Everyone had assembled outside, beneath the starry sky. The dragons had been summoned. When asked to tell them the truth about the Code Of Heart and Hate and its origins, the dragons were hesitant at first.
"We don't like to recall our tragic past" Crystal had told them.
"No Crystal, this time, I think they really need to know. Gaiden died without full knowledge of what he was really fighting for. These ones should know if they really wish to end the evil for good. They should know the truth about the creation of their world, the birth of light and darkness, of Ryuujinn and Tristran" Molten said.
"You tell them then Molten" Crystal said.
Molten nodded.
"What do you humans think of when you hear the word 'nothingness'?" Molten asked Ryu and the others.
"The state of non-existence, that's what we imagine. An endless darkness" Meena said.
"She's right. That's pretty much how we imagine 'nothingness'" Ryu agreed.
"Unfortunately, the state of nothingness is not something as simple and peaceful as that" Molten said as he narrowed his eyes.
"Long before we dragons created the world, we existed as elements. There was absolute chaos. There was no order. Imagine a world where fire spreads throughout existence, battling with wind and water. Where there is nothing as firm as the ground or life. Where everything seems so immensely huge, yet so small, you feel choked. And you're thrown right into the centre of all this chaos. All we knew as elements was a continuous battle for supremacy. Even we began to lose hope until suddenly, out of nowhere, he appeared, legendary dragon Ryuujinn. When Ryuujinn first appeared in our bleak existence, the first thing he did was to weep for us. His tears spread throughout existence and bound the elements. Then, Ryuujinn separated the elements and gave them form, thus, we dragons were born. Ryuujinn created the Dragon Zone, the source of all power in existence, the source of life. Then he separated the elements into two major categories. Elements of generation, also known as the Light side elements, water, wind, earth, light and crystal and elements of destruction, the Dark side elements, fire, lightning, dark, and crystal. Crystal was a unique element since she stood for both generation and destruction and had the wisdom of both. She was thus chosen to lead the Light Dragons who wielded the elements of generation. Another dragon, whom you may not have heard of, Tristran, was chosen to head the Dark Dragons who wielded the elements of destruction. Ryuujinn directed us dragons to create order out of chaos, thus the world was born. Then Ryuujinn went out of his way to create humans. Initially, we wondered why he would do such a thing but Ryuujinn answered us saying…" Molten narrated as he recalled Ryuujinn's voice.
"Look at the Dragon Zone that sustains order. There are two parts to it. An outer part of great power, and an inner part wielding a reflection of the powers of the outer part, yet the Dragon Zone is one, not two. The outer part represents the spiritual part of all things, we dragons. The outer part is divided into light and darkness yet if you observe closely, you will realize that, there is a bit of light within the darkness and a bit of darkness within the light. This symbolizes the co-existence of the confronting wills of each entity. No matter how good an entity may be, there is darkness lurking within it. Likewise, no matter how evil an entity may be, there is always some good lurking within it. The reason I created humans was to show you that the spiritual and the physical are parts of a whole. Humans have the strength of dragons, and we have human compassion. Humans may also be good and evil but none lack the potential for the other. That is a choice, each one of us must make. For me, I believe that both humans and dragons are good creatures" Molten recalled Ryuujinn's lessons.
"Ryuujinn also instituted three laws to govern how dragons may interact with humans. The first law was, dragons must love their creations and price them above all other things. The second law was, no dragon was allowed to directly influence a human's fate and the final law was that no dragon was allowed to reveal truths that could alter a human's destiny" Molten narrated.
"That explains why you've been so secretive" Michael said.
The dragons nodded.
"For millennia, we watched over humans, ruling them from a distance. We found out sooner than we expected however, that mankind was not such a simple creature. Mankind was always searching for ways to make themselves better. For this reason, they began to desecrate nature and the elements. They waged war against one another repeatedly. At first, we didn't understand how this nature surfaced within them until the Dark Dragons united in a final effort to crush the Light Dragons. Many Dark Dragons including Molten, defected to the Light Side" Crystal explained.
"What?! Molten was a Dark Dragon?!" Ryu exclaimed in shock.
"With a pretty damn foul attitude!" Hurricane quickly added.
"Hmmph!" Molten scoffed proudly.
"We fought the Dark Dragons but with Ryuujinn on our side, it wasn't much of a battle. Tristran was easily losing until he suddenly challenged Ryuujinn" Crystal said.
"I recall that day very clearly. Tristran argued that it was true that the Dragon Zone was divided into Light and Dark, Heart and Hate. However, if Ryuujinn would crush the Dark Dragons just because they rebelled, then he would have to crush humanity as well since they desecrated the elements, since they were corrupt and were now drawn to the Dark side of the Dragon Zone" Molten narrated.
"That's terrible!" Tanya exclaimed in horror.
"It's not as terrible as what happened next" Crystal said as a tear flowed down her eyes.
"The Dragon Of Destiny argued that if Ryuujinn would allow him to control the fate of humans, he would direct them towards the Light side" Terranica narrated.
"However Tristran argued that, allowing that to happen would be breaking the second law Ryuujinn had created. He questioned whether Ryuujinn, the all-powerful creator would break his own laws" Molten narrated.
"Sounds like Tristran really cornered Ryuujinn" Ryu said with a sad look on his face.
"Tristran ordered Ryuujinn to face the truth!" Hurricane said.
"And what was that truth?" Meena asked.
"The truth was that humans are innately wicked creatures. Far wicked beyond the comprehension of even Ryuujinn himself" Molten narrated.
"Wow, that's harsh" Rokkan said.
"Ryuujinn argued saying that if humans were given the chance to prove themselves, they would show that they were good creatures" Crystal said.
"What happened next?" Nadia asked.
"Tristran challenged Ryuujinn to prove that humans were good. To swear on his very divinity that humans were good. Then he made a bet with Ryuujinn. If Ryuujinn could prove that humans were good and not end up being infected with human emotions himself, then humans would be spared and all the Dark Dragons would have no choice but to meet their fates. However, if by the slightest chance, Ryuujinn was wrong, he would abdicate all authority over humans and hand them over to he, Tristran" Molten narrated.
"But how would Ryuujinn prove that humanity was good without breaking any of the laws he had set?" Atlanta asked.
"Tristran himself suggested a way. The law encompassed dragons. However, if Ryuujinn were to surrender his divinity and live as a human, he might be able to prove humanity's innocence without breaking any of his laws" Crystal narrated.
"That's cheating! Ryuujinn loses his divinity both ways!" Nadia yelled angrily.
"Of course, it was a trap. Even Ryuujinn knew that. A mortal's life is but a day in the life of a dragon. A human lifetime would not be enough to justify all of humanity. But Ryuujinn decided to go through with it anyway. He decided to trust humanity. Thus he allowed himself to be born as a human, retaining none of his powers, except his memories and identity. When Ryuujinn began to grow as a human, he realized that he was no longer known amongst humans. Tristran had already taken the pre-emptive measure of wiping all of humanity's memories of Ryuujinn. Ryuujinn had no power as a human. His body was even weaker than an average human's. He witnessed humanity's brutalities first hand. The family he was born into were slain by Dark ninja, followers of Tristran. They hunted Ryuujinn all his life. Heartbroken finally and realizing his mistake, Ryuujinn finally died and faded away both from the world of the physical and spiritual" Molten concluded the story with tears in his eyes.
"In the end Tristran had proven that love, no matter how strong it was, remained only a weakness even to celestial beings like dragons but we never despaired. We trusted Ryuujinn's laws and named the Dragon Zone, 'Heart and Hate'. The light side representing heart, Ryuujinn and the dark side representing hate, Tristran" Crystal added.
"Tristran interfered with the lives of humans directly until Molten and another human stopped him for the first time. Molten's actions gave Light dragons hope and our hope was renewed when we met Gaiden, and now you" Crystal said.
"The true significance of your journey is neither stopping Nemesis nor resealing Shekan. The true purpose of your journey is to prove once and for all that mankind is a race worth saving. This is your final chance. If you fail, all of humanity will be wiped out" Molten said seriously.
Ryu collapsed.
"This just keeps getting better and better" he murmured in his subconscious state.
Everyone else was shocked to the point of utter speechlessness.
"I guess you've learned everything you need to know for now. Tomorrow, return to the Sound ryu. Rokkan, your pendant is not ordinary. If anyone gave it to you, he trusted your power to use it for good" Meena said.
Rokkan nodded.
"Ryuujinn sure is a cool dragon, don't you think?" Atlanta said with admiration.
"I agree. To think he'd go that far for humanity" Nadia muttered.
The friends watched the skies for a while longer and finally managed to fall asleep.