Chapter 5: The Legacy of the Dragon-Folk

By  Ismail 'Slipgate' Saeed


Dave decided to let the water carry him along, coming
up for breath periodically. He'd see if there was somewhere
he could get out, since these walls were too steep to climb
back up, and he didn't want to go up there again in case
those Relms were waiting. He waited a while before coming up
for the first breath to make sure that he was in the
underground waterway flowing out of the place he had jumped
in, out of sight of the Relms. Otherwise they'd know which
direction he was going and try and get him later in his trip
through the water.

Elsewhere, Craxton and Spoony were nearly at the
moon. They began to make preparations for going into orbit
and then landing. They hoped that they could find FuSoYa in
time, before... they didn't want to think what Mr. X would
do. They had to find FuSoYa and hurry back.

Meanwhile, the other defenders, the defilers of Relm,
and the peculiar duo of Kain and Kim were in a van large enough
to fit them all. However, a consequence of the size of the van
was how quickly it guzzled gas. They were gunning it toward
Mr. X's fortress across various types of terrain. The van wasn't
handling some of the types of terrain as well as others. The gas
was depleting.

Bob was at the wheel, since he had taken charge of the
operation since Craxton left to find FuSoYa. He saw a relatively
smooth road and decided to go on it, for at least a while, to
stave off their running out of gas. However, the van had used up
too much gas already and shortly after getting on the road it
sputtered to a stop. Everyone swore. Bob tried to get it
to move more, but it was no good.

Kain was at this point very excited about getting to
Mr. X's fortress and finally seeing Relm. He volunteered
immediately to get out and push.

Kim turned to him and exclaimed, "Kain!"

Kain was adamant about getting there. In his own mind,
he was so close, and he couldn't be stopped when he was nearly
at the vindication of his years of searching! So, despite Kim's
complaints, Kain got out, but couldn't push the van alone... it
was too big with too many people in it. So more people got out
and pushed, and it was still no good. Eventually everyone was
outside the van trying to push, and it was moving finally, but
not fast at all.

"We can walk faster than this!" panted Mary. "Let's
just leave the damn van at this rate!" she said. The wisdom of
everyone pushing the van while nobody was actually inside using
the vehicle was questioned in the minds of all present.

Everyone paused for a breath. Kim looked around them.
It was deserted... and very hot. It was only making them hotter
and sweating more to try and push the van. Walking would be
better, but it was so hot, and she didn't know where they were.
She doubted that a source of water was near. She wasn't sure
that they'd survive walking. All for a person who clearly
couldn't exist... she was disgusted that it would end this way.

"Damn it! We have to get there somehow! But we can't
go in this desert, we'll all die!" Bob shouted into the dry air,
to no one in particular.

Everyone looked at him, the defenders (and Kain) with a
terribly defeated look in their eyes, whereas the defilers didn't
seem to care as vehemently about Relm's safety (since to them Relm
was fooey). But they were all worried about making it alive. Kim's
teeth were gritted.

Inexplicably, he heard a voice in return not from among their
group. "Is someone there?" it said. It sounded like Dave! He was
the AGFF Gunslinger, and always was a good shot with his revolver.

Bob shouted back, "Yes!"

All of a sudden, Dave came crawling out from underneath an
overhang to the west, sogging wet. Mary grabbed a towel from the
van and ran to him, handing it to him.

As Dave stopped shivering, he told them his story. The
defenders tightened their grips on their weapons slightly when he
described the Relm clones as fooey, but the defilers smiled.
Craxton would have probably drawn his sword at that statement.
Upon hearing about the gunfight in the tree, Bob said, "You shot
Mr. X?"

Dave asked, "Who?"

Bob told their story. He began with what Craxton had told
them about when he contacted them, and then the story since then.

Then Dave finished his story. "So why are the defilers
along for the ride?" Dave asked.

"Simple," Mary replied, "If there's no real Relm left
there's nothing left to defile!"

Bob added, "Clones are defilable stuff anyways, even for
defenders of the person being cloned!"

Dave grinned. Since he had come from an underground river
exposed to the surface in a really small pond under the overhang,
the group stored as much water as they could for their journey from
this water supply.

Dave asked, "Do you suppose Mr. X is still alive?"

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Kim didn't think someone
would survive multiple gunshots to the head, but she didn't say
anything.

After a pause, Bob grimly replied, "Whether he is or not, we
have to eliminate the clones and save Relm."

Dave asked, "Mind if I come with you, just in case he is? I'll
have nothing left to defile either if Relm is gotten rid of...."

They thought about it and decided to go for it. He was good
with his gun, after all. They got ready to set off for Mr. X's fortress
again. Hope had returned to everyone's eyes, and Kain looked relieved.
Kim was still skeptical of the existance of Relm, everyone could tell.
They all mused, "Wait till she sees her with her own eyes."

Meanwhile, at Mr. X's fortress, Mr. X and his troops of Relm
Clones had gotten back. Mr. X surveyed his permanently cut and scarred
face. How dare that infidel do this to him, the great Mr. X? A
synthetic beep informed him that the artificial skin mask was done.

He applied the artificial skin. It made his face look normal
again, but underneath still lay the ravages of Dave's work. Mr. X swore
a blood oath to make Dave wish he had never crossed paths with him. He
would get revenge. Dave would pay.

Dave knew none of this, as he cheerily set off for Mr. X's
fortress, and while the others had to be prepared in case he was still
around, Dave didn't think Mr. X was still alive. Neither did Kim. How
wrong they were...

They had traveled about an hour when they saw a shrouded figure
walking slowly along nearby. They decided to take time out to see who
this was. As they approached, Bob suddenly got a very serious expression.
Green cloak shrouding a seemingly harmless stooped figure... it had to be.

He stopped them. "I know who that is..." Bob whispered to them.
Thankfully they were out of earshot, and the figure appeared to not have
noticed them yet.

"Who?" asked Kim.

"That's.... Slipgate." Bob whispered. Only Bob and Craxton knew
about Slipgate, though for different reasons. But they both knew all too
well who he was.

Kim asked sarcastically, "What's his stance on Relm?"

"Shh!" Bob whispered. "His stance is neutral. And I wouldn't
recommend... bothering him."

"Oh come on, we could use all the help we can get!" Kim said,
in a mockingly giddy tone. She ran ahead to talk to him.

She came up to the shrouded figure and said, "Hello, sir, I was
wondering if...."

Before she could finish her sentence, the shrouded figure stopped,
and without turning toward her, she heard a voice with an odd edge to it
exclaim, "Who is it who sees fit to disturb me!" The shrouded figure
turned toward her. She couldn't see a face or eyes under the shroud. It
was spooky. She took a step back.



"Who are you! What business do you have speaking to me?" Slipgate
continued.

Bob had run up behind her and quickly addressed him, saying "My
apologies, milord, for her bothering you." They seemed to know each
other.

The shrouded one, Slipgate, spoke again with considerably less edge
to his voice. "Bob? Is that you? Who is this?"

He replied, "Kim Wild, milord."

Slipgate seemed to get irritable. "Don't call me milord. I'm
not a lord. I'm quite different from these human denominations of
power... but then you should be quite familiar with that."

Bob smiled and said, "My apologies, Slipgate." Slipgate replied,
"So I notice you have a large group of people together. Odd...."

Bob asked, "What's odd?"

Slipgate said, "You have defenders of Relm and defilers of Relm
together here. And,"... he paused. He closed his eyes, though the others
did not see this action. He seemed to be mentally focusing or meditating
or somesuch. Kim felt something odd, and then the sensation passed.
Slipgate opened his eyes and continued, "and a disbeliever that she exists.
A most odd group, wouldn't you say? So, what's the story? Oh, and why
isn't Craxton among you then, if the defenders of Relm are here?"

The others were taken slightly aback to know this mysterious being
knew Craxton, while they knew naught of him. Bob explained to Slipgate the
story of all that had happened so far, recollecting their own remembrances
and Dave's. As Slipgate listened, he seemed to lean innocently on a wooden
staff. Kim and the others (besides Bob) though had seen that there was
something odd about this character... he had somehow read Kim's thoughts, for
one.

When Bob finished his story and Dave finished his, tying them
together into how they ran into each other, Slipgate lowered his head
slightly. He seemed to be mentally focusing again. Kim felt another odd
sensation, and this time everyone in the group did. Then, miles and miles
away, Mr. X felt an odd sensation, but then it passed.

Slipgate spoke up now. "Kim, I see you don't believe in magic
either. Or magical power or beings?" Kim nodded, slightly unsure of how
to explain this mind reading medically.

"Kain," Slipgate began, "If you survive your journey, I believe you
know what you will find. And it will be there. But the vindicating moment
is the finding, if you succeed to live long enough." Kain was both excited
and felt an ominous worry at this message.

"The rest of you," Slipgate continued, "are indeed in this quest for
the reasons you have told each other."

He knew about Mr. X's maniacal desire to kill Dave, but he chose not
to speak on this. He hadn't investigated Mr. X's plans for Relm. To tell
Dave this or to find out the plans and inform this ragtag group would be to
knowingly change the future from unfolding as it should. He looked at the
future. It looked uncertain... many things could happen.

He knew one thing though. Cloning was evil. It tainted the harmony
of the universe, and clones were always pale counterparts. He had no opinion
on Relm and on whether she lived or died, but he knew that the Relm Clones
must be destroyed, and never again produced. He knew that he would be held
accountable, knowing such clones existed, in whether or not he assisted in
exterminating them. If he did not, may Bob have mercy upon his soul.

He looked at Bob. Bob knowingly looked back. Bob purposefully
concealed the full extent of his power as God of AGFF. He was a Relm
defender, but if he overused his power he would destroy all of AGFF trying
to save Relm. Part of being a God was using your power responsibly.

Slipgate decided. "Well, Kim," he began, "prepare for a surprise,
then." He held his plain wooden staff up, and it seemed to undergo
metamorphasis in his hand. It was now a sword, glowing a hard white light.
Kim's mouth fell open. But that wasn't it yet. A lightning bolt came down
(from a clear, and rather hot, sky, no less) and struck the blade, coursing
through the blade and into Slipgate. As they watched, Slipgate flew high
into the air, then underwent a metamorphasis into a giant green dragon with a
huge fleshy wingspan.

They were all amazed. Kim and some of the others were entirely
flabbergasted, while some of them had seen Craxton undergo metamorphasis
into a type of dragon, but certainly not as large as this one... he also
didn't seem to have the little antenna that Craxton had, and he had wider
eyes. Slipgate said now, in a slightly deeper voice, "Do you believe
now, Kim?" Kim was speechless.

Slipgate addressed the audience of speechless people and said,
"Some of you knew about Craxton's ability to undergo metamorphasis into
his draconic form. Practically none of you know me, though. Well, that
is a story that you must hear, to understand myself, my power, and Craxton
himself." All of the AGFFers present decided it was worth the time to
hear about this. "Long long ago," Slipgate began, "The Dragon King Bahamut
mated with a lovely human female. I am the child of that union." They
nodded, but Kim couldn't understand how totally incompatible beings could
have mated and produced a child... before now she had thought dragons didn't
exist, anyways. Slipgate continued, after giving her a spooky knowing look.
"I later mated with a human female... wonderful creature...." Some of the
people had by now figured where this was probably going, but they had some
surprises yet in store. "This female happened to have had an ancestor three
generations previously who mated with a moogle. Her ancestor's name was
Krile." Some of them took a step back at realizing the connection with a
Final Fantasy 5 character. Kim was still speechless. She didn't think
Krile had been real, much like Relm. Slipgate continued, "So the human
female I mated with was mostly human but had some mooglish blood as well.
Our child was part human, part dragon, and had a distant mooglish relation.
His name is Craxton, of whom you are all familiar. He is my son. The
antenna with the pink nub and his narrow eyes in his draconic form are
attributed to his mooglish blood." Nearly everyone looked like a light bulb
had gone off in their head, after finally having an explanation for those two
strange qualities of Craxton. He continued, "We both can undergo meta-
morphasis into our draconic or humanoid forms. Due to our relation to a
diety, we know all magical spells that exist."

While everyone (save for Bob) was stunned speechless, Slipgate
closed his eyes and communicated mentally with his son in the heavens
above. Way up in space, Craxton suddenly felt the familiar mental presence
that was his father. His mouth gaped open.

Spoony noticed and asked, "What's wrong?"

Craxton said, "Nothing at all. My father has decided to help
the others on Earth."

Spoony asked, "Your father?"

Craxton grinned, but then became more serious abruptly. "Yeah, my
father." he said. He'd have to explain to Spoony.

After they regained a grasp on reality, Slipgate asked, "Well, we
must be getting to Mr. X's fortress. Would any of you care for a ride?"

With that, he turned around so they could climb aboard if they
wanted. He was so large he could comfortably fit all of them on his back.
One by one, all of the humans got on board. Bob decided to avail himself of
the ride as well, even though he wasn't entirely... anyways. Once everyone
was aboard and gripping hold of his back, Slipgate gently took off.

Kim was shaken. Kain was beaming. He whispered to her, "Pretty
soon you'll see Relm!" She tried to shoot him an exasperated look, but she
had just seen too much today that couldn't be medically explained. Especially
the crossbreeding of non-compatible beings... and the existence of impossible
ones...

Her mind swirled as they began to head for their destination. Little
did any of them, even Slipgate, know what to expect in the future. Even Bob
did not know of what awaited them as they set off, in the name of Relm...