Breath of Fire III: Of Gods and Dragons

Chapter Twenty-Two: Ship Troubles Again?

Written by Estrelita Farr

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Memories. Swirling around him like spheres of light.

White light. Dark light.

Suffocating.

There were too many of them at once, surrounding him. Caging him. Chaining him with invisible bonds that weighted down on his heavy heart.

It hurt.

But each one of them had a story to tell. Of anger. Of sadness. Of duty.

Of happiness.

Nina.

Yes, Nina was in nearly all of his memories. Some with long hair, some with different set of clothes than the red ones she usually wore. One even had black wings, instead of the white ones he was used to.

But it was the Nina that he knew. He would always remember that face. The cerulean blue eyes shone with kindness, the golden hair that gleamed like silk.

And it calmed him down. Reassured him.

He closed his eyes, as the memory-filled spheres of light circled in the darkness, and he ran a hand across his forehead.

Think, he thought. Think. There must be a reason why I came here.

Slowly he looked up, a sphere of light floating past his face.

…that's right… I came here to sort them out. My memories.

But he had no idea how.

Despaired, he searched through the memories in hopes of finding a starting point, in hopes of a clue. However, none appeared; these memories were like pieces of different puzzles, hundreds of puzzles. He grew frantic, beginning to feel as though he would never be able to escape from this suffocating darkness.

Then he remembered Nina.

Nina, with her gleaming golden hair and cerulean blue eyes, her beautiful face that was so easy to remember. Even if she had different hair styles and wings in different memories, her face remained the same throughout the memories.

All his despair ebbed away. He had discovered a way to sort them out.

And he began working, with Nina to guide him.

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-o-o-o-o-o-

.

It was two days of hard searching before Ryu and Nina were finally found and brought to Deis' chamber. The azure-haired man was still unconscious, the look of pain etched on his face, and the princess was weakened to the point she was unable to muster enough strength to stand.

But they were safe. That was all that mattered.

Two more days passed as Nina recuperated. As soon as she was well enough, she started watching over Ryu all day long, like an overprotective guardian, and no amount of persuading would pull her away from him. So she just sat there, watching his chest rise and fall slowly as he breathed.

She hoped that he would wake up soon.

It was not long before her wish was fulfilled – by the end of the second day since she began watching him, Ryu stirred. He seemed rather dazed and confused, like a child thrown into an unknown world, as he slowly sat up and looked at her.

"Nina…?" he spoke, his voice hoarse from disuse.

"Oh, Ryu!" The princess, overwhelmed by happiness, threw herself at him, holding him tightly as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

He was surprised. "N-Nina? What's wrong?"

"Ryu, I'm so glad you're all right! You weren't waking up for a long time, so I thought… I thought you'd…" A soft sob escaped her lips.

He closed his eyes, guilt weighing on his heart as he put his arms around her. "I'm sorry, Nina…"

For a short moment, they sat there in silence, save for Nina's occasional sniffs. After having sorted some memories, Ryu now knew that he held a great affection for her, and this time he did not feel embarrassed holding her this close.

In fact, it felt right. As though it was meant to be.

Soon, Nina pulled away, wiping her eyes free of tears.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me," she said softly. "I'm really glad you're all right…"

He smiled. "Don't worry, I'm really fine now. I don't remember everything properly yet, but at least I'm not in such a mess now."

"I'm glad." Returning his smile, she asked, "Did you remember anything worth telling?"

"Well…" Hesitating a little, he shook his head. "Like I said, it's still a lot of confusion. But I'll tell you once I remember everything correctly, okay?"

She nodded happily. "Okay." Putting her hands on his shoulders, she gently pressed him down. "But for now, you should get some rest and regain your strength!"

He obeyed, lying down once more, and closed his eyes.

For a while they stayed that way, with Ryu resting and Nina looking over him. Then, the young man spoke once more, his eyes still closed.

"Just one more thing…" he said softly. "Can you tell me everything that happened to us that you can remember?" He shook his head slowly. "It's not that I forgot them, I just want to confirm their order of events."

"Of course, I'd love to." Smiling, she shifted in a way so that she was sitting beside him, her chin resting on her knees. "I first met you ten years ago, when you were first brought into Wyndia by two unicorn men…"

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-o-o-o-o-o-

.

"Are you sure you're okay, buddy?" Rei asked, his eyes narrowed in concern.

Ryu nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, really. I know I only woke up yesterday, but… I don't think I can just sit around anymore." He closed his eyes. "Lord Ladon gave me a job to do, and I have to finish it."

"But…" The princess gazed at him. "What made you lose four hundred years ago, during the Dragon War? I mean, you've been winning against the Goddess every time until that one time, so what happened?"

"I don't know." He paused, thinking hard, then shook his head. "For some reason, I can't remember how I died that time… all I know is that the Dragon War ended four hundred years ago." Ryu's eyes filled with despair. "I led the Dragons to battle throughout the whole of the hundred year war, but so many of them died…"

Nina put a hand on his shoulder. "Ryu, it's not your fault…"

"I wonder what really happened," Momo said aloud.

"I don't know how you died then, Ryu, but I can tell you what happened after that." The snake woman nodded. "Because the Goddess wasn't successfully defeated then, you were reborn again." She sighed. "But with the Dragons overwhelmed, there was no safe place to bring you to in order to wait for you to grow from a child again, so Ladon put you into a deep sleep to wait for a safer time."

Upon hearing that, Ryu recalled the memory of the conversation between Deis and Ladon, the one he had heard once before.

.

-x-

.

"Ladon! What did you do to Ryu?" Deis had cried.

"It's nothing too horrifying, Deis, I assure you…" Ladon sounded tired as he sighed. "He won't wake up for a long time, that's all."

Her voice rose. "But you'll grow weaker, won't you?"

"There's nothing to be done about that. But…" He paused. "…don't you trust him?"

"I… I do, of course, but…"

"Then trust me on this, Deis. I believe that Ryu will indeed save us all from this terrible ordeal… he's that sort of person, after all."

Deis chuckled lightly, though with a heavy tone. "Yes, he sure is…"

.

-x-

.

Ryu smiled inwardly, amused.

They really put so much faith in me…

"The time has arrived, has it not?" Garr spoke up for the first time, grimly. "The time to meet the Goddess…"

"Is this where we'll meet her?" the half-tiger asked, swishing his tail.

Deis shook her head. "No, unfortunately not. Even if I summon her, she won't answer me any more than she will answer you. You remember what happened at Angel Tower, right?" Sighing again, she continued, "Before I was imprisoned, I would have been able to take you to her place myself, but now… I don't have enough strength left to do it."

"If she resides here not, nor does she in Angel Tower…" Garr gazed at her. "…then where lies her whereabouts?"

Once again, she shook her head. "I can't tell you that, since I don't know the exact geography of this place after four hundred years. But, there's one thing I can do for you so you can find her yourself. Ryu." She turned towards him. "I'm going to open your 'eye'."

Nina blinked. "Open his what?"

The Dragon, who apparently knew what it meant, nodded and took a step forward. "I'm ready."

Deis raised a hand in front of her, her blue wand materialising in her hand, and waved it towards him. The star at the end of the wand began shining brightly, so bright that everyone else had to shield their eyes.

"This might hurt a little," she told him. "But you'll just have to grin and bear it! Yah!"

She swung the shining wand upwards with a cry, and Ryu flinched in reflex. Nothing happened at first, however, except for the fact that the wand's bright light reduced to a mere glow and an orange circle of light appeared around him for an instant before disappearing.

Then, all of a sudden, a great bolt of golden energy struck Ryu!

"Ryu!" the blond-haired girl exclaimed and began to move towards him, but stepped back as the energy bolt shone much brighter than the wand earlier, and a blinding white light engulfed everyone.

For Ryu, however, that blinding light faded into complete darkness as he felt a surge of energy within him. Within the deep darkness, he knew – or rather, felt – the presence of someone or something anticipating his arrival. Then, he heard a voice, a sweet, yet alluring, female voice.

"…my… Ryu…"

Instantly, his heart was filled with anger.

I'll be seeing you soon… Myria.

A high playful giggle was his reply.

It was at that moment when his surrounding slid back into focus. Everything looked the same as before they started, as though absolutely nothing had happened, but now he was glowing, a soft golden light surrounding him.

He closed his eyes as the light left him and formed a glowing circle on his forehead.

This power… it's been a while…

As if reading his thoughts, a sphere of the same golden light appeared above his head, shining brightly. A thin beam of line formed from it, pointing towards a direction.

"It's pretty," Nina commented. "What is it?"

"It's called a prana, or, in other words, the Eye of God," Deis answered, as her wand dematerialised again. "It will guide you the way to Myria. Ryu's always had this power, though it has to be unlocked each time he's reborn."

Rei shook his head. "That's really convenient… doesn't this just beat all?"

Everyone watched the sphere of light for a while, as it floated above Ryu's head. After a few short seconds, it faded away, followed by the thin beam of light.

"That direction…" the Guardian spoke in a quiet voice. "…north?"

Deis nodded. "Yes… far, far away to the north, across the sea. How you get there is up to you, but this is all I can do now."

"It's good enough, Lady Deis." Ryu smiled. "Thank you."

"Well, it's up to you now, Ryu." She waved a hand lightly. "Good luck!"

"Thanks. I'll see you again."

With that, he turned around and disappeared from the room in a small burst of light. Nina followed suit, and so did Rei, Momo and Peco. Garr was about to join them as well, but he stopped when the snake woman called out to him.

"Garr, I want you to look out for him…" Her eyes narrowed. "Make sure nothing happens to him, understand?"

The winged man faced her and gave a bow, a look of quiet determination on his face. "I swear upon the lives of the Dragonkin I have stolen, he shall not come to harm while I draw breath."

And, like the others, he disappeared as well.

Deis continued to stand that way for a few seconds, and then slowly slid into a sitting position. She laughed a little to herself, but soon her eyes grew sad and distant.

"Such a repetitive cycle… it's tiring, Ladon…" Sighing, she gazed upward at the dark ceiling. "Do you still wish to continue like this, Sister…?"

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-o-o-o-o-o-

.

"The Goddess lies very far away, across the northern sea…" Garr repeated once more, as they travelled towards Rhapala. "It would seem we require a boat."

"Geez, cross the ocean?" Rei rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know about the Goddess or naked girls, but I know this isn't going to be easy…"

"I've never heard of anyone making it over the ocean." Nina seemed thoughtful. "I wonder if it's even possible?"

Ryu sighed softly. "We don't have a choice. At least, I don't, I have to meet the Goddesss…"

"I've always wondered…" Everyone turned towards Momo. "Most of the machines that we use here come drifting from the northern sea… maybe they have something to do with the Goddess?"

"Sheesh, doesn't this just beat all?" Rei shook his head. "Can't you just forget about machines for one day?"

But unfortunately, when they arrived at Rhapala a day and a half later, they found out that Beyd was still away.

"I don't know what happened." Shadis sighed. "It normally takes him six days to reach Junk Town and the ship takes one and a half days to return, but it's been two weeks…"

Nina put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Shadis, we'll go look for him in Junk Town!"

"Oh, you would?" She smiled. "Thanks!"

The Guardian nodded. "Let us go. Junk Town is but a day's journey north from Urkan Tapa."

"Oboy! Junk Town!" Momo's eyes lit up. "That's where most of the world's machines come from!"

"Well, at least someone's happy about all this running around…" Rei mumbled.

"Pui?" Peco said.

.

-o-o-o-o-o-

.

Junk Town was, as its name implied, a town full of junk – mounds of broken machines surrounded the shabby-looking buildings that made up the place. Four days after their departure from Rhapala, the six of them arrived at the junk-surrounded entrance.

Nina blinked. "Um… nice-looking place, isn't it?"

"Nice? It's GREAT!" Momo cried. "It's full of machines!"

"Yeah, yeah." Rei shrugged. "We came here for something else, remember?"

"To the west lies the docks," Garr stated, leading the way. "Mayhap Beyd can be found there."

Sure enough, Beyd was there with two men in sailor uniforms, speaking to a mechanic in dirty overalls. At the edge of the docks, a medium-sized ship with the Porter Guild's logo lay floating idly on the waters.

"Are you sure you don't know when the repairs will finish?" Beyd asked, sounding a little worried.

"Yes, I'm sorry, sir," the mechanic replied. "Normally it wouldn't take this long to find the parts, and it's been difficult to do that lately…"

"I see…"

"Guildmaster, sir," one of the sailors spoke. "Maybe we should head back first? We should at least tell the others that it'll take some time…"

"I guess so." Beyd turned around, sighing quietly, but just as he did, he noticed that a small party nearby was watching him, and he recognised Ryu's electric blue hair. "W-wait a minute, you're…!" He strode up to the young man. "You're Ryu, aren't you?"

Ryu nodded. "How're you, Beyd?"

Nina waved. "Long time no see, Beyd!"

"It's been a while, isn't it?" Momo said.

"It's so good to see all of you again!" The Guildmaster smiled. "I'll never forget what you did for me all those years ago…" He shook his head. "But what are you doing here?"

"Well, you see…" Ryu rubbed the back of his head. "We need a ship again, so…"

"A ship?" He sighed. "I'd like to say I can help you with that, but…" Glancing at the mechanic, he continued, "Looks like the repairs are taking longer than we thought. You're going to have to wait again, just like before… I'm sorry…"

"You said the repairs are taking a while, right?" Momo seemed eager. "Anything I can do to help?"

Beyd looked up quickly. "Oh, that's right! You're an engineer, aren't you, Momo? If that's the case, think you could give us a hand?"

"Of course!" came the reply.

Upon hearing that, the mechanic gestured towards the ship. "Come along then, the engine room's this way."

All of them, including the mechanic and Beyd, headed onto the ship's deck via a wooden plank and descended a ladder into the engine room. Momo's eyes lit up as she saw the machinery, and very soon she was all over the place, examining everything in great excitement.

After a few minutes, she approached the mechanic while gesturing to a particular section of the engine. "This is the part that needs fixing, right?" Upon receiving a nod for an answer, she rolled up her sleeves. "Gotcha! I can fix this, no problem!"

The mechanic shook his head. "But we don't have all the parts…"

"Don't worry!" she stated cheerfully, while taking out a notepad from her pocket and scribbling on it. "I've got that all covered!"

Ryu's expression fell. "I… have a feeling it's going to involve me…"

Sure enough, once Momo was done with her scribbling, she tore the page off and handed it over to him. "Ryu, think you can find these parts?"

The princess giggled. "Poor Ryu."

Ryu sighed as he took the memo and gave it a good long look. However, aside from mechanical terms, he saw pictures of various shapes… all of it made absolutely no sense to him.

"Um, Momo…" he started.

At his confused look, Momo explained, "These are the parts that I need to fix the ship with, but don't worry, as long as you get the parts that look something like that, most likely you'll get the correct ones!"

Beyd nodded, smiling. "You were able to fix the lighthouse before, so I'm sure you'll be able to fix the ship faster than anyone else could, as well!"

"If you could find those parts, we'll have the ship moving in no time," the mechanic stated.

"Wow." Rei grinned. "Looks like everyone's depending on you for everything, eh, Ryu?"

The blue-haired man shook his head and sighed.

Nina giggled again.

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-o-o-o-o-o-

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From what they gathered from the Machinist's Guild members, the best place to scavenge for machine parts is Steel Beach, a place an hour north from Junk Town. After walking through a long cave through the mountains, they arrived on the other side, on a steel-covered beach. Apparently they were not the only people looking for parts – many of the Machinist's Guild members were around as well.

Ryu, Nina, Rei and Garr (Peco did not join them as he decided to stay with Momo instead) approached a short half-monkey man a blue jacket, next to the freighter on one side of the beach, and Ryu asked if they could look for parts.

"Huh? You want to go into the freighter to look for parts?" The half-monkey thought hard. "Hm… I don't know, you look kinda scrawny… don't you have someone bigger to help you?"

Upon hearing that, Garr stepped forward. "Perhaps I could be of assistance, good sir."

He examined him. "Hm… well, you look pretty buff. Hold on just a second." Turning around, he yelled so loudly that he made everyone else jump. "Yo, boss! Someone's here to look for parts!"

"Shaddap!" a gruff voice shouted in reply. "Can't you see I'm busy here?"

The owner of the voice was a large man with features of a brown ox, easily as big as Garr himself. He had both hands pulling on a thick rope that was caught on something in the sea, but it looked as though he was having problems trying to pull it in.

"Whoa, it's gotta be big, boss!" the half-monkey cried.

"Of course it's big, you numbskull!" the ox man shouted. "Otherwise I would've pulled it in already!" He glanced up at his subordinate, and caught sight of the group, or more specifically, Garr. "Hey, you there! Care to give me a hand here?"

"Go on, Garr!" Rei stated, grinning. "Go show him who's boss!"

Ryu gave a nod. "And they might let us look for parts if you do."

"Hm, all right." The Guardian went to the half-ox's other side and got a firm hold on the rope.

"You ready?" the half-ox said. "All right, we pull on the count of three! One, two, three! PULL!"

As Nina and Rei cheered them on, the two men began to tug at the rope with all of their might. Whatever that was caught at the end of the rope was certainly very heavy, because even with the combination of Garr and the half-ox's strength, it took them quite some time to pull it in.

"Oof! Boy, this one's heavy!" Garr's pulling companion cried. "Can you see what it is yet?"

His subordinate stood on his toes and looked out as far as he could, with one hand shielding his eyes from the sun. "Yeah, I see it! It's something big!"

Sure enough, whatever they were pulling was big, but it didn't look like a machine to Ryu – it looked like a giant fish from where he was standing.

The monkey man paled immediately. "B-Boss, it don't look like no machine!"

"Huh? What? I don't believe it!" his boss scoffed. "Get on pulling!"

However, after a few more pulls, the 'thing' suddenly moved on its own and splashed out of the water, landing on the sandy beach. It was a giant angler, with yellow scales on the upper half and purple ones on the lower half, and red fins with claws along its back and tail. Along its sides were red-webbed claws similar to the foot of a duck, which it used to move like a scorpion, and long whiskers wriggled from above its large mouth with gleaming sharp teeth.

"W-w-what is it?" the half-ox cried. "R-R-RUN!"

All of the scavengers screamed upon seeing the monster and fled in the direction of the exit, some crashing into each other and ramming themselves into machinery, and soon the whole of Steel Beach were empty except for Ryu and his companions and the Angler.

Rei rubbed the back of his head. "Eh, doesn't this just beat all… aren't you happy now, big fella, now that you've proven your strength to them?"

"Per…haps so." There was a hint of embarrassment on Garr's face.

"But I must say, Garr," Nina said, giggling a little. "It's quite a catch!"

"Catch or not…" Ryu pulled out his sword. "It's coming for us!"

All four of them jumped back and raised their weapons as the Angler gave a loud cry. Watching them with a murderous eye, it sent a wave of dangerous-looking fumes in their direction, forcing them all to scatter.

"Gangway!" Rei, the first to act, circled the monster and leaped, twirling his dual daggers once before slashing its side rapidly twice. Two large gashes appeared among the scales, which made the Angler roar in pain and retaliate by slapping him hard with its tail, flinging him into several crates nearby.

Taking the chance while it was occupied with Rei, Nina spun her glowing wand before raising it above her head and shouting, "Thunderbolt!"

Thunderbolts struck the monster repeatedly, one after another like raging, diving hawks that would stun anything that they hit. The Angler, however, did not flinch. It growled, as though laughing at her, and raised its whiskers, which was beginning to glow.

To everyone's shock, a blue thunderbolt, much larger and stronger than Nina's own Thunderbolt spell, formed from the tip of the whiskers and tore through the ground in its fury towards her.

She shrieked and shielded her arms with her arms in reflex, flinching in expectation of a wave of pain.

But it did not come.

Instead, she heard Ryu gasp in pain, which immediately made her look up – he had lodged himself between her and the thunderbolt, in his human form!

"Oh no, Ryu!" she cried.

The young man, unable to reply, gritted his teeth with his eyes shut tightly, enduring the great thunderbolt that continued to strike him mercilessly.

Seizing his opportunity, Garr rushed forward while the Angler was still occupied with the electric attack, his eyes narrowed as he concentrated. Raising his spear that was covered in crimson flames, he gave a grunt and slashed the monster's head four times, cutting deeply through its scales and flesh.

The effect was immediate; the thunderbolt ceased as the monster roared loudly, its scales badly cut and burnt. Revenge burning in its eyes, it growled and raised its whiskers once more, ready to fire the same blue thunderbolt that struck Ryu.

However, another thunderbolt did not come.

Rei, with his lightning speed, had sped forward and lashed out with his daggers, slicing each whisker cleanly into two.

Another roar rumbled loudly through the air and sparks appeared around the Angler as it writhed violently in pain, making the half-tiger jump back in alarm.

Garr, however, remained as unflappable as ever. He approached with his eyes focused on the writhing fish, as flames covered the blade of his halberd once more. Then, with all of his might, he dealt the swift, final blow that finally left it unmoving on the ground.

Taking deep breaths, Ryu relaxed and slowly slid into a sitting position on the ground, feeling weak from the Angler's electrocution earlier.

"Ugh…" He shook his head to clear his dazed mind, then turned a little to face the princess. "Are you okay, Nina?"

Nina nodded, kneeling beside him with her eyes narrowed in concern. "Yes, I'm okay, but… you took the hit for me…"

"I don't mind…" He smiled a little. "Anything as long as it keeps you safe."

She shook her head. "Oh, Ryu…"

He took a deep breath and stood up slowly, though a little shakily. He was about to suggest that they search for the machine parts when he heard a small high voice calling him. He looked around, seeking for the owner of the voice… but there was no one on Steel Beach except for the four of them.

The voice called him again, then giggled playfully, like a child playing hide-and-seek with him. He turned towards it – it sounded like the voice came from the Angler…

"What's wrong, Ryu?" Nina asked as he curiously inspected the dead fish.

"Something's calling me, and it sounds like it's coming from…" Abruptly, he pulled out his sword and slashed a cross onto the Angler's side, revealing its interior. "…right here."

And he was right.

Inside the stomach that had been sliced open, among the blood, a small piece of chrysm crystal glimmered. Without a thought on the blood, Ryu reached out and touched the chrysm crystal, and the high voice giggled again, as though to say, "Oops, you've found me!"

You… who are you?

The voice giggled again. "Your Protector!"

My Protector? But you sound so young…

"Soon-to-be Protector, actually," the voice quickly corrected. "I was still learning from my master!"

Within Ryu, the spirit of the Behemoth stirred. Was he this child's mentor?

"But it took you so long to find me…" Ryu could almost see the silhouette of a child pouting and crossing his arms. "I'm never going to play hide-and-seek with you ever again!"

Hide-and-seek? But I wasn't–

"I was going to just remain hiding all the way, until I saw you protect that lady…" The eyes on the silhouette were filled with apprehension. "That's what I'm… I mean, what us Protectors are supposed to do for you, isn't it, Lord Ryu?" The voice lowered. "We're supposed to… die for you?"

No, that's not it. The Protectors aren't my bodyguards or underlings or anything of the sort; they're my comrades in battle.

"You mean… I don't have to die for you?"

Of course. We'll fight together, to be together with our family again.

"To be with our family again…" The child looked up, eyes glistening with tears. "I'll… I'll join you! I want to see everyone again!"

Power flowed into Ryu's hands and surged through his veins. Then, in that instant, a bright light filled the beach as his form began to change.

The other three covered their eyes, blinded by the light, but at the same time, curious to see what Dragon form he would take this time.

When the light faded, however, they couldn't believe their eyes.

It was not a large Dragon or a long one… what they saw was a cute little thing on the ground, its blue eyes looking up at them. It was barely bigger than a medium-sized dog, with an oval, chubby body covered with fiery-orange scales and grass-green stripes. Its head – which seemed rather similar to the head on Ryu's Dragon whelp form – had a reptilian snout and a pair of horns sticking out from the back. It had no legs or arms to help its movements, and its stump of a lizard tail wagged sideways furiously like a happy dog's.

The other three were speechless for a while.

"That's… so…" Rei began.

"…cute!" Nina cried, laughing, and spread her arms. "Come here, Ryu, I want to hug you!"

Ryu, in that cute Dragon form, shook his head, turning red from the embarrassment.

"…perchance it may be stronger than what it appears to be…" Garr said, holding his chin, though the doubt was thick in his voice.

The half-tiger grinned mischievously. "Wanna try it out?" He drew out his twin daggers in a mock battle. "Who knows, this may be the one and only time he's not going to beat us!"

Good-humouredly, Garr raised his halberd, its blade coated in blazing flames. "Agreed. Shall we?"

The little Dragon jumped and, with a loud squeak, sped away so quickly that he was instantly gone within the blink of an eye. It was certainly surprising how fast he could move without legs or wings.

"Gosh." Nina giggled. "Look at him go!"

Rei rubbed the back of his head. "Man, how're we supposed to know he's that fast in that form? It's insane!"

The Guardian chuckled. "It would seem we shall have to give up the hope of ever overpowering him…"

There was a short burst of light before Ryu emerged once more, back in his human form. He shook his head exasperatedly. "I'm never going to take that form again… not after knowing you're out to get me!"

"But you're so cute in that form!" Nina shook her head, laughing. "Come on, transform again!"

Rei shrugged with a grin. "And let you grab him in a bone-crushing hug?"

Ryu took a step back quickly. "No way!"

Everyone else laughed.

With that, they resumed their search for the machine parts for the ship, knowing that the sooner they finish repairing the ship, the sooner they could continue on their journey.

And, within Ryu, the spirit of the Behemoth Dragon embraced the newcomer, like a father who had finally found his son after ages.

The Pygmy Dragon, who had been his student during his life.

.

-o-o-o-o-o-

.

Upon the discovery of the dead Angler, the Machinists Guild members were so enthusiastic to know they could finally scavenge for parts without the fear of being attacked that they offered to look for parts that Momo needed for the repairs. They were so enthusiastic that, in one solid hour, the four of them – Ryu, Nina, Rei and Garr – were all loaded with broken machinery and ready to head back to Junk Town.

And, upon receiving the required parts so quickly, Momo and the engineer assigned to fix the ship were equally enthusiastic and worked all day and night to repair the ship completely.

So, by the next morning, all of them – Ryu and his friends as well as Beyd and his two sailors – were well on their way back to Rhapala, on the long awaited ship. However, to Ryu's displeasure, the ship shivered and shook as it moved across the water, as though the engine would suddenly explode and break into pieces.

"What do you think?" Momo asked, looking very much like a proud inventor who had achieved an award. "Do I know how to repair things or what?"

"Eh…" Rei scratched his head. "It shakes a lot, doesn't it?"

The Guardian nodded. "I know not if we are able to cross the sea in this boat…"

Beyd shook his head sheepishly. "Um, I know it's a small boat, but please make yourselves comfortable."

Everyone nodded.

While Momo, Rei and Garr decided to stay in the bedroom, Ryu followed Nina to the upper deck, where they found Peco happily snoozing in the sunlight, seemingly undisturbed by all the shaking.

Nina giggled. "I wonder how Peco could sleep like this."

Ryu shrugged. "I don't think he ever wonders if the ship would break…"

She giggled once again, then stretched, her small wings fluttering in the ocean breeze.

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-o-o-o-o-o-

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"Come to think of it…" Beyd turned to face his two sailors in the bridge. "No one told me how the boat was damaged this time. What happened?"

Both sailors appeared nervous, and after a while, the one at the wheel answered, "Uh, well, uh… you see…" He took a deep breath. "You know about the Black Ship, sir?"

"The Black Ship…" He seemed thoughtful. "You mean that large ship we can sometimes see off in the distance?"

The other sailor nodded. "You won't believe this, sir, but it was here, in the Inner Sea!" He shook his head. "It came out of nowhere, right in front of us… we couldn't avoid it!"

His eyes widened. "Impossible… the Black Ship has only been seen on the Outer Sea, it can't navigate the shallow waters of the Middle Sea!"

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-o-o-o-o-o-

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"Oh, look!" Nina suddenly cried, her eyes focused on the horizon. "Something's coming this way… a ship?"

Ryu blinked. "Huh? A ship?"

He stared out into the distance, squinting his eyes to see where she was pointing. Sure enough, there was something dark in the distance, something that resembled a ship. However, before he could take a good long look, it disappeared away into the distance, like a ghost fading away into thin air.

"It's gone…" the blond-haired girl stated aloud. "I wonder what it was…"

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-o-o-o-o-o-

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Sometime in the afternoon the next day, the ship finally arrived at Rhapala. As everyone stepped off the wooden plank that connected the ship's deck and the port town's wharf, being greeted by a very happy and relieved Shadis.

"Beyd!" she shouted, and flung herself onto him.

Beyd stumbled a little, but managed to regain his balance as he put his hands on her shoulders. "W-whoa, Shadis?"

"You know how worried I've been? You've been away for nineteen days!"

He lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry…"

She pulled away from him slowly, smiling. "That's okay, you worked hard to bring the ship back, didn't you?"

Immediately more cheerful, he returned her smile. "Yes, but Momo and the others helped to fix the ship again, just like how they helped to fix the lighthouse." He turned to face them. "It took us a while, everyone, but we can finally let you use the ship now."

Momo's eyes lit up. "Oh wow! Thank you!"

Shadis laughed a little. "No problem there. After all, you've been helping us so much, it's the least we can do!"

"That's right!" Beyd then gestured to his subordinates. "These two sailors you've met will take you anywhere you ask them to, and I hope it'll help you in whatever you're doing!"

Nina nodded. "Thank you, Beyd, you're a great help! We're planning to cross the–"

All of a sudden, a loud booming voice rang through the air, making most of them jump.

"WAAAAAIIIITT!"

It was Zig, still as burly as ever, who came striding down noisily towards them. As he approached, the sailors stepped back, intimidated by his size, but he ignored them as he stopped before Beyd.

"Let me handle this!" he half-yelled, clearly excited. "Let me pilot the ship for them, Beyd – I mean, Guildmaster!"

The Guildmaster, still smaller than him, seemed a little nervous. "Um… sure, Zig…"

"All right!" Zig turned towards the group. "Beyd may have beaten me out for the lighthouse… and Shadis…" For a moment he looked almost sad, but the expression was immediately replaced by egoistic confidence. "But I'll show you that no one handles a boat better than me! Bwahahaha!"

And, with that, he marched into the ship's bridge.

For a while everyone remained silent, but soon Beyd cleared his throat.

"He's like that," he explained. "But he's right about one thing – he's certainly our best sailor, so you're in good hands!"

"Great!" Rei grinned. "So when do we get started?"

"Perhaps leaving now would be a good idea, once we have bought enough supplies," Garr stated as a matter-of-factly.

Ryu nodded. "Right."

It did not take them long to purchase enough supplies, and before long, the group were all on the ship's deck, waving to Beyd, Shadis and the sailors of the Porter's Guild.

"Be careful!" Shadis shouted, waving madly. "And good luck!"

"You can bring the boat back anytime!" Beyd yelled. "And thanks for all your help!"

Nina was waving as well. "Goodbye, Beyd, Shadis! We'll see you again!"

And now, as the ship headed towards the horizon, away from the port town of Rhapala, the group's real journey would begin… a journey across the treacherous Outer Sea.

A journey to meet the Goddess of Destruction.

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End of Chapter Twenty-Two.

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Author's Note:

Yeesh, these few weeks I always have problems loading any FanFiction (dot) net pages fully; even if they load, it's only partially. This problem only occurs with FanFiction (dot) net… so how am I going to update my novelisation like this? So I'm sorry I'm late with this update, I tried all day to update and stuff and I couldn't. T_T

Also, sorry that the skill descriptions on the Angler's part aren't accurate, because I've no idea how the skill looks like! I had to read a guide to see what kind of attacks it has, thanks to Ryu being overpowered like the Dragon he is. x_x

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Review Replies for Chapter Twenty-One:

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To Lord Kain:

I'm glad you found the mini history lesson interesting!

I didn't include the battle between the Light and Dark Dragon clans as occurred in BoF1, nor did I include Myria's demon spawn as in BoF2… wait, did you say the Dark Dragon invasion before BoF1?

I checked the pre-BoF timeline, but I'm a little confused… the last entry in the timeline (which I got from Dragon-Tear (dot) net) is the Dark Dragon invasion period… but in BoF1, I don't recall any of the Dragon NPCs (or anyone, in fact) who said anything along the lines of "The Dark Dragons are causing another war / betraying us again / repeating history again"… the only reference to any pre-BoF war is on the Goddess War, which is the first war against Myria. Which is why I'm led to believe that the Dark Dragon Invasion, trying to reawaken the Goddess who will grant wishes is actually BoF1.

I don't want to add the Dark Dragon war thingy into the history because… well, it would've complicated things. I'll just leave the history lesson as it is (just between the Dragons and the Goddess) until a later time. Like the history lesson in Dragnier. o_o

But it's good that you find Ryu being the embodiment of Ladon's power interesting!

As for Nina's confession, it might be a little soon for her, as they were just going all "No way, no how!" a couple of chapters back, but seeing Ryu in that state of suffering probably knocked her into senses. She's not as dense as Ryu because, well, she grew up in the castle where she's expected to know everything, and girls normally are nuts about romance, so it's something she should know… right? x_x

Thanks for the review!

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To Airess Byrd:

Thanks! I didn't make Deis hit Garr on his most vulnerable part because… well, I didn't want to make her as mean and selfish and outrageous as she is in BoF4. She's nicer here, and I tried to show it. xP But she's really strong for a magician!

Glad that you find the whole history lesson interesting and the Ryu-Nina part sweet. :D

Thanks for reviewing!

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To Nina Windia:

Haha, it seems to me my version of Ryu is easily embarrassed… we see him turning red all the time. xP Poor Nina; she got upset even if she didn't want to!

Sadly, I tried to cut down on the whole cliché thing on near-confessions-getting-interrupted thing by making Ryu suddenly embarrassed, but I didn't realise that the friends-watching-from-afar thing was also clichéd… that's what I get for not studying hard enough on romance stories. T_T Because his companions seem so interested in this relationship, in one future chapter the whole friends-watching-from-afar thing will happen one more time, but thankfully, there won't be anymore confession-interruptions… but there'll be scene interruptions. Hopefully they're in a manageable amount. x_x

But hey, I'd like to see how the thirteen-year-old you wrote the romance BoF fanfic! In all my stories, it's only recently that I added the romance element in; I've always been the strictly fantasy-adventure type, but you don't want to know how bad my first story was. It's not dramatic at all! xP

Though it's good that you like the idea on Myria… but oops, I haven't been reading much fanfiction lately so I didn't read that particular story belonging to Airess Byrd. I should start getting right back to it. x_x Thanks for the reminder!

Haha, yeah, that's what my friend (who doesn't play much games, certainly not BoF3) said about Nina being the rescuer; I think something about it being refreshing? I remember reading romance stories where the male is dominating and the female is a mere useless ornament and I didn't quite like them… so I tried to give her the spotlight for once. Glad you agree too, and that you love the last scene! I was feeling particularly in the mood then. :D

Thanks for the review!