Author's Note: As an avid player of many kinds of RPGs, including Dungeons and Dragons, I have to say Breath of Fire 2 had some…unusual architectural ideas. For one, Windia has this enormous bridge that led to a useless maze that deposits you directly in the castle. Now, from a Dungeon Master perspective, this is a really bad idea. That bridge just INVITES an invasion. Seriously. It leads right into the damn castle. So for this story, the Windian bridge leads into the city, not the castle. Because the castle idea is tactically stupid.
Chapter Six: The City of Angels
The journey from the ruined village to Windia went without further incident. Mina, with her usual exuberance, soon put the horrible tragedy behind her. But Nina knew that the sight would haunt her little sister for the rest of her life; the elder Windian could only hope that Mina would draw an important lesson from it.
But Ryu carried the past even as he put it behind him. The top he found had a place in his bags, hidden from anyone's eyes. But he always knew it was there. It gave him something to think about during the quiet hours of the evening, after the girls had gone to bed. Only in the night and only when he was alone did he dare to take out that top. Only then did he dare to wind it up and let it spin.
Katt went about their journey with her usual mien. She had neither the Windian sisters' innocence nor Ryu's inner demons to dampen her mood. Unfortunately, that meant the sojourn to Windia seemed infinitely longer for her.
"I'm so bored!" Katt wailed, practically shouting out her complaint.
"You needn't be so vocal about it," Nina said with barely-contained annoyance. "I think I preferred it when you just sulked."
Mina simply giggled at the Woren's antics. "You do have to admit, Nina, that all we've been doing for the past week and a half has been walking. Well, hovering in our case, but still…."
"You won't have to suffer for much longer," Ryu said with a teasing grin. "We're only half a day away from Windia." He pointed to the west, beyond the cliff edge overlooking the ocean. Across the strait were the windmill spires of the Wing Clan's ancestral home.
Mina breathed a sigh of relief at seeing her homeland…but Katt let out an even bigger one. "Thank Eva…we're almost there," the Woren let out in an exaggerated breath of fatigue.
Nina just rolled her eyes. Ryu chuckled. "I promise that as soon as we get there, we'll rent out the finest rooms at the inn, all right?" the ranger said.
"Oh, you won't need to do that," Mina said with a bright smile. "I'm sure Mother and Father will give you guest rooms."
"That's very nice of them," Katt said. "They must be rich people to have enough guest for all of us."
"They're the king and queen!"
Ryu and Katt stopped in their tracks and just looked at the younger Windian in shock. "Wait a minute," the ranger said, as soon as he got his mind around the idea that he had been traveling with royalty. "Wait a second here…so you're the princess of Windia…and your royal pet is a pig?"
Mina blinked. "What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing," Ryu muttered, still a bit dumbfounded. He looked at Nina, who seemed very apprehensive. "If your younger sister's a princess, then that makes you the heir-apparent," he said.
Nina nodded hesitantly.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Katt asked. "I mean, if you'd told us you were a princes…."
"Would you have treated me any differently?" Nina cut in.
"Erm," the Woren stammered, "well, no. But still, it sounds like something you should tell your friends. And we are friends, right, Nina?"
The black-winged Windian nodded slowly. "I want to think of you as friends…but my lineage isn't exactly what you'd call…conventional. I mean…well, I'm not the kind of princess you think I am."
"That's for sure," Katt said with a lopsided grin. "I always thought noblewomen were spoiled and stuck up, with a rod up their backsides for good measure. Always dainty, quiet, and waiting to be rescued by some muscle-headed moron. You know, damsels in distress at all hours. You're definitely not any of the above."
Nina's warm smile touched her eyes. "I'm glad you think so highly of me, Katt."
"Hey, you saved our hides back when we were fighting Joker; I'm only telling the truth here."
"Ladies," Ryu interrupted, "while I'm glad to see that you're all getting along, it's starting to get dark. If we want to reach Windia by nightfall, we should keep marching."
Katt and Nina looked at him with sheepish grins, but the Woren voiced their shared thought, "Party-pooper. You're such a workaholic, Ryu."
"The Bridge of Winds," Nina said with a mixture of joy and heartache. "Ten years has been too long a time since I've seen its great expanse."
"I wish you could stay with us," Mina said, gripping her sister's hand gently. "These yearly visits…they're too few, Nina. I miss you so much."
Nina closed her eyes, shutting away the majestic spires, the white clouds, the smell of dove's feathers that clung in the air…the memories of home. "How are Father and Mother?"
The younger sister's wide eyes saddened. "It's like they're carrying some great weight. I'm sure it has something to do with you, even if I don't really understand what's going on."
I'm afraid I understand all too well, the elder Windian thought glumly. Aloud, she said, "Well, perhaps understanding will come later, sister. For now, let's go see our parents." But in her heart, Nina steeled herself for what was to come. And she knew all too well what was to come.
The Windians led the way into the city proper. Katt, having never visited a city as large as this before, took everything in with wide-eyed fascination, her fatigue suddenly forgotten. Indeed, she seemed rejuvenated by the new sights, sounds, and smells—especially the sight of hundreds of men and women flying high in the sky like angels.
Ryu, though, maintained a steady state of alertness. He noted what Katt did not, noted those elements that seemed to make graceful Nina's shoulders sag.
He saw the dark looks thrown at her. He saw the wariness in the eyes of merchants. He saw the fear in the eyes of the children.
Why are they afraid of Nina? he wondered. There is a story here that isn't being told, I'm sure.
The party marched up the long staircase leading to the castle gates—Nina and Mina's home. The guards halted them, giving Nina's black wings a cold, stony glare.
"State your name and business," one of them said gruffly.
Mina, seemingly oblivious to the dark tone, stepped forward. "Hello, Marcus! These fine people helped my sister escort me home."
The guard, Marcus, blinked in surprise. "Princess Mina! You're safe! We were all so worried." He tapped the other guard on the shoulder. "Go get the King and Queen; tell them the Princess has returned." The other guard nodded and headed inside.
A few moments later, a stately couple came out. With their strong presence, graceful movements, and high chins, they could only be the royal family. Katt and Ryu instinctively bent to one knee in deference to the monarchs. Nina did the same after a second's hesitation. That made Ryu raise an eyebrow in confusion.
Why would a princess do that? he thought.
"Thank you, brave adventurers, for bringing our daughter back safely," said the queen, her tone frosty and precise—and Ryu noted as well the singular use of "daughter." "You will be well rewarded for your heroic efforts."
"No reward is necessary, Your Majesty," Nina said in a voice that was equally chill. "As a citizen of this great nation, it was my privilege to aid the royal family to the best of my ability."
"Nina?" Mina said, confused. She looked to her sister and then back to her parents. "Why is she talking like that, Mother? Aren't you going to welcome Nina back?"
"Welcome back who, dear?" said the King.
"My sister!"
Ryu watched the exchange carefully and paid close attention to Nina's expression. Thus, he saw the stiffness in her soft face when the Queen spoke her next words, "Mina, you have no sister."
With that, the royal family retreated into the castle, taking Mina with them. The guards sealed the gates behind them. Nina rose with difficulty, her normally graceful movements rigid and jerky. She looked like she was about to cry.
I didn't cry back then. I won't cry now, she reprimanded herself. I knew this would happen. I was expecting it. Don't cry, Nina. Don't cry, damn it!
But her aching heart betrayed her. Hot tears ran down her cheeks. She wiped them away contemptuously. Stop crying! You're a big girl now. You've been on your own all this time and you didn't cry about it. Stop crying…huh?
Ryu offered a square cloth to her. As always, he was silent. But there was something in his emerald eyes—a sadness, an old loneliness, that told Nina he knew exactly what she was going through.
She took the cloth and wiped away the tears. "S-sorry," she burbled weakly. "I-I don't u-usually have breakdowns l-like this. S-sorry."
"If you want to talk about it," Katt said with infinite pity and empathy, "we're here to listen." The Woren took Nina's elbows in a friendly manner, giving them an inviting squeeze. She flashed the Windian a warm smile. "We're your friends, after all."
Nina sniffed a few times, breathing slowly to bring her back to calmness. The tears stopped, the sobs receded. And she was ready to begin her tale. "You might have noticed that my wings are black, while other Windians have white ones. That's really the long and short of it, actually. There's a legend that says 'the one with black wings will bring disaster.' When my parents realized I was the one mentioned in the prophecy, they…they exiled me."
"Your own parents?" Katt was shocked.
Nina shook her head. "You misunderstand. They didn't do it out of cruelty. They did it to protect me from those who'd try to kill me because of the prophecy. They sent me to boarding schools in other countries, where the legend had never been heard of before. My sister would come visit me every year, just to keep in touch…but my parents…."
Nina shook her head again, sadly this time. "I don't think they ever got over their guilt for doing what they had to do. They couldn't face me, I guess. You see, they never visited me once. This is the first time I've seen them in the ten years since my exile. I want to think that's the reason, because the alternative is far worse."
"And what's that?" Katt asked quietly.
The young Windian's eyes misted over, on the verge of tears again. "That…that t-they stopped…l-loving me."
The Woren wrapped her arms around the winged woman, holding her tightly. "I'm sure that isn't the case. There's no way a parent could stop loving their child."
"I hope so," Nina murmured.
"And for what it's worth," Katt continued in brighter tones, "I think your wings are beautiful. Right, Ryu?"
The taciturn ranger simply nodded. Nina smiled at them both. "Thank you," she said softly. "I…I needed to get that off my chest."
"All right then!" Katt said loudly, bounding up and punching her fist into the air. "So Mina's safe and sound. I guess that means we have to help Ryu out now, right? Off to more adventure—this time, to catch that thief and clear Bow's name. Right, Ryu?"
That Katt, Nina thought to herself with a grin, I don't think anything could dampen her spirits. I feel better just by being around her. She looked at Ryu, who was looking right back at her with appraisal. Involuntarily, Nina blushed under his scrutiny. He's so…I don't know. For a second, I thought he and I connected…he understood what I was going through, even though he didn't say a word. But now I can't read him at all.
The ranger broke her thoughts when he said, "Nina, this journey Katt and I are undertaking doesn't concern you. If you want, you don't have to come with us. I wouldn't want to put you in any danger, or to have to make Mina worry."
Nina shook her head. "No, you two have been very supportive and you saved me and my sister. That is a debt I will be glad to pay. Let me help you in return, Ryu." He is really a strange one, this Ryu Bateson. He seems so distant all the time…but he has a caring side, too. He really is strange.
Nina regarded them all: the energetic Woren, the laconic ranger, the exiled princess. But then again, she mused, we're a strange group as it is. She smiled. I couldn't have made better friends.