Standard disclaimer: I don’t own the series.

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AN: hello and welcome to the last stretch of Childhood! Yes, this chapter marks the first of (maybe) three parts that will end up concluding Act I. I think this is the shortest (but one of the more important chapters) chapter I have done to date. A measly seven pages. But… it has an important thingy at the end…

So, um… yeah. Onto the first part!!!

“Yehaw!” Ryu laughed as he tugged at his fishing rod. He once again managed to catch another trout. He unhooked the squirming fish and placed it in a bucket with the other fish he had caught.

Nina watched as he hooked another worm onto the hook and cast the line once again. How Ryu managed to carry a fishing pole around with him was beyond her. At first, she thought it was magical; she had heard of enchanted objects before that could appear and vanish with just the wave of a hand.

But after further investigation, Nina realized that the rod was just that, a normal fishing rod. Needless to say, she was a little disappointed.

She leaned forward on the railing and just let the fresh sea air hit her in the face.

They all had quickly found out that Deis had booked them on a semi-fancy cruise ship. The ship itself wasn’t huge, it could at best hold 50 people. All the ships Nina had ever been on were either yachts or luxury cruise ships.

Nina was finding out quickly she preferred this small ship to the much larger ones that her parents owned.

They had all found out that they were going straight to the Urkan Region. So, no stopovers along the way. That meant that they would not get to go sightseeing at the Godwin Foundation.

Though, they would have been able to walk around freely at the Foundation, Deis had said that she sensed something very evil heading their way.

That evil thing was most likely going to try and kill Ryu.

So, off to Angel Tower they went.

A few seagulls flew a little further out at sea, cawing up a storm. Nina smiled. Oh, to be free to be able to soar amongst the clouds. She read a long time again that her ancestors were able to do that.

The Great Bird, however, was just a legend. A bedtime story to tell small Wyndians when they couldn’t go to sleep. Only Dragon clansmen that had completed the pilgrimage and could transform were able to soar high in the sky and touch the stars.

Nina glanced back over at Ryu, who seemed to be having the time of his life. She often wondered if Ryu had to complete the pilgrimage to unlock his ancient Dragon powers. She once heard about another, more painful way to unlock the transformation, but she didn’t actually think that anyone would follow through with it.

Killing a person just to see if they could transform seemed a little to risky, even for the Brood.

Not that the King would even allow it. Most of the Brood who could transform were either royalty or nobles.

Then again, Ryu was the crown prince. Well, he was apparently suppose to be before his elder brother tried to kill him.

Nina closed her eyes, unaware that Sari had walked over to where she was standing. Sari jumped up onto the railing and mimicked Nina’s stance. Nina opened one eye and grinned slightly.

“Hey,” Nina said as she closed her eye.

“Hello,” Sari said.

The two just stood there for a moment, before Nina decided to break the silence. Nina opened both eyes and looked over at Sari, who was staring out at the endless ocean.

“Um… so,” Nina started.

Sari nodded. “Yes, I have been thinking a lot about what Bloom said. I have also been giving much thought about my father. I cannot understand why I cannot remember him. I mean, I should, right?”

“Not if you somehow wanted to forget,” Nina said. “That could also be the case.”

“Perhaps,” Sari said. “But… if he is Brood, then that makes me Brood, too. Does that mean that I am going to turn to crystal, too?” Sari frowned at the thought.

Nina shrugged. “Bloom also said that it wouldn’t hurt you, or something. That it didn’t affect you like it would Ryu…” a light bulb went off in Nina’s mind. “Hey? Does that mean that you will not turn to crystal???”

Sari smiled slightly. “I don’t know, but why then? If I don’t transform into crystal, then why is Ryu going to?” Sari frowned.

Nina groaned and frowned slightly. “I… don’t want that to happen to Ryu. I mean… he’s my… friend,” Nina watched as Ryu pulled up another trout. “I don’t know what I would do if he died…”

Sari nodded in agreement. “He is very special to you, isn’t he?”

Nina turned a slight shade of red. Sari nodded. “I thought so. Miyuki told me as much. She said something about how you looked like a schoolgirl when you talked about Ryu. Thought I don’t know what she meant.”

Nina giggled. “It’s really hard to understand Yuki sometimes. I mean, she used the topic of beans to distract Strife, for Ladon’s sake!”

Sari and Nina erupted into a fit of giggles at the thought.

Sari’s face turned serious once again. “Yuki doesn’t know that I am Brood… I would like to keep it that way.”

Nina nodded. “I understand. I mean, I can kinda understand her attitude towards Ryu, but I think it is uncalled for, too. Ryu didn’t kill her parents or burn her village. Other dragons did. Why take it out on Ryu?”

“She’s scared,” Sari said, then shrugged. “There’s no telling.”

“Sure,” Nina muttered. “So, have any thoughts to what you’re going to do after we get to Angel Tower?”

“Depending on what happens, maybe search for my father?” Sari said. “Definitely go back to the Fairy Village and learn how to use my powers more correctly. I mean, there’s no telling what I can do with the proper training, right?”

Nina smiled. “Right.”

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Ryu glanced over at Sari and Nina. He smiled when he noticed that the two girls were having some sort of conversation. Ryu blinked and glanced a little off to the left of him. There, leaning on the railing was someone that he thought he knew, but couldn’t quite place.

There seemed to be something odd about the man leaning on the railing. Maybe it was the long, platinum silver hair. Or maybe it had something to do with the intense blue eyes. It might even have had something to do with the slight tapered ears that ended in points.

The causal dark clothing that the man wore might have had something to do with it, too. Ryu wasn’t really sure.

The man noticed Ryu staring at him. The man smiled and walked over to Ryu.

“Well, I noticed that you managed to get away from the bandits,” the man said.

Then, it hit Ryu. This was that odd man that had warned him about Zake and Jenkin, the two bandits that had been chasing him, Yuki, and Nina.

“Oh, I remember you… sorta,” Ryu said. “Troy, right?”

The man nodded. “Yeah. Getting in a little sight seeing? I hear that the Foundation is great for a vacation.”

“Ah, nah,” Ryu said. “Nothing like that. I’m actually going to the Urkan Tapa.”

Troy nodded. “Ah, I see. Are you on some sort of religious pilgrimage or something of that nature?”

Ryu shook his head. “Nothing of the sort. Just… well, I’m on a school fieldtrip. More or less a tour around the world, looking at all the major history sites… that sort of thing.”

“Sure,” Troy didn’t sound convinced. He grinned again. “Well, I’m heading for the Foundation. Hope to see you around,” Troy said. And on that note, Troy headed off into another direction.

Ryu grinned and turned his attention back to Sari and Nina. He then heard them talk about Yuki. He frowned at the thought of the young girl.

He couldn’t stand the mere thought of Yuki hating him because he was Brood. It was really beginning to eat at him.

He had to get this resolved before they got into some kind of major fight… or something…

He just couldn’t shake the feeling that once they got to Angel Tower, he was going to have to say goodbye to them.

He didn’t want to drag innocents into this business anymore. He made up his mind. He was going to have to part with his friends when they got to Angel Tower. No longer would he put his friends into danger.

Demus already killed Nina and Miyuki once. He was not about to let that happen again. And especially not to Sari.

Ryu glanced off to the side when he caught a small glow in the corner of his eye. He turned to see the small girl with red hair clad in her white dress. She stared up at him with a solemn look on her angelic face.

Green eyes stared back at lavender eyes. The little girl merely stared up at Ryu.

Ryu shook his head. “Who are you?”

The little girl said nothing. She turned her back to Ryu. Though, the wind blew, the girl seemed unaffected. She dipped her head and closed her eyes.

“You have been given a terrible burden,” the little girl finally spoke in a soft voice that sounded like a thousand wind chimes. “You must not reject the ones that accompany you, or else you will be alone.”

Ryu scrunched his noise up and gave the girl a sour look. “Why are you telling me this? I mean, who are you to just appear and disappear as you like and tell me a bunch of crap and not explain anything?”

The girl turned back to Ryu. “If something does not have a name, then it cannot be called anything. But, for simplicity’s sake, you may call me Mary. Ryu, you will have to make a difficult decision. The one that you make will shake the every foundation of the Destined Cycle. By your will, you will either break the Cycles, or doom everyone and everything.”

Ryu stared hard at the girl. “Mary, huh? Kinda an odd name for a ghost, eh?”

The girl, Mary, said nothing.

Ryu rolled his eyes and let out a huff of air. “Sure, right. Okay, so when do I have to make this ‘difficult decision,’ huh?”

Mary said nothing. She turned and vanished. Ryu crossed his arms and looked in the direction that Mary had been looking in. He saw Yuki walking down the deck, hands in her back pockets.

Ryu started to gather up his fishing equipment, but Yuki saw him and motioned him to stop. Ryu put the bucket down and looked over at Yuki. She smiled slightly, the first real smile that she had given him since she found out he was Brood.

“Hiya,” Yuki said slowly.

“Hey,” Ryu said.

“We… I think we need to talk…” Yuki said in an uneasy voice.

“Okay,” Ryu said, unsure to where this was going.

Yuki jumped up onto the top of the railing and steadied herself with her hands. Ryu walked over and leaned up against the railing. Ryu noticed that Yuki wouldn’t even look at him.

“This… is kinda hard for me to say,” Yuki said.

“Oh, and this isn’t hard for me?” Ryu said in a sharp voice. “I mean, you told me you wanted me dead, yet you still follow me around? If you knew I was Brood, would you still have been willing to help me?”

Yuki suppressed the urge to whap him over the head with her daggers. She sighed and looked down at her lap. “I… really don’t know. I mean, I thought you were in some kind of trouble. I guess I was right. But…”

“Yeah?” Ryu muttered darkly.

“I mean…” Yuki adopted an annoyed look on her face. “Arg! I just ain’t use to this sort of thing, you know? I have a hard time expressing what I want to say…”

“Sure,” Ryu said. “Whatever. Just get on with it. I have other things I can be doing today.”

Yuki gritted her teeth. “I don’t have to talk to you, you know…”

“Then why are you?” Ryu muttered.

“Because…” Yuki said. “I guess… I feel bad about what I said back after the Tournament,” Yuki said in a small voice. “I was made that you lied to us… to me. I mean that I was really worried about you, and you lied to us.”

“I had to,” Ryu said. “Demus was already after me, I didn’t want to get you guys caught up with my problems. But it seems like I have already done that, huh?”

“It’s not that,” Yuki said. “We came with you because we were worried about you. At least, that’s my theory. Sari’s tagging along because at the time, she had no where to go, and I think Nina… well, I think Nina’s in it for the adventure.”

Ryu’s face fell when he heard that about Nina, but he quickly recovered. “Well, what about now? None of you have any kind of investment in this. Nina can always return to Castle Wyndia. Sari can go back to the Fairy Village, and you can always go back to Crete.”

“I’m… still looking for Jin, remember?” Yuki pointed out.

“Right,” Ryu said as he looked up and placed his hands behind his head. “Now, what was it you really wanted to say?”

Yuki looked straight ahead. “Its not that I really hate you. I just don’t like Dragons. I guess when I saw you transform, I freaked. I mean, the last time I saw a bunch of Dragons, my parents were killed. It’s not something easy to get over…”

“I get that, but you didn’t have to be so mean to me,” Ryu said.

“Hey, I’m only human! I’m not perfect, you know,” Yuki said. “Well, what I’m saying is that… I guess I’m saying I’m sorry for telling you to die…”

Ryu looked up at Yuki. “Hum, right…”

Yuki jumped down from the railing. The sun was beginning to set, casting a bizarre red glow against the blue ocean. She walked past Deis, who had walked up onto the deck of the ship. She looked over at Ryu and smiled slightly.

“It’s time to hit the hay!” Deis said. “We will be arriving at Angel Tower tomorrow morning, so you better get plenty of shut eye,” and with that, Deis walked back in the direction she had just came from.

Ryu watched her leave, then turned his attention back to the ocean.

Mary had said that he had a difficult decision to make. Yuki had just said she was sorry to him for being such a bitch. Ryu could feel it in his bones. The magic that kept him alive was beginning to wear off.

He knew it was only a matter of time before Demus found him once again. He had a difficult decision to make. Could he put his friends in danger once again? Would he? Not if he had anything to say about it.

He didn’t know what was waiting for him at Angel Tower, but he knew if he went there, he was going to have to say goodbye to the best (and annoying) friends he ever had.

He had a difficult decision to make. He would not involve anyone else in his problems. In order to protect all that he loved. To save all that he loved…

It was time to say goodbye…

 

To be continued…