Drake walked into the palace and started looking for the book.
It had just been here, he’d been reading it…
Now it was gone. Someone must have picked it up…

Drake searched the palace, looking for where it might have been left. It wasn’t one he bet they would allow to end up in any of the public libraries, too fragile.

So where would it be?

He got his answer as he passed his parent’s bedroom. “Be joking…” He groaned as he spotted it in his father’s office… where his father was doing paperwork.

Now how do I get him out of there…?

The answer came when he looked a bit over to his right.

“… Ah, hello Spot…” he slunk over and unlocked the door, leaving it open and then walking outside.

He came back a little later. “Spot! Fetch!” He cheered and tossed a small Gimme Cat toward the office.

Spot slithered out of the room, swiftly on the trail of the cat.

Drake grinned. “Oopsie… looks like Spot got out…” then he slunk outside.


Marina shrieked when she saw the cat. How had one of those gotten in here? Kittens she liked, Gimme Cats were just vile! She quickly ran out of the room.


The cat didn’t bother Chaucer much… the snake did and he screamed louder than his wife would be able to.

 

Eclipse heard the scream, even from the tower, so he got his clothes on quickly and headed down to see what was going on.

He might not have bothered, but Drake being down there made him suspicious that this was somehow his doing. Even if it wasn’t, Eclipse was sure that Drake would somehow be involved by the time he got there anyway.

 

Drake was in another room. Close enough that he could be sure Spot was alright, not close enough to get involved in the situation.

He saw his mother run out but not his dad…

Guards ran in, though… then they ran out.

“Everyone’s so afraid of a snake that doesn’t attack people…”

 

 

 

 

Eclipse arrived there shortly after. He found guards huddled outside of the King's office, seeming concerned or perhaps fascinated, but showing no sign of actually going inside as they peered in the windows and door.

The robed man was taller than most of them so he peered over their heads and into the room. Inside was a sight that was even more puzzling...

 

Chaucer was clinging to the chandelier while Spot slithered over the desk toward the cat that was throwing a fit.

Except T, who was chewing on a pen, not at all interested in the cat, and P who seemed interested in the idea of biting Chaucer.

 

Eclipse was puzzling over the reason why the king would be hanging from the chandelier. Then he noticed the book on his desk.

 

That book! Is that somehow causing people to act crazy… he wondered, but no, then he also spotted Drake's pet four-headed snake on the ground while he was trying to get a better look. It had been obscured from view by the mass of near-hysterical guards.

Everything made sense now. Well, as much as a panicked king, a four-headed snake, a mysterious book and a swarm of incompetent guards could ever make sense.

Oh… now I remember why I let him have that thing…

 

“Eclipse!” Chaucer shouted. “Get, get, get the sn-snake!”

 

Eclipse gritted his teeth angrily, and felt part of him inside struggle to break free. The part that said he should just lose it, and start ripping off heads. It was so tempting.
He was going to be the ruler of the world; he shouldn't have to put up with trivial and degrading tasks like this.

On the other hand, he remembered the mysterious book sitting there on the desk. It would be easy to snatch it while he was helping the king.

So, he shoved the guards out the way of the door as easily as if he was pulling back curtains, and walked inside.

 

That’s when the ceiling gave. Well, the chandelier fell, pulling much of the ceiling with it.

Chaucer landed on the desk which crumbled under his weight and dust went flying everywhere.

Drake heard the ceiling start to give and was worried Spot would get hurt, so he snuck in the way the guards SHOULD have. Through the bedroom.
He grabbed Spot, and the book that went flying as the desk broke and ran out of there.

“Bad snake! Bad!” He said as he walked past a few guards who nodded angrily

“… Good boys!” He snickered soon as he was out of hearing range of anyone.

 

Eclipse stood there glaring as the dust cleared and guards rushed in to help the king, who looked a little worse for wear, but unharmed. He hadn't seen Drake snatch the book, but now that he was looking, it was nowhere to be found. So he assumed Drake had it again and wondered if this all been his own plan to get the book back… and if so… why?

 

 

 

 

Drake walked out onto a ledge and rested on a wider area in a corner, hidden from view.

Spot slithered around, happy to be outside his pit for a few hours while Drake read.

The dark prince had picked up every book he thought might help clear up all the pieces that were missing.

He had a book on the legends of the dragons from every culture involved with them; he had a book of prophecies, and more.

This book, the one he’d been reading when the flashbacks occurred the most, had many similarities to the dreams he'd had. In the book, they were listed as rumors; theories… many of the stories resembled the second dream. These people were searching for something. Someone. They found kids, teenagers, sometimes adults, and those people would vanish forever.

All of them were fire elements.

The book had an interesting statement. Fire Elements are elemental beings able to control fire. They are completely resistant to their own fire, but can be burned by dark magick flare attacks.

… Not him. No fire burned him… and he could make earthquakes, too. That was more power than a flame element was supposed to have.

This just made him wonder more, but he had a ton of books and wasn’t going to stop till he had it all figured out.

It was going to be a looong day… but it had to be done. These dreams—these memories… the lives of those people could not be ignored. These new feelings… he had to know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eclipse was starting to get very suspicious. Drake seemed to be avoiding him, and the tower, as much as possible that day; in fact, he couldn’t even find the boy. Though, that alone would probably not be unusual. It was more a combination of the strange way Drake had been acting, as well as his apparent 'nightmares' and that mysterious book that seemed to elude him as if it had a mind of its own.

Eclipse didn't feel threatened by any of this, but it was annoying. He didn't like to not know what was going on. It infuriated him that he was more or less clueless; which was a feeling he hated more than any other. Because he knew how much ignorance could injure his plans.

That there might be something going on behind his back or out of his sight was a persistent irritation to him. Like an itch that he was desperate to scratch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drake spent four days away from the palace.

Four days, where he managed to piece together… everything. At least… everything he could.

There were three powerful dragon gods who survived while the rest had faded away… Okeanos, Poseidon and Cináed.

Okeanos, the water dragon, had teamed up with Poseidon, the earth dragon. They wanted to stop Cináed who was taking over and killing everyone who refused to follow him.

It was getting hard. The dragons need in the world was diminishing. Cináed found a way to prevent that. The other dragons were set to sleep, and never awaken. To live their lives watching but never being seen; helping from afar.

He didn’t want that. So he found out what it was that was disappearing. It was the dragon’s spirit; each of their spirits, their source of power, was vanishing inside of them, being transformed and separated. Turning into multiple dragon species, causing the dragons that exist today.
Cináed didn’t care why, he just cared how. How to stop it from happening to him. He’d already seen a few red dragons starting to appear, and vowed they would be the rarest breed in existence, because he’d trap his power, his spirit, away from his soul.

It wasn’t very easy—obviously why the other dragon gods hadn’t tried it, but it was done. This spirit became an entirely separate entity from him. A soul and spirit combined, without a host yet containing his full power and energy. It wasn’t a reincarnation of himself; it was a whole new being. He’d created a soul—something forbidden by the other dragon gods; it was why they fought over followers.
No more red dragons appeared. New ones were hatched but none… just appeared as he had.

The occultation tribe named the spirit Dragon. It was theirs to protect until the other dragons were gone, unable to awaken even if the worst were happening. Then Cináed would return and retake the world he’d been forced to give up. The spirit would be reborn, and once that entity was old enough, Cináed would use Dragon’s power to awaken, and keep his Pure followers alive. Without Dragon, all was lost for the pureblooded followers who had been blessed with the dragon forms.

Poseidon found out about it and told Okeanos, who had his people write it down;

Okeanos’s true followers were diminishing, because he could only show himself at certain times or risk disappearing.

Poseidon’s followers never saw him anymore. They still followed, but not nearly as well as they once had… only a few still openly worshipped him.

Cináed had beaten them there. His followers followed him blindly; the proof of their god was known everywhere on their land! He gave them power to do his will, even if they did not think it was his will they were doing.

Nevertheless, Poseidon had a plan. He and Okeanos would take Dragon away from Cináed. Destroy it if possible; if not… hide it. When it was given a body, then it would at least be much, much harder to control and they would try to get their followers to understand that this being was wrong… try to convince them to destroy it. It would be a fire element, so they focused their attentions on their followers of earth and ice areas.

They attacked. Okeanos kept Cináed’s attention while Poseidon managed to sneak in, and take the soul.

Drake… was that soul.

The ceremony was to see if it was true or not. If he were Dragon his true form would be awoken. If he wasn’t… he would die as the others had.

They must have been sure, he decided, because he was tested earlier than most of the others.

That’s what worried him. There had been many, many others forced into that test. Most knew what was going on, few didn’t. Some tried to run, some did not—he could see it all as if he were watching from the sidelines. Every time he read about it, he saw things.

Eclipse was always there. Different look, different body, but the same attitude… same cruel eyes. Sometimes it took a while to recognize him, but other times there was no hiding it.

They killed so many people, and for what? What had they gained?

They’d found him… they’d found Drake.

No… Even his name, Dracula, it meant Dragon. I am… I am not a monster.

That thought… When he first saw Eclipse shift, that’s all he thought. It was a monster. He was not a monster—he would not let them turn him into a monster!

What about the door? The door to The Secrets of Terra. It obviously had power Eclipse wanted. Brahne was a pawn who thought she was in control… second time in her life, too, in such a short amount of time. She was tremendously gullible.

… Drake was being toyed with; used. Which had been obvious for a while, but fully understanding why just made him mad.

Alright… so, I don’t want to be a monster; I should start proving it. He decided; glancing over at the market, at the potion shop… an idea began forming in his mind.

He had caused pain to people who did not deserve it. The first part of redemption is to correct the problem and get forgiveness.

Forgiveness he did not yet deserve… but he would, eventually… if he tried.

 

People always told him he’d acted different when he was younger. He remembered feeling different… all this anger. It hadn’t always been there.

 

A few things scared him… Mostly, what he’d done to Garnet. He truly did love her, but… he was hurting her, wasn’t he? He was making her go against… the one she loved. How would he feel if someone forced him to go against her? … If he helped them, he’d lose her… but if he didn’t… then he had no chance at getting back on the path his dream had revealed to him. The path he so longed for now. It was horrible, this new feeling. This terrible feeling inside him that he’d just been used his whole life. It tore him up!

 

He thought he was different, but he was a… a what? A soul, a spirit, a power incarnated into a body. It meant that girl, when he was younger, was right… she said he wasn’t supposed to be there. Said he wasn’t supposed to be alive. She was right… He shouldn’t be alive; he didn’t deserve to be here. Drake had allowed himself to be used. Eclipse really was as vile and evil as Drake had often imagined him to be; no… he was possibly worse.

 

All those people… all those innocent people forced to that volcanic pit to meet that beast. Hundreds of lives lost. Some of them screaming, crying, begging. Fighting to be let go. Families torn apart or killed together; it was horrible!

 

Then Drake started looking at himself and asking if he was any different, really. He was going after Zidane who had done nothing, wasn’t he? Why? Because Eclipse had said to; because he wanted the princess. Not even close to a good enough reason— he couldn’t fathom why he’d ever thought it was! He didn’t want to hurt a sentient being. Hunting was different… hunting animals where you used every bit of them. He couldn’t just kill an innocent person.

 

It ended tonight, he decided. No more! No more was he going to be Eclipse’s pawn! The man had persuasion powers far stronger than Drakes… Drake was sure of it. Drake could fight off the pearl, but if Eclipse had done something… so long as it hadn’t felt different, Drake doubted he’d have been able to tell...

 

He used to think Zidane was the fool. The ‘Angel’ was created to be a puppet for Garland. … but Drake now saw he was just a puppet to Eclipse. At least Zidane had gotten away from it; he’d fought back. Garnet had told Drake about it… when Zidane had learned… he’d broken down, but she’d brought him back. After Zidane had accepted it, he wouldn’t let himself become Garland’s puppet.

 

… Garnet… they really did need each other. This feeling was madness, but she was the one who’d brought Zidane back; she made this feeling end for him. Garnet made Drake very happy. Her energy, her glow, her smile… it was perfection to him… she didn’t see him the same way, though. That was probably for the best.

 

The princess deserved an Angel, not a demon. When Drake looked deep into his heart, there was a part of him there… a part that had been suppressed for so long… that part told him to let her go.

 

It wasn’t fair, not any of it! Why should he be punished for something that wasn’t his fault? He hadn’t asked to be born, he hadn’t asked for this power, he hadn’t asked for any of it!

 

… Neither had they.

 

It was like he was opening his eyes for the first time in months and seeing himself caught in a situation; a feeling he could only assume was the break of some long held control he’d never realized was binding him. It made him feel sick to his stomach, thinking about what he’d done.

 

“Oh, gods…” He couldn’t tell what was stronger. The desire to scream till he ran out of air, or the desire to throw up; as if he could somehow force these feelings out of him. He wanted it all to stop… just to go away and leave him be…

 

All those screams… all those souls crying out in anguish because they were looking for him.

 

Zidane had Garnet come to his rescue. Drake knew no one that could come to his aid. He was alone in this, but… he could do it. Those two needed each other; he hated the idea that how he felt now was how Garnet felt without Zidane, he really did!

 

Drake knew he wasn’t the reason all this had happened. Brahne had done it, he’d just been brought in. However, Drake had always felt that if you had the power and ability to help someone who deserved it, you should.

He wandered back inside the shop and looked around. He’d need to tell Zidane what was going on behind his back; tell him what Brahne was up to and how. Which would be difficult. A boat would take a while to reach Alexandria, and he was sure Eclipse would notice him leaving Daguerreo—he always did.

If he used the airship… no, Eclipse would notice that even more.

He had… a slight idea… but he’d have to go back home and that wasn’t something he wanted to do. He didn’t want to be around them, but for his plan to work he had to remove any suspicion he’d caused these past few days.

 

He finished with the shop and headed home, still thinking this over. … All those lives could not be in vain, he’d make sure of it. They did not die just so those monsters could live. No. Those monsters had murdered those people! He wouldn’t allow that! He’d… he would get revenge for them.

 

… He would destroy the demon that was responsible. He’d see to it Eclipse never hurt another person.

... Fine. Let the games begin… now. He whispered as he stepped back into the palace and brought up every mental guard he’d ever learned how to use.