Side Story: Musings of the Winged Queen

Hello everyone and welcome to our latest little snippet, this time focusing on everyone's favorite avian ruler! Since we've got no actual guest review questions the only other thing I have to say is, onto the story!

Filolial Sanctuary: Nighttime Shortly After the First Wave

'So the waves have begun again,' mused Fitoria as she sat on top of one of her favorite structures within the ruins, a smaller building originally used for prayer or possibly offerings by the lake. 'The nations of the world will be forced to summon the four cardinal heroes once more in order to combat them.' It was actually quite ironic to the Filolial Queen given that not long ago the nations had been at war, only recently gaining some semblance of peace for about a decade, which was almost like a few months to one who had lived for centuries. Now their ability to cooperate would be put to the test by the waves of catastrophe.

Not that the fate of the other countries and their people mattered all that much to Fitoria, she had her own little Queendom that needed to be looked after. The only real reason she had for keeping an eye on the state of the world, or at least the only one that mattered enough to her, was the promise she'd made to the hero who raised her to protect it. "Come to think of it," she mused aloud, "the state of the world now might be worse than when I was born. At least in some places." Yes, the world she'd been born into was something of a chaotic one with a fair bit of public opinion actually against the four cardinal heroes.

But a couple of small nations combined their resources and attempted to summon them anyway. For whatever reason, though, a fifth hero was summoned along with them and he claimed to come from the very ruins in which she currently sat. It had been an interesting situation as those who had been aware of the fifth hero's existence stepped forward while others claimed he was a false hero. She didn't remember most of the arguments that took place among the nations, politics was boring to her then and even with a better understanding now she still paid little attention to it.

What she did remember was that she'd liked the fifth hero. He'd made fast friends with the hero who raised her at the time, whoever that had been, and despite all of the controversy that surrounded his appearance he never let it distract him from his task of fending off the waves with the other heroes. Obviously there had been ups and downs during those times, many of which she'd forgotten, but it had been an adventure all the same. Nowadays, though, the world seemed like it had it out for the Shield Hero. She had even heard of a new religion being started some years ago that denounced him and all demi-humans while praising the other three as true heroes or even deities.

It was utter garbage to anyone who actually gave it proper thought and, as far as someone as old as Fitoria was concerned, nothing new. What was slightly surprising was the current king of Melromarc, where the Three Hero's Church apparently originated to one degree or another, had made it the state religion. Though that wasn't half as concerning as what she'd heard about some of the other protectors of the world, or to be more precise, what she hadn't been hearing. One of her family, a blue Filolial, had actually just arrived to deliver news on that exact topic.

"Have you managed to find any clues as to the whereabouts of the other weapon holders?" Questioned Fitoria as she turned her gaze from the stars to the large bird. Her response was a number of squeaks and grunts which brought a frown to her usually neutral face. "I see," Fitoria sighed, "we'll just have to keep looking. Strong as the four heroes are they will need as much help as they can get to battle the waves. For now, go and rest with the others."

Her family member gave one last chirp before turning and heading off as the Filolial Queen returned her gaze to the stars above. 'The situation is worse than I thought,' she mused, 'but as long as the countries act in accordance with the usual rules and each summon a hero to defend it, then the world should at least be relatively defen-.' Fitoria stiffened as she sensed a powerful magic energy originating near the center of the ruins. 'Teleportation, no, that's summoning magic coming from, the temple of the Armory Hero!'

The Filolial Queen shot up from her perch into the air as she changed form into a massive bird that towered over several of the ruins. 'Only someone especially powerful could've located this place to begin with, and given that I've cast my Filolial sanctuary to prevent others from teleporting in, they must be using some other type of strange magic or ability.' She stomped over to the entrance of the fifth hero's temple and waited for her foe to appear. It was a few minutes later that the seal she placed on the temple entrance deactivated and the intruder stepped out. Even despite her short Filolial memory, she would look back fondly on the words he spoke next: "Oh you have got to be kidding me!"

A Couple Days Later

'The new Armory Hero's potential is, debatable,' thought Fitoria as she continued to observe the progress of the one she now knew as 'Darius Saxon.' Like many of the ones she'd met from other worlds, he had knowledge about strange and foreign concepts, mainly involving stories or games. In fact, like many of the heroes from other worlds, he described himself as a geek, Otaku or weeb and would often compare the powers he was wielding to characters the Filolial Queen had never heard of, to her memory. But one thing that always stood out about the Armory Hero, and Darius was no exception, was the fact that they were not usually of the same race of people as the other four cardinal heroes. It was her understanding that many Otaku hailed from a land known as Japan, but Darius came from an apparently large continent known as America. The country had many of the same stories as Japan, or at least they somehow managed to cross the ocean to get there, while also having a number of unique stories that were nothing like the ones from Japan.

Currently, he was dual-wielding short swords against multiple balloons or, as he described it, attempting to go 'Inosuke' on them. For whatever reason he was a little disappointed to find out he was currently prevented from dual wielding long swords by his bands. 'I'll need to make sure he realizes as early as possible: being a cardinal hero isn't something you play around at.' Though it would still pain her heart more than a little to dispel his naivete, it had to be done if he was to survive.

Final Day of Training Week

The Filolial Queen had to admit she was, not impressed, but still rather pleased with Darius's progress as she nimbly dodged out of the way of his newly acquired chains. Though she'd never said it out loud, mostly to keep him from getting cocky, he'd definitely improved from the flailing around he'd done only a few days prior. Even now he was using his chains to corral her and restrict her movements, not that it was really working against someone who'd had loads of time to work on their speed and evasion. 'Perhaps you are not so hopeless after all, Darius Saxon,' she thought as an old memory suddenly came to the surface of her mind.

Flashback: Centuries Ago

"Wow," said the Shield Hero of that time as he struggled to move against the chains that were currently binding him, "you weren't kidding when you said these things could hold down beasts."

"They're the closest thing I have to a primary weapon," said the previous Armory Hero as he released his comrade from the bindings, "but I hope you're at least somewhat convinced now that I can handle myself even if I lack some of the other conveniences that you and the rest of the cardinal heroes have."

"Well you've certainly proven you've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve," said the former Shield Hero, "but as a defense focused guy I'm not the best judge of someone's attack prowess in battle. The ones you really need to convince are the other three, and Fitoria over there." Said Filolial girl was currently sitting on a wall where she'd been watching the whole exchange.

"Well the other three aren't here right now, but what did you think of my little performance?" Asked the previous Armory Hero, "Good, bad, was I flailing around too much?"

"You did alright I suppose," replied Fitoria with a shrug, "but I do have one question: how much food can you store in that dimensional inventory of yours?"

"Oh that," said the cardinal hero as he produced a portal and pulled out a small basket of berries, "Still hard to say given this thing increases in storage capacity every few levels or so. But I can store baskets of food, large cooking pots, ingredients, as well as drinks that come in bottles or skins."

"Can you store crates of food?" Questioned Fitoria with slight curiosity.

"Weirdly, no," replied the former Armory Hero, "for whatever reason I'm restricted against storing crates or chests of anything. Guess it has something to do with where it all goes in the first place or maybe it only applies to stuff one could normally carry on their own. But, what I store in my inventory remains free of rust, dirt, mold and food doesn't spoil, or at least it hasn't so far." This got the Filolial Queen's attention as she hopped off of the wall and approached the supposed cardinal hero. She quickly plucked one of the berries from the basket he was holding and popped it into her mouth.

Surprisingly, his statement about them remaining relatively fresh was actually true. "Alright," said Fitoria as she turned to the former Shield Hero, "I'm fine with him coming along, on the condition that he agrees to have at least some food in his inventory at all times. In fact as a Filolial Queen it is my royal decree that the Armory Hero, as he calls himself, shall set aside a portion of his inventory with snacks that I can eat whenever I want."

"You know Filolial Queen is just a title for classification right?" The former Shield Hero pointed out, "you don't have actual royal authority."

"Like you'd know," said Fitoria, "there is a Filolial Queen that rules over all Filolials, and every now and then they must be replaced by a new one when their life reaches its end. Who knows, I could be a candidate for the next queen."

"Then I shall set aside a portion as her highness, the chocobo queen, demands," said the former Armory Hero with a bow as he held out the basket.

"I'm certain you're mocking me," said Fitoria as she ate another one of the berries, "but for now I shall be merciful and accept your offering of berries Sir Hero." That day had been the beginning of a wonderful adventure for them all.

End Flashback

'He proved he was more than capable of being a hero,' thought Fitoria, 'but even he was able to fall in battle. And now I must send another one out into the world.' It was then she decided to have a special dinner prepared for him, so that he could leave on a good note with her. 'I have to send him out on his own, he has to see the world for what it is and learn to survive without me guiding him.'

She also couldn't afford to get too attached to him in the event that she had to take more drastic measures to insure the safety of the world. At least, that had been the plan. But more and more of her old memories had come flooding back over the last week, and the moment dinner was about to end, she broke down. That night she had spent with her head buried in his side, staining his shirt with her tears as the thought repeated over and over again in her head: 'please, let him return here one day.'

Filolial Sanctuary: Shortly Before the Third Wave

"So that's the current state of things," said Fitoria with a sigh on her usual perch as she received the latest news of the outside world from a pink-feathered member of her family. "At least two of the heroes managed to cause a fair bit of harm to some innocent villages, and you believe the Bow Hero might have caused an issue as well?" The pink Filolial nodded its head in affirmation, eliciting a small sigh from the winged queen. "Mistakes are to be expected I suppose. The previous heroes made a number of their own mistakes after all. The real question is whether or not they'll learn from them."

Her family member gave another couple of squawks and chirps, saying there was also news about the Shield and Armory Heroes. "Are they faring well? If I remember correctly you said they'd both managed to form their own parties and were actually working together as, what was the term, traveling merchants." The pink Filolial nodded before continuing its explanation. "Yes they would have to resort to other methods to gain currency if the king of Melromarc's hatred for the Shield Hero is as deeply rooted as I suspect, but at least-what did you just say?"

Her relative repeated its earlier sentence, this time chirping and squawking a little slower to insure its queen heard every detail. "You say he has hatched and raised a dragon with one of the dragon emperor fragments?!" Fitoria said with her voice actually rising a bit at the news. "I know I at least told him about why Filolials hated dragons, but if he doesn't know about the fragment then he could be unknowingly raising the next dragon emperor."

The pink Filolial chirped again, this time with a sentence that actually confused the Filolial Queen. "You're saying it's a flying dragon that he's tamed and turned into a mount? And that he and the Shield Hero are somehow managing to foster some type of peace between it and another Filolial?" Her relative shook its head in the affirmative, getting yet another sigh out of the winged girl. "Well there's little we can do right now with the next wave so close. For now, continue keeping an eye on my potential successor and the possible dragon emperor."

Her relative nodded once more before turning and heading off. Now that she was alone again, Fitoria actually let her face twist into an angry pout at the thought of her former student befriending and riding a dragon. 'After all I did for you and the thanks I get is you picking a dragon for a mount.' It didn't take long for her to make up her mind on the matter: she was going to have a few choice words for Darius Saxon the next time she saw him.

Filolial Sanctuary: After Johann and Filo's Test

The last couple of days had been, surprising, to say the least. And as a being who'd been around for a while, Fitoria was not easily surprised these days. As agitated as she'd been at the fact that Darius had hatched and raised a dragon, most of her anger had melted away upon seeing him again. Especially considering how he'd continued aiding the current Shield Hero. It said a lot about his character that he'd stuck with someone ostracized by society and made her swell with a bit of pride that her warnings about the lies surrounding the Shield Hero had been heeded. Though she had still needed to express some disappointment at her former student, lest he and some of her more rowdy family members think she was getting soft. Sadly, her joy at the reunion had to come second to her duties as the Filolial Queen and she'd needed to make it perfectly clear to the Shield Hero just how slippery of a slope the world was really on.

To her annoyance, though, the Shield Hero proved to be just as stubborn as he claimed the other three heroes to be when it came to them working together to defend the world. So in an effort to kill two dragons with one stone, at least she thinks that's how the phrase went, she was forced to take the second princess, sweet Mel, hostage in order to fully express how serious she was about wanting to protect the world. It had also allowed her to test the abilities of the two mounts, Johann and Filo, to see if they were worthy of fighting alongside the Shield and Armory heroes against the waves. It was a tense few minutes where she was almost certain they would fail, but at the last minute the two natural enemies managed to work together and actually mark her face and neck.

It had made her very happy seeing them succeed, because it meant that her former student and the current Shield Hero were in good hands, and that she could stop pretending to be unfeeling about the whole situation. Even Melty, the one she'd taken hostage, was willing to forgive her actions and merely asked for a ride on her Filolial form's head in return for the trouble she'd caused her. It was also enough to convince her that Johann could be trusted to stay by Darius's side even when the odds were clearly against him, and that was enough for her to reward him with another piece of the dragon emperor fragment in the form of a crown. Only time would tell if he'd remain that way.

And speaking of the little dragon, Johann had picked this current moment to approach her while she watched Darius dance with his weasel girl party member, Rifana. "Yo Queeny," he said as he stopped right in front of her, "I got a few questions about this whole mess you put us through."

"It was a regretful but necessary turn of events," said Fitoria, "I thought Darius's judgment about your abilities was questionable and Naofumi's own stubborn refusal to at least try to work with the other heroes was unacceptable."

"Yeah I got that much," said Johann with his arms crossed, "but why didn't you hunt down one of those other guys and tell them all this, or heck, come with us and tell all three of them?"

"I determined that Naofumi was the most likely to listen to what I had to say," Replied Fitoria, "from what I've been told, the other three heroes have been proving somewhat ineffective in the task set before them, which means they need to hear from those who've gained a better understanding of this world."

"And it had nothing at all to do with the fact that the Boss was traveling with Shield Guy," said Johann sarcastically.

"Darius used his own assessment of the situation to decide which hero he wanted to side with," said Fitoria, "had he sided with one of the other three, I would've asked him to come here with just his party so that I could hear his reasoning. Thankfully, he's proven to have at least relatively good judgment, even if he decided to keep a flying dragon for a mount."

"That's another thing," said Johann as he pointed a finger at Fitoria, "you and I both might be natural enemies, but the Boss has already figured out that I'm no ordinary dragon. The same goes for you and Filo, so what gives you centuries old lady? How come you've still got such a problem with dragons?"

"Are you really so unaware of your own nature," Fitoria questioned back, "Dragons are territorial and greedy, taking whatever lands and riches they want. What's worse, when they go into heat they don't just mate with each other but with any species they can find. Some of your kind have even managed to mate with humans."

"Hey I know I'm greedy," said Johann, "the Boss and Rifana know it too. But I also know that the one thing I want more than anything is to keep on adventuring with them and I'll do that even if it means traveling with an annoying Filolial. And what even is this mating thing anyway? I breathe fire and I've got a high body temperature so how am I not already in heat?" Fitoria sighed at this, regretting that she'd even mentioned the last part now.

"Being in heat means you are ready and very willing to mate," explained the Filolial Queen, "and because of dragons unrestrained mating habits they have produced offspring of several variants. There were no flying dragons like you until a dragon mated with another creature that was capable of flight."

"So mating is kind of like magic then?" Guessed Johann, "but if it is like magic then why is it so bad?"

"Because there is no magic involved, aside from the birth of another life," said Fitoria, "almost all living creatures are capable of mating."

"So why is it bad when dragons mate?" Johann questioned again. The Filolial Queen let out another sigh. 'Very well, it's been forever since I mentally scarred a dragon anyway so may as well tell him the whole process.'

"To begin with," said Fitoria, "I'll tell you how exactly mating works to insure you have at least a little appreciation for what dragons have done to some other species."

"Bring it on," said Johann, "I haven't apologized for being a dragon yet and I never will." Fitoria almost smirked at this as she began a lengthy explanation about intercourse. The dragon boy might not have apologized that night, but he did have to spend a good hour getting the images out of his head before going to sleep.

Filolial Sanctuary: After the Fourth Wave

To say it was a surprise when Darius and his party came teleporting into her sanctuary was a slight understatement. Sure she'd been expecting them to learn the teleportation skill eventually and had already set things so that they could enter if the need arose, but it was still unexpected. It was an even bigger surprise when he requested that she teleport them all to the ruins of the gold tyrant, a place even she didn't remember the exact location of. It was only thanks to the Armory Hero's recent acquisition of his predecessor's memories that she was able to get them there. Receiving the purifying dagger which had been cleansing the Tyrant's own armory had also been far more of an emotional moment than she'd been expecting that day.

Her happiness, but also a bit of jealousy, had risen even more upon witnessing Rifana's and Figneria's declaration of love to him. She'd been so swept up in the moment that she'd actually ran after them to the edge of their newly acquired village before remembering herself and bidding them a fond farewell. Now here she sat once again on her usual spot in the ruins of the five heroes, awaiting the next bit of news about the state of the world. Her initial happiness had been somewhat overshadowed by the news that the vassal weapon holders were appearing now, meaning that the situation of the waves was growing increasingly dangerous.

It also didn't help when Darius told her about the utter lack of help the three heroes had been to him and Naofumi in the most recent wave. "We can only hope that your plan to build up a fighting force works Sir Shield Hero, Sir Darius," she thought aloud as she looked up at the partly cloudy sky, "and that the other cardinal heroes realize their mistakes and work to improve." The sound of another one of her family members showing up drew her eyes away from the clouds as she listened to the latest report. "So the familiars have started to appear then," said Fitoria, "but something is wrong. The seal has yet to be broken, which means the sacred beast is not the one commanding them."

The yellow Filolial nodded its head in agreement. "We must watch carefully then," said the Filolial Queen, "and be prepared for the possibility that a way to stop the waves, has just become an enemy of the world."

Ah Fitoria, the powerful Queen with a soft spot or two for our heroes. Unfortunately we now have a not so great topic to discuss and that's the fact that I have no idea what I should write for the next chapter. I'm also struggling with the decision on whether or not to move these little tidbits to their own story for when I finally resume the main story. So once again I leave my writing in the hands of you, my fellow readers. What do you think I should do next? Another side story, leave this one alone for now and work on other projects, go ahead and attempt to continue the main story with what I know about the series, oh decisions decisions. Feel free to let me know what you think in the usual manner: a comment or review with your answers, what you thought of this chapter, or if you've got any neat ideas of your own. 'Til next time everyone.