I don't know how much longer I'm going to keep updating this story. I promised you all that I'd finish it, so I'll definitely do that; but I'm just not getting much feedback on it anymore. I was originally gonna give a sequel and possibly a prequel as well. But I don't know...we'll see what happens. Anyway, hope you enjoy, and please review.
Chapter Eleven
A Fire in His Darkness
"I don't believe you..." Blank snapped at Marcus. "This is everyone's idea of a sick joke, and I'm not falling for it."
"Blank, do you really think I'd lie to you?" Marcus tried to convince him. "It's right here in front of my face!"
"He's telling you the truth," Draco interrupted. "I knew it from the moment I saw your left arm."
"...knew what?" Blank asked, still untrusting of anything that was being told to him.
"I knew that you are the Dragon of Darkness."
"You knew that I was what? I'm not a dragon, okay? If I were a dragon, I would look like a fucking dragon!"
"Blank, don't get mad. Please," Kaira innocently pleaded. "Draco knows everything about the Dragon race. He knows what he's talking about."
Blank didn't respond. He just sighed heavily and kept quiet. How does she do that? he asked himself. I never listen to anyone, and here I am obeying her every word. ...Damn it! What is it about her? Blank placed his head in his hand as though he had a headache. "I'm sorry Draco... I don't wanna discuss this here." He then got up from the table. "I'm going back to the airship..." Blank walked away and back down the steps leading to the first level of the small city. Marcus got up after and followed him.
Draco," Kaira said after the two guys had left. "You're this one...aren't you?" she said, pointing to one of the pictures in the book. "You're the red dragon here, right? That's what you meant a few years ago when you told me you were a 'special' dragon."
"...That's right. The Dragon of Neutrality."
"Dagger, can we go look at more books now?" Eiko obliviously asked. Dagger just shook her head grimly, which told Eiko "Now's not the time."
Back in the airship Blank walked furiously into the main living quarter, only to find Zenny and Benny wrestling each other on the ground and Genero sitting nonchalantly in the corner of the room reading a book. He had gotten used to just ignoring his brothers' foolery over the years.
(A/N just so you all know, in my stories I've made Zenero the trouble maker: carefree, immature, and a little simple minded. Genero I've made the intellectual one: proper, very book smart, and constantly trying to keep his brothers out of trouble. And then Benero I've just made more of the normal one. But he's a little more like Zenny than he is Genero.)
Blank nearly started to laugh when he saw the antics of the triplets, but he quickly reminded himself that he was upset. He then stormed into the room and sat down at a wooden table on the opposite side of the small room from the neros...Marcus, of course, was right behind him.
Marcus sat down on the opposite side of the small, round table, not sure if he should say anything or not. Andif he should say something, what should he say? He never considered himself very good at these kinds of things, at least not as good as Blank was. Blank always found a way to cheer people up no matter how down they were. Marcus couldn't do that.
"So, uh...a dragon?" Marcus nervously said. It seemed now as if he had known Blank forever, and yet he still found it hard to comfort the enigmatic seventeen year old. "That's kinda cool if you ask me," he continued. "I don't understand why you're so bent outta shape about it. You really hate dragons that much?" Marcus tried to joke.
Blank just sighed, staring at the floor.
The three Nero bros had stopped their bickering now, curious to know what was wrong, and knowing that now probably wasn't a good time to fight with each other. Genero, Zenny, and Benny just sat there watching Marcus and Blank: Genero pretending to read his book while in reality he was eavesdropping, and Zenny and Benny not moving from their spot on in the middle of the floor.
"Come on, Blank. Talk to me," Marcus tried to persuade him. "What's really wrong? Don't you wanna know about your past?"
"No!" Blank stated firmly. "I didn't wanna know anything. I was fine with my life in Tantalus. I was happy not knowing what those damned nightmares were about..." He paused a moment, feeling tears in his eyes but forcing himself to contain them. He thanked God for once that he had this blindfold around his eyes, not wanting even Marcus to see him this emotional. "But now that I'm learning more. Now that I know about Garron and all of this dragon crap...It's like the memories that had been locked up inside are coming back to me. I can remember things about my childhood that...I wish I couldn't."
"Well, we don't really know for sure that Garron has anything to do with this," Marcus tried to sound optimistic. "He may have something to do with Kaira's past, but nothing to do with yours."
"No," replied Blank grimly. "You're wrong." Marcus just stared at the his red haired "bro" intently, sympathetically. "He's my father..."
"Your what!" Marcus nearly shouted. "How do you know that? Did he say he was? He was probably lying. Don't trust him!" Marcus was almost infuriated and he really didn't know why. Was it out of protectiveness? Not wanting to believe, maybe?
"Remember those nightmares I told you about..." said Blank to Marcus, almost at a whisper, but Marcus couldn't tell if it was out of secrecy or just that Blank's pain wouldn't let him speak any louder.
"Yeah," Marcus answered. "I remember."
"I told you to kill the boy and you deliberately disobeyed me!"
"I cannot kill my own son!"
"Then you shall die as well..."
"Run! Run away from here! Save yourself!"
"Mama!"
Blank flinched, clenching his fist and turning his head away from Marcus. "So they weren't just dreams..." Blank said, more to himself rather than to Marcus.
"Blank..."
"...They were memories."
At that moment, Kaira and the others returned from the library. Draco just looked at the blind red head, scoffed and turned to walk out of the room.
"Wait," Blank called to the Dragon of Neutrality. Draco stopped and half turned towards him, but never once lifting his head to see him.
"If I'm a dragon as you say I am," Blank questioned. "then why can't I transform into one?"
"Because," Draco replied as if the answer was obvious. "The current Dragon of Darkness is still alive. And there can only be one."
"Garron..." Blank said beneath his breath.
"Correct." With that, Draco left the room of the Prima Vistato outer deck of the ship.
"Man!" Zidane said after Draco had left and shut the door. Zidane stepped over to Blank and Marcus and placed his hands hard on the table. "That's freakin' awesome, Blank! A dragon? And I thought having a monkey tail was cool!"
Blank smiled for the first time since arriving in Daguerreo. "Zidane," he said, looking up at the blonde genome, and standing from his seat. "You're an idiot." Blank then walked away before Zidane could respond. It was one of his favorite things to do to the monkey tailed annoyance: insult him and then walk away before Zidane can defend himself. Blank finally felt like himself again, but knew it probably wouldn't last long.
Blank walked out the door, to the outside of the airship. Kaira and Kilala followed behind him; of course nobody noticed this. If they had, Zidane would have made a lecherous comment and then suggested that they all go spy on the two red heads.
Out on the deck of the ship Blank stood with his arms on the railing, staring out across a beautiful, mountainous landscape he couldn't see. He could hear the roar of the waterfalls that hid Daguerreo in the side of the mountain. More than that, he could hear the roar of the airship as Baku must have ordered one of his fellow Tantalus members to start the ship. Where were they planning on going? This island of Kaira's maybe? Who knows? Blank didn't care.
"Something wrong?" Kaira said, standing behind Blank who nearly fell over not expecting anyone to be there. Kaira just smiled at his clumsiness. "You seem a little depressed," she continued. "I haven't known you long, but I have a feeling you're not like this very often."
Kilala sat down next to Blank's leg and lightly pawed at him. "Meow."
Blank looked down at the strange looking cat. "Her eyes..." Blank said, avoiding Kaira's question, although she couldn't tell if he had done it on purpose or not. She assumed he had. "I can't see them, but from what I've heard, I think they look a lot like mine."
Kaira looked down at Kilala who was staring up at Blank. The cat had big red eyes. All red. No white in them. Kaira all of a sudden felt depressed. She didn't know why, and she didn't really like the feeling. Who would?
"People have called her a demon before," Blank stated as if he had known the cat her whole life.
"Yes," Kaira answered, switching her gaze to Blank and wondering how he knew. "They have."
"I know the feeling." Blank suddenly turned his head over to Kaira. "I'm sorry," he suddenly said. "I didn't mean to throw all of this at you! It's my problem, not yours." For a moment Blank's face turned the same shade as his hair. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "Forget everything I just said."
Kaira smiled again, thanking the gods that Blank couldn't see her do so. "I always hate when people say that." Blank just glanced over at her, not saying anything and not knowing what she was talking about.
"When people say 'Just forget it' as if it's really that simple. You can't just forget something that was told to you thirty seconds ago, can you?"
Blank thought a second. "Well, I suppose you could if you were never really listening to begin with," he smart-aleckly answered.
"Well, unfortunately for you, I'm a good listener."
The airship suddenly jerked skyward, throwing Kaira slightly off balance. Blank was about to steady her, but she had already done that herself. Man, Blank complained to himself. Why does she have to be so independent? It makes my job a little bit harder. How can I be her knight in shining armor if she's constantly saving herself? His thoughts then left the subject of Kaira and returned to himself. How can I be a knight at all if I'm a dragon...?
"Damn," Kaira swore. "I hate this stupid ship!"
Now Blank smiled at her. "Airships aren't your thing, huh?"
She just glared at the ship as if it was suppose to apologize to her in response. "No...they're not." she sighed. "I prefer more natural ways of flying."
"Do you know where we're going?"
"My old home. The island of Gerudo northeast of the Forgotten Continent. The women there will be able to tell us a lot about Garron."
"Women?" Blank asked. He suddenly realized how perverse that sounded. "I mean!" He tried to correct himself. "Why just women?"
Kaira laughed. "The Gerudo are a mostly female group of bandits...pirates actually. They formed a long time ago by some women who had been badly beaten by men. They decided to join together and find a way to get by on their own. The way they chose was through thievery. Eventually, other women joined them, and some men as well which they didn't allow at first, but slowly warmed up to the idea." Kaira stopped to make sure she wasn't boring him. He seemed to be listening so she kept going. "The island was desserted when they first landed there, but now they've turned it into a small village, their base."
"So you're a pirate and I'm a thief," Blank replied, letting Kaira know that he was indeed paying attention.
She laughed. "Yeah, I guess that's the case.A thief and a pirate.A red haired guy and a red haired girl. A black dragon and a black wolf. Both with some ties to Garron..."
"Black wolf? I know you have a wolf tail and wolf ears, but supposedly I'm actually gonna be able to transform fully into a dragon...someday."
"Oh," Kaira smirked. "And you don't think I can do that?"
"Well, I..." Blank stopped mid-sentence when he glanced over to where Kaira had been standing beside him and saw a black wolf sitting in her place. Well, he knew it was a canine like creature that looked wolfish; other than that, his sightlessness wouldn't reveal any more to him. "...Kaira?"
The big, black canine gave out a small woof and turned back into a human, the black ears and furry tail staying the same. "What?" Kaira asked, smiling and trying not to laugh at his surprised expression. "You don't like hairy women?" she joked. The two then burst out laughing, forgetting all the seriousness of their conversation.
"Wow," Blank said, after the two had stopped laughing. "I haven't laughed like that in," he stopped to think of how long it had been since this all started. "almost a week. I haven't been happy at all in almost a week."
"And I made you happy again?" Kaira asked followed by a mew mew from the kitty below the her.
Blank rested his arm on the railing of the airship, placing one hand on his face to casually cover up that it was turning red again. "Yeah," he answered. "I guess you did."
Blank and Kaira had been talking for almost a half hour now. And Blank had seemingly forgotten all about his problems. He no longer cared about Garron, about his past, or about the strange mark on his left arm. He was happy. It seemed to him like it had been ages since he could say that about himself. Maybe that's why I like her so much, Blank thought silently as Kaira gazed out over the vast landscape beneath them. Like Kaira just said, we do have a lot in common. She's like another best friend, but I don't think anyone could ever replace Marcus. I've never met a girl like her. I lo...what was I about to say...? Love? Was I about to say 'love'! OH MY GOD! I WAS! I don't love her. I barely know her! I can't love a girl I barely know... Can I? I've never been all that interested in girls. What's so different about her to make that change all of a sudden? Besides, even if I did fall for her, she'd never like me. Not in that way. I mean, she comes from a village full of sexist women. Girls have never liked me. I mean, why would they wanna date an ugly blindfolded guy? Of course she's not gonna fall for an idiot like me. If I do...love her, I'm probably better off just pretending I don't. No...no! I do NOT like her! I don't! I never wanna fall in love.
"Something on your mind, Blank?" Kaira asked.
"No, it's nothing."
The Prima Vista was now flying over the red rocky terraces of the Forgotten Continent. The sun was fading under the western sky, leaving behind a fiery afterglow. The sky to the east slowly fading to black. It only seemed an appropriate sight as the black wolf of fire and the black dragon of darkness stood beside each other, watching the sky reflect an image of themselves.