Disclaimer: I only own Verona. Elizabeth, her family, and her dragon belongs to a friend of mine.
Author's note: Next chapter. Hopefully this one won't take me as long as the next one will, right?
The Queen Fury moored up to the dock in Furni and the passengers emptied out into the streets. Once she got off the ship, Verona stretched her arms above her head.
"Home," she simply said with a smile.
Shana jumped down from the docking claw. "Maybe you could show us around your house, Verona," she suggested.
The blonde woman shrugged as she let her arms fall back down. "I guess it could get a few things while we're here."
Not much had changed since the Dragoons had last been there. Even the woman that ran the hotel recognized the seven heroes from nearly two years ago. She was ecstatic that they had returned and didn't hesitate to find them a boat they could use. Verona guided the boat to her home, which was just past the Mayor's house. She smoothly docked it into the lower level.
It was made out of the same white stone as all the other buildings. The lower level of her home was only big enough for passengers to disembark from their boats, a set of four steps leading up to the main floor. Overall, the main floor wasn't big. Empty doorways separated the bedrooms, kitchen, and a sitting room of some sort. The steps emerged into the sitting room, where a few chairs sat. Multiple pictures hung on the wall, including the portrait of a young couple with a baby girl in her mother's arms. They followed Verona out of the sitting room and past the kitchen. The first bedroom they passed looked like it hadn't been used in years. The bed was large enough for two people, but the room itself was fairly small. Some pictures were collected on a nightstand by the bed, many looking rather old. The second bedroom was obviously Verona's; the bed was smaller than the one in the other bedroom. There was a ladder leaning against the wall directly underneath a hatch in the ceiling; they assumed it went to the roof. There were fewer pictures, most of them of a young couple. There were a few pictures of an older couple. She noticed everyone looking at the pictures as she walked forward to get something from the nightstand.
"The younger ones were my parents. They died when I was five. The older couple were my grandparents from my father's side. They took care of me after my parents were killed. My grandpa died when I was fifteen, and my grandma three years later. I've been on my own ever since."
"What about the ladder and the hatch in the ceiling?" asked Meru.
"Oh, that goes to the roof. I considered that my special place when I got here. I can't count how many times I climbed up onto the roof and just sat looking up at the sky before I went to bed." She waked back to them, putting something in her pack. "I've got everything."
They walked back through the home, everyone getting back into the boat. This time they docked at the landing to go to the Evergreen Forest. Once they reached the top of the steps, the door to the house suddenly burst open, a blur of white and a small boy emerging from the home. Verona immediately smiled. She missed her usual welcome, and it had been a long time since she left.
"Verona! You're back!"
Kamuey began to run circles around the group as Teo stopped in front of them. His lower jaw dropped open in surprise. "It's you guys!"
"Hello Teo," said Shana as she smiled at the boy.
"You know these people, Teo?" Verona asked, surprised.
He nodded his regular smile appearing again. "They were the ones that saved Kamuey that I told you about!"
"Really?" she asked, looking at Dart.
The blonde swordsman nodded. "We didn't know you two knew each other."
Noticing the wolf pup balancing on his hind legs at her feet, the huntress kneeled down and began to pet him. "I met him and his family shortly after Kamuey ran away. They wanted me to go find him and bring him back. I got sick shortly after Fa was attacked and couldn't go out to look until I got better." The pup jumped on her lap, aiming wet kisses at her face. She turned her head to avoid getting wolf pup saliva on her mouth. "Okay! Okay! I get the point; you missed me!" she exclaimed as she laughed.
The pup barked happily, then jumped down and proceeded to inspect the other members of the group.
"Ma's going to be happy you're back!" Teo said to Verona.
Verona's smile decreased slightly as she gently put both of her hands on the boy's shoulders. "Teo, I'm not staying; I'm going with my friends on an adventure. It might be a long time before I come back," she explained gently.
The boy looked slightly crestfallen. He glanced at Kamuey, who looked up at Hashel and panted before the martial artist grinned and bent down to pet the pup. Teo looked back up at Verona. "Oh… Well, you'll still come back when the adventure's over, right?"
She smiled reassuringly. "Of course I will."
The smile reappeared on his face.
"Teo! Time to eat!" came his mother's voice from inside the house. Verona released the boy's shoulders.
"Okay!" he called. "Bye!" he said to the group as he began to run back to the house. Kamuey, satisfied that he had been petted by everyone, followed closely.
Verona got to her feet once the pair had disappeared into the house, dusting off her pant legs. "Well, I guess we should go."
They moved on to the Evergreen Forest, taking only an hour and a half to reach their destination. Not much had changed there as well; the evergreen trees still stood tall, birds still made their nests in the branches, and the same small plateau was still there. It was there Verona stopped, letting everyone else pass her. Her eyes drifted towards a path that led south, a glimmer of longing shinning in her eyes. Everyone else stopped walking when they realized she was behind them and looked back at her.
"Verona?" asked Dart.
"I have something I'd like to do, actually."
He nodded. "We'll meet you at the hotel in Denningrad then."
She nodded and walked south, disappearing into the forest. The rest of the Dragoons continued north to the Wingly Forest.
Once they neared the barrier, Elizabeth suddenly stopped. Everyone else began to go ahead of her.
"Wait!" she called.
They all stopped and turned to face her, most of them looking a little confused. "Why?" asked Hashel.
As if to answer his question, the ground shook with a loud crashing noise. Everyone but Elizabeth crouched to keep their balance. A clawed black foot landed heavily behind them. They all stared at the foot momentarily before raising their gaze to the see the dragon's head. Its shoulders were tense, and its red eyes were staring down at them as it growled.
All but Elizabeth jumped back in surprise, pulling out their weapons in preparation for an attack.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh please." She walked through the scattered group, left hand on left hip, coming to a stop a few feet away from the dragon. She looked up at it.
The dragon immediately stopped growling and it relaxed. It lowered its head to Elizabeth, who took the hand off of her hip and held the dragon's head in her hands and smiled. "You guys can put your weapons away. It's only Jamie."
The weapons were slowly put away, their owners continuing to stare.
"Jamie?" asked Miranda. "The dragon's name is Jamie?"
Elizabeth nodded, beginning to scratch the black dragon behind its left ear. Its eyes closed; it seemed to be enjoying it. "Of course. She's my dragon, after all."
Shana blinked. "That's your dragon?"
"She. And yes, she's mine. She almost ate me until she saw I was a Dragoon."
"Sorry; I forgot," apologized Dart to the others. "I forgot about Jamie when I was telling you guys how I met Elizabeth." However, no one seemed to be paying any attention to him, as they all were still staring at Jamie.
"So if Jamie responded with your Dragoon Spirit, that must mean she is the same element as you," concluded Albert.
Elizabeth shrugged. "I guess."
"Question!" Meru put both her hands on her hips. "Why is Jamie at the entrance to my forest?"
"Because I told her to guard it," replied the older Wingly, patting her dragon on the head before turning to the others. "Well, we should go. No point in standing around all day."
It was a few moments before anyone said anything. Hashel was the first to speak.
"… Right."
As soon as they passed though the barrier, a familiar face appeared on the guard post up above.
"Meru!"
Guaraha flew down to greet the visitors. However, Meru had quickly pulled him into a tight hug, squeezing the air from his lungs and preventing him from saying anything. Hashel chuckled.
Meru released her captive, her regular smile in place. "See, I told you I'd be back!"
It took him a few moments to catch his breath before he could say anything. "You brought your friends along too, I see."
She nodded. "We were passing through the area and decided to stop by!"
"Your parents have been waiting for you to come home."
"I'd better go see them then; and you," she poked his chest. "You should get back to work!"
He nodded. "Everyone's waiting for you; especially your mom."
Meru cringed. "Oh boy; I'm gonna get smothered, aren't I? Darn. Well, I'd better go face my fate. Later!" With a wave and a smile, she jogged up to the teleporter. Not seeing the others there with her, she turned to them and waved them over. "Come on you guys! You're so slow! Let's go!"
The other Dragoons walked up to the teleporter and disappeared. The reappeared deeper into the Wingly Forest.
Not much had changed since they had last been there; the only difference was that very few of the Winglies outside were staring at them. Two Wingly children still played in midair, hovering and giggling as they played tag.
"It's good to be home," said Meru, stretching her hands above her head and rocking back on her heels a little.
The two children who had been playing in midair stopped and faced the strangers. They were two little girls with their hair pulled up into ponytails. They looked like identical twins. A sudden beaming smile appeared on their faces and they charged forward. "Elizabeth!" They attached themselves to the older female Wingly, embracing her waist in a hug.
Elizabeth's eyes shot wide open and she promptly began to attempt to pry the twins off. "Get off!" she growled. "You two are embarrassing me!"
Neither of the girls moved. "Elizabeth! You finally came home!"
"Get off!"
"Do you know these girls?" asked Dart, one eyebrow slightly lower than the other. Everyone could hear Hashel chuckling quietly in the back.
"Unfortunately," she said with an exasperated sigh. "They're my sisters. Tammie and Jamie."
Both girls suddenly released their older sister, flying away. "Ma! Pa! Elizabeth came home!"
"Oh for the love of…!" She covered her face with one hand. "Can we leave now!"
"No way! I have to visit my parents yet!" responded Meru.
"You named your dragon after your little sister?" asked Hashel disbelivingly.
She shrugged, moving her hand away from her face. "It just popped into my head. Besides, I couldn't think of anything else."
Two Wingly adults, a male and a female, suddenly appeared with the two girls. The female had long silver hair that was tied up like the twins'. The male had short silver hair that hung in his eyes slightly. All four of them looked ecstatic to see Elizabeth again. The Dragoons wisely stepped away from Elizabeth, leaving room for the Wingly family to surround and embrace her from all sides. Her face burned nearly as red as Dart's armor with embarrassment.
Meru laughed. She thought it was hilarious; at least it wasn't happening to her.
"Elizabeth! We've been waiting for you to come back home for years now!" cried the Wingly woman.
"Mom… You're embarrassing me!" she hissed quietly through clenched teeth.
She was eventually released and her father held her out at arm's length, studying her carefully with joyful eyes. "Well, you're not the conventional woman we thought you'd become, but you seem to be doing well."
"I'm fine. I've been living in a small village called Seles in Serdia."
Elizabeth's mother finally seemed to notice the large group of people around them. Her eyes widened slightly. "Oh my… Are all these people your friends, dear?"
She nodded. Her embarrassment seemed to have disappeared. "We're missing one, though. She didn't come with us here. We're all on a big journey right now."
Her shoulders sagged in sadness and disappointment. "Oh. So… I suppose you won't be able to stay…"
"Afraid not." She didn't looks the least bit sorry.
"Well," said Meru, walking off. "I'm going to go find my folks. I'll see you guys in Denningrad!"
"Let's get going," said Miranda. "Queen Theresa will want to see you all again."
"You're leaving us again?" asked one of the girls, teary-eyed. The rest of the group still couldn't tell if it was Tammie or Jamie.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes before she got to her knees, one hand on a shoulder of both the girls. "Yes, I'm going again. But I'll come back when our adventure is over, okay?"
"Promise?" they both asked simultaneously after they sniffled.
She sighed. "I promise."
"Okay."
They hugged before Elizabeth got back to her feet, hugging her mother and father before turning to the rest of the group. "We ready?"
They nodded and they started to leave.
"Be careful!" called her mother.
"And take good care of each other!" finished her father.
"Bye!" waved the twins at the same time.
Elizabeth turned halfway, offering her family a small smile and a wave before they stepped onto the platform and disappeared.
Guaraha stopped them when they reappeared in front of him. "You're all on a big adventure again, aren't you?"
Dart nodded.
"Is it going to be really dangerous?"
"If it's anything like the last one, yes."
"Well, then could you all do me a favor then? Could you… I don't know… keep an eye on Meru? Make sure she doesn't get herself killed?"
Dart nodded. "Sure."
The Wingly smiled, relief evident in his ruby eyes. "Thanks. And don't tell her. She'd have a fit."
"Don't worry. We'll deal with her if she finds out."
"Thanks. Good luck!"
They all left, waving goodbye as they stepped though the portal. Once they emerged into the Evergreen Forest, Dart turned to the to the others.
"I think I'll stop by Neet; see if anything's changed. You guys can go ahead."
They nodded and left and the blonde swordsman proceeded to his first hometown, taking only a few hours.
It hadn't changed much, if at all. The buildings were still mostly burned. He was surprised they hadn't collapsed. He was also surprised to find a set of footprints in the snow, only partially covered by the small white flakes; they were fairly fresh. Curiosity drove him forward past the charred remains of the village to the single monument placed in the middle. Much to his surprise, there, kneeling by the stone, was Verona; she was down on one knee as she looked down at the list of names on the bottom of the stone, her braid over her right shoulder.
"… I guess there's nothing I can do about it," she said. She was apparently talking to the monument, as many do when they were at the grave of a loved one. "It was fate or destiny or something. I just wish you could have gone with me. You wouldn't have been here when it attacked." She sighed.
Dart didn't move; he didn't want her to know he was here just yet.
"I've been holding out on my own; grandpa taught me a lot about hunting, and it's kept me alive. But now…" she shook her head slightly, still not aware of Dart's presence. "I'm not sure what's going to happen. I don't know how to use this power; it seems almost dangerous, but… I'm not afraid of it. I just don't know what to do. How can I help save the world? I'm not as strong or as powerful as the other Dragoons. And I'm not as experienced as they are…"
Dart took three steps before the sound of the snow crunching beneath his feet reached Verona's ears though the cold air, making her start and jump to her feet, whirling around to face whatever had made the noise, double-headed spear drawn and ready.
"Easy! It's just me!" he assured as he raised his hands in a sign of peace.
She relaxed, putting her weapon away and her hand on her hip. "Don't do that to me!"
A small, slightly amused smile came to his face. "Sorry."
"How long have you been here?" she asked as he walked up to her.
"Not very long." He looked down at the monument. "Do you know anyone here?"
"Yeah." She looked down at the list of names, reading two in particular. "My parents. I lived here until I was five."
He looked at her, surprised. "You lived in Neet? How did you survive the attack?"
"Well, I was visiting my grandparents at the time. We could only afford to have one go to Furni, so they had me go. That's when the Black Monster attacked and my parents were killed."
"My family escaped," he said, folding his arms and looking up at the cloudy sky. "But my dad went back to fight, and my mom followed to help. My mom died."
"And your dad?"
He paused and sighed. "He… it's a long story."
Verona shifted her weight. "Really. Well, I'm glad to find out someone else survived. I thought I was the only one."
"I did for a while too, until I found out the Sacred Sister Luanna was from Neet too. She lost her eyesight, but she survived."
"Sacred Sister Luanna too?" she asked, surprised. "I didn't know. How did you find out?"
"Librarian Ute told us," he replied, shrugging. "We went to Denningrad during out last adventure. We ended up saving Queen Theresa from Lloyd after she gave him the Moon Mirror."
"You meet a lot of people on your journeys, don't you?"
He snorted. "More than I'd like to." Of course, he had in mind all the shady characters they had run into; Frugal, Mr. Magi, the Genrich Gang, Lenus, and all the other people that had caused them trouble.
"Do you think we'll meet that many?"
"Maybe. You've already met a few of them. It depends on where we go. We probably won't meet anyone in the Death Frontier, but otherwise…" He shrugged. "Who knows." He looked up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the sunlight that streamed though a break in the clouds. "Well, we should think about heading to Denningrad."
She shrugged. "I think I'm done here. What about you?"
"I just came to see if anything had changed. It's been a while since I've been here."
Verona walked away from the stone, joining Dart as he started to leave. "So, what was the story behind your father, anyway?"
"Well, he was one of the Dragoons that fought in the Dragoon Campaign 11,000 years ago…"
Author's note: That chapter is over with! How many people actually forgot about Jamie? I know I did. I was reading the second chapter when I realized I forgot about her.
