Last chapter. This one takes place maybe a few days after Deathevn was defeated. A slight cannon change since I wanted a moment between them leaving Infinity and the events that occur at the end of the game.

Again, despite the fact that the story is in fact complete, please leave feedback. Thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed. I certainly did writing it.

So this is what it feels like to be free, Katt thought.

She, Ryu, Bow and Nina were sitting atop a small hill overlooking the town of Gate.

It was all over. Deathevn was gone, and the world was saved. For the first time in her life, Katt had no one to tell her what to do or where to go. It was strange, living without a purpose.

Bow rose suddenly, clutching a few candles in his hand, saying he had some business to attend to with the new preacher of the village.

Across the landscape, a blood red sun rose into the sky. As the group watched, entranced, a shadow flew over it and landed on a house in the village. A beautiful bird, with plumage of pink, purple, and yellow rested atop the house. Nina rose gracefully, she gave a small smile and a slight wave and set off down the hill towards Gate. A few moments later the bird departed the city, now with a passenger.

"Well there goes the beautiful princess and the skirt chaser," Katt laughed.

"But not in the order you would expect," Ryu replied.

Ryu stared at her. In the light of the rising sun, her fur seemed to shine with a brilliance all its own.

"Ryu, I've decided not to go looking for other woren for awhile."

He gave her a puzzled look. "I just feel so calm here. I haven't had a place to call home in all my life, and I'm not ready to give up the feeling just yet. Maybe in a few years, or when I'm old and gray and my fur is falling out in clumps, I'll get some stunning young hero to escort me around the world again."

Ryu laughed aloud. But now she was talking again, and Ryu quickly silenced himself to catch what she said, nearly a whisper.

"I haven't forgotten what you told me after Evrai. You bear a heavy weight indeed. But now that Deathevn is gone, has the burden been lifted?" She glanced at him, not daring to let the last vestiges of hope show in her eyes.

Ryu delved deep inside his mind. It seemed like a long time since he had unleashed the power of Anfini to defeat Deathevn, and he could no longer feel the dragon blood coursing through him. But he still felt vestiges of power within him. And sure enough, buried under memories of sorrow and joy, pain and pleasure, like an egg waiting for the opportune moment to hatch, an eternal flame burned.

Deathevn was vanquished, but not gone. His sleeping form lay in wait as he dreamed of the destruction he would bring to the world when his time inevitably came again.

And Ryu knew that as long as the world was still under threat, the dragon within him would continue to live. After everything that had happened, destiny still had a cage on him. As the destined child, fate had claimed him at birth and refused to let him go. He had never really had a choice, just like his mother.

He looked at Katt, "It's still there."

His eyes glowed with fire, and for a moment Katt was afraid. But instead of shying away, she reached out, grabbed Ryu around the shoulders and pulled him into a tight embrace. He lay against her, rigid in her arms.

Thoughts began to course through his head like a river of fire. Deathevn is only sleeping. The dragon within me lives. I bring danger to everyone near me. But as he was thinking these terrible things, he also thought about Katt: her emerald green eyes, the warm embrace that she held him in, her heart beating fast as a rabbit's against his ribs.

Suddenly, and without warning, a conversation with Nina he had had returned to him.

They had been sitting atop the roof, much like him and Katt had so many days ago. A shadow appeared over the moon as a great bird flew by, eclipsing its silver light. Nina sighed, though her anger at Mina had long since vanished, the sadness she felt at her sister's absence would be with her as long as she lived.

Ryu noticed, and hoping to draw her attention to happier things, he said, "So I understand you talked to your parents when we returned to Windia."

Nina smiled, thankful for the presence of her friend. "Yes, I did." Her mind returned to the conversation between her and her parents. They had told her why she had been sent away as a child. We were weak, they had confessed. We didn't want to confront the legends so we sent you away instead. But now, they assured her, they would change. Already they were denouncing the curse and had publicly admitted Nina as a long lost princess, their daughter. While it had nearly caused an uproar at first, much of the population now had let go of the years of superstition and were willing to accept the black-winged princess.

Her eyes met Ryu, and she understood, if not exactly how or why, that they were in much the same situation. She wanted to help him, tell him something to make him feel better.

She looked him in the eye and said, "Destiny only has as much a hold on you as you allow it."

Destiny only has as much of a hold on you as you allow it to.

Ryu gave up thinking. His mind, always so rational, was left behind as he followed his heart in whatever direction it took him. He felt open and vulnerable, but he did not shy away.

Ryu went limp in Katt's arms for a moment, and then he clasped his arms tightly around her back. His lips brushed against her ears as he said softly, "Katt, the dragon is still there. But why should we let that stop us?"

Ryu and Katt sat alone in the clearing in front of the gates to Infinity. He sat cross-legged peacefully, and she lay with her head on his lap.

He watched her chest, rising and falling in time with her shallow breathing. Soon it grew steadier. She was purring again. As if sensing his gaze, Katt turned over in his lap and opened one eye sleepily.

He patted her on the head. "Good night kitty Katt."

She closed her eyes again with a small smile on her face, "Good night Ryu."

Ryu glanced up at the sky. The sun had long since set and the first stars were twinkling into existence. He smiled. The curse wasn't broken, and his destiny was still intact. The gates in front of them stood cold, uninviting, and unwavering, in need of a guardian, a protector. And yet he smiled. His destiny was intact, but he refused to let it ruin this beautiful night. Because in his own way, he had already broken his curse.

And despite everything that had happened, and everything that would happen, he was not upset, or angry, or frightened. Because in his heart, he had known this would be the ending all along. Instead, he felt his heart lift at the thought that he still had one last beautiful, star-lit night with Katt.