Phantom/Stories

General Stories Misc

Quotes

When Entering Dragon's Roost

After Receiving a Gift

After Bond Level Increase

Idle After Bond Level 1

Idle After Bond Level 10

Idle After Bond Level 20

Dragon Story Episodes
The Mirage

Phantom: The name of an

exceptionally hideous dragon.

Phantom: A beast abhorred by

human and dragon alike.

His appearance is akin to a fiend:

razored claws, sharpened fangs,

and a body the hue and temper of

the deepest ebon night.

However, this hideousness was but

skin-deep, for the dragon's heart was

replete with the purest of loves.

And yet, none realized this truth,

so none paid him heed. Indeed, all

who looked upon him concluded his

vulgar exterior was matched with

an equally vulgar heart. O, cruelty!

Phantom once left upon a journey

long and longer still.

Along the way, he sought shelter

and rest in an unfamiliar country.

But instead, he chanced upon a land

overrun by fiends. There, his pure

heart could naught but pity the

humans who scrambled about in

a vain attempt to escape their fate.

Thus did Phantom go to war against

the fiends. The fact the lands were

ruined was no matter—he cared only

for the lives of the people.

At long last, the repulsive fiends

were defeated, and the people's

lives spared. But alas, the humans

did not recognize the actions of

their fearsome savior.

"Damnable, cursed fiend!" they cried

as they readied weapons against

him. "It is you who have ravaged our

lands and stolen our homes!"

"You are wrong, friends."

"The fiend lies with two tongues!"

"I am no fiend, but a dragon."

"More lies! Drive it hence!"

"Wait! You understand not!"

"Silence, fiend! You—and you alone—

are the cause of this catastrophe!"

Phantom: Once a dragon...

now his namesake for true.

If a day of rest would never come

for this repulsive creature, for what

purpose was his nearly endless life?

And so, Phantom would disappear.

He would abandon this world and

the hatred humans held for him.

Yet memory is a gossamer strand,

and none remain who can recall

the dragon who was sealed away.

Phantom: A creature that was once

a dragon proud.

A creature that is now naught

but a mirage.

Phantom: A dragon long ago

sealed away by humans in

the space between worlds.

This creature, once a proud dragon,

was now condemned as the cause

of catastrophe, reduced to naught

but a mirage. How much time had

passed since then?

A mirage has no hope.

A mirage does not dream.

And yet, an ember smoldered

faintly within this one.

He wished to be loved.

Ah, but it is greed and folly to wish

that someone could love a mirage!

One could barely expect it to be

noticed, after all.

As he pondered these thoughts,

he saw a white piece of clothing

flutter gently in the darkness.

Lightly, gently, a dancer swayed.

It was as though a shaft of moonlight

had pierced through the darkness

to create a beautiful radiance.

Her dancing paused for a moment.

She had seen him.

She had seen the mirage.

"You look...different," she said.

"Now she will go," thought Phantom.

And yet, the dancer did not go.

Clad in the light, she swept down

and alighted next to him.

"You do not fear me?" said Phantom.

"Do I have reason to fear you?"

replied the dancer. "For I do not

usually fear beings unless they

give cause to do so."

The dancer had not come to a

conclusion about his nature based

on his hideous appearance. Instead,

she saw the true contours of his soul.

Under this warmth, the dragon who

had become a mirage returned for

an instant to reality.

For even a mirage cannot exist

without dreams.

Phantom.

The name of a dragon...

who was once a mirage.