Standard disclaimer: I don't own the series.

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AN: Hello! Okay, I am trying a new divider cuz people have said that the numbers thingy makes the story hard to read. I hope this helps. (smiles) Right. The chapter... I can't believe that people are still reading this story! I mean, its soooo long. I never thought that I would write a story this long in my entire life. It's over 400 pages! Seriously people, is the story taking too long? I'm curious about that... the pages themselves are only 9 to 10 pages. They aren't really long...

Oh, yeah. I think that I have been writing this story for a year. At least I'm actually working on the thing, right? lol

Well, here are the reviews:

Meeerf: Hiya! Such long reviews you give me! Yah!!!! Right. Anyway, hehe. Just email me or PM me and I will send you my outline. The outline DOES give away major spoilers for the games, though.

Hn, I see what you mean. I’m no doctor, so I can’t say anything for sure, you know? Heh.

Heh, I know. I do enjoy reading Dark and Light (smileys). My own personal opinion is that people can be both good and bad. It’s just human nature. And the world we live in shows this. There is both order and chaos in the world. If one has order and no chaos, then everything will fall to erosion. But, if the world has only chaos, then well… the world will fall into anarchy. Or something like that. I like to think of it as a series of checks and balances. Eh, you can’t have one without the other… no matter what anyone else says. Order and chaos do not mean good and evil. Fah! I’m just rambling. Anyway, you have a point. I always wondered what motivated Myria and why she acted the way she did. In the first game, she was seen as a little girl that had people fighting over her powers… in the third game, she was viewed as a serene angel/ mother goddess figure. It was just that her methods were wrong in the since she tried to commit genocide with the dragons. But it was also the dragons that were fighting over her powers in the first place. There is a scene in the third game, after she is defeated that I think spells her character out greatly. As she is “dying” she is seen talking… to herself? Well, the dialog does like this:

Myria: “My world...... I tried, but it wasn't enough... I fear the world will be destroyed again... What should I have done...? What could I have done...? If there is a God, answer me! What should I have done with the Brood?”

Heh, see what I mean. No, I don’t know the legend of Tiamat and Marduk. You have to tell me sometime.(smiles)

Karn first appeared in chapter 25, Move Along. No, don’t feel dumb. I had to check the chapter myself!

Yup. Wes was Yuki’s ex. Heh, yup… Yuki’s had several on again off again relationships since then, but somehow I just couldn’t fit it into the story :( Heh, it was no one Jin knew about though.

Glad you like Ryu and Nina pairing :) Oh, yes. Yuki is the Official Weird Namer of Things.

I live in the south east, near the Appalachian Mountain range.

Ah, there was a Momo from BoF III. She was like an inventor/scientist. The Momo in the story is Jin and Yui’s child.

Yup. Jin’s old. Yeah, Yui saves Jin by taking care of him. She also saves his sorry butt from time to time. No. Legence just wants to hurt Jin. Karn was once a Destined and is an ally of Deis’. That pretty much sums it up. He’s helping out Deis.

Heh, Troy is married to a woman named Kia. Jin’s psychic. Plus he has recall from his past life.

Heh. Sorry about that. I think that I said his hair color was white, silver, silver-blond… the list goes on! Heh, I guess Jin did go through a major career change. The job wasn’t technically supposed to be passed around, but the original overseer did die. He did have more than one student, but it was ultimately Manna that took up the title. Yup. You have it in one. Um, Jin only started to remember when he started to travel with Manna and Troy.

Glad you view it that way. ^_~ it will become important later in the story.

Thanks for your reviews!!!

Nina Windia: Hello Miss Windia! I’d say Mina’s about 1,500 years old. Garr’s coming back. Hehe.

Ah, about that line… Yeah, something like that would have been important to her. But her disinterest for what happened to Demus mainly stemmed from the fact that he ditched her back in Act I. See, she kinda had a thing for Demus, but I guess I didn’t really make that clear, or it was soooooo long ago, everyone (including myself) forgot about it! Oops. Sorry about the confusion.

Fate and Wyatt are the same person. Un…. Well…. that’s kinda a spoiler but all what the hell. He’s at least a 1000 years old. He doesn’t physically age, though. Manna is a faerie. She’s like the patron goddess of the faeries. Actually, Manna trained Sari. :) Ah, is Sari going to make a reappearance soon??? Well, it’s another semi-spoiler, but yeah. Sari will be making a major appearance soon. What she does will have a major impact on the rest of the fic. Hee! I have come to like Sari very much. She’s one of those characters that evolves on their own. I always have so much fun when writing her. You never know what will happen.

Thanks for your reviews!!!

Oh, and the whole “Objection” thingy was a random comment made by Anime Monkey. I hope that Anime Monkey remembers what it was used for!

Well, anyway, here's the next chapter.

Wisdon was once said to be the ancient home to the Goddess Deis. Wisdon is a wandering ghost town that forever moves around in the Desert of Death. It is rumored to house many different powerful artifacts that are protected by different wraiths.

Whoever wrote that in the history books was on the right track. Wisdon was once the ancient home to Deis, but it was also once a city that was inhabited by the thousands. That was before the Goddess War happened and killed everyone in the city.

Deis gave no mind as she traversed the darkened stone hallways of her home. The only light in the entire area was from the orb of her Snake-Eye staff she was currently holding like a torch.

So many things had happened since the day Ryu went missing. She knew that he had been found again. Manna and Troy had said as much. She knew that Garr had questioned her as to why she felt the need not to interfere with Ryu’s decision. She knew that it was an act that the Guardian saw as an act of cowardliness. Deis had never given Garr an actual answer. She just told him to stay out of the fight.

What she hadn’t told the Guardian was that Ryu’s decision was what would turn the tides of Destiny. A plan she had made the moment her sister created that thing. An angel of mercy, was what Legence was supposed to have been. What Myria did not realize was that her angel of mercy had been warped by her own rage and grief and transformed into an angel of destruction and death.

Not unlike Myria herself, all those thousands of years ago.

Deis knew, however, that nothing good could come from Legence. She knew what he was trying to do the moment he killed Lucien and broke the balance of Order and Chaos between Myria and Ladon. If only Myria had known what he would have done then.

She knew that Myria only wanted what was best for her creations, her children. But, what the mother goddess had failed to realize was that you had to let children grow up and talk their own path, on their own power.

Didn’t Manna say something like that? Manna had said something similar to Ryu, after all.

“She does need to be stopped. But… the usual killing method isn’t working. It’s just justifying her stance that mortals need to be led around by the hand. That mortals are not strong enough to walk the line on their own power, with full knowledge of what it means. Gods do not die Ryu. The simply fade away. Myria is no different. She dies, yes. But then she is always reborn again.”

That was what happened to Lucien. He had done nothing while Legence started his deadly campaign. It was only when he revealed himself and did the unthinkable, was when Lucien stepped in and tried to stop him. Legence had gained much power by then and was able to stalemate Lucien. A decisive blow was what finally did the god of balance in. In that killing blow, Lucien summoned the last of his powers and stripped Legence of his powers and sent him hurling strait to the Underworld.

But, with Myria’s awakening, Legence was awakened as well. The fallen angel had fed off of people’s negative emotions and had gained power over the thousands of years he was held captive.

Deis stopped in her musings and spun around. Standing behind her was the ethereal Mary, a solemn look on her youthful face. Deis frowned and tapped her foot on the stone floor.

“I am curious,” Deis said. “What is your aim? Are you trying to help Ryu and the other Destined, or are you trying to lure them into a trap? Countless times now have you led them in the right direction. You have even gone as far as to interfere directly. What are you trying to do?”

Mary frowned. She placed her hands behind her back and looked back at Deis with that same solemn look. “I merely do not wish this world’s destruction. Legence has gone too far. He is acting on his own, now.”

Deis’ upper lip twitched. “And whose fault is that? Did you not know how powerful free will could be? Is that what you are doing? Leading Ryu around and hoping that he will destroy Legence for you, now that he is beyond your control? Then what? Will you destroy Ryu and his companions as well?”

Mary said nothing. Deis placed her free hand on her hip. “What? You have no answer? I figured that since you came onto my turf that you would at least say something.”

Mary looked at Deis. “I am saying that I have had enough. It is all or nothing. The cycles will break, or I will break the cycles. If that means Ryu’s final death, then so be it.”

Deis suppressed a growl. “He is the way he is because of what you did to Ladon. There would have never been a need for a Destined Child if Ladon had never… Well, that hardly matters now. What matters right now is that Legence is taken out for good.”

Mary nodded. “He must be stopped if the world is to continue.”

Deis nodded. “But this time, we will do things MY way. You will not interfere until the time comes. All things happen for a reason, after all.”

Mary stared hard at Deis. “Are you telling me what to do?”

Deis smirked. “Yes, I am telling you what to do. It will take both order and chaos to set things right, once and for all. You have to trust me and trust Ryu and his companions to stop Legence. For all our sakes.”

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Whoever had attacked the guards of Angel Tower, must have been skilled. At least that was what Garr kept thinking about as he, Ryu, and Ryu’s companions ran through the narrow hallways of the ancient temple. Everywhere Garr looked was injured guards and priests.

Garr did note, however, whoever did all that damage to so many trained people only injured them. All the guards that they ran into were only disabled. Most of the civilians were unarmed as well.

Someone was wanting their attention, but did not want to bring innocents into the mix. Garr was beginning to worry, though. Who was it that invaded the Tower so easily? Would he have not been able to sense such a thing?

It was an unanimous decision to leave Mina with Strife. Allowing Mina to come along when there could be danger was not a risk Garr was willing to take. He loved the girl like she was his own daughter and he would be damned if he let anyone hurt her.

Mina did give the key over to Nina, then told them to be careful. She said that she had a bad feeling about the intruders. She could say nothing on the subject after that. She said the future was a blank.

It was when they got to the Dragon’s Graveyard, the very heart of Angel Tower, when they finally saw who the intruder was. Zaccheus Transell stood down in the pit of the graveyard and grinned up at the seven warriors that were standing on the ledge of the platform.

The person beside Transell is what sent Jin and Yuki into shock. A woman with long light brown hair, dressed in a green and white dress, was standing a little off to the left of Transell. She glanced at them with dead eyes.

Jin could barely contain himself. “YUI?!” Jin yelled in shock.

The woman said nothing. She merely glanced back over to Transell. Transell smiled and waved his hand in the air. Nina flashed once and vanished. Ryu’s response was automatic. He jumped over the railing and into the pit below. Garr growled and jumped after Ryu. The others were about to make a move but another movement from Transell forced them onto the ground. Another hand gesture caused a barrier to form around the pit.

Transell looked up at Jin. “I said that I would get payback, did I not?” Jin growled and tried to force himself up. Transell continued to talk. “Yui is perfect for our plans. Her powers are amazing. I never knew someone like her would be in your company.”

Yui took a step forward and made a hand gesture. Garr’s eyes flashed from blue to black. Garr howled in pain, but was unable to fight the spell that Yui had cast. Ryu groaned in realization. Yui had taken control of Garr’s mind.

Effortlessly, Garr summoned his halberd and lunged at Ryu. Ryu swore as he drew his long sword and dodged each of Garr’s slow attacks. One advantage to being smaller than the hulking Guardian was that Ryu was faster.

Ryu barely had time to think as Garr slammed the flat of his halberd against Ryu’s back. The young dragon yelled and was force onto his knees. Ryu glared up at Transell.

“What have you done?!” Ryu demanded as he quickly rolled out of the way of Garr’s attacks.

“This is what my master wants,” Transell said. “He said to lure you out by any means necessary. If that means taking control of Yui and the Guardian and kidnapping the Fae princess, then so be it.”

“Why drag Nina into this?!” Ryu demanded as he dodged another of Garr’s attacks. “And Yui! What did she ever do to you?”

Transell smiled. “Yui was brought on the team by request of Legence. I do not know what history they have, nor do I care. All I know is that she was hard to turn to our side, but now that she is, she is indispensable.”

Jin growled. “So, that was why Legence kidnapped my wife?!” Jin tried to force himself up from the ground. He got up an inch before being force right back down. “Damnit!”

Manna glanced over at Ryu. “Ryu! Hit Yui! That should snap Garr out of it!” Jin gave Manna a horrified look, but Manna ignored him. “Don’t hurt her! Just whack her in the head or something!”

Ryu nodded and jumped up. He ran over to Yui, but Transell barred his way. He smiled as he sent Ryu flying with just one gesture of his hand. Manna looked pissed. She yelled and forced herself up and stood on her feet. She staggered over to the railing and tried to force her way through the barrier, but was unable to get through.

Manna soon found herself staggering on her feet and had to force herself to remain standing. Yuki and Wyatt noticed and along side Jin, somehow managed to force themselves onto their feet. However, they found it to be a very difficult task.

Ryu jumped back up again and lunged at Yui for a second time, but was once again barred from her, this time by Garr. Garr lunged at Ryu once more and Ryu barely had time to dodge another attack. Again and again Garr lunged at Ryu. Ryu was beginning to show signs of tiredness and was almost unable to dodge Garr’s latest jab.

One hit from that halberd and Ryu knew that he would be dead.

Ryu turned his divided attention to Transell. “What did you do with Nina!?”

Transell smiled. “I sent her to Dragnier. The king really wants to speak with you, Ryu. I know you would not go there without reason, so I just decided to give you a little motivation.”

Ryu yelled as he dodged around Garr and lunged right for Transell. Transell smiled and made another gesture and sent Ryu flying through the air. He screamed as he landed against the barrier in a sickening thud. He slid down the barrier and moaned in pain.

Transell was about to make another move towards Ryu, when a high pitched, shrilled voice shattered the silence.

“OBJECTION!”

And with that one little word, the barrier broke. Another cry of objection broke whatever spell had been holding Jin and the others to the ground. Transell looked around to see where the source of the voice came from. He was met with a white and black blur that came flying out of no where. The figure slammed right into Transell and sent him flying a few feet back.

Standing behind Transell was a young man with silver white hair, dressed in a black outfit and trench coat, shouldering a long katana. The man smiled as a wind picked up and cherry blossoms came swirling around him. He gave Transell a big smile and pointed the katana at the man.

“How DARE you attack innocent people!” the man said.

“Who the hell are you?!” Transell yelled.

Manna and Jin exchanged looks of pure annoyance. Yuki and Wyatt just stared blankly. Ryu grinned as he dodged another of Garr’s attacks.

“TROY!” Ryu yelled.

Troy turned his attention to Ryu and Garr. He smiled as he lunged after Garr and started to parry with Garr’s halberd.

“Looks like I came just in time!” Troy laughed as he and Ryu dodged Garr’s attacks. “Looks like you have your hands full!”

Ryu nodded. “Yeah! But how did you break the barrier?”

“OBJECTION!”

Transell turned his attention back over to Yui. The woman was looked very confused. Standing beside Yui was a small woman with long green hair, dressed in a short black dress, gloves, and white thigh high boots. The green haired woman held her hands out again and pointed towards Garr.

“Objection!”

Garr snapped back to reality. He slowly lowered his halberd and glanced around in confusion. He looked over at Transell and growled. Meanwhile, Yui looked up on the platform and spotted Jin. She made a move towards Jin, but was stopped by Transell grabbing her by her hair.

Yui screamed as she tried to break free. Transell only smiled and turned his attention to Jin and the others. “If you want to settle this, come to Dragnier!” and with that, he and Yui vanished.

Jin yelled in rage and slammed his fists against the railing.

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The group had returned to the room that Mina and Strife were in. Ryu and Jin were furious over the fact that Yui and Nina had both been taken by Transell. What made matters worse was that Transell knew exactly what buttons to push to make them do what he wanted them to do.

What had made the whole thing interesting, however, was the fact that Troy and that woman had shown up. The group needed no introductions as to the woman’s identity.

“Sari!” Ryu yelled. “What in the name of Ladon are you doing here?”

Sari smiled. “I am here to help you. I had a vision that foretold of these events coming to pass, and I knew that if I didn’t intervene, then someone would die.”

Yuki suppressed a shutter and nodded. “I think I had the same vision. It was when I touched Legence…”

Troy smiled. He looked over at Jin and grinned. “We’ll get Yui back.”

Jin nodded his head. “When I get my hands on them, I will break them into pieces,” Jin said in an even voice that made Manna and Troy want to cringe.

Ryu nodded. “At least we know that Yui is being controlled and not working for them on her own.”

Manna nodded. “Ryu, you know that they are leading us into a trap, right?” Ryu nodded. “Okay, just checking. We have to keep a cool head about this. We go blindly rushing in there and they will have us where they want us.”

Jin crossed his arms. “I agree. They want Ryu, but Transell made a mention about all of us. They want to take us out once and for all. That’s why they are leading us onto their turf.”

Garr nodded. “I will accompany you.”

Mina looked up at Garr. Jin shook his head no. “Garr, they might come back for Mina. You have to protect her and Angel Tower.”

“You also have to protect Strife,” Ryu said, looking down at the sleeping man. “Nina would have wanted you to.”

Garr sighed and nodded. “Very well. When are you all leaving?”

Ryu looked around at everyone. Everyone nodded back in silent agreement. “Right now. We have to get Nina and Yui back. Besides, I don’t think that they know that Nina has the Sky Key.”

Jin made a noise. “You are right about that.” Jin turned his attention to Troy. “Do you have it?”

Troy smiled and pulled out a Key from his pants pocket. The key had wings flanked a nearly flat carving of a king in ruby that was set in the metal. Troy tossed the Key to Ryu. Ryu looked down at the key and gasped.

“The King Key?” Ryu asked in confusion. “How did you get this?”

Troy smiled. “No need to ask such silly questions Ryu. The point is, you now have two Keys in your possession. As soon as we get Nina back, that will make three.”

Wyatt placed his hands in his coat pockets. “So, this means that we are storming Dragnier?” Everyone nodded. Wyatt pulled out one of his guns and pretended to fire the thing. “Cool! I’m game!”

Sari slowly nodded. “Then it is settled. We are off to Dragnier to rescue Yui and Nina and put an end to Gideon’s madness.”

 

To be continued…