Vengeance's End
Prologue
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In the kingdom of Wyndia lies its capital of Winlan built upon a hill, and highest on that peak lies the castle of the royal family. It's a tall and beautiful castle hewn from marble, with banners hanging from every tower and spire flapping in the wind and sunlight shining into the castle through the many windows. In the castle lives the king and the queen of the Wyndians, together with their many loyal guards and diligent servants, from the cooks to the scribes and the honoured advisors. And last but not least…
"Me!" says Nina, curled up against her mother as she listens to the story.
"Yes," says the queen, and though her face in front of the court is always cold and dignified, here she smiles at her daughter and holds her close. "The crown princess of Wyndia, Nina. Named after your ancestors who were all great heroes, from the time when we still had wings…"
Many, many generations ago the Wyndians had been blessed with flight indeed. In the tales of the great wars of thousands of years ago, told so many times that nearly all details have been lost, they speak of a princess Nina who flew on light white wings, soared high into the skies and helped to fight off the two evil Dragon empires.
"But Nina was tricked, by a young man of the Dragon clan, and so she lost her wings, and all her children thereafter." By falling in love with a clansman of a different tribe; a sin and a mistake. To punish her for consorting with the evil dragons, the Wise but Just goddess Myria took her wings, so that none would ever repeat her heresy…
"And since those days, our clan no longer has the power to fly."
"But what happened to the dragon?" asks little Nina.
What indeed. The stories prefer to not speak of such things. "I imagine," says the queen. "That he fled like the coward he was, and left your ancestor to bear their sin alone."
"So Nina never got her wings back?" asks Nina. Her face is scrunched up with a frown. "Why isn't there a happy ending?"
"I don't know, Nina," says the queen, leaning forward to place a kiss on Nina's forehead. "Would you like to hear a different story, then?"
"Yes," says Nina, still sullen. "I didn't like that story. I didn't like that story at all."
And so Nina curled up again, and her mother selected a different story she herself had heard as a child, and nobody mentioned the story about princess Nina and the dragons and the missing wings to Nina again. Not for many, many years, until one fateful day when Nina's lover at that time – a man from the royal guard with the name Ryu – decided to tell that story from a slightly different angle…
"Condemned by love," muses Nina, head leaning against Ryu's shoulder. They're sitting together on the castle wall, looking down at the river far below, and the moon's shining bright and silver above them. "But why would Myria go to such lengths to destroy the dragons? Isn't Myria supposed to be kind and just?" A benevolent goddess, a mother protecting her flock.
"Supposedly, she'd been quite a different goddess in an ancient war before even the time of your ancestor," says Ryu, speaking from memory. His voice is soft in the summer night. "She'd been cruel and destructive. The dragons fought her off – among others – and since then, the dragons and Myria have been sworn enemies."
Nina considers that. "I wouldn't like to be the enemy of a goddess."
Ryu's reply is even quieter than before. "Neither would I."
"Good thing she's gone, then," says Nina decisively.
"Myria always returns," says Ryu. A chilling reminder that gods can reincarnate, yes, but…
"But it probably won't be in our time," replies Nina. "And even if she did, why would she care what we do?" Nina laughs, trying to dispel the sudden tension. "We're just mortals."
"You never know," says Ryu vaguely, but lets Nina pull him to his feet and tug him along to walk on the castle wall, back towards the castle.
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A/N:
AU based on the movie Ladyhawke, starring the cast of bof3 and using only vaguely the map from the game. Knowledge of the movie is not required.