ToL: Chapter 17

[A Small Bit of Hope Left]

It was now late in the afternoon here in Radiant Garden. We zoomed in on the dorm once more where we could see Katrina standing around the many hangouts area of the building that was located on the roof; it was now safe to be up here. The Heartless Warning that was issued earlier had already passed by, which gave everyone in town the okay to leave the shelters and continue having a normal day.

Katrina was looking in the direction that Iris flew off in earlier… She was still upset about what happened to her. As it turns out, the curse that Belindra cast on her past self was hereditary, passing it to Iris. It seemed like their past selves probably had a feeling it would happen, but it was still hard to process, 'She must be so scared and confused…'

"Hey there," greeted a voice. Katrina turned around to see Lee was now on the roof with her, "Your name's Katrina, yeah?"

Katrina froze up a little when Lee began to walk over to her, "Y-Yes, that's me…"

"Good to know," Lee stated before noticing Katrina had tensed up at her presence, "Guess everyone's told you all about me and my sisters, huh?"

Katrina was silent to her, contemplating if she should answer her question or not, "U-Umm…"

"Heh, I'll take that as a yes," Lee laughed with a tease, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna bite! I felt like talking to you!"

"Huh…? Talk to me?" Katrina questioned.

Lee nodded her head, "Yep. The others said you have a younger sister."

Katrina stared at Lee before realizing she was talking about Iris; that was the lie they all decided to come up with to hide who Iris really was, "Right… She is, umm… she's missing right now."

Lee was silent to her before making another teasing laugh, "Wow, you really are all bad at lying."

Katrina widened her eyes at Lee, "What do you—"

Lee sighed to her, "I remember what happened a little bit when we fought earlier. I thought it was some dumb dream, but it turns out it was real," she put her hands on her hips, "That little girl looks a lot like you, but I could see some of Eddy's features too; she even called you mom. The heck's up with that?"

Katrina's face grew pale at Lee's words. She did not expect her to be that observant.

"Is there some sort of weird time-traveling stuff going on too?" Lee asked, "It wouldn't surprise me if that kid was your daughter from the future, especially with all these strange things happening."

"… S-Sort of…? But it's, umm…" Katrina started to say before pausing, "Iris didn't come from the future. She…" she looked away, back toward the direction she was looking at earlier, "Iris is the daughter of Alexander and Irene. Eddy and I are their reincarnations, and they were alive 3000 years ago, but something happened that made Iris travel to the present," Katrina closed her eyes, "We're not really her parents, but the connection between us is still there… Though, umm… I do like to think Iris is my little sister now. I lived in an orphanage my whole life and never had any real friends until recently, s-so…"

There was a strong pause between the two before Lee made another laugh, "Well, isn't that something! If I didn't know magic was a real thing, I would have called you crazy!"

Lee gave Katrina a gentle pat on the back, "Me and my sisters will try and help you find your sister. It's the least we can do for you guys. You all saved us from that weirdo!"

Katrina widened her eyes, "Really? You want to help…?"

"Yeah!"

The two teens stood there before Katrina made a small smile, "T-Thank you so much."


Meanwhile, back with Iris, we could see her lying down on the floor of a very big room, a bit of sunlight was coming from the hole in the ceiling that she used to enter this room. She had flown from Radiant Garden to Hollow Bastion, which was the abandoned castle that was located further away. Iris had fallen asleep for a moment before she began to wake back up, opening her eyes to see she was still a dragon, much to her sadness.

Iris internally sighed to herself, resting her head back down over her claws in front of her, closing her eyes once more. She wanted to go back to everyone else, but she was scared that she would hurt them by accident, and she did not want that… She began to remember when her parents told her many years ago, about the curse that someone put on her mother that turned her into a dragon; just like this. Thankfully, her mother returned to normal before giving birth to her… But now, Iris realizes that the curse must have been passed down from her mom to her. It scared her when Iris realized she had transformed; she had even blacked out after it happened, flying to this place without even knowing where she was going. Once she came back to her senses, Iris could see she was stuck as this dragon. She could see how big her body was now compared to when she was a human; she did not take up the whole room she was resting in (probably about 1/6 of the room, which was a very big room. She was half the size of Katrina's dragon form).

"[I wonder if there's a way for me to return to normal?]" Iris asked herself out loud in dragon tongue before making a sad face, "[I'm sure there is, but I don't know what it could be…]"

A few minutes passed by before Iris began to hear something nearby; it sounded like footsteps. Something or someone was running close by! Iris widened her eyes a little, "[Hello? I-Is someone there?!]"

It only took a few seconds before Iris could see someone enter from the other side of the room in a quick manner like he was running away from something. It was a boy that looked to be the same age as her. He had scruffy, dark blond hair and dark blue-green eyes. The outfit he wore was very adventurous in design, complete with a dark brown headband around his forehead. He also had two small swords in sheaths on his belt, one on each side. The final thing she noticed was that the boy had a long tail that was the same color as his hair; it looked to be moving on its own.

"Geez! The Heartless here are way too aggressive today!" The tailed boy said to himself before calming down, "I really need to find Bartz and get the heck out of here…?!"

That was when the tailed boy finally noticed the white dragon in the room with him, looking at him with her bright blue eyes. He yelled in shock before pulling out both of his small swords in an attack position, "W-Why the heck is there a dragon here?!"

Iris widened her eyes even more, "[N-No, no! I-I'm not a real dragon! Please don't hurt me!]" she said to the tailed boy in fright, recoiling her body a little as she did.

The tailed boy came to a halt for a moment before making a surprised face, "Huh? Wait…" he looked around for a second, "I thought I heard a girl's voice…" He looked back to the white dragon, "Did that dragon just talk to me?"

Iris made a gasp, "[You can understand me?!]"

The tailed boy yelped once again at her voice, "Whoa, a talking dragon! That's so cool!" he put his swords back in their sheathes before putting his right hand over the headband that covered parts of his forehead, 'I guess the powers from what's left of my horn are still here after all, huh…'

The tailed boy slowly began to approach Iris, seeing that she was not going to hurt him, "When did you get here? I don't think I saw you the last time I came to explore Hollow Bastion…"

Iris had a sad look in her eyes, "[Umm, I guess today? Something happened to me a moment ago, and…]" She began to explain her current situation to the tailed boy, that she was just a normal girl until a few hours ago.

"Geez, that sounds rough," the tailed boy stated in sadness before widening his eyes, "Hey, why don't my friend and I try and find your sister for you? You said she's at Radiant Garden, right?"

Iris gasped, "[Y-You would help me with that?!]"

"Yeah! My friend is somewhere in this castle as well. We came here to explore it today and have been doing this for over four months. My older sister is also back in town, but she usually doesn't like to come here with us," the tailed boy said before making a smile, "You mentioned Merlin a moment ago, right? I'm also acquainted with him, so I'm sure he can help us contact your sister!"

Iris could feel herself tearing up slightly, "[That would help a lot! Thank you so much… Umm…]"

"… What is it?"

"[Sorry, I don't know your name…]" Iris began to say in embarrassment, "[My name is Iris.]"

The tailed boy stared at the dragon before making a big smile, "It's nice to meet you, Iris!" the tailed boy said before jamming his right thumb into his chest in a pompous manner, "My name's Prince Jasper Tribal Alexandros! But there's no need for those dumb titles or last names here; just call me Jasper."

"… Jasper? Are you in there?" called out an older voice nearby before someone walked into the room they were in.

The person was a man in his early 20s who had short brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a very strange attire compared to Jaster. The man's clothes were even more fantasy-based than anything else Iris had seen so far; the man did not have any sort of weapons or armor on him!

"Oh, hiya Bartz!" greeted Jasper with a wave.

The man looked over at Jasper before noticing the white dragon beside him. It took him a few seconds to process she was there; yelping loudly before getting into a defensive position, "Jasper, you know there's a dragon next to you, right?!"

"Whoa, hey!" Jasper gasped, trying to calm down his friend, "She's not gonna hurt us! Trust me!"

The man stared at Jasper before sighing, "Geez, trying to give me a heart attack…" he grumbled before he began to walk over to them.

"[Is this the friend you mentioned before?]" Iris asked.

Jasper nodded his head, "Yeah, this is Bartz! He says that a rival of his sent him to this world by accident, and he's been trying to find his way back home. I've been helping him out with that."

Bartz stared at Jasper once again, this time in confusion, "Uh… are you talking to the dragon?"

Jasper and Iris widened their eyes, "Wait, you don't hear her talking?" Jasper asked.

"Nope, not at all," Bartz replied before shrugging his shoulders, "Guess it's not that unusual though; I know someone from my world that can also talk to animals."

"[An animal…?]" Iris questioned before making a sad face, "[But I'm not really…]"

There was a sudden loud rumble sound that caught everyone off guard, only to realize the noise was coming from Iris's stomach, "[… Oh, I-I'm kind of hungry,]" she said before making a nervous laugh.

Jasper looked at Iris for a moment before pulling out the bottomless satchel he had to his side and digging into it to find something. A few seconds later, Jasper took out a lot of red and green apples from his satchel.

"It's a good thing I decided to take some apples with me today as my snack!" Jasper stated as he sat down some of the apples next to Iris, "You can have some if you want!"

Jasper turned to Bartz with a cheeky smile, "Hey, can you do us a big favor?"

Bartz arched an eyebrow at the boy before Jasper began to explain what Iris told him a moment ago. As Jasper explained things, Iris took this time to try eating some of the apples he had sat near her.

Iris lowered her head to eat one of the apples before realizing how small they were along with another problem, 'Umm… How do I eat something like this if I can't grab it with my hands? This is awkward…'

"So, you want me to go find Merlin so he can try and contact her sister?" Bartz asked.

"Yep!" Jasper replied with a nod of his head, "I'll stay here with Iris while you do that. I got plenty of apples and water to spare. Oh, and tell my sis and the others that I'll be here a little longer because of this."

Bartz narrowed his eyes, "… You do realize how far away it is from here to Radiant Garden, right?"

"Yes, I know! But I don't want to leave her behind! That would be rude, especially when it's a lady that needs help," Jasper stated before narrowing his eyes slightly, "You don't need a reason to help people… That was something my dad taught me! Even my sister Sphene thinks the same way I do, she'll understand."

Bartz groaned to the tailed boy, "Well, there's no changing your mind on this. Just be careful and stay safe while I'm gone. The Heartless have been too aggressive lately, so don't let your guard down."

Jasper gave Bartz a thumbs up, "Gotcha!"

Bartz began to walk out of the room, leaving Jasper and Iris behind. Jasper turned to Iris, noticing she had not eaten any of the apples he sat out, "Oh, do you not like apples?"

Iris made a sad face, "[I didn't realize how hard it was to eat without having any hands to grab things with.]"

There was a small pause before Jasper started to laugh, confusing Iris, "Oh, is that the reason? You could have just asked me to help you with that!"

Jasper picked up one of the green apples he had before extending his hand out to Iris with said apple, "Here, let me toss it to you! Just don't try to bite me by accident, okay? I'd probably taste terrible!"

Iris stared at Jasper before she began to laugh, "[Okay.]"

Jasper tossed the apple into the air towards the white dragon, as much as his strength would let him, before Iris caught the apple in her mouth, swallowing it whole.

"I got plenty of apples if you want more," Jasper stated, "Just say the word and I'll toss you some, just like that!"

Iris laughed at the tailed boy again with happiness, "[Thank you!]" she stated before making a small smile, 'He's so funny!'

Jasper began to sit down close to Iris before eating one of the apples he had. It was a little quiet between them before Iris began to try and make some sort of conversation, "[Jasper, when you introduced yourself, you called yourself a prince.]"

Jasper arched his eyebrow at her, "Yeah, what about it?"

"[What does 'prince' mean?]"

"… Huh?"

Jasper turned to Iris in disbelief, "Wait, are you being serious?"

Iris looked away a little in embarrassment, "[Y-Yes? I, umm… I've kind of been sheltered my whole life, but not by choice. I was stranded on an island with my family until a few days ago. I don't know many things because of that; I don't even know how to read or write…]"

There was an awkward silence between them before Jasper patted Iris around her muzzle since she had laid her head down near him, "Don't worry about it! It's kind of a long story," he started to say before making a big smile, "But I can tell you about it some other time, okay?"

Iris could feel her heart starting to race a little from Jasper's smile, "[O-Okay…]"


Meanwhile, back at the dorm in Radiant Garden, we could see May walking toward the room she was assigned to stay in with her sisters. She was about to open the door before stopping herself and turning to another door nearby. It was the room that Ebony was staying in, she was still out of commission from what happened, and Ed had not left her side the whole time.

May bit her bottom lip, thinking to herself before walking over to Ebony's door, peeking inside to see that both Ed and Ebony were still there. May could see how worried Ed was about Ebony, it was obvious that he really liked her… May was not exactly jealous about him liking someone else after she moved away, but it did sting that Ed never realized that she DID have feelings for him at one point… She wanted to try and set things right after the accident, but never could because she had to move.

May was about to close the door to leave them alone before she heard a small groan. Both Ed and May widened their eyes as they could see Ebony beginning to wake up, "Ebony!" Ed said with a big smile on his face.

Ebony opened her eyes to see Ed sitting next to her. She made a smile at him before glancing over to the door, only to see May was there, watching them from afar, "H-Hey, you guys…"

"Huh…?!" Ed questioned before looking at who Ebony was looking at. His body froze up in fright again, "O-Oh."

"Sorry, I was only checking up on you," May began to say as she started to close the door, "I'll leave you alone—"

"Wait."

Both Ed and May turned to Ebony, who was now sitting up on her bed, "I want to talk to you both."

Ed and May stared at Ebony before May walked inside the room, still standing near the door.

"Are you feeling better from what happened?" Ebony asked May.

May slowly nodded her head before making a sad face, "I-I wanna say sorry to both of you for what happened!" She stuttered before glancing away from them, "I caused so much trouble to you both! I…"

"May, it's okay."

May gasped in surprise as she looked back at Ebony, "None of this is your fault," Ebony continued to say as she slowly began to sit on the side of her bed to face both Ed and May, "Everything's in the past now, and we all know you were not yourself because of Belindra."

Ebony turned to Ed, "You know this too, right Ed?" She asked.

Ed stayed silent but nodded his head to what she was saying.

Ebony smiled at them both before hopping out of her bed, much to their surprise, "Good! Now that we got that out of the way…" Ebony extended her hand out to May, "You've probably heard by now, but my name's Ebony!"

May looked at Ebony's hand, being hesitant before complying with Ebony's handshake. Ed watched them shake their hands with a bit of nervousness before they stopped a few seconds later.

"… Why are you being so nice to me?"

Ebony perked up at what May asked in surprise before making a content face, "Because I think folks deserve second chances, especially when they are trying their best to make amends," she then made a cheeky smile, "Besides, I've always loved making new friends!"

Both Ed and May widened their eyes.

"I know it'll take some time for you both to overcome what happened," Ebony continued to say, "So, umm… Let's all take this slow for now, okay?"

Ebony grabbed both Ed and May's wrists as she dragged them out of the room, "We should go tell everyone I woke up, come on!"


Author's Note (July 6th, 2024): I got to the end of the MSQ for Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail! No spoilers. of course, but I felt like mentioning it.

Anyway, it took a while to figure out what to write for this chapter, but it's done for now! Be patient as I type the next chapter. XD