Same disclaimer.

***

Normally, my day starts with a practice session. But that day, the day when it all began, was different.

I was just going outside when Shana called me. "Jason! Zack's here!"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Zack came to Seles? I thought he was tied up with pointless royal functions. "I'll be right there." Given who our guest was, I abandoned my usual poker face; I preferred to avoid social interaction for the most part, but Zachary, Crown Prince of Serdio, was my friend, so I gladly made an exception.

Zack was waiting for me in the kitchen, immaculately groomed as always. Like me, he wore a Dragoon Spirit on a chain around his neck. He grinned when he saw me. "Hi, Jason. How are things in the back end of nowhere?"

I clapped him on the shoulder. "If you want the back end of nowhere, go to Rouge. What brings you here?"

"I'm on business for my father." Zack sipped some tea Shana served. "He says it's time for the next generation of Dragoons to rise."

"What's that supposed to mean?" It sounded like something Albert would say, but I was curious as to the rationale behind it. "You and I are both Dragoons. Is he saying it's time for us to have an adventure of our own?"

"Something like that." The Crown Prince shrugged. "You know about Lloyd's little project, right? The one about parallel worlds?"

"Yeah." I had a feeling I knew where this was going. "Dart told me about it last month. Why?"

"Well, he's found several already, and one looks like it's in deep trouble." Zack sipped his tea again. "According to what we've been able to learn, the place is called 'Gaia'. We don't have anything concrete yet, but Dad wanted me to give you a heads-up."

"What kind of heads-up?" I asked suspiciously.

The new Jade Dragoon smiled slyly. "He wants you to lead the new Dragoons on a mission to Gaia, to find out what the danger is, and stop it."

"What!?" I shot to my feet. "Is he insane!?"

Zack laughed. "I think it's a good idea, actually. You leading us, I mean."

"You idiot! Zack, you've seen me in public. Do you seriously believe I have any leadership qualities at all!?" I couldn't believe I'd heard him right. Albert's out of his mind. I'm no leader. I'm a loner who hates being around people. Zack's an exception, I've known him for years, but five more of us!?

"That's exactly what I believe," Zack said. "Besides, it's sort of a tradition that the Fire Dragoon leads the fight. Anyway, he's already talked to Dart about it, so you're stuck."

If Albert weren't both my King and my best friend's father, I'd kill him. I sighed. "I guess you're right. Now what?"

"First, we need to get the new Dragoons together." Zack held up his Spirit. "You're the Fire Dragoon, I've got Wind. Five to go."

"I guess we search, then." I buckled on my sword. "Let me say my goodbyes, then we can get moving."

He looked surprised. "Already?"
"Why not?" I shrugged. "If your father is right, we need to assemble the Dragoons as soon as possible."

"I should have known." Zack looked resigned.

As Zack had said, Dart already knew what was up. "You might not think you're ready for this, but I know you better than that. You'll do fine."

Shana gave me a quick hug. "Good luck, Jason. Be careful."

"I will." I glanced at the Crown Prince. "Come on, Zack. We've got a long journey ahead."

***

"So, where do we go first?" Zack asked.

"Lohan." I paused to bisect one of the ever-present monsters in the forest. "I have a hunch about the new Violet Dragoon."

The prince impaled a goblin. "Who?"

"Chris Barton. He's a student of Haschel. He won the Hero Competition last year. One of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the world."

Zack chuckled. "Haschel trained him, then he must be really good. You ever meet him?"

"Once. I doubt he remembers me."

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that," the prince replied. "You usually make a big impression."

"Yeah, one that makes most people give me a wide berth," I shot back. "Face it, Zack, to most people I'm a cold-blooded killer. How am I supposed to lead if you're the only one who isn't afraid of me? And Derrick isn't helping matters any." Derrick Sands was the head of the only real gang in Seles. Unfortunately, unlike his moronic cronies, he had enough genuine fighting ability to give even me trouble. As far as I was able to tell, his only real weakness was his over-inflated ego. He did not, however, know that I was a Dragoon.

Lohan hadn't changed much since the war. It was larger, true, but the layout was still the same. I had only been there a handful of times, the most recent being the Hero Competition the previous year. The city was the same as I remembered it: a very annoying maze. The way to the arena was straightforward, at least.

"How do you plan to find Barton?" Zack asked.

"Simple. I'm going to register for the tournament." I quickly glanced around the arena; no threats that I could see. "He'll undoubtedly be here to defend his title."

"If you say so."

I stepped up to the counter. "I'm here to register."

The attendant nodded. "Name, hometown, and fighting style, please."

"Jason Connell, from Seles. I fight with a broadsword." I drew my blade and held it up for inspection. "This sword will cut through almost anything."

He nodded again, somewhat taken aback by my attitude. "Please go down those stairs."

The waiting room was more crowded than I expected. From the loose talk I heard, a lot of the contestants were there specifically to put that "Rouge upstart" Barton in his place. For my part, I was skeptical; most of them looked too weak to give even rookie soldiers any trouble.

"Well, look who's here," said a sneering voice. "Looking for trouble, Iceman?"

I sighed inwardly. The voice belonged to Derrick Sands; "Iceman" was a nickname he'd come up with when I was about five, since even then I was far from an outgoing person. "I'm actually searching for someone, Derrick, not that it's any of your business." I looked him in the eye, cool as ever. "Is Chris Barton here?"

The gang leader laughed uproariously. "That little twerp? Of course he's here. He thinks he can keep his title."

"I take it you don't?"

Derrick looked at me as if I was dense. "How could he? Last year was a fluke. He'll never repeat that feat."

"If you truly believe that, then you are letting your ego interfere with your thinking," I replied coldly. "Chris Barton was trained by Haschel, of whom I'm certain you have heard. If you wish to win, then I suggest you not underestimate him."

An attendant came in, halting further conversation. "The first match is Brian Lynx versus Jason Connell. Are you ready?"

Lynx, a large man with an even larger spear, said, "I've been ready for hours!"; I nodded silently.

"Then please make your way into the arena."

I drew my sword and assumed a battle stance, gazing at my opponent through narrowed eyes. Lynx was certainly no amateur, but I doubted he'd fought someone like me before. I had been trained by one of the greatest swordsmen of all time.

"Time for bed, kiddo!" he yelled, and charged.

I didn't waste my breath replying. Sidestepping his attack with ease, I responded with a pair of cuts, right to left and back again. "Double Slash!"

Lynx tried again. This time I went for something a little more elaborate: a chop, then another, a spin followed by a third strike, then an uppercut slash. "Volcano!" Lynx went down, out like a light.

Too easy. I returned to the waiting room without comment.

Derrick grinned when I entered. "You've kept in shape, Iceman. That guy never stood a chance."

I rolled my eyes at the contempt in his voice. "Derrick, some free advice: stop treating inferior fighters like lower life forms. That'll get you in trouble one day."

"Yeah, right." He smiled. "Looks like the next match is you and me. You up for it?"

I shot him an icy glance. "If it gets me closer to my objective, yes. Let's go."

We squared off about ten feet apart. I knew all too well that this would be very difficult indeed. Derrick Sands had been the bane of my life for more than a decade, and I had little doubt he would take great pleasure in defeating me in the arena. Not that I had any intention of allowing that.

"It's show time, Iceman! Take this!" He hurled a Poison Needle at me. This, of course, was cheating, but I was far from surprised. Fortunately, it had no effect, thanks in large part to my Wingly heritage, something only a few knew about.

"You're wasting your time, Derrick." I was outraged enough at his cheating to transform into a Dragoon and smash him, but I restrained myself. Four reasons: one, it would have been cheating; two, I prided myself on discipline; three, he wasn't worth the effort; and four, it would have resulted in drawing needless attention. Instead, I opted for a seven-hit combination that sent the gangster reeling. "Moon Strike!"

He staggered. "I'm not through yet!" Derrick lunged, just missing.

"You're good, Derrick, but you've got a lot to learn." I casually smacked him over the head with the pommel of my sword, then returned to my place to watch the remaining matches.

Zack met me in the waiting room. "Nice job, putting that nitwit in his place."

"Don't underestimate him, Zack." I glanced through the door; Barton was in the process of demolishing his opponent. He's good. And he has a Dragoon Spirit. Perfect. "One thing Derrick Sands is not is stupid. His problem is that he lets his ego get in the way."

"Yeah, whatever." Zack shrugged.

The attendant rushed in. "This is it! The final match to determine the strongest in Endiness! Enter the arena when you're ready!"

Chris Barton faced me across the arena floor, relaxed and confident. I returned his gaze expressionlessly; he clearly didn't remember our last meeting, which meant he had no idea what he was up against. Not that I expected this to be easy, far from it. Haschel's prize student was sure to be a very dangerous adversary indeed. Here goes nothing.

Barton started with a basic one-two, feeling me out. "Double Punch!"

I grunted once, then retaliated; chop, slash to the right, spin and slash to the left, stab, and lunge upward. "Crush Dance!"

"Flurry of Styx!" I remembered that move all too well from sparring with Haschel. Chris had apparently decided he needed to hit harder.

"You asked for it." Chop, slash five times, kick, chop. "Blazing Dynamo!"

"Omni-Sweep!" Punch and kick till they drop.

"Time to end this." I spun my blade in a circle, then charged, launching Barton into the air and slamming him to the ground. Lloyd had taught me that move.

"Oof!" He grunted in pain, then hauled himself to his feet. "You win."

"It's time to announce the results!" The attendant ushered Barton, Derrick, and me to the arena's center. "The winner is the flaming swordsman, Jason Connell of Seles! The toughest and strongest man in all of Endiness!"

Give me a break. Dart, Rose, and Lloyd would eat me for breakfast. But the man was continuing. "Second place goes to last year's champion, the young Rouge Master, Chris Barton!" More cheering. "Third goes to Derrick Sands, the 'Scourge of Seles'!"

"Scourge of Seles"? Just what is he up to? I glanced at Derrick out of the corner of me eye. He had something nasty up his sleeve, I could tell.

***

"So you're saying I'm a Dragoon? Like Master Haschel?" Barton obviously didn't believe me.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. And I'll prove it." I leveled my sword at the pendant around his neck. "Wake up! Dragoon of the Violet Dragon!"

The Dragoon Spirit flared brightly, revealing Chris in new armor. He stared at it in wonder. "Okay, I stand corrected. What do you want me for?"

I gestured to the prince. "Zack can fill you in."

Chris looked at him for the first time. "Zachary, Crown Prince of Serdio? It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness." He went to one knee.

Zack shuddered. "Please, don't. I get enough of that at home." He proceeded to get the new Dragoon up to speed on the situation. "So that's how it is. You in?"

Chris nodded. "I'm in. How could I refuse?" He turned to me. "You're the leader, then?"

"Not my idea, I assure you," I replied. "Not that there's anything I can do about it, so I might as well do what I can. Our next stop is Fletz, in Tiberoa. I think the new Dragoon of Light will be there."

***

Zack insisted on playing tour guide when we got to Fletz. "My mom's from here, remember, so I've been here lots of times."

"Keep it short, Zack," I warned. "We're here on business."

"We should at least visit the Twin Castle," he said.

I nodded. "True enough. Since we're Dragoons, we should pay our respects to King Zior. And I'm sure you'll want to see your aunt."

The guard let us by without question, since he obviously recognized Zack as the King's grandson. I'd been to the Twin Castle before, so I at least knew my way around. The place was more ornate than Indels, largely due to the celestial ornamentation everywhere.

"Prince Zachary! Welcome!"

Libria, Princess Lisa's maid, was standing nearby. "Hello, Libria," Zack replied. "We're here to pay our respects to my royal grandfather." I noticed just a touch of irony on the word "royal". "Is he available?"

She smiled. "Of course. Please follow me."

The Chamber of the Sun was the same as it had been for centuries, spacious, with large windows to admit plenty of sunlight. Whatever my opinion of Tiberoan religion might be, even I had to admit the Chamber of the Sun was magnificent.

King Zior beamed when he saw Zack. "Zack, how nice to see you again."

The prince grinned. "Grandfather." He then moved to embrace the woman on his left. "Aunt Lisa!"

"Zack." Lisa smiled.

I went to one knee. "Your Majesty, thank you for seeing us."

"Oh, get up," Zior said, chuckling. "I could hardly refuse to see my grandson and his best friend. What brings you here?"

I rose. "We are on a mission at the request of Zack's father, Albert of Serdio." I sketched out what we knew thus far. "So we need to find the remaining Dragoons," I finished. I nodded to Chris. "This is Chris Barton, the new Dragoon of Thunder. I have reason to believe the Dragoon of Light is in Tiberoa. I would like your permission to search."

"Of course." The king smiled. "You have my permission, even to go through the Valley of Corrupted Gravity if necessary."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"I believe I know who you are searching for," Lisa said. "A girl named Laura Trent lives in this city. She wears a white pendant around her neck."

"Sounds about right." I bowed to king and princess. "Thank you."

The three of us found the girl in question quickly enough. She was in the planetarium, indulging in the Tiberoan national obsession: stargazing. I couldn't blame her, really; the planetarium really was a sight to behold.

Zack saw her first and froze. "She…she's…"

I looked. Laura was certainly attractive, but Zack's reaction still surprised me. He wasn't usually the sort to get tongue-tied over such things. "What about her?"

He snapped out of his funk. "Jason, let me handle this one, okay?"

I shrugged. "Suit yourself." This should be interesting.

"Jason, is he always like that?" Chris whispered.

I shook my head. "Not that I've seen, and I've known him since I was little….there he goes."

Zack had made some sort of stumbling pickup line, gotten a weird look, then given up and activated the Dragoon Spirit. It was fortunate we were the only ones there at the time, otherwise someone would have asked unanswerable questions.

Laura gaped. "What just happened!?"

"You're the new Dragoon of…uh…" Zack looked at me pleadingly.

I maintained my non-expression, but inwardly I was laughing my head off. Here was the suave, urbane Crown Prince of Serdio, unable to get a coherent sentence out. I let him stew for a moment, then spoke. "You're the new Dragoon of Light."

"Dragoon!? You mean the warriors who saved the world twice!?" She seemed quite pleased with the notion.
I nodded. "That's exactly what I mean. I'm Jason Connell of Seles, the Dragoon of Fire. This is Chris Barton, the Dragoon of Thunder. The guy having trouble getting a word out is Zachary, Crown Prince of Serdio, and Dragoon of Wind."

The redhead took another look at Zack. "Really?"

"Yeah," he said ruefully. "But please, don't call me 'Your Highness', okay? I prefer just Zack." He gave her the standard briefing. "Are you willing to help?"

"Sure! Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Laura grinned. "Just let me get packed." She turned to leave, then paused. "I think I know who the new Earth Dragoon is: a Giganto named Indora."

"Good." She left, and I turned to Zack. "You okay?"

"Yeah." The Jade Dragoon grinned. "I think she likes me."

Oh, brother. "Whatever. Let's go."

***

Since all four of us were Dragoons, we were able to completely bypass the Valley of Corrupted Gravity. I was glad of that; Dart had told me of his experiences there, and I wasn't inclined to try it out myself, even with the Virage gone.

The Home of Giganto had been rebuilt after the Gehrich gang was driven out. Now, more than a decade later, it was a thriving city, inhabited by more than just Gigantos, though they of course were the majority. I saw plenty of Humans, a few Minintos, even a couple of Winglies.

Laura took the lead, since she'd been there before. "Come on. Indora lives down the street."

The Giganto she referred to was in plain sight. Indora was bald, hugely muscled, and even taller than I am. "Hello, Laura. Friends of yours?"

She smiled. "These are Jason, Chris, and Zack. They're Dragoons."

Indora didn't look even remotely surprised. "Ah, yes. Kongol told me you'd be coming."

I said, "So you know what's going on?"

"As much as anyone does." The big Giganto held up his Dragoon Spirit. "I already know how to use this, so we can leave whenever you're ready."

"Excellent." I shook his enormous hand. "That just leaves Water and Darkness, and I have a good idea who the Water Dragoon is."

"Who?" Zack asked.

"Seria."

"Meru's daughter?"

"The same." I nodded. "She's just as hyper, too, so watch yourself."

Zack chuckled, shaking his head. "You're so obsessive about discipline, I don't see how you can stand her."

I shrugged. "She keeps me amused. Yes," I added, seeing the look on Laura's face, "I do have a sense of humor. I just rarely show it."

"Is he always like that?" she whispered to Zack.

"Except when he's among close friends, yeah. Lot's of people are afraid of him." The prince rolled his eyes.

I ignored the byplay. "Come on, guys. Next stop, the Forest of Winglies in Mille Seseau."

***

The trip to the Forest took about three days. During that time, I did my best to get to know my new teammates. Zack I already knew, of course. Chris turned out to be a good cook, which was fortunate. I'm not bad, but Zack was one of the few people who could burn boiling water. Laura was an expert at first aid, and had a fondness for plants. Indora was second only to me as the silent type. He made himself useful by gathering firewood.

The Forest was another place that had changed with the years. Some Humans had moved in, thanks to Meru's influence. Aside from some inevitable clashes, the two races lived in peace, proof that we were more alike than anyone thought. (Not that that applies to me, of course, since my grandmother was a Wingly.)

"Hey, Jason! Great to see ya!"

For once, my mask cracked and I grinned. "Long time no see, Seria. How you been?"

"Great!" The young Wingly gave me a quick hug. "Already know why you're here, and we've got the new Dark Dragoon, too!"

"Really?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah!" She beckoned to someone, and a young woman stepped over. "This is my best friend, Dari Allen. She's from Deningrad."

I sized her up. Dari reminded me very strongly of Rose. Same hairstyle, same mismatched boots, same weapon and armor. Almost like a mirror image, really. Definitely attractive, definitely dangerous. "Let me guess. You idolize Rose."

She smiled. "She trained me."

Figures. At least that means I can rely on her in a fight. "Now I remember. Rose told me she had a student. Three, four years ago, it was." I nodded. "You obviously know who I am, and what we're supposed to do. Anything to add?"

Dari grinned. "Just that I think Albert was right to pick you for a leader, even though you hate it."

My eyes narrowed. "How did you know how I'd react? Never mind; Rose undoubtedly predicted it." I sighed. "Ready to go?"

"You got it."

"Then let's move." I waved at the largest tree. "The dimensional gateway leading to Gaia is in the ruins of Kadessa."

***

Author's note: There's the first chapter. I hope you like it. This will be something of an A.U. story since I haven't completed Final Fantasy 9, just so you know. Please read and review.