"Look up. Those are stars, aren't they? So beautiful and bright. Would you like me to drop them on you?"
. . . . . .
Kukri? here? In Ebony?
What were the chances that the crown prince of Zion would meet his close companion at a time like this?
He admired her elegance and jolliness with joy and fear:
He could remember her humility, strength and a personality fit for a queen. Even though she could be quite withdrawn sometimes, she always asserted herself in the most difficult of situations to prove her worth. And she was priceless in the eyes of the prince.
However, Chalybe could perfectly picture her darkness, the immoral path to power she sought, and the devastating price she had to pay for falling too deep into its maw.
What should he feel? Hope or despair? Love or Hate? Hospitality or hostility? Song or Sword?
Her curly hair danced with the wind gracefully, her caramel skin and scales catching the light of the sun perfectly, and her smile that always teased the prince.
Before any words could escape his lips, Kukri's divine beast, the large, blue fox-like creature, strattled towards him, allowing the Gorgona princess to slide down and embrace the prince himself.
Chalybe froze, as if he used his own ability towards himself.
"Someone is excited to see me," Kukri smiled and drew herself out of the embrace, admiring Chalybe's light, blue eyes. "How have you been???"
The prince knew he would have to open his mouth to say something eventually, so he took a deep breath and-
"What are you doing here?" He blurted out.
You know, for what it's worth- It wasn't the worst thing he could have said.
"Pardon me," Chalybe corrected himself. "It's just so shocking to see you here."
"I know, I know," Kukri rolled her eyes. "Probability and fate are such sly partners. When I heard that Black Maedows were arriving, I thought to myself, 'Isn't that the academy where my close companion is?', and I replied, "Unfortunately, yes,"...
"Heyy!" Chalybe chuckled.
"Anyways, I also learnt that not one, not two, not three, but five other academies are in this city." Kukri counted her fingers. "And the carriers each had their own designated landing spot, so I may not have broken away from my group to look for you."
"Aww, thanks."
"But only to find you setting someone's mansion ablaze," Kukri slapped her forehead. "Were you trying to recreate the burning mason?"
"He was the coolest character in Nine Lives Are Five!" Chalybe added.
"Doesn't matter if, oh, I don't know, you set someone's home on fire!" Kukri pointed to the wreckage, a standard, red and green mansion that had turned black from the fire, with half of the building reduced to ashes.
Kukri's divine beast stared at Chalybe with annoyed eyes.
"Hello, Silver," Chalybe waved shyly, but the fox grunted.
"Silver Fox is mad at you, and for good reasons too."
"Can you fix the mansion or not?" Chalybe questioned.
Kukri stared at the mansion with stress. "I can fix it in like, 18 brumites with my abilities."
"Oh," Chalybe's heart felt lighter. "Thank you so mu-"
"But the knights will certainly be here in 5."
Chalybe's eyes turned from calm to horror. "Why do I always bear you?"
"Because I'm your very, very, very, very, very close Gorgona companion," Kukri touched Chalybe's cheek. "Or are you seeing someone else. Oh, Chalybe, you have broken my heart."
As the two royals bickered and argued over the damage, Caesar knelt with his head down, his eyes wide open with pure fear.
He had it.
The fire tornado was under his control, but he lost it immediately. That was not possible. He trained with it. What hindered his grace accuracy?
Was it...no, it can't be. It cannot be that?
Caesar's breath hitched as the colours on his hair began to take a more reddish look.
"Special?"
Caesar quickly turned around, and he was back at the Synagogue, the home of Pandorica.
But mysteriously, she wasn't there. Not even the giant cross was there.
He examined the realm, and it looked vastly different, which served no surprise, as Pandorica is addicted to changing the look of the Synagogue during every visit.
This time, there was a large open field of red and purple grass with multiple flowers sprouting out and swiftly retreating into the soil.
A dim, green moon illuminated the field, with a great, large tree in the middle, with beautiful golden and pink fruits that were tempting to eat.
Resting under the comfort of the tree was... Prometheus?
The Giant was resting, towering over the tree. The breeze that Caesar had been feeling was the beast snoring.
If he could see Prometheus, that means ...
Caesar quickly examined himself - a short, red dress, long, white hair, and a silver horn on his forehead.
He was Lucian, the dragon apprentice of Melios.
His despair quickly turned to excitement as he looked around desperately for his master.
His bare foot itched on the grass as he began to walk towards the tree. Caesar knew that Lucian was a dragon, but what kind exactly? During this period, there were only fire, water, storm and forest dragons.
So, maybe he, or she, or her... This was rather confusing for the young cadet.
Lucian would either be a storm or fire dragon. Source? A guess.
As he walked closer towards the tree, he could make out a dim, red light. Fire.
A camp was there. Caesar increased his pace, but tried to remain concealed.
His heart drowned when he reached near Prometheus. He felt like an ant compared to the beast. If a simple word could cause the ground to tremble, imagine a full-blown roar.
Lucian/ Caesar couldn't imagine the magnitude of the destruction.
As he/she walked closer to the tree, a loud metallic sound echoed far away, startling the apprentice. Lucian squatted, her dragon instincts ready for combat as her sharp pupils dilated, but she wasn't the one battling.
Melios and another member of his party crossed weapons, creating a force great enough to disperse the clouds above. Each swing of their blade felt apocalyptic, as if a slight more force could end the world.
The two warriors began to laugh as they made their way towards the fire.
"I won, I won!!" Melios announced. "Can't wait to tell *********"
The words blanked out in Lucian's, pardon, Caesar's mind.
"My winning streak could have survived if only I wielded the World Eater," the warrior sounded annoyed but amused. "Your defeat would have been certain. But Prometheus went ahead and devoured it."
Caesar struggled to hold back a laugh.
"The World Eater got eaten," Melios laughed continuously. "If only you remembered to feed him."
Melios suddenly froze, and Caesar felt a strange sensation.
The ghoul regained consciousness as quickly as he lost it.
"What does your majesty require now?" The warrior snarked.
"You can't keep doing this?"
"Melios, you damned fool." The Warrior snapped. "Your destruction is being played by this woman."
"I disagree."
"So, can you tell me what we are doing out here already?" The warrior rebutted. "We are all blind to the purpose of this journey she sent us on. Do you even know, Melios?"
An uncomfortable silence settled as the sound of serpents and crickets filled the air.
"What happened to us?" The warrior whispered, but Caesar could make out some words.
"Have our journeys of freedom been stolen from us? Have you forgotten the bliss of our liberty? Now, you remind me of a hopeless Sage. You died 23, 768 times already since we embarked, and the cost is your power."
"Lies!!"
"Listen to me for once, Melios!!" The sudden scream of the warrior sent shivers down the spine of Caesar, as his atoms felt like they were threatened with oblivion.
"Your strikes are weaker, your contracts are inconsistent, your weapons heavy in your hands. She is stealing your soul and grace away from you to resurrect you repeatedly," The warrior scoffed. "Are you that desensitized of death?"
It all became clear to Caesar. His fire tornado was out of control because his grace efficiency had been reduced.
His resurrection came at a cost - He might never be able to wield Grace again.
Melios sighed as he stared at the sleeping beauty of Prometheus. "We reach Ebony tomorrow."
The warrior finally stepped into the light, and Caesar's heart dropped.
"Winter, my closest companion"
The very first king of Zion, Chalybe's ancestor, the man who killed Melios.
He was a tall, broad man, with waist-long, snow white hair that glistened and sparkled as if it hid stars. His eyes were mysterious; his right eye was blue, but the iris had a sort of scope-like design, and his left was red, but his iris warped and shifted like a flame, with a tattoo of a crescent next to it.
His lips and ears were pierced, and another snowflake tattoo rested on his neck
His attire was nothing short of elegant - a royal blue buttoned coat, adorned with chains and ornaments. His black jeans gleamed, his white boots glowed, and the teethed, sheathed sword on his waist exuded a pressure that felt primordial. On his back, a quiver of arrows rested.
"I guess I see where Chalybe got his skill from."
Winter's eyes were dull and furious.
"I need to talk to that... Pandora of yours."
Caeaar's brain immediately ticked. He has now confirmed that he and Melios were Harbingers to Pandorica.
However, some questions remained, and new ones were created.
Who exactly was Pandorica?
Why did she choose Caesar?
Why did Winter betray Melios?
Why were they going to Ebony?
And what kind of Dragon was...?
A large snake-like creature appeared behind the two Crusaders, its mouth opened, ready to devour the legends.
Instinctively, Caesar dashed with Lucian's body towards the monster. Her speed was nothing Caesar had experienced before. She has far surpassed the speed of photons and is perhaps approaching near light-speed.
Caesar didn't really know Lucian's ability, since dragons are rarely talked about, so he opted for a punch.
"Lucian?" Melios tilted his head as he noticed his apprentice sprinting towards him.
Suddenly, his/her left arm grew silver scales with claws, the sky rumbled, and a powerful bolt of lightning struck the beast as Caesar punched the monster in the mouth.
But perhaps, too much, as multiple continuos ligthening bolts rained down, and Caesar couldn't stop it.
His consciousness was slipping away as he felt Melios's arm on his waist, the sound of a projectile being fired, Prometheus waking up from his slumber, and Pandorica smiling at him afar in the field.
. . . . .
"Caesar!!"
The young cadet was in his body, his hands chained, and multiple knights surrounding him, their faces staring in disappointment.
Chalybe and Kukri watched from afar in fear as Caesar took a deep breath.
"So she was a storm dragon, huh?"