Fight for Infinity
By the time Nina had flown over the ocean, and past some pretty formidable mountains, her wings were beginning to tire. It was hard enough carrying six people on her back, even though Peco's small size made up for Garr's massive bulk, but to have to carry six people on your back with fights breaking out every few minutes, was near impossible. For if Rei wasn't arguing with Teepo for one thing or another, he was fighting with Momo over how naïve the young scientist was.
"That's it," yelled Nina after the umpteenth millionth fight, "We're landing right now so we can let off some steam. There's a town up ahead, we can stay there the night."
She landed, and transformed back into a human. Then, the group walked into the city. But the second they entered, something strange happened. People came up to them, and started to shake the hands of Ryu, Nina, Teepo, and Helen. Then, they began to cheer.
"The King and Queen have returned! Praise Ladon," exclaimed one man.
A woman called, "They have come to rescue us from our eternal suffering at long last."
Nina was confused. "Excuse me, what are you talking about? We're just passing through on our journey to the far north. Who are you, and where is this place?"
"Sorry, we just got excited," a man told them, "You see, we are also of the Brood. But we've given up our powers, in order to hide from Myria until the time when the King and Queen can come again to face the goddess and defeat her, whether with weapons or with words."
"Enough, we will feast tonight in their honor. Tomorrow, they must meet with the Elder, so he will be able to judge if they're worthy of the true power of the Brood," one man said.
* * *
The next day, the eight warriors headed to an underground well, where Elder Jono was waiting for them. On the way through the cavern, they spotted a picture depicting the second war with Myria. They could see Ryu with his sword drawn, and Nina flying overhead. Their allies were painted all around them, using their own styles of fighting. Even Dies was there, holding up her cane to cast a spell.
When they arrived in the Elder's chambers, they saw a little old man sitting on a raised platform. He told them, "Come closer, children of the Brood, King Ryu, Queen Nina, and your other allies. Hear what I have to say, for it is important. Myria lives in a ruin far beyond the Desert of Death. But seeing as you have awakened the Great Bird of Wyndia, I think you will not have to worry about that. It is the goddess who will give you cause to worry. If she is unwilling to listen to reason, you might have to fight. It is time that you were imbued with the most powerful gene of them all, the Infinity."
Ryu stepped forward. "What must we do to acquire this power? All power must come with a price, or it would be too easy to obtain. What is the price of this power, Elder?"
"You must fight me," Jono replied, "You and the other two Dragons. The Queen will automatically gain the powers that you have acquired, since her Winged body is incompatible with the genes. So she must wait for you three to emerge victorious. I know how you always like to fight together."
"I understand Elder. You can do it Ryu, I know you can beat him in battle, and gain the full power of the Brood. I'll just wait outside with Rei, Momo, Garr, and Peco," Nina stated.
The others went outside. Ryu, Helen, and Teepo stared down the Elder. He began to cast a spell, that covered the whole room in a black void. A green box seemed to enclose the party as well. But when the spell ended, they were back in the room they had started in.
Jono told them, "I sealed your powers for this fight. You must be willing to face me on your own terms. My Dragon form isn't too reliable anyway, it's so old that it always gets a bad back."
The battle was on. Ryu started right away with his Bonebreak skill, which could only be used once a day. He was lucky to have saved it. Teepo and Helen were using Myollnir on him, along with some of Teepo's Triple Attacks, and Helen's Ax Crushers.
Although Bad Back could sometimes immobilize Jono, leaving him open to attacks, he was still a challenging fight. The Elder was still quite strong, despite his age, and Ryu's healing saw much use.
After about a half-hour, Teepo had a brilliant idea. He pulled an Hourglass out of his pocket, and let it activate. Now, he was the only one to move for three whole turns. With this, he attacked with his Triple Attack three times, without having to break for items. Although this caused some confusion when it wore off, as neither Ryu nor Helen knew how Jono had gotten so many more wounds on his body. Both of them began to question him on how he had done it, was it a secret technique?
Teepo laughed. "I used an Hourglass. Three free turns. Too bad that was my last one. Or else I would give it to you to use next Helen. These things are pretty useful."
"Very well," Jono stated, "You are all worthy of the Infinity Gene. Take it, and head across the Desert of Death. Remember that you are the only ones who can decide how to handle Myria. I won't hold it against you if you back down from the fight. But never tip her off to there being more Dragons alive than just you. If she knows about us or your other companions, the war will begin anew, and the world might be destroyed. For that is the reason we never used our true power, we knew that if all the Brood in the world invoked Infinity, there would be Hell to pay." With that, he disappeared, leaving a gene in his place. Ryu, Helen, and Teepo suddenly felt a surge of energy go through them.
"It looks like we'd better get a move on. We must find Myria before she starts a new purge, and something terrible happens," Ryu said. He left the room, and stood by Nina.
She replied, "Whatever happens Ryu, I will always know that you are a good Dragon."
He smiled. "I know Nina, it is just nice to hear that sometimes. Let's get going, Desert of Death, here we come." Then, the group left the well, and headed out of town so Nina could fly them to the ruin.
- - - -
Yay! Station Myria next time. But without all the crud. Nina can fly them past all the barriers. And we've got some foolproof plans for how to quickly get past the traps. Sensible things the game wouldn't let you do. I've just got a plan of how to work with things. Well, now the final gene has been introduced. Ryu can become Kaiser, Teepo can become Dragon Lord (but a human shaped form of it, he only could use the Breath shape in the game due to Myria's power merging with that of the Brood), and Helen can become an Empress. So can Nina, when she does her Dragons change.
By the time Nina had flown over the ocean, and past some pretty formidable mountains, her wings were beginning to tire. It was hard enough carrying six people on her back, even though Peco's small size made up for Garr's massive bulk, but to have to carry six people on your back with fights breaking out every few minutes, was near impossible. For if Rei wasn't arguing with Teepo for one thing or another, he was fighting with Momo over how naïve the young scientist was.
"That's it," yelled Nina after the umpteenth millionth fight, "We're landing right now so we can let off some steam. There's a town up ahead, we can stay there the night."
She landed, and transformed back into a human. Then, the group walked into the city. But the second they entered, something strange happened. People came up to them, and started to shake the hands of Ryu, Nina, Teepo, and Helen. Then, they began to cheer.
"The King and Queen have returned! Praise Ladon," exclaimed one man.
A woman called, "They have come to rescue us from our eternal suffering at long last."
Nina was confused. "Excuse me, what are you talking about? We're just passing through on our journey to the far north. Who are you, and where is this place?"
"Sorry, we just got excited," a man told them, "You see, we are also of the Brood. But we've given up our powers, in order to hide from Myria until the time when the King and Queen can come again to face the goddess and defeat her, whether with weapons or with words."
"Enough, we will feast tonight in their honor. Tomorrow, they must meet with the Elder, so he will be able to judge if they're worthy of the true power of the Brood," one man said.
* * *
The next day, the eight warriors headed to an underground well, where Elder Jono was waiting for them. On the way through the cavern, they spotted a picture depicting the second war with Myria. They could see Ryu with his sword drawn, and Nina flying overhead. Their allies were painted all around them, using their own styles of fighting. Even Dies was there, holding up her cane to cast a spell.
When they arrived in the Elder's chambers, they saw a little old man sitting on a raised platform. He told them, "Come closer, children of the Brood, King Ryu, Queen Nina, and your other allies. Hear what I have to say, for it is important. Myria lives in a ruin far beyond the Desert of Death. But seeing as you have awakened the Great Bird of Wyndia, I think you will not have to worry about that. It is the goddess who will give you cause to worry. If she is unwilling to listen to reason, you might have to fight. It is time that you were imbued with the most powerful gene of them all, the Infinity."
Ryu stepped forward. "What must we do to acquire this power? All power must come with a price, or it would be too easy to obtain. What is the price of this power, Elder?"
"You must fight me," Jono replied, "You and the other two Dragons. The Queen will automatically gain the powers that you have acquired, since her Winged body is incompatible with the genes. So she must wait for you three to emerge victorious. I know how you always like to fight together."
"I understand Elder. You can do it Ryu, I know you can beat him in battle, and gain the full power of the Brood. I'll just wait outside with Rei, Momo, Garr, and Peco," Nina stated.
The others went outside. Ryu, Helen, and Teepo stared down the Elder. He began to cast a spell, that covered the whole room in a black void. A green box seemed to enclose the party as well. But when the spell ended, they were back in the room they had started in.
Jono told them, "I sealed your powers for this fight. You must be willing to face me on your own terms. My Dragon form isn't too reliable anyway, it's so old that it always gets a bad back."
The battle was on. Ryu started right away with his Bonebreak skill, which could only be used once a day. He was lucky to have saved it. Teepo and Helen were using Myollnir on him, along with some of Teepo's Triple Attacks, and Helen's Ax Crushers.
Although Bad Back could sometimes immobilize Jono, leaving him open to attacks, he was still a challenging fight. The Elder was still quite strong, despite his age, and Ryu's healing saw much use.
After about a half-hour, Teepo had a brilliant idea. He pulled an Hourglass out of his pocket, and let it activate. Now, he was the only one to move for three whole turns. With this, he attacked with his Triple Attack three times, without having to break for items. Although this caused some confusion when it wore off, as neither Ryu nor Helen knew how Jono had gotten so many more wounds on his body. Both of them began to question him on how he had done it, was it a secret technique?
Teepo laughed. "I used an Hourglass. Three free turns. Too bad that was my last one. Or else I would give it to you to use next Helen. These things are pretty useful."
"Very well," Jono stated, "You are all worthy of the Infinity Gene. Take it, and head across the Desert of Death. Remember that you are the only ones who can decide how to handle Myria. I won't hold it against you if you back down from the fight. But never tip her off to there being more Dragons alive than just you. If she knows about us or your other companions, the war will begin anew, and the world might be destroyed. For that is the reason we never used our true power, we knew that if all the Brood in the world invoked Infinity, there would be Hell to pay." With that, he disappeared, leaving a gene in his place. Ryu, Helen, and Teepo suddenly felt a surge of energy go through them.
"It looks like we'd better get a move on. We must find Myria before she starts a new purge, and something terrible happens," Ryu said. He left the room, and stood by Nina.
She replied, "Whatever happens Ryu, I will always know that you are a good Dragon."
He smiled. "I know Nina, it is just nice to hear that sometimes. Let's get going, Desert of Death, here we come." Then, the group left the well, and headed out of town so Nina could fly them to the ruin.
- - - -
Yay! Station Myria next time. But without all the crud. Nina can fly them past all the barriers. And we've got some foolproof plans for how to quickly get past the traps. Sensible things the game wouldn't let you do. I've just got a plan of how to work with things. Well, now the final gene has been introduced. Ryu can become Kaiser, Teepo can become Dragon Lord (but a human shaped form of it, he only could use the Breath shape in the game due to Myria's power merging with that of the Brood), and Helen can become an Empress. So can Nina, when she does her Dragons change.