I do not own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters.
Too Late
Cade watched as the Divine Dragon shot past overhead. It was too late. They weren't even back to the Blano yet and the Divine Dragon was already headed for Deningrad. A pit of worry formed in his stomach for Shana. He didn't want to lose a friend, and he couldn't imagine how Dart must feel.
"Oh no, Deningrad!" Miranda shouted after a moment of shocked dismay.
"We gotta run!" Dart said, chasing after her, everyone else following.
Even as they ran, they all knew it was no use. They were too late to save the city from its attack. It was just too fast. They reached Blano, who checked that they got the staff, then told them to group together so he could teleport them to Deningrad directly. They did as instructed, and after a moment of him shouting in effort to charge the spell, the usual light blinded them for a few moments, only to leave them in the same place as the spell failed. However, two more Winglies, a man and a woman, were standing beside Blano now.
"It didn't work," Blano sighed.
"Not yet," the other man said, turning to them, beginning to gather magic energy for a teleportation spell. "We believe in Meru, and her friends who Meru believes in, too!"
"I would like to see the future that Meru and her friends create!" the woman said, beginning to help.
Then, another Wingly, this one wearing a white robe, long hair, silver pauldrons, and a red sweatband arrived, beginning to help as well.
"Guaraha!?" Blano asked, then shook his head beginning to help again as well. "Go on, Dart!"
Then, the usual light of teleportation blinded them and Cade felt them jerk into movement. However, as they travelled, he sensed the Divine Dragoon's attack. One attack felt like the Divine Dragoon's magic energy spreading over the city. Then the Dragon's power spiked from somewhere else, but he couldn't sense what it was doing. However, just as their teleportation ended and Cade's feet hit the ground, he felt something snap, and sensed a massive amount of Wingly Energy be released before a streak of gold light shot from Deningrad into the sky, aimed directly at the Moon that Never Sets, Cade sensing the Wingly Magic in the light. He grit his teeth, sprinting after the others as they ran for Deningrad. It was horrible. Everything was destroyed. Every building had been blown apart, every street was cracked and cratered, and the Crystal Palace was completely gone from halfway up.
"We're too late!" Dart gasped.
"Is...Is this really Deningrad?" Miranda asked, clearly shaken and on the verge of breaking, before her eyes focused on the palace. "The Crystal Palace is destroyed! Queen Theresa!" She took a few steps forward before stopping and looking back, seeing everyone else was too shocked to move. "Don't be such a laggard! Shana is in the castle too!"
Dart swallowed hard and nodded, snapping back to reality and took off running after Miranda. Meru, Albert, and Haschel all sprinted after them, as did Kongol, though he fell behind, but Rose stopped, when she noticed Cade wasn't following immediately.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked, walking back to him and cupping his cheek.
"What are we doing?" Cade asked. "Do we really think we can defeat something that can do..." He looked around, then back to her. "How do we even...start?"
Rose was silent for a moment, considering. "We start by making sure our friend and the Queen are okay. Then we go to the Mountain of Mortal Dragon, and we'll see. Even if we can't defeat the Divine Dragon, we have to try."
"But...we won't even have all of your Dragoon forms to help us, this time," Cade said.
"I know," Rose said, then smiled. "Just think, you'll actually be stronger than me during a fight for once."
Cade's face contorted in worry and Rose sighed, resting her forehead against his.
"That was supposed to be a joke," Rose said.
"I'm scared," Cade said.
"I know," Rose said. "So am I. But we'll be okay. I know I'll be alright, because I have you to look out for me. And you'll be okay, because I won't let anything happen to you either."
Cade nodded, then took a deep breath, letting out a heavy sigh. "Come on. We should catch up to the others."
Rose nodded and they turned, running toward the Crystal Palace, then up it toward the Throne Room. As they arrived, Queen Theresa was describing a light blinding her and her memory ending there. Meru quickly and quietly filled Rose and Cade in that when they'd arrived, a light had been shining from Shana and that the light protected everyone in the palace.
"This must be a miracle!" Miranda said. "Shana, you brought us a miracle! My sisters were protected by that light too!"
Shana shook her head, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. "I still don't know anything about this power!"
Dart turned and hugged her instantly.
"Who...Who am I?" Shana asked, voice weak, then went limp in Dart's arms, eyes fluttering closed.
Luanna and Setie both gasped instantly, rushing over to help hold Shana up, Setie trying to wake her.
"She passed out," Setie said.
"It was my fault," Miranda said. "I didn't understand, and I said too much."
Dart stepped back, allowing the two Sacred Sisters to take Shana, then turned to leave, fists and jaw clenched.
"Where are you going!?" Miranda demanded.
"To the Mountain of Mortal Dragon," Dart said.
"Are you going to leave Shana like that?" Miranda asked.
"I will come back after I defeat the Divine Dragon," Dart said. "Miranda, could you take care of Shana?"
Miranda looked between him and Shana for a moment. "Are you telling me to stay here!?"
"The Divine Dragon is not the only monster on the Mountain of Mortal Dragon!" Dart said seriously. "You are a Sacred Sister of this country. There is no obligation for you to come with us."
"Did you forget?" Miranda asked. "I'm one of the Dragoons, same as you. I have no intention to withdraw from this battle. Besides, Shana asked me to 'Please take care of the rest.' I intend to keep that promise."
"We've reached an agreement, then," Queen Theresa said, stepping forward. "Everyone, I am counting on you."
Dart sighed heavily. "Yes, Your Majesty. Please trust us."
"We should find Shana somewhere safe to rest," Albert said, finally.
"There is an inn just outside the palace that managed to make it through the attack largely undamaged," Haschel suggested.
"That'll do," Dart nodded, taking Shana from Luanna and Setie.
"I will tell the inn's owner that she is to be allowed to rest there as long as she needs," Miranda said.
They all nodded and Dart left the room, the others all following, only for Luanna to catch Cade's arm just before he could leave.
"The darkness doesn't hold you yet," Luanna said. "Neither of your fates has been decided yet. There is no need to fear."
Cade swallowed hard and forced a nod before leaving the room, finding Rose waiting at the foot of the first staircase. He told her Luanna just wanted to wish them luck, but hadn't gotten the chance, so she'd asked him to pass on her well wishes to the others, then they walked out to the inn with the others. As Dart was saying his goodbyes to Shana, who was still unconscious, Cade headed to where a few of the shop owners had set up outside their ruined stores, forming something like Lohan's main street. he bought a spare poncho, which he quickly cut the same way his first was, then bought food and a pack to carry it in for the journey to the mountain, a week-long trip one way, then multiple potions. As he was loading everything into his pack, Rose walked over to kneel beside him, setting her hand on his and feeling it trembling slightly.
"It's going to be okay," Rose said. "I give you my word, everything is going to turn out just fine during this battle."
Cade nodded and Rose cupped his cheek, turning his head into a kiss fore several seconds before allowing him to finish packing. "We have to travel a week to get there."
"I know," Rose nodded.
"It might attack before we arrive," Cade said.
Rose nodded. "Maybe. But now that it's attacked once, it may feel content to rest and finish recovering from its long rest."
"I hope so," Cade said, standing and swinging the pack onto his back, the pack weighing almost nothing to him, being a Wingly. "After this, I want to be able to take a day to relax and rest, like in Lohan."
Rose nodded, smiling. "I agree. It was fun. Maybe we can convince the others to go back at some point."
Cade smiled ruefully. "I doubt it. But maybe."
She slipped her hand into his left one as the others joined them, Kongol also having a much, much larger pack filled with food and supplies. Everyone double-checked they had everything they needed and they all left the city, heading for the forest, which they had to pass through to reach the road to the mountains.
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