This is a two-part story, and after this is done, onto the finale chapter. Time to find out what's been happening to Arc. Time to say 'screw you, plot of the game."

X Arc 2-The Dragon's Peak X

X Chapter 5-The Djinn's Curse, pt. 1 X

Luckily, Canaan isn't too far a walk from where we crashed. It was made considerably more difficult, however, by the fact that I had to carry Refia's unconscious body the entire way. Arc, Luneth, Cid and I had escaped with only light bruises, but the ditzy redhead thought it would be a good idea to let go fight as we smashed into the boulder. Luckily, it worked as we had hopes, smashing the rock into smithereens. On the flipside, though, the airship had also been reduced to rubble, so I guess it's a give and take sort of thing.

Luneth and I took turns carrying the girl, as Cid couldn't because of a bad back. But Arc, despite his small stature, could easily carry Refia, as she couldn't have weighed that much. And yet, the entire time, he remained silent, which seemed unlike him. When we first met, I thought of him as the kind of kid who would do anything to help out, and my intuition is rarely wrong. Now, though, it's like he had gone under a complete personality shift. Almost like he was…

The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. when we finally reached a clearing in the forest, I turned to Luneth and Cid.

"You two, hurry on the city. I've got some things to discuss with Arc."

Luneth frowned. "As long as you swear it's not revenge for him killing you."

I smiled. "It's nothing like that." I walked close and whispered in his ear, "I may have an idea of why he's been acting strangely."

Luneth's eyes narrowed, and he nodded ever so slightly. When Refia was off working on the airship, we had sent Arc off to get equipment, telling him he was the only one who could show any sort of restraint when buying (not exactly a lie…). He agreed, and while he was gone, Luneth and I discussed how he'd been acting strangely ever since the battle with the Djinn. More accurately, when the ring hit the water. Luneth told me Arc admitted he was acting weird, saying it was him just trying to prove himself. I didn't buy it, and told him something else was up. He grudgingly agreed, but I had been a fool for missing it up until now.

Luneth, carrying Refia, and Cid left for Canaan, going on ahead. When they were gone, I turned to Arc.

"W-why did you want to talk to me privately?" He asked, acting so innocent.

"Enough with the lies. I know who you really are."

His eyes narrowed, and I swear I saw them flash red.

"Oh?" he said, no longer sounding frightened, but more like a beast playing with its meal. "Very well then. If I'm not Arc, who am I?"

"I thought we destroyed you, Djinn."

Everything was silent. No noise, not even birds, shattered the stillness in the air. That was, until 'Arc' spoke up.

"Impressive as always, Ingus. Indeed, I did possess this body when my own was destroyed by that infernal ring. Of course, I was terribly weak, and had to use the last of my magic to take over. Mind you, the boy put up a good fight, but he never stood a chance against my power. Right now, his soul is locked away, and soon, it will be completely destroyed. I had meant to kill the others before that happened, so I could show him his dying friends, killed by his own hands. But now that you have found out, he is of no use to me," he finished, and a pair of flaming demon wings promptly burst out of his back. His features began twisting and merging, becoming something much more demonic. You could still tell it was Arc, the same round, polite face, but it was now buried under a pile of ugly. Two horns had come out of his forehead, leaving two trails of blood flowing down from the openings. His eyes, once a nice, calming brown, were now a deep, unforgiving red. His features themselves seemed to have sharpened. And that's only what happened to his face.

His arms and legs had turned into scaly, dragon-like limbs, with a very deadly looking claw protruding from each finger and toe. An equally dragon-looking tail had also appeared, and I didn't even want to know how painful that must have been. He literally had things coming out of his a-

"FOOLISH HUMAN!" my former ally roared, sounding as scary as he looked. "NONE CAN LOOK UPON THIS FORM AND LIVE! FACE YOUR JUDGMENT!"

Just as he finished, an arrow sailed past my head and lodged itself in the Djinn's shoulder. Against every instinct in my body, I turned around and saw Luneth fly out from the woods, stopping directly next to me. He turned to me, and only needed to nod, and I knew what we had to do.

Drawing my bow, I knocked three arrows at once, loosing them all at the same time. One hit the beasts other shoulder, one hit its stomach, and the last missed entirely.

I stumbled back, shocked.

"Seems your aim isn't as good as you think," Luneth said, though not mockingly.

"That should not be possible. Also, weren't you supposed to take Refia to Canaan?"

"I was on my way there, when I heard a loud roar. I thought to myself, now, who could that be, before I set Refia down by a tree and told Cid to watch after her. Now, may I ask what on God's green earth that is? Also, where's Arc?"

"I can answer both of those at the exact same time," I said, and explained everything that had happened.

When I finished, Luneth looked at me, then the monster, then back at me, then at the ground.

"Arc…" he said, in shock, "I-is that really you?"

"Hehehe. Indeed it is. Want me to prove it?" he said, before his figures twisted back in a way we could see Arc's face again. "Ugh…L-luneth? Ingus? W-what's going on?" Before we could explain, his features shifted once more, and he was gone. "Hehehe. Now do you believe me? And, you should probably know, that when I finally manage to kill you, you last vision of this world shall be me completely taking over, destroying to boys soul! HAHAHA!"

His laughter was stopped by a longsword being implanted into his chest by Luneth. When he had gotten there, I couldn't tell you, nor how he managed to pierce the beast's skin, but it happened, nonetheless. The Djinn was silent for a second, before roaring and swiping Luneth with his claw. The silver haired boy went flying over my head and landed behind me with a dull thud. Amazingly, he got up almost instantly and got up next to me.

"Ingus," I heard him mutter.

"Yeah?"

"I really, really don't like you."

I turned to him and frowned.

"I get the feeling you're going to betray us," he continued.

"Erm…Luneth? Not a good idea to tell your partner that before you have to put your life in their hands."

He held up a hand to silence me. "However," he finished, "if you really are on my side, you'll think of a plan."

"What do you mean?"

He looked at me, eyes narrowed. "I mean a plan where we can kick this beast's ass while keeping my brother alive."

I nodded before hearing the Djinn say, "Oh, you're going to kick my ass, are you? Well, I'd like to see you try!"

Once again, it only took a nod to signal me, and Luneth and I ran directly towards the beast that was once our friend.

LOL, F*** YOU, ACTUAL PLOT!