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#Post#: 618--------------------------------------------------
Phantom Thieves of Heart -- WoF Edition (Persona 5 x Wings of Fi
re Crossover Fanfiction {Enchanted}
By: EnchantedDragons Date: July 30, 2017, 8:35 pm
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This is the Fanfic I was writing on the Scholastic forums! I'll
probably transfer the chapters once I have time. Currently,
there are about 10 chapters.
#Post#: 935--------------------------------------------------
Re: Phantom Thieves of Heart -- WoF Edition (Persona 5 x Wings o
f Fire Crossover Fanfiction {Enchant
By: Phoenixgriffin260 Date: July 31, 2017, 2:28 pm
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Yey
#Post#: 1022--------------------------------------------------
Re: Phantom Thieves of Heart -- WoF Edition (Persona 5 x Wings o
f Fire Crossover Fanfiction {Enchant
By: EnchantedDragons Date: July 31, 2017, 3:41 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[font=andale mono]Prologue
"Welcome, to the Velvet room!
An unfamiliar voice, the dragon thought, his eyes sealed
shut. His mind was foggy; a dangerous state to be in. Had he
fallen asleep? Why would he do that? Was he drugged?
This brain of his, like a well-oiled machine, quickly
flipped through all possible scenarios: each worse than the
last. Finally, he hesitantly opened his eyes, drowsiness rampant
throughout his body.
His blurry vision revealed a compact space, splashed with
endless shades of blue and azure. He did not focus enough to see
details. He heard the constant "chuff chuff" of something
moving, as steady and soothing as a trickling brook. Had he been
fully awake, this dragon would've studied the "engine"
meticulously, thinking every moment for his Queen. A steady
pulse pounded beneath him, powering the train to its
destination.
"Train" and "engine". A being like him had never
encountered something of the sort, and thus could not recognize
it. In fact, he paid no attention to his muddled surroundings,
focusing on an instant point of interest.
A dragon lazily perched upon what appeared to be a blue
log. The dragon's scales were pale; so pale, that it appeared
white. No other color surfaced, and the befuddled dragon was
unable to pick up distinctions. The pale dragon spoke once more.
"You are a sacred guest." The dragon continued, oblivious
to the conflict of his quarry. "My name is ---" White noise
obscured the strange dragon's words. "We have taken interest in
your fate. How peculiar." The dragon was entranced by this
mysterious individual. He listened raptly. "You have led quite
the life, haven't you? For you see: this room follows the whims
of your heart. Look!"
The blue room is changing; twisting and morphing. The
visitor let out a yelp of fear as the walls closed in on him,
closer...closer...
"A prison? How interesting."
The walls solidified around him; impregnable walls of
hardened stone. Iron bars made up the front, the space between
was enough to see through, but too small to slip out. The room
had expanded into a circle of prisons. All empty, except for
his. Chains were now attached to his ankles. His voice rose to a
roar, frightened and angered by this sudden development.The pale
dragon was now sitting up erect, business-like behind a wooden
desk. His smile was about as friendly as the mercilessly cold,
stone floor.
"Well then. Let us see how your rehabilitation will
result."[/font]
#Post#: 1024--------------------------------------------------
Re: Phantom Thieves of Heart -- WoF Edition (Persona 5 x Wings o
f Fire Crossover Fanfiction {Enchant
By: EnchantedDragons Date: July 31, 2017, 3:43 pm
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[font=andale mono]Chapter 1
Qibli
The sound of wingbeats echoed throughout the canyon. A
Sandwing swooped through, intelligent, black eyes scanning the
surroundings. He subconsciously stored information, while his
mind wandered. He propelled his way toward the towering peaks in
the distance.
His queen, Queen Thorn of the Sandwings, wanted him to
attend the newly founded Jade Mountain Academy. A place where
the tribes could coexist. The young Sandwing thought that the
decision might've had something to do with the fact that one of
the founders was Thorn's own daughter. He had seen the hybrid
princess before, when Thorn was still the leader of the Outclaws
in the Scorpion Den. She wasn't very tough physically, but Qibli
had witnessed her resolve and knew she was not to be
underestimated. If it's her, maybe they'll succeed at this
Academy thing. Reeeeally unlikely though. Qibli thought such a
proposition was too good to be true. No way would dragon tribes
suddenly get all buddy-buddy with each other, after only a
couple weeks. We'll just have to see how it goes. Qibli yawned,
revealing rows of sharp teeth. He wasn't able to get a good
night's sleep last night, since an odd dream kept him up. He
couldn't fall asleep after it, feeling bars closing in and the
piercing smile every time he closed his eyes.
A frantic fluttering of wings snapped him out of his
daydreams. Ostrich, Six-claws's daughter, was panting next to
him. As his mind wandered off, he must've flown too quickly for
the dragonet to follow. "Ah, sorry 'bout that." Qibli said
apologetically, hovering in place while waiting for his
companion to catch up.
Six-claws had decided the Academy was a good place for his
daughter to learn. He didn't have as much time to spend with her
anymore, now that Thorn was Queen. Six-claws managed the
security of the palace, pouring his heart and soul into
protecting someone he knew he could trust and confide in. He
really is an admirable fellow. Qibli thought.
Since Qibli was a loyal, former member of the Outclaws,
Six-claws trusted him with the task of bringing his daughter
safely to their destination. Qibli could remember the solemn
guard facade fading as Six-claws fussed over Ostrich. "Remember
to be polite to the other dragons." "Don't pick fights."
"Remember to eat plenty of food, you're a growing dragonet." and
so forth.
"What's so funny?" Ostrich's high-pitched voice penetrated
the memories. Qibli discovered that an amused smile had formed
on his snout. "Oh, I just snagged some nice, happy memories from
my brain." The Sandwing reformed the smile into a toothy grin,
his zig-zag scar flowing along with his expression.
"Woah!" Ostrich's voice rose up another octave, as she took in
the tallest mountain on Pyrrhia: Jade Mountain. "That's where
we're going?" The tiny dragonet was dumstruck.
"Yup! You don't see many mountains in the desert. Cool right?"
Qibli found the young Sandwing's happiness to be contagious,
spreading a warmness throughout his scales. "Well let's get
going. The other Sandwings might've arrived before us."
Ostrich nodded, and the two Sandwings sped up, powering
through the air with mighty flaps. The rock clearing carved
before the cave opening was an ideal landing spot. The platform
was packed with other dragons; Mudwings, Skywings, Icewings,
even Nightwings were crowded and milling about. Qibli landed
neatly, his claws clinking against the hard stone and his tail
barb rattling as it dragged across. Qibli quickly curled it up,
just as he was taught from his early dragonet days. Ostrich did
the same, and the pair went inside the cave.
The interior was colder, but still sunlit. Leafy fronds
covered openings in the walls, forming small, restrained pockets
of sunlight. A large banner was erected, woven out of leaves and
flowers. "Welcome" eh? Qibli thought. I appreciate it.
"Hello! Hello!" An energetic, black hand waved in his face,
Startled, Qibli jumped back a bit.
"I'm Fatespeaker! I'm helping out the dragonets of destiny
by passing around these scrolls." The Nightwing was quite
cheerful, which was quite surprising, considering the reputation
of the tribe. Fatespeaker once again spoke up, one talon pressed
to her forehead while the other hefted up the bag of scrolls.
"Wait! Don't tell me! You're...Arid!" Fatespeaker swiftly
pointed at Qibli, confidence etched on her face.
"...Uhm...no. I'm Qibli. This is Ostrich." Qibli tried to
wipe away the bewildered expression on her face, and cleared his
mind by focusing on Fatespeaker. Either she's delusional, or
she's trying to make a joke. Hmm, what's with these silver
scales next to her eyes? They're rather peculair...in a good
way. Fatespeaker dug through her bag, and pulled out two
scrolls. "Here...." the Nightwing sighed, seemingly despondent.
Qibli accepted his scroll with a nod, and moved forward. He
sneaked a glance back, and heard Fatespeaker's upbeat voice once
again. "Hello! Hello!"
~~~
Qibli left Ostrich to explore on her own; he had found
another Sandwing student. He was fairly aquainted with him, and
knew he could trust the student with Ostrich. Free from dragonet
care, Qibli decided to hold a conversation with another Sandwing
student in the stony hallways. He had studied his scroll
intently already. So this is my sleeping cave...and I'm in the
Jade Winglet. It seems there's one of each tribe for each
Winglet. Hooo boy. Let's see how this'll go. Qibli had tapped
his chin thoughtfully, pondering his next course of action.
Queen Thorn wanted me to come here. It would probably please her
if I became a good student. Plus, if I make friends with other
tribes, I could open up negotiations for her Majesty's
convenience. Qibli clapped his talons together. Alright! That's
settled. I'll do my best to befriend everyone. It seems that
everyone will be sharing the room with one to three other
dragons, I'll start with them.
In the middle of his conversation, he sensed someone shift
by. When he looked back into the throng of the hallway, he saw a
mass of black scales. For a moment, he was mesmerized. He stared
at how the light gleamed off of the ebony scales, fracturing off
into undertones of green, blue, and purple. Silver scales
glinted near the dragon's eyes, similar but larger than
Fatespeaker's. Qibli snapped back into attention, and scanned
the dragon in his usual way. Nightwing. Looks rather
uncomfortable to be here. I wonder if she's ok? A small worming,
traitorous thought blossomed in. I wonder if she'll be okay with
me talking to her. Maybe I could calm her down, she looks so
tense. Was it his imagination, or did she flinch a little bit?
Even after the Nightwing had left, his thoughts still
revolved around her. This didn't feel normal. Why was he so
engrossed in this particular Nightwing?
She has a secret.
Qibli's eyes narrowed slightly, no longer concentrating on
the conversation he had begun. I need to get to the bottom of
this. My mind wouldn't latch onto any old dragon. There must be
some sort of secret. Qibli sifted through his analysation once
more, filtering out his superfluous thoughts about her beauty.
Yes, she's beautiful, if you get down to it. But...she's got
those bags under her eyes, and horrible posture. She's slouching
down as if she's been coated in chains and iron cuffs. She's
dragging her feet around and her scales are dull. She looks like
the walking dead. A claw jabbed him lightly on the chest, and
Qibli turned. His conversational partner glared at him, annoyed.
He quickly apologized and continued the conversation.
Free once again, Qibli decided to check out his sleeping
cave. As he came closer to the opening, he heard muffled
snarling. He froze, and slowly peered inside, only showing as
much of his body as he needed.
An Icewing was in the cave, shaking his front talons. First
the right; then the left. He alternated, backing up onto a sheet
of freshly frozen ice that covered a fourth of the room. Qibli
zeroed in on where the Icewing was standing. In another corner
of the room, overlapping onto the ice sheet, was a pile of warm,
desert sand. Qibli felt a wave of exhaustion, and imagined
curling up and sleeping the day away on that sand pile. Several
camel pelts were neatly placed beside the dune, ready for him to
use. The Icewing had accidentally stepped onto the sand, and had
worn himself into a frenzy trying to get the grains out, Qibli
stifled a laugh, and walked in confidently.
The Icewing acted just as Qibli expected he would. He
whirled around when he detected the clinking of claws, and
struggled to maintain a composed and haughty posture.
"What are you doing here?" the Icewing asked, looking down his
nose at Qibli. Qibli was used to being belittled, so he wasn't
fazed.
"This is my sleeping cave!" Qibli said with a cheery tone,
taking a few steps toward the Icewing. Not too close. He might
spook. Qibli gave his clawmate a signature toothy grin, hoping
to defrost the icy exterior.
As expected, the Icewing was caught off guard. The Icewing
thought the Sandwing in front of him would be cowed; he hadn't
expected a friendly and energetic response. "I sleep alone. I
will talk to the people organizing this Academy about proper
sleeping arrangments." The Icewing grumbled irritably.
Time to thaw him off some more. "Aww c'mon, don't leave me
here!" Qibli casually loped toward his clawmate, and snaked a
forearm around the Icewing's neck. The Icewing stiffened, and
would've thrown off Qibli's hand if the Sandwing hadn't already
pushed him forward. "You hungry, buddy? Let's check out the
cafeteria together. What's your name?" Qibli asked the questions
with ease, hoping to disarm his frosty aquaintance even more.
"W-what are yo-" Winter sputtered, and stopped in his tracks. He
shook off Qibli, and glared at him. Qibli didn't try to hang on,
instead facing the Icewing with a relaxed expression. The
Icewing puffed up like an angry screech owl. "I will not "check
out" the cafeteria with a Sandwing." The Icewing sniffed, and
continued. "I will dine with my fellow Icewings. My name, if you
must insist, is Winter. Remember it well, Sandwing." Winter spat
out the last word, as if an insult. Then, he stalked out of the
cave.
Yeeeowch. Qibli thought, smiling a little bit. He tried to
get back the upper-hand in that last part there, would've fooled
most dragons. Qibli chuckled, and stepped toward the door. I've
quite the challenge in front of me, if I want to impress my
Queen. Before stepping out into the hallway, a glint caught the
corner of his eye. The Sandwing turned around. On the pile of
sand, a sunbeam caught a large, glittering gemstone. Curious,
Qibli went to examine it. The gemstone looked like a moonstone,
but the grays and pearl hints were replaced with stormy shades
of crimson and jet black clouds of dark. The red color formed an
interesting pattern in the front of the gemstone pendant; it was
shaped like an eye, with some sort of cross or star in the
middle. The streaks of red and black alternated, enamating from
the eye. The pendant was connected to a glittering silver chain,
forming a necklace. Qibli turned the gem over, but nothing else
seemed to be of note. Shrugging, Qibli left the necklace on the
dune, and headed toward the door. As he took a step, he felt a
weight around his neck. He looked down, and there it was; the
necklace was on him, with the pendant nestled on his chest.
Qibli felt a worm of unease squirm through his heart.
Qibli took off the necklace, and draped it once again on
the sand dune. He turned away, and the weight clunked onto his
serpentine neck. Heart pouding, Qibli looked down to see the
pendant nestled in the same spot. The eye seemed to be looking
at him.
Qibli's first instinct was to run. Immediately, he harshly
chided himself. Run? From a necklace? How silly was he? Qibli
was worried, but decided to keep it confidential for now; he
didn't know who was the one who gave this necklace to him.
Composing himself, Qibli headed toward the cafeteria.
~~~
"Clerval? How is the prisoner doing?" The pale dragon is
serenely sitting, talking to someone in front of him. "He is
awake, in the real world, Master." A voice responds from the
shadows. "Ah yes, I wonder how he will face the trials to come."
The pale dragon chuckles. The other figure remains in the
darkness. You see several flashes of blue and the glow of golden
eyes. "I wonder...how all of them will fare." With this, the
pale dragon outright cackles into the open air. The other figure
shifts, and you see a pale head, similar in shade to the dragon
behind the desk. "Yes, Master." The dragon bows, and
retreats.[/font]
#Post#: 1026--------------------------------------------------
Re: Phantom Thieves of Heart -- WoF Edition (Persona 5 x Wings o
f Fire Crossover Fanfiction {Enchant
By: EnchantedDragons Date: July 31, 2017, 3:45 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[font=andale mono]Chapter 2
Qibli
The Sandwing dashed toward the cafeteria. His original plan
had been to follow right after His Royal Frostiness, but the
necklace fiasco put him behind schedule. He slowed down right
before reaching the cafeteria cave, and strolled in; trying to
settle his pounding heart from the mad scramble he had just
done. "Hey-" Qibli sid breezily, before quickly realizing
something was wrong.
It was that Nightwing again.
That beautiful Nightwing.
Qibli mentally smacked himself in the head. Now's not the
time! Something's wrong! The Sandwing rapidly pushed aside the
crowd forming around her.
She was in some sort of fit. Her eyes had rolled into her
head, and her body jerked around in random movements. Her claws
flailed crazily, almost creating another wound across his snout
at one point. All the while, she was mumbling - sometimes
screaming - words that seemed like gibberish to him. Tears
started streaking down his face,
A Rainwing had been crouching down beside the Nightwing
when he first entered the room. Her scales were plumes of white
and lime-green, shifting across her body in alternating waves.
"Moon! Moon, what's wrong?" the Rainwing had skrieked, leaning
in close before being clobbered by one of "Moon's" arms. Then
Qibli moved forward, and shifted all his attention to Moon. So
that's her name. When he first heard the Rainwing, he filed the
information away for later use. As he assessed the Nightwing's
condition, he felt a presence come up next to him. Must be that
Rainwing. Qibli didn't think too much of it, until a chilling
presence came up at his other shoulder. Who- Qibli glanced to
his right. It was Winter.
The Icewing was looking at the Nightwing also. "What's
wrong with this blasted Nightwing?" he hissed. However, Qibli
could hear a strain of worry in his statement. Worry? From this
guy?
"H-hey! What's wrong?" The crowd parted, and a burly
Mudwing emerged. "You're safe! Don't be frightened!" he yelped,
awkwardly crouching down next to Moon. Qibli did his customary
analysis of the newcomer: That must be Clay, one of the
founders. Was he overseeing the cafeteria?
"Please help her, Clay!" The Rainwing's voice cried out
from Qibli's left shoulder, confirming his hypothesis. The
dragonet of destiny looked helplessly at her.
"I don't know how, Kinkajou." Clay said with despair.
"Did anything trigger this?" Qibli decided to take control
of the situation. "Did something happen for her to become like
this?"
The Rainwing, the one that Clay had called "Kinkajou",
looked miserable. "Nothing! We were just going to grab some
mangoes from that pile of fruit over there." Kinkajou pointed at
the pile with a trembling talon. "Then she suddenly started
moaning, and collapsed! I dragged her to the middle of the room,
yelling for someone to help me bring her to the infirmary.
That's when she started crying out and..." Kinkajou paused for a
second, taking a deep breath. "And that happened."
Winter had stayed next to Qibli, which was surprising.
"Crazy dragon. She must be mental. Although, I should've
expected that from a Nightwing." The Icewing feigned disdain,
glaring at Moon; once again, Qibli heard the quiver in his
voice. Huh. Guess he cares about her, wow. Qibli felt something
dark flash through his brain. Jealousy? Couldn't be.
Moon had calmed down by now, but she was still breathing
heavily. The Nightwing laid on her side, her legs slayed out.
She was unconscious, but still quietly whimpering. Clay crouched
down next to her. "Hey, can someone help me carry Moonwatcher to
the infirmary?" He asked, still shaken. Kinkajou and an
unfamiliar Mudwing helped hoist the unconscious Nightwing onto
Clay's broad shoulders. "Thank you Umber, Kinkajou." Clay
murmured, and slowly exited the cafeteria cave. Umber, the
Mudwing, followed Clay as he went out the door.
Qibli let out the breath he had been holding, and turned to
Kinkajou and Winter. She was looking at Winter, who was looking
at his glittery, blue talons, disgruntled. The Rainwing's scales
were still mainly lime-green, but starting to turn rose-pink at
the edges. Kinkajou seemed quite enamored with Mr. Grumpy
Icewing, and Qibli smirked knowingly.
Despite Qibli's upbeat facade, he was quite rattled. That
seizure was definitely worrying. Is that why I locked onto her?
Is she sick? I need to get to the bottom of this.
"Hey, all of you!" Clay had returned with Umber, and
addressed all the dragons. "That was quite the fright, but
everything is A-OK! She's resting in the infirmary right now.
You guys can continue eating if you want!"
Qibli shoved aside his worries for the moment, and pinned
Winter with another toothy grin. "Looks like fate brought us
together again, eh buddy?" Winter looked upon him with a tired
expression; looks like his efforts finally paid off!
"Urgh...you infuriating Sandwing. Fine. I suppose it
wouldn't hurt."
"Oh! Are you going somewhere?" Kinkajou chirped excitedly.
"Let's go then!"
"This is none of your concern, Rainwin-" Winter began.
"We'll be exploring around the school!" Qibli said
cheerily. Winter did a wonderfully realistic imitation of an
indignant camel. With such a clingy Rainwing, he won't be
ditching us anytime soon. Qibli thought.
~~~
After an eventful first day, Qibli settled into his
sleeping cave with his clawmates. Winter was grumping away on
his minature ice-sheet, while his other two clawmates slept
peacefully. Umber turned out to be one of his clawmates. The
Mudwing seemed nice and friendly; it wasn't difficult at all to
befriend him. Qibli found his eyes fixed on the brown form,
dozing away on a small patch of mud and marsh grasses. Next,
Turtle the Seawing slept on a bed made from kelp fronds. Turtle
was also rather friendly. The Seawing was one of Queen Coral's
numerous sons, making him a prince. Qibli noticed that he seemed
nervous; perhaps he was anxious around crowds? The Seawing
seemed like someone who preferred it backstage, out of notice.
Yawning, Qibli nestled his head on the camel pelt. He
closed his heavy eyelids, and fell into deep sleep.
~~~
Blinking, the Sandwing's black eyes fixed on a desolate,
stony blue ceiling. As he struggled to his feet, heavy chains
clinked. Stone enclosed him on three sides, and the bars in
front deterred escape. He was lying on a worn, wooden block. The
chains on his ankles were attached to the back wall with heavy,
metal plates.
It was the prison again. The circular room was dimly lit by
yellow, lantern light. The master of the room, the pale dragon,
was facing him; smiling with one hand propping up his head.
Qibli gasped, scuttling fearfully to the back of the cage.
"Come out." A flat, cutting voice commanded from outside the
cage. Another dragon padded into view.
The dragon was as pale as the dragon behind the wooden
desk. However, her scales were tinged with a myriad of blue
shades. Glowing, golden eyes were fixed on him. The dragon's
expression remained unreadable.
"My Master wishes to speak with you." The new dragon spoke
calmly, but the words sent a chill through him.
"Ah! Yes. You two haven't met, correct? This is Clerval, the
warden of the prison and your attendee." Clerval nodded slightly
when her name was mentioned, but didn't change her expression.
Her eyes were still fixed on Qibli.
"Your journey has begun." The "Master" addressed Qibli, who
had hesitantly approached the bars. Clerval finally turned away,
and stood next to the cage; stiff and motionless as the stone
that made up the prisons. "Soon your life will start rushing
forward. Slip...and you may have to cut the thread of life
short." The Master chuckled darkly. "The same will go for the
others that will join you in your adventure. Someone of interest
will spark your plunge to oppose fate, very soon. Let's see how
you will cope, Trickster."
Done with his message, The Master broke eye-contact with his
"guest". Clerval swiftly moved in front of the entrance,
blocking the light from coming into the prison. "You are waking
up now. My Master will contact you once he has more to say."
Qibli felt his eyelids drooping; the same sensation he had gone
through when he had fallen asleep, just before this meeting.
Clerval's eyes glowed at him, all the way 'til the darkness
enveloped him.[/font]
#Post#: 1027--------------------------------------------------
Re: Phantom Thieves of Heart -- WoF Edition (Persona 5 x Wings o
f Fire Crossover Fanfiction {Enchant
By: EnchantedDragons Date: July 31, 2017, 3:47 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[font=andale mono]Chapter 3
Qibli
"Time to rise and shine! First day of classes, everyone."
Qibli prodded all his clawmates, urging them to meet the bright,
morning sunshine. Umber and Turtle simply flopped over in their
respective beds, groaning. Winter hissed and threatened to claw
his face off if he pulled something like that again. It's always
"faces" with this guy. Qibli thought, with a tinge of sarcasm.
Qibli received another scroll; it was a schedule for
today's classes and activities. Peering over Turtle's shoulder,
he noticed that the Seawing had the exact same schedule. He
peered at Umber's and Winter's schedules also; they were the
same as well. I guess it's because we're all part of the Jade
Winglet. I wonder who else is joining us? Qibli wondered if Moon
was the Nightwing in Jade Winglet.
The classroom for Aviation was located near the back of the
mountain. The tunnel that led to the cave was quite long, but
straightforward. As Qibli and his clawmates traveled further
down the tunnel, the light diminished until it was almost pitch
black. However, the light started to flood back in as the group
of students reached their destination.
The classroom was open to the sky. It was a platform near
the peak of the mountain, sheltered by an overhang of rock. The
platform was expansive; enough for 7 dragons to stretch their
wings fully. It was an ideal place for flight training.
The rest of the Jade Winglet dragons were already in the
classroom. A Skywing with a foul expression was lying on a slab
of stone, in the shadows of the overhang. She seemed impatient;
perhaps raring to show her superior skills in flight. Qibli
noticed the scars on her scales. A veteran soldier. Perhaps from
the war. I wonder which Queen she supports? Probably Ruby, or
else she wouldn't have been sent to a peace-making school. The
Rainwing from yesterday was also present, her sorrows seemingly
forgotten. The excited Rainwing seemed more chipmunk than
dragon; her scales were blazing with eye-scorching shades of
pink and yellow, and she energetically jumped all over the
place. Qibli felt the need to shield his eyes from the
blistering brightness. Finally, the Nightwing of the group
was...
Moon.
Qibli felt his heart skip a beat. She seemed to have
recovered overnight, smiling a little at Kinkajou's antics. He
noticed that she looked more tired than ever, and she slouched
even further toward the ground. The Nightwing resembled an
exhausted, lump of slate.
Winter haughtily stomped past him, and Qibli felt the
freezing aura breeze along his scales as the Icewing passed by.
Kinkajou stood to attention when the royal Icewing entered the
room, and the expression of utter infatuation crossed over her
face. Moon on the other hand, seemed wary; She took a tiny step
back from Winter. Turtle and Umber followed through, much more
modestly.
The Skywing perked her head up slightly, and eyed the
newcomers as they entered the room. Once she confirmed that no
others were coming, she rested her head on her forearms again.
Qibli had concluded that this crimson Skywing was the most
dangerous in the room, and angled his tail barb toward her as he
sat down in wait.
After what seemed like an eternity of tail flicking and claw
scraping (from Winter, who was pacing until the Skywing roared
at him to stop) Qibli heard someone coming through the tunnel.
The footsteps were much heavier, heralding the arrival of a
large dragon.
A humongous Skywing burst into view. The Skywing was an
eye-catching crimson, and very muscular. His enormous wings
flared open as he exited the tunnel, and he blinked at the
students in the classroom. Rubies gleamed from a necklace around
his chest.
The Skywing student let out a hiss of astonishment, but was
interrupted before she could say any more.
"Hello!" The Skywing boomed, looking down at the students. "You
must be the Jade Winglet! It is an honor to meet you." The
flamboyant Skywing made an exaggerated bow, his snout actually
touching the floor. "I am your Aviation teacher, Cardinal."
Cardinal tramped over to the edge of the platform, leaving the
dragonets to scramble away from his pounding talons.
"Well then!" Cardinal said cheerfully, sitting down and
folding his wings. His frame almost blocked the sunlight,
darkening the cave. He faced the students with an amiable smile.
"I would like to know your names. You!" The teacher dramatically
pointed a talon at Moonwatcher. "What is your name, darling?"
Qibli felt a snarl rising in his throat. He decided he
didn't quite like this teacher.
"Oh! Uh..I-i'm uhm...Moo-"
"Moo! What a splendid name! Next, what is your name, San-"
"She wasn't finished yet." Winter cut in, his frigid eyes
locked on the Skywing teacher. "Her name is Moonwatcher." Qibli
nodded in agreement. Looks like he was listening when Clay said
her name. Surprising, once again.
"Oh, my apologies." Cardinal looked at Moon, and grimaced.
"I can get a bit...excited sometimes. Sorry about that, dearie."
The huge Skywing nudged Moon on the wing. The Nightwing looked
uncomfortable.
"Let us keep going!" Cardinal bellowed again, and pointed
at the Skywing this time. "Sweetie, what's your name?"
The Skywing rose up like a wrathful, red cloud. "I am Carnelian,
one of the soldiers of Queen Ruby." she hissed. "And you! You
shouldn't be here!"[/font]
#Post#: 1028--------------------------------------------------
Re: Phantom Thieves of Heart -- WoF Edition (Persona 5 x Wings o
f Fire Crossover Fanfiction {Enchant
By: EnchantedDragons Date: July 31, 2017, 3:48 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[font=andale mono]Chapter 4
Qibli
Qibli immediately honed in on the conversation. By this
time, it's widespread news that there's discord in the Skywing
Kingdom. This could be important information for my Queen.
Carnelian barreled on without waiting for a response.
"Weren't you that colonel from 6 years ago? Queen Scarlet took
quite a liking to you, and promoted you to an unreasonably high
ranking. All you did was fawn endlessly about her, and flex your
'muscles' that you got from your 'battles'. You were a horrible
commander! Physically abusing the troops under your command.
Although Queen Scarlet never did anything, Queen Ruby certainly
did! You were banished from the kingdom, to be killed on sight.
And now you're teaching dragonets to fly? Don't make me laugh!"
Qibli let out a silent whistle. That's quite the rant she
just gave. But I wonder what Mr. Flashy Skywing has to say in
response. He turned to the Skywing teacher, who had a sorrowful
expression on his face.
"Oh, are you one of Ruby's followers? Well, I guess you
were fed the normal lies, hmm?" Carnelian looked like she was
going to leap at Cardinal at any moment, so Qibli stepped
between the two crimson Skywings. He wanted to know both sides
of the story.
"It's as you said. Ruby banished me from the kingdom. That
tyrant made up those charges, and those mutinous soldiers backed
her up! I was heartbroken." Cardinal sniffed, swiping at his
eyes with his gaudy, ruby-encrusted talons. "Well, I roamed the
continent listlessly, until I heard of this glorious new
academy. Founded by the dragonets of destiny, no less! They
sympathized with me, and offered me a job here. I am forever
grateful." Cardinal gave a final sniff, and a warm smile. "Also,
there is another Skywing attending this academy, also exiled
from the Sky Kingdom. The dragonets are ever merciful, after
all. I'm not the only one they've pardoned."
"Oh, that's so sad!" Kinkajou had come forward, and was
bouncing up and down at Cardinal's feet. "From what I've heard,
everyone thinks Queen Ruby is such a good queen, but if she did
something like that..." Kinkajou's scales were now shot through
with fiery reds. "...She must be horrible!"
Moon also looked sorrowful, along with the other Jade
Winglet dragons (Winter was an exception of course. Qibli
doubted that he felt sorry for anyone other than himself, and
maybe Moon). Qibli decided to act sympathetic for now, not
wanting to fall under Cardinal's radar in case he did resort to
physical punishments. He also wondered who the other Skywing
was.
The Aviation class went relatively well. At least, that was the
case for most of them.
It turned out that Cardinal did indeed have quite a lot of
knowledge about flight. He instructed the class on different
maneuvers, and also told them what caused certain aviary
accidents. However, more than once, Cardinal sidled over to Moon
and Kinkajou, and gave them some "special attention". He quickly
abandoned these private lectures, since Winter would
"coincidentally" storm over to the teacher if the Icewing
noticed that the was getting too close to the two female
dragonets. Similarly, Qibli would zoom over and ask a tornado of
questions if Cardinal got too close to Moon and Kinkajou. The
two of them alternated randomly, trying to act natural.
"Creep." Winter muttered, and Qibli nodded in agreement. It
seemed like the two of them were finally bonding, untied against
a common foe. Quite silly, now that Qibli thought about it. He's
just a teacher. A creepy teacher, but just a teacher. Yet, Qibli
still couldn't shake off Carnelian's accusation.
Speaking of Carnelian, the class definitely was a nightmare
for her. She kept getting tangled in tree branches, crashing
against rocks, and bumping against Cardinal. Every time, the
Skywing teacher swooped upon her to give her a harsh scolding.
The main point was always: "You're a Skywing, yet you're the
worst flyer in this class!"
Carnelian didn't retort, although Qibli could tell she
would've gladly spit fire into his "oh-so-beautiful" face. From
what Qibli could tell, it was her own fault that she made all
these mistakes; even so, they did seem a bit... odd. A couple
slips might be natural, but so many?
The class finally ended, and the group reconvened at the
stone platform. Cardinal looked down proudly at the dragons, but
his gaze lingered on Moon for a heartbeat longer than the rest.
He completely ignored Carnelian and Winter, though.
"What a day! All of you made so much progress. Well, except
for you." He pointed a talon at Carnelian, who bared her teeth.
"Oh my! Such attitude. We will adjust that later. You shall come
here, to this classroom, at sundown for extra flight lessons."
Cardinal sighed heavily, almost blowing Qibli backwards. "As a
Skywing, I thought you would be the best in this class! Alas, I
shouldn't have assumed." After those sharp words, Cardinal swept
through the tunnel, back into the mountain. Moon, Kinkajou,
Turtle, and Umber quickly followed, each murmuring a cheery
goodbye. They hadn't had much time to descend into the normal
"eww you're part of another tribe"drama that Qibli was
expecting, and the stiff barrier between tribes had begun to
break down after the lesson. Perhaps this school could
accomplish its goal, after all. Qibli thought optimistically.
Carnelian was staring, agape, at the tunnel. Cardinal's
words sunk in fully, and the Skywing exploded. "WHO, did THAT
JERK, think HE IS!" she roared. Qibli winced a bit, and noticed
Winter nodding at Carnelian. I thought he would've stalked off
already, "sniff-sniff-begone-you-peasants" and all that jazz.
"I'm surprised he was able to convince the dragonets of
destiny. Though, from what we've seen of them, they either seem
to be meatheads or too nice for their own good, so it might be
reasonable. I should report Cardinal's scandulous behavior."
Winter growled.
"Ugh, I know. But I also know he'll just cover it all up,
saying that I just have a grudge against him or something. You!"
Carnelian whipped her head toward Qibli, and he took a step back
from the her ferocious expression.
"You didn't fall for his charade, did you?" she hissed.
"Well, I thought I'd act sympathetic for the moment. Making
enemies with him would only make it harder to accuse him of
something. Also, I just couldn't shake off what you said about
him." Qibli answered, wondering where Carnelian was going with
this.
"Cardinal...that scumbag! What is he, the king of the castle?"
Carnelian glared from Winter to Qibli. "You two are smarter than
the rest. They just blindly accepted that fool's sob story. The
rest of those in Jade Mountain probably will too. Except the
Skywings maybe, but then he'll treat them like trash." Carnelian
lashed her tail, and continued. "I wish we could prove that blob
of seagull splat's crimes!"
Destination found.
Qibli stomach squirmed when he heard an unfamiliar, robotic
voice. A heartbeat later, everything twisted around them.
[/font]
#Post#: 1029--------------------------------------------------
Re: Phantom Thieves of Heart -- WoF Edition (Persona 5 x Wings o
f Fire Crossover Fanfiction {Enchant
By: EnchantedDragons Date: July 31, 2017, 3:50 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[font=andale mono]Chapter 5
Qibli
The world swirled rapidly, with whorls of red and black.
Qibli felt nauseous, spinning into the depths of the unknown.
Finally, the sensation stopped, and Qibli struggled to feet.
Judging from the soreness of his body, he must've fell down from
the Aviation platform. He heard groans on either side of him.
His mind was still disoriented, but the fuzziness was quickly
jolted away by what he saw before him.
In place of where Jade Mountain was supposed to stand, a
grand palace had been placed. It was partly built into the
mountain, but several areas had been leveled off to in order to
construct elaborate turrets and buildings. The wall were carved
and smoothed ivory, and the roofs seemed to be made entirely out
of gold. The windows were covered in a thick, azure-colored
glass. The palace glowed with an unnatural light, flickering
slightly with a red aura. It was eerily quiet, and no dragons
flew around it. Qibli's stomach made another painful lurch;
surely, any palace would have some dragons flying in and out.
And wasn't this Jade Mountain Academy before? Where had the
students gone?
"W-what the--" a voice called out next to him. It was
Carnelian.
"T-this.." it was Winter, this time.
"This is certainly a surprise." Qibli said grimly. "I bet
it won't be the last, either. Anyway, last I checked, Jade
Mountain didn't look like... this."
"Well, duh." Carnelian said sharply. The Skywing was still
looking around with wide eyes, as if she couldn't believe it.
"What's going on?"
Qibli gulped, swallowing his apprehension. "I guess we'll
just have to see what's inside." Carnelian and Winter both
nodded, and the three of them approached the heavy, wooden door.
The wooden door was four times larger than him, and reinforced
with black, bolted metal. The three of them pushed with all
their might, but the door didn't budge.
"I guess that's expected. What kind of castle gate could
easily be pushed open?" Winter stopped pushing, and growled,
shaking his spiky ruff.
"What now then, leader?" Carnelian spun toward Qibli. The
last part was probably just sarcasm, but... Leader? I quite like
that. Qibli scanned the facade of the massive palace. He thought
he saw something, and was about to head over until--
The sound of heavy clanking grew closer. Carnelian and Winter
grew tense, and Qibli quickly rejoined them. After a few
heartbeats, the sound stopped. Curious, Qibli made a tentative
step forward. Then another. Qibli peered into the darkness
behind them.
That was another thing. Aside from the palace, which glowed
with a golden light, everything else was shrouded in darkness.
The golden glow helped illuminate some of the surroundings, but
everything else was dark; even the sky, which was a stormy
magenta. The scenery was clearly unnatural -- where in the world
did they end up?
Cautiously, Qibli, Winter, and Carnelian advanced toward
the sound. It came from the right side of the palace. As they
ventured closer, Qibli realized that there was another entrance
in the right side of the castle. Perched in front of the
entryway was a suit of armor.
The armor was made of several sleek, metal plates. There
was a segment for the chest, one for the abdomen, leg pads, and
a helmet that fully covered the face.
"I've never seen something like this before." Winter
murmured.
"Yeah, I haven't either." Carnelian darted forward, and
bumped the armor with her snout. "It's quite large. I never
thought there would still be armor like this. It looks
incredibly heavy; it would be hard to move and fly in."
Qibli was about to nod in agreement, when suddenly he heard
something. His enhanced Sandwing hearing had caught the sound of
scraping metal, but he had been too engrossed in the armor to
notice.
"Look out! Someo-" Qibli tried to scream.
Too late.
Something heavy slammed into the back of Qibli's head. The suit
of armor, which had seemed inanimate, suddenly roared to life,
right before his darkening vision. Shadowy shapes surrounded
Winter and Carnelian. However, Qibli didn't see what happened
next: he blacked out.
~~~
His eyelids felt incredibly heavy. Qibli groaned, and shook
his head right and left. That only made the pain worse.
"Urgh..." Qibli's hearing registered another groan, and
indignant hissing.
"LET US OUT!" It was Winter, roaring and ramming the bars.
Bars? Qibli blinked a couple times, and let his eyesight adjust.
They were in a dark cell. It was like a hallway, stretching
out long behind the barred opening in front. The bars seemed
rusty, same as the chains fastened to the back wall. The only
light source was glowing dimly from outside the cell, which
explained the darkness. The prison reminded Qibli too much of
the stone prison in that "Velvet Room". However, the stone that
lined the cell was more yellowish than blue.
Carnelian was also waking up, still crouching on the stone
floor. It looked like all three of them had been shoved in the
same cell. Qibli quickly hurried over to the front, stumbling
slightly. He whispered to Winter. "Quiet! I want to hear what's
going on."
Surprisingly, Winter backed off. Wants to know what's going
on, just as much as I do. Qibli leaned forward, his head
touching the rusted, black bars. Carnelian and Winter flanked
him on either side.
At first, the prison seemed quiet. Nothing clattered down
the dimly lit paths, nor did any sound come the adjacent
prisons. From what Qibli could see, the dungeon stretched far
from right to left. In the middle of the room was a deep trench,
glowing with blue light. Beyond the glow, Qibli could see yet
another row of impregnable prisons.
After what seemed to be an eternity, Qibli could hear
footsteps approaching. Qibli crouched down. The others quickly
followed suit. He listened intently to the approaching
adversaries.
"So we're going to those new prisoners that you captured?"
[font=courier] "Yes, your Majesty. They were lurking
suspiciously around the entrance. The guards made quick work of
them, and dumped them in a cell."[/font]
"Perfect. How reliable, unlike those weak-willed soldiers I
was assigned to train."
Carnelian stiffened a bit, but didn't make any noise. If
he's talking about soldiers, is it perhaps what Carnelian was
saying earlier? About the physical abuse? The two individuals
started talking again, and Qibli quickly went back to their
conversation.
"Those dragonets were real gullible. Tell them my sob
story, drop a couple of tears, and I'm in! Wonderful." the
incoming dragon chuckled. "Though...as evidenced by today, the
Skywings will call me out. Not too much of a problem though.
After some...persuasion, they won't be talking."
[font=courier] "Sounds annoying, your Majesty." [/font]
"It is! Especially that Skywing, Carnelian. She's quite
beautiful, but absolutely infuriating! She started snarling at
me, right in front of the others. If I hadn't intervened, she
probably would've convinced the whole winglet! Luckily, that
story of mine won them over. Well, most of them."
Qibli realized, with a jolt of alarm, that the dragons were
now right next to them. Frantically, he backed away, pushing
Winter and Carnelian back also. Both of them hissed as Qibli
stumbled into them. Qibli was too preoccupied to care; that
amount of scraping and clanking...it had to belong to at least
four guards. How would they escape?
"The Sandwing, and the Icewing are probably suspicious of
me. How sad. If they had believed it, I wouldn't have to pay
special attention to them. Alas! That's just how it ends up."
The dragon's tone turned icy cold at the last part.
The door to the cell banged open. Light flooded into the
dark room, revealing the shocked faces of the captured dragons.
Four armored guards, just as Qibli heard, filed in. They all
wore white masks on their faces, horribly blank and cold. Once
they had all entered, they spread out; two stationed at each
wall, and formed a passageway between them. A large shape
entered through the open door, and walked through the open space
that had formed. The three dragons were cornered, all of them
crouching near the back wall. As the figure stopped in front of
the group, each one of them recognized the dragon before them.
It was Cardinal.[/font]
#Post#: 1032--------------------------------------------------
Re: Phantom Thieves of Heart -- WoF Edition (Persona 5 x Wings o
f Fire Crossover Fanfiction {Enchant
By: EnchantedDragons Date: July 31, 2017, 3:55 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[font=andale mono]Chapter 6 pt. 1
Qibli
"W-what the-- By the three moons-- What are you wearing?!"
Carnelian finally decided on a response. Qibli had to agree.
The pompous Skywing was laden with gold accessories and
other sparkly trinkets. He even wore scores of black threads
around his neck, threaded with clinking dragon teeth. The gold
was at an exorbitant amount; Cardinal was stumbling slightly
under the weight of his treasure.
"Hmmph. I guess it was you three after all." Cardinal
glared at the three prisoners, contempt written clearly on his
face. "Well, I was planning on disposing of you dragons already.
Looks like the execution date was moved up a couple weeks."
Cardinal cocked his head to the side, and looked meaningfully at
the guard that stood closest to him. The Skywing slid a talon
across his neck.
Immediately, two of the patrol grabbed Winter and slammed
him against the wall. "Let's start with that infuriating
Icewing. So high-and-mighty...do you still think you're the one
in charge? In Jade Mountain Academy, you're nothing but a lost
dragonet, yet you still strut around like an overgrown rooster."
Winter tried to snarl at Cardinal, but the guards bashed him
across the cheek. Qibli and Carnelian peeled back their lips,
growling. The two remaining guards swiftly moved forward and
apprehended them as well.
"How cute. Dragons of different tribes, trying to save
their friend. That malformed Sandwing would've been overjoyed!
Well, not that she's ever going to see the rest of you again."
Cardinal laughed, cackling aloud into the tense air. "Well then,
if you would please..." One guard pinned Winter to the wall,
while the other raised a wicked looking spear up to Winter's
neck. The Icewing prince's fierce expression began to fall.
"N-no.." he whispered, eyes growing wider. Qibli was conscious
of the heavy weight pressed against him, and yet, he couldn't
just--
"Stop right there."
"What was that...?" Cardinal turned around, a menacing mass of
fiery red.
"I said stop it." Qibli could hardly recognize the voice that
came from his mouth. Carnelian's snout was pressed to the floor,
but he could see the glinting of her eyes, and felt the same
spirit that he saw in them. Rebellion.
"I rebel. Against you, and against the kingdom that you're
trying to build. You have NO right in Jade Mountain Academy, you
exploiting, cowardly, abusing scumbag!" Qibli let his true will
roar out of him.
"You have a death wish, don't you?" Cardinal stepped toward him,
and looked down. "Very well. You'll be the first. Guards?" The
guard holding the spear rushed over. The other guard let Winter
drop to the floor, where he stayed, shaken. Qibli bucked, trying
to shake off the guard. No use. The weight upon him was too
heavy. As the spear descended, Qibli thought he would've been
terrified; that was not the case. All he felt was a deep,
burning anger.
Are we finally done with this foolish charade?
Qibli gasped, as the world tremored. A pulse of intense pain
throbbed through his head, and the Sandwing clutched his talons.
You've said it yourself already, haven't you...? A false king
has no reason to order you around.
Qibli trembles, slowly pushing himself to his feet.
By yourself, you are useless. Just a smiling comedian! Is that
all you want people to remember you by?
"No." Qibli whispered, as he stood up. The guard looked on in
shock as the dragonet easily shook him away.
Wonderful! Very well, young one. Let us form a contract.
I am thou, Thou art I...
May chains nor masks hide you away any longer. The winds of
chaos shall reign supreme!
"UrrrrggggAAAARRRGGGAAAAAH!" Qibli's talons found their way to
his snout, where something was resting. Heavy...so heavy... I
need to get it off...! His talons dug under the mask, tearing
with ferocious strength. Pain unlike any flooded his senses, but
he didn't stop. With every fresh spurt of blood, he felt a
chilling rage deepen within.
Soon, it was gone. Lighter than ever before, Qibli glared at
Cardinal.
"Ruler of the desert, King of storms...heed my call. Come to me,
Set!"
The world filled with a blinding, blue light. Qibli felt...
free.
Free![/font]
#Post#: 1036--------------------------------------------------
Re: Phantom Thieves of Heart -- WoF Edition (Persona 5 x Wings o
f Fire Crossover Fanfiction {Enchant
By: EnchantedDragons Date: July 31, 2017, 4:05 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[font=andale mono]Chapter 6 pt. 2
Qibli
Qibli could feel the power coursing through him. The blue
light now concentrated around him, like the spotlight on a
performer. Behind him, his Persona stood tall.
The entity behind him was twice as big as him, and was an
incredibly strange creature. It had a black, wolf-like head
mounted on top of a muscular scavenger body. The scavenger wore
clothes that were reminiscent of the Ancient Egyptians. A white
cloth was wrapped around the entity's waist, adorned with gold
and gems. Bands of treasure circled Set's wrists, arms, and
neck. Set crossed his arms in front of his chest, clutching an
ankh in one hand and a spear in the other. Glowing, feral eyes
came from the wolfish head, a copy of Qibli's eyes in that
moment.
"G-guards! Handle this!" Cardinal's arrogant voice was now
drenched in fear, and he cowered behind one of the guards.
Cardinal quickly backed out of the prison, and fled.
Coward. It was Qibli's turn to feel contempt at the vain
Skywing. The three remaining guards surrounded him, and before
his eyes, they transformed. Each of them grabbed the mask on
their snout, and ripped it off. They lost form, melting into a
pile of red and black goop, before quickly reforming. The three
guards were replaced with... monstrosities.
The monsters were twice the size of Qibli, and a dark
green. Their hindquarters had compressed into a large fish tail,
while their front resembled a horse. Their eyes were blazing red
orbs, and they gnashed their white teeth. [font=courier]"All who
defy King Cardinal shall be eliminated!"[/font] The monsters
roared, and charged.
Qibli's first instinct was to use his fire. However, he
quickly realized that, in a wacky world such as this, normal
methods wouldn't work. "Set!" He yelled, relying on an instinct,
His newfound Persona stretched out a hand at the incoming
wave. A green torrent of wind ripped into existence, and blew
away the beasts. The beasts were ejected from the cell, and each
one of the them fell into the blue-lit trench. Qibli breathed a
sigh of relief, before a cough caught his attention.
Turning back, he saw Carnelian looking at him with a "what
the heck was that" expression. Winter had risen to his feet, and
was standing next to Carnelian. The bruise on his cheek had
swelled up, looking purple and blue.
"Uh...hi?" Qibli said hesitantly.
Carnelian would have none of it. "Don't "hi" me! What was
that?" Carnelian stormed up to him, glaring.
"I honestly don't know. We can't think about it now, we
have to run. Cardinal might be back with reinforcements at any
second!" Qibli ran out the cell, not waiting for Carnelian's
response. I don't have any answers. Let's concentrate on it
later.
Qibli winced a bit at the clinking sound his claws made on
the stone floor. That can't be helped, we have to hurry. This is
risky; we don't know the layout of this place, so we'll easily
get lost or accidentally run into trouble. However, we have no
choice.
The clinking of multiple talons signalled Qibli that his
friends were right on his heels. Just as he was about to
increase speed, a hushed voice cried out. "Psst! Over here!"
Qibli screeched to a stop, his claws making a loud scraping
noise.
In the cell next to where he was standing, a dragon was
jailed. From what Qibli could see, the dragon was black with
dark blue undertones. His underbelly was pale gray, and large,
expressive blue eyes peered at him. "Hey, can't you help me out?
Free me!" The dragon moved forward, and Qibli got a clearer
look.
The dragon seemed to be a Nightwing, with the dark
coloration; however, the body-shape seemed off. His neck was
long and slender, and the dragon was small and wiry. The shape
of the head seemed different than the Nightwings Qibli had seen.
Qibli thought of Moon, but he quickly repelled the thought.
"Why?" Carnelian moved up next to him, with Winter close
by. Both peered at the trapped dragon,
"I know where the exit is. You guys seem totally lost, so
you could definitely use my help. Also... you guys seem
clueless. I know all about this world, and I know about
Personas. You're a user, aren't you?" The Nightwing pointed a
talon at Qibli.
"Per..sona...?" Qibli said quizzically. I can't tell if
he's bluffing or not, but at this point, we need everything we
can. "Alright, you're hired." Qibli tried to add some humor to
his statement, but it didn't help the situation at all. He
examined the lock. Experimentally, he blew a plume of fire.
The lock promptly melted and dropped off. The dragon quickly
darted out, head held high.
"Uh...wow. I would've thought that a dungeon holding
dragons would be fireproof." Qibli looked at the Nightwing. "Did
you seriously not try to burn off the lock?"
"That's because I can't, doofus." The dragon glared at him,
his scales starting to turn red. Oh. Not a Nightwing. "Well, I
suppose I should thank you for freeing me. Let's move to the
exit." The Rainwing sniffed, and stalked in the direction that
the group had initially come from.
"Ah! I'm sorry, I saw your scales so I assumed-- what's
your name?" Qibli blurted out, flustered. He scrabbled after the
unfamiliar dragon.
"I made my scales black, because it blends well into the
shadows. I'm Bandit." The Rainwing hissed in response. "Anyway,
can you stop making such a racket? Do you want to be found out?"
Bandit silently braked, and Qibli tried to do the same.
Carnelian and Winter caught up.
Winter recoiled slightly when he heard the Rainwing's name.
Oh, that's right. He had a pet scavenger named Bandit. If my
memory serves correct, it died from the cold a couple days after
Winter got it. What a scary coincidence.
Bandit stares at Winter for a heartbeat, and blushes. Qibli
stifles a giggle. Winter's handsome face defies even the borders
of gender, hehe.
"We need to be quiet. Curl up your talons as best as you can."
Bandit whispered, and hurtled forward. Qibli tried to do as the
dragon said, and reduced the amount of noise his claws made.
[font=courier]"Intruders!"[/font] A valiant voice called
out, and two guards rounded the corner.
"By the moons..." Bandit growls, and lunges at the guards.
In one swift motion, he rips off the masks of the two guards.
The guards go through the same transformation, reforming into
the same horse-fish monsters.
"I didn't want to fight, too much noise." Bandit mutters,
before dropping down next to Qibli. "You can fight right? The
rest of you, get behind us."
The Rainwing closed his eyes, as if summoning courage. "Come,
Zorro!"
The same pillar of blue light emerged around Bandit, and a huge
figure rose up behind him. The figure had an inflated chest, and
was entirely dark gray. Lighter streaks of gray decorated the
hull of the Persona. A flat, cylindrical head poked out of the
massive body, and glowing yellow eyes were fixed on it. The
figure swung its burly arms, holding a conductor's baton in its
hand. A majestic cape flew in the wind around the entity.
"Let's go!" Bandit glared at one of the guards. The Persona,
Zorro, swung a punch, hitting the monster squarely in the chest.
The horse-fish flopped lifelessly on the floor, and melted away
into black goo. Qibli set his sights on the other guard,
blasting him away with a storm of winds.
"Alright, We need to hurry." Barely after Qibli finished
off the other guard, Bandit lunged forward and continued his mad
dash. Qibli hurried after him, secrecy forgotten; their claws
scraped loudly against the floor. Qibli's Sandwing hearing could
detect the clanking noise of other guards, and he put on a burst
of speed.
Bandit led them to a shadowy, run-down corner of the
castle. "Over here." Bandit crouched, and leaped onto a wooden
crate. Several meters above Bandit's head was a small chute in
the wall.
"You.. want us to crawl through that?" Winter said
hesitantly.
"Well, you wanna try to go through the front entrance pal?
This is safer." Bandit entered the chute. Qibli looked grimly at
his friends, and motioned toward the exit. He jumped on the
crate, and leaped into the opening. It was a tight squeeze, but
thankfully he didn't get stuck. Qibli dropped onto the rock on
the other side, panting. Winter and Carnelian soon dropped out
as well.
"Ok, explanation." Carnelian confronted Bandit. The
Rainwing seemed nonchalant, stretching his wings and shaking his
ruff happily.
"Freedom is soooo sweet~" He says cheerfully, ignoring
Carnelian.
"Hey--" Carnelian growls, before a harsh voice calls out
frightfully nearby. [font=courier]"The intruders couldn't have
gotten far! Find them!"[/font]
"Aah! We gotta run!" Bandit whispers, frozen. Qibli felt a
chill creep down his spine.
"How do we get out of this crazy world?" Carnelian cries
out, almost in hysterics. Winter hides in the shadows of the
castle, trying to conceal his gleaming scales.
"I-I don't know!" Qibli says loudly, before clapping his
talons over his mouth. "Bring us home, home, home, back to our
real world!" He calls out frantically.
Returning to the real world.
The robotic voice, now a comfort rather than a scare, comes from
Qibli's necklace. The world shimmers and ripples, and Qibli
feels a familiar lurch.
~~~
The three of them lay sprawled in front of the school. Qibli
took a couple of deep breaths to calm his spinning head and
racing heart. Golden sunlight shines upon them, from a setting
sun.
"So... you guys saw that too? It wasn't a wacky dream?"
Carnelian's voice came from his right, wobbly and tight.
"Unfortunately." Winter struggles to his feet, grimacing.
Qibli rises to his feet, and he realizes there is a weight
around his shoulders. He let's out a high-pitched shriek, and
shakes his head.
"Oof!" A familiar, irritated voice comes from a black mass
of fur. A black puma shakes its pelt, and glares at Qibli with
its blue eyes. "Hey! Is that how you treat an aquaintance?"
"B-bandit? You can talk?" Qibli says incredulously.
"Are you braindead? Of course! I look like this in the real
world, because an animus enchanted me." Bandit looks down at his
paws. "I'm trying to learn how to reverse the spell, and trying
to find who did it to me. That bring me to my offer." Bandit
sits down, and motions for Qibli to do the same.
"You could be useful, as a fellow Persona user. If you can
enter that world, you can do it again. Though, I would prefer it
if you didn't bring those two along." Bandit points a furry paw
at Carnelian and Winter. "They don't have powers, and can't do
anything. Though, maybe you could charm them to death." Bandit
looks at Winter as he says that.
Winter is back in his usual grumpy self, and is about to
retort when Qibli interupts him. "Ok.. so I help you. Why?"
"That Palace Ruler, you know him, correct? From how he
acts, he seems to be a horrible dragon. I'll help you change his
heart, destroy his palace, and in return you help me destroy
other palaces. I should be able to find something if I keep
working in the Metaverse."
"Woah! Slow down! Palace? Change his heart? Persona?" Qibli
holds up his talons, trying to piece it all together. "You said
you'd explain it all, so please do it from the beginning."
"Alright." Bandit sighs, and lays on the floor. Qibli,
Winter, and Carnelian do the same, ready for a long lecture.
"That world you entered, it's called the Metaverse. It's a world
formed of desires, dragon desires. Whether the desires are good
or bad, they are always twisted and distorted. "Distortion" and
"cognition" are the key terms. Palaces are structures in the
Metaverse. When a dragon has exceptionally distorted desires,
they form a Palace in the Metaverse. The Shadow, a malevolent
manifestation of that person's deepest, darkest personalities,
is the Palace ruler. Palaces are cognitive; it's usually derived
from a real place that the ruler frequents. However, very rarely
does the Palace look like what it really is; often, it is
distorted into what the ruler thinks it is. In this case, the
original location is a school. In the Metaverse, it looks like a
castle. That is Cardinal's Palace. In the Palace, there is
always a "treasure". The treasure is what started the desires in
the first place. When you take the "treasure", the Palace
collapses. Well, think about it. If you take what caused the
desires, the Palace, which is a culmination of desires, will no
longer exist, and collapse. Because the desires are gone, the
Palace owner will be left with their deeds, but no motivation to
back that up. Crushed by their guilt, they confess.
However, this method can be risky. The Palace is linked closely
with the ruler. Real life situations might emerge in the Palace,
since its connected to the ruler's cognition. The opposite is
also true. If you kill the Shadow of the ruler... the real
person might become mentally dead, or just plain dead.
They...might also commit suicide under the weight of their
sins." Bandit finishes with a solemn tone. "If you really want
to do it, be prepared for the consequences. I will explain more
once you accept."
Qibli felt uncertain. If I'm not careful...I could murder
someone. I know we're dragons, but this type of murder would
leave a horrible taste in my mouth. Winter and Carnelian had the
same uncertain expression on their faces.
"We'll think about it." Qibli answered, after a few tense
seconds of silence.
"I expected that. Well, I'll stick around. I'll wait for
your answer." Bandit clambered onto Qibli's neck. He stiffened,
but didn't try to resist.
"Well, to move on to a different topic, won't people be
weirded out by a talking cat?"
"I'm not a cat! I'm a dragon!" Bandit hissed, before adding
on. "Only you guys, who have traveled to the Metaverse, can hear
me. Everyone else just hears meowing. So don't worry." Bandit
settled comfortably around Qibli's neck.
"Ack! I almost forgot!" Carnelian groaned suddenly. "I have
to attend Cardinal's remedial lesson..."
"That's right. You should head off. Be...careful." Winter
looked nervously at the setting sun. "That Palace, if that's
truly how Cardinal feels..."
"I'll be careful." Carenlian's harsh demeanor slipped off,
replaced with a friendly grin. "Let's meet up tomorrow, and try
to find dirt on that guy. If that doesn't work..." Carnelian
glanced at Bandit, "We'll have to risk it."
Qibli and Winter nodded, and gave Carnelian smiles of their
own. "We'll meet up here after classes." Winter said. "Make sure
not to forget."
Carnelian nodded, and flew towards the Aviation platform,
out of sight. Winter watched her go, before turning back to
Qibli. "Let's go back...partner." Qibli smiled at Winter, and
nodded in agreement.
~~~
Qibli yawned, and slowly rose, sand slipping off his scales.
Winter was already up, and looking right at him. Umber and
Turtle were still snoring away. The Mudwing and Seawing had
questioned them about their long disappearance, but Qibli had
managed to make up a cover-up story. He also covered up for
Bandit, who was now snoring happily away on a camel pelt.
Winter pointed soundlessly at the doorway. Qibli scooped up
Bandit, who let out a small mrow of indignation as he was slung
around Qibli's neck.
The sun slowly emerged in a lazy dawn, with lavender and
rose splashing across the sky. The two dragons sat quietly for a
moment, gazing at the clouds drifting by.
"I hope Carnelian was able to get a good night's rest."
Winter broke the silence. "Cardinal better not have kept her up
too late!"
"Sounds like you care about her." Qibli replied with
amusement.
"Well, in all honesty, running for your life through a
magical realm really helps bring people together." Winter smiled
slightly.
Qibli reeled back comically. "Excuse me? Was that humor I
heard?" Qibli says with mock surprise.
"Oh shush, you," Winter flicked his tail good-naturely in
Qibli's face.
By now, the other students of the Academy had awoken. Classes
would start in half an hour, and the students milled about,
chatting with friends. Qibli noticed several colorful patches;
dragons of different tribes talking like childhood friends.
There weren't many cases of such an interaction, but the fact
that they started happening was a great sign for the Academy's
future.
Qibli was about to head in with Winter, when the murmuring
grew more intense. Qibli could hear what the dragons were
saying.
"Hey, who's that?"
"What's going on?"
"Some kind of stunt?"
"Up there!"
Qibli squinted up at the peak of the mountain. A blurry red
spot was perched on the tip of the mountain. His eyes widened as
he realized who it was, just as someone yelled.
"She's going to jump!!"[/font]
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