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Breath of Fire III: Of Gods and Dragons
Chapter Eighteen: Momo's Plight
Written by Estrelita Farr
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"Oh my god!" one man exclaimed. "Chrysm gasses are filling up the greenhouses!"
"Run for your life!" another yelled.
"This plant's finished!" a third man shouted.
Chaos met the group when they returned to the plant. Screams and cries filled the air as workers and scientists fled the vicinity, almost overrunning the six on their hasty way out. Nina screamed and Momo gasped as people bumped into them and nearly made them fall over. Peco squealed as feet thundered past him, shivering between the girls' legs as Honey held onto his head. Ryu and Rei stood between the crowd and the girls, hoping to protect them and the onion, but they were ignored as though they were rocks on the road. Garr, however, solved the problem by standing at the front of the group; his massive size steered people away from them, causing the stream of running crowd to be divided into two.
Before long, the plant compound became completely empty, and an eerie silence filled the air.
"What on earth happened?" Ryu asked no one in particular.
"I don't know, but…" Momo shook her head, worried. "I think things have just gotten worse."
With a nod at each other, they parted ways in to investigate the cause of the chaos, with Peco tagging behind the engineer. Momo, her eyes focused on her surroundings, knew from a quick glance that the chrysm reactors had ceased functioning. Dangerous green gas filled the greenhouses, poisoning the plants inside, and that was the cause of the chaos.
Dangerous chrysm gas. Something that should not have happened at her father's plant.
She stopped at the top of a high ledge, shaking her head in despair.
Her father was a genius… there was no way he would have overlooked this.
So why? Why was her father's last project, the one he had died before seeing completion, in such ruins now?
And why… why was there not a single thing she could do to protect her father's project?
"Pui…" Peco muttered, gazing at her in concern.
Then, all of a sudden, a loud rumble filled the air and the ground began to shake furiously, as though it was trying to throw people off its back. Momo gave a cry as she balanced herself, waving her arms frantically, but she did not have to do that for long. Almost as suddenly as it had started, the ground slowed to a stop, leaving her confused.
What was happening now?
Momo searched around the plant, seeking for the source of the tremor, and as soon as she set her eyes on the chimney of the largest building, she gasped in shock.
The smoke from the furnace of the building, usually white and harmless, had turned into the brightest shade of green.
The same poisonous gas as in the greenhouse.
Her heart turned cold, she quickly sped in the direction of the aforementioned building – to emit that much of chrysm gas, something had definitely gone wrong in there!
She arrived outside the door of the building, only to find that her companions had already gathered there with puzzled expressions.
"Momo!" the princess called. "What's wrong with the furnace?!"
"I don't know!" Momo cried, flustered. "I didn't even know that this place uses so much chrysm gas!"
Garr looked grim. "Nevertheless, we will have to evacuate quickly as well."
The engineer stopped.
Abandon… my father's plant…?
Rei shook his head. "C'mon! Do you want to turn into green-smoked rabbit?!"
"I…" She hesitated, then strengthened her resolve. "No, I'm not leaving my father's plant like this. I'm going to stay here and solve the problem with my own hands!"
It was at that moment when Peco's shout came from inside the building. "Pukyu!"
Wondering if the onion had found anything, the others entered the building, only to find him jumping up and down madly in front of the hatch of the furnace.
"What's wrong, Peco?" Momo asked, kneeling down beside him.
"Pukyu pukyu pukyu KYU!" he cried excitedly as he bounced.
"You want me to look inside?" She opened the hatch and gazed inside, then gave a shriek. "Hey! There's a ladder in here!"
"A ladder? In a furnace?!" Curious, Rei knelt down as well. "Hey, she's right! There IS a ladder going down!"
"But why?" Nina wondered. "Why a ladder in a furnace?"
"To hide something in there?" Ryu suggested.
"Of course, maybe that's where the director is!" Momo got to her feet, determined. "I'm going in!" It's my father's plant after all! I have to check it out!
"I expected that." Garr crossed his arms. "However, you are not going alone."
"Yeah, we're coming along!" the winged girl declared.
"H-huh? But…" The engineer trailed off, not knowing how to continue.
The young man smiled. "We're your friends, do you think we'll let you go on your own?"
"Pui pui!" Peco added.
Rei grinned. "Who knows what'll happen if you're alone in there? You'll burn the place down!"
Momo threw a sharp look at Rei at first, but soon smiled with gratitude. "Great! Let's all go together then!"
She certainly had great friends.
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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At the bottom of the ladder was a place beyond their wildest dreams – metal hallways stretched as far as eyes could see, uncovered wirings showed in the wall as though they were painting on display, and metal ducts twisted and turned above them. Although Momo loved machines, even she had never seen such a technologically advanced place such as this before.
"Wow, look at this!" she breathed, her eyes gleaming.
"A place like this under the furnace…" The half-tiger swished his tail as he thought. "Isn't this weird?"
Nina shook her head. "Suspicious is more like it…"
Ryu nodded. "I agree."
"Is it part of the plant? Or is it the director's secret research lab?" Momo wondered to herself, examining the machinery and wirings in the wall. "But then this machine… it's very impressive, much more advanced than the ones we use in the plant…" Gazing at the metal ducts above, she continued muttering to herself. "I wonder if the director built it all by himself… or if there was another engineer…"
Upon saying that, she froze.
Another engineer? Could it be…?!
"Is something wrong?" Garr inquired, interrupting her thoughts.
She turned, quickly shaking her head. "Oh, n-no, there isn't…" She grinned in an attempt to mask her nervousness. "C'mon! Let's take a look around!" And she strode enthusiastically down one hall, with the others reluctantly following.
Upon walking along that hall, however, they came across a dead end, with a metal door at the end with number one painted on it in red. Since there was nothing they could do to open it, they went down the other hallway, gradually arriving at a similar metal door that slid open swiftly the moment they approached.
Inside, there were four similar in the room, set upon two long metal desks. Each of these machines consisted of a screen on a large metal box and numerous buttons on a metal board.
"Hey, I know what this is!" Momo squealed, running towards the nearest one. "This is a relic from the Techno Age, something they call a 'computer'!"
"…well…" Rei started, scratching his head uncertainly, not as excited. "So what exactly is a 'con-pee-you-tear'?"
She turned around, gesturing on the number one that was shown on the glowing screen of one machine. "You see that this number is the same as the one on the door earlier, right? In other words…" Her eyes shone. "This is a key! A key from the Techno Age!"
"Um… okay…" Ryu shook his head. "And how do we open the locked doors with this?"
"Easy!" She waved a hand in the air. "We'll just have to input the password here, and the doors with the same number will open!"
"That sounds easy to understand, but…" Nina shook her head. "We don't have the password, do we?"
Momo realised it with a start. "Oh yeah! I forgot…"
Honey, who was on her shoulder, slapped her forehead for the second time of the day.
"But then again…" She thought for a while. "Usually people use something like a… um, a friend's name or whatever for their password." She faced the screen again, pressing the corresponding keys in front of the board. "Like, P-A-L-E-T or something…" Once she had keyed in the name, however, she stopped to think again. "…maybe it's a little too obvious?"
Her companions gave a collective nod in agreement, but then suddenly, they heard a loud beep from the computer and a metallic voice.
"Password accepted. Opening all doors marked number one."
Everyone blinked.
"I… I don't believe it!" Momo exclaimed. "It actually opened!"
Rei shook his head. "Doesn't this beat all? Talk about high security…"
"Well, now we're getting somewhere!" She grinned excitedly. "C'mon! Let's go!"
Now that the door labelled one was open, they headed through and emerged in another hall, this time with three doors that were marked with number one, two and three respectively, but since only door one was open, they headed there and emerged in an office. Three bookshelves stood against a wall and a large desk stood on the opposite end of the room, where its top was littered with scattered papers and books.
"Hm…" Momo went over to the table, picking up a book. The moment she read the words on its first page, however, she gasped.
It was her father's journal.
Why would his book be… in here…?
Curious, she flipped through the pages and read some of the entries.
"July thirteenth. I am beginning to lose faith in this project, and in myself. Despite looking forward to the outcome, one that I hope to see, I am beginning to think that this is a mistake, something that is not meant to be. But now that I have come this far, I cannot just halt everything…"
"September seventh. Lately I have been feeling weak and often end up being bedridden for days. But it gave me a lot of time to think about this project, so I questioned myself over and over; should I have even started this project? Have I been wrong in trying to reach the impossible?"
"October eleventh. I have finally decided. I will close down this facility and never to set foot in it again, but as I am constantly bedridden now, Palet will have to do it for me. I will turn it into a plant to grow enhanced crops using chrysm energy, so that it will bring some good to people… but am I only trying to hide this accursed deed that I cannot reverse?"
"December thirty-first. Palet is well on his way to close down the facility, but unfortunately, I do not think that I will live to see the plant built; it appears that the Goddess will not give me a chance to pay for what I have done. I can only hope that no one else learns of this, not even my daughter… I am sorry, Momo… please forgive your accursed father for what he has shamefully done…"
The ink used to write the last entry was rather blotched, as though drops of water had fallen on it before it had dried… tears? Was he crying when he wrote it? And what was it he had done that he was so ashamed of?
Momo found herself feeling rather confused, rather despaired, rather tearful. All her life, she had believed that her father was truly the greatest person in the world, the greatest inventor… the greatest father.
For to learn that he had done an unforgivable thing… it was a hard truth to accept.
"Momo?" Nina called, concerned, touching her shoulder.
Rei shook his head. "Is there something wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing really…" the engineer smiled, hiding her tormenting feelings inside. "This is my father's journal, so it means he has something to do with this place." She shook her head. "Maybe his name is the password to the next door?"
As it was the only lead they had, once again they left for the room with the computers, and Momo went to the machine that had a red number two glowing on its screen.
"Let's see…" she muttered, keying in the letter. "Password… R-E-P-S-O-L…"
Just like before, a metallic voice spoke after the beep, "Password accepted. Opening all doors marked number two."
"I knew it…" she murmured and slowly faced her companions, a pained expression on her face. "Repsol was… that's my father's name. When I saw the machines here, I knew that my father must have been involved somehow, but I've never heard anything about this place… and he's done something that he's ashamed of here…"
Not quite knowing what to reply to that statement, all six of them lapsed into silence while they walked towards the now unlocked door. As she strode, Momo recalled an old memory forgotten for years…
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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"Daddy!" seven-year-old Momo cried as she ran into her father's study, full of tears.
"Hm?" Repsol turned, concern evident on his face as he knelt down in front of her. "What's wrong, dear?"
"Snowie… she's… she's not moving!" She tearfully held up the limp white cat she had in her arms. "What's wrong with her?!"
Gently, he took the cat from her and observed it, then shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, Momo… Snowie's… dead."
"NO!" She shook her head defiantly, refusing to believe it. "Snowie's not dead! She doesn't want to leave! I know she doesn't!"
"Momo…" He sighed softly, pulling her into an embrace. "Momo, when it's time for someone to die, it's not that they want to…"
"But I… I don't want her to go…" she sobbed.
He smiled a little as he held her. "Why don't you be happy for the time you've spent with Snowie, instead of feeling sad that you'll never see her again? After all, you're still alive…"
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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Beyond the metal door labelled with number two was a series of halls that led to numerous observation rooms. Right in middle of each observation room, a thick glass wall separated them from the dirt covered half of the room, where thick vines spread all over as though trying to cover every inch of the little space they had.
Somehow, seeing these vines sent a chill down their backs.
"This…" the princess spoke, approaching the glass wall. "This reminds me of the mutant plant we saw years ago, before Peco joined us…"
"Pyu…" The onion looked sad.
Momo said nothing for a while, but then she caught sight of a piece of paper on a nearby table. Upon picking it up and reading it, she read the header aloud, "Project AA. Experiment five-hundred-twenty-one. Failure." She shook her head, turning to the others. "Project AA… maybe it's the next password?"
There was only one way to find out.
When they had returned to the room with the computer, Momo went to the computer that had number three flashing on its screen, and she keyed in the password.
"Let's see…" she muttered to herself again. "Enter password A-A…"
The now familiar sound of the beep and the metallic voice rang out, "Password accepted. Opening all doors marked number three."
"There's only one door left now." She gazed at the ceiling, a faraway look on her face. "I wonder… what is this Project AA? Something to do with enhancing life… like the enhanced crops? Or…" She stared at her father's journal, running a hand over its hard cover. "…or does it have to do with mutants…? What was my father trying to do?"
Silence filled the air, with no one able to answer her, and another memory crept into her mind.
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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Eight-year-old Momo walked into her father's little laboratory, where he was studying the mechanism of a complex-looking machine.
"Daddy? Can I ask you something?" she asked.
He smiled fondly at her as he stopped working. "Sure, what is it, dear?"
She hesitated for a moment. "Why is it that you're always working on some project or other? Don't you ever get tired of them?"
He laughed a little, as though she had uttered a joke. "No, I love working on these projects, I'm proud of all my work."
She blinked. "You're proud of your work?"
"Yes, I am. I'm proud of them because I know they bring some good for other people, and I'm happy when other people are happy." He knelt down in front of her and put a hand on her head. "When you're older, I hope that what you do will bring happiness to other people."
She grinned happily. "Yes, I want to do that! I want to study machines just like you do, Daddy!"
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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His projects are always for the good of others… she thought to herself. So why did he do this…? Do something that he's ashamed of…?
Garr cleared his throat and interrupted her thoughts, "There is naught to be gained by staying here." He folded his arms across his chest. "We should search for Director Palet, the only one with answers to our questions.
She nodded slowly. "Yes… yes, you're right. I have to find out what exactly what happened here."
"Momo…" Nina put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure your father's still a great person. Whatever he did that he's ashamed of, I'm sure it's just a mistake."
She smiled slightly. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Nina."
Now that the door labelled with number three was open, they headed to the one they had passed earlier and entered, emerging in a long and wide hallway. As soon as they neared the end of the hallway, however, they saw that a deep purple gas was slowly leaking out from between the crack of a slightly ajar metal door. A little ways from there was a closed door with a panel beside it.
"Hm…" Momo went to the panel to examine it, pressing a few buttons, and read the message that appeared on the above screen. "…oh no…"
"What's wrong, Momo?" Ryu asked.
She sighed, turning towards them. "We need something called a card key to get into that room."
"Well." Rei rubbed the back of his head. "I'll bet that Palet guy's in there."
"So where does the card key lie?" the Guardian questioned.
"I don't know," the older woman admitted, glancing at the other door where the purple gas was pouring out from. "Maybe that room?"
The blue-haired man shook his head. "That's chrysm gas pouring out, isn't it? I don't think it's a good idea to go in there…"
"No, it's not, but… what if the card key's really in there?" Determined, she approached the door. "I'm going in, I have to find out what's going on in here."
"What are you, nuts?!" the half-tiger exclaimed.
"This is my father's plant, so I'll have to ask you not to come with me." She grinned. "Besides, everything will be fine!"
"But Momo–" the winged girl started, but Garr held her back.
"Be careful," was all he said.
Momo nodded cheerfully. "I will, don't worry!"
With that, she boldly stepped into the room, one sleeve placed across her lower face to prevent herself from inhaling too much chrysm gas.
Nina shook her head. "Why did you stop me, Garr? You know that if she stays in there too long, she'll die from chrysm poisoning!"
Garr gazed at her. "If you were in her place, what would you have done?"
"I…" She focused her eyes on the metal floor. "I would want to take the chance, no matter how small it is…"
"That is precisely why I stopped you." He turned towards the door. "Let us hope that she will return safely."
Ryu nodded. "Yeah, I really hope so…"
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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Inside the room, every inch of the air was filled thick purple fumes, and it was hard for Momo to see beyond two feet around her. Her eyes stung from the gas and it was difficult for her to breathe, but she pressed on, searching as hard as she could around the room for something that looked like a card key.
No matter how small the chance was.
Father… I… when I heard that you've done something that you're ashamed of… I…
She coughed a little, but determinedly continued her search.
…I really don't know what to think of at all. I've always thought of you as some sort of a saint… someone who's incapable of doing anything wrong…
A sharp pain cut through her chest, forcing her to take in quick breaths. Her eyes growing hazier with each step, she stumbled as her legs began to feel weak. She clutched at the edge of a nearby desk to steady herself, shaking her head to clear her mind.
…but all my life, I've never known you to do things that'll bring pain to other people…
She coughed again, determinedly pulling herself to her feet with one arm holding tightly onto her father's journal.
So I… I have to find out what is it that you did here! Why this place exists!
She gritted her teeth, falling heavily onto an office chair that stood next to the table, and searched quickly among the papers. Buried beneath the papers was a white card, which she immediately seized.
I-I've got it! The card key!
It was just that very moment when a large creature, which had been lurking about the room, chose to emerge, making her turn. Her eyes grew wide as she set her eyes on it – it was a gigantic slug, with slimy orange hide, purple legs and four eyeballs, and slime dripped from its numerous sharp fangs.
It crawled towards her, ready to devour her.
A… a slug?! A mutant?!
She screamed as the monster lashed out at her, shutting her eyes tightly as she braced herself for pain. She clutched tightly onto her father's journal… as though it would protect her.
Then, a great flash of light filled the room, making the mutant recoil back as though it had been hit. After a brief moment it recovered from the surprise, roared and struck again, its fangs gleaming. Another roar filled the room, belonging to a different creature altogether, and something smaller than it flew between it and its target. Within another flash of light, magical flaming claws scratched it, the heat forcing it to scream in pain as it backed away.
Momo looked up slowly, coughing slightly.
And her eyes widened.
Through the tears caused by the stinging of the chrysm gas, she saw her father.
Standing up straight, facing the monster confidently… protecting her.
Just as he did once before, protecting her from a golem that attacked their home.
Her heart soared, and tears of happiness filled her eyes.
But once she blinked, she saw that it was only her imagination. Where she had supposedly seen her father, it was a bare-chested man, with long flowing golden hair. The lower half of his body was covered in shining green scales while his lower arm, reptilian tail and legs below his knees were covered in fiery crimson scales. Black bat-like wings spread from his back, which allowed him to move around swiftly in a gliding manner, but as his back was towards her, she was unable to see his face.
Her heart fell.
Of course… my father's been dead for a while… there's no way he'll be here to save me… but who…?
As the huge slug roared, the man quickly turned and swept Momo off her feet, gliding towards the exit. The mutant chased after them, but it was no match for their speed, and they soon emerged in the hallway where the rest of the companions waited. Furious that its preys were escaping, the monster tried to charge through the door, but it crashed into the doorframe as it was too large to go through. It struggled obstinately, trying to get at them.
The golden-haired man set Momo on the floor, allowing the others to take a good look at him.
"Ryu!" Nina, Momo and Rei exclaimed in surprise.
Sure enough, it was him, for it was his face and his kind eyes, despite the golden colour of his eyes and hair. He nodded, as though telling them to stay, and turned to face the monster once more. With a great roar, he threw himself at the slug, his clawed hand rolled into a fist.
"Are you okay?" Nina asked in concern as she knelt beside the older woman.
Momo nodded, though shakily. "Y-yeah, I'm okay…"
"Are you sure you're okay?" Rei asked. "You didn't breathe in too much of that gas, did you?"
She attempted to grin. "Oh, don't worry, I'll be fine after breathing some fresh air for a while!" she held up the card key for them to see. "And look! I've gotten the card key!"
"Pukyu!" Peco cried.
Garr nodded. "You have done well. Do rest now."
A roar from the huge slug caught their attention, and they looked up just in time to see another Flame Claw before the mutant disappeared into thin air with a final roar. After making sure that there was no more danger, Ryu forced the door shut with a clawed hand, so that no more chrysm gas could leak out, before reverting back to his human form.
"I didn't know you got a new Dragon form, Ryu!" Momo exclaimed.
He smiled a little. "I found it inside that room… I'm glad I could help with this Warrior Dragon form."
"But what was that thing in there?" Rei asked, shaking his head. "A mutant?"
The Guardian shook his head. "There is no other explanation for such a creature."
No one else said anything, not even Momo, but she had plenty to think about.
…maybe… maybe this place is being used to… make mutants in some kind of an experiment…?
She shook her head quickly.
No… I don't want to believe that you had a hand in this, Father…
They stayed in silence for a while as Momo rested. Once she had begun to feel the effects of the chrysm gas subsiding, she got to her feet and placed the card key into a thin slot on the panel.
After a loud beep, a metallic voice filled the hallway, "Card key verified. Opening door to the laboratory."
And the metal door slid open just a second later.
"Well, that's the last door, we should be able to find Palet now…" She shook her head, determined. "I've a lot of questions for him to answer!"
The others nodded and together, they strode through the door.
They were in a laboratory filled with complex machinery leaning against the walls, coloured liquid swirling in beakers in the shelves, and scattered papers on long tables. There was a dreaded feeling in the air… as though forbidden acts were being committed here.
And there, rubbing his hands gleefully, was Palet, who grinned manically as he gazed at a particularly large machine.
"Hee hee hee… soon, Mother…" he said. "Soon, I'll be able to revive you…" He ran a wrinkled hand over the smooth surface of the contraption. "With this elixir made using the mixture of chrysm ore and Yggdrasil sap… I'll be able to bring you back to life!"
He turned to a panel that stood next to the machine and pulled the lever on it, and a loud hum began to fill the room.
"I've done hundreds of experiments to perfect this process! After all…" His grin widened. "We can't have you come back as some nasty mutant now, can we? Hee hee hee, don't worry, I'll make sure you don't look like some ugly onion or anything like that!"
It was then when all six of them confronted him, filled with questions that only he could answer.
The director's eyes widened when he saw them, and he glared at them. "What?! Who're you?!"
Momo was usually the cheerful one, but as she stepped forward, her eyes focused on Palet, she was nowhere near cheerful. "We finally found you, Director…"
His eyes widened in shock. "M-Momo?!"
"So, you want to tell us what's going on here?" She crossed her arms. "Why did you abandon the plant like that?"
"Wh-what do you mean, Momo?" I…" He hesitated. "I-I've been working on a new strain of enhanced crops…"
"LIAR!" she cried so fiercely that she made Nina jump. "I heard you… we all heard you talking about bringing your mother back from the dead!"
He started to look flustered. "Wh-wh-what? I… I-I'm just… my m-m-m-mother…"
"Your experiments, where you used the chrysm… they're responsible for the mutants, aren't they?" Remembering the first mutant they had fought ten years ago, where they had met Peco, made her feel even more determined as she pointed a finger at the director. "Your experiments to bring your dead mother back to life!"
Seemingly challenged by her words, he shook his fist at her and shouted, "SHUT UP! What do you know?!" He swung a hand in the air in his frustration. "Why is it fine to use chrysm to create new life with enhanced crops, but not to give new life to my mother?!" A sly grin formed on his face. "Besides… it was Repsol who put this machinery together in the first place!"
"What?!" Ryu, Nina, Momo and Rei exclaimed in unison.
Palet laughed. "That's right! He was the one who went to Yggdrasil, got the sap and put it into the machine, hoping to bring his dead wife back to life!"
Momo trembled, unable to believe the truth. "No… he wouldn't…"
He spread his arms towards the ceiling, as though he was about to receive great blessings from the gods. "It was a great discovery; we were able to use the essence of that good-for-nothing old tree with chrysm to give life! Then…" He frowned, banging a hand on a nearby table. "Then that fool Repsol… he said it was against the laws of nature, said it was wrong, and stopped the experiments!"
"He… did…?"
He banged a fist on the table again. "Why?! What's wrong with it?! Everyone who has lost a loved one wished they would come back!"
"Well…" Rei rubbed the back of his head, his tail bobbing up and down. "There's always somebody being born and somebody dying or other… bringing someone back to life is unnatural, isn't it?
"Unnatural?! What's unnatural about using the resources we've been given?!"
Garr folded his arms across his chest. "Death is but part of life… it will do you good to accept that fact of life, Director Palet."
"No!" Growling, the director grabbed a beaker, which was filled with bubbling sky blue liquid, from the nearby shelf. "I won't quit now!"
"W-what are you planning to do with that?!" Nina cried, shaking her head.
He seemed pleased to see their reaction. "Hee hee hee… you see this?" He shook the beaker lightly, so that the liquid swirled around. "This is what we extracted from Yggdrasil… the essence of consciousness itself!"
"It's… part of Yggdrasil…?" Ryu muttered.
Then, to everyone's horror, Palet pulled out the cork from the mouth of the beaker and drank the liquid all in one gulp.
"PUKIIIII!" Peco shouted in rage, jumping up and down, upset at someone drinking something that rightfully belonged to the ancient tree.
"Hee hee hee…" The director wiped his wet mouth with one sleeve as he tossed the beaker onto the ground, causing it to shatter into pieces. "I'll now transform… then I'll be able to protect my mother from anyone who'll harm us…"
He gave a scream as a light engulfed him, just as his form began to grow bigger and bigger, until his head almost touched the ceiling. When the light faded, however, it was the ugliest monster Momo had ever seen.
It was a gigantic mushroom, with a huge brain – one side bright blue and the other bright red – as its top. Huge green eyes glared at them from the centre of the mushroom stalk, while a wide mouth below it occasionally breathed brown smog between fangs, and tens of little legs poked out from the bottom of the stalk.
"…like you!" a deep haunting voice came from the bizarre monster, and then it cackled loudly.
"Pu…" Taking a deep breath, Peco stood still, then after about two seconds, he suddenly leaped high into the air and unleashed all of his breath at once. "KYUUUU!"
What happened next was something that the others could not have imagined – the onion was breathing out fire, just like a fire-breathing Dragon!
"Peco?!" Nina cried.
Apparently, even though Palet had transformed into a monster using Yggdrasil's sap, he still retained most of the plant's properties, for he screamed loudly when the flame breath burned him mercilessly. A plant, after all, had a weakness against fire.
"Now!" Rei cried, rushing forward. "Fire hurts him!"
Ryu and Garr followed suit, their weapons raised, and Nina started glowing as she charged a spell.
"You… you… INSOLENT FOOLS!" Palet yelled as unknown projectiles were fired into the air from his head, as his red and blue brain divided into two. These projectiles, they discovered, were brains!
"What the heck?!" Rei skidded to a stop and drew back, dodging the brain projectiles.
"Nina!" Ryu cried as he leaped and slashed at a brain that was heading for the princess, slicing it cleanly into halves that landed on the ground.
"Pyu!" Peco was grabbed by the legs as Garr pulled him away from being hit by a brain.
Despite the chaos around her, however, Momo remained where she was, unmoving as though she was completely shocked by the events that had unfolded before her. Even while Rei sliced the brains that were aiming for her, that failed to get her attention. She merely stood there with her eyes wide.
"…all this while…" Momo closed her eyes, and opened them again. focused on the monster that used to be the director. "All this time when you worked for the plant, you never had any thoughts for it, did you?" She swung an arm in anger. "You just cared about the experiments!"
"Hahaha!" the monster bellowed. "Of course! I don't care if this plant's destroyed, as long as I bring my mother back!" He roared. "And I'll destroy you too!"
"Destroy the plant my father worked so hard for?! Over my dead body!" With sudden vigour, she raised her bazooka and leaned it on her shoulder, her eyes shone with absolute fury that she had never shown before. "TAKE THIS!"
With a fire chrysm already embedded inside the bazooka, she fired multiple shots at Palet, so many at one go that she was pushed back onto the floor as a result of the recoil.
Nina, who had already finished charging her spell, unleashed it at the same time. "Fireblast!"
With the combined force of both Momo's fire chrysm shots and Nina's spell, a great burst of flames erupted and exploded right on target. The mushroom monster let out a cross between a roar and a hollow howl, stumbling backwards.
But Palet was adamant in bringing his mother back to life that he refused to go down without a fight, With a grand roar, he stood right back up. He inhaled deeply, like a diver ready to go underwater, and exhaled a huge wave of poisonous fumes, filling the large laboratory with its deep violet colour.
The group of six coughed and spluttered, drawing as far back as possible from the fumes, but there was nowhere to run. The poisonous gas was truly potent – it brought even Garr down to his knees in mere seconds.
"DIE!" Palet's haunting voice shouted.
But he wasn't the only one who wouldn't go down without a fight.
Momo stood up resolutely. She was still affected from the chrysm gas she had inhaled earlier and she trembled from the effects of the poison, but that didn't stop her. She stepped forward like a soldier, ready to protect her father's plant from this threat.
Even if she hadn't the strength to even lift her weapon anymore.
But she wasn't alone.
She had her friends, who were willing to fight together with her.
Ryu placed a hand on her shoulder, a hand filled with warmth. The warmth from his hand was spreading into her shoulder, as though power was being transferred into her.
Surprised, she turned to face him. There was nothing on his face but kindness and understanding, as though he was telling her, "I'll help you, so trust me."
She could almost see the faded image of a blue-haired woman behind him, a pretty woman in a white robe and blue Dragon wings, giving her a reassuring smile.
Momo nodded. She had always trusted him, just as Nina trusted him, for he had unfailingly protected them. Just like how he had protected her from the mutant slug earlier.
And she trusted he would help her protect her father's memory.
Suddenly, power exploded from within the hand, and intense energy surged through her veins, as though burning her from the inside, and she screamed at the pain.
The energy circulated in her veins, travelling back and forth between her and Ryu, through his hand, and it repeated again and again.
Growing stronger with each cycle.
Then, suddenly, a great burst of light filled the room, overpowering everyone's sight.
Followed a loud thud, as though something heavy had fallen onto the floor.
As the light dimmed, everyone else was stunned to see that the purple fumes were gone.
And a grand creature sat in the centre of the room, gazing majestically at the mushroom creature before it.
It was a golden suit of armour in the shape of a Dragon, with at least seven feet between its shoulder pads and the floor. Its helmet revealed nothing on the wearer, with one long horn at the back of its head tipped with red feathers. Its whole body was made of golden metal, gleaming in the artificial light of the laboratory. Its front claws were sharp and gleaming, like the talons of an eagle, and its long tail ended with a spiked ball at the end.
From within the darkness within the helmet, two golden eyes gleamed.
The power of a Dragon, manifested by Momo's strong loyalty to her father.
The Golden Knight.
Shaken by the sight of this bizarre creature, Palet unleashed more brain-shaped projectiles into the air, forcing them to rain down on his enemies.
The Dragon-shaped armour approached him with slow, heavy footsteps, the projectiles merely bouncing off its body like raindrops off an umbrella.
"W-what are you?!" the mushroom roared in fear, firing more projectiles at it.
Suddenly the Golden Knight gave a hollow roar, a fearsome sound that made Palet drew back as though he had been hit, and it lowered its head. The horn at the back of its head, shaped like a cannon, then fired a projectile of its own.
Palet's eyes widened.
A colossal bomb. Falling towards him.
He had barely given a loud shriek when the bomb fell onto him, its weight pressing on his head.
An instant later, there was a gigantic explosion, so great that it sent everything flying, filling the room with a great burst of flames and light.
And the Golden Knight merely watched, its strong armour body shielding its companions from the flames.
Seconds later, when everything had settled down, the Dragon-shaped armour then reverted back to Ryu and Momo in a soft light. Overwhelmed with dizziness, the engineer fell backwards into a sitting position, breathing hard as though she had run for miles.
"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "That was awesome! It's such a powerful feeling, whatever that was! Is that how a Dragon feels?!"
Rei grinned. "Awesome, right? I had a turn just the other day!"
The princess laughed. "You two make it sound like it's a wonderful feeling… now I want to give it a try too!"
Garr chuckled, amused. "I, too, begin to wonder if being a Dragon is a bad thing…"
Ryu, who didn't quite seem as dazed this time, reddened. "Aw, c'mon…"
At that moment, another great burst of light surprised them, drawing their attention back onto Palet. They saw that the monster was gone, leaving the director who was covered in terrible burns. Fire burned part of the room, where some of the machinery lay destroyed, and moments later the lab's fire alarm system activated. The sprinklers were turned on, spraying water in all directions to curb the fire, as a dull ringing sound filled the air.
"Ugh…" Palet groaned.
He stumbled backwards, flailing his arms to keep his balance, and fell onto a nearby table, overturning it. The beakers that stood on its surface were tossed into the air, some landing onto him and covering him with coloured liquid, while others crashed onto the floor around him, spilling their contents into a pool of rainbow liquid around his feet.
"D-damn you…!" he muttered, staggering back to his feet. "I won't be beaten…!"
Rei twirled his dual daggers. "Give it up, old man. You've lost."
"Grr… no, I won't!" Abruptly he jumped up, reaching for another beaker in a shelf, but in his haste, he slipped on the pool of liquid and fell onto another machine.
Everyone gasped as screams of agony filled the room, sparks escaping from the machinery like a caged monster yearning for freedom. Electricity surged through Palet, burning him from the inside, and the machine exploded. Fire attacked him hungrily, refusing to be put out by the sprinkling water from the pipes above.
Fire and electricity combined, burning all parts of his body, from the inside and from the outside, and screams continued to echo loudly through room. Slowly, the screams died down, and his now charred body collapsed onto the floor, completely unrecognisable.
For long minutes following the event, unnerving silence filled the air. Nina covered her eyes and turned towards Ryu, who put a hand silently on her shoulder. Rei turned away and Garr merely covered his eyes.
Momo gazed at the dead body of the director, tears threatening to fall, a torrent of feelings raging in her heart.
"…so many times, I've asked myself…" She shook her head, sniffing. "…what would it have been like if my father had lived…? That's why…" She stared at the metal ceiling of the laboratory. "That's why… I simply don't know what to think… when I heard about this project…"
"Momo…" Nina whispered, shaking her head.
"But when I heard that he didn't continue the experiments, somehow I feel relieved…" She faced the others. "I still think he's the greatest father ever, and I still believe in him… he's probably just torn when my mother died, just like anyone else when they lost someone…"
The Guardian nodded. "It is but the norm, to feel sadness for the loss of a loved one."
"Yeah, I know that…" She smiled, albeit a little sadly. "But I'm happy to know he's just like the rest of us… even if he's not the saint I believed him to be."
The princess placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad, Momo."
She approached the largest machinery in the room, where Palet's mother was supposedly being brought back to life. "You know, guys, I bet Palet's mother can't be happy, being hooked up to machines like this…"
Ryu shook his head. "You mean we're going to…?"
"It is for the best," Garr stated.
"That's what I thought." Momo gazed at the smooth surface of the machine. "After all, everyone wants to rest in peace after dying, right?"
Nina nodded. "Yeah, I think so."
The half-tiger nodded. "Go for it."
"Pukki," Peco agreed.
"Can it be stopped by just flipping this lever?" the azure-haired man asked.
"Yes, it should." The older woman put a hand on the lever. "If I flip this, the supply of chrysm should stop." With a nod to the others, she determinedly flipped the lever.
With a low rumble, the lights from the machine faded away and the loud hum from it gradually died down, leaving the room in silence.
"With this, the plant will be closed down for good…" Momo felt despaired for a moment, but soon she reverted back to her cheerful self as she faced her companions. "Oh well, one can't expect every project to be successful, right?" She stretched. "Whew, it's been a tiring day! Say, why don't we go and have a drink at the coffee shop? It'll help us relax and it's been ages since I've been with you guys!"
The princess beamed. "Yes, and we'll chat like before!"
"It's been a while since I've had a long chat with someone!"
A cheeky grin formed on Rei's face. "Hey, if you're paying, I'm all up for it!"
"No way!"
Everyone laughed.
Feeling much more cheerful, the six of them left through the wide open gates of the plant, looking forward to relaxing and having drinks at the coffee shop. There was nothing left at this place for them, they knew that much.
Momo, however, gave one last gaze at the plant, her father's final project, before turning away, with one thought in her mind.
Don't worry, Father, you're still the greatest… I won't ever doubt you anymore.
.
End of Chapter Eighteen.
Author's Notes:
The ending to this chapter is so sad… I could imagine the scene anime-style, with everyone laughing and walking towards the coffee shop, and Momo lagging behind to have one last look at her father's last project, then the whole screen turns brown (old paper / drawing-style, like how Wild Arms Alter Code: F's prologue ends) just as Momo's voice says the last line. It's so sad. T_T
And don't mind me for changing some of the layout of the underground lab, I did it to suit my chapter. o_o
Oh, in case you didn't realise, I've already fixed the coffee shop scene back in Chapter 8. I did it hours after the last update, so I'm putting this announcement here in case you missed it last week. Hopefully it's better now. :D
Review Replies for Chapter Seventeen:
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To RedemptionWarrior:
Hm… I could probably use the Onion (maybe I'll change the name… sounds weird in my ears x_x) and the Cockatrice (I usually call it an Avian, rather than the stone-transforming Cockatrice o_o) in a not-so-emotional scene, rather than an emotional one as what happened with Rei. I dunno, I'll think of something when the time comes. o_o
As for the Hybrid transformation with Garr… well, my theory is really long so please bear with me. x_x
First, let's talk about the influence of the Dragons on other races when they first came into the world (pre-BoF3). I believe that the Dragons are so powerful that their very existence has an influence on other races to the point that these races gain powers that they aren't supposed to have. Imagine a world full of ordinary humans like ours; that's how I imagine the BoF world to be pre-Dragon-existence. When the Dragons came, their existence itself had a hand in the human evolution, to the point they gain powers that ordinary humans don't have; Wyndians gain wings, Worens become tiger-like, etc. With this theory, it's supported by the fact that, as the number of Dragons dwindled over the generations (compare BoF, BoF2 and BoF3), the other races begin to lose their initial power; the Wyndians lose first their Great Bird transformation then their wings, some Grassrunners lose most of their non-human features and remain with only their rabbit-like ears (Momo, for example), and other races that are able to transform are unable to do it without a drawback (Rei goes berserk in his weretiger form, Balio and Sunder have to fuse, etc).
Why, then, didn't Myria influence the evolution of races? Probably because there's only one of her compared to hundreds, thousands and even hundreds of thousands of Dragons.
Of course, there are some holes in this theory, but this is what I'm led to believe.
With the Dragons-influence-evolution theory in place, it would mean that every humanoid race in the BoF3 world have a bit of Dragon power left in them, the powers that define their racial features (Wyndian wings, Woren tiger-like appearance, etc). Ryu can fuse with Nina, Rei and Momo (let's forget Peco for now) only because they have that bit of Dragon power inside them – otherwise they can't fuse together. Garr is a direct manifestation of the Goddess' power; he has no Dragon power inside him (I mean, have you seen a race like his in pre-BoF3 world?). Because there isn't that Dragon power inside Garr to link both Ryu and him together, hence they're unable to fuse together to form a new Hybrid Dragon.
There's a hole in this theory, however… why, then, can Ryu fuse with Peco? I'm guessing for this theory to work, I'll have to believe the Dragons also influenced the evolution of the plants as well… maybe even influenced Grassmen and Yggdrasil to form with a mind of their own.
I know there are holes in my theories… but hopefully it works well enough for this novelisation. xP
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To Ferane:
Believe me, I had a time trying to think of a name for Rei's Hybrid Dragon form… calling it Tiger Dragon doesn't sit very well with me. I based most of my Hybrid Dragons on Raiu's Dragon Guide from GameFAQs, and he called it the Winged Tiger (normal form) and Flame Tiger (golden form). Calling it a Wyvern as you suggested doesn't sit very well with me either, as the term Wyvern makes me think of… well, the lizardy Dragons that we're normally acquainted with.
I've googled Wyvern as well as Dragon, and I've come up with a result. 'Dragon' is derived from Greek's drakōn ("a serpent of huge size, a python") and 'Wyvern' is derived from Middle English's wyvere which is from Old North French's wivre ("viper"). The most notable difference between a Dragon and a Wyvern is that the former has four legs, while the latter has two. Dragons are usually portrayed as benevolent creatures (such as the Eastern Dragons), while Wyverns are the evil ones often seen in Western stories.
But, of course, both are usually portrayed to be reptilian… a picture BoF3 has broken with its Hybrid Dragon forms. I mean, a tiger-like Dragon, a bird-like Dragon, an armour-like Dragon (is it alive?) and an onion Dragon? Whoa. Still, a Wyvern certainly brings the idea of a lizardy creature to my head… so I think I'll leave that out. o_o
Uh, oops, sorry about the longwinded explanation. Let me know if you dislike it and I'll tone it down in future. x_x
The lightning spell that the Tiger Hybrid form did is a slight variation of Myollnir (checked the spelling in a walkthrough, it's with a Y o_o). The animation for Myollnir is only a downward bolt, while in that scene, the bolt shot up from the Tiger and down onto Mikba. So I'm not even sure if I should still call it Myollnir… should be fine, since I didn't mention its name in the chapter in the first place. xP
And thanks for the Yggdrasil scene suggestion! I've changed the sentences in the chapter around to accommodate the suggestion, so hopefully it's better now. :D
Thanks for the review!
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To ZoharKnight:
Thanks! Glad that you think so!
Rei and Momo only started bickering much later, when they try to board the Black Ship. I was thinking; why only so far ahead? Was there just awkward silence between the two until then? It didn't quite make sense, so I added it here. xP
It's great you liked the Hybrid scene! It's thanks to RedemptionWarrior's suggestion that it sparked such a scene on me, though I felt the scene doesn't seem right somehow. So it's good you like it. :D
Thanks for reviewing!
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To Lord Kain:
Yep, it's such a relief to see everyone back together, somehow!
It so happens that Rei and Nina had a chat at night while the others were asleep, and so Rei teases her. I think at the moment (when they went to find Momo and Peco), Rei didn't tease Ryu yet because he wanted to see how long they would go before Ryu actually realises. Rei will tease him, but not yet. x_x
Thanks for the review!
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To Airess Byrd:
Thanks! Great to hear you like the chapter!
I don't quite remember how I fought the battle with Mikba in the game, sadly… but since I usually relied on Ryu's Dragon form, I think I brought Rei back to life and hope that he wouldn't kill the others while Ryu finished off the boss. Or maybe I made him turn into a Dragon that takes up three character spots, like the Tiamat or Behemoth; I can't really remember. Thankfully, Ryu usually ends the battle after two or three Dragon hits, especially when he stands at the point of the attack formation. xP
And I'm glad to see that my rhyming mini-poem isn't too bad. :D
Thanks for reviewing!
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To Nina Windia:
No worries about your occasional break from , I'm just glad you're here to read my novelisation. :D
Nice, great to see you like Rei in my novelisation! I do like him in-game (though not more than Ryu!), especially after his "WOOHEE" shout back at Bunyan's house early in the game. xP While I can see bits and pieces of his carefree-ness and light-hearted ness in-game, I do think the game didn't portray it too well. Still, I know a lot of people like him because he's funny!
That 'the power to protect' theme… actually, while I intended to make it Ryu's tendency to protect and Rei's angst over his failure to protect and the whole protector sub-plot thing expanded and more protectiveness coming up in future chapters, it didn't occur to me that I'm making it this story's theme… really, I'm that much of a blur-case, so it's good that you mentioned it to me! Can I just pretend I was pro enough to think of it as my theme from the start? xP
And I, too, thought Rei just found Teepo lying around… until I read the fan-translation of the scene from , which is translated from Capcom's site. Hey, I did my research!
Oh yeah, who doesn't like a bit of Ryu-Nina romance here? And Ryu's the typical dense-about-romance type of guy! So there'll be more "no way, no how!" denials coming along for a while… until the confession. But will it come? Who knows? xP
But your livelier version of Ryu is good too; he seems more fun-loving, kinda similar to Teepo and Rei rolled into one. He does stand out more compared to Edmund, so I think you did it pretty well. So while you like my version of Ryu, I like your version of Ryu!
But it's good to see that you find his character realistic. :D
Momo is usually absent-minded (I feel it's repetitive to make her absent-minded all the time… it's like her character is so shallow, so I try not to do it all the time x_x), so Honey's always the one keeping her on track. As Airess Byrd mentioned, Honey's like her personal PDA. xP
The game made Honey seem like a mere robot doll, but I like to see her just as expressive and emotion-possessing as the other characters, hence the occasional exasperated face-palm and such. It's kinda funny to see her that way each time we glimpse Momo's absent-mindedness!
And I'm glad you love the Rei-Momo interactions! The game only made their first bicker during the Black Ship scene; I was like, what? Why only now? Why not at the plant?! But I like their bickering too (the "cats should sit in the corner and not be heard" and "rabbits should hide in a hole and not be seen" thing was my brother's idea and I love it xP), though it's mostly because, well, one weakness I had in one of my early original novels was that I didn't focus enough on the other characters. x_x
But what? Momo's not a rabbit but a dog?! Though at the mention of Grassrunner clan, I tend to think of rabbits… possibly the Grassrunner clan consist of people with features of, well, animals that live on grassy plains. I think I'll just leave Momo as a half-rabbit instead of a half-dog… it's stuck in my head now. But thanks for telling me!
Thanks for the essay… uh, review! :D
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To aisty:
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy reading my novelisation! :D
Thanks for reviewing!
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To Dragoon Cecilia:
Yay, I'm glad you find the Rei-Momo scenes funny! I've always found it odd that they never interacted before the boat scenes, so why not add my own? xD
Thanks for the review!