A Distant Life
Adol knelt on the smoldering earth, the hilt of his sword slick with sweat and his vision blurring at the edges. Each ragged breath rasped in his throat, a counterpoint to the crackling inferno that threatened to consume the last remnants of the city. Around him lay the fallen, his comrades-in-arms, their valiant fight forever silenced. The sky, once a canvas of serene blue, now bled a furious crimson, mirroring the devastation below.
Towering over the carnage, the colossal dragon wheeled in the maelstrom of smoke. Its gaze, cold and reptilian, settled on Adol. "Well done, Hero," it boomed, its voice a tremor across the shattered landscape. "You may not have saved them all, but you have fought well." Adol gritted his teeth, the dragon's words a bitter pill to swallow. He wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot.
A surge of defiance coursed through him. With a ragged gasp, he rose to his feet, a primal roar erupting from his chest. The blade in his hand, once dull with despair, now pulsed with a radiant light, its power echoing Adol's renewed determination. He raised it towards the heavens, a final challenge to the beast above.
The dragon's gaze flickered briefly, something akin to pity crossing its ancient eyes. Then, with a deafening screech, it plummeted towards Adol, its claws bared for the kill. The hero braced himself, the world slowing to a crawl. As the beast descended, a grim acceptance settled over him. 'This is it,' he thought, a faint smile playing on his lips. He wouldn't win, but he wouldn't go down without a fight.
The golden arc of Adol's blade carved a fleeting furrow in the dragon's hide, a defiant riposte against the inevitable. The beast roared in indignation, the sound a physical blow that sent Adol reeling. Then, with a sickening snap, the dragon's monstrous claw descended. Pain, a white-hot oblivion, ripped through Adol as the attack cleaved him in two. He crumpled to the scorched ground, the world tilting on its axis.
Below him, the smoldering cityscape offered a grim tapestry of his failure. The crimson sky mocked his efforts. His breath came in ragged gasps, each one a searing reminder of his shattered body. The dragon circled overhead, its colossal shadow falling over him like a shroud. It spoke again, its voice a rumble in the ash-choked air. "Farewell, Hero of Humanity."
Adol felt a tear slide down his cheek, tracing a path through the soot that streaked his face. 'I wasn't strong enough,' he thought, a choked sob escaping his lips. The dragon's maw flared, a furnace preparing to unleash its final, fiery judgment. Adol closed his eyes, the image of his fallen comrades flashing in his mind. A single phrase, a whisper against the roar of the coming inferno, hung heavy in the air: "Forgive me." As the light of the dragon's breath engulfed him, Adol, the Hero of Humanity, became nothing more than a memory etched in the smoldering remains of a world he failed to save.
The dragon dipped its massive head, its gaze lingering on the smoking ruin that was once Adol. A single, severed arm lay clutched around the hilt of a sword, a defiant monument to the fallen hero. A rumble escaped the dragon's throat, not a roar of victory, but a murmur of grudging respect. "Determination, huh..." it rumbled, its voice echoing across the desolate landscape. "A warrior worthy of song, even in defeat." With a powerful beat of its wings, the dragon ascended into the blood-red sky, leaving behind the smoldering remnants of a battle that would be whispered of for generations to come. The tale of Adol, the hero who defied a god, would live on, a testament to the unyielding human spirit.
————————————
Adol blinked, the blinding rush of past lives receding as his consciousness solidified. Gone were the smoldering ruins and the fiery breath of the dragon, replaced by the cold embrace of… somewhere. He wasn't sure yet. A vast emptiness stretched before him, punctuated by the distant, swirling colors of celestial bodies. He was a wisp again, a disembodied soul adrift in the cosmos.
"Third life, huh?" he murmured, a hint of his past life's dejection clinging to his voice. Saving humanity had been a tall order, but failure always left a bitter taste. Still, there was a flicker of defiance in his spectral form. He had died fighting, and that was something.
A spark of curiosity ignited within him. "Where to next," he wondered, his voice echoing in the cosmic void. The vastness held a million possibilities, each one a new world, a new chance. Adol, the Hero of Humanity, was no more, but a nameless soul, ready for a new adventure, was very much alive.
———————————
[Chapter End]
New story. I'll still make chapters for my [Primarch of Dawn] fanfic but it won't be my main focus.
Now this fanfic will be centered around FF7 for the first arc and then the ruined world Adol was in the second arc. For the third to final arc it's gonna be multiverse travel. This also has some inspiration from the fic [Final Fantasy: Crisis and Tranquility]. Check it out if you want. Also RIP The Doctor.