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


Theory

Cade stared at the campfire in silence. Meru glanced at him worriedly, but he didn't notice. He was lost in thought. According to Charle, Rose had killed the Moon Child one hundred seven times. Shana was the one hundred eight. The One hundred eighth attempt to give birth to the one hundred eighth species, each attempt happening every one hundred eight years.

"What is it?" Dart finally asked. "You've been especially quiet since we left Ulara."

"I'm sure he's fine," Meru said hastily.

"I don't think Rose missed the Moon Child this time just because of a mistake," Cade said.

"You think I did it on purpose?" Rose asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"No," Cade said. "I think that everything, even your journey as the Black Monster, was all according to Fate."

"What do you mean?" Albert asked.

"The God of Destruction is the one hundred eighth species," Cade said. "The Moon Child is reborn every one hundred eight years. According to Charle, Shana is the one hundred eighth Moon Child. I don't believe that everything is a coincidence."

"That does sound like a very large coincidence," Dart nodded.

"So, what, then?" Rose asked. "No matter what we do, we can't stop it?"

Cade stared at the fire, his nightmare again returning to him, and the feeling of the Shadow of Fate swelling. Finally, he shook his head. "I think that Fate, or maybe Soa himself, is testing us. Or maybe, he's giving us the chance to stop his plan and create our own failure."

"How so?" Albert asked.

"Well, if it's true that Fate is what calls Dragoons into existence, then why would you all have the power of Dragoons now?" Cade asked. "Rose is one thing, since, if I'm right about the rest, Rose's power was necessary for the cycle, but the rest of you, there's no real need for. It'd be easier for the Moon Child to make it to the moon without you all being Dragoons."

"So, then, why are we all Dragoons?" Dart asked.

"I think..." Cade frowned. "I think that we're meant to face the God of Destruction in the end. I don't think we can stop it from being born. I think we're meant to try and kill it, putting a stop to it permanently."

"So, what, Shana will die?" Dart asked.

"No, Shana's not the God of Destruction itself," Cade said. "She's merely containing its soul within herself. She'd survive it being removed from her. Not that it matters, because then it would destroy the entire world."

"Unless six Dragoons, a Giganto, and a Wingly can kill it," Dart said.

Cade opened his mouth to tell them that he could kill it, but his voice faltered. He couldn't say it. He wanted to, but he couldn't.

"So, why would Soa want us to change his plan?" Albert asked.

"Maybe he had a change of heart," Cade said. "Maybe he never truly intended to have the world destroyed, and wanted us to choose all along. Or maybe I'm just imagining things."

Everyone fell silent for a long while.

"And how do you explain Zieg?" Rose finally asked.

"I don't know," Cade said. "But...He's human, and yet...he can fly with magic. He can wield Wingly magic on a higher level than I can. He knows about things he shouldn't, such as the Signet Spheres, he wants to destroy them and doom the world to destruction, and he knew that Shana was the Moon Child, and by both you and Dart's own words, his personality is completely different than when you knew him before." He fell silent for a moment before speaking again. "I don't know if this even is Zieg."

"It's Zieg," Rose said. "I would know his face anywhere."

"I know," Cade said. "Physically it's him. Or rather, it's definitely his body."

Everyone frowned in confusion before Meru spoke up.

"Soul Transference," Meru said. "Is that...what you're thinking?"

Cade nodded slowly. "I think so."

"What's Soul Transference?" Miranda asked.

"It's a spell," Cade said. "A very costly and forbidden one. It tears the soul from the body and casts it into something else, anything that has has the innate ability to hold a soul."

"Wait a minute," Rose said, frowning. "Are you trying to say that you think...Zieg is Melbu Frahma?"

Rose asked.

Cade nodded. "It would explain how he knew everything. It would explain why I could sense so much Wingly Magic within him, how he can wield Wingly Magic, and how he knew I was only a half-Wingly, not a full-blood."

"He knew everything else about us," Rose said. "Why is him knowing you're a half-Wingly special? You don't exactly keep it a secret."

"I've only told you all, King Zior and his daughters, and Queen Theresa and her daughters. The Winglies all knew at a glance." Cade stared up at the stars for a moment. "If my guess is correct, You'd have seen Melbu Frahma cast his spell. You were there when he and Zieg fought their final battle, weren't you?"

"Yes," Rose said.

"It probably would have been at the moment that he knew he was going to die," Cade said. "Which for a Wingly Dictator with near-limitless power, would be when he was fatally wounded. In that instant when he was defeated. What happened when they stabbed each other?"

Rose stared into the fire for a moment before shaking her head. "He never stabbed Zieg. Zieg stabbed him and Melbu Frahma dropped the Dragon Buster. Then they fell into the Crystal Sphere and it exploded."

Cade stared at her for a moment. "When he was stabbed, did you see anything other than blood come out of the wound? Soul Transference requires a wound. Wingly blood is red, just like a human. Did you see anything other than blood come out of the wound?"

Rose's brow furrowed as she closed her eyes to try and remember. "Magic particles, I think. Green."

Cade nodded slowly. "Did it hit Zieg?"

"Yes," Rose nodded.

"Where?" Cade asked.

"In the chest, I think," Rose said. "It caused his petrification."

Cade nodded.

"Hold on," Dart said. "If he was Melbu Frahma all along, why would he marry a human and have me? And would that make me part human?"

Cade frowned. That was a good point. He stared into the fire, trying to think. His eyes drifted up to Dart. How did he explain that?

"You said your father was kind," Cade said. "When you knew him while you were a child, you said he was kind?"

Dart nodded. "And then he disappeared when he went to fight the Black Monster, and I thought he was dead."

Cade wracked his brain before the answer suddenly slapped him across the face and he stared at the center of Dart's chest. "Dart, can you transform right now?"

"What?" Dart asked.

"Can you transform?" Cade asked. "I want to check something."

Dart stood, focusing hard.

"What are you checking?" Meru asked.

"Zieg was a warrior," Cade said. "He knew combat like the back of his hand, just like Rose."

"Better," Rose frowned.

"Exactly," Cade said. "If he went to fight a monster that was reputed to be a demon, and that was able to destroy the entire town alone in minutes, do you think he would have fought it as a human or as a Dragoon?"

At that moment, Dart succeeded in transforming, his Dragoon Spirit catching the firelight in the center of his chest.

"Bingo," Cade said.

"Wait," Rose said, also staring at it. "The Dragoon Spirit?"

Cade nodded. "If it hit him in the chest, it would have been cast into the first thing it touched that was capable of holding a soul. Melbu Frahma didn't possess Zieg, he possessed the Dragoon Spirit, then cast the petrification spell on Zieg. When Zieg awoke from the spell, he was still himself. That's why he started a family in this time, believing Rose was dead. But when he went to fight the Black Monster, he would have known he needed the power of his Dragoon Spirit. So he tried to summon it."

"But instead of the Red-Eye Dragon's spirit, Melbu Frahma answered the call," Rose said. "He possessed Zieg, left the Dragoon Spirit behind because he had no use for it, and left."

Everyone stared between the two of them as Dart transformed back to normal.

"It fits," Rose said. "It would explain...almost everything."

"And it gives us the information we need to save Zieg," Cade said.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"A possession can be undone," Cade said. "We can cast Melbu Frahma out of Zieg."

"How?" Rose asked.

"We have to weaken them," Meru said. "The Soul Transference links their strength, so if we weaken Zieg's body, Melbu Frahma will be weakened as well."

"And then?" Dart asked.

"And then we can use magic to force Melbu Frahma out of Zieg's body," Cade said. "Once he's out, Miranda can heal Zieg, and Melbu Frahma, so long as he can't find a new body within a couple of minutes, will fade away. He'll die."

"What's to stop him from possessing one of us?" Haschel asked.

"Me," Cade said. "I know a way to stop him from possessing anyone."

Everyone was silent for a long few moments, Meru looking extremely worried, and Rose looking slightly conflicted.

"You're sure you can do it?" Rose asked. "You can force him out and save Zieg?"

Cade nodded. "I can. But when we fight him, he'll be strong. He has Melbu Frahma's natural power mixed with his own."

"We can handle it," Rose said. "If all we need to do to save him is weaken him, then I should think six Dragoons, a Giganto, and a Wingly will be more than enough." She stared at the fire, relief shining from her face.

"And after that, we'll just have to stop the God of Destruction," Dart said, also looking relieved.

"Yeah," Cade said. "Once we do that, the world is free to decide its own fate."

He fell silent, his nightmare, his vision, returning to him once again.

"We should get some rest," Dart said. "We still have a long way to go before we reach Fletz."

The others all nodded and headed to bed, leaving Meru and Cade alone at the fire.

"Your way to stop Melbu Frahma," Meru said. "Why didn't you tell them that it was to allow yourself to be possessed, then banish a bit of both of your magic in order to ensure he would die?"

"Because they don't need to know," Cade said. "Once I ensure he possesses me instead of any of them, I can use his power added to my own against the God of Destruction, which we won't be able to stop from being born. My self destruction spell will be stronger, more than enough to kill it."

"But you'll die!" Meru said in a low voice.

"And Rose will live," Cade said. "I'm going to die when I cast my self destruction spell anyway, Meru. This way I can kill two threats at once."

Meru sighed, staring at the ground in silence.

"Good night," Meru," Cade said, standing and walking to his tent, crawling into his sleeping roll and closing his eyes, only to sink into the same vision as on the way to fight the Divine Dragon.


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