Standard disclaimer: I don't own the series.

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AN: Well, if I haven't gotten shot for the way I ended the last chapter, well... that's good. So, Wyndia was attacked and the king it dead. This does not bode well. At this point in the story, Transell was under orders from Gideon to get the Sky Key, and if he was denied permission to enter the Temple, he was to raze the city and leave no one alive. The king was warned about this from Deis, and was able to take steps to secure the key and try to save the citizens. At this point, Ryu and company only know that Transell attacked with his units. They don't know that it was Gideon that issued the orders. They have their theory about that, but they need to prove it. Wyatt and the Foundation’s soldiers have helped them on request from Saria.

So, now the question is, what will happen now? This chapter will basically set the direction for the next part of the story. I do like the title for this chapter. Oh, and if you notice a change in Nina’s personality, that’s to be expected. What kinda change, well, you will have to keep reading to find out.

Onto the reviews:

Rouge Kaiser: Hiya! Oh yes. Transell and his Dragoons are very, very bad. You hope something unpleasent happens to them? Heh, heh. Heh. It’s one of my stories. What do you think will happen??? (looks happily evil) The world currently doesn’t know what to think about Dragnier’s actions. If they knew what Gideon was planning, it would really be WWBOF! Strife? Who’s that? Oh, OH! Him! Right. It’s a spoiler… but um… he took the key to the Great Bird. That’s all I am saying. Oh, really? Thanks! I’m glad to hear that.

Well, onto the chapter!

Yuki could do nothing other than look at Ryu and Wyatt as the three stood off at the side of the throne room. Nina had basically stopped functioning; she was knelt down beside the dead body of her father. She wasn’t crying. Instead, she wore a hollow expression on her face and looked at the body with eyes devoid of any life.

It was like a part of Nina died, too.

The three glanced at each other, unsure of what to do. Ryu suggested that they look for survivors, but none of them would move without Nina. There was still the danger of enemy units still lurking around.

Only two things were certain. Whoever issued Transell’s marking orders wanted him and his units to retrieve the Sky Key. And if they were after the Sky Key and went as far as to ravage a city for it, they would do that to other nations as well.

Nina finally took noticed of the fact that her dead father was holding something in his right hand, as that hand was clenched tightly. Nina reached over and pried the fingers off of the object. Nina drew up a bloodied piece of paper that had Wyndian written on it. Nina quickly scanned the paper and frowned. The three walked over to Nina and read over her shoulder at the message.

Most nations had their own language, but the majority of the people worldwide spoke an international language, mainly referred to as Common for lack of a better name. While Yuki had become pretty adept at Wyndian during her stay in Wyndia, Ryu was left scratching his head. If he had been raised in the palace, he would have learned the major languages of the world.

Wyatt blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. He glanced over at Yuki and whispered, “I can make out the words “temple”, “gate”, “key”, and “stream”, but I can’t seem to translate what “agni” means.”

Yuki’s eyes lit up in recognition. She turned to Ryu, who had a similar response. He turned to Wyatt and grinned slightly. “The word “agni” is an ancient form of the word for “Infinity.” Basically, the word agni translates out as body in ancient Draconian. It usually corresponds with the legend of the Destined Child being Ladon’s Avatar.

“Basically, the legend states that agni is the power of Ladon that is used to combine the power of the Destined Child and the other Destined into the powerful corporal form of the Dragon God himself. Or something like that.”

Yuki nodded in response. She turned her attention back to Nina. Nina merely stared at the piece of paper like it had some sort of special meaning in those words. Maybe it did. None of them were for sure anymore.

Wyatt finally looked at Yuki and Ryu. “She seems like she ain’t gonna tell us what that paper says. Can either of you translate the rest?”

Yuki nodded, but before she could have a chance to translate, Nina stood up, a look of determination etched across her face.

“We can figure all of this out later. Right now we need to find the queen and any other survivors.”

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Zaccheus had been forced to retreat. He had no idea he was dealing with one of their kind. That woman with the dark hair knew how to teleport in orbs of light. That was not a normal form of Warping.

He knew that the attack on Wyndia would bring out the exiled prince Ryu. The king had predicted that himself. He didn’t know that with him he would bring that witch and the Director of the Godwin Foundation. He figured that the princess would be traveling with the dragon, but the other two were just a little too much.

Someone had warned the Wyndian king before hand. It was the only explanation he had. Things had not gone the way he planned, but the king warned him to except something different. He didn’t count on not being able to get the key. If only one did not have to have permission to enter the Temple.

He had retreated after that girl teleported out with the princess and Destined Child. He was currently standing on a hill far away from the city gates. He could still see the fires burning in the city even from this far away.

He still did not know why Gideon issued the order to raze the city, other than to draw out Ryu from hiding. He would have proceeded to capture the young Broodling if not for the fact that the witch was there. Granted, that girl was not actually a witch, but it was a much better term than ‘bitch.’ He was trying to be nice.

But, if she wasn’t a witch, then what was she? He had never seen anything like that. He once heard Salla talk about a man that could teleport in orbs of light, too, but he had always brushed that off as a rumor. The only form of teleportation was the Warp spell. Or so that was the most common belief. He, of course, knew of other forms of teleportation.

But now, Wyndia was burned to the ground and he was short a Goddess Key. He frowned. Zaccheus Transell was not a man that failed in his missions. He was going to have to report this failure to his king.

But… not all was lost. He was able to weaken the Wyndian capitol. They would no longer be a threat for when Gideon did set his plan in motion.

Now he needed to concentrate on the next step of the plan. Which nation to go to next? Which key to get next?

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Nina walked through the castle in a haze. She seemed more like a ghost haunting the castle than the headstrong princess they were familiar with. It disturbed Ryu to see Nina like that. He knew that Nina was greatly affected with the death of her father. He could only think that she somehow thought his death was her fault.

In the few conversations that Nina and Ryu had about family, Nina only mentioned that she and her father didn’t get along too well. She had said that they argued constantly and if she was allowed the freedom to chose what she wanted to do, it was because of her mother insisting that she should be allowed to.

Ryu figured that the guilt had more to do with the sole fact that the last time Nina had seen her father alive, they had had a huge blowup at each other. Nina did runaway from the castle after that. She probably thought if she had just stayed at the castle, she might have been able to help somehow. Maybe her father might have been still alive.

He didn’t know. He was afraid to ask Nina.

Ryu glanced over at Yuki, who apparently seemed to be wearing the same expression as him. She appeared to be concerned with Nina, too.

Yuki herself knew all too well what Nina was going through. In Lahan, she had lost her mother and in a way her father, too. Though, she never did have fond memories of her father. He always seemed distant. He seemed to have favored Jin more than her.

She amazed herself that she was able to keep the control she did with what was happening. If she had been younger, she would have lost it and charged in, probably to her death. For the first time, Yuki realized just how much she had grown up. It made her feel a little happy, in a way.

The look on Nina’s face pained Yuki. She could barely recall what happened the following days after the Lahan Massacre. The one thing she did recall was the expression on Jin’s face when he thought no one was looking. That same look was now currently present on Nina’s face.

Nina herself seemed to be at least functioning again, though all present doubted she’d ever be the same again.

Nina finally came to a dead end. The other three paused, awaiting instructions. Nina explained that the catacombs underneath the castle were hidden from view. Nina pressed one of the marble stones on the wall, and the wall moved back. The foursome entered the secret entryway and made their way down the stone steps that led into the catacombs.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Nina heard voices. She noted that the torches that aligned the walls were lit. Nina and the others walked down the narrow passage and finally entered into a huge room.

There in the middle of the room were the queen and the majority of the castle employees, as well as at least a few hundred civilians. The people noted Nina’s entry. The queen quickly rushed forward and embraced her grieving daughter.

“Thank Ladon you are safe!” the queen cried.

Nina said nothing. She just hugged her mother tighter.

Yuki’s head snapped up when she heard someone call her name. She turned around and saw Captain Cyrus Johnston. Yuki grimaced and waved weakly. The captain smiled and walked over to the three.

“So, this is the reason that you took time off?” Cyrus asked her with a sly smile.

Yuki merely shrugged her shoulders. “Um… what can I say?”

Cyrus only nodded. Yuki went into official Ranger mode and explained what they had encountered since entering the city. Yuki introduced Wyatt and Ryu. Cyrus already knew who Wyatt was, but only stared at Ryu Bateson.

She also explained that it was Captain Zaccheus Transell that attacked Wyndia, but he got away before they could question him beyond anything that had to do with the Goddess Key.

After Yuki finished explaining everything, Cyrus waved over his unit and started giving out orders that it was safe to leave the catacombs and they were to start looking for survivors. He also said that they were to work together with Wyatt’s people to make sure that every Dragoon was either captured or killed.

Ryu grimaced at the thought of more Dragon Clanners being killed. That thought just didn’t settle well with him.

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Of the estimated 30,000 people that were currently living in Wyndia, only about 10,000 of them survived. Reports of Dragoons Ascending within the city walls told how the city was not only ablaze, but how so many people died just by the first wave of attacks.

Over the next couple of days, the queen and her advisors worked on getting the city back into some kind of order. People were scared out of their minds as to how and why they were attacked.

The first thing that the queen did was contact King Gideon Laurante of Dragnier. She demanded to know if Transell was under his orders to attack her people. The king of the Dragons had replied that he had no knowledge of an attack on her kingdom, and if she so desired, he would help out any way he could.

The queen agreed to his help, but if only to keep up appearances. She did not trust his words one little bit, but she was in no position to go into another battle with the Dragoons. They would just have to wait and see what would happen next.

Nina mainly stayed by her mother’s side during the waking hours. At night, she would vanish and not be seen again until daylight. One the fourth night, Ryu tracked her to where the king’s remains were being kept. He saw Nina just standing there beside the body and just crying her eyes out. He slipped out just as quietly as he slipped in. He did not want to cause Nina the grief of him seeing her cry.

Besides, Nina would come to him when she was ready. Until then, he would stay by her side and help her when she needed him.

Meanwhile, Yuki had been meeting with the queen, Cyrus and Wyatt and his people over what steps to take next. Yuki may have been involved with driving off the enemy invaders, but she was still a Ranger, even though she was supposed to be off duty at that point. She still had to report to her commanding officer, which was Cyrus.

The assembled group were currently in the king’s private study. The queen was seated at the head of the table with two of her advisors on either side of her. Wyatt, Shelley, and Seth were seated on the left side of the table, and Yuki, Ryu, and Cyrus on the right.

The three groups were currently in a discussion as to what to do next.

“If what you explained is true, then the situation is more dire than we first thought,” the queen said. “If Transell was willing to do this to the capitol of Wyndia just to obtain the Sky Key, then there is no telling what he would do to obtain the other five.”

Wyatt nodded. “That is correct. From what we understand, there are six Goddess Keys.”

“Seven, technically,” Ryu interrupted. All eyes were on him. “But the seventh one has been lost for thousands of years.”

Wyatt nodded in agreement. “Right, anyway, we know that the nations that currently have a Goddess Key in their possession are Wyndia, Ceres, and the Pearl Kingdom.”

“The king sent Virgil Strife to the Temple of Milliené to retrieve the key,” the queen said. “So that key is no longer in Wyndia.”

Yuki nodded. “Well, that leaves only Ceres and the Pearl Kingdom. But what about the location of the other three keys?”

“The Light, Dark, and Time Keys might be held by Avatars,” Cyrus reasoned. “The Earth Key is held by Namanda’s Avatar and the King Key is held by Titus’ Avatar. The Worens and Grassmen might hold some of the keys, too.”

“There is an expert on ancient history that is currently studying the ruins at Angel Tower,” Wyatt said. “She might know something. Her name is Molly Stephens…”

“Um, no,” Yuki said. When everyone looked at her, she merely replied. “She’s my old history teacher. We… don’t exactly get along.”

The queen looked at Yuki. “If I am not mistaken, your brother, Doctor Jin Uzuki is a leading figure in the study of ancient history. Could he be of any help in this case?”

Yuki grimaced, but nodded nonetheless. “I do believe he might be. I could contact him and see if he could help us.”

The queen then turned to Cyrus. “It is true that you once lived in Worent?” Cyrus nodded. “Could you be able to contact War-Queen Mardeia and ask her for her assistance in this matter?”

Cyrus laughed. “Your Highness, I highly doubt that Mara would allow anyone that was not Woren to enter the Golden Plains. We might want to hold out for a little bit before asking her for help.”

The queen nodded. “I understand.”

Wyatt looked around the table. “Saria la Crosse said that she would send in her people to help rebuild Wyndia. My people will also assist also. We can’t be sure that Transell wasn’t working on orders from Gideon, or someone else.”

“What do you mean?” the queen asked.

“I think that he’s talking about the demon sightings,” Yuki explained. “Transell might be in league with the demons.”

The queen solemnly nodded. “That could also be the case. The sightings in Wyndia alone have been numerous over the past few months. Of course, there is no way to be sure until he is captured and brought in.”

Yuki looked around the table. “So, what are we going to do?”

“We can’t let Dragnier… and King Gideon know what we are up to,” Ryu said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. “Just in case he has something to do with the attack.”

“Ryu and I can go to Crete and start gathering information on the Goddess Keys,” Yuki started, but was suddenly cut off by Cyrus.

“I thought you were on off duty, Ranger Uzuki,” Cyrus said.

“Captain… please let me go and help them,” Yuki pleaded. Yuki did not plead.

Cyrus merely chuckled. “All right, fine. I figured you’d go anyway. I’m surprised that you even bothered to ask this time. But you have to keep us in the loop as to what’s going on.”

Yuki nodded. Wyatt looked over at Yuki and Ryu. “I’m going with you.”

Seth looked at Wyatt. “Little Master! What are you talking about?”

Wyatt looked at Seth. “I’m not letting him get away with what he did. You will just have to tell Grandfather that I am taking care of business.”

Shelley nodded. “Of course, Little Master.”

Ryu and Yuki just stared at Wyatt and Shelley. “We can’t bring a child with us!” Ryu snapped.

“Yeah! He’s also the leader of a world power! Kid, you can’t afford to get hurt!” Yuki said.

“I am coming whether you like it or not,” Wyatt said in a tone that indicated that he would not take no for an answer.

Yuki groaned. “But…”

“But what?” Wyatt snapped. “If it wasn’t for me, you guys would have been overrun by Dragoons before you even got to the castle!”

Ryu waved his hand. “Fine, fine. But keep in mind that we are not going to baby-sit you. If you get hurt, we are sending you back to the Foundation!”

Wyatt grimaced. “Geez, don’t blow an artery old man.”

Ryu’s eyebrow twitched. “Old man…?”

The queen cleared her throat. “Alright, it is settled then. Ryu Bateson, Miyuki Uzuki, and Wyatt Godwin, on behalf of Wyndia, I hear by request your aid in the capture of Zaccheus Transell. Stop him before he is able to do to another country was he did to Wyndia.”

“Yes, your Highness!” Ryu said as they started to get up.

“Wait.”

All people present turned around and spotted Nina standing in the doorway of the study. “Nina?” the queen asked.

“Mother, I request permission to accompany them on their mission to stop Transell,” Nina said with a pleading tone in her voice.

“Nina?” Ryu asked.

“Nina…” the queen began. She stood up and walked over to her daughter. “After the loss of your father… I couldn’t stand it if I lost you, too…”

“Mother, they need my help,” Nina said. “Besides… I,” Nina started, but was cut off by her mother. The queen glanced over at Ryu, then back to Nina.

“I think I understand the situation perfectly,” the queen said with a hint of a smile of her lips. “Alright. Princess Nina Ashelia de Wyndia, you have permission to accompany them on their mission.”

Nina beamed. “Thank you Mother!”

“So, we will first go to Crete and as Jin Uzuki for assistance and information on the Goddess Keys while looking for any leads on Transell,” Yuki said. “Well… I guess that I should go visit. Jin’s been bugging me to come home for a little while now.”

“I will get to work on getting permission to enter Worent,” Cyrus said. “Eh, permission for you guys anyway…”

Ryu and Yuki merely stared at each other. Nina, they wanted on their team. Especially after her fighting display during the attack a week ago. But, was she mentally ready to accompany them? Could she hold herself together long enough to complete the missions?

And then there was their other little problem. Wyatt was only twelve, but he wanted to go with them. His assistants didn’t even seemed fazed that he forced himself into the party as if he was one of them…

Ryu’s eyes widened as he looked at the Dragon Tear and pointed it right at Wyatt. The stone started to flash rainbow colored.

By the gods, the boy was a Destined, too.

Would wonders ever cease?

 

To be continued…