High Zodiark/Stories
Quotes
- When Entering Dragon's Roost
- Ah, Euden. You've come.
- This form does not frighten you?
- Stay as long as you wish.
- After Receiving a Gift
- I pray this will aid you on your way.
- Even one bound for the grave like me is not without anything to offer.
- After Bond Level Increase
- There is no greater happiness than to have a trusted companion at your side.
- No matter what awaits, I will follow at your side, inseparable as a shadow.
- Idle After Bond Level 1
- My shadow has grown fond of you. You should feel proud.
- Since sealing a pact with you, humanity's hatred for me has been less excruciating.
- The light in your eyes shines, even when the world around you is at its darkest.
- Idle After Bond Level 10
- Live long, Euden! You are my pact holder, as well as my greatest treasure.
- Were I human, I could take you in my arms...
- My shadow will shield the kingdom you create from all other darkness.
- Idle After Bond Level 20
- I will protect you, even if it destroys me. I'll not make the same mistake again.
- You do not know what comfort it brings me to see you clear-eyed and unafraid before me.
- I love mankind, but there are times I worry that the way I express that love is mistaken.
Dragon Story Episodes
Love from the Shadows
Several days after the Auspex of
the Nether took the imperial throne,
Zodiark, the kindly Shadowwyrm,
gazed up at a starless night sky.
In this darkness was the dragon
lost in his thoughts, for he had
grave concerns about the path
the world now traveled on.
Suddenly, the endless gloom
was sundered by a brilliant fissure
that spilled forth a young man
with hair of radiant blonde.
The young man was a prince
who had been chased from his
kingdom by the foul Empire.
With one beat of his mighty wings,
Zodiark landed before the prince
and froze him in his very tracks.
"Where are you going?" the dragon
asked as gently as he was able.
The prince quickly averted his gaze
from the dragon's eyes, which
seemed to bore into his very soul.
"Would you set off to rescue your
sister alone?" asked the dragon.
"Yes!" cried the prince. "For I must
do something, and yet I do not wish
to expose my friends to danger."
"Now please, great dragon,
let me be on my way."
"FOOL!"
The Shadowwyrm's roar shook the
veil of night, and his rage made the
very earth shudder beneath their feet.
His eyes glimmering, Zodiark took
one step forward, then another.
To the prince, it seemed the god
of death itself was approaching.
The prince was under complete
domination by the dragon. Not a
breath, blink, or drop of sweat
was permitted. The boy's fate lay in
the hands of the Shadowwyrm.
The prince who had lost his kingdom
faced down the great Shadowwyrm.
For when he had replied to
the dragon's query, Zodiark
responded with furious anger.
"Fool!" cried the dragon. "What do
you hope to accomplish with that
weak, frail thing you call a body?!
You must learn your station!"
Zodiark had accepted everything
life had cursed him with. But now,
for the first time, he displayed
anger toward a human.
Once, the Shadowwyrm had been
reviled by mortals, despite his gentle
nature. And yet he continued to
pour his love over the people.
He did not begrudge them, utter a
word against them, or give in to rage.
Even when his beloved mortals cast
curses his way, Zodiark continued to
shower them with his affections.
This was the only way he knew.
The only way he could love.
Yet the creature blocking the prince's
way was not one of love. Instead,
he seemed an amalgamation of
arrogance—calamity made flesh.
Even knowing this, Zodiark roared
on in an attempt to show the
prince the error of his ways.
"Throwing oneself into a hopeless
struggle does not make a hero,
but a fool," he spoke, his voice
rending the air around them.
"You say you wish to keep your allies
safe. Are they truly so pathetic or
craven as to need such protection?
Your words give them great insult!"
At this, the prince raised his head.
Though the dragon was cloaked in
eternal darkness, a fierce, yet gentle,
light shone out from within.
"I see the truth of your words,
Zodiark. Thank you for telling
me what I needed to hear."
Zodiark became flustered by
the prince's thanks; he had
not expected his anger to be
answered in such a fashion.
Released from the Shadowwyrm's
gaze, the prince returned to the
castle that held his friends. After
watching his tiny figure recede,
the lord of shadow closed his eyes.
"There is another way to love,"
thought the dragon.
"When he appears to err in a choice,
I will guide him back to the path.
This time, I will protect the ones
I love until the very end."
"This is how I will show love now."
Sadly, none will ever know of
the kindness of the Shadowwyrm.
None but the everlasting stars in
the heavens, shining from beyond
the endless darkness.