Untitled Project

[Dragonstar1715]

A New fic I came up with whilst on my long absence,anyone who is on DeviantArt and have seen Transryu's stories on there would recognise some characters

BTW I'm trying to think of a name for this story so if you have any suggestions, it would be appreciated.

(c) of setting belongs to Transryu
(c) of Jace & Valant belongs to DaCoolGuy on DA
(c) of Draco belongs to me of course

My name is Draco Carvhall, and as stupid as it may seem for a 17 year old, I have had a fascination for dragons. I collected merchandise and even have one as a friend, but sometimes I feel like I want something more of my hobby. I had this dream of being able to become a dragon and know what it is like to be one, but it's not like that was even possible.

But maybe it was possible; maybe there is a way to make such wishes come true...

I was sitting on the clock tower, eating sea-salt ice cream as I stared off into the sunset. I clutched my dragon pendant, which I kept with me at all times. Even though I was getting to the age when most kids would be over such childish things, my obsession kept burning bright, as it has always been since I was 5. I always had a dream of becoming a dragon for as long as I had this obsession. Sure I had Dragoon my friend who is a dragon, believe it or not and the dragon merchandise which I bought on a regular basis. But... I somehow wanted more out of it.

I have one of the biggest collections of Dragon merchandise in the worlds of Kingdom Hearts. But even though that satisfied me to a point, I still felt empty somehow. But even with the advances of magic in recent times, none had made a way to make such a thing happen, becoming the creature of their wildest dreams.

Roxas came and sat down next to him with a sea-salt ice cream bar as well and said "Hey Draco, what's been happening?" in a cheery voice. I smiled and then sighed a bit. "Something wrong Draco?" Roxas asked in concern.

"Roxas, is it wrong for someone like me to wish that they could become a dragon?" I asked in a uneasy tone.

"Not really, but why?" Roxas replied.

"I don't know, I always seemed to have a dream of becoming a dragon, but such a dream seems so... I don't know, farfetched,” I said to him.

"Well if you had the chance, would you?" Roxas enquired.

"Of course I would! It's a thing I've always wanted to experience for the last 12 years!" I exclaimed.

"Well... maybe a costume would work?" Roxas suggested.

"A costume? But I don't know any costume stores that sell those kind of costumes!" I said to him.

"I might know one guy..." Roxas said.

"You do? Who?" I said with some excitement.

"Well I know that Sora once went to this one world that is a city surrounded by mountainous regions and forest. Apparently there is a costume store there that make costumes of almost every variety, though it's usually done by special order,” Roxas explained.

"What's the world called?" I asked.

"Sunrise Valley, I think Sora should still have the co-ordinates" Roxas replied. Roxas quickly whipped out his phone and dialed Sora's number, "Hey Sora, I'm good, you? Listen, I was wondering if you could do me a favour. Draco wants to go to that Sunrise Valley world, you still got the co-ordinates in the ships memory? You do? Awesome, could you SMS them over? Thanks Sora, you're a pal, bye!" Within a few minutes, the phone chimed and Roxas checked the message bank, and as promised, Sora had sent the co-ordinates"

I pulled out a pen and paper that I liked to keep with me for sketching and scribbled down the co-ordinates from Roxas's phone. "Thanks Roxas" I said with glee.

"You're welcome, be sure to show me that costume when you come back" Roxas said as we began to eat our ice cream. The sun was setting and it was getting dark, so after saying our goodbyes, we went our separate ways home. I walked in the front door and gave my family a quick greeting before heading up the stairs. Rushing to my bag, which I usually took on trips, I began to load some things up, because knowing that most costumes done by special order usually took about 1-4 weeks to make.

As I packed, a familiar figure landed next to my window, it was my dragon friend Dragoon. I first met Dragoon at The World That Never Was, well more like battled. You see Dragoon was at some point, defeated and then possessed by half-hearts. Whilst on little training excursion there, I discovered him as he teemed with darkness due to the possession. I was able to rid him of the half-hearts and we quickly became close friends, he even let's me ride on him sometimes.

"Hey Draco, what are you doing?" Dragoon greeted me.

"Oh hi Dragoon, I'm packing some things" I replied.

"What for?" he asked.

"I heard of this world that has a costume store that can make Dragon costumes, and I was going to see if I could get myself one." I explained to him.

"Heh, you still have that obsession with my kind?" Dragoon said amused.

"I can probably assure that my obsession will stay with me till the day I die" I said with a laugh.

"So you're going away for a bit then?" Dragoon asked me.

"Yeah, since the costume I want will probably have to be done by special order, I might have to stay there for a bit" I said as I stuffed more clothes and other things in the bag.

"How you gonna have it made?" Dragoon asked me.

"Hmmm, Actually I was thinking of having it based off you" I said with some enthusiasm.

"ME?" Dragoon exclaimed.

"Sure, I've never seen a dragon with such colours as yours, I think it would be neat to have one that looks like you" I said with even more enthusiasm.

Packing the last item into my bag, I then picked up my digital camera. "I just want to get a picture of you, so the costume maker has a better idea of what I'm looking for in the costume" I said to Dragoon.

"Well, okay then" Dragoon replied.

Going out to a large open space I stood at a reasonable distance away so that I would have a full-size photo. "All right Dragoon, give me your best pose!" I shouted to him. Dragoon gave his most muscular pose he could, I laughed at this saying "Woah, look who's Mr. big macho dragon!" before taking several pictures from most sides to give the costume maker a better perspective.

"Well it’s getting late, so I should head back" I said as I examined the last photo.

"All right, have fun with your costume, give me a look at it when you get back!" Dragoon said before flying off. I headed for home and went to bed, I had dreams of me being a dragon and the feeling of what it was to be a dragon.

I woke up the next day and thought about the dreams I had the night before. Even though it was only a costume I was going to get made, I still felt that having it made would somehow satisfy me. Pulling my bag of things out of my closet, I grabbed Absolution as well and strapped him to my back. "Is getting a dragon suit made, really going to put your mind at ease?" Absolution asked me.

"I don't know, it may, or it may not, I really don't know. But if it makes me at least a little happy, I'll be willing to get one" I replied.

"I walked downstairs and said goodbye to my parents, whom I told about my decision a few days ago. "Just make sure to give us a look, when you get it!" my sister said.

"Don't worry, you'll be the first one's to see it" I said as I walked out the door. I walked up to the summit of the hill next door to my house and pressed a button on a strange set of keys, which were the keys to my own personal Gummi Ship. Jumping inside, I looked at the control panel. Taking out the piece of paper that had the co-ordinates written on it, the words 'Sunrise Valley' appeared on screen.

I pressed a button to confirm my choice and the ship blasted off and started its course to its destination. The trip would be about 2 hours, so I headed into the cabin and fell asleep on a bed. The ship chimed that I had arrived and I looked out the window. I could now see why it was called Sunrise Valley, during the day, it always seemed like it was in a constant state of sunrise with the soft colours of the sun rising covering the city on the world.

I maneuvered the ship around and landed in a large field near the town. Getting out, I locked and disguised my gummi ship before heading into the city. It was quiet compared to most places I had been to. Walking around I searched for the store, but I couldn’t find any signs with the word ‘costume’ in it.

I was starting to get agitated, when I spied a teenager who looked like he had just bought a costume, judging by the size of the box. Walking up to him, I asked him “Hey did you just come from a costume store?”

“Why yes, how come?” the teenager replied.

“Well, I’m new to this city, and I heard that there was a costume store here, but I can’t find it” I explained.

The teenager laughed and said “It’s not surprising, given the fact that it doesn’t even have to word costume in it”. “Look, just go around the corner there, and look for a small brick building called “The Second Identity”, that’s the store that you’re looking for.

“The second identity? That’s a strange name for a costume store…” Draco commented.

“Well it’s actually appropriately named, my friend told me about this place. The costumes they make here are actually quite realistic,” the teenager said as he opened his costume box.

Sitting in the box was a dinosaur suit, it was made superbly, and the detail was just so magnificent. “Damn if they’re that good, I’m looking forward to getting one for myself”

“Well I’m sure you’ll have fun with it. But just be careful, I heard that sometimes the costumes can be quite… clingy” the teenager said as he walked off. As the teenager walked away, Draco felt a strange vibe coming from the box, he just shrugged it off and headed in the direction that the teenager told him to go.

Sure enough, there was a red brick building that had a sign above it saying “The Second Identity”. “Well at least I found it…” Draco said a bit exhausted from the search.

Walking inside, he was met with view of dozen’s of costumes. Draco walked around a bit and examined all the costumes, all looked nice, but they didn’t seem as nice as the Dino one he saw minutes ago.

Draco walked over to the counter and rang a bell that was aptly placed for when customers needed help. He stood there for a few minutes and took another look at the costumes on the racks. His eye then caught sight of a slightly open door behind the counter.

Managing to see a portion of the room behind it, I spied even more costumes. But these were different, they seemed to have the same gleam and sophisticated design that the dino suit from before had.

“Can I help you?” a voice said.

I jumped back in horror from the sudden line of dialogue, and then averted my attention to a man behind the counter. He seemed to be quite old in some aspects and wore strange robes of some kind.

“Well?” the man asked again.

“Uhhh yeah. I, uh heard you do, uh special costume orders for people and was wondering if, uh I could pay to have one made for, uh me?” I managed to stutter out.

“What kind of costume would you like?” the man asked.

“Well um, I’m a big fan of dragons and wanted a dragon costume please” I said after the man’s calmish tone also calmed me down.

“What colours and what shape would you like to have?” he asked. I laid out the photos of Dragoon out and the man looked at them with some curiosity.

“How did you get pictures like these?” the man asked.

“He’s my friend and he allowed me to take pictures of him” I replied.

“You mean… you’re friends with a dragon?” the man asked with a hint of disbelief.

“Sure, is that so hard to believe?” I said to the man.

“Here. Dragons are just myths, well sort of…” the man replied.

“Well could you make me a dragon costume then?” I said getting annoyed with where this conversation was going.

“Well you said you’re a friend, of the dragon?” the man asked.

“That’s right” I replied.

“Could you maybe get a scale from him, of both colours on him?” the man requested.

“What for?” I said confused.

“You’ve seen the costumes in the back haven’t you?” the man asked motioning towards the open door.

“Well, just a peek” I confessed to him.

“The reason that they seem so life like is because I make it out of a special material, and sometimes, to get the material just right, I have to mix it with fur or scales from the animal requested or a well detailed picture of what the person wants” the man explained.

“What would I get for it?” I asked curiously.

“Look, I’ll tell you what, you get the scales for me and I’ll make one of my ‘special’ costumes for you for no charge, sound fair?” the man proposed to me.

“You serious?” I said in disbelief.

“You have my word,” the man said.

“Um, just wait here, I can get them for you within the hour” I said as I made my way for the exit.

The man was obviously excited by the fact that I could obtain such prized items.

I made my way back to the ship and hopped inside before cloaking it again. I then summoned Absolution and telepathically contacted Dragoon.

“Dragoon, you there?” I said.

“Draco, that you?” Dragoon replied to my voice.

“It’s me” I replied.

“What’s up?” Dragoon asked.

“Would it be a bother if I could have one of your white and gold scales?” I asked nicely.

“What on earth for?” Dragoon asked.

“The man at the costume shop said that if I got a gold and a white scale from you, apparently he can make it better than his regular costumes.” I explained.

“How does he plan to use them in your costume?” Dragoon enquired.

“I don’t know, but he also said that I could have the costume for free if I got them” I said with some happiness.

“Well I suppose if it means a free costume for you, I suppose I could” Dragoon agreed.

“Right, just put the scales when you get them on my desk and I’ll grab them”

“Okay then” Dragoon replied.

Several minutes went by as I waited for Dragoon to give the okay. Just then Dragoon contacted me “Okay I put the scales on your desk” he said.

“Okay, just give me a sec…” I said as I cut a portal open to my room. Stepping through and grabbing the scales, I turned to see Dragoon outside the window. “Got them, I said holding them in my hand”

“I hope your costume turns out alright” Dragoon commented.

“Yeah me too” I replied. “I might stay an extra night after I get the costume, just to try it on, you know, if there are any complications” I added.

“Well just don’t stay around too long, I miss having you around” Dragoon replied.

“Don’t worry, a month tops!” I reassured him as I stepped back though the portal.

Stepping back through, I saw the sun was starting to set. So I decided put my quest on hold until tomorrow. I walked outside to get a better view of things, the sunset was as about as beautiful as the sky usually was.

I casually looked up for a bit and caught eye of a strange looking figure. I wasn’t able to tell what it was, but it had hair, a tail and a… cap? The figure quickly flew away from sight as I stood there with a dumbfounded look on my face.

“Jesus, I really need to cut back on the coke, all the sugar and caffeine is making me see things.” I thought to myself. Heading back inside the gummi ship, I helped myself to a meal from the ship’s Gallery before going to bed. For some reason that figure was stuck in my mind, as I tried to figure out what the hell it was.

“Meh, not much use worrying about it” I told myself before I fell asleep.

[Dragonstar1715]

Chapter Two: A Close Encounter

I woke up to a stunning background of the Sunrise in the horizon. I remembered that I had to give those scales to that man in the shop today to get my costume.

I stepped outside the gummi ship and cloaked it, I then proceeded to the city. But before that, I just happened to look up and saw that figure again. It was clearer this time but, the shadows still concealed it somewhat.

Quickly, I pulled out my camera and took a picture of it before it disappeared again. I looked at the camera, and there was the silhouette. “So I wasn’t imagining things then,” I said in a slightly victorious voice, because at least I now knew that I wasn’t seeing things.

I made my way back into town and went to the store. At least I wasn’t lost this time because that teenager gave me directions yesterday. I made my way into the store, and saw the old man at the counter. He seemed to be waiting for something, most likely it was for the scales.

“You’re late,” the man said.

“Uhh sorry, by the time I was able to get them, you would’ve been closed” I tried to explain.

“Well no matter. Did you bring the scales?” he asked.

“Yeah right here” I said pulling them out.

He studied them for a moment. “I haven’t seen scales so beautiful in a long time”

“You’ve seen dragon scales before?” I asked.

“Yes, I have. An old friend had a scale that was passed down for many generations. After he died a few years back, I never thought I would see such scales again, but now I have two to use in my research.” He explained.

“Oh geez, I’m sorry,” I said apologetically.

“Don’t be, he lived a fulfilling life and was one of the world’s most finest costume makers. Now I’m running this business in his memory. I want to be able to fulfill his legacy of granting people’s wishes to be the creature or animal of their dreams, even if they are just ‘costumes’” He said before putting down the scales.

“Now I assume you wish for it to be made so that you can stand on two legs?” he asked inquisitively.

“Of course, I wouldn’t be very good at being on all fours” I replied.

“Well, give me two weeks, I should have it ready by then” he said.

“Thanks, uh…” I said, but I didn’t even know the man’s name.

“Drethan,” the man introduced himself as.

“Drethan huh? Nice meeting you, and I’m looking forward to the costume,” I said with a smile before exiting the store. I spent the next few hours wandering the city, looking for anything that took my fancy. After exploring a few game shops and also the only gun shop in town, I took my leave and headed back to the ship.

There was one thing that still bothered me as I sat there. That figure this morning was still on my mind. I looked at the photo I had taken this morning. It was weird; I had never seen anything like it. It seemed to be blue with a yellow tail, yellow hair, and a red cap.

I just looked at the picture with amazement, I’d seen some strange things in my life, but this took the cake. “Maybe I could get a closer look” I wondered. I walked outside and waited for the sunset and kept my eyes to the sky and, as expected, the blue and yellow creature flew by.

I followed it from a safe distance. It landed of a cliff some ways out of the city amongst the vast forest. I hid behind a rock and made sure to keep my breathing steady to avoid detection. Looking from behind the rock, I was able to see its finer details.

It had yellow stripes on several places and it didn’t seem to have a tail like most other creatures. It seemed to begin from the waist rather than from the spine, like most animals do. The red cap was also backwards to let the front of his hair hang out and also a red bandana of sorts around his neck.

But why would it need a cap? It surely didn’t seem to be protecting itself from sunlight, and the hair… It’s almost as if he was-.

“Who’s there?” a voice rang out. I clasped my hand over my mouth, as it was most likely the creature.

“It’s okay Draco, just keep still behind the rock and he won’t see you,” I thought to myself as I tried to keep my breath steady.

“Who’s behind that rock? Show yourself!” the voice rang out again.

“Ahh!” I exclaimed, “This thing can hear my thoughts!” I said in shock. The sound of footsteps was then heard starting to get closer to him. “Oh hell no! Get us out of here Absolution!” I said in an almost pleading manner. Absolution then cut a portal open, which I quickly dived into. It was lucky that I did too, because the moment the portal disappeared was the moment that the creature looked round the corner.

Back in the gummi ship, I came crashing out of the portal. I was breathless; that creature came so close to getting me, and I was half-petrified from the experience. “Goddammit, that was close!” I said as my heart pounded and I tried to steady my breathing.

That night, I had a nightmare and woke up in a cold sweat. “I think that’s the last time I’ll be doing that,” I said to myself.

The next day, I walked uptown and looked at all the various stores and places that the city had to offer. I decided after a while to visit the costume shop again because maybe Drethan would know about the creature. The usual costumes lined the rack inside his shop, except for a few new ones.

Drethan finished with another customer before he came over to me. “Ah it’s you again. Anything I can help you with?” said he said with a slight smile.

“Oh I was just having a look around” I lied partially.

“Is that so?” he asked.

“…” I was unsure about telling him about what I saw last night and my close encounter.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

I gathered up my courage and said, “Well actually there is one thing…”

“Do tell,” Drethan said with curiosity as he leaned over the counter.

“Lately, since I arrived in this city, I’ve been seeing this weird figure, But I haven’t a clue of what it is” I explained to him.

Drethan was silent for a moment and asked, “Did you get a good look at him?”

I pulled out the camera and showed him the picture of the figure. “Here, I managed to get a picture of it.”
He looked at the picture and was slightly stunned. “I see, so he still uses the costume,” he whispered.

“What was what?” I asked, as I didn’t hear him.

“Oh nothing” Drethan replied as he looked at me. “Well I do know a little about it, for one it isn’t an aggressive creature.”

“Aggressive? That thing almost killed me last night!” I yelled.

“What did you say?” Drethan asked.

“I… I was curious as to what it was, so I actually followed it last night.” I began to explain.

“And?” Drethan said as he motioned me to continue.

“Well I followed it to a cliff and hid behind a rock as I tried to get a closer look at it” I continued.

“Then what happened?” Drethan said as his curiosity began to build over my story.

“And then, I… I don’t know how but, it somehow sensed I was there, as if it could read my thoughts. After I heard the footsteps start coming towards the rock, I got out of there, fast” I finished.

Drethan seemed amused by my story and laughed, “Hey, what’s so funny?”
“Did you really think he was coming to kill you?” Drethan asked.

“Well I’m not sure, but I wasn’t willing to stay around to find out.”

“Exactly, it might’ve wanted to greet you, but you ran away anyway.”
“Well what the hell would you do if you came face to face with something like that?”

“Probably shake its hand and ask it if it wanted a drink,” Drethan said laughingly.

“Well whatever, anyway I just want this costume done, so I can get the hell out of here, before that thing decides to track me down.”
“You ever heard the saying that ‘looks can be deceiving?’” Drethan asked.

“A few times in my life yeah…” I replied.

“That quote fits the creature very well. How would I know? I’ve met it.”
This shocked me, “You’ve met the thing?” I asked him.

“Yes, and know that he isn’t as threatening as he looks.”
The sun was going down, and I need to get back to the gummi ship so I left him after saying “I’ll take that under advisement”.

I wasted no time getting back to the ship. I was intrigued by the creature, but the way he heard my thoughts, I guessed he had powerful psychic abilities. The only problem is that if he did turn out to be hostile, I wouldn’t stand much of a chance against him.

“Oh well just a few more days, I should be safe till then… I hope” I said to myself as I made my way to bed. Even though I was terrified of what the thing was, I managed to get myself to sleep.

Meanwhile…

Drethan was in his shop tiding up for the day. After all things were sorted out, he began to focus his powers to communicate with someone. “Jace, are you there?” he said in his mind.

“You… what do you want?” A voice on the other end said in a slightly angry tone.

“Tsk, tsk child, I’m not here to torment you or anything of the sorts, but I was hoping that you could come to my shop, I have something I need to discuss with you.”
Jace grunted. “…Fine, I’ll be there in the next half hour.”
“And if possible, bring… ‘him’, he’s the one I want to speak to,” Drethan added.

“…Alright then, if you insist.”
“That kid’s an interesting one, he hasn’t forgotten about what he saw and even his camera is in perfect working order, I wonder…” Drethan thought.

Within the next half hour, a knock was heard at the back door. Drethan answered the door to find a teenager; he had brown hair, blue eyes and wore a green shirt with olive green pants and black sneakers.

“Ah Jace. Come in, I’ve been waiting for you” Drethan said in a joyful tone. The teenager walked in the door as Drethan closed the door behind him and they made their way into a study or sorts.

Jace sat down. “Alright, what’s this about?”
“Like to get to the point from the word go, eh? I like that in you” Drethan commented.

“Just get on with it” Jace said, slightly annoyed.

“Tsk, tsk, you are so impatient” Drethan said before clearing his throat. “Well I need to speak with ‘‘him’ about something. You did bring him, didn’t you?” Drethan asked.

“Yeah, I did, just like you asked” Jace replied.

“Good, now would you be so kind as to bring him out?”
Jace put down his backpack and unzipped it. He reached in and pulled out a blue costume. It had a yellow tail, yellow stripes in various places, three fingered gloves, and two-toed footings. The costume also had had two hornlike areas, yellow hair, and also an area that had been molded to look like some sort of armour. Jace reached in and grabbed a red cap out of the bag as well as a red bandana.

Jace put the items on the table and concentrated on the costume for a bit. The costume moved slightly, then suddenly sprang to life. It leapt on to Jace and enveloped his body, then it covered Jace’s hands and leg’s in the rubbery fabric, soon followed by his chest.

There was the sound of snapping and shifting bones as the costume’s tail attached itself to Jace’s spine, causing him to groan in pain. More grinding and shifting could be heard as his arms and legs began to change size and shape to fit the empty areas of the footings and the gloves.

The mask of the costume opened up and engulfed Jace’s head before sealing itself shut. Jace choked slightly as a final round of grinding and crunching could be heard as his face also changed shape to fit the head area.

There standing before Drethan was the creature I had seen that night, who was originally a human! Drethan looked at him as the creature grabbed the cap and placed it on his head backwards so that his hair would stick out the front and tied the bandana around his neck.

“Good to see you, Valant,” Drethan said to the creature.

“Well I’m here, now what do you want?” Valant said in his psychic voice.

“My, my, it has been a while. Your attitude seems to be the only thing that hasn’t matured that much,” Drethan commented.

“Nice to disappoint you,” Valant replied bluntly.

Drethan laughed a bit before he regained himself. “All right then, I’ll get to the point, just for you.” He took a breath. “I think I may have found us another potential ‘customer,’” Drethan explained.

“Drethan, how many times do we have to go through this? I am not helping you with any more of your experiments” Valant said in a sharp tone.

“Just wait, let me finish! He came to me a couple of days ago. I agreed to make him a costume, free of charge in exchange for these.” Held out the dragon scales I had given him.

“What are those?” Valant questioned.

“Dragon scales, Valant, and they’re harder than diamonds” Drethan grinned.

“Dragon scales? I thought Dragons were extinct.”

“Yes, but this teenager was able to obtain these with no effort. I have a feeling that he could be a star candidate for one of my costumes, I could sense a very strong desire and a strange power within him, he would be perfect for my research” he added.

“And what exactly does that mean?”

“He is a unique individual and one skilled in magic quite proficiently too.”
“A teenager knowing magic? I thought you were the only one who knew magic here.”

“I may be the only one here, I’m guessing he’s from another world.”
“Another world?!? That’s crazy!”

“I have confirmed that there are other worlds that can indeed support life, and the dragon scales are more proof of this. What’s more, I think that he may be a recipient of the legendary Keyblade.”
“Keyblade? What is that?”

“It’s a legendary blade, its power is phenomenal; it has the power to bring prosperity or destruction according to its user’s will. There have been tales of many who received these blades. Some fought for Justice and vanquished evil, while others used the power to bring Armageddon.”

Valant became annoyed. “Yeah, well, I get all this talk about keyblades and this power that this kid has, but what I don’t get is how I fit into this.”
“Ah yes, that’s right. That’s why you’re here isn’t it? Anyway, he came to see me today to check on the progress of his costume, but that wasn’t the only thing he discussed with me.”
“What do you mean?”

“You see, he claimed that he had been seeing a strange figure in the sky for the last few days” Drethan began saying.

“And?”
“Well I was intrigued, he even caught the figure on camera and showed it to me.”

“And this concerns me how?”
“I was able to get a copy from him, I even brought it with me.” Drethan motioned towards a picture that was face down on the desk.

Valant picked up the photo and looked at it. A shocked look came over him, as Drethan said, “Look familiar?”

It was a picture of him, the shadows in the picture faded out the figure, but he recognized his own body shape. “How’d he get this?”
“He must’ve taken it when you were flying one day. That’s what the picture seems to be telling me, anyway” smirked Drethan.
“But I only fly in areas where I can’t sense anyone!” Valant said angrily.

Drethan laughed. “Well obviously, he escaped under your radar.” “What’s more, he told me that you tried to attack him.”
“He what?” Valant exclaimed.

“Yes, he followed you to a cliff and hid behind a rock as you stood there daydreaming off into the sunset.”
“Behind a rock? Wait a minute! I think I sensed him yesterday evening!” “I heard someone’s thoughts when I was standing there, and I went to investigate. But when I looked behind the rock, there was no one there, his life signal just disappeared!”

“Hmmm, if he just vanished… maybe he learned the power of teleportation too?”

“I suppose that would explain the sudden loss of his life signal, but I wasn’t going to hurt him. I was just wondering who was there- you know I despise violence.”

“I suppose it was just a misunderstanding,” Drethan concluded. “But either way, I think that he will be a perfect candidate for my costumes. I have almost finished his. Think of what I could learn from someone as powerful as him!”
Valant looked at him in disgust “Look Drethan, people are not guinea pigs to be experimented on, despite how old, what gender they are or even how powerful a person they are.”
“He has feelings and things he wants to do with his life, you’re going to ruin that all for him just for the sake of one of your sick experiments! What if he can’t take the costume off again? What then?”
Drethan replied coldly. “An unfortunate side effect, nevertheless I will still get valuable data from him”

“Ugh, I can’t take this anymore! I seriously hope you aren’t going through with this.” Valant headed for the door.

“You already know the answer to that question,” Drethan replied.

“Don’t I always?” Valant said walking out the door, taking his- or rather Jace’s- backpack with him.

Drethan looked on as Valant headed out the door and sighed. “Valant, you’ll come to realize one of these days that sometimes sacrifices are needed to get anywhere. After all ‘No Sacrifice, No Victory”.