I do not own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters.


Break-In

Cade stared up at Hellena Prison in silence. Basil's capitol city, Bale, had been captured by Sandora. To save his people, King Albert had offered himself up as a prisoner. When Lavitz had heard, he'd gone berserk, only for Haschel to knock him out. Then, once he'd woken and calmed down, they'd all left for Hellena together, including Haschel.

"How are we doing this?" Cade asked. "Full assault, or stealth?"

"I snuck in last time," Dart said. "It wasn't a fast process."

"I'm not in the mood to sneak around anyway," Lavitz growled.

"Alright," Cade said, drawing his sword. "Assault it is, then."

"Assaulting Hellena Prison isn't exactly the smartest move in the world," Rose said. "You'd have to be crazy to think you could make it to the top."

"Alone, maybe," Cade said. "But I've got four Dragoons and a master of martial arts with me."

"Dragoons?" Haschel asked. "Like the legend of the Dragon Campaign?"

"That's right," Dart nodded. "Sorry, we would have told you sooner."

"It's alright," Haschel said.

"So, Rose," Cade said. "Did you ever decide on an answer to what I told you in Lohan?"

Rose watched him for a moment before drawing her sword. "I did. I don't believe you'll be able to keep your promise, or achieve your goal. But I'm interested in finding out, so You'll have to stick around."

Cade smiled. "I'm glad you see things my way." He looked to the others. "Shall we?"

Dart nodded as he drew his sword, Lavitz readying his spear, and Shana pulled her bow off of her shoulder. Then, they all turned, making their way quickly along the thin road leading away from the mainland to the island Hellena occupied. As they neared the drawbridge, it began to rise. Dart stopped short, but both Lavitz and Cade leapt onto it, Cade clearing the jump while Lavitz caught the edge.

"Lavitz, Cade!" Dart shouted.

"It's fine!" Lavitz said as Cade hauled him onto the bridge.

Then, they both slid down it and sprinted for the controls. A pair of guards moved to meet them, only for Cade to slash the tip off of one's mallet-like weapon while Lavitz hit the other guard's aside, then stabbed him at the same time as Cade slashed his down the front. Lavitz ripped his spear free as Cade slashed the chain holding the bridge up, dropping it permanently and a few moments later, the others reached them.

"That was a hell of a jump, Cade," Dart said.

"I'm feeling especially spry today," Cade said. "After all, I have to do my best to look good, since Rose finally admitted she likes having me around."

"I said no such thing!" Rose snapped.

Cade chuckled then looked around. He was kind of surprised no guards had responded to the bridge crashing down yet, but he was fine with that. It made it easier for them. They all ran into the prison, meeting a guard on the way, only for Dart to easily kill him. Another rushed out off to the side, but Shana put an arrow through his face before he could do anything. They headed for a set of stairs off to the left, but before they could get there, a guard tackled Cade, only to suddenly find himself pinned to the floor by him, Cade's sword against the back of his throat.

"You want to live?" Cade asked.

"Yes!" the guard panicked.

"Where's King Albert of Basil, and what's the fastest way to get there?" Cade asked.

"There's a lift over there!" the guard said, pointing to a hallway opposite the stairs, past a horse pen. "Take that up!"

"Thank you," Cade said, then stabbed the guard through the throat.

"Oh my god!" Shana gasped. "Why'd you kill him?"

"So he couldn't raise the alarm," Cade said. "We don't have time to worry about whether or not we spare anyone. He was useful, he told us what he knew, now he's not useful."

"Cade's right," Rose said. "If we're going to save Albert, we need to hurry, and that guard raising the alarm would have slowed us down from all the fighting we'd have to do."

"I guess," Shana said.

"We can worry about the morality of killing a guard who surrendered later," Lavitz said. "Let's go!"

Everyone nodded and they headed for the hallway, all cramming into the small basket lift before Dart started them up in it. Within moments, they realized the problem. It wasn't one lift. It was a network of tunnels and lifts. Cade sighed as they began to go floor by floor, struggling to find their way in the lift. They did find some worthwhile stuff on the way, like several healing potions, several Sachets, which could put almost anything to sleep, and Haschel found a pair of iron knuckles with small spikes on the knuckles. However, after nearly an hour of getting lost and retracing their steps, they finally found the lift that led up to the top where there was a bridge spanning a gap in the prison that led all the way to the bottom floor, then a small area for them to step out of the lift onto made of boards haphazardly nailed together. It didn't look structurally sound at all, so they hurried across it one at a time to make sure it didn't collapse.

Once they were all safely on solid ground again, they hurried across the bridge and into a room with a metal grate taking up the center of the room, then a raised wooden walkway wrapping from their right side around the room clockwise and leaving on the far side, then another door to their right and left, the one on the right having a small staircase outside of it and the floor sloped upward inside. They all headed for the door on the right, but stopped just before the grate as they saw guards lining the upper walkway, more stepping out of the door they were heading for, then still more entering through the remaining doors, boxing them in entirely.

They all formed a tight circle on the metal grate, Shana in the middle, and readied themselves. Cade smirked, shaking his head.

"Looks like we'll have to fight the whole way there after all," Cade said.

"That's fine," Lavitz said. "We'll just have to make it quick."

"Thank you for coming all the way here," one of the guards laughed.

"Take us to King Albert or it'll be your last breath!" Lavitz shouted.

"Does that ever actually work in this kind of situation?" Cade asked.

"Worth a shot," Dart said.

"I don't think you all realize just who, and where, you are," the guard said.

"I'd rather not fight a needless battle," Dart said. "Shut up and get out of our way."

"We know how strong you all are," the guard said, walking over to a small stone circle raised up from the low wall running along the edge of the platform he was on. "But that doesn't matter, because in the end, you're still just feed."

Cade looked down, then swore just before the gate dropped out from under them when the guard pressed the stone circle downward. He flipped, pulling Rose into his arms, then landed lightly, setting her on her feet and looking around as the others all pushed themselves up slowly.

"Is everyone alright?" Dart asked, looking around, though focusing mainly on Shana.

"I'm fine," Shana said.

"This is nothing," Lavitz said.

"I wouldn't say nothing," Cade said, eyeing a pile of bones off to one side, some of which were much, much larger than a human's, and clearly belonged to large animals like horses or cattle, maybe monsters.

"Sandora is such a coward, making a trap like that and not fighting," Haschel said.

"Strategy over honor, Haschel," Cade said. "They're more concerned with getting results than how they get them."

"And this would be an effective method for achieving them, if it wasn't us they tried it on," Rose said. "It's our own fault for falling into their trap."

"You two can be quite harsh," Haschel said.

Cade looked around, seeing Lavitz, Shana, and Dart were looking for a way out. "So, not to point out the obvious, but we're supposed to be feed, right? So...where's the pet we're supposed to be fed to?"

Everyone tensed, then looked around. After a moment, they redoubled their efforts to find a way out of the cavern. Off to one side, there was a pile of debris, possibly blocking a tunnel, but it would take them forever to remove it. On the wall to the right of that, there was a hole with light streaming through, but it was fifteen feet up the wall, and it was so small even Shana would probably have trouble crawling through it. Across from the hole was the ribcage of the animal skeleton Cade had seen, right next to the pile of human bones, most of which, if not all of them, were broken. Beside that, in the corner, was a tunnel, from which a loud snoring sound was emanating.

"I feel a breeze," Shana said suddenly, standing in front of the wall in one corner, holding a hand out to the wall.

"She's right," Dart said, stepping up beside her. "The draft is coming from behind this boulder!"

"Then if we move the boulder we can get out!" Lavitz said.

Just then, something roared loudly and angrily. Everyone turned the tunnel in the corner.

"It seems we have to welcome unwanted guests before that," Haschel said.

"Who range the fucking dinner bell?" Cade asked.

"It doesn't matter," Rose said. "We can handle whatever it is."

Cade nodded and drew his sword again, the others all readying themselves as well. The ground began to tremble as something stomped toward them. Finally, after nearly half a minute, their cellmate stepped into view. It had thick dark brown skin, grey stone-like scales covering its back and shoulders, three clawed fingers and a clawed thumb on its right hand, digitigrade feet with two clawed toes, four tusk-like bone spikes jutting forward from its face around its mouth, two smaller ones on the upper corners of its mouth and larger ones on the corners of its chin, a mouth filled with jagged, pointed, chipped teeth all the way around its mouth in several rows, a metal collar around its neck with chains hanging off the sides, a metal shackle around its left ankle, and its left arm was ended in a massive bulge of hardened skin with a dozen bone spikes jutting from the end of it ranging from three inches to a handful of arm-length ones and one the length of a shortsword and as thick as an arm at the base.

Cade swallowed hard as the thing roared, a wall of rotten breath hitting them all, making everyone but Rose grimace. He remembered hearing rumors of a monster called Jiango living in Hellena Prison, which prisoners were almost always sacrificed to, but he had no idea it would be something like this. Rose charged first, speeding toward the massive creature as it roared. It swung its left arm at her, but she stepped past it, slashing it across the chest, then leapt away before its arm crashed to the ground. Cade and Dart both charged next, but before they could reach it, it began to jump, slamming its left arm down each time, shaking the entire chamber. Cade heard a loud crack above them and looked up, then dove into Dart, tackling him to the side just before several stalactites crashed to the ground and shattered. More fell around the room, the others all avoiding them as well.

Cade stood and turned to charge Jiango again, only for the claws of its left hand, now spread open like a flower, to snap closed around his torso, lifting him before Jiango raised him. Then, it hurled him back down into the ground, bouncing him. Dart slashed Jiango across the chest, making it roar and retreat before Lavitz reached it, stabbing and slashing it with his spear's tip several times before leaping back just ahead of a swipe by Jiango's left arm. Then, Haschel leapt into the air, slamming a superman punch into its face between its eyes, sending it staggering backward. Several arrows stabbed into its face before Cade reached it. He slashed it across the face, then stepped forward, slashing it across the torso several times. It roared and raised its left arm and he dove backward, narrowly escaping the thing's left arm, only to hear the roof of the cavern crack again. He looked up in time to see a stalactite falling toward him, only for Rose to pull him out of the way.

He turned to thank her, only to see Jiango's left arm swiping downward at her. He grabbed her, pulling her as he spun, and Jiango's bone spikes tore through his back, hurling him. As it did, however, it tore open one of the Sachets, the dust scattering into the air around it. It let out a large puff of air, like a sneeze, and staggered backward several steps before breathing heavily for a moment. Then, its eyes slipped closed as it slumped forward, beginning to snore again.

"Kill it now!" Cade groaned as Shana held out her Dragoon Spirit, the light washing over him, quickly beginning to heal him.

Dart, Lavitz, and Rose all shot forward, tearing into the thing, its thick blood and bits of flesh flying rapidly and splattering over the ground as they tore into it. And yet, it remained resolutely alive. Finally, Cade was healed just as Jiango's eyes opened and its left hand shot up, catching Rose. He shoved himself to his feet, charging instantly, and streaked across the cavern, shooting past the others before slashing upward, removing its left arm at the shoulder. It roared, staggering backward, and he spun clockwise, his sword flashing around and splitting it across the chest. Then, he followed the giant monster, slashing it up the face, then back down. He stepped forward again, ducking under its head and stabbed into its torso, then spun left, slashing out through its right side. It roared, retreating, only for Haschel to leap over Cade, shouting in effort before slamming a fist into Jiango's chest. Instantly, it rocketed backward as though hit with an explosion and crashed into the boulder blocking their escape, shattering it. However, it began to stand again. Cade charged, reaching Jiango at the same time as Rose. Both slashed at the same time, splitting it up the front of its torso, then turned and slashed back down carefully, their blades together removing its head. Its body crashed to the ground and Cade sighed, taking several steps back from it.

"Is it dead?" Shana asked.

"It should be," Cade said.

"Then we should get going," Dart said.

The others nodded and they all quickly ran through the newly-opened path, then up the stairs at the end of the tunnel, returning to the room they'd been dropped from. Once there, they headed through the door they'd originally been heading to and followed the path upward through the prison. Guards and senior Wardens both attacked them, the senior wardens wearing green cuirasses and wielding double-ended spears, but Cade and the others slaughtered their way through them.

After a long gauntlet of skirmishes involving dozens of dead guards, they finally reached the top of the prison, a massive stone area with a structure in the distance and stone formations like ribs and arches extending from the prison everywhere. They made their way toward the structure quickly, and no guards tried to stop them. Apparently, they'd beaten them all. Finally, they reached the structure just as the head warden of Hellena Prison, Fruegel, raised his massive steel club, which was almost the side of Cade's entire body, over his head, preparing to crush Albert, who was kneeling before him, shirtless and bound.

"When I see the tiniest glimpse of the sun, I'll cut your head off," Fruegel grinned widely, only for Shana to send an arrow into his side. He roared in pain and rage, turning to them as they all ran in, weapons ready.

"King Albert!" Lavitz called out, Albert looking over at them all in relief and joy.

"You!" Fruegel said, staring at the Cade. "Are you the silver-haired man Doel was supposed to send?"

"Sorry," Cade said, Lloyd flashing to his mind. "I'm just here to help my friends rescue King Albert."

Fruegel laughed. "It doesn't matter! I'll smash you all before Albert!"

He lunged, moving surprisingly fast for being so fat that he'd actually grown bigger than a Giganto. His club fell in a blurred streak and they all barely avoided it, Dart bringing Shana with him. As the club chattered the ground, Cade and Rose shot forward, slashing Fruegel across the sides. He shouted in pain as their swords tore through him, then again as Lavitz stepped up in front of him, slashing him up the front with his spearhead. Lavitz flipped his spear over instantly, setting the spearhead on the ground as he leapt into the air, slamming a kick into Fruegel's face and sending him staggering backward. Dart slashed him across the back before several arrows drove themselves into his chest and stomach. Fruegel shouted in pain, turning to Cade as he charged, only for Cade to stop, dropping into a crouch. Instantly, Haschel leapt off of Cade's back, spinning and slamming a kick into Fruegel's face, sending him bouncing and rolling backward.

As he rolled to a stop, he snarled angrily, then raised his left hand's thumb and index finger to his mouth, whistling painfully loudly. Instantly, a loud bark answered, followed by a loud, piercing cry. A moment later, a massive war dog ran into the room, snarling and barking at them all as it stopped at Fruegel's side, its body seeming to have as much muscle as Fruegel did fat, and a spike on the back of each leg. Arriving at the same time as the dog was a massive bird as big as Fruegel's massive, bloated stomach, with a wingspan wider than Cade was tall.

"Guftas, attack!" Fruegel ordered, the dog barking loudly and charging at them.

Cade stepped forward, but before he could intercept the dog for Dart, who the dog was heading for, a massive boulder crashing into him, hurling him backward, though it missed crushing him by an inch. He groaned, pushing himself up as Rodriguez flew forward, grabbing Shana just before she could fire an arrow at Guftas, who had Dart pinned. Her arrow fell to the ground and Haschel moved to help Dart, only for Fruegel to slam his club into him, hurling him away. A moment later, Rodriguez, who had flown out one window dove back through it and released Shana, pulling out of his dive as Shana bounced off the ground, shouting in pain.

"Shana!" Dart shouted, finally managing to throw Guftas off and standing.

"I'm alright!" Shana said, pushing herself up, her face betraying her pain, though she was clearly trying to fight through it.

"Leave Fruegel to me and Rose," Cade said. "You all focus on his pets."

Everyone nodded and Cade and Rose charged. Fruegel swiped across his body from left to right at Rose, only for her to leap over the slash, splitting Fruegel's right shoulder wide open. He shouted in pain and staggered back a step before Cade passed on his left side, splitting his side open, earning another shout. He spun immediately past Fruegel, and when Fruegel turned after him, he slashed him across the stomach, darting past him again. Fruegel roared in pain again, only for Rose to slash him across the back, sending him staggering forward.

Cade glanced at the others as Haschel, who was holding his left arm against his abdomen like it was broken, kicked Guftas, sending him bouncing away from Shana just before it could reach her, Shana struggling to hit the bird with arrows as the bird flew around sending feathers out of its wings, the feathers stabbing into the ground like arrows. He turned back to Fruegel and charged as Rose slashed Fruegel's calves, dropping him to his knees. Cade moved to slash, only for Fruegel to shout victoriously, his club whipping around faster than any other time. Cade swore, instinctively moving to try and deflect it with his sword, instantly regretting the act as he realized his sword would never withstand the impact. Sure enough, his sword all but shattered against the club, which crashed into the side of his head a moment later. Cade's world spun instantly as all feeling left him. He was aware of his sword's remaining blade section being impaled in his leg, his hand resting against the grip, but he couldn't really feel. Then, a pair of taloned feet grabbed his shoulders, driving their talons into his back and chest deeply as he was yanked painfully off the ground.

He could hear Fruegel laughing, and he forced himself to look around, finding himself hundreds of feet in the air outside the prison as he felt the bird's talons starting to slip out of him. He groaned in pain as he grabbed his sword's hilt, then shouted in agony as he ripped it free. Then, he swung his arm up, planting what remained of the blade through the bird's head. It released him instantly, beginning to tumble through the air beside him as they fell. He focused, feeling his magic respond sluggishly to his commands after so long not using it and being as wounded and disoriented as he was. However, after a moment, his wings formed behind him in a pair of jets of magic energy streaming from his back over his shoulder blades. He focused, his head spinning as he flew himself back up to the room where the others were struggling to fight Fruegel and Guftas still. As soon as he was through the window, his wings faded and he crashed to the ground, groaning and unmoving. Guftas barked instantly, lunging for him, only for Rose to step into the way.

"Stay away from him!" Rose snapped, slashing the dog across the side, knocking it away before her Dragoon Spirit shone, rapidly transforming her. "Astral Drain!"

She hurled her sword, which stabbed into Guftas's side as she rose into the air slightly. Shining red energy began to appear all over Guftas's body, flowing across him and along her sword to the hilt before focusing into a single point. Then, that point released a red beam, which hit the Dragoon Spirit crystal embedded in the center of Rose's Dragoon Armor. The energy spread to cover her, then spread outward in waves of blue energy, rolling back on itself and forming a sphere. Then, the energy focused into a point where the waves met at her back. She shouted in effort to focus the energy before it fired in a shining blue beam, hitting Cade and shining from him as his wounds shone, shrinking out of existence rapidly.

Cade groaned as his head slowly began to stop spinning. He opened his eyes, seeing shining blue light racing over his body and shining from the ground around him. Then, it slowly faded, taking the last of his pain with it, also leaving a bit of energy behind. He stood, sighing, and looked at Guftas, who was lying on the ground, dead. Rose landed beside Cade, transforming back and glancing at him.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked.

"Yeah," Cade nodded. "Thank you."

"You killed Rodriguez!" Fruegel snarled. "You killed Guftas! I'LL PULVERIZE YOU! ! !"

He hurled his club to the ground beside him, fracturing it, then smashed his hands into the ground, ripping the floor apart and ripping a boulder bigger than his body out of it. He stepped forward, his weight with the boulder added cracking the ground just from that act, then roared in effort, hurling the boulder.

"You've got to be kidding!" Dart shouted.

"He's not human!" Lavitz shouted.

"Neither am I," Cade said, his wings reappearing as he held out his hands, a sphere of shining yellow energy forming and flashing away from his hands into the boulder.

The sphere exploded instantly, obliterating the entirety of the boulder and scattering what was left. Everyone except Rose stared at Cade, Fruegel staggering back several steps. Rose shot forward instantly slashing Fruegel's right leg and dropping him to that knee. As soon as she had, Dart slashed Fruegel up the front, knocking him backward. He began to stand instantly, only for Haschel to drill a punch into the side of his jaw, then sweep his less wounded leg out from under him, knocking him back to both knees. Then, Lavitz reached him, driving his spear completely through Fruegel's chest, impaling his heart. He stepped past him, ripping it the rest of the way through and Fruegel crashed forward to the ground, rolling forward until his face pressed into the ground, stopping him.

Just then, Albert shouted in pain, everyone spinning toward him, seeing a man in a black cape with the hood up to hide his face standing behind Albert, his right arm extending into Albert's back, light shining from where his arm met Albert's skin. As they watched, he pulled his hand free of Albert's back, a crystal sphere now in his hand, shining with a green light that was slowly fading.

"I knew it was here," the man said, staring at the stone. "The Moon Gem."

"Moon gem?" Dart asked.

Lavitz shouted in rage, charging and leaping into the air, a cyclone of wing and leaves suddenly enveloping him as he transformed into a Dragoon. However, as he shot through the air toward Lloyd, preparing to stab him, Cade sensed magic all but shining from the man.

"No!" Cade shouted, shooting forward instantly. "Lavitz! Get back!"

He was too late, however, and the man threw his right arm out, throwing his cape out of the way and exposing a sword with a hilt like a dragon's head forming a curved finger guard in front of the hilt, then a blade made of flames rushing from the hilt out to the point, forming a single-edged blade roughly four feet long. As soon as the blade was exposed, he turned, leaning out of the way of Lavitz's spear and drove the blade of his sword through Lavitz's chest.

"Lavitz!" Dart shouted, just as Cade reached them.

He threw a punch at the man as he leapt backward, his hood falling down, exposing his silver hair. However, as he avoided Cade's punch, Cade's other hand grabbed the hilt of the sword hanging at his waist. It slipped free of its scabbard and Cade flipped it around to standard grip and slashed, the blade crashing into the one Lloyd was currently holding. Lloyd skidded backward, then spun, sprinting to the window and leaping out of it. Cade ran to the edge, but stopped, seeing Lloyd's cape fluttering through the air, but Lloyd himself was already gone. Cade's fist slammed into the stone wall beside him, cracking it, but he sighed, turning as he slipped his new sword into his sheath, the sword a perfect fit, being the exact same as his last, minus the different color hilt. He walked over to Albert and knelt, untying his hands and helping him to his feet before they walked over to where Dart was kneeling beside Lavitz.

"Is...His Majesty...Albert...alright?" Lavitz asked.

"Yes," Dart nodded. "He's fine. You saved him."

Lavitz smiled. "Good. I can...entrust...the rest to...you." He raised a hand, Dart taking it instantly. "Dart...survive...and..." His head fell to the side as his arm went limp.

Shana turned into Rose, sobbing, and Albert turned away. Cade and Rose both watched silently as Dart began to have to fight not to sob. Green light began to shine above Lavitz as his armor deconstructed into light reforming his Dragoon Spirit's crystal above him before it shot into the air, only to float back down before Albert. Albert caught it and held it tightly instantly.

"Lavitz, thank you," Albert said.

Dart's eyes fell back down to Lavitz, now back in his human form, and he broke finally, weeping over his friend's body.


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