Lost Legacy
Amadacyan, Capital of Dragon Riders
After the proclamation, there was an awkward silence. There was, however, a multitude of people who were very much willing to stare at him like he was a madman, then turn back to their dirty bowls of God-knows-what and mutter that he should hurry up and be killed, and good riddance for bad rubbish. Blade's face reddened with indignation; these people were enslaved, but unwilling to try to get out of slavery! What was wrong with them?
He growled deep in his throat and turned back to his cache of collected knives and forks which had been collected over the course of three months, and twirled a spoon in his hand irritably, switching it from hand to hand while it was still spinning. This plan would work, he was sure of it, it had to! Then he would be in Figaro, where he belonged.
Those slave-drivers would feel the wrath of his makudenkunai, sheet-lightning knives!
He stuck his arms through the bars, a knife in hand, and started to pick the lock. It snapped open and he slipped out, then held the door ajar. "Anyone coming?" he asked, and they all shook their collective heads. Where was the trust? Blade muttered and turned, slamming the door on its hinges and stomping off down the corridor.
He ceased his stomping and tiptoed down the stone corridors, careful not to look inside any of the rooms and cells that seemed to pop up quite randomly in the dungeons. There were chains everywhere, tools of torture lay around the floor by his feet, some blood stained, some not.
The first time he had tried to escape he had made the mistake of peeking around in some of the cells, and that had been a terrible mistake. He had seen dead slaves, still hanging from chains or torture devices, their blood spilling or spattered, some just rotting away, their mouths open, vacant looks of what must have been the last few moments of excrutiating pain written all over their faces. Some had limbs missing, some had chests ripped open, their innards for display, and young Blade's stomach could not hold down the pure dirtieness he had felt, an unclean feeling that ripped at his mind and made his insides convulse, and that had been the circumstances of his first capture. Blade Figaro, thirty years old, had witnessed a horror that made grown men sick to their stomachs, sick in their minds.
And he lived. He was still alive and he wasn't about to end up like the poor souls whose remains were tossed from one end of a damned cell to another, his blood wasn't going to be used to paint the walls red, no siree. Blade Figaro was going to get out of here, no matter how many times he had to attempt escape to do it. Here he was friendless, here he had no real hope of anyone helping him, of anyone rescuing him, but outside... outside he could find help, he could hide, and he could use his ninjutsu to quell any foe who wanted to bring him back. Those slave-drivers were just lucky that he'd been unable to use his jutsu! Ha!
He hoped that the drivers didn't come down looking for slaves to do more dirty work and realize that he was gone. He had precious little time to roam freely, because once he was reported to be gone they would hunt him like there was no tomorrow and toss him straight back into that dirty little hole. Sometimes he wondered why they left him to escape over and over again, why they just didn't finish him like all the other slaves wanted them to. The other slaves didn't like rebels, it made them look at a person that was brave enough to do what they were to afraid to do. He was a Prince, and he wasn't about to sit in a slave pit.
The lights were dim and were suspended by weak rusty chains, his shadow didn't cast very far by them. Luckily, his shadow fell behind him so it would not be noticed by anyone in a room in front of him. While growing up in this hovel, Blade had mulled over many things in his lifetime.
Why hadn't anyone tried to find him? Or maybe they had, but just couldn't find him. How hard could it be to find a King's son? Especially a son such as he? In fact, he had found that he had no idea where on earth he was, and it was a major setback in his plans for escape. What if there was no one above ground to help him? What if everyone above ground was hostile? If it was too far away from Figaro, he could never reach there on foot... so many doubts had crossed into his head, but all were pushed away. It was better to die a death out there, of starvation or thirst, of asphyxiation or of being pole-axed by a tree, then to die in here where no one would know what had happened to him, to die scattered from one room to another, or to die with the lashes of a whip, the bruises from severe beating, on his back.
He would not stand for it; this was do or die.
Landing in Amadacyan was tricky business: the city was filled with throngs of bustling people, merchants hawked their wares, women shopped, men looked at their wallets and sighed at how suddenly empty they had become, and children stared wide-eyed at toys and trinkets in stalls. Food was sold, food was eaten, water was drunk, bathrooms were used, wine was sold, throw up was requested to be deposited in trash cans, and bottles hastened to bins. Small animals roamed the streets, quite used to the multitude of people and not at all bothered by the spews of dust that rose from pattering feet, and unused light poles hung over the square. Every now and then the square darkened with the passing of a dragon and rider and the crowd looked up to wave brightly like it was an everyday even, and indeed it was.
Amadacyan was the capital of Dragon Riders, where they were seen en masse at any given time, and where the mountain of spirits rose in the distance behind a congregation of trees. In truth, it wasn't Amadacyan the city that Dragon Riders gathered to, but the great forest of Amadacyan, a forest used to the roamings of dragons and used to the occasional appearances of men, women, and children long since dead.
For Dragon Riders, this was the one and only home, the home of a gigantic family of Riders and their dragons. Roy, unaware of all this importance, was busily trying to keep himself from being slapped in the face by some nasty looking tree branches. He sighed heavily as Elissa finally parked herself in a clearing and Serin grabbed him and jumped off.
Roy squirmed under Serin's arm: Young or not, he didn't like being carried like a toddler! Serin ignored his protests and set off at a brisk pace into God-Knows-Where, though Serin seemed to have a very good idea of where he was going. Just to get in the know, Roy asked Serin where they were going.
"We're going to Amadacyan Forest. Well, actually, we're already in it, but we're going to the Dragon Rider capitol, Amadacyan." Roy gave him a blank stare in return for this information, and Serin sighed. "It's our headquarters, and I haven't been back in quite a while. I'll probably get chewed out by-"
"SERIN! Where have you BEEN?"
"Gato..." Serin sighed.
"Serin! I was wondering where you ran off to, I mean, you haven't been around in mrrrowwr years!"
Roy stared up at the other man, who was of medium height and build, and possessed a fiery blue head of hair with eyes to match, and had just said 'mrrrowwr'. "Gato, you're going bilingual again..."
"Ah! Sorry, I meant thirty-nine years, you know. Anyways... Uragawa's positively furious, he's wanted to talk to you but you've been nowhere in sight."
"Gato, I really have something I need to-"
"Plus, he says it's important, about 'the egg'. He keeps muttering it all the time and he floats to and fro up on the mountain. He's recently taking to haunting a bit down here."
"Uragawa's come down from Mount Spirit?"
"Every day since you left," Gato affirmed, and Serin strengthened his hold on Roy.
"Then it must be important. Gato, see to Elissa for me. Tell the others I'm heading up to Mount Spirit. Oh, and..." he gave Roy to Gato. "Take care of the kid for me." Gato looked surprised and glanced down at Roy, who looked positively furious.
"Heh, cute. Is he yours?"
"I honestly have no idea who he belongs to."
"Oh, then-"
"Just take care of him and Elissa and I'll be back in a few hours. Hopefully Uragawa's near the summit."
"No, Uragawa is right behind you." Roy yelped as a transparent finger sank into Serin's shoulder and came back out and Serin spun around, but not before giving Gato a look and jerking his head towards the bustlings and rowdy noises further ahead. Gato nodded and waved to Elissa, Roy tucked under one arm, and did what he was bidden.
Serin crossed his arms over his chest.
"Well... Serin. Looks like you've gotten older without me."
"It looks that way. I haven't seen you in a long time, Leo."
"Nor I you. How long has it been, exactly, Serin?" Serin detected a bit of a reprimand in the ghost's voice.
"Thirty-nine years."
"Thirty-nine years and not so much as a friendly hello. What have you been doing?"
"You know Cecil is tailing me, Uragawa, you know that perfectly well."
"Now now... are you upset, Serin?"
"Of course not, why would you think that?" Serin said, pacing back and forth.
"You only ever called me Uragawa when you were upset, Serin. Usually at something I had done."
"It's not any fault of yours, Leo."
"I hope not. Cecil is tailing... you, or your new companion."
"Perhaps us both. We don't know who the boy's father is."
"Well, that could be any number of men."
"Did you leave a child behind, Leo?"
Leo's jaw, or the ghostly recreation of it, twitched. "I wouldn't know if I did."
"Why not?" Serin snapped.
"I died. Simple as that."
"Your wife-"
"Never appeared on Mount Spirit, or I would have known. If I left a child, then that child is still with its mother."
"Scratch that possibility then..."
"Keep trying, Serin."
"The egg?"
"Still dormant, though a little while ago it changed colors."
"To what from what?"
"To black from blue."
"... like Cecil's."
"Yes, just like Cecil's dragon, Tobias."
"Okay... anyway," Serin said quickly, changing the subject. "Anyway, I was at Figaro not half an hour ago, and I talked to Lord Bartimaeus; it seems that his two sons, the princes, went missing right after I was last there thirty-nine years ago-"
"Or indeed since you've last been seen anywhere..." Leo mused. He seemed to love to interrupt Serin.
"Stop cutting in. One would be about thirty-nine, the other around forty-eight, both with distinctive features from Bartimaeus or Angela. Am I right in suspecting enslavement in Tetro, Narim, or Balian?"
"Before I answer you... let me just say that it is disappointing how you have left Balian to decay."
"Leo, I had no choice. Balian was dead."
"But there was still some hope, still is some hope, for that kingdom to recover."
"There aren't any heirs, there isn't a soul who would step foot in that... that warzone."
"None but the soulless, Serin, none but those who possess no souls."
"Leo-"
"You should have stayed to defend it, dead or not... but you are right in thinking enslavement. It is what I would think as well. Let me just say this: avoid Balian at all costs, do not step foot in Balian unless you are ready, or if there is no other choice."
"But why, Leo?"
"You are not ready... to face Balian, Cecil, or your past. Your disappearance for thirty-nine years proves that." Serin clenched his jaw and turned, ready to enter the city and leave Leo behind. "I'm not a fool, Serin. Nor are you."
"I'll see you later, Leo," Serin said with finality, and he started off for the city.
Roy, meanwhile, was pointing to things and jabbering questions at Gato. "What's that over there? That big thingie?"
"Well I dunno, kid, there's lots of big thingies in Amadacyan. You mean the spire looking thing?"
"No, the thingie next to it that looks like a sphere with a dragon on it!"
"That's the Conference Hall. It's set up in tiers so that Riders and their Dragons can sit comfortably in it, and it's usually where our leader would give speeches or certain missions, but... it's been in disuse for a long time." He waved up the golden steps shaded by trees and layered with red carpet and towards the golden dome itself, a gigantic dragon in gold sitting at the top. "See that dragon? He was the biggest dragon to ever fly the skies, and the most powerful too. Tomas was his name, if I recall correctly, and he's supposedly Elissa's father, though that's by and large a rumor..."
"So who was his Rider?"
"One of the old Kings, grandsire of the former King."
"And why's the dome in disuse?"
"Well... you see, Leo Uragawa, our former King, died years and years ago, and only a King with a material body can claim the throne. Lord Uragawa is still haunting Amadacyan, but he can't claim the throne because of his lack of a body. When he died, he didn't leave any heirs behind at all. None, zilch, zippo, so we're kind of in a hole here."
"Doesn't he have cousins or something?"
"The laws are very strict. Only a direct descendant of the Uragawa line can claim the throne, so that means that no one else in Lord Uragawa's family can claim it other than him, his father, his son, his daughter, etcetera."
"So mothers can't?"
"If she was directly descended she could, but if there isn't any Uragawa blood, she can't claim the throne and reign in stead of her husband."
"Ohhh... that's complicated."
"Sure is," Gato snorted, carrying him up the streets to the market. He looked down at Roy under his arm and grinned, making the scar on his cheek seem to broaden. His light blue hair was capturing most of Roy's attention though; he looked like he'd been struck by lightning or something.
"So, what are you doing tagging along with Serin, eh? Come to be a Dragon Rider?"
"I dunno..."
"You should though, it's really cool. The only downside is that when you're older you'll be stuck to a certain kingdom to defend, but if you're with Serin I think you can actually freelance using his influence."
"That's kind of like cheating isn't it?"
"Not especially. Serin's pretty well known around here, pretty well known in all of Ameran. He's got a thousand different names, like 'Defender of the Mist' and 'Tempter of Fate' or 'Tempest of Blades', stuff like that. I, on the other hand, freelance because all the current kingdoms have Dragon Riders. Besides, I wanted to stay and defend Amadacyan. I was born and brought up here you know, it's really a great place to live. Not one day goes by that isn't interesting."
"So where's your Dragon?"
"Who, Redden? She's probably flying around somewhere, let me check." Gato seemed to concentrate for a second, and his face broke into a smile again. "Ah, she's gone to chat with some other dragons and size up the men." Gato winked at him. "Even Dragons have to find partners, you know. Redden'sa real softy though, real easy to get along with, so it won't be too hard. But for a hard case like Serin's Dragon, Elissa... well. I think some of Serin's younger self rubbed off on her. Maybe a little too much."
"Younger self?" Roy questioned. He wanted to get to know everything he could about Serin.
"Yeah, when Serin was younger, like, way back in the days where he first got Elissa, he was one heck ofa head case. Couldn't sit still for a minute, couldn't be quiet to save his life, and he was practically joined at the hip with Uragawa. Oh, Uragawa was sent to the same training as us, Prince or no, and he and Serin stuck together like jelly flies to swamp fungus. Those were some great times, they'd prank all the instructors, get punished for it, not be able to sit down the next day, and then they'd do it again! They were crazy, especially Serin. That was why I thought King Uragawa was insane when he stationed Serin to Balian. Balian is a huge kingdom, a fair pain in the butt to protect since there are often multiple raids by road and by sea going on out there. Usually the royal family only sends out experienced Riders out there, but he up and sent Serin, a novice, out there with Elissa. Leo Uragawa was stationed to stay at home, at Amadacyan, of course, and then Serin left a couple of weeks afterwards for Balian.
"I heard he did pretty well out there, actually. Him and the King of Balian got along great, Balian's raids and attacks started to slow, business started to boom even more than it had been, and Serin would come and visit Leo Uragawa from time to time. But on Serin's... I'd say it was his twentieth visit or so to Amadacyan, the King died, and Leo succeeded him for the throne. Leo's free time became less and less and he was constantly out on Rhona to check on something or the other in Ameran, and Serin's visits dwindled to a couple of times a year.
"But then Lord Uragawa disappeared. He wasn't back in Amadacyan by the time he said he would be, and everyone was getting worried. Word had been sent to all the Dragon Riders in their kingdoms and Serin flew over here as fast as he could, then started heading for the south where Lord Uragawa had disappeared to. But then... then... Balian... was slaughtered in a single night.
"Serin came back the following day with Lord Uragawa's body and a dragon egg in tow. Lord Uragawa was dead already and they interred him into the royal tomb. Serin said he had already performed the burning rites on Rhona's body, and he put the egg up in the Egg Hall, adjacent to the Conference Hall, right in the middle of all the others. That's where it's been to this day. That was... seventy-five years ago, and it still hasn't hatched. Highly unusual, since most eggs hatch within the span of three to seven years. We've had multitudes of hopeful Riders come and touch it, but it hasn't hatched for any one of them... I think it's just being stubborn."
"Could I try? I think I want to be a Dragon Rider too... like Serin."
"You'd have to ask Serin about that, I'm not exactly ina position to give you permission to do anything. You're Serin's kid?"
"He told you he didn't know, and I don't know either."
"Why? Orphaned?"
"I don't know."
"I see... I was orphaned too, raised by wild Katos, which is why I start switching to Kato language sometimes."
"What are Katos?"
"You know, little cat looking things with big furry ears, big eyes, small set of teeth, claws, tail, they come in bright colors..." Roy flashed back to the cat thing that attacked him, yowling and spitting, and nodded. "Yep, I was raised by Katos, and I can speak Kato. That's why I start going bilingual sometimes."
"Cool..." Roy wasn't raised by Katos. He was raised by the Mustang family, the Mustang family that had lied to him about his reason for existance his whole life. And he hadn't had a clue. Sometimes he found himself missing his subordinates, Kain Fuery, Haymans Breda, Vato Falman, even Alex Louis Armstrong, and especially his close friend Jean Havoc. And most definitely his best friend Maes Hughes, who was... dead now. But there was also something else... by God he missed Riza Hawkeye, that stubborn woman who would make him lie down when he was injured even if she had to sit on him and point a gun at his other eye. He quelled the feeling. It wouldn't matter now, he couldn't have any of that back. Riza was in Amestris, he was here, in Ameran. She was twenty-eight... he was a thirty-two year old in a ten year old body. He kind of missed Edward and Alphonse as well, especially Ed, who was usually his comic relief.
He wondered if they were worried about him. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't realized that he'd been given to someone else until his face smacked into Elissa's scaly blue leg. Serin muttered an apology and started to mount Elissa, but Roy cried out, "Wait! I wanna be a Dragon Rider!"
"We don't have the time, we have to look for-"
"But! But! We don't have to stay here and train, you can train me! Please? Please Serin?" With this childish outburst, Roy felt an emptiness in his head, an emptiness as a memory fell away, and a dark spot in the picture of his friends appeared in his head. There were Riza, Jean, Maes, Alphonse, Edward, Vato, Kain, Breda... and... who?
His thoughts were interuppted again as Serin sat down, hands on his knees. "Alright. Alright, you win. We might as well head for Egg Hall." There was a thoughtful and calculating look in Serin's eye, and Roy wondered what he could be thinking. "Just for... well... maybe we should have you try... that egg first."
"Which one?"
"The one that hasn't hatched in seventy-five years, Roy, seventy-five years." He took Roy by the hand and told Elissa to wait outside Egg Hall for them, and she snorted, rolled her eyes, but obliged, twitching her tail huffily. A man waiting just in front of the silver doors growled a command and raised a lance, and Serin held up one hand.
"Where's your I.D young 'un?"
"Relax, Meto, it's me, Serin."
"I'd like to think so, but I need proof." The man grunted and his lance never wavered from Serin's chest.
"Fine fine... here," Serin waved his hand above his blinded eye, just above the scar that stretched from below his brow to under his eye, and something under it glowed in the shape of a dragon. Meto, the guard, nodded, his red beard nodding up and down with him.
"It's good to see that you're back, Serin. Come visit some, eh?"
"I'll try, Meto. And I'm bringing in this little guy with me. Future Dragon Rider, this one."
"Ah good... we need more. Serin, most of the new initiates have failed to awaken Dragons. It's an unprecedented loss of Riders to be sure... it's just strange. Nothing like this has happened since..."
"Yes... I know. Hopefully it was just a fluke. Come on, Roy." Roy followed Serin inside as Meto stepped away from the door and waved at it, making it creak open.
The hallway inside was dimly lit and covered from wall to ceiling with eggs every color of the rainbow, but Serin was ignoring these and striding purposefully onward, sharply commanding Roy to keep his hands firmly to himself. Roy nodded and reached for Serin's hand again, almost like a reflex, and another hole bored itself into his memory. He suddenly felt frightened and his hand tightened on Serin's. Serin stopped and looked down at him, then forward again, muttering, "Uragawa..." but holding onto Roy's hand all the same.
Serin had begun to notice a certain vague similarity between the boy he was caring for and his old friend, Leo.
He stopped in front of a crystal pedestal and Roy bumped into him, then looked up again at the black egg, then at Serin. Serin lifted him up and made sure his feet got a grasp on the pedestal, then let him stand on his own. "Go on. The only thing now is to touch it, and if it's you it's been waiting for, then it will break. It's okay, take it slowly." Roy nodded and reached a quivering hand out tentatively, then flinched before he touched the egg. Serin encouraged him gently, and Roy bit his lip, closed his eyes, and stroked it quickly.
Nothing.
Serin sighed and picked up Roy again. "Guess not..." Roy put his arms around Serin's neck and looked behind them, then squirmed excitedly. "Wait! Wait a minute, Serin! Look!" Serin whirled around and the egg wobbled dangerously on the edge of the pedestal, fell, and hit the floor with a resounding crack. Roy jumped off of Serin and down to the egg as pieces of it popped off and a growl issued through the room. The last of the egg popped off and a small black Dragon emerged, rubbing its red eyes with a foreclaw and whipping its tail back and forth, it's black scales and red ridges glinting.
Awwww... I was having a nice nap too...