Standard disclaimer: I don't own the series.

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AN: Hello! So, I'm still alive after that evil little thing I did after the last chapter. Usually, I am not fond of writing scenes like that, especially when I have the hero kill off innocents in blind rage. That particular scene was to demonstrate just how dangerous the Kaiser's powers can actually be. In BoF III, if you just use the Infinity Gene (Kaiser dragon) without any extra genes like Trance or whatever, the Kaiser will go nuts and starts attacking your ALLIES without mercy and kill them all. The battle only ends when either Ryu defeats the field monsters, or a game over. Yeah.

Also remember that I haven't been having Ryu use dragon forms period, except for like a few times, and only then he usually doesn't have control of them. He's just never trained in using his powers. Characters like Strife and Demus/Leon have had the training they needed to use their dragon powers. So, I know, was it REALLY necessary to have the entirety of Navare wiped out? There is a reason for that plot point. Remember, Shevat is gone too. Gideon is hell bent on taking out everyone. Under Legence's control, of course. Gideon was going to have Valerie destroy Navare, but Ryu beat him to it.

So, what does all of this mean for the story? Well, the characters are now getting ready to fight the final battle. Hehe ^_~ So, how many chapters before the final chapter? I have like five or six, but that might change between now and then. I just hope everyone hangs around til the end ^_^

Anyway, I should note that my sister created the characters Kia and her children, as well as the entirety of the Pearl Kingdom. Heh.

Anyway, I am noticing that there are some people that are adding this story to their favorites list. So, my words to you are THANK YOU!!! Hee, thanks a bunchies!!! Reviews are also very good, but this works just as well! THANK YOUS!!!!

Here are the reviews:

Meeerf: Hello! Hee, yeah. :) Haha, I know what you mean. And seeing that some of the characters swear like sailors… ^_^;;; Yeah :)

Ah, yeah. I thought so too ^_^;; I’m kinda timid myself in real life, and yeah. This the the first story that I have written like this. I have a bit to work on, eh? ^_^;;; you are correct about that ^_^

Ah, really? That’s good! I actually did something right, lol

Hn, I know what you mean. I have trouble figuring out where to put dividers on POV’s and scene changes. I agree with that. Omni POV’s drive me nuts sometimes. Hm, you are right about that. I do like how you do your scenes :)

Nope. Yuki and Nunnally (who were in the robot) are alive and kicking! Whahaha!

Legence does have a thing for Nina. It might not have come across like that much, but yeah. There is still a bit to go with the whole subplot thingy. ^_^

Well, anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

The Pearl Kingdom was something of an oddity. No one really knew where it came from, or how long it had been in existence. No one could date the kingdom back to the Goddess War, or even the Techno Age. No one knew if the kingdom was recent, or ancient, or if it had even always been there.

What little of the kingdom that historians did know was that the kingdom was a seafaring kingdom, much like the Manillos. Instead of being fish however, the Pearl Clan looked almost like humans, expect for the pointed ears and silvery white hair.

It was sad that the Pearl Clan could live on land or in the sea, but they didn’t fare out too well in heated areas, like the desert.

Their kingdom was located at the bottom of the ocean, rumored to be somewhere near the island of Shevat. The city itself was said to be incased in a massive force field type dome, in case there were land dwelling visitors that came to the kingdom. It was not like the Pearl Clan were xenophobic, they were just a secretive clan.

They were not fond of war. In the world at large, they were known as the peacekeepers. They did not ally themselves with Dragnier, either. They did not approve of Gideon and his methods. Any attempts at talking between the Pearl Clan and the Brood were cut off after the Lahan Massacre.

It was said that they worshipped Titus, the Sea Leviathan. Titus is the god of wisdom. Patron god of the Manillo and the Creeping Clan. He is the embodiment of Water. His avatar is the king of the Pearl Kingdom. He appears in the form of a giant serpentine sea leviathan. People who pray to him are guaranteed a safe journey while on the seas. Most people that worship Titus are usually either sea or water dwellers, or those who are constantly on the waters. He is a kind god and fond of anyone who seeks to learn more.

So, it was with that little bits and pieces of knowledge that the Destined were armed with when they appeared right in the main hall of the castle. Troy actually had to hide a grin when the palace guards quickly jumped to attention and surrounded the assembled group, their large spears pointed right at them.

“Be as ease,” a soft, feminine voice said from behind the guards. They turned around and all fell to their knee, their spears planted into the marble floor.

Before them was a young looking woman with long slivery hair done up in a bun, dressed in long flowing blue and white robes. A pair of fairy looking wings protruded from her back. Before the group was the queen of the Pearl Kingdom.

Troy grinned like a maniac and waved at the queen. The queen, for her credit, merely raised a silver eyebrow at the man. Troy walked over to the woman and inclined his head slightly. He said something to her that only she could hear. Her eyes widened slightly, but she nodded nonetheless.

The queen smiled slightly and turned to the group. She held out her hands and inclined her head slightly. “I welcome you to the Pearl Kingdom, Warriors of Destiny, allies of the King.”

“King…?” Wyatt found himself muttering dumbly.

Troy grinned as the guards stood back up. The guards saluted Troy and with a wave from Troy’s hand, went about their business. Wyatt could only stare in severe confusion. Sari, Garr, and Hawk looked just as confused as Wyatt.

A loud humph sound from behind them caused them to turn around and. Yuki was starting to buckle under the strain of holding Nunnally so long. Hawk smiled and walked over to Yuki and took Nunnally from the woman. Yuki sighed in relief and placed her hands on her hips.

It was almost like for the first time that the group noticed Yuki standing amongst them. Wyatt jerked around and stomped right on over to Yuki. Yuki merely gave Wyatt a cool stare.

“I guess I can’t call you Chibi-sama anymore, can I?” Yuki giggled.

Wyatt scowled, then smiled as he realized that he was currently three inches taller than Yuki. He grinned like a madman and stuck his tongue out at Yuki. Yuki sighed and smacked her hand behind Wyatt’s head. The red head pouted as he nursed his aching skull.

“Yuki?” Jin’s words seemed to get lodged in his throat. Jin looked over at Yuki. Yuki smiled and walked over to her brother. Yuki nodded slightly and embraced Jin, taking note that he was still holding Momo, who somehow appeared several years older.

Manna turned her head in Troy’s direction. Troy smiled slightly and nodded. Sari noticed that all the Pearl clansmen, even the queen, seemed to be treating Troy with the utmost respect. Troy caught Sari’s confused look and only grinned.

“I would normally call a meeting over what has happened within the last few hours, but it appears that everyone is still very shaken up by the events that have transpired,” Troy said in a serious voice. The usually sarcastic man was being unusually calm. Something was different now. “So, I suggest that everyone gets some rest… or medical care,” Troy said as he shot a look at Jin and Ryu, who was still unconscious in Garr’s arms. “Whichever comes first.”

The queen walked over to Troy and embraced him tightly. Troy returned the embrace with equal force, severally confusing Hawk, Sari, and Wyatt. Wyatt couldn’t stand it anymore so he stormed right up to Troy.

“You’re mackin’ on the queen now? I thought you were married,” Wyatt said.

“I am,” Troy said with a serious face.

“Okay, then why…”

Jin cleared his throat, catching Wyatt’s attention. “Did you not listen to me when I said that the king of the Pearl Kingdom had the King Key?”

Wyatt’s mouth opened wide. He tried to think, he really did. “What…?”

Troy smiled brightly, his arms still around the queen. “I am King Troy de Pearl, of the underwater nation, the Pearl Kingdom, Avatar to Titus, the Sea Leviathan, god of wisdom!” Troy extended one of his hands. “Nice to meet’cha!”

Wyatt could only hold his head while Mina, Jin, and Manna laughed. Wyatt looked over at the three and scowled at them. While everyone laughed, everyone present in the room knew of the danger still hanging over their heads like a dark cloud.

How could they ever forget?

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Rest was the last thing on Jin’s mind at the current moment. Thanks to Troy’s orders, he was being forced to hang around the infirmary of the castle. On one of the beds in the room laid Valerie, who was currently hooked up to various machines that were keeping a check on vitals and the such.

On one of the other beds was Ryu. Sari was able to work her magic and reject the damage that Garr had done to take Ryu out of commission. Jin wasn’t really sure as to why Ryu was still out cold, especially after Sari was able heal his wounds. Jin figured that it was emotional trauma, or something like that.

Jin was currently sitting on the edge of one of the beds, shirtless, attempting to wrap gauze around his wounded abdomen. So far, it was not going as well as he hoped. He wasn’t really sure why he was even in the infirmary. Well, of course he knew why. Jin knew he was hurt really bad, ever since Yui had attacked him and stabbed him in the stomach.

He just didn’t want to hurt her by telling her that he had been hurt so badly. Jin knew that he was beyond Sari’s abilities to heal now. He knew that his time was quickly running out.

Jin’s mind drifted back to Yui. Yui, his wife, was dead. He had heard her death screams in his mind as the Kaiser killed them all without mercy. Jin figured that he could be angry with Ryu. Maybe another person would even take advantage of the situation of the sick and hurt Ryu and end his life right then and there.

But, Jin wasn’t that type of person. He was a Guardian, a different type of guardian than Garr, but a protector just the same. He would not take a life in cold blood, no matter how much his soul cried out for vengeance. Even though part of his heart and soul had been ripped apart when Yui died, that still did not justify Jin wanting revenge against Ryu.

Jin walked the line between life and death every single day. That was nothing new to him. But the fact that his remaining family had been dragged into the fight now, that tore at him in ways he didn’t even think possible.

He glanced over at the sofa that was against the far wall. Momo laid curled up in a ball in the middle of the sofa, asleep. Honey was perched on one of the armrests. The poor child had cried herself to sleep. Jin had only gotten the basics from Wyatt and his assistants about what happened and how Momo grew three years in a matter of seconds. It was something that he didn’t like, but like all things in his life at this moment, it was just something that he had to accept.

Jin merely sighed as he continued to wrap his stomach with the gauze. He knew that the battle would end soon. He just hoped it was worth the cost they were all paying.

“Brother?”

Jin glanced up and looked at the opened door. Yuki smiled slightly as she walked into the room. Jin nodded and went back to wrapping his torso. Yuki frowned and sat down right beside her brother.

“Jin,” Yuki said.

Jin merely continued to wrap his torso. Yuki sighed and smacked the back of Jin’s head. Jin flinched and jerked his head around and glared at Yuki. Yuki merely smiled and giggled at the look on Jin’s face.

“I see that not even death can stop you,” Jin finally said. He had given up trying to get the gauze to stay put.

“And I see that you are still in danger of getting yourself killed,” Yuki said, looking at her knees. “I told you not to go and die.”

“I’m still alive, Yuki,” Jin sighed.

“Barely,” Yuki said crossly. “You should be glad that you can even stand!”

“Are you lecturing me?” Jin asked.

“I don’t think any amount of lecturing will ever get through to that tiny skull of yours,” Yuki laughed.

Jin shook his head. “Whatever. So… you’re alive then?”

Yuki grinned. “Yeah. Manna and… well, Manna brought me back. Cuz I gave my life to save someone else, right? She, um, also brought Rekks back.”

Jin nodded. “I figured she had something like that planned out from the very beginning.”

“Heh,” Yuki said as she stood up. “You look a little busy right now, so I’ll just talk with you later. There’s someone I have to go… see…”

Jin raised an eyebrow. He had heard that Wes and the Professor, as well as Rekks and Leon were at the Pearl Kingdom. He figured that Yuki was going to pay a visit to Wes or something like that.

“Going to go say hi to Wes?” Jin said with a smirk.

“Nope, gonna go have hot, angry sex with Leon,” Yuki said as she stood up. She waved bye to Jin as she started to walk towards the exit.

Jin could only stare in shock. “What?!” Jin yelled as he jumped up. He flinched in pain and stared after Yuki. “That’s a joke, right?! YUKI!”

Yuki turned around and giggled. She placed her pointer finger to her lips and winked. “That’s a secret! Later big brother!”

And with that, Yuki left the room. Jin could only sit back down. He was getting too old for this sort of thing.

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Hawk was most certainly not having a good day. His entire home, his people, had been killed right in front of him. He was really, really pissed at that particular moment. Pissed off enough to go… well, he didn’t really know.

At that current moment, Hawk was getting drunk off his ass, courtesy of Troy’s fine storage of wine. Troy was a king. Hawk just could not wrap his mind around that fact. He was still trying to get use to the simple fact that the people that he was currently traveling with were Destined.

Hawk sighed as he laid his head against the table counter. Yes, Troy not only had a fine storage of wine, he even had his own bar in one of his many personal rooms. Ironically it was Troy himself that was pouring the poor lad another fine drink. Maybe if he weren’t so damned drunk off of his ass, he’d know what kind of drink it was.

Wyatt didn’t seem to have any kind of trouble holding his drinks down. Earlier, after Troy told everyone to rest up, those hot assistants of Wyatt’s had taken off to contact their boss about what happened to Navare and Shevat. That left him and some of the others to wander around.

Hawk hadn’t cared. He just wanted to go get smashed. Of course, drinking solved ALL of his problems. Except not. His people were still dead, his home in ashes. And the one that caused it all was still alive. Did Hawk blame Ryu? He wasn’t really too sure. He was blinded by grief and anger by the time they got to the Pearl Kingdom. He had even almost lunged at Ryu. If not for Garr grabbing a hold of Hawk at that little moment, Hawk might have killed Ryu.

Maybe that was why he was getting drunk at that moment. So he wouldn’t go kill Ryu. Hell, it seemed like a good enough at that moment. Hawk glanced over a few feet away from him and noticed that Garr was also at the bar. Mina, that cute and innocent looking girl, was sitting on one of the stools, drinking what appeared to be orange juice.

“Hey,” Hawk slurred slightly. Mina and Garr glanced over at Hawk. “Aren’t you a little young to be in here?”

Mina giggled. “No, I am much older than you are.”

“Yeah?” Hawk asked.

Troy smiled slightly from behind the counter. “Heh, don’t mind anything he says Mina. He’s drunk out of his mind. I gave him the strong stuff, and lots of it.”

Garr glanced over at Troy. “The strong stuff?”

Troy smirked. “The strong stuff. The stuff that would even make YOU think that you were a pretty pink princess that wanted to play pretty princess dress-me-up.”

Wyatt glanced over at Troy. “And… how are you a king again?”

Troy hummed. “Hehe, I am almost three hundred years old. I have got to have something to do with my spare time.”

“Right,” Mina said. “So, if you are king, then I guess the queen acts in your place when you are… traveling?”

Troy nodded as he poured himself a drink. “Yeah, she is acting ruler when I’m away. It makes things easier. Yeah, I’m still king though.”

“So, why all the secrecy?” Wyatt asked.

Troy took a sip of his drink. “Well, truth be told it was not so much of a vacation I was on. It was mainly because I didn’t want anyone to know that I was the king. Mainly the bad guys, but yeah.”

“Yet Manna and Jin knew about you,” Garr stated. He looked at his half-emptied glass.

“Well, yeah. I did travel with Manna and Jin for several years. Besides, it’s kinda hard to hide from a couple of empaths.”

“Whatever,” Hawk muttered. “I think that all of you are crazy…”

“We’re not crazy,” Mina said in a calm voice. “Though, it helps when you are in our line of work.”

“And you’re supposed to be the reasonable ones?” Hawk asked. “You and Garr… you’re like supposed to be all ancient and wise… and yet here you are… Garr’s getting’ drunk and you’re cracking jokes.”

“Time gets to you after awhile,” Troy said, shaking his head in amusement. “Didn’t I already tell you that?”

“So, how is it that you are also an Avatar?” Wyatt asked.

Troy looked thoughtful. “Well, the king of the Pearl Kingdom is always the Avatar of Titus. It’s like a line of succession. You become king, you become the Avatar of the Sea God.”

“I supposed that makes sense,” Garr said.

Troy nodded. “Yes, and I hope that we still have a future to continue that line of succession…”

“Troy,” Mina said in a soft voice.

Troy’s head snapped up. “Hehe, just ignore me. Just the ramblings of an old man, that’s all.”

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The first time that Manna wanted to talk to Sari, it did not end well. Manna apparently did not believe in mercy. She wanted to talk to Sari once again, and Sari was unsure if she could handle another talk from her… grandmother…

Armed with her fun flask, Manna was leaning against the railing of the balcony that over looked the great city of the Pearl Kingdom. The room itself was apparently the room that they had placed Nina in while the girl was knocked out. Sari had learned that Nunnally was in the same room that Leon was in.

That was when Sari found out about the attack on her beloved home… and it’s destruction. She was beside herself in anger and anguish when she learned that Salla and the other citizens had not survived the attack by her uncle. If not for Rekks showing up and saving Leon, her cousin would also be dead.

She didn’t say anything as she walked into the room, the odd sense of déjà vu taking over. Sari was completely puzzled as to what this could possibly be about. But, she was not one that would shy away from a challenge. And it did seem that Manna was challenging her somehow.

Manna glanced up and spotted Sari entering the room. Sari noticed that Manna looked like she had gone through seven kinds of hell, and was starting on her eighth. What she knew of Manna was very little, but if the Overseer was that stressed out about something, it was most likely not good.

Manna smiled slightly as Sari walked out onto the balcony. “This seems familiar…” Sari deadpanned.

“Indeed,” Manna said. “Look, let’s just cut to the chase. Navare and Shevat have both been destroyed.”

“Ouch,” Sari muttered darkly. “That’s a harsh way of putting it.”

Manna only looked at Sari. “Yes, that is a harsh way of putting it. But the thing is we don’t have time to play games anymore. We have all the Keys, yes, but Gideon has the Gate and Legence almost has all of Ladon and Myria’s powers.”

“Yes, I know,” Sari said. “Legence took two of the Genes that contain Ladon’s powers and soul… or whatever it was they said.”

“Yeah,” Manna said. “I called bullshit, too. But no one wanted to listen to me, either,” Manna said as she turned her full attention to Sari. “There is going to be more people dying before its all said and done.”

“What…?” Sari said. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s just as I said,” Manna said. She turned her attention to Nina. “Remember the power that Nina displayed during the fight?” Sari nodded. “That’s the true power of Eternal Session. The powers of the Goddess reborn in the body of a… mortal. If Ryu is… Ladon, or at least part of Ladon. Nina is then part of Myria… or at least has some of her powers. That’s why they are paired together. Their powers compliment each other.”

“What does this have anything to do with what’s going on?” Sari asked. “Why call my attention to it?”

Manna could only smile. “Because…” Manna looked thoughtful. “Hn, well, the thing is- now you can’t say ANYTHING about this- with their powers combined, along side your powers and the Time Key… you can reverse the damages, the deaths that were caused by Legence.”

Sari could only stare. “Are you serious?!” Sari said in surprise. “Do I have that kind of power?!”

Manna smirked. “I said that you were key, did I not?”

“Does it not go against your role as the Overseer to tell me all of this?” Sari asked.

Manna nodded. “Hah, you raise a good point. Yes, under the normal situations, but this is hardly the time to be following rules. Now, my question to you is, will you do it?”

“Don’t you mean “if” I can do it?” Sari asked.

“No, I said will you do it,” Manna said.

Sari looked long and hard at Manna. What Manna was saying that they could all still be saved. People could be brought back that lost their lives because of Legence. And now Manna was ASKING her if she would save them?

Sari looked at Manna. “Yes, I will do it. When the times comes, I will act.”

Manna nodded. “Good, we then still have a chance. Now, let’s see if we live long enough to enact our plan.”

 

To be continued…