Disclaimer: I never really understood the purpose of saying this in every chapter, but I guess it makes sense. Anyway, don't own LOD, don't own anything but original characters and my own plot structure.
Please review. Thank you
"Dart...you're such an interesting human. Always willing to rush into obstacle with your eye on the prize and you'll kill anyone and anything to get to it. It's really funny, because you're becoming what you didn't want to. Personally though, I could careless about how you feel. You all are really mediocre, and none of you really understand what's truly happening. All you're seeing is some foolish uprising, but none of you have stopped to even consider the bigger picture. See Dart, it's nothing but a charade, a game. I could really kill you if I wanted to. In fact, I could kill you right now if I wanted to, but where's the fun in that Dart? I want you to understand what is truly happening before anyone kills you...so let's try this. You seem to care about Shana more than I imagined. I need you to take a trip to Hellena prison, followed by Kazas. I think you'll find more answers at Kazas than Hellena, but there's a bit of a favor involved. I'm feeling a bit lazy, and realized I left a chest at Hellena. I need you to fetch that for me. I'll be waiting outside the main entrance to Kazas at exactly midnight. You are permitted to do this with one other person. But I don't want it to be the girl, or that excuse for a king. Why not take that sharp shooter along with you...what was her name again? Oh that's right, Miranda. Keep this in mind Dart, I actually am in turn, doing you a favor, and your part of the bargain doesn't just end with retrieving the chest for me, but for not we'll leave it at that. If you betray me, if you think I won't know, I will. I have no tolerance for traitors Dart. And because of that, I am prepared to destroy your entire fort, just how you saw the first day we met. Remember Dart, you have until midnight. I suggest you leave out right away when you first get the chance," at that very instance, I shot out of my bed, and surveyed the entire room, and it made no sense to me. Every door was closed; every window was shut and locked. The only other person in the room with me was Shana and she was asleep.
The sun was just rising outside, with a faint red band of light covering the horizon, but for the most part, the sky was filled with a dark blue. I quickly and quietly put on my clothes and armor. As I started to put on my left arm plate, I slipped from hands and hit the floor. I stood still, and watched as Shana only turned, and continued to sleep. I picked up the red armor, and put it on and left the room. I went to the kitchen, and not being surprised, Albert was in there, looking for something to eat. "Do you know how I long for a piece of meat that's not drenched in salt?"
"Well then maybe you should cook a piece right after it's been cut."
"That sounds like a plan. Dart, I know you not to be a morning person. Why are you awake now?"
"I have some errands I have to run. I probably won't be back till tomorrow morning."
"Oh, well there's no serious danger at this point. I could join you."
"No, you need to stay here and train the men or something. I'll wait till Miranda wakes up, and I'll drag her along. Besides, I have a few things I need to talk to her about anyway."
"Well, if that's what you truly want than I can't stop you," and for moment there was a brief period of silence.
"Listen Albert, about yesterday..."
"Dart, I don't know what's going on with you, and that Dragoon spirit anymore, but all I'm sure that it's not entirely your fault. So with that said, it is now seven o'clock so I have to start waking everyone up." Albert patted me on the back as he left the kitchen. Not wanting to waste anytime, I quickly searched the entire fort in hopes of Miranda was awake. The last place I checked was in the archery field. It was small open space in the back of the fort, surrounding by stone walls. As I walked through the entrance, Miranda was in her Dragoon state, and she had an arrow already set, and released it. The bow traveled through one tree, and became lodged in the one behind it. As she turned around to reach for another arrow, she noticed my presence.
"Oh, hi Dart. I didn't notice you were there."
"Yeah..."
"Um...I never got a chance to say thanks for yesterday. I really thought that was the end but..."
"Don't mention it. But listen, do you think you can come with me to run a few errands."
"Sure," Miranda then returned to her human state, an attached her bow, and arrows," just one question though. Exactly where are we going?"
"Well, I have to go to Hellena prison, then Kazas," Miranda gave me a blank stare as if she was waiting for me to say something else.
"Dart, you're kidding right?"
"Well no. Why?"
"Hellena isn't exactly property of ours. And Kazas has been abandoned for who knows how long now. Why in the world would you want to go to either of those places?"
"I have a spy mission at Hellena, and I just wanted to check Kazas for anything useful or of value.
"Oh...well if you say so." Miranda walked back inside the fort, and I followed as we walked all the way through the north exit. We readied two horses, and quickly rode out. We traveled through woods, cities, and maybe a swamp or two. We never made a single stop, only because Hellena was a ways from the fort, and time wasn't exactly on our side. I knew we were reaching our destination point as we quickly rode past Seles. We then rode through the forest, and stopped our horses on the road that led to the prison. Miranda jumped off her horse and looked up at me. "So, how do you want to go about doing this?"
"Simple," after I tied my horse to a rock, I quickly transformed, and flew off towards the prison."
"Dart you said a spy mission!" I wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. With either of us not having a watch, I looked at the sky, and knew that I was running out of time. I flew through the front gates and every soldier inside started to scramble for safety or a crossbow. At that point I remembered that he never told me exactly where the chest was, and I remembered how much of a maze the prison really was. I landed on the ground, and a dozen soldiers surrounded me ready to fight. I reached for my sword, and noticed that it wasn't there. They slowly began to close in and an arrow quickly struck one of the men through his heart. "Dart here!" Miranda flew over me, and threw down a sword. After I caught it, I wanted to make a quick escape. I concentrated, and the ground suddenly felt like it was boiling, and extremely hot. I quickly flew into the air, as everything around the men burst into flames. I started to fly off, but I noticed a cart was coming towards the front gates. I flew towards that direction and hid behind a stack of hay.
"This isn't exactly the best time to be delivering something here," the delivery man looked at the soldier strangely.
"Well I'm only doing as I'm told, and I was told that this hay, along with a chest needed to be delivered to Hellena prison before nightfall, "he walked back towards the horse, and pulled out a chest from the seat, and walked back towards the soldier. I quickly flew towards him and snatched the chest. Flying back high into the air, I yelled towards Miranda.
"Miranda lets go," she heard me, and shot her last bow, and flew towards the entrance gate. I continued to fly through the sky past the horses.
"Wait a minute Dart, what about the horses?"
"Leave them, we don't have time." She continued to follow me as we flew over trees, villages, and cities. With little time to spare, we eventually reached a castle that was once lit with green with fire, and stood tall. Now the castle stood darker then ever, and looked half destroyed. Right outside the main entrance, there was someone standing. They wore a black cloak that touched the ground, with a hood. It sort of reminded me of Lloyd. I quickly landed on the ground and ran towards the man. I dropped the chest on the stairs in front of him. "Here, your package."
"And you brought the right one too. I wasn't sure if you were going to take it from the delivery boy or not. Where's the girl?" as he asked that, Miranda landed behind me, and was in human state again. "Marvelous..." he brought up his left arm, and pointed it at Miranda. An arrow quickly shot out, and hit her in the arm. She tried to reach for her bow and arrow, but she fell to the ground, and it seemed she was unconscious.
"What did you do to her?!" I drew out my sword and I was ready to attack.
"Calm yourself, she's only sleeping, but if you want her to live, you will lower your sword," reluctantly, I followed his command, and lowered my sword to my side. "Now see, that wasn't difficult, now was it?" At that point, I had a very small tolerance, and his words were only adding to my frustration. I took one step forward, and the man put his hand to my chest, and somehow I was unable to move. Then suddenly, everything around me started to intensely glow red. "See Dart, at this rate, I can kill you. You're trying to use more energy than you have. If you continue to try to come towards me, it will make no difference to me if you die." I dropped to my knees, and tried to crawl towards the man, but he yanked my head back, by my hair. The red light continued to grow, and I could no longer keep my eyes open. "Dart, I need a helping hand; someone who can play mercenary. I know of your little mishaps, your random killing sprees to get to what you want, and that's exactly the type of person I'm looking for," he threw me towards the ground, and opened the chest. There was a small bottle inside that he picked up and walked towards Miranda. I tired to move but couldn't manage. Everything inside of me was burning in pain. He opened the bottle and kneeled next to Miranda. "This is a toxin that I've been working on for maybe a few weeks. Everything in it is so unstable that it can almost eat through anything, and I think the girl makes the perfect test subject, that is unless you're willing to meet my demands. See Dart, the spirit is slowly ceasing to recognize you as its owner, so why bother to continue to use it. Even if it did recognize you, look at how much vulnerable you are to certain things than you thought with it. I'm going to do you a favor and in turn you will meet my demands. I will remove the spirit, which will end the pain. And in turn, you will become my mercenary. You will perform any task that I give you, and I order that I give you. If you refuse, I will let this toxin eat through Miranda's face, but it won't stop from there. I will then destroy each of your friends, one by one, until you have nothing left. So what do you have to say Dart?" I struggled to nod my head. "Excellent," he then threw the bottle into the ground as the toxin steamed and ate through the cobblestone. He walked over to me, and placed his hand on my chest, and the Dragoon spirit slowly left my body, and the glowing red light slowly faded away. When he had full possession of it, he placed it in a pocket in his cloak. I rolled over on my stomach and knees, and coughed from the relief. "Now Dart, don't forget. I have no tolerance for betrayal of any form. There will be consequences if I you do betray me." He then picked me up and threw me into a wall. I watched as he walked towards Miranda, and dragged her inside of the castle. I tried to get up, but I couldn't manage to keep my eyes open any longer, and fell unconscious.
"You're a new man Dart. This is now a new beginning for you, so let's start with a few changes. From this point, your name will no longer will be Dart. You will now be knows as student until I say different. You must earn your name. That will be the only change for now. In the meantime, rest up Dart, for you have a long day ahead of you."
Please review. Thank you
"Dart...you're such an interesting human. Always willing to rush into obstacle with your eye on the prize and you'll kill anyone and anything to get to it. It's really funny, because you're becoming what you didn't want to. Personally though, I could careless about how you feel. You all are really mediocre, and none of you really understand what's truly happening. All you're seeing is some foolish uprising, but none of you have stopped to even consider the bigger picture. See Dart, it's nothing but a charade, a game. I could really kill you if I wanted to. In fact, I could kill you right now if I wanted to, but where's the fun in that Dart? I want you to understand what is truly happening before anyone kills you...so let's try this. You seem to care about Shana more than I imagined. I need you to take a trip to Hellena prison, followed by Kazas. I think you'll find more answers at Kazas than Hellena, but there's a bit of a favor involved. I'm feeling a bit lazy, and realized I left a chest at Hellena. I need you to fetch that for me. I'll be waiting outside the main entrance to Kazas at exactly midnight. You are permitted to do this with one other person. But I don't want it to be the girl, or that excuse for a king. Why not take that sharp shooter along with you...what was her name again? Oh that's right, Miranda. Keep this in mind Dart, I actually am in turn, doing you a favor, and your part of the bargain doesn't just end with retrieving the chest for me, but for not we'll leave it at that. If you betray me, if you think I won't know, I will. I have no tolerance for traitors Dart. And because of that, I am prepared to destroy your entire fort, just how you saw the first day we met. Remember Dart, you have until midnight. I suggest you leave out right away when you first get the chance," at that very instance, I shot out of my bed, and surveyed the entire room, and it made no sense to me. Every door was closed; every window was shut and locked. The only other person in the room with me was Shana and she was asleep.
The sun was just rising outside, with a faint red band of light covering the horizon, but for the most part, the sky was filled with a dark blue. I quickly and quietly put on my clothes and armor. As I started to put on my left arm plate, I slipped from hands and hit the floor. I stood still, and watched as Shana only turned, and continued to sleep. I picked up the red armor, and put it on and left the room. I went to the kitchen, and not being surprised, Albert was in there, looking for something to eat. "Do you know how I long for a piece of meat that's not drenched in salt?"
"Well then maybe you should cook a piece right after it's been cut."
"That sounds like a plan. Dart, I know you not to be a morning person. Why are you awake now?"
"I have some errands I have to run. I probably won't be back till tomorrow morning."
"Oh, well there's no serious danger at this point. I could join you."
"No, you need to stay here and train the men or something. I'll wait till Miranda wakes up, and I'll drag her along. Besides, I have a few things I need to talk to her about anyway."
"Well, if that's what you truly want than I can't stop you," and for moment there was a brief period of silence.
"Listen Albert, about yesterday..."
"Dart, I don't know what's going on with you, and that Dragoon spirit anymore, but all I'm sure that it's not entirely your fault. So with that said, it is now seven o'clock so I have to start waking everyone up." Albert patted me on the back as he left the kitchen. Not wanting to waste anytime, I quickly searched the entire fort in hopes of Miranda was awake. The last place I checked was in the archery field. It was small open space in the back of the fort, surrounding by stone walls. As I walked through the entrance, Miranda was in her Dragoon state, and she had an arrow already set, and released it. The bow traveled through one tree, and became lodged in the one behind it. As she turned around to reach for another arrow, she noticed my presence.
"Oh, hi Dart. I didn't notice you were there."
"Yeah..."
"Um...I never got a chance to say thanks for yesterday. I really thought that was the end but..."
"Don't mention it. But listen, do you think you can come with me to run a few errands."
"Sure," Miranda then returned to her human state, an attached her bow, and arrows," just one question though. Exactly where are we going?"
"Well, I have to go to Hellena prison, then Kazas," Miranda gave me a blank stare as if she was waiting for me to say something else.
"Dart, you're kidding right?"
"Well no. Why?"
"Hellena isn't exactly property of ours. And Kazas has been abandoned for who knows how long now. Why in the world would you want to go to either of those places?"
"I have a spy mission at Hellena, and I just wanted to check Kazas for anything useful or of value.
"Oh...well if you say so." Miranda walked back inside the fort, and I followed as we walked all the way through the north exit. We readied two horses, and quickly rode out. We traveled through woods, cities, and maybe a swamp or two. We never made a single stop, only because Hellena was a ways from the fort, and time wasn't exactly on our side. I knew we were reaching our destination point as we quickly rode past Seles. We then rode through the forest, and stopped our horses on the road that led to the prison. Miranda jumped off her horse and looked up at me. "So, how do you want to go about doing this?"
"Simple," after I tied my horse to a rock, I quickly transformed, and flew off towards the prison."
"Dart you said a spy mission!" I wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. With either of us not having a watch, I looked at the sky, and knew that I was running out of time. I flew through the front gates and every soldier inside started to scramble for safety or a crossbow. At that point I remembered that he never told me exactly where the chest was, and I remembered how much of a maze the prison really was. I landed on the ground, and a dozen soldiers surrounded me ready to fight. I reached for my sword, and noticed that it wasn't there. They slowly began to close in and an arrow quickly struck one of the men through his heart. "Dart here!" Miranda flew over me, and threw down a sword. After I caught it, I wanted to make a quick escape. I concentrated, and the ground suddenly felt like it was boiling, and extremely hot. I quickly flew into the air, as everything around the men burst into flames. I started to fly off, but I noticed a cart was coming towards the front gates. I flew towards that direction and hid behind a stack of hay.
"This isn't exactly the best time to be delivering something here," the delivery man looked at the soldier strangely.
"Well I'm only doing as I'm told, and I was told that this hay, along with a chest needed to be delivered to Hellena prison before nightfall, "he walked back towards the horse, and pulled out a chest from the seat, and walked back towards the soldier. I quickly flew towards him and snatched the chest. Flying back high into the air, I yelled towards Miranda.
"Miranda lets go," she heard me, and shot her last bow, and flew towards the entrance gate. I continued to fly through the sky past the horses.
"Wait a minute Dart, what about the horses?"
"Leave them, we don't have time." She continued to follow me as we flew over trees, villages, and cities. With little time to spare, we eventually reached a castle that was once lit with green with fire, and stood tall. Now the castle stood darker then ever, and looked half destroyed. Right outside the main entrance, there was someone standing. They wore a black cloak that touched the ground, with a hood. It sort of reminded me of Lloyd. I quickly landed on the ground and ran towards the man. I dropped the chest on the stairs in front of him. "Here, your package."
"And you brought the right one too. I wasn't sure if you were going to take it from the delivery boy or not. Where's the girl?" as he asked that, Miranda landed behind me, and was in human state again. "Marvelous..." he brought up his left arm, and pointed it at Miranda. An arrow quickly shot out, and hit her in the arm. She tried to reach for her bow and arrow, but she fell to the ground, and it seemed she was unconscious.
"What did you do to her?!" I drew out my sword and I was ready to attack.
"Calm yourself, she's only sleeping, but if you want her to live, you will lower your sword," reluctantly, I followed his command, and lowered my sword to my side. "Now see, that wasn't difficult, now was it?" At that point, I had a very small tolerance, and his words were only adding to my frustration. I took one step forward, and the man put his hand to my chest, and somehow I was unable to move. Then suddenly, everything around me started to intensely glow red. "See Dart, at this rate, I can kill you. You're trying to use more energy than you have. If you continue to try to come towards me, it will make no difference to me if you die." I dropped to my knees, and tried to crawl towards the man, but he yanked my head back, by my hair. The red light continued to grow, and I could no longer keep my eyes open. "Dart, I need a helping hand; someone who can play mercenary. I know of your little mishaps, your random killing sprees to get to what you want, and that's exactly the type of person I'm looking for," he threw me towards the ground, and opened the chest. There was a small bottle inside that he picked up and walked towards Miranda. I tired to move but couldn't manage. Everything inside of me was burning in pain. He opened the bottle and kneeled next to Miranda. "This is a toxin that I've been working on for maybe a few weeks. Everything in it is so unstable that it can almost eat through anything, and I think the girl makes the perfect test subject, that is unless you're willing to meet my demands. See Dart, the spirit is slowly ceasing to recognize you as its owner, so why bother to continue to use it. Even if it did recognize you, look at how much vulnerable you are to certain things than you thought with it. I'm going to do you a favor and in turn you will meet my demands. I will remove the spirit, which will end the pain. And in turn, you will become my mercenary. You will perform any task that I give you, and I order that I give you. If you refuse, I will let this toxin eat through Miranda's face, but it won't stop from there. I will then destroy each of your friends, one by one, until you have nothing left. So what do you have to say Dart?" I struggled to nod my head. "Excellent," he then threw the bottle into the ground as the toxin steamed and ate through the cobblestone. He walked over to me, and placed his hand on my chest, and the Dragoon spirit slowly left my body, and the glowing red light slowly faded away. When he had full possession of it, he placed it in a pocket in his cloak. I rolled over on my stomach and knees, and coughed from the relief. "Now Dart, don't forget. I have no tolerance for betrayal of any form. There will be consequences if I you do betray me." He then picked me up and threw me into a wall. I watched as he walked towards Miranda, and dragged her inside of the castle. I tried to get up, but I couldn't manage to keep my eyes open any longer, and fell unconscious.
"You're a new man Dart. This is now a new beginning for you, so let's start with a few changes. From this point, your name will no longer will be Dart. You will now be knows as student until I say different. You must earn your name. That will be the only change for now. In the meantime, rest up Dart, for you have a long day ahead of you."