The White Dragon Appears

The air was thick with debris and dark mana. My throat stung with smoke, but I didn't let go of Estel. His body was heavy against mine, silver hair damp with sweat, his breath shallow as though each inhale might be his last. I pressed my hands over the wound again, my palms glowing faintly from the healing magic. The light flickered, weak at first, but I forced it steady.

Historia’s laughter rang out through the chaos. A sound so maniacal, so unhinged. It cut through the roars of Darren’s dragon form and the shrieks of the shadow creatures spilling into the city. When I looked at her, her eyes were wide, glimmering with a madness that no longer belonged to the woman she pretended to be. Only a husk of what a saint was so many stories ago.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, her voice trembling in that false, sing-song tone that brought chills to my spine. “Do you really think you can save him? Look at him! He is on the brink of death.”

“I don’t care,” I said, my voice shaking but firm. Light gathered under my hands, sinking the magic deeper into Estel’s injury, thankful the bleeding stopped. Slowly, his breathing steadied. His blood loss still terrified me, but the wound was closed at the very least. “Maybe if you stopped thinking the world revolved around you, you could be a lot more helpful.”

Historia’s head tilted. For a heartbeat she almost looked hurt, but then her lips twisted into that horrid smile again. “You have memories of the other timeline, don’t you? Is that why you are being so intrusive this time around? Hm?”

I froze, my breath caught in my throat. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Right. Right. As if the perfect little Rosaria, the one who rose to be a queen, would reveal her hand now.” Her voice grew lower, rougher, almost mocking me.

My head snapped up, the glow at my palms faltering. Her words sank deep into me, making me have a realization. “You remember when Ro- I became queen?” My throat tightened forcing out the next words. “What about when you got engaged to Darren on the boat to the school dance?”

Her grin widened and her eyes dilated, unholy in its cursed joy. “Oh, you remember that too? Interesting. I didn’t think you would. Guess you are more special than I thought, little Rosaria. Being the King and Saintess’s daughter must have come with some gift from Amor. She was always merciful to pitiful people.”

My stomach dropped. She knew everything. Both stories. Both timelines. But Estel stirred next me, drawing my focus back. His skin was pale, his breath ragged, but he still wasn’t fully healed. Relief should have kept me grounded, but it was brittle, almost fragile. I couldn’t fall apart yet. Darren’s dragon form still raged, tail lashing, claws rending through what remained of the nearby buildings.

Allen and Harry had managed to drag Baron Drewitt and the King away from the immediate danger, shielding them with everything they had. The Professors conjured barriers and lightning strikes, guiding the last terrified civilians as far away from the dragon. The battlefield was shrinking, but danger still loomed everywhere as long as Darren was still a dragon.

I tightened my grip on Estel and whispered to Historia, my voice raw. “We need to get him out of here. He’s lost too much blood already. Darren isn’t getting anymore sane with your stupid remarks telling him to ‘come back’. We can’t stay here, we need shelter.”

I struggled to shift Estel’s arm across my shoulders, his weight pressing me down. Historia only tilted her head again, eyes glinting with cold amusement. “You should have let him die. There’s no saving him. Not now, not back in any of the other timelines, never.”

My blood turned to ice. “Are you helping or not?” I snapped, unable to bear another word of her twisted logic.

Her smile cracked wider, as if soothing a wounded child. “What if… I turn back just enough time? He would be injured again, yes, but everything would be back on course. I could erase your memories too.”

Her hands lifted, mana coiling around her fingers. The air bent, rippling like water caught in a storm. I felt it instantly, the same distortion I had felt when she had tried to use it on me before. Time magic. Krono’s curse.

I didn’t hesitate this time around. I called on light magic. A beam of gold slamming into hers. The clash of powers burst into the air like last time. Her magic twisted like gears spinning backward, pulling everything into a spiral, while mine blazed outward, steady, bright, and unyielding. A violent burst that cracked the stone beneath us and sent debris scattering.

Historia staggered back, her face twisting in fury. “I couldn’t save him!” she screamed. “Time after time, I tried. I begged Amor to let me save him. I pleaded for her to save a friend I loved so much, I would give him the world! I reversed the timelines again and again, and still he died! Do you hear me, Rose? He always dies!” Her voice broke, tears streaking her cheeks even as her eyes glimmered with hate and, for the first time, genuine sadness. “It’s hopeless. You can’t accomplish what I couldn’t. This world is set on dooming Estel no matter what happens!”

I stared at her, my chest pounding. For the first time, her voice didn’t sound confident, or even maddening. It sounded desperate. Shattered. Like a woman who lived the same life time after time. And I wondered… How many times has Historia turned back time? We we, in actuality… Not that different from one another in wanting to keep him alive?

Her shoulders shook as she pressed her hands to her chest, clutching herself as though to keep from breaking apart. “All we can do is turn back time again. Once Darren’s dragon heart is ripped out, all the magic in it can fuel the spell. That is the only way. Krono gave me this power because Amor was useless!”

The name seared into me like a brand. Krono. She admitted it. Her power came from him.

“You…” My voice trembled, thick with horror. “You made a deal with Krono.”

Her smile snapped back into place, brittle and fractured. “And what of it? If Amor can’t save him, then I might as well have fun every chance I get to be a hero and redo the world as many times as I can!”

Behind us, Darren roared again, his wings cracking through stone, shadows pouring out like rivers. The city burned with every pulse of his grief.

I tightened my hold on Estel, every nerve in me screaming. Historia’s words clawed at me in horror, the truth sinking into my heart. Estel would always die. That nothing I did could change it. But no matter how much my chest ached, no matter how much her laughter rang in my ears, I refused to believe it. Because she was already far gone, and she was only time looping for her own sick satisfaction at this point.

I lifted my gaze, my light still crackling faintly around my hands, and whispered, “You’re wrong.”

Her laughter echoed, shrill and broken, even as the world fell apart around us. “Theres nothing left to do Rosaria. All we can do is take Darren’s heart. Let's work together in the next timeline, no?”

I ignored her words, helping Estel get to safety. And I could care less what Historia has to say anymore. She wasn’t the beloved Heroine I knew anymore.

“Historia…” a weak voice said, “You really have lost yourself, haven't you?” I looked over and saw that Estel had gained back some consciousness. He didn’t seem the least bit kind in his gaze as he looked at Historia.

“E-Estel?” Historia said in horror. “Y-You heard all that?”

He shifted a bit, trying to stand upright. I supported him a bit more, and he seemed thankful for it, at the very least. “You dare defy our Goddess Amor with the wrath that decided to cause darkness?”

His voice was bitter and somber. Any shred of affection and concern for Historia seemed to have died, and only left a broken man in its wake. He inched forward, closer to Historia as I helped him. His expression made her tremble in fear as he judged her.

“You’re not the Historia that I loved. Not anymore. I don’t know what monster you’ve decided to become, but messing with timelines, and peoples lives are no joke Historia.”

He let out a heavy breath. Historia was practically shaking and trembling at his voice. Her hands trembled as she clutched at her chest, her voice rising into broken sobs.

“I did it for you!” she wailed, her eyes wild. “Every loop, every turn, every desperate spell to reverse what Amor cursed you with… I did it all because I loved you, Estel! Do you hear me? I loved you enough to defy the world itself!”

Estel’s breath was ragged, his body still leaning into mine for support as I steadied him, his mismatched eyes never leaving hers. He shook his head, his entire frame trembled with a fury I had never seen or read about before.

“You call that love?!” His voice thundered, each word biting like frost. “You let me die. Over and over, you let me die. You claim you begged Amor, that you pleaded for me, but what did you do in the end? You sacrificed Darren. You sacrificed me. You sacrificed everything just so you could keep playing at being a Saintess. That was never love. That was an obsession. An abuse of a power you got from the one that caused this mess! .”

Historia’s sobs cracked into a twisted laugh, her tears streaking her face. “And what did you want me to do? Watch you die? Watch Darren fall? Do you think I could live with that? I turned back time again and again, and for a moment I could at least pretend I saved you! Save him! For a moment I could have everything! Something Amor could never give me!” Her hands clawed at her dress. Her shoulders shaking as though her body couldn’t contain the madness and despair inside her.

“Pretend,” Estel repeated, his voice breaking.. “Pretend is all you could do Historia. Because you killed me. You watched me fall over and over, and instead of moving forward past my death… you rewound the world to make yourself the hero. You stole Darren’s future. You stole mine. And you dare stand there and say it was for us? You disgust me Historia, you’re nothing but a monster corrupted by Kronos magic and your own gratification.”

His words hit harder than anything he’s ever said to her before. Historia flinched like he had struck her across the face. “No… no, that’s not true. You... You were supposed to be mine! We loved each other in every timeline, but you continued to die over and over. Estel, please..” Her eyes darted wildly, glowing faint with the residue of her twisted magic. “If not for her, if not for Rosaria, you would still be by my side! But she messed up everything in the last timeline, and now this timeline! Just look at how far gone Darren is! This never happened in any other timeline!”

The weight of her gaze turned to me then, bitter, venomous. All the pity I might have felt for her crumbled. I saw nothing left in her but a hollow vessel, clutching desperately to the lies she had spun so long she believed them. A universe, where she thought she did the right thing.

But Estel didn’t falter, at least… Not anymore. “You do not deserve to judge her like this. Rosaria has done more in her silence than you did with all your power. She never asked to be seen. She never begged for glory. She only gave, even when I was too blind, too cruel, to see it. And I can never forgive myself for that.”

My chest tightened painfully. His words made my heart tremble, the feelings I still clung to keeping me in a chokehold. I felt tears burn at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill… But I forced myself to breathe, to keep my emotions in check.

Historia let out a scream, raw and hopeless. “She can’t save you! She will never save you! Amor cursed you, us! I tried, I failed, and so will she!”

She lifted her hands again, the magic of time spinning like fractured glass behind her. But I used my light magic before it could touch us, bursting against hers with a radiance that tore her spell apart. The backlash sent her sprawling onto the chapel rubble, manic sobs coming out of her as she couldn’t stand the weight of her failure.

Her voice cracked into a whimper, her hands clawing at the ground. “Why… why do I always lose him… why does he always die… I just wanted to save him… just once…”

Estel’s gaze softened for the barest moment, but his words were merciless. “No. You never wanted to save me. You wanted to control the timeline. To make the world bend to your will. That is not salvation, Historia. That is damnation in its purest form. Not just for us, but for the world overall. Get it together Historia. You were never meant to save anyone with that corrupted power.”

Her cries echoed, small now, broken. She clutched at her dress as though she could hold her world together. But I knew, and she knew… it was already long gone.

Estel turned to me then, his voice trembling. “Rosaria.... I was.. cruel to you. I hurt you when you confessed to me, when you told me what was in your heart. I turned away because I thought I was the one for Historia. But it was a lie. I should have trusted you. I should have seen you were the only one who has ever truly been at my side.”

My tears spilled freely then. I shook my head, pressing my hand against his chest to heal what wounds I could, though my light trembled with the weight of his words. “You don’t have to thank me, Estel. I only ever wanted to be by your side… Even if it broke me.”

He smiled faintly, something raw, something real, breaking through the exhaustion clouding his face. “ You shouldn’t have to, Rosaria. I was a fool in love, wishing on a dying star. But… wallowing in that misery is going to have to wait. Rosaria… Help me, because this isn’t over.”

A sudden pulse shuddered through him, his body jerking against mine. His breath grew hot, ragged, and then his skin began to shimmer. Light spilled across him, scales of silver and white crawling across his arms, his chest, his shoulders as he grew. His mismatched eyes glowed fiercely as wings burst outward in a rush of magic that sent the rubble scattering.

I stumbled back, my heart thundering as I stared at him. Estel was no longer a man, but something greater. His dragon form unfurled with radiant brilliance, wings gleaming like ice crystals, his body vast and magnificent. The White Dragon…

His voice rumbled through my mind, deep and resonant. “I always knew Darren was the Black Dragon. White Dragons like me were made by Amor to defeat them. I’am the last White Dragon. He and I are bound. If this world wants to survive, then I have to face him. And I can’t do it alone, not with my injuries.”

The earth quaked beneath us, Darren’s roars splitting the sky, his shadow blotting out what stars remained. The city crumbled as his creatures poured into the streets, devouring everything in sight.

Estel lowered himself, his gaze piercing into me. “Rosaria. Will you help me save him from himself? The saintess is said to have the strength to save the Black Dragon. I…don’t want him to die. Not after the countless times Historia has made him die. If we work together, we can probably remove Kronos’s darkness from him, and keep Darren alive. It's a small chance… But If we can pull it off…”

My breath caught, my chest aching with a fierce, unshakable determination. I pressed a hand against his scales, the warmth of his magic thrumming through my body. “Of course. Whatever it takes.”

  This world would not meet its end.