Standard disclaimer: I don't own the series.

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AN: Hello! Wow, I feel like crap today ;_; My head is killing me... yeah, can you tell that I get headaches a lot? Not really fun, but what can ya do about it, right? Well, anyway, this chapter should FINALLY answer the question as to who the heck Mary really is.

Oh, and has anyone figured out the connection between Manna and Deis yet?

Anyway, here are the reviews!

Meeerf: Strangely enough, Troy stocks both red and white wine. Hehe, you will have to explain to me the differences between the two, cuz I am totally clueless on this one. Haha! I am such a lightweight, eh?

Oh, ho! I really did have fun writing this chapter ^_~ I have been wanting to write something like this for quite a while now, and with all the crazy stuff that's been going on, yeah...

Heh, heh. I bet you do. I figured that you would get a laugh out of that one. ^_^;;;

Huh, you are right about that one. Yuki has seemed to change a lot during the course of this story. She seemed more... mature now, I think. Maybe? Actually, a lot of the characters have seem to grow during the course of the story. Yeah, Yuki seems much more like Leigh now.

Hahah! If I could, I would write a back-story with Manna, Troy, and Jin during their little trek during the past. Strangely enough, the trio did not include Manna originally. The third member of that little party was Strife. Hehe. Manna did join them later, though. Strife was not Nina’s brother in the original ideas that I had. He was related to her though. Hee. Anyway, Jin really isn't as prudish as Yuki thinks. But yeah, he has to keep up appearances...

Great! I was worried about the lemon scene ^_^;;;

Uh, huh. Odd huh? I just had Aaron running around in the story, making the readers guess what his true motives were... and then BAM! There's his purpose in the story. Haha, thanks!

Anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

“They shall reap destruction upon the world in which they clash… thus the world shall turn to ash…”

The words of the prophesy still rung loud and clear within his mind. Ryu only had a faint inkling as to what happened with Navare. He didn’t know exactly what happened, but he had the feeling it had something to do with the Kaiser Dragon.

The Kaiser Dragon, the Drache Kaiser… the Dragon Emperor. The one who was said to hold that power was the king of dragons. Ladon’s chosen avatar. The Destined Child. Ryu felt very bitter. He didn’t care what he was at that particular moment. He just wanted to wake up and see that everything was a horrible dream…

Ryu groaned and opened his eyes slowly. He realized that he was lying down on a bed. He slowly glanced around and spotted his mother lying down on one of the beds a few feet away from him. Ryu’s eyes widened slightly. Was he seeing things?

“Mother…?” Ryu asked in a shaky voice. Ryu’s throat constricted. Was this a dream, or was his mother really alive?

“She’s alive… at least as alive as anyone can be with a Goddess Key stuck in her chest…”

Ryu slowly sat up. He looked over in the direction of the speaker. Sitting down on the couch that was over next to the wall, was a very tired, a very bitter looking Jin. Momo was asleep on Jin’s lap, Honey sitting on the edge of the armrest.

“Jin…?” Ryu croaked. “What’s going on?”

Jin looked over at Ryu with a stony expression on his face. “Navare has been destroyed. You were the cause of it.”

“What…?” Ryu asked in confusion. “You mean… it really wasn’t a dream…? Oh, oh god!” Ryu screamed and grabbed his hair with his hands. Ryu doubled over and started to howl, tears streaking his face. “NO!”

Ryu’s body shook violently. He didn’t even know what he was doing at that moment. Had he really destroyed Navare? When had he done that?

Ryu’s head jerked up as the events came rushing back at full force. Ryu screamed as he remembered Gideon attacking the desert stronghold. Gideon had used his mother to try to destroy his surrogate family. When Valerie had been shot down, he had lost it and Ascended to the Kaiser form.

Ryu clenched his eyes shut as he remembered the smell of burning flesh…

Ryu moaned as he doubled over again and vomited right then and there. Jin merely stood up and walked over to Ryu as he threw up. Jin placed a hand on Ryu’s shoulder. Ryu finally stopped puking and shakily glanced up at Jin. Jin’s face was unreadable. The doctor merely looked at Ryu.

“There… wasn’t anything anyone could do,” Jin finally said. Ryu could hear the bitterness in Jin’s voice as he spoke.

“Who… did anyone survive?” Ryu asked in a pained voice.

“We don’t know. Hawkeye survived… but we think that’s all,” Jin said as he shook his head. “Shevat has also been destroyed, but that was by Valerie. Gideon was going to have her destroy Navare, but it seems like he used you instead.”

Ryu started sobbing at that moment. He jerked away from Jin’s hand. “I… caused all that… I killed… so many people… Karn… Yui… Remi… my family… all dead!” Ryu howled in pain. “ITS ALL MY FAULT!” Ryu jerked his head back as he let loose another howl.

There was nothing Jin could say. The doctor merely stood there in silence as Ryu sobbed his heart out. The power of the Kaiser Dragon was something to be feared and respected. Myria had a right to fear that power destroying the world.

“I… don’t deserve to live…” Ryu said between sobs. “Kill me! End this hellish nightmare!” Ryu shrieked. He looked up at Jin with a determined look in his eyes. “You have the right to do so! I killed your wife!” Jin flinched slightly at the mention of Yui. “Finish me off!”

A sharp slap to Ryu’s face stopped the dragon from ranting any further. Ryu’s eyes widened in shock to see little Momo standing next to the bed, her hand raised in anger. When had she moved?

“You think that killing yourself will bring back all those lives that were lost?” Momo snapped. “My Mommy is dead,” Momo said in a quiet voice. Jin placed his hand on top of Momo’s head. “Your death will not bring her back.”

“Momo…” Ryu said in a sullen voice.

“You are the Destined Child! You are the only one that can destroy Legence and all those who follow him. You die and its all over. Are you going to disavow all those who have given their lives in order to stop Legence by killing yourself? What good will come of that?” Momo asked. She lowered her hand and looked at Ryu. “More deaths will not solve the problem. That’s what got us in this situation in the first place.”

“How… can you have so much faith in me?” Ryu said in a shaky voice. “I mean…”

“Brother…”

Ryu’s head snapped up. Standing in the doorway was Rekks. In front of Rekks was Nunnally, who was sitting in her wheelchair. Ryu flinched at the look that Nunnally gave Ryu. It was such a sad and pitying look.

“How much did you hear?” Ryu asked in a horrified voice.

“Everything,” Nunnally said. Rekks wheeled Nunnally into the room and stopped a few inches away from Ryu’s bed. Nunnally reached out for Ryu’s hand, but Ryu jerked away. Nunnally gave him a hurt expression.

“How… how can you bear to be next to me?” Ryu whimpered.

“You are my brother,” Nunnally said. “If anyone can love you, I can. Brother, I love you! And I know that your companions love you too!” Nunnally said in a pleading voice, tears streaking down her pale face. “Please! Don’t shut us out. Not right now when you need us the most!”

Jin nodded his head in agreement. “She is correct. We care for you… even if you want to deny your worth. We have fought long and hard to help you succeed. And now you want to throw all of that away by ending your life?” Jin shook his head. “There are people who are crying for you. Angry for you.”

“We stood by each other when there wasn’t anything else to stand by,” Momo said in a quiet voice. “Do you just want to throw all of that away? Do you want to just forget everything? Nina and Nunnally’s love for you? Your companions’ friendship? All our hope that we have in you?”

“You don’t understand!” Ryu snapped. “How can I be forgiven for all the death I have caused?”

Rekks, who had been just silently standing by as the others talked, opened his mouth. “I have tried to kill you once before in the past. I worked for Gideon himself and betrayed the only person in my life that mattered. The only person that saw any kind of worth in me. I sacrificed my life in order to make amends for all the sins that I committed. In the end, all it did was lead to heartache and grief.

“Did I once think about Harmony’s feelings? I never thought how she would feel if I was to suddenly die one day and leave her alone in the world. How selfish I was to think that my death would fix things. For some reason, I have been granted a second chance to make things right… Make things right the correct way.

“If I can be forgiven of my transgression against God, then so can you,” Rekks finished.

Ryu could only stare at Rekks. “But you didn’t kill anyone…”

“I have,” Jin said in a solemn voice. “I killed to protect life. Rather ironic, though. Ryu, the fact is, we have all done things that we are not proud of. We have all sinned.”

Momo reached up and placed her tiny hands in Jin’s large hand. Jin looked down at Momo and smiled slightly. “We have to sometimes do things that we are not proud of in order to move forward. You lost control of the Kaiser… it was just too much power to handle…”

“Demus has said the exact same things that you are saying now,” Nunnally said in a quiet voice. “He wanted to die too. He thought it would make everything better for you and everyone else if he was to suddenly vanish. But… there was some part of him that knew that he had to stay alive. Instead of moping and wallowing around in misery, he decided to make something out of his life. He decided to give his life meaning and try to fix all the damage he had done, to me, to you.

“The fact is, Demus is trying to make things right. He said it may take the rest of his life, but he will make his life worth living again,” Nunnally finished, a proud look on her innocent face.

Ryu gave Nunnally a lost look. He didn’t really know what to say. “I… don’t you people understand that I KILLED hundreds of people?! How can you just forgive me for something that huge?”

Jin shook his head. “Blaming yourself will not bring them back,” Jin said. “Their sacrifice will not be in vain. Right now, we have to focus and destroy Legence once and for all, before he has the chance to do this to anyone else.”

Momo tugged at Jin’s hand. She gestured to Ryu and Nunnally. Jin nodded slightly and turned his attention to Rekks. The Shell Clanner nodded his head in silent agreement. Momo ran over to the couch and pocketed Honey and then walked back over to Jin. Jin cleared his throat, catching Ryu’s attention.

“We… have some other matters to attend to,” Jin said in ways of explanation. “If you will excuse us, we will be on our way.”

“Jin…?” Ryu asked in confusion.

Jin waved at Ryu and walked out the door, Momo right on his heel. Rekks bowed his head and walked out of the room after Jin. Ryu sighed and just stared at the floor. Nunnally took hold of Ryu’s hand, and this time Ryu did not resist her.

“Nunnally…” Ryu said in a quiet voice.

Nunnally placed Ryu’s hand against her check. “I love you, Brother. We all do. Please don’t ever forget that.”

Ryu sighed and looked at his little sister. Could he ever make his life worth living again? He had killed innocents in cold blood. Granted, he had not been in control… but the fact still remained that he committed murder.

Was this how Demus felt? Both men had been driven differently. Demus had only wanted recognition, to be loved by his estranged father. That desire had been twisted and turned into something ugly that resulted in the former prince trying to kill Ryu.

Ryu had only wanted to save the world, but the shock of seeing his mother alive… and her being attacked caused him to loose control of his powers and committed a massacre. The Kaiser was the thing that the Goddess feared the most. The powers of Ladon in a mortal form. Did he have a right to wield such power? Had it been Ladon that had been wrong this entire time? Myria? Or were they both to blame?

Rekks and Demus had both tried to make their lives forth living after committing great crimes. Could he be allowed a second chance as well? Could he stop Myria without killing her? Make the once Mother Goddess see reason just one more time?

Did he even stand a chance? Ryu looked at Nunnally and sighed. He would live, live long enough to save this world and everyone in it from Legence and his dark schemes. Save the world from Myria…

Save the world from himself.

He would set things right. One way or another, he would set things right.

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“I want the truth,” Nina said in a determined voice. “I at least deserve that.”

Manna smirked slightly. “Such confidence you have Princess. Very well then, I will tell you the truth…”

Manna turned around. Nina had no idea as to what the woman was doing. Manna had told Nina that she was one of the Goddess’ Maidens and that she had some of Myria’s power inside of her.

When she thought about it, it did make some kind of sense. It explained why she was always reincarnated along side Ryu. She could remember past lives where she vowed to always be with Ryu. To never leave his side no matter what.

Nina was so caught up in her thoughts, she did not even realize that there was a soft glow coming from in front of Manna. Nina’s head jerked up and she spotted the ever ethereal Mary, a sad expression on her face.

“Mary,” Manna said in a cool tone. “I see that you finally show yourself.”

“Mary?” Nina asked in confusion. “What are you doing here?”

Manna turned to Nina. “You and Mary are connected. For you were both born from the same being.”

Mary gave Manna a cool look. “So, you will tell them at last?”

Manna nodded. “Yes. It is now time.”

Mary nodded her head. “I see.”

Sari could only stare at the three women. Nina noticed the look and shook her head in confusion. “What is going on here?”

“You should know, Destined Princess,” Mary said in a soft voice. “Surely you remember the angel from your dreams, so long ago…”

Nina nodded her head numbly. “Yes… wait! That was you?”

Mary nodded her head. “Yes. We are connected, you and I.”

“How?” Nina asked. Nina paused and thought about what Manna said. “Born from the same being… Wait,” Nina muttered. She turned her attention to Manna. A look of revelation crossed Nina’s face. She turned her head and looked at Mary. She had to strain to see it, but there it was. The same facial features on Manna were present on Mary as well.

Nina shook her head. If she looked harder, she could see facial features that matched hers as well. The large eyes, the small nose, the shape of her round face… it was all there. Nina shook her head. “You and Mary,” Nina said as she turned her attention back to Manna. “Me and Mary… we all look similar. How is that?”

Sari laughed. “Hehe, can you not figure it out? Myria’s most devout follower, before the War of the Gods, was Myria’s angelic princess, her daughter,” Nina’s face was one of shock. “That angel was YOU Nina.”

“Myria was once known as the Queen of Angels, back before the War of the Gods. You were her angelic princess, her daughter,” Manna said.

Nina shook her head. “But… Mary looks like…” Nina turned her attention to Mary. “Oh… oh! Don’t tell me you’re…”

Mary nodded. “Yes, you have guessed correctly. I am…”

“Myria…” Nina said. A cold shiver ran down her spine. “YOU are the Mother Goddess…”

“Only part, though,” Manna said. “Mary is what’s left of Myria’s innocent soul. She was created before this Cycle, before Legence consumed the real Myria,” Manna said with a solemn look on her face.

“Legence held some of Myria’s powers,” Mary explained. “When Legence was destroyed in the past by Lucien, that tore Myria apart. That’s why that Legence has control of Myria right now. He is attempting to absorb the rest of Ladon and Myria’s powers in an attempt to revive himself.”

Manna shook her head. “Legence has an Avatar, too. At least, I think he does. I think that Aaron is helping to revive Legence…”

“But we’ve seen Legence!” Nina yelled. “If he’s dead, then how can he be…”

“Legence was probably possessing Aaron during those times we’ve seen Legence,” Manna muttered darkly.

“So, all this time, we’ve been played,” Nina said darkly. “What are we supposed to do now? I mean, I have some of Myria’s powers inside of me. Does that mean he will come after me?”

“Yes,” Mary said. “He knows of your powers and he desires you. You must not let him get you. If he does, then all is lost.”

“If you are part of Myria, why can’t you stop Legence?” Sari asked.

“I am far too weak to stop Legence, let alone anyone else,” Mary said, “I hardly have the power to come to you now. I will soon fade,” Mary turned to Nina. “Before I do, I have a request.”

“Yes…?” Nina asked in a shaky voice.

“Please, you must stop Legence at all costs!” Mary wailed. “He cannot be allowed to win. If he does, he will destroy everything.”

Nina looked solemn, but only for a moment. A determined look crossed her face as she nodded. “Yes, we will win this fight! You have my word of honor.”

Mary reached up and took Nina’s hands in her own. “One last thing, I cannot allow Legence to absorb me as well. Therefore,” Mary started glowing. A second later, Nina started glowing as well.

Nina’s eyes widened in horror when she realized what Mary was doing. “Wait! Stop!”

“Please…” Mary said as she faded out of existence. “Take my power and use it to stop Legence and make Myria whole once more…The future is counting on you…”

Nina screamed as she absorbed all of Mary’s powers. The little red head finally faded away. Nina shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. She shook her head in denial. There was a sudden sharp pain from her shoulder blades. Her back arched as her wings burst from her back.

The feathers flashed with gold and white light as they grew in length and size. Soon, they were as large as Nina was tall. She stumbled a little bit, not used to the weight of the large wings. She turned around and looked at the gold and white-feathered wings.

“What… is this…?” Nina asked in a hollow voice.

“A final gift to you, for all the pain and heartache you have suffered throughout the ages,” Manna said. “It was Myria’s way of saying that she was sorry for what she had done. You now hold part of Myria’s soul within you now, just as Ryu holds part of Ladon inside of himself.”

“This is the only way to stop Legence,” Sari said.

Nina gave the two women a hollow look. “I am… Myria’s daughter…” Nina shook her head sadly. “I guess that’s why we look so much alike. But, how did Leigh figure into all of this?”

Manna smirked slightly. “Leigh’s original mission as a Maiden was to protect you. She wasn’t actually a follower of Myria’s, though. She was a follower of another god… my mother.”

Nina and Sari both turned around in confusion. “What?” Sari asked.

“Just… who is your mother?” Nina asked.

“Oh, really? It’s that hard to figure out?” Manna asked in amusement. Both women just gave her a blank look. Manna could only shake her head. “My mother is the Goddess of Magicks, the one that helped the Destined for as long as the Cycles have been going on.”

Nina’s voice cracked. “You mean… DEIS is your MOTHER??!?!”

Manna laughed. “Haha! I guess that makes us cousins, huh?”

 

To be continued…