I don't own anything except the Takahari family, their Dragoon Spirits, Count Draco von Schneider, and Kenji Okamura
Author's note: With this chapter begins a crossover with Castlevania. Given the vampire hunting aspects, I thought it appropriate.
With the lost Dragoons freed and sent on, we had no reason to remain in Vellweb. Rose and I climbed aboard Coolon once more, and headed back to Deningrad, to assure the others that we were indeed still alive.
My fellow ninja were the first to greet us. It seemed Dart had sent them to watch for us, given their skills. "Ian! Rose! You're back!"
I shook my head. "You have a positive talent for stating the obvious, Ryan. Where's Dart and the others?"
"Back at the inn." Ryan paused; glanced at me, then Rose, then back to me.
I silenced him with a glare. If anyone so much as says one word, I'm going to kill them.
We found Dart outside the inn, waiting for us. "It went well?" he asked.
Rose nodded. "Yes. The lost Dragoons have been freed."
"There are, however, other matters to be dealt with," I said. "I've got a job for you, Kenji. Living in Vellweb now is a coven of vampires. Don't look at me like that," I added, seeing his expression, "these are friendly vampires. I'm sending you to open relations with them because you're a vampire yourself, and, because this battle isn't personal for you. You're the only one I can send there. Okay?"
Kenji nodded slowly. "Sure. And you're right; I'm not the save-the-world type. I tagged along because I had nowhere else to go." He stood. "I'll get some supplies and head off. Good luck."
"Same to you." As he left, I turned back to the others. "Ryan, Karen, there's something else you should know. Rose and I ran into an old 'acquaintance' in Vellweb. Hideo Suzuki."
Karen gasped; Ryan narrowed his eyes. "You mean the guy Dad threw out of the clan a few years back?"
"The same. I killed him, but we will have to face him again sometime."
"Why?"
"For the same reason he was cast out: he was a werewolf, and werewolves become vampires after death. That's why Dad didn't kill him years ago. This time I had no choice."
Karen shook her head. "So there are werewolves, too? I thought creatures like that were just legends."
"Legends often have their basis in truth," Albert said. "Remember the Dragons and Dragoons. They, too, were thought to be legend."
"We ready for Zenebatos?" I asked, ignoring Albert and Karen.
"Yes," Dart replied. "We were just waiting for you two to return."
"Then let's go."
* * *
As we flew toward Zenebatos, my thoughts turned inward. When all this is over, before I open a dojo at the Shrine, I'm going to return to the places we've been through, on this long trip, and explore more. We're always in and out, staying only as long as necessary. Maybe I'll follow the route we took on our journey, visiting places Dart mentioned, but I never saw. Seles, Hellena, the Limestone Cave… places we visited in the company of our noble knight companion, Lavitz. Lloyd… We need you, but I still do not trust you, and I haven't quite forgiven you for killing Lavitz. When Zieg has been defeated, may we never cross paths again. I glanced to my right, where Rose sat. We hadn't said anything, but we hadn't tried to hide the change in how we thought, either.
At least I'll have plenty of time. And how many people get the opportunity to watch an entire world grow?
* * *
Upon reaching Zenebatos, we headed right for the path to the Signet Sphere, but we found it blocked by a dimwitted magical drone.
"Access to the Signet Sphere by non-Winglies is prohibited by Wingly Article 703." it said.
Meru ran up to it. "But I'm a Wingly!"
"Access to the Signet Sphere by non-Winglies is prohibited by Wingly Article 703," it repeated.
"Didn't Charle say that Wingly magic power was weakening?" Albert asked. "Perhaps you simply no longer have sufficient magic to be recognized by this drone."
Ryan dropped his hand to the grip of his pistol, but I laid a hand on his arm. "Forget it, Ryan. Bullets probably have little effect on its kind. Besides, they'd probably just send another one."
Albert was still thinking. "If this is the Law City, then we should be able to change the law and thus gain access to the Signet Sphere."
Dart nodded. "Good thinking, Albert. Let's go."
The law-changing process was too unremarkable to bother recording; suffice it to say that we succeeded. With the guard drone thus removed, we were able to continue on.
We took an odd flying platform from Zenebatos's entrance to the Great Court of Zenebatos, where things began to get ugly.
We heard a voice, and saw the judge of Zenebatos, still presiding over his court. "You have been found guilty of defying Soa's will," the Judge Nomos said.
"Zieg already has control of it!?" Rose's voice was a mixture of shock and anger.
"You have been sentenced to death. Winged executioners, Kubila, Selebus, Vector, come! Execute the sentence!"
I yanked Arashi-Jisan out its scabbard, noting with a portion of my mind Ryan drawing Kihaku Karatakewari, Karen pulling out Buke-Kontan, and Rose drawing both her rapier and Doragon-Adauchi. I only noticed this peripherally, however, as I had my own concerns. Kubila had chosen to focus on me, and he appeared to have an instant-death attack. I wasn't certain the magic of my ring would react fast enough to such an attack, so was on the defensive. I didn't dare take the time to transform to my Dragoon form.
"Miranda!" Ryan shouted, back-flipping away from Vector. "These things are darkness-based! Use your magic!"
"Right! Star Children!" The light-based magic attack hammered our enemies, giving me the opportunity I needed to take the offensive against Kubila.
Using kuji, I created a pair of duplicates of myself, causing a visual blur that confused Kubila as to which was the real me. It was a little trick I'd learned from a Sandoran months before, in Hoax.
In a fast and furious set of sword attacks, the three of me battered Kubila, and then, with the copies vanished, I sliced once and cut off his head.
Unfortunately, Kubila had some kind of dead-man magic, triggered upon his death. It was the instant-death attack I had feared. I fell into darkness for a time. The next thing I knew, Selebus and Vector were both preparing to hit Ryan, assuming that I was dead. I disabused them of the notion, lunging to my feet and cutting Vector entirely in half. Selebus was slain moments later, when Dart's sword appeared through her chest.
The entire battle had taken no more than five minutes, but we were all breathing hard. The executioners the Winglies had come up with were tough customers. Fortunately for us, Dragoons were tougher.
Once more, I felt a cold wind. Zieg was coming, fast. "Come on! We're too late. Zieg is already here!" I ran toward the Signet Sphere, katana at the ready.
We were indeed too late. All that was there was the Moon Dagger, lying on the ground… and the shattered Signet Sphere.
I slammed my fist into the ground, frustrated. Blast it! If Kubila hadn't nearly killed me, I might have made it in time.
I was shaken out of my fury by laughter. Zieg was floating down from above. "Don't you approve, Ian? Someone like you should admire well-executed destruction."
"I approve of nothing you do, and I don't recall being on a first-name basis with you!" I snatched up the Moon Dagger and hurled it at him, knowing even as I did so that it was futile. Zieg simply caught it and said something ugly-sounding in another language. The Dagger literally melted in his hand.
"Nice try, Takahari. But not quite good enough." He turned to Dart. "The destruction of the world… This is what Shana desires, as well."
Dart glared at him. "You're a liar, Father!" he snarled. "Shana would want nothing of this!"
Zieg merely laughed, then vanished. I lowered my arm. Just before he disappeared, I was about to throw a magic-charged shuriken at him. Blast it, I wish Alucard was here. He might be able to tell where Zieg went.
Dart slumped in defeat. "Now what? My father has destroyed all but one of the Signets. How can we stop him?"
I walked over. "We can go to Mayfil and protect its Signet." I said softly. "If we could stop Zieg, isn't that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth dying for?" I turned to face everyone. "As long as there is breath in me, I will not let this world be destroyed. As long as there is a chance, I will fight."
Dart slowly got to his feet. "You're right. There is still one Signet left. Let's go!"
* * *
We had to change another law within the city to gain access to the Mayfil teleporter, but it was only a brief delay. We quickly returned to the Zenebatos teleporter chamber. "Are we ready?" Dart asked.
I loosened my blades in their scabbards, then nodded. One by one, we made our final checks and nodded.
"Then it's on to Mayfil." Once again, the world wavered around us.
When it solidified, we were in the scariest place I had ever seen. Mayfil was dark, with mysterious machinery active. Ghosts and monsters were everywhere. "This is it, I guess. There's no turning back." I glanced over at Miranda. She was kneeling, looking weak. "You okay?"
"Mayfil has a powerful effect on White-Silver Dragoons," Rose told me. "She'll be fine."
"Then we go in," Dart said. "There's not a moment to lose."
The journey through Mayfil was dark and frightening, and I will not speak here of some of the horrors we encountered. Suffice it to say that I will not willingly go there again. There are, indeed, worse things than mere death.
Nothing of any real importance occurred until we began to near the end of Mayfil. There we saw a ghost that I had never expected to see. A knight, clad in green and silver, with the insignia of Basil upon his breastplate.
Dart's eyes widened. "Lavitz…?" he whispered.
The ghost of Lavitz came closer. "Dart. Your Majesty. Rose. It's good to see you."
"Lavitz… It's really you?"
Abruptly, Lavitz gripped his head, then ran. "Get away!"
Of course we did no such thing. Something was wrong with our old friend, and we had to help him. When we caught up with him in a nearby room, he had changed dramatically. His torso armor was gone, and he looked angry. Without speaking, he leveled his spear at us.
"Lavitz! No!"
"Dart, wait!" I grabbed his arm. "Something's controlling him. The Lavitz we knew is still in there, but we have to defeat whatever is using him." I drew Arashi-Jisan. "Come out, demon! Show your true form!"
Lavitz screamed again, as something came away from his back. As I had thought, it was a demon. "So you found out! I'm not letting him go!"
Face twisted in fury, Dart advanced, sword drawn. "Who are you!?"
The demon laughed. "I am Zackwell, and I rule here. You won't leave alive!"
I stalked forward, blade pointed at Zackwell. "You and what army, buddy?"
He laughed again. "I don't need an army. I've got him!"
I spun. There was only one him that could have anything to do with me. As I suspected, there was Count Draco von Schneider, my most persistent problem. "Hello, Takahari. We meet again."
"Ian…" a weak voice said. I glanced at the ground. Lavitz was holding something out to me. "Take it…"
I took the object. A whip. The Vampire Killer? What's it doing here? I tucked it into my belt. "Thank you, Lavitz." I turned back to von Schneider. "Hello, Draco. You know, I never did find out why you were here. Did your master, Dracula, send you? Or should I say, Mathias Cronqvist?"
Draco's perpetual sneer vanished, and he stared at in shock, even more surprised than when I revealed my Dragoon powers to him. "How do you know that name?"
It was my turn to laugh. "That's right, you never knew just why I was in Europe when I first encountered you, did you? It just so happens that two hundred years ago, a Belmont washed ashore in Japan, and was rescued by the Takahari family."
The count paled even more than usual. "No…"
I grinned. "Yes. I am a direct descendant of Leon Belmont, the man your master betrayed a thousand years ago!"
"So you were… after Lord Dracula…"
"The Belmonts asked me for help, and so I went to fulfill Leon Belmont's pledge: 'From this day forward, the Belmont Clan will hunt the night.'" I reached for the whip at my side, noting distantly that while von Schneider and I had been talking, the others had attacked Zackwell, and were beating him to an ectoplasm pulp. "Recognize this?"
Draco's eyes darted to the whip, widened, and he fled, recognizing the one weapon that could kill him without hitting his weak spot.
Laughing, I turned back to the fight with Zackwell. "Now I deal with you." I cracked the whip.
"And what is that, that it would make a vampire flee in terror?" Zackwell questioned.
"This is the Vampire Killer, which has the power to destroy your kind. Now you die." I advanced, striking the foul thing again and again, until he howled and vanished in a puff of red smoke, destroyed by the magic weapon.
I turned to Lavitz. "It's good to see you, my friend. It was a dark day when you died."
"There is still one thing I can do to help you."
Yes, there is, isn't there, Lavitz? Especially given the spell I found in the Scroll of the Nine Hands. I smiled slightly, then began a kuji sequence.
I knew it was working when Lavitz's face regained its color, the pale of death replaced by the normal color of life.
Lavitz stopped in his tracks. "What's happening!?"
"Welcome back to the land of the living, my friend."
"What did you just do!?"
"Kuji spell. Unusable under normal circumstances, it restores a ghost to life." I clapped him on the shoulder. "You can leave this horrid place, Lavitz."
The others were staring at me. "Why didn't you do that back at Hellena?" Dart finally asked.
"Couldn't. Like I said, it only works under certain circumstances. Mayfil, it would appear, has the proper conditions." I picked up Lavitz's spear from where it had dropped. "Take up your spear, Knight of Serdio."
"Thank you, Ian." Lavitz turned, noting our new members. "Mind introducing me?"
"Ah. Of course. Lavitz, this is my sister Karen, who we ran into a few days after your death. She is also the bearer of the Starburst Dragoon Spirit. The girl with the platinum hair is Meru, a Wingly and Blue-Sea Dragoon. Don't mind the Giganto; Kongol is on our side now, and has the Golden Dragoon Spirit. Over there is Miranda, the new White-Silver Dragoon. And that guy is-"
"Lloyd!" Lavitz leveled his spear at the Wingly.
I grabbed his arm. "Lavitz, wait! He's on our side now. I don't like him, and I definitely don't trust him, but right now, we need him. So please, don't stick him just yet?"
He lowered his spear, glaring at Lloyd. "All right. But don't expect me to forget what he did to King Albert, or that he killed me."
"I know. But we have to get moving. Do you know where the Signet Sphere is?"
"Above us. But I don't know how to get there from here."
I half-smiled. "No problem. Ryan, Karen, over here." When they came over, I continued. "I can use a kuji teleportation spell to get us there, but I'm not powerful enough to transport all of us alone. If Ryan, Karen, and I do it together, it should work."
Lavitz raised a hand. "Wait a second, Ian. What happened to Shana?"
I sighed. "Zieg has her. She is the Moon Child, and if we fail in our quest, she will meld with the Virage Embryo and become the God of Destruction, whose sole purpose is to destroy the world."
"What do we do if we're not in time?"
"The only thing we can," I said flatly. "We kill Shana. Or I will, probably. Myself or Rose."
Dart looked at me in despair, but wearily nodded. He couldn't do it himself, but he knew as well as I did the consequences of sentimentality.
I looked up. "If we're through being gloomy, we're ready for teleport. Dart?"
"Let's go."
* * *
After the usual moment of disorientation caused by teleportation, we found ourselves in a large chamber occupied by the final Signet Sphere.
The sight of it apparently gave Dart strength. "We'll end it here!"
There was a flash. "Yes, we'll end it here," Zieg said. "I'll end the world here!" He tossed the Moon Gem.
As it slowly drifted toward the Signet, Dart transformed and leapt at his father. Zieg, however, must have expected it, as Dart was knocked back before he could get in range. "Don't come near me!"
I drew my katana from its shoulder-slung scabbard, then focused my mind on my Dragoon Spirit. "You're going to die, kokuzoku!" I pumped my wings and lunged from the ground, creating a magical barrier to counter whatever it was he had done to Dart.
"Are all of your people this stubborn, Takahari?" Zieg somehow got a spell past my barrier, and I was thrown to the ground. "You're a man from another world, who has no reason to remain here. Why would it matter to you if I destroyed this little world?"
"Rose." I said, just as the Moon Gem struck the Signet Sphere.
Zieg laughed. "Your quest has failed! The God of Destruction will be born, and Soa's plan will be fulfilled!" And he vanished.
The others slumped. "It's over…" Meru moaned.
"We've failed…"
As I heard the others despairing, I slowly stood. "When the clash of swords echo," I began, softly at first, "The journey chasing the past ends, and the journey to know today begins." I gazed at each of them in turn. "One soul seeks another, and pledges their sworn friendship to another. One mystery begets the next, and the doors of fate are opened." I held my Dragoon Spirit out. "You are free to sever the chains of fate that bind you…"
Author's note: Chapter 28 is finished; only two chapters remain. Hope you liked my bringing Lavitz back. I had intended to do that from the very beginning, but if I'd realized how long it was going to take me to get here, I'd have simply kept him alive back in Hellena.
Not much to translate this time; "kokuzoku" means "traitor".
That should about cover things. Read it and let me know what you think. ~Solid Shark
