Christa's Dragoon armor left her and the blonde fell to the floor beside her comrades. But there was a life force that would not see her die. Neo stood in complete shock and awe as Logan took his stand with Christa in his arms. His armor was glowing brilliantly. There was not once inch of darkness left. Behind him a whirlwind formed and inside it came the Jade Dragoon.
With the Dragon came a huge windstorm started. It had the wrath of a hurricane and the strength of a tornado.
"You?! You're the one that was sent from Soa?!? No! I won't believe it! You'll be dead along with the rest of your friends!" Logan glared at Neo with bright green eyes. His lips moved slowly and words came out like missiles.
"I don't think so." Behind him the Jade Dragon roared and suddenly Neo was struck with all the power of the Jade Dragon. The storm magnified and created a large dome over the whole city and then dispersed. Silence crept over the collapsed building and the wind calmed, softly moving the hair on everyone's head.
Kay opened his eyes and got on his feet. He looked around and saw the bright green light around Logan. Logan's hands touched Christa's forehead with his two fingers. His armor glowed brighter. It gave a strange lift of energy to Kay and he saw the light rise all the Dragoons from the earth.
They all stared in wonder as Logan's spirit left him. His knees were shaking and he fell to his knees while breathing deeply. Kay stared at him in wonder and murmured to himself.
"The Prince of Dragons."
*~*
"What does this mean?" Erica asked Kay who was standing quietly beside the bed where Logan was laying. The two kept eye contact while they talked.
"Logan is the Prince of the Dragons. And that means that he can multiply the power of the spirit that chooses him. Neo told me about the legend decades ago. He never believed it but what Logan actually is, he is of the blood of Soa."
"You mean, he can call on the power of any element and the force will obey him?"
"That's right."
"But how can he be of the blood of Soa? Does that make him?"
"Half god." Kay finished. Erica stared at him, as he was mad.
"That's possible?"
"I would have thought that you of all people would have already figured out that anything can happen." Kay folded his arms and paused. "But now Logan will be the prey of the enemy. He has powers that we will never have. If he wishes to stay alive, he must follow the big play in store for him."
Erica said nothing and stared at Logan who lay limply on the bed. Suddenly his eyes started moving and the lashes fluttered. * It's strange how all of the Dragoons are revealing themselves to us. * She thought. Logan's lips parted and a gush of air flew out in a moaning tone.
"I have a migraine." Logan said rubbing his head. He had a very distinct New Jersey accent. Erica and Kay said nothing as Logan looked at them. "Wait, who are you? Where am I?" He sat up abruptly. "What happened? Where's Christa."
"Right here." Came the blonde's reply.
"Christa, you should be resting." Erica protested but Christa completely ignored her. The girl was slouching on the doorframe looking like a complete zombie from the underworld.
"Those are my friends so don't go blowing them to hell and back."
Logan looked at her as if lost in thought but the sudden rush of blood and the squint of the eyes assured all in the room that Logan had finally regained memories.
"That green light, I remember feeling power from it." He looked at the others searching for confused and "You're crazier than a redneck hillbilly" looks but he only got serious nods and serious eyes. "You, you mean it actually happened? I wasn't dreaming?"
"Dreaming? Don't be an idiot. You're part of our clan now Logan, as the Jade Dragoon Warrior."
"A Dragoon?" Logan repeated as if he had never heard the name before. Christa nodded and folded her arms and looked to Kay for a finishing statement. Almost as if he expected this Kay fully explained, without so much as a breath between words, the whole purpose of Dragoons and their situation at the present time.
"So I draw on the power of Wind?" Logan asked staring at his emerald green orb.
"That's correct, but normally the Jade Dragoon searches for a physical performance before accepting its chosen bearer. You have the strongest magical abilities that I have ever seen. No Dragoon that I know of has been able to bring forth that much power on the first battle." Nobody said anything for a while. They kept their gazes on the green orb and seemed to think it as its own free spirit. There was a rushing of feet and Christa found herself on the floor with a thud. She clenched her teeth and grabbed her wounded arm.
"Arghuhhh!! Jett!"
"Oh geez, go ahead and scream at me. It's not like I wanted to kill you or anything." The elfish teen was up on his feet and pulled Christa up on hers. He received a sharp punch to the ribs. "Hey I was being a gentlemen."
"More like a train wreck outta control." Logan's face looked rather confused and alarmed.
"That happens a lot around here, don't worry they're both made of steel." Hawk said walking past the doorway. There was a faint smell of junk food coming from the kitchen, which probably came from a stale bag of chips that was found in Hawks arms.
"Some are more like porcelain." Jett muttered rubbing his neck. He received another jab in the ribs. The two were in a fight faster than you could say, "cut that out". It didn't really matter to some how many bruises they got. At least Logan was learning and meeting the group.
Erica folded her arms and sighed. Seeing young people wrestle around on the floor like barnyard animals was hardly in her taste. Then again she came from a very proper family. * It's sad that he lost his. * Erica thought thinking of the dead bodies she found while leaving the museum. * The press will have a story tonight, wonder what they'll make of it. *
Feeling talkative Erica looked around the room and did not see her Dark Warrior. She quietly left and searched outside for Kay and found him on the bedroom balcony. At first he didn't act as if she was there, Erica didn't advertise, that wasn't her way. All the quiet it seemed until Kay suddenly seemed to release his thoughts.
"I am worried about the Red Eye." Kay said thoughtfully. "I wonder if there is any power left in the spirit now."
"What do you mean?" Erica asked looking him. Kay didn't answer for a while and Erica wondered if he had even heard her.
"I am sure that Neo drained the Red Eye of its power."
"Explain yourself." Erica said demandingly. Kay's eyes blinked, for what seemed the first time in ages, and looked at her with a serious face.
"I just did." He turned and entered the balcony that was outside the room. The apartment complex had been added with two balconies each. It was sort of a long unpaid debt to the homeowners. It didn't add anymore interest to the apartments though. Same nasty boring gray color, chipped paint and splintered wood, and so on.
(Jett: "Basically there is no hope for a romantic scene on this baby! Got space? Call 1-800-BuildersWreckageExpress."
Christa: "Shut-up, Jett! This is not a humor fic!"
Jett: "So? It's movin sooooo slowly!"
Christa: "Well you have to have serious moments! It's all in balance!"
Jett: "I saw a "Now Hiring" sign on Rebirth of a Legend."
Christa: "What does that have to do with anything?"
Jett: "Take a hint!"
ssp47: "You guys aren't even in this scene! Scram! And Jett, you're not fired yet!")
"What did you see?" Erica asked trying to tell Kay that she was still being sacked at the time.
"What is this? One hundred question answering machine services?" Kay asked frustrated.
"There's no reason to get angry. I wasn't conscious at the time." Erica said calmly. This added a small smile to Kay's less frowning face.
"Right." He said looking at the sky. "That's right." Erica's eyebrows narrowed on her brow and she stared seriously at Kay as his face relaxed as it normally did whenever he was about to explain something in some detail. "Neo has the best Wingly magical abilities I've ever seen. So when Christa foolishly attacked him, he caught her in his spider web. And I think you can guess what happened next."
"Does he have Christa's magic now? Permanently?"
"I would hope, or otherwise." His speech stopped and he said nothing more. Erica waited for him to finish and wondered if he actually meant too. * Dragoon magic would make him even stronger. But why would he need it? * Kay asked this to himself and expected no answer and didn't receive one. His dark brown eyes looked ahead and he allowed them to ring with question. * This is? * He looked harder.
"Clouds are gathering in the distance." Erica said this almost frightened. Right over the city huge round clouds were gathering. They were as red as the color of blood and twice as bright. "It's an old legend passed down from my family. When the clouds burn red the gates of hell are opening. It was said to have only happened once in our earth time."
"It's like seeing the Black Monster and the Moon Child all over again." Kay said to himself. He didn't expect anyone to hear him but Erica was only right next to him. Quite gracefully Kay jumped on top of the railing on the balcony.
"You can't go over there." Erica said grabbing his hand. Kay's head sharply turned around like a smacked whip.
"If you and the Peanut Gallery want to tag along be my guests."
"You may not think highly of us but you can't stand alone." Erica said sharply grabbing his arm again. Thunder cracked loudly in the sky but the two took no notice. "You're part of our team now."
Kay's eyes didn't blink and too soon they looked very dry. Wind was rushing through his hair and lifting it over his face. He grabbed his hair with his free hand in defeat. "There are a lot of things that Neo told me he was going to do when he was trying to take over the world. He was going to open the Gates of Hell and release the devil that he may discipline the world. Neo said he would come one black wings stained in blood." He said this quite loudly.
Erica looked at him and closed her eyes. "The devil of the under world, Xeros."
"It's going to be worse than bad. This demon is said to have the scream of a million deaths."
"But what was it?"
From the depth of the clouds came a high-pitched scream that only kept increasing in volume. Kay's mouth moved multiple times but Erica couldn't hear what he said. Jett and the rest of the group suddenly appeared, except Christa who hanging on her doorframe while trying to cover her ears. Vibration hit them and all were knocked to the floor. They couldn't hear it but they could see the apartment splitting. Wind was rushing over their bodies, pulling them off the balcony. Reaching for anything they hung to anything that would hold them. Their spirits glowed wildly. Logan reached for the doorframe and pulled himself to a sitting position.
Logan took out his spirit and transformed and everything stopped. It was quiet and calm but their ears were ringing like crazy. Kay stood up quickly and stared at Logan in full armor.
"Ok, what did we miss?" Jett asked slowly rising on his feet. Daphne used his arms and pulled herself up. Gravity felt more powerful at the moment.
"The devil of the underworld, Xeros, has been released." Kay explained. He lifted his eyes to the sky and stared at it for no apparent reason. "Yes, it seems Neo is placing his pieces in place." Kay said turning around to face the city. "You all should know that he is trying to destroy us and he will use every device to try and accomplish that. It has been said that Xeros is the supreme destroyer of the gods, feared by all. Before the Divine Tree there was nothing but that is not so. There was Xeros, God of Destruction and Darkness. He ruled over the Endiness with a death scream with a million deaths. Then there was Soa, opposite of Xeros. There was a battle and Soa won with the light of life. Xeros was sealed away in what we now call Outer Darkness or Hell. But the seal was only good to last the first six thousand years of the Endiness. Then the seal began to break and evil leaked into the world. It corrupted the Winglies and they imprisoned the humans. But Soa held fast and sent the Dragoons. Everyone believed that the Dragon Campaign was all about liberating the humans, well in truth it was. But the whole mission was to reseal the prison of Xeros, so that no evil could corrupt the Endiness again. But the Dragoons failed. Xeros made the Winglies strong and all but one of the Dragoons died. The last Dragoon was called to destroy the curse of Xeros, the Moon Child."
"And then came the "Moon War"." Erica looked over at the city.
"Yes. That was the second chance the Dragoons had to destroy the God of destruction, they thought they succeeded but that was only part of the problem."
"And now we're here to make up for it." Hawk said folding his arms. "Why are the last ones always stuck with the garbage."
"That's what it will be like. We will have to find the gate that has been opened and it's not of this world." Kay said sternly. "Now if we're all done with our "pow-wow", let's go."
*~*
It was quiet, so quiet. Like heat burning over a dead desert. There was no sound of scattered pages of newspaper hitting buildings or rushing across the street. Complete death-like silence
"Where are all the people?" Jett was always the first to ask the obvious. No one answered. Each of them wandered along the streets not knowing what to search for. Ariel bent down and picked up a baby's little teddy bear. It was brown and used but there was a different sense to it. Ariel stared deeply into the eyes of the toy. She closed her eyes and almost seemed like she was seeing what had happened. Jett scratched his left elbow and looked very nervous. * Just like a ghost town, so quiet and yet terrifying. *
"Xeros must have their souls captive." Ariel announced standing. A little breeze moved strands of her hair over the side of her face.
"What do you mean he must have them?" Jett demanded as if suddenly angered. His face was sweating and his eyes and skin were pale. Kay's eyes twitched as he suddenly noticed the anxious young teen. Jett was nervously walking around in circles like he was having a mental breakdown.
"Something's not right here." He murmured.
"Jett calm down. We'll get them back." Daphne said trying to calm her brother.
"Well how do you know that we can get them back?" Jett snapped back. Ariel stood by Christa and Hawk, who looked the calmest of the lot.
"He's only lost his sanity, don't worry." The man said calmly.
"'Only' his sanity." Christa folded her arms and rolled her eyes. She felt Ariel grip onto her hand.
"I feel them." The girl said quietly. Her eyes never blinked but stared steadily on Jett.
"What do you mean that you "feel them"?" Christa asked.
"Jett stop." Daphne was struggling to keep her brother from looking like a maniac, though it wasn't working. "We have to stay cool."
"You all don't understand what we're about to do." Jett yelled loudly. "If we try and fight we will all die!"
"What's gotten into you?!" Christa demanded, her temper rising. Daphne grabbed Jett's arm but Jett pulled it back and Daphne tripped. Kay and Logan's eyes widened and Logan stared not knowing how to react.
"What's up with you Jett?" He took a step forward but Kay stopped him. With a swift movement a rapier (Kay now has weapon choices) was drawn to Logan's chin. "What are you doing?" Kay's darted away to the right, silently blocking everything going on around him. From deep under the road he could barley hear faint cries. His grip on his weapon tightened.
"Calm down." Daphne was hit again and her face started bleeding. Jett suddenly relaxed and fell silent. His eyes gazed silently around the city. He carefully stared deeply into each of his partner's eyes. When they rested on Kay's, the Dark Warrior stiffened as he heard the screeches rise in volume.
"Jett don't move." He said this like a man with great power. His rapier was still at Logan's chin and everyone was looking back and forth at the two. Jett's eyes glowed and he slowly started walking backwards.
"Jett please stop." Daphne said with a concerned voice. Jett turned his head and looked at her. His Dragoon spirit flashed. Like a snap of a whip two huge blades pierced through his body. Loud screams cut through the air like a sword. Two huge swords arose from the ground and floated above Jett's armored body and floated in the air. Daphne tore her gaze from them and looked at Jett who was in full Dragoon armor. His hand gripped his weapon and he slowly stood up. Daphne ran over to him and helped him up. Jett's wings beat fiercely and it almost looked like Jett was holding in severe pain.
"Are you alright?" Daphne asked.
"As good as I'll ever be." Jett replied with a slight smile. His face was hard and his eyes were starting to water. The shimmering swords all quickly alerted them.
A red haze surrounded them and a spirit formed. It looked human enough, a ghostly body, dark hair and glowing red eyes.
"A devil?" Hawk asked aloud.
"No. That spirit used to be a citizen from this city." Kay replied slashing his weapon through the air. "You all had better armor up."
The spirit said nothing and only smiled evilly. The swords shined and sharpness rang in their ears. They aimed at Kay and flew like arrows. Kay blocked their attack and woke his Dragoon spirit. Darkness engulfed him and his purple armor appeared over his body. The swords kept flying through the air towards another target. Christa grabbed Ariel and ducked to the ground. Jett lifted his katuri up and slashed through on of the swords. The weapon dispersed to dust. Kay swerved around the other, avoiding the strike, and slashed the remaining sword in pieces.
"Too easy." Jett said landing on the ground. "Is that all you've got?!" The spirit grinned and again said nothing. He landed on the road. Stretching his hand, a red fog clouded the city.
"What's this?" Logan asked pulling out his spear. "I don't like this, what's he doin?" His New Jersey accent brought more smiles and grins from the spirit. He looked down to the black road by instinct and darted backwards in surprise. Like the kinds of movies you see, ghosts of men floated up and stood, circling around the group. Their cloths were ripped and their eyes glowed red. They made no movement of any kind.
"Look how many there are." Christa said drawing her sword.
"No, they're still coming." Erica said drawing her bow and arrow.
In an unknown language the devil cried out to what were guessed to be servants. Vibrations erupted from their throats that tore at the Warriors' spirits. They were all forced to the ground with, screams bursting from their vocal cords and their hands glued to their ears. Only Jett and Kay were unaffected, but their armor did vibrate.
"Why don't they transform?!" Jett asked angered.
"Maybe they can't. That vibration is the devil's calling to their souls."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jett demanded.
"They're gonna be sucked into hell like Jell-O if we don't stop them, we have to work fast. Look at their bodies. They're falling apart. That tells us that they have less than three minutes left to live."
* ssp47's Corner * Oh, this was a long chapter. Real long, about 11 pages. Whoo! Sorry for the time it took to update. I'll hopefully get the rest of it updated soon. The next chapters wont be pretty. I mean some serious stuff is gonna happen. Oh and I was planning on putting romance in this chapter but it didn't work out real well. I think I'm pretty much going to drop the whole romance thing. But if you would like to know more about that, email me. Thank you for reading! Please review!