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Shadows of Birth Prologue Part 1: Awakening

"Damn, another one. When will they stop this stupidity?" Looking down at the seared ground, Consus stared at where the bomb was. The townsfolk had been sending him 'warning signs' to make him leave his cave. "I don't see why I should, I mean, I haven't even entered Threo in years. They really need to calm down." Turning slightly, Consus stared off the cliff of his mountain down at the village of Threo. He felt a slight wind blow against his wings and tail. It really tempted the half-dragon to go for an evening fly, but he didn't want to risk getting seen by the human that left him that little present. "Well, guess I should get training. Not like I have anything better to do."

As he entered into his cave, Consus began to feel uneasy as he went along the right wall to his small weapon rack. The only item in it was a toy sword he had found just outside of the town. He didn't have much to do by himself, so the least he could do was prepare for anything. When he reached down and grabbed the sword, his pointed ears twitched as he heard something from behind him. Turning swiftly, the half-elf gazed out of his home to see nothing there. Hmm... Did I imagine it? I just hope it wasn't the cereal arsonist from before.

After a few moments, Consus gave up on looking for the source and turned his attention back to his weapon. He let out a sigh as he brought it up close to his face. "Man, if the humans ever found out about my training, they would hunt me down for sure." Looking down, Consus then saw the crest that was hanging off his belt. It was gold and kind of looked like a heart but also very well could have been a dagger with the top it had. "I wish you were here, mother. It's been really hard ever since you disappeared..."

"I know what I saw, that beast is getting ready to kill us all!"

"Calm down, Andrew. How do you know for certain what the dragon-boy is up to?" Looking over at his brother, Stephen finished what was left of his ale before placing his hand on the hilt of his sword. "You know, I don't like him living in that mountain as much as you do, but the Elders said that he is not to be touched ever since we formed that treaty. I believe they also said to stay clear from his catacomb as well, but you seem to think otherwise."

Slamming his fists on the hard bar, Andrew almost knocked over a few mugs to his side. He caught a few people's attention, but overall the bar remained active in their own activities. "Damn it, Steph! Will you get it through your head?!"

"Get what? What do you have against the kid, anyway?" Getting annoyed, Stephen placed a few gold pieces on the bar and stood up. "I'm out of here. You can convince someone else to help you slay your dragon. I want no part of it."

"Heh, well fine then, I will. You know, one day you'll thank me for this. Just you wait, he'll attack and you'll be cowering away as real men stand up to it! You're just like father was before-"

Grabbing his brother by the neck of his shirt, Steph pulled Andrew close and glared. "Don't you DARE reference me to that man! He was nothing but a dirty traitor!"

Giving his brother a sly look, he knew he had him where he wanted. "Then prove yourself. Help me take this thing out and you'll never have to again. You'll be a hero of the town. Threo needs a good hero right now."

Stephen gave Andrew a disgusted look, but let him go and grabbed his cloak from his barstool. "...I'll think about it. I will not make any promises. I need to have a reason to kill him before I do so."

Andrew gave a small sigh of relief once he was able to freely move again. "Well, I have a feeling if the dragon's going to make its move, it's going to be soon."

"Six hours. Damn time flies when you work out..." Looking out at the night sky, Consus sat just outside of his small cave. He had his toy sword resting between his legs, his arm propped up on it for support. He watched as the night grew closer, the lights would go on in Threo. It was a beautiful sight, really. He loved all the memories he had of this place. In all the years he had been there, not a thing about the landscape had changed. There was a waterfall sharply to the east behind his cave that constantly generated a calming wave that helped him when he felt lonely. Being so high up gave him the advantages of seeing things before they come most of the time, but there was a cave that he had continuously closed off that kept getting busted open.

Once the sun was completely set, Consus quickly stood up and put away his sword before dashing out the doorway and jumping off the cliff, going into a swan-dive. As he fell, he felt the rush of air flow past his body. His excitement couldn't be contained as he burst his wings out and slowly adjusted his angle to where he was gliding in a straight path over the river bed. Looking around, Consus felt that something seemed a little different about the place. He couldn't put his finger on it, so he began to think he was going crazy again. As he continued to scout the area, Consus then saw a bright light in the small wooded area below him. Being curious, he decided to descend and have a closer look.

As he landed slowly just outside the forest patch, he listened intently for a sound, but only heard the waterfall in the distance. Stepping cautiously, Consus began to close in on where the light was originating. Once he was close enough to see the light's source, he nimbly jumped into the tree and began scaling them closer to the lit torch.

"Hey Dragon, I need to talk to you. Can you come down here?"

Surprised, Consus in fact lost his footing in the tree branches and actually came falling just above the man who called to him. He recovered by using his wings just before impact, but almost hit his beckoner as well. Once the shock was over from the fall, Consus jumped away from the human and stood motionless as he stared at the tall man's form. He had short black hair and a scar that trailed from the tip of his chin and down his neck. His grey eyes didn't seem to hold hostility, but Consus still wasn't sure if he could trust him. "What do you need of me? Why are you even here in the first place?"

"First I would like to introduce myself. I am Stephen Malacoy. If you do not know, I am brother to Mayor Andrew Malacoy of Threo. I hear you are called Consus, correct?" The man stood tall, his hand resting calmly on the hilt of his sword. His chain mail showing vividly through his black tunic, made Consus want to laugh, really.

"What good are names? It's not like I'm going to be living here long with your kind here, anyway."

Stephen gave him a sharp glare, "What do you mean?"

Consus let out a sigh. Why did he have to get bothered by a human right now? "Well, for starters you guys and your explosives can go to hell. Then someone's been blowing my storage door up. Makes it seem like I'm not welcome. I have even heard rumors of a force gathering to even kill me."

Once the reason was stated, the human seemed to calm down a little bit. "Alright, well I can see what I can do about that. The treaty needs to be held. I mean, we humans set that treaty with dragons over 5000 years ago... No harm to one, nor will the partner to the other."

Consus let out a grunt. "Well, I've been keeping my end of the deal."

"I know, which is why I bring you this."

Consus watched as the man reached behind his back and pulled out a long cloth-wrapped object. He began to unravel the brown cloth to reveal a steel sword. "Now what would I need that for? I said I'm keeping up my end of the deal."

Stephen glared at the half-dragon, "You know as well as I do that times are not as they used to be. You need something to defend yourself. Your claws will do no good if my brother sends forces up to your cave."

Returning the glare, Consus grabbed the hilt of the sword and lifted it. It had quite a bit of weight for a sword, but the steel looked well forged. He then turned his attention back to Stephen and threw the blade into the soft ground below. "I don't need it. I've never needed help from a human before, nor do I need it now. Get out of here before I change the way I think of the treaty right now." Of course, Consus knew it was an empty threat. He wouldn't have attacked the man unless he was attacked first, and he wouldn't go to kill.

"...Very well then. I tried to help, you can say no different. I will leave now." Picking up the sword, Stephen wiped the dirty blade clean before wrapping it back in the cloth, but instead of putting it away, he laid it on the ground and turned around, walking out of the torch light's range.

Looking down at the remaining object, Consus let out a small sigh. "Guess I should get home. No telling if there's anyone else around here." He turned around and was abound ready to walk out of the forest line, but turned back to look at the weapon. "Maybe I should take it... just in case."

He had been lying in his bed, staring at the blank ceiling for hours. No matter how hard he tried, Consus could not get to sleep. It didn't help that all he had to sleep on was a small amount of straw and twigs, but it was better than the rocky ground. He had tried several things to put himself to sleep, but nothing seemed to work out. He had one last thing to try, so he lay down straight on his back and closed his eyes, inhaling deep. As he felt himself begin to relax, he then began to feel something trickling down his leg. Eyes rushing open, Consus looked down to see what was touching him. All he could see was a black mess underneath him, and the darkness seemed to be climbing up him. "What on Perin...? What the hell is this?!" As he struggled to get out of the Darkness' grasp, the more it began to pull him in. No matter how hard he tried, he continued to sink deeper and deeper into the void. Soon, his head went underneath the dark cloud and his vision blacked out completely.

He could feel himself, but he couldn't feel anything else. He couldn't breathe, couldn't hear anything. It was as if all his senses had been shot. As he began to struggle once again, he soon heard a voice in his head.

_Who are you?

"...Huh? I'm Consus."

No... Who are you?

"What do you mean? I already told you."

The real you._

Thinking hard, Consus knew the real answer. "...I really don't know who I am..."

Once he said his response, there was a blinding light in front of him. When he could see again, he noticed he was standing in the center of a red platform in an area surrounded by darkness. "Where am I? I'm not on Perin anymore, am I?"

...No, you currently lie in a world between worlds. You say you do not know who you are, but you are possessed by two different beings.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

Where do you come from?

"A mountain side near Threo."

Not location in the world, but in the life cycle. Where did you come from?

"...I guess my mother, a golden dragoness and my father, the run away high elf."

You say your father is cowardly, yet you hold no title for your mother. What does she mean to you?

Consus was beginning to get annoyed. "What relevance is this to me right now?"

Are you ashamed of her?

"Hell no! She was a wonderful woman!"

Then why did she abandon you just like your father?

"I... Ugh..." Consus was beaten by the voices' trump card. He looked down at the platform below him and let out a sigh. "She had her reasons. I know she did."

What do you fear most?

"...I guess losing myself and what memories I have left of the only happy moments in life."

Do you wish to get stronger? To protect that in which you fight for?

"...Yeah, I guess I do. Everyone's got to have something to fight for... Right?" As he took a step forward, Consus began to feel the ground below him shake. Several black forms appeared around the platform he stood on and a few dark insect-looking creatures formed.

Prove your strength. Protect the light you hold dear, and never lose hope.

As the voice dissipated, one of the shadows had moved behind him and jumped up, attempting to slash his head. He dodges the attack by jumping above the black figure and countered with a slash of his claws downward. His attack seemed to go right through the creature, which caught him off guard. Once he landed on the ground, he jumped back and decided to try something else. Once one of the shades was close, he blew a wide stream of fire from his mouth and burned the area around him. He heard cries coming from the dark spawns as they seemed to skitter around, flames coating their bodies.

As you can tell, not all enemies can be defeated with your power alone, but with the help of everything around you.

"What are you trying to prove? You're starting to really piss me off!" Watching as his former foes seemed to vanish, Consus walked to the center of the platform when he felt it shake again. He watched as a large hand burst through the ground below him and almost completely destroy the platform. The hand then placed itself on what was left of the ledge and looked like it was pulling up a massive weight.

Consus was in a panic. This creature was no doubt no match for him with no weapon. He glared as the hand began to shake violently as the massive head to the creature began to appear. Before he could really get a good look at his face, there was a shimmer of light in front of him. For some reason, he felt the urge to touch the light ahead, so he did. Once his finger touched the warm light, there was another bright flash. When Consus first realized he could see again, he looked down at his now clenched right hand. It was the steel sword he had picked up from Stephen. Clenching it in his hands, he decided to try his best against this mighty foe. The giant shadow soon had itself positioned in line with Consus, but had to use one arm to keep itself hanging on the platform. Consus took note of this first-hand.

Watching as the open claw of the beast rushed forward, Consus swiftly jumped into the air and began flapping his wings. There seemed to be no wind in the air to help him get an updraft, but soon enough, he was soaring through the air. As the shadow looked around confused, Consus took advantage and dove close to the creature's backside and slashed through its flesh with his blade. It let out a deep growl of pain as it reached back and smacked Consus hard with its open palm.

He fell for a short distance before the half-dragon was able to recover from the attack. It felt like he was just hit by a brick wall, but he knew that he couldn't give up. Once he gathered his barrings, he decided to target the only weak point he knew of at the moment. Rushing ahead, he avoided another swipe from the beast as he thrust his sword into the hand clutching the breaking platform. The beast let out another cry and formed a fist, slamming it into its own hand just to inflict damage on the drake. As he fell to the ground next to the wounded hand, He watched as the remaining ground below him broke apart and caused him to begin falling. He spread his wings, but was soon grabbed by the shadow as it too was falling into the empty darkness. Before Consus completely blacked out, he heard the mysterious voice say one more thing.

The Shadows of Birth will haunt those who seek the truth. Find your way and create your own path, but never forget the light that brings us all together in the times of the deepest Darkness.

Waking up in a cold sweat, Consus breathed heavily as he looked around his room. His sight slowly began to clear as he noticed a red hue among the walls. "Wait... is the sun setting? I've been asleep all day?!" He got out of his make shift bed and ran out to the entrance of the cave. Looking past Threo, Consus saw as the sun was hanging low in the sky. "What a waste of a day. None of that even made any sense... What could this mean?"

"Well, Mayor, you called this meeting, so I suggest you start it." Stephen said, sitting in the chair next to his brother on the small stage. Andrew was foolish and decided to hold a town meeting on the case of the dragon-boy to see what the villagers thought. He didn't like the idea, but there was nothing he could do about it with no power in the government.

"Right, glad you're starting to see things my way, bro." He gave a smile to the glaring Stephen, then quickly retracted it. "Still feel that way, huh? Well, let's see what everyone else thinks."

Stepping up to the center podium, Andrew held his hands out to the dozens of citizens that sat in the hall. "Welcome one and all. As you are well aware, there has been a mysterious creature living amongst us in this world of Perin. Long ago was it when we made the Treaty to protect the dwindling dragon-kind, but I must ask you, when was the last time you saw a dragon help any of us? In fact, I have seen the boy Consus conjuring some very unique things that he plans to use to invade our town of Threo. You see, my friends, not only does he train in arms with a sword..." At this comment, Andrew quickly turned his attention to his brother and glared as he reached into a bag that sat on his side. "He has been creating these evil creatures from the dark!" Lifting his hand from the pouch, he pulled out a small black creature with glowing yellow eyes.

The group of watchers burst out in discussion once the creature was unveiled. Stephen stared at the odd creature in wonder, not able to figure out what was really going on.

"My friends, I say we take battle to the enemy before he can create more forces for his control! We must stop this before it devours us all!"

To Stephen's surprise, not a single person besides him stayed silent as the group let out a massive roar in agreement. Couldn't they see it? He was boldly lying to their faces and getting away with it. He let out a sigh as he began to think of what was about to come. I really hope he runs away. There's no need for more innocent deaths than there already are.

He cast a light coat of Blizzard onto the cave wall he was standing in front of to get a good look at himself. Once the ice seemed sold, he took a step back and gazed at his reflection. It wasn't perfect, but you could see his shoulder length blue hair and his red eyes. His green and black leather outfit looked a dark brown in the setting sun. He turned away from the ice for a second, only to quickly be drawn back towards it. In his reflection, he saw something different. There was something in his hands on the wall. It looked like a red object, but Consus couldn't see what it was. Just as he turned back towards the entrance to his home, he watched as a single human walked up and stood in the doorway. "May I help you?"

The human kind of looked like the first one that had seen him the day before, but only this one had more of a sinister feel. His short brown hair just barley covered the greedy eyes of the being. "In fact, you sure can. You see, Threo has agreed that you are no longer welcome here, dragon."

Consus let out a laugh, "Yeah? I don't think it's up to you to decide. Have you even talked to the Elders about what you want to do?"

Andrew gave a smirk as he stepped forward into Consus' home. "Oh, we don't have to worry about them one bit. I've seen to that." As he neared the half-elf, Consus started to feel a weird energy pulse off of the human before him. "Now, if you surrender easily, we can make this quick and painless."

Staring at the bold human, Consus held back a laugh. "You and what army? I only see little old you and you're no match for my kind."

"I see dragons are not as wise as they once used to be..." Turning around, the human let out a sharp whistle. Before Consus knew it, his cave was being flooded with humans.

Each one of them carried a weapon of some kind. A lot of the ones in the back were women and children who held cross-bows and swords. Once he saw a little girl glaring at him with a sword tip pointed at him. He watched as the Mayor walked up to his group, and as he got closer, the drake watched as a dark hue seemed to set around him. All of this hate... Is it all at me? What have I done to deserve this...?

"Are you ready for your fate, dragon?"

He was startled to see the total amount of people once they were all inside of his home. There even seemed like no room to even breathe with how surrounded he was. As he gazed at the group in front of him, on this shocked him most, and that alone was that women and children were armed to the teeth just to be rid of him. He saw in every one of their eyes that they truly hated him. At that point, he had given up. He stood in front of the group and just gave a sad stare. "If you really think that your lives would be better off without me, then go ahead... Just remember, I never did a damn thing to you."

Once he had finished, one of the women in the group could be heard laughing. Once one started, the rest followed like sheep in a heard. Tears began to run down his face as he looked towards the ground in shame. No one knew him, no one understood his pain, but they were all quick to judge. As his arms fell to his side, his once empty hand then wrapped tightly around something. Looking over, Consus saw a crimson weapon in his hand. It looked just like the one he had seen in his reflection on the wall and it startled him to see it up close. The hilt had a black ring, surrounded in four blue heart-looking symbols. There was what looked to be a steel bar coming out the bottom, but the crimson red bar seemed to have a dark blue blade at its edge. At the very end, it split off into two different edges. The first one had a single solid blade where the other had three separate spikes. The edges of the sharp points were all coated in a navy color, which melded perfectly with the color of blood coating the weapon's base.

As the villagers noticed the new weapon, they felt threatened and began to move in for the kill. Consus backed up as much as he could, trying to release the unwanted item, but his hand would not let go. As they started to back him into a wall, a large black portal appeared in between them. The villagers halted in their advance and a few could be heard questioning what was going on. Consus stood motionless where as most of the villagers ran as soon as a large claw appeared from the darkness between them the hand began to lift out a dark creature and Consus' eyes went wide. "You're the same one... Why are you here...?"

"You see! This monstrosity means to kill us all with his new minion! Kill him before he has a chance!"

Out of nowhere, Consus watched as an arrow flew right by his head. He jumped back and landed next to his bed and held the weapon out in front of him. "What the hell even is this thing anyway?"

Keyblade...

"What? A Keyblade?"

Bloodlust... the Keyblade to take lives on will. Its thirst will never be quenched until either the Light or Darkness has won.

"What are you- Ah!" As he was trying to figure things out, he noticed the large beast swing its arm forward, forcing Consus to dodge out of the way.

The Darkside is the sign of no hope. Defeat it and you might be able to save the world.

Avoiding a sword slash from his left, Consus felt useless as he kept running around his house uselessly. He looked over at the one man that brought the conflict into his home. His mind started to fill with hatred and rage as he felt himself dash forward, thrusting his arms forward. When he realized what he was doing, he saw as the bladed end of his weapon penetrated through Andrew's heart, killing the man instantly. Consus' eyes went wide as he took the man's life away and almost fell to the ground along with the body, but recovered himself and knelt in awe.

Before he knew it, Consus was smacked into the wall he was next to and fell hard on his back. He quickly stood up and looked at the giant shadow and the remaining six villagers in his cave. Consus began to feel like he was losing himself. His body seemed to act more on it's own than him controlling it. Before he knew it, he was once again rushing ahead, but this time, he jumped into the air and began to slash widely at the Darkside. The weapon seemed to be doing damage to his foe, but it wasn't long before he was knocked away. He landed on his feet next to a couple of scared villagers, and without even hesitating, his arms arched wide and severed the two bowmen clean in half with one slash. He jumped back about ten feet and thrust his weapon behind him, stabbing a woman in her stomach. He lifted her off the ground with his blade and spun it around, slashing through the three remaining villagers in a circular motion. Once the bodies all fell to the floor, the half-dragon stared at his final target with his blood drenched weapon in hand.

As the large beast reached forward, Consus jumped up on top of the arm and began to run up it, twisting his weapon around and stabbing the large creature right between the eyes. Letting out a loud growl, the Darkside swatted at Consus, but he held on tight and even drove the blade deeper into the enemy's skull. After a short while, the beast staggered to the ground on its knees and began to fall face first towards the ground. Consus pulled out his Keyblade and jumped off the massive beast just before it hit the hard ground below.

Panting heavily, Consus watched as the Darkside lay motionless on the ground. He finally seemed to be able to move himself again and fell to his knees, causing the strange weapon to disappear. Tears forming in his eyes, He had no idea what had caused him to kill all of the villagers that sat in his home. Turning to look at the severed men, he saw one of the victims to his whirlwind-like attack was the very little girl who was pointing a sword at him. She looked no more than ten years old...

Consus stood up and dashed out of the cave and stopped just before the cliff. He fell to one knee again as tears began to freely flow down his cheeks. He had no thoughts in his head other than the images flashing in his mind of their faces as he took their lives. After a few moments, he looked up and gazed upon the town that had just betrayed him. He let out a gasp as he saw a large black sphere hovering only a few hundred feet over the town. Looking at this object, somehow Consus knew this was the end. He quickly got back up and forced himself into his cave and looked at his knocked over weapon rack. There lay his busted toy sword, but also the silver steel sword that Stephen had given him. He picked the blade up and began to turn around when he felt something grab onto his ankle.

He turned to see that the Darkside was still alive, its yellow eyes staring right through Consus to his soul. The giant being pulled the drake back swiftly as it stood back up. Trying to break free, Consus flapped his wings to hopefully shake himself loose, but that only caught the Darkside's attention. It used its other hand to clasp around Consus' whole body, squeezing him tightly. He let out a loud scream as he felt several parts of his wings snap from the pressure. Before he really knew what was going on, he noticed the Darkside leap out of the cave and start flying towards Threo. Struggling to break free, Consus hardly even had the strength anymore to move. He watched helplessly as they floated above the large sphere about ready to devour the ground below them.

...Is this the end? What a useless life I've lived... No, I don't want it to. I won't let it end! Gathering one last ounce of strength, Consus could feel the Keyblade form in his open left had, which forced the Darkside's fingers to move just enough to give Consus one last try to break free. Using the Darksides body as leverage, Consus propped himself on the Darkside's palm before launching himself up out of the hand, slicing two deep holes into the beast as he escaped. Once he was in the air, the half-dragon tried to spread his wings and fly, but once he even moved them, a rush of pain filled his back. Having no control of his fall, Consus watched helplessly as he fell right into the black sphere below. As his mind filled with darkness, he could hear a light whisper of the mysterious voice that had haunted him the past day.

You have the power to change the flow of Twilight. Both Light and Darkness will come to you, it is up to you which side you join. Follow your dream and never let it down. Remember, Bloodlust has now chosen you as the new Keyblade Deathbringer.