Chapter Seven
I've been kissed by a rose on the grave,
I've been kissed by a rose
I've been kissed by a rose on the grave,
…And if I should fall along the way
I've been kissed by a rose
…been kissed by a rose on the grave.
107 years pass:
Rose locked the chocker in place and slowly opened her eyes. No gentleness could be seen in those eyes, no matter how deep one would look. For the past century she spent her time amongst the rebel wingly community who never cared for the taste of power or bowing to Melbu Frahma's will. They were lead by the sweet yet powerful sister of that same dictator, Charle Frahma, who gave Rose a choice, a reason to live on.
The female wingly told her the true power behind the Crystal Sphere that Melbu had in his possession. It wasn't handed to him by the gods, he simply created it. But what Charle said next astonished the Dark Dragoon. The sphere was a prison for the 108th species, the Virage Embryo, the God of Destruction's soul while its flesh was hovering above as the Moon That Never Sets. Melbu feared for the winglies existence and such, tore the god in half and used its soul's power for his own purposes.
As long as the soul never joined with its flesh, all species would be able to survive. However, during the battle with Zieg, the Crystal Sphere broke and the soul was able to escape. Now every hundred and eight years, the spirit would enter an unborn child's body so it could travel to the moon to become whole and to begin the Apocalypse. A future that her friends sacrificed their lives for, hung in the balance of Rose's journey.
In a secluded area in the Spring Breath Town of Ulara, Rose prepared for her long sojourn. She learned a lot throughout the years, about the world and the cultures that has inherited the world. Charle created the magical choker that would cease Rose's ageing, all for the terrible fate that was handed to her. She would travel for the last remaining year and find the Moon Child, the child born of the Virage Embryo's soul, and kill it along with any human around that would become servants for the God of Destruction. But it was her first journey, more personal, that she needed to take care of first that killed her heart.
"Rosie, honey. Are you sure about this?" Charle sweetly asked but they been through this a hundred times before. She was no longer the weak, mournful soul Charle found all those years ago.
"He's been seen around the continent of Serdio. I must go," Rose said in a tone without question.
"When will I see you again?" the gentle wingly asked. Rose simply stared at her. Charle sighed.
"Good luck, sweetie," Charle said before teleporting the Dragoon all the way to the mountains in Serdio.
As she took in her bearings, Rose couldn't help but think of the jagged rocks around her as graves. It was the perfect burial ground but her heart strings took a pluck at that thought. She knew no fear and she traveled up, all the way to the pinnacle of the mountain. This had to be done.
It felt like a strange form of déjà vu as she looked over the end of the trail and saw the Black Buster Dragon, Michael lying in a crudely made nest. Over the years it killed her to see her Michael, the last good thing in her life, slowly fall into savagery. The sight was too similar to the battle fought against Gloomwing 110 years ago.
She thought back and remembered Zieg and his over-excited words "There's a battle to be fought. Go down there and claim your destiny, wherever it may lead." But remembering those words she remembered, too, her darling Zieg. She couldn't help him and she was still alive. As her name sake, she was no more than a flower on the cool ground of a grave. The world was just one, cold memory and she stood tall to bring what beauty can be found in death.
"Michael. Time to wake up," Rose called gently, walking to her dragon.
The dragon stirred and awoke, seeing some food foolishly delivering itself into his domain. The dragon sent out a cry a paralyzing dark fear but the food kept on coming. With that attack failed, the dragon decided to take to the sky and tear the food to shred. The food dodged. How? Michael flew down quite annoyed at this morsel.
"Michael, it's me. Rose," the Dark Dragoon sweetly said but she knew those words fell on deaf ears.
The act she was going to do sicken her. Michael been let loose on the human communities and many died in the process. She hoped against hope that she could get through to him, to stop him. Unfortunately, he was beyond help and she knew this was a testament on what she would be doing every 108 years; slaughtering her own kind so there could be a tomorrow. It still churns her stomach.
The dragon was starving and lunged at the warrior to flip her in the air but she dodged it. To the dragon, it didn't matter. Flipping into a dive bomb, the dark dragon opened its chest and released its powerful Black Laser that hit its target. With glee, Michael dived into the darkness.
A sharp cry, that out from the darkness that soon cleared, as Rose held her sword out, in her now transformed Dragoon Armor and having pierced Michael's heart. She might as well have stabbed herself in the chest at seeing the pain in her dragon's face.
Rose pulled out her weapon and watched helplessly as her dragon became a large puff of black smoke. How she wanted to turn away but she couldn't. Michael needed to die to spare the humans but he was still her friend and she would still be with him in the end. She did well to choke back her tears until Michael vanished and then she couldn't hold it back anymore. She was truly alone.
She didn't want to be the merciful rose on Michael's grave or the graves of countless others that she knew would lie in her wake. Fate was cruel to giving her the journey that laid before her, making her into a monster. It killed her heart and soul. How she hated Soa for creating winglies and this God of Destruction and Melbu Frahma for thinking himself superior that he could control a god. But it was a sad fate or perhaps the curse by Gloomwing that set her in such a place and time. Her endless combat and sacrifice began.