I do not own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters.
Rematch
Cade walked up the spiraling coral path leading up the stone pillar in silence, sword in-hand. They had had to go to Pete's home town to open a sea gate in order to vent excess water and open the path to the Prison Island. As soon as they'd crossed the path that had been submerged, they'd begun to have to fight their way through Mermaids, Glares, which were basically eyeballs with tentacles on bottom, Sea Piranhas, and Screw Shells, which were small yellow monsters with for long, thin legs, then a screw-shaped spike on its back, which was capable of jumping and spinning through the air up to twenty feet with enough force to impale someone.
"I wasn't expecting this place to be quite so populated," Cade said.
"Keeping the water deep for half a year probably gave the monsters the chance to reproduce," Albert said.
"Probably," Cade agreed just as they all stepped out onto Prison Island.
It was a huge, dark stone island with the path ahead of them being a half-pipe of black stone, and there was a perpetual storm overhead, though it wasn't raining currently. Stone spikes jutted up out of the ground along the sides of their path, as well as being visible to either side of it, though scattered here and there.
"Lovely place," Rose said flatly.
"Fitting for what is to come," Haschel said.
"She'd better not have passed off the Moon Dagger yet," Dart said.
"I can sense it here," Cade said, again taking the lead. "Let's go.
They all nodded and followed the path quickly toward the center of the island, where Cade could feel the magic of the Moon Dagger. As they reached the center, however, they saw that Lenus wasn't alone. The center of the island was open with a short path leading to a round platform ringed by boulders and short stone spikes, then with water around it filling the rest of the massive hole in the island. There was a current, so Cade could tell there were, at the very least, tunnels leading out into the bay underwater. However, his attention focused to the chunk of land in front of them and to the two silver-haired people standing there. Lenus had burn scars over most of the visible spots of her body, including the upper left side of her face. Beside her, holding the Moon Dagger in his hand, was Lloyd.
"Lloyd!" Dart shouted, drawing his sword as they all sprinted to the small stone island.
"There you are!" Lenus snarled. "I'm not sure which one of you blasted me, but you're gonna pay for it! And now, I'll have to repay you for ruining my tender moment, too!"
"Looks like the only thing that's tender here is you, after you got roasted," Cade said.
Lenus clicked her tongue. "That's a bit rude! And all I did was try and steal something for my love. It's not like I was originally planning to kill anyone or anything."
"Is this all a part of your plot, Lloyd!?" Dart demanded.
Lloyd was silent for a moment before speaking, face remaining disinterested. "My will is with Emperor Diaz. Everything was planned by the god."
"You're still talking about that crap!?" Rose scoffed.
"You killed Lavitz!" Albert said, pointing his spear at him. "Let's settle the score now!"
"I have a calling to reform the world," Lloyd said, turning away from them and walking to the edge of the island. "I have no time to worry about the little things, like Lavitz."
"Lloyd!" Dart shouted.
"I've heard enough!" Albert shouted, just as Lloyd jumped up onto the rocks around the edge of the island.
"I am the one who torched your home to the ground," Lloyd said. "I am the one who deprived your friend of his life, and I hold the Moon Gem and the Moon Dagger in my hands." He turned away. "You abhor me, don't you?"
Then, just as he jumped away from them, a blinding light suddenly shone from all around them, everyone shielding their eyes.
"I am heading to Mille Seseau," Lloyd said. "Pursue me, if you can survive!"
Then, the light faded and he was gone. Cade took a step toward Lenus but she backed away, holding up a hand.
"Easy, Easy!" Lenus said. "Wait a minute! Don't be so hasty!"
"Oh, we'll find him later," Cade said. "You're dying first."
Lenus's eyes narrowed as anger filled her features. "It was nice of him to give you an invitation, but you're gonna have to decline." Suddenly, she shone blindingly before the light faded, leaving her in light blue Wingly armor just as revealing as he normal clothes, holding a pair of brown, coral-themed fans with the rounded edge sharpened. "Because you're going to die now, in here!"
Then, a massive blue Dragon burst from the water behind her and to her right. It had a largely serpentine body, dark blue scales on its back, grey on its underside, a large, teardrop-shaped head with four red eyes, a pair of huge tentacle-like feelers extending from the base of its skull, each feeler about as long as three of Cade and bloated slightly at the end, two smaller feelers from the sides of its snort at the end, and four short horns from the top of its head at the back, both angled backward. As soon as it appeared, every Dragoon present transformed and Cade formed his wings, flying at Lenus. She deflected his sword, shining blue magic energy forming along the edge of her fan before she began to spin and slash at him with them, hurling them one at a time, Cade deflecting them each time one came at him from off to the side, only for them to return to her, allowing her to continue fending him off. He flipped over a slash from her finally and slammed a kick into her shoulder, throwing her to the ground before dropping, driving his blade deep into the ground but missing her by an inch. She hurled her fans at him and he flipped into the air, pushing off his sword and throwing himself into the air to avoid them.
As both swung around in the air to attack him again, Rose shot up in front of him, slashing both aside before he grabbed her and shot down to the ground, the Dragon's larger feelers to crash together where she'd just been. He ripped his sword out of the ground and spun just in time for Lenus's foot to crash into his chest, hurling him backward. She spun, slashing at Rose, but Rose ducked under it, then slashed her up the front. Lenus shrieked in pain, backing away, and Cade swiped his glowing fingers through the air. A moment later, a half-dozen pillars of flame exploded to life around the Dragon, burning on the surface of the water, before more and more began to start. The Dragon shrieked as the flames from several of the pillars hit it, and one pillar was directly below its head.
"Regole!" Lenus shrieked, then spun, hurling her fans again.
Cade slashed them both out of the air just as Regole leapt out of the water, beginning to crash down in one spot, then jump again a moment later, circling their island. As it did, the water began to rage before flooding outward, hitting the wall of stone around it, and shot into a massive Tsunami that towered over everyone. Cade could sense magic energy in it as well, but it was also still mostly a force of nature. The magic simply aimed it inward at them.
"Brace!" Cade shouted.
He grabbed Meru, then Kongol grabbed him, clinging to a stone spike on the edge of the island. However, as the water crashed down on them, that didn't mater. The force of the water ripped them off the spike instantly, beginning to hurl them about like rag dolls. Cade lost his grip on Meru and slipped out of Kongol's grip, but he couldn't focus on that. He was struggling to figure out whether his head was spinning because he was busy, or because he was still moving. Finally, the water began to settle and drain and left him laying on solid stone, soaked, coughing up two lungs full of water, and having no idea what was going on around him. He looked up as one of Lenus's fans spun toward him, but before it could hit, Rose tackled him out of the way, the fan tearing a gash across her back instead.
"Rose!" he gasped.
"I'm alright," Rose said, standing and holding out his sword. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Cade said, standing and accepting his sword. "I'm just a bit mad now."
Rose nodded just as Regole began to fire a pair of shining yellow laser beams out of its eyes, the beams sweeping over the island rapidly, chasing them all around. Finally, Dart shot into the air, hurling his sword skyward and beginning to charge a fireball. Lenus shot toward him, both fans shining, only for Cade to intercept her, slashing her across the chest. She shrieked in pain, beating her wings and launching herself away before hurling both of her fans. Cade slashed one out of the air as the other headed for Dart, only for Rose to deflect it.
As she did, Albert reached Lenus, cracking her across the jaw with the back end of his spear, then spun, slashing her with the spear head. She caught the back end and kicked him, launching him into Kongol just as Dart's fireball exploded against Regole's head, making the Sea Dragon roar in pain, rearing back. Haschel fired his charged blast of Electrical energy into Lenus, who screamed in pain, just before Shana's arrow stabbed into her abdomen. Her eyes went wide and she began to fall, only for her fans to return to her. Then, she flipped, hurling both and sending them crashing into Rose and Albert's weapons and sending them exploding into the walls around the cove, then slammed a kick into Haschel, sending him into the stone wall as well. She caught her fans before landing on her feet and a circle of blue magic energy began to spread from under her. She leapt forward, another spreading as she landed, then another, and another, finishing a box. From each circle, a pillar of stone totem heads rose around Kongol, Shana, and Meru. Cade and Dart both shot down at her, only for her to grin just before Regole's feelers crashed into the pair, blasting them down into the circle. Instantly, she threw one arm into the air, a cube of water forming, trapping everyone who was inside instantly, just in time for Regole to fire its eye lasers again. The beam passed through the water easily, tearing across everyone else and slamming them backward into the suddenly-solid back edge of the water cube. Finally, the beams ended after about three passes per beam, and Lenus kicked the top of the pillar she was standing on, making it collapse, the water crashing down and collapsing the others.
Cade groaned, looking up at Albert, Rose, and Haschel, all three of whom were only just now picking themselves out of the wall. He grit his teeth, pushing himself up. He was not expecting the fight to be so hard with one Dragoon and one Dragon against two Winglies, five other Dragoons, and a Giganto. He turned to Lenus as a pair of shining blue disks appeared around her fans and she hurled them both at him. He grit his teeth, then slashed them but upward into the air and shot forward. Regole moved to slam its feelers into him, only for Dart to flash past below it, engulfed in flames, and slash it sideways across the underside of its head before the ground exploded. Cade focused, and when Lenus caught her fans and moved to slash him, he split into three blue-tinted afterimages, each slashing and tearing three gashes open across both of Lenus's sides and across her abdomen. Then, he reappeared behind her. He spun instantly, forming his wings again and streaking forward, grabbing Meru and Kongol before flying into the air, hurling both skyward before swiping his glowing fingers through the air. Regole retreated underwater instantly, just as flames exploded to life in a ring around Lenus, taking up the entire platform, all of the Dragoons joining them in the air as Cade caught both of the others again. Then, the ground inside the ring of fire exploded, burning Lenus severely and hurling her into the air. As it did, Regole suddenly leapt into the air, roaring, only for Cade to throw Kongol at Regole, then Meru at the island before following the other Dragoons as everyone but Shana charged Regole. Kongol used his axe to tear a long gash in Regole's side before leaping to the island. Then, Cade and the other Dragoons began to pass, Cade, Rose, and Dart driving their swords hilt-deep into the dragon's sides and flying along it as it emerged from the water, Albert focusing Wind magic into a blade around the end of his spear to do the same, and Haschel spinning and flipping as he passed the dragon, slamming devastating blows into it over and over. Finally they all broke off their attacks just before Regole crashed down in the water. Dart shouted in effort a moment later, plunging his sword into the center of the island and a trail of flames shot forward just as Regole burst out of the water before him, roaring. A massive fireball exploded out of the ground at the edge of the island, then hit Regole, passing around its head and down its body, burning it as it went until it hit the water, flames spreading outward across it. Then, the flames focused into several points around Regole and began to explode. Regole thrashed and roared, flailing and shrieking in pain, splashing Lenus, who was lying off to one side, unconscious. She stirred, looking up just as Regole's shriek tapered off and it crashed backward into the wall around the cove before slipping under the water, thick dark blood billowing up to the surface after it.
"No!" Lenus shouted. "Regole! You'll pay for that!"
"I don't think so!" Cade said, streaking forward instantly.
He slashed at her as he reached her, but she flipped over him, hurling a fan, which tore through his side before she caught it again, spinning and deflecting Rose's sword. Cade flipped, streaking back at Lenus, only for her to spin in a circle, her fans tearing through both of their abdomens before she turned toward the others. However, just as she did, Meru leapt off of a stone spike behind them slamming her hammer into Lenus's back, sending her crashing to the ground. Lenus groaned, pushing herself up just in time for Dart to slash her across the chest, sending her staggering away. However, as he moved to finish her, she smirked, one of her fans passing into the ground, which was suddenly water. Anyone standing on it fell in instantly, and before anyone else could react, the other fan passed into the water and a massive geyser exploded into the air, hitting everyone else before reversing directions and dragging them in. Cade tried to move, but it felt like his body was encased in steel. He couldn't move an inch. Lenus took off instantly, streaking through the water with ease and slamming punches and kicks into the all rapidly. After a moment, she spun, forming her fans, shining blue disks around them, and hurled them, sending them streaking around and around through the water. One of them split Cade's left shoulder open to his collarbone, splitting his shoulder blade partway. Then, Lenus drilled a punch into his nose, then a foot between his legs. He began to drift away from her, only for one of her fans to tear through his left side, sending him at her again in time for her to drill three more punches into his face, then flip backward, slamming a kick into the underside of his jaw, sending him streaking upward, though he didn't reach the surface, which he suddenly couldn't even see.
He looked down as Lenus continued streaking around and around through the water, along with her fans, drilling punches and kicks into the others. Rose tried to slash her, but simply received a gash across the stomach, above the one already there, then both sides as repayment before Lenus drilled half a dozen punches into her face and hurled her at Cade. After barely thirty seconds from them all getting dragged underwater, she'd beaten them all half to death and hurled them all toward each other. Cade's gut dropped suddenly as Lenus held her arms out to her sides, two shining spheres of light forming around her hands before she swung them up at them, the spheres combining, then erupting into a massive beam of magic energy. It exploded into them all like a physical blast, the water inside of it boiling, blasting them up out of the water before fading, dropping them all back onto the once-again solid island. Cade groaned, his whole body burned, his left arm hanging limply, and his ribs feeling shattered. However, he extended his wings, floating into the air as Lenus turned to him, watching him as he drifted to the side, toward his sword.
"You still haven't had enough?" Lenus smirked. "You're stubborn. I'm impressed you can stand up to the power of a Dragoon even as well as you do. As a fellow Wingly, I know full well how much weaker you are than me."
"You don't...know anything," Cade panted, stopping and holding out his right arm, his sword streaking through the air back to himself, as he'd figured out how to do by watching Lenus do it. "You're just...some pirate. A cocky...bitch...with too much...power."
Lenus began to laugh. "Bit words from someone who can't even stand!"
"I don't need to...stand," Cade panted, then grinned. "I'm only here to hold your attention."
Lenus's eyes widened and she turned back to the others just before Dart slashed her down across the chest, then her right side, followed by Rose slashing her across the left side, then Albert driving his spear into her chest. All three leapt back to the others, and Lenus staggered backward. She stopped herself, straightening up only for her left leg to nearly buckle, tilting her upper body left, then the other, tilting her to the other side. Then, she folded forward slightly, both arms hanging limply, barely holding onto her fans.
"Lloyd," Lenus said, slowly beginning to raise her arms across her body, "my life..." she snapped her arms out in front of her, then began to move them out to her sides, a pair of shining blue disks of energy appearing around them, both disks far more concentrated than what she was using during the battle, "is for you!"
She hurled both, the second throw sloppy and causing her to turn away from them, then collapse onto her back. One of the two swung toward Dart, Shana rushing toward him to get him out of the way, the other heading for Cade.
Cade slashed his upward and it began to arc around as Shana leapt at Dart, the disk missing taking her head off by an inch, then swung back around at them again at the same time as Cade's spun toward him from behind. Cade began to turn too late, only for Rose to step into the way, knocking the fan out of the air at the same time as Dart slashed the one going after him out of the air as well. Cade sighed, then dropped as his wings faded. Rose knelt beside him instantly, pressing both hands to his shoulder, Cade sucking in a harsh breath instantly.
"Albert, get me a healing potion!" Rose said urgently. "Albert!"
She looked up at him, as did Cade, but the others were all distracted by the Dragoon Spirit floating down from the air to hover in front of Meru. Rose shook her head.
"I'll be right back," Rose said, hurrying over to Lenus.
She felt through her pockets quickly before pulling out a small phial of a blue liquid that was glowing softly and slid back over to him, pulling out the cork and held it to his lips. He drank it and hissed in pain as his wounds began to rapidly shrink out of existence, none of them even leaving a scar. He sighed, pushing himself up, Rose helping him stand, and they turned to the others. Meru was dancing in celebration of being chosen as a Dragoon, and Dart and Albert were discussing having to tell King Zior they couldn't get the Moon Dagger back. Cade sighed and turned, walking away from the others, Rose following him, and Haschel and Kongol just behind them.
As they walked, Cade glanced at Rose, who seemed lost in thought. "Thank you for saving me during that fight, beautiful."
"You don't need to thank me," Rose said absentmindedly.
Cade grinned knowingly, waiting, and after a moment, Rose's hand flashed up, smacking him in the back of the head.
"Don't flirt with me when I'm distracted," Rose said.
"Oh okay," Cade smirked. "So it's okay to flirt with you as long as you're paying attention, then."
Rose glared at him, and he grinned. Before she could stop him, he hugged her, then danced out of the way of her slap.
"I think I owe you about five after that fight," Cade said. "Which reminds me. I finally figured out how to do this on the ship."
He extended his wings and his right hand shone brightly, the light washing over her and healing her wounds as well as sealing the tears in her clothes. Once the spell was done, he let his wings fade and she stared at herself for a moment before nodding.
"Where the hell did you learn that?" Rose asked.
"After nearly dying the last time we fought Lenus, I wanted to be able to heal using magic on the off chance Shana wasn't around or we didn't have healing potions and one of us was injured," Cade explained. "I would have done it after this fight, but I'd already lost too much blood to focus my magic."
Rose nodded. "And the clothes bit?"
"A very convenient side effect," Cade said.
Rose nodded. "Well, you may have just earned your place helping me."
"Oh, so I already have a place?" Cade grinned.
Rose glared at him. "Don't make me hurt you."
He laughed, then nodded, both of them falling into a comfortable silence as they headed back to a monster-free area of the Undersea Cave to wait for the others.
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