The Day of Defeat
(Captain) and company happen upon an argument between a Draph and someone by the name of Azazel. They learn that the only thing Azazel can remember is being imprisoned in Pandemonium for defying the gods, so (Captain) invites him to join the crew.
(Captain) and the crew have stopped at a distant island to secure provisions.
Shopping complete, they are about to lug their numerous purchases back to the airship.
Man's Scream: Gaaaah!
A bloodcurdling scream sends the crew members running to the scene.
They see a man, Human, lying on the ground.
A Draph and an odd-looking individual are exchanging heated words close by.
Unknown Man: Have you no shame! How can you live with yourself to be subjugated by humans?
Male Draph: Huh? The hell ya talkin' about?
Unknown Man: Don't feign ignorance with me! Don't you dare tell me you've forgotten our pride!
Male Draph: You need to start making some damn sense! How ya gonna make up fer the money I just lost? Huh?
Male Draph: I've been running my butt off lookin' fer work, and when I finally got a job, you beat up my boss...
Unknown Man: There's no need to thank me. It's only natural that I would help out my fellow brethren.
Male Draph: Are you loopy? When did I ever say anything close to thanks?
Unknown Man: Humph. You don't have to be so embarrassed about it.
Male Draph: (Sigh... This is pointless. He ain't even listenin'...)
Male Draph: (And what'd he mean by "brethren"? I guessed he was a Draph from the looks of them horns, but...)
Male Draph: (That skinny, pale frame and the way he talks definitely ain't normal. He's probably had a rough life...)
Unknown Man: Hey... What's with that look?
Unknown Man: Stop it!
Unknown Man: Don't look at me like I'm garbage!
Male Draph: All right, all right. Let's jus' forget this whole thing ever happened.
Unknown Man: I don't need your pity!
Male Draph: I gotcha, buddy. Life ain't treatin' ya well, yeah? Ya gotta be lonely though, so why don't ya just drop the tough guy act?
Male Draph: If you're looking for company, then come out to the ale house. You'll find we're always up for some chatter.
Male Draph: Misery sucks! All you need is a shoulder to lean on and a few brews to forget your troubles!
Unknown Man: Are you belittling demons?
Male Draph: See, that's what I'm talking about. When times get desperate, sometimes people jus' feel like turnin' into demons, right?
Male Draph: But not all people are like that, bud. I'll tell ya all about it, so come have a drink!
Unknown Man: That's enough! You're about to discover what a true demon looks like!
Lyria: Oh no! We have to get in there, (Captain)!
The unknown man moves to attack the Draph, but his strike is met by the hard counter of (Captain)'s weapon.
The crew members drag the raging man back to the Grandcypher and set him straight.
Unknown Man: Ridiculous... You're telling me he isn't a fellow demon?
Unknown Man: Then what is he? He has horns just like we do—
Vyrn: Like it or not, I'm telling you you're wrong. He's a Draph.
Unknown Man: So you call them Draphs...
Lyria: Yes. They're strong, hardworking people and very dexterous for their size.
Unknown Man: One of the four types of skydwellers, was it?
Unknown Man: Curses. Then why did I come here to fight in the first place?
Lyria: I'm sorry, but what's your name?
Unknown Man: I don't intend to linger around, so I have no reason to tell you.
Vyrn: Aw, don't be like that. You gotta chill, Ashes.
Azazel: My name is Azazel! Where did you get Ashes from?
Vyrn: Hehe. Say, you got other friends, Azazel?
Azazel: Friends?
Lyria: I agree. If you had some demon friends, I think everyone would believe you.
Azazel: I did. Maybe.
Lyria: Um, what do you mean, maybe?
Azazel: I don't remember.
Lyria and Vyrn: Huh?
Azazel: All I can remember is one thing.
Azazel: A long time ago, many of my brethren and I defied the gods.
Azazel: But we suffered devastating defeat and were imprisoned at the bottom of a deep abyss for what must have been eons.
Azazel: The crushing weight of the darkness was the last thing I remember.
Vyrn: Uh... Battlin' supreme deities with your pals? That's crazy talk.
Lyria: Where was this abyss they kept you in?
Azazel: I'm pretty sure I overheard it being called Pandemonium.
Lyria: No way!
Lyria: That's where all the scary monsters live! Right, (Captain)?
Various words spring to mind, and (Captain) speaks them aloud slowly and deliberately as if trying to make sense of it all.
Pandemonium. Ruins of antiquity. Convergence of past and future. Road that connects the sky's bottom to the Crimson Horizon.
Azazel listens quietly, muttering to himself as he stares off into the distance.
Azazel: They kept me in a place like that...
Vyrn: Look on the bright side. You made it out of that freaky nuthouse.
Vyrn: You gotta admit you're pretty awesome.
Azazel: ...
Lyria: What's wrong, Azazel?
Azazel: I just... can't remember anything. It feels like I had help escaping, but who was it...
Azazel grows silent, so (Captain) speaks up softly.
- Just stay with us till you can remember.
- Don't push yourself trying to remember.
Choose: Just stay with us till you can remember.Lyria: Yes! That's a good idea!
Azazel: Forget it! I already told you I'll be leaving soon.
Vyrn: Cool. Glad to have you with us, Ashes.
Azazel: How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?
Azazel: (Heh, though it is surprising to know there are people who understand what I'm talking about.)
Lyria: Hm? Did you say something?
Azazel: N-no!
Choose: Don't push yourself trying to remember.Lyria: That's right. I think you might see some painful memories too once they come back.
Vyrn: Yeah, maybe forgetting is for the best.
Azazel: This isn't a joke. You people are going to help me.
Lyria: Huh?
Azazel: I'm saying you're going to help me get my memories back.
Lyria: We don't mind lending a hand, but what are we supposed to do...
Azazel: Heh. It's simple really. You will fight with me for the sake of the demons.
Azazel: My memories are rooted in battle. Fighting will surely jar those memories loose in time.
Lyria: Wait a minute! You can't expect us to—
Azazel: Hahaha! With this the demons will be one step closer to resurgence!
Vyrn: Nah, I don't think that's gonna fly, Ashes...
Azazel: For the last time, it's Azazel!
Continue 1And so Azazel, a mysterious youth who claims to be a demon, joins the crew.
Those Who Won't Give Up
As the crew traverses an island, they are beset by abnormally strong monsters, and Lyria is forced to summon Bahamut. Azazel, who seems to be looking for a girl with dragon powers, badgers Lyria for answers, but (Captain) tells him to back off.
The crew come under attack from a swarm of monsters while exploring on an island.
Monsters: Grooar!
They are drawn into an unexpectedly difficult fight.
Vyrn: What's with these mobs? They're crazy strong!
Lyria, who had been trying to lay low by (Captain)'s side, suddenly stands up.
Lyria: I'm fine, (Captain).
Lyria: Please let me help.
Lyria: Primeval dragon, child of flame and darkness.
Lyria: I summon you, Bahamut!
Proto Bahamut: ...!
Monsters: Gyaaargh...
Lyria: Huff, huff, huff...
Vyrn: Hehe! Ol' reliable is what you are!
Vyrn: Back me up on this one, (Captain).
(Captain) doesn't utter a word but smiles and nods.
Lyria: Heehee. You're not just trying to be nice, are you? I'm glad you think so.
Azazel: Blue-haired girl!
Azazel corners Lyria against a dilapidated wall, his face devoid of anything but severity.
Lyria: Huh? What's gotten into you all of a sudden, Azazel?
Azazel: I heard the rumors about you, but it seems you truly are born of dragons.
Lyria: Born of... dragons?
Lyria: No, no, that's not right! I'm not like that!
Azazel: Why didn't you say anything sooner? With your dragon powers, freeing the demons would be almost trivial.
Azazel: Use your power for the demons...
Azazel: No, for me!
Lyria: Eep!
Lyria: Y-you're wrong about me being a dragon girl... This power is—
(Captain) seizes Azazel's arm.
The captain looks Azazel straight in the eyes and with a wag of the head tells him to back away.
Azazel: You think you can stop me?
Without answering, (Captain)'s gaze continues to bore into Azazel, the captain's hand applying force to his arm.
Tension permeates the air, doused in hostility. The two can only glare at each other, neither yielding an inch.
Finally Azazel breaks into derisive laughter.
Azazel: Hahaha...
Still on guard, (Captain) demands to know what's so humorous about the current situation.
Azazel: Heh, I knew all along this girl wasn't dragonborn.
Lyria: Huh? Then why did you...
Azazel: ...
Lyria: Um?
Azazel: Move! You're in the way!
Lyria: Yikes! What was that?
Azazel: Humph. Not especially quick-witted are you?
Lyria: Um...
Vyrn: Look there, Lyria! If Azazel hadn't stopped that monster, you'd have been its dinner!
Monsters: Grooar!
Lyria: You saved me, Azazel?
Azazel: Humph. What an unfortunate bunch of creatures. I have no grudge against them, but they've caught me in a bad mood.
Azazel: I need release! Raaah!
Those Who Won't Give Up: Scene 2
Azazel wishes to use a certain girl's
dragon-summoning powers to free demonkind, but the one he seeks is a red dragon. Vyrn sweats as Lyria and Azazel both claim to have seen a red dragon aboard the airship, but it turns out they're talking about Malinda.
Although Azazel had confronted Lyria, he knew deep down that she was not the one.
But because he was at the end of his rope, he wasn't ready to let go of the smallest glimmer of hope.
Azazel: Tch, me of all people...
Azazel: Losing faith in the struggle to free us demons after so many failures and having to rely on this little girl...
Vyrn: What'd you mean by that dragon girl stuff?
Azazel: They call you Lyria? Yours is a dark one.
Lyria: Um, you mean Bahamut? Yes, I guess he is.
Azazel: There is another. Hers is red—ferocious and strong in both body and spirit.
Azazel: Now that I think about it, it's completely different. I must've been mistaken.
Vyrn: (Er, a red dragon?)
Vyrn: (Wait, I've got red on me too!)
Vyrn: (Then could the one he's looking for be...)
Lyria: Oh, I've seen a red dragon on our ship before!
Vyrn: (Gulp!)
Azazel: Hm, you too? Actually I had my doubts at the beginning.
Vyrn: (Be cool, Vyrn. Better get the ball rolling my way.)
Vyrn: Heh heh... Boy, you're a handful.
Vyrn: But then again, who am I to say that—
Azazel: You! You're a red dragon too!
Vyrn: Bwuh?
Malinda: Gyoo! Gyoo, gyoo!
Azazel: Ah, so I have your approval?
Azazel: Heh, you're an admirable dragon.
Azazel: Then come! Raise your claws with me!
Malinda: Gyaarooar!
Vyrn: What the! Don't you mean me?
Vyrn: Bwuh?
???: Gyoo! Gyoo, gyoo!
Azazel: Ah, so I have your approval?
Azazel: Heh, you're an admirable dragon. Then come! Raise your claws with me!
Vyrn: What the! Who's that no-name wannabe?
The red creature who happens to appear on the airship is a dragon named Malinda.
It seems she followed the smell of fruits stored within the ship.
Malinda: Gyaarooar!
Continue 1
Those Who Won't Give Up: Scene 3
Nina, the girl who can transform into the red dragon, suddenly appears, and Azazel chases after her. Tension causes Nina to become a dragon, trapping Azazel in rubble. When Lyria reaches out to help him, all of his memories come flooding in as black wings sprout from his back.
Azazel finally finds a red dragon, but he doesn't seem to be any happier.
A concerned Lyria and the others try to pinpoint why.
Azazel: Malinda is indeed a powerful red dragon, but she is not the red dragon from my past that I am looking for.
Lyria: What's different about them?
Azazel: The one I seek has the appearance of a girl who without warning turns into a dragon of devastation.
Azazel: But what was it exactly...
Vyrn: (Why her? I'm right here!)
Vyrn flies over to Azazel and starts to show off right in his face.
Vyrn: Grrrowl! Roooar!
Vyrn: Rooo-hack-cough-cough!
Sensing that his vocal demonstration isn't cutting it, Vyrn claps his wings for added effect.
The vainglorious display continues.
Whether he notices Vyrn's effort or not, Azazel's glooming gaze is elsewhere.
And then it happens.
Azazel: ...!
???: ...
A gust of red on the wind catches his eyes.
Azazel: Wait! It has to be you!
Vyrn: Hey! Don't you ignore me!
Azazel: You!
Nina: Yaaah! Rag Demon!
Azazel: I knew it. You're that dragon girl from before.
Nina: Don't come near me!
Azazel: ...
Nina: I told you already that I won't help you.
Nina: I won't become a dragon ever again!
Nina: Eek!
Azazel: And I already told you.
Azazel: I will control you. I'll make love to you and bring out the dragon.
Nina: Wh-what? What are you saying? You've had your fun. Now move it.
Nina: Otherwise... I really will turn into a dragon again...
Azazel: That's fine. I'll hold you in my arms.
Nina: Hrrgh!
Nina: Hrrgh!
Nina: Grrraaargh!
The girl's form becomes that of a gigantic red dragon. Her body easily topples the walls around her.
Lyria: Watch out, Azazel!
Vyrn: Hey, what are you doin'? Get outta there!
Azazel: Ngh...
Vyrn: It's no good. It looks like the rubble's got him trapped!
Before Vyrn can finish, Lyria is already running full speed toward Azazel.
He stands amidst the rampaging dragon gazing in a stupor, unaware of Lyria's outstretched hand.
Lyria: Grab my hand, Azazel!
Azazel: Why did you come for me...
Azazel: ...!
???: ...
Azazel: A familiar silhouette calls my name.
Azazel: That sacred shadow... That's right, I...
Azazel: But I was tempted and provoked by someone else!
Azazel: Afflicted by that wicked power, we were fallen angels fighting a senseless fight...
Azazel: Ugh. Damn it all! That's why I was sent into the depths of Pandemonium.
Azazel: Depths so deep not even a single speck of light could reach me. I started to rot away in suffocating darkness, where time itself is forgotten.
Azazel: Through all of that I heard a voice. A pure voice.
Azazel: Her voice.
Azazel: I gave up on my life, but her voice was the key to my salvation...
Lyria: Azazel! Azazel! Hang in there!
Azazel: Augh... Ngh... My back...
Lyria: Huh? What about it?
Azazel: It buuurns!
Lyria: !
Azazel: Keh heh heh... Bwahaha!
Azazel: It's all come back to me now!
Azazel: I wouldn't have believed these memories had the gods themselves told me.
Azazel: I was never a demon to begin with... because I was an angel!
Lyria: An angel?
Azazel: You and I will settle this, red dragon. Allow me to subjugate you and sound the bells of revenge against the one who did this to me!
Nina: Grrrooar!
Those Who Won't Give Up: Scene 4
Azazel regains consciousness but lies to the crew about regaining his memory. He thinks back to his time spent with the primarch, tasked with maintaining order in the world, and dreams of exacting revenge on the one who wronged him and his fallen angel brethren.
In the end the battle devolves into chaos and Nina escapes.
Azazel: Ngh...
Azazel attempts to chase after her, but his strength betrays him.
Azazel: Am I back on the airship?
Lyria: Thank goodness you're awake!
Azazel: Lyria? Why was I asleep?
Lyria: You don't remember?
Azazel: What happened?
Lyria: You grew these black wings, and all your memories came back to you.
Azazel: Black wings?
Azazel looks behind him but doesn't see anything resembling wings.
Lyria: Oh, that's weird. You definitely had them when you were fighting. I guess they vanished.
Azazel: ...
Lyria: You really can't remember anything at all?
Azazel: Sorry.
Lyria: But I swear you finally had your lost memories back... How sad.
Azazel: ...
Azazel hangs his head in silent shame, for he is fully aware of the lie he is telling.
Azazel: (Of course I remember. It's faint, but the pieces are all there in the back of my head.)
Azazel: (I follow him, the primarch tasked with overseeing the world.)
Azazel: (But there was another that stood to obstruct me. The one who wronged him.)
Azazel: (There should have been other angels who lost their way back then.)
Azazel: (Did my comrades make it out alive?)
Azazel: (Whatever. If they're still out there, we'll surely meet again on this long journey.)
Azazel: (We fallen angels will gather and return the favor to the one responsible! Fwahaha!)
Azazel chuckles smugly at his own thoughts. Vyrn, who has been watching him from the side the entire time, can stand it no longer.
Vyrn: Dude, what's your deal?
Azazel: Hm? What are you so angry about?
Vyrn: I've been right here in front of you this entire time, but you won't tell me a darn thing!
Azazel: What? Are you a dragon or something?
Vyrn: Look at me! What else would I be?
Azazel: Heh, sorry about that. I thought you were a flying lizard.
Vyrn: I'll lizard you! You feel me, Ashes?
Azazel: Give that Ashes thing a rest! It's Azazel to you!
Azazel, a man of many mysteries and secrets. The crew welcomes him with a smile.
Traveling with this band of well-intentioned skyfarers is sure to do Azazel some good.