|
|
t was on Thursday, during the lunch rush hour, when Luna realized she had to go save the world.
Most people have a limited form of psychic power. Usually they can get a pang that says 'you left the iron on', or 'it's a good time to write a letter home', or 'maybe Fluffy needs more food and water'. It's all just a matter of what your common, every day activities are, the things that resonate best with you. For Luna, it was being a savior of mankind. She wasn't the least bit surprised when she was busy jotting down an order for spare ribs, and the thought occurred to her, 'maybe it's time to go save the world.'
It didn't feel very urgent, so she made sure to finish her sweeps through the restaurant, and collect her tips. She returned to the kitchen, took off her apron, and calmly informed her employer that she had to go prevent the end of the world.
"Again?" he asked.
"Yup," Luna said. "Timing's bad, I know..."
"The renovations on the tea room are almost done," he noted. "We're going to need our best staff to cover them, give the right impression for opening day... are you sure it can't wait?"
"Ceipheed's calling," Luna said gravely. "Personally."
"That deep, huh," the manager said, stroking his cheesy beard. (His wife liked it on him, but he really hated keeping it trimmed, Luna knew.) "I guess it's unavoidable. When do you think you'll be back?"
"If I succeed, soon," Luna said. "If not... ya'know. I'll need Ang."
"Oh, you can have HER," the manager prompted, in the tone of voice he always reserved for discussing the restaurant's latest employee. "I was thinking of firing her anyway. ...with your permission, of course. I mean, she drops dishes, gets orders wrong, and the staff... well, she depresses them."
"Ang's having some probs," Luna said. "Phase. She'll grow outta."
"I know how that is, I know how that is," the manager repeated, as he often did when trying to show his ethos. "You know Rennie, my daughter, right? She's into that whole teenage angst thing right now. Perfectly miserable around the house. But Angela's a grown woman..."
"Not 'xactly," Luna shrugged. "Let's say she hadda grow up recently. Fast."
Dragons aren't supposed to dream. At the very least, they do not dream as humans do; they know their dreams mean something, visions brought on by their highly magical natures. It's reported that Mazoku are similar... but they probably only have nightmares. Which would explain a few things to Angela. All she'd been having since her.. accident were nightmares.
She tried to simply get less sleep to avoid them, but this never worked. It meant she'd simply be drained of energy during the day, prone to napping or spacing out... and then the nightmares were worse, because they weren't the easily ignored, heavy duty visions. They were faint glimpses of horrors and terrors. It was all the usual stuff... the Councils of Dragons denouncing her, accusing her of her sins -- sins she couldn't deny any more.
She worked with the Mazoku. She sought glory for herself, and power. She put the creed of the Dragons, the preservation of all life, and placed it off to the side in favor of her own goals. Finally, she allowed a Mazoku to 'heal' her... cursing her body with a Mazoku's leathery bat wing, mismatching her own angelic bird's wing. Sure, she could make these wings vanish when she wanted, but they were always there, under her mental skin...
And oh, did they surface in dreams. Again and again, seeing the tainted form they represented. A constant stream of self loathing and lucid understanding, seeing what she always told herself she wasn't played out before her, torn from her by Nightmare himself, before Lina destroyed the horrible creature... Angela was a hypocrite, a liar, a sneak, a glutton, a fool...
A check pad bounced off her forehead, waking her up.
"Oi, Angs," Luna called from across the restaurant. "Wakey."
"I was just resting my eyes," Angela lied. She could identify and catalogue every lie now, instead of glossing them over...
"Lyin'," Luna said, recognizing. "S'okay, though. Gotta get sleep somehow, yannow?"
Angela sighed, slumping. "What do you want? I'm not on shift for another hour..."
"Shift's over," Luna said. "Ceipheed needs us."
A perk ran up Angela's spine. "What? The King of Dragons?"
"Only Ceipheed I know," Luna smirked. "C'mon."
"What does he want with me? Haven't I paid enough for my sins? What--"
"Cool it," Luna said, cutting her off. "Gonna sprain yer tongue. S'nothing bad. C'mon."
Angela straightened herself as best as she could, instincts to carry herself like royalty kicking in as she fell in step next to Luna. "Where exactly IS Ceipheed?... if you don't mind me asking. None of the Dragons seem to know, after all..."
"Oh, he's downstairs," Luna said.
Angela paused in her tracks.
"Excuse me, but I could swear you said--"
"Basement," Luna nodded.
"What is the most powerful god of righteousness doing in the basement of a three star restaurant?!" Angela gaped.
"Recovering."
In the basement, there was a half-filled wine rack with vintages from a whole three months ago. There were preserved cheeses, some of which were home to a vast number of rats. Dust. Cobwebs. A single hanging lamp, with a light spell Luna put there to save the manager some money on lamp oil. It did not look like the home to the king of Dragons.
Granted, there was that gigantic locked oaken door, but none of the staff ever took notice of it. Even Angela hadn't; it surprised her when they descended into the familiar basement, and there it was... as if the light simply hadn't fallen on it before, or it had blended into the wine rack, or Angela's memory simply skipped over...
"S'okay," Luna said, studying Angela. "I put a spell onnit. Basic ignore-me."
"Oh.." Angela said, totally unfamiliar with that spell. "I see. That makes sense."
Luna produced the key to the door, probably the only key that existed and probably not made of any naturally occurring metal, and unlocked the door. It opened undramatically into a dark room, and she walked right through. Angela proceeded a few steps behind, hesitatingly...
It was hard to identify where the walls were. There was barely any light at all, the dim light from the cellar stopping just a foot or two short of the open door; not nearly enough to be of any use. Angela kept very still, fearful of stepping into some void she could not recognize.
Luna recited the incantation.
"Yo, Ceph," she called. "I see ya."
And a light winked into existence, a light which had always been there; simply inactive. It was like a tiny blue spark of energy, reflecting off a great ocean of water, an ocean which couldn't conceivably fit down here.
The spark was Ceipheed.
It has been a long time, Ceipheed said, a voice that spoke directly into Angela's mind, in her native dialect. It was a gentle, ringing voice, like the chiming of a small bell.
"Yeah," Luna agreed. "Wazzup?"
The end times have begun. I can feel the pangs of future troubles, Ceipheed said, with concern. I cannot take the helm of the Dragons. I am too weak after the previous war... however, I have planned ahead for this occurrence.
"Groovy."
What?
"N'ever mind, g'wan."
You are my plan, my Knight. This is not a quest any of my children could do alone, but a human... a human posesses the chaos that could swing the tide in favor of eternal, sustained Life. There is no war in the classical sense, but there is a battle of great import to win. You have much to do.
"'kay. What's the score?"
The light flared one moment, reflecting in Luna's eyes... despite her eyes being closed, underneath those waves of bangs.
"Oh, 'kay," she said, recognizing whatever transmission Ceipheed gave her. "Gonna bring Angs. Cool?"
Angela's throat seized, as she felt the eyes of Ceipheed scan her soul.
She is not a Dragon, he proclaimed. She is a half-breed. I see no value in regards to the plan for humanity's future.
There's nothing quite like being told by your personal god that you are a lesser being. Angela's shoulders slumped lower than they had all day.
But Luna's look hardened. "You got a plan, I got a plan. Angs's crucial. You wanna write'r off, I'll skip out too."
Ceipheed was taken aback by this, as far as it was possible for the god of goodness to seem reproachful. Do you not have faith in me, Luna Inverse? he asked.
"Sure thing," Luna smiled. "S'long as you got faith in me. We're tight. Trust me."
The light of Ceipheed, business complete, winked out. In the faint after images, like staring directly at a lamp for too long, Angela could swear she saw the faint outline of the largest, most beautiful dragon she could imagine... sleeping and undisturbed.
Preparing for the journey was a task.
Angela normally wouldn't even consider heading out into the world without her full wardrobe, magically stored and summonable at a moment's notice. Her evening gowns, ballroom dresses, tasteful business garb and so on... but she hadn't worn any of it since her change. It didn't feel right, like she was flaunting her previous structure of egotistical lies...
She settled on some ordinary, store-bought casual clothes that would be suitable for road travel. But she couldn't bring herself to pick anything that wasn't color coordinated.
A knock on the door of her cheap, rented apartment roused her attention from packing. It was Luna, still in her waitress's uniform.
"You're going on a quest in that?" Angela asked, confused.
"'course," Luna said. "S'enough."
"Where are your bags? Presumably stored between worlds, as mine are, yes?"
"No bags," Luna said, shaking her head. "Don't need 'em. You ready?"
Angela glanced at the pile of luggage she was preparing with a hint of shame. And that was her trying to be minimalist and humble.
"I'm ready," she said, looking back to Luna and ignoring the pile of stuff. "Let's just go."
"What 'bout your stuff?"
"You said I don't need it, yes?"
"I don't," Luna corrected. "You're not me. What happened to yer dresses?"
"They're not appropriate anymore," Angela simply stated.
Somewhere behind her hairdo, Luna's eyes were thoughtful, studying the half-Dragon. Logic twisted through her head, modifying and changing plans...
"'kay, I get it," she said. "I can handle. Mmm. Let's go pick 'im up."
"'im who?" Angela asked.
Luna told her.
"Oh, bugger," Angela groaned.
ugger wasn't very hard to find, in that Luna seemed to know exactly where to find him without any of that middleman activity of 'searching' or even 'thinking about it'. Naturally, Angela asked how she managed the trick, and naturally, she wasn't saying. He was being assassinated successfully at the time, but a timely intervention left him with only a dismembered arm, which to a Mazoku wasn't much of an injury. He was already able to flex it a little after reattaching it with some black healing. This might have been a good sign if not for Luna's casual mission briefing.
"Gonna end everything," she had said. "Ceipheed's orders."
Oh, and that the Knight of Shaburanigdo would probably try to stop them. Then she said she had to go shopping, ordered them to wait at a pleasant sidewalk cafe, and left them to engage in polite conversation.
"Damn thing's aching me," Bugger complained, moving his elbow around. "You Dragons got it lucky. Your healing isn't designed to make you feel like death warmed over after it's done, or cause cancers or festering warts or anything. Just lick, boom, split, done.."
"Don't talk to me about healing," Angela said. Not in one of those starter ways that lets you launch off on a tirade, but a straight request with a hint of malice.
Bugger looked funny at her. "I take it you're still pissed?"
"Of course.... no. I'm not angry anymore," Angela said, any embers burning dying out before they could get started. "There's no point to being angry. The Dragons call me a half-breed, and they're right. Maybe it's all thanks to you and your bungling, but what's done is done, and now I just have to live with it."
"Bungling?!" Bugger said. "That's a right insult to my work, that is. You'd have been kicking it in the great golden hoard in the sky if not for me, I'll have you know. That Nightmare bastard did a number on you."
"At least I would have died for the Dragon cause," Angela sighed, wistfully. "A suitable stopping point. It would have been true glory..."
"I remember you sayin' that last time, gel, and I don't buy it now either," Bugger said, spitting in his coffee for emphasis before taking a sip. "No such thing as a glorious death. You just get a little wet squelch and it's done. Was hoping you'd figure out that little lesson after what I did."
"And this is preferable?" she asked. "Perhaps they're hidden now, but those wings are forever to mark me. You should have just left me to die there. You know what I've been doing with Luna? Waitressing. A common servant, underneath one who was an unofficial enemy to me in the past! This isn't much better than your little wet squelch."
"Now you're talkin' like ME," Bugger said. "I don't like that. Ought to get a patent on pessimism, see that I don't. So shut yer yap, gel, and drink your damn coffee. You don't even have any style to that sort of depression. Any idiot can do suicidal whining. 'Oh, waah, waah, my life blows. Better off de'd.' But it takes a master like me to do DOOM with a capital OO."
"Oh really?" Angela asked, leaning over the table slightly. "Well then, Mr. Doom, what to you soothsay about this expedition that Lunatic has us on?"
"Easy," Bugger said, leaning back in his chair and grinning. "We're going to be destroyed, possibly slowly and with a great deal of agony. She'll use us as bait, fodder or shields while going about her higher purpose. And what's more, if she's really mean, she'll toss us at the Knight of Shaburanigdo. You haven't met Lara, have you? I met her a few times. A right vicious little twat, she is. I'd hazard to say she's actually more deviously inventive and sadistic than any six Mazoku, possibly even on par with that git Xelloss... what's more, if those hints of horrible things ahead weren't bad enough, Luna's said straight up she intends to end the world. Dragons! Ending the world! Don't that take all? Can't be a good thing if life's come to that. So, take your Luna factor, your Lara factor and your End of the World, Mazoku War Getting Into Full Swing factors and add 'em up. Answer's obvious. Yes, Ms. Angstela, we're quite doomed. Smoke 'em if you got 'em."
Angela tapped her fingers together, slowly digesting Bugger's report.
"Then why are you staying here, and not running for the horizon?" she asked.
"I'm a glutton for punishment," Bugger admitted. "Besides, it'll probably be more interesting meeting the apocalypse with you than it would be hiding in a smelly basement, avoiding the Beastmaster's vice squad."
A thick silence ensued. Angela ran her finger around the rim of her cup, in thought... Bugger sipped his nasty coffee, as the milk had curdled and sugar had turned to jelly simply because of who he was.
Angela broke the silence. "If you knew you'd end up like this, would you still have agreed to team up?"
"Eh? Wot?" Bugger asked.
"Back when we were trying to stop Lina Inverse. Would you have done anything differently?"
He thought about it for a few moments, but shook his head. "Naah. Probably wasn't a good way out of that mess. Lina had too much destiny rollin' behind her. Too much momentum. Separate or together, we wouldn't 'ave been able to stop that."
"But separate, we wouldn't have gotten into all this trouble..."
"Brighten up, dammit," Bugger suggested. "I'm supposed to be the naysayer. Where's that Luna twit, anyway? We need to get this show on the--"
Luna appeared.
"'ello," she said, smiling. "Ready?"
"Where are the things you bought?" Angela asked.
"Gotta hurry," Luna said. "Let's fly."
She didn't bother to tell them she was just watching them discuss while disguised as their waiter. After all, they wouldn't understand why.
Luna decided to brief them in-flight, over the central ocean, once they were at least three hundred miles from the nearest shore. The reasons became obvious.
"Gonna assault the Dragon University," Luna explained, never losing her grin. "Raid the archives. Steal an artifact from maximum security."
"You're suicidal, aren't you?" Bugger asked. "The Du is built over the ruins of Wetlantis. Center of the ocean. They'll see us coming from miles away, not to mention the fact that every hotheaded Dragon adolescent brat being educated there will be more than willing to tear us... or at least, me, to shreds on sight. I doubt they'll be very happy to see Angela, either."
"I remember the University..." Angela said. "It is very, very secure. That is where Dragons are trained in the arts of logic and debate, in magical arts and culture."
"And fighting," Bugger added.
"Yes, and fighting. As well as the social graces befitting one of my race, and the ancient heritage and customs thereof--"
"And fighting."
"YES, and fighting."
"Just figured it was worth mentioning twice," Bugger said, "Considering we're going to be doing a bloody lot of it. Place is armed to the teeth and locked tighter than Angela's thighs."
The half-Dragon bristled at the comment.
"S'important," Luna explained. "Lock of Order's there. Ceipheed wants it."
"And why, praytell?" Angela asked. "No, no. Don't bother. You rarely answer any other questions we have. Just expecting us to follow your orders, marching blindly into--"
"The Lock of Order is part of a device of phenomenal power," Luna said, dropping her quirky tone. "The ultimate power, the most important things in the world, in existence since the dawn of the universe for the sole purpose to end it. Already the Mazoku have recovered parts of this device. They're going to use it to destroy the world. If the Dragon plan of life's preservation is to have any weight, we need to compete for the parts of the device as well. Ceipheed has allied with its maker to see to it that all life will go on, despite the end. You two will help me in gaining the Lock for Ceipheed."
The trio flew in silence.
"Y'know?" Luna added, in her usual tone, to cap off her words.
"I think I preferred it when she was being glib," Bugger muttered under his breath.
"So... this truly is a holy mission for Cephieed-sama?" Angela asked, quietly.
"A-yup."
Bugger glanced over, studying Angela's facial expression. "You can cut that hopeful look. Ceipheed's not gonna forgive you for the stunts we pulled and mystically transform you back into another prissy little Dragon. This isn't going to work. If--"
"Shut up," Angela said.
"Fine, fine. Ignore the Bugger. Just trying to keep you from coming crashing down when this goes wrong," Bugger warned. He turned, to look at Luna. "Knight of Shaburanigdo. You said that before. So where's the Knight of the Lord of Nightmares in this mess? Where's your adorable little brat of a sister fit into the whole scheme of things?"
Luna paused.
"Dunno," she admitted. "Ceipheed didn't say. Guess I'll find out."
Dragon University did not built itself, nor did the Dragons build it.
Nobody knows exactly who did. It was always assumed some ancient tribe of Dragons constructed the spires and peaks, since only a Dragon could achieve such elegance of design, such functionality inside the sphere of beauty. Most of it was in ruins, but repairs were easy, once the structure had been reclaimed as a rightful possession.
Okay, some people thought some ancient humans built it, but nobody honestly believes that. Even if there are no places to perch and the doors are pretty small and the primitive yet complicated wall paintings depicted human shapes.
The previous civilization left no records, and the location was dubbed Wetlantis after a few folk legends of a city floating in the center of the ocean. Nowadays, however, it was simply the Dragon University, converted, retooled and rebuilt for that purpose. It was wall to wall Dragons, gold, green, blue, red, but mostly gold. Wizened elders, brash youths, servants, every range of the Dragon spectrum.
The group had to approach from underwater to even come close without avoiding detection.
"First, they'll probably torture some information out of me," Bugger whined. "Oh, sure, they're a wise and enlightened race, although against us evil little Mazoku bastards, anything goes... no matter that I've been kicked OUT of the Mazoku, no, they'll just assume I'm being devious and sinister and lying, so--"
"How do we approach?" Angela asked. (She had teamed closely with Luna, ever since seeing a glimmer of hope... and thus had tried to keep her flawed wing hidden away as much as possible, relying on basic magic to fly, as crude as that was.)
"Gonna go in the door," Luna said, pointing to the oversized brass gates, stamped with huge DU letters.
"The front door?" Bugger asked. "The front-bloody-DOOR? Are you insane, woman?"
"C'mon, let's go," Luna said, standing up, and marching across the surface of the water, towards the ivory steps.
Angela fell in stride next to Luna immediately, walking proudly. "Come on, Bugger. Clearly she won't allow harm to come to you."
Nervous, Bugger withdrew from hiding, and kept behind the women. "I got a bad feeling about this."
"You ALWAYS have a bad feeling about this."
"I mean it this time," Bugger said. "It smells. And I'm not complaining. I just don't like it."
Pausing at the feet of the steps, Luna grabbed hold of the massive door knocker with magical weaves of power, and slammed it repeatedly against the door. Until it snapped off, and came crashing to the steps, cracking the stone under a solid ton of metallic impact.
"Way to be subtle," Bugger mumbled.
The doors opened shortly after, with a team of guard-Dragons, shifted into full reptilian form and ready for conflict. A pair of humanoid-form Dragons walked with them, one quite old, with a traditional well groomed beard of station, with appropriate robes -- the other wearing a full set of human armor, and probably no older than any of the students.
"I am the Dean of Dragon University, Umias," the old man announced. "And this is my security officer Jedal. We saw your undersea approach more than an hour ago."
"Oh, hell," Bugger wheezed.
"Figured," Luna said, grinning. "Good ta see ya. On a mission from Ceipheed."
"You are not welcome!" Jedal barked, in a voice that did not command respect, but could have commanded someone to pass the salt. "You scolded the Dragons and sided with the forces of chaos. You rejected our noble ways and teachings! You--"
"I'm afraid word travels fast of your exploits, Luna Inverse-san," Umias said, raising a hand to halt his eager beaver second in command. "We have been instructed not to assist you until a Council can judge if you are fit to continue holding your office, in light of recent events..."
"Oh, s'easy," Luna said. "I brought the traitors. Wannem? Let's clear the record."
"Traitors?" Angela asked, puzzled.
"The half-breed and the Mazoku worm," Jedal said to his superior. "They are wanted for crimes. I will take them into custody, and--"
"Not without my approval," Umias reminded him.
An uneasy pause fell over the group, unsure whether to pounce the newcomers or greet them.
"No.. no, wait," Angela said, interrupting. "I'm here with Luna on a holy mission. We seek penance through labors towards the--"
"It's Ceipheed's will to exchange them," Luna said, serious tones sneaking back into her voice.
Umias breathed a heavy, old sigh. "Take them."
Bugger, who had already started preparing a few moments before Luna even muttered the word 'Traitors', launched an attack of black energy, and the battle was in full swing.
Of course, a war of eight fully powered gold Dragons against one Mazoku isn't much of a battle. Maybe with a Dragon half-breed in the mix, some sort of escape with minor injuries could be managed... but Angela wasn't moving. She was too shocked to even consider lifting a finger, watching in horror as the troops subdued Bugger quite painfully... then none too courteiously restrained her. Her!
"Well, Knight... what would you have us do with them now?" Umias asked. "We are a school, not an armed jail."
Luna shrugged. "Dispose of the Mazoku, detain the half-Dragon. Not hard, she'll submit. Council'll sort her out, dead or alive."
Umias looked down. "Jedal, make it so. As she said."
"Luna!!" Angela protested, as she was dragged into the building. "What do you think you're doing!? You said..."
And Luna smiled at her. Not Luna's usual smile, but a devious, tricky one. A secretive one. And then everything went black, as the Dragons put a sleep enchantment over her.
he University was abuzz. Prisoners! They had prisoners! Legendary criminals of the week!
"Serves them right, thinking they could assault the Dragon University," one particularly school-spirited Dragon said. "We'll put that Mazoku out of its misery."
"Maybe the other one can be saved."
"I doubt it. She's been corrupted, from what I heard. Let one of her wings go to darkness."
"So? Forms are mutable. Natures aren't."
"What about the Knight? I heard she told a Council to screw off! How can they stand for that?"
"She brought in the criminals."
"I don't trust her. Humans are too weird. They've got no moral decency! Killing each other off like they do and causing hurt and harm randomly..."
"Do you think they'll let us watch them execute the Mazoku?"
"Will this be on the test?"
And from on high, the Dean of Dragon University watched students running around the campus quad. He looked down on them with a mixed expression.
"The fountains are lovely," he said, voice crackled with old age.
"Mmhmm," Luna agreed.
"We didn't make those, you know. They're Wetlantis original. But the children love them so. It's rather peaceful. But we didn't make them."
"Mmhmm."
"Not a very peaceful day, however," Umias noted, turning away from the window, to look across his study at the human. "What with the tidings you bring."
"Mmhmm."
"You've put my campus in an uproar," he continued, faintly annoyed. "There's talk among the students of finding where we put the Mazoku, and ending him themselves. Violence from the tongues of babes. I've even had to put Angela under guard... for her protection rather than for guarding her."
"Strange days," Luna shrugged.
"I should simply have the three of you escorted off campus immediately, possibly to a proper Council," Umias noted.
"...willya?"
"No.." Umias said, sinking into his padded office chair. "No. Jedal will handle it. I'm an old Dragon, Luna Inverse. Best let the young ones handle affairs. They'll be the leaders once I'm gone, after all. Ceipheed's will that life go on, regardless of death..."
"A-yup."
Unable to tolerate any more one-worded responses, Umias took a leap. "Do you ever lose faith in Ceipheed?"
"No."
"I have," he continued. "I have thought things that put my faith in question. The new Dragons are not... they are not what I would call ideal. I was there when the Gold Dragons committed genocide on the Ancient Dragons, you know. I was young. We slaughtered them so that our place in the hierarchy was assured, all justified under the plan that life must go on. It was only a LITTLE death, we reasoned. The Ancients were stale and unable to defend us during the War, we could do so much better if they would have let us have a chance..."
"I know th'history," Luna said.
"The history doesn't say much about the aftermath," Umias stated. "Because Gold Dragons wrote the history as the victors. But we changed, most of us, the leaders of the assaults. We realized our mistakes, how we might have destroyed our kind in the infighting, the futility of warring... perhaps the coming of Xelloss was our penance. He nearly wiped out the Gold Dragons. Singlehandedly, even... was Ceipheed punishing us? Was it a coincidence?"
"Stuff happens."
"It will happen again!" Umias said. "Already, a Mazoku war runs. A repeat event! When this one fights to a stalemate -- as they always have despite the glory of Ceipheed and the natural assumption that good wins over evil -- what then? Will another kind say the Gold Dragons have done poorly, and destroy us? Will the Mazoku see this new generation as a threat and send another hunter? The students are brash and foolhardy. The whole new generation is!"
"Kids," Luna said. "What can ya do?"
"You can have faith in Ceipheed, that life will be preserved and the flame of life never will be extinguished..." Umias recited. He inhaled deeply. "If you still believe that."
"You don't?"
"Realize that I cannot tell another Dragon this," Umias said. "If someone like Jedal knew my faith was not the unswerving zealot's stance most Dragons today have, my position as Dean would be compromised..."
"Then why tell me?"
Umias paused, his scattered thoughts reassembling. His furor returning to the calm depression he held upon first meeting Luna.
"You are Ceipheed's right hand," Umias said. "I don't know. Perhaps... perhaps I wished you could give me some assurance. I need to know that my fears are unfounded. Tell me, as a prophet or a warrior or whatever your role is. A human you may be, but right now, I trust you more than I would most Dragons."
Luna sat back, thinking about it. Umias stared at the Knight of Ceipheed, at this strange little human who seemed to hold such power... a simple girl, but with such confidence! Confidence he wished he had. A confidence that was not as frightening as the looks of absolute devotion he saw in the eyes of other Dragons.
"One way or another, life will go on," Luna said, speaking with an edge of holy reverence. An edge of prophecy. "By Ceipheed's hand and by the hands of several others. I state now and forever that the best laid plans will lead indirectly to the proper conclusions. Everything is flawed and whole with cause and effect. Thus, all measures taken to achieve the goals and subgoals of Dragonkind will lead to peace regardless. Final, resolute, intended peace, identified or not, under the grace of the Lord of Nightmares. That is what will happen."
"I.. I don't understand," Umias said. "Do you mean that Ceipheed is wrong? Is He right? What does He intend?"
"He's wrong for the right reasons and right for the wrong ones," Luna said, looking directly at Umias from underneath her heavy bangs. A brief flare of the blue light of Ceipheed flashed in her eyes... no, it was golden. A wobbling, chaotic spark. "I will be guided as his hand and I will contribute as ordered. Be it a puzzle piece or a puzzle, the picture will be unified at last. Aid me."
"Anything," Umias agreed. Without question.
"I need the Lock."
"The what?"
Luna's posture relaxed, her voice slurring back into form. "Y'know. Silvery. Lock-shaped. Artifact."
Umias grasped for the conversation, still unable to shake the tingle from his spine of the future-reading. "Artifacts... they are kept in the museum. West wing. But the lock.. no Dragon can touch it without incredible pain. We have had it guarded, as it seems to be of import, but... listen, that artifact was here in Wetlantis before we arrived, just sitting in a room, as if someone had dropped it into the universe at random, very long ago. We don't know what it is."
"I do," Luna said. "Fork it over."
"It's not as easy as that," Umias said. "There will be questions -- politics. Why we gave it to a human. You are under question, even if you have given us the two traitors... listen, Jedal may not approve of this move, and he does have sway in the student body, so... it's not that easy. Maybe if I work it over in an impromptu Council, in a few days--"
"Too long."
"I could try to simply authorize your taking of it as an emergency measure under the grace of Ceipheed, but not everybody here believes that you are Ceipheed's voice. I suppose if you worked fast enough... although there may be pursuit if it is agreed that it was the wrong thing..."
"Umias.."
"Maybe if I--"
"Umias!"
The elder Dragon startled, as Luna... chuckled. There was a joke going on, and only she got the punchline.
"Sit, relax," she suggested. "Chill. Already got plans workin'."
"Plans? Is this.. is this part of Ceipheed's will?"
"Naw," Luna said. "It's mine."
"Got a smoke, mate?"
"Silence, dog!!"
Now THAT was uncalled for.
Granted, Bugger had been having the worst day he'd had in a long time since the last worst day he'd had in a long time (yesterday). And yes, he was captured by his enemies (one set of them) and was probably going to be killed within a matter of hours, or given his luck, minutes. He was trapped in a deep, nasty little cell in the storage basement of the Dragon University, where they still had rats and mold. To top it all off, his hands were bound behind his back using restraints made of painfully strong white magic.
But despite all this, maybe he was just allowing a small bit of hope, but he figured asking for a cigarette wasn't out of the question.
"Come on, I'm not going to live long enough to enjoy it properly," Bugger said.
"Dragons don't smoke," Jedal, captain of the guard said in a nasty tone. "It's a filthy, health-destroying habit."
"I know. That's the point. Spare a light?"
"You're going to be executed," the Dragon reminded him.
"At least it'll be a change of pace from almost being killed," Bugger said.
"Doesn't this worry you at all?"
"Figured it'd happen sooner or later," Bugger said. "Just got to expect it. Wake up one morning, oh no, probably going to die today. Go to bed, figure, well, maybe tomorrow."
"You're not like other Mazoku I've met," the Dragon said, keeping up the angry tone instead of switching to a curious one. "They would gratefully die for the glory of Shaburanigdo, their foul demon king! At least they had some spirit to them, unlike you, spineless maggot!"
"Nothing glorious about death," Bugger muttered. "Some people like to be martyrs for their causes, but I don't. Oh, they say, how tragic and noble, let us be inspired by his messy end to do whatever deed we want to do! Where does it get the actual martyr? Dead. Can't even bloody enjoy it, because 'e's dead. No point whatsoever."
Jedal snorted. "Better to put you out of your obvious misery, then."
Bugger squatted. Not much choice. "Rather obvious, is it?"
"You Mazoku are a predictable lot."
He didn't respond to the crack. Thinking had set in, and once you get around to a serious bout of thinking, it's hard to stop.
This is exactly how he'd behave, wasn't it? Get tossed into the worst case situation, expecting it all along, and whine and stew in it like he usually did. Eventually, he'd be destroyed, without much protest. Luna must have predicted he'd do it. She knew he'd be a pushover, nudged directly into a grave. And Angela...
The half-Dragon had hit hard times, certainly. Mopey. Depressive. No self esteem. Just like him. How would she act when she was betrayed? Probably sulk a lot and wait to be convicted and sentenced by the Dragons. Just like he was. AGAIN she was going to act like him! Of all the...!
Luna was expecting them to roll over and die, to raise her standing with those stinking lizards. That's why she used them. They'd do just what she wanted.
"Bloody hell," Bugger said aloud. "That BITCH!"
"Silence, you--"
"You have NO idea how much that pisses me off," Bugger shouted at Jedal. "Why should I sit here and do what she wants? She wants the perfect pessimist, does she?"
Jedal got a white ball of fire ready. "Be quiet, or I'll--"
That's when Bugger opted to shift to his true Mazoku form. The fireball winked out, its owner quite terrified.
As he should be. Bugger, in full 'glory', stood tall and wide, a walking lump of waxy slime and dirt in a shredded trenchcoat. He had a blob of pus for a head, and eyes that floated in bloodshot agony. It snapped through the restraints without much of a thought. Could've done that at any time, he thought to himself. But she wasn't expecting me to.
"I don't think I wanna BE the perfect pessimist today," he slurped, in a voice like raspy flesh on shrapnel. "Or maybe even ever again. Not if it's gonna make me this easy a mark to be used. Bugger THAT. Now beat it, kid. I gotta score to settle with the Lunatic."
"You.. you won't get past me!!" Jedal squeaked in a mousy voice. "I will stop you, even if it means my death!"
The Mazoku picked Jedal up by his head, and smashed him against the ceiling.
"Unoriginal little blighter," Bugger gurgled. "Think I'll be especially nasty to you on general principles. Ought to learn a lesson..."
Jedal spat up a wad of blood, glaring. "Fine, then! Destroy me, you foul worm!"
"Ohhh, that's not what I meant," the Mazoku said, flooding one gooey hand with black energy. "Rather the opposite..."
The first explosion to be felt in the Dean's Office was a pretty good one. It had that earth-shaking feel to it, a low hum that you can feel in the ancient stones, followed by enough yelling to be heard even from that distance.
Umias set down his tea, looking concerned. "What was..."
"Heh."
Luna rose, straightening her waitress uniform. The elder Dragon looked at her, confused.
"What's going on?" he asked. "Do you know of this?"
"Just plans," Luna said. "Sorry for the mess, gramps."
"What are you talking about?!"
Luna paused. "Do you trust me?"
"I already said I did!"
"Groovy," Luna grinned, big and wide, and possibly a little mean. "You won't get in trouble! Gonna steal the Lock. Not your fault I backstabbed ya, right? Gotta go now. Thanks for the tea. Later."
"But--"
In a flash of white light, Luna was gone.
Umias stared at the space she was previously occupying. He swallowed, hard.
"I hope my faith was well put," he said to himself. "In you and Ceipheed."
His door burst open, the unfamiliar form of Jedal staggering in, clutching at his misshapen arm.
"Sir!!" he wailed. "The Mazoku escaped! It's horrible! He's... he's..."
"Oh, no.." Umias said. "Casualties? The students?"
"No," Jedal said, showing his arm. "He's... healing them, sir.. oh, Ceipheed!! Don't look at me!"
"Stop that," Umias ordered. "Go and rustle up the guard. ALL of it, tainted or not. I want them in full arms and attention to stop the Mazoku. And... pull the guards out of the museum as well, we need all the manpower we have."
Angela's cell was considerably more up-scale. She was at least half-Dragon, after all, and that entailed some comforts.
She was kept in a simple unoccupied dormitory room. There wasn't a lock on the door, and the window had no bars. The guard was there to keep others from coming IN, and the walls weren't even very thick. But regardless, she was held as fast as if she was chained to a fifty ton rock.
The only person in the world who had given her a fair shake after her accident had turned on her. Any worth she might have had to the Dragons was gone. Motivation was, as a result, the last thing on her mind, content to just lie there on a stiff college bed, and wait for whatever was to happen to her.
There was some commotion in the hall, but Angela didn't stir. Didn't even register the noise. Took no notice of her door being blown to component atoms, and the Mazoku walking in to meet her.
Bugger downshifted back to a humanoid form, and waved a hand over Angela's open eyes. "'ey, gel. You drugged or something? Wake up."
"I'm awake," Angela said, in a flat tone.
"Ah, great," Bugger grinned. "So! Let's blast the hell out of here, annihilate Luna and split. Up you go."
She didn't move.
"Oh... no, let me guess," Bugger sighed. "You're too sad to bother. You know, this is gettin' tired, gel. What's the problem? The real problem? What's got you so wormed out?"
"You know."
"Refresh my memory."
"I'm... nothing," Angela said. "Not a Dragon. Not a Mazoku. My people fear and loathe me, my god rejects me, my only supposed friend betrayed--"
"Stop!" Bugger said, holding up a hand. "Back up. Got something wrong."
Angela slowly sat up on the bed, glaring at him. "Ceipheed himself TOLD me I had no worth."
"Not that. Forward a bit, try again."
"What, that Luna betrayed me?"
"Not what you said."
"Yes it is."
"No it ain't."
"Yes it is."
"No it... DAMMIT, gel!" Bugger yelled. "I'm trying to be NICE to you here! Play along!"
"It's still true, isn't it?!" Angela shouted back. She snapped her wings out, showing off the crux of her problem. "What am I? A Dragon or a Mazoku? Tell me! The Dragons won't let me be a Dragon! What else can I be!"
"You can be dead, if we wait here long enough," Bugger said, nervously looking at the door. "They'll catch on pretty quick that I'd come here."
"Why would you come here?" Angela asked. "You wouldn't want to save me. Just leave me alone."
It probably wasn't the most elegant solution, and certainly wasn't the most pleasant, but it worked.
With a snap, Bugger reached out and grabbed the remaining angel's wing, and tore it from Angela's back in a swift, sharp motion. Before she even had a chance to blink, he had darkness in his hand, healing the injury... and growing a duplicate black bat's wing. A matching set.
"There! Fine! You're a FULL Mazoku now!" Bugger said, tossing the torn wing away. "Who cares if Ceipheed thinks you're worthless and those idiotic Dragons sneer at you? At the very least, and I do mean very least, I don't give a damn who and what you are, and I'll accept you! None of the other Mazoku will, but they're all wankers! They don't want me, either. Jeez, gel, given that we're both generally despised, you'd think bein' in the same boat would give us a little something to rely on..."
Angela stared in abject horror, at the severed, discarded wing. Her mouth formed a round, round O, as did her eyes. "You... you just..."
"So can we give the self-image thing a rest and go after the real enemy here?" Bugger asked. "Luna Inverse. She played us off to make herself big with your ex-Dragon pals. Fat load of pricks they are! They could care less about you, so why should you care what they think?"
Angela fell into her mind, lost without a paddle. It was so confusing. Who and what was she? Just when she had decided she wasn't anything, the situation went and changed again. Now where did she stand?
Bugger reached out, offering a hand.
"We've got to hurry," he said. "Guards'll be charging in here any second now, little miss Mazoku."
"I'm.. Mazoku now, aren't I?" Angela asked, quietly.
"If you wanna look at it that way," Bugger said. "Doesn't matter to me what terminology you--"
Angela gathered a ball of black energy, and hurled it at her old wing, incinerating the feathers, melting the bone.
"We're going after her together, right?" she asked again, now with more fire in her voice.
"Ah... yeah, that's... generally the idea," Bugger mumbled, a bit stunned by the show of power. "You okay now?"
"No," Angela said. "But I'm getting better."
ragon University was a mob scene. Terrorists! Terrors! Students holed up in their dorm rooms, listening to guards running around, as a frantic Jedal tried to track the Mazoku who was roaming the complex. Being a very complex complex and having an army that had little actual field experience didn't help matters.
The few times guards did find the Mazoku and the strange half-Dragon (who rumor said had turned into a giant bat with razor sharp fangs, but rumors are rumors), disaster struck. Half-Dragons left in their wake! Deliberately polluting their pure systems! Better to die than that!
Luna just had to laugh, but she didn't want to draw any attention. She had found a servant's uniform. In past efforts, she had found that a nice, tidy uniform was often a key to success... because nobody paid attention to a generic working class person. She moved freely around the campus, carrying a load of freshly pressed clothes, seemingly on an errand through the chaos. Nobody cared.
The museum was deserted. It was a refreshing surprise.
"Thanks, Um," she said to herself, tossing the clothes aside, and approaching the artifacts room. The lock melted into slag at the touch of her fingers, and she swung the door open easily.
There, in a near-corner of the room, was the Lock of Order. Nobody here could touch it... only a human, a being of chaos, could lay a finger on the devices of Order. A strange irony, Luna found. The Dragons had simply roped off an area on the floor, put up a warning sign and had some handy pamphlets describing the strange history of this unknown artifact.
Luna politely pushed the ropes aside, picked up the lock and dropped it into a pocket on her apron. Easy as that.
It was when she attempted to leave the museum that they caught up to her. She actually was expecting to see them earlier.
"'ello," she greeted. "'sup?"
"You're gonna die, Luna Inverse," Bugger snarled, a melting clump of wax and splatter, his true form. Angela was at his side, and much to Luna's surprise, now had a symmetric set of wings. An interesting solution to the situation!
Instead of getting ready for battle, Luna... got on her knees, and bowed most respectfully to the two of them, fingertips touching the floor.
Bugger ignored this, stepping forward -- but Angela put an arm out, blocking him.
"What trick are you playing now?" she asked the human.
"Oh, no trick," Luna said. "Wan'ned to thank ya."
"Thanks??" Bugger roared. "You wanted us to die, you did!"
"Naw," Luna said. "Great successes! Everything 'cording to plan!"
"Explain the logic underlying THAT statement," Angela commanded.
And Luna did just that, pulling her official restaurant ordering pad from a pocket, and getting out a pencil. "Lock obtained. Check. Umias not primarily to blame, check. Jedal and ilk humiliated, check. Dragons tossed into chaos, check. Gonna have to rethink their ideas 'bout what a Dragon is, possible future check. Most 'portantly... both of ya acted like I hoped, check. Angela got her groove back, check, Bugger got a spine, check, both of ya got a good bond goin', check. Glorious day, yeah? Goodness all around."
"The hell is she talking about?" Bugger asked.
"She... seems to have manipulated us into thinking she manipulated us in another direction," Angela translated. She looked curiously at Luna. "Tell me, Luna... have you ever heard of one named Xelloss?"
"Nope," Luna lied.
"Let's just say if you two ever had children, I would be very afraid," Angela said. "Come, Bugger. Let's get out of this place."
"But... hey! We didn't put the smack down on--"
"We don't need to," Angela said. "But damned if we're going to keep working for her. Selfish, manipulative little human... we're taking leave of your company, Luna. Once burned is more than enough."
"'bye," Luna said, waving.
"Yah, well... this ain't over," Bugger pronounced lamely. He teleported away, Angela shortly after, and the two departed -- presumably together, for parts unknown.
Luna looked at her list, and made note of the last two items.
"Angela 'n Bugger will be safe somewhere away from Chaos Island when the end comes... check," she said. "End the world.... unchecked..."
She gave her surroundings one last look. The sounds of Dragons shouting and carrying on, confused by the taints in their midst, their simple, cyclic lifestyle thrown into whack were faintly heard.
"Better get to that last one," she said.
Ceipheed's orders had been very simple. He was a pretty pragmatic god, all things considered; no more or less said than needed. In response, Luna's approach was equally straightforward. Tasks complete here, it was time to move on, without much of a care for the madhouse she left behind.
Truth be told, she didn't need to do all of that. Ceipheed didn't ask her to. But it felt good, and in the end, was the right thing to do for everybody in question. Luna had made a habit of ensuring the proper outcome regardless of how seemingly ludicrous the means.
There was one final leg to the trip, however. She had to go to the appointed place and wait for the appointed time. Then she would wait, for the other pieces of the puzzle to come to her, brought by her sisters. Ceipheed told her they'd be coming along after her, and what they'd want to do. Life would get complicated at that point, but until then, things were groovy.
Travel was easy. A simple flight spell over the circle sea, towards the island... the one mini-continent no sailor approached. Luna slid through the veil of mist and swirling storms that kept outsiders from Chaos Island like a hot knife through tofu, the Lock of Order clearing the way for her. Inside, it was actually a pleasant day. She didn't take much note of her surroundings, not seeing any need to.
Waiting was also easy for someone used to waiting on tables. Luna sat up her traveling kit, with a small tent and cooking fire, and was working on the daily special (sweet and sour dried pork with rice) when she saw her sister.
It was a brief vision, probably intended to be subliminal, of Lina Inverse holding the golden power that contrasted against the deep blue ocean of Ceipheed's light. When Luna turned to look, it was gone.
"Know you're here," she said quietly. "Come out."
A voice spoke between her ears.
"He Told You?" she asked, with a tone of shock seldom heard in the voice of the all-creator.
"Yep," Luna said. "Said this was your home. You'd try to change my mind."
A small child of golden light walked between the air, standing before Luna. Her gaze could pierce the sun. Luna met it evenly, never losing her trademark grin.
"There Is Little I Can Do Against Human Will," the Lord of Nightmares said. Was that a sigh added? "I Have Designed It Too Perfectly... And There Is Even Less I Can Do Against My Enemy Directly."
"It'll be cool," Luna said, not the least bit unsettled by having to comfort the god of gods. "Don't panic."
"The End Times Have Begun," the Lord said. "Already The Three Races Gather This... Thing Together. This Hated Thing I Was Unable To Purge From My World. I Cannot Know If My Chaos Will Overcome Order's Plans To Destroy What I Have Striven To Develop.."
"Nervous?"
"I Am Incapable Of Emotion As Your Kind Know It. ...But I Suppose In Some Vaguely Equivalent Sense, It Could Be Conceivable," the Lord of Nightmares stated. "Tell Me, Luna Inverse... When The Time Comes, What Will You Maintain Faith In? Order, or Chaos?"
Luna paused, a dead air beat, the hopes of a god waiting on the answer.
"Neither, I guess. I got my faith in Ceipheed," she eventually replied.
If it was possible for the deity's shoulders to slump, they would have.
"You Have Made Your Choice," She affirmed. "Whether You Realize Or Not. I Will Leave You Until The Time Coming."
The Lord vanished, without a sound or an optical effect.
Luna went back to cooking her dinner, whistling a tune, and waiting. Truth be told, she was looking forward to the family reunion. Because regardless of Ceipheed's orders, or the Lord's wishes, Luna had her own plan, and Lina was a key component to it.
"Seeya then, sis," she said to herself, voice barely a whisper.
Luna remained as quiet as a mouse for the following days, awaiting the end.