Chapter 6: Departure
"Stella Dragon, Asteroid Punch" Romeo charges at Astery, who simply flew up, avoiding the attack.
"Not yet, Stella Dragon, Wind Attack" Romeo did a flapping motion, sending a wave of energy towards the dragon, who swat away the attack with his tail, though the attack did leave a scorched mark behind.
"Not bad." Astery smirk.
"Time to get serious, Keenan." Romeo jump up.
"Yes sir." The exceed grab the boy then fly towards the dragon. The two of them have done a lot of aerial combat training together and are now just as capable in the sky as they are on the ground.
"Stella Dragon, Asteroid Kick" Romeo charge at the dragon again. This time the attack was blocked by his wing. A scorched mark left behind from the attack's energy.
"Stella Dragon, Comet Tail Swing" This time Romeo did a side kick but was met with the same results.
Astery suddenly flew up, causing Romeo and Keenan to give chase.
They flew away from the island, through the sky, then Astery suddenly yells "Shooting Stars"
A barrage of light constructs flew towards the duo at high speed. They maneuvers through the attacks and Romeo decides to return the favor.
"Stella Dragon, Meteor Shower" Romeo launched a large blast of energy to the air, which then splits apart into countless smaller light constructs, similar to the Shooting Star attack. They fly down towards Astery, who grunts in pain from the barrage of constructs.
Romeo was a creative boy as well as a good fighter. He created this attack after watching a meteor shower one night with Astery and Keenan. This attack worked by launching a huge amount of Shooting Star up in the sky at once as a straight beam then direct the beam towards your intended direction. It would then split apart and cover a large area in the intended direction.
The down side of the attack is that it consumed a lot of energy and cannot be controlled once it split apart so this works better when you need to clear a large area of enemies and not on one to one fights. Still against an enemy as large as Astery, such an attack is perfect.
"Let's keep up the pressure" Keenan fly them closer.
"Stella Dragon, Roar" Romeo aim the blast downward, boosting their speed and launch them to slightly above Astery.
"Stella Dragon, Star Collision Blast" Another attack created by Romeo. Romeo form two spheres of energy on both of his hands then smash them together in front of him, sending a huge blast of energy at the dragon, pushing him down and actually hurting him a little. Romeo's hands were also slightly burned from the attack.
"Excellent." The dragon said with pride.
"Let's try something new. Stella Dragon, Constellations Clusters" Romeo send a large amount of small energy orbs towards the dragon who brace for impact but none of the spheres hurt or even touch him. Before he can ask though-
"Stella Dragon, Bursting Star" Suddenly all the orbs surrounding Astery exploded, causing more damage to the dragon.
Or it would have, if the explosion didn't get eaten up.
"On any other opponent, that would've been fatal, but its lack of speed could be a problem." Astery panted. "Still, that was an impressive attack you created."
Romeo smiled with joy then decided to end the fight.
"Keenan, launched me at him"
"You sure?" Keenan asked with a smile, unsurprised by his friend's request.
"Oh yeah"
Keenan then fly at top speed towards Astery, but then stop and let go of Romeo at the same time, the momentum launching him forward.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated all his energy into his right hand.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!"
He then open his eyes, releasing all the energy at once.
"Supernova Devastation"
Striking with everything he got, Romeo ready to land the final blow. However-
"Huh" Romeo blackout, loosing all of his energy.
"ROMEO" Keenan scream, trying to catch his friend but luckily Astery managed to catch him in his claws.
"He's just out of energy" the dragon observed, "he missed-time the attack and burn all his magic before he can hit me. He just needs rest."
The dragon turn around "Let's go home."
Romeo wakes up, feeling sores all over his body. Looking around, he realize he's in his cave and saw Keenan sleeping nearby and Astery outside watching the star with a small fire near by.
Romeo walks over to his father.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yeah." Astery look down to his son.
"What happened?" Romeo suck in the fire.
"You miscalculated on the secret art attack and depleted your energy. Here, you'll need more than that little fire." Astery produce a glow in his claws and Romeo start feeding on that.
"I'm sorry." Romeo look sad.
"I'm not mad or disappointed." Astery told him "To even do that well at your age is impressive, just shows how strong you truly are."
"Thank you." Romeo smile. "It's all thanks to you. Without you I'd be nothing."
"Don't think that way." Astery said slightly harsh "You're an excellent boy, a gifted fighter, and a quick learner, the moves you created are nothing to scoff at."
"But that's all thanks to you. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Astery sighed then look away. Hating himself for what he's about to do.
"Romeo, I won't always be here for you. One day, you and Keenan will have to leave the island and take care of each other without me."
"But why?"
"How can you fulfill your promise with Lumina then? If I'm always with you, then you won't grow stronger. And you need to if you want to protect others."
Romeo is silent, memories of his promise to his mother flooded back to him.
"What should we do then?" Romeo ask. "Where should we start?" How would they even take care of themselves with no idea how the world worked?
"You could joined a guild." Astery answered "Wizards and mages go there to offer services in exchange for money. Guilds also fight against evil wizards, who try to hurt others."
That does sound perfect for him. He can fulfill his promise while taking care of himself and Keenan.
"Okay." Romeo said looking up at the stars. "One day I'll join a guild."
"Good" The dragon smile. He then decided to share something for his son.
"Romeo, do you know what today is?"
"Of course." Lumina had taught him how to determine the date by looking at the stars. After a quick reference he said, "July...fifth."
"Sixth," Astery corrected, "tomorrow is July seventh. It is a date sacred to dragons."
"Really?"
"Yes," he nodded. "Four hundred years ago, there was a terrible war between dragons and humans. The dragons on the human's side decided to gifted them with a powerful magic, that would come to be known as Dragon Slayer Magic. On the seventh of July, the war ended and the dragons and humans began to live together in harmony. Now, on that day, every seven years, a great event occurs, the Dragon King Festival."
"Wow" Romeo was captured by the story, "were you in this war?"
"I was. And I fought against humans."
"WHAT!" Romeo couldn't believe what's he's hearing.
"I was a very different dragon back then. Young and foolish, believing humans to be nothing more than vermin. Then, one day, I was ... saved by a human. After that, I saw the humans in a different light and switched sides. My meeting with Lumina just helps further my new viewpoint."
"I'm glad to hear that." Romeo smiled.
"I am too" Astery turned back to the cave. "It's late now, go to bed."
"Okay." Romeo complies.
Astery watched him fall to sleep before sighing and looking back up at the stars.
"I'm sorry my son. I know this will hurt you a lot but I have to do this." Astery lamented, a tear drop roll down his face. "And so soon after your birthday too."
The next morning, Romeo felt himself being shaken awake. "Romeo, Romeo wake up." He opened his eyes but shut them again due to the light...wait light? It was daylight? Astery would've woke him up by now.
"Keenan?" Romeo sat up, "what time is it?"
"Later then we usually get to sleep," the Exceed replied.
"Hey, Astery, why didn't you wake us up?" No answer, "Astery?" Still, there was no response.
"That's why I woke you," Keenan explained. "Astery isn't here."
"What?" Romeo got up and looked around, nothing. He looked outside, nothing. He even tried to track the dragon's scent, but it was gone.
"Is he off feeding?" Keenan asked.
"He would've wake us up if he did." Romeo answered. "And I can't even smell him. Even if he left the island, there would still be some traces of him unless he purposely cover it."
"He's gone." Romeo whispered but Keenan can still hear him. Romeo then start to tears up, questions running through his head. Why would he just leave like this, without telling him? Was it something he did? Does Astery hate him now?
Romeo, I won't always be here for you. One day, you and Keenan will have to leave the island and take care of each other without me.
How can you fulfill your promise with Lumina then? If I'm always with you, then you won't grow stronger. And you need to if you want to protect others.
The memory flooded back to him, what Astery told him last night. "He wants me to grow stronger."
"What?" Keenan asked.
"Last night, he said that I need to get stronger and to do so I must do so without him."
"SO YOUR SAYING HE'S ABANDONED US!" Keenan yelled.
"He has to." Romeo defended. "He did it for our own good."
"So what do you think we should do now?" Keenan asked, looking worried.
Romeo, already knew what to do, turned to Keenan. "Pack every bit of food you can find."
"Where are we going?"
"We're going to join a guild."
"What's a guild?"
"I'll explain on the way." He went over to the large sack Lumina gifted him for his three years old birthday and filled it with all his clothes as well as the personal belongings he had: Lumina's books and cooking recipes, some trinkets she made for him when he was younger, and a scarf Lumina made for him from Astery's scales after his shedding which Romeo always finds it funny. The scarf was too big for him when she made it and still is now but he's bringing it with him.
"I'm done," Keenan flew over while holding a sack of food. "Are we really going to do this?"
"We have to" Romeo took the sack and packed it into his. "Astery is right, we need to grow stronger. And it's about time we experience the world for ourselves."
"I guess." Keenan frowned.
"Hey, don't give me that look." Romeo picked him up, "I know you're scared and I am too. But as long as we stick together, we'll be fine"
Keenan smiled, "right."
"How are we gonna leave the island anyway?" Keenan asked "I can't carry us all the way to mainland you know."
Romeo pulls out an orb looking object.
"With this." He answered "This is a teleportation lacrima Lumina used to travel to mainland to get stuffs you can't get on this island. It has enough energy for one last trip. I'm not sure where we'll end up since I never used it before but it's a start.
"Okay then" Keenan said.
"That's the spirit. now let's get going." Romeo swung his sack over his shoulder before Keenan grabbed onto him, Romeo gave one last look of the island that had fostered him his whole life, and activates the lacrima.
Extra information
Romeo is six years old in this chapter.
His birthday(or the day Astery found him) was July 1st.
Romeo attacks are as follows:
Attacks he learned from Astery
Asteroid Punch and Asteroid Kick
Comet Tail Swing
Wing Attack
Shooting Star(while he didn't use it here he can use the attack which are basically light bullets)
Roar
Supernova Devastation
Attacks he made himself
Meteor Shower(explained in the chapter)
Star Collision Blast: he gets the idea after reading Lumina's book explaining star collision. Work by creating two balls of energy, smash them together and send the energy away. Downside being the attack could hurt Romeo if he's not careful.
Constellations Clusters and Bursting Stars: he gets the idea while learning to do Supernova Devastation and looking at the stars. Work by sending a cluster of white orb towards the enemy and combust them. Downside being the long set up time and energy consumption.
Concentrated Light: he didn't use this attack in this chapter but he created this after playing with a magnifying class from Lumina's hut and start a fire. Basically he channeled energy into a small point and fire it out in a straight line the same size as the concentrated point.(Look up Ace's fire cross for a better idea of how this attack work.) Downside being the long set up time and energy consumption.
Author's note
They finally left their home. Did you know that it only took three chapters in the other story for them to leave? So I sticked pretty close to the other story's last conversation between Romeo and his dragon for my own because I find it to be a really great last talk between father and son. In fact a lot of this chapters are really close to the other story's departure chapters. Anyway like before let me know what you think and drop some suggestions or ideas for the story and I'll incorporate them into the story if I can.