A/N: I have done it! Finishing the second chapter of this was quite difficult but I was trying to get both the other Ed's into this as well and in the end I couldn't really do it, but they will be in later chapters. So we'll have to wait a bit to let Ed and Eddy join the story. I'm sorry DX

Disclaimer: I don't own The Ed's characters or cartoons…..I just want them.

All over

It wasn't the dragon that Edd noticed first. To his surprise, it really wasn't the dragon that he had focused on when he walked into the cave.

The room was cold.

He thought that if a fire breathing giant monster was in a cave that it would at least prefer the cave to be very warm to accommodate its element. It was actually funny to him that he was just standing there looking up at this dragon and the only thing that he was thinking about was the temperature of the cave. He would have probably laughed his head off if he wasn't so frozen in absolute fear. The dragon stared down at him with its yellow eyes; it had deep red scales that seemed to glisten in the small light that entered. Every time he let out a breath, steam came out in giant wafts. For some reason that's when Edd decided to scream.

"GOOD LORD!" He jumped back into the wall and tried his best to use his magic to let the earth surround him, but he was just too scared to focus on anything but the eyes that followed him around the room.

"W-w-w-what are you?….I mean how are you….your supposed to be extinct." He breathed; the only real sound that echoed was his words in the cave and the occasional dripping noise of water.

"Of course we are, only the chosen one may see me."

It talked back. It wasn't supposed to do that. The dragons voice was deep and booming, but the way he used it (by the sound of his voice he thought it was a guy) it was quiet and echoed softly. He wasn't really even moving his mouth either; the words just seem to come out with his breath. Edd almost fainted after hearing his words.

"D-did you just talk?"

He laughed at the question. It was a booming noise that made some of the rocks fall to the floor.

The dragon seemed to smile. "O human, you have so much to learn in the ways of magic." He opened his mouth a little wider, to show 2 rows of razor sharp teeth. "It's funny how you have so long to go, and yet you are a chosen one." He stretched and slowly got up on all fours. Edd shrunk closer to the wall.

Even though he was afraid his curiosity demanded answers. "What do you mean chosen one?" it was a question that hung in the air as the dragon moved to the side to reveal a stone tablet that had print on it that not even Edd had ever seen.

"Touch the tablet human." He was instructed, but he just looked at the dragon. He didn't move from the wall at all.

"I will not ask again human!" He roared, Edd didn't remember when he had run so fast in his life, but he got to the tablet in record time, and as his hands floated just inches above the tablet he wondered what he was getting himself into.

He touched the tablet and instantly he felt something flow into him. At first he welcomed the feeling, it felt like a breeze that was moving through him, but as time passed he began to hear whispers of something in his mind.

"The first is the one that can hear my voice.

Because the world needs him, and not by choice."

He looked over to his side, but there was no one there. The words had sounded so close.

The second is the one who's running away.

Not because he's scared, but to save the day."

Again he looked, but again there was nothing there. He heard it loud and clear but it sounded like it was echoing in the cave, or in his mind.

"The third is the one who says many words.

But when in the dark in barely seen and not heard."

He must have been going crazy; the voices weren't from one direction they were from everywhere but nowhere at the same time. This was impossible, it was simply impossible.

Those lines kept repeating over and over again in his head. It was as if someone was speaking right next to him, whispering the words. He covered his ears but it didn't help at all, if anything it made it worse. The words just didn't stop, and he didn't understand it at all. There would be certain words that would stand out, like background noises to the phrases. They would say 'chosen ones', 'Tide and Masters Guild' and that he had to 'reunite them' but who were they? What was going on? He was too confused and eventually he just fell to the ground. Right before the voices finally stopped and he could slightly hear again, two faces popped into his head and burned themselves in his memories. One was of someone who had jet black hair and dark brown eyes that seem to stare into his soul, he didn't look mad, but he didn't look happy. His face held experience, but also sadness, it was the saddest things Edd had seen. The other was the exact opposite, he had a big goofy smile on his face, and ginger hair that made him look even more innocent.

"Have you heard what the tablet means human?" He asked, as if everything that lead up to him on the ground meant nothing, he was starting to get tired of being called human as well.

"I don't understand," his voice was raspy, had he been screaming?

"That's why I am here. I've been waiting for some time now to finally meet with you." The dragon said, Edd couldn't tell if he was sad or not. "To put it simply for you human, you are one out of the three chosen ones."

He kept hearing that, but it still didn't make any sense to him. "Chosen for what?" He snapped, he was getting quite tired of this game.

The dragon's eyes narrowed on him. "You are chosen to kill the only other thing that is more powerful than all the other dragons." The tablet glowed again, and some kind of visual guide popped up to reveal a menacing looking human, if even that. The person had wings on their back, with a dragon's tail and even their eyes. "This man's name is Gaberiel. Or the 'dragon king' as most call him now."

Edd knew who that was. He was the leader of the Dragon eye guild; recently they had been heard to have been trying to take over the other guilds. They had successfully taken large parts of land that were close to the guilds, but not close enough to actually trouble them.

"I have heard of this man." He didn't understand where this was going, Edd had seen pictures of the man and he looked nothing like a dragon at all.

The dragon laughed again. "No you have not, how do you think he's been able to take land so quickly?" Edd couldn't really tell, but the dragon could have been looking at him as if he was dumb.

Edd was about to answer, but he didn't have one. The dragon was right, Gaberial had been taking over land at an exponential rate, and lately he had been hearing that he sought out the mages guild, since his castle was on the very far outskirts of the guild, then it made no sense for him to worry so much about it. He felt a ping of selfishness and began to hate himself for not studying further into the matter.

The dragon shook his head slowly. "Humans…only worried if it affects them."

Edd took great offense to this, sure he been selfish but there was no need to go and blame the whole human race for it. "I apologize for my own actions." He started, but he felt like he really needed to get back to the main subject. "What do you mean one of three though?"

He cleared his throat, or just growled. "Ah, yes. There are two others that you will find around the guilds that will help you in your journey. You will need both of them if you wish to beat Gaberiel."

He wasn't exactly agreeing to going on this 'journey' but he was curious and that kept him going as he asked. "How will I know if they are the other chosen ones? The tablet was not very specific." The dragon looked into his eyes and it was like a realization for Edd, while they had been talking it didn't really occurred to him that he was, indeed, talking to a dragon. Sure he was scared at first but as they had been chatting away he had just blacked out the fact that there was a dragon.

Red scales glistened slightly as he got up and walked over to Edd, who backed up in the wall again. This time though he didn't stop walking. He got so close that Edd could feel the heat coming off of him and his breath beat against him slightly. The dragon lifted a claw and seemed to be pointing one in his direction and slowly moved it towards Edd's hand. There was nothing he could do as the claw got closer and closer, his reflexes took over and he covered his face with his hands. What he felt next was a burning sensation on his palm when the claw touched it, but that was it. He opened his eyes and looked at his sweaty palms. His right one looked perfectly normal, it was his left that had a weird looking cross on it, each end was pointed though and it wasn't very noticeable, you could really only see it if you knew it was there. Edd knew it was there, that's why it slightly annoyed him to have it.

"What did you do to me?" He questioned, still looking at his palm.

"It's a gift, whenever you make direct contact with another chosen one, the mark on your hand will glow." Edd didn't like that he referred to it as a gift. To him it was some sort of curse, it meant that he was bound to this adventure in some way. One that he didn't want to be a part of to begin with.

The dragon was still looking at him, his gaze piercing and unrelenting. Edd began to slither across the wall towards the hole. He wasn't stopped when he got there. They eyed each other for a while; Edd just didn't want to do it. It wasn't who he was, adventures and life threatening events that would affect the whole world, the other 2 chosen ones could do it on their own couldn't they? but how would they know without him? Maybe they saw other dragons like he did, but then why the gift on his palm? This was just too much that he didn't want. He floated back to the surface whispering the words as he left.

"I just….cant."

When he got back up Arnold was waiting for him patiently. There was a smile on his face when he saw his young apprentice. He looked like he was still waiting for the message to come back because he was just sitting there on a rock looking up every now and then.

"What do you have to report, my apprentice."

He didn't know why, but he started to cry and fell to his knees. He told Arnold everything about his encounter with the dragon, and nothing was left out. Arnold listened intently, he didn't want to rush over and help him, it wasn't his role as the master to encourage such weakness to be shown, but after a while he didn't care, he moved over and pat his apprentice on the back. He was truly scared; this wasn't something that should have happened, Edd had done no wrong and yet here he was being chosen by some mystical force to go on a journey that would save the world. He didn't want that for his apprentice, a part of him had always imagined Edd and him going on to study magic and become stronger together.

"I can't do it though…" He sniffed. It was a sad sight to see. His eyes were red, his mouth quivered slightly and he just looked defeated.

That's when Arnold did something that he had never really done before, he hugged Edd. It was a tight embrace that surprised the young apprentice. "Do not be afraid, I will help you overcome whatever crosses your path."

Those words comforted him, made him feel so safe that he no longer remembered why he was crying, he wrapped his arms around Arnold and sniffed one last time. It was a hug that he long awaited, he wasn't a very touchy person but after so many years of not being hugged it was nice to finally receive one.

It lasted just as long as Edd would have wanted it to the ending left him feeling cold. Arnold looked sympathetically at him and then reached out to help him up, Edd took his hand gratefully. Before they left Arnold took a look in the hole, but when he came back up he said nothing was there that he could see, Edd wanted to go down and see where the dragon had gone off to but he wasn't in the spirit of it. They walked back to the castle without a word. If anything could cure the pounding in Edd's head it was a good cup of tea and a book. He got that and more. Edd had sat down with Arnold in the dining hall table. He had his tea in one hand and a finished book in the other. Arnold closed his book and looked over at the apprentice.

"How have you recovered from the meeting with the dragon?" He asked, careful not to set Edd off, he was still a ball of emotions at the moment. Arnold was the best person to talk to when one's head was clouded with many things.

Before Edd answered he looked at his hand. "I….really don't know," He wasn't used to saying that, but he couldn't define the way he felt. He was sad that he turned his back from the dragon that was in need of the chosen 3. Yet he was happy to be walking away from the responsibility of it all, but didn't that make him a coward? "It's complicated, I feel like I'm the opposite of a hero and yet….im ok with it."

Arnold nodded slowly at that response. "Do you not think you're ready for it, or is it that you just have no desire to be a hero."

Edd thought about that one for a while. While being a hero enticed him he simply wasn't suited for the task of not only watching his own back, but watching others as he went off to save people he didn't even know, and not just them the world. That huge responsibility alone was enough to leave him breathless. "I'm just not ready to protecting a world of people, to have their hopes and dreams on my back."

"You keep saying 'I' as if you will be the only one fighting for the world," Arnold answered, his gaze fixed on Edd. "There will be two others fighting with you if the prophecy is right, and I know for a fact that out of everyone in this guild, that you would be the most suited for such an adventure."

Edd was taken aback by what his master had said. Not only did what he imply mean that he thought that Edd should do it, but that he believed in the silly old prophesy. "But master, surly there is some mistake. You of all people should know that I'm just not suited for this kind of mission." He wanted Arnold to agree with him, he really did, because if his master said that he wasn't ready then he would know for a fact that he just wasn't suited for it.

"I know you want me to say yes, but personally after seeing you grow and adapt to so many changes your whole life." Arnold let out a breath before he continued, almost like he was choosing his words. "You are ready my apprentice, it's time to let go of your training with me. I didn't know you were one of the chosen one, but you have been chosen and it must have been for a reason." Arnold saw the look on Edd's face and it almost killed him, he had never seen his apprentice looked so drained and defeated before.

Edd felt like crying but he felt to emotionally drained to do so. He just sat there looking down at the table wood and trying to count every crack in it.

Arnold placed his hand on the boys shoulder. "I know you don't want this, but like I said before. I know for a fact that you're ready. If anyone I know it would be you that could save this world, you were chosen out of millions of people because you're special and unique. I believe in you so you should also believe in yourself." He walked away to his bed after saying those words.

Edd sat there for quite some time before blowing out the candles and lying in his bed. Sleep didn't come quickly but when he was finally dozed off there wouldn't be anything that would wake him up.

Except an attack.

He woke to the smell of something burning and instantly grabbed his staff, which was always close at hand. He took a couple steps when the door to his room exploded and the whole room seemed to fall apart. He fell with brick and concrete and used his wind magic to move himself before anything hit him. He rolled on the cold grass and looked up at the castle.

It was in shambles, the walls were broken and crumbled, the flag that Arnold had made on the top was burning in the wind, pieces of it were scattered as each breeze blew. Something grabbed his shoulder and he almost jumped out of his skin, but when he looked up it was only Arnold, he was glaring at something else.

Through the smoke and ash Edd got a good look at the person who was standing right by the burning flag and instantly knew who it was. The dragon king.

"Ah, if it isn't Arnold," His eyes, those were the things that Edd would never forget, those yellow eyes that shouldn't ever be on a human. He had just seen them on the dragon from before. They didn't even glance at him, they were fixated on Arnold. "I've been looking for the chosen ones, and if anyone it would have to be the master of the elements that was chosen."

"You're correct I am one of the chosen one." Arnold said, not even looking over at Edd. The wind was knocked out him with their words alone. Arnold was lying to keep Edd safe and he wanted so bad to call him a liar and speak the truth so the battle didn't happen, but fear kept him quiet once again.

It was a standoff that Edd knew he shouldn't be a part of even though it was about him, and because of that he stood there anyway with his staff raised, there was no way he would let his master take on someone like him alone. Arnold didn't even look when he talked, but he sounded desperate.

"Edd, get out of here now…"

The words hurt. Not because he wanted him gone, but because he knew something was wrong. Arnold never talked like that, and he only called him Edd when there was something terrible wrong. He stood there staring at him for some time and took a step next to him. This would be the first time he didn't listen.

He raised his staff in front of him and got in his stance. "Arnold I won't leave you here to take on a monster of his caliber."

Arnold pushed Edd hard to the side just as a giant fireball hit and exploded where they stood. It was so fast that Edd had no time at all to react, even after he was pushed he just stared dumbly at the crater that was in the ground.

"Arnold!" He finally yelled out, he scrambled up and ran towards the spot. He heard a crack behind him and then was pushed by a gust of air as another explosion echoed behind him. He rolled and skid about 20 feet before he was able to regain himself to see Arnold shoot a bolt of lightning at Gaberiel. He side stepped it with little to no effort. Arnold wasn't done yet, he moved the rock of the castle that Gaberiel was still standing on and it fell instantly, for a moment he didn't move at all, and before he could unfurl his wings another lightning bolt hit him. Arnold didn't let up; he rushed over and struck again and again, showering lightning from the sky.

Edd covered his head as debris fell from the blasts. His ears rung with the immense sound that the lighting made, he had never seen Arnold use such power before; he didn't know elemental wizards could even use lightning. When the smoke finally cleared, he rubbed his eyes before peeking through his hands at the giant crater in the earth, even then Arnold used the rest of his magic to move the earth so that there was no longer a crater, and it looked as if nothing had happened. Edd got on his feet to examine the area and just as he took the first step lava exploded out where the hole used to be. It was so hot that Edd felt it from the distance he was at and that was quite far. The earth shook and rumbled, it knocked him back on his bum as he toppled over and was practically thrown around.

Gaberiel emerged from the lava, looking unimpressed, but there were spots on him where he was charred. "Very nice," He said, actually sounding quite impressed. "I expected nothing less from the master of elements himself."

Arnold clenched his jaw, something that Edd had never seen him do before in battle. "I should have guessed that you would attack the outer part of the Elton guild first, that way you could establish a base and build up your troops to fight the rest of the guild." He smiled, but it looked forced. "The Elton guild is too large for you to take it down as quickly as all the others. It's one of, if not the best guild in the world."

The dragon king laughed and shot another fire bomb at him, but Arnold quickly flew in the air to avoid it, this would be a fatal mistake. The air was a place for dragons, not wizards. Gaberiel unfurled his wings again and quickly flew off towards Arnold at a ferocious speed. The older mage had no time to react as a clawed hand tried to pierce his heart. At the last second he twist his body and the hand went through the right side of his chest. Edd almost fainted at the amount of blood that he saw spill from Arnolds wound, he was clutching the spot but it still seeped from his hands slowly. He mumbled some magic and the bleeding had stopped, but for how long?

The king flew gracefully down, but as soon as his feet touched the solid earth it wrapped itself around him and a water blast struck him square in the face. It didn't faze him at all, he spat some water out but besides that the young wizard's magic had no effect. It was as if in that moment Gaberiel had actually noticed that Edd was there, he smiled, it was a sharp toothy one. He spat fire in the Wizard in training, but with rage that he didn't know possible he was able to put his staff in-front of him and block it. The pure power knocked him off his feet, but he wasn't hurt at all.

"That wasn't much of my power kid, if that was enough to hurt you then you might as well run along."

Edd got up again, he aimed his staff at the man and released all the magic he could into one perfectly executed elemental blast. All 4 of the elements that he controlled went flying towards the dragon king. When it hit him there was a huge explosion and Edd only had enough time to cover his eyes.

When he was able to open them again Gaberiel was standing over him, his eyes piercing and strong. Edd jumped back and held his staff with both of his hands. It would have been stupid to call this guy an unordinary enemy; he was simply just a monster.

The yellow eyes stared back at him and he froze, there was nothing he could do, it was all over. He let his staff drop slightly; there was no reason to really fight something of this power. Compared to him Edd was nothing, he had lost.

Something made a rumbling behind him and earth shot up in all directions, hitting Gaberiel instantly. He let out a grunt, something that Edd hadn't really paid attention to the whole battle. He was thrown back and flew again; he looked at both Edd and Arnold. He raised his hand to shoot another fire blast, but something happened to it, the scales that were on it during the whole battle started to burn off showing hints of skin under all the dragon armor. The fire ball flickered and finally disappeared entirely, he cursed under his breath and started to fly away but he looked back at the two wizards, giving them one last menacing glare before he flew off.

Edd almost let out a sigh, but Arnold collapsed to the ground, coughing uncontrollably. He rushed to his side and almost threw up again at the sickly sight of his master. He was on his back with the wound now starting to bleed again. His face was so pale it almost looked like he was a ghost, and blood spotted his lips and cheek. Edd was afraid that if he touched him that he would die right in front of him. Either way that might happen though.

Arnold's eyes looked at him, or through him. "My apprentice, you don't know how proud you've made me over the years. I couldn't ask for a better apprentice, no a better friend to accompany me in the castle." Edd didn't want to hear it, these were the words of a dying man, and there was no way Arnold could die. "I've loved you like a son and I'm sorry I'm leaving you at such a young age, but do not lose yourself with my death my apprentice I need you to stay strong and protect the world that your old master loved so much."

Edd was astonished that his master still wanted him to be a chosen one. He grabbed Arnolds hand as lightly as he could but his master seemed incoherent to the touch. "Please. Please don't die Arnold, I can't take it. I can't…..just please." He begged and begged, saying please over and over again. Even after Arnold had let out his last breath and let go of life all he did was continue saying please.

It took him a little longer to finally figure out he was dead. "No….." he whispered, or maybe he hadn't said a word at all. He didn't know and didn't care. He cried, screaming as loud as he could in the light of the moon. There was no reason to try to hide that he was sad, no reason to stay strong, because there was no one around to stay strong for. His master was dead. He kept crying and screaming and the scar on his palm lit up. He didn't care, it was the reason his master had died, because of him and the stupid prophesy. He couldn't stop crying even as the light grew brighter and brighter, it was a curse.

Ed looked into the night sky and wiped sweat off his forehead, after another day of practice he had worked up quite a sweat, as usual, and he liked it. He was getting stronger. He smiled but it wasn't long lasting, a tear ran down his face, then another, and another. They wouldn't stop, he felt so much sadness that he couldn't bear it and he broke down crying. His commander walking in and when he saw Ed crying hurried over to him.

"What's wrong Ed?" He asked, his voice filled with worry.

The knight sniffled and cried, tears spilling out of both his eyes. "I….don't know, something's just wrong, something's really wrong." He didn't stop crying, he didn't think that he ever would.

Eddy smiled as he watched the men deliver piles of gold onto the ship. With his newest scam in mind he could get as much gold as he wanted and it would last him for a very long time. This would be the greatest scam of his life and there was no way he would stop. That is until a single tear fell down his face and lightly hit the ground. All of a sudden he didn't want to take the gold, and he shakily stood up and walked away. He pulled his hood over his face and wondered where the sudden grip of sadness came from; not like he cared, because he only let that one tear fall.

Why did it hurt so much to hold the others back?

I really hope that you guys liked this chapter. I can't really say much about it without giving things away. Please review or I will cry. ;3; O but I will explain why Arnold couldn't see the dragon I'm not gonna let that huge part stay out of the story XD