One Last Time (Ryuu)

While everyone was enjoying the fete, I chatted with my uncle before approaching Rose. She seemed to be having fun watching the dancers, so I struck up a conversation.

"Hi, how's it going?" I asked.

"Not too bad. How about you?" she replied.

"I was just checking on the guys. Everyone seems to be having a great time," I said.

Rose, pointing with her hand to Babu who was eating. "Especially Babu. He seems to like the food."

I wanted to amuse Rose further by bringing up an earlier topic. "What do you say? Shall we resume our half-finished dance?"

"That was a one-off," she said.

Suddenly, I took Rose by the hand. "Come on, it'll be fun. I promise."

I pulled her to the center of the dance floor. It would have been awkward to stand still while everyone else danced, so Rose joined me.

We had a lot of fun and I could see Rose's beautiful smile. At that moment, I had forgotten the whole plot we were going through and focused on the moment. After a while, the music became lighter and more romantic.

As all the couples around us danced together, I couldn't leave Rose alone. I held out my hand to her. "May I have the honor of this dance?" I asked.

Rose grinned and held out her hand to me. "Thank you for your kind offer. Yes, I would love to dance with you." she chuckled.

Under the stars, on the glittering streets, Rose and I danced together. For that moment, I had pushed everything else out of my mind. She was all that mattered.

She looked at me with sparkling eyes and spoke. "Ryuu, you're full of surprises. After everything you've been through, you kept believing and you made it."

"No, we did it," I replied. "The map chose us because we believed in each other."

"So how does it feel? Is this heroic feeling as good as you wanted it to be?" she asked.

"It's so good that it's worth fighting for," I said.

"Then I'd like to thank you on behalf of everyone. Thank you for getting justice," she added.

"What's important is everyone's well-being," I said. "but I'm curious, now what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, you have a connection to the fourth kingdom. If you want to stay…"

Rose interrupted me to share her true feelings. "My family may have a connection to this kingdom, but I don't feel like I belong here. And I was starting to warm up to the team."

"We'd be honored to have you fight with us," I said. "And personally, I wouldn't want you to leave the team."

"Don't worry," she said with a smile. "I'll be here to bug you more."

We were having a good time together until I put my hand on her cheek. At that moment, the letter I was supposed to give to Rose fell out of my pocket.

When she saw her name on the letter, she picked it up and opened it. For a moment, I was at a loss for words.

"Rose, I was going to give you the letter. Really, I…"

She interrupted me as she read the letter. "How long have you had this?" she asked with a mix of surprise and longing.

"Since the tournament," I replied.

"All this time, you had this letter and you kept it from me?" she asked.

"I don't know what to say," I said with regret.

"Just answer my question," she said angrily.

"Yes," I said. "But I didn't mean to upset you. I just didn't want you to lose focus during the war."

"So you tried to do me a favor by keeping my privacy from me?" she asked.

"I apologize," I said.

"I thought you were different from the others," she said. "But you're just as bad as your kind."

"Rose, please," I said. "It's not what you think."

As I tried to talk to Rose, a strong thunderstorm hit the festival. The ground shook and people focused on one place.

In the heavy winds, I had a bad feeling. A familiar feeling. So much so that I've known this feeling for a long time.

Rose and I walked over to where people were gathered to see what was happening. Everyone was focused on one spot in the middle of the festival.

The wind wasn't even blowing there. Whatever it was, it seemed to be scaring people. I could see the desperation in their eyes.

I couldn't believe it when we pushed through the crowd and reached the center of the festival. The person I had been dreaming about all this time was standing in front of me in ghostly form.

As in my dreams, he didn't show his face to anyone. But I could feel his incredible power. The people around me were trembling.

I knew I had to talk to him. Unlike the others, I approached him and signaled for people to stand back.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"You defeated my best man," he said. "I wanted to congratulate you, son of Alpha Prime. And I've come with a final offer."

People were surprised to hear that I was the son of Alpha Prime. But their fear outweighed their surprise and they listened more than they spoke as I continued my conversation with the fifth epic.

"Proposal?" I asked.

"I offer you one last chance to replace the epics you and your team defeated, take their place," he said. "Or you will be responsible for their deaths."

"That will not happen," I said. "We will put an end to your madness."

With a wave of his hand, the fifth epic made everyone at the festival kneel, including me. He spoke with great anger. "You have no idea what I'm capable of. I am the leader of the epics. And I'll tell everyone here that whoever helps this boy, I will erase their lineage and kingdom from history."

The fifth epic snapped his fingers and disappeared. With his disappearance, we could move again and the winds calmed down.

But the people were in a panic. While the Queen tried to calm her subjects, we retreated to the planning room.

In the room, my friends, the kings, and my uncle discussed what had happened. Babu started the conversation by asking his first question.

"Can the Fifth Epic attack this kingdom?" he asked.

The First King joined in. "He won't do it," he said. "It's not his style."

"How can you be so sure?" Babu asked.

"Because if he wanted to, he could destroy our kingdoms," the First King replied. "Just like he said."

Shou joined in, wanting to know more. "Then what's his purpose?"

This time, the Second King answered. "It's something big," he said. "But no one knows what it is."

Babu added to the list of unanswered questions. "So what do we do?"

The Third King didn't want to say anything in response to the alarmed looks around him. But he reminded us again how bad it would be if we attacked.

"You heard him," he said. "If we try to attack, he won't just kill our descendants. He'll wipe our kingdoms from history."

My uncle supported the Third King. "We've all seen what he's capable of," he said. "The king is right. The enemy is strong enough to fulfill his promises."

Queen Yeli took things to a new level when she entered the room, excited and holding some papers. "A letter was sent from the Fifth King before the war," she said. "It was sent directly from the palace."

Hiroshi, like everyone else, wanted to know what the letter said. "What does it say?" he asked.

The Queen's expression turned grim after reading the letter. Apparently, the news wasn't good.

"It's not good," she said. "He wrote to my father, who is now in prison, that they have captured a warrior named Ronk."

My uncle stood up in sudden anger. "I told him not to go," he said. "He's a stubborn goat."

My uncle had every right to be angry with Ronk. But Ronk would never put himself in danger for no reason. Especially not in a situation like this. I didn't know what was going on, but I had no intention of waiting with anxious eyes. So I spoke up.

"I'm going after him," I said.

"Kid," my uncle replied. "I see the goat has infected you with his stubbornness. But that would be suicide. You heard what the fifth epic said."

"Ronk taught me to use the powers of my wolf bloodline," I said. "Maybe you don't know him as well as I do, but I owe it to him to be strong and help you."

The Third King stepped forward and explained how difficult the situation was. He said it wasn't wise to risk so much for one man.

"Ryuu, you've helped us a lot," he said. "I don't know how we can repay you. But don't ask us to jeopardize our people in something this big."

Apparently, the fifth epic had managed to scare everyone. But my resolve was firm. If no one else, I owed it to Ronk.

"I know," I said. "That's why I'm going alone. I'm the one he wants. Go back to your kingdoms and protect them. Uncle, you're in control of the dragon now. I want you to protect our lineage with it. Otherwise, it would be suicide for me to attack with it."

My uncle grabbed my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. "Kid, don't do this," he said.

His intentions weren't bad, but I couldn't let this happen. I slowly pulled his arm off my shoulder. "Take care of our lineage, uncle," I said. "You were all good comrades. Thank you."

As I headed for the door, a familiar voice spoke to me from behind. Hiroshi, as usual, was being a big brother to me.

"Wait," he said. "We've been on this road together from the beginning. And I won't let you end it alone. A promise is a promise. I'm with you, Ryuu."

Then Lezlie joined Hiroshi. "Hiroshi's right," she said. "You've shown us a lot. My mom would want us to fight together. I'm with you, Ryuu."

Babu smiled and said, "Well, you saved me from rotting in the mine. At least thanks to you I got a lot of action for a panda. But it was still fun to fight with you. I'm with you, Ryuu."

Mila approached me and joined in with what the others were saying. "You made me show what a princess can do," she said. "You brought victory to my kingdom. I'm with you, Ryuu."

Shou put his sword on the hilt and said, "You helped me take my revenge. I'm with you, Ryuu."

Wedan wasn't very enthusiastic but wanted to say something against the established superiority. "As an unpopular person, you helped people respect me," he said. "And I don't want to leave Mila alone. So I'm with you, Ryuu."

Finally, Rose spoke up. "After what you did, don't expect me to forgive you," she said. "But that doesn't mean I won't fight. I will fight. But after that, I'm out."

I realized that we were more than just a team. We had been through all kinds of hardships together and had all kinds of fun together. And once again they had stood by me in my time of need. We weren't a team; we were a family.

I looked at them proudly and said, "Then it's settled. We're going to the fifth kingdom and we're going to put an end to this event."