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Standard disclaimer: Me no ownies…
AN: yes, I know. Last chapter was very short. So, that review that I got from Rouge Kaiser got me thinking. I got to wondering how I was rushing. Then it hit me. I left out some stuff. Well, what I mean is that I have been leaving out some of the story in regards with Demus and Salla… and all the other stuff that involves them. Well, I hope that’s what Kaiser meant. If not, well I am sure my wonderful reviewers will let me know (smiles).
Right, anyway… I know that I said something about only three more chapters. But, if I am to fill in the gaps that I have unintentionally made, I have to back pedal and fix the mess I made. As my friend’s 19th month old says “fix it!”
So, this is something of a special chapter. A chapter that would make the likes of Nina Windia, Anime Monkey, and Rouge Kaiser proud.
That means that it goes into major detail about what happened in Lahan. Rejoice! This is something of a flashback from Salla’s point of view as to what happened in Lahan.
Oh, and I know that there have been other great reviewers out that that have reviewed this fic. Like yamanana, katana777, Anonymous, Lord Kain, and Omega Gilgamesh. You guys actually took the time out of your very business schedules and reviewed this little story. I never thought that so many people would like something that I wrote! It makes me feel all great and stuff. No really! It does!!!
Anyone that would actually take time to review a story (and most of the review is positive) should get some kind of award! So, you all get a cookie!!! Or the service of my flying monkeys. Whichever one appeals to you more.
Don’t worry, the flying monkeys have been paper-trained and will only throw pikachu plushies at people. They will, however, will steal all All American Reject CDs. You have been warned.
Well, anyway… here’s the story!
So, this was her fate. Salla glanced out the bars with an impassive face. Dark, dank stone walls threatened to swallow her up. It had not been all that long ago that the guards had led her to this prison only to rot while she awaited her sentence.
How could she have ever fallen in this mess?
Why couldn’t things have just stayed simple?
Had she done something to anger Ladon? The king’s word was law, and he was a devout of the Dragon God. So, did her folly lie in disobeying her king? She had only done what she had been ordered to do.
Then again, Uzuki had berated her time and time again about her blind devotion to her king and to her god. He had told her that she should question what didn’t seem or feel right. That she should trust herself. He had said there was nothing wrong with following the teachings of Ladon, but she trusted too blindly.
She had once accused him of being an atheist. He had merely stared at her, then started laughing his head off.
He asked her where she had gotten an idea like that. She said that she was only stating a fact. He only shook his head and told her that she was too naïve for the world that they lived in.
Oh, what a fool she had been then…
When the second born prince had been born to King Gideon Laurante and his second wife, Queen Valerie, there had been much rejoicing. The birth of the child coincided with the start of the Destined Cycle.
Indeed, this child would be the savior of the world. He would be able to wield the almighty powers of the Kaiser Dragon. It would only be fitting that this child be named heir to the throne of the Brood in place of his older brother.
It was Salla Treiba’s duty as head of the Royal Dragoons of Dragnier to take care of the princes of the Brood. She watched as Demus and Ryu grew older. Demus was a very quiet boy. His mother had died during childbirth, so he never got to know her. Despite not having a mother figure and seeing very little of his father, Demus grew up to be a very responsible young man.
He excelled in many different areas, such as history, diplomacy, and even skill with the blade. It wasn’t long after, though, that the king took another for his bride and soon they had Ryu.
With Ryu’s fate already predetermined as the Destined Child, Gideon focused his sole attention on the boy. This caused the already quiet Demus to withdraw further into his shell.
He never had a mother’s love and now he lost his father’s. Demus became very angry and started to lash out at the servants and caretakers that tried to care for him in place of his father.
It got to the point that he even started to physically threaten a chambermaid one time. That had been the final straw. The king would not put up with Demus’ behavior any longer. That’s when Salla had been summoned.
Since she was Captain of the Dragoons, the king had hoped that she could reel Demus in. She tried her best. At first, the boy wanted nothing to do with the redheaded Brood woman. She would often find herself staring down the business end of Demus’ blade.
Then Demus would find himself looking up at Salla’s halberd. And so, their sparring matches had begun. Salla soon found that she had found a worthy opponent and Demus found a creative way to vent his anger and frustration.
Demus soon found himself confiding in Salla about a lot of different things. The main thing was, however, about how he felt that his father didn’t care about him, and how he hated his little brother Ryu for stealing his birthright.
She had no words that could comfort the young prince. Everything he left was valid and there was nothing she could do to change the king. Ryu had always seemed oblivious to what was going on around him. He thought that his brother loved him. The truth of the matter was, however, Demus despised Ryu. He once even told Salla that he wanted Ryu dead.
What Salla didn’t know was that Demus really wanted Ryu dead.
Ryu was usually in the company of his mother. Valerie herself was quite beautiful. She had long flowing hair the color of the mid-afternoon sky and pearl white dragon wings. She always wore robes of blue and white with a gold hem.
Ryu loved his mother dearly. When Ryu was sad, she would tell him that everything would be all right. She was a loving and caring woman. The people of Dragnier loved her, as well as their allied countrymen.
When that mysterious disease that turned hybrids to crystal broke out, Valerie had been the first infected. Ryu nearly lost it when she completely crystallized. Demus acted like he felt guilty about something, but everyone chalked it up to he was just upset that Valerie died.
Demus, however, seemed somewhat happy when Ryu started to show signs of the disease.
By this point, the king became worried. The court healers could not heal Ryu nor could the seers tell him what was the cause of this deadly virus.
As a last ditch effort, Gideon consulted a group of scientists in the village of Lahan for help. A man that was known as Aaron the Wise agreed to do research on the disease, and managed to figure out what the disease was doing, but not what caused it. He had dubbed the disease ‘Cymosion,’ short for chrysm poison. Not the most creative name, but it stuck.
Salla was soon transferred to Lahan in order to protect Ryu. That’s when she met him.
Jin Uzuki.
Lahan was a quaint village. Why people called it a village and not a city was beyond her. There were trees everywhere. Well, it was the Ceres Region, after all. The people there were known for worshiping the Earth Mother, Namanda.
Instead of tall sky-scrapers, most of the buildings in the village were made of wood or stone. Very little traffic traveled through the village. Most of the people there walked of biked to their destinations. The citizens of Lahan were mostly of different Earth clans, mainly consisting of Dirt-eaters, Grassrunners, Builders, and Shell clansmen. There was a fair mix of humans there as well.
The only modern looking building in the village was the large towering building right in the heart of the city. Lahan was own for its natural beauty, but in the scientific community, it was also known for its research uncharted territories.
It was her first time in the village, and she was completely lost. She had managed to get to the right building, it was hard to miss it. But she had no idea where she was suppose to go.
She walked into the large lobby. She was about to walk over to the reception desk and ask the lady behind it for directions, when she noticed a young man with blond hair rush passed her.
She looked at the man in confusion and watched him bolt pass a set of double doors. She suddenly felt a huge earthquake and staggered to keep standing. It suddenly stopped and she steadied herself. She figured that she wasn’t getting anything done, so she walked over to the receptionist and asked where Aaron was.
The receptionist pointed to where the blond had just ran. Salla sighed and walked through the double doors and down the hallway. She thought she heard noise coming from one of the rooms and poked her head into the room. She saw a woman with long dark brown hair lying in one of the beds, sleeping.
She grimaced when she saw that the sleeping woman was not the only one in the room. Tall, dark-haired, handsome and with a slight muscular build. Salla didn’t even realize that the man in the room had stood up from the chair he was sitting in and was looking at her.
“Are you looking for something in particular, or are you just lost?” the man’s cool voice snapped her out of her musings.
“Oh, yes actually…” Salla did a mental check on herself. She was sure that her hair was neat. She looked the man over once and noticed a gold band on his left ring finger. Salla suddenly felt very foolish. The man was married. But she had to wonder if it was to the woman in the room. She looked like she was at least in her mid-forties.
“Hello?” the man walked over and waved a hand in Salla’s face. Salla blushed slightly and took a step back.
“Oh, I’m sorry…” she held her hand out. “I am Salla Treiba. I’m looking for a man named Aaron the Wise…”
The man took her hand and shook it. “I am Jin Uzuki. Unfortunately, Aaron is busy with another one of his experiments at this time. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Ah, actually yes. I am looking for a patient that has been recently transferred here. Do you know where they are holding Ryu Laurante?”
Jin looked at Salla. “Oh, yes. I heard about that,” Jin said as he motioned for her to follow him out the door. She walked out and he followed suit. “Are you his caretaker?”
“Yes, and no,” Salla said. “More like a bodyguard. So, Mr. Uzuki, are you a doctor here?”
“A doctor, yes. Here? No,” Jin looked crossed. “You will have to excuse me if I sound a little… rude about this place. I am merely visiting someone and will not stay longer than need be.”
“I see,” Salla said. “The woman you were with earlier?” Jin nodded. “Is she…?” Salla wasn’t sure how to finish that question.
“She is my mother,” Jin said after he noticed her uneasiness. “Her name is Sakura. She is… usually unresponsive. She is here in hopes that they can help her.”
Salla grimaced at Jin’s expression. This was not a topic he enjoyed talking about it seemed. So, she decided to change the subject. But to what, she didn’t know. Ladon seemed to view her in a favorable light, because the answer came in the form of a very hyperactive small girl with dark brown hair and glasses, dressed in a white dress and was wearing a white choker and a necklace with a clear stone around her neck.
The girl in question giggled as she bounced down the hallway. She stopped when she noticed Salla looked at her. She ducked her head and placed her arms behind her back. Jin merely shook his head and was about to say something to the girl, when a man that looked to be in his late forties came up from behind her.
The man had short dark brown hair and was dressed in a khaki shirt and pants and a lab coat. He frowned when he looked at the girl. He looked up and stared at Jin and Salla, his face neutral. He stared, then turned his attention back to the girl.
“Miyuki, how many times have I told you not to be here?” the man said.
“But… I wanted to see Fate…” Miyuki mumbled. “And… momma…”
“Fate is very busy right now,” the man said, “And your mother is very sick right now. You shouldn’t even be here. How did you even get here?”
Jin stepped forward and walked over to where Miyuki and the man were standing. He stared straight ahead at the man as he placed a hand on Yuki’s shoulder. “She came here with me, to visit Mother. If you have a problem with that, we can settle it right here and now.”
The man gave Jin a cross look. “I do not appreciate you addressing me in that tone of voice. But nonetheless, since she is here with you, I suppose I can let it slide… for now,” the man said. He then turned his attention to Salla. “Are you Salla Treiba?” Salla nodded. “I am Aaron.”
Salla nodded. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Aaron. I was hoping you could take me to Ryu.”
The man nodded and gestured for her to follow him. Before he left, however he turned to Jin and Miyuki. “Miyuki, go home. This is not a visitation day.” Aaron then turned around and walked down the hallway.
Salla turned to Jin, who merely shrugged. Salla said her thanks as she followed Aaron down the hallway and to Ryu’s room.
It wasn’t until a few days later that she found out that Jin Uzuki was the estranged son of Aaron the Wise. Most people she talked to told her the two just didn’t get along. They didn’t know the real reason why, but it might have had something to do with how Aaron treated Sakura like a test subject and completely ignored his younger daughter, Miyuki.
Miyuki herself seemed to be a very energetic young girl. She mostly kept to her mother’s room when she was in the building, but every now and then, Salla could see her running around with a young boy who looked to be about 12 or 13 with bright red hair, dressed in some sort of gray shirt and pants.
She didn’t think anything weird about the duo. Jin most certainly didn’t seem worried about the two running around. Apparently, the boy, she learned, was named Fate and he was the key in a series of experiments that Aaron was conducting. Those involved, but were not limited to experiments with Cymosion. She didn’t know what that boy had to do with that virus, but apparently he was very important to the project.
Aaron did not like his daughter playing with the boy. He could often scold her for even being there. Miyuki didn’t seem to have a caretaker. She wondered what kind of parent Aaron actually was. He ignored his youngest and his eldest seemed to want to beat the ever-loving shit out of him.
Salla didn’t give much thought to it. She did find out something very interesting one day, though.
She was on her way back to Ryu’s room, when she noticed the door was slightly opened She peeked in and saw Miyuki holding a bouquet of aster daisies out to Ryu, who was lying down in the bed.
“For you!” Miyuki giggled. “So, when you get better, we can play together!”
Ryu smiled slightly. “Thank you.”
Salla smiled and opened the door. “Yes, thank you,” Salla said as walked into the room. Yuki frozen and tightened her grip on the stems of the flowers. Salla knelt down and extended her hands towards the flowers. “They are very pretty. We should put them in some water so they can grow.”
Miyuki smiled and handed her the flowers. She giggled and turned to Ryu and gave him a big smile. “Okay! I have to get going now. I’ll see you later!”
And with that, the little girl bounced out of the room. Salla placed the flowers in a vase and turned to Ryu.
“It seemed like you have a new friend,” Salla said.
Ryu smiled and nodded slightly. “She came in here and gave me the flowers. She seems nice. I wonder who she is…”
Before Salla could have a chance to answer, Aaron and his team came into the room. He said that they had tests they had to run, so Salla would have to come back later.
It went on like this for a few weeks. Jin was usually around somewhere, usually keeping an eye on his little sister and making Aaron back off when he had something negative to say to the little girl.
She got into many conversations with Jin. He was a brilliant man that had traveled the world over. She learned that he was something of a scholar and had at one point took up treasure hunting as a hobby so he could learn more about the ancient past.
He even went as far to explain that Fate had something to do with some ancient ruins they had found in Caer Xhan. Jin said that the experiments were referred to as Project FATE, and the boy was participating in something Aaron was calling a ‘link experiment.’ He wasn’t exactly sure what they were trying to link to, however.
He also said that the boy had some kind of strange power that a scientist named Jonathan Godwin was calling Red Dragon. Salla asked if that meant that Fate was a dragon, but Jin couldn’t really answer. He just didn’t know.
One of the many discussions they held was about religion. She was a devout Ladonite and Jin… Jin was what she called an atheist. He didn’t seem to have a religion. He said that his mother worshiped Namanda, but he didn’t. He said that he believed in the gods, just didn’t worship them.
Salla spent many hours trying to get him to change his mind and follow Ladon, but Jin would not budge. He would often tell her that faith was very important, but one should not just blindly follow the crowd. She should question and learn what it was she believed in. She had just thought he was being blasphemous. He said he was just stating a point.
Despite their many disagreements, she came to respect Jin and his eccentric ideas. She once asked about his wife. Jin happily explained that they met a few years ago somewhere in the Highland regions. He wouldn’t go into detail, but it involved Yui saving Jin’s ass from a bunch of robbers he managed to piss off and attacked him. Yui had driven them off when they tried to kill Jin.
Salla had laughed and asked Jin what had he done to earn the wraith of a bunch of robbers. Jin had said that he stole from them, plain and simple. He would say nothing more on the subject.
But, as with all things, all good things must come to an end.
She wasn’t sure what happened, but two weeks into her stay at Lahan, she had received a call from King Gideon himself. Something had gone horribly wrong. He said that the Link Experiments had gone too far, and Salla and her Dragoon unit must put a stop to them.
Salla thought it was weird, but she first decided to ask Aaron about the experiments. He had nothing to say on the matter. The first time she had ever questioned an order from her king. She asked the king once more what she had to do, and he told her to stop the experiments, by any means.
She would just have to have her Dragoons arrest Aaron and his scientists. Ceres’ alliance with Dragnier was shaky at best. This would most likely throw any permanent alliances out of the window, but orders were still orders.
As she and her unit made their way down the hallways, she barely had time to notice a young regal looking man with long flowing blond hair walk past her. She got to the lab where Aaron should have been.
She stopped outside the door and was about to open it, when a flash of red light flooded the room. The ground started shaking and the whole lab seem to buckle under the strain. The door flew open and she had to shield her eyes from the light. The light itself took on the form of a massive transparent red dragon… with Fate right at the heart of the beast.
The odd dragon took flight and busted through the ceiling. Aaron was knelt on the ground, shaking his head. Salla didn’t even have time to arrest him. The dragon roared as Fate screamed. The dragon let loose fire blast after fire blast; pulses of light would fly from the raging beast and incinerate any life form within a few mile radius of the beast.
Salla gave the order to her unit to Ascend and take out the beast. They did and they clashed with the false dragon, but it was in vain. The dragon would incinerate anything that got within a few feet of it. She blinked when she noticed that some of the Dragoons were not aiming at the beast, but at the ground below. There was too much background noise to hear the cries of the victims beneath the fighting.
Salla looked back into the room, and saw that Aaron was gone. She looked over and on a table was Sakura, but she had blood oozing from a hole in her chest. Salla didn’t have to check to see that the woman was dead. She heard a high pitched wail and saw Miyuki under the table, blood all over her dress. Her mother’s blood.
Miyuki screamed again and a white shimmering light formed around her. Salla recognized it as a light shield. She noticed that the light was coming from a stone that was around her neck.
The dragon turned its attention to Miyuki and Salla. It swooped down, but a bolt of lightning flew out of nowhere and struck Fate in the midsection. The boy screamed as the dragon raged.
Salla looked over and saw Jin in the middle of the carnage, dressed in a black cloak and clutching his lower right side. She noticed the blood slowly oozing out of the wound. He turned and looked at the beast and threw his hand out again and shot another bolt at the dragon. This time, Fate lost consciousness and the dragon vanished around him. The boy fell to the ground with a sickening thud.
Jin grunted in pain and walked over to where Fate was standing, but Salla barred his way. She yelled at him not to even come near that beast; she would destroy him herself. Jin argued that what Fate did was not his fault, but the fault of Aaron’s.
Salla then reminded him that Fate was responsible for the destruction of Lahan. Jin growled and explained that he had orders to take Fate alive. Salla explained that she had orders to stop anyone who got in her way.
She noticed that Jin looked very drained, like he lost something important. Jin then drew his sword and told Salla that he saved one life by giving up his power to heal. He did not want to have to kill Salla after doing something like that.
This led to a fight to see who was the better. Jin, oh course, had won the fight and Salla was forced to retreat.
Salla later learned that the facility had been partially funded by King Gideon himself. Had he created that monster that destroyed Lahan that day? She was also horrified to find out that members of her very own unit had killed off any remaining survivors that had been on the ground and had witnessed the fight. The king’s orders apparently.
She also learned that Prince Ryu had died that day… or so she had thought.
“Are you going to fight back, or are you going to wallow around in self-pity and wait for your execution?”
Salla jerked awake. She looked around for the source of the voice. She looked up and spotted Jin Uzuki standing on the other side of the iron bars with his sword in his hand. She smirked and looked away.
“Why are you here, Uzuki?” she asked.
“Why are you here, Salla?” Jin countered. “I thought something like this would happen. Why didn’t you put up more of a struggle?”
Salla frowned. “You didn’t finish me off that day…” she stood up and stared Jin straight in the eye. “Who did you heal that day?”
“Your very own Prince Ryu,” Jin said. “I gave up my powers of regeneration to save that boy. Your other prince stopped me before I left with him… if I had known what Demus would do, I would have never…” Jin shook his head. “What is in the past, is in the past. Salla, what are you going to do now?”
Salla shook her head. “I ordered my unit to take on that beast that day. I didn’t know that some were under orders from Gideon to kill off any and all witnesses… they were under my orders, that makes me responsible for what happened,” She shook her head. “You were right, Uzuki. The king, not that child, was responsible for the destruction of Lahan…” she looked back up at Jin. “What are you even doing here?! How did you even get in?”
Jin smirked. “It’s quite simple for a phantom thief.”
Salla looked at Jin. “A… what?”
“I heard your Call. You need help, so I came. You made plenty of mistakes, Salla. But, you are not an evil person. You genuinely care about what happens to Ryu and Demus. So, I ask you again, what are you going to do?”
Salla looked thoughtful. Could she really be forgiven? Could there be redemption for someone like here?
“Demus will attack Ryu at Angel Tower,” Jin said as he paced around the room. “You might be the only one who could stop Demus before he does something that could never be undone.”
“I see…” Salla said slowly. “Get me out of here…”
Jin nodded and took a step back. Salla followed suit. Jin’s eyes flashed gold, as well as his fist. He slammed into the bars and incinerated them in one hit. He looked at Salla and nodded. Salla stepped forward and took hold of his arm. Jin closed his eyes and the two vanished in a plume of white and blue light.
Redemption…
Maybe she could have a second chance to make things right…
To be continued…