by Andrew Jones
"I-It's not what it looks like, Septimus! They forced me into a pact!" Zephyr shouted, sounding a little embarrassed with his whiny voice.
"You lost to a couple of humans?"
"No... I lost to a Machina."
Septimus puffed a large mass of black smoke at Zephyr.
"He's got capabilities! He can overcome and control his rage inside. No mere mortal can even dream of doing such!"
She glared over at Drakkar, and quickly sniffed the air around him, as she exhaled another wave of black smoke at him. He coughed immediately and waved his hand around his face to force the smoke away. She nodded her head.
"I agree, I do sense something about him. But might I ask why you are associating with something so dark and powerful in the first place?" She asked.
"I have to ask how you woke up from your eternal sleep. Bastion and I woke up with this strange rage inside of us." Zephyr asked, seemingly concerned.
"It's this world. It's a lot more corrupted than I ever imagined it would become. It was a mistake sleeping that long, it's my fault." She admitted, her head looked down as she became upset.
Drakkar crossed his arms and watched the two dragons talk to each other. It seemed like they haven't spoken to each other in years, decades even. He didn't care much about the amount of emotion Septimus showed, or how much affection Zephyr showed toward Septimus. Was it possible for the Dragoona to care for one another? He let that question wither away as he looked up at Septimus.
"Now that you're awake, what are you to do?" Drakkar asked.
"We are to restore the world's order and create the New World. But... Where is Bastion?" She explained, questioning soon after.
"He must've gone off with some other Humans. I sense another pact has been done." Zephyr answered.
"I sensed him here, that's why I arrived. Though, I fear I would've attacked him on sight like you two did. If one of us were to die off, then the New World could not be materialized."
Drakkar grunted as he grew a slight headache listening to the two dragons discuss their matters.
"T-Then why don't we go find him? With your senses put together, there's no doubt you'll find him!" Drakkar shouted, sounding a bit frustrated with them.
Zephyr and Septimus both glanced at each other, alarmed by Drakkar's shouting. But Septimus nodded her head and closed her eyes.
"We must. We must find him, that's the only reason we're awake now, I suppose." She said.
"Wait-" Drakkar said as the dragons looked around for a sense of Bastion. "Before going on, we need to be on the same page."
"Excuse me?" Septimus questioned him, frowning.
"I own Zephyr, I order him around. If you dare attempt to take him away or force him to do as you say, I'll kill you." He threatened her. "I don't care for this New World you speak of either, so I won't even go easy on you."
Septimus' eyes go down as he spoke, but she eventually looked over at Zephyr as he did not want to look at either of them. She sensed his emotion at that moment, he was ashamed of himself for being in a pact with a mere mortal. A being who wishes to mimic a pathetic race such as Humans. She felt that Drakkar was powerful, but she still felt that his power was not great enough to control a Dragoona, a being close in comparison as a God.
She looked around with Zephyr, jolting her head to the left quickly.
"I sense a strong presence to the west. Maybe toward The Land of Ruin?" Septimus asked, looking to Zephyr for his opinion.
He nodded as Drakkar jumped on top of his back. Septimus nodded her head as well as she created a big gust of the wind beneath them, big and powerful enough to lift both dragons into the air. She flapped her wings and sped her way toward the direction, with Zephyr following close behind her.
Verse XIV
A New World
The sands of the Ancient Desert had never felt so hot, it burned against her skin as she seemed to be unconscious. Just laying on the ground like she was asleep.
"Hey! I think I see her!" Atreyu's shouting was heard.
He pointed downward, as Bastion carried him throughout the desert for what it seemed like days. He swooped down quickly and landed, just as Atreyu jumped off and ran to Nova's side. He picked her up and shook her, slapping her cheeks softly, hoping for some kind of reaction from her.
"Nova! ... She isn't waking up!" Atreyu yelled as he held her tightly.
Bastion scoffed, "You act as though losing one person is the end of the world."
"It is when there is only a few of us left in this world!" Atreyu yelled at Bastion as he looked down at Nova right into her face and stroked her cheek gently. "W-Wait, she can't be dead. You're still here, the pact is still active, yes?"
"Meh, I suppose it is. Unfortunately."
Atreyu stood up and climbed onto Bastion, while still holding onto Nova in his arms.
"Bastion, we need to find someone to help her. Do-... Do you know where Drenawx is?"
Bastion flapped his wings and quickly jumped into a gust of the wind he materialized, flying up into the air and slowly out of the desert ruins. He thought about it before his head jolted up and toward the left side.
"Something is off. Something is begging for my attention, we must go to it at once." Bastion spoke.
"Could it be Drenawx?" Atreyu asked.
"I don't know, child..."
Drakkar stared up into the sky, as Densetsu stood against a tree and Zephyr laid down behind Drakkar. The three made their way into the Forgetful Forest after Zephyr announced that he sensed something odd within the area.
"The forest blooms only to absorb the blood of the weak," Zephyr speaks as he moved his head around, looking for anything suspicious.
Drakkar moaned, looking back at them, "You said that there were three Dragoonas, where is the last one?"
Zephyr snared as he looked back at Drakkar, giving him a sinister look, he did not wish to answer the question because he felt a dark sensation within Drakkar as he asked the question.
"Why do you wish to know?" Zephyr asked.
"Just answer the damn question, dragon," Densetsu ordered him, as he tossed an apple up in the air and catching it, taking a bite of it.
"Remember dragon, I own you. You do as I say. Do you understand?" Drakkar said aggressively, walking toward Zephyr with a dark look on his face.
The dragon slowly shook his head.
"Now then, tell me where the last dragon is. I assume that's why you dragged us all the way out here."
"I sure hope so. Even the bugs out here are out for blood." Densetsu complained as he swatted a bug on the back of his neck.
"Fine." Zephyr roared as he agreed to confess. "The last of the Dragoona, Septimus, is still in her eternal sleep."
Densetsu choked on his apple, pounding on his chest before speaking, "W-What? So you guys were sleeping this whole time?"
"That's right."
Drakkar narrowed his eyes at Zephyr, "Wake her up."
"I-I can't!"
"C'mon! Don't you think she's slept enough?" Densetsu asks as he tosses the remains of his apple.
Zephyr roared at Densetsu, "You can't just wake them up! I'm not sure how you can just wake up a dragon."
"Useless." Drakkar shook his head and facepalmed.
A glowing light appeared behind Densetsu, before landing on his shoulder.
"You lot look unfamiliar, are you with Nova and Atreyu?" Evol, the Fairy asked.
Densetsu grunted, feeling her land on his shoulder and immediately swatting her like she was a bug, "These damn bugs just don't know how to take a hint!"
Evol screamed and fell back. She attempted to flap her wings, feeling that they were tangled together, "How dare you! I am no bug!"
The three turned toward the odd, high toned voice. They saw the little glowing person on the ground just behind Densetsu as she tried to untangle her wings.
"What is it?" Drakkar asked, looking unimpressed.
"It's a Fairy. Almost identically annoying as bugs, in some sense." Zephyr
answered.
Densetsu frowned, looking back at Drakkar and Zephyr, "I'ma stomp on it."
"Go ahead, I don't mind." Drakkar shrugged his shoulders as he answered him.
Evol jumped from fright, as she appeared to have started panicking. Her wings flustered even faster, immediately untangling themselves and helped her fly above them.
"No- no, no, no, no!" Evol shouted at them.
"Get back down here!" Densetsu shouted as he jumped up repeatedly in attempts to catch her.
Drakkar crossed his arms, thinking back a little bit before walking over to Densetsu and stopping him. He shoved him aside and proceeded to Evol, looking up at her.
"Did you happen to mention Nova and Atreyu?" Drakkar asked.
The Fairy stopped her flying around and glided down in front of Drakkar's face. She nodded hysterically as a wave of reassuring excitement came over her.
"I did! I let them into our village a while back! But only because Nova was a female. No men allowed." She answered, glaring at Densetsu.
"Why not men as well?"
"Because power resides within men more than women. Women have the heart to control their inner rage and desire of power more than men... According to our Queen."
"Your Queen sounds dumb."
"Not really. I mean- look at your friend right there. He's got the desire for power written all over his face." Evol said sarcastically as she pointed at Densetsu.
"You little shit!" Densetsu yelled as he tried to attack Evol, but Drakkar kept him away.
"Listen... All we want is an answer. Then you can go back and do whatever it is Fairies do." Drakkar said with a grunt, pushing Densetsu away with one aggressive push.
"I'm listening," Evol answered, trying to look amused.
"Have you been having any weird senses lately?"
Evol bit the bottom of her lip, as she gave the gesture of deep thought. He head look toward them as she nodded, assuming she had an answer.
"Actually, yes. It's been the talk of the town for a few hours. And it seems troubling."
"Well, we can help eliminate it if you can help direct us to it."
Evol glanced down at them, crossing her arms, "Are you sure? It seems pretty serious."
Drakkar nodded.
"Hmm, I can tell the village I eliminated the threatening sense?"
Drakkar nodded again, "Do as you want."
"What!? I want a damn reward!" Densetsu yelled.
Zephyr used his long tail to slap the back of Densetsu's head.
"Hey! What was that for you ass!?"
"Shush..." Zephyr whispered.
Drakkar frowned at the two before looking back at Evol, "Just show us and we'll take care of it. You won't even have to see our faces afterward."
"Well, I can't say no to that deal. Fine, follow me."
Evol turned her body around and flew the opposite direction. She flew pretty quick, but she let her glitter from her everlasting glow brighten for a few moments, allowing them to create a trail for them to follow. Drakkar followed quickly, along with Zephyr running on his four legs, and then Densetsu who jumped onto Zephyr's long tail and climbed up his back. Zephyr was incredibly slow on his feet.
After a long while, Evol stopped and landed on a branch high in the air. Drakkar stopped as well, arriving a few minutes after Evol had arrived. He didn't see any more of the glitter trail and looked up to find her.
"All right. The sense is too strong for me to proceed, so I'll hang out here for the time being." Evol explained as she stretched her arms and laid against the tree branch.
"And how are we supposed to find the source of the sense?" Drakkar argued up at the tree.
"It's just straight ahead. And you have a dragon with you, it should be as easy as finding a pin in a haystack." Evol laughed.
"I'm not laughing..."
Evol stopped laughing, clearing her throat, "It's literally straight ahead. Assuming by how strong the sense is, it should be pretty easy to find."
Drakkar kept his frown at her before hearing the loud and aggressive stomps of Zephyr behind him. He glanced back and saw Zephyr carrying the sleeping Densetsu.
"This sense is rather strong..." Zephyr muttered as he proceeded on, passing Drakkar.
He followed the dragon through the trees that had created a leaf wall. Behind the leaf wall, it was an open field, but the trees were burned down, a big hole was in the middle. It was like there was a huge explosion in this area recently.
"What happened here?" Drakkar asked as he looked down the hole, seeing as the flowers already started to bloom out of the damaged dirt below.
"This is not the work of a mere man," Zephyr said.
"You mean a dragon could have done this?"
"Precisely. This looks like the work of Septimus."
Drakkar blinked his eyes as he looked down the hole again, but immediately across from the hole, standing on the grass another dragon stood. It was surely Septimus. She had white scales, two orange horns on the top of her head. She was a lot smaller than Zephyr and Bastion, from what Drakkar had seen in the past. But he couldn't deny that damage this great was not impressive.
"Zephyr..." Septimus sneered, glancing at Drakkar and Densetsu who was still asleep on his back. Her eyes narrowed in disgust.
"I-It's not what it looks like, Septimus! They forced me into a pact!" Zephyr shouted, sounding a little embarrassed with his whiny voice.
"You lost to a couple of humans?"
"No... I lost to a Machina."
Septimus puffed a large mass of black smoke at Zephyr.
"He's got capabilities! He can overcome and control his rage inside. No mere mortal can even dream of doing such!"
She glared over at Drakkar, and quickly sniffed the air around him, as she exhaled another wave of black smoke at him. He coughed immediately and waved his hand around his face to force the smoke away. She nodded her head.
"I agree, I do sense something about him. But might I ask why you are associating with something so dark and powerful in the first place?" She asked.
"I have to ask how you woke up from your eternal sleep. Bastion and I woke up with this strange rage inside of us." Zephyr asked, seemingly concerned.
"It's this world. It's a lot more corrupted than I ever imagined it would become. It was a mistake sleeping that long, it's my fault." She admitted, her head looked down as she became upset.
Drakkar crossed his arms and watched the two dragons talk to each other. It seemed like they haven't spoken to each other in years, decades even. He didn't care much about the amount of emotion Septimus showed, or how much affection Zephyr showed toward Septimus. Was it possible for the Dragoona to care for one another? He let that question wither away as he looked up at Septimus.
"Now that you're awake, what are you to do?" Drakkar asked.
"We are to restore the world's order and create the New World. But... Where is Bastion?" She explained, questioning soon after.
"He must've gone off with some other Humans. I sense another pact has been done." Zephyr answered.
"I sensed him here, that's why I arrived. Though, I fear I would've attacked him on sight like you two did. If one of us were to die off, then the New World could not be materialized."
Drakkar grunted as he grew a slight headache listening to the two dragons discuss their matters.
"T-Then why don't we go find him? With your senses put together, there's no doubt you'll find him!" Drakkar shouted, sounding a bit frustrated with them.
Zephyr and Septimus both glanced at each other, alarmed by Drakkar's shouting. But Septimus nodded her head and closed her eyes.
"We must. We must find him, that's the only reason we're awake now, I suppose." She said.
"Wait-" Drakkar said as the dragons looked around for a sense of Bastion. "Before going on, we need to be on the same page."
"Excuse me?" Septimus questioned him, frowning.
"I own Zephyr, I order him around. If you dare attempt to take him away or force him to d
o as you say, I'll kill you." He threatened her. "I don't care for this New World you speak of either, so I won't even go easy on you."
Septimus' eyes go down as he spoke, but she eventually looked over at Zephyr as he did not want to look at either of them. She sensed his emotion at that moment, he was ashamed of himself for being in a pact with a mere mortal. A being who wishes to mimic a pathetic race such as Humans. She felt that Drakkar was powerful, but she still felt that his power was not great enough to control a Dragoona, a being close in comparison as a God.
She looked around with Zephyr, jolting her head to the left quickly.
"I sense a strong presence to the west. Maybe toward The Land of Ruin?" Septimus asked, looking to Zephyr for his opinion.
He nodded as Drakkar jumped on top of his back. Septimus nodded her head as well as she created a big gust of the wind beneath them, big and powerful enough to lift both dragons into the air. She flapped her wings and sped her way toward the direction, with Zephyr following close behind her.
Verse XV
Drenawx
A strange sound came forth as the large white block emerged from the silence of the healing waters. It stopped, as a door was seen in front of the block. It was see-through, as they could see a dark figure standing there calmly. White fog steamed out the door, whilst the door opened slowly, it opened from the middle with both sides sliding open from left and right. Nova narrowed her eyes to glance inside, she seemed rather interested in the mechanism of the white block. Same with Atreyu, as he had never seen such mechanisms before. It was almost like it was futuristic.
A white boot stepped out of the fog, as more of the body of the unknown person was revealed as he stepped out of the white block. It definitely was a man. He wore a white lab coat, everything he wore actually was white. But he had short black hair, with a few of his bangs to cover his forehead. Nova also made sure to look into his eyes as he looked at her, he had normal blue eyes.
He smiled as he held his hand to his back in a manner way. He made his way to Nova.
"Nova! It is good to finally see you again!" The man shouted, looking enthusiastic.
Nova tilted her head slightly as she glanced at Atreyu, seeing him shrug his shoulder- hinting to her that he did not know who he is.