- Joined
- Nov 9, 2019
- Gender
- Male
So I was skeptic about posting this story up on this site, as it's not a Zelda story, but I noticed some people posting things like Pokemon and Spider Man, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to put this up.
This is a story based on the PSVita/PS4/Switch, Ys 8: Lacrimosa of DANA, an installment in the long running "Ys" video game series. I don't know how many actual fans there are of this series on this site, but even if you're not a fan you might get some enjoyment out of it.
Just as a warning, there will be huge spoilers for the game in this story, so if you're still playing the game I'd say back out now.
While I found Ys 8 to be an amazing game with amazing gameplay, great characters and rocking music, I couldn't help but feel the plot needed a lot more work then it got, especially with one particular plot twist that took me almost completely out of the game, and the bittersweet resolution to Dana's arc didn't really make me feel anything but down about it. So I decided to write this as kind of a way of both cheering me up and entertaining you guys.
The story takes place four years after the events of the game. Bonds can be difficult to keep when destiny gets in the way, of it, but for two individuals who have been separated by destiny, can that bond be rejoined, and at what possible cost? This is a story of defying what fate dictates and finding one's true happiness.
I should also mention I don't remember literally everything about the plot since I played it in many short bursts, it didn't help that Smash Bros came out in the middle of my playtime, so I got distracted by that a lot, so there may be some continuity errors. I'm also not sure if anything that happens in this story would tie into the games themselves, but considering how vague certain details were in the story itself, I think it could be fair game.
If not, I just say try to enjoy this story for what it is anyways. Enjoy!
----
DynoStretch presents
Ys 8: Lacrimosa of DANA 2
Ambitions of Dana
----
Chapter 1 - Divided
“Hey Adol, you hearin' me?”
“Huh...?”
A 25 year old young man with fiery red hair looked up from his complimentary bowl of tavern peanuts and turned to see his best friend, a bulky blue haired man grinning widely. Beside him was a lewd-looking woman with a rather noticeably large chest, and beside her was a much more mild mannered and younger woman who was trying not to look at the three directly out of obvious shyness.
“I asked you if you're coming with us for a night on the town! I even found a lady for you, too!”
Adol paused as he took a glance over at the younger girl. She was pretty embarrassed about Dogi's forwardness with trying to set her and Adol up together, and was trying to avoid eye contact. Adol felt rather sorry for her, but he had to admit she was definitely pretty. However, he was more focused on her hair; it was long and blue, just like...
“So you coming with us or not?” Dogi snapped him out of his trance again.
“Uh, no...” Adol said, “You guys just go on ahead. I'm going to stay here for a while longer, then probably just go back to the inn.”
“Suit yerself.” Dogi said shrugging, he turned to the blue-haired girl and said “Sorry about that, don't take it personally or anything, it's just Adol's been pretty grumpy lately.”
The girl either didn't seem to mind or was too shy to say so, and she left as Dogi and the older woman themselves left together, Dogi remembering to add a “See ya tomorrow, Adol!” before he was gone.
“Yeah, have fun with that.” Adol said with a casual wave as he started absentmindedly doodling on a cocktail paper, eventually making a crude portrait of a person's face. He stared down at his creation with a heavy heart, as the drawing looked very similar to someone he knew...
“Dana...”
Seeing that girl's blue hair could only remind him of someone from his past, four years ago. He had formed a great bond with a beautiful blue-haired girl named Dana, remarkably through their dreams. They could see each other's worlds and the people they were acquainted with. When the two of them finally met face-to-face, it was like feeling their lives were truly connected. Dana was a girl that Adol had never felt such a connection with in his whole life.
She was the priestess of a religious civilization from many many years in the past, that civilization had been long destroyed before Adol's time, and she was the sole survivor. The two traveled through the remnants of her home to solve the mystery of what happened to it. The answers they found changed a lot of what they knew about the world, and during that time the two of them only grew closer.
Unfortunately that bond could only last for so long, when a terrible disaster fell onto the world, and Dana was forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop the destruction of everything. It seemed like just as quickly as she had came into his life she was soon taken away. Instead of dying however, she turned out to have received a blessing from the Earth Goddess Maia, allowing her to reincarnate as the Goddess of Evolution itself, tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the progress of evolution and changing the future for the better. However, this also meant she couldn't be of Adol's world, and left to fulfill her new purpose.
While Adol understood the responsibility she had now, it was a difficult thing to accept. He tried to push that pain of loss out of his mind for the last four years and move on, and while he did manage to do so long enough to go on many more adventures over the past years, he found himself having a more difficult time keeping her out of his mind lately. When Dogi introduced him to a girl that reminded him of Dana it only made it harder.
Adol never held that against Dogi though, he understood his friend didn't remember anything about what happened involving Dana, as her awakening meant her being erased from the timeline of mortal existence. Adol was one of the only ones to actually remember her and what happened due to the bond they forged in each other's dreams and in reality.
Speaking of dreams though, he had found himself unable to naturally dream for the past few years, the exceptions being premonitions sent to him by others. He had a hard time believing it was pure coincidence he couldn't dream normally when he went to sleep, and sometimes it felt like his mind was a complete blank.
He had even gone so far as to visit a doctor on the matter to see if it wasn't just a physical problem from all the head injuries he'd get from adventuring and battle. After turning down the doctor's initial recommendation of overpriced group therapy sessions or prescription medicine that had the potential side effect of irregular bowel movements, the doctor theorized that there was an emotional emptiness within him, possibly brought about by some kind of grief or trauma.
It was at that point he realized what it was, he was grieving over the loss of Dana. He tried to encourage himself not to be sad about her, but it was in reality impossible for him not to be. He hoped that pain would eventually heal over time, but it felt like it just got nothing but worse.
He took a second to glance back down at the napkin he was doodling on, and was surprised to see how much pain-staking detail he had put into the crude little drawing, it looked almost exactly as he remembered his friend. It was then he just gave in and leaned over on the counter, trying and failing to hold back his tears.
----
At the same time in another plane of reality, at a large temple, a blue-haired woman was standing before a crystal ball that resembled the planet Earth. She moved her fingers in such a way that she was able to zoom the focus on the vision of Earth down to a certain country, then from there to a village, then to a tavern bar, where she saw Adol slouched over on the counter. While she couldn't see what exactly was on the napkin he was holding or hear what he was saying, it pained her to see what he was going through.
This was Dana; once the chosen priestess of her civilization, now the Goddess of Evolution, appointed by the Earth Goddess Maia. It was her duty to ensure the mortal world's growth and stability, and to make changes to the future of the world as she felt would be for the best. Despite her newfound godly power, it was a trying job, and she was still learning all her abilities and the responsibilities that came with it.
“Goddess! Are you hearing me?”
Suddenly the blue-haired goddess straightened up with a small yelp and turned towards a tall woman with green hair and a stern expression. This was Olga, Dana's childhood friend and a sworn bodyguard of sorts. Despite being one of the causalities of the destruction of their homeland, Dana was able to use her divine power to bring Olga to her temple to aid her in her work as her guard and adviser.
“Oh, Olga,” Dana said with a sheepish smile, “I'm sorry, what did you say?”
“Honestly...” sighed Olga, putting a hand to her head, “How can you perform your duties if you space out so often?”
“Oh Olga, you're being a little too harsh on her.” said another voice, as a black haired woman strolled up beside them. This was Sarai, also a childhood friend of both Dana and Olga. She was once the newly crowned queen of their civilization just before it fell, but now she was an assistant of Dana, aiding her in overseeing the evolution of the world.
“Well someone has to be!” Olga snapped, “Being a goddess isn't like being a mere sales manager or a bathroom custodian, her choices will shape the world as the mortals know it!”
“Why a bathroom custodian as a comparison...?” Sarai wondered to herself.
“It's fine!” Dana said waving her hand dismissively, “I'll be fine. I just needed to check with something on Earth is all.”
“Well you should be checking on something else right now, namely the newest creatures you've created are fighting each other to the death.” Olga said.
“R-Really?!” Dana exclaimed as she ran off to a balcony of her temple that overlooked a vast garden where various creatures and plants existed. She pinpointed what Olga was talking about and saw two beasts attacking each other, to the point where they were sure enough spilling each other's blood.
“Uh, oops.” She used her power to encase the two creatures into small orbs and bring them both to her. She sighed, knowing she'd have to look them both over extensively to see why the two would be so hostile. “I thought they would be okay being herbivores, but I must have done something wrong with their creation.”
“You've been distracted lately.” Olga said, “Are you positive you're all right?”
“Y-Yes, I'll get to work on figuring out what went wrong with these two soon,” Dana said.
“Well, see that you do.” nodded Olga, “I'll be taking my leave now, Divine Goddess.”
“Aw comeon...” Dana said with a small pout, “You know you can just call me Dana, right? I hoped you would have gotten out of that formality stuff with me.”
Olga seemed to hesitate before she spoke, “My place is to serve you and ensure your divine responsibilities are met. I can't bare myself to refer to you as low as a mere servant like me, Goddess.” she bowed and started to walk off after that.
“Hmmm...” Dana pondered to herself for a second, before running up behind Olga and quickly grabbing and tickling her sides, causing Olga's eyes to widen and for her to burst out into uncontrollable laughter, before quickly spinning around and glaring at Dana.
“What was that about?!” Olga exclaimed.
“Just wanted to see you smile a bit, Olga!” Dana grinned.
“Hmph... as I said before, I'm taking my leave to see to the other assistants...” Olga muttered, walking off.
Dana sighed and turned to Sarai. “I was hoping she would have loosened up over time, but she just seems more strict then ever.”
“Don't take it too badly,” said Sarai with a compassionate smile, “I think she just feels she owes you for giving her a new duty after she died, and she's looking out for your well-being.”
“I guess...” Dana said.
Sarai couldn't help but look at the sad expression in her eyes, “Is something else wrong?” she asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“It's nothing,” said Dana, forcing a smile, “I'm going to go rest for a bit...”
“Okay...” Sarai said, despite her clearly knowing that this was about more then just Olga's stubbornness, but decided to leave it at that for now.
Dana walked back into the room where she kept the crystal ball she used to observe the Earth. She gazed at it, focusing it's view back on Adol, who was now walking towards an inn he was staying at. Before he could enter, a pretty lady came up and spoke to him, Dana watched intently but couldn't hear what they were saying. Adol seemed to shake his head to the girl, causing her to get annoyed and storm off.
While the purpose of the crystal globe was to observe Earth and see how the life on the planet responded to each other and make adjusts in evolution accordingly, she couldn't help herself but to use it to watch over the young man that she forged such a close bond with. She watched his three most recent adventures; rooting for him to succeed, and feeling his victories and failures, as well as enjoying seeing the people he bonded with through those travels he went on.
That said, she had to admit to herself she felt some relief when he turned down women who hit on him. Adol had a charisma that drew people to him, and he had a tendency to break a lot of women's hearts either from his unwillingness or maybe just naivete to treat them as anything but friends. She couldn't help herself, as she had developed such a close bond with him through their dreams and adventures, and the moment just before they separated four years ago, they had shared a close embrace that she could never forget. That bond met everything to her, and she could never forget the things he did for her...
And she had to admit to herself she loved him.
However, that love could never work out now, as she was a goddess, and he was a mortal, the two of them were in two different worlds and could never see each other. While it was a bit of a morbid thought, she could theoretically just wait until his inevitable end of his lifespan to bring him to her world as she did Olga, but she wondered if he would even accept that offer like Olga did, or if he would prefer to just rest in peace... or if he wound up settling down with someone else that he'd then spend his afterlife with...
Dana felt a pain just from that thought alone. There was a small part of her that hoped becoming a goddess would had cleared her mind of human emotions like love so that she couldn't feel a sense of loss like this, but it wasn't so, in fact she felt them stronger then ever now, and it was creating an emptiness in her. Despite her two close friends and her three other assistants to aide her in overseeing her work, she had times when she still felt she was missing something that would make her feel truly complete. She couldn't deny what it was, she missed Adol and wanted to see him again, to talk to him again, to hold him again... but that was an impossibility, as they had no way of even communicating with each other now.
Unless...
A thought occurred to her just at that moment, something that she had never considered before. Maybe it was because her powers weren't as developed until now that she could do something like that, or maybe she was just too distracted with her job to even consider the idea, but it was worth a shot.
Dana went off to a private chamber she used for resting, it was built somewhat similar to her old bedroom from her past. She had created it to help her adjust to her new life, containing a bed, fountain, and a bookshelf. One of the big differences was a large balcony hidden behind her bookshelf that showed off a beautiful sky of clouds and stars above the Realm of Maia, which she'd often go to when she needed to relax.
“Can I really do this?” she thought to herself, “If someone saw it...”
She shook off the doubt and hesitation, took a second to make sure neither Olga or Sarai were around, then concentrated. Energy started to appear from the ground, and up from that energy formed small clear rocks, and those rocks eventually came together become a strange purple-pinkish crystal stone. It was a replica of an object that she used back on her homeland which allowed her to see into Adol's world and Adol to see into hers.
“It worked!” she said, with almost too much enthusiasm. She quickly shut herself up and focused on the crystal, attempting to link it to Adol's mind. “The only way for this work though, is if he would truly want this...” she considered. “I'll just have to try.”
“Please Adol...”
---
Adol had just slumped into his inn room and fallen onto his bed. The fact that Dogi was still gone was a good sign he was still busy with his new 'friend' and he wasn't coming back for now. He didn't mind, he was at least happy that Dogi was enjoying himself. Adol buried his face in his pillow and sighed into it, before flipping onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. In some effort to try and get to sleep, he started counting the amount of knotholes in the wood that made up the ceiling.
Running out of knots, his thoughts went right back to Dana, and that emptiness he was feeling. He couldn't keep denying it, he had to see her again. He started thinking back to the last time they saw each other, before she disappeared, something that no one else heard...
---
Flashback - Four Years Ago
“So this is it then, Dana?”
“Yes Adol, thank you so much for everything you've done... and I'll never forget you... Farew-”
“Wait, before you finish that, you need to promise me something!”
"Eh? What?”
“I want you to promise not to say 'farewell' to me.”
“Huh...? Why not?”
“Because I never say 'farewell' to anyone I want to see again. I don't care what I need to do, someday we'll meet again!”
“Adol... I'm pretty sure that's impossible now.”
“Hey, if you hadn't noticed, I'm the kind of guy who can do the impossible!”
“Ah-ha-ha, yes you really have! Hm... okay, but what should I say then?”
“How about just, 'See you later.'?”
“...all right then! See you later, Adol...”
End Flashback
---
Adol laid back in bed, remembering those words. As reassuring as it was at the time, he found himself beginning to doubt what he said those four years ago, could he truly see her again, speak to her again, to hold her again? He started to grow tired, and his eyes shut, and muttered the only thing on his mind in that moment...
“I wish I could see you again, Dana...”
---
Suddenly, Adol opened his eyes. Looking around, all he could see was he was on the balcony of some kind of temple. He looked up to see a brilliant display of stars and clouds overhead, it looked almost unworldly. There were strange trees he had never seen before stretching up from below, and strange animals flying by. He was frankly at a loss for words of where he had ended up.
“The hell...? Am I dreaming, or did I just eat some bad peanuts?”
It was then he heard a soft voice that snapped him out of his thoughts.
“Adol?”
Adol's eyes widened, he felt a sensation he hadn't in a long time. He quickly turned around to see a familiar face he didn't think he'd ever see again. Very faint tears started to form in his eyes as well as hers, as he said just one name at that moment.
“Dana?”
---
Well that was Chapter 1. While I do think I could just end the story here, I want to do a bit more with it, as I have more ideas and themes to this story that I want to tell.
I'm also aware this story might have started off a bit too much on the angstsy side, but I can assure you the next chapter will have a much lighter tone, since that's really what I set out to do with this story in the first place.
So look forward to it! (I hope...)
This is a story based on the PSVita/PS4/Switch, Ys 8: Lacrimosa of DANA, an installment in the long running "Ys" video game series. I don't know how many actual fans there are of this series on this site, but even if you're not a fan you might get some enjoyment out of it.
Just as a warning, there will be huge spoilers for the game in this story, so if you're still playing the game I'd say back out now.
While I found Ys 8 to be an amazing game with amazing gameplay, great characters and rocking music, I couldn't help but feel the plot needed a lot more work then it got, especially with one particular plot twist that took me almost completely out of the game, and the bittersweet resolution to Dana's arc didn't really make me feel anything but down about it. So I decided to write this as kind of a way of both cheering me up and entertaining you guys.
The story takes place four years after the events of the game. Bonds can be difficult to keep when destiny gets in the way, of it, but for two individuals who have been separated by destiny, can that bond be rejoined, and at what possible cost? This is a story of defying what fate dictates and finding one's true happiness.
I should also mention I don't remember literally everything about the plot since I played it in many short bursts, it didn't help that Smash Bros came out in the middle of my playtime, so I got distracted by that a lot, so there may be some continuity errors. I'm also not sure if anything that happens in this story would tie into the games themselves, but considering how vague certain details were in the story itself, I think it could be fair game.
If not, I just say try to enjoy this story for what it is anyways. Enjoy!
----
DynoStretch presents
Ys 8: Lacrimosa of DANA 2
Ambitions of Dana
----
Chapter 1 - Divided
“Hey Adol, you hearin' me?”
“Huh...?”
A 25 year old young man with fiery red hair looked up from his complimentary bowl of tavern peanuts and turned to see his best friend, a bulky blue haired man grinning widely. Beside him was a lewd-looking woman with a rather noticeably large chest, and beside her was a much more mild mannered and younger woman who was trying not to look at the three directly out of obvious shyness.
“I asked you if you're coming with us for a night on the town! I even found a lady for you, too!”
Adol paused as he took a glance over at the younger girl. She was pretty embarrassed about Dogi's forwardness with trying to set her and Adol up together, and was trying to avoid eye contact. Adol felt rather sorry for her, but he had to admit she was definitely pretty. However, he was more focused on her hair; it was long and blue, just like...
“So you coming with us or not?” Dogi snapped him out of his trance again.
“Uh, no...” Adol said, “You guys just go on ahead. I'm going to stay here for a while longer, then probably just go back to the inn.”
“Suit yerself.” Dogi said shrugging, he turned to the blue-haired girl and said “Sorry about that, don't take it personally or anything, it's just Adol's been pretty grumpy lately.”
The girl either didn't seem to mind or was too shy to say so, and she left as Dogi and the older woman themselves left together, Dogi remembering to add a “See ya tomorrow, Adol!” before he was gone.
“Yeah, have fun with that.” Adol said with a casual wave as he started absentmindedly doodling on a cocktail paper, eventually making a crude portrait of a person's face. He stared down at his creation with a heavy heart, as the drawing looked very similar to someone he knew...
“Dana...”
Seeing that girl's blue hair could only remind him of someone from his past, four years ago. He had formed a great bond with a beautiful blue-haired girl named Dana, remarkably through their dreams. They could see each other's worlds and the people they were acquainted with. When the two of them finally met face-to-face, it was like feeling their lives were truly connected. Dana was a girl that Adol had never felt such a connection with in his whole life.
She was the priestess of a religious civilization from many many years in the past, that civilization had been long destroyed before Adol's time, and she was the sole survivor. The two traveled through the remnants of her home to solve the mystery of what happened to it. The answers they found changed a lot of what they knew about the world, and during that time the two of them only grew closer.
Unfortunately that bond could only last for so long, when a terrible disaster fell onto the world, and Dana was forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop the destruction of everything. It seemed like just as quickly as she had came into his life she was soon taken away. Instead of dying however, she turned out to have received a blessing from the Earth Goddess Maia, allowing her to reincarnate as the Goddess of Evolution itself, tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the progress of evolution and changing the future for the better. However, this also meant she couldn't be of Adol's world, and left to fulfill her new purpose.
While Adol understood the responsibility she had now, it was a difficult thing to accept. He tried to push that pain of loss out of his mind for the last four years and move on, and while he did manage to do so long enough to go on many more adventures over the past years, he found himself having a more difficult time keeping her out of his mind lately. When Dogi introduced him to a girl that reminded him of Dana it only made it harder.
Adol never held that against Dogi though, he understood his friend didn't remember anything about what happened involving Dana, as her awakening meant her being erased from the timeline of mortal existence. Adol was one of the only ones to actually remember her and what happened due to the bond they forged in each other's dreams and in reality.
Speaking of dreams though, he had found himself unable to naturally dream for the past few years, the exceptions being premonitions sent to him by others. He had a hard time believing it was pure coincidence he couldn't dream normally when he went to sleep, and sometimes it felt like his mind was a complete blank.
He had even gone so far as to visit a doctor on the matter to see if it wasn't just a physical problem from all the head injuries he'd get from adventuring and battle. After turning down the doctor's initial recommendation of overpriced group therapy sessions or prescription medicine that had the potential side effect of irregular bowel movements, the doctor theorized that there was an emotional emptiness within him, possibly brought about by some kind of grief or trauma.
It was at that point he realized what it was, he was grieving over the loss of Dana. He tried to encourage himself not to be sad about her, but it was in reality impossible for him not to be. He hoped that pain would eventually heal over time, but it felt like it just got nothing but worse.
He took a second to glance back down at the napkin he was doodling on, and was surprised to see how much pain-staking detail he had put into the crude little drawing, it looked almost exactly as he remembered his friend. It was then he just gave in and leaned over on the counter, trying and failing to hold back his tears.
----
At the same time in another plane of reality, at a large temple, a blue-haired woman was standing before a crystal ball that resembled the planet Earth. She moved her fingers in such a way that she was able to zoom the focus on the vision of Earth down to a certain country, then from there to a village, then to a tavern bar, where she saw Adol slouched over on the counter. While she couldn't see what exactly was on the napkin he was holding or hear what he was saying, it pained her to see what he was going through.
This was Dana; once the chosen priestess of her civilization, now the Goddess of Evolution, appointed by the Earth Goddess Maia. It was her duty to ensure the mortal world's growth and stability, and to make changes to the future of the world as she felt would be for the best. Despite her newfound godly power, it was a trying job, and she was still learning all her abilities and the responsibilities that came with it.
“Goddess! Are you hearing me?”
Suddenly the blue-haired goddess straightened up with a small yelp and turned towards a tall woman with green hair and a stern expression. This was Olga, Dana's childhood friend and a sworn bodyguard of sorts. Despite being one of the causalities of the destruction of their homeland, Dana was able to use her divine power to bring Olga to her temple to aid her in her work as her guard and adviser.
“Oh, Olga,” Dana said with a sheepish smile, “I'm sorry, what did you say?”
“Honestly...” sighed Olga, putting a hand to her head, “How can you perform your duties if you space out so often?”
“Oh Olga, you're being a little too harsh on her.” said another voice, as a black haired woman strolled up beside them. This was Sarai, also a childhood friend of both Dana and Olga. She was once the newly crowned queen of their civilization just before it fell, but now she was an assistant of Dana, aiding her in overseeing the evolution of the world.
“Well someone has to be!” Olga snapped, “Being a goddess isn't like being a mere sales manager or a bathroom custodian, her choices will shape the world as the mortals know it!”
“Why a bathroom custodian as a comparison...?” Sarai wondered to herself.
“It's fine!” Dana said waving her hand dismissively, “I'll be fine. I just needed to check with something on Earth is all.”
“Well you should be checking on something else right now, namely the newest creatures you've created are fighting each other to the death.” Olga said.
“R-Really?!” Dana exclaimed as she ran off to a balcony of her temple that overlooked a vast garden where various creatures and plants existed. She pinpointed what Olga was talking about and saw two beasts attacking each other, to the point where they were sure enough spilling each other's blood.
“Uh, oops.” She used her power to encase the two creatures into small orbs and bring them both to her. She sighed, knowing she'd have to look them both over extensively to see why the two would be so hostile. “I thought they would be okay being herbivores, but I must have done something wrong with their creation.”
“You've been distracted lately.” Olga said, “Are you positive you're all right?”
“Y-Yes, I'll get to work on figuring out what went wrong with these two soon,” Dana said.
“Well, see that you do.” nodded Olga, “I'll be taking my leave now, Divine Goddess.”
“Aw comeon...” Dana said with a small pout, “You know you can just call me Dana, right? I hoped you would have gotten out of that formality stuff with me.”
Olga seemed to hesitate before she spoke, “My place is to serve you and ensure your divine responsibilities are met. I can't bare myself to refer to you as low as a mere servant like me, Goddess.” she bowed and started to walk off after that.
“Hmmm...” Dana pondered to herself for a second, before running up behind Olga and quickly grabbing and tickling her sides, causing Olga's eyes to widen and for her to burst out into uncontrollable laughter, before quickly spinning around and glaring at Dana.
“What was that about?!” Olga exclaimed.
“Just wanted to see you smile a bit, Olga!” Dana grinned.
“Hmph... as I said before, I'm taking my leave to see to the other assistants...” Olga muttered, walking off.
Dana sighed and turned to Sarai. “I was hoping she would have loosened up over time, but she just seems more strict then ever.”
“Don't take it too badly,” said Sarai with a compassionate smile, “I think she just feels she owes you for giving her a new duty after she died, and she's looking out for your well-being.”
“I guess...” Dana said.
Sarai couldn't help but look at the sad expression in her eyes, “Is something else wrong?” she asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“It's nothing,” said Dana, forcing a smile, “I'm going to go rest for a bit...”
“Okay...” Sarai said, despite her clearly knowing that this was about more then just Olga's stubbornness, but decided to leave it at that for now.
Dana walked back into the room where she kept the crystal ball she used to observe the Earth. She gazed at it, focusing it's view back on Adol, who was now walking towards an inn he was staying at. Before he could enter, a pretty lady came up and spoke to him, Dana watched intently but couldn't hear what they were saying. Adol seemed to shake his head to the girl, causing her to get annoyed and storm off.
While the purpose of the crystal globe was to observe Earth and see how the life on the planet responded to each other and make adjusts in evolution accordingly, she couldn't help herself but to use it to watch over the young man that she forged such a close bond with. She watched his three most recent adventures; rooting for him to succeed, and feeling his victories and failures, as well as enjoying seeing the people he bonded with through those travels he went on.
That said, she had to admit to herself she felt some relief when he turned down women who hit on him. Adol had a charisma that drew people to him, and he had a tendency to break a lot of women's hearts either from his unwillingness or maybe just naivete to treat them as anything but friends. She couldn't help herself, as she had developed such a close bond with him through their dreams and adventures, and the moment just before they separated four years ago, they had shared a close embrace that she could never forget. That bond met everything to her, and she could never forget the things he did for her...
And she had to admit to herself she loved him.
However, that love could never work out now, as she was a goddess, and he was a mortal, the two of them were in two different worlds and could never see each other. While it was a bit of a morbid thought, she could theoretically just wait until his inevitable end of his lifespan to bring him to her world as she did Olga, but she wondered if he would even accept that offer like Olga did, or if he would prefer to just rest in peace... or if he wound up settling down with someone else that he'd then spend his afterlife with...
Dana felt a pain just from that thought alone. There was a small part of her that hoped becoming a goddess would had cleared her mind of human emotions like love so that she couldn't feel a sense of loss like this, but it wasn't so, in fact she felt them stronger then ever now, and it was creating an emptiness in her. Despite her two close friends and her three other assistants to aide her in overseeing her work, she had times when she still felt she was missing something that would make her feel truly complete. She couldn't deny what it was, she missed Adol and wanted to see him again, to talk to him again, to hold him again... but that was an impossibility, as they had no way of even communicating with each other now.
Unless...
A thought occurred to her just at that moment, something that she had never considered before. Maybe it was because her powers weren't as developed until now that she could do something like that, or maybe she was just too distracted with her job to even consider the idea, but it was worth a shot.
Dana went off to a private chamber she used for resting, it was built somewhat similar to her old bedroom from her past. She had created it to help her adjust to her new life, containing a bed, fountain, and a bookshelf. One of the big differences was a large balcony hidden behind her bookshelf that showed off a beautiful sky of clouds and stars above the Realm of Maia, which she'd often go to when she needed to relax.
“Can I really do this?” she thought to herself, “If someone saw it...”
She shook off the doubt and hesitation, took a second to make sure neither Olga or Sarai were around, then concentrated. Energy started to appear from the ground, and up from that energy formed small clear rocks, and those rocks eventually came together become a strange purple-pinkish crystal stone. It was a replica of an object that she used back on her homeland which allowed her to see into Adol's world and Adol to see into hers.
“It worked!” she said, with almost too much enthusiasm. She quickly shut herself up and focused on the crystal, attempting to link it to Adol's mind. “The only way for this work though, is if he would truly want this...” she considered. “I'll just have to try.”
“Please Adol...”
---
Adol had just slumped into his inn room and fallen onto his bed. The fact that Dogi was still gone was a good sign he was still busy with his new 'friend' and he wasn't coming back for now. He didn't mind, he was at least happy that Dogi was enjoying himself. Adol buried his face in his pillow and sighed into it, before flipping onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. In some effort to try and get to sleep, he started counting the amount of knotholes in the wood that made up the ceiling.
Running out of knots, his thoughts went right back to Dana, and that emptiness he was feeling. He couldn't keep denying it, he had to see her again. He started thinking back to the last time they saw each other, before she disappeared, something that no one else heard...
---
Flashback - Four Years Ago
“So this is it then, Dana?”
“Yes Adol, thank you so much for everything you've done... and I'll never forget you... Farew-”
“Wait, before you finish that, you need to promise me something!”
"Eh? What?”
“I want you to promise not to say 'farewell' to me.”
“Huh...? Why not?”
“Because I never say 'farewell' to anyone I want to see again. I don't care what I need to do, someday we'll meet again!”
“Adol... I'm pretty sure that's impossible now.”
“Hey, if you hadn't noticed, I'm the kind of guy who can do the impossible!”
“Ah-ha-ha, yes you really have! Hm... okay, but what should I say then?”
“How about just, 'See you later.'?”
“...all right then! See you later, Adol...”
End Flashback
---
Adol laid back in bed, remembering those words. As reassuring as it was at the time, he found himself beginning to doubt what he said those four years ago, could he truly see her again, speak to her again, to hold her again? He started to grow tired, and his eyes shut, and muttered the only thing on his mind in that moment...
“I wish I could see you again, Dana...”
---
Suddenly, Adol opened his eyes. Looking around, all he could see was he was on the balcony of some kind of temple. He looked up to see a brilliant display of stars and clouds overhead, it looked almost unworldly. There were strange trees he had never seen before stretching up from below, and strange animals flying by. He was frankly at a loss for words of where he had ended up.
“The hell...? Am I dreaming, or did I just eat some bad peanuts?”
It was then he heard a soft voice that snapped him out of his thoughts.
“Adol?”
Adol's eyes widened, he felt a sensation he hadn't in a long time. He quickly turned around to see a familiar face he didn't think he'd ever see again. Very faint tears started to form in his eyes as well as hers, as he said just one name at that moment.
“Dana?”
---
Well that was Chapter 1. While I do think I could just end the story here, I want to do a bit more with it, as I have more ideas and themes to this story that I want to tell.
I'm also aware this story might have started off a bit too much on the angstsy side, but I can assure you the next chapter will have a much lighter tone, since that's really what I set out to do with this story in the first place.
So look forward to it! (I hope...)
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