Standard disclaimer: I do not own Breath of Fire, Capcom does. I do, however, own the characters that appear in this fanfic, save a couple of characters that originally appeared in previous games. The characters Vin and Manna belong to Mana Sphere. Katrina (Cat) Parson belongs to Catstar4. Dustin Table belongs to Dragon. Sarlon Arlop and Mesa belong to Lady Sarlon and are used with permission. That about cover everything? Good, cuz I am only saying all this stuff once.

“How can you see into my eyes like open doors? Leading you down into my core, where I've become so numb. Without a soul, my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold. Until you find it there and lead it back home”

---Bring Me to Life

Remember Me?

(Reis)

Candles aligned the stone walls of the sparsely lit room. The room was in an ancient temple that’s actual purpose was long ago forgotten, save a few people standing around a marble circular table, facing a figure in a black hooded cloak.

“Master of Ceremonies, we, your faithful servants are here.” One of the figures said.

“Are all preparations set for the ceremony?” The Master of Ceremonies asked with her back to the other cloaked figures.

One of the figures sighed and turned away. “We are only half prepared for the ceremony, m’lady. Please, we ask for more time in order to prepare.”

The Master of Ceremonies turned to the other cloaked figures. Her face was covered in a glass white mask, aligned with various colored jewels. She raised a hand and placed it on the table. “We are running out of time. With the current threat of Taijkos and Dracen out of the way, things will run much smoother, but we will not have much time.”

“What does m’lady wish us to do?” A male voice asked.

“Find the ones who will try to stop us and kill them. I have already seen two of the ones who will wish to stop us. Do not let them succeed. Stop them at all costs.”

“Who are we looking for?” Another figure asked.

“A Rune Maiden and a Dark Dragon, first of all. As of the others, I do not know.” The Master of Ceremonies growled.

“What of the Summoner?” The same figure asked. “What of the Titan?”

“The Summoner… if she tries to attack…” The Master of Ceremonies let the sentence hang. “Leave the Titan and the Summoner to me and only focus on completing the preparations. We need the two in order to complete preparations.”

“Shall we find the test subject?” Yet another figure asked.

“Yes and hurry. She will not be able to last long in this world without aide. Bring her back to Reis immediately.”

“And of the other?” the first figure asked.

“I will deal with that matter myself. You are all dismissed.”

As the cloaked figures filed out of the room, The Master of Ceremonies turned to a shadowed figure standing in a hidden doorway. “Anjira, you heard everything, yes?”

A young girl with long pink hair and green eyes stepped forward. She was dressed in a white and greenish-blue, petal dress. “Yes, I heard everything. What do you want?”

“You know better than anyone that the world will die if the ceremony does not take place before the next Harvest Moon. As you know with you tie with Yggdrasil, something must be done, yes Tree Child?”

Anjira did nothing but stare at the cloaked figure. “You want me to find the test subject. Do you not think that your minions can do it?”

“They will fail.” She simply said. “I sense a great force coming and it is tied to the Destined. The Rune Maiden… she may be the one who will determine whether or not we succeed. Find all that ally themselves with her and kill them.”

“Whatever you say, lady.” Anjira said. The doorway where she was standing went dark. Anjira no where to be seen.

The Master of Ceremonies turned to the marble table. Upon the table was a motionless body laying on top of it. She smirked and touched the figure’s forehead. A light formed on the figure’s forehead and a mark appeared in the shape of a dragon’s claw. A light formed around the body and shocked her, jarring her and causing her to jump back a few feet.

“You can only fight me for so long before you lose strength. You are nothing more than an empty scrap… You pose no threat to me… but still, you can be of some use… yes. I will be able to use this lifeless scrap.”

Shimmers in the air against the far wall caught The Master of Ceremonies’ attention, but when she turned, it was gone. She shook her head and walked out of the room. A shadow stared at the motionless body, then shook its head. It walked over to the body and glanced at it. The body looked for the entire world as if was asleep, except for the fact that the body’s eyes were open. The figure’s eyes were half closed with a glazed and hollow look to them, as if the figure wasn’t even there.

The shadow turned to a noise that echoed in the empty room. A red cloaked figure appeared in the room, right beside the shadowed figure.

Not much time is left for you, is it? The figure spoke with a strong, deep baritone voice. The shadow nodded its head.

The Rune Maiden, the Summoner, and the Destined are yours and the child’s only hope then. If they are able to complete the ceremony, then the world is doomed. The shadow nodded in agreement. You should not linger here any longer. If she catches you, then she will be one step closer to completing the ceremony. Go.

The air shimmered around the shadow and the figure. With that, the shadow

vanished, only leaving the cloaked man and the lifeless body. The man walked over to the body. Hold on a little longer. They will be here soon. And with that, the man vanished.

(Castle Anglous)

“I will always be there for you…”

“Wait… no… please! Don’t go!” Nina cried out, tossing and turning in her bed, her grip on her sheets like iron.

For the past three months, all Nina could do was think about what had happened when they fought Dracen. Ryu had promised that he would keep everyone safe, and he did. But the cost was more than anyone had thought. After the battle was over, Ryu and Dracen were no where to be found. When Nina had returned home with the infant Tarina, she told her parents everything. They understood and started a search for Ryu immediately.

Kane had reported to Emperor Jonothan of the results of the battle, leaving out details about him being a dragon of course. Much like the king and queen of Anglous, he sent out a search party to try and find Ryu, too. Sora pulled every string she had with the Ranger’s Guild and even had them helping with the search too. Troy’s soldiers searched the oceans over, but much like everyone else, they could not find any traces of the light dragon.

After the three months searching for Ryu, everyone had basically given up. Manna had told everyone that she could no longer sense his life force and Mina and Deis confirmed what the Summoner had said. When she was told that they could not find Ryu, Nina fell into a deeper depression.

“Come back!” Nina screamed, bolting upright in bed. She kicked off the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She then stood up and straightened out her white, spaghetti-string silk nightgown that fell to the floor. She walked over to her dresser and sat down in front of the mirror and tried to untangle her short hair.

“Why did I just let you leave like that without saying anything to you…” Nina whispered, tears starting to streak down her cheeks.

“Nina?” A young voice asked as the door opened. “Are you crying?”

“Huh?” Nina mumbled, wiping her eyes. “Oh, hi.”

A small girl about five years old with black hair that was tied up into two small ponytails, wearing a two piece blue pajama set walked into the room and quietly closed the door. The little girl walked over to Nina and placed her small hands on the dresser. Honey was perch up on her shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

Nina shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong Tarina. I just had a bad dream…”

“About him?” The little girl asked.

In the three months that Nina had brought Tarina to Anglous, the child shot up in age. She had grown rapidly, surprising and shocking every doctor and healer in the land. They just could not explain why an infant would physically age to that of a five-year-old in just the matter of three months. When Nina asked Deis, the Indigo’s only conclusion was that it had something to do with Tarina’s link with Infinity. She also said that Tarina would probably stop aging after a certain amount of time and age normally.

Nina’s parents were not too thrilled about the child at first, but Nina slowly convinced them to let the child stay. Finally, after constant yelling, arguing, and pleading, they let the child stay and raised her like their own. Nina now looked at the child like she was her little sister.

When Nina felt sad or depressed, Tarina always showed up to cheer her up. The child was a welcome relief, but at the same time, tortured Nina. The child herself was innocent, but her emerald eyes reflected Ryu’s. In fact, Ryu and Tarina’s eyes looked exactly the same. When Nina looked into Tarina’s eyes, it was almost as if she saw Ryu’s eyes.

“Yeah… about him.” Nina responded. “What are you doing up so late?”

Tarina sheepishly looked at the floor. “I couldn’t sleep.” She replied.

“Why?” Nina asked.

“I, had a bad dream… there were these people in a dark place. They were going to do something bad. They had someone tied to a table and there was this lady that was hurting him…” Tarina said calmly.

What Nina didn’t get was how such a young child could be so calm. It never ceased to amaze her. Tarina could scratch her elbow and it would be bleeding, but she would never cry or make a sound.

“Well,” Nina said as she stood up and picked up Tarina and Honey. “We shouldn’t let bad dreams keep us awake all night. We have to get plenty if sleep for the Harvest Festival coming up. We get to help them set up preparations.”

“Okay.” Tarina said.

“Right.” Nina sighed. At least getting ready for the festival was keeping her mind off of Ryu’s possible death.

Yet still, something didn’t feel right about the festival…

(Carter City: College classroom)

Students quickly filed into the classroom as the clock struck nine o’clock A.M. The teacher insisted on every student being on time. No exceptions. A young man with short, spiked blond hair walked into the room and gravitated towards the tables in the back. Rows and rows of tables with black laptops on them lined the room. At the front of the room was a long whiteboard with the words: “Advanced Physics of Astronomical Trigonometry and Equations” written on it in black marker. A desk with a computer and various books cluttered on it sat to the right of the board.

An older man, with gray short hair, wearing really thick, coke-bottle glasses and a suit and tie stood at the front of the whiteboard, maker and attendance book in either hand. He watched as the students filed in and took their seats.

The young man from earlier plopped his books on the table and swung his backpack over the back of the chair. He was dressed in a red short sleeved T-shirt with a white long sleeved shirt underneath. He wore brown baggy pants and white sneakers. He yawned and placed his head in his hand and leaned on the table as the professor started to drone on and on about something that had to do with something that was needed to finish something… or something like that.

It wasn’t as if the blond hated this class. In fact, he liked it. Only really smart people took this class for their major in Advance Aerodynamics and Physics. He yawned as his mind wandered. He was the Galaxy Operative Director/Dungeon Master of the college’s local D&D group. He had to come up with a killer dungeon for this afternoon’s game.

“If a train in Tokyo was traveling at about 75 MPH and a train on the moon was traveling at about the same speed, assuming they could fly and that they didn't run out of gas, how long before they collide in Los Angeles?” The teacher asked.

Not a student dared to raise their hand with the answer. The teacher looked around the room and noticed the blond looking really bored. “Table? Dustin Table? Care to enlighten us with the answer?”

The student in question lazily looked over to the teacher. “Two?” Dustin said.

“Yes! That is most certainly correct. See class? This is what happens when you pay attention. You learn. Now open your books to page three and…”

Dustin yawned and opened his book. Several students glared at the blond before turning back around and going back to their studies. Dustin just shrugged. Worse case scenario: He’s run like the hounds of crap were on his heels. He could run really fast.

(Outside Sarlon’s classroom)

At another location at the college, a certain black haired woman in a two piece business suit made her way to the social studies wing of the building. Three months of glorious peace and quiet for her and her soon to be husband. No attacks, no interruptions, and certainly no talk about blue hair dragons or psychos wanting world domination. No, just blissful peace.

In those months of quietness, Sarlon Arlop took on the job of teaching Ancient History at the local college. Far, far away and teaching at a decent sized college called ETSU, Sarlon thought that her peace and quietness would last forever.

Apparently fate had other ideas.

Standing in the doorway of her classroom was an attractive young woman with blue hair bound back in a bun. She was also wearing a two piece business suit and a pair of thin-framed glasses. The woman smirks and waved.

“Crapo Professor Arlop.”

Sarlon’s left eye started to twitch. That look… that voice… that smirk! It could only be one person…

“SNAKE-WITCH!” Sarlon screamed loud enough to attract the attention of several students and factuality.

Deis raised her hand. “I am just here to tell you that Taijkos has been taken care of. No more threat.”

Sarlon looked visibly relieved. “Good. Thank you for telling me that… now shoo so I can go teach…”

“Actually…” Deis grinned. “I am on vacation.”

Sarlon’s eyes narrowed. “So am I…”

“I am bored.” Deis grinned as she placed her arm around Sarlon’s shoulder. “So, I thought that I would stay here.”

“W-what?” Sarlon asked, shaking and praying that Deis was not about to say what she was going to say.

“So, I will spend my vacation with YOU!” Deis grinned.

“NONONONONONONONONO!” Sarlon screamed. “SNAKE-WITCH!” Sarlon ran over to the elevator and started screaming and ranting about Deis’ appearance.

“SNAKE-WITCH!”

(Dean’s office)

“So let me get this straight Professor Arlop.” The Dean said, looking straight at Sarlon from where she was sitting at her desk. “You had a momentary lapse of sanity and ran through the building screaming something about a snake and a witch?”

“Yes ma’am.” Sarlon said, standing in front of the desk, looking down at the floor sheepishly. “I did.”

“I also have heard that you grabbed a hold of several students and faculty members and screamed in their faces. Care to explain why?”

“I…I have been really stressed out lately and clearly was not thinking straight.” Sarlon lied through her teeth. The Dean was not about to believe the truth, that is Deis coming to Earth and annoying the crap out of her.

“Well, the only thing I can say is that we are giving you a temporary leave of absence.”

“Wait!” Sarlon said, but the Dean interrupted her.

“Either that, or you will have to check into the nearest mental facility for stress evaluation.”

“I will take the leave of absence.” Sarlon grumbled as she walked out of the Dean’s office. Sarlon’s eyes twitched as she heard a mocking laugh.

Goddess or no, when Sarlon found Deis, she was DEAD MEAT!

(Outside the college)

“Dustin’s class should have let out by now…” A familiar girl grumbled, leaning up against a wall. She checked her watch. 5:30 PM. He was late. The girl pushed her brown hair out of her face and took off her glasses to clean them. The door to the labs opened and several students walked out, looking really relieved now that the evil math class from crap was over with.

Dustin walked out of the door and spotted the girl. He waved at her and walked over. “Heh, sorry about that Cat. The teacher decided to keep us over for a few hours.”

Cat smirked as she rolled her eyes. “Sure he did. You enjoyed that class, didn’t you?”

“It wasn’t as bad as Advanced Aerodynamics and Quadrate Formulas of Physics. Now that was hard.” Dustin laughed. “So, any home work?”

“Only in Algebra C and English III. I hate being a Junior in high school. It sucks being seventeen.”

“Better than nineteen.” Dustin laughed. “No wait… never mind.”

“Have you heard from Rena at all this summer?” Cat asked.

“Nothing. Heard she went on vacation with some friends.”

“Ah… sounds great. Too bad we couldn’t go.” Cat sighed. Something clicked in the back of her mind, almost as if a lightening bolt striking. “LOOK OUT!” Cat cried, jumping out of the way as a warp portal opened in the air.

Dustin wasn’t so lucky. He just stood there dumbstruck as two figures fell from the portal. Manna and Rena landed on top of Dustin, causing the three to go crashing down to the ground and knocking out Dustin. Cat stood, watching as Manna and Rena stood up.

“Cat?” Rena asked. “Um… hi.”

“Hi… how did it go?” Cat asked excitedly, jumping up and down. “Did you guys defeat that crazy guy?”

“Um… yeah, we did.” Rena said, the warp portal still high over head.

As Rena decided to fill Cat in on the details on what happened over the course of the past six months, Dustin came too and stared up into the sky.

“Huh?” Dustin mumbled. He had no idea what the shiny thing in the sky was, but it looked really cool. It was close enough to the ground that he could actually touch it. He thought he must have been dreaming, because shiny portals just do not appear in real life. So, he did the only thing he could think of, as seeing that this was his dream.

He touched the portal.

Cat turned around as she saw Dustin being pulled into the portal. She quickly ran after him and upon getting under the portal, she too was suck in. Manna and Rena jerked around as they saw Dustin being pulled into the portal. Manna and Rena groaned as the portal vanished. Manna sighed and swung out her staff and formed another portal. She and Rena jumped back into the portal to retrieve their friends.

(Castle Anglous)

Nina sat on her bed, fiddling with a silk handbag that she had made herself. She was dressed in a white gown, with a gold-sectioned skirt; gold bands adorn her upper arms with a pale bluish material attached from them. Her golden hair was fixed up into layers that fell around her face. Tears streamed down her face once again.

Nina screamed as a portal opened up just above her bed and a strange looking young man fell out of the portal and landed right on top of her, causing them both to go crashing to the ground.

Dustin shook his head and glanced around. Yup, this was definitely a dream. Nina looked at Dustin with a look of curiosity on her face. Dustin grinned. This girl that he was sitting on top of was really beautiful. Nina looked at him and coughed.

“Um, could you please get off of me?” Nina asked.

“Oh, I am sorry.” Dustin said, jumping up and extending his hand to Nina. She took it and he helped her up.

“Why are you crying?” Dustin asked, noticing Nina’s tears.

“Oh, I am sorry…” Nina whispered, wiping her eyes. “How rude I am… I am Princess Nina de Anglous. And you are?”

“I am…” Dustin began, but then stopped. This was his dream, right? “I am the Galaxy Operative Director! I save the innocent and defeat the evil!”

“…you are a god?” Nina asked curiously.

“Well, not…” Dustin began, but Nina cut him off.

“PLEASE! You have to help me! A dear friend of mine was in a battle and has disappeared! We can’t find him anywhere! Please help me look for him.” Nina placed her hands over her chest and pleaded with Dustin.

Dustin nodded. “Of course, Princess! I will help you find your friend. But, what will our mode of transportation be?”

Nina grinned. “Let me changed out of this dress and I will show you!” Nina said excitedly as she ran out of the room. Finally, a lead! Maybe she had a hope of finding Ryu now… maybe…

(City of Anglous)

“Where are we…?” Rena asked, sprawled out on a stack of hay.

“We are in a barn…” Manna groaned, trying to get into a sitting position. She had landed in the water trough.

“But… where?” Cat said, sitting up from the ground. She was the lucky on and landed on the hay outside of the stalls.

Several of the cows and horses stared at the girls from their respected stalls. Farm equipment was hanging on the wooden walls of the barn they were apparently in. Rena and Manna stood up and walked over to Cat. The three nodded and walked outside. Rows of wooden and stone houses lined the cobblestone sidewalks. Rena nodded.

“Anglous. This looks like the lower section of Anglous.” Rena said.

“We are back on Asparia.” Manna said, leaning on he staff.

“We are on another world?” Cat asked. “The world Kane is from!” She started to get excited.

“Yeah… but where is Dustin…? Oh, no…” Rena said in a deadpan voice.

“What…? Oh.” Manna muttered to herself as she looked up in the sky to where Cat and Rena were pointing and saw the Great Bird take off, Dustin and Nina on her back. Nina had changed out of her royal gown. She was wearing a gray short dress with a silver breastplate over her chest. She wore armor pads on her shoulders and gauntlets on each of her wrists. The armor was completed with a pair of brown leather boots that went up to her knees and bandages wrapped around her legs and arms. A rapier was strapped to her back. The Great Bird was heading to the Eastern Lands. Manna and Rena groaned. That meant that they were heading into Imperial territory. Cat looked at the two.

“What’s going on?” Cat asked.

“Manna?” Rena asked.

“They are heading to the Imperial Capital.” Manna said.

“Where Kane is!” Cat giggled.

“Oh, no…” Rena wailed. “Not another fetch quest! Do we have to go after them and get Dustin home?”

“… yeah… we have to…” Manna muttered.

“YEAH!” Cat cheered. “I get to be in on the adventure this time!”

“Oh, joy.” Rena muttered. “The adventure starts all over again…”

To be continued…

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