Breath of Fire III: Of Gods and Dragons
Chapter Nineteen: The Princess' Choice
Written by Estrelita Farr
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It was peaceful that night, as everyone relaxed around the campsite by the river that divided Eastern and Central Wyndia. Ryu leaned against a tree with his eyes closed, Garr constantly tossed firewood into the fire, Rei sharpened his knives and Peco snoozed in the tent. For Momo, though, her idea of relaxing was to study something, and she studied the onion with a notepad in one hand, barely looking up when Nina entered the tent.
"Momo?" Nina called.
The engineer turned her eyes towards her. "Huh? What is it, Nina?"
She smiled. "Thank you for your help, Momo. Thanks to you, we were able to take care of the problem at the plant."
"Oh, that?" She shook her head, beaming. "No worries about that! It was my father's plant, after all, so I would have to do something sooner or later!" As she remembered the events that had transpired at the plant, her enthusiasm was replaced by sadness. "My father… he repaired that machine and was going to use it to bring back my mother… but he quit and started working on developing enhanced crops instead…"
The princess sat down beside her. "I wonder… what made him realise and quit his experiments?"
Seeming a bit more cheery now, she smiled again. "Well, my father's the sort to do things for the good of other people, to make their lives easier or things like that… only that he's sad when my mother passed away."
"I see…"
Stroking Peco's head, she continued, "He probably eventually realised that there's nothing more unnatural, more wrong than trying to bring the dead to life. He loved machines, and he may not have known a lot about anything else…" Then, she grinned. "But he wasn't stupid!"
"I'm sure he's not." She giggled. "But I'm sure I know where you get your absentmindedness from!"
"Hey!" She tossed an eraser at her.
Laughing, she jumped away. "I'm just teasing you!"
Still grinning, she remarked, "I know that, but I thought you deserved it anyway!"
"Hey!"
And both of them burst into laughter.
"Well, anyway…" Nina started again, smiling, after she had calmed down. "Thank you, Momo. Now Ryu can receive the king's forgiveness and travel to the eastern lands."
"No problem, I'm glad I could help! Oh, say, speaking of the eastern lands…" She nodded. "I've been thinking… I'll probably go east with everyone else. After all, there's no point in staying at the plant."
She nodded, beaming. "I'm glad that you're coming along, Momo."
"And besides…" Her rabbit-like ears perked up. "I still want to see what kind of ship they have in Rhapala!"
It was just that very moment when Honey shrugged and shook her head, as if to groan and say, "Oh no, not again…"
And the two of them laughed once again.
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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The City of Winds had not changed at all in the last ten years – it was still a high large city made of stone and surrounded by high walls, and there was a strong gust of wind that turned the huge windmills situated at various locations of the city. Everywhere in the city was still seemed rather busy, with all the people bustling here and there.
"Well, here we are," Nina said as the group stopped outside the city. "We made it to Wyndia."
"Whoa…" Rei observed his surroundings in awe.
Ryu chuckled at his reaction. "That's exactly how I reacted the first time I was here, all those years ago." He grew quiet. "I came here looking for Teepo and you, but…"
He nodded, sighing a little. "Yeah, I know. It's always been his dream to come here…"
"…well, I guess there's no point thinking about that now…" He shook his head and turned to the princess. "So, um, Nina… are you sure the king and queen would forgive me after we helped at the plant?"
"Actually…" Nina shook her head doubtfully. "I'm not so sure about it now…"
"If they spent ten years believing he is a criminal…" Garr crossed his arms. "I think not they will let him walk free."
"Yeah…" The azure-haired man sighed softly.
"Maybe we shouldn't let Ryu see them yet?" Momo suggested.
The winged girl nodded. "I think so too. They've seen all of you before, except…" She turned to Rei.
Rei blinked. "Huh? What?"
She thought for a moment. "Rei, why don't you come with me to the castle? We need a passport to cross the bridge, but everyone else was here ten years ago, so my parents will recognise them."
"And…" The Guardian stretched his wings as he added, "I recently acquired a passport, so I can ask them not for another one."
"So…" Nina smiled. "It's probably better if you come along with me, because no one here knows you, right?"
Rei rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, yeah, I guess so…"
"Then it's settled!" She beamed. "Well, let's go, Rei!"
Ryu watched them go, unable to help but to feel despaired… what if this was the last time he would see her? What if her parents confined her in the castle again? Even if he finished his journey to see the Goddess, how would he be able to see her again, now that he was branded as a criminal?
I guess… we'll never see each other again…
He turned, his back towards the city, hiding his face from the others as he strode back out into the wilderness. His eyes stung, as though he was still a tearful child.
Maybe… maybe some things are just… not meant to be…
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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It did not take Nina long to explain the details of what happened in Syn City and the plant, though she conveniently left out the fact that Rei was the weretiger and that she had other companions helping her. She was glad her mother was not in the audience hall today, as she related the story to her father.
"Thank you, Nina," the king said, smiling. "Excellent work on your part, I must say!"
She curtsied. "Thank you, Your Majesty. But I did not do it myself." She gestured towards her half-tiger companion. "I was only able to complete my missions with Master Rei's help."
Rei, feeling flustered at all the formality, knelt down in respect before the king, his head bowed.
"Rise, Master Rei," the king commanded, though not harshly. "Thank you for your assistance. If what I heard is correct, you wish to travel to the eastern lands?"
He stood up slowly, nodding. "Y-yes, Your Tall… uh, Highness…"
He did not seem to mind his nervousness. "We will have a passport prepared, Master Rei. In the meantime, please enjoy our hospitality!"
"Uh, t-thank you."
The princess smiled as she turned at him, gesturing towards the entrance of the audience hall. "This way please, Master Rei. I will give you a tour of the castle."
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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"Man, doesn't this just beat all?" Rei shook his head as they walked, glad to be away from the stiff formality of the audience hall. "How the heck do you even live in here?
Nina turned to him, puzzled. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"I mean, everyone here's so stiff and formal, and even you change the way you talk the moment you're in front of the king…" He rubbed his head. "Doesn't anyone ever relax in this place? Geez…"
She giggled. "It's probably just because you're not used to being in a place like this, Rei!"
He grinned. "What do you expect from a thief?"
"Thief or not, you'll get used to it soon enough!"
She led him down a staircase to a dull-looking place lit by torches on the dark stone walls. There were little guards here, though there were servants bustling up and down, with some of them transporting things to and fro.
"This is the basement of the castle." The princess pointed at a hall. "The kitchen's that way, and–" She pointed toward another hallway. "–the dungeon's that way." She sighed softly as memories of the past flooded her mind. "Speaking of the dungeon, Ryu was put in there once, ten years ago."
"He was, huh?" Rei shrugged. "What did he do then?"
"It wasn't his fault, actually…" She shook her head slowly. "Balio and Sunder found out he's a Dragon and brought him here to see the king, and when my father saw that he was just a boy, all three of them got arrested…"
"I see…" He was about to continue, but then he spied something moving at the corner of his eyes. "Hey, something's following us…"
"Huh?" She turned, looking around, and caught sight of a familiar robot doll on the floor. "Honey? What are you doing here?"
Honey just looked up at her.
Rei blinked. "Wait, isn't that Momo's robot?"
"Yeah, it's Honey." She knelt down in front of her. "Did you follow me again?"
Honey nodded.
Picking up the robot gently in her hands, she stood up and faced her companion again. "You know, she followed me here once before, so many years ago… she tried running away from me, and we ended up falling off a balcony!"
He winced slightly. "Ouch, weren't you hurt at all?"
She shook her head, beaming. "No, because then she slowed my fall with some magic shield thing…" She held Honey firmly. "I'll grab her this time to make sure she doesn't go off anywhere again."
"Good idea, you wouldn't want to jump off the balcony again, right?"
She nodded. "Yeah, it's something I'd like to forget." Though I'd rather jump off the balcony and join Ryu… instead of staying here…
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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"And this is the dining hall," Nina stated as they entered the brightly-decorated blue-carpeted room. "This is where we hold banquets for special occasions."
"Ah! Nina!" an old man suddenly cried, bowing towards her. "I'm so glad to see you back safe!" He wore a formal blue suit, and he had large white wings tinged with light purple folded neatly behind him, which indicated that he was part of the Wyndian royal family.
Nina smiled. "I'm glad to see you too, Grandfather. How have you been?"
"Oh, I'm fine! Just fine! Plenty of life in this old bird yet!" He let out a loud guffaw. "So you've made a new friend, hm?"
She nodded, beaming. "Yes, I make a lot of new friends every time I go outside the castle; it's much better than staying in this stuffy old castle!"
"I agree with you!" After another guffaw, he calmed down and smiled at her. "I understand why you want to go outside all the time, that's why you're always doing great deeds like investigating the black market mafia and the plant… you don't have to worry about a thing, everyone in this castle is on your side."
"But…" She sighed. "There's still Mother…"
He stroked his bearded chin. "Ah, yes… Sheila's a stubborn one…" But the smile remained on his face. "Well, the story of what happened ten years ago that you told me seems too much for her to understand, and your father… I'm inclined to believe that he listens to his wife too much."
She giggled lightly. "Don't let him hear that from you!"
He laughed. "Of course I won't! I don't want to be kicked out of the castle!" He thought for a moment, as though realising something. "Oh, I nearly forgot, Sheila wants to see you, Nina. Make sure you go up soon, all right?"
She nodded. "Okay."
"Hey, Nina…" Rei whispered as they stepped away from the old man. "Who's that, really?"
"Oh, he's my grandfather, my father's father. He used to be the king, but now he's retired and works as a diplomat instead." She beamed. "I trust him more than I do my parents, so I've told him what exactly happened when I was out travelling with Ryu… about the Dragons… the Goddess…" She shook her head. "And he's about the only one who believes that Ryu's innocent."
"That's great, at least he's more understanding than your parents, from what I see."
"Yeah." She sighed. "I just wish that my parents are like that too… then I wouldn't want to leave the castle so much…" She stopped at the bottom of a staircase leading to the upper floor and faced the half-tiger. "Can you wait here, Rei? I have to see my mother for a minute, and I don't think it's right for you to go up."
"Oh, sure." He leaned against a nearby wall, well out of everyone's way, and crossed his arms. "I'll wait for you here."
"I won't be long."
Her mother, as usual, was in her room resting on a chair, with two maids nearby to wait on her. Nina vaguely noticed that she seemed better now as compared to the time she left, and she meekly went to the queen's side.
"Nina…" She smiled at her. "You've come back."
She forced a smile – even though she loved her mother, somehow she never felt particularly enthusiastic about meeting her. "Yes, Mother… I'm home."
She took her hand gently. "I've heard about how well you've done, and it pleases me greatly. But…" She shook her head firmly. "You belong to Wyndia… and you belong to me."
"Mother… I…" But… I don't want to be stuck here…
"I'm saying this for your own good, Nina. I won't tolerate any more foolish, rash behaviour." She waved her folded fan at her. "Understand?"
"I… understand, Mother…"
You're my mother, but… why…? Why won't you understand how I feel…? Why won't you believe me…?
Then, she turned and headed to where Rei was waiting for her, silent and almost tearful. When her companion saw her, concern showed on his face.
"Are you… okay?" he asked uncertainly.
"I wish I am…" She sighed softly.
At that very moment, the princess' grandfather approached them.
"Well, well…" He shook his head. "What did Sheila tell you this time?"
"Just that I belong to her and to Wyndia…" Nina focused her gaze on the blue carpet, seeming upset. "I just wish she understands how I feel…"
"I figured she will still be like that…" He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, smiling. "But, no matter what your mother says, Nina, you still have a right to feel what you're feeling now. If you feel bad, you can always come and find me, all right?"
She smiled, looking more cheerful now. "Thanks, Grandfather."
"Well then!" he suddenly said loudly, clearing his throat. "I heard the passport's ready, so why don't you check with your father?"
"Really? Okay then, I'll do that." She turned to the golden-haired man. "Let's go, Rei."
He nodded. "Right behind you."
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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The large oak table in the dining hall now bore the weight of plates of luxurious food, and the king sat at the head of the table. As a servant handed the passport to Rei, the queen came downstairs to a seat beside her husband.
"My apologies for the delay, Master Rei," the king said, smiling. "Now that the passport has been taken care of, please, relax and enjoy yourself."
Rei's eyes shone at the mountain of food on the table, but Nina quickly said, "Father, have you forgotten? Master Rei is on pressing business and has no time. It would be wrong of us to keep him from his business."
"Ah, yes… forgive me."
The half-tiger seemed confused and wanted to interrupt, but she refused to let him say a word as she continued, "I will escort Master Rei to the gate."
Her companion seemed puzzled, but upon the princess' glance, he bowed awkwardly towards the royal couple. "Thank you, uh, Your Tall, uh, Highness…" He was still not used to the formality. "I'll be taking off… uh, taking my leave of you now…"
"Very well then." The king smiled. "Farewell, Master Rei, and have a safe journey!"
With one final awkward bow to them, Rei was ushered towards the door of the dining hall, and that very moment, a soldier passed them, glanced at him, and went towards the king and queen.
"What's the hurry?" the golden-haired man protested softly as he walked. "I never pass up a free meal!"
"I just think that you shouldn't stay here longer than you need to," Nina explained, walking briskly to the door. "You have to go before anyone finds out about Ryu and the others!"
"Oh… yeah… I get it now." He nodded. "Let's go quickly."
She hesitated. "Actually… I don't think I can go with you this time…" She opened the door and faced him, a look of despair on her face. "…but… please tell Ryu that… I…"
"Stop!" the queen's voice rang loudly across the dining hall.
Both of them froze and spun slowly around, fearing the worst. The guards, maids, servants and even the king were all looking at the queen, with a quizzing expression on their faces as they wondered what was going on. Only one guard, the one who had passed by the duo earlier, seemed to know what was going on.
"Rei, or whoever you are…" Sheila frowned, standing up from the table. "You are one of that villain Ryu's friends, are you not?"
All the other women gasped, including Nina.
"What? Is this true?" the king demanded, slamming a fist on the table.
Rei began to look nervous, wondering what the royal family could do to him.
And Nina's grandfather, who stood at the back of the room, shook his head sadly.
"There's no doubt!" the guard, who stood beside the queen, stated determinedly. "I saw him talking to the same people who were here years ago! And one of them unmistakeably had blue hair!"
The princess ran back to the side of the table. "Father! I can explain! I… I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything right away, but…" She shook her head quickly. "Ryu isn't a bad person! I know it!"
Sheila, furious, spoke even louder. "You're being tricked, Nina, lied to! By these conmen!" She pointed her folded fan at Rei. "These HOODLUMS!"
"No!" Nina cried defiantly. "Ryu IS NOT a hoodlum or a conman! He's a strong, noble man with a purpose!"
"You know NOTHING!" she shrieked, turning red from the anger. "I don't know or care WHAT they are! They are simply NOT the people you should be calling friends!"
"…not… friends…?"
Nina then recalled every moment of her time that she had spent with the six of them, remembering the times when she was laughing with them, crying with them, fighting along their sides for their lives… and she remembered Ryu's kind blue eyes. Strong Ryu who had protected her from any harm, dearest Ryu who had understood her just as she understood herself…
Not to call them friends? Not even when they had risked their lives for each other?
No. Her mother could badmouth her… but not about her friends!
"It's YOU who doesn't understand, Mother!" she flared, finally unable to contain the frustration, the anger that had been pent up inside her for so many years. "About the Brood! About the criminals in Syn City! About the remnants of the Techno Age! Do you have any idea what's outside your castle, Mother?"
Everyone remained silent, watching her, for they were shocked to see her so angry, so… uncontrollable.
She just stood there, glaring at her parents, panting from her outburst. It was then when she felt a hand on her shoulder – it was Rei, whom she had momentarily forgotten.
"Hey, take it easy…" he said, calming her down. "Ryu wouldn't like you like this, eh?"
At that instant, she realised her outburst and focused her gaze on the floor, tears threatening to fall. "S… sorry…"
The half-tiger then faced the queen. "You know, Your Tallness…" He didn't care about his mistakes any longer. "All baby birds leave the nest someday… am I wrong?"
Sheila went purple with rage. "How… how DARE you?"
"Look…" He shrugged, almost nonchalantly. "I'm just like you said, a crook, a thief… BUT. Ryu's different." He straightened, gazing at her. "Ryu's the kind of guy who can… no, WILL change the world." He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not surprised you're worried about him…"
"You… you…!" She turned towards the soldiers, who simply stood there dumbfounded. "What are you doing? Arrest him!"
The guards, surprised at the sudden command, quickly saluted. "Y-yes, Your Majesty!"
"Uh oh…" Rei half-grinned. "Time to leave!"
With a quick glance at the advancing soldiers, Nina nodded quickly. "Yes, this instant!"
Both of them fled out of the dining hall and immediately the guards pursued them, with a shrieking queen throwing commands at them, as the maids and servants ran to their rooms in the commotions. After a while, the only ones left in the room were the king and his father.
"No doubt she has confided in you, Father…" the king said quietly.
The older man nodded, stroking his grey beard. "Yes, indeed. She told me everything that happened ten years ago."
He hesitated. "Do you think that she was telling the truth? That her friends are trustworthy?"
"Of course. I saw them myself ten years ago, and even that Rei fellow doesn't look too bad. It does seem they trust her as much as she does them." He gazed at him. "Don't you believe your own daughter?"
"I… I do, but…" The king closed his eyes, covering them with one hand. "Nina… forgive me…"
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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"Oh no!" Nina cried, skidding to a stop and running in the opposite direction. "There are soldiers here too!"
"Damn!" Rei cursed. "How can we get out of this place?"
Just then, the winged girl accidentally dropped Honey, who fell onto the carpet with a muffled clank and started moving quickly towards a direction.
Nina saw her scurrying down a particular set of staircase and shouted to her companion, "Rei, quick! Follow Honey!"
"What?"
"I followed her before!" She pulled him by the hand to make him follow. "And she led me out of the castle!"
"What's she gonna do?" he cried as they chased the robot doll down the staircase, into the basement. "Jump off the balcony again?"
"It was fine then and we're underground now, so there's no chance of her doing that!"
They burst noisily into the kitchen, unintentionally knocking some pots and pans about, and all the chefs in there jumped in surprise as they turned in their direction.
"Princess Nina?" one of the female chefs asked. "Something wrong?"
"I-I'm leaving again! I'm sorry!" Nina shouted as she headed towards the steps to the wine cellar.
"Don't worry, princess!" a male chef cried. "We're on your side!"
Another man nodded. "Yeah! So you be careful out there!"
"And eat well!" a female chef yelled.
The princess beamed. "Thank you all so much! I won't forget this!"
"Wow, it's great that they're helping us," Rei commented, jumping down the steps. "But it's a dead-end here, isn't it?"
"It looks that way, but…" She started climbing down the ladder at the end of the wine cellar. "Something tells me we'll find a way out…" She leaped off the ladder and landed neatly on the ground. "We'll just have to trust Honey!"
"Right!"
At the bottom of the ladder was a small narrow room with a metal door that was heavily padlocked, which Honey was trying desperately to break down. There was a surprised guard there, who looked up when the duo came down.
"H-hey, princess!" he started, pointing at Honey. "What the heck is this?"
"I-it's not anything dangerous!" she told him, shaking her head. "Please don't be alarmed!"
In the meantime, Rei hurried to the door and picked the lock easily with one claw. As soon as the door opened, Honey rushed inside, which prompted him to follow.
Right in the centre of the dimly-lit square room beyond the door, there was a huge circular floor made of reflective material on a raised square stone platform, looking very much like a gigantic pedestal, and four short pillars surrounded it at the four corners. Honey jumped onto a wide panel with numerous, complex controls on it, and started speaking in a barely audible metallic voice.
"01011010 01101111 01101101 01100111 00100001…"
"Navigator code accepted," a much louder metallic voice from the panel echoed in the air, after an extra loud beep. "Activating Portal Drive."
All of a sudden, a great pillar of white light shot up from the circular floor on the stone platform, illuminating the room like the sun, and the robot doll immediately ran up the steps leading to the light before disappearing away.
"I… I don't believe it! She disappeared!" Rei exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Are we supposed to get away with this contraption?" He was about to take a step towards the light, but then remembered his companion. "Oops, Ryu will kill me if I forget her…" He rushed outside, eagerly shouting, "Hey, Nina! I think we can make i– uh oh…"
Outside the room, many soldiers had already descended the ladder, with the queen at their lead. They appeared rather regretful within their armour, knowing that they had to obey the queen's command against their wishes, even if they wanted to help the princess.
"Mother, I'm sorry…" Nina shook her head, a pained expression on her face. "But I have to…"
"Don't talk to me like that, young lady!" Sheila snapped, pointing her folded fan at her. "You're the princess and heir to the throne! Do you think you can just disobey your duty and your family like this?"
"Mother…" She closed her eyes, and a lone tear slid down her cheek. "I love you, Mother. I understand how important I am and that I'm a princess…" Then she glared at her, fiery determination glinting in her eyes. "But I'm not just a princess! I am first and foremost a person! A person called Nina!" She shook her head. "And, as a person, I have to do what I think is right!"
"How DARE you talk to me like that!" she screamed.
"So for now…" She smiled sadly as she raised a glowing wand. "Goodbye, Mother. I hope you'll think about what I've said."
With that, much to Sheila's indignation, Nina threw an Iceblast spell between them and created an ice wall, blocking their way. Sheila shouted and screamed furiously on the other side, unable to break down the magical ice wall, and the soldiers grew uncomfortable with her tone as though she had yelled obscenities. There were magicians in the crowd who could dispel the ice wall in a second, but without a command – and they were more willing to help the princess than the Queen – they did nothing.
With another sad smile, Nina turned and escaped through the door, her white plumes trailing behind her like ribbons.
A loud hum sounded in the air, a pillar of light shining upward from the giant pedestal, and Rei led her into it. As soon as they stepped onto the platform, there was a great flash of light that obscured all sight.
When the Queen finally burst into the room, the soldiers accumulating behind her, she shrieked with rage.
Nina and Rei had vanished.
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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For quite a number of seconds, Nina kept her eyes tightly shut from the bright light that shone the moment they had stepped into the pillar of light. Once it had dimmed to a bearable amount, she looked up slowly and found that they were in another room similar to the one they had just came from, but instead of a metal door as an exit, there was a ladder leading to an upper level.
She stepped down the short steps from the platform, only partially realising that the pillar of light had disappeared and that Honey was waiting for them in front of her.
"Where… are we?" she wondered.
Rei shrugged. "No idea… but I'm sure glad to be out of there." He stepped down as well, kneeling next to the robot doll. "Hey, Honey, what the heck did you do back there?"
Honey, incapable of speech, only stared at him.
The girl walked over to her and picked her up gently, feeling very glad that they were able to get away from the castle. "Well, let's get out of here and take a look around."
He nodded, moving towards the aforementioned ladder. "Right."
Above the ladder was a small wooden shed, with nothing but several crates and barrels, and it seemed to be abandoned judging by the inch-thick layer of dust. The moment she was outside, however, Nina gave a loud cry.
"Hey! We're all the way outside the castle!"
Sure enough, they were just outside the high stone walls of Wyndia, with the city flags upon the wall billowing in the wind. They seemed to be somewhere just outside the southern part of the city, with the walls surrounding them on three sides – perhaps the person who built this place wanted to hide within the walls of the city, yet away from the eyes of the city residents.
"Whoa, I never thought we'd be able to get away like this…" Rei grinned, his tail swishing behind him. "No time to waste, then! We'd better catch up with Ryu and the others!"
The princess beamed. "Yes! That's right!" I get to see Ryu again… I'm so glad…
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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"Hey, Garr…" Momo whispered, sitting beside the massive Dragon-like man.
Garr, who was at the campfire as usual, turned slightly. "What is it?"
She hesitated. "Well… don't you think that Ryu's too… quiet tonight?"
"Hm…" He gazed at the young man leaning against a tree trunk in the darkness of the night, who seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he stared into the fire.
She shook her head. "Almost depressed, I think… I wonder why?"
The Guardian tossed a log into the fire. "Perhaps, Momo, if you allow it a good long moment of thought, the answer will come to you."
"What?" She scratched her head lightly. "I don't get it… how would I know by just thinking about it? I'm no psychic…"
He heaved a quiet sigh. Sometimes this woman, despite being nearly thirty years of age, was impossibly dense, no matter how smart with machinery and science she was…
However, Ryu was indeed feeling rather down that day, after Nina had left for the castle with Rei. He was quite unable to think of nothing else but her, feeling rather drained and out of energy, with no motivation to do anything. Already he missed her companionship, her high laughter, her sweet smile… and it had only been, what? Five hours? God, it had felt like five weeks…
He sighed softly, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the tree.
He could not understand why he felt this way, why he had felt so upset when she had to go, just like before they left for Angel Tower the first time. He thought he had merely missed her, but the thing was, his despair was this great when he had first woken up in Bunyan's house ten years ago and discovered that Rei and Teepo was missing.
Why?
He had absolutely no idea.
Once again he sighed, this time getting to his feet. If he was just going to sit here thinking about it, he might as well just go and sleep, though he had a feeling that nightmares would torment him once again…
Just as he passed the campfire, however, he caught sight of two figures approaching the campsite in the darkness. His hand instantly went to the hilt of his sheathed sword, just in case they were someone unfriendly… but these two turned out to be his missing companions.
"Rei and… Nina?" he asked uncertainly, the feeling of déjà vu washing over him.
She came back… she really came back… just like ten years ago…
For no apparent reason, the blond-haired girl reddened. "Um, hi, Ryu."
"Oh? I expected you to return not, Nina," Garr said, looking up from where he sat. "Is there anything wrong?"
The half-tiger shrugged and sat cross-legged at the campfire, warming himself. "Well, basically the king and queen found out that I was with you guys and Honey helped us to escape…"
Momo's eyes perked up. "Honey did? Why, that's just like ten years ago?" She shook her head. "Did she use up all of her chrysm energy again?"
In reply, the robot doll jumped down from Nina's hands and walked over to her mistress.
She beamed, picking her up. "I'm glad you're fine this time, Honey!"
"Perhaps you would like to tell us what happened," the Guardian said, feeding another log to the campfire.
Nina stretched, her wings spreading to their full length. "Well, you tell them, Rei. I'm so glad to be out of the castle that I want a short walk!" She smiled as she tugged at the blue-haired man's arm. "Ryu, why don't you accompany me?"
"Huh?" Ryu nodded. "O-okay."
With a cheeky grin on his face, Rei said, "Heh, all right then, make sure you two take your own sweet time out there! And we'll make sure not to interrupt!"
This statement made the two of them turn a bright shade of red, and in order to escape the embarrassment, the princess took Ryu's hand and sped into the darkness of the nearby forest.
The blond-haired man laughed heartily. "Haha! It's great to tease them like that!"
"Tease them like how?" came Momo's question. "I don't get what you mean!"
Honey slapped her head.
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-o-o-o-o-o-
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Panting slightly from the run, Ryu and Nina gradually stopped in the middle of a clearing, which was partially lit by the moonlight that shone in the sky.
"A walk, you say?" Ryu chuckled lightly. "More like a run."
She giggled. "Don't look at me! Rei made me do it, after he said–"
They realised it at the same time and abruptly turned away from each other, blushing furiously. The young man began to feel extremely nervous, his heart banging against his chest.
What's… what's wrong with me…?
They stayed that way for a long time, their backs facing one another, quite unable to think of what to say next, and Ryu felt more and more nervous by the minutes… then, he jumped when Ladon's voice whispered in his ear.
"Tell her now, dammit!" There was a tone of amusement in the voice. "How dense can you be, Ryu? Geez!"
W-what? Tell her what…?
But the voice had stopped, nothing could be heard except for the gentle rustling of the forest leaves and the loud thuds of his own heart. Perhaps he had imagined it…
"You know, Ryu…" the princess abruptly spoke in a quiet voice that somehow made his cheeks feel even hotter.
"Y-yes?" he replied without turning.
"Thank you so much for everything."
"Huh?" He spun around in surprise, forgetting his nervousness. "Whatever for?"
She faced him as well, smiling. "You're always here for me, no matter what, always protecting me, and you understand me so well…"
He returned the smile. "Those are nothing, really… I wanted to do them."
She gazed upward at him, and there was something about her blue eyes that time that made his heart flutter. "Ryu… I… I-I…"
He stared into her eyes, and he found himself somehow eagerly waiting for her to continue her sentence.
Suddenly, a loud sound from the bushes made them jump. The young man immediately stepped before Nina with his sword drawn, ready to strike if anything attacked them, and the princess had a spell prepared, her wand glowing.
But it was only a red fox, pouncing onto a squealing rat in its hunt.
The couple stared blankly at each other, then they exploded in a great laughter as they slid weakly into a sitting position on the ground.
"That expression on your face!" Nina cried. "It's so funny!"
"Yours is even funnier!" Ryu remarked. "I can't stop laughing now!"
"Me neither!"
And laugh they did, their voices echoing in the dark night sky.
It was more than just a few minutes when they finally calmed down, with the girl hiccupping from laughing too hard.
"Oh my, I have – hic – the hiccups now!" Nina giggled.
Ryu chuckled. "Maybe we should head back now and get you some water or something."
She nodded. "Yeah, we should, it's – hic – getting late anyway."
He stood up first, not bothered to brush away the grass blades that were stuck to the bottom of his coat, and extended his hand to help her up. She smiled and took his hand as she got to her feet as well.
Together, they headed back to their campsite, beaming happily.
And the stone Dragon statue, which sat among the bushes nearby, came to life for a fleeting moment and shook its head, an amused grin on its reptilian head.
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End of Chapter Nineteen.
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Author's Note:
Oh, just for your information, I changed the binary code (you know, the 1's and 0's?) into something else, so you can actually convert it to text (with a binary converter) and it'll come out with something more understandable. Just for fun. xP
And thanks to MogGuy who reminded me that I can use magic for purposes other than damage dealing in battle! It somehow didn't occur to me in this novelisation even though I did it in my past original novel… so hopefully I'll remember in future. x_x
Edit:
If you happened to read this chapter and couldn't find what I meant by the 0's and 1's, it was because FanFiction (dot) net made some funky updates and erased anything too long to be an actual word. I fixed the binary code already, putting spaces in between to get it past the chapter edit filtering. Sorry about that. :(
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Review Replies for Chapter Eighteen:
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To Lord Kain:
Nice to see someone else having a similar theory to me! The Dragons bringing forth magic to the world is great, but personally, I prefer if the world already have magic regardless of the existence of the Dragons. Still, it's a great theory. xP
Hm… I actually disagree with the whole Nina having wings due to having close contact with the Dragons thing. If they have truly been on close contact with the Dragons, even in Breath of Fire III, the Wyndians wouldn't readily believe that Dragons are evil… in fact, after the war 400 years ago, I don't think they had any contact with the Dragons at all. It's also not confirmed if Nina 1 really married Ryu (things happen in relationships, after all…), but if she really did, then my Dragon-influences-evolution theory wouldn't work, since having Dragon blood will further give them better wings.
And while Nina 3's parents may not have visible wings, it's not completely presumed that they don't have wings; it could be that the wings are small enough to hide in the clothes. They might have preferred to keep the wings in the clothes instead of showing them to save themselves the embarrassment of having such small wings. It's like, an embarrassment to the country, you know? Some royal families are adamant in marrying within the family (i.e. among cousins) to ensure that their blood is "pure"; the Wyndian royal family could be doing the same to "preserve" what's left of their wings, so maybe that's why the normal Wyndian civilian doesn't have wings.
Maybe that's why Sheila (the Queen) is so fixated on forcing Nina to keep the good Wyndia's image, since she might have felt she had "tarnished" the image by having no / small wings?
As for why Garr can't fuse with Ryu with Hybrid form, I personally disagree with the reasoning that it's just because of the Goddess' power in Garr; I believe that it's not like they're of different elements (Light and Darkness) that they reject each other completely.
Just like the idea of different energy types won't "cancel" each other out; heat and light energy can coexist together, and so do light and sound energy. Who knows, maybe the Dragons' and the Goddess' powers are even similar? When Ryu fused with Rei (to become the Crimson Tiger) and with Momo (to become the Golden Knight), I believe that they fused in both mind and body, though how their minds fused, I don't really know.
But darn, all this theoretical thinking hurts my head. x_x
Though it's great to know that you like the chapter! Personally I love the parts when the Dragons are involved in the storyline (i.e. meeting Deis, Gaist, etc). They somehow intrigue me. xP
Thanks for the review, and for sharing your theoretical thoughts!
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To RedemptionWarrior:
Haha, technically, Combustion only does an average of 600 – 700 damage in-game, as compared to Ryu's Aura or Shadowwalk after transformation… but of course, making it uber-powerful like in the chapter is useful for showing off the Dragon form. xP
And it's great to find another person who thinks of Dragons as avian creatures rather than lizards! Now I understand why you'd rather call Nina's Hybrid form a Cockatrice rather than Avian Dragon, but the term Cockatrice still makes me think of chickens that turn people into stone instead of the elegant bird the Hybrid form has. Oh well, maybe I'll think of a name somehow. x_x
I hope I'll be able to live up to your expectations in the Wyndian Castle scene in the next chapter! It'll have to wait until next week though. :D
Thanks for reviewing!
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To MogGuy:
Nice to see you reviewing again! I'm glad to see that you love my character portrayal, I hope I'm getting better. :D
On what you said about using magic as utilities, that was what I thought the last time. Things like using Water / Ice-elemental spell to make the hot environment cooler, Wind-elemental spells to blow something out of the way, etc, right? Darn, while it occurred to me to do so in original fiction, it didn't occur to me when I'm writing this novelisation… thanks for the reminder, I should really try to include parts like that. x_x
Hopefully I can cover my own blunder by saying, "Hey, Nina didn't do that during the childhood half of the story because she was too young to know about think / think that way!" xP
Thanks for the review!
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To Ferane:
Hm… I'm thinking the reason why this chapter doesn't have that 'feel' as compared to other chapters is probably because I didn't really quite like the plant (I disliked the monsters in it, that's what I remembered…). Also, since I like Ryu more than I do Momo and this whole chapter is in Momo's PoV… well, my favouritism probably showed. When I was writing this novelisation, the start of this chapter was one of the few points where I got stuck with lack of motivation and didn't write for a while. Still, not liking the protagonist's ally as much as the protagonist himself isn't a good excuse… so I probably have to work on that. x_x
Haha, thanks! Frankly speaking, I never did once use the Golden Knight form against a boss in-game, and I've never used it seriously in a battle before. Yes, I'm serious; the only time I really transformed into it was to take in the details of its appearance and explore the skills… for this chapter. But it's great that it made you feel like playing the game. xP
As for the part on Rei's remark on Ryu helping Momo even if she's a stranger… it's a bit difficult to explain, so I'll do my best and start from the beginning. During the scene, Ryu said, "We're your friends, do you think we'd let you go alone?" There, he literally meant that, as her friends, they would accompany her even if it's dangerous. But Ryu's nice to a fault; he's the type to help anyone (like the time when Balio and Sunder fell into Maekyss River, and how he healed Loki even if he didn't quite like him). From the time Rei was with him during the childhood half of the story, he knew this and poked fun at Ryu. Ryu, being easily abashed, reddens… which, I guess, was a little much for small-time teasing like this. Maybe just seeming embarrassed would be a better action.
…though I guess the humour in my writing hasn't really levelled up enough to describe that well yet, so I've tweaked the scene a bit and omitted the supposed joke. Thanks for letting me know. o_o
Oh, and the 'con-pee-you-tear' thing… I realise it's not the exact pronunciation, but how many people can grasp the exact pronunciation each time they hear a foreign word when they least expect it? I know I'm the sort who can't do it too well… so I'm trying to make Rei just as bad. :D
Thanks for reviewing!
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To Airess Byrd:
Thanks, it's good you think so! I agree the game didn't give Momo much of a characterisation (other than the fact she's crazy about machines), that's why I tried expanding a little on it. Glad that you like it. :D
Thanks for the review!
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To Nina Windia:
Haha, yeah, it's a little amusing that Garr can accomplish what they couldn't… without raising a finger. xP
Thanks, glad you think this chapter is touching! I agree that some novelisations are merely the game script with some description… in fact, that's what happened to some of my chapters in the early writing of this novelisation. Thankfully, it seems a little better each time I edit (I do it just before each chapter's up date), so it's not too bad. :D
Momo's puzzles in her tower were ridiculous, which was why I added them into the novelisation… just to emphasise on her silliness and absent-mindedness. Maybe I should've toned it down a little though. As for monsters, sometimes I feel it's a little better to add what kind of monsters there are to give a better view of the area… though I think that's something that's debateable. x_x
Yep, Momo's flashback of her father, how she clings onto her father's journal and how she thought her father came to save her are all self-added scenes… in fact, the interior of the lab is revamped as well, to suit my needs; I've actually never followed the layout of the in-game lab. xP It's good that you think they're great!
We hardly get the side characters' focus in this novelisation, mostly because I tend to write everything in Ryu's point-of-view… so it's good that the game gave a bit of each character's "saga", so that I can expand on them. :D
Thanks for the review essay, I love them!